Chapter 6: Ace in the Hole

"Con Ed to truck 616. Come in, truck 616."

Inside the truck, Maxine Dillion was pondering what her life had come to when she got the call.

"Yeah, this is Dillion."

She listened to the voice at the other end.

"Trouble at the OsCorp tower? I was there yesterday!"

"Just check it out."

Dillon sighed as she started up the truck and drove to the OsCorp tower.

In one of the OsCorp tower's labs, Michael Morbius watched in fascination at his own work when his cell phone went off.

"Hello?" he asked, his Slavic accent rolling smoothly off his tongue.

"Mister Morbius, this is Norman Osborne. I need you for some…experiments."

"I'll be right there, Mister Osborne."

Ten minutes after getting the call, Maxine Dillon walked into the lobby of the OsCorp tower.

"You the electrician?" the receptionist asked.

"Yeah. What's it to you, doll?"

"We don't need one."

Dillon's hands slammed down on the receptionist's desk."

"Who made the call?"

"Mister Osborne himself. Now, if you don't mind, I'll make sure you see him."

"Wait, wha-"

A small dart landed in the back of Dillon's neck, causing her to topple over.

"Mister Osborne, I have one of your subjects ready for processing."

Around the same time, Michael Morbius was entering Norman Osborne's office.

"You wished to see me, Mister Osborne?"

Osborne poured two glasses of sherry.

"Mister Morbius, do you approve of self-experimentation in science?"

"Unless the experimenter is absolutely desperate, then no."

"But if it is absolutely necessary?"

"As you say here, cut to the chase, Osborne."

"I need you to run some more experiments with OZ. Namely its effects on lesser mammals."

"I do not work with rodents."

"What about chiropterans?"

"We've got plenty of vampire bats lying around the lab- what's that guard doing here? Why is he holding that tranquilizer pist-"

The guard fired it, knocking Morbius out.

"Sucker." Osborne muttered.

OSCORP RESEARCH FACILITY

SOMEWHERE IN NEW JERSEY:

"Mister Osborne, they're waking up."

"Excellent, Doctor Ratha. You may begin your experiment now."

The two victims awakened on metal beds.

"Hello there." Ratha uttered, his voice dripping with insincerity.

"What is the meaning of this, Rajit?" Morbius asked.

"Not much, Michael. Just an experiment that will hopefully turn the both of you into something more than what you are now."

"Like what? Corpses?" was Morbius's retort.

Ratha grabbed a pair of syringes.

"One for Michael, one for the broad."

Dillon gulped as the syringe was plunged into her arm. Once a proper sample was drawn, the doctor went over to analyze it. As he looked over the results on his computer screen, he smirked deviously.

"A latent X-Gene. Miss Dillon, I believe the technical phrase for you is a mutie."

"I'm not a mutant!"

"You will be soon."

"Mother-"

Dillon's rant was cut off by a massive jolt of electricity, which proceeded to knock her out. Ratha then turned to Morbius.

"It's been nice working with you, Michael."

Just then, Ratha raised a syringe and stuck it in Morbius's arm to draw another sample. Again, he analyzed it, but this time, his face contorted into a full-blown psychopathic grin.

"Ooh, another genejoke in our midst! Maybe a little OZ will coax it out!"

"Ratha, you're a sick bastard. When Mister Osborne finds out about this, you'll have to answer-"

"Actually, I won't. Have a nice day, Mister Morbius."

"I'll kill you, Ratha! I'll split your twisted head open-"

Before he could get another word out, Morbius was knocked unconscious. Ratha raised a syringe labeled "OZ- Desmodus rotundus" and sunk it into his victim's arm.

"Not any time soon."

Just then, Ratha's cell phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Rajit, I trust the experiments have gone according to plan."

"Yes, Mister Osborne. Everything is working like clockwork."

"Good. I always wanted my own private Bebop and Rocksteady."

"Happy to oblige, Mister Osborne."