The Invincible Spider-Man
Chapter 20: Hostile Takeover
Curt Connors hadn't been able to sleep for the past week. He was still guilt-ridden after what happened to Max.
"It's all my fault, Martha. If I had taken the right precautions…Max wouldn't have become a criminal. I did that to him, my ambition did." Sighed Curt, as he sat on a chair and stared at his right arm. It was almost 9 pm.
"Curt, you didn't know. You've lived with that condition for over 40 years. Nobody blames you for wanting to fix yourself." Reassured Martha.
Curt buried his face in his left arm, and tears streamed down his face. "All I wanted was to pick up Billy for once. Instead, I unleashed Electro on the world." He said.
Martha put an arm around her husband. "Please Curt. Stop blaming yourself. You can still do great things. You are a great person, who has done some amazing things for the world." She said.
"Okay. Okay, you're right. I love you." Smiled Curt.
"I love you too." Said Martha, as she kissed him on his cheek. "Now come on, it's time for dinner." She said, as she headed to the kitchen.
Deep down, however, Curt wanted to redeem himself, he wanted his lifelong ambition to be a success. And there was only one way, albeit riskier.
He had to restart human trials.
Back in Queens, Peter and Gwen were watching "Meet the Parents" on TV.
"I'm glad this isn't how you met my dad!" Laughed Gwen, as she put her arms around Peter.
"Oh that would've been a disaster." Joked Peter, as he kissed her.
"Anyways, what's up with you? You seem really stressed lately." Said Gwen.
"Ah, with Dr Octavius giving so much homework, Jameson giving me a special assignment and May's health, I've barely gotten a break." Lamented Peter.
"Well, my advice would be to not treat it like it's the end of the world. May is doing really well, and Jameson is still paying you. Plus, you're literally Dr Octavius' favourite student." Reassured Gwen."
"Yeah. Still, I just feel like I have the weight of the world on my shoulders. At least Christmas is coming in a few days." Chuckled Peter.
"Exactly! So how about you let go of all that stress, at least for now?" Asked Gwen.
"Yeah." Replied Peter, as he kissed her lightly.
All of a sudden, Peter's phone rang. It was Harry. Peter quickly picked it up.
"Hey Harry, what's up?"
"Hey Pete. Listen, can I talk to you about something?"
"Sure. What is it?"
"It's my dad. He's been acting really weird lately."
"How exactly?"
"Well, for starters, he seems to be super zoned out. Like, all the time he stares at nothing. And sometimes at night, I hear him…talking." Said Harry.
"Woah wait. Talking? Like to who?"
"Exactly, no one! And he gets angry over the slightest of things. Like, he noticed a crease on my shirt, and then started ranting about how irresponsible I am. I mean, he can be a prick at times, but this is taking things to a whole another level." Vented Harry.
"That's honestly kind of weird. Maybe you should talk to him about this."
"Okay Pete. I'll try tonight at dinner." Concluded Harry, as he cut the call.
Peter put the phone, a little worried expression on his face.
"What happened?" Asked Gwen.
"It was Harry. Apparently Norman has been acting really weird nowadays." Explained Peter.
"Oh. Well, he was a victim of a terrorist attack, so you never know." Said Gwen.
"Yeah, I hope Norman is okay though. He seemed a little off at my birthday party too." Said Peter.
"Speaking of parties, are you going to be at MJ's party for Christmas?" Asked Gwen.
"Will you be there?" Asked Peter, jokingly.
"I don't know, will you?" Joked Gwen, as both started laughing and continued watching the movie.
"What are you making me do?! This is crazy!" Shouted Norman, in his bedroom.
"We did what we had to do! Mendel was a pain in the ass, and we got rid of him!" Countered the voice.
"You said the Globulin Green would give me power like yours!"
"And I will give it you. But you have to cooperate with me."
"How. What do you want from me?"
"I want you to discover your true potential, Norman! What happened to the ruthless visionary? Now, you take orders from people like Wilson Fisk and Mendel! You want to be powerful, then there's only one way. One way to make people fear you once again…"
"How? What is it?"
"This city needs to know that there is a new power in town. We need to commence a…Hostile Takeover! HAHAAHAHAHA!" Cackled the voice.
Norman knew what he had to do. He opened a closet in his bathroom, and took out a syringe of Globulin Green, injecting it into his arm.
Gwen had left, and Peter quickly rushed to his room, taking out his Spider-Man outfit. Putting on the mask, he swung out of his neighbourhood and towards Manhattan. That's when his police scanner went off.
"All units, all units. We have a man on some hovering vehicle terrorizing Times Square." Said the scanner.
"Well, what do you know?" Thought Peter, as he swung towards Times Square.
Spider-Man quickly made his way to Times Square, only to see a man wearing some robotic green suit, on a glider of some sort. He had an armoured helmet on his face, and some bombs in his right hand.
"Hey Power Ranger! Halloween's not till next year." Joked Spider-Man as he jumped in front of the man.
The mechanical helmet pulled back, revealing a heavily disfigured face. The creature's forehead was bulging out with veins, and his teeth were more or less jagged fangs. His face looked like something straight from a Stephen King novel.
"Oh wow! What face cream have you been using?" Asked Spider-Man.
"You best stay out of our way, Spider-Man!" Shouted the person, as he threw a mini-grenade towards Spider-Man, who managed to dodge the projectile and shot a web towards the man's face.
"There. Now you look better!" Chuckled Spider-Man. But the man swooped towards Spider-Man with the glider and knocked Peter into the red stairs.
"This will be the end for you!" Declared the man, as the helmet came back on and he targeted three missiles towards Peter.
However, Spider-Man managed to jump off the stairs and evade the first two missiles, but the third hit the ground near Spider-Man, knocking him away.
The man then grabbed Spider-Man by the neck and slammed him into the ground as he flew ahead. He threw Spider-Man into a coffee shop.
"Dammit! Do you know how hard it is to remove coffee stains?" Groaned Spider-Man. The man swooped towards Peter again, but Peter side-flipped out of the way and shot two webs to the man's back, pulling him off of the glider.
"So what do I call you? Lil Gremlin? Glider MacGyver? Come on, work with me!" Joked Spider-Man, as he punched him across the table, but the man kicked Peter with so much force that Peter went flying out of the coffee shop window.
"Call me The Goblin. The Green Goblin!" He cackled, but all of a sudden, Spider-Man took out a fire hydrant and shot the water towards Green Goblin, causing him to fall on his back. Spider-Man quickly shot two webs at Goblin's legs, and dragged him straight into a pole. However, Goblin's glider came zooming out of nowhere and slammed Peter into a wall. Goblin jumped up to his feet and punched Spider-Man violently across his face, cracking one of his lenses. Before his Spider-Sense could even react, Goblin grabbed Spider-Man and through him on the street.
As Spider-Man tumbled onto the street, a speeding police car rammed into him, causing Spider-Man to tumble further down the street.
Soon enough, many cop cars surrounded the place, aiming their guns at Green Goblin. Goblin slowly ducked his arms behind him, and as Peter struggled to get up, his Spider-Sense went off like a nuclear explosion.
"EVERYBODY MOVE-" Before Peter could even finish, a huge explosion rocked Times Square, sending cop cars flying into buildings, and windows were cracked by the explosion. Spider-Man himself was flung into a lamppost, which then fell over him. Many people were stuck under rubble, as fires started to erupt around Times Square, as shops were decimated and electronic billboards fell off, crashing to the ground.
It looked like the site of a nuclear explosion, and amidst the chaos, stood The Green Goblin.
Spider-Man managed to get the lamppost off of him, as he staggered towards Green Goblin's back and tried to punch him, but Goblin grabbed Spider-Man's right arm, and crushed the web shooter, before lifting him over his head and slamming him straight on the ground.
Peter groaned as Goblin brought his boot down on his chest, then grabbed his neck and lifted him off of the ground.
Goblin's mask pulled itself back, revealing his repulsive face.
"First and final warning. This is my city now! At least, it will be soon. So, stay out of my way..."
Goblin then brought his face closer to Spider-Man's ear.
"Peter Parker." He whispered sadistically.
Spider-Man's eyes went wide, as Goblin dropped him and jumped back on his glider, flying away.
Norman staggered back to his room, as he put on the television and stared in horror at the scene.
"Spider-Man Dead?"Said the headline.
"Witnesses claim they saw Spider-Man getting killed by the mysterious figure who attacked Times Square earlier tonight. Although, a body hasn't been found. In addition, over 5 policemen have died and many more have been injured after the attack. Witnesses also claim that the perpetrator was wearing green armour, and his face was of a monster's." Said the reporter.
"What-what have you done?" Stuttered out Norman.
"Me? I didn't do anything Norman. You did!" Accused the voice.
"No! This was all you!" Shouted Norman.
"Watch your tongue, Norman. Remember the deal: You get power, and I get what I want. This was just the beginning. You see, this city needs to know that the cops cannot save them. Spider-Man cannot save them." Said the voice.
"But…he was Peter! That was Peter Parker who we almost killed!" Argued Norman.
"Peter needs to know that he can't stop you. He chose to be a foolish hero. If he truly is smart, he'll listen to us and he'll quit." Persuaded the voice.
"You're right. I mean it's not my fault he chose the wrong side. Although, what would Harry think?" Thought Norman.
"Forget about them! Norman, don't you see? You're ties to these people bring you down. You have to cut them away if you want to be the businessman you once were!" Said the voice.
"You're right. I was once ruthless, and then I went soft. No more! To hell with them!" Shouted Norman.
"Excellent. Now come on, Norman! We have a city to take over." Said the voice.
Somehow, Peter managed to swing back home with just one web shooter. He entered through his window, and took off his mask. Luckily, little damage had come to his face. But Aunt May wouldn't notice it. However, Peter was sure that he had bruised a rib or a vertebrae. That's when he got a call from George Stacy.
"Captain Stacy…is everything okay?" Asked Peter, wincing as he tried to stitch up a cut on his left arm.
"Peter, I just wanted to check if you were okay. Do you have any idea who that man was?" Asked George.
"He called himself The Green Goblin. That's all I know." Said Peter. All of a sudden, something jogged up his memory. While he was being choked, he noticed a sign on the side of Green Goblin's helmet.
"Oscorp." Said Peter. "The helmet he was wearing came from Oscorp." He repeated.
"Are you sure?" Asked George.
"Hold on. I have a spare web shooter, I can go check now." Suggested Peter.
"No no, you stay. I'll go." Offered George.
"With all due respect, Captain Stacy, when I first put on this mask, I promised to not let anyone get hurt. And with that guy around, if I don't do what I can, I'm breaking that promise." Said Peter.
George was impressed. "Okay, but be careful." He said, as he cut the call.
Peter swung towards Oscorp Tower, rather slowly as he didn't want to hurt himself. He landed on a nearby building, and noticed a ventilation shaft on the exterior of the tower.
"Well, here we go." Thought Peter, as he swung towards the vent and crawled inside it.
The shaft was super stuffy, so much so that Peter took off his mask only till his nose so he could breathe. There wasn't much security, especially since it was the dead of night. Spider-Man crawled up till what he guessed was Floor 118. Instead, he realized he was on Floor 155.
After jumping down towards Floor 118, aka Special Projects, Spider-Man's senses tingled went he walked past a metallic door.
"Now what could be in here?" Thought Peter. For some reason, the door was open, as if it had been opened recently. When Spider-Man opened the door, he found himself in a huge hallway. Inside the hallway were containers with plans for different armours. Peter noticed something like a rhino's horn, and a scorpion's tail, and at the end of the small showcase hallway, were what looked like octopus tentacles.
"Spider-Man?" Asked a person, behind Peter. Spider-Man turned around and saw Norman Osborn.
"What are you doing here?" Asked Norman, a little bit of an accusatory tone in his voice.
"I have reason to believe that the armour the Green Goblin was wearing came from here." Said Spider-Man firmly.
"So that's why it was missing! A few days ago, our prototype military battle armor was stolen. We still don't know who." Lied Norman.
"Okay, I'll take you word for it. If you have any idea who the thief is, let the police know. And also, what's up with the different exoskeleton plans here?" Asked Spider-Man, curious.
"Ah, this was the old Special Projects division, that me, Otto Octavius and the late Mendel Stromm worked on." Said Norman.
"Wait wait wait. What do you mean "late Mendel Stromm?" Mendel is dead?" Asked Peter, thoroughly confused.
"Apparently so. Police say that The Green Goblin killed him a few days ago." Explained Norman, trying to cover up his lie.
"Oh my god. Okay, if anything does happen, do let me or the cops know. Preferably me." Said Spider-Man, as he swung away.
As Spider-Man disappeared into the night, Norman smiled to himself.
"Now, the real work begins." He said out loud, in the voice of The Green Goblin.
Hey everyone, thanks for reading this chapter too, despite how lengthy it turned out. I still haven't introduced the villain who first debuted in Amazing Spider-Man #6, but I think you guys may have guessed who it could it be.
Datonman- That's exactly what I was trying to go for in the first couple of chapters. Glad you caught onto that
icwintersoldier- Well, since I already introduced Chameleon in Season 1, and I want Doc Ock to have a proper origin, it's neither of them.
Arnonymous- I wanted to go for a Spider-Man 2 kind of birthday, but I'm happy it was satisfying!
Thank you for reading! And reviews are greatly appreciated!