Chapter Seven

The next morning, Harry Osborn walked absently through the board room at OSCORP. Vague impressions of the previous night floated around in the back of his mind like ghosts, taunting him, not letting him fully remember what he had done. He had not been in control of his actions, and yet, he had been in total control of his actions. That had been him, and yet, it had not been him. It was a part of his psyche that had been buried all his life, part that he kept locked away and didn't even acknowledge to himself. That's what the Goblin was. It was the part of him that was capable of hate, and of destruction, and of death… and of enjoying it all the while.

He placed his briefcase on the table and sat down. He slowly rubbed his temples. He was exhausted, as if he'd just come down from the mother of all sugar-highs. His stomach felt like it had been put through a spin cycle, and his muscles ached. He looked down at his left hand, which had been badly burned… bandages were wrapped around it, he didn't even remember doing that. If he had any sensation left in the hand it would probably hurt pretty bad.

Harry's assistant, Jason Macendale, knocked on the open door as he poked his head into the room.

"There's someone here to see you, Mr. Osborn… He doesn't have an appointment, but he said you'd want to talk to him."

"Who is it?" Harry asked, his voice slightly hoarse.

"His name is Lex Luthor."

Harry cracked a smile. He couldn't say he hadn't been expecting this. "Thanks, Jason. Show him in."

A moment later, the bald young billionaire strolled casually into the room. "Harry Osborn," he said with a smile.

Harry smiled and shook Lex's hand. "Lex, how have you been?"

He shrugged. "Busy. Yourself?"

Harry nodded. "The same."

Lex looked around the board room. "So I see."

Harry gestured to a chair, and they sat down across from each other.

"I'm sorry to hear about your father, Harry," Lex said.

"Thank you. It's been hard, but, I'm pouring myself into the company now. Trying to carry on his legacy. I think it's what he would have wanted."

Lex looked uncomfortable. "About the company…" he said, slowly.

"I know why you're here, Lex," Harry said, flatly. "And you can tell your father that my answer is still no."

"I'm sorry?"

"Your father has already presented me with three different offers to buy OSCORP. I've refused each one. I can only assume you're here to try and change my mind."

Inside, Lex was fuming. Why hadn't his father told him that he'd already made three unsuccessful attempts to buy the company? Just to make him look like an idiot, most likely.

"In the last two weeks alone, I've gotten offers from Wilson Fisk, Tony Stark, and Adrian Toomes, and I've refused them all," Harry continued. "Though, I have to admit, none of them have even come close to offering as much for the company as your father has."

"You seem pretty adamant about not selling," Lex said.

"I am. Everyone thinks that because I'm so young, I'm not capable of running all of this by myself. If I sell, it'd be like admitting defeat."

"I know how you feel, Harry, believe me," Lex said. "Just be careful. I heard that your father didn't take it very well when the board of directors tried to vote him out… I'd just hate to see you get too involved and end up getting burned."

Harry stood up. "Sooner or later we all become our fathers, Lex. There's no escaping that."

Lex looked away and clenched his teeth. This was obviously pointless.

He stood up. "It was good to see you again, Harry."

They shook hands again.

"Still fencing, Lex?" Harry asked.

He smiled. "When I have time."

"We should get together sometime, then," Harry said. "It'd be nice to have someone to spar with again."

Lex noticed Harry's bandaged hand. He raised an eyebrow.

"You sure you're up for it?" he said, gesturing to Harry's hand.

Harry grinned. "Unless things have changed, Lex, I could always take you on with one hand tied behind my back."

"Right…" Lex narrowed his eyes and nodded. "I'll see you around, Harry."

Lex walked out of the board room, livid. His father had simply neglected to mention the previous three offers on the company. "Real nice, Dad," he muttered under his breath.

Why did his father want OSCORP so badly, anyway? He'd outbid Fisk, Stark, and Toomes? LuthorCorp had always been very successful, but there was no way that Lionel had more money to throw around than those three men. And he'd offered Lex CADMUS Labs just to try and persuade Harry to sell? Something didn't make sense. Lex was more sure now than ever that Lionel knew something about OSCORP that no one else did, and he was determined to find out what.

Lex assured Mr. Macendale that he could find his own way out, and then slipped away down another corridor of the building. He was going to find out just what secrets this place held.

After nearly an hour of fruitless exploration and carefully dodging the OSCORP employees, Lex's persistence paid off. He found a stairwell that seemed to be blocked off, and cautiously slipped through. He slowly worked his way down, level after level…

What he found was beyond description. The lab in the sub-basement looked like it had been hit by a Kansas tornado. Machinery laid to waste, broken steel and twisted metal, shards of glass all over the floor…

Lex walked over to what looked like some kind of chamber… What on earth had taken place down here?

Monitors above his head displayed images of a glider, and a suit of armor.

"No way…" Lex said aloud.

He noticed the knocked-over shelving unit, and the broken glass vials. He knelt down, and picked up a shard of glass, which had some kind of green chemical residue still dripping from it.

This had to be it. Somehow his father knew about all of this. He and Norman Osborn had been business partners long ago, somehow Lionel knew that Norman was working on this, whatever it was, and Lionel wanted it bad.

Lex pulled out his cell phone and hit a number on his speed dial.

"Donovan, it's Luthor," he said. "I need a messenger brought by the hotel tonight. I have something that I need taken to CADMUS Labs to be analyzed as soon as possible."

A surge of electricity shot down Lex Luthor's spine, causing him to drop the phone. His scream was stuck in his throat and would never pass his lips. His eyes rolled back in his head, as he slumped to the floor, unconscious.

Behind him, stood Harry Osborn. On his left hand, he wore a new metallic glove that he'd designed for the armor. Sparks of electricity still crackled from it. He looked curiously at his own creation. The Goblin must have built it sometime during the night.

He clenched his fist, and more energy sparked and fizzled from his palm. Oh, he was going to have a lot of fun with this one…