THE OSBORN SUPREMACY
It was night time, just hours after the challenge made to Iron Man and the Avengers to the so-called superhero tournament. And Norman Osborn, now dressed in business attire, is walking through the halls of the Oscorp building after just explaining to the press that the night he disappeared and that the Green Goblin 'impersonated him' to try and ruin his reputation, only for the Goblin to 'die' that faithful night. with employees still surprised that he's still alive, as well just as intimidated by his presence. From the feared expressions of his staff members, Norman couldn't help but smirk, knowing that while he enjoyed the added power by being part of both S.H.I.E.L.D. and the Thunderbolts, the scared expressions of the people who work form immediately make him feel right at home after such a long 'vacation.' Once Norman approached the double doors leading into his office, he opened them and his smirk is replaced with that of a dark, eerily smile as he looked at his vast office, seeing that it was precisely the way he left it after his 'death. "Daddy's home," said the returning Norman as he entered the room and the double doors closed behind him and proceeded to walk to his desk. Upon walking towards and sitting in his chair, Norman looked on top of his desk and saw the blueprints of a large, almost futuristic type stage set that was still being built in Madison Square Garden, and with the name of the project shown on the bottom right hand corner which read 'Contest of Champions."
A pleased Norman picked up on one of the prints and marveled at his design when he suddenly heard a familiar 'thwip' sound effect, and as he looked straight ahead, he saw that his office doors were now covered with webbing, preventing him from leaving. This sight only made Norman smile, because this was a sign that a particular guest had finally arrived. This caused Norman to turn his chair around, looked up, and saw Spidey himself perched on top his tall opened office window. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."
"Cut the crap, Norman!" said Spidey in an angry tone, then jumped off of the window, flipped in a corkscrew motion in mid-air and landed on all fours on the desk, causing Norman to turn in his chair once again to face him. "What are you up to?"
Norman was not at all intimidated by a glaring Spidey and proofed it by letting out a small chuckle. "Now, now, since you were there at the press conference, you should already know what I have in mind for you and your teammates...Parker."
The Web-Head was speechless, knowing Norman knew his identity, thus now making him an even deadlier foe than he was before.
Seeing that he now had Spidey's attention, as well as relishing the fact that he now has the teen right where he wanted him, Norman finally sat down on his chair, having a sense of superiority over the stunned Wall-Crawler on his desk. "Now, if there are any more questions you'd like to ask me, please go ahead and do so now. I am a busy man, after all."
For a moment, Spidey remained in stunned silence, but it wasn't until he looked down and glanced at the blueprints and saw the S.H.I.E.L.D. emblem on the upper left corner he figured out on how Norman might have figured out who he was. "Right, your working for S.H.I.E.L.D. now, a place that's got secret files on...well, everybody! So I guess it's a no brainer that you would have figured out who I am. But, the thing that's still bugging me is how did you survive?"
"Survived the blast from our last encounter?" Norman replied in a calm tone. "Well, to put it in simpler terms: The Greene." As he continued, Norman's expression soon turned into an unpleasant as he began recalling the experience. "And thanks to you, I found this out the hard way..."
...Norman then flashbacked to his last night as the Green Goblin, as he is now severely burnt and his goblin costume now in shambles. He crawled through the open window of one of his warehouse hideouts, then after barely pulling himself back up, he limped over to a nearby desk, picked up a phoned and dialed a phone number.
"After I just barely survived the explosion that was caused by impairing my glider, I as practically near death when I made it into one of my hideouts stations all around the city," Norman narrated. "So much so, that all of my strength was nearly gone, and I almost didn't have enough of it to make the call to a private doctor for emergency treatment."
After explaining to the stunned doctor on the other line what was wrong with him, Norman began to feel dizzy, and as a result, dropped the receiver as opposed to hanging it up and falls to the floor unconscious.
"Calling my doctor was the last thing I remember...before something extraordinary happened."
Norman soon woke up and the first thing he saw was the doctor, a middle-aged, balding man, looking at him in total shock. "Well, what are you waiting for, you moron?" asked an irritable Norman. "Help me!"
"I...don't think that that will be necessary, sir," replied the dumbfounded doctor, then reached over to his bag, pulled out a mirror. "See for yourself."
With an annoyed grunt, Norman snatched the mirror out of the doctor's hand, and upon looking at his reflection, he is shocked to see that his burns are now all gone, and his face was the same as it was before!
"I couldn't believe it! Not only did the Greene enhance my strength and intellect, but it also developed a regenerative healing factor! Not as fast say a certain clawed lapdog of Charles Xavier, but still faster than most."
After looking at his face, Norman looked down and was just as amazed to see that his entire body was also fully healed. To make sure, he used the desk right next to him to help him get back up on his feet and was glad that he had fully regained the strength to stand.
As for the utterly puzzled doctor, he remained in stunned silence for a few seconds before letting out a cough to try and find the words. "Well...it, uh, appears that I'm no longer needed here," he said in a shaken tone, then bent down and proceeded to put his supplies back into his bag.
This only caused Norman to raise an eyebrow, realizing the truth in the doctor's words, and thus walked over to left drawer while the doctor wasn't looking and pulled out a hand pistol.
"Unfortunately for the good doctor who came to help me, however, it was too astounding for anyone outside that warehouse to know, as well as the fact that Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin were on in the same."
As the doctor had just closed his bag, Norman pointed the gun right behind his head. "No, you're not..."
BLAM!
...Back in the present, Spidey looked at Norman with both shock and disgust upon hearing the cruel way he 'disposed' of someone working for him and not give it a second thought.
As for Norman, he still maintained his stone cold, emotionless expression as he continued with his story. "From then on, I felt that for the time being that it was appropriate for the world to know that Norman Osborn had died that night, and lay low until a better opportunity presented itself, as well as give Harry a chance to finally 'man-up' without me around. Besides, given the circumstances, I felt that I could have used a vacation..."
...Norman then though back to the time he laid low in the Cayman Islands under the blond-haired alas 'Mr. Romann', wearing a Hawaii shirt and khaki shorts as he sat on the beach with a tropical drink in hand. As he basked in the sun, however, he soon noticed something strange. Meaning that there was a piece of sand that appeared to be...moving, and making its way towards a nearby cave of the island.
"Then one day, I noticed something quite peculiar on one of the islands I was relaxing on, something that caught my interest and wanted to know more about. A bold move to do so, I admit, but perhaps it could've led me to something I could use one I was ready to make my return to New York."
The intrigued Norman followed the 'sand' into the cave. Once he felt like he was close enough, he hid behind a large rock and saw the true form of the 'sand.' In that, it began to rise and form a ball that levitated in the air, then changed into that of a gooey, doughy appearance and form two skinny, stretch arms and finally form a sunk-in head, with a mouth filled with crooked teeth and white eyes. Suddenly, the doughy created spotted Norman hiding from behind a rock, and seeing him as a threat, threw his right arm out like a whip, intending to strike Norman's head off of his shoulders.
But thanks to the Greene flowing through his veins, Norman quickly rolled to avoid the 'dough whip, and ended up back on his feet and up against the rocky walls. The creature then struck with his other hand, and as Norman ducked to avoid that attack, he noticed the creature's hand strangely go right through the rocky wall behind him. With a raised, intrigued eyebrow, Norman pressed his luck and went through the wall, revealing to be that of a hologram, and upon ending up on the other side, he was amazed to find that he ended up in what appeared to be what seemed to be a dark, highly advanced laboratory. A sigh in which made Norman all the more interested, but he didn't have much time to enjoy it. For moments later, the dough-like creature came through the hologram, still in pursuit of Norman.
As he back away, Norman looked around desperately around the room to see if he can find something he can use to fight back. Sure enough, he spotted a tray of small, silver balls that reminded him of one of his pumpkin bombs. And though he didn't know for sure if they would help, he nonetheless grabbed one of them, noticed and pressed the button on top and threw it at the dough beast.
The dough creature, however, saw this coming his way and opened his mouth, allowing the ball to land on his tongue, then closed his mouth and swallowed the strange object, causing the monster to smile. However, the creature's happiness was short-lived, for seconds later, it exploded like a balloon bursting after it was given too much air, causing pieces of the dough creature to fly through the entire room.
After wiping off the dough that was splattered on him, Norman went on to explore this mysterious lab.
"As it turned out, the doughy beast was guarding one of the secret labs of the scientist, Arnim Zola. But after his 'incident regarding a villainess known as the Enchantress, I had a feeling that he wouldn't mind if I decided to borrow it for myself."
Norman made his way to Zola's large computer, and upon turning it on, he saw plans for what appeared to be a robot designed like a spider.
"Especially with the last project he was working on known as the Project: Carrion, which was in actuality was a series of nanites that are injected into the bloodstream of a hose and make them susceptible to suggestion. Something even more pleasing was when I discovered that he hacked into S.H.I.E.L.D.'S FILES, most notably, the location of a nearby undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agent who just so happened to be stationed at the resort where 'Mr. Romann' was staying..."
Back at the resort, Norman found the undercover agent, a Caucasian male in his mid-thirties, with black hair and dressed in more comfortable clothing, sitting on a stool in an outside bar. As the agent was busy speaking to the bartender, Norman sneaked in and secretly poured a yellowish liquid containing the Carrion nanites into the agent's drink and walked away. The unsuspecting agent then turned back to his drink, and without a care in the world, sips his drink. Suddenly, he is shocked to feel his body go completely stiff, and seconds later, feel his entire mind go blank, thus leaving him with a completely mindless, almost lifeless expression.
"And in time, I brought him over to my side. But of course, I knew that if I was to move forward with my plan to return to New York, I couldn't just stop with only one agent."
The next day, the now zombified agent, now in uniform, is in the S.H.I.E.L.D. helocarrior and inside the office of Maria Hill, with Agent Hill herself looking over files. With Maria preoccupied, the agent held up his wristwatch and shot a small capsule into the glass of water, which upon sinking into the drink, splits open and released the yellow Carrion liquid. Maria, while still looking at the files, picked up the glass and drank the now contaminated water, only to drop the glass and folder as she felt her body stiffen so much, she couldn't even scream. It wasn't long before her mind went black as well, and she was much more drone-like as the agent who now stood beside her.
"So, I gave the same treatment to Agent Maria Hill, who conveniently was just starting as deputy director of S.H.I.E.L.D., and once she was under my control, I instructed her to lace the Carrion nanites into the helocarrior's drinking water...all so every agent of S.H.I.E.L.D could consume it."
Back in the present, Spidey was beginning to put the pieces together of Norman's story and did not like the picture it was making. "That explains how you got S.H.I.E.L.D. on your side. And I'm guessing you had them bail out Beck and the other criminals to help you form the Thunderbolts?"
Norman gave the Web-Head a smirk, impressed with how he was catching on. "Correct, as well as the Zodiac and the assassins that were paid by an 'anonymous client' to try an eliminate the Black Panther, however, people like Beck, Brice, as well as the other villains you faced in the past made it clear that they came aboard only so they can get a chance to get their hands on you. But, I would be more than happy to make sure that doesn't happen. If..."
"If what?" asked a skeptic Spidey, crossing his arms and waiting to hear what bogus offer Norman had in mind.
"If you agree to abandon your so-called reserve membership of the Avengers and become a full-time member of the Thunderbolts. I can make sure that they not only never lay a finger on you, but I can also see to it that you get the reward that was never given to you from the city after saving it for so long. Think of it, Peter, why settle for doing all the work and getting none of the glory, when you can get phrase and recognition you deserve by fighting for the Superhuman Registration Act. And besides, I feel my team, if not the world, could benefit from having two Spider-Men."
This reminded Spidey to back at the press conference, more specifically, the unveiling of the Scarlet Spider, who in reality was his best friend. "Harry! How did he get that suit?"
"Oh, that was something that S.H.I.E.L.D. had in its possession for years." replied a still smirking Norman...
...as he recalled one of the files of two agents that found and captured a black, oily liquid based life form in the sewers.
"You see, before my time away from New York, agents stationed in the city located and captured a strange liquidity life form under the city's sewer system. One in which you might recall was you're 'doppelganger', so to speak, named Venom."
Inside the lab of the Helocarrior, the black life-form bonded itself on to one of the agents, forming itself into the black costume that Spidey wore for a time before discarding it.
"As it turned out, the scientist discovered that it was a symbiote, a life-form that bonds with a host and in turn, enhance their strength to unbelievable levels. But it also showed to have a mind of its own, and attempted to control the agent who volunteered to bond with it."
Seconds later, two scientists fired two laser-like devices that generated sonic waves and thus forced the symbiote off of the agent, who falls to the floor unconscious. Afterward, two more agents with electric rods forced the symbiote into a clear container and quickly shut the lid.
"Luckily, they managed to contain it. But in doing so, however, it showed another interestingability..."
Suddenly, the symbiote seemed to split in two, with the other half being red and black.
"It's ability to reproduce! And that offspring is what I chose to give to Harry, as a gift from father to son..."
Hearing this story truly sickened Spidey, almost to the point where he almost vomited inside his mask. "You scare me, Osborn! It wasn't enough for you to frame your own son, but now you have to turn him into your own personal guinea pig?! Not to mention make him a host to something that's too dangerous to have on this planet?!"
"What I did, I did to make my son stronger! Since he obviously couldn't do it on his own!" Norman snapped back. "Besides, we have ways of keeping both Harry and the suit well behaved, but it wouldn't hurt for him to have his best friend around to help him control it...if he agrees to join us. Forget the Avengers! What have they ever done for you?"
Spidey remained silent for a moment, mainly because he was feeling his blood boiling with anger and had try and calm himself. Finally, after taking a deep breath, the Web-Head looked Norman dead in his eyes as he gave him this reply. "Well, for one thing, they let me help in saving the planet, and before that, Captain America giving me some pretty good advice on being a hero during the mess with the Serpent Society, so allot actually! Besides Norman, you should already know by now that I don't partner up with psychopaths!"
Norman expected that would be the Wall-Crawler's initial answer, but was still annoyed by it. Nevertheless, he kept his confident demeanor. "Well, that's too bad," he replied. "And here I'd thought by accepting my offer; you would be willing to save your aunt."
Hearing Norman bring up his ill aunt brought up both confusion and anger within the Web-Head. "What are you talking about?"
"Well, your sweet Aunt May being the hospital," Norman explained. "Surely, you know by now that there's more to her condition than just a mere heart attack, don't you?"
This answered caused Spidey's eyes to grow wide with horror. "You didn't!"
"You astound me with your lack of knowledge of me, Parker," Norman retorted. "For you of all people should know that with or without organizations like S.H.I.E.L.D. by my side, I'm capable of just about anything..."
...Norman then goes on to tell the tale of when he sent another agent, this time a short haired brunette woman dressed as a nurse, over to Manhattan General, where May Parker was in for her check-up.
"And thanks to my S.H.I.E.L.D. contacts in New York, I managed to find out when your dear aunt was having her next annual check-up, and thus, I saw this as another opportunity."
Inside the hallway, the nurse sees May and Dr. Bromwell conversing on their way to the room where the kind doctor analyzed his patients, and thus took this moment to sneak into the room while they weren't looking, then walked over to the counter removed a container filled with wooden sticks, and replacing it with an identical one.
"And by that, I meant to utilize another one of Zola's creations. That being the Morlun virus, a toxin that was slow moving but one hundred percent lethal. Zola designed this to poison unsuspecting enemies. But with him out of the picture, I decided to use it to my benefit, and laced it with some of the medical sticks at the hospital."
Moments later, both May and Dr. Bromwell arrive in the room, and the agent makes it look like she was picking up a gauze pad. "Oh, excuse me, Doctor. Just needed this for another patient."
"Not a problem, nurse," Dr. Bromwell replied softly, and along with May, stepped aside so she can leave the room. Afterward, May walked over to and sat up on the table, while Dr. Bromwell puts on rubber gloves, then takes out one of the wooden sticks that the nurse left...sticks that, unbeknownst to the doctor, were laced with the Morlun virus. "All right May," said Dr. Bromwell as he turned around a walked over to her, with the virus infested stick in hand. "Open up and say 'ahh.'"
May complied, and after sticking out her tongue and letting out a big 'ahh,' Dr. Bromwell lightly pressed the tip of the stick down on her tongue to look down her throat, but at the same time, he unknowingly infected her with the deadly virus.
"And well, I'm sure you can piece together what happened next..."
Enraged upon learning that his aunt's illness is Norman's doing, the Web-Head leaped forward, grabbed Norman by his coat collar and slammed him up against the wall. "You demented, son of a-"
"Now, now," said Norman, choking on Spidey's grip and trying to loosen it slightly so he can speak. "Let's not blow this out of proportion. There IS an antidote for the virus, which I will be more than happy to give. But only to a new recruit for my team."
As the seething Spidey tightened his grip on Norman's collar and his angry breathing becoming more intense. It was bad enough what this man did to Harry, his own son, but now he blatantly put his Aunt May's life at risk. The woman who is not only innocent in all of this but was the very woman who raised him. And for Norman to put her life at risk like that in an attempt to force him to join his team proved just how much of a soulless, heartless monster he was. "You've done some crazy stuff before, Osborn," said the fuming Web-Head. "But this...this is unforgivable!" At one point, Spidey seemed to look down at the floor in shame once he realized this face. "Not to mention that you may be the only one who could save Aunt May. So...this is going to be the craziest answer that I could ever give..."
A confident Norman allowed an evil smile to appear as he awaited for Spidey's reply.
Sure enough, Spidey looked up at Norman and told him these stern words. "...no deal."
"I may be desperate to save my aunt's life," said Spidey. "But I also know that she'll never forgive me if I make any deals with people like you. And I don't care what it takes, not only will I find a way to save Aunt May, but also Harry and show the city, the world, what a sad, sick, sadistic freak you really are!"
Whether it was from business deals for Oscorp, or trying to build his criminal empire as the Green Goblin, Norman never took kindly to saying no, and this certainly was no exception. "Suit yourself," he said calmly with anger in his eyes, and little did Spidey realized, the business tycoon turned 'hero' of S.H.I.E.L.D. had secretly pulled out a small remote from out of his pocket, and when the Web-Head grabbed him, he pressed it. Moments later, the building's security, three men in green uniforms, had begun to start banging against the office door on the other side. As such, Norman allowed Spidey to turn to the door to see that he was in trouble, and once the Web-Slinger turned back to him, he gave him these chilling words. "Don't say I never offered you an easy way out."
Outside of Norman's office, the leader of the three guards, a Caucasian man in his mid-thirties, gives this stern warning."This is security! Open the door now!" He yelled, and upon getting no answer, he and his fellow began to try and force the door down but were having trouble due to the webbing on the other side.
Back in Norman's office, Spidey heard the banging and not knowing whether or not the guards were given the S.H.I.E.L.D. treatment, meaning that they were given weapons that could handle meta-humans, the Web-Head had no choice but to throw Norman back into his chair, then hops over him, out of the windows and swings away.
Finally, the security guards managed to burst through the webbing and knock down doors out of their hinges, all with large laser pistols drawn. The leader then noticed Norman in his chair, with his collar still ruffled due to Spidey picking him up, and walks over to him concerned. "Mr. Osborn, what happened?! Are you all right?"
"I'm fine, idiot," Norman barked back as he straightened his collar. "And as far as what happened, I've been visited by someone who I'd thought would accept a generous offer. But he chose to refuse, and make an enemy out of me!"