Chapter 5: Homecoming
Today was a day Harry Osborn never saw coming: his mother's funeral. He may have had a difficult childhood growing up with his father being so successful, but he lost his only parental figure, and he never thought he would be able to move on. If he didn't feel that lonely before, he sure did now.
At the burial site, Harry was standing over his mother's grave when Peter walked up to him.
"I'm so sorry, Harry. I can only imagine what you're going through."
"I'm sure you can, with your uncle and everything," Harry countered.
"Yeah, but this was your mom. I never knew my parents, so I can only sympathize with you."
"I know, but your uncle was like your father, wasn't he?" Harry asked.
Peter nodded. "Yeah. He was."
"What am I gonna do? Now, I'm stuck living with my dad again," Harry worried.
"You'll get through it, Harry. He loves you," Peter honestly assured.
Harry shook his head. "He loves Oscorp and rubbing his success in my face. He doesn't love me."
"But he's your dad. Of course he loves you."
"I just don't know what to do. My mom handled this stuff way better than I can. I always let my dad walk over me, and my mom would always stick for me."
"Now, you have to do it yourself. I know you can. And I'll always be here for you," Peter promised.
"Thanks, Pete," Harry said before hugging him.
"Gentlemen, you wanted to see me?" Norman started as he entered the Oscorp boardroom.
"Have a seat, Norman," senior vice-president Charles Standish said.
Norman sat down in his chair and prepared to hear what his board members wanted to say to him.
"Norman, after your failure with re-creating a better super-soldier serum, the board has decided to ask for your resignation unless you can successfully complete it. The issue is not the failure, but it is the fact that it is costing the company so much money. You will run it into the ground."
"Charles, you can't do this," Norman said as he stood up. "I own this company. I started it. You can't fire me!"
"But we can all quit, and you can run this company on your own with no one to help you or watch you succeed."
Norman glared at the man that he appointed so high to the board. This is what his life and career had come to: failure. He had to fix the serum, or else his life would be over, and he would have nothing left.
Norman was hard at work in his laboratory, trying his absolute best to fix the failed serum. As he was experimenting, he started to hear voices in his head.
"Did you think this was a coincidence?"
Norman shook his head in disbelief. That voice...it sounded just like his own.
"What?" Norman asked himself.
"Emily dying. Did you think this was a coincidence? You lose your son, and she suddenly dies?"
"I don't understand. You killed her?" Norman wondered.
"We killed her. Together."
"What are you talking about?"
"The super-soldier serum. It worked. You created me, us, something truly remarkable."
"You're crazy," Norman said.
"We are."
Norman couldn't help but believe what the voice was telling him. The serum had worked. What Norman had been experiencing was life-changing and felt amazing. He couldn't make any changes to it.
"You're right. It did work."
Harry and Liz were at the Moondance diner, just trying to relax.
"Sooo, Homecoming's in a week," Liz nervously pointed out. "Did we discuss the corsage and everything else yet?"
"I don't think I wanna go," Harry sighed.
Liz was barely upset. She couldn't blame the poor guy. He had just lost his mother.
"I understand," Liz told Harry.
Liz moved closer to Harry and started rubbing his back. "Hang in there, Harry."
"I'm trying," Harry said. "It's just so hard. The woman who raised me from birth, and now, she's, like, gone."
"My abuelo died when I was really young. It was the worst thing ever, but I had my family to help me through it. Since then, I've learned to be stronger."
Harry didn't respond as he was too busy burying his head in his hands.
"Whether we go to Homecoming or not," Liz started. "I'll completely understand. You do what you have to do."
Harry brought his head up and looked at her. "You know what? We'll go. I want to try and make the best of it."
"You're sure?"
"Absolutely. My mom wouldn't just want me staying at home and moping around. I gotta go and try to have fun."
Liz hugged Harry. "Good for you, Harry. I'm proud of you."
That wasn't something he heard too often, and it felt good to hear.
Harry was getting ready for Homecoming in his bedroom when his father walked in.
"I expect you home right after Homecoming. No parties or anything. You come straight here," Norman ordered.
"Yes, Father," Harry said resentfully.
"What's going on with you, Harry? You can barely be in the same room with me without getting snarky."
"Well, my mother just died. I'm sure that has something to do with it," Harry spat.
"It's more than that. I know you well enough."
"No, you don't. You never have. You pretend you know me so well, but it's all lies with you. Why do you even care when I'm home? You barely even notice that I'm there. And now that Mom's gone, it'll be even more quiet around here."
"Harry-" Norman started.
"I wish I wasn't stuck here with you. I should be with Aunt Martha or Peter or anyone else that cares about me. Not you," Harry growled before storming out.
"Follow him."
Norman shook his head. The voice was back in his head, and he couldn't get it out.
"What?"
"Follow him. Ruin his night."
"But I don't want to hurt him," Norman confessed.
"So don't. Go to that school, and scare the hell out of your son. You must convince him to stay here."
Homecoming was exactly what anyone would expect at a school dance. Bright lights, music, teenagers in fancy attire yelling and dancing everywhere. This was Peter's first time going to a school dance, and he also had a date, so no pressure at all.
Peter was wearing his uncle's old black suit from the 80s, a blue clip-on tie, and a blue boutonniere. Gwen was wearing a white dress, huge earrings, and a blue corsage. Harry was wearing a red suit, a red bowtie, and a red boutonniere. Liz was wearing a gold dress and a red corsage. Flash was wearing a black suit and green tie. The dance was taking place in the gymnasium, and it was already chaotic within the first ten minutes. Peter's group consisted of Gwen, Harry, Liz, Flash and a mix of nerds and popular kids.
"Alright, guys, let's do this!" Flash shouted as he and most of the people in the group ran into the mosh group.
Harry chuckled. "Liz and I both agreed we're not gonna get stuck in the mosh pit. Screw that."
"You remembered," Liz joked as she grabbed Harry's arm.
"So, Pete, I believe it's time for you to show me your moves," Gwen teased as she grabbed Peter's hand.
Butterflies formed in Peter's stomach, and Peter smiled. "Okay."
Peter and Gwen walked towards the dance floor, a little far away from the mosh pit, and they began dancing together. Harry and Liz were also dancing right near them.
"You ever dance before?!" Gwen yelled over the loud music.
"No way!" Peter shouted as he did what he could.
After a few minutes, a slow dance song hit the stage.
"ALRIGHT, EVERYBODY, MOST OF YOU GUYS CAME HERE WITH A SPECIAL LADY TONIGHT! NOW, SHOW THEM WHAT YOU GOT!" the DJ announced.
A majority of the attendees started to slow-dance with their dates.
"So, sh-shall we?" Peter stuttered.
Gwen laughed and placed Peter's hands around her waist. She put her own hands around Peter's neck, prompting the nerd to blush harder than before.
"Can't believe this is happening," Peter muttered.
Gwen's smile widened. "What was that?"
"I just can't even process that this is happening," Peter repeated louder.
"Well, life surprises you," Gwen chuckled.
"Oh, trust me. I would know," Peter genuinely responded with a smile.
Gwen and Peter's faces got closer to each other.
"Are you having fun?" Gwen asked.
"Yeah, definitely," Peter responded.
"So, Pete, I'm thinking, after this, would you wanna come over and maybe hang out?"
Before Peter could answer, all the hairs on his body started to tingle.
"EVERYONE, GET DOWN!" Peter shouted.
Peter grabbed Gwen's hand and pulled them onto the floor. The dancing teens obviously were unfazed by a nerd's warning, but a second later, an explosion hit the ceiling, and a majority of the students were thrown onto the ground. Everyone looked up to see a figure with green-and-purple armor, a demonic mask on and flying on a glider.
"Oh, no," Peter said.
The attendees and chaperones started screaming and fleeing the scene, and before Gwen could get back up, Peter was gone.
"Peter?!" Gwen yelled in worry.
Without any other choice, Gwen ran out of the gym. Harry and Liz were also making their way out, only for a bomb to fly towards the students. Fortunately, a web grabbed it and swung it back towards the intruder, although he simply turned his head to dodge it.
"Well, look who was upset over not getting a date!" Spider-Man joked as he swung onto the gym.
The intruder menacingly laughed as the bomb exploded behind him.
"Well, that was creepy," Spider-Man commented.
The figure flew right towards Spider-Man, who jumped right over him and shot a web at the glider, yanking it and forcing the intruder to jump onto the ground, pulling Spider-Man with him.
"Anyone ever give you a name? Ghoulish Goblin or something like that?"
"I'll squash you, you little bug!" the Goblin roared.
Spider-Man and the Goblin charged at each other, only for Goblin to throw Spider-Man through the bleachers. Spider-Man jumped out and shot webs at Goblin's legs. Spider-Man then swung Goblin around the gym and right onto the ground. Spider-Man dove in for a punch, only for Goblin to jump out of the way. Spider-Man deflected most of Goblin's punches, but Goblin managed to kick Spider-Man across the face and tackle him to the ground. Goblin started relentlessly pummeling Spider-Man's face.
"Why, you little shit! I'll rip all your intestines out!" Goblin yelled.
"Not cool, dude," Spider-Man groaned as he tried to dodge most of the punches.
Before Goblin could throw another punch, a foldable chair hit him in the back of the head. Goblin looked to see someone holding it.
"Leave him alone, shithead!" Flash declared, holding the chair in defense.
Goblin lunged at Flash, but Spider-Man grabbed him from behind and threw him aside.
"Thanks, kid," Spider-Man thanked.
"Anytime, Spidey! Go get him!" Flash replied.
Goblin summoned his glider and jumped onto it. He flew right at Spider-Man, who grabbed onto him. They flew out of the hole in the ceiling into the skies of New York.
Thanks for reading. Hope you enjoyed the chapter. Reviews are greatly appreciated. Next chapter: Spider-Man and Green Goblin's first fight.
