Disclaimer: So, I recently had the (clears throat) pleasure of seeing Transformers: Age of Extinction. I won't spoil the details but I'll give Michael Bay credit since he just doesn't give a crap about what the critics say. I've seen worst more movies from much, MUCH worse directors. Uwe Boll comes to mind.

Oddly enough, I kind of want to do another Transformers story. The difference; I can do a story better Bay does a movie and Boll does… ANYTHING! I'm going to shut up now and get to the chapter.

Chapter XII

It was the afternoon and at Norman Osborn's penthouse, preparations were underway for the charity party that Norman had announced a day ago and which was set to take place that evening. The charity in question was for Autism Speaks, an advocacy organization that sponsored autism research, awareness and outreach. Most saw it a surprising turn from Norman Osborn, who made his living as a noted industrialist and weapon magnate. Usually, it was Wilson Fisk who was the philanthropist in Manhattan. Sometime however, it was someone who far more globally known such as Tony Stark, who was a self-style genius, billionaire and playboy to go along with the philanthropist role. That, and Tony Stark was also widely known as Iron Man of the Avengers.

Norman never liked or respected Tony Stark or Stark Enterprises as a whole, citing that Stark was something of an egotist – which was true to an extent. Public opinion was that Tony Stark and his Iron Man persona, along with the rest of the Avengers, were far more popular than Norman. This stuck in Norman's craw enough for him to host this charity party for an organization for which he care so little. But if hosting this event gave him good publicity, maybe seven show that he was more than just a genius that designed weapons for the military, than Norman would be all the better for it.

But the idea of hosting the event didn't sit well with Harry, who had been concerned for his dad since hearing of Adrian Toomes' escape from Riker's Island. That was the primary reason for which Harry came to the penthouse. He was already sure that Norman had to have heard about it by now, but he wasn't surprised that Norman most likely didn't give a damn. At least Norman's egotism didn't translate to Harry when he was born… so far as Harry knew. The need to consume alcohol and Schnapps however – that did translate to Harry.

When he arrived in the living room, Harry was quick to note that most if not all the heaviest furniture had been moved aside. The numerous chairs, sofa and even the liquor table by the fireplace were taken out of the way to make room for the guest that would no doubt flood the room. Tables with white linen sheets lined the walls and the bookcase while, unsurprisingly to Harry, the mask collection remained untouched. Norman would've likely beat whoever had laid a finger on his collection to within an inch of their life. Looking around the room which was occupied by a handful of servants, Harry saw no trace of his father. He did notice Hendry speaking to a young woman who was most likely one of the servants organizing the tables and approached the family butler.

"Hendry," Harry called out and drew Hendry's attention. "Have you seen my father around?"

"Yes, Harry. You're father's is in his office at the moment, but he requested not to be disturbed." Hendry explained, and Harry walked off despite Hendry's warning.

Norman Osborn requested not to be disturbed; that hardly sounded surprising as Norman never liked being disturbed by anybody. That included Harry. Ignoring Hendry's feeble pleas to stop, Harry headed to Norman's office. What he had to see his father about was important, and Harry didn't care if he didn't like it. At the door to Norman's office, Harry considered knocking on it but decided against it. Norman would've bellowed from the other side that he wasn't to be disturbed. Again, Harry didn't care as he opened the door and walked into the office unannounced.

Sure enough, there was Norman at his desk working on his personal laptop computer and working diligently. He didn't even offer a passing glance at Harry, not that Harry expected one. Norman's work always came before his own son, so Harry had no reason to expect a warm welcome. He simply stood at the front of the office near the closed door, waiting for his dad to acknowledge his presence in the room. For the next 5 to 6 minutes, Norman barely budged from his seat. The only parts of his body that were moving were his fingers on the laptop. Harry huffed out a snort, silent breath as he waited, had his hands in his pockets and waited more.

"If you something you want to say, you might as well get it out now. And be quick about it."

Harry wasn't surprised at his father's dismissive reply… or his lack of interest overall. "Okay. I think this charity event is a bad idea."

"You think I'm wasting my time and money donating to Autism Speaks?" Norman asked without looking up at Harry.

"No. I think this is a surprisingly noble move from you all of people," Harry stated, partly in truth and partly out of veiled sarcasm. "I also think it's too big a risk to your wellbeing."

Norman stopped working and finally looked up at Harry. "You're talking about Toomes, aren't you? Obviously, I'm not all that worried."

"You should be. Dad, he almost killed you once. He escaped from Riker's two nights ago and no one heard anything about him since. If Toomes were to get to you again…"

"He won't, and don't you dare assume that I'm not ready from something like this," Norman claimed and rose up from his chair. "I've had the latest, long-range detection systems installed onto the room of this house. If Toomes were to so much as flutter a feather within half a block of the sensors, the building will be locked down and he won't get inside, which means he won't get to me."

Harry wasn't sure if his dad was over-confident, arrogant or delusional, but he was certain that this was typical Norman Osborn. "How do you even know it'll stop him, Dad? This is the Vulture we're talking about. We don't even know he broke out of Riker's to begin with."

"My vote is for incompetent officers within Riker's. It doesn't matter; even if Toomes does come back in full Vulture-mode, my security system will blow him out of the sky," The talk of Toomes ended before Norman focused on Harry, telling him, "To be honest, Harry, I don't know why you even care about what happens to me."

Harry was flabbergasted but hardly surprised. "Am I not supposed to give a damn," he asked, while Norman huffed and sauntered around. "Just because you hardly ever gave me the time of day growing up doesn't mean I don't care about what happens to you. Although personally, part of me always thought that you were a shitty father anyway."

Something snapped inside of Norman. He pushed his rolling chair into the desk, resulting in a loud crack and the contents toppling from the desktop. Within a matter of second, Norman was on Harry faster than a land-to-air missile. Harry was taken aback by his father's sudden aggressiveness, and even more so when Norman grabbed him and threw into the wall behind. Norman grasped a portion of Harry's shirt to hold him to the wall and keep him from escaping. Harry looked in his father's eyes and saw – something else entirely.

"You listen to me real good, you ungrateful little shit," he snarled like a rabid animal. "You wouldn't be here if it wasn't for me. I gave you everything you could ever want in life. Money. Power. Recognition. Intelligence. And you've done with it was piss it all away on drugs, alcohol and cheap whores. I have to live knowing that when I die, you will inherit everything my company and everything in it, so you'd do well to show some gratitude to the man who SACRIFICED EVERYTHING FOR YOU."

With the last words, Norman pushed Harry so hard into the wall that Harry thought he'd go right through it. Harry was so shocked that he just couldn't think straight when he looked his father in the eyes, but seeing only a manic stranger. Norman was breathing heavily as if he was the verge of erupting much like Mount Vesuvius over Pompeii. Harry didn't think Mount Vesuvius had anything on his father. The moments that were passing were tense and uncomfortable before Norman started to calm down. He looked at his hands; they were shaking. He looked at Harry and saw the shock on his face, and Norman realized what he had done and back away equally shocked.

"Harry, I…," he stammered and struggled on his words. "…I'm sorry. I don't know what…"

There was a light tap on the other side of the door before it opened and Hendry appeared. "Is everything okay, Mr. Osborn?"

"We're fine, Hendry. Harry was just leaving," Norman said to cover up the incident while Harry was speechless. Looking to his son, Norman said, "I'll see you later tonight, Harry. Bring some company."

Harry said nothing but regretted his earlier words to his father before leaving him alone in the office. Norman seemed to wander back to his desk and fell back in the chair. He'd never in his life snapped at his son like that before no matter how angry he'd gotten in the past. And he'd been angry… a lot. In the past, it wasn't enough to want to physical rip his own flesh and blood apart. It weighed on Norman just how close he came to harming Harry before he realized that it wasn't exactly him. It was the other; that creature that Norman had buried away inside his own psyche just itching to get free. Then Norman heard the voice…

"You're taking your eye off the ball."

Norman shut his eyes tightly and held his hands to his head trying to dull the voice. "You're not real. Get out of my head."

The voice replied, "Make me."

Norman struggled more to dull the voice in his psyche until he didn't hear it anymore. "Thank God…" he whispered.

But the voice in his head was still there, silent and still. If it had spoken again, it would've said, "You wish…"

The hours seemed to rush by before it was the evening just around the 8PM mark, and Peter had just arrived at the Autism Speaks charity party with Mary Jane beside him. Both of them came dressed for the occasion but in sharp contrast to the other. Peter wore his very best dress shirt and a dark blue jacket and jeans, all of them pressed and ironed to look his Sunday church best. It was the best he could afford on his salary and he knew Jonah would've paid him in peanuts and insults afterwards. Peter also had his camera slung around his neck and hanging down his chest, fully loaded and ready for the night ahead.

Conversely, Mary Jane was dressed as if she was literally on a date. She was dress in a black, formfitting dress that ran down to the knees with transparent sleeves for the arms. Her hair was combed back and she sported eyeliner, blush and lipstick. If she was attempting to become the life the party, she was off to a great. For added effect, MJ had her arms wrapped around Peter's left arm as if he was her date. It almost reminded her of their first blind date, the say day the Peter had, in MJ's word, hit the jackpot.

The penthouse was filled with random people from every walk of life within New York that could be imagined. Businessmen and women from various companies mingled, government officials discuss many random issues and even Jean DeWolff was present for the evening. Peter also noticed Wilson Fisk among them. He was never that hard to spot anyway. Mary Jane spent much her time looking as glamorous as her body would allow without looking too much like a prostitute from the East Side. The sounds of a piano playing an instrumental rendition of Frank Sinatra's Fly Me to the Moon would've made Mary Jane venture to the piano in the corner and break into singing the lyrics. She didn't do that if only to spare Peter the embarrassment.

"Wow, Norman Osborn spares no cost with these social gatherings." she said to Peter.

"This puts our high school graduation to shame." Peter replied.

"Hard to believe this a charity event for Autism Speaks. I didn't Mr. Osborn had it in him." MJ stated.

If you only knew, Peter thought.

"Parker," Jonah called out to Peter, having been there long before Peter arrived. "You're five minutes behind showing up. What took you so long?"

"We got held up." Peter answered.

Jonah stared at Peter unconvinced. "That's the best you've got? And, I told you to bring a date, not a supermodel."

"Nice to see you too, Jonah." MJ replied.

Jonah narrowed his eyes at Mary Jane before he addressed Peter again. "Well, you're here now so I can't fire you. Osborn hasn't arrived yet, so just mingle and take photos."

As Jonah returned the gathering while MJ told Peter, "Well, Tiger, I'll leave you to your job so you don't get fired. As for me, I'm going to go mingle."

Peter was already worried and told MJ as she was walking off, "Please don't embarrass me, Mary Jane."

MJ smiled and replied, "Tiger, it's me."

That's what worries me, Peter thought before he set out to work. This was going to be a long night.

Security Guard Lee had worked for Norman Osborn as a security guard for a little over 10 years, having been hired after Osborn's previous security guard was let go. But Lee was old and nearing retirement, meaning Osborn would've had to hire a new, young gun to take the veteran's place. Hopefully sooner than later. Lee was starting to doze off, an obvious side effect of his advanced age, when he supposed to watch the goings on in and around the penthouse. The long-range sensors were the priority, but Lee was halfway to falling completely asleep when a hand startled him awake. He looked up at a young man of his early to mid 30's, slightly dark-skinned with short blonde hair and were the same uniform as him. His name tag read, Ditko.

"You look tired, Lee. Go take a load off, I keep an eye on things here." Ditko said in a calm, peaceful way.

"You sure, kid? There's a lot happening out there and I don't want you to get too overwhelmed." Lee exclaimed.

"I've got it covered. Take a hike."

Lee decided not to argue and left the security room to Ditko. As soon as Lee was gone, Ditko sat at the control and started working…

Peter was hard at work taking photo after photo of numerous officials and business associates of Norman Osborn, who only now just appeared among the crowded room. Peter was quick to snap a photo of Norman with Jean DeWolff before returning to the rest of the riff raff. He looked back briefly to find Mary Jane mingling with a random guest, and so far, she appeared well-behaved. At least he didn't have to worry about her making him look foolish. Jonah otherwise spent much of the party goading Peter to take photos of him with the Mayor of New York, a Congressman, and a foreign representative from the United Nations building.

After that, Jonah had Peter a photo of him with Wilson Fisk. As far as Jonah was concerned, Fisk was another upstanding philanthropist. But Peter knew better even as just walked off and he took one more picture of Fisk. Next was a picture of Jonah with Martin Li, another philanthropist who was originally a Chinese immigrant who owned and operated the F.E.A.S.T. Project in which Aunt May volunteered now and then. Peter admittedly knew very little else about Li outside of his philanthropy, so he focused and grabbing a photo and moving.

Then Peter suddenly stopped in his tracks. Standing across the room from him was Gwen. His heart skipped a few beats as if it was about to burst right out of his chest. Gwen was standing right there in front of him, mingling with the guests. She looked stunning in a full-length blue gown and with her hair tied back along with eyeliner and lipstick. She also had a couple varying pieces of jewelry that would otherwise be utterly expensive. Peter was even remotely concern with how Gwen could afford all that; he needed to see her. Gwen saw him first, equally shocked that he'd actually be there at the event now. She quickly determined that Peter was there to work because of his camera. That didn't stop Peter from approaching her.

"Gwen, you're here. I honestly wasn't expecting you to show up." he said.

Gwen didn't know how to react when she replied, "I was surprised that you were here, Peter. But you have your camera, so I guess that means you're working."

"Yeah, society assignment for the Daily Bugle; anything to keep Jonah from firing me," Peter joked to lighten the mood. It worked when Gwen smiled. "I didn't think this was your kind of scene."

"It's not. I was invited to come tonight. You know; jewels are a girl's best friend." Gwen laughed to further ease the tension.

"You were invited?" Peter asked, but right before he could find out more…

"Gwen…" Appearing from the sea of guest was Harry Osborn of all people. And then he saw Peter with a dumbfounded stare. "Peter! What are you doing here?"

Peter didn't realize that his mouth was agape. "I'm… I'm doing a piece for the Bugle. What are you doing here?"

Harry batted his eyes to one side and replied, "I'm just here to keep up appearance. I kind of asked Gwen if she joined for tonight."

Peter's eyed widened in surprised. "Really?!"

Mary Jane returned to Peter right at the worst possible time and met Gwen and Harry. "Hey, Gwen. Fancy seeing you here."

"Hey, MJ."

"Harry, you clean up nicely. I'm impressed."

"So do you, MJ. So, I'm guessing you were invited to this event." Harry said.

"Well, Tiger here needed a date, so I decided to fill the spot for him. I didn't want him to get all lonely." MJ clarified, and Peter was mortified.

Gwen's eyed narrowed on both of them. "Peter asked you?"

"Yep, and wild guess here; Harry asked you."

"Yes!" Gwen confirmed, and now Harry was as mortified as Peter.

Then there was the silence between the four of them until Mary Jane quipped, "Well, this is awkward."

Ditko finished his work. The monitors showed the long-range sensor shutting down. Ditko spoke into a communicator, "Toomes, the sensors are offline. You may begin your approach."

"Well done, Chameleon. I'll make sure you get your cut once I have Osborn's head."

"See that you do, Toomes. I'll be making my way to the penthouse soon to watch the fun. Chameleon, out."

Vulture was perched atop a tall building several blocks away from Osborn's home in full gear. His plan of attack was sound and working to fruition so far; Chameleon had infiltrated the building and shut down the security system as planned. That would open the door for Vulture to swoop in and confront Norman Osborn. Then he'd peel the flesh from his bones like his aerial namesake. It'd be sheer enjoyment for Vulture to see the fear in Norman's eyes just before just before he tore them out. Vulture would've done it sooner had Spider-Man not interfered. And, if Spider-Man were to get involved again, Vulture had no intention of holding back.

The time to for takeoff was counting down, so Vulture stood up straight and tall and looked out across the busy Manhattan streets. There was a fair wind across his bald hear, perfect to amplify his rate of flight. Vulture spread his wings to either side. They were both a thing of beauty and an example of Vulture's twisted genius, something of which Norman Osborn tried to rob him. Vulture was going to pay Osborn back in kind. He took a mighty leap from the edge and dove straight down toward the street. Pulling his wings taut, Vulture seemed to glide directly over the street and the onlookers below. Children pointed with misplaced awe while their parents shield from the monster they Vulture to be. Patrol Officers called it in to their designated dispatch centers, but Vulture wasn't concerned. They couldn't stop him anymore that they could the wind.

Let them stare in awe. They're nothing to me. With one swift flap of his wings, Vulture rose up toward the sky and flew on toward Osborn's home. Get ready, Osborn… I'm coming for you.

Author's note: I wish that Writer's Block was an actually human being so I could hunt it down and kill it. That being said, I'm somewhat pleased with how this chapter came to set the eventual Spider-Man/Vulture face off. Sure, plus there's that awkward moment between Peter and Mary Jane opposite Gwen and Harry. Admit it; you knew it was coming.

Before that, there was that very tense father/son moment that furthers Norman's eventual relapse into Goblin-mode.

There are also a few cameos in there along with Fisk and DeWolff; Martin Li stands out to make his first appearance and his backs story is alluded to, albeit briefly. Speaking of cameos, the characters of Lee and Ditko are references to Spider-Man creators Stan Lee and Steve Ditko. I wanted to throw in a Tony Stark cameo but opted against it. Still…

So that's it for this chapter. I'd appreciate some much welcome feedback, be it good or bad or anything resembling a typical Michael Bay film. Ha, Ha, Ha, Ha!

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