SPIDER-MAN: ALL ALONE (CHAPTER 7)
OSCORP EXPO, MIDTOWN MUESUEM…
Oscorp Expo was a once-in a life time event hosted by the existing Osborn family. The tradition continued to blossom under Norman's reign that not even people like Tony Stark would dare to organise such an event this regularly.
The space in Midtown Museum had one area cleared up for the weekly event and eager visitors coming in to witness the latest and chosen line of innovations the company has to offer for the public to see. It was a chance to see what the future holds.
Peter and Curt walked into the vicinity with intrigue as they began to explore what was featured. They also waited for Gwen to arrive to which she did as promised.
"This is Miss Stacy here, I presume." Curt said to Peter as Gwen approached the two near the exhibit entrance.
"Yep, that's her." Peter confirmed.
"Whew, thank god I got past security." Gwen said brushing her hoodie before seeing Curt for the first time.
"Almost last minute like Mr. Parker himself." Curt noted, "Pleasure to meet you. Dr. Curtis Connors."
"Gwendolyn Stacy, sir. Sorry to tell you that I'm not studying science anymore." Gwen said in return and also noting the prosthetic arm on Curt.
"Nonsense. You're a gifted individual, Peter has played some of your drum music during study sessions in my lab." Curt stated.
"Oh, he did?" Gwen asked before looking at Peter who smiled sheepishly.
"Well, shall we all marvel at the things here today?" Curt asked.
Without wasting time, the three went to their first exhibition which was the prominently advertised Oscorp armoured suit. The source of inspiration for Peter's idea on making his Spider suit as well as an idea which may have been stolen by villains such as Shocker and Kangaroo.
"That's not really new there." Gwen commented looking at the suit stands.
"Yeah, just like how there's a new iPhone model from Apple. But at least there's more elaboration on its uses for stuff like agriculture and mining. And not total warfare." Peter added looking at the panels describing the suits.
"There will be a couple of things from Oscorp that are used in war. Let's focus on tools used to promote wellbeing and welfare." Curt said.
This prompted the three to skip exhibitions such as the drone and robotics exhibit which are used in military defence. As soon as they passed the area, a familiar face came out to greet Peter.
"Well, if it isn't Parker. Ha, ha!" John said walking up to greet him with open arms.
"Mr. Jameson?" Peter said in surprise prompting a bewildered look from Curt and a poker face from Gwen.
"Yep. It's me but don't tell anyone else here." John advised with a whisper at first, "Just toured that robotics exhibition and these robot designs are killer. Who would have imagined? And if they're done, imagine the good they could bring for our city and of course, the world."
John then acknowledged Peter's companions with a wave to which both Curt and Gwen awkwardly smiled to.
"You're here with uh…Your girlfriend and…" John said.
"Teacher. I'm taking my student on an educational trip." Curt intervened.
"Oh, okay. Well, nice catching up. I got photos to take and uh… I want to see the big man soon. So, goodbye." John said before walking away.
"That's my former boss." Peter replied with a sigh as he watched John go into the robotics exhibition.
"I know. It's just weird for me to see J. Jonah Jameson in the blue like that though." Curt commented.
As the trio surveyed further, they spotted a podium stage overseeing all the exhibits that are featured. Pointed to the stage was a projector for a PowerPoint keynote screen titled, 'Oscorp: Making Progress'. After people have looked through the exhibitions, they would turn their attention to the podium where an address by Norman was expected.
"Hey Peter." Curt suddenly stated, "I'm uh… Going to snoop around to see if there is a medical exhibition around here. Do you want to come or would you like to wait for that speech coming soon?"
"Um…I guess I'll wait for the speech. It's for our research project, right?" Peter asked.
"Correct. Well, I'm sure this speech is going to be put online anyway." Curt said before nodding his head and leaving Peter and Gwen to themselves.
"What's going on with him?" Gwen asked with suspicion.
"Dr. Connors is more interested in finding things to enhance his studies instead of marvel." Peter replied, "I want to know what Mr. Osborn has been up to on the other hand."
"Uh-huh…" Gwen answered back.
After crowds gathered and time neared, the podium stage cleared as Donna walked up to prepare the welcome speech. The guards near the stage watched everyone else in the audience to ensure it was a successful event.
"Welcome, it's a pleasure to see such a supportive crowd here at Oscorp Expo where we continue to innovate and change the world around us for the better. We are highly excited to talk about some of latest technologies that we have developed or made tremendous progress on." Donna happily told the crowd.
The crowd clapped with reporters including John getting ready to get a scoop on what was said at the event.
"And now for the man of the hour and our CEO, please welcome Mr. Norman Osborn!" Donna introduced.
The crowds clapped even harder when the spotlight headed towards Norman himself as he walked onto the stage looking polished as possible. When Peter saw Norman come in, he still looked largely the same from what he remembered. Gwen was more indifferent since she herself never quite interacted with the Osborn family as much as Peter has.
"I wonder where your friend, Harry is?" Gwen asked.
Hearing that question, Peter also pondered on where his former friend is and if there was any chance to know then maybe this is it. As Peter began to think, a loud voice interrupted.
"Osborn, you're a war criminal!" A random man in the crowd interrupted, "Thousands of civilians died from weapons branded by your company in Symkaria! You're a grim reaper and a profiter of suffering. You…"
Afterwards, two security guards came in to silence and drag the man away as Norman watched with a blank expression. Peter knew there was controversy with Norman but somehow Norman would find a way to maintain his integrity.
"Uh… It's great to see a wide range of people in this city today. I, myself am humbled." Norman said jokingly which caused a number of people to laugh with him, "Thank you for your attendance."
Peter watched with mesmerisation as Norman's charisma oozed into every single individual. While Gwen stood there waiting for something to go wrong.
"This Expo is all about highlighting the little things of function that influence our daily lives." Norman explained, "While I was away, I kept in touch with my fellow team here in New York on the development of these projects and I only returned now to see their fruition."
The PowerPoint presentation on the screen then changed to a slide detailing the Living Brain, the network system which Oscorp uses. The slide screen showcased a mascot green robot character waving behind a green interconnected Earth globe.
"Allow me to introduce to you all the newest and improved Living Brain system developed and programmed exclusively here at Oscorp. Supported by an integrative 6G network and connecting our company all at once to deliver the best internet and computer services to suit our daily needs and obligations to our customers." Norman proudly showed off.
On the screen were key points listed which include the stated faster internet connectivity; rapid data processing; larger RAM and stronger encryption. All of which were impressive and easily absorbed the tech-savy group of people.
"Our mascot, Broad; Resilient; Accelerated and Integrated Network (BRAIN) is proud of these updates and those blessed with the Oscorp Mobile Network will experience new digital communication like never before." Norman said, "Speaking of which, here's the next big deal."
The next slide presented a green orb being concealed in a reactor of sorts.
"Ladies and gentleman, I'd like to be honest here. While we are pioneering the success for renewable and clean energies. I would also like to stress to advocates that the road to success is a difficult one marred by sufficiency and costs. Today at Oscorp, we will limit that worry by introducing 'Greenwave', an energy source that fell from the cosmos of space and landed here at Earth." Norman explained.
Norman then checked to see if he still has the attention of his onlookers to which he had succeeded in.
"Yes, we trademarked its name. This energy came from the meteor fall near the coast lines of Alaska a couple of years ago. And this was a strange moment for mankind because we could not decipher the chemical composition of this energy. But we do know that it is relatively harmless despite its mysterious properties and that scientists can infinitely replicate this energy." Norman went on, "Also, it's very ethical for usage…"
As the conversation went on, Gwen found herself yawning and looked at Peter who was still interested. She then shook Peter's arm.
"Do we have to stand here and listen?" Gwen asked.
"Uh, if you want to go then sure… I still want to-." Peter stated before being interrupted by a loud crash.
Both Peter and Gwen's Spidey-sense lit up before it turned out that one of the robotics had gone haywire and is randomly causing damage to its surrounding area causing people to panic and run.
The robot was a humanoid bipedal with working arms and legs. The face had a singular camera lens which indicated someone could be watching from behind. It was surprisingly athletic as opposed to being clunky like a normal robot would.
"Time to-." Peter stated before realising Gwen had already gone.
He then noticed Gwen as Spider-Woman swoop in quite fast to stop the robot from causing any further havoc before being knocked aside by one of its swift arms. The robot arms soon started twirling its arms viciously as it lost control. With Spider-Woman on the scene, John made his public remark known.
"I knew this event would be screwed up!" John complained as he searched his pocket for his phone.
As Peter stood amongst the panicked crowd, he realised that he prepared little when it came to his Spider gear. Only his web shooters were present with him and that was for fast travel if he needed it.
"Of course, why did I retire?" Peter sighed as he watched Gwen fight back.
As the robot continued its destruction, Gwen swung around grabbed a light pole from a nearby display of another robot and smacked the robot hard causing it to flinch a little. Nevertheless, the robot kept going and this time focused its hostility at Gwen.
The left hand of the robot turned into a razor making the situation more dangerous and the right into a drill. Peter could only watch until he thought of an idea. But before he could pass the idea, security guards tried to grab him and force him to evacuate.
As the robot tried to hurt Gwen, she then grabbed both arms before shoving the drill arm back into the robot creating a gaping hole on its metal hide. Whilst restraining the razor arm, she then shoved the drill arm deeper causing the robot to spark and lose power.
As this happened, the robot slowly shut down before landing with a thud face first. The Expo had been spared from further damage as Gwen took her breath from stopping the robot. Whilst the rest of the staff and citizens had evacuated, Norman had secretly watched the action and was impressed with what he saw and smiled with interest at Spider-Woman.
MIDTOWN MUSEUM MALE BATHROOM…
As the chaos had happened, a man wearing a Oscorp tech support uniform hid inside one stool with his phone on talking to Adrian himself.
"You hear that? One chip removal and we can make the whole thing go wild." The man stated.
"Now we have an entry point." Adrian replied through voice.
BROADWAY, MANHATTAN…
Baffled by the onset of today's events, Curt walked faster than Peter and Gwen as they passed through the street together.
"Well, that was quite eventful…" Curt said, "Oscorp sure seems to have more than its bargained."
"What's going to happen after this I wonder? A lawsuit against Oscorp?" Gwen asked.
"Trust me, I've seen things at Oscorp that don't always work as planned and they still get away with it." Peter said, "They should have brought in a simple replica of the robot instead of the real deal."
"Agreed." Gwen said without raising suspicion.
"I guess that summarises the day." Curt said as he stopped, "Say, why don't we go about our separate ways now? Peter, we'll catch up tomorrow on what we learnt."
"You didn't think it was a wasted day, was it? Dr. Connors?" Peter asked.
"I wouldn't say that but I have some things to ponder about for sure." Curt replied.
With one look, he then decided to take his leave.
"Nice to know you, Ms. Stacy. And goodbye to you, Mr. Parker." Curt said as he left hurriedly.
Leaving the two alone again, Peter decided to share some thoughts.
"I should've had things ready. Can't believe I let you fight that thing alone in the midst of almost being butchered." Peter complained.
"You're beating yourself over the head again. You're keeping a promise, aren't you? Besides, the low profile of 'you' not being around is beneficial for the bad guys." Gwen stated.
"What do you mean? Does one hero not being there against one villain really change much?" Peter asked.
"I mean think of everything that was last thrown at you. You had a long list of rogues in the past. I'm doing well against them and I'm being cautious which is why I was prepared for such an event." Gwen replied.
"That's chance right there. You see, that bird guy who we keep talking about didn't come at all." Peter said, "Who knows what's planned next?"
"Are you having second thoughts about this normal life?" Gwen turned around and asked.
After asking the question, Peter stood in silence to think.
BEDFORD APARTMENTS…
Peter came back tired after what was one big day. It was clear that going to Oscorp Expo was huge but the robot incident was the cherry on top. Turning on the news on his apartment television, he was hit with the breaking news of the Oscorp Expo going awry.
"It's alright. No one was killed, some just had scratches." Norman assured on television, "Thanks to that… uh… 'Spider-Woman'? We have the situation under control now."
"Do you?" Peter rhetorically asked before switching off.
He then walked up to his window to watch the streets down below. Again, the image of his red, black and blue alter ego appeared from his head. The temptation was calling and getting stronger.
The time was unclear on if it was okay for him to be back on the scene and what sort of reaction will the public have if they see him again. More importantly, he thought that leaving Gwen by herself was a mistake and that there was no way she could handle everything by herself. She needs him as much as he needed her.
Turning away from the window, his consciousness still would not rest. Pulling a box of synthetic web cartridges hidden underneath his sofa, he reloaded the web shooters that were with him. The next thing he would need is his suit.
TO BE CONTINUED…