SPIDER-MAN: ALL ALONE (CHAPTER 10)
PARKER RESIDENCE…
May opened up the door and to her own surprise, Norman Osborn stood in front of the house smiling as he waited for the moment to see the Parkers again after quite a while. Peter's eyes widened at the sight of him at their door whilst May had her jaw down.
"Ah, Mrs. Parker and… Peter himself." Norman chuckled, "Good morning."
Norman was dressed in a rather plain casual outfit fit consisting of a purple hoodie as well as his expensive blue jeans in contrast to his business attire. He was undoubtedly dressed to avoid as much public eye as possible.
"My goodness, Norman." May exclaimed, "What a surprise to see you after four or five years."
"Yes, it has been long but not too long since I sent my congratulations to your nephew for graduating high school." Norman said hugging May in response and kissing both her cheeks.
"Mr. Osborn…" Peter said approaching.
"Look at you." Norman grinned, "Already look like you're ready for the big world."
"Had breakfast yet? Peter and I might be preparing something that is bigger for either of us to handle." May asked allowing Norman to enter slowly.
"Oh, you don't need worry about food for me. I have a butler; chef and everything for that." Norman said, "I am looking to have a warm meeting after years with familiar friends. After all, even though I wasn't born here, I consider New York to be my home."
Peter was suspicious about Norman's unexpected visit but did not sense any danger. In fact, it seemed like Norman just wanted to see them after years of absence. May led Norman to the dining table to be seated whilst Peter went to check on the poached eggs on the stove.
"It seems like the same house from what I remember." Norman said observing his environment before noticing King prowling around the kitchen, "Oh, you have a pet in the house now."
"It was from a friend of Peter's." May explained to Norman whilst Peter concentrated on finishing up the cooking.
"Friend." Norman murmured as he stayed seated as the cat walked away.
"Shall I get you something to drink at least?" May asked, "Anyway, may I ask about your family? Especially your son?"
Norman coughed in response before he could answer.
"Excuse me, uh… Yeah, I'll just have a glass of water if that's okay." Norman replied, "Harry's…Uh… Looking to be a fine man. He's overseas in Berlin studying to be a mechanical engineer. If it weren't for Peter… I might say he wouldn't be inspired to take up the gig."
"Mechanical engineering?" Peter questioned bringing the poached eggs and avocado on toast forward to the table, "That's weird… I'd tried contacting Harry but he hasn't spoken a word to me weeks after leaving high school."
"Harry is aiming for dedication besides he's probably too attached to his new German friends. Sorry to say that, son." Norman said to Peter, "You…Uh…In a job at the moment?"
"Me?" Peter replied, "Oh no… I'm not working. I just quit my part-time gig at the Daily Bugle doing photography. I'm studying. Studying with Dr. Curt Connors on a biomechanics project that hopefully will assist millions of disabled lives."
"Not quite there yet, I see. But not to fear… There's always a place I can find for you at Oscorp, if you're interested." Norman said back.
"Everything going okay at the company?" May asked as she finished pouring a glass for Norman.
"Ugh, the company." Norman scoffed, "It's baggage but the company will always be mine. We have a rough deal with things like the incident at Oscorp Expo; network hacking and our concern for outside parties looking to pirate and scavenge our work. Sometimes, I just don't feel like things are in control."
Both Peter and May can note the distress on Norman being the one running such a large company. After all, perhaps seeing the Parkers was a way for Norman to break away from his own company's staff and clients.
"But…With Spider-Woman and now the recent return of Spider-Man, I have confidence. I am firmly convinced that the bird-man scavenger called Vulture or whatever can be taken down." Norman said, "If I ever see eye with them, I want them to know that my company will throw full-time support to stopping these criminals who think they are above all."
"Quite a shock with that return especially since the fight between those three happened so close to home here at Queens." May replied as she watched Norman drink his water.
Peter stayed silent as the conversation on Spider-Man went on until Norman asked him a question.
"Were you by any chance at the Expo, son?" Norman asked.
"I was." Peter nodded, "I saw the events through my own eyes."
"I just remembered; you mentioned your role as a photographer. You helped the Bugle print out pictures and a lot of them were Spider-Man. So… I was wondering if you could share some of the pictures of him if you still have them." Norman said, "You see, I think I can help."
Peter was hesitant on the question but decided to say something that was at least assuring.
"I'll see what I can give." Peter said while nodding.
After Norman took another sip of water for a couple of minutes, he suddenly got up from his chair.
"I'm sorry but as the head of a gigantic company, it's no secret that I have a lot of work to do. I have board meetings; department visits and maybe a meeting with the city government office. I therefore have to say that I must take my leave soon." Norman explained.
"Oh, so soon? But I feel like we can sit and talk more. Norman, we haven't seen you for a quite a while after all." May said.
"Sorry to do this, Mrs. Parker. But I will say perhaps I can arrange for dinner or a trip, if that's of any comfort." Norman insisted, "And for Peter, if you are looking for work or advice… Then you know who I am."
As Norman walked to where the front door was, he gave one good look back before departing.
"I promise that we'll stay in touch." Norman said before leaving.
As May and Peter stood stunned, they then turned back to the table where Peter had already served the food up.
"I did say that I was preparing breakfast." May said.
"I'm sorry but I guess Mr. Osborn's visit was quite out of left field." Peter answered back.
"Well, at least he remembers us." May said, "If only his son was here then it might have been something else as well."
"Yeah, I guess an answer for something is good for a while." Peter replied sighing.
Peter then checked to see a recent text message from Gwen given to him saying 'Yuri's'. She must be calling in for a meeting as her Spider self.
"May, I'm sorry but uh… I got a message from Gwen to meet her. And I got my class with Dr. Connors." Peter said, "I hate to leave in a hurry."
"Peter, what about your breakfast?" May asked.
"You can have it, May. I got some energy bars in case I'm hungry." Peter said as he hurried to get things ready.
"Oh, candy." May murmured as her nephew was getting ready to leave the house.
As Peter left the house, she turned to see King mewing which reminded her to do some feeding.
"I guess you'll have you for the day, huh?" May asked the cat.
YURI'S HOUSE…
Gwen relaxed on the sofa in Yuri's longue room as Yuri opened up her laptop to showcase the latest investigations.
"Robberies for supplies are decreasing which is good but doesn't mean we're loosening security." Yuri said to Gwen.
"We really do feel like a couple of besties at this point." Gwen said acting aloof.
"Are you listening? I have huge undertakings at the precinct and I've been told by my IT colleagues that any police station utilising Oscorp network software may be vulnerable to cyberattacks." Yuri said, "Our only chance to apprehend more of Vulture's accomplishes is to pinpoint possible data theft locations."
"You know I don't think that will stop bird-man." Gwen said, "In fact, I still haven't figured out weaknesses or how the wings on him can be severed."
"It's been ten minutes, where is he?" Yuri asked impatiently, "He was in on the action last night so why is he being late?"
Yuri's prayers were then answered as Spider-Man dropped down from the chimney causing the soot on his feet to rise up.
"Geez… If I'm coming, at least make it a spotless landing." Spider-Man said coughing.
Unimpressed by the joke, Yuri walked up to Spider-Man sternly to ask about his absence.
"So, you're actually here. Tell me, where the hell were you over the past months?" Yuri asked glaringly.
"Hey there, Yuri… You look…Awesome when you're flustered and angry." Spider-Man said whilst noting Gwen's presence.
"You don't want to answer my question? Fine. Just help us." Yuri demanded.
"Look, I…Went for a leave. It's what you're entitled to for work. I take some time out; you take some time out. We're all human, we gotta relax and not get too worked up." Spider-Man said whilst nodding to Gwen.
"You're superhuman, but who I am to judge right?" Yuri said shaking her head, "The whole city just needs someone like you now.
"Well, I mentioned this to Spider-Woman last night. And I can think one solution we can use is match Big Bird's flying speed and air time. Which is why I think we both need to do more than just swinging." Spider-Man explained.
"Gliding." Gwen added giving more context on what Spider-Man meant.
"Right. Enlighten me what's the next step to taking the flying scavenger down next?" Yuri asked.
"Well…Uh… I'm sure once we hang on, we can use super-strength to tear down that jet engine on him and that should be easy." Spider-Man said.
Yuri looked at the two before giving her own thoughts.
"You two sure sound like you're on track as always. I almost wish police officers are like you." Yuri said, "Right, if you're ready then maybe you can do a favour in keeping an eye out on Oscorp sites. Our enemies are digging deeper into technology so we need to drag people out as efficiently as we can."
"Aye. Aye. But I need to do some stitching." Spider-Man replied.
"Do what is right, I guess. All I can say is… Welcome back." Yuri said with a small smile, "Here's to a fruitful Spider-Cop alliance."
J. JONAH JAMESON'S APARTMENT…
"Oh boy…" John said breathing into his microphone, "Folks, it's about to get real messy. Spider-Man is back!"
After yelling and a bit of silence, John continued recording his commentary.
"Some of you are surprised to hear this. Some of you knew and some of you have been waiting. Have some of you been plotting?!" John asked, "Listen, he's out there to take back his turf… Wait, hold on."
John looked to his computer monitor screen now implemented with a live chat application installed for viewers to comment on.
"Why are some of you cheering for this cretin to come back?" John asked, "What is going on? Where is my moderator?!"
As John struggled to keep his latest podcast going, he furiously began his reporting and blocking rampage as his audience seemed to embrace the start of things to come.
TO BE CONTINUED…
End note: For reference, Norman sent his congratulations to Peter for graduating high school at the last chapter of 'The Great Responsibility'.