SPIDER-MAN: ALL ALONE (CHAPTER 26)
Note: Merry Christmas and looking forward to 2024.
OSBORN LOFT (FLASHBACK)…
A young 15-year-old Peter was intending to meet his friend, Harry Osborn after school. Ben and May would ground him for this since he was all the way in Manhattan by himself when he should stay in his cosy home of Queens doing his homework; chores and preparing for his upcoming tests.
Harry had given him the details on how to reach his home through public transport tickets and an Oscorp access card that he had given to him at school. Walking out of the elevator to the private suite floor accessed by only the Osborn family and special approved guests; he peered through the modern hallway to find the door leading to his friend's house.
"Man, this is sure a golden ticket." Peter said of Harry whilst holding onto the access card.
Wearing a navy-blue jumper over a light blue shirt with matching jeans, he wanted to look the part of 'professional guest' as he confidently made his way to door. Ready to greet his friend, he pressed the doorbell. After a few moments of silence, the door lock clicked and opened.
"Harry… You." Norman's voice chimed in for greeting as he opened up to face Peter, "Oh, Mr. Parker. My son seems to have to overstepped some boundaries."
Norman was obviously younger looking and for better or worse, he was in good shape at the time with his carefully combed hair and charming face. At home, he wore a casual shirt to match his black pants.
"Uh, sorry. I'm looking for Harry and…" Peter replied immobilised by Norman's grandeur stance.
"Oh, calm yourself. Please… Make sure yourself comfortable." Norman answered as he invited Peter inside, "Harry… Is running an errand for me. He's bringing a gift to his mother which shouldn't take too long."
As Peter stepped into the Osborn residence, he observed all the modern living standards that his guardians both would both dream of owning. The shininess of each wall; floor and table were almost too distracting. He also noted the other remarkable things such as the collection of masks hanging on the wall.
"I don't tolerate letting people into residence but it pleases me that you and Harry are getting acquainted. Someone like you is good company." Norman said walking to the fridge, "Would you like refreshments?"
"I'm not sure if I'm allowed to drink…" Peter replied.
"Oh, don't overreact. I'm merely offering something like apple or orange juice. Want any?" Norman asked before he grabbed something out.
"I'll settle for apple." Peter answered whilst thinking of New York City's other name.
As Norman prepared the drinks, Peter waited patiently for the hospitability. This was one of the times in which I arrived on time for something while this time, Harry was the opposite. Having his newly acquired web-powers was enough but it was a bit unlike Harry to be here at this moment.
"There we go. One drink for you and one for me." Norman came in with two glasses of juice.
"This house is awesome, Mr. Osborn." Peter said taking the glass from Norman.
"Of course, you'd like it." Norman said as the two clinked their glasses together, "So, Parker… I mean, Peter. Tell me about yourself."
"Either name is fine, sir." Peter laughed, "Um… Where I do start? You see… I'm a grade 10 student from Midtown High like Harry and…"
"Um… Actually." Norman interrupted, "What do you want to be when you grow up?"
"Oh… Uh." Peter replied back immediately, "I always have this fascination with science. Across all fields. Though nothing beats the trio of biology; chemistry and physics. So, in a sense, I want to be a scientist. Change the world for the better. Share with the world something new and leave an impactful legacy."
"That is a great aspiration there, Parker. You really have your heart set to stone. Although you will have to decide on your profession eventually." Norman replied," Change the world for the better? Share what you discover? Be remembered? All great things too."
"Yeah. I mean I know you did a lot already. And you're well-known for a reason." Peter said back.
"Indeed. I have achieved quite a bit. But you should know something if you're ever going to do something you want to be remembered by. To do that, you need to have iron will." Norman said with a bit of regret in his eye.
"What do you mean?" Peter wondered.
"Come." Norman said getting up and putting the glass down and motioning Peter to do the same.
Together, the two made way to the loft balcony where they could peer down on the Manhattan cityscape. The sunset that was coming also made for a gorgeous backdrop. For Peter, it was undoubtedly amazing to have a view like this at a home.
"This is what I can have if I think big. Consider this, you have an idea. You want to share it. You want that idea to make everyone's life better." Norman said as he showed the view, "All you have to do is ease your heart into the unknown and push for the commercial angle."
"Are you saying that I should I study business?" Peter asked as he listened to Norman's words.
"Change professions? No, son. I'm talking about ways to be smart in the world. Think. Each resource comes with a purpose. Some of them can have more. Like water." Norman explained as he looked directly into Peter's eye, "When you identify their purpose, you can find the way to build."
"Huh, is that the secret to success?" Peter wondered.
"I'd say it's a solution to well-being. I make sure I understand that I can mentally go through every decision making. Oscorp's success is after all built and strengthened by my will to constantly challenge human limitations. Ever wonder why the Living Brain is such a successful and innovative system?" Norman said.
Peter stopped talking for a second before gazing out into the cityscape. As a teenager, he could grasp adult conversations a little better than others his age. But Norman's talk sent mixed signals about what he wanted to do. It was spoken as if money is a life line.
"I-I don't know, Mr. Osborn. It's complicated. Feel like Harry would love this advice though." Peter finally spoke back.
"Harry doesn't carry the same ambition as you do. That's why passing this knowledge to you is important so that he'd get the advice from someone he's friends with. And not his own father." Norman said looking down a little.
"I'll tell him, sir." Peter said biting his lip.
"Remember, if you want to be successful. You have to be rich by utilising the mind." Norman advised, "Otherwise, how are you going to change the world that easy?"
It was that moment, Peter felt confident about winning the upcoming wrestling match that he was going to participate in soon.
STOCKBROKER BUILDING, MANHATTAN…
Gwen arrived at the scene where Spider-Man had battled the Goblin. Opening the door to the first floor of the staircase room. She saw Spider-Man hurt and covered in debris whilst cowering in the dark end of the staircase corner.
"Oh, my god." Gwen said hurrying in and finding the wounds Spider-Man had been inflicted.
Brushing off all the debris on him, Gwen saw the bloodied wounds on Spider-Man including the area where the Goblin had stabbed him.
"Spider-Man…" Gwen said trying to wake him up, "Peter…"
Gwen's next words almost sounded like a whisper to Spider-Man's ear. The next moment, Spider-Man immediately regained his consciousness as he started to gasp for air whilst still reeling from the pain.
"We have to hurry. We have to go!" Spider-Man blurted out.
"Hey, slow down. You're hurt pretty bad." Gwen said holding Spider-Man down.
"No. We can't slow down. The Goblin… Norman Osborn. We have to stop him. Before he hurts people we know." Spider-Man said groaning.
"The Goblin? That's what we're calling him? Okay… I really need to process this." Gwen replied taken aback.
"No time. Come on, let's go." Spider-Man said as he struggled to get up.
"Stop. Peter. Stop." Gwen said as she held firm onto Spider-Man.
At that moment, Spider-Man stopped trying to move but instead he took one hand and pulled off the mask on his head revealing Peter's tired looking face. His face was red and sweaty with tear marks streaking down his cheeks. The pain on him was evident that he wanted to get back into action.
"Please…Put the mask back on. You know the rules of this." Gwen begged.
"I don't care now. I care that somebody we know could be in danger." Peter said back breathing heavily.
Gwen sighed and in distress, she decided to call Yuri to prepare some precautions. Tapping the ear communicator, she contacted Yuri.
"Yuri, I got an emergency. Spider-Man got hurt pretty bad by the green flyer guy and it seems like it's given him an open window to attack anyone he likes. Are there any safety protocols to keep people safe?" Gwen asked.
"I don't have the solutions but… There has been an emergency broadcast being approved by the mayor to make people seek cover underground especially from all the bombings this Green Goblin is doing." Yuri answered.
"Well, that's good enough. Are you sure this can be under control?" Gwen asked again.
"This is an all-out police effort. We'll be getting EVERY one on board as much as possible until we can stop this guy." Yuri answered again.
"Okay. Thanks for the update." Gwen said before clicking off.
"Aunt May. Dr. Connors…. You." Peter said as the pain continued to swell.
"I think I'm a step closer to knowing how to stop him." Gwen said, "You really to lie down before you can do anything though. You know this."
"Yeah. Yeah, you're right. I'll let my healing powers do some work. Just… Don't do what I did. Don't engage the Goblin until you're sure there is a way." Peter noted.
"I was just about to find that 'way'. Tell me, did you find any weaknesses yourself?" Gwen asked as she got up.
"I-I broke his mask. So, his armour is breakable. He's probably just super-juiced. That would explain the butt-kicking." Peter replied rubbing the back of his head.
"Okay. Chemicals. I was just about to head to a place where they're hiding those." Gwen answered.
"You found something at Oscorp?" Peter asked.
"Yes. I'm headed to Greenwich. The same place where U-Genetics was." Gwen affirmed.
Peter looked at Gwen in her costume. It was surreal to see how much further she had come from being the shy girl at Midtown High to being the Spider-Woman she is now. It almost moved him to pride.
"Right. Old insane Warren's breeding factory. I'm sure you got this." Peter said with a smile.
"I got to drop you somewhere safe first. And keep you hidden as Spider-Man." Gwen said.
"No…I'll be fine to sit here. I'll rest and recover." Spider-Man said as the stab wound on his abdomen started to revert to a scar.
"I'll be careful, I promise." Gwen said before leaving the scene.
As Gwen left to pursue her next objective. Peter was left on his own, he wondered about any moment if there was no Gwen involved as her vigilante self and how much more room there was for him to look after himself still. For now, he was grateful. Pulling out his phone, he attempted to contact May before realising that the battery was dead.
"I gotta move soon." Peter mumbled in concern.
CONNOR'S FORMER LABORATORY…
Curt and Norman walked into the room where Curt used to conduct his experimental work when he was still employed by ESU. Nowadays, the room had been cleaned up after his firing or so Curt thought.
"Isn't this my old lab? Why are we here?" Curt asked as he walked with Norman.
The room had not been cleared, in fact it was refurbished. Despite what he was told by the ESU Scientific Board, Oscorp had intervened and kept the room operating. There were at least three scientists in room with Oscorp lab coats working about as well.
"I wanted to keep your work going." Norman answered, "The fools at ESU couldn't see what you were doing, so I had to force some persuasion."
"I-I didn't really ask for this. I'm glad but…" Curt began to say.
"Oh, but you should be glad. Glad! We can fulfil the work that had almost been forsaken." Norman said with uneasy giddiness.
Curt looked carefully at what was in the room. There was a machine that looked like a CT scanner of sorts sitting in the middle of the room. One scientist was calibrating the settings of the machine carefully. The other two were sitting on a wet lab bench and testing chemicals.
"I don't get this." Curt answered shaking his head.
"That's okay. Because it's all for you. I made it just for you to be a part of." Norman said with delight, "Alright, all of you…"
The scientists stopped working and turned to face Norman allowing Norman himself to explain what was going on.
"I have yielded extraordinary results from the scientific endeavours I pursued." Norman said acknowledging his own appearance, "Every sick being will be begging for this 'cure'."
"Cure?" Curt asked.
"The machine you see before you, combines the best diagnostic tools you would need to screen health and mark out treatment. Thank Sunil for his calibration. And Maya and Erwin? Thank you for preparing the serum. Dr. Connors is grateful for your success in preserving the lizard DNA." Norman said.
"How did you get your hands on this DNA?" Curt asked puzzled again.
Norman snickered at Curt's confusion. It was time to show him what he had for him. Walking over, he took one tube of pickle green liquid from the bench.
"Stable double-stranded DNA all in one tube." Norman said, "Please… Make yourself comfortable. Take your false arm off too."
As per Norman's orders, the scientists approached Curt and started to lead Curt to the machine. As this happened, Curt had no choice but to follow Norman's commanding demeanour as he was slowly prepared for experimentation.
"You'll be a new man too, Doc." Norman said with a smile.
TO BE CONTINUED…