Spider-Bat: New Way Home
Chapter 11: Taking Care of Business
It was pitch black when Phillip Sterns woke up due to having a blindfold pulled over his eyes. His mouth was gagged, and upon trying to move, he quickly realized that his hands and legs were tied down to a chair that he was sitting in.
He could hear a little bit of shuffling going on around him. It sounded as if chairs were getting pulled out.
A few seconds later, the blindfold was removed, but the mouth gag remained in place.
As he quickly gazed around the room, scared, he found himself sitting at the head of a business table. Three men were sitting to his right, two more men and a woman were sitting to his left, and at the opposite end of the table, sat Norman Osborn.
"Good evening Mr. Sterns," Norman began speaking, noticing Phillip's frightened face, "It's okay. We're all friends here," he tried settling his nerves. "You're probably wondering why you're here and who all these people are."
Phillip looked around once again at all the faces. He instantly recognized the faceless man who had shot him with a dart, the Chameleon. He also recognized Otto Octavius, and of course, Norman Osborn. He wasn't quite sure who the others were.
"I believe you have already met the man on your left, Mr. Dmitri Smerdyacov, a.k.a. The Chameleon." Norman began introducing them, the Chameleon grinning back at Phillip, pointing his finger at him as if it were a gun.
"Then, sitting to your right is Doctor Otto Octavius. You two have a lot in common."
"It's a pleasure to meet you, Mr. Sterns." Otto spoke up. Your research on black holes and harnessing the power of fusion-bursts are incredible. I too have been working on harnessing the power of the Sun. I hope you will join our cause."
"Sitting next to Octavius is Mr. Gustav Fiers," Norman continued, "but due to his recent change in professions, Mr. Fiers now prefers to be called "The Gentleman." He and his brother specialize at getting things done… by whatever means possible."
"Good evening," The Gentleman greeted. "I truly appreciate the fact that you have used your mind to accomplish such great things, which is better than most of the other ninety-nine percent of useless human beings out there. I do hope that we may have the chance to work together in furthering the existence of our intellectual kind."
Norman continued introducing the others. "Sitting next to The Gentleman is Adrian Toomes. He is a scientist and an excellent bio-engineer. He stumbled upon something known as Vibranium while studying abroad in East Africa. It is a powerful metal substance that can be used for all sorts of weaponry; plus- it can absorb quite a bit of energy. He's working on a prototype suit that can make a man just as strong as Captain America, if not stronger.-
-The woman sitting next to Chameleon is Doctor Rebecca Leviticus, soon to be Mrs. March. She is part of a prestigious group in Gotham City. She is also the inventor responsible for the discovery of Electrum, which is a substance capable of reanimating the dead. Her discovery is important because it allows us to continue using our test subjects over and over again until we get results. And- as soon as her marriage to Lincoln March is finalized, she will be known as one of the most prestigious women on the face of the planet.-
-And last. but not least, our youngest member of the group, and Tony Stark's protege, Mr. Lex Luthor. Well, actually he is Tony's ex-protege," Norman corrected himself. "Now that Lex's parents have met their untimely demise due to their brakes failing, he will now be the major shareholder of the company his parents once ran. He has been working with Mr. Stark on several military grade exoskeletons. He will now be working with us on our Super-Soldier-Serum and our brand-new glider technology. We'll be as strong as Captain America… PLUS WE'LL BE ABLE TO FLY!"
Lex leaned forward, his index fingers placed upon his chin, almost in the same fashion as Norman if he were about to speak, "I am going to skip the greetings, Mr. Sterns. I know that the mathematical sequence for the worm-hole equations are far more advanced than any type of math humans have ever seen, therefore I know Doctor Banner couldn't have come up with the solution by himself, which also means… he must have received help from a more advanced civilization; one not of this planet.-
-Further more. I also know that a living alien organism was found during the major meteor shower that happened almost fourteen years ago. My late-father's company had the pleasure of studying the bright green meteor fragments that came down during that shower. I've studied those rocks for myself and they are not from this galaxy.-
-I also believe the rumors that an alien child might have crash-landed here during said meteor shower. I have seen things many of you couldn't possibly fathom. There are beings out there that are more powerful than a thousand Captain America's combined. And if we aren't prepared, we will become an extinct species. I must know where Banner received his answers from."
Norman got up from his chair and walked over to Phillip, removing the gag from out of his mouth. "Would you like to answer Lex's question about how Doctor Banner managed to formulate the timing sequence for his black hole theory? And while you are at it, please enlighten us as to any advancements Doctor Banner might have discovered with his studies of the Super-Soldier-Serum and Gamma-radiation."
"I don't know about any of that stuff!" Phillip immediately spouted. "Where am I? I was working on an important project which would have helped to rescue the Space Shuttle Discovery 13! Why am I here!?" he shouted, looking around for an exit, hoping someone nearby might have heard him.
Norman tossed a newspaper onto the table in front of Phillip. "That little mission you were working on is now on hiatus at the moment. It also appears as if the government believes it was an inside job, blaming you for industrial espionage."
"What are you talking about?" Phillip demanded to know.
"The papers are saying they found your computer desk knocked over, and they also found what was left of your brother still lodged inside the gear-shaft of one of the Gamma-blasters. They believe you sabotaged the project on purpose and left your brother to die." Norman explained.
"What!? Something happened to Samuel!?" Phillip cried, trying to read what he could of the article.
"Look… Phillip… whatever happened to your brother is neither here nor there." Norman retorted, pushing the newspaper aside. "What we need to be talking about now is what you know about Banner's discoveries… namely how he came to the discovery of his worm-hole equation and how far along he is with the serum."
"I told you already, I don't know anything about that! All I know is he had come back from some small town in Kansas and suddenly claimed he had come up with the correct formula! I don't know how he figured it out!"
"Kansas?" Lex repeated. "That is the same place rumored to have had the alien pod crash down, and also where Banner discovered the tar-like alien compound. That must be where the advanced life-form is hiding. If we could find it, we would have the knowledge of a thousand years beyond our time."
"Now, tell us what you know about the Super-Serum and how it all connects with Gamma-rays." Norman demanded.
"I'm not sure. Banner does most of that research on his own. He won't allow test subjects and does all the tests on himself because he doesn't want anyone else to get hurt."
"What kind of tests?"
"Injections of some sort." Phillip replied. "He believes, with each dose, he can prepare his body for when the major experiment occurs."
"Small doses…? Like your storage of small Gamma-bursts?" Otto asked.
"Yes. He believes that he can slowly rewrite his own DNA, so that his body is prepared for the changes it would have to undergo to become that much stronger."
"Interesting." Norman acknowledged. "If he is already performing tests on himself, that must mean he is getting closer to a major breakthrough."
"He won't have any time for breakthroughs if the space shuttle mission is ruined. He will be working around the clock to figure out a way to gain enough Gamma-radiation, so that he can rebuild the blasters." Phillip interjected.
"Hmm…" Norman pondered for a moment. "If we choose to let you go… Would you join us?" he asked. "You could find a way to get the information from Bruce, the same way Lex is working with Mr. Stark to retrieve certain information from him; the same way Doctor Leviticus is using Thomas Wayne to find out his recent discoveries at Wayne Tech."
"You are all MADMEN! Release me at once so that I can find out what happened to my brother!" Phillip demanded, trying to wiggle himself free.
"It's useless! I told you he wouldn't play along." Lex mocked.
Norman looked down at Phillip. "Oh well. We don't need him anyway," he declared, placing Phillip's gag back in his mouth. "We found out about where an alien could be hiding out, and we found out a little bit more about Banner's experiments. I could always have Chameleon go back to the base and pretend to be him, Banner, or whoever else he needs to be in order to find out what I want to know. However, I'm sure Phil can still be of use to us. Banner doesn't believe in having test subjects… But I do," he threatened, pulling the blindfold back down over Phillip's frightened eyes.
"What do we do now?" The Gentlemen asked.
"We continue with our experiments." Norman answered. "I'll send the Chameleon back to the military base to see if he can get any more information. Perhaps you and Lex could go sniffing around some small farm towns in Kansas; seeing if you can conjure up any aliens. I'll be taking care of business here, holding down the fort if you will. We are so close to having a breakthrough. We just need a little bit more help making it over that hump. After that, we will be the most powerful men alive!"
Stay tuned for the next chapter, where we find out what has been happening in Peter and Bruce's lives up until now.