Foreword: Place yer bets, folks! It's the fight of the century! The Dog Star Webslinger versus the Mogul of Manhattan! Who will win!? Only one way to find out! LET'S GET READY RUMBLLLLLLLLLE! Oh, and some other stuff happens too, I guess. Warning ahead for course language; for the sake of the scene's sense of empowerment, I could not find a better word to summarize the events that will soon follow.

Issue Sixteen: Sirius Moore vs. Norman Osborn

Sirius wormed his way through the crowd, grabbing whatever hor d'oeuvres were available from every passing food tray, as he let his mind wander. 'Alright,' the tall teen thought, as he ate another pig in a blanket. 'Or whatever you call the rich people's version,' he thought to himself. 'Maybe a boar in silk sheets. Anyway, Harry asked me and talk his father out of this military rehab plan. I'll just pop over, charm him outta his silk shorts, metaphorically, and this problem can be far behind...'

Sirius' thoughts ground to a halt when he spotted Gwen, standing out on the expansive balcony by herself. A stuffed mushroom cap hanging from his mouth in mid-bite, Sirius' gaze scanned her up and down. The lights from the cityscape illuminated her profile, and her hair pulled from her face softened her face, a small but thoughtful smile gracing her face. Sirius' eyes froze at that smile, his heart skipping a beat at the sight. With his enhanced eyesight, he noticed her lips were the same shade of peach as her dress. Sirius idly wondered if they'd always been that color-

Gwen turned suddenly toward Sirius, her eyes lighting up as her smile grew. "Oh! Sirius! Geez, you snuck up on me!"

"H-huh?" Sirius blinked, the fog on his head dispersing. He looked around, realizing he had walked outside onto the patio. "I, er, needed some fresh air." Sirius resisted the urge to fidget with his collar, suddenly feeling very warm. It was almost November, it shouldn't be this unseasonably warm, right? And it was quiet, Sirius noted. Both he and Gwen had lapsed into silence, the mutated teen idly wondering how long it had been since he'd ever been this quiet. He should say something, he thought. Anything to make this not feel awkward... "So… where's Pete?" he tried, groaning internally that that was the first thing that had come to mind.

"As Harry might say, 'he's geeking out.'" Gwen gestured with her thumb further down the long balcony where Peter and the portly gentleman – Max Modell – seemed to be caught up in a spirited discussion about something. "Peter finally found someone who speaks his language fluently. I couldn't keep up, so I stepped back for some air."

"Guess he passed the Stacy Evaluation," Sirius chuckled. "Not some creep that deserves to be kicked in the nuts."

"Not so far…" Gwen joked back, the smile on her face doing things to Sirius' chest he wasn't sure was healthy, even with spider powers. The pair fell back into silence, albeit a more comfortable, as they looked out to the city below. Gwen played with her hair, while Sirius drummed on the railing trying to think of something else to say…

Sirius glanced at Gwen in his peripheral vision. 'She looks so calm and happy. Most people would clutch their pearls if they knew how violent and dangerous she could be when provoked.' He chuckled mentally at the stray thought. 'That's one of the reasons I like you, Gwen-!' Sirius' eyes widened as his train of thought once more derailed. 'Wait WHAT!?'

"Hm?" Gwen looked over at her friend's small gasp. "Did you say something?"

"I-I was thinking…" Sirius glanced over to Peter still engrossed in his conversation and latched on to that image. "I was thinking how cool it is Peter's loosening up. Feels like he hasn't really smiled since…"

"Yeah," Gwen nodded, catching onto Sirius' meaning despite trailing off. "I know what you mean. It's nice to see him happy again. He's been so hyper-focused on inventions, or," Her eyes roved around stealthily, scanning for eavesdroppers, before lowering her voice, "'you-know-what,' I was starting to worry."

"Well, you introduced him to Start-Up Guy," Sirius nudged her lightly. "So, the kudos go to you."

"You were there for him just as much," Gwen nudged him back. "Don't count yourself out, Dog Star."

"Heh, yeah," Sirius laughed with her for a minute, before clearing his throat. "Look, Gwen. About what I said downstairs? In the lobby…"

"You're not about to make another crack about my eyesight, are you?" Gwen's eyes narrowed dangerously on the bigger teen. "I know how sticky you can be," she whispered, "and I will push you off this building!"

Sirius laughed, his patented smirk plastered on his face. "If you did that, I'd just stick to the floor and deny you the satisfaction."

Gwen blinked at that, unable to retort, before huffing and looking away. "Stupid sticky gremlin…"

"Hey~ Don't pout," Sirius said, even as he kept chuckling. "I'm not trying to pick on you, I'm defending myself. And, well," the teen paused, carefully explaining his next thoughts. "About what I said downstairs. I didn't mean to make fun of you then either." His hesitant tone drew Gwen's attention back; two clear blue pools gazed back at two orbs of equal shade. Sirius swallowed his sudden nerves and kept talking. "I… meant what I said. The first time. About how you look great."

Gwen's blinked in surprise, her pulled-back hairstyle giving Sirius a front-row seat to her reddening ears. "…oh. I… thanks."

The third silence that fell between the pair was once again different from the others. This silence felt too loud, as the pair's gazes were locked onto each other. Sirius' heart beat in his chest, the steady beat ringing in his ears, and his face felt hot once more 'I… wasn't this nervous on my first web swing. What the hell's happening?'

On the railing of the balcony, both Sirius' and Gwen's hands rested, only a few fingers from each other. Ever so slightly, both of their hands inched closer, until only a pinky's width was between them-

"Sirius!" Harry's voice cut in. "There you are!"

As if being shocked, Gwen and Sirius jumped back, Gwen's ears like strawberries on the side of her head while Sirius' whole head felt like a furnace. As Gwen turned her face back out to the city, Sirius turned to Harry. "H-h-harry! Hey there! W-what's up, man! What's good, my hood?"

Harry blinked at the greeting. "Okay, that's odd. Even for you. And you're all red. You feeling alright?"

"J-just some bad shrimp!" Sirius said quickly. "What did you want to talk about?"

"What did I…?" Harry looked slightly annoyed. "Remember, what we talked about earlier this week? I asked you to help with something…"

Sirius blinked, calming down enough to remember what he'd been doing before. "Right, I know." Turning back to Gwen, he opened his mouth-

"It's fine," Gwen waved them off, though not looking at him. "Go do your promised guy stuff. I'll be out here where it isn't stuffy."

"Alright, so when talking to Dad-"

"Harry," Sirius cut him off. "I know how to talk to people."

"No, you know how to piss people off," Harry deadpanned. "If you want to talk to Norman Osborn, you need to make him feel like a winner. He respects strength, hates weakness, and supports people who don't mince words. Maybe catch him off-guard by talking about something he's succeeded in recently."

"Like what?" Sirius said as they got closer to his office. "I don't pay attention to tech news!"

"Seriously?"

"You mean Sirius Moore-"

"Not the time," Harry huffed. "Look, it doesn't have to be recent, it just has to be big! Something Dad's proud of."

Sirius shook his head, having absolutely no idea of any projects Oscorp could be doing. 'Let's see… I think I heard a few things about Oscorp. They're working on clean fuel sources, they have weapon contracts with the Government… they're probably trying to create the next Captain America, considering the radioactive spiders I know they have.'

By the time Sirius gathered his thoughts, he stood in front of Osborn's closed office door. Next to him, Harry gave him an expectant look. "Go on. Knock."

"Why don't you knock?" Sirius motioned to the door.

Harry laughed ruefully. "And have Dad bite my head off? No thanks, he's taken enough chunks outta my ass. Good luck." Harry gave Sirius a thumbs-up and stepped back.

Rolling his eyes, Sirius turned to the door but stopped halfway. "Also, isn't he in a meeting?"

"Which is why you need to talk to him now," Harry demanded. "He mentioned he had an announcement after the meeting was done, so you need to do this now."

Sirius sighed internally. He half-wished he was back out on the terrace, figuring out what that was before, why it made his heartbeat erratic, and why he wanted it to keep going. But, he did promise to help Harry and he never went back on his promises. Sharply knocking, hard enough to be heard but not hard enough he'd break down the door, he stepped back and waited for acknowledgment.

Only a few seconds passed before the door opened, and Norman Osborn appeared with an irritated expression. "Harry, what is-" He paused, blinking at seeing Sirius instead of who he was expecting. "Ah, Sirius Moore. Can I help you?"

"Yes sir," Sirius nodded. "I need to speak with you. Privately." Channeling George Stacy's quiet but commanding nature, Sirius tried to look casual but unmoving. If Norman needed to see power, Sirius could meet him there.

"Well, son," Norman answered, an unreadable expression on his face, "I am currently in a meeting-"

"Actually, I do believe we're done, Osborn." The second French door opened wide, revealing Wilson Fisk, smiling coolly. "You are fresh out of spirits, and I could use some actual food."

Norman's guarded expression flexed for just a minute – seemingly only Sirius saw it due to his enhanced eyesight – and he didn't look happy at all. In a blink, the expression was gone and Norman was back to professional and cordial. "Of course, Mr. Fisk. The refreshments are right over there."

"Wonderful!" the large man boomed, tapping his cane on the rug-covered floor. "There'd better be some real food. If I have to eat any more caviar, I am liable to ban it from New York altogether." The man chuckled like it was some joke, though Sirius didn't see the humor. Maybe it was a rich guy thing?

Whatever the case, Fisk left, crossing the room in wide strides that everyone seemed to move aside to accommodate, while Norman motioned for Sirius to enter his office. Sirius looked back at Harry, an unspoken question between them. Nervously rubbing his arm, Harry shook his head in return, stepping as a clear physical answer. Nodding, Sirius entered the room, closing the door behind him.

As Sirius imagined, the office was mostly wood and leather. Two cigars rested in a pearl white ashtray, the remnants still smoking and clogging the air of the small medium-sized office. Rather than sitting down at the incredibly expensive desk, Norman walked over to a table with a pitcher of water and glassware. "Want something to drink, Sirius? Mingling at parties, I find, can be quite exhausting."

"Sure, I'd love some." Remembering his manners, Sirius hurriedly added "Thank you" as he accepted the drink.

"Now then," Norman said after his own sip. "Is there a reason you wanted to talk to me?"

'Harry begged me to stop you from ripping him away from his friends and home,' Sirius thought to himself but bit his tongue. If Harry was right, and, Sirius could admit to himself, his friends were often more right than he was, Osborn needed to be buttered up. Despite what others thought, Sirius could schmooze people. He just had a habit of choosing to be a smart mouth because the reactions were funnier.

"Actually, sir," Sirius smiled charmingly, "after that field trip to Oscorp, I've kind of taken a small interest in science. The tour made it look pretty cool, and I was wondering if there was any other projects worth learning about?"

Norman scanned Sirius like he was trying to find if he had smuggled any projects out of Oscorp. After a few seconds, his eyes roamed over to a glass case holding a rocket and a fancy satellite. "Tell me, young man. Have you heard about the current space mission Jupiter?"

"Uh, yeah!" Sirius said, trying to wrack his brain for anything about it. "Two astronauts are orbiting Earth to… set up a satellite?"

"The Argus Antenna," Norman filled in the missing information as Sirius drank to wash down his awkwardness. "A project personally helmed by Oscorp. Once it's set up, it will improve telecommunication across the world by 30%. It sounds small, but it will be quite impactful to connecting the planet."

"Right, that," Sirius said, hoping it sounded convincing. "Space isn't really my thing, but telecommunications are… really important."

"Indeed," Norman smirked condescendingly as if seeing through Sirius' poor attempts. It was like when Peter was rambling on about really deep science topics if Peter also acted as if he was the smartest guy in the room. Norman's calm, degrading presence was stifling in the worst way, and it was only Sirius' natural spunk that was keeping him upright. Imagining why Harry needed help trying to talk his father out of anything suddenly made much more sense. "Was that all you had to ask, or was there something more pressing?"

"Yeah, I do," Sirius drank the rest of his water and jumped right to it. "It's about Harry. He… told me about his situation."

"His situation?" Osborn raised an eyebrow as if to say 'Underselling the issue, aren't you?'

"Yes, and about how you're gonna send him away. He doesn't want that," Sirius' determined gaze grew to mirror Norman's own as he continued. "If he leaves his friends, you'll only be hurting him."

Norman scoffed, knocking the wind out of Sirius' small speech. "Boy. You know nothing about this 'situation.' Whatever you think you know, is only half of what is going on, and furthermore, as this is a personal matter between family, it does not concern you." Taking the empty glass from Sirius, he walked back to the stand and replaced them. "Now, if you're done interjecting yourself where you're unnecessary, you are free to leave."

Sirius frowned, clenching his fist as he glared at Osborn's back. His dismissal, his tone… that was more than enough to rub the teen the wrong way. Well, if he had the innate skill of 'pissing people off…' "As a matter of fact, sir, I'm not done 'interjecting' myself.'"

Norman turned slightly, his face a mask of disapproval and slight surprise. "Excuse you?"

"Harry told me what happened," Sirius continued, undeterred. "In middle school. And how you never visited, telling him crap like he had to take care of it himself. Tell me, do you have to be rich to be an ass, or can I get that way for free?"

"Excuse you?"

"Excuse yourself!" Throwing out the 'calm captain Stacy' idea, Sirius decided to embody his mother on a bad day with rude tax collectors on the phone. "My dad, until the day he died, worked with troubled kids. Addicts, homeless, abuse victims – maybe I was too young to know about all of it, but he still told me some things. One of the top helpful strategies was not to leave those in depressive states alone!

"If you send him away to bum-fuck nowhere, he's not going to get better!" Sirius barked, no longer concerned about making a point, but just being heard. There are plenty of rehab centers in New York, you're not sending him away for his sake. You're sending him away for yours! Harry wants to get better, he wants his friends… but he needs his father. It's one thing not to have your parents, but it hurts even worse to have one who might as well be gone! If you care about Harry at all, you'll talk to him. Understand him… before you lose him like he lost his mother-"

The crack of glass resounded around the room. Sirius looked at Norman's clenched fist, watching the blood dripping onto the pile of broken drinkware on the floor. Norman's impassive expression was long gone, now replaced with burning rage. "Young man, I think you more than made your opinion known. If you're done, you can leave. Now."

Considering how much his Super Sense was firing off, Sirius decided to take the 'offered' exit and backed up to the door, never turning away from Osborn, before opening the door and walking backward out of it. As he closed the door, he turned toward a sniffling Harry, his eyes wet with unshed tears. "H-harry? Are you- wait, did you hear-?"

"I-I," Harry sniffed again, red eyes looking around like he was trying to find the words. "I've grown up my whole life in this place. I… I know the best places to overhear things I shouldn't be hearing. I… didn't think you could actually change my father's mind, but… that was so not what I expected."

"Yeah," Sirius sighed, adjusting his tie, hands slightly shaking. "Did not mean to yell at Norman Osborn of all people. Probably shouldn't expect any internships or letters of recommendation from him. Sorry about that-"

"Don't be," Harry shook his head. "I… kind of knew – he'd never see reason, but… damn. I didn't think anyone could talk to my dad like that. Mom didn't, and Emily certainly won't." Wiping his eyes, Harry looked up at his friend with a more resolute look. "Come on, let's go."

Sirius tilted his head in confusion. "Go where?"

"We're gonna find Pete and Gwen. I…" Harry swallowed thickly and took a shaky breath. "If you can speak to my dad like that, I can probably tell them what's going on."

After peeling Peter away from a spirited discussion on conductive polymers, or something like that – Sirius wasn't really paying attention, Harry led his friends up and away from the party and toward his room. Right outside the door, Gwen hummed like she had thought of something. "Hold on… I think this is the first time we've ever gone to Harry's room."

"Really?" Sirius looked at both Peter and Gwen with raised eyebrows, Peter agreeing with a nod. "You've guys known each other years before I ever met you. How have you never…?"

"Because I never invited them to come over," Harry answered, looking away. "I… I always visited their houses. They always felt… warmer."

"We didn't mind," Gwen smiled, tapping Harry's shoulder to get his attention. "Besides, Dad just liked to keep an eye on you, and that made things way easier."

"A-and Aunt May loved cooking for you, or, well, in general," Peter piped up. "So, it's fine, really."

"Yeah, now come on!" Sirius smiled widely. "Let's see how messy your room is!"

Harry sighed, but the banter did bring a small smile to his face, as he turned to open the door… to a massive space.

"Holy…" Peter muttered in shock.

"Shit," Sirius snorted in surprise.

"Exclamation Point," Gwen finished for them as they looked around the space. "My whole apartment could fit in here…"

"Gwen," Sirius deadpanned at her. "Both of our apartments could fit in here. And still have room for the second floor the hell, Harry!?"

"Yeah," Harry huffed, clearly used to his own expansive space. "Dad renovated the place and added that. It was… during middle school. Another reminder of what the Osborn name means."

"If the Osborn name means I can take off these heels and be comfortable again, I'll take it," Gwen said as she kicked off her shoes and sprawled out on the couch.

"Amen to that!" Sirius followed suit, taking his tie off and flopping onto Harry's bed. "Man, these are soft! What is this? Silk? Can't be cotton-"

"G-guys!" Peter groaned. "This is Harry's room! You can't just make yourselves comfortable like that!"

"Pete," Harry gave his smart friend a stern but mocking glare. "If you didn't make yourselves comfortable here, I'd be more insulted. Especially if you didn't make a mess."

"A mess?" Peter blinked. "But… won't that just make Mr. Osborn angry."

Sirius snorted, gaining everyone's attention. "At this point, fuck 'im!"

Peter's mouth crashed open as Gwen and Harry snort-laughed in surprise. "Sirius! You barely talked to him, you can't say that-!"

"Actually, he did a lot of talking to him," Harry threw out as his laughing fit resided. Sobering up, he explained everything, from the talk he and Sirius had on Monday to Sirius vs. Norman a few minutes ago. Hearing Sirius chew Osborn out brought a little levity to the conversation, but the mention of Harry's stone-set departure hung overhead and cast a gloomy shadow. "I know I said that Sirius could talk him out of it, but… deep down, I think I knew he couldn't be swayed. No one stops Norman Osborn when he's got an idea…"

The group lapsed into silence, the weight of the topic bringing down the mood even further. Finally, Peter looked around and said in a quiet tone, "…you know what? Fuck him."

Three sets of surprised eyes looked at a red-faced Peter, fiddling with his own tie like his head would explode without release. Gwen laughed gaily, kicking her feet up. "That's the spirit, Pete!" She and Sirius shared a manic grin, before looking over at Harry expectantly.

Harry glanced toward them before looking at a still embarrassed but equally interested Peter. Taking a deep breath, Harry steeled himself. "Fuck him!" Harry covered his mouth, having dropped the expletive way louder than he had meant. The shock of it drove all four teens into a giggle fit, Peter collapsing onto the bed next to Sirius while Harry dropped into his desk chair, holding his stomach as he laughed.

After a good few minutes of mood-lifting laughter, followed by some time to recover their breath, Sirius smiled as an amusing thought crossed his mind. "Oh, Harry~" Sirius stood up on the bed. "Wanna see a cool trick?"

"Trick?" Harry looked over to the taller teen, missing the knowing looks of alarm on Gwen and Peter's faces. "Like what? You know a magic trick?"

"Something like that." To Harry's confusion, Sirius crouched on the bed as if to jump off of it. And he did… landing on a handstand on the railing on the second floor's safety rail. The acrobatic teen cheesily smiled down at the others. "Abracadabra!"

Harry's jaw dropped, his eyes growing as big as saucers. "H-holy shit! But-how-that was-!" He looked between his other two friends, his shock only culminating at their nonplussed reactions to a standing vertical six-foot leap. "Did you guys see that!? I'm not… am I still high!?"

"No, we saw it," Gwen huffed. "When he did it back then, it wasn't nearly that flashy."

"'Back then?'" Harry's alarm and confusion only persisted. "What the hell's going on!? Are you like a… mutant or something, Sirius?"

"Mutate, actually." Peter plopped down on the couch next to Harry, Gwen moving her legs to give him room. "That's the scientific term for an organism whose change happens from outside factors."

"Outside…?"

"What Pete means," Sirius explained, sitting on the rail and kicking his feet back and forth like a kid on a swing, "is that spider bite back on that Oscorp field trip did something to me. Jumping like an Olympic athlete is just one of my many powers."

"Spider? Oscorp? Many…?" Harry held a hand to his head, trying to fight back a headache from the swarm of new information hit him. "You mean… there's more than the… the jumping?" Sirius' answer was to jump down from his perch, landing without a sound, and pick up the couch… with Peter, Gwen, and Harry still on it. "W-whoa!"

"S-Sirius!" Peter groaned as he held onto the armrest, Gwen laughing right next to him. "You need to say something before you do something like this!" Sirius laughed at his friends' reactions, a light feeling in his chest. His laughter only faltered when he heard footsteps outside Harry's door. Quick as lightning, he quietly put the sofa down before springing backward onto Harry's bed just as the door opened.

"Sirius? Kids?" Sticking her head, Olivia entered the room, none the wiser as to what was happening before. "Saw you heading up here, thought I'd check to see if everything's okay."

"Yep, Mom," Sirius raised a thumbs up, completely casual as laid on his back. "We're good, right?"

"We're fine, Ms. Moore," Peter answered, his jacket askew.

"Just need to rest for a minute," Gwen added, smoothing her hair down.

"Uh, yeah," the ever-smooth Harry threw out, his face belaying his brain still processing new information.

Olivia glanced at the varying expressions on all four teens, before shaking her head in amusement. "You kids weren't doing anything funny, were you?"

"We were all making out," Sirius answered plainly. "With each other. A lot. There was even some tongue."

"W-WHAT!" Peter's face whole head exploded in a blush, his face hot enough to roast marshmallows.

"Pfft!" Harry's shock gave way to laughter, covering his mouth to avoid laughing too loudly with the door open.

"Oh boy," Gwen sighed, facepalming at the crude joke even as her ears reddened a little.

"Oh, were you?" Olivia smiled playfully at her son.

"Oh, for sure!" Sirius grinned as he sat up. "Before you came in, we were Siriusly horsing around!"

Mock-sighing, Olivia leaned on the door. "I always knew this day would come. My young man growing up, having orgies. I suppose we should have that talk. About the Handcuffs and the Whips-"

"T-the what?" Sirius blinked, lightly blushing with the others as Olivia laughed at their collective response.

"Just reminding you who's the funniest here~" Olivia smiled cattily. At the sound of more footsteps, Olivia turned to the unseen person… and her good mood dropped to a worried look. "George, what-?"

Around the corner came George Stacy, quiet anger boiling under his expression and fit to burst out. "Gwen, grab your stuff. We're leaving."

As Gwen looked at her dad in worry, Sirius and the other boys traded questioning looks, Olivia placed a gentle hand on the large man's arm. "George, are you alright-"

"Olivia, please check on May," he cut in, not looking at her – or really anyone, a stormy expression on his face and eyes clouded and distant. "She said she'd be fine, but…"

"George, what's going on-"

"Just-!" Stacy snapped, before catching himself and sighing heavily. "I'll explain later. Please just… check on May. Gwen, let's go."

Curiosity and worry brewing in his mind, Sirius followed the rest of the group downstairs. Once Peter heard his aunt's name, he was already halfway off the couch, with Harry at the back of the pack with Sirius. "I don't think I've seen Capt Stacy this mad," Sirius muttered. "What's going on?"

"No clue," Harry whispered back, "but I have a bad feeling it has something to do with Dad."

Entering the party once more, the energy of it all still steady and loud, the group found Liv and May, the older woman's eyes slightly red and puffy from crying. "May," Peter flew to her other side, worry etched on his face. "What's wrong?" Nearly everyone looked at the upset woman… except Sirius, whose eyes were drawn to the buffet table.

"I-it's nothing," May denied poorly. "I just… I think we need to leave is all."

"First George, now you," Olivia hummed. "I was only upstairs for a minute, what I'd miss?"

"Probably that," Sirius nodded over to the table, which the crowd had conveniently just pulled away from to give a clear view of a large white sheet cake with a picture of a man on it – the real star of this whole event, Sirius finally realized. Below the picture, written in red and blue frosting: Osborn for Mayor, 20XX. "…Was this party ever actually for Uncle Ben?" Sirius muttered out loud. Glancing at the immediate group, it seemed to be a sentiment everyone agreed with.

"I…" Raking a hand through his hair, Harry looked dejected. "I can't believe he'd- I mean, I had no idea-"

"Oh, no one's blaming you, dear," May placed a gentle hand on Harry's, calming him down. "You're still welcome at my house whenever you want to visit."

Harry winced but hid it well. It was hard to say if it was from his encroaching deadline making it all but impossible to accept that invite or his constant internal guilt. "T-thank you… Aunt May."

Olivia had switched to Stacy's side since May seemed a bit more put together than the man authorized to carry a concealed firearm. She gave a meaningful look to Sirius, who responded with a nod to the elevator. The group walked through the crowd, as invisible as the wait staff to the upper-class guests, heading back to the foyer. "Thank you for inviting us, Harry," Olivia, the only adult who wasn't personally affected by Norman's stunt, smiled at the young man. "Despite everything, it was still nice to get out."

"I-" Harry bit his lip, looking away for a second, before looking back at everyone. "Could you guys… wait for, like, five minutes? I'll be right back." Before anyone could ask what he was thinking the dark-haired teen had rushed back into the penthouse. It was barely five minutes before he came back out with a small but clearly expensive backpack. "Hey, Peter? Remember those study sessions that turned into sleepovers?"

"Yeah…" Peter blinked at the (from his perspective) out of nowhere comment before realization dawned on him, bringing a smile to his face. "Wait, really? Are sure it's alright? I mean, your dad-"

"Father," Harry said like he was spitting up the school's mystery meatloaf, "won't notice I'm gone unless I make the 6 o'clock news. Again. Besides, Aunt May said I'm always welcome, and we should hang out more." Before I have to go, the unsaid whispered from the back of Sirius' head. "Oh, I hope that's alright, Miss- er, Aunt May?"

"That would be lovely, Harry!" The gray-haired woman smiled, the action almost erasing her sadness. "Family's always welcome to visit. And stay as long as you like, of course."

Harry's smile was almost as blinding as Peter's, which did serve to lighten the mood a little. As the group quickly departed, Sirius glanced back at the door to the penthouse, left ajar from Harry rushing through it. As the elevator doors closed, he saw Norman Osborn, a bandage wrapped around his palm, clinking glasses with Wilson Fisk as they laughed with the rest of the party.

Afterword: Round 1- Norman- 2, Sirius- 1