Chapter
31: Diplomatic Breakdown Part One.
“It
looked much worse a couple of months ago,” insisted Harry to Liz,
Gwen, and Peter. as he pointed out the section of the sea from the
coast where Norman Osborn had decided to dispose of some hazardous
chemicals
“I
don’t think I even want to think about it,” said Gwen as Peter
nodded.
“Must
have been really bad,” said Peter and Harry responded with a
confirming nod.
“Yeah,
the damage was already done, people got sick, we had to settle,”
said Harry. “My father won’t be too happy when he comes back.”
No
one wanted to be the one to have to lie to Harry and tell him that
his father understood that he did what he had to do because it would
sound unconvincing.
“When
is he coming back?” asked Peter curiously.
“Who
knows, he might be out by Christmas, if he checks out according to
Dr. Hamilton,” said Harry. “Then again, he could have gotten out
months ago. I wouldn’t think that he would trust me with the
company this long.”
Harry
sighed.
“Court
date for the last case is next Friday, at least the last one I know
about,” said Harry but he looked around. “Well…I guess we
better get going. I mean, dragging you out here to see this, when we
should be hanging out and having a good time. I mean, why worry about
what happened in the past?”
“I
kind of would Harry, considering it’s your responsibility until
your father is released,” said Gwen but Harry just shrugged.
“I’m
sure Harry’s taking this very seriously, look at all the hours he
works,” said Liz defensively.
“Not
nearly as much as Peter though,” said Harry. “All those pictures,
you just having to be in the right place at the right time when
Spider-Man shows up. I wonder how you do it.”
“A
bit of skill and a lot of luck,” said Peter but suddenly his spider
sense flared in. It took him several seconds of looking around,
trying not to seem too panicked, before a scream from Liz had caught
him off guard.
A
tentacle had shot out of the water and had grabbed Harry. It was the
oddest sight imaginable and it was appeared time was frozen as no one
could believe what they were seeing.
“HARRY!”
screamed Liz and Gwen in unison.
“Help
me!” shouted Harry as he struggled but was dragged underneath the
water. Peter shook his head, as he turned to the two girls.
“Police,
contact them down, flag someone down if either if you see them,”
said Peter quickly to Liz and Gwen.
“Wait,
where are you going?” asked Liz in a panicked voice.
“Peter’s
going to go get help from the other end, right?” said Gwen.
“Yes,
help, now get going, Harry, remember,” said Peter without taking a
breath and the two girls moved off, as Peter moved around. It took
him a moment to get back to the beach house so he could change.
Looking
from side to side, Spider-Man emerged on a line of webbing and swung
right towards the water.
“I
can’t believe I’m going to do this,” thought Spider-Man in
disgust, as he looked at the water. “The things I do for my
friends. Well, hang on Harry.”
Spider-Man
jumped into the water. The icy cold, mucky, polluted water. He held
his breath. He hoped he could catch up, because if Harry had been
taken too deep, there would be no way he could catch him.
“A
few minutes, at most,” thought Spider-Man, as his head began to
lighten but he tried to focus. “It’s official. I hate Octopuses,
or is it Octopi? Oh well, whatever, I don’t like them. Chalk that
up to bad experiences in the past, I guess.”
Spider-Man
went about as deep as he should logically go but the fact that his
friend was in trouble pushed him. He doubted Harry could survive for
long down here and he tried to clear his head.
“Just
need another minute,” thought Spider-Man but what he was pretty
sure was his spider sense had went up. Or maybe he held his breath so
long he was beginning to be delirious, before passing out. Two
figures dressed in black armor with weapons swam towards him.
Spider-Man’s first instinct was to fight but he doubted that he
could be much use under water. In fact, he was beginning to question
his sanity.
“A
surface dweller, no doubt sent after the human,” said one of the
figures.
“The
fool, we should allow him to drown for his rash actions,” said
another figure in a rough and sadistic voice.
“Bring
him up, his majesty wishes for us to give a warning at any rate,”
said the first figure and the second figure looked reluctant, but he
was not about to argue this point. The two figures roughly grabbed
the semi-conscious Spider-Man and held him up, before dragging him
towards the surface. The two figures rolled Spider-Man, who got to
his feet.
Spider-Man
sat up, as he looked from side to side, dazed, as the two figures
pointed their weapons at him. His first instinct was to fight but
something told him that it would be best to listen to what they had
to say. He could tell they were warriors of some sort and meant
business.
“Listen,
surface dweller, you are lucky that we allowed you to live, when we
could have allowed you to perish,” said the first warrior in a
gruff voice. “Take this as a warning and heed it well. The crimes
caused by the surface dweller known as Norman Osborn will be
punished.”
“Wait!”
shouted Gwen as she rushed up.
“You
dare speak to the council of King Namor, female,” grunted the
second warrior.
“Yes,
I dare,” said Gwen firmly, not backing down, not knowing or really
caring who this King Namor was. The name sounded vaguely familiar.
“What grounds do you have to do this?”
“Harry
didn’t do this!” yelled Liz but she looked a bit more frightful
than Gwen. “You said it yourself…”
“The
son must pay for the sins of the father, if the father is not
available,” said the second figure coldly, as he held his spear.
“The
actions of the surface dweller known as Norman Osborn has caused
countless of Atlantean citizens to die,” said the first warrior
firmly.
“But,
it’s not right for you to punish Harry Osborn for something his
father did,” interjected Spider-Man as he got up to his feet.
“The
head of Oscorp has committed murder and justice must be served,”
said the first warrior. “Our people grow weary, we must not be
allowed to be seen weakly. Therefore, justice will be served.”
“Don’t
you mean vengeance?” asked Gwen but the second warrior stepped
forward, looking like he would want to strike Gwen but his partner
held him back.
“There
will need not be any further aggression if the surface world does not
respond in kind,” said the first warrior. “The trial of the head
of Oscorp will take place within the next day and appropriate justice
will be given.”
The
two warriors turned their backs.
“A
trial, meaning the right to witnesses, legal representation,
everything?” asked Gwen skeptically.
“Somehow
I doubt that very much,” supplied Spider-Man.
“Lucky
that you showed up when you did,” muttered Gwen.
“Yeah,
Parker managed to run into me, I suspect he’ll be coming back soon,
he was looking for help,” said Spider-Man. “I take it you
contacted the authorities.”
Gwen
nodded but Liz turned towards Spider-Man.
“You’ve
got to do something,” said Liz and Spider-Man turned to her. “They
took Harry down there and they’re going to…I don’t know what
they’re going to do to him but I doubt they’re going to be fair.”
“Last
time I went down there, I nearly drowned,” said Spider-Man more to
himself than the others.
“Surely
you can do something!” shouted Liz and Spider-Man looked hesitant.
“I can’t believe it, your supposed to be a hero and you’re just
going to give up.”
“What
do you expect me to do, fight all of Atlantis?” asked Spider-Man
and Gwen’s eyes snapped up at this. She had now remembered where
she had heard of Namor, the king of Atlantis.
“Well
it’s better than whatever they do to Harry,” said Liz but she saw
his point, even though she wished that he could just go down there
and save Harry.
“Well,
Spidey, you’ve really got yourself in deep this time, well
technically Norman got his son in deep, but let’s not bother with
schematics,” thought Spider-Man. “I’m going to need a bit of
help to convince Namor to play nice and let Harry go and…I’m
going to need someone whose dealt with his royal pain in the backside
before.”
-
Norman
Osborn sat calmly in his cell at Ravencroft. He had been both amused
and infuriated of Hamilton’s reports that he was making progress.
If anyone had the right to make a judgment on Norman Osborn, the fool
had tried to get Norman to open up, to talk about his childhood, as
if he could ever imagine what made Norman tick.
“Norman,
I would like a few moments of your time,” said Hamilton as he
walked up to Norman’s cell.
“I
was under the impression our sessions were only once a week,”
responded Norman. “And it hasn’t been a week.”
“You
would be correct, Norman,” said Hamilton diplomatically. “But
distressing news has reached me and I thought it would be fair if you
would know. Your son has been kidnapped and will have to stand try
for crimes against the country of Atlantis.”
“Are
you certain you should not be in this cell instead, Doctor?” asked
Norman quietly after a moment, as the fact his son was kidnapped
barely registered with him but rather Hamilton had been babbling
about Atlantis.
“No,
two men dressed in armor said your son would have to pay for the
crimes of Oscorp and he would have to stand tall,” said Hamilton
and Norman just remained silent. “You know, your son, Harry, he’s
been kidnapped.”
“I’m
fully aware who my son is,” said Norman with thinly veiled disgust.
“He has gotten himself into a situation that he must now find a way
out of. Nothing but disappointment, something that I’ve grown
accustomed to.”
“Surely
you must be concerned about what may happen to your son?” asked
Hamilton but Norman did not respond with anything other than silence
and slinked back into the shadows, eyes narrowed at Hamilton.
At
that very moment, an alarm went off in Ravencroft, which distracted
Hamilton from his meeting with Norman. Norman was disinterested in
the entire proceedings, as there was several screams that echoed down
the hallway, as guards moved in.
Doctor
Octopus’s robotic arms walked down the hallway on their own accord.
The guards moved in to attempt to subdue them but the tentacles rose
up before they whacked the guards to the side. They landed on the
ground with a thump and the arms moved over, as Otto Octavius sat in
his cell, with a calculating look on his face, as the tentacles
smashed open the cell. They walked over and the good doctor got up,
before he bent down, to put his robotic arms on, to become Doctor
Octopus once again. A group of guards moved out to meet him, a couple
of them battered, from getting the robotic arm s smashed into them in
the first place.
“Freeze,
Octavius!” shouted one of the guards but the good doctor was not in
the mood to play along. His arms disarmed the guards quickly,
destroying their weapons, before he moved over, where Hamilton stood,
backing off against the wall.
“Otto,
I had thought we had made progress,” said Hamilton.
“Oh
believe me, I have made progress,” said Doctor Octopus with an evil
glint in his eye, as one of his arms whipped out, to grab Hamilton
and hoist him off the ground. Hamilton tried to struggle but found
the gesture rather useless. “Progress in communicating to my
associates on how to operate my robotic arms from outside of
Ravencroft and allow my escape, in fact sufficient enough progress to
allow an early release on the account of good behavior. I thank you
for your hospitality Dr. Hamilton but I’m afraid I’ve overstayed
my welcome.”
Hamilton
was dropped to the down, as Doc Ock rose up on his arms, to make
quick work on the rest of the guards, before he smashed open the wall
and scaled down the walls of Ravencroft. The mad scientist had
escaped, leaving several injured guards and a baffled and bruised Dr.
Barton Hamilton in his wake.
Norman
Osborn remained in his cell, hands folded across his lap,
disinterested at the entire situation. His moment would come when the
time was right and not a second before.
-
With
great ease, Spider-Man swung on his webbing. He could not help but
feel that he could have wasted several valuable minutes, when he had
to turn back into Peter Parker to ensure that Liz did not ask too
many questions and then change back, but that was the peril of
keeping one’s identity secret.
He
reached his destination in pretty much no time flat, as he landed
right outside of the Baxter Building. He had teamed up with the
Fantastic Four in the past, having stopped Dr. Doom and the
technology of one Reed Richards, also known as Mr. Fantastic, saved
him from life threatening injuries at the hands of the Green Goblin.
It
was ironic really that an Osborn was the cause of his last visit to
the Baxter Building and now with his latest visit, another Osborn had
lead him here, for albeit rather different reasons. Spider-Man
quickly made his way to the gate and he lightly pounded right on it.
“Is
anyone there?” asked Spider-Man in a frantic voice. “Can anyone
hear me? This is Spider-Man, it’s an emergency, I could really use
some help right about now!”
Spider-Man
continued to rap on the gate but he heard no answer. It would just be
his luck, the Fantastic Four out on some mission to save the world
from a galactic threat, when he needed their help to rescue Harry.
Still,
Spider-Man was not one to give up easily and he kept knocking on the
gate, in some desperate plea that he would get a answer.
“Break
down the gate, why don’t you, web head?” asked a voice and
Spider-Man’s head turned, to see Johnny Storm, better known as the
Human Torch stood there, right in front of Spider-Man. “What’s
the big fire…other than me of course?”
The
Human Torch laughed at his own pun.
“Yeah,
funny, real funny,” said Spider-Man dryly. “Where are the others,
I could use your help?”
“Sorry,
Spidey, the others aren’t here right now, off doing whatever, I get
left behind, Sue and Reed said they’d be back by morning, don’t
know about Ben, but he’s real solid about getting back on time,”
said the Human Torch and Spider-Man just looked at him in
frustration.
“The
person who’s in danger might be executed by morning,” said
Spider-Man. “I need the help right now…and I’m afraid I’m
going to need your help.”
The
Human Torch looked at Spider-Man gleefully but he quickly snapped
himself into a business like demeanor or what passed as business like
for Johnny Storm.
“So,
Harry Osborn, the acting head of Oscorp got kidnapped for crimes
committed by his father,” said Spider-Man without preamble.
“So,
what’s the big deal, I mean, I’m sure they’ll let him off, it’s
just been a mistake,” suggested the Human Torch.
“Maybe
if it was our government and that’s a big maybe, but it was not, it
was representatives of Atlantis,” said Spider-Man and with that,
the Human Torch’s eyes widened. “So you can see, the situation is
rather dire, because they said he would be put on trial.”
“Osborn
doesn’t have a chance,” commented Johnny. “Namor’s not too
fond of surface dwellers after…his last encounter with someone from
up here.”
“And
you wouldn’t have anything to do with this, would you?” asked
Spider-Man as he looked at the Torch, who shook his head, with the
most fake innocent smile imaginable.
“No
way, web head, I mean, the Four and Namor have had our share of
disagreements but that’s water under the bridge right now,” said
the Human Torch. “Sounds like it could be tricky.”
“Yeah,
it could be, if I could go in alone, but that’s why I need the help
of the Fantastic Four,” said Spider-Man. “Are you sure there
isn’t a way to contact the others?”
“Sorry,
no, I’m sure I could track the down but it could take hours,”
said The Human Torch.
“We
don’t have that long,” said Spider-Man as he braced himself.
“Well I guess it’s just you and men then, flame brain.”
“Guess
so web head,” said the Human Torch. “So what’s the plan?”
“Hopefully
go down there and talk some sense into his royal highness Namor,”
said Spider-Man.
“And
if not?” asked The Human Torch.
“Well,
hopefully it won’t come to that,” said Spider-Man.
“Even
though it will, of course it will, what am I saying?” thought
Spider-Man. “Nothing in my life could ever be that simple.”
A
moment’s pause and the Human Torch suddenly realized something.
“I
don’t know how much help I’ll be to you,” said the Human Torch
and Spider-Man looked at him. “You see, I don’t do well around
water.”
“Well,
just get me down there and I’ll figure out the rest,” said
Spider-Man. “You guys do have something that can get me down there
right?”
“Is
Doom full of himself?” asked the Human Torch, which answered the
question perfectly, as the two heroes went. Spider-Man would have
preferred the help of the entire Fantastic Four in this situation,
but he would have to take what he could get on such short notice.
-
In
a dry chamber down in the Atlantis Court Room, Harry Osborn winced as
he woke up. He remembered vaguely that he had been talking to Liz,
Gwen, and Peter and then he was abducted by a thing.
“Please
be another hallucination,” thought Harry desperately but he could
barely move in the chains. He was completely weakened.
“Good,
the human has awakened,” said a surly guard as he walked forward.
“Human, you’re judgment will take place in moments. While it
could never replace the lives of the hundreds who perished, at least
justice will be served.”
“That
wasn’t me, it was my father!” shouted Harry but he slumped
forward, weak. He had never been more terrified in his life and his
head throbbed in pain.
He
had to be hallucinating, he just had to be.
“Someone
has to pay for the sins of Oscorp,” said the guard, as he grabbed
Harry, before he lead the terrified teenager out to the court room in
chains.
-
The
second warrior who had apprehended, Harry, made his way nervously to
a chamber where he came face to face with a shadowed figure.
“The
King is distracted by the proceedings with the surface dweller known
as Osborn,” said the warrior with a nod at the shadowed figure in
front of him.
“Good,
as planned, the boy will pay but he is a surface dweller and bares
little consequence,” said the shadowed figure. “Namor has allowed
weakness to set in on our kind for too long. Some time ago, we proud
Atlanteans would never have allowed such filth to even come close.
Now you’ve gone soft. No one has gone softer than our beloved king.
Years ago, he would have had that human gutted like a fish without a
second word. Now he’s become too….human. And now they set a
dangerous precedent to allow this filth to continue to attack because
they can be deluded into thinking they may have a chance.”
“Not
for long,” said the second warrior.
“No,
not for long, now is the time to stage a rebellion with all Namor’s
prized warriors distracted by this farce of a trial,” said the
shadowed figure. “You have done well, Merx.”
The
warrior known as Merx nodded, with a greedy expression on his face.
He had been promised a position as the right hand of this
conspirator. Now he would get what was coming to him, after serving
Namor for some time, having to stand by and watch as he had not taken
the fight to the surface dwellers, while just making threats that he
would eliminate their access to the waters.
“Return
to your place, before you are missed, you shall know when you are
needed once again,” said the shadowed figure and Merx left. The
shadowed figure watched the brash, arrogant warrior leave. “Yes,
you will get what’s coming to you, once you’re usefulness has
outlived. The throne will be mine and then the surface world will be
forced under my thumb.”
With
that the barbarian exile known as Attuma stepped out of the shadows
as he walked to make contact with his sympathizers.
-
The
reality of what was occurring had began to slowly set in for Harry
Osborn, as he sat, watching as the jury stepped in, even though he
had the sense that they had already declared his guilt even before
knowing all the facts. The judge looked humorless, giving Harry a
look as if he was something that he scraped off of the bottom of his
shoe.
“The
judgment of the surface dweller known as Harry Osborn will occur
right now,” said the judge as he looked up, where the very
impressive form of Namor, the King of Atlantis stood. “All rise and
recognize his royal highness of Atlantis.”
Harry
looked up and Namor just looked from side to side, barely
acknowledging anyone. He had dark hair and chiseled features. He had
two bodyguards on either side, but Namor looked as if he could take
care of himself.
“Harry
Osborn, you have been charged with dumping hazardous chemicals that
poisoned and slaughtered many in Atlantis, including four hundred and
seventeen children,” said the judge and the jury muttered angrily
at these facts.
“I
didn’t order the dump of the chemicals, it was my father!”
shouted Harry but the judge looked at him with a disgusted look.
“We
did not give you permission to speak, land dweller,” said the judge
in a cruel and cold voice.
“Look
if it’s about the money, I’ll pay whatever you want!” shouted
Harry and with that the court room went silent. You could hear a pin
drop.
Namor
stood up, as he surveyed Harry with absolute distaste.
“So,
you think you can put a price tag on the lives of our children?”
asked Namor.
“No,
nothing like that….” Stammered Harry but his pleas fell on deaf
ears.
“This
is not about the money, human,” said Namor crisply. “You presume
to be arrogant enough to think you can buy our people off and allow
you to go free, to perhaps allow more innocents to perish. “
“It
wasn’t me!” shouted Harry but his pleas once again fell on deaf
ears.
“SILENCE!”
shouted Namor, as his voice echoed throughout the court room. “It
was your company who did this and you have all the responsibilities
now. Including atonement for the death of our children!”
Harry
slumped forward, defeated but there was a rumbling sound outside,
which caused Namor’s eyes to snap up. Two guards flew through the
court room, as Spider-Man and the Human Torch stepped forward.
“Man,
Namor, you throw a party and you didn’t invite your old buddy, the
Torch!” shouted the Human Torch in amusement, as the guards moved
forward to subdue them but Spider-Man knocked them down to the
ground.
“Seize
them!” ordered Namor.
“Man,
we need to liven this little thing up,” said the Human Torch as
Spider-Man grabbed one of the spears before it impaled into his chest
and used his spider strength to flip the guard onto the ground.
“FLAME ON!”
The
Human Torch became surrounded in flame but Namor stood on his feet.
“IMPERIUS
REX!” shouted Namor and a current of water appeared from above,
that soaked the Human Torch and put him out, as Spider-Man continued
to fight the warriors. He held his own, grudgingly impressing the
onlookers with his bravery.
“Spider-Man
that’s enough!” shouted Merx, as Spider-Man turned around, as the
Human Torch was held down, with a spear at the side of his throat.
“That’s
that jerk from before, that nearly hit Gwen,” thought Spider-Man.
“What I wouldn’t give to tangle with him!”
“Raise
your hands and surrender Spider-Man or your friend will be finished,”
said Merx and Spider-Man looked from side to side desperately, but
there was no sign that the order would be overruled, so he held up
his hands, as two guards walked forward and placed him in shackles.
“Sorry,
Spidey, but I told you, if I got wet, I wouldn’t be of any help,”
said the Torch, as he was shackled.
“Spider-Man,
you dare bring that ruffian down here!” said Namor gruffly as he
looked at the Human Torch, a disgusted sneer appearing on his face.
“After all the trouble he caused last time he showed his face in my
kingdom!”
“What
did you do?” muttered Spider-Man and the Human Torch looked
reluctant to answer to a moment.
“I
might have kind of destroyed his throne room and…most of his palace
come to think of it, last time I was down here, although Ben did just
about as much damage,” said the Human Torch as he winced as three
spears were very close to his throat.
“By
royal decree, this trial will now be extended to include Spider-Man
and the Human Torch as collaborators of Oscorp and the crimes
committed against Atlantis,” declared Namor loudly and coldly.
“Once they are found guilty, the sentence will be death.”
“Nice
of you to leave some room for doubt, your highness,” thought
Spider-Man as the situation looked quite dire indeed. There seemed to
be no way for them to get out.
-
“Have
any of you seen Johnny?” asked the Invisible Woman, as the other
three members of the Fantastic Four were back at the Baxter Building.
“No
I haven’t, he was supposed to stay here,” said Mr. Fantastic.
“Knowing
the matchstick, he got himself into some kind of trouble,” said the
Thing as he looked around.
“He
could be here,” said Mr. Fantastic as they looked around but they
were the only three around.
“Look,
at least he had the decency to leave a note,” said the Thing as he
took it but the Invisible Woman took it quickly.
“Went
off with Spider-Man to save some rich kid who was taken by Namor and
put on trial unfairly, hopefully we make it out okay,” read the
Invisible Woman. “Oh my god! We’ve got to save him!”
“Kid’s
got himself into trouble again,” muttered the Thing.
“Yes,
we better get going,” said Mr. Fantastic quickly, his mind working
quickly. The Atlantis Army or rather Atlanteans in general, were a
fierce and proud lot. They did not take kindly to intrusion of
surface dwellers and he doubted that Spider-Man realized what he was
getting into right now.
-
“Wait,
wait, wait, you can’t just do this, we deserve a chance to defend
ourselves!” shouted the Human Torch, as he was still soaking wet
and thus unable to use his powers.
“Surface
dweller, I doubt any Atlantean would dare represent such heinous
criminals,” said the judge coldly and Namor nodded.
“Let
the judgment proceed,” said Namor.
“WAIT!”
shouted the Human Torch as he looked around frantically before a
bright idea came to his mind. “Spider-Man can do it!”
“I
can?” asked Spider-Man completely flummoxed about this out of the
blue suggestion from the Torch and as it turned out he was not the
only one.
No comments:
Post a Comment