Chapter 65: The Winning Team Part One

Chapter Sixty Five: The Winning Team Part One

Dusk, on a Monday morning in the middle of August, a trio of ominous figures appeared outside of a building, dressed in black. One of the figures was a regular sized man, with light colored hair, called Montana, the brains of the operation. The other was a tall lean, athletically built man, his face covered in a black mask, named Fancy Dan, the skill of the operation. Then there was a large stocky man with dark hair and a mustache, named Ox, the muscle of the operation. They approached an abandoned laboratory just outside of Queens.

Montana snapped his fingers and Ox stepped over, before he carefully grabbed the metal door and with great strength removed it. He stepped inside, and pulled out a spray can, before he sprayed a mist into the room, revealing a laser security grid on the floor. He snapped his eyes to Fancy Dan, who did a series of acrobatic leaps, before he gracefully landed on the other side and disabled the security system. Montana and Ox walked over to join Fancy Dan and Montana turned to walk towards the cabinet, before he removed a lock pin and placed it in, before he twisted it open.

Suddenly, several lines of web fluid shot out, and splattered right on the side of the cabinet, the three Enforcers turned around, before they saw Spider-Man perched right on the side.

“Out of prison for less then a day and already in trouble,” remarked Spider-Man. “What would your parole officer say?”

“Squash him, boys,” ordered Montana, as Ox and Fancy Dan moved in and Spider-Man dropped down, as he dodged a punch from Ox, but Fancy Dan leaped into the air and kicked Spider-Man right in the chest and knocked him backwards into a shelf.

“Yeah, that wasn't....” started Spider-Man but Fancy Dan began to nail Spider-Man several times, nailing him with a series of rapid fire blows to the chest, winding him, before he fell right into the grip of Ox and Ox wrapped his hands. “Get...off...of...me...you...lug!”

Montana stepped over and removed a blowtorch, before he lit it and began to melt the webbing.

“That dang gum bug ain't going to get me that easily,” grumbled Montana, as he heated up things, in an attempt to remove that accursed webbing from the cabinet.

Spider-Man slipped out and Fancy Dan nailed Ox right in the head with a kick, before Spider-Man somersaulted right over him. Ox was down and as Spider-Man turned around, Fancy Dan aimed a kick but Spider-Man dodged it and Spider-Man ran up the wall before he dropped down. Fancy Dan tried to copy his maneuvering, but lost his balance and Spider-Man turned around, arms and legs completely wrapped up, and then Spider-Man turned around, with Ox grabbing Spider-Man right by his throat.

“There's really no need to take my breath away,” managed Spider-Man, before he shot webbing right into Ox's eyes and Ox stumbled, before Spider-Man flipped in the air and nailed Ox right in the head. The large Enforcer struggled and Ox swung but Spider-Man dodged out of the way and Ox punched a shelf, before Spider-Man perched himself up and then he jumped right onto Ox.

Ox tried to throw Spider-Man off but the web slinger hung on. He rammed the side of his elbow again and again into the side of the head of Ox until Ox shoved Spider-Man off, but Spider-Man on his back, shot webbing. He tugged it and caused Ox to land right on top of Fancy Dan and they clonked heads. Ox got back to his feet but several lines of webbing wrapped around them and Ox landed face first onto the ground, knocked unconscious.

Montana managed to get all of the webbing off.

“Two down, one to go,” said Spider-Man as he swung over to face off with Montana.

“Stand back bug, you ain't not gonna get the better of me,” threatened Montana, as he had his hand on the blowtorch.

“Grammar and biology, two things you flunked out big time,” retorted Spider-Man. “No wonder you became a two bit thug.”

“Watch your mouth boy!” shouted Montana as he tried to blast Spider-Man with the blowtorch but he jumped out of the way.

“Hey, watch it with that thing!” yelled Spider-Man, nearly avoiding being barbequed to a crisp.

“I'll learn you some respect, boy,” said Montana, as he tried to fry Spider-Man again, but Spider-Man dodged. “I'm a professional and you'd do well to treat me with respect.”

Spider-Man shot a line of webbing and disarmed Montana, but Montana dodged the attack, before he grabbed the cabinet door and swung it forward, to whack Spider-Man right in the face with it. He winced, as Montana kicked him right in the shins, before he reached over and removed a black box from inside the cabinet and he jumped into the air.

“I don't know what that is, but I have to get that back,” thought Spider, wincing at his split lip and busted up face.

“Sorry boys, you snooze, you lose,” said Montana, but before he cleared the door, Spider-Man kicked a cart right into his way to block his exit and Montana turned around, as Spider-Man jumped up, before he removed the box from Montana's grip, wrapping a web line around it.

He threw it over, and the box busted open, as it landed onto the table, much to the horror of Montana.

“You fool!” gasped Montana, as a vial launched into the air. A spider sense attack indicated that it was not the best thing to allow this vial to hit the ground and he shot a line of webbing out, before he wrapped it around it and pulled it down, before he slid it into his side pocket.

He watched, Montana rushing away, obviously giving this up as a bad job.

“You really think you're going to get away that easily,” said Spider-Man as he moved forward and lifted his arm, as Montana made his way to the getaway helicopter, climbing up the ladder. Spider-Man aimed his hand, but only a few small droplets of webbing splattered out of it. “Crap, maybe you are going to get away that easily.”

He reached around for more web cartridges but winced.

“Out, I can't be completely out, blast it, if only those stupid muggers hadn't knocked off that gas station for seventeen dollars I would have had enough webbing!” thought Spider-Man angrily, as he jumped right at the rope ladder, but he missed. He quickly scaled the side of the building but the helicopter was long gone “Well at least I got his two buddies and I stopped him from stealing whatever, he was going to steal. Maybe the hired help has a clue.”

Spider-Man returned to the lab, to discovery Fancy Dan and Ox still webbed up, even though Fancy Dan started to come through. With a quick movement, Spider-Man hoisted him up and Fancy Dan quickly went limp but he was roughly shaken awaken.

“What were you after?” asked Spider-Man.

“Nothing that concerns you, Spidey,” responded Fancy Dan.

“I get it, you weren't important enough to be told anything,” said Spider-Man slowly and Fancy Dan looked offended.

“Of course, I was, but all Montana told us was it was a job for the Kingpin,” said Fancy Dan and then suddenly the martial artist of the Enforcers realized that he had said too much and Spider-Man just dropped him.

“Kingpin, that doesn't explain much, guy has his hands in every little operation in the city and I'm nowhere near figuring out who he is then I am the Master Planner,” thought Spider-Man. “If its not one thing, its the other. I wish I knew what was in the vials in that box. Must be something important. And expensive if Kingpin wanted it. And dangerous, can't forget dangerous. Well duh, Parker, of course it was.”

He heard the police sirens, no doubt the sounds of battle had caused a nuisance and it would be hard to miss Spider-Man chasing a helicopter out. The web slinger stepped out, deep in thought and he wished he had more of a clue what the Kingpin was after.

XX-XX

“So you've failed me,” said Kingpin swiftly over a radio transmission.

“It was the web head's meddling, we could have gotten it, if Spider-Man, hadn't interfered,” replied Montana, as he sat in the helicopter, surrounded by several of the Kingpin's men. The fact that they had guns made him just slightly uneasy.

“Spider-Man is something that should be accounted for by now,” said Kingpin dismissively. “His presence is something that you should expect. It's no excuse for your failure. Your two associates have already been arrested and now they'll be watching the package closer.”

“Just give me another chance,” pleaded Montana.

“Second chances are the tool of fools,” replied Kingpin coldly. “However, as promised, you will get half of your intended payment, for your attempt at the job. Providing you aren't indisposed, that is.”

The helicopter landed and Montana was pushed out onto a rooftop.

“Why would I be indisposed?” grumbled Montana but suddenly, he found himself being surrounded by police helicopters.

“Alright Montana, come quietly, and you won't get hurt!” called a voice and Montana turned, and weighed his options and stepped forward, fuming as he was read his rights at the fact that the Kingpin of Crime set him up.

To take a really huge fall.

XX-XX

“Gentlemen, despite the failure of the Enforcers, I can't lie and say that this was something that I expected,” replied Kingpin as his shadowed face appeared on the basement of an office building. “They were only the dry run to begin with. Had they succeeded, then I would have been overjoyed. Naturally, The Kingpin rarely plays his entire hand in one sitting.”

He paused for the briefest of moments.

“Shocker, your newly upgraded suit will be a benefit to this mission,” stated Kingpin to Shocker, as he stepped out into the shadows, dressed in a thick black suit, with goggles and his gauntlets upgraded.

“Spider-Man's as good as finished,” replied Shocker in a deadly whisper. He had been waiting to blast Spider-Man for all of the times that web slinger made a fool out of him.

“Boomerang, your skills with the obvious should allow this mission to go on without a hitch,” said Kingpin, to Boomerang, dressed in a white and blue suit, also wearing goggles, and a belt with several pouches containing boomerangs of various flavors.

“Going to knock the web head's head off with this one, Kingpin,” said Boomerang as he threw out one of his boomerangs. It bounced off the wall and returned to him and it caught it casually, as he looked at the large hole that it left.

“Rhino, your brute strength will crush any who get in your way,” said Kingpin.

“Yeah,” grunted Rhino, not one for many words.

“Shocker will lead this mission, he has been given the information and bring the package by any means necessary,” said Kingpin, as the three super villains stood and nodded, as they indicated they understand perfectly.

XXXXX-XXXXX

“Okay, first got to get home for a couple of hours, have lunch, then I need to make more web fluid,” thought Peter, as his head poked from behind a tree, before he dropped down, Spider-Man outfit and web shooters, as he walked inside. “Thankfully my nose doesn't look too off center, just a tiny scratch too, could have been worse. If I can figure out what the Enforcers were after, I might figure out what the Kingpin's up to.”

“Oh hello, Peter, dear,” said Aunt May as she was busy making lunch.

“Hello, Aunt May,” said Peter cheerfully. “And how is a wonderful woman like you doing on this wonderful day?”

“Oh, I'm doing fine Peter, you've got some mail on the table dear,” said Aunt May, and she looked amused at her nephew's eagerness.

“Really, this could be what I was waiting for,” said Peter, as he crossed his fingers. “This could be the scholarships that I applied for, the money that I needed to go to ESU.”

Peter took a deep breath.

“Well, Peter, you're grades have always been good, it would be silly for them to deny you,” said Aunt May, as she surveyed her nephew. “Go ahead, and open in Peter.”

Peter, thinking that there was really no waiting, he opened the envelope and read the enclosed letter on the inside but his face fell.

“Denied,” muttered Peter as he looked at. “Sorry, Mr. Parker, but while your work is much appreciated, we feel that you are not what we are looking for to get our scholarship.”

“Well they obviously don't know what they're talking about,” said Aunt May. “And besides, there's like three more, you could have qualified for those.”

Peter opened the three envelops one by one, but the same story with all of them. He had not gotten the scholarships that he wanted. He had applied for them rather early, with plenty of time. It was a rather tense moment, as Aunt May looked at the rejection letters and the downtrodden look on her nephew's face.

“I'm sorry Peter,” said Aunt May, who had wished that Ben had been a bit more better at saving so their nephew would not have to worry about paying college, but no one could have predicted what would happen. Any money that Peter's parents might have had before they died was confiscated by the government(or rather SHIELD), for “national security reasons”.

“I'll be fine Aunt May,” said Peter as he just closed his eyes. “Plenty more scholarships out there, and I still got a year.”

“That's the spirit, Peter,” said Aunt May with a slight smile. “Now how about lunch.”

Suddenly, Peter cringed, as his cell phone began to come to life. There was only one person in the world who would bother him right before he was about ready to eat lunch. He braced himself to get another few years taken off of his hearing.

“PARKER!” bellowed the voice of J. Jonah Jameson.

“Yes, Mr. Jameson, what is it?” asked Peter in a forced polite voice.

“I've got you a job that's right up your alley, there's a big science convention downtown today, some new company that's supposed to change the face of science, and I want photos of whatever they have,” said Jameson. “Its held at Midtown High, I trust you know where that is.”

“I would hazard a guess I do, Mr. Jameson, considering I do attend school there,” replied Peter swiftly but this did not really bother Peter, considering he was already planning to attend the convention.

“Hey, hey, HEY, don't get smart with me, Parker!” said Jameson. “Of course, all that science crap, some nutcase is just bound to get some ideas, so it could mean news. I'm sending Leeds down there to cover for the paper, but I want lots of photos. Lots of photos. Don't embarrass me Parker.”

“Wouldn't dream of it, boss,” said Peter.

“You better not dream about it, Parker, because I'll make sure you have nothing but nightmares if its the last thing I do,” said Jameson. “Now quit lolly gagging and get down there, convention starts in three hours. Get going. What are you waiting for? Bell Bottoms to come back in style?”

“Right, I'll be there with bells on,” said Peter.

“Forget the bells, just bring your camera,” said Jameson as he had hung up.

“Always brightens your day, a chat with old Pickle Puss,” thought Peter as he quickly finished his lunch, before he headed down to take pictures. “Just take care of the photos, pick up the stuff to make more webbing, should work out well.”

XXXXX-XXXXX

Wilson Fisk sat, as he concluded another business transaction. A few of his lower level grunts had been loaned out to a new would be super criminal. It did amuse him how some people thought all it took was a flashy gimmick and a few toys to be a big shot. Still should they become moderately successful, he would get a percentage of their profits from whatever scheme they had pulled. Loaning out henchmen to people such as the Big Wheel and the Lightmaster had been quite the profitable venture for the Kingpin of Crime.

A knock on the door had disrupted his thoughts.

“Come in, my boy,” said Fisk, as he looked up and his son, Richard. “What is this meeting you wanted with me, Richard?”

“Father, I must argue with your refusal to allow me funding to assist Creed and his organization's aims to stomp out mutants,” said Richard as he looked at his father.

“I had anticipated that you would disagree with my refusal,” said Fisk. “Funding a terrorist organization would be bad for my business. And there are certain benefits in allowing mutants to remain in this city. If there was a problem, I could easily eliminate them but right now, they serve their benefits. I would not expect somehow like Graydon Creed to understand that, but I would think that my own son may have picked up the fact that this is best for business.”

“Mutants are abominations, filthy things, disgusting, they shouldn't be allowed to live,” said Richard in disgust and Fisk just responded with a chuckle.

“Youth, so getting caught up in what is fashionable,” said Fisk, amused. “There is no benefit for destroying mutants as I said, Richard. They help raise my bottom line. The destruction of the city block by these mutants lead to the most successful and profitable set of repairs. You must learn to look at the bigger picture, if you hope to be anything in this city.”

“The bigger picture, yeah, the bigger picture, it did mother loads of good,” said Richard roughly and now Fisk stood to his feet, a momentary bit of anger evident in his eyes.

“Please leave my office, I have work to do and my answer remains the same,” said Fisk in a much colder voice, as he looked over his son.

“Of course, Kingpin,” said Richard in a short, respectful, yet somehow mocking tone as he left the office, aware that he had touched a nerve within his father and not wanting to stick around for much longer. His point was made.

XXXXX-XXXXX

As it turned out, the convention was nothing like Peter had expected at first glance. In fact, it was really nothing all that exciting, as he looked around. There were a few diagrams and also a few models, but it seemed like nothing out of the ordinary. Unless there was something hidden in the next room to be be brought out. Ned Leeds, who was writing the story looked at the various models.

“Do you have any idea what any of this means?” asked Leeds.

“Looks like just a bunch of...well nothing, not ground breaking science like they said,” remarked Peter as he began to slowly slip away to the side. Perhaps he had overlooked something rather vital in his haste, but he was proven wrong.

“Oh hi, Peter,” said a voice, and Peter looked up to see Gwen standing right there, she moved over there, to greet him. “I thought you weren't going to be here, you know work to do.”

“Well, funnily enough, Jameson decided that this is newsworthy enough to snap a few photos of, although I can't imagine why,” said Peter and Gwen nodded slowly in understanding. “Thought someone might steal something, although once again, I can't understand why.”

“Yeah, really neither could I, just seems like a whole bunch of...well nothing,” said Gwen and Peter just smiled, his girlfriend accurately accessing the situation. “This is one of the most drab, dismal things since...that one film strip about the history of duct tape that we were forced to watch in the fifth grade. Those are five hours of my life I'm never going to get back.”

“Yes, it was bad,” agreed Peter.

“You were supposed to get a letter about the scholarships you applied for, weren't you?” asked Gwen suddenly and Peter just looked at her, a pained expression on her face and Gwen realized immediately. “I'm sorry I....”

“All of them, I was rejected from all of them, said that I wasn't what they were looking for,” said Peter with a slightly bitter inflection upon his voice. “Said I wasn't good enough...well they didn't say that, but they really implied it.”

“Well they're idiots,” said Gwen firmly. “I mean you should have been a shoo in with your GPA, sure your attendance was a little spotty...but they shouldn't hold that against you.”

“I bet you anything that they did,” said Peter with a sigh. “Its good Gwen, its okay really, I'm fine.”

“It was your dream to go to there, to ESU and now, how are you going to pay?” asked Gwen. “I mean, those scholarships were you best hope and the rest of them are either for athletes or won't cover everything.”

“I told Aunt May there were plenty more, I wouldn't want her to feel guilty, its not like she or Uncle Ben could have predicted what happened when it did,” said Peter quietly, with a far off look in his eyes. “I guess if worse comes to worse...well I don't really know...I guess I'll be stuck taking pictures for Jameson for the rest of my life.”

Peter looked rather despondent and depressed. Gwen just frowned, really not knowing what to say and was thankfully spared of doing so.

“Gwen, Peter, I thought you'd be around here somewhere,” said Liz, as she walked with Harry, who had the obvious look of guy being convinced or more likely guilt tripped into somewhere where he would rather go.

“Yeah, well, yeah,” responded Harry, obviously bored. “I don't know why anyone would be here of all places.”

“Well I'm sure its interesting, I don't understand it, but its...right, Peter?” asked Liz and Peter just looked with a shake of head.

“I guess you could say that,” replied Peter, looking anything but interested. “Okay, a lot of it, I'm sure it would be more interesting if someone just explained it more. Just a little bit.”

“No amount of explanation can make any science interesting to me,” muttered Harry. “Anyway, neither of us would be here if Liz's brother wouldn't have gotten picked for this science thing that they are doing.”

“Really, that's great, only twenty people were chosen to help work for this thing, weren't they?” asked Gwen.

“I think so, Mark was really happy about it,” replied Liz. “He seemed surprised that he was chosen, I mean that there were so many people that they could have chose.”

“Well good for him, hopefully he has a better idea of what all of this is all about,” responded Peter in a calm voice, but he took a step to the side. “I'm sure its easier to understand if you're actually working with this.”

“Maybe,” said Harry, but he looked rather dubious at best.

“Ah, Liz there you are,” said a voice and Gwen, Peter, and Harry looked up to see Liz's brother Mark, standing there, surveying them before he nodded. “Ah, Parker, its been a while. I heard you're filling my shoes as the resident science guy at Midtown.”

“Well, I do what I can,” remarked Peter.

“Maybe one day you can actually be something other than a photographer,” said Mark as another figure stepped right in front of him. “Dr. Trainer, Parker might be someone to look into in a few years, you know.”

Peter and Gwen exchanged looks, when they saw Carolyn Trainer, the prized student of one Dr. Otto Octavius who had looked right at them.

“Ah, yes, we are rather interesting in applying the skills of Mr. Parker if he continues to maintain his level of dedication to the field of science,” responded Trainer. “Mr. Parker, I do hope that you find today's exhibits to be most illuminating, as it will be a taste of the future to come.”

“Doesn't seem to be anything all that interesting,” thought Peter. “Then again, if Trainer's involved with this, I just wonder if her mechanical armed mentor is not far behind. What is Ock up to...wait, I can't be paranoid. Just because you meet someone who once studied underneath a super villain and was known to work with him the last time you met, doesn't mean much of anything.”

“You've met, my sister, Liz a few days ago when you were at dinner,” remarked Mark. “And those are Peter's friends, Harry Osborn and Gwen Stacy. This is Dr. Carolyn Trainer, she's the administrator of the program.”

“Interesting to meet you, Dr. Trainer,” replied Gwen coolly as she looked at Trainer. Naturally they had met briefly, when the Sinister Six had went up against Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus had used Gwen for bait, much to her dismay.

“Yeah, great,” said Harry in a bored voice.

“What is this all about anyway?” asked Peter as he pointed out the diagrams and models. “I mean, I normally understand this good, but its not really registering with my mind.

“I'm not at liberty to divulge any more than you see here,” replied Trainer crisply. “We wish to keep the further details of the plans secret.”

“Really, there's someone else running this, other than you,” said Gwen in a would be casual matter.

“I'm not at liberty to divulge any other information,” repeated Trainer as she turned and walked away without another word and Mark seemed to to walk off.

“She seemed rather cheery,” remarked Harry.

“Well, she's not exactly the friendliest person, but she was over for Dinner, it was something that they do to meet the families,” said Liz. “She seemed to answer a lot of the questions my parents asked about this well enough. Or at least I think so. I'm not really that good at figuring out this stuff.”

“Well at least no one's stupid enough to steal anything here,” responded Peter, trying to think of a bright side to this drab convention.

“You'd be how surprised some criminals are,” said Harry. “A group of people tried to steal vials of fabric samples.”

“Well maybe there's a sewing circle being started in Ravencroft,” quipped Peter, even though he knew fully well what Harry was talking about, having stopped it.

“To be fair, if what they've been telling on the news is truly, its not just any fabric samples,” said Gwen calmly.

“Oh yeah, that's right...I know!” stated Peter suddenly, he could have slapped himself for not making the obvious connection but everything started to come back to him. “That AIM technology, that was supposed to be highly valuable and not to mention highly dangerous.”

“Fabric samples, that could fit around any body frame once sewed together, regulated temperature at a comfortable level, yeah I can see why some super criminal would want that,” thought Peter. “AIM, anyone who's followed the scientific community, knows that company's been investigated a lot over the years, unethical behavior and all that. So its not like its that far of a jump between that from them to criminals.”

“Highly valuable and highly dangerous,” muttered Harry. “Isn't that everything that anyone would want to steal ever.”

“Yeah, it does seem that way,” muttered Gwen. “And it was supposed to be moved too.”

“Which means whoever hired the Enforcers, are going to likely have someone go for it again, while its being moved,” thought Peter. “Hopefully they have the sense to beef up security. Since its the Kingpin, who knows what he might try next.”

“What does this stuff do, anyway?” asked Liz.

“Well its supposed to adapt to any kind of conditions, cooling the body, or heating it up to a comfortable level,” explained Peter.

“That doesn't sound too bad,” said Harry.

“Whatever they used to make it, it emits small levels of radiation that could cause cancer when worn close to the body for too long,” added Peter.

“Okay, even I know that sounds bad,” said Harry, before he looked around, scratching the side of his nose, but he suddenly come to one conclusion and he saw that Gwen and Liz were off a little bit. “Pete, I need to talk to you for a second please, alone.”

“Um, yeah, okay,” said Peter, confused about what Harry was on about and Gwen just looked to the side. “I'm going to snap some photos real quick for the Bugle.”

“Yeah, I'll go and check out this stuff, maybe Peter can explain it to me,” said Harry and Gwen just surveyed them both, before she turned to take a closer look at some things on the other end of the room. Not that there was not anything.

“Peter, might be keeping things from me, but Liz is right, I need to talk to someone about this and...well , better Peter than Gwen for right now, he's less likely to give me a lecture that I don't need,” thought Harry, as he ignored the slightly ringing sensation in his head. “No Harry, got to be strong. You don't need the crutch. It might make you feel good but you can beat this. You're an Osborn...of course Dad would be appalled if he found out that I was this weak. He must never know.”

“So, Harry?” prompted Peter and Harry took a deep breath, pausing for what seemed like an eternity, but he was interrupted before he could get the smallest part of his statement out.

“Peter, its been a while,” said Norman Osborn as he approached Harry and Peter, looking at his son for a brief instant, with surprise, but mostly disinterest.

“Hello, Mr. Osborn,” said Peter in a cautious but polite voice.

“I trust you've been rather busy,” said Norman as he looked at Peter who nodded. “Well that is to be expected. Most people who are going to have meaning to their lives, are going to be rather busy, wouldn't you say?”

“Of course, sir” answered Peter, as he could not help but notice Norman's eyes appear critically on Harry as he said this.

“So much to do, that you must put in a couple of swing shifts,” added Norman before he turned his eyes right towards Harry. “I wouldn't expect you here, Harry. As primitive as this science would be, it would still be out of your depth. Unless you were dragged here.”

Harry did not have to say anything.

“Well science is about as important to me, as taking an active interest in raising your son is to you, Dad,” answered Harry and Norman paused for a moment.

“I only take interest in things that I feel have hope and a future, son” responded Norman coldly, which caused Peter to step away to the side briefly. This was getting to be slightly uncomfortable. Thankfully though, they were saved by the arrival of one Carolyn Trainer.

“Mr. Osborn, a pleasant surprise,” said Trainer in a crisp voice, as she looked at Osborn, surveying him. “I trust you're finding our presentation of great interest.”

“Well if you are impressed by elementary, novice science, then it would be of great interest,” said Norman blandly. “Then again, given someone who was taught by Otto Octavius, I would not expect anything less. His distorted view on reality has become very charming the last I have heard. Kidnapping teenage girls as bait, robbing science camps and creating Earthquake machines, quite uninspiring for a supposed genius.”

“Dr. Octavius is a brilliant scientific mind and he was driven mad due to Spider-Man sticking his nose where it wasn't wanted,” replied Trainer coldly. “He ruined an experiment that would better the city and its no wonder Dr. Octavius was not what he used to be.”

“It seems that the good doctor has taught madness and delusion to his pupils as well,” replied Norman with a humorless expression.

“That doesn't hold much water, given your past, Osborn,” replied Trainer shortly. “The demons or should we say, goblins in your past.”

“The past is the past, but I can assure you that my mistakes have been corrected and Oscorp is back under my control,” stated Norman. “It will always be the standard bearer in scientific exploration.”

“For now, at least,” answered Trainer. “We're moving towards the future.”

“Oscorp is the future,” retorted Norman in an icy cold tone of voice. “And a business does not run itself. I have better things to do than debate with Doctor Otto Octavius's lackey. Have a pleasant day, Dr. Trainer.”

Norman Osborn turned away, without another word, and began to walk, as Trainer just turned away, before Peter could get a chance to catch her reaction to Norman's words.

“I'm under the impression that old Norman's up to something,” muttered Peter when the man was out of hearing distance.

“Well, it should be obvious, he's still breathing,” said Harry with a strained smile.

“So what did you want to tell me, Harry?” asked Peter and Harry just paused, before he shook his head.

“It was nothing really important,” replied Harry and Peter just half listened with a nod as Harry edged away from him.

“Well at least its going to be a peaceful night,” thought Peter. “Wrap this up here, get the material for my webbing, get home at a halfway decent time.”

XXXXX-XXXXX

“Everything is all locked up tight to be disposed of,” said a guard as he looked over a check list. “Everyone clear it out, we'll be on your tail straight away.”

Another duel of guards nodded, and they entered the armored truck, before they drove it off of the property, with two police cars following closely behind.

Across the street, Rhino, Shocker, and Boomerang watched the truck as it pulled out. Shocker just stood out.

“I'll stop the truck, Rhino will bust it open, and Boomerang, you'll take care of the guards,” said Shocker, as he cracked his knuckles. “On my signal.”

Shocker lifted an arm up in the air and a shockwave ripped through through the street right in front of the armored truck, which caused the vehicle to veer off course, and the other two villains followed in, with Rhino grabbing onto the truck roughly, to stop it from skidding out of control. He pushed it back and ripped open the doors.

“Get out,” growled Rhino and one of the guards grabbed his gun, before he began to fire right at the monstrous villain but it had no effect, bouncing off of his armor.

THUMP!

THUMP!

A boomerang had clonked both of the guards right across the back of the head and Boomerang calmly caught his weapon of voice, before they moved to the truck, with Shocker sending his shockwaves to a building, which caused the two squad cars to skid out of control.

Shocker watched as one of the squad cars burst into flames.

“Take the truck, before someone else shows up, Boomerang, drive, Rhino look out in the back,” ordered Shocker and his two fellow villains just entered the truck, with Shocker blasting the ground once before, to ensure that anyone who attempted to follow them would be slowed down.

And if they got caught in the crossfire, it was not his problem.

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