"It looks to me like your hands have healed up," Gwen said as the trio sat down for breakfast the next day, she took one of Harry's hands in her own and began examining it. "I can't see any bruises at all. Does it hurt?" She asked in a concerned voice.
"Not really," Harry answered as Gwen lightly ran a thumb over his knuckles. "It was stinging a bit last night, but it's fine now." He added.
"Is it really fine or are you just saying that?" Gwen narrowed her eyes at him, earning a small chuckle from Peter.
"It's really fine," Harry insisted, ignoring Peter. "I swear."
"That's good," Gwen relaxed, before letting out a small sigh. "I'm sorry, I feel like I'm being nagging, am I being nagging?"
"A bit," Harry laughed. "But it's fine, honestly. So, how's your family been doing? Did your dad catch any criminals or anything?" He asked.
"I don't know, but for some reason, I can't help but feel like he's going to end up catching a toothless mutant soon," Gwen replied with a small smile.
"Wow," Harry said in a mock-shocked voice. "Wonder how."
"It shall forever remain a mystery," Peter said in a dry voice after swallowing another spoonful of cereal. "Anyway, what are we doing today?"
"Personally, I'm fine with just a day of TV and games. Are you two up for it?" Harry asked them.
"Fine, but I have to go at one," Gwen reminded them. "My ballet class is today.
"I haVe literally nothing to do all day, but Aunt May said I had to be home before dinner," Peter replied.
"Yeah, but I...ew!" Gwen leaned back when she saw a spider crawling near her.
"Oi, go away," Harry told it, the spider stopped in its tracks before turning around and crawling away.
"That's so cool," Peter breathed out, a grin on his face. "You're our own personal pest control."
"Glad I could help." Harry rolled his eyes.
"My hero," Gwen said in a dramatic voice. "Though seriously, thanks, I don't like spiders."
"Hello everyone," A voice said, the trio turned to see Harry's mother walk in. "did you all have a nice night?" She asked.
"It was...productive," Harry answered on behalf of the trio.
"And did anything big happen yesterday?" Emily asked in a knowing voice with a massive smile on her face.
"Um...no, why do you ask?" Harry asked, feeling more than a little uncomfortable, had his mother found out what he did yesterday?
She couldn't have, if she had then Harry would likely be having his ears shouted off.
" don't know, it just feels like something had happened." Emily smiled before gesturing to Harry's hand which was still being held by Gwen. The two teens realised what she was referring to and quickly let go of each other.
"Nothing happened," Harry told her while a pink-faced Gwen quickly nodded in agreement.
"Right," Emily drawled, clearly not believing them.
"Emily, where did you put that briefcase with all the papers in it?" Norman asked as he walked into the room, dressed in a nice blue suit with a red tie.
"I think I had left it in the bedroom," Emily replied, pecking him on the cheek. "Have a good day at work, did you have breakfast yet?"
"Thanks, and yes, I have," Norman replied after kissing her cheek, he then addressed Harry and his friends. "I'll be going now, please behave."
"What do you mean 'behave'?" Harry asked, pretending to be offended. "Look at us, we're perfectly innocent little angels."
"Well, two of you might be," Norman gestured to Peter and Gwen.
"You, on the other hand, are most definitely not." He added before turning and walking away. Harry blinked and stared at his father's back with wide eyes until the man had left the room.
"The audacity," Harry said with disbelief and a slightly dropped jaw, earning a giggle from his friends.
"It's weird, isn't it?" Peter asked the next day when the trio arrived at school and began talking outside. "That one day you find out your best friend's got spider powers and is beating up mutants, the next day, you're back at school like nothing happened." He whispered to Harry and Gwen.
"Life's weird like that," Harry chuckled. "Trust me when I say that it's weirder for me, I mean...I'm the guy who sticks to walls, and it's not just my hands and feet either. I've found out that pretty much any part of my body can stick to anything. The other day one of my fingers got stuck to my arm by accident. Though, luckily I do have it under control for the most part."
"Yeah, well I..." Peter trailed off and seemed to stare at something slightly past Harry.
"Pete, you okay?" Harry frowned.
"I think something may have caught his eye," Gwen sounded somewhat amused but also exasperated, she raised a hand and pointed past Harry. Harry turned to see what she was pointing at and saw Liz Allen, texting on her phone whilst sitting on one of the school's benches.
"Oh, you have got to be kidding me, please tell me you're kidding me?" Harry asked, turning back to face Peter. "Oi," Harry clicked his fingers in front of Peter's face to snap him out of his daze. "Are you back in the land of the living? Please, tell me that you are not interested in Liz Allen of all people."
"I…..well..." Peter blushed as he struggled to come up with an answer. "…..I mean...
"Oh my god," Gwen groaned. "SeriousIv Peter?"
"Hey, what's wrong with that?" Peter asked defensively. "I mean… she's the best-looking girl in the school."
"Dude, Gwen's right here." Harry frowned as he gestured to Gwen.
"She's much better than Liz," Harry stated as if that was obvious knowledge.
"Oh, thanks." Gwen smiled brightly at him.
"You're welcome," Harry smiled at her before turning his attention back to Peter. "As for you, you complete disaster of a human being, stay away from Liz Allen, she is not good enough for you."
"Not good enough for me?" Peter blinked. "Dude, are you kidding?
She's too good if anything. Look at me, nerd with glasses, then look at her."
"Peter, we'll admit that she's good looking but is she really the sort of girl you'll want to hang out with?" Gwen asked. "She's done nothing but look at you like you're dirt since you got into school."
"Yeah," Harry agreed. "I mean, I'll admit she's good looking but her personality doesn't match up."
"Yeah, but she spends so much time with Flash so obviously she's going to act as if she hates me," Peter argued
"Act?" Gwen and Harry repeated with disbelief.
"Yeah, Flash isn't around at the moment so I'm going to try and talk to her now." Peter smiled to himself before walking off.
"Pete, I wouldn't do that," Harry called but Peter apparently did not hear him as he continued walking toward Liz. "Right, so that's going to go well," Harry said sarcastically.
"You think?" Gwen frowned.
"You don't?" Harry asked.
"Well," Gwen bit her bottom lip. "Maybe he'll get lucky." She offered hopefully.
"Go out with you?!" The two heard Liz shriek, Harry and Gwen turned their attention to Liz who was now standing up and staring angrily at Peter who had taken a step back from her, it was also very likely that Peter had noticed that everyone around them was now staring at them. " wouldn't be caught dead with a geek like
you!"
'...I'm sorry...I just..." Peter began but was cut off by a loud, booming laugh.
"Oh, this is priceless!" Flash chortled as he and Kong arrived.
"Parker, you're stupider than I thought. You actually thought that you had a chance with Liz?" He laughed for several more moments before he gave Peter a hard stare as he put one arm over Liz.
"Unfortunately, you missed that opportunity, Parker, not like you would've gotten it anyway." Flash suddenly reached out with his other hand, grabbed Peter by his shirt, and pulled him closer until they were only a couple of inches apart. "And if you ever talk to my girlfriend like that again then I will..
"Oi Flash," Harry's voice interrupted Flash who saw Harry and Gwen approach. "Is there a problem here?" Harry asked, handing off his skateboard to Gwen.
"I got no problem." Flash snorted before shoving Peter in Harry's direction, Peter nearly fell over by Harry caught him before that happened. "Just tell your pet geek to stay away from my girl."
"Noted," Harry responded as he stepped past Peter and stopped in front of Flash. "But, the thing is, I have a problem. My problem is that there's this asshole who thinks it's acceptable for him to touch my friend. Let me make something clear Flash, you don't touch him like that again."
"Oh, are you upset because I touched your boyfriend?" Flash laughed.
"Mighty words coming from the guy who has his backside wiped by
King Kong over there," Harry retorted, gesturing to Kong.
"Oil" Kong protested. "I don't wipe his backside!"
"Harry," Peter spoke up. "Let's just go, man." He added, looking uncomfortable.
"Fine," Harry nodded to him before turning his attention back to
Flash. "Don't touch him again.'
"Or what, Osborn?" Flash asked, looking amused.
"Or I do some damage to your other hand," Harry replied. "Hey, maybe you'll sue me again, except we won't be so nice the second time."
"What's that supposed to mean?" Flash demanded, no longer amused.
"It means that you got lucky Flash," Harry replied, taking a step forward so that their faces were nearly touching. "We lowered the amount of money we were suing for, my mother felt bad for you.
You could've lost a lot more than you did. You mess with my friend again and then we will have a problem, and when we have that problem, I'll sue you so hard and soft fast that you'll be diving into dumpsters for food before my family even gets a single dollar from you." Harry gave Flash one last glare before he turned around and walked away with Peter and Gwen following behind him.
"Thanks, Harry, but you didn't have to do that for me," Peter said once they were far enough away.
"Wow, you sort of reminded me of your dad then." Gwen commented.
"Yeah," Peter agreed. "You went full Osborn on him."
"He shouldn't mess with my friends." Harry shrugged.
"This is ridiculous!"
Norman Osborn didn't show any signs that the shouting or even the slamming of the person's hands on his desk bothered him.
Truthfully, he considered it more annoying than anything else. He had been in the business for a long while and had gotten experience with everything from people trying to bribe him to actually trying to kill him.
"You must be joking!" Continued Adrian Toomes, one of the older members of Norman's staff in terms of age. He had only been working in the company for three years or so and had shown quite a lot of promise during that time. Unfortunately, he didn't really get along well with most members of his staff. The man was near bald with only grey hair on the sides and back of his head, he had quite a few wrinkles on his skin and a rather large nose. "You can't terminate me." He yelled.
"I think that you'll find that I can," Norman calmly responded, sitting behind his desk like he did not have a care in the world, a sharp contrast to Adrian who was standing and leaning on Norman's desk, looking down at him the same way a bird would look at potential prey. "You've broken the rules, Toomes, and have caused several big problems for not just me, but the company in general."
"I have done no such thing!" Barked Toomes.
"Oh no?" Norman asked, raising an eyebrow. "You can't think of a single thing that you have done that could, would and should lead to me booting you out of this company."
"Not a thing!" Toomes glared at Norman.
"Then allow me to refresh your clearly failing memory," Norman pulled out a couple of files and began reading them. "According to the information I have available to me, you were working on a suit that would give a man the ability to fly, correct?"
"Yes, my flight harness suit is undoubtedly one of the best inventions this company has produced. It..."
"It is an invention but not one that we will actively continue to make or sell to anyone," Norman cut him off.
"Why not?!" Demanded Toomes. "It's an excellent invention and has so much potential! Think about it! The military could use it to drop soldiers into enemy hotspots or even have those soldiers drop bombs on their enemies and...
"Yes, yes, that's all well and good but to do so would require the soldiers being able to actually make it there in the first place," Norman interrupted. "You've had more than several failed attempts while testing this suit of yours and quite a few attempts of yours have resulted in injuries, you've blamed the people testing it each time, saying that they've not listened to you or ignored your instructions or were too incompetent to understand the safet procedures, but when there's this many people then obviously it's not something that can be blamed on anyone other than the person responsible for the project."
"Every failure was a vital step needed in order to perfect my invention!" Toomes argued. "Each step got me closer to perfection!"
"And those very steps brought me more lawsuits against my company," Norman pointed out.
"The money you make from my suit will be more than enough to cover all of those lawsuits," Toomes said dismissively. "And like I said, it was their fault for not following the proper safety procedures.'
"All ten of them didn't follow the proper safety procedures?"
Norman asked with disbelief and a bit of anger, he was more than a little annoyed at how many people had gotten injured without him knowing it.
"Exactly," Toomes quickly agreed. "Besides, my flight suit works now! I tested it just yesterday."
"Are you sure it hadn't caused damage to your brain?" Norman responded, feeling his grip on his temper loosening "The last person you tested it on had broken his back and damaged his hip." Norman gritted out, the man in question was currently filing a lawsuit against Oscorp, the other people had been happy enough to accept some cash settlements as their injuries had been fairly minor in comparison, and the worst of them would not be able to use his right arm for six months. Besides, they all had signed contracts and knew just how good Oscorp's lawyers were. But this last guy felt like he deserved nothing less than the most amount of money he could get, and the worst part was that Norman couldn't help but agree with him. Norman did not know how it had escaped his notice for so long that so many people had been injured but he would find out and then there would more than likely be some more people getting fired.
"Yes, but his sacrifice was what had allowed me to perfect my creation," Toomes replied. "I think that.
"Sacrifice? Sacrifice?!" Norman repeated angrily, he took a deep breath before he stood up as calmly as he was able to. "Sacrifice as far as I am concerned implies willingness and choice and I assure you that that man did not choose to have so much damage caused to his body. If he's lucky he will be able to walk again. And from what I understand, this creation of yours, one that has caused so much damage to not just the lives of these people but also MY company, you want me to sell it? To who? The average civilians?
The military in charge of defending us? I think not."
"Osborn, listen," Toomes said in a quiet voice. "Listen to me!" He hissed, much louder than before. "It works, I've perfected it, it works. I've got it working.
'I'm just talking to a fucking brick wall," Norman whispered to himself, Toomes was apparently more than willing to repeat the same argument all day.
"This could be big," Toomes continued, ignoring Norman's self-talk.
"This could be the catapult that would allow me to be placed into the annals of history as one of the greatest inventors of our time and it could push Oscorp into newfound heights, it may not have the same firepower as one of Stark's 'Ironman suits' but it's easier to produce and it has the potential to be so much better. Do not do this to me, do not rob us both of greatness."
"It is clear to me that l'm just wasting my time with you," Norman sighed. "Your invention might sound great on paper but it's far too dangerous, I don't trust it to not explode when it's not being worn.
You've constantly refused to let other scientists onto the project."
"Because they could steal my ideas!" Toomes snapped.
"Believe me when I say that nobody wants anything from you,"
Norman replied. "Your refusal to let other people work with you might very well have been the reason there were so many people injured, if somebody else had been with you then it's possible that they could have picked up on what you had missed. But no, that didn't happen. Your work attitude and attitude to others are only part of the reason why I plan to terminate you, but not a small part by any means. You don't get along with others, you've injured a great many people and you've cost this company far more than is acceptable
"No, no, no!" Toomes said quickly. "Don't you dare do this to me,
1...'
"You're fired," Norman said sharply, cutting him off. "get out of my office, pack your things and then leave my building."
"You...how dare...you can't do this to me!" Toomes yelled.
"I believe I just did," Norman calmly responded. "now, will you leave or will I have to call security in this office to escort you out?" He asked.
"You'll regret this, Osborn!" Toomes hissed. " won't let this stand!"
"I'm sure, now, please leave," Norman said in a bored voice.
"You will regret this!" Toomes barked. "When I'm done with you the Osborn name will be nothing but a cautionary tale! I will make it so that you and your family will..." Whatever Toomes was about to say died down in his throat when Norman reached out and grabbed Toomes by his tie and pulled him hard until the upper half of Toomes's body was draped over Norman's desk. Toomes looked up and saw Norman glaring down at him, and for the first time since this meeting started, Tomes felt intimidated.
"Let me make something very clear to you, Toomes," Norman hissed, staring at Toomes like he was ready to squash the man under his boot. "Everything that has happened so far here had been business, nothing but business, nothing but me acting on what I believe to be the best thing for my company. Don't you dare make it personal by bringing my family into it, because let me make something perfectly clear to you, Toomes, if you bring my family into this and make it personal then I will destroy you without mercy. You go against me and you'll be known as nothing more than the old vulture who didn't know when to stay quiet.
Now, get out of my office!" Norman shoved Toomes, sending him off the desk and causing him to fall on his butt. There was a brief moment of silence where Toomes simply stared at Norman as he tried to process what just happened, that moment quickly died down, Toomes stood up and sent one last glare to Norman before turning on his heel and storming out of the office.
"Idiot." Norman shook his head before he straightened his suit and sat back down, he quickly called security to make sure that Toomes was escorted out of the building. "At least that's the last I'll see of him.