Spider-Man: Marvel Knight

Chapter 12- The Goblin

It was the afternoon of Ben's funeral...an awful day indeed...
Norman sat in his office in the quiet. didn't want to do anything that day. Having to witness your friend's funeral was just awful. It turned your stomach thinking about Peter and May all alone like that. Ben was the light of everyone's day, and now he was gone...he wasn't coming back. He sat as his desk and looked through his blueprints to try and get his mind off all of it. Suddenly, he heard a knock at his door. Kathy, his secretary, walked in.
"Mr. Osborn?" she asked quietly, obviously trying not to disturb his peace.
He moved his head from his work and looked at his secretary in, somewhat, annoyance. "What do you want, Kathy?" he asked, rubbing his temples. "I already signed off on all of the projects yesterday. I am really not in a mood for anything, so this better be important.
She slowly approached his desk. "I'm sorry to bother you, sir, I really am..." She looked at him for a couple of seconds, and then spoke up. "...but they've finished it."
"Finished what, Kathy?" He continued to sound annoyed as she stood in front
She stayed silent for a few seconds, and then answered. "The special project, sir. It's ready."
Norman's eyes moved up and stared into hers. For the first time in a while, he seemed genuinely excited. "The serum? It's finished?"
"Yes, sir," she said. "They're ready to show you."
He rose from his desk and followed Kathy into the pharmaceuticals lab. The scientists that were hard working turned to their boss as he entered the room. "Show me it!" he said to the chief scientist. Norman obviously knew that he didn't think he was loud, because he was confused at why the scientists flinched when he walked in. The lead worker signaled a lab assistant to get the serum. She grabbed the vial and showed it to her boss. Norman took the vial full of green liquid carefully from the blonde haired woman.
"Mr. Osborn," the chief started while adjusting his glasses, "I give you the complete formula of Ketomyne Institched Lynozine Lymosol."
Norman looked at it like it was the most precious thing in the world. His wide grin was a good sign to the scientists. "Oh, my," Norman said quietly. "It's beautiful." He took it from the assistant and gripped it in his palm. "The next step of human evolution is in our hands. We won't have to be afraid of sickness anymore...no more cancer or weakness...nothing but superhumans living in a metahuman world." Without moving his eyes from the vial, he asked, "When will you start testing?" He kept eyeing the beaker in his hand. "Human trials, I mean?"
Kathy looked at the chief and frowned. She turned back to Norman. "It's needs to be recreated over and over again, sir." Norman's smile disappeared. "It won't be ready for testing for another couple months."
He slowly put the vial down and looked at his secretary with a grimace. "What?" He looked at the chief and he, too, confirmed that was the case. "We don't have months, doctor," he said sternly. "After going to my friend's funeral today, I learned that time in life is really damn short. We are doing the world a hell of a disservice if we don't test it's effects on the human body. It needs to be tested now!"
"Mr. Osborn, it's too dangerous at this stage," the chief retaliated quickly. "When dealing with a chemically engineered substance made eighty years ago, it won't be something that we can just freely ignore the rules of science for. The side effects could be extremely deadly on the human body!" Norman became impatient with the chief's words. He shoved him out of the way and grabbed a syringe from the counter. "Someone stop him!" the scientist yelled at his colleagues.
"If you stop me, you lose your job!" Norman exclaimed. Every other scientist in the room froze in their tracks. Those jobs were everything they had. Norman's paycheck was too much for them to lose.
Kathy approached her boss who was filling the syringe with the bright green liquid. "Norman, please don't do this," she pleaded. "We don't know if it'll actually work. You could die..."
"Sorry, Kathy," he said while putting the syringe near his arm. "Science never sleeps." Without another word, Norman plunged the needle into his vein and injected the serum into his blood. A burning, aching sensation came over. He shouted and convulsed as the pain crawled over his entire body.
Kathy couldn't stand it anymore. "I'm calling an ambulance," she said. Just as she began to dial 911 into her phone, she was stopped in her action when she realized that Norman had stopped screaming. She turned around to see her boss standing up. He was hyperventilating a little bit, but otherwise he seemed fine. She and the scientist ran to their boss. "Mr. Osborn, are you okay?" she asked worriedly.
He looked at himself and noticed that his muscle mass had increased. Norman ripped off his suit and button-down shirt to reveal his new muscle build. He felt healthier and stronger than he had ever felt before. "Never better," he said smiling, still feeling somewhat out of breath. "Never better."
The chief kept shaking his head. "Sir, we need to remove it from your system. It might seem normal, but this is a highly toxic substance. It could have negative long-lasting effects."
I'll deal with this...you take a break, Osborn.
Their boss slowly looked at the chief with a grimace. He then looked at his secretary, who was obviously in agreement with the scientist. They all noticed that something seemed off about their boss. He seemed...off now. "Very well, doctor," he responded. "But first, I'd like to show you all something."
Where are we going?
They don't believe we are powerful. We will show them the true meaning of superhuman...
He motioned for them to follow him. They soon entered the weapons lab. Everybody was confused. "Um, Kathy," he said, "lock the door. This could get...dangerous." Kathy confusedly walked to the doors to lock them. What was their boss up to?
Norman pointed at one of the hover gliders. "Do you know what this is, people?" Everyone remained silent. "This is a prototype hover glider with advanced weaponry." He began fidgeting with things on the table in there. "It's an amazing piece of tefhnology. I created the blueprints myself. It's got heat seeking missiles and remote machine guns. It could've been a revolution for the military...not anymore..." They all soon realized what he was holding in his hand: the remote for the glider
"Mr. Osborn," Kathy said worriedly, "what is this?"
"Oh, nothing much, Kathy," he replied, turning around to face them. "This is simply a...weapon's demonstration." He pressed a button on the remote and the glider began to rise off of the table. A turret lowered from the bottom of it and aimed directly at all of the people in the room.
They all saw that his eyes looked different. They were green, and glowing; they looked full of hatred and evil. Kathy began to back up into the crowd. "Mr. Osborn..." she said, finally realizing what was happening. "Please don't do this."
"Sorry, my dear," Goblin said while activating the remote. "We can't have any loose ends." He and Norman's conscience watched as the gun mowed down everyone in front of them. Their blood soaked bodies laid motionless on the floor.
What have you done??
Showed them the future, Norman...we showed them the future...