The trio of heroes was standing around the boys' dorm room, all having uncertainty plastered on their faces. Harry, however, was far more distraught than the other two.
"Tonight he's going to show me something called Globulin Green... I'm fucking scared, dude. What the fuck!" Harry was practically on the verge of having a mental breakdown as he sat on top of his desk pulling at his hair.
"He's a fucking murderer, dude. What am I supposed to do!? How do I fix this!?" Harry was practically yelling at his friends and they just let him continue to vent. "He's killing innocent people, he's torturing them..."
"I know you're still really shocked right now, but we're going to come up with a plan to save these people, Harry." Eren tried to be the voice of reason, however, Harry instantly shouted back.
"How!? The security is impenetrable and there are hundreds of armed soldiers all over the place!"
"I know, I know. But yelling isn't going to fix this. We need to be calm." Eren continued to try and speak calmly, hoping it would rub off on his friend.
"How can I be calm when my FATHER is KILLING innocent people!"
"Harry, you need to stop. People are going to hear you. Listen, we can get the cops involved, we just need him to show us this final thing and we'll bring all the evidence to them. Alright? We can't leave any stone unturned. And we definitely can't do this on our own. Your father is too powerful for that."
Harry took a deep breath, calming himself down as he nodded.
"Cindy and I will be right behind you the entire time, alright? If things get scary, as always, I'll be ready to go in and pull you out."
"Just one more step Harry, then this will all be over." Cindy added.
Eren nodded. "We'll avenge both of our mothers with this."
"Yeah, yeah. Of course..." Harry was trembling on his desk. Both Eren and Cindy felt sorry for him. For that to be the first thing he'd ever seen on the field must have been extremely devastating for him.
"Guys?" Harry was still trembling as he spoke.
"What's up?" Eren said.
"What do you do when you can't stop shaking? How do I make myself not scared anymore?" Harry was finally able to admit the fact that he was immensely afraid of his father, despite the act he liked to put on.
Both spiders looked at each other for the answer, but neither one of them could come up with it. "I don't know." Eren told him. "It just happens."
"What does that mean?" Harry asked him.
"Well, for me, it was when I saw Electro. I don't know, I just saw him and my brain told me to not be afraid, and so, I stopped being scared." Eren told him. "I'm sorry, that's really all I got."
Harry then looked toward Cindy for an answer, practically begging her for a solution. "I'm sorry, Harry. It was the same for me. A guy was robbing a store and then I..." As Cindy explained what happened, her eyes widened. "Then I heard Eren's voice."
Eren had this confused expression on his face. "My voice?" he asked her.
"Yes. I remember you told me 'Even if it kills me.' and for some reason that inspired me." As Cindy said this she looked at Harry, who had a completely mortified expression on his face. She really thought that those words would help him, but they did nothing but scare him even more.
"I don't wanna die, though..." Harry whined, however, Eren was starting to get fed up. After all that talk about being a hero, Harry was more scared than either spider was when they first started fighting. It was understandable since he didn't have any powers.
"You wanna be a hero or not?" Eren asked him. "Now's your chance."
"But I don't have powers like you guys..."
Eren sighed upon hearing Harry say that. "Harry, being a hero isn't about who has the strongest powers. Iron Man doesn't have powers." Eren told him.
"Yeah, he only has a multi-million dollar suit of armor. That's all." Harry rebutted sarcastically.
"He also made his first suit out of scraps in Afghanistan." Eren told him.
"So you're saying I need a suit? Oh! Let me wear yours!"
"Well, no, that's not at all what I mean. I'm saying that he used his wits to get out of a situation."
"That's way more boring..." Harry told him.
Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.
"And more realistic. All I'm saying is that powers aren't what makes a man a hero. It's what's up here. I don't even mean just being smart, either. Being a hero is a mindset."
"A mindset I don't have."
"A mindset you don't have 𝘺𝘦𝘵. I believe in you, Harry. It's almost time." Eren looked at the clock, seeing that Norman should be arriving soon to pick Harry up.
Harry once again took a deep breath before hopping off his desk. "Well, that hero shit better wake up soon. I'm ready. Thanks, guys."
Both Cindy and Eren nodded before the three of them began preparing. Harry wore his special pair of contacts that recorded video and audio, as well as his earpiece. Spider-Man and Silk suited up, leaving the dorm room through the window to prepare to follow Norman and Harry to their destination.
Harry, still extremely scared, walked out of the dorm and headed for the front of the building, where his father was waiting for him. Harry noticed that his father was driving a car he didn't recognize, however, he got inside and greeted his father just as he normally would.
The two of them then headed back home of all places and made their way to the garage as the two spiders followed close by, but not close enough to be noticed. Norman parked the car inside the garage, pressing the push-to-start button to turn off the engine. Norman then removed the button, revealing a keyhole behind the steering wheel.
'What the hell?' Harry thought, never having seen a car being operated with both ignition systems before.
Norman then put a key in the ignition, causing the car to seemingly start like normal. He shifted it into neutral, revealing that the two of them were actually on a lift that began descending beneath the Osborn estate.
"Wow..." Harry muttered, acting as if he were astonished. "I never thought there was anything beneath the house..."
Norman laughed. "What can I say, I'm a very secretive man."
Eventually, the lift reached the bottom, allowing the two Osborns to exit the vehicle. The two of them made their way deeper into the facility together as Eren and Cindy watched through Harry's eyes.
The bottom of the Osborn household had a rocky, cave-like interior near the lift itself. However, as the two trekked deeper through the facility, it started to become more sci-fi-looking. It actually looked a lot like Oscorp, as if it were an extension of it, having metallic, chrome-like walls and panels.
Eventually, they found themselves in a sort of lab that was filled with a plethora of what appeared to be combat gadgets. As the centerpiece, there was a green costume of what appeared to be a sort of elf or goblin creature which was affixed atop a hoverboard. On this same table, there were multiple grenades that were the shape of pumpkins, along with various knives and other gadgets.
'This is just like what I saw in Oscorp, only these look like upgraded versions.' Harry thought to himself.
Norman then approached a nearby drawer and pulled it out, revealing dozens of vials of a green substance.
"Now, Harry. This is what I call Globulin Green." He removed a vial from the drawer and attached it to a syringe before slowly approaching Harry with it. As he spoke, his accent slowly began to change. As Harry stated, his father would often start to transform into someone else when he was in his so-called manic state.
'No... he's back.' Harry thought to himself, backing up away from his father who was now stepping toward him like an employee at a haunted house pretending to be a monster.
'The Goblin...'
Harry hadn't seen this side of his father for years, and it seemed that this side of him was already more aggressive than before. His father's smile was massive, showing him the gap between his teeth as he continued to step toward Harry.
"All you have tah do is take the shot, Harry!" Norman's voice was far more aggressive and snide as he sneered at his son, still approaching him with the syringe.
"You and me? We can take over the world as father and son! After we let those military dogs do all of the work first! Once you take this, you'll be able to see the world as clearly as I have! It will open your mind!" Norman slowly continued to approach his son and Harry could do nothing but slowly back up.
'Why isn't it happening?' Harry thought to himself.
'He's right there, he's trying to attack me.'
'Where's that push?'
'Where's that hero moment?'
'Why can't I do anything?'
'Why am I so afraid?'
"Help!" Harry bellowed in a quivering voice. "HELP ME!" he shouted even louder, causing his father's smile to grow larger.
Norman cackled. "Help? Who da ya think is gonna help you, Harry!? I'm the only one who can help you now! It's your choice, Harry! Either join me or die like your poor, poor mother when she too found out the truth behind Oscorp!"
"So you did kill her!? How could you kill the mother of your son? Your wife?" Harry's voice continued to tremble as he finally received confirmation from his father about what happened.
"She said she was going to rat me out to the cops! Although it wouldn't have mattered in the long run, I had to get rid of the inconvenience. She would've just been in the way! Plus, divorce would've given her half of the business! So, I created an incurable virus that would kill her. No harm, no foul." Norman spoke in a mocking tone as he said this. It was as if he never even loved the woman.
"You're a monster…" Tears began to slowly stream down Harry's face as finally backed out of the room and into the hall.
"That's the same thing your mother said to me as she took her last breath in Norman's arms. Don't you understand, Harry!? People like us have to take! We have to use others to make our way to the top! Just like how I used your friend's mother. Now I'll use him, just as I used her, and I'll need you to help me reel him in!" His mangled grin grew by the second as he sneered and approached his son.
"So he was right! You were involved in his mother's death!" Harry couldn't believe what he was hearing, speaking with an ever-continuing trembling voice. He knew his father had some secrets, but these were far beyond anything he'd ever guessed.
"Involved? Who do you think gave Fisk all her information?" Norman started to laugh hysterically upon seeing his son's reaction to this. He didn't know it, but Eren also heard the news, and he was furious.
"So poor Parker found out about it already? As expected of someone as smart as he. After I'm done with you, I'll pay him a visit too. Maybe he'll actually be of use to me." Norman stepped to his son quickly, the grin on his face reaching its maximum size.
"Now stand still and let me-" Norman swung the syringe at Harry but he was able to backstep. However, Norman's agility was that of someone who was no longer human and his attacks were too much for Harry to continue to avoid.
Eventually, Norman was able to grab ahold of Harry, putting him in a chokehold before raising the arm that was holding the syringe in the air.
"Sorry, Son! This will only hurt for a second! Then you and I will be the same!" Norman sent the syringe down toward his son's neck with a grotesque grin stretching across his face. Harry tried to break free, however, his efforts were futile.