Chapter 36: The Green Captive

To tell you the truth, the supervillain nickname of the local version of the Green Goblin was the least of my worries. My mind was preoccupied with another problem, one far more pressing. Her name was Norma Osborne. The difficulty of this problem was that it had no definitive solution at the moment, obvious at least, only temporary measures.

Having become a psychopath, which is what she is at the moment, Norma has turned into a source of constant threat, even more than Wilma Fisk, whose attention to my person, if I understand the situation correctly, is rather superficial. So, Green Goblin, maiden name Norma Osborne. I remember how stubborn this person can be in her quest to eliminate her enemies. I had tried several times in the past to give Norman a chance to get back to normal. I thought the loss of his memories would help rehabilitate the villain... I'd been a naive fool. Every time my indecision ended up backfiring. After all, he was the reason Gwen died.

I won't let that happen again. Yes, Norma Osborne didn't choose whether to become a psychopath, she certainly deserves a chance to get her life back. But if I can't destroy the Green Goblin without killing Norma... I can't let it slide. The Goblin already has a grudge against Spider-Woman, and she knows me, knows that I'm connected to the heroine who beat her. Alas, circumstances are not conducive to inaction. I don't want to become a hostage in a fight between them.

But what can I do? There is no cure for her at the moment. The Oz serum has a far more unpredictable, chaotic effect than the Lizard formula, and, quite naturally, no way to return to its original state. Thus, it is necessary to correct what has already happened. And to roll back the changes in Norma Osborne's brain, you'd have to fully understand those changes first, but even then the hope for a positive result is slim. Even with the funds that OzCorp is unknowingly investing in the development of my enterprise.

Actually, it's funny how things turn out. Thanks to my web and Deadpool's teleporting device, we managed to infiltrate the Osborn estate from the roof of a nearby building. Of course, it wasn't as easy as before, when I could fly in through an open window without slowing down on the webbing and then cling to the ceiling without any noise, but there was nothing impossible about it, it just took a little longer.

As with the attack warning, I hoped that Norma would set up her hiding place in the same place as her double from my world, and once again I was right. In some ways, though, Norma Osborne was more prudent than Norman. While her former colleagues thought they had beaten the head and founder of the corporation by forcing her to resign, Norma Osborne in fact still had almost complete control of the OzCorp accounts, thanks to secret protocols and loopholes that no one but her knew about. That is to say, she went on a mass murder spree even without an absolute necessity. After all, nothing prevented Norma from stripping the traitors of all their money and leaving them with unaffordable debts... it turns out she just wanted to save OzCorp. In a way, that even fascinates me.

So, the hiding place. This place, hidden in the heart of the estate, was a very accurate reflection of its creator's essence, if you know where to look. Just as Norma's study spoke of its hostess's order, mahogany scent and emphatically working environment, the hiding place screamed of the Green Goblin's aggressiveness, paranoia, and uncompromising nature. Racks of pumpkin-shaped grenades, spare armor parts, weapons, both cold and firearms, ammunition for flares and machine guns hidden in the glider, and fuel cells for the glider. It was as if she was about to declare war on the world. But the Green Goblin was never stingy with his arsenal, never the least bit concerned about collateral damage or casualties.

"Bad taste," Deadpool said, tossing a ribbed orange acid grenade in his hand, "Who'd be scared of a pumpkin, anyway?"

Well, she's not afraid of anything. Wanda played with the bomb like a tennis ball, tossing a dangerous weapon in her hands that could end a man's life in an instant. Mine, for instance.

"You can repaint them red when we take them for ourselves," I say, not giving the impression that the mercenary's actions make me nervous, "we'll replenish your arsenal with her supplies."

"And you know how to make a girl happy," Wanda says coquettishly, and clutches the grenade to her heart as if it were a romantic gift, and then instantly switches to the working mode, "but how do you carry all this wealth? It's just the two of us."

An obvious hint to Bobby, who had decided to take up heroics. And why did it hurt her so much? I have some more good news for her, though.

"Just like it was here," I press the hidden panel in the secret room. "This tunnel leads to a rather dark alleyway that isn't visible from the streets, and Bobby's bringing the car up there soon."

"What about Osborne?" Deadpool asks, perking up, checking the sharpness of the throwing sickles that have taken the place of the bomb in her hands with his finger. "You're not going to leave it at that, are you?"

"There are two options at this point. First, we could just leave her here, warning her that we have incontrovertible evidence that Norma Osborne is the one who set off the terrorist attack at the festival. Threaten that any suspicious activity on her part will result in those files being sent out to all the proper authorities, from the DA's office to the S.I.T. director's personal mail."

"That's it?" Deadpool draws his gun, pointing it at the wall, as if he wants to shoot Norma right here. "Then I'd better shoot her now."

I stop her by putting my hand on the barrel of the gun.

"It's just to buy time and get better prepared. I have a sample of what she injected herself with and access to OzCorp's money, I'll find a more reliable way to control it."

"How long will that take?" Deadpool pondered my suggestion.

"A couple of days," I shrugged.

"Then she'll have to take two days off, which she'll spend in my company," I could have sworn she was smiling under her mask.

"That's what I meant by option two," I explain.

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"That's where you should have started," she replies grumpily, then continues in a playful tone, "and you put your hand on my shaft... you shouldn't do that if you're not willing to accept responsibility for the consequences. You see, it's very intimate," Wilson finishes with a languid gasp.

It took us half an hour to haul all the stuff, and Bobby was the one who did the most, using her heroic talents. This made us not only kidnappers (of course, we settled on kidnapping Norma) but also burglars. Doakes, if she had known about this, would have been thrilled.

Before I left, I had to clean up all traces of me and Wanda being here and send a fake message from Norma's phone to her son's number. In an extremely dry manner, I suppose that was how Norma communicated with her son, I informed Harry that Osborne Sr. was going away for a couple of days to deal with work-related problems. I wouldn't want Harry or any of the servants to find out that Norma Osborne had been kidnapped. That's not why I was so careful to disguise the transfer of OzCorp funds to our "firm" account.

When I arrived at the lab I found several messages on my phone, which I had thoughtfully left turned off. In addition to the routine messages from MJ, who was desperately bored under house arrest, there were also a couple of messages from Gwen, or rather Spiderwoman.

"Hi. I have no idea how you found out, but thank you."

Apparently a response to a warning about an impending attack on Norma's former advisors.

"Can we talk?"

"The sooner the better."

And here are these two, already after the events at the festival. I turn to Bobby, who at this time was moving a box of trophy grenades with obvious apprehension.

"Did something happen in that fight that I don't know about?" I ask.

"Hmmm?" The girl pulls away from her task. "What do you mean?"

"Spiderwoman," I ask, "did something happen to her?"

"Not really," Bobby answers absently, "though she seemed to be taking it pretty hard, you know, all the blood and the wounded, and a few people died in the explosion on the balcony."

Shit, why didn't I think of that in the first place. Gwen had never seen the aftermath of a battle like that before. I remembered myself when I first started my superhero career, I know what Gwen is going through right now.

"Can you finish up here without me? "I ask in an apologetic tone.

"In such a hurry to give her your vaccine?" Deadpool asks with a cheerful undertone in his voice.

I'll leave the joke unanswered, though a couple of witticisms about the development of a vaccine for the mercenary herself were itching to get on my tongue.

"I don't need to remind you that Osborne is extremely dangerous and should not be left unattended. Just consider that she's much stronger than the average person because of the serum she's injected herself with."

"Strength doesn't help much when you've got a couple of extra holes in your forehead," grinned Deadpool.

"Try not to kill or cripple her, she's bound! Oh, one more thing, I've already ordered the equipment and materials we need, some will be delivered to this address today," I hand Wilson the sheet with the address.

"Work as a loader again," the mercenary frowned, "I should have read the contract more carefully."

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