The Amazing Spider-Girl 2 (ON HOLD)

CHAPTER SIX

"But ... no," May said, struggling to wrap her mind around this. "Peter saw him die. Wasn't he impaled on his own glider?"

"Oh, he was," Normie confirmed with a grim smile, "but apparently it wasn't enough to keep dear old Gramps down."

May ran a hand through her hair in disbelief. "How is that even possible?"

"I didn't ask for details," Normie said shortly. "But he is very much alive and he's made contact with me on more than one occasion. Right now he thinks I'm lying low, biding my time until I can betray S.H.I.E.L.D. He trusts me. And I know that what he wants more than anything is you."

A chilling fear swept over May, rooting her in place. Her eyes met Normie's, hoping beyond hope that he wasn't about to suggest what she was thinking.

"And do you intend to bring me to him?" she said in a voice barely more than a whisper.

Normie's eyes turned hard. "May, we are talking about the man who ruined my life. He has gone to immeasurable lengths to wipe your family off the face of the planet with the monster known as the Green Goblin. But that genius brain of his is not all it's cracked up to be, not anymore. He is so far gone and I would never suggest this unless I truly believed we had a shot of taking him down."

"What, just the two of us?" May couldn't believe what she was hearing. "Without any back-up from S.H.I.E.L.D.? This is a man who has escaped death. You're talking about a suicide mission!"

"But -"

"It's too risky," May said firmly.

"May, I'm not asking," he whispered. "I'm begging. He is alone in Oscorp right now. This is our best chance, and maybe our only chance! I never told him I was bringing you," he said hurriedly before she could cut across him, "just that I would meet with him. Yeah, I could go alone and figure out what he's up to, but with you I can double-cross him."

"Hmph." May folded her arms across her chest and set her jaw, looking him squarely in the face. "And if it's a trap?"

Normie's eyes glittered with amusement. "Then you can call the back-up you so desire."

May frowned. He was unbelievable and she hated herself for even considering the idea. He wanted revenge, she knew, for being subject to the psychological torture inflicted on him by the Goblin, but she feared he was being too rash. Fury should know about this, she thought. He'd know how handle the situation. But Normie already had his mind made up: he was going to see him tonight. The damage was done and if Osborn was concocting another scheme to do away with her family, how could May sit idly by?

"Normie Osborn," she said grudgingly, "I hope you have a good plan."

And so the two took off into the night, May in her suit while Normie flew his glider alongside her as they headed for the silver tower dominating the skyline: Oscorp Industries. It was a beautiful sight with hexagonal-shaped windows climbing up its face like honeycomb and four triangular points pointing skywards to form a V. OSCORP was written in huge silver letters across the top beneath a large "O".

They landed on the glass rooftop and Normie dismounted without a word, jerking his head to tell her to follow him to a door opposite, leading her beneath the imposing glass fins flanking them on all sides.

"Stay out of sight until I give the signal," Normie told her in a low voice, and after a brief nod from May, he pulled open the door and slipped inside, May following close on his heels.

The two walked soundlessly down the darkened hall, May's entire body singing with nervous anticipation. There was no turning back now. She noticed a stiffness in the way Normie walked a little ahead of her and could only wonder at the things going through his head. He was willingly walking towards the man who had made him the Goblin. She couldn't believe he'd opened communication with him for as long as he did in order to turn him over to S.H.I.E.L.D. Despite everything people thought about Normie, he was nothing if not determined.