Only One Left [COMPLETED]

Chapter 4: Brewing Forces

"How did it go, Sir?"

"He's stubborn, a tad obnoxious, and very paranoid." a pause. "But he would still be a good asset, and a valuable member for the team."

"Yes, of course, his skill set is admittedly impressive."

A sigh, "But?"

"But we know nothing about Spider-Man. Is it really a good idea to enlist him? All that we know about him is that he's an orphaned kid with the abilities of a spider and that he's working with an unknown informant. We don't even know where his hideout is."

"I know. A bit frustrating isn't it."

"It's not our way Sir. We're not used to operating in the dark. In my opinion, if I may offer it, is that we should wait until we got a bit more information on this kid."

"I'm aware that this is out of character, Agent Coulson, and frankly I'm not comfortable flying blind either, but..."

"But what?"

"I'm worried about him."

"Worried, Sir?"

"Well, not so much for him than about him. I figure you went over our video files on him."

"Of course."

"Then you know how skilled he really is. Especially for a 16-year-old kid, one who's only hit the street a year ago. From what I can tell, he takes his superheroing "job" quite seriously, albeit a bit foolishly. That's a lot of stress to handle, don't you think? Not even Tony Stark was this tenacious. A teenager is not meant to handle this much stress on their own. There are repercussions."

"So, you're worried about him...breaking?"

"Exactly. I'd rather have any future danger where I can watch it, rather than wait for it to happen. Or better yet, have them as an ally."

"I see. What are your orders?"

There was another pause. "Send out the team as soon as he pops up on our radar. I want to see how they'd get along."

"Yes Sir, Director Fury."

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"Mr. Osborn, your son just arrived."

"Yes, yes - of course, he did. He lives here after all. Just send him to his room and tell him I'm working and mustn't be disturbed."

"Very good, Sir."

The butler closed the door. Norman sighed behind his desk and pulled back up the tabs he was just looking at. He read through the Spider-Man report Octavius just sent him on the holographic screen, all about the hero's precognitive ability to sense danger. It was a fascinating concept that left him grasping for more sense on it, but, as for this information, he's read it all before in earlier reports. The only difference was it was a bit more in-depth with theory and hypothesis - nothing concrete and confirming. Seems like Octavius was grasping at straws.

Growling in agitation, Norman swiped the screen and the report slipped off and away, buried somewhere beneath the systems matrix. Under that tab was several different videos and photos of the wall-crawler, all from different angles and distance, showing his variation of skills and traits.

Norman swiped through each one, evaluating every angle, observing every video, and searching for every power and weakness that this masked vigilante had to show, till that stack diminished too. He's been trailing this web-swinger for months now, pouring everything he could into this project while still staying discreet about it. This Spider-Man was a brilliant creation, a perfect display of natural speed, agility, flexibility, and strength - not to mention that 6th sense warning him of danger. Yes, Spider-Man was the kind of creation every biochemist, scientist, genetics specialist, or black-market salesman could ever want. If Norman could figure out how to replicate these powers, he could make another fortune just selling them to buyers across the globe. Not only that, but he could keep some to himself, the best in show of course, for his own purposes. Imagine, any army of Spider-Men all under his control. The sheer power of it would leave him with no opponent or competitor daring enough to go up against him.