Peter Parker crawled silently along the sheer glass exterior of the Oscorp building, his black symbiote suit blending perfectly into the nighttime shadows. Reaching the window of Norman Osborn's executive office, he anchored himself and activated the suit's audio-enhancement suite.
He peered through the tinted glass and spotted an unexpected guest sitting across from the Oscorp CEO.
It was General Thaddeus Ross—the Hulk's relentlessly aggressive father-in-law, a staunch advocate for the Superhero Registration Act, and one of the military's most notoriously anti-superhuman hardliners.
What on earth was he doing having a fireside chat with Norman Osborn?
Peter eavesdropping tech picked up the vibrations from the glass, filtering the conversation directly into Peter's earpiece.
"...the Military's proposal to acquire the Savage Force research is entirely unreasonable," Norman was saying. He sat comfortably in his leather chair, his expression an unreadable mask of corporate calm. "We are not stalling, General. On the contrary, we have successfully evolved the trials to the primate stage. Science cannot be rushed."
Peter's eyes narrowed behind his white lenses. The Military is trying to buy out the Savage Force project?
Suddenly, the dominoes from the past month started falling into place. The orchestrated blackout. Electro's targeted attack. Mister Sinister stealing the gene-editing array. The Military was deeply involved in this arms race.
Taking it a step further, Doctor Octopus had to be pulling strings in the background. Otto had been obsessively monitoring Norman Osborn and the super-soldier initiatives. He was the one who had intercepted and modified Mac Gargan into the Scorpion. Furthermore, all possibility led to the Military had explicitly recruited Octavius to research symbiotes.
Granted, Peter was currently wearing the only known symbiote left on Earth, so whatever Otto was researching in that Military lab was highly suspicious. It was entirely possible Doc Ock intended to hijack the Savage Force project out from under Osborn as the ultimate act of revenge.
Osborn isn't a saint, Peter muttered internally, but at least he's relatively transparent with me. If the military—or worse, Doctor Octopus—gets their hands on the Savage Force data, it's going to be impossible to monitor.
Before Peter could spiral further, a silent notification flashed across his HUD. It was a secure message from Harry, broadcasting from the underground web-base.
Harry:Pete, I'm tracking some massive financial movements around Oscorp. Over the last month, a huge block of retail shareholders suddenly dumped their stock. The Military bought it all up through shell companies. They are officially Oscorp's fifth-largest shareholder. I'm guessing some board members made backroom deals with the military, too.
Peter frowned. That doesn't make sense. If the Military holds that much voting power, they could easily use their board seats to force their way into the project. Why are they trying to buy the Savage Force initiative outright to take it away from Norman?
Inside the office, General Ross leaned forward, finally dropping the diplomatic pretense.
"The Military does not doubt your progress, Mr. Osborn," Ross rumbled, his mustache twitching. "What concerns us is your incredibly conservative pacing. Let's look at the facts: Spider-Man, the S.H.I.E.L.D. operative known as Silk, and the rogue asset Scorpion. All three are successful byproducts of the Savage Force formula, even if they weren't minted in an Oscorp lab. The serum works. You have the proof of concept. So why are you refusing to accelerate to human trials?"
"Because gene editing and cross-species transplantation is an incredibly volatile science, General," Norman replied coldly, smoothly sidestepping the trap of admitting why Peter and Cindy were special cases. "Individual, miraculous anomalies do not equate to stable mass production. I might be able to create one Captain America in a lab, but we both know the military doesn't want one man. You want an entire assembly line."
Ross fell silent, his eyes narrowing at the CEO.
Norman's logic was flawless. But logic rarely stopped Military hardliners when they smelled a weapon. They wanted absolute, centralized control over the Savage Force project so they could coordinate a massive super-soldier initiative on their own terms.
Hanging on the glass, Peter felt a cold knot form in his stomach. If Ross applied enough federal pressure, Norman might be forced to demand Dr. Curt Connors rush the human trials to keep the contract. And if Connors rushes the reptile DNA splices... we're going to get the Lizard.
Ding. Another message popped up on Peter's visor. This one was from Gwen.
Gwen:How bad is the Oscorp situation? Do you need a master spy or a phantom thief to do some digging?
Peter sighed. After the Electro crisis, Peter had taken Gwen to the X-Men's mansion to have her unique mutation tested. They had mapped exactly how her "Ghost" effect worked. It didn't just affect human cognition; it bypassed digital surveillance as well. When she activated her power, security cameras, motion sensors, and even advanced AI simply registered her as blank space.
However, her fatal flaw remained the same: she was still physically present. She didn't become intangible. If a guard blindly swung a baton or fired a gun into the space she occupied, she would take the hit with the fragility of a baseline human. It was an incredibly dangerous power to use in a high-security military-corporate environment.
But Gwen was right about one thing: he did need a master thief to look into the Military's black-book files.
Hey V, Peter thought. Remind me to call Felicia later. Black Cat is going to love a high-stakes corporate espionage gig involving super-soldier serums.
[Noted,] the symbiote purred darkly in his mind. [I wager one hundred dollars that Gwen Stacy will be exceptionally displeased when she finds out you called the cat burglar instead of her.]
I'll deal with the relationship drama later V, Peter grumbled, tuning his hearing back to the office.
The meeting was wrapping up. It ended the way high-level corporate standoffs usually did: with tight, fake smiles and a mutual agreement to "continue a frank and open dialogue."
In other words, they absolutely despised each other.
General Ross stood up, adjusted his uniform, and marched out of the office. The heavy mahogany doors clicked shut behind him.
The room fell silent. Norman Osborn didn't move from his desk. He simply looked up, staring directly at the tinted glass where Peter was hiding.
"You can come in now, Spider-Man. I know you're out there. Thank you for coming."
Peter blinked in surprise. He commanded the symbiote to drop its active camouflage and pushed open the heavy window, dropping lightly onto the plush carpet.
Norman exhaled a long, exhausted breath, looking at the vigilante. The mask of the ruthless CEO finally slipped, revealing a man backed into a corner.
"I'm glad you're here, Peter," Norman said, his voice grave. "I need your help. Or, more accurately... I need you to get me a meeting with Tony Stark and the Avengers."
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