//------------------------------//
// Issue #5: Oscorp 
// Story: Spider-Man: Web of Magic 
// by MetalJrock 
//------------------------------//

Years Ago...

At Oscorp, Norman Osborn walked into the room, seeing an angered Adrian Toomes with his arms behind his back, and a mortified Otto Octavius leave a sharp exhale escaping him in meditated rage, "Let me get this straight... You look upon my studies, reject them, and then later on create a program using my research without any proper credit?!" Toomes asked, his voice getting higher and angrier with each word said to his boss.

"I have nothing to apologize for." Norman simply replied, unnerved in the slightest. The two bodyguards behind him remained still.

Toomes' eye twitched, "Nothing to...? Osborn, you stole my work and used it without credit!" he snapped.

Osborn smirked, "Come on now, you buzzard. For decades, you left not even a footnote in scientific research. No one would believe you if you were to say you created tech flight at this point in your lifetime. I'm doing you a favor."

"Gentlemen..." began Norman, "You may escort Toomes before he makes a bigger scene." Osborn ordered. The bodyguards walked forward and held Adrian's arms as they walked out. "Let it be known, Toomes. You will never be successful, you are in your older years. It is too late for you to make an impact."

But Toomes turned around and glared daggers at Norman, "Let it be known, Osborn... I will prove you wrong." he growled the declaration, getting pushed aside.

Norman nodded, "I'd like to see you try."





Now...

Peter, Trixie, and Ned walked to the entrance of Oscorp, the automatic rotating door opening with them. They walked into a blue painted lobby where a receptionist sat on a desk. Peter gently put a hand on the table and greeted, "Hi, I'm Peter Parker. Is Norman Osborn or Harry Osborn available to see?"

The receptionist shook her head, "My apologies, but Mister Osborn is busy with a prior appointment."

"It's alright, they may come in." spoke the voice of a man, Norman Osborn, standing in another doorway. A thin smile was seen on his face, seeing the boy, "Peter Parker. It has been quite a while." he greeted, like he would an old friend.

Peter nodded, shaking Norman's hand, "Hi, Mister Osborn. I thought I'd stop by to see you and Harry."

"Ah, I see. And I told you already, call me Norman. Harry would no doubt be pleased to see you again." Osborn replied, his eyes wandering behind the boy, "Who are these two?"

Peter smiled and gestured behind him, "These are my friends, Ned Leeds and Trixie Lulamoon."

A realization hit Norman, "That's right, I remember Harry mentioning Ned a few times, but it is a pleasure to meet you, Miss Lulamoon. It seems you're treating Peter quite well."

"Well, these lovable buffoons are the only ones who can see my greatness." boasted the girl proudly, earning an eyebrow raise from Osborn.

Norman nodded, "I see... Anyway, if you want to see Harry, he's studying in his room. I'm sure he'd appreciate the company."

"Thanks, Mist-- I mean Norman." Peter thanked, correcting himself at the last second.

The three teens left Osborn to his own devices, where he saw Doctor Otto Octavius step into the room, wearing a metal harness with four metal appendages like an octopus. "Mister Osborn, the newest addition of the OsTech Flight Harness is just about ready." he revealed in a quiet tone, writing something on a checklist.

Norman nodded, "Excellent, Octavius. Perhaps you're not as useless as I thought. I'm still disappointed over the loss of the original, but I am glad to know you filled in the slack."

"R-Right, sir." Otto studdered.





Harry Osborn was well engrossed in a science textbook, having to study for a test by Monday. His eyes scrolled through the pages, his head never raised for any reason. He needed to impress his father by passing the test with flying colors, and ever since he was tutored by Peter, he was doing just that.

But a quiet creaking sound knocked him out of his train of thought and studying. "Knock knock." called a voice Harry knew well enough to recognize, a thin smile forming on his face. He wiped his orange hair and his eyes, which were heavy from over-studying.

"Peter Parker..." greeted Harry, shaking Peter's hand. "It's been a while, dude." he chuckled. His eyes looked to Ned, "Same to you, Ned." then he saw Trixie, "...And... You..." he paused, not knowing the girl's name at the moment.

"Of course..." groaned Trixie.

Peter looked back, "Harry, this is Trixie Lulamoon. One of the few people besides you, Ned and Sentry to tolerate me. We met after she saved me from one of Flash Thompson's locker gags. By that, I mean I was shoved into her locker and she opened it." he explained. "Somehow, after an explanation, she considering me worthy to be pals with or something. It's a little sketchy."

"He's an idiot, but he and Ned make good company." Trixie added with a thin grin.

Harry nodded, "I see. Well nice to meet you, Trixie. Any friend of Pete's is a friend of mine. I'm glad to see you're doing all right ever since I graduated." he patted his pal on the shoulder proudly.

Ned saw the desk, and saw a pile of textbooks, "Dude. Have you been on a studying binge?"

"Huh?" Harry noticed his stack of books, "Oh yeah... Sorry about the mess. I got a test on Monday and I need to prepare. Dad's gonna be annoyed if I fail."

Peter put a finger on his chin, "Believe it or not, your father actually let us in to see you. I think you could use a moment of fresh air. What do you say?" he offered, "Don't you have a balcony or something we can chill at?"

Harry hummed, then blinked, "If my dad let you see me, then I think I can hang for a bit. I'll meet you on the balcony, cause I've been holding in a burrito for five hours." he held his stomach as he said this and made a mad dash for the bathroom.

"Glad to see he's doing well." Ned said, "Now that we're here, we should go find that harness Vulture used. Or at least figure out if there really is a connection."

The wall-crawler nodded, "We will."





Peter, Harry, Ned, and Trixie all looked over the horizon of Canterlot City from the highrise skyscraper that was Oscorp. "What a view." exhaled Ned. 

"Right?" Harry asked, "Every now and then, when the stress of school kicks in, I like to sit back and look over the city. It's really soothing." he explained.

Trixie gripped the railing, "Trixie would like something like this in her house."

Harry snickered and stood next to the girl, "Trust me, that is a wise decision."

Sitting on a chair, Peter spoke up, "This is where Harry and I had our little study sessions back when his father suggested tutoring; not that I think you needed it, Harry."

The Osborn son rolled his eyes, "You know how my father is, Pete. Always a perfectionist, but hey, we became good friends because of it. Plus, I did learn a few things from you after all. It's really coming handy now more than ever."

"I still can't believe you know Tony Stark and Norman Osborn and are friends with his son..." Trixie murmured. "How you are still a nonpopular nerd is beyond me."

Harry took an interest at what she said and smiled, "You know Tony Stark?! How did that happen?"

The boy shrugged, "An offer for an internship. He's a great mentor. He teaches me the ropes, but allows me to do my own thing so long as I don't screw up." it was a half-lie, but it was somewhat the truth, and he knew his friend deserved to know that at least.

"That's awesome!" Harry complimented and then looked to the distance again. "I'd be lucky to get an internship at Horizon Labs, let alone Stark Enterprises. Dr. Connors gave me a job at his lab in the meantime to give me some credits."

Ned raised a finger, "Huh. I'm working there part-time too."

"Really? At least there will be some familiar faces." Harry assured, high-fiving Ned.

Trixie folded her arms, "No offense, I thought that the son of the CEO of a major corporation was going to be snobbier than what Peter told me. But Trixie is glad to be proven wrong. I can see why Peter and Ned consider you a friend."

Harry shrugged, "Don't let the title and legacy fool you, Trixie. I try not to scare anyone away with the fact Norman Osborn is my father. In fact, these two were the first people to treat me like a normal person and not a celebrity. I guess that's why we hit it off so well." he admitted. "People think that I should be treated like one cause of my money, but eh, that's not how I work."

"I see." hummed Trixie. "Perhaps I misjuged. I apologize."

Chuckling, Peter quipped, "To be fair, Trixie has the biggest ego out of all of us."

Trixie gave her friend a deadpan stare, "Trixie would call it overbearing confidence."

Ned held back a smile, "Right."

A moment later, Norman stepped outside, "I see the four of you are enjoying yourselves." he eyes his son, "Especially you, Harry. I take it your studies are well?"

"Yes, Dad. I hope you don't mind if I took a small break." Harry slightly apologized.

Norman shook his head, "To be fair, you have been working extremely hard in school. It would be rude to leave your friends, wouldn't it?" he asked, earning a nod, "So, enjoy yourself for today. Then tomorrow you can bet right back to work."

"Thanks, Dad." Harry said.

Peter smiled, seeing his friend and his father get along after what he assumed to be a rough patch when they met. Those study sessions really paid off in that case. But he felt as though something was off, judging by that familiar tingling sensation he knew all too well on the back of his neck and he scowled, which Ned noticed.

"Pete? You okay?" he whispered.

The webslinger glared around, "My Spider-Sense is tingling. I have a feeling something's about to go wrong."

Suddenly, a loud screech blared and the sound of a jet was noticed. Norman looked around, "What was that?" he asked. In the sky was a figure clad in green, a being Peter recognized.

"Vulture..." growled Peter with a dark realization.

"T-That's Vulture...?" Trixie gulped, taking a step back.

"Holy crap. He looks so... menacing..." Ned admitted. "I need that armor in my life."

The Vulture swooped down and grabbed Norman, his talons digging into the shoulders of his business suit. "Dad!" Harry shouted, stretching a hand to the sky to reach his father, to no avail. His eyes widened in worry as he ran to the railing, where he stopped. "Crap! No! What the hell was that?!"

"No clue! Harry, call the cops! Go!" Peter ordered, and Harry ran inside to do just that. Then, Parker looked to his other friends, "I'm going to go after Vulture and save Norman. I need you two to stay with Harry. If he asks where I'm at, tell him I'm chasing Vulture by foot to keep track of his father, alright?!"

"Right. Kick his ass for us!" Trixie demanded, running back into the building, leaving Peter alone. He took off his shoes, then hid his clothes underneath a table, revealing his hoodie costume.

'Luckily, I still have my upgraded webshooters intact.' Spider-Man thought, putting his hood on over his mask. He jumped off the balcony and finally started his chase, seeing Vulture fly off in the distance. "I gotta speed this up!" he shouted to himself and zipped forward even faster, getting closer into reaching distance.





Vulture looked down, his helmet not intimidating Osborn in the slightest as he asked, "Who might you be?"

"Norman Osborn... It has been years. Ever since you took my flight research, I've been striving to prove you wrong. Now, with this upgraded harness, it appears I was right."

Norman glared, "Toomes...? Put me down this instant!"

Vulture chuckled darkly, "Not until you apologize! You ruined my life, my career!"

"Norman Osborn does not apologize!" scowled Osborn in his declaration for Toomes to hear.

Vulture shook his head, "Such a shame. I guess you'll have to pay with your life."

"What do you mean you annoying buzzard-- AH!" Norman screamed as he was let go, free to descend to the ground.

Vulture remained still, "I am the Vulture."

As Norman fell, he was unaware of an arm wrapped around his back, pushing him back upwards. He opened his eyes, seeing red and blue directly next to him, "Spider-Man?!" he wondered, seeing the wall-crawler focus on swinging.

"The one and only! You're safe with me, Mister Osborn! It seems the Vulture has something against you too! What's his beef with a guy like you, huh?" Spidey wondered, reaching further into the city and away from Vulture to take him to safety.

"I am not sure. He mentioned something about the harness tech we have." Osborn lied. "His real name is Adrian Toomes."

Out of nowhere, Vulture flew forward, gun in hand. "Do not fall for his lies, Spider-Man! I am doing this world a favor by ridding it of him! He has ruined everything I have worked for!"

Peter blinked under his mask, his hood flapping in the wind as he swung as far away from the beam as possible. "Right! Who am I going to believe? The harmless CEO or the psychopath with wings and an alien gun? It's so hard to choose!" he questioned sarcastically, narrowly dodging the purple rays of power.

"Can you put me down?" Norman suggested. "He's catching up to us!" he grunted.

Spider-Man rolled his eyes, "Wow. You're a whiny damsel. I'll put you down as soon as possible!" he swung lower than usual, seeing the police station come to view. A police care was parked outside, with two officers sitting inside.

Vulture charged his gun again, aiming it directly at Peter and Osborn once again as they got lower. Peter safely dropped Osborn on top of the hood of the car, where the officers jumped out instantly, "No time to explain. Vulture guy is there, take him inside, I'll take care of the problem!" he hastily elaborated, his Spider-Sense tingling again, noticing a purple light in the sky.

"GO!"

Norman followed the officers, "I'd suggest doing as he says unless you wish to become vaporized." he pushed the cops inside, where they were away from Vulture.

Peter backflipped, seeing the beam tear the car in half, "Does that thing of yours ever run out of batteries?" he quipped, landing back on the sidewalk before zipping upwards from the side of ths buildings even running up one too.

"How did you find me?!" Vulture shouted, seeing Spider-Man move closer to him. He swiped a wing, knocking the wall-crawler onto the roof of another building as a result.

Sitting up, Peter shot a web-ball onto Toomes, which was torn apart thanks to the metal wings. 'Bingo.' Peter thought, knowing what really happened. "Lucky guess." he announced, hopping upwards, using Vulture's wings as leverage to web-zip upwards and he swing underneath his talons, reaching for the harness. "So, you say Osborn ruined you? Are you willing to debrief me?"

"You aren't worth the time, Spider-Man." Vulture said, his voice monotone and annoyed. "I gave you a warning and you refused. It's time I followed through with my threat."

Vulture spun around, his wings slapping Spidey off of his harness, causing him to collapse. The wallcrawler grunted as he hit the rocky surface of the building's top. He rolled around and laid down on his back again. Seeing Toomes ready a downward attack, Parker backflipped and avoided the stomp from Toomes' metal talons, the floor actually cracking underneath him. "Alright, Toomy. Can I call you that now? Can we just end this before you ruin my hoodie look?" he rolled around again as he asked this, getting some distance.

Toomes grunted, shooting out his homing wing blades again. Peter's Spider-Sense gave him an advantage in reacting and so he flipped to one hand, seeing a blade stick to the surface. He leaned back for another one, narrowly missing his armpit. "Woah! That's one way to shave! Heh." he quipped, somersaulting forwards this time, avoiding two coming for him at the same time.

Vulture hissed and clenched a gloved fist, "Do you ever shut up?"

"Hm. Nah." Spidey replied, jumping over one more blade before webbing up the last one, tossing it back to Vulture and throwing a web-ball, stunning the bird-themed villain again, "You got a little something on your armor there. I might get it off if I were you."

Vulture swiped away the sticky substance Peter shot out with his wings and held up his gun again, "No more of this childish nonsense. It's time you stopped being a thorn in my enterprise, Spider-Man." he declared at last.

Under his mask, Spidey's eyes widened and instead of dodging, he decided to use his enhanced web-shooters to their full potential, aiming them for the barrel of the advanced gun, "Activate Taser Webs!" once he said that, blue sparks of electricity suddenly appeared on the gun and Vulture suddenly lost control of his grip as purple bursts appeared on the weapon.

Surprised, Spider-Man hopped back and was about to web Vulture to safety, 'That... Wasn't supposed to happen! Oh, I hope Mister Stark doesn't hear about this...' he groaned inwardly. But before his webbing could reach Vulture, he let go of the gun and flew away as it exploded, the aura covering the entire rooftop, barely grazing the two of them as they made their escape.

The force of the miniature explosion launched the hero and villain farther than they were hoping and Peter hit a wall before dropping back to the concrete surface. "It's okay... I landed on the soft, comfortable concrete below me..." he whined, hearing a cracking sound as he stood back up. "Ooh. No wait, nevermind. It's freaking concrete."

People all looked at the end of the battle in awe, wondering what was going on this time and they all circled around Spidey before he swung away and cling to a wall.

As Spider-Man stood up, he saw Vulture barely able to control his flight path, staggering in midair. "Aw. Is Vulty finally stopping? I thought you were going to follow through with that threat of yours?" he questioned in a teasing manner.

"Damn kid... Ruined my wings..." Toomes muttered to himself, retreating back to his warehouse for repairs after the disaster the short-circuited gun caused.

Spider-Man removed his hood and took off his mask once he was alone, exhaling and wiping the sweat off his head. "Thank God... I should tell Harry that his dad's alright..."





Arriving back at Oscorp, Peter climbed onto the balcony and changed back to his normal clothes, hiding his costume underneath once again. He sighed, 'Ugh. I'm gonna reek of sweat for the rest of the night.' he realized in disappointment.

The teen opened the door, and spotted Trixie, Ned and Harry in the Osborn's son's room. Harry instantly looked up upon seeing Parker, "My Dad... Is he alright?"

"Yeah." assured Peter, seeing Harry perk up, "Spider-Man saved him, took him to a police station for safety and that birdman creep is gone too. I watched the whole thing while chasing him. Your father's safe, Harry. You should go check on him. We'll head home and leave you two alone." he said.

"T-Thanks Peter..." Harry sighed in relief, running to see his father, leaving the crime-fighting team on their own again.

Ned folded his arms, "That was Vulture... Holy crap."

"Yeah." replied Peter simply.

Trixie raised a brow, "He got away again? What are we going to do with that creep? He could be anywhere in Canterlot!"

Peter smiled, holding out his phone, "Actually... I used my advanced web-shooters to plant a nanotracer on Vulture. He doesn't know I can track his secret base. Tonight, we're ending this. Because I have a feeling Beaky has something big planned."

"What do you want us to do?" Ned asked.

The three walked to the balcony and Peter revealed his Spider-Man hoodie costume. "Keep tabs on me and the baddies from your laptops and headsets back in my room, the spare key is under the rug again. May should have another FEAST charity thing late tonight, so by the time she gets home, I should be back."

"Go get that winged creep, Peter. Don't go screwing this up, please." Trixie begged, "Because you are one of the few people who tolerate me." she admitted.

Spidey smirked, "I'm not dying, Trixie. This will be a cakewalk. Vulture's weak and Shocker has no place to hide now. This little weapons trade empire is crashing."

Ned patted Peter's shoulder, "Go get 'em, Spidey!"

Peter saluted his friends before swinging away. "That idiot gets himself into more danger than I realize." murmured the blue-skinned girl, brushing her hair.

"He can handle it. If he can handle half the Avengers and an X-Man at an airport, he can handle a birdman and wannabe crook when they least expect it." Ned comforted, placing his trust in his friend.