mattmanganon

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

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S P I D E R - M A N
S P I D E R - M A N

_{Location: Parker Residence}

Post #5: Goblin on the Wing

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Normie sat in his room loudly tapping away at his computer. He heard the sound of his window opening slowly and frowned, but continued tapping. His ears had pricked up and he was following the telltale sounds of May's pattern of sneaking up on him. She was powerful and stealthy, but she was still too young to appreciate that people learned from her mistakes. The notorious *Fwip* As she attached her web to the ceiling and slowly lowered behind him.

"Hi May" He said, not breaking his stride.

"NO FAIR!!!" She cried "YOU ALWAYS KNOW I'M HERE!!!"

"You've got your Spider-Senses, i have my own super senses" He smiled a little, continuing to tap away at the computer.

"Whatcha doin'? Lookin' up weird video's of Daddy and Elsa?" She asked, cocking her head to the side. She didn't particularly understand what the absolute monolithic line of code. "Or are you watching The Matrix?"

"You wouldn't understand even if i told you" Normie sighed.

"I'm not dumb!" She punched him in the shoulder. Probably a little harder than she was supposed to, since she knocked him off the chair, but quickly shot a web with her other arm to grab him before he hit the floor and pulled them back onto his feet. "I'm REALLY sorry, don't tell Mommy!" She begged. Normie stared her in the eyes for a long minute. "DON'T!!!" She yelled. He then shook his head before starting to tap away at the keys again.

"I'm writing a combination Keylogger algorithm and trojan program to sneak into the backdoor of a company." He sighed. May spent a few minutes going over what he just said in her head.

"So, you're making a Ninja Horse?" She asked. Normie doubled over laughing at this response.

"Yeah, i'm writing a ninja horse." He laughed. She sat staring at it

"Computers are WAY cooler than i thought..." She said, her mind clearly blown away by this information. The lines of code that he was writing suddenly started going nuts as the algorithm started its work on cracking into the system he was looking at. "So, which company are you hacking into? I heard that Burger King has this gold card that gives you UNLIMITED burgers." She giggled. "But that's illegal and then daddy'll have to beat you up" She said.

"I'm not going for Burgers... I've got something a little better in mind." He replied. It was at that point that Oscorps logo popped up onscreen. "And i... am... in..." As he finished typing. He then saw a mass of files pop up in front of him and he smiled. "Now, time to get what i need..." He started to search the files, but quickly found a problem. "No..." He said with a worried look on his face. "No this can't be right... I'm in... I'm on the server, this is where the documents should be." He rubbed his face.

"Out of the way dummy" May said, dropping down and "I've got an idea" She grabbed the mouse from him and clicked the search bar before typing 'files that normie wants' getting no responses "Wow, this security has to be like... at least 7 times better than daddys." Normie shoved her out of the way before starting to check his coding.

"It's... It's correct, not a single number of asterisk out of place..." At that point, the window closed and a new one opened. It was a video call prompt with an accept or reject button. It rang once, then twice. Normie looked at May-Day. "Stay down, let me do the talking. Do NOT say ANYTHING under any circumstances." She quickly webbed up to the ceiling and lay flat on it. Normie cautiously pressed the accept button. At that point, the unmistakable face popped up.

"Greetings Normie... My god you look just like your father." Norman Osborn sat on his sofa in his house, sipping whiskey, he was wearing his white shirt without a tie and the top button undone, his black trousers and solid gold wrist watch being the only other visible clothing. "I'm very glad you decided to try and do this. I had a feeling. As for how i knew what your trojan would look like? Oh, i tracked a few of these some time ago, turns out it was your father trying to keep tabs on me. I knew he would teach you his hacking skills." Norman smiled. "In all seriousness, i am very glad to meet you. Your father sent me a few baby pictures, but he kept you well hidden."

"You killed my father. Don't try to get all jolly old grandpa with me." Normie replied. Norman continued to smile, but shifted, Normie could tell he had hit a nerve. Norman took a swig of his whiskey and clearly tried to re-rail his train of thought after Normie's blitz attack on his act.

"He was your father, but he was my son and i knew him FAR longer than you did. It wasn't ME who killed him, it was that Spider-Freak. But you didn't come hacking into Oscorp files to try and find out little things like that, did you?" Norman replied. "Tell Grampy what you're looking for and i'm sure i can get it for you. I'm an open book."

"Pity i can't tear out the pages." Normie replied. Norman laughed.

"Ah, dad taught you the Osborn wit very well. Yes, i have seen that defiant look FAR too many times in his youth. When he stole cookies from the jar, when he set fire to the rug, when he told me he was running away." Norman pointed at him with the hand he was using to hold the glass of whiskey. "My son, your father, lives in you." He smiled.

"Spare me the Lion King speech, tell me what you want?" Normie demanded. Norman laughed again.

"Amazing, you ignore my ask for what you want and try to turn it back on me, but let's be fair, you were the one that came to MY files. And whatever it is that you want, i'm more than happy to give it to you, but i need to know what that something is." He leaned back on his sofa, his thumb hooking comfortably into his trouser pocket to give a reserved, relaxed posture.

"No, you're the one who lured me in, you wanted this, so you tell me what you want? If it was just about the files, you would have left them for me to find." Normie pointed out.

"Frankly, i wanted a conversation with my favourite grandson." He smiled. "Is it so unbelievable that i actually want to talk to you and get to know you?" Normie simply stared at him without moving. Norman finally relented. "Alright, you got me. I wanted you to know that i'm here for you. And i wanted you to know that it specifically was me that was giving you the info. No strings attached, i just want you to know you always have family at Oscorp." Normie could tell that Norman was still hiding his main objective, but he did believe that part of this was some kind of trust building exercise. Trying to build some kind of give and take rapport. Well, if he was giving, then it was time for Normie to take.

"I am looking for the files on Oscorps old battle-suit technology... I..." Normie began, at that point he saw the only genuine look of concern on Norman's face he had seen all night.

"Your dad told me about the complications." Norman replied. "I'll have a few blueprints sent over to you immediately, the leg servo's in that wouldn't be too difficult to adapt to help you walk better." He tapped away at his keyboard for a second, before pressing send and a popup appeared, indicatng that he had received an email. This also tipped a bit of Normans hand that he was spying on Normie, knowing his email address without any prompts. "Anything else?" Norman asked with a smile.

"Do... You mind if i add you on Facespace?" He asked.

"By all means. If you need ANYTHING from me, please, message me. I'm not a monster, no matter what... Uncle Peter would have you believe." Norman replied, before closing the chat.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?!?!?" May-Day yelled the moment Norman hung up. "First you're all 'You killed my daddy, granddaddy!'" She said in a gruff voice. "Then you're all 'I love you grampy!'"

"You ever heard the phrase 'Keep your friends close and your enemies closer?'" He asked.

"No, because it's stupid, why keep people you hate close to you? I'd take you over your stinky grandpa any day." She proudly said. "Wait, we gotta tell Mommy." She said, realizing exactly what happened.

"Tell her and i'll tell her you pushed me." Normie threatened. He saw the gears turn in May's head as she tried to figure out what to do. She clearly wanted to tell MJ about what had happened, but she REALLY didn't want to get punished for punching him.

"Fine, i'll keep your secret, just like Daddy being Spider-Man." She sighed.

"Thanks." Normie replied, before opening up the attached document. There was a few designs for robotic support suits... But then there was another one. Originally, Normie had been going in there to get information about something else, but he didn't want to tip his hand too much to Norman, hopefully getting something small now and opening the way to slice back in for the thing he ACTUALLY wanted later... But looks like Norman was a step ahead of him... "Goblin-Formula-research.zip"

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@Stern Algorithm Well, in the original story, Parker Industries HQ WAS the Baxter Building. But yeah, i'm fine with the collab. As for how open they are with the Villains, they are framing it as a "Community Help Program" Where they are pretty much trying to rehabilitate villains. They aren't exactly advertising it to the public, but they aren't trying to hide it either. Hense Peter trying to get his Superior Six off the ground, hoping to get some good PR and convincing people that they have become heroes now.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@thatguy Daredevil is a main character himself and someone might want to play him, so i'd probably say hold off on him for a bit. Apart from that, i did have an idea for Red Vulture, so if you could hold off on that, it's fine. But yes, Mysterion is good for you to use.

Also, i'll be very interested in what you do with Mephisto... An appearance from Frankencastle or Cosmic Ghost-Rider maybe?

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

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S P I D E R - M A N
S P I D E R - M A N

_{Location: Parker Industries HQ}

Post #4: "Where are they now?"

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"Peter, dear boy, with all due respect, ARE YOU OUT OF YOUR DAMN MIND?!" Otto shouted at him. In the room was Peter, MJ, Michael and Otto, only the ones who were in on the secret of Spider-Man's identity.

"I just wanted to get a feel for where everyone stands." Peter replied.

"Peter, I could have told you that." He sighed, a robotic tentacle reaching up to rub the bridge of his nose. "Now you've put Max and Adrien on the defensive not to mention how i am now going to have to pretend i'm still bitter about it so i can keep my credit with the other bad guys."

"I don't think your street cred is the most important thing right now." Michael sighed.

"Ok, well, i'm hearing complains, let's hear solutions?" MJ replied. "Scorpion gave us an unequivacle NO, but that's probably because of his deal with the state tying him to Oscorp rather than any actual loyalty to Norman. So, who else we got contact info for?"

"I know a guy who knows a guy who could get us in contact with Chameleon, but-."

"Max hates him almost as much as Peter and I trust that guy as far as i could throw you." MJ smiled sarcastically. "Hard veto on Chameleon." Peter put his hands up as a show of submission.

"Ok, Chameleon's off the table. Anyone else?" He asked. Otto was the one to respond this time.

"I... I'm in contact with Rhino..." He replied.

"Would have been great to know before." Peter stated.

"Look, he's in no position to work with us at the moment. He's in constant pain, he's agitated, that suit is starting to cause even more feverous discomfort. If we bring him in, he's not fighting for us, he's getting out of that suit and then paying his debt to society. I never swore a hypocratic oath, i'm not that kind of doctor, but i still believe in a doctor doing no harm to their patients. And anyway, he won't come in, because he knows we'll turn him over to the cops afterwards, but i still feel it's my duty to try and help him out." Otto sighed, sitting down, his tentacles forming into a supportive chair for him. "My whole reason for doing this is to help mankind and that includes Aleksei." Peter got up and walked over to Otto, before patting him on the shoulder.

"Hey, never apologize for trying to help people. It's the reason you were the first one i came to with this whole crazy scheme." He then looked over at Michael "No offense." Michael smiled a little.

"Oh really? I assumed you didn't come to me first because you were still mad about the Fisk Foundation Science Fair." The three men laughed for a second, but MJ rolled her eyes, before snapping her fingers in the air

"Boys, back to the task at hand. So far we have a no on Rhino and Chameleon. Come on, who else?"

"Well, to be perfectly honest, during my time on the streets, i specifically tried to hunt down a few... Priority targets for my feeding. Yes, i know we don't kill here, but i need to feed and i thought it would be better to feed off of those that could do the most harm until i could get my blood substitute serums working properly." He pulled out his Spyder phone and spent about a minute whisking through his own files. "Here we go." He brought up the files on the holo projector in the middle of the table. "Quick run-down on the list." As he started listing off names, their portraits became front and center in the holograms. "Herman Schultz, AKA Shocker - Unknown, rumours range everywhere from operating as a mercenary in Madripoor to working for anti-mutant groups right here in NY. Quentin Beck, AKA Mysterio - Unknown, that man has faked his death more times than i care to count, i gave up on him quickly. He'll make himself known exactly when he wants to be. Mister Negative, AKA Martin Li - Operating with the Maggia, Had a few run ins with him, but none ended very well for me. Carnage AKA Cletus Cassedy -"

"PASS" The other three all groaned in unison.

"I hate to say "Beyond redemption" But that guy blew up a bus full of kids and laughed about it on TV. Nope, no, hell-no." Peter responded. Michael nodded with agreement.

"Hey, i'm just telling you the info, up to you what you do with it. Anyway. Sergei Dimitri Symostivych Kravinoff, AKA Kraven the Hunter - Currently in Africa working with the Congolese government to hunt down warlords."

"Good for him." MJ Smiled.

"Damn, i was kinda hoping for Kraven, good morals, even if he is a sociopath." Peter sighed.

"Norman Osborn- we all know about that." He quickly went to the next slide "Curtis Connors, AKA The Lizard - Cur" But Peter butted in before he could continue

"Veto, that guy is only interested in getting close to me and stealing my blood to improve himself." Peter said with a frown.

"But he is a doctor of Neogenics, he could help me and Alistair considerably in our- Michael began, but Peter butted in again.

"VETOED! Next slide!"

"He gave Pete some pretty big trust issues." MJ replied.

"Curt was never the same after he lost his arm." Otto sighed. "Before, i'd have recommended him for our program, but i think The Lizard has gotten too far into his brain.."

"Can we continue?" Michael asked. "Stop butting in, it annoyed me back at University, it annoys me even more now. Aaron Davis, AKA The Prowler - 2 years into a 12 year stint in Rikers for 7 count of Burglary, 3 counts of Assault with a deadly weapon and 2 counts of resisting arrest."

"Yeah, that guy does not like me, but to be fair to him, i've never seen him go after anyone with lethal intent. Guy just likes to crack safes and knock over rich fat-cats." Peter said.

"Yeah, but now WE'RE the rich fat-cats." MJ reminded him.

"Point is, the guy has potential." Peter concluded.

"Yeah, but what would he even do here, the man is a career burglar. He's not a scientist, he stole all of his super-equipment and bungled it together into a super-villain persona by me and a few others." Otto asked.

"True-" MJ retorted, looking at her phone "But he seems to have a head for computers. Hacked his way through most of those fat-cats security systems. Could always hire him to help develop software for the Spyder line, or maybe put him in charge of our Cyber Security."

"I'm with MJ on this one, even if he's not going to be in our Six, i want to give him a chance at Parker Industries nonetheless. I see a guy who can be better than he currently is. Anyone else?" He asked.

"I..." Michael shuffled nervously. "I also have a contact number for Screwball..." The picture in the hologram showed Screwball's profile on her social media and the others quickly took note of the page having activated hyperlinks only available to her premium subscribers. The 3 stared at Michael for an uncomfortable minute, before they all responded in unison again.

"PASS"

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@thatguy Go for it.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

@thatguy If you want to go after any Spider-Man villains, that's all good. Pretty much the only off limits ones are the ones on my character sheet:
*Doctor Octopus
*Michael Morbius
*Scorpion
*Spider-Slayer
*Vulture
*Green Goblin
*Venom
*Electro

If you want to go after any of the other Spider-Man Villains, it's all good. I mean, i don't have any plans on using any of the Maggia characters like Silvermane, Eel, Kingpin or Hammerhead, also i have no plans on using Carnage if you want to go after him.

What kind of RP mood are you in?

I am still really jonesing to play some Star Wars Saga Edition.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

So, how is everyone's next posts coming along?

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

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S P I D E R - M A N
S P I D E R - M A N

_{Location: Parker Industries HQ}

Post #3: Little Gremlins

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Normie slowly walked through the halls of Parker Industries, headed towards the Neogenics lab. The clacking of his walking stick echoing through the polished, metal halls. He frowned as some of the workers walked past him. For a moment, he found himself alone, before stopping dead in the hall and listening... He could swear he could hear something. He turned around, nobody there, just an empty hallway... That's when he heard a muffled snickering, before looking straight up and seeing the face of May-Day staring at him as she walked along the ceiling above him. "HEY NORMIE!!!" She screamed at him, Normie startled for a second by the sheer volume this little girl was capable of.

"Keep it down, neither of us are supposed to be here. It's just that nobody questions the crippled kid." Normie sighed, before slowly hobbling away, the clacking beginning to echo again. May skipped along the ceiling above him.

"Want me to carry you?" She asked, him, shooting a web from her wrist to his back and pulling him up to her.

"LET ME DOWN!!!" Normie roared, flailing wildly. May-Day found this, frankly, hilarious. That was until the flailing walking stick smacked her square in the forehead. At which point, she dropped him as she sat down on the ceiling, rubbing her forehead.

"OWWWW!" She moaned, not crying, but visibly distraught. Normie landed on his backside and rubbed himself, before staring up at the little girl. "WHAT'D YOU DO THAT FOR?!" She yelled at him.

"I've told you before, don't pick me up like that!" He replied. At that point, the sound of one of the laboratory doors opened and one of the scientists walked out to see what the commotion was. A web hit Normie on the chest and pulled him straight up to the ceiling out of harms way. The pair of them sat in the shadow of between 2 of the lights in the hallway. The scientist looked both ways, before shaking his head and closing the door. Normie looked at May who smiled smugly at him "Ok, when it comes to not getting in trouble, sure you can pick me up like that..." He sighed. She carried him over her shoulder as she walked down the wall and onto the ground.

"So, Whatchya doin' in here?" She asked, rocking back and forth between her heels and balls of her feet, arms behind her back. Normie shook his head and began to hobble away again.

"I'm doing research." He grunted. May-Day skipped beside him.

"Oooh, just like Daddy, what kind of research?" She beamed at him. "Can i help? Daddy won't let me do it after last time" She groaned, pushing her index fingers together.

"Uncle Pete isn't doing this kind of research..." Normie mumbled. May-Day continued to skip in her upbeat, chipper way. Normie didn't particularly dislike May-Day, but he had to admit that he was envious of her power. Not so much the super strength and the wall crawling, but just the fact that she could walk and pass for an everyday normal person. Eventually, they came to the Neogenics lab, Normie inserted the security card he had swiped from Peter's office and walked in. As he did so, he looked around the lab. Lots of computers, lots of test tubes, lots of experiments going on.

"Hehehehe, we're gonna be in trouble!" May-Day giggled. "It's been a while since I broke in here, although it was mean old Uncle Otto who caught me."

"Otto is in the Robotics division, this is Neogenics

"Indeed, this is my lab." They both stopped dead as they heard a familiar voice speak to them. The pair of kids turned to see Alistair Smythe staring at them.

"BUSTED!" May-Day yelled, before running towards the door, but being unable to open it. Smythe quickly advanced on Normie, towering over him.

"Young Norman..." He said, staring down at the boy.

"It's Normie. Normie responded. Alistair looked down at Normie's crutch, before looking him in the eyes. They stood, looking deep into each other for about 10 seconds.

"I know why you're hear. Trust me, it's not worth it." Smythe responded, turning around and walking back towards his experiments. Normie hobbled after him. but Mayday turned and looked at them.

"YOU READ MINDS?!" She asked, grabbing her own head.

"I recognize the look of a crippled boy contemplating doing something he's going to regret in a vain attempt at normality. There are days that i wake up and would trade anything for my wheelchair again." He sighed. "It is the reason i have agreed to work for your father. If i can mutate myself back to human, my legs will cease to work."

"Why would you ever choose that?" Normie asked.

"Young Normie, there are more things to life than just walking and running and..." He reached a hand up to the spikes raising from his shoulders. "Shooting laser beams... I want to be normal again. I would rather be stared at by people pitying the cripple, than people staring terrified of the mutated freak. Look, Normie, i'm currently working on something that, if it succeeds, it could cure BOTH of us. But let's take time and get it right. Neogenics has the power to do great good, but equally great evil and most of that evil has come from people refusing to have respect for that power. Your father always says that with great power comes great responsibility, well this is one of the greatest powers and it will require the greatest of responsibility to wield it for the betterment of mankind."

"And in the meantime?" Normie asked.

"In the meantime, we suffer and we learn to respect the power we seek." Smythe looked at Normie. He saw a kindred spirit. They had both lost their fathers in a super-powered plot and he remembered sitting feeling powerless as his Spider-Slayers were utterly useless at actually delivering the revenge he sought... But Normie didn't even have anyone to take revenge on. Harry died by his own hand. He knew that the boy needed something to latch onto to focus that anger. "Tell you what, why don't i show you how this works?" He said, the children followed Alistair over to his work station. Smythe pressed a few buttons and brought up a picture of a bunch of cells on the monitor. "These are my bodies cells." He said. The computer showed a breakdown of the chemical makeup of his body. "Neogenics is the science of breaking down our bodies cells and changing them to improve them"

"So... You made yourself a spiky guy?" May-Day asked.

"Precisely. Radiation can cause this at random, but Neogenics seeks to figure out how to do it targetted. Think of it like playing a Piano. If you press the keys randomly, you just create an awful noise, but if you press the right keys in the right order, then you make something beautiful."

"So, we need to press the piano keys in our bodies in the right order?" May-Day asked.

"It's more like we need to figure out what the keys are as well." He pressed a few buttons. "Radiation can be a little unpredictable. One wrong move and you're growing laser shooting spikes." He sighed. He typed a few buttons and the cell was blasted with something. It started to slowly shrink, slowly stabilizing towards something human... Except the shrinking didn't stop, until the cell burst and Smythe grunted. "My job is to figure out what instrument i'm playing, where it's keys are, what the keys do and how to make them do what i need them to do in order to play music." May-Day looked blank. Smythe had the feeling that none of this had set in.

"Can't you use Vita-rays to try and stabilize them? I've read a few papers, it's suspected that they had something to do with Captain America's transformation."

"Vita-Rays add energy to cells, i'm trying to take energy away from my cells." Smythe replied

"But they are somewhere to start. Neuton's third law, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. We know that Anti-matter is real and cancels out matter. Surely there is some kind of Anti-Vita-Ray out there?" He asked. Smythe looked a little surprised at the 10 year old seemingly being able to debate him in the ways of science.

"Precisely what i was thinking..." Smythe answered slowly, trying to re-rail his train of thought. "But it's finding it that's the problem. In the entire of recorded human history, we have yet to document any and then it'll be the problem of finding a way to generate them safely. Until then, i'm working with what i can." He shook his head "Elementary School Science didn't teach you about Neuton's Third Law."

"My father home-schooled me. Elementary school wasn't teaching fast enough for me." Smythe nodded, looking impressed.

"Reading level?" Smythe asked.

"12th grade" Normie responded

"Favourite book?" Asked in quick succession.

"Great Expectations." Normie said just as quickly.

"I found it a little disappointing." Smythe responded equally quickly. Normie then actually cracked an amused smile, before the pair of them legitimately laughed. May-Day shuffled nervously.

"I just finished reading Gemima Puddle-Duck with Mommy." She stated as a matter of fact. Normie turned to her and smiled condescendingly. Smythe however knelt down to her.

"I LOVE the works of Beatrix Potter." As Smythe began talking with May-Day about Mr Todd, Normie quickly pulled out a pen-drive and stuck it into Smythe's computer, before silently pressing a few things and downloading a number of files, before quickly retrieving the dive before Smythe could turn around. "I shall give your mother a few of the other books i have when i come into work tomorrow." He then turned around, seeing Normie stood looking unimpressed. "I will talk with your Uncle and see if he wouldn't mind me tutoring you. You seem rather interested in Neogenics and i think you have a bright future in the field." Smythe smiled at him. Normie was a little taken aback, he could have swore Smythe was humouring him before, but this offer seemed genuine.

"I... Would like that..." Normie said.

(NOW CLOSED:) Marvel RE: Imagine - A Marvel Comics Roleplay

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S P I D E R - M A N
S P I D E R - M A N

_{Location: Oscorp HQ}

Post #2: Turnabout Is Fair Play

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Norman sat in his office, phone pressed against his ear. "Don't worry, Rob, i've got this... Hey, i understand perfectly, you've got a lot on your plate, but i'm here because limp-dick pissants like Creed and Krane have let you down FAR too many times before... Look, my 3:55 just showed up early, but trust me, we're gonna be laughing about this when we're in the Oval Office sipping whiskey together... Ok, bye." The moment Norman hung up, the smile on his face instantly disolved into his usual cold, emotionless, calculating face. "Officious little bureaucrat." He growled under his breath as he took a sip of Whiskey. Due to the Goblin Metabolism, it was pretty much impossible to get drunk, but he needed the taste in his mouth at the moment. Washing away the taste of defeat. It had been over a year and STILL, Parker had his grandson, almost a third of his companys wealth and his happy little family and here Norman sat, his fate was entirely reliant on a combination of word of Senator Kelly (Who he didn't trust) and the the stupidity of the American public (Which he trusted VERY much) A knock came at the door. His advanced hearing had allowed him to hear the heavy footsteps even when on the phone to Kelly. "Yes, come in." The door opened and Mac walked in.

"Hey, boss-" Mac began, but was interrupted by Norman.

"I was in a call with someone very important." Norman scolded in his dark and commanding way. Mac stopped dead in his tracks.

"Oh, sorry, boss." He stammered out. Mac was an unstoppable killing machine in a suit of nearly indestructible power armour and yet Norman still scared the bejesus out of him.

"Well, you're here now, what is it?" Norman sighed, swirling his whisky around the glass to lower the temperature as it splashed off of the ice-cube in the middle, before taking another sip.

"I, uhhh... I got a call from Parker." He scratched the back of his head. Norman didn't seem to register this, slowly spinning his chair around to look out of the window. "Said he was looking for someone with my specific skill set for something he was workin' on. You want me to take him up on it? Get some info from the inside?"

"Using your brain? How unlike you." Norman spat out. Mac clenched his fist at this response. He was sick of people treating him like a dumb animal. Norman, as if sensing that he had struck a nerve, span back around in his chair with a big, cheery smile on his face. "Kidding." He said, throwing his arms wide. Frankly the smile scared Mac even more than the scowl had. "Mac, i appreciate the sentiment, but i already have a guy on the inside who is getting me as much info on Parker's movements as i need. And it would look rather suspicious if you just up-sticks and join him without a fight. Look, buddy, i need you here." Once again, Mac was getting a little scared with how polite and friendly Norman was being. "In any case, that little thing on your leg is a stamp of ownership as far as the New York Supreme Court is concerned. Your parole is entirely based on you working your debt to society off in my care. Even if i was certain i had the political clout to get you transfered to Parker's care, he'd never trust that i let you go so easily. No, my friend, your place is here. Call him back, tell him as such, feel free to insult him, but make it clear exactly where you stand. Parker will feel more secure knowing where you are and i want him feeling as safe as possible at this very second."

"The old "False sense of security" thing, right boss?" Mac asked. Norman finished his drink before putting it on the table and letting out the signature "Whiskey wheeze" as it burned his throat on the way down, but in all of the most pleasant ways.

"Very good, you're learning." Norman laughed. Mac pretended to laugh, but he definitely knew Norman meant that and he had been a private detective long enough to know that Norman knew and didn't care that the laugh was fake. Because what choice did he have? It was be in Normans pocket or be in jail. "Anyway, I have a little something for you." Norman said, reaching under his desk for a briefcase, he pulled it out and slid it across the desk to Mac "A little trump card for when you inevitably come to blows with Spider-Man next." Mac popped the clips on the brief case before opening it and looking inside, his eyes lit up with pure awe and excitement. "We good?" Norman smiled a sinister smile.

"Oh yeah, boss, WE are VERY good." Mac laughed.