OsCorp

Two Months Later

“It’s time,” Norman Osborn said as he looked down through the plate glass window into the lab. Five members of his new Sinister 6 had been outfitted with newer, upgraded versions of their costumes, making them more lethal than they’d ever been. The Shocker, Vulture, Rhino, Mysterio and Will O’ the Wisp.

In a glass chamber, Rhett Carson was in a deep sleep, only to be awakened when Osborn’s Sinister 6 was unleashed upon the world. Rhett had already disappeared once, and Osborn didn’t want to take anymore chances.

“Wake him,” Osborn ordered his scientists. “Then get him into costume. In six hours, we strike.”

“Are you sure you can trust him, sir?” one of the scientists asked.

“Oh, don’t worry, if Rhett becomes a liability,” Osborn said as he looked at another glass chamber, this one with tinted black windows. “I have a replacement.”

THE DEADLY DOZEN

Part I

By Tobias Christopher

A hard rain was pouring down on New York as a street gang had gathered in an alley, planning on their new recruit’s assignment to make him a part of their group.

“Just go over to that convenience store and rob it, bring us back the money and some snacks,” Alejandro said as he handed the young recruit, a twelve-year-old black child named Calvin, an illegally obtained gun. “Do it and you’re one of us. Protection for life, kid. No more bullying, no more getting beaten up and robbed. From now on, you’ll be the one doing the beating.”

A loud-thunder clap was heard as the others jumped. As lightning filled the sky overhead, a brief flash quickly moved in the shadows. He stood nearly six feet tall, wearing an orange hoodie with black stripes patterned like Spider-Man’s costume. He was wearing an orange Spider-Man mask without the webbing design. On the chest of the hoodie was a tiger’s paw.

“Don’t do it, kid,” the figure said in a tired voice. “Guns aren’t the answer.”

“And who the hell are you?” Alejandro asked as the figure in the shadows came forward, grabbing the gun out of the gang leader’s hand and tossing it away. Without saying a word, the figure quickly and skillfully flipped and kicked around, taking out the entire gang within seconds. As the sounds of police sirens were heard, the figure looked at the boy.

“Go home, go to school, make a life for yourself. Don’t ever let me catch you hanging out with these guys again,”

“Who are  you?” Calvin asked.

Without giving an answer, the figure climbed the walls with ease, disappearing over the rooftop. Calvin ran home as fast as he could, leaving the police to clean up the mess. As the figure got to the top of the building, he stared out over the city. “My family’s in this city somewhere. I have to save them. I won’t let them die.”

“I can’t believe that in a few weeks I’m going to have a brand new baby to take care of,” Peter Parker said nervously as he sat in his Aunt May’s kitchen. “What if I mess this up? Supervillains I can deal with, but a baby?”

“Oh, Peter, don’t be silly,” May said as she brought him a cup of tea to calm his nerves. “Remember when you had to take care of that egg for a high school parenting class?”

“I went through twelve of them,” Peter said.

“And by that time you were getting the hang of it,” May assured him. “Only one crack on that one, and it was hardly noticable.”

“Yeah, that makes me feel better,” Peter said sarcastically. “But I can’t be a good father and be a full-time superhero. As a single man, I was barely keeping it all together. Now I have Mary Jane and this baby, and MJ’s nephew staying with us. I don’t know how I can juggle all of that. And then there’s Drew.”

“I still believe you should tell him,” May said. “That boy deserves a family, and it’s not right that you’re going to be giving this baby all of that love and none to him.”

“I just don’t know if that’s a good idea,” Peter told her. “He walked out of Flash’s place when he found out about the deal Flash made to save his life. What if I tell him he’s my son and just… snaps and goes full supervillain?”

“That won’t happen,” May promised. “He has a good heart, just like you and Gwen. You’ll see, when it comes down to it, he’ll make the right decision.”

Tommy returned home to Peter and Mary Jane’s apartment, tossing his Burger Fool hat away as he fell down into a chair. He’d taken a part-time job while attending community college under the watchful eye of his Aunt Mary Jane, who immediately started pushing her nephew to build a life for himself. When Tommy had reconnected with Mary Jane nearly three months ago, Tommy was living in a half-way house, working odd jobs and having dropped out of high school. And on top of all that, the boy he’d just started dating had been murdered at the hands of the Lizard.

Now Tommy had his G.E.D., was enrolled in college and making money to save for his own place down the road, and it was all thanks to Mary Jane.

“You look beat,” Mary Jane said as she came out of the bedroom, her baby bump almost ready to release a new life into the world. “I just made some tea on the stove.”

“Thanks,” Tommy told her as he willed himself up. “Should you be walking around? You need to be resting.”

“I’m getting stir-crazy just sitting in bed, waiting for the baby to come,” Mary Jane told him as she got out to the living room. “I’d forgotten how boring it gets towards the end.”

“Is there anything I can do?” Tommy asked.

“Running down to the market at 2 a.m. for those cotton candy Pringles was more than enough,” Mary Jane said. “Besides, don’t you have classes to study for, Doctor Byrnes? If you want to be a pre-Med student, you’d better hit those books.”

“Yes, ma’am,” Tommy smiled as a thump was heard in the bedroom. “What was that?”

“Oh, something must have fallen of the nightstand again. We really should get those legs looked at,” Mary Jane smiled.

“I can look at it,” Tommy said. “I’m good at fixing stuff around the house.”

“Maybe later, you need to hit those books,” Mary Jane said as she kissed his forehead. She sat him down on the couch before going back into the bedroom, where Peter was removing the top half of his costume.

“Long day at work?” Mary Jane asked.

“Yeah, but that wasn’t the tiring part,” Peter told her. “Following Drew around to make sure he’s okay is. “

“You still haven’t talked to him?”

“I– I can’t,” Peter said as he sat down on the bed. “He’s on his own now. He doesn’t need a father.”

“He’s a high school dropout living in a cramped apartment in Hell’s Kitchen,” Mary Jane said as she sat down next to him. “And a boy always needs his father. You need to tell him before this situation gets worse, like what happened with–“

“I know,” Peter whispered as he closed his eyes. “I know.”

“Mr. Michaels is here to see you,” Osborn’s assistant said as he let Drew in.

“Ah, Drew, I’m glad you decided to take me up on my invitation,” Osborn said as he stood up to shake Drew’s hand, immediately seeing the bags under the boys eyes. Living in Hell’s Kitchen wasn’t easy, as constant gunfire kept him up at night. It was only by Spider-Man calling in every heroic connection he had in the area that Drew wasn’t beaten down on a daily basis when he left for work, at one point even asking the Punisher to pay a visit to Hell’s Kitchen. Osborn could tell the boy was tired, stressed, and therefore would be easily manipulated. “Have a seat, my boy. I’ve got an… exciting opportunity I wish to discuss with you.”

Drew sat down, feeling so comfortable in the chair that he wished he could fall asleep right there. Currently he was sleeping on a blow-up air mattress on the floor until he afford an actual bed. But at least it was better than living with the man who betrayed him.

“When I heard about your current living situation, I thought about your brother. I had offered him an internship before his–“

“Don’t talk about my brother,” Drew said sternly as he forced his eyes back open.

“I’m sorry,” Osborn smirked. “It’s just… he was such an intelligent and gifted young man, and to hear that his older brother was in a bad situation, I wanted to help.”

“Who says I’m in a bad situation?” Drew asked. “I’m making my own way in the world. I don’t have to rely on anyone for anything.”

“Of course you don’t,” Osborn said as he leaned forward. “I just want to offer you an opportunity to help yourself climb up in the world a bit.”

“By working for you?”

“By helping you get everything you want in life.”

“All I want is my baby brother back.”

“While I can’t bring him back, I can offer you something better,” Osborn said. “I can give you justice against the man who got him killed.”

“Flash? I hate him, but I don’t want him to die,” Drew said.

“Who said anything about killing him?” Osborn asked. “You see, Drew, I’m putting together a small group of individuals like yourself. Those who have been wronged in life and want to see justice done.”

“Like… superheroes?”

“You can call them that. You would be the second-in-command of this little group because of your intelligence.”

“Who’s the leader?”

“Oh, a very skilled young man that unfortunately is… under the weather at the moment,” Osborn told him. “And a third recruit will be approached once he, let’s just say, becomes available.”

“What about my job the Bugle?”

“You will still be able to work for old man Jameson, don’t worry,” Osborn said. “And in return for your service to this team, you’ll be given accommodations and some really good money. All you’d have to do is undergo some… medical tests. Nothing horrific, mind you, just a few minor muscle enhancements for the job you’ll be doing. Why, you’d be like… Spider-Man in a way.”

“I’d get my own bed?” Drew asked.

“A king sized waterbed if you want,” Osborn told him. “I can make all of your dreams come true, Drew, just like I would have done for your brother. He was a musician, wasn’t he? I could have made him bigger than Bieber.”

“A.J. hated Bieber,” Drew said. “He hated manufactured pop stars. Wanted to be big on the Indie scene with his music.”

“I could have done that for him as well,” Osborn said. “Just sign this contract and we can have you moved in tonight.”

Drew reached for the contract, pen in hand. He started visibly shaking, wondering what A.J. would want him to do. He hated living in Hell’s Kitchen, but he hated knowing that the man who got his brother killed was still out there, getting off scot-free. Drew quickly signed the contract.

“Excellent,” Osborn said. “Welcome aboard, Drew. We’re going to make a whole new man out of you.”

Peter got out of the shower, getting ready to go out on patrol again. He walked past Tommy, who had fallen asleep on the couch with a textbook on his chest. Peter pulled the blanket up over him and sighed to himself.

“Mary Jane’s nephew in a good kid,” Peter told himself. “He’s getting his life together, but meanwhile I can’t even approach my own son. I’m supposed to be Spider-Man, who has no fear. Don’t tell Daredevil that I’m stealing his thing, but it’s kind of true. But the thought of telling that kid that he was cloned from me and Gwen scares me to death. But I do have to face this at some point… tomorrow, Drew’s probably already at home sleeping by now.”

Osborn stared out of the window of his penthouse, watching the sun starting to set. Everything was starting to come together for him, starting with watching Spider-Man be beaten down by the Sinister Six. He’d let them have their fun and leave Spider-Man barely alive in the end with a message from Osborn that he chose to let Spider-Man live this time, but death is coming for him at any time of Norman Osborn’s choosing.

And when that time finally came, Peter Parker would finally die by the hand of his own son once Osborn had manipulated Drew’s  mind enough to want to kill him. Everything had been planned out, there was nothing left to chance. His plan to destroy his hated enemy was coming to fruition, and nobody could ruin it for him. He looked down at his watch as the sun finally set.

“Release the Sinister Six.”

The young man in the orange tiger hoodie stood on the rooftop, watching Drew’s things be put into a moving van to move him out of Hell’s Kitchen.

“It’s starting,” the hero said. “I need to warn Spider-Man.”

The alarms started sounding at a compound that was located several states away. Rick Meyers had just become a wanted man for the secret that he held. A secret that could ruin all of Norman Osborn’s schemes if Rick could get to Peter Parker in New York.

Spider-Man was swinging through the city, hoping this would be an easy night. A few muggings, some bank robberies, something light. The last thing he needed was some supervillain or wannabe supervillain stirring up trouble. And he definitely didn’t want to do any team-ups of any sort. No, tonight was just for chilling out, doing some simple crimefighting and maybe grabbing a churro while he thought about his life.

So, naturally that’s when his spider-sense went off.

“Of course,” Spider-Man sighed as he quickly dodged a barrage of bombs. Thinking they were from the Hobgoblin, the hero quickly realized they weren’t pumpkin-shaped. Instead they looked like little disco balls. “Don’t tell me–“

“That’s right, baby!” Hypno-Hustler shouted as a sonic blast from his guitar knocked Spider-Man off of his line and toward the ground. He shot another strand to keep himself from hitting the pavement, just as a high-powered hot wind knocked him back against a wall in the alley.

“Where did that come from?” Spider-Man asked as he looked up to see six villains approaching:

The Hypno-Hustler

The Mad Cow

Maxine Power

The Chairman

White Rabbit

Nacho Mama

“What… the… fu–?” Spider-Man started to ask, but only found himself laughing hysterically.

“You won’t be laughing long, Spider-Man!” the Chairman shouted. “For now you face… THE SINISTER SIX!”

To be continued!