Marvel: King of Mythology Chapter 27

Chapter 27: That's Her Full Name?

[Hidden Basement, Oscorp]


The headquarters –the building that Norman built was praised by many. 


Beautiful.


Aesthetic.


Modern.


Challenging the norms.


The praises thrown around were countless. 


And it would be a lie to say that Norman didn't take any pride in that. However, something that almost no one knew were the array of hidden rooms and mechanisms scattered across the building.


The one that designed the building, the ones that built the structure –all died under mysterious circumstances.


Leaving only Norman with the knowledge of everything around the place.


“Mmmuuu!!!” 


“Don't worry, it will hurt only for some time.” The billionaire promised, “And be happy, your sacrifice will change the world.”


Norman had two sides.


One, the hyper charismatic leader and philanthropist that the public loved.


And the other, an emotionless man driven by greed and thirst for power.


“P-Please let us go.” Cried a woman, clearly related to the man strapped naked on the bed.


“Oh, sweetheart.” Norman showed her a smile, but all that the smile managed to do was to terrify the woman. “I cannot do that. You two are the only ones that have showed immunity to the insanity of the drug.”


 “P-Please.” The woman cried, she was horrified seeing the chainsaw on Norman’s hand. “Please don’t kill us.”


This fear only increased as the chainsaw screeched on, moving at a terrifying speed.


“Don’t worry…” His smile, his voice, everything creepier by the minute, “I did not keep you alive for so long just to kill you. You two are far too precious to be killed off.”


The woman, whose appearance was rather similar to the strapped man, cried. 


But there wasn’t anything she could do.


She was chained to a pole. 


She tried crying for help, but they were hundreds of feet underground, trapped inside of a soundproof room.


There was no one that was coming to help them.


There was not a single soul that could protect her and her brother.


“Look at this,” Norman said in his sadistic voice, “Take a look at what the future would look like thanks to the sacrifices you two made.”


“GAAAAHHHHHH!”


As he said that, he started pushing the chainsaw over the man’s hand –ripping the flesh and the bone.


“Please… Please don’t hurt him.” She kept crying, but Norman didn't care. “Please don’t hurt my brother…”


Blood splattered all around, staining his clothes and face red.


“MHHHHHHHH!”


But he kept cutting the man, limb by limb. 


He removed every single one of the man’s limbs. 


And if not for the drugs, the man would have died from the sheer pain and shock.


“You two are special.” He said, turning off the chainsaw and slowly picking up a syringe. “You two do not drown in insanity, you two do not show side effects.”


He tapped the side of the needle, letting the serum stabilize.


“You maintain your ‘humanity’ even after taking the drug.” Saying this, he immediately stabbed the guy with the needle, “And that is what I want you for.”


Not letting the man die from blood loss, Norman stabbed him just in time.


“Look at this.” He smiled.


The blood stopped gushing out.


The wound started to dry up.


The bone, muscle, skin –every lost fiber started to reconstruct themselves.


“This is the miracle we need.”


And in seconds, all the injuries were gone.


And all that was left was a man glaring at him.


The woman, meanwhile, couldn't stop her tears.


“Why are you doing this?” She asked, but Norman merely walked towards her.


“Because you do not go insane when I do this.”


Immediately, he stabbed the woman with another needle –making her pupils dilate.


“Everytime I give this drug to an injured person, it heals them but they turn insane.” He explained, “And every time I give this to a healthy man, he dies a month later.”


The woman’s senses blurred.


“But neither your brother turned insane, nor you died.” He explained, “Now break the chains.”


And with that command, the chains that kept her tied… shattered.


“You simply turn into a mindless soldier, one with insane strength.” He laughed, “And that is exactly why darling, I have you two here.”


The woman stood there, like a mindless zombie –waiting for another command.


A mindless zombie with super strength.


“And glaring won’t help you in any way, boy.” He reminded the strapped man, “This is only the start, we have hundreds of more experiments to go through.”


And with just that line, the man’s frown turned into a look of horror.


“But it is all in good cause,” Norman smiled, “So, it is all fine.”


Unknown to the people.


Norman…


Norman was insane.


…

…


[Queens, NYC]


“So, what’s the big idea?” I asked the superhero, “Calling me here?”


It was rather surprising to receive a call from Susan that the unluckiest hero wanted to meet me.


“There is something I need from you.” Spider-Man said, and as he saw me raising an eyebrow, he answered. “I need your help.”


“With?” I asked, staying in my Herculean appearance.


“I heard you know Nosferatu.”


This made me freeze.


How?


How did he know that I was connected to Nosferatu?


“How… did you even learn of that?” I asked, shocked by his words.


“So, it is true.” He said, confusing me.


Wait…


“You… You guessed it?” I asked, amazed by play.


“Not exactly.” He said, “I heard Susan say something about a guy that could use telekinesis and had a lot of strength. She said that she knew him too, and I just tried guessing that it was Nosferatu and that you might know him too.”


This guy…


Either he was a bit too good or I was a little under prepared.


“But my question remains.” I asked, “What do you want?” 


“I want the help of you and Nosferatu.” He explained, “I have heard that the drug that has been being smuggled–” He paused to ask, “I believe you are aware of this drug?”


I immediately nodded, “I do.”


“Good,” He said, “Because that drug is being smuggled with the help of children at this point.”


“What?”


Was Norman insane? Using children to smuggle.


I knew that the rich had no moral compass. But this never stopped me from being disgusted.


“This is not something I can deal with alone now.” He explained, “S.H.I.E.L.D is too focused on another issue and my team is being made to look into that issue which leaves me with no choice but to ask others for help with this.”


I didn't say anything.


“Nosferatu had seen how difficult it is to go against this smuggling chain alone.” He clenched his fists, “Back then we had to face one person who almost ended us. And I know that the person who is behind this drug case has many more villains at his disposal.”


This made me ask, “Do you know who this person is?”


He shook his head, “Not yet. I am looking into it, but all that I have heard is that he is a billionaire businessman.”


All this time… and he still hasn’t been able to point to Norman.


Makes me wonder how good Norman is at covering his tracks. 


And also scares me how good Kingpin is in these matters. 


“I need you and Nosferatu to help me with this.” He requested, “Please. I never do this, but it is getting out of hand. The lives of innocent children are at stake now.”


This was indeed an issue. 


“But how are you planning on going about this?” I asked, “You don’t even know who is the real mastermind.”


This made him look down, “I don't. But I cannot stay without doing anything either. This is my home, I cannot see it being burnt.”


In a way, this was my home too.


And it did hurt to see the place like this.


“Please help me in contacting Nosferatu.” He requested, “I have to ask him too.”


This person…


Spider-Man was a good guy. 


“You don't have to ask him.” I saw him about to protest, so I clarified. “I will inform him myself.”


He had a mask, but I could almost see his face glowing up.


“Thank you!” He said, “If we are on this together, we will succeed.”


This made me show him a genuine smile, “Yeah. We definitely will.”


Maybe it was time that I looked into this matter.


After all, this was my home too.


And I couldn’t just let it go to ruin.


“I will try to figure out who the ringleader is.” I said, “You try to figure out how they target these kids. And once we have the information, we make a move.”


“That can be done.” He agreed, “But whatever we do, we have to do it quickly.”


And well, I couldn't agree more.


But for now…


I had somewhere else to be.


And that place’s location was in my buzzing phone, which had two messages.


One from someone I knew.


Another from someone I knew, but didn't expect.


“Is everything okay?” Spider-Man asked, curious at me going silent.


“Yeah.” 


``Congratulations, Mr. Michael Moore. Your project had been deemed the best project at the MidTown University Science Fair, and as previously stated, you and Miss. Gwendolyne Maxine Stacy has been chosen for an internship at Baxter Corporation.``


And the other read.


``WE MADE IT!


P.S. Do not ever call me by my full name :)``