14 Progression
[First person POV]
I walk into the main hub of my lair and my bat-suit seems to melt off me and form into a tank top and a pair of lounge pants.
"That went well" I say out loud to Selene, "Yes it seems like Director Fury has a good sense of self-preservation" she replied.
"Well Nick has never been accused of being stupid, let's hope he catches on to my subtle hint about his organisation being corrupt" I say while metaphorically crossing my fingers.
"You can only hope Lex, in any case those nanites you put on him will begin covertly transferring the entirety of Shields data base back to me when he logs into the computer in his office" Selene reminds me.
"Those aren't the only nanites that'll be busy" I say in reply. "And you don't think people will be suspicious after the meeting you two just had"? Selene asks.
"No, Ross never sees his doctor and the autopsy will reveal he had a major heart attack, I guess the stress of everything that's taken place recently and his subsequent bashing in the media will get to him", I answer back.
It's amazing what you can get accomplished with the right tools. Ross was on his way back to Washington as we spoke and he'd be dead within the next few days, not the end I'd like to have given him, but he can't become a martyr for his cause.
Now he'd die in disgrace from a heart attack while the media was crushing him with questions, outrage and accusations the evidence many of them would be receiving anonymously tonight.
"In that case I believe congratulations are in order, you just became the physically strongest man on earth" Selene congratulated me.
"Not yet Selene there's one more guy I'll need to come into contact with to take the title properly" I reminded her.
"Ah yes Cain Marko, The Juggernaut. Give me a few hours while I have our global satellites track him down" Selene responds without much worry.
While she's scanning all mountain ranges for his presence underneath them I go upstairs to try out my new strength.
Making my way into the gym I immediately go to the new and improved hydraulic strength tester, it'd been ages since I'd tried using it.
After a quick warm up I get under it and begin the testing, only to find out its child's play now. 60 tons used to put me under immense strain, now it didn't even require effort.
I kept upping the weight until I hit 150 tons and it felt like I had to put a bit of effort in, but I was still calm while doing so. I quickly got bored of this and activated my adrenal glands and upped the weight to 250 tons.
Power unlike anything I've felt before rushed through me, it felt like there was nothing I couldn't lift or destroy. Now I know why Hulk would always go on about being the strongest there is in comics and cartoons.
250 tons required some effort but I knew if I upped my adrenaline it would feel like nothing, so I did and kept increasing the weight. I stopped at 1000 tons and deactivated the strength tester and then my adrenaline, coming back down and relaxing.
My healing factor worked almost instantly and I felt no strain or stress on my body, I didn't even feel tired; I had a big smile on my face as I went back downstairs to shower.
I imagine if the Hulk was smart or could control himself as I'm able to he would be an even bigger threat to the universe. As it stands I believe I am now one of the top 3 strongest people in the universe if not the strongest, at least physically.
I finish my quick shower and ake my way back into the main hub of my lair when Selene informs me she'd found a 9 foot 5 humanoid figure under the Appalachians.
I got a visual from our satellite imagery and opened a portal at the base of said mountain. It was a picturesque landscape with Evergreen trees and a field of purple flowers nearby.
I channel the mystic arts and form a burning orange rune shield that allowed me to view through the earth and right to my target.
I was not about to let the Juggernaut free so I got creative with how I was going to get close enough to gain the physical powers he had thanks to the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak.
I decided the easiest way to do it was to use intangibility in conjunction with flight and the "x-ray spell" (for lack of a better term).
I activated my powers and made my way down to Cain, stopping when I reached the "absorption zone" as I liked to call it and immediately place a coma inducing spell on him, he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon.
With that done I make my way into the zone and experience the nigh limitless strength he was capable of tapping into, burst forth from within.
I didn't grow to nearly 10 feet tall nor become massively bulky like he was, I just felt like all the muscles in my body contained strength unlike anything ever experienced by any being in Marvel before me.
It was intense and amazing, I estimated my base power without using my "adrenal boost" as I liked to call it, was somewhere around 500 tons before I had to put actual effort in.
This put me at the peak of Marvels strength scale before I had to physically exert myself, looks like Superman had his strength, now I just needed speed and I knew an easy target to get in from.
I flew back to the surface and portaled back to my lair. When I walked out of the orange sparking portal I said, "Selene begin a search for a man named Robert Frank aka Whizzer and a boy named Pietro Maximoff , let me know what you find".
"Yes sir, beginning search now. How did it go"? She responds, "It went well, I'll be in the training room for a while, don't disturb me unless it's urgent" I tell her.
"No problem, have fun" she says like a mom talking to a kid going to summer camp. I smirk and roll my eyes as I make my way into the advanced training room and begin mastering my god level strength.
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[First Person POV]
It'd been a week since I'd gotten my strength boosts and began training to master it. What I quickly discovered was annoying was that physics didn't let me pick shit up like I wanted.
I could pick impossibly heavy things up easily but they would break under their own weight, as I discovered when I tried to catch a crashing plane and ended up ripping it in half by accident.
The way I had to overcome this was to utilise my telepathy and telekinesis in conjunction with my strength.
It took a while but eventually I learned to instantly create a telepathic/telekinetic skin over anything I touched and wanted to lift.
Another Superman power that had been theorised about in comics and online to explain how he could lift things that should by all rights break apart when he lifts them.
In any case I took those theories and applied them to my very real situation and hoped for the best.
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[Flashback – Training Room - Lex]
"Okay, let's give this a shot, run strength test; "airline crash Boeing 747" I say out loud and prepare myself. Today I WILL catch a crashing plane.
The training room suddenly changes to New York City and I'm standing on top of the Empire State Building.
The wind is rushing through my tied back hair and I can see a plane in the distance coming down toward the city like a rocket.
I take a second to prepare myself and quickly run through my plan before forming a telekinetic surface beneath my feet in a split second and launching myself into flight without damaging the building.
This theory I was working with came about when I got sick of forming craters beneath myself whenever I launched into flight with any kind of power or speed, and was trying to find a way to minimize the damage I kept causing.
I remembered what a lot of people theorised about Superman back in my old world, how it was believed he automatically formed a telekinetic film or skin over whatever he touched, I believe it was called tactile telekinesis, it allowed him to lift an object across its entire surface.
Today I would put that theory to the test and see if it was possible to accomplish with my powers.
I fly like a bat outta hell to get to the plane as fast as I can so I have as much time as possible to try and stop it.
I quickly reach the descending plane and match it's velocity before getting in front of the nose and gently placing my hands on it while flying backwards at the same speed.
I activate my telepathy to view the entirety of the surface of the plane at once and then activate my telekinesis over its entire surface from my hands.
I'd been working on this for a while and it had worked for smaller objects like cars and buses but a 747 was something else entirely.
Once I had everything dialled in I exerted my strength from my hands, through my telekinesis across the entire surface of the plane and pushed.
The reaction was immediate and brought a massive smile to my face. The 183.5 ton plane started to slow down and there were no visible effects of my hands pushing on the nose of the plane.
I started slowing my decent rapidly and exerted more strength in order to catch this massive thing and before long it had stopped completely and I was holding a plane vertically upright by its nose.
"YES"! I yelled in triumph, "I'm the mother fucking Superman BITCH"! I continued. "Fuck you plane; you thought you were gonna crash on my watch"!? I kept yelling, "EH EH! Ain't gonna happen"! (Look up Stone Cold: EH EH by ButusAlmighty on youtube, you'll get it)
I quickly fly underneath the plane and carry it to a nearby airport and let it down gently, "Simulation complete, training exercise successful" Comes out seemingly from nowhere, as the training room returns back to normal.
I strut out of the training room and into the main hub with a cocky grin plastered on my face. The Juggernauts powers were the biggest get for me in my opinion.
When I had learned all that I was now capable of thanks to him I was left stunned. Strength wasn't all that I got from old muscle brain.
Limitless stamina, near invulnerability in the form of a physical force field on the surface of my skin, self-sustenance (no need to eat, breathe, drink or sleep), nigh immortality (don't age, almost impossible to kill by conventional means), immunity to toxins, poisons and disease and I was almost impossible to stop once moving.
That was a ridiculously OP list of powers and I didn't have to become the bitch boy of some demon with illusions of grandeur to get it.
The negation of my needs was weird, I never got hungry, thirsty or felt tired no matter what I did, which left me with a shit load of time on my hands, even if it was just an extra 3 – 5 hours a day.
[End Flashback]
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[First Person POV – Lex]
I was meditating in the training room on the spell I had just perfected that would save me a lot of trouble in the future.
It was a spell that brought me to a physical level on par with Steve Rodgers, it was a way to hide my immense strength and protect those around me.
It made me less worried about accidentally ripping someone's arm off during a handshake or making their head explode if I hit them too hard.
I could control my strength perfectly but it was annoying to constantly be monitoring it, so this personal lock down spell I made for myself was the ticket.
It was like putting a voltage regulator on my strength, all that I needed to do to access all of it was to simply turn the regulator off.
As I came back to myself Selene came over the speakers, "Lex you have the UFC press conference in an hour, you may want to go home, your driver will be picking you up in 2 minutes".
"Thanks Selene, any updates on the fallout from Ross's death"? I ask curiously, his death from a massive heart attack had been reported 4 days ago; he'd lasted longer than I thought.
"It's been ruled as natural causes and the military is taking the opportunity to throw him under the bus", she told me.
"Well they're nothing if not predictable, thanks Selene, I'll see you later" I tell her, "See you later Lex, try not to hurt your opponents feelings too badly" she replied with a giggle.
I smile and open a portal to my bedroom, stepping through I formed a snazzy bohemian styled suit, had my beard I'd grown styled and clean and had my hair styled to match.
The buzzer for my front door went off and I prepared myself for the festivities ahead of me. Press conferences with my opponents were always fun and usually gained a good bit of attention.
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[Third person POV]
Lights flashed as pictures were taken; the long stage had a podium set up in the middle and two long tables to either side of it.
Opponents sat on separate tables with microphones set up for each fighter to answer questions. Dana White answered many questions but soon enough it turned to the fighters.
One in particular, a tall handsome man in a dark navy blue bohemian styled suit seemed to be taking all the attention for himself and his opponent.
"Bray over here to your left" a reporter asked a fighter who quickly looked around and found the reporter in question, "Yeah"? Bray asked, letting the reporter know he was ready for a question.
"Bray there seems to be some animosity on your part towards your opponent, I was wondering if you could expand on or explain why that is"? The reporter asked.
"That's easy, he's an over hyped, over confident rich boy who has no business being here" Bray answered with disdain.
"Yeah I'm 9 and 0 professionally and have won every fight by k.o. in round one. I'm definitely all hype and don't belong here", a sarcastic reply was given from his opponent immediately after.
"You ain't fought anybody worth a damn, all no name wannabes that were hand selected for you" Bray quickly fired back.
"Yeah and it looks like that won't change here either, what exactly have you done since getting here? Oh yeah, you've won 5 of 8 fights and won 2 of your last 4. I'm gonna embarrass you in that cage", his opponent replied.
"I've still won more fights in the UFC that you and this weekend I add another tally to my win column" Bray fired back.
"Only thing you're doing this weekend is getting knocked out like the journeyman you are", his opponent shot back quickly.
"Okay, okay next question" Dana White interrupted his fighters, trying to get things back on track.
"Alex over here, to your right" another reporter said. Alex Mercer quickly found the reporter in question, "How you doin man"? Alex asked him conversationally.
"Pretty good thank you, I just wanted to ask, what do you say to people like your opponent that really think you don't belong here because of your parents and the fact you come from money"? The reporter asked.
"I'd say that I've been obsessed with fighting since I was 5, it's all I've wanted to do and because my parents had money I was afforded the opportunity to train with the best teachers money could buy". Alex started to reply.
"I have natural talent and I've put in hard work since I was a kid to get here, I've got the home video to prove it. To anyone that thinks I don't belong I invite you to get in that cage with me where I'd be more than happy to show you that there are levels to this game and I'm on god mode", he concluded.
"I'm gonna enjoy knocking your ass out on Saturday" Bray said to Alex after his statement. "The only thing you're doing on Saturday is getting embarrassed and outclassed like any other journeyman that fights above their ability", Alex replied.
"I'll show you who the journeyman is this weekend, we'll see how cocky you are then" Bray replied, "Man shut the fuck up, you're embarrassing yourself, I asked for a real challenge and Dana gave me someone I could beat one handed", Alex replied slightly annoyed.
Dana quickly got control again and other fighters were asked questions when one reporter asked, "Dana if Alex Mercer wins this weekend will his next fight be a top 15 or top 10 opponent"?
"I will win and I'll take a top 5 guy if it's offered" Alex put out there; clearly confident he would win this upcoming fight.
"That's something that's gonna have to wait till after the fight this Saturday, obviously Lex wants to move up as quickly as possible, so we're just gonna have to wait and see what happens", Dana responded.
"He ain't winnin" Bray gave his opinion immediately after. "No I'm gonna dominate and embarrass you" Alex shot back.
The press conference ended shortly after, the weigh-ins would be on Friday, and then the big event would take place Saturday night.
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[Third person POV – Saturday Night]
"It is all over! Alex Mercer wins by spectacular knockout"! A commentator yelled in excitement as the crowd went nuts. "Oh my goodness… Oh my goodness, we may have seen the knockout of the decade with that one folks" another commentator adds his opinion.
A few minutes later Alex had his hand raised by the ref as his opponent was taken out of the cage on wobble legs by doctors, and UFC commentator Joe Rogan went to Alex for a post-fight octagon interview.
"I'm here with "No Mercy" Alex Mercer, what a spectacular knockout, how do you feel"? Joe asked the man in question.
"I want a real challenge, forget the top 10! I want a top 5 guy, hell give me the champ, we all know he couldn't even sniff my cup"! Alex stated his answer.
"There are no doubts you're next opponent will be ranked" Joe reassured the man with a Viking style hairdo and an immaculate beard.
"Now this was your longest fight in the UFC so far at 4 minutes and 50 seconds into round 1, but it never once looked like you were in trouble, can you explain your strategy for this fight"? Joe asked.
"Easy Joe, I didn't have one. I let him play out his game the way he wanted to and showed him that it didn't mean shit. Offence, defence, it doesn't matter. I'm the best there is, the best there was and the best there ever will be"! Alex replied like he was stating a fact.
"Well you were very impressive tonight; let's take a look at that replay and just walk us through what was going through your head" Joe said as he indicated to look at a big screen showing a replay of the end of the fight
The replay showed Alex slipping a barrage of punches his opponent was throwing at him with a cocky grin on his face.
"Right there I was thinking; damn this guy is slow as shit"! Alex said as he watched himself slipping the punches with ease.
After the barrage ended Alex faked Bray out by feinting throwing a right leg/body kick that his opponent reacted to by lowering his left arm to sweep the kick away as Alex had been targeting his legs and torso with his kicks.
"When he bit on the feint I knew I had him so I decided it was about time to take this home in style", Alex commented.
The next series of moves by Bray were slipped and dodged by Alex and he once again threw a feint to the legs/torso of Watts, except this time he jumped, spinning extremely fast and hit Bray across the jaw with a picture perfect jumping 720 kick that knocked him out cold.
(Look up; Igun Yoo 720 kick on youtube. Vid has 1.4 mil views and shows what different spinning kicks look like)
"That was very impressive" Joe said to Alex. "Thanks Joe, always happy to show my opponents what real talent and ability looks like" Alex replied with a cheeky grin.
"Well I think I speak for everyone here when I say no one doubts your talent and abilities after that display" Joe informed Alex.
"Well if they do you tell 'em to line up so I can administer an ass whooping to prove otherwise" Alex replied before adding, "Hey I just wanna give a quick shout out to my friends and family, I love you guys and I'll see you all real soon".
"It's been a pleasure to call your fights and I'm looking forward to calling many more" Joe said to Alex and they shared a hand shake, "You're the man Joe" Alex said. "Alex Mercer ladies and gentlemen"! Joe said loudly into his microphone as the audience cheered.
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[First Person POV – Lex]
It was the following weekend and I was sat in my lair relaxing after a week of interviews and media commitments, thank god I never get tired anymore.
The internet and the media were going nuts all week after my highlight reel knockout, my first 3 were good and definitely got attention but this time I decided to go spectacular with my knockout; otherwise what was the point of having powers?
My regulator spell worked perfectly, it put back to the peak of human possibility before it turned into super human territory.
It felt weird being so weak again but at least it was only by choice and it was only in relation to my strength and speed, everything else was still activated.
Selene had finally found Robert Frank aka Whizzer, he was a speedster and a little known super hero during World War 2 and he was dead, so no speed boost there.
Pietro was still a normal kid as was Wanda, so still mostly the same as the MCU, there were still differences tho, like the formerly named mutants. I wasn't worried tho as this pietro looked like a perfect mix of Evan Peters and Aaron Taylor-Johnson.
My theory was he'd be physically impressive like Aaron and have speed like Evans, which was my hope anyway. Either way that was a few years away, and I was already superhumanly fast.
"Sorry you have to be patient to become a human lightning bolt" Selene says to me. "It's unfortunate this isn't like DC where I can't just get the speed force by saying 3x2(9YZ)4A=?" I reply.
As soon as I finish the equation, everything seems to stop. Selene isn't talking and the air is still, it was eerily quiet, there was no noise of my machines running that I liked for background noise.
Soon after I felt the hair on my body stand up, like when you rub a balloon and put it to your arm and the hair is attracted to it. That tingly static feeling was all over my body, head to toe.
Then out of nowhere as if a rift opened above my head a storm cloud full of multi-coloured lightning appears and I'm struck with thick, multi-coloured bolts of lightning and the world goes black.
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[First person POV – Lex]
I snap awake, sit up and suck in a huge breath of air as my heart hammered in my chest, "WHAT THE FUCK"?! I yell out loud. "Lex? LEX?! Are you okay? What Happened"? Selene yelled at me.
I gathered myself and calmed my mind and body, which wasn't easy to do. It felt like I had raw power surging through my body more potent than anything I'd ever felt before. It was like having an arc reactor hooked up to every cell in my body, and I loved it.
Calming my mind and body was something I'd mastered with the guidance of The Ancient One, she felt it would be helpful to me to be able to keep a level head and she was right.
I pulled the reins on the coursing energy of the speed force and brought it to heel. Everything calmed down and now I felt like I legitimately had unlimited power.
"Calm down Selene, I'm fine, I apparently just invoked the Speed Force to make me it's avatar in this universe" I tell my A.I. after I get myself under control.
"You told me that was only in a parallel/ alternate reality" she replied indignantly, evidently she'd been really worried about me.
"I guess I was wrong" I admit, "I figured different universes, different realities, different rules" I pause shortly after saying this and ask, "What happened from your perspective"?
"You said something about not getting speed by saying… there's no memory files of what you said, that's not possible! I remember everything I have a perfect, unlimited memory! How is this possible"?! Selene yells.
"Calm down Selene, that equation isn't meant to be known here evidently, it's probably why I'm the only one who can remember it, I already knew it before I was reincarnated here" I theorise.
"Okay can we not with the reincarnation thing again, it gives me a headache" Selene says in exasperation. "You're an A.I. you don't get headaches" I remind her.
"Well it feels like the A.I, equivalent of one" she replies, annoyed. "Alright, alright no more r-word talk" I placate her.
"I'm going back into the training room" I tell her, "Okay fine, I have the usual security sub-routines running, I'm going into my game world" Selene tells me.
Think of it like those videogame mangas and animes, Selene had her own worlds she could go into and play, she loved doing so when she had down time, I was glad she had something to occupy her time when I didn't ask for her full attention.
"Alright have fun, I'll give you a yell if I need anything" I reply while heading for some intense training.
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[Time Skip – 2009]
[First Person POV - Lex]
Things had been going well for a bit too long; it was only a matter of time until something happened after Tony's coming out party.
It's was doubly obvious that Peter would be the recipient. The city was throwing a new event they were calling the Unity Festival, a blatant attempt by the Mayor to get people to vote for him again.
Peter had gone with Gwen and I went with an actress that wanted to be seen with the number 1 contender for the UFC Heavyweight Championship and People Magazine's Sexiest Man Alive.
It was a fun double date until a green asshole on a glider attacked and killed some suits standing on a balcony high above the crowd.
Debris reigned down and barely missed some teenagers that I had to tackle out of the way. The audience scattered and Gwen took my date along with her after I said I was going to help people get away.
Peter had already run off to change into his Spider-Man outfit and have his fated first encounter with Green Goblin.
I managed to get a look at the douchebag and he was physically unimpressive, but I knew that belayed his true strength and threat level.
This green goblin looked like a demon; he had solid yellow eyes that had a small black pupil and no iris, and a skin tight, bullet proof suit that made him look like he had scales instead of skin.
His ragged and dirty purple-pink outfit and hat just added to his creep factor, and that laugh. That laugh would be giving many people nightmares after they'd seen and heard him, which is exactly what I bet he was hoping for.
I hung back and watched his encounter with Spider-Man and his hidden strength was shown when he front kicked Peter in the chest and launched him back a good 20 meters (65 feet).
Peter eventually damaged Goblins glider so he (the goblin) made a quick escape, not quick enough to outrun my nanites but quick enough to escape Pete.
I'd be waiting for my opportunity as Batman to strike and completely crush Norman. He will be exposed and remembered for the monster he is and as far as I'm concerned, always was.
It was days later when Harry made his comeback into Peters life that I was sure Norman would most likely figure out his secret and use May or Ben to get to Peter, and that I would not allow.
I had Selene keeping tabs on Harry and Norman just to cover all my bases. It wasn't until Thanksgiving that anything else happened, Peter and Norman or should I say, Spider-Man and Green Goblin had a scuffle in a burning building.
Later that night we were all at dinner in Peter and Gwens penthouse apartment. Peter's inventions and my connections made us both quite a bit of money with the majority going to Peter.
It made his life much easier and I was glad I could help him with one of his biggest problems in any iteration of himself, he was always broke.
In my eyes one of the greatest heros and genuinely best people in Marvel shouldn't have to be nearly destitute. And Peter being the person he was, asked me to help set up his aunt and uncle with some of the profits he'd earned.
I'd been happy to help and with Selene's input May and Ben were now millionaires and living a very comfortable life.
Anyway Norman and Harry had gotten invites and surprisingly accepted. Peter despite being a genius, didn't properly bandage a cut the goblin had given him and Norman caught on right after spotting the injury and beat a hasty retreat.
After he left I covertly ordered Selene to keep an eye on him and alert me when he was gearing up to head to May and Bens recently renovated house.
It was about 9pm later that night in my lair when Selene told me Norman had entered a hidden lab/armory in his penthouse/mansion.
I quickly changed into my Batman suit and super sped my way to May and Bens house, and waited on their roof in camouflage mode.
My comprehension of the speed force allowed me the most access to it I was capable of, but unlike my other powers, comprehension wasn't all it took to utilize the speed force to its fullest.
My body and the speed force required time to get used to each other, the more I used it and the longer I had it in me, the more access to it I would gain.
I sat myself down on the roof and prepared myself for the fight ahead, I had all the tools and gadgets required to make this fight look like a well prepared man battling a monster, tonight the Batman would slay the Green Goblin.
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[Third Person POV]
It was 10pm in the darkened neighborhood, while the streets of the city were not quiet; they weren't as busy, and afforded residents trying to sleep a modicum of peace.
In the distance above the houses and building a figure could be seen standing on a purple halloween/futuristic glider of some kind.
Standing on the glider with his arms crossed was none other than the disturbing and intimidating form of the Green Goblin.
He was making a straight line towards May and Ben Parkers house with ill intent, cackling loudly with mad glee.
As the goblin got within distance of the house he stomped his left foot on his glider which popped up an orange colored, spherical shaped, advanced high explosive into his hand.
The goblin just called them pumpkin bombs which made him laugh even harder in madness. As he took hold of the pumpkin bomb he pressed his thumb to its primer button and threw it straight at May and Bens bedroom wall.
The goblins laughter quickly died however as a black mass batted the bomb right back into him, *BOOM*!
"AAAHHH"! The goblin yelled as his glider that he'd barely managed to get between himself and the bomb was launched backwards and into the street, the bottom of the glider was torn up and the wings were cracked and broken.
The goblin hit the street hard and rolled/ skidded for about 20 feet (6 meters) before coming to a stop. Groans could be heard from the goblin as he picked himself up off the ground.
"Someone has a death wish" he said as he finished standing, "I agree, you do" A deep baritone voice replied from behind him.
The goblin quickly turned around to see an armored fist connect with his pointed nose which quickly put him back on the ground again.
The goblin looked up at the man the voice belonged to and even in his madness his blood ran cold. Standing before him, face covered by shadow with two small blue-white lights where the eyes should be, stood the Batman.
Those eyes bored into the goblins own and for the first time since taking the Os-Formula, Norman Osborn felt fear.
But Norman was a mad man and his fear soon turned into anger and then rage. 'No one makes the goblin feel fear'! Norman screamed inside his head.
Goblin quickly jumped back onto his feet, intent on attacking the Batman. With inhuman speed he raced to the armored vigilante and threw a right haymaker.
What the goblin didn't expect was to hit nothing but air as the Dark Knight ducked under his punch and attach a circular disc to his chest before jumping back a few feet.
"What's this, a bomb of your own"? The goblin asked the bat, he was confident his state of the art scale plate armor could tank the hit, as well as his enhanced durability and healing.
"Not exactly" was all the reply he got when a powerful jet flame shot out of the metal disc and launched him into the sky, away from the Parkers neighborhood and towards the city.
There were a surprising amount of people in Times Square walking around and enjoying the holiday, visiting bars and friends, often at the same time.
The happy revelry was soon broken up when what looked like a man strapped to the front of a rocket of some kind hurtled into a large L.E.D. screen/billboard.
Sparks shot out from the broken hole the goblin had made when he was launched into it. Most people screamed and ran to a safe distance before they saw a dark figure glide and land onto the top of a kiosk.
People had their phones out and watch on in awe as the Batman stood up from his landing position and stared at the hole the goblin shaped rocket had made.
There was no noise and everyone had gone deathly quiet, waiting for whatever was to come next.
"AAAAAAAHHHHHH"!!! A mad yell bellowed throughout Times Square and a green blur launched out from the hole that was made in the giant L.E.D. screen straight towards the Dark Knight.
Batman quickly back flipped off the kiosk just before the goblin annihilated it in his attempt to attack the Dark Knight.
Batman stood still and unflinching as he watched the goblin punch and kick his way out of the rubble of the permanent kiosk he'd just destroyed.
"Hehehehehe, you're good Dark Knight, but you're gadgets and training won't save you when I rip out your spine" the green demon-like villain threatened.
"You mean they won't save you. You've killed and hurt innocents, and threatened more, you won't live past this meeting Goblin", The Batman said in a gravely serious tone.
A sinister laugh escaped the goblin, "Hahahaha, oh I'm going to enjoy killing you" he said in barely restrained rage, his sanity slipping even more second by second.
"No. You won't" The Batman replied succinctly, and the battle was on again. It was a spectacle to watch and Batman was holding his own, it looked like a battle between raw power and maddness against pure skill and technique.
As they were fighting the goblin gained some distance from the bat and picked up a parked car over his head, "Catch this bat-brain"! Green Goblin yelled as he threw the car at Batman with inhuman strength.
The people watching were scared and in awe of what they were seeing, it wasn't every day you saw a superhero vs a supervillain in front of your eyes.
Everyone watched, and many people recorded as Batman ran at the car hurtling towards him. What left everyone in awe was that he'd timed it perfectly and jumped through the cars passenger window and out the driver's window unscathed.
As he exited the cars window and launched himself up high in the air his cape seemed to act as a balance and carried him toward the goblin, who he proceeded to nail with 6 bat shaped shurikens.
There was a metallic twang, and the sound of flesh being cut if you're hearing was good enough. 2 shirukens embedded into the goblins collar bone areas, another 2 hit him in the stomach towards the sides and the last two lodged into the goblins legs just above his knee caps.
The pain was sudden and intense, what nobody knew was there were a bunch of nanites flooding the goblins system, shutting him down from the inside and bringing him to his knees.
The bat landed and walked towards the downed mad man, picked him up by the neck and held him off the ground.
All of a sudden all the screens around the area were displaying the batman holding the goblin by the neck with his left hand from a bunch of different angles in crystal clear detail.
Then before everyone's eyes the Dark Knight removed the Green Goblins mask and to everyone's surprise Norman Osborn's bruised and bloody face looked back at them.
"NO! It's wasn't meant to go like this"! He screamed in rage before Batman levelled him in the stomach with a right punch. *GAH*! Osborn choked out as the bat let him go and he fell back to his knees.
"Ha…ha ha, what are you going to do Batman, kill Norman Osborn in front of all these witnesses and cameras"? He taunted, thinking he was safe from public execution.
He thought wrong, videos of the goblin started playing on the screens surrounding Times Square. From the people he killed or who died because of his attack on the Unity Festival as well as the building he'd set on fire.
Everyone watched the destruction and death the goblin had caused before the screens reverted back to showing Osborn on his knees in his Green Goblin suit without the mask and the Batman standing over him.
3 Blades extended from the Dark Knights hands between his knuckles, "Norman Osborn, you have failed this city" he said menacingly.
"No, NO YOU CAN'T DO THIS TO ME! I'M NORMAN OSBORN! I OWN THIS CITY"! Norman yelled; his insanity was clear to everyone that was watching.
Then before anyone watching had realized, Norman brought his left hand from around his back with a jagged looking dagger and stabbed straight for the Batmans ribs.
But it appeared the Batman was expecting something like this, his 3 blades retracted almost instantly and he redirected the knife back into Normans own heart.
Norman had a surprised look on his face, the knife shouldn't have been able to cut through his armor but at the point it contacted with his chest he felt immense pressure come from the bat, who exuded strength well beyond what he'd displayed before.
Norman stared into the bats face-plate, into those cold blue orbs he used for eyes, there was no pity in his posture, no mercy. "That… wasn't supposed… to… happen" he choked out in disbelief.
"Now the whole world knows who you truly were" The Batman quietly replied as he watched Norman fall backwards and take his last breath as his eyes stared into the night sky and his heart stopped beating.
The Green Goblin, Norman Osborn was dead.
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[First person POV – Lex]
I watched from overhead on a building as police secured the area and medics helped a few people with cuts and bruises that hadn't gotten to a safe distance before my fight started, it'd teach them to be quicker.
No one was permanently injured or disfigured and now the whole world knew who Norman Osborn truly was. Not to mention Ben and May were safe, as was Peters secret, it was a good nights work.
To make sure there weren't any loose ends I'd had Selene hack into any and every device Norman and OsCorp owned, rented, borrowed or stole and had her wipe-out anything to do with Spider-Man, Peter or the Os-Serum.
No one would be gaining an upper hand against Peter because of this and no one would be recreating the serum.
Not even from his corps as I'd had nanites go in and destroy any trace of the formula from his system. They'd also make sure he stayed dead until his updated last will and testament (thanks Selene) was executed and he was cremated.
As I'm observing the emergency services I feel a presence headed my way, probably because I'm not trying to hide myself any more than being up high and out of the way. I activate my voice synthesizer and wait for the confrontation to come.
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[Third Person POV]
The presence approached Batman from behind, "You just killed Norman Osborn in front of hundreds of people. You displayed it on big screens like it was a football game"! The accusing voice of Spider-Man yelled at the bat.
"His true face needed to be exposed to the world", he replied, "And killing him in front of all those people? Was that needed"?! Spider-Man asked angrily.
"It left no doubt that Norman was the goblin and died as the goblin, you of all people should know what the money and influence of people like Osborn can achieve", Batman informed him.
"You could've just stopped him! Detained him for the police or the F.B.I. or something! You didn't need to stab him in the heart"! Spider-Man kept arguing.
"No, you would've done that. And he would have escaped or used his money and influence to buy his way out of trouble", the Dark Knight replies simply.
"You don't know that"! Spider-Man yells defiantly, the Batman was getting annoyed at the spiders taxing arguments. For as much good as Spider-man would do and be responsible for, his enemies, that he won't kill, will hurt a hell of a lot more people.
"What I do know is that if you'd ended him that day at the Unity Festival instead of screwing with his glider, he wouldn't have gotten away and 6 people wouldn't have died in that fire" Batman replied heavily.
The bat knew it was a low blow but the spider needed to hear this heavy talk on occasion, so he continued, "And how many people did Osborn hurt or kill between public appearances that we don't know about"? He asked rhetorically.
"I… That's not up to me, and it's not up to you. There're laws for a reason! With great power comes great responsibility, and with everything you can do... how is murdering people responsible"? Spider-Man asked, almost pleading.
"What's more evil, killing one person to save many or sparing one person and condemning many others to death"? The Batman asked before he threw down a smoke pellet and disappeared.
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Another chapter down, and Osborn's history.
Like I always ask, please leave a comment, or a review or some power stones, and let me know any spelling or grammar mistakes you may find in the paragraph comments, if you feel like it.
Have a good one and thanks for all the well wishes, my back is still f*cked but I'm trying to keep on top of it.
I'll see you beautiful people next week.
