The gala

Finished with my hand to hand training, I took a shower then got back to my lab to continue my projects just in time for lunch. The next week enfolded the same way, with me training and working on the A.I and K-drones. Saturday in the evening, I was polishing the guns barrels when Edward knocked on the basement door.

"Master Harry, please come out, you will be late to the party." He said through the door. I saved my projects on my private server then shut the computers down.

Closing the basement door behind me, I saw Edward waiting with my clothes.

"Thank you Uncle Edward, where is my father?" I asked as I took my suit from him and got on the stairs.

"Master Norman sent a car to fetch you, he is already at the gala making preparations." He responded.

"I really don't want to go, I have many things I'm working on, besides, I start my new term in two months. At least, tell me that you're coming." I grumbled.

Edward chuckled: "Sadly no, but you could take the opportunity to make friends and get to know the people working for your father."

I ignored him as usual and asked: "How much money is in my account that father set for me?"

He shook his head at my blatant change of subject but responded nonetheless, "A little over two hundred millions dollars, sir."

I thought for a while before asking, "And where would you advise me to invest?"

"We should maybe study the market before deciding. But real estate is always a safe bet", he responded with the same genial smile on his face as always.

I smirked, 'yeah, right. With the destruction NYC will face in the next decade, real estate and assurances are the worsts markets to possibly invest in.'

"Okay, will see tomorrow." I said. I still wanted to buy one or two buildings to house my secret bases. It wasn't a necessity as nobody could enter the basement without my palm imprint. Moreover, the whole basement was inlaid with reinforced steel but because I could, I wanted a Batcave. I left Edward in the hallway and got ready for the gala.

Thirty minutes later, I was admiring myself in the mirror. Brown hair, blue eyes, I was pretty cute, if I said so myself. I was on the tall side for my age; standing at 1m48. Although not chiseled like an adult, I wasn't fat nor skinny. I dressed then got to the front door, getting in the car.

The celebration was held on the 13th floor of the Oscorp building. Round tables were set all over the floor, with a podium on the far side, giving way through the glass to New York City in all its glory. I arrived with Norman having finished his speech, and chatting with Obadiah Stane, who although had much less gray hairs was still very much bald. I overheard them as I approached.

"I heard the government offered you a contract thanks to the missile interception program your company produced. I guess you would be dethroning Stark Industries in a few years.", Stane said jokingly, even though his eyes were calculating.

"Nothing of the sort, as I said in my speech, while we will still be active in the military front, we will focus primary on creating cures to various afflictions that plague humanity.", Norman stated not at all intimidated. I chose that moment to interrupt them.

"Good evening father, and Mr..." I acted as if I didn't know Stane.

Norman smirked and turned to me: "Oh good, finally arrived. The celebration almost ended without you. Harry, this is Mr. Obadiah Stane, COO of Stark Industries and Obadiah this is Harry; my son. Mr. Stark couldn't make an appearance, he is probably partying right this moment." He said the last part muttering but I'm sure Stane heard him.

I offered my hand to Stane and said "Good evening, Mr. Stane, nice to meet you".

Stane bent down and ruffled my hair as he spoke: "Hello to you too young man, I heard you were the second coming of Tony Stark..."

I stopped listening when I caught sight of Sebastian Shaw and my mind started racing. From what I remember, Shaw had been killed by Erik aka Magneto unless Shaw wasn't the one to have done experiments on Erik on this universe. It could have been Sinister that was running tests on him and other children. I chatted a little while with Stane and Norman and got into my seat. Pulling my phone, I searched for Sebastian Shaw and Emma frost as the two were generally inseparable. Shaw was a self-made business man, soon to be billionaire, Shaw Industries deals primary in transport, having a large number of contacts and clients around the world. His father died when he was in university, and he was 34. As for Emma, she was 17, and sole heiress of the Frost family, an old mercantile family based in Europe. She had an older brother, but he died last year due to overdose. I was lost in my thoughts and mused whether I make a move or wait for a new opportunity.

For me who had a power source, his power could be my absolute defense. I could redirect any excess energy absorbed into my realm and heal off any blow slow enough to not create kinetic energy. But if I absorbed his memories and abilities, he could fall into a coma like Rogue's boyfriend or die that very instant. I could wait till he was out of view but there was too much risk. Even without his powers, Shaw is a master manipulator. When he discover that his powers were lost he could trace it back to be, if he died then certain people could tie it to me if they discovered that I was a mutant, Xavier for example. It may be paranoid but I preferred having as little variables as possible. In the end, I chose to not take the risk of him dying and bringing me down in the aftermath. The worst that could happen to me is few years in juvey on charges of accidental homicide. Or I could be sent in a facility and be experimented on, I could always escape by burning everything down but I prefer my life as it is. As I sat thinking, I slowly made my mind.

Seeing Shaw walking to get another drink, I ran into him with my eyes seemingly on my phone and fell on my butt.

"Oww" I exclaimed quietly. It didn't actually hurt, but he was several times sturdier than anyone I've ran into. I read that since getting his powers, he would punch a wall or get people beat him up every day to absorb energy. He turned surprised, since he mustn't have felt the impact and smiled warmly offering me a hand: " I didn't see you there, are you alright?"

"Sorry, I had my head in my phone. " I said as I took his hand. As soon as our hands met, I felt the same familiar sensation and subconsciously willed my power to duplicate his memories, abilities and power for myself as I continued with by best imitation of an actual 11 years old: "My name is Harry Osborn, nice to..."

Halfway through talking, I felt a drop in my realm energy reserves as my body undergo a massive change before calming down. The energy diminution was far greater than anything I've extracted from the realm since coming in the world. Be that as it may, the drop was minuscule, given my almost limitless reserves.

Glancing up, Shaw's eyes had lost focus. Just as I was getting worried that he caught me or that people might notice us, he lifted me up my feet, looked me over then past past my shoulder to Norman and responded good naturedly: "Glad meeting you too, young boy. I am Sebastian Shaw. Where were you going in such a hurry?"

"To the toilets." I said pointing my finger behind him. He looked behind him then side-stepped saying: "On your way then, and be careful next time."

"Yes sir." I responded without looking back at him as I rushed to the bathroom and dashed in head first.

No sooner than I had closed the cubicle door, I deflated like a balloon and sat on the toilet with my hands shaking as the adrenaline rush left me. The odds of him dying or discovering me were about 20%, a small risk compared to my odds of succeeding but in no way negligible. Still sprawled, I smiled, soaking in the rush of adrenaline. It seems that, my realm would bear the energy cost when I copied an ability or power. Stealing however, would perhaps result in minimal cost or have none at all.

Calming down, I checked if anyone was in the bathroom before punching the wall, not enough to break it but enough to produce kinetic energy. As my hand make contact with the concrete, I felt the familiar feeling that I got when I poured realm energy in myself. I punched the wall two more times before smiling wildly, washing my hands and exiting the bathroom. On my way back to my table, I kept getting a mental nudge of some sort and I looked around me fearing it may be a telepath trying to get in my head before dismissing the idea. When I sat down, I gave myself the mental equivalent of a slap as realization hit me. I dove straight into my memories. After a quick scan, I found a book that I actually didn't remember reading. I saw that, it was Shaw's memories and that I could also live through them if I wanted. Reaching for the memory, I started studying his entire life without his emotions mixed in and assimilating what I wanted from his experiences. What he learned, I learned; What he trained in, I trained in. I started with his hand to hand ability, making it my experience before getting to his knowledge.

Given that I was reviewing his memories and incorporating the parts that I found useful. An action, I estimated will take me at least a week or two. It will take the same amount of time in my light energy form but much less time would have passed in the normal time flow. After a brief overview, I discovered that Shaw started going out with a woman named Lourdes Chantel who in the comics was killed by the sentinels created by Dr. Stephen Lang after Trask plans fell into his hands. Surprisingly, from what I saw from Shaw's memories, he wasn't anything like the movies portrayed in the movies. He was ambitious, yes, but he didn't plan for world domination yet. In the comics, it was his girlfriend's death that led him to take charge of the Hellfire Club, which he hasn't joined so far, and plan to take over the world. With my plan of eliminating Trask before he became even more known, Lourdes death may not happen. I mentally added Dr. Lang to my list of people to to watch and kill, if need be, just to be safe. Stryker and Edward Buckman were next on that list.

My thoughts were interrupted when Norman placed an arm on my shoulder: "Come meet the people working for Oscorp" I nodded and followed him and introduced myself to the various doctors and department heads. I didn't recognize any of them from the Spider-Man films but it didn't surprise me as Peter Parker was still a toddler, his enemies are either still in formation, trying to get a job or are assistants. With our tour done, I asked if there was some other people to meet. When he said no, I said my goodbyes and headed home. Eager to continue viewing the memories.