076

Norman was in a training session with Yelena, after finishing all the business at Oscorp he had headed straight to The Shelter because he needed to start moving certain pieces on the board.

While he was thinking, the former Russian spy had taken advantage of his apparent lack of attention to charge at him, a series of quick strikes aimed at the weakest points of his body.

At this point, even if Norman didn't have Serum 001 in his body, Yelena would be no threat to him. At least not right now and probably never would be in the future.

Osborn deflected each attack in a calm manner it was as if he was dealing with a child learning to fight, unlike Felicia who would take Norman's calmness as a challenge to her abilities Yelena remained calm trying at all times to find a flaw in Norman's guard.

"I wish Felicia could have some of your serenity in combat" commented Norman as he watched Yelena retreat a little, seeing her attacks were not successful at all.

"She's just a girl looking to prove her worth" Belova pointed out, "One who has never had to get blood on her hands and has never had to fight with her life on the line" she added, although there was no ill intent the harshness in her words made him see it differently.

Norman didn't mention anything because he knew that Yelena's words were the truth, despite all the training Felicia had received, she was different from all his other subordinates. As Yelena mentioned she was just a child looking to show her worth.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with that, but when the moment of truth came, Felicia would have to make a decision to either continue or withdraw from the world Norman was training her for.

A small silence descended in the training room, as the pair of boss and subordinate looked at each other. Yelena moved first, her steps were quick and decisive, her eyes were focused on her target.

Norman just stood in place, like a giant boulder that could not be moved no matter how hard one tried to move. This time Yelena aimed for his legs, probably because in her training with Norman she had rarely seen him use them and may have mistakenly deduced that they were a weak point.

Of course Norman would not give her the satisfaction of seeing him fall and directly intercepted the low kicks that Yelena tried to connect, the former Russian spy knew her deduction was wrong when she felt a sudden pain in her instep.

She quickly withdrew her leg, but Norman would not let it go so easily, and she confirmed it when a downward kick threatened to hit her head, she quickly ended up dodging Norman's attack. But before she could compose herself she felt a sharp impact to her sternum.

However, it was not over with that attack, because the next moment Norman performed a spinning kick that even if she wanted to dodge she could not do it, without any other option she had to sacrifice a little damage in her hands to continue in combat.

As soon as Norman's kick connected with her arms, she felt how they seemed to be paralyzed. The fight ended a few seconds later with Yelena on the ground after a series of attacks from Norman that simply overwhelmed her.

For Yelena it wasn't the first time she had taken hits, and it was absolutely certain that it wouldn't be the last, but no matter how much she had trained with Norman it seemed that his attacks were only getting more and more painful.

"I really want to know what kind of being is capable of making you fight with everything you've got," Yelena commented as she did a little analysis of the hits she received.

"No, you don't" replied Norman, as a being making him fight with all his power would only mean a big headache and probably also lead to a large-scale destruction.

Yelena just shook her head at Norman's words, "What do you need from me anyway?" she questioned, since Osborn had arrived in the training room she knew he would ask her for something, so she wanted to know as quickly as possible.

"Lieutenant General Thaddeus Ross" Norman said simply, "I need you to find all his dirty laundry throughout his military career, I need information that will cause his career to collapse to the ground, and he can never again even think about getting up again" he continued without any beating around the bush.

"Wouldn't it be better to just eliminate him?" asked the blonde former spy, as an enemy would only cease to be a danger once he is dead.

"That might be best in another case, but this time it will only be a silent warning towards those people who think they can take my property without fear of me taking reprisals" he replied simply, almost as if he wasn't talking about destroying a person's life.

"Poor idiot" was all the blonde could say, after all it was one thing to take an enemy out of the play by killing him, but quite another to destroy everything he had built without giving him any way out.

"This will be your first mission since working for me, so I hope you can match your reputation" having said that, Norman started walking towards the exit of the training room until his figure disappeared completely.

Yelena only waited a couple of minutes before getting up and heading off to do her research, after all, she finally had work to do.

…

Norman was in the monitoring room of The Shelter, his eyes reflecting all the conversations Bruce Banner had been having with Samuel Sterns, though of course under different names.

Most of them were about the various discoveries they had both made regarding Bruce's peculiar condition. There was information that could be very useful to Osborn in the future, but at the moment was somewhat useless.

Anyway, the only reason he was being so active in monitoring both scientists was because he could use them in the possible conflict they would have in a few months with General Ross.

After all, if things developed the way they should then practically a large part of Harlem would be destroyed due to a mission that Ross commanded, and it was practically impossible that in a situation like that there wouldn't be civilian casualties in addition to all the economic loss.

At first Norman thought of simply ending the situation with Ross at a standoff, however, someone with Ross's temperament would not be happy at the rejection he received, and it was quite possible that he would try something against him on his own.

Although of course the possibility of Ross not trying anything against him also existed, but the only problem was that he couldn't have that certainty, so he preferred to eliminate any possibility of retaliation.

Of course, seeing as so far everything pointed to the universe he was in somehow following the MCU storyline, eliminating Ross would mean that future events could change as well.

Either way, that's the least of Norman's concerns, after all even without his intervention the timeline was already completely screwed up so one more change won't be of great importance, or so he thought.

His train of thought soon turned back to Sterns and Banner, especially about Bruce and his peculiar condition that made him the Hulk, one of the most powerful avengers if one was talking about pure physical strength.

Having such power was a very tempting thing for most people, including Osborn. However, Norman did not forget that the creation of the Hulk was a complete accident, something that should never have been created in the first place.

Even if he followed the steps Bruce had taken for the creation of what he believed would be a help to mankind, there was no guarantee that it would have the same result.

Furthermore, Norman himself was aware of the abysmal difference he had against Bruce if it came to Gamma Ray research. Bruce had practically spent his whole life studying the subject, while Norman had only done so for a relatively short time.

His mastery of the subject was nowhere near what Bruce had, which would mean that any mistakes he made would probably end up being worse than the accident that created the Hulk.

And probably the blood transfusion that turned Jennifer Walters into She-Hulk in the comics only had that effect because of the DNA similarity the two had, so that kind of method would be of no use to him.

As Norman had a long conversation with himself, time continued to pass steadily. When he finished everything he had to do, Norman simply disappeared from the place where he was, after all they were waiting for him at his home.

…

The days continued to pass and the last day of December had come quickly, yet Norman could not take any time off as he did at Christmas. In the days before, he had had to have a dialogue with a new representative of the military.

Despite Norman's clear refusal to weaponize the Connors Serum for the nation's military, it was still something they had to obtain, and because of this Norman's own attitude had improved.

After all, he had never refused to sell the Connors Serum to the military, what he had refused was to give them a weapon that would be the cause of many human losses. Now that his objective had changed, Norman was more than willing to sell it.

Of course, he would not change his way of thinking and continued with his opinion about not getting involved in an exclusive deal with the military, but there are times when certain concessions must be made.

So in the end he ended up accepting that Oscorp would have some preference in supplying the Connors Serum to the military, although clearly they would have to pay for it. It was not a deal of boss and subordinate or something similar, it was simply a deal that would benefit both sides.

As long as both sides carried out their part of the agreement the other would not take the initiative to create any kind of problems, it could be said that it was a kind of symbiotic relationship.

This situation was entirely convenient for Osborn, as it would generate money and despite having a connection to the government, it was not one that could restrict him in any way.

Currently, Osborn was enjoying a little relaxation time that he had never seemed to have since he arrived in his new world. He was on the back porch of his home.

He was completely calm in his seat, in his right hand he was holding a cup of coffee that had been previously brewed. Not only that, but he just watched as the snowflakes fell steadily across the expanse of his yard.

He had previously been in search of a hobby, but most of them took some time out of his day, and in the end it was something that would slow him down in his work. So he came to the simple conclusion that he just needed some time where he could be calm and quiet.

He didn't need more than that, he just wanted a small period of time out of his day where he didn't have to deal with company issues or about everything that could go wrong in a world like the one he was in.

It might not be much, it might be boring, but it was something he simply needed and more importantly he liked having that kind of period of rest from all his occupations.

After a long time in silence, Osborn heard footsteps approaching towards him, however, he didn't even pay attention to them as he realized who they belonged to. After a few seconds he could feel a person sit down next to him.

"Harry?" he asked immediately.

"Sleeping in his bed, he just finished the marathon of his series, and he's a little tired" Felicia replied softly, "Anyway it's a while until dinner, so a little nap isn't a bad thing" she added with a smile.

"What are you doing outside anyway?" the white-haired girl asked curiously, as it wasn't the first time she had seen Norman that way.

Norman shrugged, "I just think it's wonderful to have a little downtime, where my only concern is watching the snowflakes fall," he replied after sorting out his thoughts.

Felicia didn't mention anything, as even if she knew what he was referring to she couldn't quite understand, after all even with his recent occupations she still had a large amount of free time, but this wasn't the case with Osborn.

Between being the boss and main responsible of Oscorp and at the same time being one of its researchers. Added to that was all the personal projects he might have that he didn't tell anyone about and finally being a father, which, although it wasn't a job, was almost like one.

A person as busy as Osborn would no doubt enjoy some time off. It was because of that that Felicia just remained silent, lost in thought about Norman.

That way neither person started a conversation, and they remained in comfortable silence and somehow the atmosphere around them was warm despite the cold temperature of the day.

"How did the second stage of your mission go?" asked Norman after a while in silence and in a way that could be considered abrupt.

Upon hearing the question, Felicia answered immediately, "Currently I have found a vulnerability in their systems, it is small, but it will give me enough time to break into their main servers" her attitude was serious and there was no trace of her usual mischievous and playful personality.

"Forge is currently developing a program that will leave no trace on their systems, once it is ready it will just be a matter of looking for an opportunity to act" once she finished her words she kept quiet watching Norman's reaction without any success.

Ever since Norman had given her the mission she had been reporting her constant progress to Norman, but no matter how much she wanted him to say something he never did, he just kept quiet while he listened to her, he didn't give her advice, but he didn't point out her mistakes either.

She knew it was a part of the mission he had given her, but that didn't make it any less irritating. However, this time was the first time Norman was actively asking about her progress, so perhaps he would change his ways. Felicia couldn't hold a faint of expectation at that possibility.

"Well, let's go inside, since if you catch a cold from joining me outside I won't stop listening to Walter's complaints" Norman mentioned after a bit, as he got up from his seat and started walking towards the inside of his home.

Felicia's expectations were completely crushed after hearing Norman's words, but in the next instant, she just shook her head and started to follow him. It was her fault for placing those expectations on someone like him anyway.

The last day of the year passed in a quiet and simple manner at Osborn Manor, however, unlike the other years, this time there was an overwhelming warmth that everyone who worked for the Osborn family could feel.