061

Norman watched the vans approaching his home at a rapid rate through the scope of the rifle he had taken from Bernard. He was in one of the rooms on the second floor of the mansion due to the advantage of having a high line of sight.

At the moment he only had two possible people maybe three that could be behind these men, however, that didn't matter too much to him, as no matter whoever was behind this they would be sure to assassinate him.

He could really understand if they were after him and he would simply treat it as an occupational hazard and there would be no problem, but the fact that they had thought of attacking his home, his sanctuary and above all the place where his son was present most of the time was something he would not tolerate.

Quickly he calculated the speed of the first car and began to aim at the driver of the van, even if his glass turned out to be bulletproof Norman was sure that with the modifications the gun had he would not be able to stop his bullet.

At this point he was sure that S.H.I.E.L.D. was heading in his direction, so he had to act fast if he wanted to get answers from any of the attackers, as he doubted he could have a conversation with one of them in custody.

After a few seconds about four gunshots were heard causing the quiet and gloomy atmosphere to change completely while the joyful singing of crows began to be heard all over the territory of Osborn's family.

On the other hand, the first van that was leading the way for everyone else began to speed up and finally lost control and crashed into one of the numerous trees on the side of the road they were passing.

Norman had shot both the driver and co-driver that way the other people in the vehicle would not be able to react in time even if they wanted to, and he also made sure that it was in a place where the car almost instantly lost control.

The other cars reacted in a quick manner by starting to make small dodging maneuvers as they began to accelerate immediately to try to cover all the road they had left, since in a terrain like the one they were in basically they were dead.

Norman for his part ended the lives of the other occupants of the first vehicle who had tried to take cover behind the car, but they quickly fell to the ground and their breathing stopped completely indicating that their lives had come to an end.

Once he had finished with them Norman took his gaze to the other vehicles and began to aim and shoot, but because they had separated he could only choose one to eliminate while the others would take advantage to reach the mansion.

However, at no time Norman hesitated in his actions, perhaps if he had been a normal human with little combat experience he would feel nervous in such a situation, but that was not his case, eliminating them did not provoke any kind of feeling in him, not even the recoil.

He had simply and quickly eliminated 14 people, although he doubted that this number was something that would remain unchanged on this night.

While Norman was eliminating the second car by himself the remaining two had quickly arrived at the entrance to Osborn Manor quickly, but cautiously got out of their vehicles and took aim at the shooter who had murdered their companions.

But before he could do anything else, they were caught in a volley of bullets coming from one of the mansion's 1st floor windows, causing at least two of the attackers to be wounded.

The quickest to react took the barrels of their guns to the place where the attack came from and fired, a man who seemed to be the leader began to give orders with his hands.

A part of the men began to shoot in the places where both shooters were while others began to head towards the doors of Osborn mansion being covered by the hail of bullets from their comrades. Another party smaller than the previous two headed towards the trees around the mansion, possibly looking for another way to get in.

"This job was supposed to be simple" one of the hooded men who was taking cover thanks to the van mentioned to the man who had given the orders, "You promised it would be simple!" wanting to lash out at their leader who had put them in a totally disadvantageous situation he exclaimed angrily.

"It was supposed to be!" the man being reprimanded almost shouted, "I checked the information myself, this wasn't supposed to happen" he continued.

Before he could say anything else the man next to him almost as if losing his strength fell to the ground, a hole in his head had been the cause of that fact.

For a moment he did not understand what had happened almost as if his brain could not process the situation he was in, but he managed to recover somehow, although the feeling of fear began to infuse his being.

"Assassinate those sons of bitches!" he exclaimed furiously to his men who soon followed his directions, but as soon as they stopped paying attention on their leader he started running towards the trees and once with his cover he started heading in the same direction he had come from.

Norman who watched that scene develops through the scope of his gun could only laugh at the cowardice that the man had shown, for a moment he thought of shooting and ending his life, but after a second he realized that it would be best to capture him once he had finished with all his subordinates.

The furious roar of a shotgun brought him out of his thoughts and immediately Osborn used his teleportation and appeared on the 1st floor of the mansion where Bernard was fighting with the few men who had managed to enter the mansion.

Norman concentrated his sense of hearing to hear where his next targets were, he soon found Bernard and by his heart rate he could tell that he was fine and that there was no other presence near him at least not a live one.

After a second, he found the sound of the intruders' footsteps that were in one of the corridors heading towards Bernard's location without wasting any time Norman teleported back a few meters behind the attackers.

Norman saw that there were only eight of them and without hesitation pulled the trigger of his gun and fired.

The men had no time to react, and their bodies fell to the ground immediately. Bernard's rapid footsteps were heard in a matter of seconds, however, Norman teleported once again.

Earlier when he was searching for more intruders he could only feel the presence of the eight people that he had just eliminated so now that there was no longer any danger, Norman began his search for the only one he had let escape.

With his skill and the tracking techniques he had learned it took him little time to find him, and he simply knocked him out, even if his first instincts were to kill him like all the others he needed answers first.

Before Norman could transport himself to another place he felt a strong disturbance in his surroundings. Suddenly the night seemed to become even darker than should be possible at the same time as the temperature of the forest began to drop dramatically and sounds caused by wind or small animals disappeared completely.

'Now what the fuck happened?' thought Osborn spitefully, tonight he was close to his breaking point and that was something he didn't need in any way.

Soon the seductive figure of a woman Norman had thought would not appear in front of him again for a long time entered his line of sight. Her clothing was basically identical to the one she had the first time he met her with the only difference being that this time she had an added black cloak.

"Death" pronounced Osborn grimly.

The woman's only response was a big smile present on her face as she approached Norman, a slight sensual swaying of her hips was always present in her steps.

Once she was close to Norman she began to move in circles around the man as if she were a predator watching her prey. "You did a wonderful job tonight" she pronounced, her words were spoken by a beautiful and enticing voice at the same time the joy was practically palpable in her speech.

"What are you doing here?" asked Norman, at the moment his mind going back and forth, trying somehow to think of something, but in the face of the power the cosmic entity had everything he could think of simply wouldn't work.

Death showed a small look of surprise, "Wasn't the souls you sent today a way to get my attention?" she asked, the feeling of disappointment and betrayal completely replacing her cheerful tone.

"I'm afraid it's not something I had in mind" he commented instinctively which only caused a flash of sadness to cross the woman's beautiful eyes.

"Would you please stop with your act?" questioned Osborn, "I may not be as well versed as you in discovering people's lies and deceptions, but I can definitely tell you're acting right now" he continued.

The woman didn't react too much to Norman's words and simply walked over to him, when Osborn tried to move he realized that he was almost completely paralyzed and his powers were completely unresponsive.

"I thought a little acting would be enough to move, even a little of your heart, your response is not as expected, but it is the right one, otherwise I would be disappointed in you" she pronounced simply as she stood behind Norman and hugged the man from behind.

"Your action is somewhat hypocritical considering you don't like to be fooled" Norman replied the feeling of being embraced by death itself was one he hadn't expected, it felt comfortable, cozy, and even warm.

"Take it as payment for the time I've been fooled by you" she told him calmly as she ran her hands all over Osborn's body.

Norman's thoughts were interrupted when a groan of pain was heard from the man he had captured, it seemed the cold temperatures were beginning to affect him.

"Death" he called to the woman who was still exploring and caressing his body, "Could you regulate the temperature" he asked calmly, "I still need him alive" he added.

"Of course" she mentioned softly directly into his ear. Immediately the temperature of the forest returned to what it was before the woman's appearance.

"Now can you answer my first question?" he questioned.

"Hmm" Death who had so far been stroking Norman's black hair responded with a simple sound as she searched for the words to explain her presence.

"Is there any reason why I should have a hidden intention to visit you?" she asked simply, however she received no response from Osborn.

"For hundreds of years there has not been a being in this universe that I find interesting enough at least until I discover you" she began to say while with one of her hands she lightly moved Norman's head so that he could see her in a better way.

"We both have a strong connection with each other, and it's not just because of how wonderful your soul is, maybe you are not aware of that fact, or maybe you are, but at some point you will discover that my words are true" she commented lovingly.

"I doubt I was the only one you found interesting or had a connection with you" by way of teasing he mentioned to her, even if he didn't know about the existence of Deadpool and Thanos in this universe there was no way Death wouldn't have had someone who had a strong connection to her domain.

"Never someone like you" was Death's short reply, but before she could say anything else her calm and beautiful face changed to a completely serious one as she took her gaze towards the sky.

In a quick manner Death let Norman go from her embrace and allowed him to regain control of his body, "It seems they have discovered my little visit to earth" she commented casually as she lowered her vision from the sky and looked up at Osborn.

"I'm afraid I will have to retire, as angering him is not something I can afford" she added, "Remember this Norman, you are mine, no matter how much you deny it or try to avoid it you will belong to me completely someday" her words were spoken with complete confidence.

Then with a smile on her face the woman disappeared completely, with that the darkness that had covered the forest disappeared and the sounds of the forest began to be heard again.

Norman was only motionless, thoughtful about the situation that had just happened, however it didn't take him long to remember the situation he was in before, so he quickly transported himself and the man he had captured.

The place where he had teleported to was Forge's workshop inside the Refuge.

Forge who had found himself completely focused on designs for a new weapon jumped out of instinct when Norman's abrupt entrance happened. Before he could ask what was going on he watched as his boss threw a clearly unconscious and battered man at his feet.

"Lock him up" he ordered, "Start preparing the instruments of torture" he added before disappearing from the room.

The words Forge was about to say died in his throat and his vision was taken to the man lying on the floor of his workshop, "I almost feel sorry for you" were his only words before he began to do as he was ordered.

Once Norman returned home the doubts regarding his encounter with Death surfaced again, but that didn't stop him from walking over to where Bernard was who as soon as he saw him let out a sigh of relief and seemed visibly more relaxed.

"Sir" he greeted in a simple manner.

"Are you hurt?" asked Norman quickly as he saw some blood on his butler's usually clean wardrobe.

"You shouldn't worry about it after all it's not my blood" he mentioned casually.

Before either of them could say anything else the sirens of possibly dozens of police cars began to be heard, "Looks like the police have arrived" Norman mentioned, they hadn't arrived yet, and he was already thinking about the headache he would have as he gave his explanation.

"I'll call the lawyers" Bernard pronounced quickly as he started to head off to do what he had mentioned.

'This is going to be a long night' thought Osborn.