I Am A Demented Soul -- Fanfic -- Chapter 7

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Disclaimer: Norman Osborn, the Green Goblin, Spider-Man, et al. are property of Marvel Entertainment. I don't own them....if I did, I'd be filthy rich. I just own Rachel Martinez and any other made up characters. Some of the dialogue was used from the movie novelization by Peter David. I wish there were a movie script out...but I was reduced to using this god-awful book instead.... Do yourself a favor and just wait for the DVD on Nov 1st. ~_~

This chapter's sorta ...angsty. Okay, it's a LOT of angst, but what do you expect from a guy with multiple personalities? O_o

The Man Behind The Mask

by Jen Richardson (padme_76@yahoo.com)

Chapter 7

He was dreaming. That HAD to be it....

What happened several days ago was a joke at his expense. It was impossible. He had been fired. The great Norman Osborn -- practically the most powerful man in New York -- was fired by his own board of directors. If it had happened to anyone else, he almost would have found it amusing.

Only a few months ago he would have gladly handed over OsCorp to anyone, just to rid himself of all the stress, fatigue and agony of maintaining the company. He had grown apathetic towards his brainchild over the past several years, and all the criticism that had been thrown in his face was getting to him. But in recent months, he had developed a sudden, relentless determination to prove everyone wrong.

Fate was not without a sense of irony.

He walked back to his office in a daze, not really noticing the stare his secretary was giving him. He hovered near the doorway, trembling slightly.

Irene looked worried. "Mr. Osborn? Are you all right?"

Norman slowly turned to look at Irene and frowned. Words were difficult to come by. "Hmm?"

"How did the meeting go?" She asked innocently as she continued filing reports.

Norman didn't respond at first and just entered his office. He slowly sank into the sofa in the corner of his office and leaned his head back, staring at the ceiling. Where do I start? "Uh...fine. Just ...great," he lied through his teeth. Norman resisted the urge to laugh. He almost didn't hear her question. The truth was....he didn't want to hear her. He wanted to be alone, but that would be virtually impossible. There was never a moment in the day when Norman Osborn was alone. Someone was always there pestering him about something.

He let out an exhaustive sigh and shut his eyes. "Irene, could you just cancel my appointments for the rest of the day? I don't feel so well...."

She nodded with a slight frown. It was rather unusual for Osborn to take sick leave, but.... he DID look ill. "Umm ...sure. I'll do that." Irene picked up the receiver and began dialing, turning briefly to regard her boss. "Why don't you go home, Mr. Osborn? I can tell your assistant to look after things here."

He winced as he opened his eyes. The bright lights were beginning to make his headache worse. "That sounds like a very good idea." He remained on the sofa for a few more minutes before deciding to move. He groaned. "I'm getting up... really."

"Do you need help getting to your car?" She stood at the doorway to his inner sanctum with a concerned expression on her face.

He just hoped he could make it to the elevator. It was a struggle for him just to stand up. "I'll be all right, thanks Irene," he said. I hope...

"I hope you feel better, sir," his secretary smiled lightly.

Norman acknowledged her concern with a slight nod as he rose from the sofa. He didn't even bother to pick up his briefcase as he walked out of the office.

He walked down the stark hallways, noticing the people hard at work in the labs and computer rooms. He briefly wondered what they were all was thinking. Employees passing by gave him a polite greeting or a nod, but it didn't seem as though everyone knew. It was that.... or they were afraid to ask him about it. Life seemed to go on at OsCorp, but without Norman Osborn.

He needed a drink....badly. It would have to wait until he got home.....

-----------

Norman was suffocating.

It was as if someone were holding his head underwater. All he could see was darkness and the vague images of those who had betrayed him by selling off the one thing he valued.... to the enemy. They glared at him from above, gloating and sneering at him. For once in his life, he was helpless.

He wanted to scream. He felt as though the water was seeping into his lungs..... the current was too strong, and his limbs didn't want to cooperate anymore. His body soon grew cold from the icy water....

.....and soon after that he felt nothing at all.....

Suddenly, Norman's eyes flew open, and he clutched at his chest ....panting for breath. Where am I?

Norman rubbed his eyes and trembled, looking around frantically. He wasn't drowning in a dark lake.

Instead, he found himself in his bed, with the sheets tangled around him... He was drenched in sweat, and for a brief second Norman wondered if he was still dreaming.

Is THIS a dream? Or am I awake?

Norman realized ever since the accident, he was beginning to have difficulty distinguishing between fantasy and reality. His dreams -- or what he preferred to call them....nightmares -- had been steadily increasing and becoming more and more real to him. It was enough to drive one insane.

But Norman Osborn knew it was too late. He had already lost his mind...

He vaguely remembered how he got home from the office. It was after that disasterous board meeting. He recalled all the flood of emotions that coursed through him as he listened to the ungrateful, miserable board of directors. Shock, horror, despair, uncertainty, anger, hatred....they spanned the entire spectrum of negative emotions.

And the past few days since then were a blur. He either went on a serious bender when he got home.... or he had one of his 'blackouts' again.

Norman groaned as he sat up in bed, running his hands through his damp hair in nervousness. He squinted at the alarm. Seven in the morning.... the fifteenth. He grimaced at the sight of himself in the mirror and pulled off his damp t-shirt.

Ugh... I look like.... His head was aching again, as if someone took a sledgehammer to it. "Someone just put me out of my misery...please," he moaned aloud.

You don't really mean that, do you...Norman? It was the familiar voice snickering at him again.....from within Osborn's mind.

Norman felt a sudden chill in the room and shivered, wrapping his arms around himself. Was he actually thinking about... ending it all? No... I can't think like that. It's not fair to Harry....have to think about something else....

Then again... what else do you have to live for? You're wife is dead. You're all alone, out of a job, your own son despises you..... the voice mocked. Oh, how the mighty have fallen! Heh heh...

He scowled lightly at his 'inner voice' .....but what it said was true. He had fallen.....hard.

A random thought popped into his head. Today was the World Unity Festival. But he didn't feel like celebrating anything. Only one scene replayed over and over in his mind. It was too much for him to swallow. His entire world was crashing down around him.

And yet, he was resigned to his fate.... he accepted the fact that he was now without the company that he had worked so hard for, the company HE himself founded.

But deep down... in the dark recesses of his mind..... he wanted to lash out at them. Punish them. Now, only one thought kept drilling itself into Osborn's brain. His mouth curled into a sinister grin.....

Suddenly without warning, the darker aspect of him began scheming. The 'beast' within had lain dormant for months....waiting for an opportune time to strike. As much as Norman tried to control his newfound aggressive-side.....it was stronger.

Norman lost. And now he found himself in an all-too-familiar, but undesirable situation.

The demon smirked, giving a low chuckle before opening the curtains and letting the sun stream down on him. He looked hardly like the stern CEO of OsCorp.....now he looked more like a deranged lunatic -- shirtless, with his messy hair and the evil-looking smirk on his face.

It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood.... he hummed rather cheerfully, before letting out a full blown cackle.

"But not for long...."

--------

Norman felt as though he were undergoing an out-of-body experience. Here he was, dressed in the armored flightsuit and metallic fright mask again, riding atop his prototype glider...but he had no control, no will over his body. He was possessed by some unseen demon lurking inside his mind.

And the demon let out an insane chuckle as he zipped through the streets of New York.....heading for Times Square.

He had a party to attend....

As he approached the festival sight, he could hear the crowds of people below....totally oblivious to what was about to happen. That suited him just fine. He searched the crowds for his intended targets: OsCorp's board of directors. It wasn't too difficult to figure out where they'd be. He smirked as he crouched low, accelerating towards the VIP area.

He swerved down, skimming the edges of several large balloons as he headed for his destination. The crowds cheered, thinking it was all a publicity stunt. Osborn snickered at the innocents below him. Heh...the fools. They have no clue as to what I have in store for them. He activated a button on his left wrist, making two spherical-shaped grenades pop out from the glider's wing. He caught them as if he had done this a thousand times, and narrowed his cold, blue eyes at the nearby balcony.

Ah ha....the sniveling cowards of OsCorp..... Osborn grinned sinisterly behind his evil-looking fright mask. He took one sphere in his armored hand and made a pass very close to the balcony so that he could see the look of terror on their faces when he gave them his little 'party favor'.

He gave a deranged laugh as he hurled the orange sphere into one of the windows below the balcony. Seconds later, it exploded in a fireball, sending marble and glass down towards the masses below. The balcony began to break away, tossing various people in the air... to their deaths. The people on street level began to scatter in a panic, causing a veritable stampede for those who were caught in it....

Osborn was deliriously happy. The chaos that insued was akin to a drug-like state for the raving lunatic on the glider. And it was only going to get better....he still had to deal with the traitors hanging on the ledge. He threw another bomb at the balcony, shattering the support columns and making the ledge give way.

Just then, he spotted Harry Osborn trying to help a red-headed girl who was clinging for dear life. He snickered and watched young Osborn fall to his feet as a piece of marble hit him, knocking him out. Pathetic.... In his maddened state, he didn't realize it was his own son..... Harry was just another innocent bystander in the wrong place at the wrong time.

He whirled around and smiled with satisfaction. The board of directors were trapped on one side. Just as he had planned. He approached them with a disturbing glint in his eyes, and produced another bomb from his glider.

Nowhere to run, nowhere to hide.... Norman snarled at them.

"Out, am I?!"

He hurled the grenade at them, and it landed harmlessly at their feet ...it looked like a miniature pumpkin. For a moment, they probably thought it was a dud.

...Or so it seemed. Suddenly, the grenade lit up in a flurry of blinking lights and exploded, sounding more like a camera flash than a bomb. A searing light enveloped them..... Osborn zipped over the balcony for a better view and chortled in glee as he watched all the board members turn to dust, incinerated by the radiation bomb.

"Oh my...they just fell to pieces, didn't they?" Osborn laughed at his own joke, looming above the balcony.

The green-armored monster turned his attention to the red-head holding on to the damaged structure. She wasn't caught in the blast radius...hmm ...pity, Osborn chuckled to himself. Oh well....that means I get to have fun with her myself.... He made another pass and his glider slowly rose over the balcony ledge. He hovered over the poor girl like a monsterous devil, waiting to carry her into the depths of hell. She tried to scamper away, but she looked too frightened. Norman fed off her fear and gave a low chuckle.

"Hello, my dear..." he purred. "Shall we dance?"

The girl let out a shriek of horror. It was music to his ears.

The poor girl turned away, obviously terrified of Osborn's 'new' appearance. He grinned maliciously at her. Just as he reached for her, he was violently knocked off his glider....and he watched it sail into the large globe in the center of the square. Osborn plummeted to the ground below, but fortunately was saved by a large balloon below him. The balloon gave way, trapping him within the tarp.... and he scrambled to get out.

Whoever did that is going to die slowly... and painfully.... he vowed angrily, clawing his way out of the tarp. He slowly rose out of the remmants of the large float balloon and growled low.

"Freeze!"

He turned his head to discover he was surrounded by policemen, their pistols drawn directly at him. He snickered to himself. Ah, New York's finest....heh heh....like they could stop me! Osborn held his hands up as he stepped out of the tarp. "I surrender!" They grabbed him by the arms, preparing to read him his rights.

Suddenly, he knocked them away with a simple swing of his arms.

"HA! You should have shot me when you had the chance!!"

The officers flew in several directions, landing several yards away. He let out a manicial chuckle as he watched the pathetic excuses for law enforcement fly through the air as if they were rag dolls. He was having a blast...

....and suddenly the one person that had dared to interfere came bounding into view. He landed in front of Osborn and quickly assumed a fighting stance.

Spider-Man...

Spider-Man coiled back his fist and sent a powerful punch at Norman's face...

...but Osborn easily caught it, stopping the hero in mid thrust. He almost wished he could see the look on the hero's face.... but it was completely covered. He couldn't even tell what color his eyes were...those infernal eyepieces gave him complete anonymity.

"Hmm....impressive!" Osborn chuckled, holding the hero at bay. "NOT!!" He easily kicked Spider-Man into a table full of champange glasses several yards away.

Absolutely pathetic.... Osborn mused, taking a running start for his glider. It swooped down over the terrified crowd, and Norman leapt on....snickering evilly as he unleashed a barrage of machine-gun fire at Spider-Man. He smiled in satisfaction as the hero ran from him....

"Off so soon? But we were just starting to have fun!"

"THIS is fun?!!" Spider-Man shook his head and shot a webline from his wrist. It latched onto one of the ballons overhead and he swung out of harm's way.

Osborn clenched his fists...enraged at the wretched spider. He watched in unbridled fury as the hero bounded over one balloon after another in a pitiful attempt to rescue the girl on the balcony. Don't you dare ignore me.... he let out a feral growl as he zoomed toward the unsuspecting spider.

"Hang on, MJ! I'm coming!" The hero called out to the girl. She was desperately trying to keep her grip, but she was slipping....

"I don't think so!" Norman sang out cheerfully. "You and I are going for a little ride...." The giggling lunatic barreled into Spider-Man, sending them both into the stained glass window above the balcony. "This is what happens to those who interfere with me!" He took great pleasure in ramming Spider-Man's head through the window several times. Osborn managed to kick the spider off his glider, and the hero already looked bruised and battered. It looked as though the kid was new at the whole 'superhero' gig.

Spider-Man briefly turned to the girl a few feet from him. "Hold on!"

"Help me, please!" The young girl shrieked as she tried to shield her face from the flying shards of glass and debris.

Osborn hovered over them and gave a cruel grin as a sharp, deadly-looking blade extended from the front of the glider. He glared menacingly at the young redhead nearby and snarled at her from behind his fright mask. "Need a hand, dearie?" He prepared to zoom in for the kill.

"Watch out!" The young girl cried out to Spider-Man. Osborn's blade was headed straight for them.

Ugh...you little wench! You're ruining my surprise-- Osborn reeled back by the impact of ....something covering his face. "Wha--! Ugh..." His face was covered in...webbing?

"For a guy whose mouth doesn't move....you sure do like to hear yourself talk!" he heard Spider-Man say in jest.

Dammit...all to hell!!! AUGH!! How do I get this off?! Osborn furiously clawed at his face, trying to pull the sticky webbing off, but to no avail. It held fast. He couldn't see a thing.

Then.....his glider made a sickening sound. Sparks flew everywhere, after Spider-Man had sent his fist into the underside of it, damaging it. The glider began to wobble precariously around the square and black smoke belched out from the engines.

....damn! You've ruined my glider, you infuriating pest, he fumed. "I'll have to take my leave now....we'll meet again, Spider-Man!!"

The hero didn't follow... and the monster gave a disgruntled sigh as he headed back for Osborn's mansion. His glider lurched and made weird noises as it slowly flew to its destination. Thankfully the navigational computer wasn't damaged. But it would probably take all night to repair.....

Ugh....he's a formidable opponent....I didn't anticipate this, he scowled. He was seeting with anger. The nerve of that little pip-squeak interferring with his plans.

But all in all, it was a very good day. The board members were out of the picture. But every time he recalled the moment when they died.... the image of that infernal insect popped into view.....

Spider-Man was rather intriguing. Osborn had never seen anyone move so quickly..... it was inhuman.

He's too fast, too maneuverable. I need something to slow him down....something to make him drop his guard...... Norman was the scientist.... of course he would be very cooperative in assisting him in his diabolical plans. He clenched an angry fist as he thought of his newfound enemy.

Heh...I'm going to have to beat some sense into that idealistic head of his! Osborn chuckled to himself, veering off to the east as the mansion came into view.

He grinned malevolently as he formulated his plan. Next time, he won't know what hit him....

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TBC

Author's note: Oh....this chapter was SO fun to write. ^_^ If you're wondering, some lines from the Spider-Man game and the comic leaked their way into the story. I just loved the banter that went on between the two.