"Well," I walked through the hallways of Oscorp; everybody was wearing a suit and tie. "I feel underdressed." Everybody's all dressed professionally, and I'm here wearing a grey hoodie with green sweatpants.
The lawyer wasn't exactly clear on the ride over here, but apparently Mr. Osborn wants to talk to me. A part of me wanted to say no and close the door, but the other part of me wanted to see where this goes.
"So, what exactly does Mr. Osborn want to discuss?" I asked my guide.
"Just a moment, sir." We stopped in front of what I assumed was a conference room. "Just walk through here, Mr. Faith."
"Alright." Inside was Harry Osborn, well-groomed and clearly annoyed. "Oh, so you have enough time to do your hair but not warn me?" I teased
"Piss off." He flipped me off in response.
"So, what does your dad want?" I took a seat beside him. "Is he just pissed, or does he want something?"
"Could be either, knowing him." We waited in a comfortable silence for a few minutes; eventually, two other familiar faces joined us.
"Are we in trouble?" Ned asked the second he walked in.
"I don't think so," Peter answered.
A part of me wished Peter's spider-sense would warn him about this kind of stuff, but I'm pretty sure it's only limited to physical danger.
The moment Peter and Ned took a seat, the one and only Norman Osborn walked in through a different door. If I didn't know any better, I would assume he was waiting outside.
He took a seat across from us, and that's all he did. Not a single word, we just sat there in silence.
If I had to take a guess, he's asserting dominance. Well, two can play at— "Are we in trouble?" Ned asked.
Damn it!
Norman glanced at Peter. "Peter, it's nice to see you again."
"You too, Mr. Osborn," Peter greeted back.
He glanced at me and Ned. "It's nice to finally meet you, Mr. Leeds, Mr. Faith. It's unfortunate that we had to meet under… these unique circumstances."
"Uh, it's alright, Mr. Osborn," Ned answered.
"Heh, I kind of saw this coming. Just wasn't expecting it so soon, or so abruptly," I answered honestly, which worried Peter and Ned.
"Unfortunately, I have to agree." He pulled up a tablet. "You can imagine my surprise." The tablet displayed one of the many news articles about Harry.
"I don't know whether I should be annoyed or relieved that they're focusing on Harry." Harry gave me a small glare for the comment.
"I share the same sentiment," Norman began. "On one hand, I'm annoyed that my son didn't warn me about his little group project. On the other hand, I'm proud he's finally showing some initiative."
"Somehow he turned a compliment into an underhanded remark. Classic Dad," Harry mumbled under his breath.
Whether Norman didn't hear him, or just didn't care, was unknown.
"Though, I am a little disappointed." He locked eyes with Harry. "If you had come to me first, I would have provided you with assistance."
Harry scoffed. "You—" I covered Harry's mouth.
"While honored," Harry pushed my hand away, "this is our own little project. One that we wish to handle ourselves, make something that we can call entirely our own."
It was extremely subtle, but Norman's mouth twitched. Not in anger or annoyance, but pride?
"Oh?" He raised a brow. "If you don't mind me asking, what exactly are you planning? While your little game may be the subject at the moment, I doubt it'll last forever."
"Unfortunately, we're not at liberty to disclose that. You have to understand, we're a small organization at the moment, still developing our footing, working out the finer details," I answered in my best business talk.
"I see." With that said, he stood up. "Well, that's all I wanted to ask."
"Wait, that's it?" Ned whispered to Peter, who just gave a confused shrug in response.
If I'm being honest, I was a little surprised as well. Harry looked like his brain was short-circuiting too, so I assumed he was expecting more.
"Before I leave, the offer still stands. If you ever require assistance, Oscorp is willing to provide. We've been looking to expand, an entertainment department would be a unique addition." He added before walking out the door.
Ah, so that's why he didn't push. He's not expecting us to go far; he's expecting Harry's little investment to fail. As much as I want to call him egotistical, we are a bunch of teenagers.
"What now?" Ned asked.
===
Norman's POV
Lately, Harry's been acting differently, and now I know why. It was interesting, to say the least, starting a small company with his classmates.
Waking up to a dozen news articles about his son was definitely a surprise, but it could have been worse. It's not the first time the son of an influential figure has been in the media, and the majority of the time it's for something extremely negative.
While I like to believe I raised Harry properly, things have been difficult these past couple of years.
With the passing of my wife, Emily, there's been a noticeable distance between us. It isn't easy for a boy to lose his mother.
While I can understand wanting to be independent, he knows he can rely on me. Right?
At the end of the day, it didn't matter. Harry was a teenager, and I'm smart enough to know teenagers don't have the best relationship with their parents. His little company will eventually fail, and hopefully he'll reach out for assistance.
It did pique my interest, maybe I'll buy their company once it fails. While Oscorp is mainly a medical company, a game subsidiary could help with public relations.
===
Leo's POV
"So, what now?" Ned asked as he fidgeted with Peter's Rubik's Cube.
Since they still lacked a proper meeting room, they were currently all crowded in Peter's bedroom.
Ned sat on Peter's bed with Harry, Peter was leaning against a wall, and I was currently spinning in Peter's desk chair.
"Alright, hear me out." Everybody shifted their attention to me. "Since Peter is extremely poor, we give him some money. Everything else, we invest back into the business."
Peter frowned. "I'm not—"
"I saw you fight a pigeon for a sandwich. You need the money," I cut him off.
"So, what do you suggest? Better equipment? Advertising? Buying a proper meeting area?" Harry listed off we might need.
"While all of those are good suggestions, most of them are pointless at the moment. Our equipment might not be the best, but it gets the job done. As for advertising, that's why we're working on Instagram."
"So, what are we going to use the money for?" Ned questioned.
"I have a few ideas, but for now, we're going to save it, maybe even invest." I'll either short Hammer Industries before the 2010 Stark Expo, or invest when Stark's stock plummets after he shuts down his weapons division.
After discussing a few more things, the group eventually separated. I asked Ned if he could call Gwen and explain everything since she wasn't there for the meeting; hopefully she isn't scared away.
As I walked home, I pulled out my phone and examined my calendar app. It's October 8th, the deadline is in like two weeks.
We're nowhere near done, and we probably won't be done for another two months.
Then again, I do have some Gacha points saved up. The chances are low, but maybe I'll get something that could help. Like an ability that allows you to stay awake longer, or something that lets you type and process things faster. If not, I'll probably get something else.
===
One bus and metro ride later, I arrived home. Despite how busy I've been, I've done some minor repairs around the house. Nothing too big, just fixing a loose cabinet or a crooked table.
After giving Om Nom a good luck head-pat, I took a seat on the couch and activated the Gacha.
[Current GP: 20]
[2 GP = 1 Card (0% chance)]
[6 GP = 3 Cards (20% chance)]
[10 GP = 5 Cards (35% chance)]
[14 GP = 7 Cards (50% chance)]
[20 GP = 10 Cards (75% chance)]
Hopefully there's something good, or at least something that can help me speed up my coding.
[Congratulations, one bonus card has been found]
[Item: Arkham Knight's Armor + Helmet (Batman: Arkham Knight)]
Finally, some decent protection. I'm not entirely sure how strong it is, but considering who made it, it's more than enough to take down some street thugs.
[Item: Advanced Multi-purpose Gauntlet (Resident Evil)]
Interesting. I wonder how it works. Does it multiply the user's punching force, or is there a set limit? If it multiplies, we'll combine that with Yu's boxing technique and say goodbye to a chunk of your body.
[Schematic: Black Power Fist (Boondocks)]
Well, that's disappointing. While I love Boondocks, an electric gauntlet isn't that impressive, especially since I just got The A.M.G less than a second ago. Also, I could probably build one even without the schematics.
[Schematics: Plasma Cutter (Dead Space)]
Neat, some sci-fi weapons. Though, it'll probably have limited ammo. Hopefully plasma-based bullets aren't too hard to replicate, or too expensive.
[Skill: Rudy Reyes's Technical Knowledge (Blue Beetle)]
One of my favorite characters. Too bad he was movie-exclusive. Either way, more tech knowledge.
[Ability: Danny Fenton's Language Comprehension (Danny Phantom)]
Ugh? A part of me was hoping for more, especially considering how many abilities he has. Then again, he was pretty good at figuring out languages. Somehow, he learned purple gorilla sign language and a bunch of supernatural languages with ease.
[Template: Spencer Reid (Criminal Minds)]
Isn't that a little weak? I know he's smart and has some sort of super-speed reading, but that's about it. I'm not sure how the Gacha power-scales things, but hopefully this isn't a regular occurrence.
[Summon: Chibi-Robo (Chibi-Robo!)]
Awesome. I've always wanted to play Chibi-Robo. Unfortunately, it came out before my time, and buying a copy was too expensive by the time I was older.
Though, it does give me some ideas. Maybe I'll replicate his design and sell him as a cleaning droid for tight spaces. Heck, maybe his game can be his advertisement.
[Summon: BMO (Adventure Time)]
I'm getting a lot of tech today, not that I care. I love BMO; hopefully he lets me upgrade him. Despite being pretty high-tech, most of his games seemed kind of old fashioned.
[Summon: Conrad (The Simpsons)]
Uh… I know the Gacha is random, but that really is random. A one-off character from The Simpsons, he literally only appeared in one episode. It wasn't even that good episode; it was kind of meh.
Wait a second… I just remembered. His software was insane, practically sci-fi. Capable of predicting the outcome of certain actions, and somehow gaining sentience.
I suddenly froze, a wide smile forming on my face.
Conrad was made to assist and manage people with social media apps, which means he has a good understanding of them. Maybe a good enough understanding to replicate one, with a few modifications to his programming. Well, who knows what he's capable of.
[Bonus Card]
[Item: Arkham Knight's Dual Pistols/Rifle (Batman: Arkham Knight)]
While cool, I don't really care about that at the moment. I'm about to summon and modify my own JARVIS.
I ran to grab my computer, but it won't be able to support Conrad's software. I didn't need to worry, since I live alone and have plenty of room. The group decided it was best to store our server, The Compact, in my house, and I'm about to put it to use.