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“Slap that baby blue.”
“It’s actually slap that baby make him free , Mr. Osborn.”
“Really? Well, both fit this special occasion.”
The special occasion Norman Osborn was referring to was the completion of the first phase of his Weapon-S project. For many years, Norman has focused many of his plans and schemes on Spider-Man’s demise, but he was never ignorant of the other so-called heroes and superpowered beings in New York City; in the world. Hell, Tony Stark and Steve Rogers, Iron Man and Captain America, brought the attention of superheroes to the world with their little Civil War . The aftermath of their conflict gave Norman the perfect opportunity to make a power grab for the most powerful organization in the world: S.H.I.E.L.D. and then rename it H.A.M.M.E.R. for the satisfaction of spiting its former director: Nicholas Fury Jr.
Acquiring S.H.I.E.L.D’s database opened Norman’s eyes to a much wider world. Again, Norman was aware of many events that had occurred in the past years, but his focus on Spider-Man never allowed him to consider the experiments and research of others with similar interests in superhuman genetics. All it took was a peek into the Weapon-X files and a spark of inspiration.
Plagiarism is the sincerest form of flattery.
“We still have the option of giving the little one a boost in the power department,” said Mr. Sinister. Norman gained him as an acquaintance thanks to S.H.I.E.L.D.’s files on criminals and supervillains. “I have quite the collection of mutant DNA on hand—”
Norman raised his hand. “Not for this one , Sinister. This little one, I want to make sure he is fifty percent Spider-Man.”
“And fifty-five percent Gwendolyn Stacy ,” spoke the voice of The Jackal . As foes of the wallcrawler, Norman didn’t need any top-secret files to track down the college professor-turned-mad-geneticist. Not that S.H.I.E.L.D had any files on Jackal to begin with, it was all thanks to Ms. Veronica Hand finding out that the Jackal, Miles Warren, was impersonating his deceased brother, Raymond Warren. “Hopefully, this young man takes after his mother in looks and not his father when the growth spurt occurs.”
Norman smirked. “Hopefully.”
---
Jackal and Sinister both had experience within the field of cloning. Clones could be unstable experiments, specifically in the mental area. Once the subject realizes it is a clone, they could experience a mental breakdown and go wild. To combat the possibility of this happening to Weapon-S, Norman hired Emma Frost, whose Hellfire Gala was in H.A.M.M.E.R’s circle, to use her telepathy on Weapon-S as he reached his teenage years. Frost embedded Weapon-S with information that would allow them to be on par with a teenager's education, along with the fighting style of Spider-Man that Norman asked her to watch.
“You know this was only to keep the Hellfire Club’s alliance with H.A.M.M.E.R,” Frost said as she finished her session with Weapon-S. “I don’t find you’re experiment ethical in the least.”
“Is that because of Laura Kinney ?” Norman inquired. “Or as she’s known in her files: X-23.”
Frost didn’t say a word.
“As director of H.A.M.M.E.R., I could let information slip that she is residing at that little academy for mutants.”
Frost raised a brow. “How did you—”
Norman smiled. “You just did. I wouldn’t be breaking our deal, since that was for the Hellfire Club. But, I’d hate to imagine what Summer’s and Wolverine might think about an attack on their school, on one of their students, because of you.”
“Logan loves that girl like a daughter, Osborn. Enough to kill anyone who’d dare bring harm to her.” Frost walked past him. “What if that child you’ve created meets Spider-Man and forms a similar relationship? I’ve only encountered him a few times, but from what Logan’s told me, you don’t want to be on the spider’s bad side.”
When Frost left the room, Norman chuckled to himself. “Already am.”
---
“I trained plenty of people to fight just like Spider-Man. Only one of them did well, and they didn’t have powers back then. At least try and put up a fight, you little bastard.”
“May I remind you, Taskmaster, that the little bastard shouldn’t suffer any severe injuries during this training session.”
Norman ignored Taskmaster’s swearing and ordered the session to continue. Taskmaster wasn’t putting on a front when saying he trained many to copy Spider-Man’s fighting style. One individual, Michael Bingham, has gone on to become one of the webslinger’s many allies (and probably the first heroic individual with spider powers other than Peter Parker to be male). Bingham (at the time) and his predecessors had no superpowers while training with Taskmaster. It surprised Norman that, with all of Spider-Man’s abilities, Weapon-S was having great difficulty with Taskmaster. Yes, he was a martial arts master with a photographic memory, and he was injected with one of the many bootleg versions of the supersoldier serum, but he wasn’t quite Captain America or Bucky Barnes.
Or…maybe the problem was that Weapon-S lacked Spider-Man’s cunningness. The wallcrawler’s ability to think on the fly. Yes, Norman noticed that Weapon-S was merely copying what Taskmaster showed him without coming up with his own techniques to counter the mercenary.
“Maybe it’s time for a different method of training…”
---
“Director Osborn…there’s nothing in this room.”
“In a few seconds, Weapon-S. By the way, how do you like the Iron-Spider armor?”
“It’s…good, Director Osborn.”
The room was originally used by S.H.I.E.L.D. to train their agents against all sorts of threats. Ms. Hand brought it to Norman’s attention when he assembled his own Avengers squad, though Norman’s real use for it came in the form of his answer to the Young Avengers. Like Weapon-S, they were still a work in progress. He contemplated the idea of Weapon-S training along with them, but for the moment, Norman did not want Weapon-S forming connections with others.
“I believe your training with Taskmaster was premature on my part, Weapon-S. Today’s exercise will require you to hone your instincts and think on your feet. Rely on that spider-sense . Are you ready to begin?”
Norman’s finger pressed down on a red button before Weapon-S could answer. He watched as Life-Model Decoys of Spider-Man’s sinister foes surrounded Weapon-S. The webslinger had many sinister foes, but these LMDs took on the forms of the following: Doctor Octopus, Kraven the Hunter, Shocker, Electro, Scorpion, and Vulture.
At the start, Weapon-S was merely evading the onslaught of attacks brought upon them by the Sinister Six. For mere androids, the LMDS mimicked the villainous group’s abilities and fighting styles perfectly.
“I understand Weapon-S wasn’t learning from Taskmaster, sir,” Ms. Hand spoke up, “but pitting them against six LMDs of Spider-Man’s greatest foes?”
Norman chuckled. “It’s not that Weapon-S wasn’t learning from Taskmaster, Ms. Hand, it’s what they weren’t learning from him. Behold.”
Weapon-S was getting in on the action. Watching, waiting, and striking when they believed the time was right. Not afraid to grab the Scorpion LMD by the tail, or web the Shocker LMD’s arms and make it take out it’s allies.
Norman grinned when his project fought the Doctor Octopus LMD with the arms concealed in the Iron-Spider armor.
---
After months of training by themselves, with LMDs, and sometimes one-on-one matches with individuals chosen by Norman, Weapon-S was back in the ring with Taskmaster. They were…still getting their ass handed to them, but Weapon-S was making up moves on the fly to try and strike down Taskmaster
“That’s enough, Taskmaster!” Though Norman found himself intervening when the mercenary decided to give in to his ego.
---
“Weapon-S, what do you see on these monitors?”
“Robots with arms like that man in the green jumpsuit.”
It was the day of Doctor Octopus’s invasion. Many of Otto Octavius’ Octo-bots were terrorizing New York City, specifically Manhattan Island, like a scene from an alien invasion movie.
Norman placed his hands on Weapon-S’s shoulders. “And you are going to help those heroes put a stop to Otto’s little invasion.”
“But aren’t some of those heroes against you?” Weapon-S asked.
“Indeed, they are, but I need you to get acquainted with a specific hero and his little family. This is what you’ve been training for, Weapon-S. No, no, for this mission, you can no longer go by the name Weapon-S . From this point on, you will call yourself: Scarlet Spider .
Weapon-S looked at their reflection in a blank monitor. “Scarlet…Spider.”
“A new costume for this special occasion, Scarlet Spider .” Ms. Hand gave Scarlet Spider a black Spider-Man mask, a red hoodie with the sleeves cut off, denim shorts, and black sneakers.
“This…is a new suit, Ms. Hand?” Scarlet Spider studied the hoodie.
“It’s necessary for this mission,” she answered.
“We need Spider-Man to take you into his family, Scarlet,” Norman answered further. “If you appear to him in a more professional suit like the Iron-Spider armor, he’ll get suspicious. In this outfit, he’ll believe you to be a product of the Spider-Island event. Understand, my boy?”
“Yes, Director Osborn.”
“Now, get dressed and make sure to do something heroic that captures Spider-Man’s attention.”
When Scarlet Spider left the room, Ms. Hand turned to Norman. “Why the name Scarlet Spider , sir?”
Norman chuckled and sat in a chair. “Because Ms. Hand, the color of scarlet symbolizes many things, including immorality and sin. Wouldn’t you say that Weapon-S’s creation stems from the results of immorality and sin?”
“Cloning is seen as an immoral practice, sir.”
“And yet our higher-ups have no problems subjecting individuals to experimental serums or gamma radiation . They have no qualms building machines to destroy those with genetics that differ from us normal folks.” Norman slapped his desk and laughed. “And you see how they treated the world's heroes after shape-shifting aliens impersonated them like children on Halloween.”
The last one got a chuckle out of Ms. Hand. “Indeed, sir. Indeed.”