Alex was not about to act impulsively.
He didn't know enough about Luke Cage's strength.
Without a thorough understanding of his opponent's capabilities, Alex refused to take reckless action.
Unfortunately, Luke Cage wasn't a well-known superhero, and Alex's knowledge of him was extremely limited.
Most of what Alex knew came from classified data he'd pulled from HYDRA's archives. According to their information, Luke Cage possessed an indestructible body, immense strength, and was officially labeled a superhuman.
His powers stemmed from a superhuman experiment conducted at the New York State Penitentiary.
HYDRA's only detailed assessment of Luke Cage's strength noted that he had once effortlessly lifted a medium-sized truck—something weighing between 6 to 14 tons.
That alone proved Luke Cage's strength far exceeded Alex's current level.
Which meant Alex needed to get stronger—much stronger.
Only then would he have options. Only then would he have leverage.
Alex stared at the public surveillance feed.
Moments later, Luke Cage vanished from the camera's view.
Public surveillance had its limits. To truly track him, Alex needed Kurt to install their own surveillance systems—only then could he analyze Luke Cage more precisely and identify openings.
Replicating Luke Cage's unbreakable body was only step one.
The bigger challenge was evolving that power, pushing it to a higher level, developing an even more formidable physique.
But all of that depended on one thing—obtaining Luke Cage's abilities.
When the surveillance feed stopped being useful, Alex turned it off and walked away.
He had another matter to handle first: the Green Goblin.
He didn't mind dealing with lunatics who liked to talk big.
As for the little Spider-Man, it wanted to tag along, but Alex handed it a stack of basic online courses instead—mostly elementary school level lessons, including language and general human knowledge.
At a desk nearby, the little Spider-Man was glued to the screen, diligently studying.
Its eyes stayed fixed on the lessons, and now and then its legs twitched as it tried to mimic human writing.
Alex observed its dedication with satisfaction.
Then, he turned his attention back to his real task—optimizing the Green Goblin serum.
Papers covered in complex equations lay scattered in front of him.
He had done preliminary calculations during his spare time, so he dove straight into work, grabbing nearby biology equipment and beginning tests.
Thanks to his background and previous experience with the Super Soldier Serum and Lizard Serum, Alex worked fast and with precision.
Two hours later, the optimized version of the Green Goblin serum was ready.
This version would strip away Norman's Green Goblin persona while slightly weakening his enhanced physical abilities.
With more time, Alex could probably create a better version—but there was no need. His main goal was to erase the unstable Goblin identity.
There was one downside: the serum caused immense pain during the purge, especially for the personality being erased.
But in Alex's eyes, that wasn't a drawback at all.
Watching the Green Goblin writhe in agony? That would be satisfying.
He held up the vial of bright yellow serum and nodded, pleased.
"Not bad."
With the serum in hand, he walked toward the operating room.
Tonight, he would put an end to the Green Goblin.
Originally, he'd only wanted Norman as a competent manager for his company. But now, he simply wanted him cleaned up and useful.
Arriving at the room, Norman saw him and sneered.
"So, still no success with the serum?"
"A person should know their limits."
Alex responded flatly, "Norman, it's done."
He raised the vial. "This will eliminate the Goblin from your mind. But it will hurt—a lot. And you'll be weaker."
"Do you want it?"
Norman's eyes widened. His voice sharpened. "You're lying! Trying to scare me!"
He let out a shrill laugh. "There's no way you perfected the serum. You just want to see me panic!"
But then—his voice faltered. A flicker of doubt crossed his face.
"I... I want to use it..."
Alex nodded.
He loaded the serum into a syringe and stepped forward.
The calm on Alex's face unsettled Norman.
When the needle was raised, panic set in.
"No! No! You can't inject me!"
"Let's talk! I'll serve you—work for you like a slave if I have to!"
Alex's eyes glinted with satisfaction.
But he didn't stop.
He didn't want someone so unstable and unpredictable on his team.
Pssst!
The needle pierced Norman's skin.
He screamed in agony.
His face contorted as the serum burned through his system.
Alex stood by, calm and composed, watching the Goblin's madness get purged.
Eventually, the screams died down.
Norman lay there drenched in sweat, his chest rising and falling rapidly.
Alex asked, "How do you feel?"
Norman let out a weak breath. "It hurt like hell... but I feel... free. There's no one else in my head anymore."
Alex nodded. "Good. Rest. Then get to work."
"You'll return to Oscorp, rebuild it, and make it profitable. I need the resources."
Norman gave a bitter smile. "Oscorp is in bad shape... recovery won't be easy."
"You'll see when you get there," Alex said nonchalantly.
Meanwhile, Kurt had begun setting up surveillance equipment—covertly, of course.
He also started digging into the New York State Penitentiary's records.
Taking over the company's intelligence network gave him the tools he needed.
Far away, in a dark alley, a pair of eyes tracked Captain America and Iron Man as they walked off together.
It was Zemo.
He smirked coldly. "Laugh while you can. When your brotherhood shatters, you won't be laughing."
Back in the prison, in a dim office, the warden spoke with a serious-looking man in a suit.
"Did you find the mutant—the one with the indestructible body?"
The warden shook his head grimly. "He escaped. Went into hiding. We haven't tracked him yet."
"He must be found," the man said. "His body holds enormous research potential."
"We've tapped into the prison gangs. It won't take long," the warden assured him.
"Also," the man said quietly, "destroy any remaining research data. Leave no trace."
The warden nodded. "Understood."
The next morning...
Alex woke early, full of energy.
The fatigue from yesterday was gone, his body buzzing with power.
He clenched his fist. "Time to test the new training results."
He snapped his fingers.
Whoosh!
A small figure zipped into the room—little Spider-Man.
It hopped onto the desk, standing proudly.
Alex smiled. "Get ready. We're training today."
The spider nodded, lifting its front legs like flexing arms.
Alex, satisfied, washed up and took the spider to the training room.
Inside, larger machines were set up for him, and smaller ones for the spider.
After explaining how to use the devices, Alex strapped shock stimulators onto both of them.
Little Spider-Man tied a red band around its head, full of fighting spirit.
Then, with dramatic flair, it strutted toward its training station.
Alex also began his workout, lifting massive weights under high-voltage stimulation.
Every lift strained his muscles, strengthened his endurance.
Boom!
The room echoed with their training.
Time passed.
Two bodies—one large, one small—collapsed onto the floor, exhausted and panting.
Alex looked at the little Spider-Man and grinned. "You did well... little guy... not bad at all."
The spider raised a trembling leg, signaling victory.
After a short rest and a meal, Alex went to test his strength.
Bam!
He punched the testing device.
The numbers climbed rapidly—
17 tons.
A smile spread across Alex's face.
"Excellent. That's a 1.5-ton increase. Triple the last improvement."
"At this rate, I'll gain 9 tons in six days. Forty tons in a month. I'll hit 100 tons in two to three months."
His eyes gleamed with ambition.
He turned to little Spider-Man. "Your turn."
The spider nodded and punched a sandbag.
Bang!
1.2 tons.
"Very good," Alex said. "That's a 0.2-ton gain. Impressive for your size."
The spider beamed, nodding in agreement.
Later, Norman returned to the company.
Alex appointed him as general manager.
When Norman discovered the trauma recovery serum, he was shocked—no wonder Alex had been so confident.
That product alone could sustain an empire.
Norman quickly assembled the marketing team, preparing to launch the product in a week.
Kurt, seeing that someone had taken over the company's operations, returned to focus on intelligence.
That evening, Kurt met with Alex in the backseat of a car.
Alex asked, "What did you find?"
Kurt replied, "That prison you mentioned—it's under the control of a high-ranking military officer."
"They're experimenting on prisoners using a replica of the super soldier serum."
"If the prisoners volunteer, they're promised early release."
"But most of them die or become crippled."
"Only one came out intact—Carl. Something went wrong during his procedure, and the chemicals interacted unusually, giving him a completely new ability."
"Carl... that's Luke Cage's real name," Kurt added.
Alex nodded. "Got it."
Later that night...
At the edge of New York National Prison, a masked figure approached the high walls.
Alex looked up.
"So, Luke Cage's data is in there."
He raised his hand, launched a web—
And swung toward the wall.