Beside the River of Truth: G1E2

"Partners into the Future"

"Two Heads are Better than One"

"Stark and Osborn: Out to Change the World"

"The Alliance of the Century"

Everywhere Steve clicked there was a headline about it. The world was ablaze with the news. And in every article there he was. The traitor. Tony. Tony, who had been drunk when Ultron had attacked. Tony, for whom Peter had to die to give Tony time to hack NORAD. Tony, who couldn't tell through his blurred vision which keyboard was real. "Anything to desecrate his memory. Isn't that right?" muttered Steve as he reached for a phone in the kitchen drawer, still looking at the headline. Next to the phone was the hotspot. Steve turned it on first, turned the phone on, and waited for the two to connect. Once the settings were loaded he dialed.

"Steve. Hi" growled a familiar charcoal voice.

"Nick, how the hell did you let Osborn buy out Stark? Why am I looking at headlines of how Stark and Osborn are practically brothers?"

"We're working-"

Steve had to stop himself  from cracking the phone. "That's. Not. Good enough. Nick. Osborn is dangerous and-"

Nick's growl was dangerously low. "Don't you give me that shit! I've a whole facility on lock down because Osborn had reversed our hack, stealing hundreds of billions of files from our servers! I'm in damage control right now. So why don't you shut your pretty fucking mouth and go run a sharp stick up Osborn's ass yourself? Or are you still crying about how you'll never have abs again, like all the other soccer moms???"

Steve healed faster than "normal" people, but he had his limits. A few weeks ago he had encountered MODOK in Obsorn's office, along with some sham Green Goblin Osborn had set up. MODOK had torn into Steve's stomach, forcing him to retreat while holding his guts together. Steve was hardly fully recovered, but he was better. it was time to go out and try again. "Alright Nick, I'll go and distract Osborn. Hang tight."

"You stupid-"

Click

Osborn sat at his desk, tablet in hand. The yield from the reverse hack was more than Osborn could have ever imagined. "SHIELD... SHIELD... oh SHIELD! I'll have to make sure the UN knows about this delicious tech!" Osborn chuckled. For the first time in a while he felt actually happy.

And there it was.

The Pull.

The Cellar Door had opened.

It had been a long time since Norman had felt it; Parker had still been alive. "Oh, Peter" Norman found himself whispering. "You always brought out the very. Very. VERY. Best in me." The Mask giggled. It always found something funny. The world was always a serious and dark place, but the mask? Everything was funny.

Like the crash of the window; The Mask giggled a bit more at the sound of the tinkling glass in Osborn's office. The giggle had turned to a laugh when he saw that ridiculous red, white, and blue suit. "Round... Two... FIGHT!!! AHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!" in his best take on a basso profundo. The figure in the flag was less than amused. He didn't move as fast as many said he did.

"CATCH!!!"

A bomb came out of his bag, flying away from his fingers. "Oops!"

BOOM

Shrapnel ripped into The Mask's armor as Cap hid behind his shield. "Ooh, someone is frisky" chuckled The Mask.

For a second The Mask saw stars.

And then darkness.

Captain America stood over the Green Goblin, hands to his earpiece. "Goblin's down for a minute. Start the hack."

"Steve, this mission was not authorized-"

"Look, you wanted an opening? Here it is. Goblin's-"

Sparks hit Captain America right in his eyes. But Captain America knew what was coming next; Goblin whiffed the next punch. Steve blinked his vision back into existence. And of course another pumpkin bomb was incoming. Cap ducked behind his shield. He felt the PUNG of the shield bouncing the pumpkin bomb back.

BOOM

Captain America wondered if they were going to bring the whole building down. For a second he didn't care.

MODOK came floating down the hall. MODOK's eyes were glazed over; he floating a bit lazily from side to side. The Goblin grinned "Courtesy of Nicky boy's hack. Turns out they know how to hack AI, but were scared to unleash it on the world! Well, I'm not a scaredy cat. Thanks for the MODOK!!" MODOK charged. WHUUUUUUNG went the shield. Captain America winced; the stitches had torn.

"Steve, goddammit, break off!"

"Did you get the hack established??"

"Steve, we got it, get the hell out of there!!!" It was Sharon. She sounded like she meant business.

So Steve scooted.

Sharon was waiting for Steve as he stumbled through his apartment window, stitches torn. No matter how hard Steve tried to get back into the field Nick and Sharon demanded that he heal. SHIELD was working around the clock, disassembling Osborn's infrastructure as fast as they could. Steve wanted to sneak off and run another raid; he felt better after a few days. But Sharon never seemed to leave his apartment, fussing about and keeping things clean and watching TV in his living room. Steve didn't have to guess if Sharon had been given orders to keep him in the apartment, regardless of circumstance; Sharon told him so. There were times Steve was glad for the company.

And it was just as well. Steve kept seeing the same van outside his window the entire time he healed.Any damage he could have done was already done; Osborn was wasting his time. So each time Steve saw the van he snorted in amusement.

And then winced.

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Beside the River of Truth: G1E1

Steve was still in his suit. Not his red, white and blue one. This one was black, with a bow tie. Sharon liked bow ties. They'd been all the rage when Steve was a kid. Sharon said he looked distinguished. She usually said that with a wicked grin, so Steve had some doubts. He'd have to ask her about that, when she came over.

It had been a rough memorial. May Parker had cried the whole time, hanging onto Peter's wife, Mary-Jane. No one could look at them. With Peter they had held back alien invasions, saved the universe from the Beyonder, laughed, dined, cried together. And the most Steve had managed to May and MJ was a nod. "What a hero", he muttered to himself. Tony hadn't even bothered to show up.

Sharon came in as Steve sat down, remote in hand. "I brought pad thai" she said, bag in hand.

Norman Osborn was on the screen, shaking hands with Tony. Tony looked tired. Drunk. Norman was... was...

"He looks like a real jerk" Sharon quipped. "Oh, and there's a sleazebag standing there with Tony too. He's probably a supervillain."

"He's the Green Goblin," Steve was walking toward his closet.

"Wait, really??" Sharon's eyes bugged out.

"Peter told me while we were on Battleworld, while we thought he was dying from Dr. Doom hitting him with a full frontal blast. Peter had asked me to to watch after May and MJ, specifically because he knew Osborn would go after them. And Sharon, I watched. I've not stopped watching."

"That explains all those odd moments... scattered in the odd moments that are our life."

Steve couldn't help it; he cracked a wry grin. "I've been watching them the last year. Turns out I'd been watching the wrong folks. Norman Osborn is not going to buy out Tony. Not going to happen."

"Ooh, a party! That'll be a nice change of pace."

Pulling his mask on, Captain America shook his head. "No, you're affiliated with SHIELD. You need authorization, otherwise you'll cause an international incident. Call Nick. He needs to be briefed."

"Steve, you know as well as I do I can go with you. I have authorization to follow on leads as I find them, by the President. I've got jurisdiction."

Captain America stopped at the window. "Osborn is cunning. Go get us backup."

"You really think Norman Osborn is that much of a threat?" Sharon was incredulous.

"Peter let us underestimate him. What makes you think Osborn is any different?" asked Cap. Sharon nodded.

Captain America was up on the rooftop in less than a minute, shield slung to his back. No backup. Not yet. Osborn was his problem. He'd promised Peter. This was Captain America's fight. Oscorp's Tower wasn't too far away.

The security on Osborn's tower was pitiful. Captain America practically slung shot himself  into Osborn's office. But Osborn showed no surprise when he walked into his office twenty minutes later. Seeing the star-spangled figured backlit by the moon Osborn smiled and walked to a nearby desk and pulled out a bottle of amber liquid and a glass. "Captain," Osborn said, tipping his glass.

The glass shattered with a flick of Captain America's hand. "Cut it out, Goblin. I'm onto you. Stay away from Tony."

The force of the explosion rocked Captain America and Norman Osborn off their feet.  The Green Goblin's cackle could be heard. "AH AHAHAHHAHAHAHAHAHA.... when in doubt flood with shrapnel! With extreme prejudice."

Norman's smile looked like a skull's grin. "This isn't over" Captain America promised him.

"Osborn, I've come to stop you." In floated MODOK. "You cannot continue with your plans."

"Hey, that's my line, Floaty! Whaddya say we sing it together?? I'll be tenor, I've got good tone I'm told! AH HAHAHAHAHAHA!!!"

"Affirmative."

Captain America rolled in front of Norman Osborn, shield out. "Hey Bobbi? I've got an issue. Goblin and MODOK are together."

"Yeah, I've been watching. Sharon already called." Mockingbird vaulted through the wrecked windowframe, kicking MODOK across the room into a wall.  Green Goblin bent almost in half as Captain America and Mockingbird's fists connected with his jaw. Captain America bent him the other way with a crashing knee to the gut.

The Green Goblin fell with a thud. Mockingbird leaned over. "Man, I hate to ask why-"

Cackling and electricity erupted in Mockingbird's face and she fell, out cold. The Goblin stood up, still cackling.

A sudden light and whirring announced the news helicopter. Norman had planned his trap well.

MODOK lunged. He ripped into the star-spangled hero as Captain America smashed him twice with his shield. Bleeding profusely, Captain America grabbed Mockingbird and jumped out the window, letting out a grappling line a few dozen stories down.

Sharon came flying by in one of those flying tubs SHIELD had said they'd junked years ago."Bad night?"

Steve pulled off his mask, grimacing at his open stomach. "Yeah, bad night."

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Beside the River of Truth: Set Up

One year ago Ultron almost took over the world. Using an army of drones Ultron broke into NORAD and almost launched a nuclear device. No matter how hard Iron Man and Spider-man tried to stop him, the launch was going to happen. Iron Man could reverse the hack and destroy Ultron... if only he could get to the control panel! So Peter Parker, the Amazing Spider-Man, sacrificed his life so that the hack could be reversed.

Tony Stark hasn't been seen publicly since.

But now Norman Osborn has come to Stark Industries. He has begun making aggressive moves against Stark Industries, buying up all the stock he can.... and Stark has done nothing to stop him. If nothing is done to turn Tony Stark back to sanity, then Norman Osborn will have taken over Stark Industries, right under Tony's nose.

Captain America thinks he can turn Tony around. Let's hope he's right.

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