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[Frog] Chapter 173: The Failed Experiment Subjects
🕑 Added 2024-11-25 16:21:06 +0000 UTCA blood-curdling scream echoed from behind the door.
George and his team, just arriving at the entrance to the laboratory, froze momentarily, their expressions shifting.
Peter, who had come along to assist, recognized the sound immediately and knew exactly what Norman was up to.
“Uncle George, we need to go in immediately,” Peter urged. “He’s conducting human experiments with the genetic enhancement serum.”
“Prepare to breach the door!” George ordered the officers around him, while the others retreated to a safer distance.
A series of gunshots rang out as they shot the door locks.
George raised a hand, signaling everyone to pause. Turning to the officers, he said, “So far, the Green Goblin hasn’t shown up. Stay alert. If anything feels off, retreat immediately.”
The officers, having witnessed the Green Goblin’s destructive power during the previous encounter, nodded solemnly.
Then George turned to Peter. “Peter, you shouldn’t go in. Find a safe place to hide and wait for us.”
Peter nodded, understanding he couldn’t offer much help in this situation. “Got it, Uncle George. Be careful.”
The door creaked open, revealing a brightly lit laboratory.
Standing in the middle of the room was Norman Osborn, wearing a white lab coat with his hands in his pockets, watching as the officers entered.
“Norman Osborn, you are under arrest for conducting illegal human experiments,” George declared. “You have the right to remain silent…”
Before he could finish, Norman interrupted with a smirk. “Oh, come on. Can’t you cops come up with something new? That line is so outdated.”
Though Norman stood alone, the officers didn’t lower their guard.
Aside from the Green Goblin still being unaccounted for, a large curtain hung behind Norman, obscuring part of the laboratory. Until they knew what lay behind it, George wasn’t going to take any chances.
“You’re surrounded, Norman Osborn. Surrender yourself,” George said firmly.
Norman chuckled. “If you’ve got what it takes, come and arrest me.” Then, with a mischievous grin, he added, “But before that, you’ll have to deal with my experiments.”
With a sweep of his arms, the curtain behind him automatically parted, revealing a grotesque sight that made everyone’s faces pale.
A few of the more faint-hearted officers nearly dropped their guns.
“Are those… New York citizens you’ve captured?” George demanded angrily, his gaze fixed on the malformed figures behind Norman.
The “subjects” were grotesque humanoid figures, victims of Norman’s experiments. Each had undergone genetic modifications with varying degrees of deformity.
Some had massively swollen bodies; others had disproportionately enlarged arms. One had a grotesquely oversized head, forcing it to lie writhing on the ground in agony.
There were around a dozen of them in total.
“New York citizens?” Norman sneered, shaking his finger. “Oh no, they’re just parasites clinging to this city.”
“I gave them the honor of participating in a groundbreaking scientific experiment. It was their chance to contribute, their last act of usefulness in this world.”
“Otherwise, all the money the city spends on these homeless vagabonds every year would just go to waste.”
George and the officers behind him bristled with anger at Norman’s twisted justification.
“Captain, let’s take him down now!” one officer urged.
“Move in!” George commanded.
The officers raised their guns and advanced cautiously toward Norman.
Norman, still smirking, clapped his hands lightly. At the sound, the failed experimental subjects behind him surged forward like a wave.
“Open fire!”
At George’s command, the laboratory erupted in gunfire.
Bullets only grazed the mutated subjects, barely slowing their advance but failing to inflict any real damage.
George’s face darkened as the situation became dire. “Fall back! Call the team and have them bring in heavier firepower!”
“Retreat to the laboratory entrance!”
On the other side, Norman leisurely observed the scene, seemingly unfazed. Holding a notebook in hand, he appeared to be jotting down experimental data.
George and his team fought to hold back the advancing modified humans while retreating.
Suddenly, one of the mutants, with bulging muscles in its legs, leaped forward, covering an incredible distance before landing right in front of an officer.
The officer, overwhelmed by the sheer force of the landing, collapsed in fear.
“No… don’t come any closer…” he stammered.
The mutant smirked with a bloodthirsty expression, raising its foot before slamming it down toward the officer’s head.
Everyone knew that if the blow connected, the officer’s head would be crushed like a watermelon.
But it all happened too quickly—there was no time to intervene.
Norman grinned, speaking with twisted delight. “Not bad. That’s one officer down already. It seems my experiments are showing promise.”
“Excellent. Simply excellent!”
He eagerly anticipated the psychological torment that the bloody scene would inflict on the remaining officers.
However, before the mutant’s foot could connect, a white figure shot down from above, striking the mutant squarely in the chest with a powerful kick.
The mutant lost its balance and toppled backward.
In rapid succession, streams of webbing shot out, binding several advancing mutants and halting their attack.
“Spider-Woman!” the rescued officer shouted with relief.
The others, seeing Spider-Woman’s arrival, couldn’t help but smile. With her on their side, morale surged.
Gwen landed gracefully next to George and quipped, “Commissioner George, looks like I’ve saved you again.”
“When are you going to give me a plaque or something? Maybe one that says, ‘New York’s Friendly Neighborhood Hero’?”
George rolled his eyes and retorted, “Sure, but our plaques require you to claim them in person. Why don’t you take off your mask?”
Gwen blinked in surprise, then replied, “Yeah, let’s not. I know you don’t mean that.”
“Let’s focus on dealing with these guys first.”
Norman, watching Spider-Woman disrupt his plans yet again, felt a surge of fury. Just moments ago, he had been so close to witnessing the bloody spectacle he’d been anticipating.
“Spider-Woman!”
“You meddling pest! Fine, fine, fine!”
Norman’s anger was like a lit powder keg, ready to explode. The notebook and pen in his hands frosted over with a chilling ice as a sinister aura spread through the lab.
The terrifying presence even affected the mutated humans, who, driven only by primal instincts, suddenly became filled with fear.
They whimpered strangely and scrambled back behind the curtain as if fleeing from some unseen terror.
George and Gwen immediately grew cautious.
“If I’m not mistaken, Norman is controlling these mutants through whatever force this is,” George speculated, sensing the change in the lab’s atmosphere.
Gwen nodded in agreement as her Spider-Sense went into overdrive, blaring warnings.
“Everyone, get out!” she shouted.
“Hurry!”
“You won’t escape…” Norman growled, his voice deep and menacing.
“Not a single one of you!”
“I am the Green Goblin!”
Hearing the threat, George raised his gun, ready to end Norman then and there.
But before he could fire, Norman’s lab coat began to writhe unnaturally, as if alive. In moments, it transformed into a layer of green skin covering his body. His eyes turned a deep, pitch-black void.
It was the same terrifying figure that had attacked the precinct days ago—the Green Goblin.
At that moment, George finally understood: Norman Osborn and the Green Goblin were one and the same.
Realizing the gravity of the situation, George immediately ordered his men to retreat.
The Green Goblin crouched and leaped, and from the shadows, his glider emerged, sliding beneath his feet.
Hovering above them, he let out a chilling laugh. “Let’s have a little ice-sculpture party, shall we?”
“My dear Commissioner George!”
Suddenly, a dozen pumpkin bombs, glowing with green flames, rained down from the sky.
Gwen rushed forward, standing between the bombs and the officers. Webbing shot from her wrists in a frantic flurry, weaving a thick web shield to block the explosives…
(To Be Continued)
