skyscapes | ( do we need to guess who this is for at this point )

( do we need to guess who this is for at this point )

Everyone had a threshold for dealing with shit and Harry had finally exceeded his.

Amid all the threats and not-so-accidental accidents, Octavius finally made a move. It was only thanks to an overpowered stun-gun Peter made him that Harry escaped. Octavius had gotten arrogant, moved just close enough to get in range, then ZAP. Both Octavius and the tentacles went on a fritz, throwing Harry to the ground. He was lucky to have gotten away with nothing worse than a gash on his shoulder and a mess of bruises from the encounter. But more than anything, it simply wasn't enough just to survive Octavius anymore.

Harry knew - now more than ever - that he needed to fight back. He needed to save himself from this guy. --But how? Even the stun-gun could only do so much.

And then he kept wandering into the study for long periods of time, staring at the mirror, long since replaced to hide the lair behind it once more. The serum was gone. Destroyed. But the weaponry, the materials, the blueprints... all of that was still in there. Granted, he couldn't use any of it as is. It belonged to the Goblin, and Harry wouldn't follow in those dark footsteps. If he wanted to use them, he had to become something else; he had to redesign everything.

...But could he? Harry was no genius, after all.

And yet - while that was true, he was resourceful and creative-- and he did exactly what he set out to do. Not without blunder, of course. There were plenty of mishaps and imperfections, but he had access to the programs, the blueprints, the materials his father had left behind. With them, Harry was able to create a new suit, a new glider, new weapons-- all entirely of his own design. He started out just tentatively flying around in abandoned subway tunnels, building confidence in himself and his tech. Especially trying to keep a low profile. This was just to fight Octavius, he told himself. He didn't need any attention on him; he didn't want Peter finding out until he was sure he could pull this off. And he had honestly meant to avoid heroics-- but then one day, he saw someone in trouble on his way to his makeshift training grounds. It seemed too cruel not to help.

They had been so grateful, and for the first time in a long time, Harry was proud of himself. He actually made a difference! It was an exhilarating feeling.

After that, he made more of an effort to help people before heading off to the subway tunnels. He still tried to stay low-key about it, but a new guy swooping in to save people was bound to get some attention. Today, he was even using the opportunity to test out a new gadget: a snare he'd built from razor bat scraps. It was supposed to lock onto a target and - when within range - break open and shoot out a cord that would ideally restrain said target. He was hoping to figure out a way to tie down Octavius' smart arms with it, but he figured this stupid mugger - trying to take off with some lady's purse - was as good of practice as any. The lock-on feature worked great, but the cord thing? ...Not so much. It just kind of ended up clotheslining the guy more than anything. ...Oops.

Thanks to that, Harry ended up staying behind longer than he wanted to, making sure the woman got her stuff back and that the mugger was properly restrained this time. In a hurry not to draw any more attention to himself than he already had, he was quick to return to his glider and hurtle off into the sky, hoping to get to the abandoned subway tunnels without further incident.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

No one can say it's not effective, and Harry was - unfortunately - the kind of guy who got easily frustrated and could be goaded into acting on impulse. A fact he aptly demonstrated when Spider-Man wouldn't let up on his teasing.

"Would you just shut up about the-- augh!"

So distracted by his own complaining, Harry failed to see which direction Spider-Man was coming from in time enough to do anything about it. The sword jumped out of his hand on impact, sparking when the blade struck the wall on the way down, with Harry teetering forward and trying very hard not to follow it.

Has he mentioned that he's bad at this?

"Never!"

Peter tightened his legs around Harry's shoulders, holding on even as he swerved and tried to regain his balance. Which wasn't very easy with Peter clinging to his back.

"This is the part where I would punch you," Peter explained, wrapping his arms around Harry's neck like a strange version of a piggyback ride. Instead, he's going to let Harry try to shake him off, or, if he can't regain footing, they'll just go crashing to the ground. "Onward, noble steed!"

Hell no, it wasn't.

Maintaining balance on the glider was hard enough with just his own weight, but with another person on his shoulders, Harry was pretty much floundering. It never occurred to him how much he was actually lacking in physical strength until now, because he always thought he'd been in pretty decent shape.

Spider-Man's quips did nothing to help. "I'm starting to realize why no one likes you!"

To Harry's credit, he kept them from crashing into a wall on his own this time, but in the process ended up swerving too hard to the left and irreparably throwing himself off balance. And of course, he only made it worse when he lurched forward with his hands grasping at Spider-Man's arms to pry them from around his neck while he tried to flip Spider-Man over his head. Instead, he mostly just ended up throwing himself off the front of the glider with a cry and sending them both hurtling to the floor.

"What are you talking about? I'm frickin' fantastic."

Peter's pretty amused, watching Harry flail. It wasn't terribly difficult to hold on, sticking his hands to Harry's chestplate and letting him try his best. Yeah, Harry, sorry - superhuman strength. On the bright side, at least Spiderman is on your side, offering to help fight against Otto?

"Woah there - " Peter let go with one hand to shoot a web, leaving them dangling from the ceiling, barely avoiding smashing into the ground. The web twanged, pulled taut with the weight, and Peter slowly lowered them to the ground, untangling their limbs. "You okay?"

"You're pretty full of yourself, that's for sure."

Isn't that cheating, using your sticky spider powers to hold on? Not that Harry really stopped to think about it. Too many things going on at once-- he felt like he was racing to divide his attention adequately. For all of his whining, he was grateful to Spider-Man for taking the time to try and help him.

Even more grateful when his face didn't end up bashing into the ground. They were cutting it close-- Harry could reach out and touch the ground. He let out a breath of relief. "I'm okay. Thanks," was his earnest answer. The glider soon joined them, humming nearby while Harry scooted towards the wall to retrieve his fallen sword.

"You weren't kidding. It's really hard to steer that thing when you've got someone else to worry about." And Spider-Man wasn't even attacking him. He climbed back to his feet and decisively put the sword back in its sheath. "I think I should get used to that first before I start trying to use weapons. Is that okay?"

Regardless, Harry was already hopping back on the glider, ready to try again.

"Uh, excuse you."

Peter dropped to the ground in a crouch, severing the web that connected him to the ceiling. Well, could use improvement, but. Well, that was what training was for.

"That sounds like a good idea. Maybe we were taking it too fast." The sword went away; Peter had to admit, he hadn't been looking forward to getting hit with that thing, so maybe it was good Harry had put it away. "We can make the time. No use cutting corners." Even if they both, so desperately, wanted Harry to be deemed capable of his own safety.

"Already set to go again?" Harry was nothing if not persistent, Peter would give him that.

Excuse nothing, it's true.

"Definitely too fast," Harry agreed with a nod. The last thing he needed was to accidentally injure himself trying to juggle fifty different things. He hadn't even been able to hold on to the sword. What if it'd bounced back and hit them? Or what if he'd struck himself or his glider on accident? No point in chancing it until he was more confident.

Another deep breath. "Yeah. I'm not gonna get better if I don't keep trying." No giving up. Not this time. He lifted the glider back into the air a bit, offering up a teasing 'bring it on' motion with his hand. "I'm ready if you are, pal."

"Oh I'm ready." Peter grinned under his mask, stretching his hands over his head. Had to stay limber, especially if he was going to keep schooling Harry. "Are you ready? I mean, are you sure you're ready?"

"You just say uncle, buddy, and maybe I'll spare you," Peter wasn't goading, it was just...playful smack talk. "Come on, Osborn, show me what you got."

"Y'know what, you can just take your cocky attitude and stuff it up your nose!"

Not that Spider-Man didn't have a reason to be cocky, because honestly, Harry couldn't hold a torch to him at the moment. He took a second to try and think about what to do next; they didn't exactly teach combat strategy at school. Spidey'd said to let your opponent come to you, hadn't he? "You've gotta catch me first," he shot back, deciding to put that advice into practice.

He stomped a foot down on one end of the glider, which sent him rocketing straight up. It only took a second for him to twist around and fly in the direction opposite of Spider-Man - it was obvious he'd been practicing that move - and start weaving between chains and around obstacles.

"...my nose? Were you raised by nuns?"

Ah, he's learning! Peter grinned behind his mask, shooting a web into the air to give chase to Harry. He wasn't expecting the bypass, however, and ended up having to twist in mid air and correct his path. Harry did have the element of surprise, though, and Peter lagged a little, watching to see where he'd go.

The versatility of weaving between the chains was unexpected; he didn't know the glider could be so smooth. Peter kept up, almost at a match, being the slim aerodynamic acrobat that he was.

"What are you, the comeback police? Leave me alone!"

One of the few things Harry felt he could properly take credit for. Even without the necessity of having to redesign so as to not be confused for the Goblin, the original glider seemed bulky and hard to maneuver. Accordingly, Harry thought it was a good idea to slim the design and give it propulsion that could freely rotate depending on where he needed to maneuver. It seemed to be paying off.

Spider-Man was quick and gaining on him in no time, so Harry had to think of something to keep the distance between them, pronto. He decided to take something of a risk-- he switched the position of his glider - 'skateboard' mode - and crouched, managing to slip between the supports of the tallest ramp and end up on the other side, using the obstruction to hopefully weasel away for a little bit longer.

Edited 2016-06-28 00:41 (UTC)

"Never! Part of your training, young padawan!"

It was definitely working, forcing Peter to lag a little further behind so as to anticipate Harry's moves. He was better at running than fighting, which was totally fine at this point! Better than Peter could have hoped for, honestly. He started to go for it more, shooting webbing that missed by centimeters. And he was legitimately trying! Harry was doing very well.

The trick with the ramp was like straight out of Star Trek and Peter laughed, taking the long way round by going over the ramp and fully expecting to block an ambush.

"Why? I'm pretty sure it'll just make Octavius want to pulverize me more than he already does!"

Harry didn't have a lot of time to be proud of himself for being able to stay ahead of Spider-Man or he would have been. He spared a quick glance to see which way Spidey was headed before making a choice-- which ended up being exactly what he predicted him to do. Because of course he was going to get a little overeager and hopeful that he gave himself a fighting chance there.

At least he had enough foresight to acknowledge that using his body would be a bad idea against a superhero with amped up strength, because when he came around, he swung the glider in an attempt to strike Spider-Man with the edge of it.

"And then he'll get sloppy!"

Peter deflected Harry's attempt to hit him, grabbing the edge of Harry's glider and pushing down, using it to lift himself up. He shot another web, momentum from the dodge putting him a little off-kilter. Well, he might not have hit Peter the way he intended to, but he did a good job of evading him and minimizing potential for Peter to get in a strike. A little more cat and mouse and he might actually get him.

"That doesn't help me if he gets a hold of me!" Harry's not entirely on board with your method of getting the best of supervillains, Spidey.

The weight pushing down on one side of the glider flipped Harry forward, so he just tried to roll with it the best he could. For the umpteenth time, he was thankful for the footholds on his glider, keeping him from sliding or outright dropping off the thing. It took a little flailing, but Harry successfully righted himself with more ease this time and was able to zoom back towards the other end of the warehouse. For now, he learned his lesson about overly aggressive tactics. This was working for him.

"Maybe I should just skip the weapons and fly around until he clotheslines himself on something," Harry joked. He only wished it were that easy. Unfortunately, Octavius wasn't that stupid.

"Yes, it does! It provides an opening. Or, you know, just don't let him get ahold of you." Peter can only teach so much. Frankly, he's kind of a mess. Everything he learned he picked up from different street fighting techniques and, I shit you not, stuff he saw on TV that, with crazy super flexibility, he can actually do.

"You should figure out a tracking pattern. How can you get your attacker to fall into a trap?" Peter swung, low and fast, giving chase after Harry and trying to anticipate where he was going to go next so as to cut him off.

"Easy for you to say. The odds of me being as slippery as you are pretty slim." Especially when his maneuvering advantage was entirely dependent on his glider. Fortunately for Peter, Harry knew next to nothing about combat and couldn't fuss about the messy fighting style. Any kind of fighting tips were a blessing at this point.

"--How? His movements are so unpredictable. He has like... eight limbs to watch!" And after all this time, that's when it starts to sink in. A guy named Otto Octavius ending up with eight limbs? Distracted by the revelation, Harry started to laugh and ended up clipping a chain. It threw off his balance just enough to send him swerving when he went to compensate in order to avoid Spider-Man's fast swing and ended up over-correcting. He squawked in alarm and pulled to a jarring stop before he ended up crashing into one of the nearby ramps. It was close enough to touch, which he did to steady himself a bit before pushing off and letting the glider drift away a couple feet. "Sorry-- my bad. I'd offer to foot the bill if I break your ramps, but it's kinda hard to write a superhero a check."

But he was going to use the opportunity to take another breather. "How the hell are you so fast? It's unreal."

"I am kind of flexible. That's the point of the suit." Peter flipped up, exhibiting said flexibility. "But he's got that whole arm contraption weighing him down. And from what I can tell, your glider is pretty damn good with turns and quick adjustments. You can do this, Harry."

"They're not, though, everybody has something. I favor my right side. Sometimes I catch myself doing it and try to stop but - woah!" Peter swung right at the last second to avoid crashing into Harry, landing on a support beam and watching Harry right himself. "Nah, I break them all the time. I steal wood from the construction dumpsters. So I guess it's not really stealing. Repurposing."

"I'm moving with velocity. You're moving with thrust. So...you're kind of already at a disadvantage." Add practice and superhuman abilities and...yeah, Peter was fast.

Edited 2016-08-06 01:00 (UTC)

"Still not convinced you're not an Olympic gymnast under there," Harry countered, because the amount of speed and flexibility this had was pretty unreal. Superpowers or not, that kinda stuff didn't come easily. "Maybe, but... you haven't seen 'em, Spider-Man. What they can do. They're so fast, and they can carry his weight. He uses 'em to walk around for him, and it makes him way faster than normal. And he can scale buildings with them, and I just--... I barely got away last time, and I can just about bet he's trying to make it so I can't stun his arms when he comes after me again." And he's obviously - understandably - terrified of not being able to stop Octavius. "I'm just worried this still isn't enough."

And as for watching for chink in Octavius's armor, Harry struggled to conceive of it. He was too scared, too busy trying to stay alive to notice anything. On the glider, he had about an additional fifty things to worry about. How was he supposed to do that? "I guess it's good I ran into you. I'm starting to see how in over my head I am," he remarked, lowering himself down to sit on the hovering glider for a little bit and retracting the mask for a quick breath of fresh air. But he didn't really have a choice. The alternative was standing idly by while Octavius put his life and possibly the lives of Peter and May in danger.

"Hey, nothing wrong with being resourceful. You must be pretty smart if you can build all this by yourself. Me, I'm better at breaking stuff than fixing it. It's a miracle any of this works." A good-humored laugh as he gestured to his glider, the suit, the gadgets. All of it. He'd had his dad's blueprints to work off of, and that's what he credits the functionality to.

"Geez, you're science-ing at me again? Enough already!" Harry was just joking... Mostly. "Well, remind me never to pick any real fights with you."

"You got me, I'm secretly Simone Biles." Peter grinned beneath his mask, sitting down on the beam and letting his legs swing over the edge. "There's always a weak spot, Harry, that's about the best we can hope for. The best we can train for. I know we can find it, I know we're strong enough." Because like hell is Harry fighting Otto alone if Peter can help it. Hell, Spiderman might be able to scare Octavius off - well, one can dream.

"It's scary, when you first start out. It's a lot to take in, and everyone and their mother is kicking your ass. You'll get there, though. These weapons - that glider. It's not nothing, Harry. You just have to figure out how to use it in a way that works for you." Peter cocked his head to the side when Harry opened his face mask to take a breathe of air. Time for a little break, then.

"I do okay. But are you kidding? This glider is incredible. All these changes, they're yours?" They may be based on Norman's designs, but Harry had more than made it his own.

"Oh please, don't." Like he needed one more supervillain. Let alone Harry. Plus, being responsible for the downfall of the entire Osborn family. Nope, no thanks. "Wouldn't be pretty."

"I knew it," Harry replied, managing a little smile. It faltered after a moment, more out of confusion and surprise than anything. "We?" He paused, as if to let that sink in. "Wait, you're gonna help me?" Training was, he thought, going to be the extent of Spider-Man's assistance. "But... why?" Sure, the guy was a superhero, but it's not like he had any personal investment in Harry. He had plenty of other things to worry about, after all. His plate seemed like it was pretty full with all the running around he did.

Scary is an understatement. This was probably the most Harry had ever done on his own and now that he was seeing how much more there was to it than just flying around, he struggled not to get overwhelmed. "So, I guess you didn't start out too great either, huh?" It sounded like Spider-Man had some experience there. A story.

"Yeah, kinda," was Harry's answer, paired with a noncommittal shrug. It was a patchwork of various resources he'd had access to. Creative, maybe, but nothing he felt right taking credit for. "I just took other peoples' work and stitched it together, mostly. I'm not exactly a scientist. No way I could've done this on my own." And he's not putting himself down, it's just... the truth. He's never had a mind for science and he's long accepted that.

A laugh pressed past Harry's lips to match the shake of his head. "Please, I have zero reason to attack you. Especially after you've pretty much opened up your hideout to me and offered to help me." He drew in a deep breath and turned his gaze upward - at nothing in particular - for a moment. "I just wanna stop Octavius before something else happens. That's all I want."

"Shh, I get enough press in both of my lives," Peter noted the surprised pause and ran back over what he'd said, worried, briefly, that he'd given himself away. Harry's question, though, dissipated his worry, and Peter relaxed, tilting his head at his friend. "Well, yeah. Why wouldn't I? There's trouble on my turf and it's threatening my citizens." He paused, leaning back on the bar. "You're a part of that group, you know, of people I protect."

"Besides," You're my friend and I'm not going to let you fight alone. But no, Peter couldn't say that. "I know I wished I had someone to rely on when I started. Many a time." Someone to call when you're bleeding out on a roof. Could be useful, especially if you didn't heal the way Peter did.

"No, I didn't." Peter paused for a second, shrugging a little. "The first six months were really rough. I wasn't in a good place when I started, that was my first mistake. I didn't know what I was doing, didn't even know how to fight, I just had these powers and I acted on instinct. Got the shit kicked out of me a lot. And I didn't have anyone to rely on, no backup, nothing. Didn't have anybody to drag me away from the fight and make sure I was letting myself heal. So if I can give you that, at the very least, that's something."

"That's half of what science is. Taking what already exists and figuring out a new way to apply it to a situation." It's still impressive, fuck you Harry. "Well I think it's really cool. I'd like to see how it works sometime."

"You'd be surprised by some of the crazy grudges people hold." What the hell was even Electro's problem? Don't ask Peter, he honestly doesn't even know. "We can. We will."

Harry laughed, probably the first genuine one today. "Right, right. Sorry. Your secret's safe with me, Spidey." Some of the tension seemed to alleviate in Harry's shoulders, but the question made him look down with a small shrug as he idly kicked his feet. "I just-- I dunno. A lot of people don't want anything to do with me. And after..." He swallowed-- he's pretty sure he doesn't have to say it. "Well, y'know. You're the one that had to deal with... everything." Bringing his dad in and all that. "I couldn't blame you if you didn't wanna deal with it. With me. Y'know?"

Harry managed a half-glance back up and a tiny smile. "Thanks. --I'm kinda surprised the Avengers haven't invited you into their club house yet. Or started your own thing, really. There's like... a billion superheroes in New York you could probably team up with." Spider-Man and his Amazing Friends! ...Nah, too corny.

Hearing the guy relay his experiences made Harry feel a little bad for him, though. Just thrown into the fray with no one to depend on? Sounded pretty rough, especially if he was as hard on himself as it sounded like. At least Harry had Peter, and now Spider-Man was offering to help him. "Well, I'd like to avoid as much shit-kicking as possible," he remarked, injecting a dose of lightheartedness into his tone. It faded quickly enough and Harry's expression became a little more grim, more sympathetic. "I'm sorry. That had to've been hard. --But hey, it looks like it's kinda paid off. A lot of people love you. Look up to you. You've been kind of a... beacon of hope, I guess. The city missed you when you went AWOL." Harry'd - admittedly - been too wrapped up in his own woes to really notice at the time, but reflecting back... Yeah. "I know not everyone's crazy about you, but you have done a lot of good."

And Harry was not so convinced. Naturally. "I guess so." He gave another shrug, even as he tried not to smile at the compliment. "I mean, if you wanna. You might be horrified by how sloppy my work is, though. End up trying to correct everything. Ignorance is bliss sometimes."

Well, he had a point. Harry chuckled a little, tilting his head. "Ah-- maybe not. I still haven't let my friend live down the time he spilled barbecue sauce on my favorite shirt. But I promise, you're all good in my book." A teasing smirk curled the corner of his lips. "As long as you don't ruin any of my clothes." Lame joke? Yeah, but it's better than being moody. "I'm gonna hold you to that, pal."

"You didn't have anything to do with that," Peter assured him quietly, knowing that in this suit, as Spiderman, he didn't have the privilege of addressing Harry as frankly as he might have as himself. "Contrary to popular belief, I don't think your father was a bad man. He - he took something, didn't he?" He doesn't want to get too far into how much Spiderman knows, because it'll only bring up questions of how he came to be in the first place. "He wasn't...himself. From what I could tell. And you're not that, Harry, you never will be."

Mentions of the Avengers got a whole-hearted snort out of Peter. Yeah, him, an Avenger. When pigs - okay, bad choice of words. "I'm not exactly Avengers material. Besides, I'm still a vigilante menace. They don't need any more bad press than they already get."

"And you will. Mostly, anyway." Can you tell he's smiling at you, Harry? The mention of his time out of the mask has Peter falling quiet for a moment. They haven't even talked about this as Peter-and-Harry; he hardly thought they'd have a conversation with him as Spiderman. "...I couldn't save her. The girl. And it's rough, when you - when you lose someone like that. I had to just...take a step back, I guess." It goes unspoken that if Harry takes him this form of vigilantism, he'll probably face much of the same - people he can't save. Certainly, not to the extent of Gwen but...they all took their toll.

"Yeah well, at least if I fix it you won't be running around flying on a ticking time bomb." Peter teased, shaking his head at Harry. He was good at this sort of thing when he wanted to be, he just didn't believe in himself and didn't have much interest in it. It's the former that Peter has a problem with.

"Oh don't worry," Peter shot a glob of web onto Harry's chest, just because he's Peter. "It disintegrates eventually."

"Try telling everyone else that," Harry remarked with a humorless laugh. It's the comment about his father that gets Harry to look up in surprise, though. Norman Osborn was a difficult man. He expected perfection from his employees-- and his son. But he also sponsored Unity Day celebrations every year and raised awareness for the problems he felt strongly about. A lot of Oscorp's funds went to researching cures for various diseases. A lot of people forgot stuff like that. Not Spider-Man, it seemed. "--Thank you." It meant a lot to hear that when so few - understandably - had positive opinions of the Osborns. He swallowed a lump in his throat and nodded slowly. "Yeah... He did." A bittersweet smile tugged at his mouth. "You sure have a lot of faith in me for a guy who tried to punch my face in earlier."

That smile transforms into a sincere chuckle once Spider-Man snorts at him. "Why the laugh? You've saved the city twice, y'know. I think you've earned your stripes. This city always complains, especially when you've got Jameson egging 'em on."

Well, here's hoping. Harry wasn't exactly keen on walking into Oscorp with a bruised face. That would get him some unwanted attention that only so many lame excuses could brush off. But then Spider-Man went quiet and an apology raced to the tip of Harry's tongue. Did he breach a subject he shouldn't have? Even when Spider-Man answered him, he wasn't sure. He averted his eyes again, staring at his dangling feet while he picked at his pant legs. "Sorry. I didn't mean to--" A breath. It wasn't an easy topic. For anyone. But sometimes Harry forgot that her death hadn't just affected Peter, or her family, or him. Gwen touched a lot of lives with her bright presence, and suddenly, that light was just gone. And Spider-Man blamed himself for not saving her. Harry couldn't bring himself to point fingers at him when he saw what his father had become. "I... don't think anyone can blame you for stepping back."

Now, it's Harry's turn to snort. "Alright, smart-ass. You pick a time and I'll let you look at the glider. Show me the error of my ways." And if he were being honest, he'd really appreciate having someone with an actual mind for science giving his work a look over.

The sudden collision with his chest got an undignified yelp out of Harry, who flailed a bit to keep his balance. "Hey!" And what does he do? Immediately try to peel it off. And of course it sticks to his hand. He didn't think this through. "Oh, great. You're such a jerk," he complained, pouting when tugging proved completely ineffective.

Worst case scenario, he'd have to take off his glove and it would just have to stay stuck to his chest for a while.

( do we need to guess who this is for at this point )

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