Sleep had never really come after Ororo left. His body was satisfied, but his mind had been spinning through the implications of everything: the lawsuits, the restructuring, the surveillance operation Emma was running, and the cyborgs from a future Earth that may or may not have already infiltrated the city.
He often cycled between his contact lenses, Advanced Glasses, and intercom earpieces. It was strange. He didn't feel as comfortable in his own body.
Hell, he didn't feel comfortable with his mind. Throughout it all, he missed Rash. It had been a while since he was alone. Scribing signature after signature, scanning and thinking and working alongside Herbie, it was a lonely headache that reminded him of college. He surprisingly didn't despise it but…
Still. Rash did not return yet.
"Rash is a Symbiote that will forever be apart of you. But…doing so, to exist, to power him up, he needs blood. You can't replace chocolate either—"
He couldn't forget.
"In order for you to not have to go through life sucking human flesh, Rash chose to hole up. To…give you a choice."
'He wants me to make a choice, huh?'
Felix…could stay like this. He could remain a normal human and help people like this. His stomach grumbled. His throat was perching. Simply by sitting, he was wiped out. What a strange feeling.
He looked out Oscorp Tower. All of this…was his.
Once upon a time, he walked the base of this tower with a hunched back and anxiety. Now, he sat and stood as though he owned the place.
He'd showered, dressed in a fresh suit, and carried a cup of coffee into the office. He sat down, relaxed, sighed, and sipped on his coffee. First ten minutes, he looked over the documents. He snorted to himself as he turned the page.
'Spider-Man has a nine to five all of a sudden.'
And this could be his future for the rest of his life. It could. As lingered in thought, Samantha's voice came through the intercom.
"Your nine o'clock is here. Jennifer Walters."
"Send her in."
Felix stood from his chair and adjusted his cuffs. The office still smelled faintly of Ororo's perfume, something sandalwood-adjacent that had seeped into the leather of his chair. He made a mental note to have the cleaning crew do an extra pass before the next meeting. 'Ugh, so weird to have janitors at my beck and call.' But it was reality.
The double doors opened, and Samantha stepped through first, her posture military-straight as always. Behind her walked another hot woman. Go figure. Did he smile on instinct? Yes. He tried to be a gentleman about it though. That made it okay, hopefully.
Jennifer Walters was striking in a way that wasn't immediately obvious. Her auburn hair was pulled back in a sleek ponytail that exposed sharp cheekbones and a jaw that could cut glass. Her eyes were a warm brown, intelligent and assessing, framed by tortoiseshell glasses that gave her an academic air. She wore a charcoal pantsuit with subtle pinstripes, the cut tailored close to her frame, a cream silk blouse beneath that was buttoned to the collar. Her heels were sensible—three inches, practical for court—but she walked in them like she could sprint if she needed to.
She held a leather briefcase in one hand and an iced coffee in the other.
"Mr. Faeth." Jennifer extended her free hand. "Jennifer Walters. Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway."
"Felix, please." Felix shook her hand. "And thank you for coming on such short notice."
"Emma Frost called me personally at eleven last night." Jennifer set her briefcase on one of the chairs and took the iced coffee with her to the sofa. "When Emma Frost calls, you answer. When she tells you to clear your schedule for the next six months, you ask how high."
"Six months?"
"Conservative estimate." Jennifer settled into the sofa, crossing her legs at the ankle. She pulled a tablet from her briefcase and tapped it awake. "I've been reviewing the documents you sent over. All fourteen hundred pages of them."
Felix sat across from her. "I wanted to be thorough."
"Thorough." Jennifer looked at him over the rim of her glasses. "Mr. Faeth—Felix—thorough is a ten-page brief outlining corporate structure. What you sent me is a forensic dismantling of every subsidiary, holding company, shell corporation, and offshore account Oscorp has established in the past thirty years. Complete with asset valuations, personnel hierarchies, and projected restructuring timelines for forty-seven independent entities."
"I had time."
AKA Herbie carried him.
"How much time?" Jennifer scrolled through something on her tablet. "I've been practicing law for fifteen years. I've worked with Fortune 500 companies, government agencies, and one prince of a minor European nation. I have never seen documentation this comprehensive from a single source. It is…almost suspicious."
Felix smiled. "Almost?"
"Which firm helped you compile this? And how long have you been planning this? Jennifer leaned forward. "Because I know every major corporate firm in this city, and none of them have the bandwidth to produce something like this in forty-eight hours. Not even close."
"That would be telling."
"I need to know who I'm working with. Conflicts of interest, jurisdictional considerations, attorney-client privilege protocols—"
"It's just me." Felix picked up his coffee. "And my resources."
Jennifer studied him for a long moment. Her eyes narrowed slightly, the way someone's did when they knew they weren't getting the whole story but couldn't prove it.
"Your resources," she repeated. "Right. Well. Leaving aside the mystery of how a single man with no legal background produced documentation that would make the IRS weep with envy, let's talk about what happens next."
"I'm listening."
"Good." She tapped her tablet again and pulled up what looked like a flowchart. "Oscorp is a hydra. You cut off one head, three more grow. You want to dissolve the parent company and redistribute its assets to independent subsidiaries. In theory, this is possible. In practice, you are…" Jennifer's head tilted left and right, trying to find an example, "trying to perform open-heart surgery on a patient that doesn't want to be operated on."
"Explain."
"First, there's the shareholder litigation. You mentioned three lawsuits already filed. That number will double by the end of the week. Every investor who bought Oscorp stock in the past five years is going to claim you're destroying value. Some of them will have valid claims. Most won't. But valid or not, we have to respond to all of them."
"Can we win?"
"Probably. The board approved the dissolution, and you control the board. Legally, that's a strong position. But winning isn't the same as winning quickly. These cases could drag on for years if we're not careful."
Felix nodded. "What else?"
"Regulatory hurdles. The SEC, FTC, DOJ—every agency with three letters and a budget is going to want a say in how Oscorp gets broken up. We're talking antitrust reviews, national security considerations for certain defense contracts, environmental impact assessments for the chemical plants. And that's just federal. New York State has its own process. So does California, where Oscorp has significant operations. So does Delaware, where the parent company is incorporated."
Law was not his forte. He didn't seem to see a problem. She did though. "So?"
"So, I am saying it's a nightmare." Jennifer took a long sip of her iced coffee. "But it's not impossible. Emma ensured our firm has the resources and expertise to handle this. We've done corporate restructurings before. Not at this scale, but the principles are the same."
"What do you need from me?"
"Decisions." She pulled up another document. "You want Oscorp broken into smaller, independent companies. That means you need to appoint leadership for each of those companies. CEOs, CFOs, boards of directors. Forty-seven entities, assuming my count is correct, and that means roughly two hundred executive positions that need to be filled in the next sixty to ninety days."
"Well…that' is why I hired your firm."
Jennifer smiled. It was the smile of someone who appreciated a challenge. "We'll handle the legal framework. The hiring is on you. Though I'd recommend bringing in a specialized executive recruitment firm—maybe two or three—to handle the volume. Our HR contacts are good, but this is unprecedented."
"Make the calls. Whatever you need."
"Emma already authorized the budget." Jennifer set her tablet down. "Which brings me to my next question. The optics of this."
"Optics?"
"You're shutting down one of the largest corporations in America. Thousands of jobs, billions in market value, a legacy institution that's been part of New York's skyline for decades. People are going to ask why. The press is already asking. The public will want answers."
Felix leaned back. "What do you suggest?"
"Control the narrative. Don't let them tell the story for you. How about this: you are not destroying Oscorp, you are, ah, restructuring it to eliminate inefficiencies, reduce corporate bloat, and create more agile companies that can better serve their markets. Jobs will be preserved. Innovation will flourish. Blah, blah, blah. The Osborn legacy ends, but something better rises from the ashes. Considering the Osborns have both died, well, perhaps you can use that too. Use a sentimental argument."
"Hmm…"
"I know, I know. Optimism isn't required, but good PR is still useful. People pretend it doesn't affect them, even judges, but it does." Jennifer uncrossed her legs and leaned forward. "Here's what I need you to understand, Felix. This is going to be a fight. Every step of the way, someone is going to try to stop you. Shareholders, regulators, competitors who see an opportunity, politicians who want to make a name for themselves. You need to be prepared for that."
"I am."
"I would ask again but…" Jennifer craned her head at the double-doors. "You brought Captain America on-board, which, I mean…"
"Can't get more prepared than that," Felix joked.
Jennifer snickered and then stood, smoothing her pantsuit. "I'll have my team start drafting the initial filings. We'll need to move fast on the shareholder suits—the response deadlines are tight. I'll also start coordinating with the recruitment firms. If we can get ahead of the leadership question, it'll give us leverage in the regulatory conversations."
"One more thing." Felix rose as well. "There may be...complications. You probably know a thing or two about Norman Osborn. He's the type to have hidden assets, shell companies that aren't in the official records, and accounts that certain parties would prefer to stay hidden."
'Just in case. Herbie found a couple, but although he's a supercomputer AI, there's some thing only a human eye can connect and fine.'
Jennifer inhaled. "And? What should we do with them?"
"Dissolve them, hopefully. But first, if you find anything, bring it to me directly. Don't file it with the court. Not yet."
She studied him again, that same assessing look from before. Then she nodded once, decisively. "If this blows back on my firm—"
"It won't."
"You sound confident."
"I am."
Jennifer extended her hand again. "Then we have an agreement. Goodman, Lieber, Kurtzberg & Holliway will represent you and the dissolution entity in all legal matters related to the Oscorp restructuring. I'll be your primary contact, though you'll likely work with several of our partners as things progress."
Felix shook her hand. "I look forward to it."
"As do I." She gathered her tablet and briefcase. "Oh, and Felix? The documentation. The fourteen hundred pages. I still want to know who helped you put that together. Legal curiosity, professional interest, whatever you want to call it. Someday, you'll tell me."
"It's a secret."
"Uh-huh." Jennifer didn't believe him, but she let it go. "I'll be in touch by end of day with the initial filing schedule. Try not to generate any more lawsuits before then."
"No promises."
Jennifer laughed professionally with a pinch of authenticity. She walked toward the door, heels clicking steadily against the hardwood floor. Samantha appeared and opened it for her.
"Ms. Walters." Samantha nodded.
"Samantha." Jennifer nodded back. "Thank you for the escort."
"Always."
The door closed behind her, and Felix let out a breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding. One meeting down. Dozens to go. And a court case too. Sigh. But Jennifer Walters was sharp, capable, and clearly unafraid of the scale of what he was attempting. That was worth more than almost anything else.
His phone buzzed. A message from Emma:
< She's good, isn't she? Told you I'd send the best.
Felix typed back: < You did. Thank you.
< Emma: Don't thank me yet. The real work is just starting. Also, update on the surveillance operation: nothing yet.
He set the phone down. The coffee had gone cold. Outside the window, the city stretched endlessly, glass and steel catching the late-morning. Somewhere out there, cyborgs from a future Earth were watching and waiting. Somewhere in this building, people were working jobs that would panic because of a company that was to cease in a few months.
Felix picked up his tablet. It was already connected to Herbie. Herbie pulled up the list of potential CEOs for the newly independent companies. Two hundred positions to fill. A corporate empire to dismantle.
"A future to change," Felix murmured to himself.
Herbie's voice came through his earpiece. "Master Faeth, your eleven o'clock has arrived early. A representative from the EPA regarding the Queens chemical facility."
Ah, shoot. Samantha might give the poor representative a glare. He pressed the big red intercom button and told Samantha, "Samantha, a representative from a Queens chemical facility is coming early today. Don't scare them off, please."