"What is it? What did you bring? Show me… quickly!"
Soren smiled calmly and reached into his coat. From his inner pocket, he withdrew three slender vials, each glowing faintly in its own hue, green, dark blue, and golden-white.
He handed them over with casual flair.
"These are the potions I promised you, Osborn."
Osborn took them with reverence, holding them up to the light like priceless relics.
"So it wasn't just talk." He muttered, awestruck.
"These… Are these real?"
"Very real."
"Let me explain."
He pointed to the green vial first.
"This is the Quick Recovery Potion. It's the simplest one to produce. It rapidly heals minor injuries, cuts, bruises, muscle strain. Great for field medics or high-performance athletes. But... serious wounds? That takes a lot more."
Osborn's eyes were already glimmering with intrigue.
"You said simplest? Then the next one must be…"
Soren held up the dark blue vial.
"The Healing Potion. This one's the real deal. Doesn't matter how bad the injury is, stab wounds, burns, even shattered bones. Take it, and you'll be back on your feet in seconds. And for twenty minutes after ingestion, the body enters a state of hyper-regeneration."
Osborn looked like he'd seen a ghost and won the lottery at the same time.
"My God…"
"This could save thousands on the battlefield. Surgeons, EMTs, even astronauts…"
Then he pointed to the golden-white vial.
"And this?" he asked, already daring to hope.
"This luminous one… can it bring back the dead?"
"..." Soren blinked.
"You've been watching too many sci-fi movies."
"…"
"It's called the Body Enhancement Secret Medicine. No resurrection. But after taking it, the user's physical strength skyrockets muscle density, skin toughness, pain resistance. They can take a bullet and still keep moving."
Osborn waved him off, uninterested, until the last sentence registered.
"Take a bullet?" He repeated slowly.
"As in... survive being shot?"
Soren gave a slow, smug nod.
"Ordinary bullets, yes. Armor-piercing rounds might get through, depending on distance and angle. But if your average thug opens fire, the guy who drank this will walk through it like a superhero."
Osborn's jaw dropped open, then snapped shut. He leaned forward, gripping his desk with white knuckles.
"You're telling me this could turn a soldier into a walking tank for a few minutes?"
"I'm telling you it'll redefine infantry tactics." Soren replied, voice smooth as silk.
"Imagine a dozen operatives storming a compound, shrugging off bullets like flies."
Osborn sank into his chair, stunned. He looked at the vials again, as if they might disappear if he blinked.
"Soren…"
"You're not just a genius, you're a golden goose. No, you're… you're a godsend."
Soren chuckled.
Osborn was already moving. He gently set the vials in a secure cabinet, locking it twice and pocketing the key like it held the crown jewels.
"Sit, sit! Doctor, please. Sit down."
He nearly tripped over himself rushing back to offer Soren a chair.
"Do you have any idea what this means for Osborn Industries? For the world?"
"Of course I do." Soren said calmly, reclining into the leather seat.
"That's why I brought them to you. The world's about to change, Osborn. And I'd rather be on the wave than be crushed under it."
Osborn nodded, then paused, his tone shifting slightly.
"Do you… intend to hand over the full formulas to the company?" he asked cautiously.
"Or are these just samples for now?"
Soren's eyes twinkled.
"Osborn… I'm a major shareholder, remember? Why would I sabotage my own pockets?"
Osborn's face lit up with a kind of joy that only came with seeing a future empire take form before his eyes.
"You provide all three medicines."
"So, of course, you should take the lion's share. Seventy-five percent of the profits go to you, Doctor. What do you think?"
He didn't hesitate. Not even for a second. Norman Osborn might have been a shark in the corporate world, but he wasn't stupid.
These potions could revolutionize medicine, warfare, even survival itself. And if this was just the beginning, then keeping Soren close was worth any price.
Soren blinked, momentarily surprised by the generosity. Then he gave a soft laugh.
"Osborn, you really know how to do business."
He leaned back slightly, thoughtful.
"I'll go with seventy-thirty. That's more than fair. I'll write down the formulas and hand them over. The quick recovery and healing potions are easy enough to mass-produce. But the strengthening serum… that one takes more effort."
Osborn leaned forward. "What kind of effort?"
"Rare ingredients. Special refining processes. Timing. And… well, let's just say it's not something you want to rush. If done wrong, the body could collapse under its own unnatural strength."
"I see." Osborn nodded, absorbing the weight of Soren's words. "Still, even the two healing types alone are world changers."
"There's something else." Soren said, voice dropping.
"Yes?"
"At this stage, focus on mass production of the quick recovery and healing potions. Prioritize quantity and distribution speed."
Osborn squinted slightly. "You're speaking like something big is about to happen."
Soren gave a faint smile but didn't elaborate.
Osborn felt a chill. For a moment, he considered pressing the issue, but one look at Soren's unreadable face, and he knew better.
This was a man with knowledge far beyond the present moment.
"I understand." Osborn said finally, nodding. "We'll move fast."
Within the hour, Soren handed over the meticulously written formula sheets.
They read more like arcane rituals than chemistry instructions, lists of rare plants, timing guides, temperature curves, and alchemical balances.
But Osborn knew better than to question the source.
Everlife Medical Center
Soren materialized into the room with a soft ripple of air. He sensed the familiar presence before he even saw him.
"Thor." He said while stepping out from a shimmering ripple of space. "How's the preparation coming?"
Thor turned, golden armor gleaming under the warm lights of the clinic. He nodded solemnly.
"Soren. Asgard is ready. The army stands assembled. But the Bifrost is still the only stable link between Earth and Asgard. It limits the speed we can deploy troops."
Soren nodded slowly, as if confirming something already known.
"And the Tesseract?"
Thor's jaw tightened. "It's... complicated. There are others seeking it. Forces in the shadows. And not all of them are of Midgard."
Soren's eyes glinted. "The Chitauri are already moving, then."
Thor's head whipped toward him.
"You know of the Chitauri?"
"Of course." Soren said, as casually as if he were talking about the weather.
Thor's eyes narrowed. "That knowledge is kept secret by Odin himself. Only he and I~"
"~knew about it?" Soren finished for him.
Thor frowned, his grip tightening slightly around Mjolnir. "What else do you know, Soren? You speak of the Tesseract as if you know something."
"I've seen what happens when it falls into the wrong hands." Soren said grimly.
"The Tesseract is not just a shiny cube. It's an infinite power source. If Loki deciphers how to open a stable rift with it, the Chitauri fleet will flood this planet like a tidal wave of steel and destruction."
"You truly know of the Space Gem, then."
꧁𓊈𒆜༺⚜༻𒆜𓊉꧂
Dare you peek into my other tales? The opening three chapters of select stories are free to all.
PhantomDream