#225 - Dressing Room Theatre

"What's wrong, Dad?" Harry Osborn asked his father with concern. "Should I call a doctor?"

"No need, it's just a sneeze, no need to make a fuss." Norman pulled out a tissue and wiped his nose. "Shouldn't you be resting more after just returning from another universe?"

"I've already rested. It's you, Father, who should get more sleep," Harry retorted.

"I will," Norman replied dismissively.

Seeing his father's response, Harry didn't insist, but quietly moved Norman's physical examination time forward on his schedule.

"By the way," Harry handed a document to Norman. "This is the latest viewership rating for the 'New Warriors' show."

This 'New Warriors' was the exclusive program for the super team, the New Warriors. STAR Company's five top teams each had their own exclusive program named after their team, broadcast from Monday to Friday respectively. Saturdays and Sundays would feature reruns of the top programs and shows featuring smaller, unified characters.

Norman took the document. Although these things were handled by dedicated people and didn't require his personal attention, Norman would still occasionally take a look to relieve the fatigue from his main business. After all, the Osborn Corporation was in the research business, so there were quite a few things that raised Norman's blood pressure.

Usually at times like this, Norman would look at his booming side business. Norman was a businessman after all, and the soaring data was the best remedy. However, today's document didn't make Norman happy.

"Why have the ratings dropped so much?" Norman frowned, throwing the document on his desk. "Did someone in the New Warriors have a scandal?"

Logically, it's normal for a TV show's ratings to fluctuate. This wasn't the first time this had happened. There have been instances where superheroes had scandals and were boycotted by the public, leading to lower ratings.

Norman's mind conjured up an arrogant figure. He rubbed his temples and said, "Is it Speedball? He looks like the type to cause trouble. What did he do?"

"It's not him," Harry shook his head. "No one made a mistake this time. It's because of Ben."

Hearing Harry's words, Norman was somewhat surprised. He asked, "Ben? How is this related to him?"

Norman vaguely remembered his interaction with Ben after he transformed into Heatblast, and couldn't help but shudder. He prayed in his heart not to offend the great Buddha that was Ben.

"When the New Warriors were arresting criminals, a bank robbery happened to occur, and Ben happened to solve that robbery." As Harry spoke, he took out a remote control from his pocket and pressed a button. A screen slowly descended from the ceiling, and the image of Ben transforming into the Stinkfly with energy whips appeared on it.

"Although I've never seen Ben transform into this form, I've only seen this pattern on Ben," Harry pointed to the Omnitrix on Stinkfly's left shoulder.

Hearing Harry say this, Norman couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief. Good, good, as long as he didn't offend Ben.

Although Harry didn't know why his father suddenly breathed a sigh of relief, he continued to explain, "We've analyzed the online comments and found that the vast majority of casual viewers are tired of our same old handsome and beautiful heroes. They're all asking if Ben's transformed pterodactyl is the company's new hero, and clamoring for us to launch his show quickly."

"Ignore them," Norman leaned back in his chair. "People are like that. They always want what they don't have and are never satisfied. Let them stew for a while, then find a few extraordinary people with strange appearances to film a special program."

Norman saw it very clearly. The more you cater to the audience, the more they'll take advantage of you. A little discipline is necessary. The reason Norman dared to do this was because he had the confidence, his confidence came from the Osborn Corporation's strongest resources and the official backing from S.H.I.E.L.D. He could be said to have a monopoly on the superhero market. Those viewers could only put up with it even if they were unhappy.

"Should I call Peter over?" Harry asked. "Peter's transformed form will definitely capture a large audience. With that, he might be able to go back to school."

This reminded Norman. He said, "You can discuss it with Peter, but be careful when talking to him, don't provoke him, and be sure to respect Peter's opinion."

"Of course, I know, Dad," Harry said excitedly. "Peter is my good friend."

The father and son talked for a while, and Harry went to find Peter happily, leaving Norman alone in the office, which returned to silence.

Looking at Speedball on the document poster, Norman inexplicably had a bad feeling.

"Hopefully, I'm just overthinking it," Norman sighed. Teenagers are always a worry. Seeing these kids, Norman was increasingly proud of Harry.

Crumpling the documents on the desk into a ball, Norman casually threw them into the trash can.

"Clang!"

Speedball Robbie squeezed the soda can in his hand and threw it into the break room trash can in a basketball-shooting posture.

"Yes!" Robbie cheered alone. "Three-pointer from downtown! Robbie saves his team."

"Keep it down, Robbie!" Namorita scolded. "This isn't your personal break room."

Faced with his teammate's complaint, Robbie didn't feel a bit guilty. He curled his lips and said, "Did you think I wanted to play the fool? I just thought that everyone was feeling down because the ratings were down, so I wanted to cheer you guys up."

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"Thanks, but that's not funny," Namorita said helplessly, holding her forehead.

Robbie thought to himself: 'So difficult to please, no wonder she has such a good figure but no boyfriend. Who can stand this personality? Eileen is more lovely.'

Thinking this, Squirrel Girl Doreen Green indeed stepped forward to smooth things over.

"Okay, everyone is on the same team, everyone is friends, no need to be so confrontational," Eileen waved her hands as she walked between the two.

"I'm just telling the truth," Namorita didn't take the opportunity to back down, and still stubbornly said. "On the contrary, someone has always looked down on us, thinking about being alone in a room, save it, that's for Mister Immortal, the five-giant level."

"Hey!" Robbie shouted dissatisfiedly, and Eileen pulled him aside.

"You're saying too much, Rita," Eileen winked at Namorita, signaling her to say less.

"Forget it, Eileen," Robbie curled his lips, pretending to be disdainful and said. "After all, the other party isn't the same race as us, it's normal for them to look down on us."