Transformation
The high-pitched alarm echoed through the Oscorp lab, bouncing off the metallic walls as Winter Parker struggled to clear the spiders off her. Her heart pounded in her chest, panic coursing through her veins. The sting on her hand from the spider bite throbbed, but she had no time to think about it—she had to get out of here.
Without thinking, Winter frantically grabbed the nearest object on the lab table: a small vial of a strange, thick substance with a label she barely had time to read. Something about "polymer fibers" and "enhanced tensile strength." Whatever it was, it seemed important. She stuffed it into her backpack and sprinted toward the exit, her mind racing with fear.
The alarm blared louder as she slipped through the restricted area doors, trying to blend back into the crowd of students in the Oscorp lobby. Her pulse still quickened with the fear that someone might stop her, but she kept moving, hoping that her disguise would hold up for just a little longer.
As she reached the lobby, her heart nearly stopped again when she bumped directly into Karina Yu.
Karina looked at her with a raised eyebrow, her gaze flicking to Winter’s backpack and then back to her face. "You again?" she asked, her voice filled with curiosity, though her tone carried a hint of suspicion. "What are you doing back here? I told you not to get into trouble."
Winter’s face flushed with embarrassment. She fumbled with her words, unable to come up with an excuse fast enough. "I-I didn’t mean to—"
Before she could finish, Karina’s hand darted out, and with a swift motion, she plucked the fake intern pass from around Winter’s neck. Karina examined it for a moment, then glanced back at Winter with narrowed eyes. "This isn’t real, is it?"
Winter’s stomach dropped. She tried to grab it back, but Karina kept it out of reach.
"I’ll be holding onto this," Karina said with a smirk. "You better leave before someone catches you for real. Just… don’t do anything stupid, alright?"
Winter could only nod, her heart pounding in her chest. Karina gave her one last glance before walking off, leaving Winter in a daze. How had her day spiraled so far out of control?
She didn’t have time to dwell on it. Winter quickly slipped out of the building and made her way to the nearest subway station. She had to get home and figure out what was happening.
---
As the train rattled along the tracks, Winter leaned back in her seat, still feeling the sting of the spider bite on her hand. Her head felt heavy, her vision blurry. Her body was hot—burning, even. Sweat beaded on her forehead as she clutched her backpack, her thoughts a whirlwind of confusion.
The Oscorp building had been a disaster, but now all she could think about was the strange sensation spreading through her body. Her muscles twitched, her skin crawled, and there was a buzzing in the back of her mind that she couldn’t shake. It felt as if something deep within her was changing, shifting.
And then, everything went black.
---
Winter jolted awake to the screech of the subway train pulling into the station. She sat up quickly, her breath coming in shallow gasps. Her body felt… different. Lighter. Stronger. She stood up and instantly stumbled forward, her body overreacting to the movement. Winter braced herself against the train wall, trying to figure out what was going on.
As she stepped off the train and into the dimly lit station, something strange happened. Her hands reached out instinctively to grab the wall, and to her shock, they stuck to it. She yanked her hand away in disbelief. “What the…?”
Suddenly, a surge of energy rippled through her body. Winter’s reflexes kicked into overdrive as she jumped back—and found herself clinging to the ceiling of the subway tunnel. Her eyes widened in shock. She was… stuck to the ceiling? How was this possible?
She tried to push herself off, but her body reacted without thinking. With a flip, she launched herself off the ceiling and landed on her feet—on the wall. She was standing sideways on the wall.
Winter’s breath came in quick gasps. She quickly climbed down, feeling her heart race as adrenaline surged through her veins. This wasn’t normal. Nothing about this was normal.
---
The next morning, Winter woke up in her bed, her mind reeling from the events of the previous night. She was convinced it had all been a dream—until she saw the bruised bite mark on her hand. And when she instinctively stretched, her hand stuck to the wall again.
That’s when the panic truly set in.
Winter scrambled to her feet, trying to make sense of what had happened to her. Her senses were heightened, her vision sharper. Every sound, every movement in her room felt amplified, like she was in some kind of hyper-aware state.
She glanced at the mirror across the room and blinked in shock. The reflection staring back at her wasn’t the same awkward, clumsy girl she had been the day before. Her body had toned up overnight, her muscles leaner and stronger. Even her eyesight had improved. She no longer needed her glasses.
"Oh my god…" Winter whispered, her voice trembling with disbelief.
With shaky hands, she grabbed the nearest thing she could—a book—and tossed it across the room. To her surprise, it shot across the air faster than she expected, slamming into the wall with a loud thud. Winter’s eyes widened in shock.
After a few moments of trying to calm herself down, Winter decided to test her abilities. She spent the next few hours climbing up walls, leaping around her room, and marveling at the superhuman strength and agility she now possessed. She even managed to stick to the ceiling for several minutes without falling.
Her mind raced with possibilities. Had the spider bite done this to her? Was this somehow connected to her father’s work at Oscorp?
But just as Winter was starting to piece it all together, her phone buzzed. It was a message from her best friend, Ningning.
Ningning: Hey, where have you been? I heard you were sneaking around Oscorp… Is everything okay?
Winter hesitated for a moment before responding.
Winter: You won’t believe what happened.
---
Hours later, Winter sat across from Ningning in their favorite coffee shop, her best friend staring at her with wide eyes as she finished explaining everything.
"So, you’re telling me you got bit by a mutant spider, and now you’re, like, Spider-Woman?" Ningning asked, her tone half-incredulous, half-amused.
Winter nodded, looking a little pale. "Pretty much… Yeah."
Ningning leaned back in her seat, a grin spreading across her face. "Okay, first of all, that’s amazing. Second of all, you have to show me everything."
Winter sighed. She had expected Ningning to freak out, but her best friend was taking the whole thing surprisingly well.
"You’re not freaked out?" Winter asked, still unsure of how to feel about her newfound powers.
"Oh, I’m freaked out, alright," Ningning said with a laugh. "But this is also the coolest thing that’s ever happened. You’ve got powers, Winter. Super powers. We need to figure out what you’re capable of!"
Winter couldn’t help but smile at her friend’s enthusiasm. "I guess we do…"
And just like that, Ningning became her right-hand woman, ready to help Winter navigate this strange new world of spider-powers and mutant abilities.