Bitten
"Penny, are you sure your dad is going to be okay with you going on this field trip? Oscorp is kind of his rival..." Ned inquired.
"First of all, Ned, Tony is not my dad. Secondly, he would have to acknowledge me to care. So, yeah, I'm going." The genetic research going on at Oscorp was rumored to be revolutionary. Penny had a passion for learning: she knew she couldn't miss out on the opportunity to see it in person.
"There are over 32,000 known species of spider in the world. They're in the order aranae which is divided..." the tour guide began.
Penny marveled over her surroundings, "this tech is amazing, Ned!"
"I know! Do you have stuff like this..." he paused to hush his voice, "in the tower?"
"I mean, I guess. Tony would never let me near it, though."
The two followed their guide around, the amazement never leaving their faces. Penny broke away to look a cluster of spider enclosures.
"You know, spiders can change their color to blend into their environment," a voice appeared from beside her.
"Yeah, it's a defense mechanism." she replied.
"I'm Harry Osborn, and who might you be?"
"Penny Parker. It's nice to meet you."
She wanted to continue talking with Harry, but had to catch up to the tour, which had gotten significantly further away.
Leaning against a column, the asthmatic Penny Parker had to take a breather before she was able to reunite with her class. She was too distracted trying to survive, and she was unable to notice the spider that had crawled its way to the nape of her neck. Once her body had finally reached homeostasis, Penny prepared herself to move ahead, but she was stopped by a pinch on the back of her neck. She let out a yelp in pain.
"Pen? You okay?" Ned hurried over to her.
"Yeah, Ned. I'm good. Must've been a twitch."
"Miss Parker, Mister Leeds, let's catch up with the class," their chaperone warned.
As the tour progressed, Penny began to feel more and more ill.
"Are you sure you are okay?" questioned Ned, "You aren't gonna, like, die on me or anything, right?"
"Yeah, I think I might just be catching another cold. You know me and my health," she defended. "I'll just tough it out and pass out when I go home."
Ned accepted her answer, but still kept a vigilant eye, making sure she didn't drop dead on the tour.
--
"Hey, F.R.I.D.A.Y., do I have anything going on tonight?" Penny groaned.
"No, Miss Stark, you do not appear to have anything scheduled for tonight."
In response, Penny stripped herself of her outer-clothing, feeling as though her body was on fire, and threw herself onto her bed. She did not worry about anyone walking in on her while unclothed, she was almost certain that none of them had ever been in her room.
--
It wasn't until six in the evening the next day that Penny woke up. She instinctively reached for her glasses on her nightstand, but putting them on offered her no relief. She tried to adjust her glasses, not understanding why things were blurry with them on. She gave up and threw them to the side, only to be met with perfect vision.
She walked up to the mirror in her poorly decorated room and stared at herself, double checking that her glasses were off. Penny did not see any glasses, but she was instead met with an unfamiliar muscular build.
Suddenly, Penny was overwhelmed with hunger. This was completely logical: she had slept an entire day. Penny went to her wardrobe to find an outfit, but none of her old clothes were fitting. She reluctantly settled for an over-sized Iron Man t-shirt, which definitely wasn't hers, and a pair of spandex shorts.
When she walked into the kitchen, she took note of Tony and Pepper sitting at the dining table, attempting to speak in hushed whispers.
"Oh hello, Penelope. Come join us," Pepper invited.
"No, thanks, I think I'm just gonna make a sandwich."
"Nonsense, there is plenty of food. Besides, there is..." Pepper looked over at Tony, "something we've been meaning to talk to you about."
Penny knew there was no way of getting out of this. She cautiously began to spoon food onto her plate.
"Penelope, I think you should know that your father and I have started dating."
"Oh. Okay," Penny started shoveling food into her mouth, "ib thab all?"
"See, Pep. I told you she wouldn't care," Tony whispered. An awkward silence filled the room.
"Good talk, but I'm gonna go back to my room."
In a hushed whisper, Pepper suggested, "You should try to connect with her more. It might be good for you both."
"Pep, she doesn't want to be bothered, and I don't feel like bothering her. It works out."
--
Penny was familiar with superpowers: it came with having a superhero father. She assumed the corrected eyesight and muscles indicated she had gained powers of some sort, she just needed to find out which exact powers she had.
She scrambled through her desk drawer to find an unused notebook.
03/20/2015
symptoms: nausea, exhaustion ~24 hrs
powers?
enhanced eyesight
She recalled overhearing Pepper and Tony's hushed conversation. Did that mean she had enhanced hearing? If she had enhanced hearing and eyesight, did that mean all her senses were enhanced? She didn't know how her touch would be enhanced, but she began touching random objects to test her theory. Her pen? Nothing. Her table? Nothing. Her wall? Sticky. Ew. Penny tried to pull her hand off of the wall, but it wouldn't give. She braced her other hand against the wall, trying to provide an opposing force, but that left her with two hands stuck to the wall. Did she have a natural adhesive? After a bout of struggling, Penny managed to get unstuck from the wall... or, at least, kind of... where her hands were once attached to the wall were now gaping holes. Was she strong too? As for taste and smell, she didn't really notice any differences. The only large ones were sight, hearing, and touch. She updated her journal.
symptoms: nausea, exhaustion ~24 hrs
powers?
enhanced eyesight
enhanced hearing
enhanced strength
natural adhesive **note: get posters
cause?
What caused her new powers? Were they temporary? Would there be any side effects?
She didn't quite know the answer to her questions. There was also the question of what she would do. Should she tell an adult? Who could she tell? What would she do with her powers? How would she continue to test her powers- surely a sudden influx in posters and holes covering the walls would be concerning.
Penny couldn't test in the tower- if something went wrong, F.R.I.D.A.Y. might notify Tony- but she did need a controlled environment. She recalled exchanging numbers with Harry. She could ask to test there- but, no, that would be stupid. She had only just met him. How could she trust him? It would be nice to text him, unrelated to the whole 'waking up with superpowers' thing. It couldn't hurt, but what would she even say?
Footsteps approaching her door threw her off her train of thoughts. She closed her notebook and hid it under her pillow.
"Penny? Can I come in?" it was Natasha. When Nat wasn't busy, which she very often was, she tried to have a relationship with Penny.
"Yeah, of course Nat," she opened the door and her eyes immediately drew towards the two holes in the wall, but she didn't say anything; instead, she came and sat on the bed with Penny, and brushed Penny's hair out of her face.
"What's going on Pen? You know you can talk to me." Penny's heart started racing. She loved Nat, but she knew Nat was more loyal to Tony. She tried to think of any excuse.
"It's a boy," she blurted out, "I went on a field trip... and I met a guy there and he gave me his number and I don't know what to say." It wasn't entirely a lie. It was something bothering her, just not the most pressing issue at hand.
"What's his name?" Natasha pried.
"Well... it's kind of... ugh it's Harry Osborn." Penny croaked out. Nat smirked at her.
"Osborn? Like Oscorp Industries? Penelope Stark!" she teased.
"Nat, what do I even say to him?" Penny bent forward to grab her phone and heard a small gasp come from Natasha.
"Pen, what happened to your neck?" Nat inquired as she touched a bump on the nape of her neck.
"What do you mean?" Penny shot up to look in the mirror. She turned around to see a large red lump. "Huh, I don't really know. Weird."
"That might be infected, Pen. Maybe we should go see Bruce."
"No!" she paused, "I mean, I'm sure it's nothing. He's probably busy. I'll go see him if anything happens, I swear."
"Okay, but if you feel even the slightest bit off, tell me, okay? I do care about you, Pen."
"I know, Nat."