Webs In Ink

As soon as I left Horizon Labs, I called my dad. It rang a few times. Then a few more times. Then it went to voicemail. I called him again. It rang. Voicemail. It was barely noon in New York. Which meant it was nine am in San Francisco. My dad, being a heavy sleeper, also never woke up before eleven.

So, I just went back to my apartment. I sat on my kitchen island, looking around for a moment, trying to take in… everything. The light from the windows made the living room look more homey than when I first moved in. The sun was setting and the light shone onto the floor happily.

I took a deep breath, remembering how just a few months ago, I was trying to finish my final project in Journalism and cramming for exams. I was trying to finish off my High School career strong before I was finally free. And here I was now, actually free. Nothing holding me back just yet.

But it was empty. I hadn’t organized my kitchen things into the limited space in my kitchen. The things were just all of the things my dad was willing to let me have. Most of the plates and pans. Most of the cups. He argued that I would be having more people over at one time than he would.

I hopped off the counter and my mind wandered to my dad as I found places to put the kitchen ware. He called when he landed and then when he got to his apartment. But something about the way he was speaking told me he wasn’t actually okay. But if my father was as stubborn as I was, I would have to take his answer for what it was.

I sighed at the mess of things I made on the counters, completely discouraging me from any further organization. I stood up and walked into my bathroom to take a shower, desperate to feel refreshed after the mentally taxing interview only two hours ago. I turned on the shower, frowning at the weak water pressure. Although, the temperature became scalding within a few seconds. Of course that was the case in New York.

When I finally got the water to a normal temperature, I stepped in, letting the water fall over me for a moment. I wasn’t even sure that the hot water would last long but it was enough to calm me of the residual nerves running through me. In my calmer state, my mind started to wander back to how I was on my own now.

There were memories from when I was nine years old that I could pull from like they were yesterday. Laughing and running around Peter’s house. Playing hide and seek with Harry and Peter. Harry… Norman… There was no way he was dead. But would Morbius really lie about something like that?

I got out of the shower and sat on my bed, looking for the most recent news headlines about Oscorp. And there it was: CEO & Founder of Oscorp Industries Passes Away at the Age of 63

I sighed at the headline, reading and clicking on the article. I read further and the only part that caught my eye was that his son, Harry Osborn, would take over as his only heir. I took in a breath, wishing there was a way that I could contact him again.

I scrolled a bit further, seeing a paparazzi picture of him sneering as he tried to get into a car. The caption telling me that the photo was taken only one day ago when he had just arrived back in New York. Harry was back in New York.

Taking in the information for a second, I shook my head and closed the tab, instead looking for places nearby that I could order take-out from. After a while, I was starting to consider just paying Mrs. Guo a visit. But that would be almost an hour to go and come back. So, Pizza would have to do.

I grabbed the same pair of shorts I had slept in the night before and a random t-shirt at the top of a box I had barely started unpacking. It was bright green with a cartoon of fries with sunglasses on. Right about the anthropomorphic fries were the words ‘Fries before guys!!’

I walked out of my room with my laptop and blanket in hand just as I heard someone putting the key into the door lock. I stared at the door in fear and tried to look around for any sort of weapon before I remembered my call with Peter earlier that morning. I sighed and set down my laptop on the floor where I was planning on sitting.

“Can you call before you just barge in?” I called out, not even bothered to look at him as he entered the apartment before I started looking around for my phone. I looked up at him when he didn’t say anything, forgetting everything I was doing when I saw a familiar blonde grinning back at me. “Oh my god!”

I ran towards Harry, pushing Peter aside and throwing my arms around him. He chuckled lowly, his arms wrapping around my waist as I squeezed him tight. “What a way to be welcomed back home,” He teased, his voice sounding deeper, far more mature, than the last time I saw him.

“I can't believe you’re here!” I exclaimed, pulling away from the hug and taking in his face. Eight years since I had heard about him and seen him in person. He was taller than me now. Not by much, but much more than when we were ten. I turned to Peter who was watching with his own grin. “Why is he here?”

“What?” Harry asked, getting my attention. “You didn’t want to see me or something?”

“No! That’s not it!” I tried to explain quickly. “I just didn’t think you’d be here.”

Peter walked into my laundry room with his old school bag, “I went to see him and we just kinda ended up here.”

I scoffed, “Right, you ended up here with your dirty laundry.” Harry laughed, causing me to turn back around to face him. I caught the way his eyes looked me up and down for a moment before returning back to my own eyes. Had his eyes always been this blue?

“You look good,” He said, catching me off guard. He stammered for a second, realizing his words. “I guess we all aged pretty well, huh?”

I looked up at his hair and nodded sarcastically. Then I reached up and ruffled it. “Definitely. Who did this to you?”

He swatted my hand away and just smiled at me. I couldn’t help but smile back at him. Then I remembered the article I read a few moments ago. “Hey, I’m sorry about your dad.”

Harry’s smile faltered and I immediately felt guilt pool into my stomach. “I… It’s fine. He wasn’t ever really… there. At least I got to say goodbye.” I nodded before pulling him in for another hug. From the laundry room, I heard Peter’s phone ringing and him answering it in a quiet voice. “But hey, I heard you did an interview at Horizon Labs for an internship. Why not Oscorp?”

I shook my head with a scoff, walking over to the kitchen island and jumping up onto it. Harry followed me and I caught sight of Peter running into my room to finish his call. I looked at the closed door strangely before shaking my head.

“Too close to home,” I said with a shrug. “Either way, I thought your dad wouldn’t have wanted me working there…”

Harry shrugged, looking around at the scattered boxes in the living room. “I would have wanted you there. I could use at least one familiar face, don’t you think?”

I tried to ignore the suggestive smile on his face, instead choosing to look out at the view from the window. The sky was so golden that it was even starting to grow red. “Would you guys maybe want to stay for a bit? I ordered pizza and it shouldn’t be too long now,” I explained, hoping for some company. Someone to calmly tell about my internship.

Harry just smiled at with hooded eyes, “Alina Brock, as hospitable as alway. You sure Eddie raised you?” I scoffed and rolled my eyes at him. “I would love to, AJ, but I have to get back to Oscorp. I left it…unsupervised.”

I looked at him weirdly, “Right…”

“Hey, guys,” Peter called, catching both of our attention. “I’m gonna head out. Do you mind if I leave my stuff with you?”

I looked at him sadly for a second, feeling his anticipating eyes boring into me, begging for a confirmation. I nodded with a tight-lipped smile, causing him to head straight for the door, bypassing me completely. 

“Yeah, as much as I am tempted to catch up,” Harry said as he watched Peter leave. “My assistant called me like five times already. I have to go but I will see you later, Brock.”

I tried to put on my best smile, cocking my head to the side. “You too, Osborn.” He smiled at me and followed behind Peter out of my apartment. Hopefully, I would see him again soon.

I sat on the floor of my living room with my laptop resting on a box, playing Devil Wears Prada as I ate pizza. It was quiet for it being New York. I never thought being here could be so quiet. And there wasn’t really anything for me to do. No homework that I needed to do or catch up on. No extended reading lists for my literature classes. I was simply refreshing my email every few minutes and heavily debating setting up my T.V. and calling my network provider.

That probably would have been the adult thing to do, but instead, I went with another adult thing and started putting away more of my dishes and kitchen things. I opened cabinets, finding places to hide away old tupperware containers and never see them again. Folding up boxes and setting them off to the side.

I was rinsing out my glasses when suddenly the lights in my apartment shut off. I stood there stunned, the running water being the only sound before the lights began to flicker. Looking out of the windows in the living room, there was no light coming from any of the surrounding buildings. Then a sudden rumble came from beneath me and a huge flash of light accompanied it outside.

I felt my heart drop as I remembered when Dr. Conners had attacked Midtown as a giant lizard. The screams. The running. The adrenaline. He was a few feet away from me and Gwen that same night.

The yelling from my neighbours was what got me moving again. I was back in my apartment and the water in my sink was still running. I turned it off quickly and ran to my laptop after I set down the glass in the sink.

I found the same website from the night of the Oscorp incident. They had since rebranded to a mainly Spider-Man focused news source and I couldn’t be happier about it for times like this. Especially in a city where there is a human spider and giant lizards, I wouldn’t put it past another lizard outbreak.

I pulled up a live feed and saw that it had ended only a few moments ago. I clicked back to a few minutes ago, watching in fear as a man with glowing blue skin took up the screen. He seemed to be mouthing something, turning around and admiring himself on the jumbotrons in Times Square.

Then the shot widened to one of Peter and the glowing man. I turned up the volume, listening closely as I looked out the window again to the dark city. This time, I felt rumbling as Peter’s voice sounded through the speakers of my computer. I turned back to the screen when I heard a surge of electricity surge.

I was in awe seeing how the blue man shot out lighting from his hands. It was beautiful but so dangerous at the same time. The camera was barely able to follow Peter’s movements as a red blur as he caught a police cruiser from flying at a group of people running for their lives but also saving people from electrocuting themselves.

Then, the screen turned from the man's blue face to Peter’s red one. I heard shouting from the surrounding people and Peter visibly trying to calm the situation. He wasn’t doing a great job by the looks of it because the next thing anyone knows, another bolt of electricity is shooting past Peter. The lights in Time Square go out and not too long after, so does the camera. And my apartment is back to darkness.