ch. 2 - origins
“Whoa…”
Walking around your father’s lab filled you with amazement every time. Ever since you were younger, you had inherited his science-loving tendencies, unlike your older brother, who seemed to be interested in anything else except for his studies.
You had spent the entire morning roaming around Oscorp with your father, having his hands over your shoulders as he showed you off to his employees with a beaming smile on his face.
He boasted about you like a trophy, explaining to everyone he came across how you were the future for his multi-million corporation, leaving you with your cheeks burning every thirty minutes.
“One day, all of this will be yours…”
His words rang in your ears, a grin on your face as your eyes scanned the plethora of specimens in the vast experiment room. The place contained everything; mammals, reptiles, arachnids, everything that you could imagine, you could find at least a small sample of them or at least something associated with them.
Though you were having the time of your life exploring the complexities of Oscorp industries, your brother seemed to be having the opposite experience. The poor guy was bored out of his mind, trying to keep himself occupied by annoying you as much as he could.
“Stop it!” You scowled at him, swatting his fists away as he pretended to fake-punch you every chance he got. “Leave me alone!”
Harry laughed, shoving you closer to your father’s marsupial specimens. “I’m sooooo bored here, you’re the only one to keep me company.”
Rolling your eyes playfully at your dramatic brother, you pushed him off your shoulder. “Why did you even want to come, anyway? You hate science..and literally anything involving thinking.”
The teen followed your steps as your eyes scanned the several pieces of advanced technology surrounding your father’s lab. “I thought he was gonna be here…plus, I had to let people know that you’re not the only Osborn in town. Someone had to get the looks!”
“He’s got a college visit to attend or something…” You sighed, hearing your brother’s haughty comments about himself. You knew he didn’t mean it, he just loved to piss you off. “How are we even related…”
“When a boy and a girl like each other very much–”
“I hope you die.”
- - -
Harry’s lanky body laid spread out on your father’s chair as he snored loudly, leaving you to explore your father’s specimens on your own.
One day, this will all be yours…
The thoughts rang in your mind like a bell. It was the only thing on your mind. So much so that it left you oblivious to the small spider that jumped on your shoulder, making its way down your arm.
You stopped next to Harry, noticing his short-sleeved t-shirt and the goosebumps on his skin. The temperature of the lab was chilly, as to preserve the samples that laid inside of it. Instinctively, you took off your sweater, draping the warm zip-up over his sprawled out body.
Glancing at the desk next to you, your fingers seemed to work by themselves as they went through the papers laid out on your father’s workspace.
You flipped through pages upon pages of past, present, and future projects for the company, seeing his jotted down notes and business plans. You had stopped to see your name written a few times, whether it be reminders to pick you up from school, to literal project names he had planned for you to take over once you had graduated.
It wasn’t until you skimmed through his blueprints that you saw the red and blue spider chilling right below your knuckle.
There was no time to react before you felt the arachnid seep its fangs into your skin, biting your lip so as to not yell out in pain. You slapped it on instinct, watching the small spider fall to the floor, twitching slightly as you looked at your hand. It was already turning red.
You rushed to the bathroom, pressing a wet, soapy paper towel onto your arm.
Don’t panic, don’t panic…
You had only hoped that the spider wasn’t one of your father’s experiments. If he had found out you had accidentally killed one of his samples…
No. You weren’t going to tell him.
Throwing the paper towel in the garbage, you walked out of the bathroom quickly, hiding your hand by putting it in the pocket of your jeans.
- - -
“You okay, kiddo?”
You could barely respond as you looked up at your father. Slumped in one of his office chairs, he had never seen you so still in his workspace; usually, you’d be running all over the place, oggling at every little piece you would see.
No response. Your throat was dry as you tried to open your mouth to assure him that you were fine. But you couldn’t.
“You look pale…” He commented, pressing his hand against your forehead. “And you’re burning up…Harry!”
Your thoughts had been muffled, the only thing you made out of their conversation had been “take your sister home.”
If this was any other situation, you would’ve refused any drive with your brother at this age. He was just a sophomore and the guy already had his own driver’s liscense; not to mention that every time you rode with him, it was practically a suicide attempt.
But this wasn’t any other situation. Your body ached and your head was pounding. The only thing that kept your father from noticing anything was your sleeves hiding the bite.
Everything was a blur. All you could remember was Harry helping you walk to his car until you blacked out in the passenger’s seat.
- - -
You woke up in your bedroom. Dazed and confused, you slid off your bed before looking at yourself in the mirror. Something was off…
Glancing around the room, you felt that everything had gotten a smidge smaller. Taking a glimpse back at your reflection, you had noticed that the jeans you had passed out in seemed a little less baggy than when you had tried them on the day before.
You slid off your pants, noticing that it was slightly shorter than you remembered.
Did I get a growth spurt or something…?
Biting your lip, you shrugged off your thoughts as you opened the windows to your room, letting the slight breeze from outside soothe the storm rattling inside your brain.
You looked down on the streets of your hometown, everything seeming enhanced.
The noises. The beeping of car horns. The shouts in the bustling city below you. Everything was so overwhelming to the point where you gasped, pulling the window shut as you closed the curtains.
They were only muffled as you scanned your room in a daze. Putting on a pair of old pajama pants, you walked downstairs to find a cold plate of food on the island counter and a sticky note scribbled with a ballpoint pen.
“You still had a fever last night. Stay home and get some rest. I made you breakfast. Love you.”
-Dad.
You let out a small chuckle at the note, staring at his crappy doodle of a smiling sun on the paper. Though he was a well-renowned scientist, the man couldn’t draw even if you held a gun to his head.
Placing the sticky note in your pocket, you took a seat and ate the cold plate of food silently.