Chapter Text
Rain pours down from grey clouds as the coffin is lowered. The plot of land is small, for the widow could not afford a bigger area. Though the grave stood on top of a hill, with a small gravestone next to two others, a mother and a father. All around the gloomy sight, are graves that dot the landscape, with the horizon to the East blocked by towering skyscrapers. The widow in black pours out her heart, as her nephew looks down with a sharp pang of guilt embedded in his heart. The priest looks down at his holy bible and spoke a passage from the holy word,
“‘...He went to him and bound up his wounds, pouring on oil and wine. Then he set him on his own animal and brought him to an inn and took care of him.’ May Ben Parker, the samaritan, rest in peace.” The widow in black wept as she wiped her tears, and the next to her was a young teenager. He looked down through his large, round glasses, as he tries to comfort his aunt. As the grave is finally settled, shovels of dirt fill the hole, the aunt and nephew walk back to their car, and drive home.
The red car was small and cramped, though was old enough to let one know it was built to last. Peter looked out of the passenger window, as he felt… empty. The car, for how small it was, felt empty to Peter, as if there was something missing, and of course, there was someone missing. He tried to speak up, to cheer up Aunt May, but a large stone in his throat blocked his words. The car pulled into the garage, and the two entered the house.
"Hey May," Peter said, his voice cracked and hoarse from the grief, "I could make us some ramen noodles if you'd like." May looked at the boy, and gave a weak smile,
"No thanks, Peter, I better lie down. If you want to, I could call the school tomorrow-"
"I... That would be nice May. Thank you." They then walked towards their rooms, and Peter could hear the muffled crying through the walls, and felt a rage against the world, against everything. But mostly, rage against himself.
Peter walked into his room, taking off his black jacket and loosening his tie. He sat on his bed and looked around his room. Shelves filled with books of physics and chemistry, a closet between the bed and door, a small tv, a desk covered with papers of equations, tools, and a microscope. The walls were covered with posters of star trek and Albert Einstein, with a window that peered out into the pouring rain. Peter laid down on his bed and tried to think about anything, but only nothingness filled his mind as he drifted to sleep.
Cheering crowds. An envelope of money. "Not my problem." Sirens. Anger. Confrontation. Revelation. Guilt. After what felt like an eternity, Peter woke up in a cold sweat and felt the pang in his gut. He got up and walked toward the door. However, he bumped into a trunk, one that came out of the closet. He knelt down, and opened it, and immediately felt resent. Red and black fabric poked out of the trunk, with black webs and silver wrist devices. Peter shut the trunk and shoved it back into his closet. He looked over at one of the wallpapers and stepped up to it. It showed a large, muscular man facing off against a small wrestler wearing the same red and black suit. He tore off the wall, crumpled it, and threw it in the garbage. He then went to his notes, and shoved the pages with equations into a drawer, saying to himself,
“Never again.”
The clean and crisp labs of Oscorp were filled with amazing machines, though used for its military contracts. Holographic images used to distract the enemy, grenades with ten times the firepower of standard grenades, and robots designed to target enemies and eliminate them. Hovering throughout the lab, zooming with great momentum, was a remote control harness. Its pilots looked at their invention, easily in their fifties, and smiled with glee,
“We did it, Adrian, we did it!” Cheered the younger man, who still had dark hair hidden on his head, “Just wait till Norman gets a load of this!”
“Don’t kid yourself, Gregory,” Said Adrian, “We still have some bugs to iron out of the software, and we need a material light enough to-”
“Forget about that! We just made a portable, cheap, energy clean way for anyone to fly!” Adrian chuckled and patted Gregory’s shoulder. Then, they were approached by a younger man, in his mid-twenties, with a bowl cut and large glasses,
“Gentlemen, Mr. Osborn will be expecting you to visit his office…”
“Otto! We did it, we were able to complete the invention!” Gregory said, “Why don’t we go out and celebrate?” Gregory then looked at Adrian and softly smirk with nervous energy. Otto just looked up and spoke in his monotone voice,
“Sorry, I have work to do.” And walked toward the elevator. Adrian waited till the elevator rose, and turned to Gregory,
“Man, Octavius gives me the heebie-jeebies, like a robot wearing a skin suit!” Gregory said as the gentlemen grabbed their notes,
“What do you think Norman wants from us? Maybe he’s heard of our progress!” Adrian then pressed the button for the top floor,
“Y-yeah, that’s probably it!” Gregory replied. Adrian raised his eyebrow but shrugged off the nervous stutter. Minutes went by, as Adrian looked down at his watch, tapping his foot,
“I hate how tall these buildings are getting now, I swear that Oscorp itself pierces the clouds!”
“Well, our project will make that a thing of the past!”
“Or a weapon used in the Middle East,” Adrian replied,
“Adrian!” Gregory said, the two men chuckling from the shocking statement,
“Oh come on Gregory! Our parents fought against Vietnam, only this time our country is fighting for oil and democracy!”
“Adrian, don’t be so cynical!” The elevator finally stopped, and the doors opened, “Maybe things will turn out okay…” Adrian looked at his friend with a creeping suspicion looming down on him,
“What do you mean by that Gregory?” Adrian asked, though no reply came from his friend as they approached the secretary,
“Hello, what can I do for you today?”
“Yes, we’re here to see Mr. Osborn. I’m Mr. Toomes and he’s Mr. Bestman!” Adrian said,
“Oh, one sec,” The secretary pressed on her intercom, “Mr. Osborn, the geezers are here to see you.”
“ Send them in .” Came the powerful voice, as if the building itself spoke. The two engineers went to the office, but Adrian leaned towards Gregory and whispered,
“She called us geezers! Geezers! Where’s the respect in today’s generation?”
“I know, just let it slide by, okay?” The office was large, with glass cases of masks from all around the world. On the other side from the two older men was a large window that stared out into all of Manhattan. There lied a large desk, made of black mahogany, with neat stacks of papers signed by the same man. The man sitting at the desk wore a suit with golden buttons. The man leaned back and waved his hand towards the two chairs in front of him,
“Please gentlemen, have a seat.” The two engineers sat down and looked nervously at Norman Osborn. Adrian was about to speak up when Norman picked up a mask, “You know gentlemen, I enjoy the idea of masks. In fact, the word, ‘Person’ came from the word, 'Persona,' and was an Etruscan term that meant mask. It brings up the thought of whether or not a person is unique or modeled after the people around them,” The red oni mask looked back at Norman, as he set it down, “It makes a person wonder who they really are. For example, an engineer would wonder who they are behind all the math and equations, and would want to do something that meant something to the world around them.”
“I’m sorry, Mr. Osborn, why did you call us up here?” Adrian asked,
“Well, I’m sure Mr. Bestman can tell us,” Then, the doors busted open, and two police officers stood in their place, “Officers, I’m sure you are aware of our embezzlement scandal, and I’m glad to let you know I have the person who was behind it right in front of us. Isn’t that right, Mr. Toomes?” Adrian snapped up, eyes widened, and furrowed his eyes,
“No! Norman, I’m innocent!" Adrian screamed as the cops cuffed him. He then looked at his best friend, "Tell them, Gregory! Tell them I'm innocent!!!” Adrian wanted his friend's help but Bestman didn’t look back. As the officers dragged Adrian away, he felt a stab in his heart as he could only say, “Gregory?” Then, the doors closed upon Adrian.