Chapter Text
Spiders.
You've always hated spiders ever since you were young.
It was an irrational fear, one that could never be rationalized and 'cured', but while they may have been one of your least favorite animals, there was one that you adored above all else. The sloth. They were cute and friendly in appearance, so much so you had a small collection of plush toys of them growing since you were a teen, now an adult and still seeking out any sloth plush you could find and afford.
Alas, you hardly had the money to spend like that. Using the pay you received from your work to feed and clothe you, on top of paying your rent. The plush toys were unfortunately not a necessity, but still, they did make for a nice treat after saving up enough to get one.
With money being an issue you took advantage of any sales and discounts, and especially anything that was free. So when you saw that word on a flier for the Connors Animal Research and Rehabilitation Center, well.. You made sure you showed up on time. Animals were always a great motivator, and you needed the excuse to get out of your apartment again anyway. Staying cooped up.. You weren’t exactly one to willingly place yourself in social situations, but the thought of sitting indoors for too long was unpleasant. You could feel your sanity deteriorating at times.
Much to your dismay, although not a surprise, they handled spiders as well. You stuck toward the back of the tour for your comfort, avoiding the arachnid presentation like the plague. The heads of the facility, Doctors Curt and Martha Connors lead the tour, enthusiastically speaking about the animals they work with. Martha, however, from what you could see from the back wall, had to step away after looking at the cases that held the spiders in question. Curious.. You continued the tour with no further oddities and headed home.
That’s when it all really began.
You took to putting your things away, then emptying out your bag.. but something hurt as you reached in and within an instant you recoiled, grabbed the bag, and chucked it across the room.. It was perhaps best to keep that there for later. There was a small whitish mark on the back of your hand when you checked. You assumed it was nothing more than a scratch or poke from a book or pencil in your bag and went to wash your hands and head to bed.
The next day, however, is when things got a little weird. Never would you have expected a childhood fantasy to walk on walls would come true, but there you were, fully stuck to your apartment wall after noticing things were sticking to your hands. Safe to say, you wasted no time in calling up a close and trusted friend of yours after figuring out how to unstick and told them everything with excitement.
Despite the gift of wall crawling, you never really used your abilities, wall-crawling and all those you discovered after. You had the spirit of a fighter, but not the nature nor body and mind of one. No skills in self-defense or fighting, you had always been rather physically weak in that regard.
It took a few small instances for you to sort of set yourself in motion. From a late night grab and go at the corner store that turned into an attempted robber getting humiliated and you fleeing, to you seeing this as an opportunity to try to get out a little more. Scouring the city i n little areas, picking off the select few small fights you felt more comfortable and confident you could win with no harm.
It had only really been a month since you got your powers now. Since then, you had scoured your room for something to wear to hide yourself and chose a onesie of a sloth you had gotten a few years back for your birthday. It was cute, friendly, and easy enough to slip on quickly over your usual clothes. A pair of matching slippers, a simple jacket vest, and a bag to carry it all in. to top it all off, you invested in a cheap party mask to conceal your face. It was a ridiculous getup, and although you had done cosplay before-- albeit temporarily-- you felt so dumb for wearing it. Hence why you felt more comfortable to stay out of sight if possible.
Your time was a little busy between juggling your work with occasionally getting out to climb and jump around the buildings. Some nights were more hectic than others. Hardly you had any time to take a break. It was a rare treat for yourself when things were slow.
Such as tonight.
Crawling and jumping from building to building you paused on a rooftop to have a look around. A scenic break from all the running about you did. It was nice, though you wished you could see the stars in the sky as you looked up. That was something you missed from back home down south. Closing your eyes you took in a relaxing breath and listened to the ambient city sounds.
For once.. everything was quiet.
A lone scientist worked late into the night, well past his designated time to clock out. He paced around the lab rooms as he checked the devices a few more times, wrote down reports on the new tech in development, and jotted down notes on the few animals brought in for studies.
He had an affinity for one such animal. An octopus. A veined octopus to be exact, though also known as a coconut octopus. Oh how he had grown so fond of the little creature despite his boss's orders. He couldn't help himself, it was much too cute to resist. It was one of very few things about this job that kept him from spiraling mentally. Giving it a secret name and using it as his muse for creating a remarkable device to aid him in his overbearing work. Truly a marvel of his ingenuity and technological skills.
A long, sleek, black mechanical limb stretched across the empty lab, tentacle-like 'fingers' twisted and opened up like a flower before carefully wrapping around a bottle of frozen shrimp that had been left out to thaw near a heating element. The limb retracted back to the scientist then relaxed down behind him when the bottle was taken. He popped the bottle open and shook some bits out into the tank his favorite octopus was living in. The creature lit up with color as it reached its arms out to wrap around the shrimp, bringing the pieces down under its webbing to feast. The scientist smiled, watching the octopus feed for a bit, humming to himself and jotting down some more notes. He was none the-wiser to the elevator down the hall being activated. Unaware of his soon to be company.
Music played in the lab, softly in the background from a lone laptop left open, the scientist hummed along. It was cozy, peaceful within that lab. Everything was going smoothly, the workload was still immense, but it was more tolerable. He felt he had little to fear, he was beginning to get comfortable.
The sound of a door near the entrance of the lab jostled the scientist from his thoughts.
The janitor? No.. it is too early in the night for them to have gotten this far up the building. Curious.. It couldn’t be his boss, he should be at home with his family at this hour--
A chill ran down his spine as a familiar voice suddenly spoke up, following footsteps that were now audible. Coming closer and closer to his location within the lab--
"Doctor Octavius."
Ah. His boss, Norman Osborn.. What was he doing here? He hardly ever came down into the labs himself.. He sounded eerily calm compared to his usual bitter tone. That was.. not a good sign, to say the least. This put Otto on edge in an instant. Especially so as he was still wearing the arms, he began to panic, trying to find a place to hide to remove them, but there was no place in sight to run as Norman came into view. Otto jumped as soon as he saw his boss behind him.
"Oh no.. M-Mr.Osborn..? H-Hello, ah.. What, uhm, Wh-What brings you here? I-I thought.."
"As smart as you are, you hardly do think at all," Norman spoke, tired, stern eyes drop from the scientist's face to his twiddling hands, "A smart mind, you have, Otto. Although clever you are not if you think me stupid to not notice."
"..N-Not notice what?"
"Don't play dumb with me, doctor." the man turned his attention back to Otto, stepping closer and causing the other to shuffle back, “You must know why I’m here, surely.” He watched him, eying the way he trembled, eyes darting around behind thick, square frames as his mind raced to register what the man was referring. It was clear what it was even before he said it aloud, reaching a hand down and around to grip and raise one of the objects in question.
“Those funny little arms, Otto.”
Otto was sweating now, heart racing, although not nearly as fast as his mind. Didn't plan for this. He didn't think Norman would ever come down like this.. and find the actuators he did so well to hide every time he was done working. He was caught off guard, trapped in a checkmate.
“Th... S-Sir-- I--” Otto sputtered, bringing his hands up defensively as he backed up, heart racing as he rounded the table, all the while his boss had followed with that unchanging tense expression, the actuator limb in his hand. Otto's eyes darting from Norman to the actuator and back a few times, a clear desperate panic in his voice and face, “O-Oh dear.. L-Listen I-- I-I couldn’t have done all this work without them! You-- Y-You must understand! Th-There was too much for one person-- I-I needed those to--!”
“You need them?” Otto was cut off, bumping into a sizable computing device. Parts that hung from it rattled in response, one falling off as Norman continued, Otto being forced to press into the console of the machine, “Need? Really? I beg to differ, Doctor.” stepping closer now, "I don't believe you ever needed them--”
Norman swiped another actuator, on the opposite side this time, yanking as hard as he could on them to get Otto up off the machine. He caught the scientist with his foot slamming harsh into the harness around his gut. Otto groaned and Norman leered down above him, hissing out his final words before releasing the arms and kicking Otto back into the machine with all the force he could muster.
“--and I don’t believe you’ll ever need them again."
Otto fell back, crashing into the machine, damaging the screens and more. The collision caused the console to explode in a terrifying display of light and smoke. Overpowering the servers of nearby appliances, activating the actuators, and electrifying anything within reach.. or within contact.
A static shift in the air shaking you from your moment of peace.
You had nearly dozed off on the roof you rested on, lifting up from where you lay you looked around. A spark in the breeze alerting your senses of the direction to head. That was all you needed as you wasted no time lifting up and darting from one building to the next. Making your way as fast as you could, occasionally hopping from vehicle to vehicle to get there quicker.
A sense of anxiety creeping in anticipation of your destination.
Oscorp.
There was always something about this corporation that gave you a sense of unease. Standing at the entrance now only made that feeling worse, but there was no time to dwell on that. Taking in a breath to calm down and adjusting your worn out sloth slippers, you darted to the side of the building and took to the wall. Climbing up and up and up, clinging tightly and humming to distract from the thought of looking down.
You climbed until your senses were going haywire, spotting a shattered window with a strong scent of smoke and static wafting from it in the breeze. Fear washed over you, but you shook your head and clenched your jaw, crawling over and peering inside. It was dark, too dark, par from the stray sparks from some broken machinery tossed about. Scuttling inside you removed your party mask to try and see better, letting your eyes adjust a moment. Dread began to settle as you got a better look around.
Odd machinery and devices were littered about both neatly and scattered and shattered as though something had been thrashing around.. Almost poetically the sparks lit up again at that moment, drawing your eyes over to the source.. and the source of what had done the thrashing that destroyed part of the lab.
A breath hitched in your throat as you prayed the man on the floor was still alive, shuffling ever so cautiously over for a better look. Your eyes trained on the body, focusing hard and hoping to see a breath.
Nothing.
Nothing..
Nothing...
Noth-- Oh my gosh.
The sound of relief that left you as you saw the man's body shift ever so lightly had left you teary eyed and trembling. So thankful he was still alive. You hurried closer, falling to your knees to check him, being careful of the static still present as you rolled him over. His back was bleeding and soaking slowly through his undershirt, staining the white a deep red. The sight causing your heart to tighten and fall.
You struggled a bit with the initial lifting of him off the ground and onto your back, but you managed well enough. Slipping your mask back on after balancing the man on your shoulders. You turned your focus now to figuring your way out, you decided to walk further inside, carrying the injured man firmly.
An elevator was soon found and quickly called, taking it down to the first level. It seemed the far safer option than recklessly scrambling out the window again. The ride down was nerve-wracking, not knowing how much time you had. Shifting the man's weight on your shoulders a time or two before finally the elevator dinged. As you rushed out into the lobby and towards the exit to seek help, you hadn't noticed the metal arms quiver behind you.
The feeling of tiny hands holding firm and protectively upon his arm and leg had stirred Otto awake for but a mere moment. Cracking his weary eyes open and only catching a glimpse of what was holding his arm before he passed out once more from the pain and exhaustion.
Barely able to make out what he had seen.. Had he seen that right..? The hands that held him.. they were..
..Claws..?