Um...thanks to everyone who enjoyed the...spectacularly crappy preview teaser thingy. .;; Never type late at night when you've been up for 26 hours. . Anyway...uh...here's the real thing.

PART ONE: Anything But Ordinary

Chapter One: The Spider's Web

"Mr. Osborn? Sir?" The polished, oak door creaked slowly open, revealing the lavish decoration within. Wine-red carpet adorned the floor of this most private office, with finely crafted bookshelves decorating the walls. "I'm sorry to interrupt." A single portrait hung over the back wall, of the man himself sitting proudly in his chair. Behind the cherrywood desk, with various business papers and contracts neatly stacked in their proper place, was the man himself.

If there was ever a man who could be considered the embodiment of power, it was Norman Osborn. The head of Oscorp, the business he built up from the ground, father to a son and image of glory for millions around New York, Norman Osborn was the pinnacle of self-made success. Or so he liked it to appear to the faithful public, to the masses who flocked over heroes and celebrities. Public image was the single most important tool in a rich man's arsenal; a lesson he had learned from the master, Wilson Fisk himself.

With his short, amber hair slicked back flat on his head and parted in the center, and his handsome blue eyes masking the terrifying man that lay beneath, he was found seated in his throne, a beautiful hand-crafted maple reaching up several feet above Osborn himself, with a satin cushion over the seat and the back. This chamber was truly a vision of wealth; there were few alive that could witness such a marvelous office and not be moved by the presence of the man centered within.

There were few that dared to interrupt Norman Osborn. One of those few was Mendel Stromm, one of his better research and developers. Stromm was on the verge of something truly incredible, a discovery that could change the course of human history. He was one of few that Norman would call a friend, and perhaps the only man in the world that Norman liked. Even so, on a busy day such as this, such interruption, even by a close associate, was an annoyance. "What is it Stromm?" the king snarled. "I have a lot of paperwork I need to finish."

"I-I know sir. I wouldn't...I wouldn't bother you if-if it w-wasn't important." Stromm cleared his throat, struggling with his voice. It was always intimidating speaking with Osborn; the man could end his economical life on a whim.

"What is it, Stromm? And quit stuttering. I will not have my men talking like nine-year-olds." Norman was clearly in a bad mood...oh, if only this could wait until later!

"It-it's..." Stromm cleared his throat when he heard another growl from the back of Osborn's throat. "It's just that today...I mean...the Midtown kids are coming today for-for the tour, i-if you r-rec-call..."

"What did I just say about stuttering, Stromm?"

"Sorry, sir!"

Norman sighed, softly rubbing his temples as he sat in thought. "Have Nancy handle it. I don't have time to babysit teenagers. Isn't this shit supposed to be delegated anyway?"

"Yes, sir," Stromm spoke quickly, not one to argue. However...there was one point he was concerned about. "But...your son is going to be there, for the field trip. Don't you think...I mean, wouldn't he appreciate if–"

"My son," Norman raged, "can appreciate that I'm keeping him in good cars and fine cuisine. He has never once shown even the slightest competence or interest in anything he has ever done. If he doesn't care, then what reason do I have to make up for his failure?"

"Y-yes, sir...I'll tell Nancy, sir..." Stromm started to back out the door, before Norman caught him again, his powerful voice splitting the air in twain.

"How is progress on the performance enhancers going?" Norman's eyes cut daggers into Stromm's soul as he spoke; the scientist had been afraid this would come up, and had hoped to get out of there before he had to face down this inquiry.

"It-it's g-go-going...uh...w-well, we..."

"Quit stuttering, Stromm, and give me my answer. I'm s-s-sick of hearing excuses and half-assed stammers."

"W-well we've moved to...uh...well, we're doing good on the animal testing, but...but we haven't–"

"We have been on animal testing for SIX MONTHS!" Norman exploded. "The government is breathing down my neck for results, and I will NOT lose this contract because of failure scientists. I don't want to hear excuses, Stromm, and I will not let failures be the death of my business. I want human experimentation, and I want it now."

"Human!" Stromm was taken aback by Norman's insistence; they had never moved this fast to human testing before!

"Do you want to tell Nick Fury that we have squandered all the taxpayer money we've been given and have failed to so much as produce a viable human sample?" Norman's voice carried a dangerous edge in it; Stromm knew this was less than rhetorical.

"N-n-no s-sir..."

"Neither do I." Norman returned to his papers, taking his pen back up in his hands as he started to sign his contracts once more. "A viable human sample by the end of the week. You get it done, or I'll find people who can."

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"Alright, students, settle down." Just outside the doors to Oscorp stood the instructor, Professor Curt Connors, before a gaggle of teenagers from Midtown High School. Connors was a middleaged man of fairly slim build; his most identifying mark would likely be his left side, where a short sleeve turned back up and sewed shut hid the scar from his left arm.

Professor Connors was, for the most part, a science expert. Biology was the class he taught, for his ninth grade class. He found, as with all classes, some students paid more attention than others. And there were a few that grated him; there always were, every year. The students that didn't pay attention, the students that didn't really care. The ones he knew wouldn't be there if it wasn't a required class.

Ahh...and there she was. Case in point, Mary Jane Watson. The crimson-haired gemstone stood out in the crowd for any teacher; any student who felt it more important to chat with her peers than to pay attention always drew an instructor's eye. With a sigh, he disregarded it for the moment; there were other students who needed his attention at the moment.

"Okay, class, remember; just because we're not at school, does not mean you don't have to behave yourselves. We've been fortunate enough that Mr. Osborn has agreed to this little trip; some of you," his eye moved momentarily to Flash Thompson in the back, "have not had the best record with field trips. Now, I know some of you have more interesting things to do with your time than look at the wonders of science, but do your best to pay attention anyway; there will be a quiz when we get back." This succeeded in getting a groan from nearly everyone in the group. The only person that looked like he didn't mind much was the young Parker boy. "Now, everyone, follow me inside and stick close together. I want no horsing around; that means you, Flash."

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"Blah blah yak blah yak yak blah blah yak blah" was all she heard in the background, walking through the doors. Another random science trip; could these get any more boring? Following the class through the different areas, the labs, she found herself almost yearning to be back in class. These weren't her kind of trips. These were the trips for super science nerds like Peter Parker.

"These are some of our more recent subjects," the tour guide explained, as they walked down the corridor of the visitor's area. Through the reinforced glass on the lefthand wall, Mary Jane could see a gorilla in his pen, sifting about the straw on the ground. It reminded her of the zoo, from when she was a little girl...but then, those gorillas weren't being used for weirdo experiments. "This little friend of ours is Katey," the tour guide explained. "Katey here is testing a new vision stabilizer. With luck, a series of shots could replace Lasik in a few years."

"Now," the tour guide continued, gesturing at a locked, metal door down the hallway next to Katey's tank, "down that hallway are the more volatile subjects. I am afraid we are not allowed to disclose the contents of some of our more lucrative projects. But if you'll follow me, I'll show you something else that you may find absolutely fascinating."

Mary Jane lingered a moment, looking through the glass at Katey. She didn't know or really care all that much about the scientific gunk, but...the gorilla was cool. She had always had a fondness for animals; just watching the poor creature lumber around in her tank made her feel somewhat sad inside. "You and me both, Katey," Mary Jane whispered. "We both have our cages."

Popularity had come so easy to her. Mary Jane had everything handed her on a platter; good looks, friends, it all just came naturally. There were girls that admired the crimson hair that streamed down around her shoulders, and boys that melted from her glittering, emerald eyes and her luscious lips. She was only a freshman at Midtown High, but already she was finding herself the apple of the public eye. A supermodel, an actress, a whole world of beauty and stardom opened itself up to her, if she could only escape from these chains that bound her to that house...no, that was a story for another time.

"There you are," a familiar voice spoke. "I thought for a moment you got lost!" A soft laugh brought a smile to Mary Jane's lips; her best friend, Liz Allen, never failed to cheer her up. Throughout junior high, the two had been inseperable; even into high school, their friendship had not been shaken.

"Hey, Liz," Mary smiled. "No, just...got caught up at the gorilla."

Shaking her head, Liz grabbed Mary's hand and pulled her back towards the group. "Come on, dish. I saw that look you were giving that monkey! There were serious thoughts in your head!"

"No, really, it was...I don't know," Mary sighed.

"Okay, fine," Letting go of Mary, Liz's left hand fell to her hip, while her right gestured back at the pen. "I get it. Though, personally, monkeys aren't my thing, but hey, who you date is none of my–"

"LIZ!" A light shoved ended that rather fast, but Liz only laughed. "Honestly, could you be any more–oh, who am I kidding, I've seen you more." Mary chuckled to herself, which only fueled Liz further.

Jabbing a finger right under Mary Jane's lip, Liz grinned. "Made ya smile," which succeeded in getting another chuckle out of Mary.

"Okay, okay," Mary laughed, "quit it!"

"There you go," Liz smiled. "Now come on...we don't have to be in class and, oh look, animals! Forget about him and start enjoying the trip." They both knew the 'him' of which Liz spoke...but that wasn't something Mary wanted to think about right now. Walking back towards the group, the smile never left Mary's face; she knew her best friend would stick by her through anything.

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"Flash Thompson, that is enough!" Peter heard the teacher's angry voice, and he breathed a sigh of relief; at least it wasn't him on the receiving end of Flash's mischief this time. He'd had more than enough of it as is; he just wanted to enjoy the trip. He knew, after college, that he wanted to work in a place like this; so full of science, so full of...of so much!

Peter Parker was perhaps the brainiest kid in his year; maybe even the smartest in the school. Science, math, learning always enticed him, no matter the subject. This was truly his environment; a fancy lab, surrounded by other geniuses just like him. Desks lined the next room the came to, with monitors showing different subjects and vitals on several of the experiments the Oscorp scientists had going. Men and women in white lab coats hustled around quickly, while the tour was lead into the next room. Peter lingered a moment, however...curious about what had the researchers in such a huff, he didn't even see it, crawling across the ceiling; a specimen had escaped from its containment.

A small, black spider crawled silently across the ceiling, unnoticed by the men and women who frantically searched for it. The tour guide, Nancy, whispered to one of the scientists, before quickly ushering the class into the next room. "There's been a little bit of an...accident here, kids," she spoke swiftly. "We'll need to end it here, I'm afraid...please, if everyone would just follow me out..."

Peter groaned, but was the only one who really seemed to mind. With a finger, he pushed his glasses back up his nose, before turning to follow the tour group out. He cast one last look back at the lab, at the tables against the walls, the beakers, the test tubes...one last look at all the science in this place, to remember, before turning and following out the door. In his disappointment, he failed to notice a presence, lingering above him.

The spider was hungry. The spider wanted prey. Big prey? Any prey! Spinning its web, the spider descended, hungry for the big prey...it would eat the big prey, yes it would, it would eat the big prey and it would be full! Then...then...no then. Just eat the big prey, yes! Eat the prey!

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The group fell back out into the foyer. "I am terribly sorry," Nancy started, speaking with Connor on the stairs above the main lobby, "but I'm afraid the emergency has called for a cancellation of the rest of the tour. We will have to reschedule for some other time. I do hope it's not too much of a hassle." She wasn't saying everything; Connors could see that easily enough. But what she wasn't saying was what they didn't want to hear; a high-security escaped specimen was more dangerous than she was willing to let on. She wanted them out of here, ASAP.

Connors sighed. "No, no problem at all," he reluctantly accepted. "We can reschedule for some other time. May I ask, what's going on?" The scientist's curiosity was getting the better of him, but inside, he knew he wouldn't get much.

"I'm afraid I'm not at liberty to say," Nancy spoke quickly, in a hushed whisper to the professor. "There's a specimen loose in the lab. Please, if you and the children would just–"

"Hey, Parker's got his best friend with him!" a voice shouted from the crowd, and Nancy felt a chill run down her spine. But it was too late to do anything.

Flash pointed and laughed, as Peter turned his head and raised his arm. A large spider, colored black but with a gold trim around its side, and gold points to its legs, was midway down his arm. He had never seen a spider like this before, but at the moment, he didn't care. "Ahhh!" he freaked, shaking his arm wildly. His frantic gesture had succeeded in dislodging the spider from his arm, only to send it flying through the air. Peter watched as it flew, towards the worst place he could think to send it. "MJ!"

"So then, I told him–" Mary Jane was interrupted midsentence, when she felt something soft and small hit the back of her neck. Before she could even turn to find out what it was, a sharp pain struck, digging into her neck like two little points, sinking menacingly into her. "AHH!" she shrieked, swatting at the back of her neck and smashing the little bugger.

"MJ?" Liz asked. "What happened?"

"I don't..." Mary Jane started to answer, looking back up at her friend, but then something took over her. She felt dizzy, lightheaded...her legs started to wobble. "I..." Before she could say anymore, she lost it. Toppling forward, she lost herself before she ever landed, in her friend Liz's arms.

"Mary Jane!" Liz freaked, straining to hold her friend up. "MJ, wake up...come one, this isn't funny." Lowering herself to a seating position, with her best friend in her lap, she gave her a light shake, trying to move her. When Mary Jane wouldn't respond, she screamed. "Help! Professor Connors, help!" Connors ended his talk with Nancy abruptly, flying down the stairs to the kids. "It's Mary Jane...I think something bit her, she's...she isn't moving, she's..."

"Let me see her," Connors knealt down beside Liz, his hand feeling out Mary Jane's forehead. "She's warm. That's good. She's...she's sweating a lot." Her temperature couldn't have risen this fast in such a short amount of time..thirty seconds had passed since she passed out, before Connors had gotten there. This didn't make any sense.

"Let me see her," Nancy interrupted, crouching beside Connors. First feeling out her pulse, from her wrist, then pressing her hand to Mary Jane's forehead. "She's...I don't know." Thinking quickly to herself for a moment, she turned to Connors. "I think she was attacked by one of the specimens." Taking Connors's hand, she felt it around to the back of Mary Jane's neck, where two throbbing sores, soaked in fluids from the smashed spider, were complimented by bulged veins in her neck, like a horrible infection working its way into her bloodstream.

"We need to get her to a hospital," Connors started, but Nancy shook her head.

"There isn't time for that, Curt. We don't know what that...whatever it is...we don't know what it's doing to her. At the rate her condition is decelerating, there may not be any time left. We need to get her into containment and we need to–"

"Containment?" Connors forced. "She's not an animal, Nancy. She's not a specimen. She needs a doctor--"

"We have doctors here," Nancy insisted. Two men in lab coats brought out a stretcher as she spoke. The children backed away, save for Liz Allen holding her friend, and Peter Parker, a guilty, frightened look on his face, standing behind Liz. Most were confused; no one understood what was happening.

"You can't ask me to abandon one of my students."

"I'm asking you to trust me," Nancy sighed. "How long have we known each other? How long have we been friends? I promise you, my men will take care of her better than any hospital could. We have people here that should know what's happening to her, and how to take care of it." Without even waiting for a response, the men took Mary Jane, prying her from Liz's fingers as the poor girl just stared, dumbfounded and scared, at the men loading her friend onto the stretcher. As they wheeled her back towards the door, Nancy turned to follow. "I'll keep you updated on the girl's condition. Give us a call in a couple of days, and we'll reschedule the tour."

"Yeah," Connors watched, staring at the two men and Nancy as the went back through the doors. "Yeah, we'll...we'll do that."

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"Mr. Osborn!" The king rubbed his forehead; nothing good ever came of these interruptions. "M-Mr. Osborn, it-it-it's an em-m-mergency!" Doctor Stromm blew through the doors, a panicked terror in his eyes. "There w-was an accident in-in Lab 4; o-one of our sp-specim-mens g-got out, and I-I think it bit one of...one of the tour kids!"

"What!" Norman stood quickly, his chair rolling back and smashing into his bookshelf. "If this is some kind of sick joke, Stromm–"

"I-I don't know how it happened," the doctor squirmed. "I-I-I was checking th-the speci...the–"

"Quit yammering and SPEAK, Stromm, or I will throw you out the window!"

"There was a-a specimen missing–a-a-a spider, and it...it bit one of the k-kids from the tour!"

"You were experimenting on spiders?" Osborn raised an eyebrow. He was clearly not getting the severity of the issue.

"I-I was t-testing the Serum on-on all sorts of an-anim-mals...that's not the p-point!"

"I can't believe you could be so careless, Stromm. The girl could sue! Do you have any idea how difficult it will be to keep this contract when we've got an injured student, infected with Serum, throwing lawbooks at...wait...just a moment." Stromm had never been so afraid as he was when he saw the look on Osborn's face. The contemplation...the careful eyes, the quiet, considering gaze...something was going on in his mind. Pulling his chair back to his desk, Osborn posed a simple question. "The spider that bit the girlr...it was pumped full of your super-soldier Serum, correct?"

"Y-yes, s-s-sir. We have n-no idea what...what it could–"

"Good," Osborn smiled. "Don't worry too much about it, Doctor Stromm. I want the girl sent to a hospital, to keep the parents happy. But I want her under observation at all times; I'll have that taken care of myself. As of this moment, your project is under my supervision. Be happy, Stromm...we have our first human subject."

Stromm stood a moment, his mind reeling at the implications of Osborn's words. "I...I...y-yes s-sir...I understand." Fear was the most prominent thing in his mind...what if it backfired? What if it...no, this was Osborn's now. He had to do as he was told; he had learned as much from his mentor, from Smythe.

"I want the girl's condition stabliized, and then she is to be sent to a normal hospital. I want you to handle that personally, Stromm. I don't trust Nancy to do it; she's too young. Inexperienced."

"Yes, s-sir."

"Oh, and when you have a moment, contact Gargan. I have a job for him."