Peter Parker Spectacular Superhero
!SPECIAL EFFECTS! "THOUGHTS"
Chapter One
"This science exhibit will be astounding!" Peter Parker said to his best friend, Mortimer Katzenberg who sat next to him as the school bus drove towards the Oscorp lab.
Peter Parker was slightly shorter than average as he looked up from over his seat through his glasses in order to see if they had arrived at their destination. He wore a buttoned down shirt and brown pants. Despite his smaller than average build, Peter had a decent amount of muscular definition under his pocket protector and baggy clothes.
Mortimer Katzenberg was a small teenage boy with black hair and coke bottle glasses without which he couldn't see very well. He had a slight nervous shake about him whenever he got either nervous or excited, something for which many of the jocks of the school had made fun of him. "You're right, Peter. This will such a great field trip," Mortimer sometimes called Morty for short said with an excited shake of his body.
"I heard this will be…" !SLAP! "Ouch!"
"What a geek you are, Parker. You and your little friend are the only ones on this bus who actually want to go on this stupid field trip!" A voice replied with venom. Flash Thompson was a large, muscular young man with striking good looks and orange/red hair. His arrogance did nothing to mar his appearance but instead helped to attract more girls to himself during his years as a high school sports star.
"If you don't want to go, why are you here, Flash?" Peter asked angrily, rubbing the back of his head, looking behind him where Flash Thompson and his even larger friend, Monk were seated on the bus, wearing their letterman jackets. On the other side of the aisle from Flash and Monk sat a couple of other football players, similarly dressed.
!SMACK! "Who said you could talk, you geek? We're getting extra credit for this!" Monk said as he sat back and clasped his hands behind his bald head and raised his dark eyebrows at the two nerds in front of him. While his corpulent physique wasn't as aesthetically pleasing as Flash's, Monk was bigger and stronger with his powerful muscles being covered with hard fat.
Despite his weaker position, Peter stayed defiant. "I see. Your grades are so low you need the extra credit to simply graduate. Isn't that right, Flash?" !SLAP! "Ow!"
"Don't make fun of us, you geek! Just because we're about to graduate that doesn't mean we can't still kick your ass like we've been doing all through high school!" Flash countered.
"Yeah!" Monk agreed. "In fact, after this field trip is over we're gonna F* you up one last time. But this time you won't be able to limp away as you have done in the past."
"What?"
"Did you really think you were going to be free of our control that easily, bitches?" the larger boy threatened.
"That's right. We're gonna fix you up and fix you up good. Some of the other members of the football team will be there to get their pound of flesh out of you before we all graduate. Monk and I are the only ones going to play football in college so the other football players want to screw you over one last time before high school ends and you get to live happily ever after," Flash explained as the two other football players, sitting across the aisle from Flash and Monk nodded in agreement.
"That's right! We're gonna end the school year with a bang!" one of the other football players called out.
"Yeah! We're gonna gang bang your ass, Parker!" another one yelled.
"That's right, bitch! You're not free of us yet," Monk threatened, looming over Peter in a menacing manner with a crazy look in his eyes.
Then Peter abruptly turned towards Flash and the boys, surprising them with his sense of fearlessness and rage. "I'm not your bitch, bitch!"
"What?! Why you little #%*! You won't survive what we do to you now!"
"I'll fight you to the death if I have to," the bespectacled boy said, giving the bullies a glare. "If I end up dead, so be it!" At this point the jocks were put off, sitting down in their seats, seething with rage!
"Peter, what are you doing?" the smaller, coke bottle glasses wearing boy sitting next to him asked nervously.
"I stood up to them," Peter said, calming down.
"Those guys are going to kill you now."
"I've had it with them, Morty."
"Don't you remember what Mr. Smith said?"
"Hmm?"
"He said because we have brains instead athletic skills, the girls ignore us and we get treated like garbage. But in the future, women will want us because we'll have had a great deal of success. We only have to suffer them for a couple of more days. Then we graduate. There's no need to antagonize them. What will you do now?"
"I'll fight them."
"What? How will you do that?"
"I've been watching videos and reading books about martial arts and hand to hand combat, some of them written by some of the best martial artists in the world. I've also done a lot of exercising along with some weightlifting," Peter answered.
"What kind of videos and books have you been looking at?"
"Boxing, Thai-kick boxing, street fighting, military commando training, Tae Kwon Do, Brazilian jiu-jitsu, Wing Chun kung fu, wrestling, tai chi, speed hitting, and ki blasting just to name a few."
"Tai chi, speed hitting, and ki blasting?"
"Yes. There's this guy in Oregon who can hit someone twenty times in less than a second. I bought some DVDs from his company a few months ago. He has a huge school for martial arts in his hometown and he really knows his stuff."
"Oh. What exactly is tai chi?" Mortimer responded blankly.
"And tai chi is a slow-motion exercise that helps me to control my body, mind, and spirit in order to assimilate everything I learned from watching those tapes. In addition to all that I've learned how to be focused a whole lot better."
"I see."
"And ki blasting is a technique that allows someone to attack and hit someone from a distance," Peter answered.
"How well has that gone?" Morty asked incredulously.
"I haven't done too well with that, but I can knock over something that's as much as an inch away," Peter answered with a confident smile.
"Do you really think you can learn how to fight from watching tapes? I find that so hard to believe," the bespectacled boy replied.
"Well, I've learned how to use computers and electronics from books. I've also learned about detective work, electronics, and criminology from books as well. I even know a lot about satellite technology and engineering from reading books and watching videos."
"Those things are different, Peter. Those require intelligence which we both have in abundance. We both know a lot about biology, physics, and radiology as well because we've had the classes and gotten good grades in them. If I could have learned how to fight from a book or a video, I'd be like Mike Tyson."
"Actually you'd be more like Evander Holyfield who defeated Mike Tyson several years back. I've seen both fights on YouTube. Evander Holyfield was an intellectual boxer who used his brains more than most jocks. People underestimated him the same way you're underestimating me now; yet he beat up Mike Tyson, someone with similar intelligence to Flash Thompson. In other words, he outsmarted his opponent," Peter explained.
"I see your point, Peter. But Evander Holyfield was still a great boxer in his own right, being the greatest cruiserweight of the '80s. He became a heavyweight when he bulked up a little. His brains simply gave him an edge."
"An edge? He defeated Mike Tyson decisively, twice! Anyway. It wasn't just boxing tapes I've been trying to assimilate. I've also learned Positions of Flexion, Trapping and pressure points."
"What would all that matter if your opponent is so much bigger and stronger than you?"
"What I learned will still work, but I have been working out a lot lately. I've spent years training in acrobatics, tumbling and contortionism in order to increase my flexibility and overcome my clumsiness," Peter answered with a contraction of his muscles which stretched the fabric of his buttoned-down shirt, threatening to tear it.
Morty looked up at his fellow nerd for a moment. "Yeah, I remember how you've always been able to get out of bonds and restraints when the jocks tied you up. You've even helped me out of getting tied up. But do you think that will be enough to take on the whole football team? They'll gang up on you if you get lucky enough to beat one of them up. I wish you luck, Peter," the other boy said, finally noticing that Peter was a little more confident and comfortable with himself than he was at the beginning of the school year.
Then Peter turned towards his friend abruptly. "If I die, I die, but I'll die fighting!"
Morty was impressed with Peter's look of fearlessness as his friend stared ahead unflinchingly.
XXX
"We're here!" the science teacher called out happily from the front of the bus.
"Everybody needs to leave the bus in an orderly fashion. Then come inside the laboratory in the same orderly fashion. Since they're experimenting in this place with lasers and radiation, all of you need to be careful. Horseplay in this place could easily get someone killed, so behave yourselves," the teacher ordered. Upon finishing his speech, he ushered everybody inside.
"Gee, Gwen. Are you as bored with all of this as I am?" Mary Jane asked her best friend. Mary Jane was a tall, statuesque, young woman who had near supermodel good looks with long, sparkling red hair and a well-proportioned, slender physique. Her fair skin glistened against the light shining through the window pane next to her as she sighed in resignation in anticipation of the lackluster day before her.
"Sure am, Mary Jane. I suppose you needed the extra credit just like I did," the natural blond answered. Gwen Stacy was a curvaceous girl with a buxom physique that stood at attention. She was a little shorter than the friend next to her and a little thicker, but she was still a knockout.
"I wasn't sure whether I needed the extra credit or not, but I didn't want to take any chances. I'm graduating by the skin of my teeth as it is," the sexy redhead said her friend as they made their way out of the bus along with the other students.
"So I guess you and Flash are going to celebrate together later, hmm?" Gwen said with a knowing look as they walked through the exhibit.
"No way, Gwen! I can't stand Flash Thompson! He practically tried to force himself on me on our last date. And when I rebuffed him, he left me in a dangerous area of town. It's fortunate I was able to get out of there without anything happening to me. As it is, I'd sooner go out with someone like Peter Parker over there," Mary Jane replied, looking over her shoulder at the said young man.
"Really? He's kind of a geek. You can practically have any guy you want. Why go for someone like that?" Gwen asked with a look of surprise on her face.
"He's actually kind of nice. Besides, have you noticed how much he's been filling out as of late? He looks pretty good," Mary Jane said.
"Come to think of it, he has been bulking up a little bit. I wonder what kind of supplements he's been taking," Gwen replied.
While this was going on Peter and Morty had walked over to a particularly interesting gamma radiation experiment.
"Very impressive, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," Morty answered, giving the experiment his undivided attention.
"It looks as if, you're finding my experiment awfully interesting," a gruff voice sounded out.
"Why yes, but who are you?" Peter asked the middle-aged man who appeared before them, seemingly out of nowhere.
"I'm Doctor Otto Octavius," the bespectacled doctor with a sugar bowl haircut that resembled Moe Howard from the Three Stooges said to the young boys. In addition to the lab coat he wore, he utilized a harness of four extra tentacle arms made of adamantium steel that made his work easier, even allowing him to get tools that were too far away for his arms to reach. Despite the various things for which his metallic arms were grasping, the doctor had no problem getting what he needed by pressing the buttons and turning the knobs on the front of his harness which controlled the metallic appendages. He had gotten so used to doing things in this manner that using the controls was second nature to him.
"It is. I'm astounded at the amount of power you're using. You must have a huge electric bill," Peter replied with a little bit of a chuckle as he regarded the larger than life generators which were a little bigger than medium-sized cars and exuded a white-hot glowing aura around them.
"Not as huge as you think, boy. I've created different sources of energy including some from alternate dimensions," the doctor said gruffly with a look at one his devices which beeped off excitedly as Peter got closer to it. Then he shot Peter a curious look, his gruff manner changing into a more congenial one. "What is your name, young man?"
"My name is Peter Parker. This is all very impressive," the young man answered as his eyes turned from the experiment, looking up at the doctor respectably.
"Of course it is. I'm the greatest nuclear physicist in the world. But I can see that you have some potential. Are you planning on going to college, Mr. Parker?"
"Yes. I'll probably be a chemist or scientist of some kind, assuming I can get a scholarship or grant to a good university."
"I see. I'd like you to come work for me here during the upcoming summer. If you do a good job for me, I can guarantee you'll get into a good university like New York State with a full scholarship and all."
"Really?"
"Yes. Here's my card." As Peter took the card and read it carefully, Morty noticed something strange about another dome that held radiation within that was several feet away and even bigger than any of the other generators in the spacious lab.
"Can you tell me the purpose of that experiment over there? I can feel the heat of it from several meters away. Are you using more power than Professor Zachary has permitted you?" Morty asked, pointing at the glass chamber in which a brightly colored golden, basketball sized rock was contained glowing with sparkling yellow energy.
The doctor was aghast at the young man's knowledge of Professor Zachary's edicts. "Huh? What? No, you're mistaken. This is a complex experiment that would take too much time to explain to the likes of you," Otto answered abruptly.
Despite the doctor's firm denials, Morty continued. "And then there's the large rock in that chamber which is a piece of the Goldstar Meteorite that fell a couple of dozen miles from Manhattan a several years ago. Why is it over there? Didn't you know that government at the urging of the NSA has made it against the law to even hold on to any of that meteor? NASA scientists have stated that the meteorite is radioactive and dangerous," Morty explained, getting a closer inspection of the shiny gold rock.
"That's not a piece of the Goldstar Meteorite, foolish boy!" the doctor said gruffly.
"That's a piece of the Goldstar Meteorite, Dr. Octavius," Morty answered back with certainty.
"How would a kid like you know anything about the Goldstar Meteorite?!" Octavius demanded.
"My grandfather is a scientist who works for the NASA. He studied that meteorite for months. He even said that some pieces of the meteorite went recently missing. Eventually, government investigators found out that there were mad scientists working for criminal organizations like A.I.M., Hydra, and the Maggia that paid a whole lot of money for pieces of that rock."
"Silly boy, how would you know what a piece of that meteorite even looked like?" Dr. Octavius stated incredulously.
"My grandfather has taken me into the high-security lab where the meteor was contained. So I know what I'm talking about. What did you do to it to make it turn into such an unnatural glowing color? It's normally a dark gold color, but it's glowing brightly and sparkling at the same time. The Goldstar Meteorite is volatile enough as it is. If you're not careful, it can blow up this whole laboratory, maybe even a city block. This is made worse by all the radiation you're pumping into it."
Morty paused and raised his eyebrows, giving the equipment even more intense scrutiny, noticing something familiar about it. Then he gasped audibly. "In addition to everything else you're doing, you're using gamma radiation, the same kind of gamma radiation that spawned the Incredible Hulk. Are you sure you know what you're doing, Doctor?"
"Where did this boy come from that he would know so much about the Goldstar Meteorite? Bah. No matter. The piece of meteor rock that I had Niner procure for me is simply a focus from which I plan to attain power during an experiment that will make me the most powerful man in New York City, even the world! But this Peter Parker has a great deal of potential according to my instruments. I've been waiting for someone like him. If he doesn't call me I'll have to make sure he shows up here, so I can use him to increase my power! However, if this other nosy kid can convince his grandfather that I actually have a piece of that forbidden meteorite, there might be trouble. I may have to have this kid killed unless I can get this Parker kid into my clutches tonight. I have much to consider, but for now, the other kid is getting too nosy for his own good!"
"You are mistaken, boy! Now run along and get back. You too!" he motioned to Peter. "The experiment is about to go into high gear. Get back! I say!"
XXX
On the bus ride back, Morty asked Peter what he thought about Otto Octavius with suspicion in his voice on the subject.
"He's brilliant but a little creepy," Peter answered.
"You think? If I didn't know better I'd say he was looking at you as if you were a science experiment much like that piece of the meteor."
"Are you sure that was part of the Goldstar Meteorite?"
"I'm sure of it, Peter. As soon as I get home, I'm calling my grandfather to tell him what I saw. And here's something else," Morty said in a whisper, getting closer to his friend. "I took a picture with my iPhone. When my grandfather sees it, he'll have the proper authorities pay Doctor Octavius a visit. At any rate, I'd stay away from that guy if I was you, Peter."
"Well, I noticed the way he was looking at me too, Morty. I'll probably get a scholarship of some kind, so I won't have to go work for that guy. And even if I still need money I can get work as a photographer or get a job in the audio/visual industry."
"Now you're talking more sense, Peter. Maybe you'll learn how to get a hot girlfriend from watching one of those videos of yours," Morty said with a smirk.
"That's a good idea, Morty. I'll have to look into that."
"I was kidding, Peter."
"I wasn't. But were you serious about the whole lab going sky high just because of that irradiated meteor rock?"
"That's right, Peter. I'm surprised none of the other scientists noticed what was going on with that rock unless they're all in on it."
"Hmm. I know for a fact that I'll be staying as far away from that lab as far as possible," Peter answered.
"Now you're talking."
A few rows away from the two science students another conversation was taking place. "So when are we going to nail Parker and his little friend? I just hated hearing them talking about all the wonderful things they're going to do after graduation," one of the two football players who wasn't going to college said bitterly.
"You're anxious to beat the crap out of him, aren't you, Dane?"
"You bet your ass, Flash," the larger, muscular yet lanky boy replied as his friend, sitting next to him nodded.
"All I'm getting after high school is a job working at a factory. All the glory and girls I've gotten from being a football player are gone after school is over. My life is nothing but downhill from here. There's no way I'm gonna let those geeks go off into the future and enjoy the best years of their lives."
"All right, boys. How about we do it after school? Spread the word around to the other football players but make sure nobody else knows about this. This is going to be the worst day of Peter Parker's life," Flash said to his cohorts in a low voice as his eyes darted back and forth from among them.
XXX
At the end of the day, Peter made his way home and found over a few dozen football players barring his path. "What do you guys want?" Peter demanded fearlessly, standing his ground and glaring back at the assemblage of jocks in front of him.
"You're dead, Parker! Normally I'd be the first to kick your ass and treat you like the bitch you are, but most of the guys here have been waiting for this a long time. Therefore, Monk and I have decided to let these guys have the first crack at you."
Peter turned towards the bane of his existence, giving him a look of fearlessness that unsettled the football star. "Is that so?"
"Yeah!" a football player answered as he ran over to the youngster.
"Now I'm going to... Whoa! Ungh!" The rather large boy missed his target. Then he found himself flying into the air horizontally a couple of feet from Peter who had used the tight end's momentum to toss him into the sky, sending him crashing to the ground flat on his back.
"You think you're so smart, geek? I'll show you what I'm made of!" one of the linemen who was the tackle whose position was next to the tight end at the start of a snap off called out, running towards Peter as fast as he could, but just like the first guy Peter used the martial arts he knew to throw him as well, slamming him into the ground.
"I don't believe this!"
"Let's all rush him already. This is taking too long!" another jock called out.
As the boys came at him in a rage, Peter grabbed the first one in the group to get to him who was a fast running wide receiver. Then he spun him around, throwing the boy into the incoming mob, knocking many of the others down like bowling pins.
Peter seemed to be doing well until Flash had taken a football and thrown it at him, hitting him on the head. "Ungh!"
"I've stunned him! You guys should be able to take him down now! Or do I have to do everything myself?!" Flash called out.
"We got it from here, Flash!" The jocks tackled the Peter to the ground and mercilessly pummeled him despite the fact that he struck back countless times, making his presence felt, but the numbers proved too much for him thus he went crashing to the ground.
Then the sounds of police sirens made themselves known from a few blocks away. "Hey, guys! The police are coming! We have to get out of here!" Flash called out in a huff.
"Wait a minute, Flash. I want to throw this piece of garbage in the gutter where he belongs," Monk said in response.
"There's not time! Just leave him out in the street! We gotta go!"
Upon hearing the police sirens getting closer, Flash and his teammates took off running, escaping into the darkness of the unlit streets.
After having run a few dozen blocks away, the boys stopped when the coast was clear to catch their collective breaths.
"That was great, Flash! Puny Parker will be in the hospital for weeks, assuming anybody finds him," the big, bald football player said as he high fived his teammate.
"Glad you loved it, Monk. Did you enjoy yourself, Dane?" Flash asked as he turned toward the formerly embittered football player.
"Sure did. I broke one of that nerd's legs. He'll never walk again."
"That's for sure. I broke his other leg. He'll be in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. How dare he defy our control?" another football player stammered.
"That's right!" another football player called out as he caught his breath. "We beat that guy up so badly his own mother won't be able to recognize him."
Flash Thompson rocked his head and laughed out loud as the boys around him joined in. "Now it's time for a huge end of the school year party at my house!"
"YEAH!" the boys yelled as they followed Flash to his home.
unbeknownst to Flash and his teammates, Peter was still a little conscious. Thus he stumbled to get up and made his way forward until he crashed into an alley filled with trash bags and slipped into unconsciousness.
XXX
"Where's, Peter? He should have been back here hours ago," Aunt May said to no one in particular as she looked out the window of her kitchen upon finishing the dishes. It wasn't like Peter to miss dinner no matter how hard he studied. And on top of that, he knew she was making his favorite food in celebration of him graduating high school with honors in a couple of days.
The reflection from the window showed a very attractive woman in her late thirties with long, light brown hair that went several inches below her shoulders. She had done much to keep her girlish figure intact by engaging in aerobic exercises and restraining her appetite. Thus she was agile, slender, and fit for a woman of her age, looking younger than she actually was.
"What did you say, May?" a voice called out. Ben Parker walked into the kitchen with a smooth gait without making much noise as he put his large hands on his wife's shoulders. His brown eyes showed concern as he breathed in calmly. The moonlight from the window shone on his dark brown, shoulder length hair and handsome face. He was a lanky man with wiry muscles and proportionally larger limbs showing a great deal of natural strength. His wife turned around and regarded her husband with a sense of worry and concern, letting her head fall on the man's muscular shoulders.
"He should have been back by now, Ben. You know how he's been having problems with bullies at school. You think they may have done something permanent to him this time?"
"Now, May. There's no need to worry about that. The best thing we can do is call the school."
"I'll call them right now. And if I don't like the answer they give me, I'll go there tomorrow," the woman stated firmly.
"We'll go there tomorrow, May." Ben Parker gave his wife a look of assurance that helped to set her at ease, making her smile a little.
XXX
On his way from the laboratory in a van with a couple of his associates, Dr. Octavius was testing an ultraviolet vision device, allowing him to notice the prone and beaten form of an unconscious young man in a dark alley several blocks from the school.
"Hmm," Octavius said calmly.
"What is it, boss?" the associate who was driving the black van asked.
"Slow down and park right over there, Niner."
"Yes, Boss." Niner was a man of medium height, weight, and build who normally wore black ninja outfits. His sandy blond hair was short as his light brown eyes darted back and forth, being horrifically aware of his environment as his deadly hands took hold of the wheel, carefully driving to where Otto had ordered him.
"My small computer's going off more than it did earlier today. That guy over there has more potential than that Peter Parker kid ever did. I must use this guy for my experiment before his life terminates," Doctor Octavius thought to himself.
"Rudy!" Otto ordered a large, muscular man in the back of the van.
"Yeah, boss?"
"Go over there and grab that guy in the alley. We're taking him back to the lab."
"Sure, boss, but I don't see anybody there."
"Just go over there with a flashlight, you oaf! The man should be visible to you then."
The broad-shouldered hulk of a man plodded his way through the garbage in the alley with the flashlight in his hand and found the hardly moving form on the ground. Then he picked him up like a sack of potatoes and carried him back to the van.
"I got him, boss!"
"Good, now put him inside," the doctor ordered.
"How did you know this guy was here, Boss?" Rudy asked with a sense of surprise.
"I am a scientist of unparalleled genius, fool. I know a lot of things you can never comprehend. Make sure he's all right. He's very important to an experiment I'm going to do," Octavius demanded.
The driver looked over his shoulder at the hard-breathing guy lying down. "Am I right in thinking you will want to do this experiment tonight, Boss? If that's what you want to do, then you might want me to call some of the other scientists."
"That's a good idea, Niner. But simply drive us back to the lab. I'll start calling the other scientists right now."
XXX
A few hours later:
"Where's my new test subject?" Otto Octavius demanded as he walked into the already meticulously prepared lab.
"Got him right here, boss," Niner complied as he gently took hold of Peter's battered and bruised form, carrying him into the lab.
"Good. Now lay him on that table over there." As soon Peter was on the table, Doctor Octavius started tying him up, attaching electrodes and other equipment into him.
"Will your experiment still work even though he's injured?" a newly arrived scientist asked reservedly.
"It doesn't matter if he's injured or not, and don't question my commands! Now it's important to get him hooked up, so I can use him as a template in order to bring cosmic power from an alternate dimension. Thus I'll gain power for myself in the process. Now get out of the way and do what you're paid to do!"
"Gasp!" The scientist was taken aback for a moment, but complied, morosely making his way back to his part of the lab.
"The machines are ready, doctor," another one of his assistants confirmed as he looked over his shoulders at the doctor.
"Excellent." Then Otto lied down on the table next to the guinea pig and used his mechanical arms to hook himself up in the same way he had done with the young lad, attaching himself up to him as well.
"Everybody put on your shades! We're about to commence!"
As his assistant scientists did his bidding, Otto used his metallic arms to pull a lever down and then... !ZZZGGGTT!
"It's working! Aah! Aah! Aaaaaagh!" Otto screamed in pain as electricity and gamma radiated energy coursed through his body.
"Turn it off! It's killing him!" a lab assistant announced as the inside of the lab became engrossed with sparkling gold and yellow while electricity and radiation coursed through the room.
"No! Aaargh!" Otto demanded as he kept on screaming. The pain was so great as to make him lose control of his metal arms, making them swing wildly, one of them stretching over to the glass dome in which the gamma radiated Goldmane Meteorite rock resided, shattering the normally unbreakable glass casing.
The gamma irradiated meteor rock glowed in an even brighter shade of gold and yellow as a large piece of it broke off leaving only a small, fist-sized piece as it came flying out of the broken container while gamma energy all over the place struck it, engulfing it. However, before it was totally vaporized, it landed on the young man melding into him. At the same time, Otto Octavius' mechanical harness with the metal arms attached melded into him as well.
"The man's glowing like shining gold! He's convulsing! I'm going to shut it down!" one of the scientists screamed.
"No! I can feel the power surging through me! I'm getting stronger. More importantly, my mind is expanding. This guy's potential is greater than I could have ever dreamed."
"All the generators are overheating. If we're not careful, they're going to blow up and destroy the whole building! I'm shutting it off now!" However, before the assistant could reach the lever, one of Otto's metallic arms reached over to him and struck the assistant in the head, shattering his skull into fragments thus killing him.
!BEEP!BEEP!BEEEEP! "Take cover!"
"AAARRGGGH!" !KABOOM!
XXX
A few hours later at 8:00 am in the morning, the head scientist of the Oscorp laboratory arrived and got out of his large, dark blue expensive car, surveying the wreckage. "Gasp! What happened here? The whole building has been reduced to rubble!" he exclaimed. He was a slender, old man with a well-groomed mustache and clothes, his hair cropped short and graying. He felt a breeze go through his black slacks, suit, and tie as he made his way through the carnage.
"We're still going through the wreckage, Professor Zachary, but the fire's put out now," the lead fireman said, backed up by a dozen other firemen who had put out the previous fire. Then something moved from under the debris. !CRUSH!
"It's Doctor Octavius!"
What came out of the wreckage looked familiar except he was a whole lot stronger and more imposing looking, standing at six feet tall, weighing 200 pounds of rock-solid muscle. The harness seemed to be gone but the four metallic arms were still there under the doctor's complete control. His Three Stooges Moe Howard sugar bowl haircut was gone, his hair being fine and looking as if it was combed to the side. At the same time, Doctor Octavius was no longer hefty but broad shouldered. However, his new handsome looks were marred by the hostile, intimidating sneer he gave to all the survivors of the destroyed building and anyone else that met his ire.
"Dr. Octavius! What happened here?" Professor Zachary called out as he ran over to the muscular yet disheveled man.
"Silence, old man!"
The head scientist was taken aback and stared at the changed doctor with wide eyes. "What did you just say? Explain yourself!"
"Damage like this is acceptable. However, if you must know, my experiment was a brilliant success. Now if you'll excuse me, I have places to which I must go."
"You're not going anywhere!" Professor Zachary demanded.
For the time being, Otto ignored the older man, looking around the wreckage in search of something. "Where is that bum we used for the experiment?"
"Nobody knows where he is. He must have died in the explosion," one of the surviving scientists answered as he stumbled out of the wreckage.
"Bah. No matter. He has fulfilled his purpose. The destruction of this lab and the death of that vagrant was a small price to pay for what I've become," the doctor said matter of factually.
"The destruction of the lab was a small price to pay? Did you use more power than I allowed you to use?" the head scientist demanded.
"You're making much ado about nothing. Did you want success or not?"
"I can see it from here. You used too much power! The generators are smoldering!" the old man gasped out loud as the stench and visibility of grey-black smoke came from the wreckage, being spread upwards and around the area by a torrential wind.
"Enough! I'm leaving now. Out of my way! Niner, Attend me!"
"Yes, boss!" the dark clothed man answered, appearing a couple of feet behind him.
"Get my flying vehicle!" Octavius ordered.
At his boss's command, Niner vanished, reappearing a few moments later with what looked like a space-age van. Then Otto made his way inside the vehicle with the head scientist attempting to stop him by aggressively grabbing him by his right arm.
"Dr. Octavius!" the head scientist screamed. "You're gonna wish you had died in that explosion after I'm through with you! I told you not to use too much power. I'm going to..."
Before Professor Zachary could finish his sentence, Otto Octavius reached over with his right hand, grabbed the pencil-necked geek, and raised him up a couple of feet off the ground. Then he squeezed until there was a moist snapping noise!
"Old fool. No one talks to me in that manner, not to me, the Master Planner! You will all hear of me in the future as I will one day be the master of the whole world!" With that Otto Octavius got inside the futuristic vehicle and closed the passenger door.
"He killed Professor Zachary! I always knew that guy was crazy, but I never thought he'd do something like that!" one of the scientists that arrived with the professor exclaimed as the space age vehicle flew into the sky and disappeared from view.
"Where's the guy Octavius was talking about?"
"No one knows where anybody is. All we can do now is search through the wreckage," another one of the scientists commented.
Eventually, several reporters from different news outlets showed up with their cameras, microphones, and questions.
"What's going on here? Is this another Oscorp experiment gone wrong? Where's Doctor Octavius?" a reporter who had just arrived called out with his microphone out in the direction of the remaining scientists.
"No comment! We have a whole lot of cleaning up to do around here, so we'd appreciate it if you'd let us take care of the mess," one of the higher ranking surviving lab assistants replied snappishly.
Then a noise came from some of the rubble of the explosion. "Who's that coming out the carnage over there?!" a reporter yelled, noticing something moving in the wreckage.
A few seconds later, a muscular and extremely powerful looking young man with a luxuriously long, flowing, golden, blond mane of hair smashed his way into the light. His uniform consisted of what looked like a golden championship belt that had the insignia of a twelve-sided star in the center of it along with bright yellow golden boots, gauntlet-wristbands, cape, blue leggings with golden-yellow trim, and a similarly colored midriff open tunic that displayed muscularly powerful pectorals, abs, and arms. Thus his smooth, fair skin glistened in the sun as his powerful legs moved his superhumanly framed, barrel-chested physique forward with grace and poise, putting champion bodybuilders to shame. At the same time, his beautiful ice blue eyes showed a calm intensity as he regarded his surroundings as if he was the master of all he surveyed with his golden cape billowing in the wind.
"Getting a look at this guy was definitely worth being woken up so early in the morning!" a middle-aged woman from the crowd announced.
"I'll say! That body and luscious hair is to die for!" another woman in the crowd called out.
The striking figure had turned into a six feet four inches tall warrior weighing an impressive 250 pounds of much defined, rock solid muscle while his arms had turned into powerful guns measuring 22 inches around in circumference each as his long hair fluttered in the wind.
"I don't believe it!" one of the bespectacled scientists from earlier called out as he sat up on the gurney on which he had been lying.
"Octavius grabbed that man from off the street and used him for the experiment! Has he changed into that person over there?! He should have died in the explosion. What has he turned into?! He looks like Mr. Universe! Oooh!" After his proclamation, the scientist fell flat on his back on the gurney and slipped back into unconsciousness.
"Who are you?!" one of the reporters called out, running over to the caped Adonis with a microphone in his hand.
The vision of beauty and power stood there unabashed while cameras flashed, taking pictures of him. Then he announced with a booming voice as his barrel chest expanded with his fists on his hips in a heroic pose while a torrential wind blew all around him tugging his long, golden tresses of hair to and fro, "I am Goldstar Supreme!"
Everyone paused at the sight of the awe-inspiring figure for a few moments. Then everyone recovered.
"This is Ken Clarke from the Daily Bugle!" another reporter shouted as his cameraman taped the events while photographer Lance Bannon kept on taking pictures. "How did you recover so quickly from your life-threatening injuries, Mister Supreme?"
"Hmm. And here I thought this was a dream," the amazingly breathtaking young man answered, his piercing eyes gazing upon his environment.
"This isn't a dream; this is real life!" In time, more and more people showed up, gawking at the newcomer and all the smoldering wreckage.
Then another reporter stepped up to the larger-than-life young man, doing her best to hide the admiration she had for the powerful body of the striking figure. Her impressively built bust line seemingly stood at attention and strained against her form-fitting outfit as the wind blew up her red dress. Upon sighing in admiration of the golden garbed Adonis who returned her looks of appreciation with a smile, the shapely blond closed the gap between the two of them. Upon noticing his powerful physique, she regarded his intense eyes and put her microphone to the man's face.
"Are you planning on becoming New York City's newest superhero or the newest threat to mankind?" another reporter asked.
"I'm planning on being a hero, not a villain. Thus I'll do things for the good of mankind. Are there any more questions?"
At that point, another reporter stepped forward. "Why on earth do you call yourself Goldstar Supreme?"
Goldstar Supreme took a good look at everyone there, giving them all a warm, friendly smile. Then he said, "I got my powers from the Goldstar Meteorite and my abilities are at a supreme level. There's also the fact that I have a long mane of golden hair."
Everyone there was at a loss for words as they took another look at the powerful specimen of manhood before them.
"I'd like to thank all of you for showing up at my coming out party, but it's time for me to depart. Go for the gold!" the hero called out upon shooting off towards the sky in a dramatic pose. Then the newly super-powered individual flew off into the morning light blue yonder with his cape and long hair creating a golden trail behind him.
XXX
AUTHOR'S NOTES: This is a new twist on Peter Parker with him having different powers in different situations.