Our story begins on a bus of all places as Cherry and Atticus were on that bus, but someone was running behind the bus to get on it.
"Do you think anyone will notice us?" Cherry asked Atticus as they rode the bus.
"Probably." Atticus said.
"Hey! Stop the bus!" A boy cried out which made Cherry and Atticus look behind the bus to see someone was chasing it. "Tell him to stop! Please! Stop! Hey! Stop the bus!"
Cherry cupped her mouth as she hid a snicker to the boy's misfortune while Atticus sent her a look. "What?"
"Come on, man, stop the bus!" Atticus told the bus driver.
"Stop the bus!" A redheaded girl spoke up. "He's been chasing us since Woodhaven Boulevard!"
The bus soon stopped and the boy came on the bus, trying to find a place to sit, though the others weren't very nice to him about it. Atticus knew what to do and where Cherry knew exactly what they would do. A bully boy smirked as he soon tripped the rather nerdy boy which made almost all the other students laugh at him.
'And here's Atticus coming to the rescue.' Cherry thought to herself.
Atticus helped the boy up. "You okay?"
"Yeah, I guess so..." The boy replied. "I don't think I've seen you around here before."
"Uh, my sister and I are new in town," Atticus said. "I'm Atticus."
"I'm Peter Parker." The boy introduced himself.
"Here, you can sit with us." Atticus said.
"Wow, really?" Peter asked.
"We insist." Atticus smiled.
Peter smiled back and sat down with him and Cherry. "So, you guys are visiting Columbia University's Science Department too?" he then asked.
"Yep." Atticus nodded.
"Is that where we're going?" Cherry asked.
"Oh, of course it is!" Atticus smiled nervously. "Don't you remember, silly goose?"
"Oh, right..." Cherry said.
"Forgive her," Atticus told Peter. "She's crazy."
"Hm." Cherry narrowed her eyes slightly.
"I'm a little excited," Peter said before he seemed to trail off. "Especially since Mary Jane Watson is going."
"Do you got a crush on her?" Atticus asked him.
"Huh?! What?!" Peter's eyes widened. "No, no, don't be silly, I mean..."
Atticus just smirked.
"Okay, yeah." Peter soon gave in.
"Knew it." Atticus smirked.
"Isn't she amazing?" Peter sighed about the redheaded girl he had a crush on. "She'd never go for someone like me though."
"Don't worry, Peter, I'm sure today will be the start of a new beginning." Atticus replied since in the comic books, Peter became Spider-Man after getting bitten in the science lab by a radioactive arachnid.
"Maybe." Peter shrugged.
Atticus winked to Cherry who just rolled her eyes.
"Comic Book geek." Cherry muttered to him.
The bus continued down its destination.
Soon enough, it came to a stop and the students all filed out to go into the building.
"Midtown High seniors," A man instructed. "No wandering. Proceed direct... Hey! Knock it off. Remember, it is a privilege to be here. We're guests of Columbia University's Science Department. So behave accordingly. Let's not have a repeat of our trip to the planetarium. Now, Come on and stay together. Proceed up the steps and into the building."
"What happened last time?" Atticus asked.
"I don't want to talk about it..." The man sighed before glancing at him and Cherry. "Hey, you're not Midtown High students!"
Atticus and Cherry smirked as they showed him their fake student IDs that Drell gave them.
The man took their IDs and then looked dumbfounded. "Oh... Well, I guess you can go then."
"That's more like it." Cherry said.
The man scratched his head as he let them go on the field trip. There was also a limo which stopped at the building.
"Who owns the limo?" Cherry asked.
"Oh, that must be the Osbourns." Mary Jane said.
"Oh." Atticus said.
Peter smiled when he saw a boy his age come out of the limo as his father came with him with his backpack.
"Those must be them." Cherry guessed.
"Yes," Mary Jane replied. "Harry is the son, and Dr. Norman is the father."
"Dr. Norman Osbourn..." Cherry said to herself. "The billionaire scientist..."
'This might be a tad challenging.' Atticus thought to himself.
"Um, Peter, may I introduce my father, Norman Osborn." Harry said to Peter.
"I've heard so much about you." Norman smiled as he shook hands with Peter.
'He doesn't seem so bad so far.' Atticus thought to himself.
"It's a great honor to meet you, sir." Peter smiled.
"Harry tells me you're quite the science whiz," Harry replied. "Y'know, I'm something of a scientist myself."
"I read all your research on nanotechnology," Peter said. "Really Brilliant."
"And you understood it?" Norman asked.
"Yes, I wrote a paper on it." Peter nodded.
"Impressive," Norman said. "Your parents must be very proud."
"I live with my aunt and uncle, they are proud." Peter clarified.
'I wonder what ever happened to his parents?' Atticus thought to himself, referring to Peter.
Cherry looked to Atticus.
"I don't know what happened to them either." Atticus said as he seemed to know what she was thinking.
"We should get inside." Cherry said.
"Come on, Cherry, I don't want you to get lost." Atticus told her.
Cherry nodded as she stayed beside him.
"He doesn't seem so bad." Peter said to Harry.
"Not if you're a genius," Harry scoffed about his father. "I think he wants to adopt you."
They all were soon inside.
"There are over 32,000 known species of spider in the world," The tour guide informed while Cherry looked sleepy. "They're in the order Araneae, divided into three suborders."
"Wow! That's amazing!" Peter beamed. "This is the most advanced electron microscope in the eastern seaboard. It's unreal."
"Boring." Cherry said.
Atticus nudged her since that was a bit rude.
"Arachnids from all three groups possess varying strengths which help them in their constant search for food," The tour guide continued. "For example, the Delena spider, family Sparassidae, has the ability to jump to catch its prey."
"Cool." Atticus said while Cherry yawned.
Peter took out his camera. "For the school paper?"
The tour guide allowed this. Peter smiled as he then took a picture as a bully was about to bump against him. Only for his bump to be interrupted by Atticus. The bully glared at Atticus who just smirked at him.
"Next, we have the net web spider, family Filistatidae genus Kukulcania," The tour guide continued. "It spins an intricate funnel shaped web whose strands have a tensile strength proportionately equal to the type of high tension wire."
Atticus smiled in interest. Cherry just yawned, but at least her fear of spiders wasn't bothering her. The bully was about to bump Peter again.
"Leave him alone." Harry demanded.
Atticus smiled as he was happy that Harry defenders his friend.
"What is going on?" A man strictly asked. "The next person who talks will fail this course. I kid you not. Let's go."
'Sheesh, he's so strict.' Cherry thought to herself.
"This grass spider hunts using reflexes with nerve-conduction velocity so fast that some researchers believe it almost borders on precognition," The tour guide continued. "An imminent awareness of danger: A spider-sense."
'That would be helpful for any hero.' Atticus thought to himself.
"Hey, look at that spider." Harry pointed out.
"It's almost camouflaged like a chameleon," Cherry observed. "How is that possible?"
"Some spiders change colors to blend into their environment," Peter educated. "It's a defense mechanism."
"Well, if any of them get in my house and do that, I'm moving away." Cherry replied.
"I'm sure none of them will be at your house." Atticus said.
"You better hope not otherwise I'm burning it to the ground." Cherry replied since she had a serious dislike of spiders from her fear.
"Have you seen the way your mom cleans?" Atticus asked her.
"I guess that's true." Cherry replied as she adjusted her glasses.
Atticus soon noticed a spider missing which must have been the one that was destined to bite Peter.
"Over five painstaking years, Columbia's genetic research facility has, with these DNA blueprints, we have begun what was once thought impossible," The tour guide told the students while Harry was trying to get Peter into talking to Mary Jane. "Transfer RNA to encode an entirely new genome combining the genetic information from all three into these fifteen genetically designed super-spiders."
'Whoa.' Atticus thought to himself.
"Atticus?" Cherry said.
"Yeah?" Atticus replied.
"He said fifteen spiders," Cherry said. "I count fourteen."
"That's the spider that's going to bite Peter and give him his powers." Atticus whispered to her.
Cherry suddenly flinched nervously since a spider was running loose. "KILL IT!" she then shrieked which made everybody look at her.
"Um, one of the spiders is loose and my sister has a fear of spiders." Atticus said.
"A spider is missing?" The tour guide asked before shrugging it off. "I guess the researchers are working on that one."
"THEY BETTER BE!" Cherry yelled.
"Don't worry, most spiders are harmless." The tour guide assured her.
Cherry shivered and even froze in her spot. Atticus picked up Cherry in his hands and walked off with her as she muttered about spiders. Little did anyone know, the missing spider was on a web, hanging from a column. As fate would have it, of all people, Peter would happen to be right there under the column.
"Do you know that this is the largest electron microscope on the eastern seaboard?" Harry whispered.
"You were talking throughout that woman's entire presentation," A man scolded him. "Let's talk about how we listen."
Soon enough, it looked like Peter and Mary Jane were alone together.
'Clever, Harry,' Atticus thought to himself. 'Very clever.'
Peter soon got to take a picture of Mary Jane. This looked like the perfect moment of his whole entire life, but soon the spider crawled down from its web and climbed onto him, and soon bit the boy, and where that meant that fate was working perfectly. Peter felt very strange all of a sudden while the tour continued.
'Looks like the bite is working.' Atticus thought to himself.
"That kid is weird." Cherry commented.
"You should talk about who's weird and who's not weird." Atticus replied.
Cherry rolled her eyes. "I guess you're gonna go to his house and spy on him like the detective you are, Nancy Boy Fudo."
"Kind of." Atticus said.
Cherry shrugged.
"What makes you think I'll do that?" Atticus asked.
"Because you pretty much do at this point in the story." Cherry replied.
"Fair enough." Atticus said.