Empire State University Science Center. April 1988.
Peter Parker was nervous. This was his first time that he had ever visited a science lab. A real science lab. Not those fake science labs that were featured in science fiction movies and novels. This was a real science lab with real scientists. Peter and his classmates were gathered around a large presentation of radioactive material.
Peter Parker was just a 14 year old kid. An average, everyday 14 year old kid. He had very few friends. By few, it meant one person: Harold Osborn. Harold, or Harry, as everybody called him, was a bright young student. He was a year younger than Peter. Peter and Harry have been best friends since the age of 6. His father, Norman Osborn, ran a successful, multi billion dollar company named Oscorp. He was the CEO of Oscorp. Harry hardly ever saw his father, as Norman was always busy running Oscorp.
Peter Parker had brown hair, hazel eyes, and wore Harry Potter style glasses. He was socially insecure. He mostly kept to himself. He was shy around girls. Not that Peter wanted to be shy, it was just that the local school bully, Eugene "Flash" Thompson, had all the girls. Flash beat up Peter like a Street Fighter character almost on a daily basis. Peter didn't know why Flash always beated him up all the time.
In the science lab, Peter was excited and nervous at the same time. He always wondered how radioactivity worked. Now, he was going to find out how radioactivity really worked. Little did Peter know that this moment would change his life forever.
"This is a special machine that can harness and control radioactive rays." a generic scientist explained the students of Midtown Middle School. He was referring to a machine that was located behind him. The machine in question had 2 spherical balls that were a few inches apart. The spherical balls were suspended by poles. It looked more like a electricity generator than a machine that could control and harness radioactive rays. The scientist turned the machine on. The machine started to work. It was incredible for the students of Midtown Middle School.
Peter decided that this be a good time to take a picture of this amazing event. Peter had a Canon Polaroid camera strapped around his neck. Peter loved to take photos. It was his passion. He wanted to become a professional photographer when he grew up. Sometimes, Peter would take pictures of the various landmarks of New York City. Peter aimed his Polaroid at the radioactive rays. It was fortunate that his camera had the unique ability of shutting on and off the flash. Right now, Peter had the flash off.
Peter snapped a few photos of the bright radioactive rays. He then noticed something odd. A tiny spider was climbing down towards the radioactive rays. Peter found it odd that a science lab would have spiders crawling about. This was a clean, safe scientific laboratory, not some dirty dingy Medieval style dungeon. Peter would've thought that the scientists who worked at this place would've at least cleaned up the place a little better. Nobody except Peter seemed to notice that there was a spider descending down towards the radioactive rays. The spider got caught inside the radioactive rays. The spider got massive doses of radioactivity.
A few seconds later, the radioactive rays were shut down. The spider felt dizzy. Real dizzy. The spider knew that it was going to die at any moment. It needed to bite something or someone very quickly before it died. The spider saw an unsuspecting 14 year old human boy with glasses and brown hair. It felt the urge to bite something. The spider spun a web towards the boy's body. It landed on the boy's hand. The spider bit the boy's hand. Then, it died.
"Ow!" Peter yelped loudly. He felt something bite him in the hand. Peter looked down to see a dead spider fall off of his hand. Peter looked down at the dead spider. He wondered why a spider would bite him, of all people. Peter wanted to freak out and alert everybody that there was a dead spider on the floor that had just bit him. He realized that all of the students would laugh at him and call him a wimp if he freaked out. That would be embarassing for Peter.
So, Peter remained calm. Suddenly, Peter felt a wave of energy wash over him. He felt like he was about to throw up. Peter felt light headed and dizzy. Peter realized that maybe he should get some fresh air. He hoped that will make him feel better. The teacher noticed how Peter was reacting very strangely. He'd known Peter for a year and a half. The teacher never saw Peter act like this before.
"Peter!" Peter's teacher said, "Are you okay?"
Peter's vision started to get blurry. He had never felt this way before in his life. He felt like he was going to pass out. Peter's teacher rushed toward him. Peter wanted to get away from the lab and go outside.
"Yeah, I'm okay." Peter said to his teacher. "You sure?" Peter's teacher asked. "You don't look okay."
"I'll be okay." Peter said. "I'm just tired. I need some air."
"Okay." Peter's teacher said.
Peter walked toward the nearest exit. He wanted some fresh air. Maybe the feelings that he was experiencing would go away. Peter walked out the door and into the sunny afternoon atmosphere.