Disclaimers:

All Spider-Man and all its related characters belongs to Marvel Entertainment, which is owned by Walt Disney Company, and the Sam Raimi Original Trilogy belongs to Sony Pictures Entertainment. No infringement of these copyrights are intended, and not authorized by copyright holders.

The one and only renowned scientist, Doctor Otto Octavius, was working in his laboratory as he was delicately piecing together a new technological equipment needed for his science demonstrations in the coming days.

Otto looked around in his early 50s, with heavy cheeks around his face, sporting a rough bowl haircut and an oversized red turtleneck sweater and grey trousers, both of which were over his seemingly out-of-shape body.

One day, one of his assistants entered the lab with two other guests. "Doctor? Mr. Osborn's here."

"Nobel prize, Otto. Nobel prize!" Harry announced his entrance to the good Doctor. "And we'll all be rich."

Otto walked away from his lab desk and greeted his business investor. "It's not about the prizes, Harry," He said, giving him a welcome handshake.

"But you need money, you need Oscorp," Harry said with a grin.

Otto noticed one particular college student next to him. "Who do we have here?"

"This is my friend I called you about," Harry gestured to his best friend. "The guy who got me through high school science."

"Peter Parker, sir," He introduced himself to his idol, offering a handshake.

"Parker," Otto greeted with the same gesture.

"I'm writing a paper on you," Peter explained his reason for visit.

"Yes, yes, I know what you're doing here," Otto said, trying to kindly dismiss any distractions that could keep his attention away from his work. "But I really don't have time for students right now."

Harry cleared his throat, giving him a look.

Otto then quickly changed his mind reluctantly at his investor's request. "But Oscorp paid the bills, so... "

"That's right, so I must take off. Board meeting," Harry said, as he was slowly departing from the lab. "Get you two geniuses together. Good luck, Otto, Nobel Prize. We'll see you in Sweden," He then gave a goodbye wave as he was leaving Peter and Otto to themselves.

"Interesting fellow, Norman's son," Otto joked.

Peter quirked an eyebrow when his idol mentioned his best friend's father, sounded like as if he was already acquainted with him before. Knowing his idol's very busy with his work, Peter pushed the thought aside for now. "Oh, I won't take much of your time."

"Parker, now I remember, you're Connors' student," Otto recalled with a little twinkle in his eyes. "Tells me you're brilliant."

Peter raised his eyebrows, looking a little flattered at the fact his science teacher mentioned him to his idol.

"He also tells me you're lazy," Otto added, his twinkled eyes quickly shifted to a solemn one.

Peter's flattered look softened upon hearing that. "Well, try and do better."

"Oh, being brilliant's not enough, dear boy," Otto said with a proud smile. "You have to work hard. Intelligence is not a privilege, it's a gift, and you use it for the better of mankind."

Peter paused at his idol's words, letting it all sink in. He then turned to his right when he noticed several technicians working on four technological arches with each two shinny pointers connected to their both ends. "So, that's it?"

"Yes," Otto nodded. "My design for initiating and sustaining fusion,"

Peter slowly approached Otto's fusion reactor, feeling intrigued and almost in awe by the mere sight of it. "I understand you're using harmonic frequencies."

"Synthetic frequencies," Otto corrected.

"Harmonic reinforcement?"

Otto nodded his head, permitting the dear boy to continue. "Go on."

"Exponential increase in energy output."

"A huge amount of energy, like a perpetual sun providing renewable power for the whole world," Otto explained his reasoning behind his experiment.

More than an hour later, Otto and Peter, along with Otto's wife, Rosie, were already gathered at the kitchen table as they were discussing more about the experiment.

"This is amazing," Peter expressed his genuine amazement of what Otto's fusion reactor could mean for the future if it's successful. "If this works, it could change the way we live."

"It is amazing," Otto agreed confidently. "And it will work."

Despite Peter's initial enthusiasm for his idol's experiment, he couldn't help but feel a bit skeptical about it as well. "Are you sure you can stabilize the fusion reaction?"

"Peter, what had we been talking about for the last hour and the half?" Otto reminded. "It's my life's work. I certainly know the consequences of the slightest miscalculation."

"I'm sorry for questioning you," Peter apologized.

"Our new friend here thinks I'm gonna blow up the city," Otto said with a light-hearted wheeze. "You can sleep soundly tonight."

Rosie smiled as she poured some tea. "Otto's done his homework. Come to the demonstration and see for yourself," She then turned to her husband. "And you need to sleep soundly tonight, Otto."

Otto rolled his eyes at the mere thought of sleeping. "Does Edison sleep before he turns on the light? Did Marconi before he turns on the radio? Did Beethoven sleep before he wrote the fifth?"

"Did Bernoulli sleep before he found the curve of quickest decent?" Peter added with a cheeky smile.

"Ahh, Rosie, I love this boy," Otto complimented with a grin, before picking up his cup of tea.

As they were continuing their lunch, Peter's thoughts about that other thing that Otto said earlier came to his mind. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but an hour and a half ago, the way you talked about Harry, it almost sounds like you knew his father personally."

"Ahh yes, Norman Osborn," Otto nodded with a nostalgic grin on his face. "Way before I got the privilege of meeting his son, Norman and I used to attend the same grad school together. Started as lab partners, later became friends," Then the grin on his lips slowly turned to a solemn line, his eyes almost like they were aged years ahead.

Thinking there's more to it when Peter noticed Otto's sad expression, he urged him. "Then... what happened?"

"Well, let's just say we both don't really see eye-to-eye when it comes to our views on pursuing science as the time goes on, so we decided it's best we go our separate ways after graduating. That said, that doesn't mean I couldn't respect him for achieving his own lifelong goals. Misguided and greedy, but still a brilliant scientist."

With the saddened tone in his voice, Otto continued. "I only wished I got a chance to mend our... strained friendship before his recent passing. That's the only reason why I was willing to accept the grant money from Oscorp than other potential investors," He finished, before taking a slow sip from his tea.

Peter nodded with a downed look, not wanting to push the sensitive topic any further than he needs to be. "I'm so sorry."

Just finding out that Otto and Norman used to be former friends that never had a chance to reconcile with one another just added more to Peter's guilt due to his inability to able to save his old arch-nemesis before his self-demise.

Feeling the awkward tension in the air, Rosie tried to break it up with her own questions. "So, Peter, tell us about yourself. Do you have a girlfriend?" She asked curiously.

Peter couldn't help but let out a prideful smile upon hearing that question. "I do, actually. Her name's Mary Jane Watson."

Rosie tilted her head when her interests peaked at Peter's answer. "Really? This Mary Jane Watson wouldn't happened to be the same Mary Jane Watson starring in Importance of Being Earnest?"

"Actually, yes, that Mary Jane Watson is my girlfriend," Peter nodded in acknowledgment.

Rosie's eyes widened, genuinely surprised at the fact a college student got a girlfriend who's also a well-known actress, let alone the one that's currently starring in Broadway. "Wow, you must be really lucky."

"Well, we've known each other since we were kids. It's only some time after we graduated high school, we found something 'special' going on between us, and we've been dating ever since," Peter said, subtly referring to their powers without giving away their alter egos' identities.

"Well, I'm very glad you've opened yourself to her, Peter," Suddenly switching from his somber mood to a joyful one, Otto joined in on the conversation. "Because if you ever try to keep something as complicated as love stored up inside, it can make you sick," He said, giving a glance look at his wife. "Like you, I finally got lucky in love."

"We both did. But it's hardly perfect, we have to work at it. I met him on the college steps, and I knew it wasn't gotta be easy," Rosie said with a cheeky look. "He was studying science, and I was studying English Literature."

Otto chuckled, reminiscing the fond memories of their time in college. "That's right. I tried to explain the theory of Relativity," He said, his wife hummed in agreement. "And Rosie tried to explain T.S Elliot. I still don't understand what he's talking about."

"Oh, c'mon," Rosie shook her head, not believing her husband's words.

"I'm serious. T.S Elliot's more complicated than advanced science," Otto said in his defense, before turning to Peter. "In all seriousness, if it weren't for Rosie, I'd probably never be the best man I am today. I hope all the best for you and your loved one, Peter. Just remember to never let her go," He gave his blessing smile.

Peter returned an admiring nod with a smile of his own, appreciating his idol's supportive words.

Words: 1573

A/N: And so we finally got to see Peter meeting Doctor Otto Octavius for the first time. As some of you may notice, I added a bit of background story to connect Otto and Norman, and a bit of change to how Peter responded to the girlfriend question. A minor change in that significant moment really does wonders in a long run.

Next chapter, we'll finally see Gayle meeting her little sister again. If you want to see who I got fan-casted on her, I'll eventually post a casting card on my DeviantArt page when that chapter rolls out in due time.

With that said, any constructive criticisms and comments would be greatly appreciated. I hope you enjoy reading this chapter.

Reviews:

Rivet94: Appreciated.

And as for why I had Gayle in, I knew I needed to add an extra character that goes along well with Mary Jane's journey as a character throughout this fanfic, as I don't want her to just simply be a superhero's girlfriend. And what better character than someone close to her from the comics?

CT311998: Cheers for your review again.

While the next chapter we'll be introduced to Gayle, her reasoning for being back in the Big Apple will be explained in the next few ones.

DCDGojira: Thanks.

TW: Thanks, glad I was able to.