Emily Lyman Osborn stared back at the eight-legged jet black spider. It stood motionless on her gloved hand, its cold eight eyes staring deep into hers. The center of the arachnid's round abdomen bore the inscription of red numbers. Its dagger-like fangs twitched with eagerness, anticipating the ideal opportunity to strike at anything it perceived as a threat. But Emily wasn't frightened in the slightest.
"How can you stand there and not be frightened by it?" Nels van Adder asked, peering down worryingly at the arachnid. Emily smiled at Nels over her shoulder.
"Simple, Nels: because I'm not afraid of 'em," Emily said, turning her gaze back to the spider. "I like spiders; I find them to be very fascinating creatures."
"I see," acknowledged Nels.
There was a pause between the pair. Emily smiled in admiration as she watched the spider crawl over her wrist to her palm.
"Tell me Nels, are you familiar with Greek mythology?" Emily inquired, rotating her hand slowly so as to not to startle the spider.
"Can't say I have, ma'am," Nels replied.
Emily brought her other hand up to her arm when the spider crawled up to it. The arachnid changed its direction, creeping up to her wrist, then crawled around her palm. Emily tilted her head as the spider produced a web, slowly descending downward until it landed back on her right palm yet again.
"When I was a little girl, my mother told me a story, a myth you could say," Emily began, not taking her eyes off of the persistent moving spider. "The story tells of an ancient spirit named Athena, who heard there was this woman on earth, a mortal like you and me - who happened to be a better spinstress than she was. Athena wasn't happy to hear this, so she came down to earth to destroy the woman's creations."
"Sounds like a woman," Nels commented.
Emily shifted her gaze towards Nels, squinting her eyes at him.
"Heh, heh, um, sorry." Nels rubbed the back of his head nervously. "Please, continue."
Emily stared at him for a good minute before redirecting her attention back at the spider.
"When this mortal girl saw what had happened - that she had insulted the Gods and that her life's work had been destroyed - she hanged herself," Emily continued. "Athena took pity on the poor girl, and touched her on the forehead with magic liquid and said: 'You shall not die, Arachne. Instead, you shall be transformed and weave your own web forever.' At Athena's words, Arachne shrank and blackened. First, her nose and ears fell off. Then her fingers turned into legs. What was left of her became her body, out of which she spins and was left to spin her own web."
A ginger-haired woman employee approached Emily with a phone in hand.
"Mrs Osborn, one of your employees is on the cell phone. Says it's important." She informed her.
Emily retrieved the phone from the woman and brought the device to her ear.
"Hello," Emily started, handing the radioactive spider to the hands of a terrified Nels. "Oh Dr. Stromm, how are you? What? They're here? Is my husband speaking with them? Okay…okay, I'll be over there in a minute."
Emily hung up the call and placed the phone on the table. She turned to her left to see sweat dripping from Nelss' brow. He watched the spider slowly crawl along his palm before Emily took the spider out of his hands with care and placed it back to its box-shaped enclosure.
"Make sure that this one is placed back with the rest of them. Don't let my husband know of this." Emily rolled her body around to face Nels and placed her hands on her hips. "Understand?"
Nels nodded his head. "Yes, ma'am."
Emily started past Nels towards the laboratory's exit door. She made her way through the winding halls, dodging through other Oscorp employees, and eventually entering another laboratory. The room was flanked by advanced technology displayed on tables, and unfinished projects that were still a work in progress. Technicians in lab coats peered into double-barreled stereo microscopes or looked at images on high-resolution video screens.
The man donning the green exoskeleton suit steadied his balance as he rode the glider prototype. The glider hovered high in the air, its engine roaring loud throughout the laboratory. Emily frowned upon seeing a familiar white-haired man named General Slocum standing among the group of other generals.
And judging by his face, he was not impressed.
Much to Emily's worry.
"We've solved the horizon glide and the multi-G balance issues," Mendel Stromm narrated, a not so confident smile gracing his lips. General Slocum wasn't impressed despite the new update.
"I've already seen the glider," said Slocum. "That's not what I'm here for."
Emily darted her eyes up and smiled when she saw Norman Osborn descending down the steps. As he stepped down the steel staircase, he subconsciously slid his arms through the sleeves of his lab coat.
"General Slocum, good to see you again," Norman greeted, turning his gaze towards Mr. Balkan and Mr. Fargas. "Mr. Balkan, Mr. Fargas."
"Norman," Maximilian Fargas returned.
"Mr. Osborn," Henry Balkan returned.
Norman shifted his gaze towards Emily and smiled as she approached.
"Ah, Emily. You made it," Norman said, softly pecking her cheek.
Emily grinned at him. "I hope I didn't come late."
"No, no, you're right on time." Norman redirected his gaze back to the board members. "Always a pleasure to have our board of directors pay us a little visit."
"I want to see the progress report on Human performance enhancers," started Slocum.
"We tried vapor inhalation with rodent subjects. They showed an 800 percent increase in strength," Mendel said.
"Any side effects?" Slocum inquired.
"In one trial, yes," Mendel answered.
"It was an aberration," Norman added. "All the tests since have been successful."
"In the trial that went wrong?" Slocum was not convinced. "What happened? What were the side effects?"
"Violence, aggression and insanity." Mendel stated.
"What do you recommend?" Slocum questioned.
Norman's brow twitched but still kept his smile up.
"That was only one test. With the exception of Dr. Stromm our entire staff certifies the product ready for human testing." Norman explained.
Slocum gave Norman a dubious look. Norman stared right back. The General's gaze shifted to Norman's wife.
"Mrs. Osborn?" Slocum addressed Emily.
Emily closed her eyes with a sigh before reopening them.
"If we were to right this error, we need to take the whole line back to formula." Emily said.
General Slocum shook his head and slowly turned away from the pair. Norman turned his gaze towards Emily, looking at her as if she said one of the worst things ever.
"Back to formula?" Norman questioned incredulously in a low tone.
"Dr. Osborn." Norman and Emily redirected their attention back to the General. "I'm going to be frank with you: I never supported your program. We have my predecessor to thank for that."
Henry chimed. "Norman, the General gave the go-ahead to Quest Aerospace to build a prototype of their exoskeleton design. They test in two weeks."
General Slocum stepped up to Norman.
"And if your so-called performance enhancers have not had a successful human trial by that date I'm gonna pull your funding. I'm going to give it to them," Slocum concluded, turning away from Norman. "Gentlemen. Ladies."
Norman and Emily watched the board members exit the laboratory. Aside from the sounds of computers running and equipment being worked on, silence fell across the room.
"Well, that could've been worse," Emily commented, breaking the uncomfortable silence.
Norman's eyes narrowed as he clenched his fist. Turning his gaze towards the machine to his side.
At that moment, he knew what he had to do.
"Norman, please stop this."
Norman Osborn placed a big and long vial container with the performance enhancers inside a small machine before starting towards the Computer. He began punching a few keys, moving the digital vial on screen up to different sections as he typed. Emily and Dr. Stromm watched Norman with worry plastered across their faces, neither of them wanting him to do what he was about to do.
"Dr. Osborn, Your wife is right. The performance enhancers aren't ready; the data just doesn't justify this test," Mendel said firmly, trailing behind his boss as he works. "Now I'm asking you for the last time. We can't do this."
"Come now, Stromm. Don't be a coward," Norman responded without looking at his colleague. "There's an old saying amongst the great minds of all. Nothing ventured, nothing gained. And you know as well as I do that what we do here at Oscorp is all about taking risks. And Risks are part of laboratory science."
Norman turned away from the computer towards another. Tapping a few keys as a steel stretcher automatically moved into place. Once it was out in display, Norman approached the stretcher and began peeling off his lab coat, untying his black tie, and unbuttoning the collar of his white dress shirt. Emily and Mendal exchanged worried glances before redirecting their gaze towards Norman.
"Norman, I'm pleading you. Let me reschedule, with a medical staff and a volunteer," Emily pleaded, holding her hands together as she stared at her husband desperately. Dr. Stromm nodded along with her, but remained quiet. "All we need is two weeks. And hopefully, we can get a human test subject that'll be willing to do this. But not yourself!"
"Two weeks?" Norman chuckled bitterly, turning his gaze towards his wife. "Honey, by the time two weeks pass we'll have lost the contract to Quest and OSCORP will be dead. We don't have time. My father would say: if one man can't do one thing properly, sometimes you gotta do things yourself. Dr. Stromm, get me the Prochlorperazine."
Mendal walked towards a series dark brown vials lined along its shelves.
"Why?" Mendal asked in confusion.
"It begins catalyzation when the vapor hits the bloodstream," Norman explained, pulling his t-shirt over his head and throwing it aside.
Norman shifted his gaze at Emily. Her countenance was filled with sadness, concern, and fear. Norman sighed and stepped up to his wife, placing both of his hands at the sides of her shoulders.
"Hey, don't make that face," Norman said comfortingly, using one hand to rub his thumb against Emily's cheek tenderly. She closed her eyes tightly, leaning into his touch slightly.
"I don't want to lose you, Norman," Emily whispered, her voice breaking slightly.
Emily opened her eyes and glanced up at her husband. Norman offered her a gentle smile.
"You're not gonna lose me, promise," he reassured softly as he leaned forward and kissed the top of her head.
Norman pulls his hand away from her cheek. He retrieves the vial from Mendal, staring at the dark brown glass as if the answer to his problems resided within it. He unscrewed the cap of the vial before placing it on the table. He gazes at the vial again and sighs.
"40,000 years of evolution and we've barely tapped the vastness of human potential." Norman said dejectedly, drinking the whole vial's contents.
Norman threw the glass hard on the floor. Said glass shattered upon impact, scattering fragments everywhere. He approached the stretcher and laid his back flat upon it. Emily and Mendal began shackling his chest and legs, securing his limbs to the bed. Mendal walks up to the computer, typing a few keys to start the process.
The stretcher slowly lifted upright once it was inside the giant glass chamber. Norman shifted his gaze towards Mendal, nodding his head as a silent signal for his associate to continue. Mendal nods, turning to a nearby monitor. His fingers flew as he typed a command into the keyboard. The performance enhancers slowly drained down in the machine as it turned from liquid to gas, billowing out of the vents beneath Norman's feet.
The gass began to fill the giant container like a thick mist, covering every square centimeter of Norman's body like a second skin. Said gass rose higher and spread wide until Emily and Mendal couldn't see Norman anymore. Besides the hissing gass, silence reigned around the room. Mendal shifted his gaze towards the computer screen, watching Norman's vitals rise at an unnaturally high and fast rate. The second monitor displayed his heart beating frantically as the strip's waves paced too quickly.
Emily perked up when she suddenly heard Norman grunting in pain. The gass started to clear up somewhat, allowing her a better look at what was happening behind the fog. Emily and Mendal's eyes widened as they saw Norman violently shaking from his head, down to his chest, and his restrained arms. Grunts and groans were escaping Norman's lips, as the gas continued to invade his system.
"Norman!" Emily cried, rushing around to the chamber's sealed door.
Mendal immediately ran to the control panel. He punched a key repeatedly, shutting down the process just in time before the performance enhancer's gas could complete. Emily watched helplessly as Norman's person continued to violently convulse, his breathing becoming more erratic, each movement coming with increasing difficulty as the oxygen levels in his lungs grew dangerously low. His eyes rolled behind his skull, causing Emily's expression to contort from pure worry to horror.
Norman's groans finally ceased and his body went limp.
"Mendal, please!" Emily called out as tears pricked her eyes.
"I got it, I got it!" Mendal cried, pressing a couple buttons quickly.
Emily short sprinted inside the chamber as the doors slid open. She began unshackling Norman's restraints, Mendal quickly assisting her with each limb and arm. Once the man was freed of his restraints, the pair carried him out of the chamber then gently laid him down on the laboratory floor. Mendal began performing CPR on Norman, pumping his sternum with mounting desperation. Mendal paused, stooped over to listen to Norman's breathing, and continued his compressions.
"Come on, Norman. Come on, don't die on us!" Mendal begged, proceeding to pump Norman's sternum several more times, holding a semblance of hope that the man isn't dead.
Emily observed the scene before her. Tears streamed down her face, her body trembled with anxiety, and she tried everything to hold herself together while Mendal worked. Mendal paused to listen to Norman's breathing.
Still no indication of life.
But before the doctor could continue his attempt to resuscitate Norman, he and Emily suddenly heard the heart monitor begin stuttering erratically. The pair snapped their gaze towards the computer's screen. Waves spiked rapidly from the heart rate monitor, its erratic beeping echoing throughout the laboratory.
Emily felt a smile trembling on her lips.
Her husband was alive.
Emily turned and felt a hand clasped tightly around her throat. Her throat contracted, gasping for air while clawing uselessly at the hand squeezing her neck. Her eyes crawled down to the hand, up to the arm attached to it, and met the wild eyes of her husband. Her heart plummeted down into her stomach, dread flooding through her veins.
Norman was smiling at her. But there wasn't any warmth or love within his grin. His smile was unnaturally wide, twisted akin to a predator who had cornered its prey. His wild eyes stared deep into hers, sending shivers down her spine, and throughout her entire being.
"Norman, what're you doing?!" Mendal yelled, grabbing onto Norman's shoulder in order to stop him.
Mendal parted his lips to demand for Emily's release. Norman swung his arm hard, knocking Mendal off and sending him flying across the laboratory. He flew through steel shelves stacked with equipment, having no opportunity to straighten himself out and regain control. The brackets fell in a clatter on the floor, followed by equipment that exploded with a bang.
Mendal landed his back on a table with his arms spread and his head tilted backwards. His mouth agape, eyes wide with shock and blood running down all over his face.
He died before he even made an impact with the table.
"Norman," Emily choked, her voice hoarse. "It's me, it's Emily. Plea—"
Emily's words were lost as Norman threw her hard across the room. Bursting through the laboratory's exit door, shattering the glass panel from both sides, and her back harshly colliding against the hallway wall. She landed on her rump with her head hanging low. Shards of glass embedded into her flesh and stuck to her hair, and her lab coat was torn. The last thing Emily felt was her own shallow breaths, withering out from lack of oxygen.
She exhaled her last breath before life left her body.
Norman stared at his wife's unmoving corpse. His crazed grin still graced his features. Suddenly, he chuckled, as if the sight of her corpse was the funniest thing he has ever seen. Norman arched his back as his chuckle grew into laughter, a bone chilling cackle that echoed in and outside of the laboratory.
Norman Osborn was asleep.
The Alter was in control now.
A/N: Hope you all enjoyed that second chapter, my little shimmerings! I thought that since I added Ethan into the mix, as a start of alternating the Sam Raimi universe, I thought I make another change by bringing in Norman's wife as well. There will be more changes as more chapters are published, but not too much. Otherwise this will be unrecognizable. I'll be going now, I hope you all have a wonderful day/night wherever you are.
See you in the next chapter, my little shimmerings!