Powerless
Originally presented in comic book format
Written by Brian Michael Bendis
Drawn by Mark Bagley
'Spider-Man' created by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
Cut to a lab, somewhere deep underground. A large tarantula can be seen resting on a man’s hand, which in turn is under an electric magnifying device. An enlarged scan of its molecular structure is projected on a wall, with the labeled…
MAN: You a fan of Greek mythology, Justin?
JUSTIN: Not really, sir.
MAN: Ever hear of the myth of Arachne?
JUSTIN: Can’t say I have, Mr. Osborn.
Norman Osborn continued to hold the spider up to the magnifying lens. He was middle-aged, with a receding hairline. He appeared to look powerful, standing tall in his expensive three-piece suit, broad shoulders, confidant grin, and cold, gleaming eyes. He gazed at the small creature on his hand as his assistant, Justin, listened on.
NORMAN: The story goes that Athena – you know Athena, right? Seems she heard there was this woman on Earth – a mere mortal, like you and me – who happened to be a better spinstress than she was.
JUSTIN: Spinstress?
NORMAN: Athena wasn’t too happy to hear this and she came down to earth and destroyed the woman’s creations.
JUSTIN: Sounds like a woman.
NORMAN: 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.
Osborn began to tenderly pet the spider with his thumb. He stared at it as if it contained the mysteries of the universe.
NORMAN: Athena took pity on this poor girl and touched her on the forehead with a magic liquid and said: “You shall not die, Arachne. Instead you shall be transformed and weave your web forever.” At Athena’s words, Arachne shrank and blackened. First her nose and ears fell off, and 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 web.
We finally get a view of the lab. Osborn Industries, in Long Island, New York. The lab is enormous, containing state-of-the-art machinery. At various consoles, scientists are hard and work experimenting with various animals. Everything from frogs, to cockroaches, to rabbits.
Suddenly, a woman walks up to Osborn, handing him a cell phone.
WOMAN: Mr. Osborn, your lawyer is on the cell phone. Says it’s important.
He turns towards her, obviously annoyed.
NORMAN: Important to whom?
Without warning he grabs the phone, and hands the spider to Justin…who breaks into a nervous sweat.
NORMAN: (into phone) I told you I don’t want to be bothered in my lab. Tell him there is no room to negotiate. What? No. I said no. NO! Now that you disturbed me, let me disturb you!
Petrified, Justin throws the spider into it’s glass container.
NORMAN: (angrily into phone) Let me tell you what ‘O2’ means. O2 is a wonder drug. O2 is my most significant invention. Let me tell you what this new discovery is going to mean to the country’s economy! Yes – yes.
Osborn walks out of the lab, Justin following nervously behind him.
NORMAN: (into phone) The testing is going very well. Extremely well. We are product-testing it now. What? On – on all sorts of – on mammals, insects. The spider especially has had some fascinating – well, believe me, if I could get away with human subjects at this stage, I would. I’d start with you. But yes, human testing is the next logical phase and we are looking into – Well, you tell him this is MY company and my discovery and if he doesn’t like it – that’s right. Osborn Industries is the name on the door, not ---right. Good. As long as we all know who’s in charge here, we’ll all be fine.
They leave the lab…never noticing that Justin left the glass case open.
Slowly, the spider climbed out and scurried away…towards its destiny.
*****
Cut to the food court at Westwood mall, in queens. A boy, about 15, is sitting alone, an empty soda on the table, along with three textbooks. He picks up one and starts to read through it, a smile on his face.
Peter Parker has brown hair and hazel eyes, which are covered by glasses. His clothes are slightly baggy, but it’s obvious he’s not that muscular. He doesn’t seem very athletic, but studious.
He begins to read aloud.
PETER: Sodium carbonide…that is such a an odd choice. I wonder if--That is a bold compound—
Without warning, and handful of fries, covered with ketchup, passes between his face and the book, narrowly missing him.
PETER: Ahh!
He looks across the food court, hoping to see where in came from.
Sure enough, there they were. Eugene ‘Flash’ Thompson, the captain of the basketball team…and his head player, Kong Harlen. They slapped five.
FLASH: Give it to me two times! HA HA!
KONG: You crazy!
Peter’s eyes focus just to the right of them. As usual, a pair of girls were gossiping.
GIRL # 1: Oh my god—I totally forgot to tell you—
GIRL # 2: What?
GIRL # 1: I’m huge in the doghouse at home.
GIRL # 2: Why?
GIRL # 1: I totally took off for senior skip day.
GIRL # 2: So—
GIRL # 1: So, I’m totally grounded and—
GIRL # 2: Why? Everybody skipped for senior skip day.
GIRL # 1: Yeah, they called in sick. I just didn’t show up.
GIRL # 2: You didn’t call in?
GIRL # 1: I didn’t call in.
GIRL # 2: Well – duh.
GIRL # 1: I know.
Peter, annoyed with how they made such a big deal of trivial things like that, looked in the opposite direction. He sighed in frustration, until he saw another pair of girls he recognized.
A few feet away were another pair of girls. Liz Allen, Flash’s girlfriend…and Mary Jane Watson, his best friend for as long as he could remember. Something, he thought, his only friend.
Mary Jane seemed bored with the conversation. She had a novel opened and was reading from it as Liz continued to rant.
LIZ: So I said: “What did he say?” She said he said his cell phone was broken. What a dog, right?
MJ: Uh-huh.
LIZ: So I told her to tell him – drop dead right.
Mary Jane looked up from her book, and over to the side. She noticed Peter and gave him a small smile. Peter started to smile back.
But then another handful of fries came at him. This time they didn’t miss.
Flash and Kong started laughing, receiving applause from the rest of the basketball team.
FLASH: That’s a five pointer!
KONG: Nuh-uh! I’d give it a four.
Peter tried to wipe the ketchup off his glasses.
MJ looked at him, sitting there alone. A worried look comes over her face.
Liz stood up, ready to leave.
LIZ: I’m going to go try on tops. Coming?
MJ: What? Uh – no. No, I gotta –
LIZ: Study. Yeah, duh. What else is new in the world of ‘Brainy Janey’? I’m gone.
Peter sadly closed his book, which was now covered with ketchup. Mary Jane hung her had sadly. He didn’t deserve to have those jerks treat him like that.
Peter sat still for a moment, but the calm didn’t last. A burrito flew across the room and hit the table full force, covering Peter with hamburger, lettuce, and tomato. He didn’t react, merely sat there taking it.
Flash and Kong, however, raised their hands in the air.
FLASH: Slam it home, ‘King’ Kong.
KONG: GOOOAAL!!!
One of the girls rolled her eyes at the two of them.
GIRL: You guys are such idiots. Really!
Wiping the food off him, Peter felt and hand on his shoulder.
VOICE: Hey Peter…
Peter looked behind him and his face lit up. Standing behind him was Ben Parker, his Uncle. He looked about fifty, with his long gray hair tied back in a ponytail.
PETER: Uncle Ben? What – what are you doing here? I thought you were just dropping me off.
Ben just smiled at him, and looked over at a nearby table.
BEN: Isn’t that Mary Jane over there? I needed some pants. So I bought some pants. Why isn’t Mary Jane sitting over here?
Peter looks over his shoulder.
PETER: Mary – Mary Jane?
BEN: Get over here, girl.
Mary Jane’s face lit up, and she ran over to join the two of them.
BEN: Don’t you look like a million dollars. Doesn’t she look fab, Peter?
Peter smiled nervously.
PETER: Yeah, sure. Of – of course.
For a second, Ben looked over at Flash and Kong. They almost stopped laughing when he gave them a cold stare. Almost.
FLASH: Pppftt!
Then the two of them took off. Ben turned back towards his nephew and the girl, and sat down.
BEN: Hey, Mary, how’d that science whatchamazoot doohickey project you and Peter were working on go?
MJ: Peter didn’t tell you?
PETER: Oh – I didn’t want to bore him with --?
MJ: I think we did good.
BEN: You did great. You always do.
Peter and Mary Jane turn to each other and smile.
*****
Cut to the next day, at Midtown High School in Forest Hills.
Peter is walking to class when Flash sneaks up behind him and kicks him squarely in the back. Peter falls to the floor, dropping his books.
PETER: Ooof!
KONG: GOOOAAL!
FLASH: That is definitely worth ten points.
KONG: Ten? That was a six tops.
The two start to laugh as Peter picks himself off the floor. He starts breathing heavily through gritted teeth.
FLASH: Uh-oh. Looks like Parker’s about to pull a ‘Carrie’.
VOICE: Guys – guys!
Flash and Kong look behind them to see someone walking towards them.
It’s Harry Osborn, Norman’s son. He just a little taller than Peter, and dressed in expensive-looking clothes. His brown hair is cut short and spiky, and he has ice-blue eyes. A large, constant smirk is plastered across his face.
HARRY: Come on, leave the guy alone for two seconds.
FLASH: What? Are you sweet on him, Harry?
HARRY: No, I’m sweet on you.
The students crowded around laugh at Harry’s remark.
FLASH: Oh yeah – I forgot. This is your charity project.
HARRY: Go flex a muscle.
Behind them, the principal rounds the corner.
PRINCIPAL: Is there something going on here? What is this mess? Harry Osborn, Thompson. Don’t you punks have practice? Go!
Harry turns towards him and smirks.
HARRY: Yes, sir – sir.
Flash and Kong run off. The Principal walks up to Peter and puts his hand on his shoulder.
PRINCIPAL: Parker, don’t let those guys pick on you like that. Ok? You come to me if that happens again…
Peter doesn’t answer. The principal leaves and he leans against a locker.
Harry walks up to him.
HARRY: Petey, when are you going to learn to stay out of their way?
PETER: (sarcastically)Yeah, silly me for walking down the hall. What was I thinking?
Harry attempts to change the subject.
HARRY: So, I’ll swing by the Parker pad around eight, we’ll go through that biology stuff.
PETER: Actually Harry, I was going to work on one of my –
HARRY: Great, I’ll bring some nosh, you bring the brains.
Peter sighs.
PETER: Y’know, fine but – you know –
HARRY: What?
PETER: I don’t mind doing your homework for you –
HARRY: ‘Helping me with my homework’.
PETER: But – can’t you get those jerkhole teammates of yours to get a new hobby?
HARRY: Oh, forget about them. Roll it off.
Peter’s eyes go wide in surprise.
PETER: Roll it off!?!
HARRY: Don’t worry about it. After high school, you are going to, like, whiz right by them. You’ll slap together with one of those internet companies that sell widgets and make forty million dollars or something. And these guys? You know how it goes. Flash Thompson’s whole life peaked, like, three weeks ago.
Peter becomes annoyed, while Harry is completely calm.
PETER: Yeah, well, that ain’t helping me now.
HARRY: I’d help you, Pete, but – you know – them’s the politics of being me. See you on the flipmode.
Harry leaves.
PETER: Great.
*****
Cut to the school’s gym. Flash jumps towards the basketball net, and gets the ball in. Everyone is cheering him on.
COACH: Come on, Flash, show me the moves! That’s the man!
Next, Kong goes for a three-pointed. He also succeeds.
COACH: And the kong puts it through. King Kong! You’re up, Parker!
Peter grabs the ball and faces the basket. He hesitates for a moment.
COACH: PARKER! Ball in basket!
Peter throws the ball…and misses by at least three feet. The coach doesn’t take it very well.
COACH: A WOMAN! I swear to god! If I had to bet cash money, based on that throw, I’d say I was looking at a woman.
The entire class starts to laugh. Then Flash walks up to Peter.
FLASH: Try wearing a sundress next time. Maybe you can borrow one from the pony-tail-wearing uncle.
Peter gives him a cold stare.
*****
Cut to night time, at the Parker’s house. Peter and Ben are at the table eating with Ben’s wife, May.
MAY: S.A.D –
BEN: What?
MAY: Social anxiety disorder –
BEN: What?
MAY: Social…anxiety…disorder –
We see Peter, reading at the table.
BEN: Will you leave the kid alone?
MAY: I think it’s worth investigating.
BEN: Then leave me alone.
MAY: Don’t you worry about our little Peter?
BEN: No. No I don’t. He’s a smart and resourceful kid.
MAY: But he’s so quiet.
BEN: He’s thinking.
May looks at Peter.
MAY: I don’t like it. He used to be such a happy little boy.
Ben put his fingers up to his temples.
BEN: And now he’s a contemplative little man.
May’s mood suddenly shifted, and she grinned at Ben.
MAY: Just like his father was.
Ben smiled.
BEN: That’s right.
MAY: Peter?
Peter doesn’t notice her, he just continued to read.
MAY: Peter?
He still doesn’t notice.
MAY: Peter?!
He still doesn’t notice.
MAY: PETER?!
Peter snaps to attention and looks at her.
PETER: What’s up?
MAY: What did we say about reading at the table?
Peter smirks.
PETER: Did we say we liked it?
Ben chuckles, while May stands up.
MAY: You know what, I am going to look up this social anxiety disorder on the web.
BEN: That’s a good idea, May.
She leaves.
BEN: That should keep her busy for hours.
MAY: (off screen)Heard you!
Peter and Ben grin.
*****
Cut to downstairs, later on. Harry is examining some things in Peter’s lab, while Peter finishes up on the computer.
HARRY: I never get over all the doo-dads you got. My dad doesn’t have this much crap laying around.
Peter gets up and hands Harry his books.
PETER: Yeah, most of it, y’know, I got from my dad.
HARRY: Inherited it?
PETER: Yeah.
Harry’s care-free attitude disappears for a moment, replaced by a look of seriousness.
HARRY: Hey – how’d your parents buy it?
Peter hangs his head sadly.
PETER: Plane crash.
There’s an awkward silence, before Harry changes the subject.
HARRY: Bummer. So – uh – I bet that Watson girl gets all hot and bothered down here, huh?
PETER: We’re just friends.
Harry smirks, not believing him.
HARRY: Uh-huh.
He picks up a beaker, containing some sort of chemical. Peter freaks out, grabbing it from him.
PETER: Oh, no. Don’t do that. Sorry. Delicate.
HARRY: What is all this, anyhow? You’re not going to blow up the school, are you?
PETER: No. Stop it.
Peter shows him the chalkboard, which has a very long chemical formula written on it.
PETER: This is – it’s really – See, my father was working on a couple of patents – This one was for this interesting molecular adhesive. I can’t – I haven’t wrapped my head around some of the more complex components. And…
Peter examines the formula, forgetting that Harry is there.
HARRY: Yeah – so, listen. I’m going to bail out of here. So –
Harry leaves, while Peter continues to look at the board.
*****
Harry’s red corvette pulls up to the Osborn mansion, and he walks in the front door. He walks down the hall, examining the various statues and portraits as he walks by.
He finally reaches the study, where he sees his father and Justin. Norman is arguing on the phone again.
NORMAN: Let me tell you something about the American consumer market, Joe. The cigarette companies – listen to me – the cigarette companies were putting addictive levels of nicotine in cigarettes decades before anyone figured it out. And when the government of the United States finally got around to figuring it out – it was too late. The entire world was already having a nicotine fit. So, don’t tell me that it is against the rules to add whatever additives we so desire to our own products. If I see fit to – Then, what? Deny, deny, deny.
Norman’s eyes go wide in surprise.
JUSTIN: Sir?
NORMAN: He put me on HOLD. Amazing.
Norman hung up the phone, as Harry walks up to him nervously.
HARRY: Sir?
Norman turns to Harry, and looks at him coldly.
HARRY: Dad, h – do you remember that my science class is coming to visit the labs tomorrow? Because I was hoping that you --?
Norman doesn’t answer him. He just turns the other direction.
NORMAN: (yelling)Martha? MARTHA! Will you get this kid out of here?! MARTHA!
Justin leads Harry away.
JUSTIN: Harry, it might be time to excuse yourself.
Norman turns the other way and picks up the phone.
NORMAN: (grumbling)Like I have nothing better to do than baby-sit your –
He talks into the phone.
NORMAN: Joe! So listen, let’s start doing some figures. Just push some numbers. See how it looks. Good boy.
*****
Outside the room, Harry leans against the door. He sighs, a look of sadness moving across his face.
*****
Cut to the next day, at Osborn Industries. Peter’s class is there on a field trip, being brought on a tour of a lab.
TOUR GUIDE: Welcome, children. Since 1973 Osborn Industries, Inc. has been dedicated to providing innovative materials for manufacturing, construction, automotive, chemical processing, and numerous other global industries. We are a leading global manufacturer. Osborn operates about one hundred and ten major manufacturing and seven research and developments facilities worldwide. We manufacture and produce chemically engineered products with special focus on replacements of EHS hazardous acids and solvents.
Peter and Mary Jane look over the railing at some scientists working. They smile at each other.
TOUR GUIDE: If you follow me down this way, you will see.
Without warning, Peter suddenly starts to scream in searing pain.
PETER: AAAAAH!
The entire class looks on in shock as they see a giant spider, the same one that escaped from the lab a few days ago, latched onto Peter’s left hand. It has its fangs buried deep into his flesh, blood pouring down his arm.
Not thinking, Peter moves his hand around violently, trying to shake the creature. Finally it lets go, and flies off of him and on to the front of Mary Jane’s shirt.
MJ: OH MY GOD!
Peter’s breathing becomes labored, as Mary Jane swats the spider off of her, and onto the ground. Quickly, Kong steps up and squashes it.
KONG: Die!
Peter clutches his hand and falls to his knees.
FLASH: The spaz is freaking!
MJ: Peter!
Peter vomits. Mary Jane kneels next to him to see if he’s all right.
TEACHER: What is going on here? Everyone back!
FLASH: God, Parker!
GIRL: Eeeww!
MJ: Peter?!
Peter falls backwards and passes out.
KONG: Yo man! That was a big honking spider!
MJ: Peter? Can you hear me? Peter?
GUARD: Alright, kids. Let’s get into a single file!
KONG: See how I killed that thing?!
TEACHER: Parker, can you stand? What is it, son?
MJ: Peter…please, say something!
Then everything went black.
*****
Cut to awhile later, onboard the bus. Peter has regained consciousness and is sitting next to Mary Jane with his hand bandaged. The teacher is talking to him.
TEACHER: We called your Aunt. She’ll be at school to get you by the time we get back. Are you feeling better?
Peter sighed and looked at him.
PETER: Yeah, I just – I think I just wigged out. That spider was huge.
MJ: Oh my god! It so was!
TEACHER: Your aunt will take you to the hospital, so –
The teacher walks back to his seat, as Peter turns to Mary Jane.
MJ: Nothing to be embarrassed about, Peter. Could’a happened to anyone.
PETER: Well – how come it always – always – happens to me?
She smiles at him, and puts her hand on his shoulder.
MJ: Not always.
He smiles back, as the bus drives off.
*****
Cut to inside Osborn Industries. From the top floor window, Norman Osborn is talking with Justin and his lawyer.
JUSTIN: Seems there was an incident on the main laboratory floor. One of your son’s classmates was bitten by the ‘00’ arachnid specimen.
Osborn turns towards them.
NORMAN: (sarcastically)Harry shows up and something turns to crap. What a shocker.
JUSTIN: Name’s Peter Parker. He was bit on the hand.
NORMAN: By the specimen –
JUSTIN: Yes.
NORMAN: OUR specimen?
JUSTIN: Yes.
NORMAN: Why wasn’t it in containment?
JUSTIN: We are checking on that, sir. I don’t know. But the specimen was destroyed in the chaos, sir.
Norman starts to become angry.
NORMAN: Fire the floor manager. I want her gone within the hour.
Justin sighs.
JUSTIN: Yes sir.
Norman then turns towards his lawyer.
NORMAN: Legal obligations?
JUSTIN: If they sue, they sue the school, right?
LAWYER: If they sue, they sue us. The school doesn’t have any money. We either settle immediately or we start building our defense now and wait for the hit.
JUSTIN: It’s an admission of guilt if you even pay his doctor’s bill.
Norman looks at him angrily for a moment, then suddenly his expression changes. A smile crosses his face.
NORMAN: No, no. Let’s pick up the tab.
LAWYER: Norman, I have to advise –
NORMAN: Let’s pick up the hospital tab. And send a nice fruit basket.
Justin and the Lawyer look shocked at what he’s saying.
JUSTIN: Why?
LAWYER: Yes, please enlighten us on this one.
Norman turns the other way, looking at his lab on a computer screen.
NORMAN: I want to keep an eye on that boy.
*****
Cut to later that night. Peter is at home, fast asleep. Ben and May are looking at him from the door.
MAY: He just came home and passed out.
BEN: Well May, he had a day, is all.
May looks worried.
MAY: The doctors said his blood is normal and that the spider’s venom isn’t toxic in any way. He said it’ll be swollen for about a week and that’s it and that’s that.
BEN: Yeah, I got bit by one in that commune the summer before I met you.
MAY: The Osborn people picked up the hospital bill and sent a huge basket.
BEN: Of course they did. They think we’re going to sue the pants off them.
MAY: Are we?
BEN: Of course not. It was an accident. No harm done. And, you know, there’s Harry – Mr. Slick – he’s a pal to Peter. Maybe his only one. We’re going to ruin the kid’s friendship for a couple of bucks from his old man? No. No, it’s back to normal for us.
They leave, shutting the bedroom door behind them. Peter continues to sleep peacefully.
*****
The next day at school, Peter is heading to class. His hand is still bandaged. Unfortunately, Flash is following him…continuing to taunt him regarding what happened.
FLASH: (mockingly)Oh no. I got bit by a mosquito! HHUUUAAGG! Oh help me, mommy! BLUUAAG!
Peter just continues to walk, trying to ignore him.
Mary Jane isn’t faring too much better on the other side of the hallway. She is trying to talk to Liz, when Kong walks up to her.
KONG: (mockingly)Mary Jane, if I throws up on ya, will you go out with me? BLAAHH!
Kong laughs, and then goes to join Flash.
LIZ’S FRIEND: You really should stop hanging out with him. He’s getting loser stink all over you.
LIZ: I heard he threw up on your shoes.
MJ: (angry)He didn’t throw up on my shoes.
LIZ: What I heard.
MJ: Well, he didn’t.
LIZ: The cheerleaders are calling you ‘spew shoes’.
She gives Liz a cold stare.
MJ: (muttering)Well, for them that’s almost clever.
Meanwhile, on the other side of the hallway, Peter starts walking faster. He hopes to lose Flash and Kong.
The two basketball players smile mischievously.
FLASH: Looks like a ten pointer…
KONG: After you –
FLASH: No, please. I insist.
KONG: Mister Thompson, it would be my honor –
Kong takes a running start, and heads towards Peter. Getting closer by the second. Closer…closer…
But then, when he’s only a few feet away, something happens. Peter snaps to attention, a look of panic in his eyes.
Kong raises his boot, preparing to kick him. Without even looking behind , Peter sticks his good hand out, grabbing Kong’s foot. Then, in one swift motion, throws it into the air. Kong flips completely over and land, face first, on the ground.
The entire hallway goes dead silent. Even Peter is shocked by what he just did.
Flash’s eyes go the size of pie plates.
FLASH: Dude! Holy –
Peter stares at his own hands, horrified.
MJ: Peter?
PETER: I – I –
Kong slowly pulls himself off from the ground, in pain.
KONG: Ow…
The entire crowd laughs…until the teacher shows up.
TEACHER: What is going on here? Kong – Harlan! How many times do you need to be warned? I don’t care who you think you – Peter! Peter, are you okay, son?
Peter suddenly starts to become dizzy. Then he looses his balance.
MJ: Oh no! Not again!
TEACHER: Everybody back!
Peter falls to the ground and passes out.
*****
Cut to a hospital. Peter wakes up screaming.
PETER: (yelling)AAAH!
He looks around and sees that he’s in a hospital gown. Around him are his Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and a doctor.
May goes over and hugs him.
MAY: Oh my god! Thank the – Peter are you okay?
PETER: Uh – yeah. Yeah. I’m fine.
MAY: You’re not fine, sweetie. You fainted.
The doctor raises three fingers.
DOCTOR: How many fingers am I holding up, son?
PETER: Three.
DOCTOR: Any dizziness? Blurred vision? Nausea?
PETER: No. I’m thirsty, though. I’m really thirsty.
The doctor turns towards a nurse.
DOCTOR: Nurse?
NURSE: Yes, doctor.
MAY: So, what happened back at the school Peter?
Peter takes his glasses off of a night table, and puts them on.
PETER: I don’t – I don’t know exactly. I just sort of checked out, I guess.
DOCTOR: How’s your hand?
Peter examines his bandaged hand.
PETER: Oh – yeah. No, it’s fine. It doesn’t even hurt anymore.
The doctor starts to become serious.
DOCTOR: Have you been taking any drugs at all? Marijuana?
PETER: (confused)No, of course not.
DOCTOR: Now’s the time to tell me, Peter. We are going to run blood and urine tests. So—
PETER: No, I swear. I wouldn’t even know where to get any.
May interrupts them.
MAY: The thing is that Peter has always suffered from environmental allergies. Maybe the spider bite mixed with the –
DOCTOR: Maybe – we’ll run a full blood work and some x-rays, make sure nothing got fractured.
The nurse comes back in the room, carrying a syringe to collect a blood sample.
NURSE: I need you to just relax your arm, ok? It’ll only sting for a sec.
The moment she grabbed his arm, Peter noticed something happen. He could suddenly see the veins in his arm a lot better…bigger. Almost as if they were expanding. Then, after only two seconds, it goes back to normal.
He looks petrified, but then sees that he’s the only one who noticed it.
The nurse attempts to get a blood sample, but finds it surprisingly difficult to pierce his flesh.
NURSE: Huh? Think skin you got there?
She finally manages to get the needle through, and collect the blood sample.
PETER: You coulda fooled me.
*****
Cut to the window at the blood lab. The nurse puts the tray with Peter’s sample in front of it.
Inside, a woman is working on computers, not paying much attention.
NURSE: Hi, could you take this to the lab and have them do an express on this one? They’re waiting. He’s a cute kid. Thanks.
WOMAN: Whatever.
The nurse leaves, and the woman at the computer just stays there.
A moment later, a bald man wearing a black overcoat walks by. Silently, he takes the blood sample and replaces it with a fake from his coat. Then he walks out the exit.
*****
Cut to deep inside Osborn labs. The bald man and Justin are standing behind Norman Osborn, who is examining Peter’s blood sample on an electronic microscope.
JUSTIN: Sir?
NORMAN: The O2, it’s killing him.
JUSTIN: How?
Norman turns towards them, angry.
NORMAN: (yelling)Well, I don’t know, do I?!!
There’s silence for a moment.
JUSTIN: They’ll trace it back to the lab.
NORMAN: Yes.
JUSTIN: Set the project back. Maybe forever.
NORMAN: Yes.
JUSTIN: How long does he have.
Norman looks grim.
NORMAN: Not long.
JUSTIN: So, he’s going to die –
NORMAN: Yes.
JUSTIN: So, no matter what, he’s going to die.
Norman looks at him coldly, then turns towards the bald man.
NORMAN: Shaw?
SHAW: Taken care of, sir.
*****
Cut to the Parker house. May takes a fresh-baked loaf of bread out of the oven, and brings it to Peter.
Peter looks at it strangely.
PETER: What is that?
MAY: A banana bread.
Peter rolls his eyes.
PETER: A banana bread?
MAY: I read this book on homeopathic remedies. Potassium in fantastic at counteracting allergies. Potassium is in bananas. Bananas are in bread. You WILL eat the banana bread.
Ben turns to her and grins.
BEN: I would like a piece.
MAY: No.
BEN: No?
MAY: No. It’s for Peter.
BEN: Rip off.
May points at peter.
MAY: Eat!
*****
Cut to later. Peter is walking down the sidewalk, reading a book. He doesn’t notice the black limo following him.
The window rolls down, and we see Shaw at the steering wheel, talking on the phone.
SHAW: I have a visual.
NORMAN: (on phone)Green light, Shaw. Green light. Make sure it’s done.
Suddenly, Shaw puts his foot on the gas. Be begins driving right towards Peter.
But Peter gets that feeling again. The same feeling he got back at school when Kong was about to kick him.
Without thinking, Peter jumps into the air…and lands with his hands on the roof of the limo. Then, he jumps off. Doing a backwards summersault, he lands back on the ground feet first.
Shaw, his mouth hanging open, crashes into a tree.
Collecting his bearings, he looks in the rear-view mirror and sees Peter running towards the limo.
PETER: Mister! Oh my god! Are you ok?!
Shaw reaches into his coat and pulls out a gun.
However, before Peter reaches the car, he gets the same feeling of danger for the third time. Understanding what it means, he turns around and runs the other way.
*****
Cut to Norman in his office. The phone rings, and he picks it up.
NORMAN: Report.
SHAW: (on phone)Sir? You’re not going believe this, but—
Shaw starts explaining to him. Norman is in complete and utter shock.
SHAW: (on phone)Sir?
NORMAN: Abort.
SHAW: (on phone)Are you sure, sir? I can go to his home and –
NORMAN: (yelling)ABORT! I want to study that kid – not kill him!
*****
Cut to the Parker’s basement. Specifically, in Peter’s lab.
Peter runs inside, panting.
PETER: What the heck is going ON? I mean – what the heck is going on?
Peter starts to think about what happened in the past few days. First…the spider bit him. Then, he knew Kong was going to kick him without seeing anything. Without hearing anything.
First Kong, then that van. He knew it was coming.
PETER: I knew that van was coming for me – I knew it. I knew it before it –
Peter walks over to the computer. Once he logs on, he goes to the Osborn Industries web page, to the research section.
There, he searches under ‘spiders’.
Then, he takes a sample of his own blood using a thumbtack. He puts the sample in a slide, and looks at it under a microscope.
Then he compares it to the DNA on the screen.
PETER: Well, whaddaya think of that.
He stares at the screen for a moment.
PETER: No way!
Then he looks out the window. The moon is out…he missed an entire day of school.
Just then, Aunt May appears at the stairs.
MAY: Peter, get up here. NOW!
*****
Cut to upstairs, a moment later. Peter is talking with Ben and May.
MAY: So I get a call at work and—and the principal’s office says that he didn’t even go to school today.
BEN: Where have you been all day, Peter?
PETER: I was in my lab.
BEN: What were you doing?
Peter doesn’t answer. Instead he just leans against the wall.
BEN: Hello?
PETER: I didn’t feel like going to school today, alright?
MAY: Didn’t ‘feel like’ going?
Aunt May breaks into laughter.
MAY: (laughing)He didn’t feel like going?
Peter starts to get upset.
PETER: School isn’t the party you think it is, alright?
May’s mood turns serious.
MAY: Well, you’re not supposed to be having a party, young man, you’re supposed to be in school to learn!
PETER: (bitterly)Yeah, I know.
Peter begins to sweat.
MAY: Now I know that what happened on the field trip was embarrassing. I can see that, but –
BEN: Are you feeling alright, son?
PETER: (yelling)I’m fine!
BEN: Peter?
Peter started to move away from the wall. To his surprise, the plaster started to come off…
…and was sticking onto his fingers.
His eyes went wide. Luckily, neither Ben nor May noticed.
MAY: Uh – who exactly do you think you’re talking to with that mouth?
Peter, still in shock, doesn’t answer.
BEN: Maybe you need to go to your room for the night and think about things.
PETER: Go to my room? I’m fifteen years old!
BEN: Go.
Peter storms off.
PETER: GOD!
He goes to his room and slams the door.
Ben smiles.
BEN: Kid had a tough week.
MAY: I know.
BEN: This too shall pass.
MAY: I know. Maybe I’ll bring him some banana bread later.
Ben grins.
BEN: Putting him in his room is punishment enough.
*****
Cut to Peter’s room, later that night. Peter is in bed, tossing and turning. Finally, he wakes up from some sort of nightmare.
PETER: AAAH!
Getting his bearings, he looks at the clock. 4:12 in the morning. He looks at the ceiling and gets an idea.
Climbing out of bed, he walks over to the wall and touches it. If it happened before…
Success. His hand is sticking to it. Not like glue – more along the lines of static electricity. Only multiplies by a thousand.
Then he put his foot against it…same result. Then his other foot. Before he knew it, he was climbing.
He was scaling the wall as easily as he could walk.
Eventually, he reached the ceiling. He stayed there, hanging upside down.
Then he grinned ear to ear. Completely ecstatic.
PETER: Whoa – cool.