Arc One. Chapter Three. A New Day

When Peter woke up the first thing he realised was how sore he was. Each muscle seemed to be more painful than the last and his mouth was filled with the faint taste of strange metal. Groaning and slowly lifting himself off the bed, he paused for a second when he caught sight of himself in the clothes strewn mirror he had leaned up against the wall.

Moving the dirty laundry onto the floor he gazed in marvel at himself. He was skinny, yes, but now his muscles rippled under pale skin as if he spent hours at the gym rather than the library. He raised a hand over his head, he wasn't sure but he might be taller? Peter shook his head, that wasn't possible, hell, even the muscles he saw were impossible and the more he stared at the strange reflection in the mirror the more he thought he was dreaming.

He looked over at the door frame, it had been a while since he and May had measured him but as he stood next to the marks he saw that his normal 5'8" was now closer to 5'11" and he cursed, didn't quite make the 6ft mark, but the extra height made a difference, especially when he stood tall and didn't slouch. He used his hands to brush the still unkempt bed hair, it was still its normal light brown colour and still hung loosely in front of his eyes. Aunt May had been threatening him with scissors but he liked it a bit long. It hid his eyes and some of the expressions he made, it was a little shield he could hide behind when he kept his head low.

He knew he was the geeky sort of handsome, no matter what Aunt May said. As he stared at his reflection it seemed that the once pale skinny boy was now a fit muscular man. He even felt as he moved from side to side, trying to stretch the pain from his arms and legs that his underwear was tighter. As he peered into them, well, that's definitely new he thought, staring at what was now less of a pickle and more of a cucumber tucked into his boxer shorts. Shaking his head and leaving it alone, for now at least, he went back to posing in the mirror.

He tried a few times to flex like the advert gym members, posing to entice memberships, but his muscles screamed in stiffness at him. He would figure this out, he could figure this out, but first, he needed to get some food and maybe a banana into him. Muscle stiffness meant two things, either he had been working out, or more likely whatever happened to him yesterday had cramped all his muscles up.

Slowly making his way downstairs he noticed Aunt May sat at the breakfast table, a sullen scowl on her face. Easing himself into a chair he slowly reached for some fruit and cereal.

"Well?" His aunt spoke first.

"Oh yeah, thanks for getting me Aunt May, I dunno what happened, I guess I ate something or I uh dunno." She leaned back in her chair

"Thanks? You're gonna say thanks? You storm home at 3 am, rant on about your uncle, break a chair and then pass out and you're saying thanks? " She had stood up and was pacing behind her chair, waving her arms as she talked.

"Uh, what? No Aunt May, no, I got sick at Oscorp. I think I threw up, and then I was home, you didn't come to collect me?" Peter couldn't have looked more guilty, 3 am he thought to himself, what the hell happened?

"You got sick huh?"

"Yeah, Aunt May, I got sick, I puked and uh, I think someone took my clothes," Peter sat bolt upright, "my wallet and camera, oh man, they took them."

Peter slouched back down. When he had woken up there was no sign of his clothes, bag, or camera. The camera had been Oscorp's so he didn't care too much, it was the waiver he signed that if he lost it, he would have to pay for it that bothered him. He'd always wanted to be a photographer but he found a passion for mechanics and electronics early enough he'd never had the time. Normally it was just for fun but Flash found out about it somehow and had volunteered him to photograph the Oscorp field trip, thinking it would be funny.

Aunt May pointed a finger at him, "You, you stay quiet and sit there." Reaching over she pulled the phone off its recharging cradle. "Yes Midtown High, I need to speak to the person in charge of the class trip to Oscorp yesterday, Student Peter Parker. ID 1469902. This is his aunt." She paced back and forth. "Yeah. So Peter didn't come back last night and I heard he got sick and, uh-huh, yeah that's right, uh-huh. YOU LEFT HIM AT OSCORP. What the hell were you thinking? Leaving a student without supervision and without calling me." Aunt May was silent on the phone. "Yeah, well you bet your ass I will," before hanging up.

"Uh, Aunt May?" Peter looked up from his cereal. He had seen her mad before, anytime Peter came home with a torn book or ripped clothing she would scowl and try her best not to yell. Peter didn't know her exact age but he knew the wrinkles and calluses on her hands were from working too hard, that the lines and small grey hairs were from stress. She was, as Flash taunted him often enough, an attractive woman. Thin but not skinny, she had the bearing of a tiger and the attitude to match. Taller than Peter by a few inches and modestly built, Peter knew she had kept her social life on hold, not because of lingering loyalty to his uncle, but to Peter. She spent her time and energy to make sure Peter's life was as good as it could be, and Peter loved her all the more for it.

"You aren't going to school this week Peter, no phone calls either and no social media, you stay quiet about this. I'm serious." Peter kept his head down and just nodded. It was then the door buzzer sounded. Peter looked up and May just glared at him. Slinking down in his chair Peter knew to keep quiet when Aunt May was mad, it might not have been him her anger was directed at but fire didn't care who it burned and he knew Aunt May was a fire right now.

Tilting his head slightly, he could hear the voices at the doorway as if he was sat right next to them, "Well Mr Osborn, are these papers to make sure we don't sue your ass for leaving an 18-year-old who was exposed to god knows what at your facility to get home alone in a taxi?"

Aunt May was fuming, not only did the school just leave him there but now Norman was using his son's friendship with Peter to try and wrangle his way out of any possible liability.

"I can sue, any lawyer will take this pro bono and if anything, anything shows up on a blood test you know you'll lose."

Peter panicked, whatever was happening to him was probably something that happened at Oscorp but it would be testing after testing and no freedom, especially if it was an experimental drug. While his curiosity at what was happening to him was high, the desire to stay out of a lab and any government research facility was greater.

"Mrs Parker, these are a formality." Norman was a smooth talker, years of kissing ass and plying money out of gullible investors had made him king at getting his own way, "with Peter's sudden illness Harry was concerned, his friend Gwen collected his things and while I'm sure the taxi incident was a mistake we can settle this without dragging it through the courts, can't we Peter?"

Peter leapt from his chair, "Mr Osborne, can I see that?" Peter skirted around Aunt May and took the papers from Norman. It was standard stuff, but buried within the small print was several liability clauses, forbidding Peter or any offspring from suing Oscorp, Norman or any of his offspring basically, forever.

"Sir, this could be bad if it gets out, even if it's just a stomach bug, the liability to your insurance alone will cost you millions, 250K settlement, I'll sign this plus an NDA. Anyone asks, it never happened." Peter was shaking, he was trying to blackmail Norman Osborn

Norman Osborn was not someone you usually bargained with, he was used to getting not only his own way but anything he wanted. He never approved of Harry slumming it with public school kids but his late wife had made him promise to try and ground his education a little and he had agreed.

He snorted. "150 and you sign today."

"250, to take care of taxes, and I'll sign today."

Norman reached into his jacket, took out his chequebook, signed his name with a flourish and ripped out the freshly penned check. "Sign."

Peter took a pen from next to the phone hanging on the wall, signed his name next to each cross, 6 times in total and taking the check from Norman, handed him the papers. Norman snorted and walked away without saying anything.

Peter had been right, the insurance alone would have totalled millions if word got out a student had been poisoned there. The experimental creatures that escaped had all been caught, so contamination hadn't been an issue but even after testing each student's blood they couldn't be 100% sure none of them had been bitten. Even that could cause a lawsuit, medical procedures on underage kids were bad enough but whoever let those things out of the Archive was going to pay.

Five years ago he had personally made sure that every one of those freaks was caught and killed. He wouldn't let the incident happen again, not after so many people died. He clenched his fist in anger just thinking about whichever idiot did this and how bad it could get.

He had personally fired the dumbasses that bundled them into taxi's to get them home and now he would find someone to take this hiccup out on. What was worse was that those particular spiders were supposed to have been destroyed years ago. Someone screwed up and he was going to find out who.

Of course, to hide the payoff he had to spend 250 grand of his own money so he was naturally angry and he would take it out on Harry as well. It was his lack of intelligence that made him befriend the Parker kid in the first place, Norman knew his parents before they died and their brilliance had passed onto him.

If Harry had one fraction of his intelligence he would never have had him befriend a loser like Parker just so he could copy homework and get help with exams. Cursing his bad luck Norman made sure to spend the rest of the day spreading his anger to anyone responsible for this mess.

Peter closed the door and with his back to it, slid down sighing. "Sorry Aunt May but Norman can be tough. Harry gets in trouble for everything, if we didn't back down, he'd make sure he got what he wanted, and you know, at least his way we got some money."

He smiled at her, hoping she wasn't going to be too hard on him. She looked like she had aged a hundred years when Norman showed up, Peter knew they could fight and probably win a much larger settlement but it would ruin Aunt May's health. He would also have to endure a medical, and that could be a disaster.

While she and Uncle Ben weren't that old when he began living with them, having to raise even the quiet Peter had been difficult for her. Her mousy brown hair was dishevelled and while tidy, Peter knew that harsh chemicals from the laundromat didn't do her hair, skin, or lungs any favours.

Aunt May had aged before her time and Peter hated himself for having helped. It was his fault Uncle Ben died, it was his fault Aunt May had to work every hour she could.

Now though, now he had money, now he had the means to pull himself and her up out of this place. Even with Norman's scowling face, Peter didn't care. He had capital, a good head and most of all, someone who loved him. He still had to figure out what exactly happened at Oscorp though. A new physique was great but the memory loss and the ranting at Aunt May might be a symptom of a much bigger problem. Peter needed to figure out exactly what was going on, and that meant away from prying eyes. If anyone found out, especially Oscorp, he could end up in a lab or worse, on a series of slides, carefully catalogued for study.

Sitting down on the floor next to him, "You sure Pete? Cause it's not me that has to deal with this. I mean, I'll help to spend the money but, if those bastards did anything you're the one who'll have the problems."

Peter just smiled and leaned his head against Aunt May's shoulder. "I dunno Aunt May, I think, I think I'll be fine."