It seemed like the crisis had been contained.
The lab doors had already sealed shut, but the moment they were reopened, several security personnel in full biohazard gear rushed in.
Norman glanced at the kids, but did not focus on them for long. He went straight to the two recovered spiders.
"Secure the specimens. I want a complete incident report immediately. And find out who was responsible for daily maintenance."
Only after handling that did he turn and walk toward Peter, Gwen, and Cindy, who had collapsed onto the floor.
Harry and Mary Jane were anxiously gathered around them, and Clark, as Peter's brother, looked no less alarmed. Kneeling beside Peter, he kept asking, "How do you feel? Where does it hurt?"
He was terrified something had gone wrong, so he used his X-ray vision to look inside Peter's body.
What he saw made his heart tighten.
Everything inside Peter was breaking down and rebuilding at astonishing speed, new material appearing along the genetic chain, rewriting and overwriting it.
"Get them to the medical wing," Norman said, clearly irritated and under pressure.
The private medical suite in Oscorp Tower was more advanced than any top hospital in New York.
Peter, Gwen, and Cindy lay on three separate beds, their faces growing paler by the minute. Dizziness, nausea, and an intense burning sensation made it almost impossible for them to speak.
A doctor in a white coat drew blood, ran tests, then handed the results to Norman, who was standing nearby.
"Mr. Osborn, based on the initial bloodwork, this appears to be only a mild reaction. Their vital signs are still relatively stable, but I recommend observation."
"No need." Norman did not even glance at the report before tossing it onto the table.
He knew perfectly well this was not some ordinary reaction.
But he also knew that if news of this got out, Oscorp stock would collapse, and every military partnership tied to the company would be frozen overnight.
He could not allow that.
After all, one of the victims was the only daughter of a New York police captain. One was the nephew of a senior editor at one of the country's biggest newspapers. And one was an Asian student.
In other words, a pile of trouble.
Norman stepped in front of the three students, whose consciousness was beginning to blur, and forced a warm, reassuring smile onto his face.
"Kids, don't worry. It was only a small accident. Our doctors have already confirmed that you're not in any real danger. Some rest, and you'll be fine."
He paused, then took a document and pen from an assistant.
"However, in order to protect Oscorp's trade secrets, we'll need you and your families to sign a nondisclosure agreement. Naturally, as compensation, Oscorp will cover all future medical expenses related to this incident."
Harry stood behind his father, watching the scene with a complicated expression.
He wanted to say something.
But in the end, he stayed silent.
He was not the kind of fool who would challenge his father outright for the sake of people he had only just met.
Clark supported Peter, who was barely conscious, and looked at Norman.
"Mr. Osborn, we'll be contacting our parents. They have a right to know everything."
"Of course," Norman replied, as if that were the most reasonable thing in the world. "Oscorp's legal team will coordinate with them. But for now, the best thing is for all of you to rest."
In the end, once the parents arrived, Oscorp's legal team used a mix of pressure and persuasion to get the agreements signed.
Norman Osborn's influence in New York ran deep.
So the group's visit ended there, and everyone left Oscorp Tower carrying the sick kids home with them.
By the time they reached the Parker house in Queens, it was already dark.
Mary Jane came back with them and hovered anxiously around Peter, but Ben and May urged her to go home and get some rest, telling her not to worry too much.
They said that.
But the reality was very different.
Peter's condition was getting worse.
His body was burning hot. Clark carried him upstairs and laid him on the bed, while May sat at his side in tears, wiping his forehead with a damp cloth.
"Ben, we have to take Peter to a hospital! We don't even know if those Oscorp doctors were telling the truth. He's burning up!"
May was so frantic her nails dug into Ben's arm.
Ben stood at the bedside too, his face grim. As a former soldier, he had seen many kinds of illness and injury.
But this...
This was something else.
"I'm calling an ambulance right now." Ben pulled out his phone and started to dial.
"Wait."
Clark stopped him immediately.
Both of them turned to look at him, stunned that he was blocking them.
"Dad, Mom, just calm down for a second." He stepped up to the bed and looked at his brother writhing in pain beneath the blankets. He was not panicking.
He was thinking.
"Before we left, the Oscorp doctors made a point of saying this was a normal genetic rejection response. The process would be intense, but they said he absolutely cannot be taken to a regular hospital. Antibiotics, fever reducers, anything standard like that might not just fail, they could trigger much worse complications. They could even destabilize the genetic chain."
That was only half true.
Oscorp's doctors had said things like that, mostly to shift responsibility.
The rest, Clark had exaggerated heavily, for one reason only:
To keep Peter here.
Inside the one place Clark could control.
If he wanted, he could become the smartest person in the world in an instant to help Peter.
He could even share his own bio-electric aura to protect him.
May froze.
She knew Clark was not ordinary, but when it came to something like this, she still hesitated.
"But are we really supposed to just watch him suffer, Clark?"
"He'll be okay." Clark's voice was steady and absolute. Then he took May's hand, grounding her, passing warmth into her trembling fingers. "Trust me, Mom. Let me take care of Peter tonight. I promise that by tomorrow morning, he'll be better."
At that moment, Clark seemed almost haloed in light, as though he were the only calm thing in the entire room.
Ben looked at him for a long moment.
He already trusted his son.
And he knew Clark would not say something like this unless he believed it.
In the end, Ben nodded and gently rubbed May's back.
"May, listen to Clark. We'll go downstairs and get some ice and some electrolyte water ready. We'll stay close. If anything happens, we'll come right up."
Once the two worried adults finally left the room, Clark locked the bedroom door.
Then he looked carefully, thoroughly, at Peter's genes again.
He studied the process in detail.
And in the end, he shook his head.
He gave up on the idea of interfering directly with the transformation.
It was too dangerous.
But he could make it hurt less.
So he reached out, channeling the power he drew from the sun, his bio-electric aura shielding Peter as he let that force flow into him.
When he saw Peter's pain ease, Clark nodded.
Then he opened the window and jumped out into the night.
Because Peter was not the only one suffering.
Gwen and Cindy were too.
With his bio-electric aura active, Clark moved unseen through the city, slipping into both of their homes without anyone noticing.
There, too, he passed some of his own strength into them.
Not enough to interfere.
Just enough to ease the pain.
He could not bear to watch them suffer like that.