Afterword 1: Spider-Man

In the dead of night, Harry Osborn was suddenly awakened from his sleep.

He didn't have a nightmare, and there was no noise from the outside world that could wake him, but a strange palpitation made him wake up immediately, as if someone was watching him by his bedside, and his sixth sense made him feel uneasy.

Harry Osborn didn't turn on the lights rashly. Instead, he used the moonlight streaming into the room through the window to survey his surroundings. And in the direction of the window, he saw a person.

The moment Harry Osborn saw the person who had silently entered his room, his heart skipped a beat. Fear made him clench his teeth, unable to utter a sound even as he tried to call out.

With a second glance, Harry Osborn's heart resumed beating, and his tense body relaxed, because he was now able to confirm the man's identity.

The red and blue bodysuit, the spiderweb-like pattern, and the huge spider logo on his chest—all these belong to one person: the recently rising superhero, Spider-Man, who calls himself "everyone's good neighbor."

Although he vehemently disliked spiders, Harry still held considerable respect for this ordinary hero. "Spider-Man, how... how can I help you?"

"Harry, it's me."

Spider-Man removed his mask, revealing a young and handsome face. The identity of this face was one that Harry knew very well—it was clearly his classmate and friend Peter Parker.

"Peter, it's you!"

Wearing his pajamas, Harry immediately jumped out of bed, walked barefoot to his friend's side, scratched his head incredulously, and said, "I mean, why is Spider-Man you?"

As Harry got closer, he saw that Peter Parker was in tears. The youth and confidence that had once graced his face had vanished, replaced by a sense of utter despair as if his life beliefs had collapsed.

Upon learning that Spider-Man was his friend, Harry was stunned and surprised, his face displaying a variety of strange expressions. But noticing Peter's condition, Harry's expression immediately changed, his admiration for the hero turning into concern for his friend. "Peter, what happened to you?"

Peter Parker wiped away his tears and said, "Harry, you're my best friend. I need to talk to someone about something, is that okay?"

"Sure, we're best friends!" Harry thought for a moment and said, "Do you need something to drink, coffee or something else?"

Peter Parker said, "Thank you, Harry. That's enough that you're willing to listen to my story."

"Harry, do you remember that science fair the school organized for us, the one where we visited your family's company, Osborn Industries? That fair was the beginning of everything."

Harry nodded blankly, but once he began to speak, Peter Parker became absorbed in his own world and didn't pay attention to Harry's behavior. Perhaps, as Peter said, he just needed a confidant to listen to him.

"I was taking pictures with an old camera that my uncle had given me when a spider suddenly fell from the ceiling and landed right on my hand. My first instinct was to swat it away, but that action made it sense the danger, and it bit me on the back of my hand. Its venom entered my bloodstream through the wound."

"Later, staff came out and said there was a leak of hazardous materials in the lab. To prevent accidents, all non-staff members had to leave. As a result, our visit was forced to end, and those of us without scheduled classes went home."

"The spider's Venom quickly seeped into my body through my bloodstream, causing me excruciating pain and a rapid rise in body temperature. When I got home, I almost fainted and fell asleep. When I woke up the next day, I found myself in better shape than ever before. I was stronger, more agile, and could easily leap from the top of one building to the top of another. I could see the trajectory of a baseball pitcher's high-speed ball, and I could even climb walls using the bristles under my skin. A few days later, I discovered a completely new organ in my wrist, which synthesized proteins to form a structure similar to Silk. This organ, which I called the Web-Shooter, could be launched at high pressure according to my will."

What an enviable superpower!

Harry murmured to himself, but in his gaze, the pain on Peter's face deepened, and he began to sob again, as if that superhuman ability did not come from God, but from the curse of a demon in hell.

"I'll get you a glass of water." Harry didn't know how to comfort his old friend, so he used the excuse of getting him water to ease the tension between them.

Even though he considered himself Peter's friend, he only just realized that he didn't know much about Peter, such as Peter's journey as Spider-Man, and the honor and responsibility he felt.

Harry's unintentional action triggered an exaggerated reaction from Peter, much like an insect entering a spider's web causing the Silk to vibrate and then arousing a predator lurking in the corner.

Peter, who had leaped to Harry's bedside and pushed him back, realized his own stress reaction and quickly took two steps back to distance himself from his friend. Trembling, he said, "I'm sorry, I... I'm very grateful... I... just listen to me... Harry, you just need to hear me finish. I don't have much time left, and I really hope you can hear me out!"

"OK!" Harry lay back down on the bed, quietly assuming a listening posture.

However, his muscles were tense, clearly indicating that he was in a state of high tension.

Peter, who possesses the Spider-Sense, cannot escape his perception of his friend's changes. Harry's transformation because of him deepens his guilt, but he wipes away his tears and continues to recount his experiences.

"After gaining this power, I didn't become Spider-Man. Instead, I used it to fight back against the people who had bullied me and to earn some extra money by fighting in underground boxing matches... Then, after one match, I let a robber walk past me, and he ended up taking Uncle Ben's life—I killed him."

Harry was involved in both events to some extent. He witnessed Peter teasing Flash Thompson, Peter had always bullied him at school, and he also attended Ben Parker's funeral. Spider-Man began to become active in New York after that.

But Harry never knew the inside story.

"Uncle Ben told me before he died, 'With great power comes great responsibility.'" Peter covered his face as he recalled the painful memory. "I did as he said, became Spider-Man, became a good neighbor to everyone, and made the Daily Bugle."

"But this was precisely the beginning of the tragedy."

"As I use my abilities, especially Silk, more and more, my body's protein begins to be consumed rapidly. I get hungry faster, and my appetite increases. My dietary preferences shift towards foods that provide more protein. However, my daily diet simply cannot replenish what I'm consuming. Human digestive function has its limits. Even if I use energy blocks made from insects, which have six times the protein of beef, as my energy source, it's still far from enough. Hunger is a constant companion."

"But that's just my own opinion; the reality is much worse. The fusion of spider Venom with my genes didn't just give me spider-like abilities; it made me transform into a spider even further. Every night when I'm asleep, that predator-like subconsciousness within me awakens. It's not a personality; it's more like an instinct."

"When I'm starving, my instinct is to eat. At first, it was raw meat from the butcher shop, then live animals like cats and dogs... and finally, criminals. After my time fighting crime as Spider-Man ended, my subconscious still carried out the commands from my brain very well, except that instead of packing criminals up and dumping them at the police station, I used my Silk to cocoon them, melting their muscles and internal organs, and then consuming that strawberry milkshake-like stuff."

As Harry listened to Peter's story, his face grew increasingly pale. Finally, he couldn't hold back any longer and began to gag.

But Peter, having revealed the truth, seemed to have gone into a frenzy, his speech quickening as he talked to himself, no longer paying attention to Harry, the listener.

"Later I realized that everything I did was a coincidence. In a conscious state, I chased a panicked criminal into an abandoned factory. In the largest workshop, I saw cocoons all over the floor. Due to oxidation and dust, the cocoons had turned grayish-black. I didn't recognize what they were. After opening them, I found that they contained the remains of human or animal limbs that had dissolved—clothing, bones, and indigestible hair."

Harry gagged a few more times, then pulled the blanket tighter around himself and shivered.

"At the time, I didn't know it was my achievement. After violently questioning some gang members, I learned from them the legend of the Man-Spider —a spider monster that escaped from a laboratory, hiding in the shadows of the city during the day and hunting at night, usually humans."

Its feeding habits differ from those of lions and tigers. It doesn't kill and eat its prey immediately after catching it; instead, it takes it to its den, injects Venom into the prey, watches it die painfully, and then eats it.

"After learning about the Man-Spider, I've been tracking its whereabouts, but it is me. How could it find itself—until just now."

"That was a formidable enemy, codenamed Taskmaster. He had an exceptional ability to learn by mimicking his enemies' movements to defeat them. Because of the dual threat of Man-Spider and Spider-Man, the gang members dared not venture out at night, so they pooled their money to hire Taskmaster to eliminate us, or at least one of us."

"Before the Man-Spider, Taskmaster found Spider-Man first. It was an extremely difficult battle. I tried my best but couldn't defeat Taskmaster until my Web-Shooter could no longer produce Silk."

#

Peter paused for a moment, as if preparing himself mentally, while Harry, the listener, didn't dare to breathe, his cold sweat soaking the sheets beneath him.

"My body's protein levels had depleted to a dangerous degree, and my predator instincts awakened. It took control of my body and began to attack like Beast. The Taskmaster was already familiar with my attack patterns, was caught off guard and collapsed to the ground after two moves. But the hungry predator didn't let him go so easily. Instead, it injected Venom into his body, watching him die in painful convulsions, before consuming the substance formed from his dissolved body."

"However, this time I didn't faint or fall asleep. I watched the whole process as I treated my prey, and then I understood the origin of the Man-Spider legend and how the cocoons in that factory were produced."

Peter looked up at Harry with red, tear-filled eyes. "After eating Taskmaster, the satiated predator continued its slumber, and I regained control of my body... Harry, you're my best friend..."

"Peter, what are you going to do next—find a research institution to solve your problem, or turn yourself in?" Even as a wealthy scion with a wealth of experience, Harry couldn't come up with a better suggestion at this moment.

"I don't know." Peter shook his head and said, "I want to leave here, leave New York ... Please don't tell Aunt May and Mary Jane that I'm Spider-Man and Man-Spider."

"I see."

Harry wanted to say something more, but Peter put his mask back on and resumed his Spider-Man persona, leaping out of the window with inhuman agility and disappearing into the night sky.

That night was the last time Harry saw Peter Parker. He never appeared at school again, and even the entire human society lost track of him. Spider-Man disappeared along with him.

Harry searched for Peter's last remaining relative, Aunt May, and Peter's girlfriend, Mary Jane, but neither of these two people who were most important to Peter had any news of him, and he did not say goodbye to them.

Harry didn't tell Peter that Peter was Spider-Man, as he had agreed with Peter, and he didn't know if it was the right or wrong thing to do.

In the days that followed, no matter how hard Harry searched for his friend, he found nothing.

Harry had no idea whether Peter would die as a hero or linger as a terrifying cannibal.

Later, someone painted the words "Spider-Man is dead" in Times Square, and Spider-Man's mask was nailed to the ground next to him. It seems that he died as a person, a respectable hero.

#brr#

Harry went to the abandoned factory Peter. It was like a spider's paradise, with spider webs and huge cocoons everywhere. The carcasses of their prey were almost completely devoured without any stench. With the presence of apex predators, rats and insects, sensing an invisible threat, dared not approach the place.

After the address was anonymously given to the police, the police subsequently recovered over a hundred sets of human remains, but there were very few related missing persons cases. After all, most of the people involved were gang members, and it was common for them to die at any time and for any reason, with their bodies disappearing without a trace. Almost no one would think of reporting their disappearances.

"Dad, have any of our company's labs conducted research on spider genes?" One afternoon, Harry went to his father Norman Osborn's office and asked his father, who was so engrossed in his work that he didn't have much of a father-son bond.

"You don't need to know this—it was a trade secret to you before you took control of the Osborn Group," Norman Osborne, who looked older than his actual age, coldly replied to his son.

Harry, unsurprisingly, was not discouraged by the setback. It would have been abnormal if his father had shown him kindness; he needed to find another way to uncover the truth.

"Don't even think about sneaking into the lab. Reality isn't a movie. It's impossible to freely enter and exit classified locations with just an ID card." Norman Osborn seemed to see right through his son's thoughts, and said this ominously as he stared at his departing figure.

Harry paused, then turned and left without looking back.

After his son left the building, Norman Osborn took two reports from his office safe. One was a report on the Osborn family's genetic testing, which revealed that a natural genetic defect would cause members of the Osborn family to rapidly weaken and die painfully at a certain age, and that Norman Osborn had already reached that dangerous age.

The second report was an experimental project that proposed a concept of "repairing" genetic defects by cultivating specific organisms, with spiders as the vector. The experiment was led by a husband and wife team named Richard Parker and Mary Parker, and the first experimental subject was added later and named "Peter Parker".