The moment we stepped into the lab, my palms started sweating. Not because it was hot, but because I recognized the place. It was a mashup of the Spectacular Spider-Man lab, the Amazing Spider-Man lab, and one of the action comic versions. And if that wasn't bad enough, it wasn't just the building that scared me—it was the people inside.
Every Spider was here. Spinneret, Ghost-Spider, Spider-Man, Arana… even Anya Corazon. My annoying, overachieving friend who, of course, had a thing for Miles. She was already interning here because, apparently, she didn't feel "adequate enough" before applying to Horizon University. Nerds. All my friends were nerds. And not just nerds—the most dangerous nerds. The "save the world and also break it in the process" kind of nerds.
And me? Yeah. I guess that made me one too.
We stopped in front of a massive spider enclosure. Only about twenty-five small spiders were inside.
"Huh, some seem to be missing," Anya said casually.
Her words made me shiver. Oh no. Please don't bite me. Not today. Not ever.
That's when I noticed Peter stiffen. He smacked his neck. Cindy, MJ, and Michelle all tensed up seconds later. And then I saw it—the spider. A medium-sized false widow crawling from one student to another before it leapt onto Lyn. She yelped as it bit her. Then it jumped again—straight toward me.
It landed on my hoodie and spit a strand of web.
Pure instinct kicked in. I don't know what I did, but somehow, I trapped the spider inside my hoodie's front pocket. (Score one for team survival!).
Meanwhile, another spider was making its way toward Miles, Gwen, and Anya as they chatted, none of them paying attention. Miles looked flushed, Gwen leaned on him, and Anya kept talking animatedly. I swear it looked like a teen rom-com in the making.
The spider didn't care. It teleported (yeah, teleported—WTF?) onto Miles' hand and bit him, then leapt to Gwen, then Anya. All three started scratching at the bite marks moments later.
I scanned the enclosure again. There were supposed to be thirty spiders, not twenty-five. That meant five were still loose.
Digging deep into that weird new energy I'd felt earlier, I managed to catch the spider that bit Miles—plus two others nearby. But before I could snag the fourth, it sank its fangs into Harry.
"Shit," I muttered.
This one was bigger—dark green, almost black, with the body of a wolf spider. Harry smacked his shoulder and hissed in pain. I caught the spider after it skittered off, but the damage was done.
I exhaled shakily, praying nobody noticed what I'd just done. I didn't realize Danny was watching me… or that the bald woman running the lab had seen everything, smiling faintly.
'The spiders are born,' I thought grimly. 'And I have no idea what that means for this world.' Memories of 616's Cindy and Peter flickered in my mind, making me wince.
"God, if you exist," I whispered under my breath, "please don't let this universe be as debauched as the Scope-verse."
Freezeframe. Cue narrator voice.
So, here's the play-by-play: spiders everywhere, Jake playing Pokémon trainer with his hoodie, and the rest of the Marvel teen cast getting bitten like it's a buffet line.
Do I know where this is heading? Yep. Do I like it? Hell no. I've read the Scope-verse. Those spiders don't just bite—they bring enough awkward horny drama to power an entire CW series. And trust me, nobody wants that.
So yeah, dear reader, if you're wondering why Jake's panicking? It's because he's not just in Marvel. He's in Marvel with Scope-verse patch notes. Which is like Marvel DLC, except all the bugs are horny spiders.