Chapter Text
Chapter 1
Queens, New York
The field trip was supposed to be boring.
Payton Parker had accepted that the moment their science teacher started talking on the bus.
Something about genetics.
Something about research.
Something about paying attention.
Payton wasn’t.
She sat with her forehead pressed against the cool window while Peter sat beside her rambling about whatever science video he’d watched at three in the morning.
“…and technically speaking, if the spider’s DNA was altered enough—”
“Peter.”
“Yeah?”
“I love you.”
“Aww.”
“But if you keep talking, I’m throwing you out the emergency exit.”
Peter grinned.
“That’s fair.”
Across the aisle, Ned laughed.
MJ rolled her eyes.
Flash Thompson looked up from his phone long enough to make a face.
Payton ignored him.
That was easier now.
The breakup had happened months ago.
She’d cried.
She’d gotten over it.
Mostly.
Okay, maybe not completely.
But enough.
The bus pulled into the research facility parking lot.
Everyone shuffled out.
Teachers counted heads.
Nobody listened.
The building itself was huge.
Glass walls.
Bright lights.
Scientists everywhere and I mean everywhere.
Peter looked like he was about to explode from excitement.
“You know, this place is actually pretty incredible—”
Payton groaned.
“You are such a nerd.”
“You’re related to me.”
“Unfortunately.”
They followed the group deeper into the facility.
Scientists talked.
Students pretended to listen.
Payton drifted toward one of the exhibits.
A glass enclosure.
Dozens of spiders.
Genetically modified.
A little sign sat beside the display.
GENE RESEARCH PROJECT
DO NOT TOUCH.
“Well,” Peter said.
“That’s probably important.”
Payton nodded.
“Definitely.”
Neither of them noticed the spider climbing out.
Neither of them noticed it disappearing into the crowd.
The tour continued.
Payton wandered beside Peter.
A scientist talked about mutations.
Someone yawned.
Someone else dropped a water bottle.
Normal.
Everything felt normal.
Until—
“Ow!”
Payton slapped the side of her neck.
“What?”
She frowned.
“Something bit me.”
Peter blinked.
“Probably a mosquito.”
“Inside?”
Before she could think about it, Peter suddenly grabbed his wrist.
“What the—”
“You too?”
Peter stared at the tiny red mark on his hand.
The twins looked at each other.
weird feeling settled in Payton’s stomach.
Not fear.
Not yet.
Just…
Something.
Like the world had shifted slightly.
Like something had changed.
Neither of them knew it.
But it had.
Hours later they were home.
Aunt May was making dinner.
The apartment smelled like pasta sauce.
The TV played quietly in the background.
Everything should have felt normal.
Instead Payton felt awful.
Her head hurt.
Her skin felt too hot.
Every muscle ached.
Peter looked just as bad.
“You look terrible,” she told him.
“You look worse.”
“Rude.”
“It’s true.”
May appeared from the kitchen.
The second she saw them, she frowned.
“Oh honey.”
“Which one?”
“Both of you.”
Peter groaned.
Payton dropped onto the couch.
The room tilted.
Just slightly.
Enough to make her stomach turn.
“Okay,” May said.
“That’s it. Temperature checks.”
The twins complained.
May ignored them.
Twenty minutes later both of them were running fevers.
By bedtime they could barely stand.
By midnight everything changed.
Payton woke suddenly.
Her heart was racing.
The room felt wrong.
Different.
She sat up.
And immediately smacked her head into the ceiling.
There was a moment of silence.
A very long moment.
Payton blinked.
Once.
Twice.
Then looked down.
The floor was six feet below her.
She screamed.
Somewhere in the apartment another scream answered.
Peter.
A loud crash followed.
Then May shouting.
Then Peter yelling.
Then another crash.
Payton looked down.
Looked at the floor.
Looked at her hands.
Stuck.
She was stuck to the ceiling.
“Oh my God.”
Down the hall Peter shouted:
“PAYTON?!”
“WHAT?!”
“ARE YOU ON THE CEILING TOO?!”
Payton froze.
“…YES?!”
Silence.
Then:
“OH THANK GOD.”
And somehow that was worse.
Because if Peter was on the ceiling too
Then this wasn’t a dream.
Something had happened.
Something impossible.
And neither of them had any idea that this was only the beginning.
The spider bite was the easy part.