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Oscorp Industries — just like Stark Industries — is one of the most well-known companies in the Marvel universe.
Both companies have close ties with the military.
But while Stark Industries focuses more on conventional weapon manufacturing and has a much tighter collaboration with the military — pretty much being their top partner —
Oscorp, on the other hand, leans more toward high-tech futuristic weapons and biotech drug development.
If you compare overall strength, there's no doubt Stark Industries comes out on top.
After all, it's been a family-run business since the 19th century.
That said, Oscorp — which might as well be called a "villain factory" — isn't weak either.
It's just that the high-tech gear and gene-based drugs they produce never seem to make it into official military contracts… and instead, they somehow end up creating villains.
Of course, that's not too surprising — the CEO of Oscorp, Norman Osborn, is the guy who becomes the Green Goblin, after all.
"I wonder if Norman Osborn has turned into the Green Goblin yet…"
That afternoon, Peter stood with Gwen in front of Oscorp's towering, sleek skyscraper, gazing up at it with curiosity.
"Well, I haven't heard anything about the Green Goblin causing trouble yet. And considering Gwen only became Spider-Woman like, two weeks ago… he probably hasn't injected himself with that serum yet."
"Pretty cool, right? I was totally blown away the first time I came here," Gwen said with a chuckle, nudging Peter with her elbow when she noticed him staring blankly at the building.
"Come on, I'll take you on a tour inside."
Even though Gwen was just an intern here, the way she carried herself in front of Peter made her look like she owned the place.
"…Actually, this is my second time here."
Of course, Peter didn't say that out loud. No way was he gonna bring up that embarrassing moment in front of a pretty girl.
Even if he didn't have any special feelings for Gwen yet.
But as soon as they stepped into the building, Peter started to feel super awkward.
Gwen first took him to the front desk to get a temporary visitor pass for their tour around the company.
And just his luck — the receptionist on duty today was the same one from the time he snuck into the building, set off the alarms, and got dragged off to the police by security.
"Hey Gwen! What brings you in so early today?"
The receptionist — a slim, pretty woman in a black business outfit — clearly knew Gwen well and greeted her with a smile.
"School started today. No classes this afternoon, so I figured I'd come early," Gwen replied with a grin. She didn't have many friends at Oscorp, so she was happy to chat.
"Oh right, let me introduce you. This is my classmate, Peter Parker."
Gwen didn't forget why she brought him here, so she quickly made the introduction.
"Nice to meet you, Parker— Wait a sec… You're—?!"
The receptionist turned to greet Peter out of courtesy, but suddenly stopped — he looked way too familiar.
Then it hit her. This guy was the intruder from that day — the one who got arrested by security. And since she got chewed out by her boss over the whole thing, there was no way she'd forget him.
"You two know each other?" Gwen asked, raising an eyebrow.
"Oh no, my mistake! He just looks like a Hollywood actor… What was his name? Andrew Gar—something?"
Just as Peter was about to explain what happened, the receptionist beat him to it, brushing it off like she'd mistaken him for a celeb.
But Peter noticed the look in her eyes — the way she glanced between him and Gwen — it was… suspicious.
Like someone who ships a couple way too hard.
"Wait… does she think I broke into Oscorp that day just for Gwen?"
Peter figured it out instantly. The misunderstanding was real.
"You know… if you lost a bit of weight, you would kind of look like him," Gwen said, giving Peter a playful once-over.
"Here you go, Mr. Parker. Try not to lose it this time, okay?"
The receptionist handed him the temporary pass with a smile — but her eyes clearly said, Don't get thrown out again, got it?
"Let's go, Peter. I'll take you to meet my internship advisor, Professor Connors."
With the pass sorted, Gwen led Peter to meet her mentor. After all, other than showing Peter around, she was also kinda hoping he could intern here too.
"Oh right, Gwen! Almost forgot to tell you — Professor Connors is meeting with a very important guest right now. He doesn't want anyone disturbing him."
Just as they were about to leave the reception area, the front desk lady suddenly remembered something.
"Well, looks like we'll have to change plans. How about we check out some of the ongoing experiments first?" Gwen said, turning to Peter apologetically.
"Sure, I'm good with whatever — you decide," Peter said with a smile.
"In that case, let's head up to the fourth floor and take a look at the Biogenetics Lab. There's a super cool species there… spiders!"
For some reason, the first thing Gwen wanted to show Peter was the spider that had given her her powers.
"Spiders? You mean, like… the kind Spider-Woman came from?"
Peter gave her a meaningful look as he asked.
With a plan in place, the two headed toward the elevators to go upstairs.
Ding.
Lucky timing — as they reached the elevator area, the doors opened and out rushed a scruffy-looking man with a beat-up satchel, totally out of place in this high-tech building.
He kept glancing over his shoulder, looking super sketchy.
"Stop that man! He stole from me!"
Just as the guy passed by Peter and Gwen, another elevator door flew open and a middle-aged man in a white lab coat came running out — he had only one arm and looked furious.
He pointed straight at the scruffy man and shouted at the top of his lungs.
Busted.
The guy dropped the act and broke into a run, hoping to escape before security caught him.
But just as he was sprinting past Peter and Gwen—
Peter, who usually minded his own business, naturally pretended nothing had happened.
But Gwen, driven by a strong sense of justice, didn't hesitate for even a second. She suddenly stuck out her leg, blocking the guy's path.
Smack!
The middle-aged guy tripped hard and hit the ground face-first, sliding several meters across the floor like he was diving into home plate.
Clatter... Ding ding ding...
His shoulder bag hit the ground, scattering all kinds of stuff everywhere.
But the man didn't even check if he was hurt. He didn't care about anything else in the bag—he just reached for one specific test tube filled with some kind of liquid.
Then, without looking back, he bolted straight out of the building.
Among the stuff that spilled out were several more test tubes.
One of them somehow rolled a few meters across the floor... and ended up right at Peter's feet.
The glowing green liquid inside it seemed to weirdly draw Peter's attention. He suddenly felt like he had to pick it up.
Splat!
But then Peter stomped on it. Hard. The tube shattered, and the green liquid splashed all over the floor.
"No way I'm ending up as a science experiment sacrifice. Not today!"
"....."