Bren sat at a cluttered desk, staring at the open physics textbook in front of him. A vividly colored spider lay on the pages, its appearance unmistakably venomous.
It was dead, its stiff legs curled tightly, resembling a closed flower.
"The mutated spider that bit Spider-Man."
Bren had acquired it from Oscorp a few days ago.
Fifteen years ago, Bren found himself transported to this world, becoming part of the Parker family—Bren Parker.
Not only that, but he was also the cousin of the renowned Spider-Man, Peter Parker. However, he wasn't Uncle Ben and Aunt May's biological son but an adopted member of the family.
At the age of ten, during a school trip, Bren had stumbled upon the Omnitrix, the so-called "little broken watch."
Originally, the Omnitrix could link to the genetic code stream of the artificial organic planet Primus, allowing the wearer to transform into over a million intelligent alien species. Its inventor, Azmuth, had designed it to bridge gaps between species and serve as a "Noah's Ark" to preserve endangered life forms across the universe.
Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, Bren's Omnitrix seemed disconnected from Primus. The device's internal system was blank and entirely nonfunctional.
If this were an ordinary world, Bren might have accepted his fate. However, this was one of Marvel's countless universes.
By now, Tony Stark had publicly revealed his identity as Iron Man, marking the dawn of the superhero era.
Bren had no interest in becoming a superhero. However, living in the perilous city of New York, he knew he needed some way to protect himself. This led him to consider the mutated spider.
It wasn't that he wanted to steal his cousin Peter's identity or powers as Spider-Man. Instead, he hoped the spider that had bitten Peter could also bite him, granting him similar abilities.
But after biting Peter, the spider died almost immediately, as if its sole purpose had been to bestow Peter Parker with Spider-Man's powers.
"Perhaps it's the power of the Spider-Totem, an unshakable web of destiny," Bren mused.
Sadly, he lacked the special genetic compatibility or the blessing of the Spider-Totem.
Even the Omnitrix remained unresponsive, as the spider wasn't an intelligent life form. Bren had even tried using Peter's hair to activate the watch, but it was futile.
The Omnitrix couldn't extract the DNA of non-intelligent species or allow the user to transform into their own species.
Bren picked up the spider's stiff body with resignation, its grotesque form held up to his face.
"It looks like I have no other choice but to take a risk."
Indeed, Bren had a wild idea: he would eat the mutated spider!