Luca hadn't expected his casual remark to become a prophecy.
Spatial fluctuations around the school had actually spiked anomalously.
Although the exact cause was unclear, and no one knew if it was directly related to what The Spot had said, the result was immediate.
School was canceled.
The 9th graders, who had barely started their high school life, were now on an indefinite suspension.
Harry Osborn, who had just enrolled that day, had the dubious honor of being suspended after exactly one day of school.
Of course, Harry likely didn't care about school right now.
That night, back at the Osborn mansion, Harry felt unusually wired. He couldn't sleep.
He didn't think much of it at first. After witnessing a battle with a supervillain (even if he just watched from the sidelines), it was normal to be agitated.
But as the night deepened, Harry realized it wasn't just excitement.
Tossing and turning in bed, he was suddenly hit by a wave of hunger so intense it felt like he hadn't eaten in three days.
He leaped out of bed and sprinted to the kitchen at an impossible speed.
The Osborn kitchen was spotless, cleaned by the staff.
Harry rushed to the refrigerator. Intending to open it, he pulled the handle... and ripped the entire refrigerator door off its hinges with one hand.
Harry stared at the heavy door in his hand, stunned by its weightlessness.
But then, his head snapped involuntarily toward the food inside.
Raw meat, steak, jars of jam, frozen pastries—he grabbed everything indiscriminately and shoved it into his mouth.
His mind was a haze. Only one thought remained: Feed.
The noise woke Norman Osborn. He followed the sounds of gorging to the kitchen.
Seeing his son devouring raw food like an animal, Norman was horrified.
"Harry? What are you doing?!"
The voice interrupted Harry's feeding frenzy. A glimmer of clarity returned to his eyes. He looked at his hands, covered in frost and food scraps.
He turned his head slowly, confused.
"Father..."
"FOOD!"
A guttural roar echoed in Harry's mind, terrifying him. He looked around wildly.
"Who?! Who said that?!"
"Harry, what's wrong with you?" Norman stepped closer, concerned.
"FOOD!!"
This time, the roar came out of Harry's mouth.
For a split second, Norman thought he saw a flash of a monstrous black-and-white face overlaid on his son's features.
Harry's body seemed to lose control again. Ignoring his father, he turned back to the fridge and resumed eating.
Norman couldn't just watch his son act like a beast. Despite his fear, he approached cautiously.
But before he could touch Harry...
A black tentacle, like living tar, shot out from Harry's shoulder and whipped Norman across the room.
CRASH.
Hearing his father's cry of pain and the sound of breaking dishes, Harry snapped out of it. Panicked, he knocked over the table and rushed to Norman.
"Father!"
"FOOD!"
"Get out of my head!"
Harry's expression twisted as he fought a mental battle against the voice screaming for sustenance.
But his resistance was weakening. Even Norman started to look... appetizing.
ZZZT.
A flash of cyan light.
Norman Osborn, who had recovered from the blow, was now holding a dark green pistol.
The Arbiter (Dominator).
An electromagnetic stun round hit Harry squarely in the chest.
A wave of numbness spread through his body. Harry looked down at his chest, bewildered.
The black tentacles surged out again, aggressive.
ZZZT. ZZZT. ZZZT.
Norman fired several more rounds. Cyan arcs of electricity danced over Harry's body.
Harry's eyes rolled back, and he collapsed.
The black, tar-like substance retreated into his body like a tide.
Seeing this, Norman let out a long breath. Gripping the Arbiter tightly, he cautiously approached his unconscious son to check on him.
---
Luca had no idea.
Just by meeting The Spot once, poor Harry had accidentally picked up a symbiote hitchhiker—Venom—that The Spot had unknowingly brought with him.
At that moment, Luca was at home, using Hakimi to hack into the New York power grid database. He was trying to use big data analysis to pinpoint the location of the New York Sanctum.
Last time, the Ancient One had left too quickly, and Luca forgot to ask for her contact info.
With The Spot appearing and spatial anomalies spiking, Luca figured the only person who could help was the Sorcerer Supreme.
"Other invaders are one thing, but The Spot can travel the multiverse at will. Ancient One, you can't just ignore a threat like that, right?"
Luca didn't really care about going back to school.
He just felt that locking someone like The Spot in a SHIELD cell was unsafe.
"If I can't contact the Ancient One... maybe I should just sneak into SHIELD and kill The Spot myself?"
Wait... no!
If I synthesize the [Pal Sphere] and capture The Spot while he's unconscious... wouldn't I have a minion who can take me anywhere in the multiverse?!
Luca sat up straight on the sofa, eyes shining with excitement.
"Hakimi! Stop searching! I don't need the Ancient One anymore!"
Of course, what Luca didn't know was that even if he found the Sanctum, the Ancient One wouldn't have time for him.
She wasn't just busy; she was currently overwhelmed by a crisis of her own.