I walked out of Oscorp's towering glass doors, the sound of my footsteps echoing faintly against the marble floor before fading into the noise of New York streets.
Before heading to the cab line, I stopped and turned around. Oscorp Tower loomed above me, a gleaming monument of science, ambition, and questionable ethics. Norman Osborn's brainchild—one of the largest multinational corporations in the world. On the surface, Oscorp was the crown jewel of scientific innovation, producing everything from military-grade technology to pharmaceuticals. But beneath the clean glass and polished steel, it was a snake's den of secrets, failed experiments, and dangerous ambitions.
A thought crossed my mind. If I hadn't come here, if I hadn't spoken to Connors…
I knew what would've happened. The serum he was working on, his obsession with regrowing his arm, it would've consumed him. He'd inject himself, lose control, and transform into something monstrous—the Lizard. A tragedy born from desperation. He'd terrorize New York, maybe even die by Spider-Man's hands.
But I had just shifted that future.
For the first time since coming to this city, I realized the weight of my presence. My choices weren't just for me anymore—they were reshaping the course of events. A single conversation with Dr. Connors had changed what might've been a nightmare into… something else. Something unknown.
I smirked faintly to myself, eyes narrowing at Oscorp's glowing green logo at the top of the tower. "Guess I just rewrote history."
With that, I turned back, raised my hand for a cab, and stepped into the next chapter of my plan.
Meanwhile…
Kamar-Taj, Himalayas
The Ancient One sat cross-legged in meditation, her mind flowing through the currents of time. Normally, the streams of possibility moved like a river—countless branches, yet always flowing toward one destined ocean.
But today… something was different.
Her eyes snapped open as the Eye of Agamotto glowed faintly at her chest. She reached for it, letting the artifact unravel the threads of reality before her. Green runes circled in the air, displaying fragments of the timeline.
Her brow furrowed. The stream wasn't flowing as it should.
Where there should have been a single steady current, there was now a fracture—an unnatural bend in destiny itself. The changes were subtle, almost invisible to ordinary sight. But to her, they shone like cracks across glass.
"The timeline…" she whispered. "It's been… altered."
Her hand hovered over the shifting fragments, and she glimpsed flashes: a young man, newly arrived in New York, walking into Oscorp. A chance meeting that was never meant to occur. A ripple that spread outward, disturbing events far beyond their natural course.
Yet, no matter how far she peered, she could not see who he truly was—or what force concealed him from her sight.
The Eye dimmed, the visions fading.
The Ancient One stood, her calm composure unbroken, though a rare flicker of unease touched her face. "A new variable," she said softly to herself. "One that even I cannot place."
She turned toward the open sky. "The balance has shifted. The future I know is no longer certain."
With a breath, she closed the Eye and returned to silence. She would wait. Watch. And prepare—for the world had just stepped onto a path it was never meant to walk