Chapter 2

Iris was currently in a very peculiar predicament. She had just arrived from the airport after a 5 hour flight and came home exhausted. She had felt several people's gazes fall on her during this time. From the taxi driver to the airport staff and people at the airport to the flight attendants. It made her uncomfortable as she was not accustomed to such gazes. She was hit on 5 times before she could check in. That too by men over 30 years old. They most likely thought she was older than she looked due to her 5 foot 7 inch height. She had casually took out her identification card and pointed at her age each time to cause the men to gingerly walk away. Suffice to say, she needed to rest. However, what awaited her was something she failed to account for.

She now watched as her family stared at her with shocked expressions. Her mother held a plate full of pancakes while her father had just extended his arm to receive it. Her sister had dropped her phone while in the middle of trying to take a selfie. While her brother had his mouth wide open, the half chewed pieces of pancakes can be seen inside. (AN:Gross!!!)

They stayed frozen in place for a whole minute before Iris waved and said. "I'm back." This seems to break the family out of their stupor as her mother quickly shoved the plate to her father before making her way to her and began to caress and inspect her. She was in disbelief that the gorgeous girl in front of her was her daughter. She looked Iris in the eye as she stammered "Iris is that really you?" Iris smiled and nodded. The rest of the family stumbled towards her as well examining her from head to toe.

She was only gone for 4 months yet had come back so different. Iris was always pretty. But she never really took care of her looks, opting to focus on her studies. It came as a surprise when Iris had come back looking so beautiful. Not that it was an unwelcome change, at least for the women. Her father and brother who had always asked her to dress up suddenly became conflicted when they saw the results. They knew that their jobs just got harder.

As a cover story, Iris told them that she made a friend in San Francisco who had convinced her to go to a salon in order to treat her skin and hair while also taking her to a gym, hence the increased height. They seemed to buy it which made Iris release a sigh of relief. She then followed her siblings as they carried her luggage up to her room.

Her room was just how she had left it. She had a bookshelf filled to the brim with books, a bed a computer and a dressing table with a mirror which mostly has been devoid of any make up for the past 5 years. Her brother left after setting down her luggage but her sister started to open them and began inspecting her clothes. Iris watched as her sister's expression turned from shock to anger as she saw that Iris was still using her baggy clothes. The clothes she currently wore was a simple t-shirt and a pair of jeans which Iris had only wore because her mother begged her to.

Daisy Griffiths was a tall beautiful girl who was now 18. And during those years, she had been trying to get Iris out of her shell. So when Iris had returned, she was thrilled because of her changes. That was until she looked at her clothes. She still had the boring baggy clothes from before which made Daisy realise that Iris may crawl back into her shell if she doesn't do anything.

And so she turned to Iris with a semi murderous glint in her eyes and slowly said. "We are going shopping tomorrow." Iris realised what was going on and opened her mouth to protest only to close it in fear after seeing her sister's expression. Daisy's death glare made Iris involuntarily nod after which, daisy's expression changed by 180 degrees. Now supporting a charming smile, Daisy walked upto Iris before giving her a hug. She then whispered. "If you try to weasel out of this, you will get more than just a spanking." Iris shivered in fear at her words before nodding profusely. Seeing this, Daisy was content and she walked out of her sister's room while humming a song.

Iris sighed as she began to take out her research papers and other material on her desk. But as she did, a figure was approaching her from behind. The figure silently approached Iris before abruptly pulling her into a bear hug. Iris yelped in surprise before noticing her attacker. Her expression softened as she smiled at a blonde girl her age who was smirking victoriously.

*Oscorp Headquarters, New York City*

Norman Osborn looked at the files in front of him with a smug smile. Simmons thought that he could pull the wool over his eyes. But unknown to him, Norman had already made a back up of the Sigma serum before Simmons wiped out the databases.

A man in a white lab coat approached Norman.

"Dr Silva, I want you to recreate the serum. See if its compatible with the OZ serum." Norman ordered.

"What of the other specimen?" Silva asked.

Norman then looked at picture on his desk. On it was a vine unlike any thing they had seen. Yes it was the same vine Iris used to takes Simmons's life. Norman looked at the vine with greed in his eyes. His researchers had found that the vine had a very unique genetics. Which pretty much caused him to salivate. But for the DNA to be utilised, he needed to find more. He needed the source. Norman turned to Silva and said. "Prioritise the Sigma serum. My spies will try to find out the source. Oh and assign a team to analyse this vine. I need to know every little secret it has." Silva nodded as he walked out of Osborn's office.