black treacle - matt sturniolo

Chapter Nine, It's not fucking rocket science

Fact is, Spider-Man couldn't have done it without Nick.

He was the first to notice the change in his brother after they had double-dog-dared Matt to let the spider bite him. A regular spider bite resulted in redness, swelling, irritation, or nothing at all.

It was just a harmless challenge after they had dared Nick to get a photo with the toucan at the bird park. Or just bringing him to the bird park in general.

Perhaps he should've considered it wasn't an ordinary spider because of its red and blue abdomen. This spider bite resulted in a myriad of skills that were unveiled one by one.

Firstly, it was Matt's vision. His brother had walked downstairs rubbing his eyes while holding his thick black frame in the other hand.

"Careful, Matt. You're not wearing your glasses and I am not taking you to the hospital if you break all your bones." Nick warned, taking a bite of his cereal. He didn't need anything disrupting his peaceful weekend.

"I actually... don't think I need them anymore?"

He dropped his spoon and turned to Matt almost giving himself whiplash. There was no way he no longer needed glasses. Matt was as blind as a bat.

The last time he'd gone this long without his glasses he'd almost got a concussion. Fortunately, he had bumped into a softer surface or the triplets would have mismatched noses.

Unfortunately, Matt collided with Chris - and it wasn't very difficult to guess who had to take care of them.

After a makeshift eye test using an iPad, a YouTube video, and an eyepatch from an old pirate costume, they deduced that Matt appeared to have perfect vision.

Nick would've taken him to the optometrist but nobody who could legally drive was at home and - though he had passed their homemade eye exam - letting Matt drive was the dumbest thing they could do. Nick's first felony could not and would not be sending his brother to the doctors.

Next, it was his insane reflexes.

Nick and Chris had made it a bet that year to see who could scare Matt the most. When he was focused, it was almost impossible to get his attention unless something was thrown at him.

This sparked a rivalry between the brothers where they made it their mission to terrorise Matt's life, and one day Chris got ready to throw a bottle of coke beside a hunched-over Matt trying to complete his physics assignment on the kitchen island.

"Watch," He nudged Nick in preparation for his throw (mind you, it was a full bottle launched at Matt and a minor miscalculation could decapitate the boy).

Nick's jaw dropped when Matt stuck out his arm and caught it. It was as if he had stopped a missile with his bare hands.

"Do this shit again and I'll kick your ass." Matt threatened, throwing the bottle back at his brothers.

Lastly, it was his inhumane strength. Nick had prepared Matt to speak to Robyn but it ended with a crushed phone in his hands.

"Do you think the spider bite changed me?" Matt asked, peeking through the tiny sliver in Nick's door.

"Why do you think that?" Nick asked sarcastically from his bed, not even bothering to look up. The past week has been supernatural. Nothing normal has happened in the Sturniolo home and he was surprised how Matt hadn't hurt himself or anyone yet. Mainly because of the bone-crushing hug their dad almost received if he didn't intervene.

Not to mention how he had bulked up in a week. He was no longer lean and scrawny and, to be honest, the new version of Matt horrified him because one punch would probably cause internal bleeding instead of a measly bruise, and Nick wanted to keep all his organs functioning, thank you very much.