Post by Drake on Feb 17, 2013 16:22:10 GMT -5
All Star Spider-Man #2
The Rebirth Part 2: The Power
The Rebirth Part 2: The Power
Manhattan, New York
January 17, 2013
11:14 AM
Bright, so bright….And the sounds…God, where was he?
Miles Morales’s eyes fluttered open. After giving them a second to adjust, Miles recognized where he was. Or at least the basics. He was lying on the back three seats of someone’s car.
BUMP! CREEEK!
Someone’s very, very old car.
“Oh my God! Miles, you’re awake!”
“Wha…?” Miles turned his head to face the direction the voice was coming from, his neck oddly sore, as if he’d lifted the previous night. Miles was pleasantly surprised when he recognized Ganke looking down at him over the corner of the passenger seat. “Wha’s goin’ on?”
Miles mouth felt odd. Not numb, not sore, just kind of…itchy. Dry.
“We’re taking you to a hospital, Miles,” a new voice. Miles forced his head a little to the left and met the gaze of his Biology teacher, Mr. Derrick Vita, through the rearview mirror.
Hospital. The word seemed odd to Miles. He’d never had to go to the hospital before. Never had a broken bone, never seriously ill. Why was he going to the hospital? And then it hit him. The Bite. Oh God, the hospital…
“Stop the car! Stop the car right now!” Miles suddenly sat upright, very alert and very nervous.
“Miles, what’s wrong? Do you feel like you’re going to throw up?” Mr. Vita asked, his gaze averted from the road to Miles.
Miles shook his head, “Just stop the car. I’m fine. I really should go.”
This couldn’t happen. If Dr. Parker knew…
Mr. Vita kept on driving, spinning the steering wheel right to turn at a light, “Miles, you’ve been bitten by a spider. It could have poisoned you. You could by dying right now. It’s of the upmost importance that I get you to a hospital right now.”
Miles gulped. He fidgeted awkwardly in the car. He felt like he was about to burst. “I wasn’t bitten by a spider.”
Mr. Vita sighed, “Miles, I saw the bite. You were bitten by a spider. Listen, you’re probably just delusional, overreacting because of the fever.”
Miles’s hand immediately shot to his head. His forehead felt…normal. What fever? Miles then realized the bite…it was gone. What had once been a red and pulsing blister was now…nothing. A perfectly normal, chocolate-colored hand.
“I’m not sick. I don’t have a fever.”
“Miles…dude, I was there. You were heating up. You are…you’ve gotta be,” Ganke replied, a hint of doubt in his voice.
“I’m not sick. I wasn’t bitten. There was no spider.” Miles slowly began to panic. If Mr. Vita knew…Dr. Parker…his parents…sued.
Mr. Vita pulled over to the side of the road and put the car in park. He turned around in his seat to face Miles, “Miles, what’s wro-Oh…you…you look fine.”
Miles nodded his head reassuringly, “I was just, uh, dehydrated. Hungry. I didn’t eat breakfast this morning.”
“Give me your hand,” Mr. Vita ordered, now clearly very confused. Miles held his hand out and Mr. Vita looked it over. He examined Miles’ palm, the top of his hand, everywhere. He checked his other hand. Nothing. Not even a single indention to hint that anything was ever wrong with Miles’ hand. Mr. Vita let it go.
“See?” Miles said, taking his hand back, “I’m fine. It must’ve just been red from…I don’t know…falling on it. Yeah, that had to be it.”
Mr. Vita looked into Miles’ eyes. Miles forced a smile, “I feel fine. Just let me go home.” Miles didn’t say the entire truth. He actually didn’t feel fine. He felt…AMAZING! He couldn’t even imagine what he had felt like just an hour before when he had fainted. It was odd certainly, but great! Other than, well, his fear of being caught.
Mr. Vita sighed, “I trust you, Miles, so I’m going to let you go.”
“Sweet!” Miles interrupted.
“But...” Mr. Vita began.
“Always a ‘but’” Miles groaned, exasperated.
“I’m driving you home and telling your parents about what happened,” Mr. Vita finished.
“No…I’d really prefer…”
“Miles.” Mr. Vita said.
Miles looked first at Ganke, whose expression was impossible to read, and then back at Mr. Vita. Miles lived just ten blocks away from where they were. He could go alone.
He shook his head, “No. Not happening. I can walk home and deal with my parents just fine alone.”
Mr. Vita started up again, “Miles…”
Ganke spoke up, interrupting Mr. Vita, “It’s fine, Mr. Vita. I’ll go with him. I don’t think he’ll have an issue with that.” Miles nodded his head in agreement.
Mr. Vita looked between the boys. Neither one was budging. He sighed.
“Fine, but Miles, if something happens to you, poisoned or not, then I’m fired. Lost my job. And in this economy thats…it’s on your conscience, Miles. I trust you, you’re a good student, just…just remember that.”
Miles nodded. The two met each other’s gaze for a second before Mr. Vita turned back around and unlocked the car doors. Miles and Ganke both opened their doors and stepped out of the car simultaneously. Ganke tossed Miles his backpack. “Here, dude.”
“Thanks.” Miles slung it over his shoulder.
Ganke shut the passenger door and waved bye to Mr. Vita. Vita waved back. Miles rested his head on the outer rim of the door and looked into the car, “I’m really, really sorry, Mr. Vita. I just…I have to go.”
Mr. Vita only solemnly nodded in response. Miles shut the door and pulled his hand away…or tried to! His hand wouldn’t come off of the door. It was as if it was stuck there with glue.
“Miles, c’mon,” Ganke waved Miles back, “Stop wasting time.”
“I’m…not…wasting…time,” Miles tried to yank his hand away multiple times. It didn’t budge. All that he succeeded in doing was making the door creak. Mr. Vita started up the car, clearly unaware of Miles still stuck on the car.
“Dude, get your hand off now! Let’s go!” Ganke put his hand on Miles’ shoulder and tried to pull him away. Miles didn’t…couldn’t move. “What the hell?” Ganke cursed, pulling on Miles harder.
“I know, right?” Miles exclaimed, grunting as he tried to pull his hand away. Mr. Vita began to turn the car away from the sidewalk. Miles reluctantly had to follow the car as it slowly turned into the street and traffic. Mr. Vita began to speed up. Miles began to jog forward with the car, his hand still on the window.
“Miles!” Ganke shouted, jogging after him.
“I’m trying!” Miles yelled back, pulling again.
“MILES! TRUCK!”
Miles looked forward. He was about to hit a truck.
Miraculously, Miles reacted in time. He jumped up…and over the truck?! He landed on the other side of the truck and entered into a full on sprint as he tried to keep up with Mr. Vita’s car. Someone behind him honked from their vehicle, trying to signal Miles to get off or Vita to stop. Vita still paid no mind, lost in thought.
Miles slammed his other hand into the passenger window, trying to get Mr. Vita’s attention. He did, but now that hand was stuck.
“What the hell?” Miles screamed. Mr. Vita slowly pulled his car to the sidewalk again. He rolled down the window and Miles right hand slid off the car.
“What is going on?” Mr. Vita demanded, clearly a little irritated.
“Um…” Miles looked first at his hand, then at Mr. Vita, “Hand…er, stuck.”
Mr. Vita stepped out of the car. Ganke finally caught up to them, put his hands on his knees and tried to catch his breath. “What are you doing?” Mr. Vita demanded.
Miles pointed to his hand. “It’s stuck.”
“What are you…” Mr. Vita tried to pull Miles’ hand off the car. It wouldn’t budge. He let go of Miles’ arm and turned to the teen, “Is this a joke?”
“Seriously, it’s…” Miles’ hand fell off the car, “stuck…what?”
“Very funny, Miles, very funny.” Mr. Vita shook his head disapprovingly and then walked back over to the driver side. Miles just looked down at his hands. “It would be nice of you to step back onto the sidewalk.” Mr. Vita sarcastically said from inside his car. Miles awoke from his state of awe and moved over by Ganke, who had now caught his breath and was just looking at Miles oddly.
Mr. Vita pulled away. That’s when Ganke freaked, “Dude! What was that?”
“What?” Miles tried to play nothing of it.
Ganke sighed, “Your hands. Your…you were running at nearly thirty miles an hour at one point! And you jumped, like, fifty feet in the air!”
Miles shook his head, “You must’ve, um, imagined it. It is pretty hot outside today.”
Ganke pinched the bridge of his nose, “Don’t act like I’m stupid, Miles. Just don’t.”
Miles tried to tell the truth this time, but he couldn’t. He was still in shock. He said what he wanted to believe was true. “It must’ve just been adrenaline. That’s how I did it. Y’know, kill or be killed.”
“I call bullshit on that.” Ganke muttered. He sighed, stretched, and turned away, “Fine, if you’re not going to tell me what that was about, or even accept that that just happened, then let’s just go.”
Miles didn’t reply, instead choosing to follow Ganke. The two walked briskly into an alley, a shortcut to Miles house they had long-since learned of. It was safe…
Usually.
A lone young man, maybe nineteen, stood up from behind a trash bin where he had been hiding. A white zip-up Nike hoodie and hung loosely over his body, unzipped to expose a dark-skinned chest covered in tattoos. Navy-blue shorts hung near his ankles. A knife was very obviously concealed under the jacket.
“Oh hell,” Ganke muttered under his breath. The two stopped walking and turned around. Two more gangsters dropped from a ramp above. They were dressed quite similarly as the other one with knife in all white and blue, clearly their gang colors. One was carrying a baseball bat, the other a crowbar. Miles and Ganke turned back to ‘the knife.’
“Yo, fattie, punk, gimme what’choo got!” Knife ordered.
Ganke immediately pulled his backpack into his hands and dropped it on the ground, “There’s not much in there. Just ten dollars for lunch and a few textbooks.”
“An’ you!” Knife motioned to Miles with his now not-so-hidden blade.
Miles dropped his bag on the ground. “Let us go.”
Knife laughed. The other two began to chuckle after him. “You’s a cocky niggah! Ha! We ain’t done wicha yet. Wha’s in yo pockets?”
Ganke immediately threw out his pockets’ contents: his cellphone, a Nokia Lumia, couple quarters and some lint. Miles slowly put his hands in his pockets. He had his cellphone, an IPhone 4, and his wallet. His wallet…
Miles threw his cellphone onto his backpack. “There. That’s it. Can we go?”
Knife looked behind Miles at his two other gang bangers. Miles quickly adjusted his gaze to face them. Crowbar, a white kid of no more than 17, was shaking his head.
“Nah, Razer, he still got som’m n his pock’ts.”
Razer-Knife nodded, “Ou’ wit it.”
Miles shook his head. Ganke gulped.
“You’s a crazy punk?” Razer-Knife held his knife out threateningly at Miles. Miles could hear, no, more than that, he could feel Crowbar and Bat sneaking up behind him. A slight buzzing began in Miles’ head.
“No. I’m just not giving you my wallet.” Miles took it out of his pocket and tossed Razer-Knife the two twenties that were in his wallet.
Razer-Knife looked down at the money, and then at Miles, clearly unsatisfied. “Miles, just give him the wallet.” Ganke pleaded.
“No.” His wallet…it wasn’t going anywhere. His uncle had given it to him as a birthday present shortly before he’d… he was keeping it. That was final. “I keep the wallet.”
The buzzing in Miles’ head grew exponentially. And, instinctually, Miles jumped up, flipped over and kicked Crowbar and Bat, both of whom were attacking him, in the face.
Ganke’s mouth dropped.
“Crazay-ass ninja!” Razer-Knife charged Miles. Miles slipped to the side of the attack and tripped him.
“Agh!”
Crowbar and Bat were up again. They both swung simultaneously. Miles ducked. They knocked each other out.
“MILES!”
Miles turned to Ganke, who was now being held hostage by Razer-Knife, who had apparently snuck away to Ganke in the fray. Razer-Knife pushed his knife against Ganke’s throat, producing a drop of blood.
“Stop ri’ there, niggah!” Razer-Knife ordered, “I got’choo fat-ass frien’.”
Miles put his hands up. He didn’t know what to do. He couldn’t just let the guy kill him, ‘cause he surely would, but he couldn’t let him hurt Ganke either. And just about when that thought passed Miles, the gangster screamed.
“Wha’ the fuck?!” Razer-Knife screamed. Pure and utter terror bled from his eyes. It was almost as if he was looking at a monster. Miles turned around. Nothing was there. He looked back at Razer-Knife. The gangster was turning his head every which way looking for something…or someone.
“He’s a fuggin’ mutie, ain’t he?” Razer-Knife shouted into Ganke’s ear. Ganke didn’t respond. He just stared straight at Miles, mouth agape. Ganke mouthed the words, “He can’t see you.”
And that’s when it hit Miles. He looked down at his hands. They were nearly invisible, perfectly camouflaging in with the concrete below. Every stain, every crease, his skin matched with perfection. He had…disappeared.
Miles approached Razer-Knife, who at this point was panicking. He had let go of Ganke, who was scrambling away, and was swinging his knife chaotically. The buzzing continued, allowing Miles to somehow predict when Razer-Knife would swing his blade in Miles’ direction, and it made it easy, very easy to plan when to strike. Miles swung his fist. Instant knock out.
“What the hell was that?” Ganke exclaimed happily.
“I…I don’t know.” Miles admitted.
Ganke shook his head, “I don’t know what I’m saying! It’s obvious isn’t it?”
Miles looked at Ganke, “What is?”
Ganke grinned.
“You’ve got freakin’ superpowers.”
“What?” Miles trembled, “No…no, that can’t be right. The guy, the guy was high. He was freaking out. He…”
“Why won’t you believe me?” Ganke ran up to Miles and put his hands on his shoulders, “Dude, you’re, like, Spider-Man.”
“I’m-I’m not.”
“Yes. Yes you are,” Ganke began, “You were bit by one of those spiders. The ones at ParkerCorp. And, I read this online, Spider-Man was also bitten by a spider. Admittedly, it was radioactive, but whatevs. That spider…it gave you superpowers! I mean, c’mon, you got, like, super agility and speed and strength. Your hands, well, stick to stuff. You can go all camo like some spiders. I mean, it’s obvious.”
“I…I can stick to stuff?”
Ganke nodded, “Like earlier. Like a spider. I bet you can crawl on walls.”
Miles didn’t believe it. He couldn’t. But then…what if Ganke was right? Miles slowly turned to a building to his right. He put his right hand on the wall. He pulled. It stuck. He set his left hand against the wall. Miles kicked off his shoes. He took a deep breath and raised his right hand. It followed his mental directions. And, step by step, he was climbing the wall. Half way up, Miles stopped and swung around to face Ganke. Ganke smiled. Miles let go with his hands and just sat there, crouching against the wall, looking down at Ganke.
There was only one thing to say. One way to describe this new revelation.
“Whoa.”
The Morales’ Residence
Manhattan, New York
12:30 PM
“Thanks, see ya, man!” Miles waved one final time and opened the door to his family’s decent-sized two-story home.
What he saw changed his day. What had once been a great day full of fantastic revelations turned into a nightmare.
Dr. Peter Parker was sitting on the ivory-colored couch in his living room across from his parents.
The three adults turned their attention to the door and, ultimately, Miles. The fifteen-year-old newly discovered superhuman had only one reaction to this discovery.
Miles’ mouth moved, producing words as silent as an ant’s march.
“Oh no.”