Post by Drake on Jun 30, 2013 19:28:17 GMT -5
All Star Spider-Man #3
The Rebirth Part 3: The Truth
By Drake and Jordan
The Rebirth Part 3: The Truth
By Drake and Jordan
Miles wanted to leave. He wanted to turn around, go right out that door, and run until he couldn’t anymore.
His Dad’s expression said everything. They knew. His parents knew. Miles was completely, royally screwed.
“Miles,” Dr. Peter Parker greeted. His expression was serious. Miles was in serious trouble.
“Sit down,” Miles’ dad, Jefferson Davis, commanded. Miles did as he was told, sitting across from Peter and next to his father on their couch. Miles’ mom, Rio Morales, looked at Miles’, her eyes drooping, and small frown on her lips. Rio was very clearly concerned for Miles and how he felt, which only in turn made Miles feel worse.
“We know what happened. Dr. Parker told us everything.” Jefferson tried to keep his calm. Miles knew as soon as Peter left, his Dad would explode.
“Yeah, I…” Miles looked up at Peter. The man was frowning…was that concern? “I messed up. It was an accident, it…”
“It doesn’t matter what it was,” Jefferson began. Rio put a hand on her husband’s arm, quieting him, “Jeff…let Dr. Parker speak.” Jeff nodded in agreement. Everyone focused in on Peter. Miles took a deep breath and prepared for the worst.
He wasn’t nearly prepared for this.
“Mr. and Mrs., er…Mr. Davis, Mrs. Morales, I…I would like to speak to Miles alone.” This request shocked Miles, and clearly he wasn’t the only one surprised by Peter’s statement, as his mom and dad’s jaws dropped.
“O…okay,” The surprise had completely thrown Jefferson off. That was something Miles didn’t see every day. Jefferson and Rio stood up and went back to the kitchen. They shut the door. Miles struggled for air, his head pounding. Was he having an asthma attack? No, it was something different. It was almost as if he was feeling…danger. Existent or not, Miles would soon find out.
“Miles,” Peter addressed the boy.
Miles couldn’t sit through this. He spoke up, “No, I’m sorry, sir, but I really need to speak. My family…we don’t have much. If you sue us, we…just please don’t. My parents both work two jobs. It…it was an accident. I sweat, I didn’t mean…”
“Miles,” Peter interrupted his appeal, “Miles, honestly, I’m not going to sue.”
“You’re what?” Miles met Peter’s gaze.
“I’m not going to sue.” Miles relaxed back in the couch.
Miles was bewildered. Why had he come? “Then why are you here? Not that it’s bad or unnecessary or anything, I just…” Miles quickly added in.
“Miles, deep breaths. You’re fine.” Peter reassured, “I’m just here to make sure you’re alright. And…to ask a few questions.” The way he said that…did Peter know about Miles’ powers?
“Ask away,” Miles said.
Peter smiled and nodded in thanks, “You do feel fine, I assume?” Miles nodded his head.
“No side effects from the bite?” Miles nodded again. “Nothing?”
“Nothing,” Miles lied. Peter looked Miles in the eye. He knew…he had to, Miles realized. What was he going to say next?
“Well, thank you for your time, Miles,” Peter said. He stood up and announced that Miles’ parents could come back into the room. They did.
“I’m not going to sue, so you don’t have to worry about that. It was just a harmless accident.” Peter assured them. He walked towards the door, “Thank you both for your time.”
“No problem.” Jefferson replied.
Peter opened the door and began to head out it, before stopping and turning back around, the most peculiar expression on his face, “Keep an eye on your son. He’s unique.”
And he left, with what appeared to be a fairly negative statement. But, on second thought, Miles thought there was more to that. Had Peter all but admitted he knew his secret?
“You are in serious trouble,” Jefferson turned to Miles.
“Jefferson!” Rio interrupted, “It was an accident. You heard the man.”
“It doesn’t matter, Rio. The boy did not do as he was told. I’m sure he cost Dr. Parker a million dollars. You heard how he talked about that spider before Miles got here.” Jefferson argued.
“Well, it’s not like Miles hasn’t been punished. He was bitten by the spider. Speaking of,” Rio changed her focus from Jefferson to Miles, “Are you alright? Do we need to take you to the hospital? Dr. Parker said…”
“I’m fine,” Miles interrupted, “Really.”
Jefferson appeared to actually be worried now, “Seriously, Miles, if your head hurts or anything, just tell us. If you’ve been poisoned, then we need to take you to the hospital now.”
Miles shook his head, “I said I was fine.”
“Miles…” Rio begged.
“You don’t believe me? Look,” Miles held up his hand where he had been bitten. Surely enough, there was only a small mark. It was almost as if nothing had happened.
“I…I think I’m just gonna go up to my room,” Miles said. He turned his back to his parents and began to walk upstairs.
“Miles,” Jefferson’s voice was firm again.
Miles turned around, “Yes, sir?”
“Don’t screw up like that again.”
Miles kept his expression unreadable, “Yes, sir.”
“Jefferson,” Rio warned.
“What? I’m just telling the kid, he needs to try harder. I mean, working at that place was his dream, and now that’s blown!”
Before Jefferson could speak further, Miles interrupted him, “It wasn’t my dream. I don’t even like science.”
“Yeah, well you like Spider-Man, and that man’s the only one in the entire world who knew him well. At least while he wore the mask.” Jefferson pointed out.
“Spider-Man’s dead, Dad, it’s not like it really matters.”
“It did to you this morning.”
“Jefferson!”
“What?”
WHAM! Miles slammed the door shut to his room.
...
Miles sits still on his bed looking at his ceiling. Images fly through his mind a mile a minute. The Spider-Man, the spider, now his powers…everything is just so weird. He needs someone to talk to, someone to take all of this off his chest. He pulls his phone out and looks at the screen: five messages, all from Ganke. Miles quickly scrolls through them:
HI. MILES? YOU OKAY? SOMETHING HAPPEN TO YOU? Miles presses the “reply” button and a new message window appears.
HEY. He waits several minutes before Ganke’s reply causes his phone to beep.
WHERE HAVE U BEEN?
TALKING TO PETER PARKER.
WHATT?!?!
HE CAME TO MY HOUSE.
WHAT DID HE SAY?!
HE WANTED TO KNOW IF I HAD ANY SIDE EFFECTS FROM THE SPIDER BITE.
YOU THINK HE KNOWS?
DEFINITELY.
WELL, IF HE’S THE ONLY PERSON WHO KNOWS SPIDER-MAN, THEN MAYBE HE WOULD KNOW WHAT MADE HIM SPIDER-MAN, AND MAYBE IT WAS A SPIDER BITE THAT MADE HIM SPIDER-MAN.
YEAH, MAYBE THE FANTASTIC FOUR WERE MADE FROM A SPACESHIP CRASH IN OUTER SPACE. LET’S GET REAL HERE, GANKE.
I’M SERIOUS! WHAT IF THE SAME THING THAT GAVE SPIDER-MAN POWERS GAVE U POWERS?! THEN WOULDN’T YOU HAVE THE RESPONISIBILITY TO BE HIS LEGACY?
NO, GANKE, I WOULDN’T. EVEN IF I HAVE HIS POWERS, I WOULDN’T EVEN KNOW WHERE TO START.
PETER PARKER.
WHAT ABOUT HIM?
HE KNEW SPIDER-MAN! ASK HIM!
I’M JUST A TEENAGER, Y WOULD I NEED TO BE SPIDER-MAN?
DUDE, WHY SHOULDN’T YOU BE SPIDER-MAN? IT WOULD BE AWESOME. YOU’D BE A SUPER HERO. I REPEAT. A. SUPER. HERO. YOU COULD SAVE PEOPLE! Miles reads this text twice over. Maybe Ganke’s right, maybe he should. But…how would he keep it from his parents? How would he do anything? How could he balance being Spider-Man number two and a high school student? After a couple more minutes, Miles receives another text from Ganke.
YOU CAN STOP PEOPLE FROM EXPERIENCING WHAT YOU HAVE. SAVE THEIR UNCLES. For nearly anyone else, this would be territory that would cause Miles to snap, but Ganke…what if he’s right? Miles rolls over in bed, staring up at his ceiling. He could potentially stop people from going through what he went through.
I’VE GTG NOW, NIGHT. Miles puts his phone on his nightstand. It doesn’t stay silent for long.
SO? WHAT ARE YOU GOING TO DO?
Miles sighs. Since Ganke brought up his uncle, Miles has known what he has to do.
I’M GOING TO SEE PETER PARKER.
…
The house is huge and gorgeous with sprawling gardens akin to that of the very Garden of Eden. Beauty reigns from the flowers in the Earth, the flowers in the pots and the flowers hanging high in the trees. Oh, the trees. Dozens of massive behemoths looking over the garden with warmth, sheltering the flowers from the sweltering heats of the summers, the ballistic downpours of the springs, the unloving snows of the winter and the fierce tornados of the fall.
The house itself was modest yet exemplary, much like its owner—Peter Parker. Miles crosses the expanse from the road to the large, wooden double-French doors. He moves his finger out with nervousness and rings the doorbell. DING DONG.The loud bell rings through the large property. The doors open in just seconds and standing before Miles is the apple to go with the Garden of Eden—a young girl, maybe sixteen or seventeen.
She wears tight, black skinny jeans with paint splatters and rips around them. Her mid-length red hair dyed black put up in a tight pony-tale with just a feather of her bangs falling down onto her face, just past her small nose and just above her big, cherry red lips. Her big, blue eyes are unsympathetic and she has no smile worn across her face. “Uh…um…hi, I’m here for P—“
“Dad, some kid at the door’s looking for you!” Miles seems to get slightly smaller from this comment, falling back, retreating from the beautiful girl. He looks himself over. Surely he can’t look that young.
“Mayday!” Another woman’s voice calls out from inside the house.
“What? He’s like…” She gives him a head-to-toe. “Thirteen?” She says, seeming to ask Miles his own age. “Sure, he’s like thirteen!” A woman Peter’s age comes to the door. Her long red hair falls low just past her breasts. She has big blue eyes just like her daughter, Mayday, along with her cherry red lips.
“Mayday! Stop it! Go inside!” With a sigh, the beautiful girl named Mayday disappears and just Miles and the older woman are waiting. She’s beautiful just like her daughter, but older, her skin less flawless. “Hi, I’m Mary Jane, Peter’s wife, but please call me MJ.” Her smile wears wide across her face as she shakes Miles’ hand.
“Um…hi, MJ. This is a beautiful place you’ve got here.” She nods her head.
“You must be Miles. My husband said you’d be around.” Miles utter confusion shows across his face and MJ laughs. “Don’t worry; he wants to meet with you. Come on in.” She motions with her right hand for Miles to enter the house while holding open the door for him with her left. Slowly, reluctantly, Miles wobbles into the household of the rich and famous Peter Parker. “He’ll be up the stairs, first door on your right.” She points the direction out to him. He looks at her, expecting her to show him the way to the room. She motions for him to go on. He sees Mayday sitting on the couch in the next room, watching TV.
Miles slowly walks up the stairs and into the small office. Peter Parker sits behind his desk, tinkering with a red and blue gadget. Sparks fly and the reflection of the gadget can be seen in Peter’s goggles. Miles clears his throat to grab Peter’s attention. Nothing. Miles tries again, once more to no avail. This time, Miles speaks: “Um, Dr. Parker? …Peter?” The sparks stop flying and Peter sets the gadget down, lifting his goggles well above his head.
“Why hello there, Miles. What can I help you with?” Miles thinks about coming up with a lame excuse for him coming by. Maybe he just wanted to talk to his idol, maybe some questions about Spider-Man…but finally, Miles decides to tell Peter the truth.
“I need your help.” Miles bluntly states, causing Peter to raise his brow.
“With what?” The long moments pass in silence as Miles gradually builds the courage to say what for. Finally, words come from his mind to his mouth.
“I want to be Spider-Man.” Peter chuckles.
“I thought this might happen. Miles, listen…I understand what you want to do; I understand why you want to do it. Being Spider-Man—the fame, the GLORY! And, hell, maybe you’re better than I was. Maybe you just want to help people. Or maybe you want to join the next incarnation of the Fantastic Four…? I don’t know. All that I do know is that it isn’t worth it.”
“That isn’t it, Mr. Parker.”
“Then what is it, Miles? You’re a teenage boy with your whole life ahead of you. I know what that spider did to you, but you don’t have to be Spider-Man. Let the other heroes deal with it. Tony Stark, Johnny Storm—let them handle it.”
“Maybe this was a mistake. You helped Spider-Man, shouldn’t you want someone to carry on his legacy? I thought you were his friend!”
“Miles, the world just doesn’t need a Spider-Man anymore…I wonder if they ever did…” Miles squints hard at Peter.
“Peter…Dr. Parker, the world will always need a Spider-Man. He was a hero. An idea to strive towards. He had the power, and he had the responsibility to use that power for good. Now I’ve got power, and it’s my responsibility to use it like he did…to help people. But if you don’t understand that…then I guess I should leave…” Miles turns around and heads toward the door, having head enough.
“Miles, STOP!” Miles stops dead in his tracks. Has he decided to help him? Did what he said make a difference? “Miles, look…” Peter trails off and Miles turn around to look at the older man. Peter reaches under his desk and presses a hidden button. The wall to Miles’ right swings open, revealing the other side of the wall—a fresh, new wall with newspaper clippings, obituaries and pictures. And standing out, centered between them all, is a red and blue costume the entire world knows very well. “These are all the people I loved that died.”
“Oh my God…” Miles mutters, suddenly becoming aware of the truth.
“Miles? Read the obits. Read them closely.” And so Miles does. One-by-one, Miles reads every word of every obituary. Uncle Ben, 42, dies from a freak mugging/home invasion. Gwen Stacy, 17, dies from a broken neck during a confrontation between the Goblin and Spider-Man. Captain George Stacy, 28, impaled while fighting criminals in Queens, aiding the Spider-Man.. Jean DeWolff, 48, killed by mass serial killer in New York City while aiding the Spider-Man.
“Do you understand what it means to be Spider-Man? To hurt the people closest to you?” Peter explains.
“No.” Miles says, the actuality of the situation donning on him. He turns back to look at Peter’s face. “You…you’re…”
“Spider-Man.”