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Miles Morales: New Spider Chapter 13.
🕑 Added 2024-09-02 13:54:52 +0000 UTC---
Patrolling the streets of Brooklyn had become routine for me. Another night, another mission, swinging effortlessly from building to building. My suit's systems were fully functional, shielding me from the cold wind that whipped against my body. The mask kept my breathing steady, and the earpiece in my left ear buzzed with updates from the police radio, tuned into the happenings in Brooklyn.
Occasionally, people noticed me, pointing at the webs and the red Spider emblem on my suit. But tonight, things were more chaotic than usual. The crime rate in downtown Brooklyn had been steadily rising since the week began. I got a tip from a thug I’d taken down earlier that a crime boss had been overthrown by his right-hand man, who was now trying to consolidate power. The streets were heating up again.
The road ahead was deserted, except for a line of police vehicles forming a barricade. Officers stood behind it, guns drawn, focused on an approaching vehicle. The thugs inside the car noticed the blockade and responded by firing shots, while the driver slammed the accelerator.
I swung down onto the roof of the car, landing with a thud that caught the thugs' attention. One of them stuck his head out the window, shouting, "There's some son of a bitch on the roof!"
"SHOOT HIM!"
My Spidey-sense flared just before bullets tore through the roof. I quickly jumped to the driver's side window. "Hi," I said, my voice deepened by the modulator in my mask. The driver’s eyes widened in fear at the sight of me. In one swift motion, I punched through the glass, grabbed him, and tossed him out of the car, webbing his feet to a nearby lamp post. "Bye," I added, already moving on.
The thugs in the back panicked, firing wildly. One stray bullet hit the thug in the passenger seat. He screamed, clutching his shoulder.
“He’ll live,” I thought, as I webbed the barrels of their guns, jamming them.
I then webbed the brake pedal to the floor and yanked the handbrake, causing the car to jerk to a stop. The momentum flipped it over, landing it upside down. I rolled forward as I landed, quickly getting to my feet and approaching the overturned vehicle.
I pulled the thugs out, webbing their hands together. The one who’d been shot needed medical attention, so I called out, "Medic!" and pointed to the wounded man.
The police, who had been frozen in shock, started to regain their composure. A medic rushed over while the other officers pointed their guns at me. They stared at my black suit and mask, clearly unsure of what to make of me.
“Who are you?” one of them finally asked.
I paused before answering, "...The Arachnid," my voice deep and distorted through the modulator.
Without waiting for their response, I activated my camo mode, blending into the shadows. Before I disappeared completely, I threw a Spider shuriken into the hood of the nearest police car. The officers barely had time to react before I was gone, swinging into the night.
I landed on the roof of a tall building, lying flat against the cold surface as I caught my breath. That was insane! I felt like Bruce Lee after a fight, adrenaline still coursing through my veins.
“Wow,” I murmured, a smile creeping across my face. The thrill of being a hero, of saving someone, was addictive. I wasn’t driven by a god or savior complex, but it felt good. I’d always heard that with great power comes great responsibility, but living it was something else entirely.
In the Marvel universe, anything was possible. Ripping off that car door? Badass. I felt like a total badass.
Lying there, staring up at the stars in the clear night sky, I felt a deep sense of satisfaction. I’d helped tonight, and because of that, someone’s mother or father, son or daughter, would return home safely.
We define what’s good or bad by our actions. Using our abilities to make the world a better place, even in small ways, can have a massive impact. I want to live in a world that’s worth living in, a world with a bright future. Doing what I can now might create bigger changes later.
But for now, Earth was enough. I’d think about other planets later.
I got up, dusted myself off, and swung back towards the academy.
When I arrived, I went into camo mode, sneaking back into the dorm through the window. I checked to make sure Ganke was asleep before deactivating the suit and tucking it away. As soon as I hit the bed, I was out.
The next morning, Ganke shook me awake.
"Miles, wake up!"
"Huh?"
"Dude, we're gonna be late!"
"For what?"
"Class, man! What do you mean, 'what?'"
"No way, Ganke, I just got into bed."
"Miles, your alarm went off like five times this morning."
“Shit.” I jumped out of bed and dashed to the bathroom, brushing my teeth while taking the fastest shower of my life. I threw on some clothes and bolted to my chemistry class with Mrs. Khalil.
"Miles, you're late," she said, standing at her desk.
"Sorry, Mrs. Khalil, my alarm broke."
She just gestured for me to sit down and continued her lesson on chemical bonds.
The day passed in a blur, the only notable event being the odd looks I got from the girl who sat next to me.
At 3 p.m., I snuck out of the dorms earlier than usual. My Spidey senses were buzzing non-stop, a warning that something big was about to happen.
I swung from place to place, my nerves on edge. It didn’t take long for the reason behind my unease to reveal itself.
In the middle of the street was a grotesque monster of a man. He was like something out of a nightmare—canines like a saber-toothed tiger, saliva dripping from his mouth, patches of dark green reptilian scales covering his skin. He was massive, with arms the size of tree trunks that hung past his knees. Even hunched over, he was at least six feet tall, and his face twisted in a mask of pure rage.
The creature rampaged through the streets, smashing car roofs, tearing them apart, and hurling them aside. People screamed as they fled, some taking refuge in nearby stores.
I swung down and delivered a double kick to the creature’s chest, sending it crashing into a nearby car.
"Get out of here!" I shouted to the panicked people, rushing to help those trapped in their cars. I ripped doors off their hinges and tore seat belts apart, pulling them to safety.
I noticed a mother struggling to free her child from a car seat. The monster was getting too close. I shot a web at its face, temporarily blinding it and giving me just enough time to get the mother and child to safety.
The monster roared in frustration, ripping the webbing from its face, taking pieces of its own flesh with it. But those pieces quickly grew back. It charged at me again, and I leaped over it, watching as it slammed into an empty bus, nearly splitting it in half.
I landed on its back and delivered a venom strike to its neck before jumping off. Sparks danced across its body, slowing its movements.
But the fight wasn’t over. The monster grabbed a flattened car and hurled it at me. I jumped, narrowly avoiding the impact as the car smashed into another. The creature charged, hitting me square in the chest. The force sent me crashing onto the asphalt, rolling painfully until I got back on my feet, my ribs bruised, and bones fractured.
It jumped and swung at me again, but my Spidey sense gave me just enough warning to flip away as its massive fist slammed into the ground, creating a small crater.
I webbed its hands together with golden-graphene webs and delivered another venom strike to its neck, finishing with a brutal roundhouse kick to its face. The force threw it back into a car, and the venom took effect, making it scream and spasm.
Steam rose from its body as it gradually reverted to a normal-looking man in his twenties, his skin pale and eyes full of fear. I approached cautiously. He was clearly in pain, trying desperately to say something.
I knelt beside him, straining to hear his whisper. "O... Oscorp," he managed to say with his last breath.
My heart sank. Oscorp. Norman Osborn. I’d suspected as much, but hearing it confirmed from the dying man’s lips was chilling. Whatever they had done to him had cost him his life. His body couldn’t handle the strain of the transformation.
I gently closed his eyes, knowing I couldn’t have saved him. The damage had already been done.
As the sound of approaching sirens grew louder, I shot out a web and swung away into the night.
Back at the academy, I processed what had just happened. The man had been reported missing four weeks ago, but he was more than just a victim. He’d been captured and experimented on, turned into a monster by Oscorp.
Norman Osborn was using humans as lab rats for his twisted experiments. This was no longer just about crime—it was about survival. Norman needed to be stopped, and I was going to make sure he was.
