„The Web of Life"
Disclaimer:I don't own any Marvel characters.
Chapter 1
„New Start"
[Washington D.C:2018]
Sleeping was a naturally recurring state of mind and body. Often characterized by altered consciousness, relatively inhibited sensory activity, inhibition of nearly all voluntary muscles, and reduced interactions with surroundings.
It was something that Max enjoyed. At least then he could take a break from his life. His parents got divorced about four years ago. The reason was that they just stopped loving each other and wanted to start over with someone new. But they told Max that the divorce didn't change the fact they love him. He was about fourteen back then. Like any other kid, he thought that it was his fault. No matter how many times his parents told him it wasn't his fault, Max didn't believe it. It took him about four months to get over it. Since then he was living at either Mom or Dad house with their new partners. He didn't enjoy staying over and seeing how their parents look so happy with someone else. Recently Max learn that he's going to have a sibling.
His other problem revolved around school, which compared to his family life felt like weak slap on a cheek. He was bullied to the point of almost thinking about suicide and he had nobody to talk about this. The girl who actually liked him left the town and didn't even had time to text with him. He was barely passing from class to class. He was all alone. The only thing he had were comic books. He wanted to be someone like Captain America or Spider Man. But the reality was cruel and such thing as superheroes didn't exist.
In next few minutes, Max will hear alarm from his smartphone and his terrible life is going to start all over again. As soon as it happen, he grab his phone and turns the alarm off. It was 6:23 am. Before getting up, Max takes few deep breath to prepare himself and then he slowly gets out of the bed. He went to the bathroom and quickly changed. Now was the hard part. Max had to get down and say hello to his mother and her husband. Better to get over it, he thought to himself. When he got down, Max noticed something off. There was nobody down stairs.
"Mom?" -Max called. No response."Shaun?"
Same thing, That was strange, because he could see shoes by the front doors. He shrugged and simply went to the kitchen. He fetch himself a sandwich and pack it to his backpack. After that he went outside to wait for the bus. Yet another surprise. The streets were empty and no one was waiting for the bus. He walk to the middle of the streets and was shock by how quiet it was.
"What's going on...?" -He said to himself. He thought that heard his echo when said that.
Now he was a bit scared. He wasn't dreaming, right? Because all of this felt too real for him. For some unknown reason, Max start running down the street. He headed to the school and on his way, Max couldn't find anybody. He was screaming, but there was no respond. Finally he got to school and nobody was in there. Surprisingly, the front doors were open. Every room was open.
"What's happening?!" -He screamed loudly."God...Please, I want to wake up...Please." -Max whisper, while falling on his knees. He started to sweat and breath quickly. His body was getting numb and vision blurry.'I'm about to...pass out...' -Those were his last thought before hitting the ground.
[Few hours later: 2 pm.]
Max gasped for air as his eyes open suddenly. He gets up and looks around. There was nobody on the streets. Just like before. He felt massive pain inside of his brain. Like somebody plugged his brain and loaded it with too much information. Max also felt wet, but it wasn't raining. He look down and saw that he was sitting in pool of what appears to be sweat. Also his cloths seem to be bigger. Now he was a bit chubby, but that was still shocking.
"What is this?!" -He scream toward the sky."Is this some kind of sick joke?! Yeah! I'm talking to you!" -Max pointed at the sky. Max was a Catholic, something that his dad forced him to be."I don't know if it was you or someone else, but you better bring everyone...Maybe not these assholes, but you get what I mean."
Well since he was all sweaty and it was warm anyway, he decided to take his clothes off. Hey, there was nobody to see him walking naked. Besides, anybody would do something stupid in this kind of situation. Also there was nobody to stop him from doing stuff he normally wouldn't do. But was soon as he took his clothes off, Max noticed that he was muscular. Like really muscular. Not something over the top like in comics, but still. That wasn't the only thing that changed, but let's leave it at that.
"Okey...I don't mind that." -Max said with chuckle. Now he examined his whole body and noticed something on his wrists."No way...I gotta be dreaming." -It looked like oversized spinnerets that spider have.
If what he was seeing was true, then he had to check one thing first. He walked to the nearest wall and looked at fingers. Slowly he placed his fingers on the wall. Taking a deep breath, Max jumped lightly and landed his feet on the wall. Now the first thing that came to mind was that he'll fall on his ass. But actually, he did not fall on his ass. Going with the flow, Max started to climb up. When he looked down he said.
"Now if climbing up the walls, while being naked isn't dream...Then I don't know what is." -As he finally climb over, he look at the nearest building. Well if he can stick to walls then it was obvious what powers he had. He did his favorite hero signature gesture and thick silver web came out of his spinnerets."I feel like I'm on drugs...Am I on drugs?"
Even if he was, would there a harm to him? He didn't think about it too much. He went over the edge and jumped. He cried in joy as he swing from one building to the next. With his feet he landed on the building and look down.
"Wow...doing this while being naked feels weird." -Max said with chuckle."Okey...things are getting out of my hands. I have to get back and think things though now."
But now that he knew he had Spider Man powers, Max wouldn't go back normally. Never mind he was naked. He was never so scared and happy at the same time, so he might as well have some fun with it.
[One week later. New York.]
Max web swinged to his new apartment in Hotel Wolcott. He threw the bag with electronics at the second bed and sat down next to it. It's been a week since everyone vanished. During the following week, Max discovered a lot about his new powers. He possessed powers of Miles Morales along with powerful healing factor and super intelligence. He had venom blast and camouflage. He didn't need talons to crawl up the wall of course, but they're useful for combat. Now he had no idea how smart he actually. But Max was able to complete every IQ test he found with the highest score. He found out about his healing factor by accident when he smashed through the window. It was his first time landing on glass surface and it didn't work. He had deep cuts after that, but after few seconds he was healed up. No sign of cuts anywhere.
"Another day and it's really getting annoying." -Max said as he glanced at the cross on a wall."Maybe I should just accept this and move on."
As he got up from the bed, Max grabbed the bag and went to his makeshift workbench. He was able to gather a lot of equipment since nobody could stop him. Since he had nothing better to do at the moment, Max decided to make himself his own costume. He enjoyed new Spider Man Ps4 default Suit and the Dark Suit. So he decided to combine them with color scheme of dark suit with style of Ps4 suit. It wasn't too bad, but for the logo he went with [dark suit logo] in front and for the back with [ps4] one. His lenses were red and just like in game, they moved to emote his expression. It was a bit difficult to pull this off with such thin parts, but he manage to do it either way. So far it was only the mask and it was time for the rest of the suit.
"Okey, let's add some new gadgets and then go for more materials." -Max said to himself.
What was the reason for Max to even make a superhero suit? There was nobody to learn about his identity nor to stop him from commiting crime. Well, the reason for that was quite simple. He wanted to occupy his mind with something. Thinking about being the last man on earth(possibly) wasn't very pleasing. True, there was nobody to stop him from doing whatever he wanted but being alone was awful and damaging. Even if there were some animal left, it wasn't helpful as most of them were hostile to him.
Also that there were other problems. Like Nuclear Plants. Not maintained, there might be a meltdown. Which means that he has to prepare for that. As far as he knows, there few places to hide from that. From what he found out, Nuclear Plants can go without maintaining for some time. Still, finding shelter was his top priority once he's done collecting necessary equipment.
Ever since Max felt his home, he had these visions/equations. Whatever that in his head was telling him to build something. It felt important so he had do it.
"And done...Now let's go for more materials." -Max said with smile. He quickly pulled new backpack and jumped through the window.
[1 Year and 2 Months later. Nevada, Area 51]
Too much. It was too much for him. Being in total isolation damaged Max mind. After two months, moving from state to state and seeing no soul was too much for him. Every day he wanted to give up. And many times he did. He even wanted to die, by all means. Everytime he tried, he found himself waking up shortly after. That put him on the edge of insanity. Finally he end up in Nevada. Max broke into Area 51 and found many wonders. Not aliens, but still it was amazing.
After poking around he found out that scientists working there were trying to break dimensional barrier. They're getting somewhere, but the equations were all wrong. Max knew how to fix them. With what was left, there was a chance of leaving this doomed reality. That thought return his vigor and now he knew what to do. Plus he could make extra upgrades to his suit.
After whole year, his machine was ready. The only way to go to another reality was through the Quantum Realm. This also allowed him to use something close to Pym particles Ant-man use in comic books. But he couldn't use it for long period of time. Due to current technology his new shrinking ability was unstable. That also goes for his Quantum Machine.
There were two options right. Either the machine works or he'll break reality and possibly create something to a black hole. He was surprisingly fine with both.
"Recording Number 616: I'm about to finally turn on Quantum Machine and try to find new reality. I know how it's sound. Breaking dimensional barrier. Unrealistic, but it's real. I don't know why I am still bothering with these recordings. I guess that it's better than talking to myself. -He paused and put on his protective helmet."Anyway, I hope that all the stuff I made over the year will still work once I find myself in new reality. Well, this is goodbye...for good."
With that, Max finished his last recording. Now he slowly enter his subatomic submarine and close the doors. He look at his creation with pride. Smiling, he activated Quantum Machine and quickly press few button on the submarine console. Max was mesmerized by how everything was working perfectly. Now he was shrinking down to subatomic levels. Finally he was entering Quantum Realm. His submarine went through layers of barriers before fully entering new realm. Then he was blocked by silver wall. On the said wall, Max saw many strange images. Some of them were too difficult to describe. It must have been different reality then.
"You're playing hard to get, huh? Fine, let's play then!" -Max said to the wall. Then he smashed his hand on thruster button.
After hard battle, the wall gave up and he was finally able to enter. Once he did, his entire body and submarine glitched for few seconds. It was like somebody just ripped body and put it back together in new way. He felt like puking, but he had to hold it.
Now his vision was glitching. One second he was looking at someone with similar helmet as him. Then at feminine figure with wings. Shaking his head made it worse and now he wanted to puke badly. Without realizing it, Max pushed the button for enlargement. But without controlling his ship, Max was bumping into many structures in Quantum Realm. It was slowly breaking this machine and situation in his stomach was becoming critical.
Finally submarine returned to normal size. But it crushed on many trees and Max went through the window. Instinctively, Max corrected himself and landed on the ground. Without wasting a second, he took his helmet of and puked in the near bush. After few minutes, He was feeling better.
"Okey...I'm not doing that again." -He noted to himself."Now...Where did I land?"
It was somewhere in the forest. That's for sure. He could sense a lot of animal life in here. Then he quickly glanced at his submarine which was pretty beat up. With swift jump, Max landed on the submarine. He went inside and picket his bags. He didn't take many bags since he could shrink some non organic things. He tried to shrink a goat once and it turn into yellow goo. That's why he had to wear a special suit to make sure he wouldn't turn into one. But due to limited technology and resources he couldn't stay like that too long.
Once he picked everything, he put a disc on the submarine and it shrink instantly. After picking it up and changing to civilian clothes, he heard something in a distance. It sounded like something crashed from falling down. There was also...a beating heart. Human heart.
"I'm not alone...It worked!" -Max exclaimed with excitement. Then he realize something."I better go and see if he or she needs help."
He quickly shoot a thick web out of wrist and pulled himself toward source of the sound.
[2 Minutes later.]
Max stop on a tree near a small abandoned cabin. He sensed one person inside, but there was something off. The sky turn reddish and clouds were moving like crazy. Something was definitely wrong. Then Max jumped down and landed on the ground. He saw that there were no doors in cabine. But what he saw inside was bizarre. There was a woman with pale skin and black marks on her mouth and eyes. She was wearing an old blue dress. Then out of blue, she bent backward. He had no idea if it was real or not. But soon he heard gunshots from the inside. Who ever it was, the aim was to kill whatever that dead thing was. And soon enough, the thing drop on the ground and vanish in purple smoke.
"What the fuck was that?" -Max said to himself and waited for person who killed dead woman.
This his surprise it was a man in his late 20's. He was wearing black suit with red tie. His most dominant facial feature is the long scar across his left eyebrow and temple; however, when you look closely, there is no evidence of a scar. It simply looks like hair will not grow there. His hair were brown and his eyes green. In his right hand he had a gun.
"Oh, who you might be?" -Man asked in calm tone."Obviously, he's not a shadow. Don't you think, Zach?"
"Um...Who are you talking to?" -Max asked confused.
"To my friend. His name is Zach." -Man replied with smile."I'm sorry about my manners. My name is Francis York Morgan. Please, call me York. Everyone does." -He introduced himself while showing FBI badge.
"Nice to meet you two. My name is Max Tyler." -Max introduced himself with small smile."You have no idea how happy I am seeing another soul."
"Is that so? Let me guess, you live all by yourself in these woods." -York asked, while taking cigarette out of his pocket and a lighter.
"Well...no. I'm not from here." -Max replied with weak chuckle."I'm actually lost...Do you know where We are?"
"We're near town called Greenvale." -York said.
"Why are you in here all by yourself?" -Max asked, while looking around.
"I don't want to be rude, but I could ask you the same." -York replied with sigh."Well, I crash my car so I'm on foot. What about you?"
"S..Same. I guess We're both out of luck." -Max half lied."Do you know the way to Town?"
"I know general direction...But, I think you should stay here." -York said seriously."I don't worry, once I find some means of transportation I'll come back for you."
"Listen, I know you just took care of that dead woman, but I think you need help." -At that Yorks face was covered in shock.
"You saw that mysterious shadow?" -York asked in disbelief."Zach, I think We're not the only one after all."
"That's what you call it? To me it looks like a zombie." -Max replied with shrug.
"If you saw it, then you know it vanish in purple smoke. The body would remain if it was a zombie." -York said with chuckle."Anyway, if you truly want to go with me then I have to ask. Do you have any weapons?"
"If you mean my body, then yes." -Max replied with confidence.
"I don't think that's going to be enough." -York said, while shaking his head.
"Something's coming!" -Max exclaimed and turn to his left.
Three shadows came out of the ground and slowly made his way toward them. Max grinned and quickly went for the kill. It's not like these things are living people. There was no need to hold back. With solid kick in the head, Max beheaded first shadow much to York shock.
"It's a game then. Let's do it Zach." -York said and headshotted second shadow.
Max rushed to the last shadow and lift it. He wanted to throw it into cabine, but York shot it in the head and killed it.
"Not fair, that one was mine." -Max called out, causing York to chuckle.
"Life isn't fair you know." -York said with bright smile."I guess you're right. You can handle yourself pretty well. So how about We both leave this forest together."
"Like the sound of that." -Max said smiling.
'I've been through a lot of crazy situations, but this one. This one takes the cake. Don't you think, Zach?' -He mentally asked Zach.'It's the first time I've been attack so directly. Do you have any logical explanation for that? Never mind. Life's not fun without mysteries. Especially this kid over there.'
