NEW KID ON THE BLOCK - Part One

KAMALA:

Okay people, let me give you a quick rundown! My name is Kamala Khan. I was struck by an energy wave from an exploding collider, and then for the past year and a half, I've been the one and only Ms. Marvel! And recently, I just became the progeny of one of the greatest superheroes of all time, Spider-Man! We're like best friends now! We're even on a secret identity basis! Yeah, it's been a great year! Anyway, lots of cool things have happened since then! I made new friends at school, saved a bunch of people, even took down my first boss! It was, uh, a giant talking parakeet that was actually the clone of Thomas Edision...yeah, it was wierd! But honestly, when all's said and done, I love being Ms. Marvel! And with Spider-Man on my side, I feel like part of something bigger! We're like a team now! Spider-Man and Ms. Marvel! Spider-Marvel! Oh yeah, I'm totally using that! Point is, we're alert and ready for whatever the city has to throw at us!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Kamala's peaceful sleep was rudely interrupted by the beeping of her alarm clock. It flashed six o'clock in the morning. With a grumbling groan, Kamala slammed her hand on the alarm clock. Suddenly, she heard a crash of breaking breaking glass and plastic, which caused her to shoot out of bed in surprise. She looked down to find that her hand was embiggened, and with tiny bits of blue plastic and glass stuck on it. The alarm clock was in pieces.

Kamala groaned in annoyance before yawning, smacking her lips to taste the morning breath that will never let her sleep now. With some mental urging, Kamala wills herself out of the bed and through the morning routine, which included a shower, blowing her hair with a hair dryer, brushing her teeth, and then slipping on some clothes. She decided to wear her old denim jeans and slip on an X-Men T-Shirt before wearing her red, blue, and yellow Captain Marvel hoodie over it.

"Kamala!" Kamala's mother called through the bedroom door, "Are you up?"

"Kind of," Kamala grumbled, still rubbing the flecks off her sleepy eyes.

"Well, you better at least be able to walk!" her mother said, "Hurry on down! We need to talk before you go to school!"

Talk? Whenever her mom says something about a talk, it usually means something bad. Well, bad to Kamala at least. She groaned.

"What was that?"

"Nothing!" After finishing up her routine, Kamala quickly trudged downstairs towards the wooden dining table covered with a white embroidered table sheet. Everybody else was sitting there, eating a breakfast of Ammi's special omelettes with spices and some extra salt. There was Kamala's two parents, and her older brother Aamir. As Kamala sats down, she grabs an omelette for herself on a plate, until he heard a gruff throat clear from her father.

"Kamala, isn't there something you're supposed to say?" he said.

"Bismilla Aarahman Aarahim," Kamala recited.

"I meant to us." Kamala rolled her eyes in annoyance

"Assalam u Alaykum Aboo, Ammi, Karim," Kamala said.

"Wa'alaykum musalaam," Aboo replied. Kamala finally managed to get a bite out of her omelette.

"Kamala? Before you go to school, I need to tell you something," Ammi said, "I don't want you staying at your school for your tutoring." Kamala nearly choked on her milk.

"What? Why?" Kamala said in shock.

"Did you forget?" Ammi said, "Aysha Baji's Mehndi is tonight. They invited us." Kamala just couldn't believe what she was hearing. She wasn't allowed to stay after school, but that would mean no superheroing, no patrol, no learning! This was a nightmare!

"But...but, that's later in the day right?" Kamala desperately asked, "I can still do the tutoring, right?"

"Nehein Kamala," Aboo said, "You and the whole family need time to get ready for the Mehndi, which means putting on your Sari and your make-up-"

"But Aboo, I NEED this tutoring!" Kamala complained, "I mean, you saw my grades! It's really helping!" Technically, her "tutoring" had no impact on her grade. Mr. Parker's class is actually pretty easy if you just did the homework and paid attention to his talks.

"And I'm sure they will still be good if you miss ONE session," Ammi replied sternly.

"Ammi!" Kamala groaned. Then she had a lightbulb moment.

"Uh, look! Where's the Mendhi at? The banquet hall over at the Holiday Inn right?" Kamala said, "It's right near the Circle Q! I could get Bruno to come by and pick up my Sari and make-up, then come by the Circle Q after the tutoring and then just dash right over there! I can make it in time!" Ammi didn't look so sure.

"Kamala…"

"PLEASE!" Kamala cried out desperately. Aamir, who had been silent for most of the time, finally decided to chime in.

"Please Ammi," he said, "It's the only way to get Kamala calm."

"But-" Ammi was about to talk back.

"She's a big girl now!" Aamir insisted, "I think we can trust her to make her own time."

Ammi sat and thought about it. She looked at Aboo, who sighed and nodded.

"Fine," she finally answered, "But you have to call us as SOON as you're done with your tutoring and remember, the Mendhi starts at 7:00, do NOT be late!"

"Yes!" Kamala said victorious, "Don't worry Ammi, I promise I will be right there before you know it!"

"You better," Aboo said sternly, "Because if you're late, your mother and I will ban you from your fanfiction!" Kamala was still smiling, but something about that warning was confusing her.

"Reading or writing?" she asked.

"BOTH!" They replied.

Kamala then finished her breakfast quickly as she slipped out of her seat, grabbed her blue backpack and was about to step out the front door until...

"Kamala…" Aboo said warningly.

"Allah hafuz Ammi and Aboo!" she called out out.

"And…" Kamala sighed in annoyance.

"Allhamdulilah," she said as she finally walks out the door and begins walking to school.


PETER:

Alright folks! Let's do this one last time! My name is Peter Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider, and for the past 24 years, I have been the one and only Spider-Man! You definitely know the rest! I saved the city a few times, fell in love, eventually got married, switched jobs and cities, got a daughter, and uh, I lost my leg when stopping Doc Ock from unleashing a destructive dimensional collider that would have sunk Jersey City into a black hole. Yeah, it was a rough year. And honestly, being Spider-Man's great and all, but that moment does put a new perspective on things. A long time ago I would have been willing to die for a noble cause. But now I have a family of my own, and they need me. But this city also needs a protector, although there's no rule saying it HAS to be me. I realized that when I met the kid Ms. Marvel. She's a young kid, eager, excitable, a little rough around the edges. Honestly, she reminded me of when I started out, how reckless and excitable I was. She would be a great protector, and that's why I agreed to train her. When she's ready, I'll officially retire the webs. Until then, I gotta be alert and ready for whatever the city has to throw at her!

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!

Peter Parker's peaceful sleep was rudely interrupted by the beeping of his alarm clock. It flashed six o'clock in the morning. With a grumbling groan, Peter reached for the clock and pressed on the snooze button, silencing the alarm. Sitting upright on his bed, he yawns while rubbing his eyes. Turning on his bed, he reached for his white and blue-lined Stark Industries prosthetic, fastening it to the stump on his right leg. He heard the beep and saw the small calibration light blink. Then he moved it, up and down, flexing his ankle and tones, just to make sure it works. Eventually, he stood up from his bed and slipped on a pair of "not-clean-but-at-least-not-smelly" jeans and his white work dress shirt.

"Mornin' sleepyhead!" a familiar voice called out. Peter turned to find his beautiful wife Mary Jane Watson standing at the doorway to the bedroom. She was wearing blue form fitting pants and a Spider-Man tank-top. Her long, mesmerizing red hair was tied into a ponytail. She held two hot cups of coffee in her hands. Peter smiled as she walked up to him and kissed him on the lips.

"Mornin'" he said lovingly. He took one of the cups out of MJ's hands and sipped it, relishing the warmth of the liquid sliding down his throat and tiny buzz in his brain as the caffeine wakes him up. He looks down to see that MJ's smile has dropped.

"What's wrong?" he asks

"It's Annie," MJ said, "She found your old web-shooters." Peter's widened in shock.

"What? Where?"

"I don't know," MJ replied, "But the point is, she's been out with them." She pulls out a laptop from her bedside drawer, and with a few keystrokes, logs in and pull up an online news headline showing blurry pictures of a teenage girl in red swinging through the air. The headline read, DOES JERSEY CITY HAVE A NEW SPIDER?

"Oh boy…" Peter said.

"Peter, this has been going on for the past week!" MJ said worried, "Right behind our backs! If she-"

"I know," he said, "Don't worry, I'll talk to her on my way to work." He gives MJ a reassuring kiss on the cheek before walking out of the bedroom.

A few minutes later, Peter is driving with Annie-May Parker sitting on the passenger seat. Annie is 15 years old with short red hair, freckles, and currently wearing a white t-shirt underneath a light denim jacket and green pants. She was currently looking out the window, tired and a little bored. It was awkwardly quiet, until Peter cleared his throat.

"So...looks like that new coffee shop finally opened," Peter said with a smile, "See that?"

"Yeah," Annie replied without even looking at the coffee shop Peter was pointing at.

"Yeah, what's it called again?"

"Party Cappy."

"Party Cappy?" Peter laughed at the ridiculous name, and the sight of a large crowd in front of the shop. "Wow! And people are just lining up for blocks! I mean, I've never seen people go that nuts for coffee in my life."

"You're old dad," Annie responded.

"You know, maybe that place would be just the right fit for you," Peter said ignoring the subtle insult, "You could show of your new bling, like the web-shooters on your wrist."

Annie suddenly shoots up, shocked at what Peter has said.

"You know about that?" Annie asked concerned. She quickly back-pedaled, trying to sound casual.

"I don't know if that was even me dad." Peter raised an eyebrow and frowned at Annie.

"Oh, so somebody else used them to save that lady from muggers down at 5th last night?" he asked. Annie's eyes darted back and forth with a worried look until she finally sighed in defeat.

"Yeah, that was me," she said. Peter sighed, disappointed.

"Annie...you know we talked about this," Peter said.

"I know," Annie replied, "That's why I didn't tell you."

"Never heard that excuse before," Peter replied sarcastically.

"Isn't that what you used to tell mom before you guys got married?" Annie asked. A brief pause as Peter considered what was said.

"Touche," he replied, "But look, the point is that we agreed that when you were old enough-"

"But I am old enough!" Annie complained, "Didn't you start at 15?"

"And I've nearly gotten myself killed on multiple occasions!" Peter responded intensely, "I don't want the same to happen to you!"

"Oh, so you're perfectly fine when it's another teenage girl like that Ms. Marvel!" Annie scoffed.

"Annie, first of all, she's like two years older than you!" Peter responded, "Second, she chose to fight crime out of her own volition, and I just thought I would help her until-"

"Oh, she CHOSE huh?" Annie responded angrily, "Well, I also choose to be a crime-fighter! You can't honestly expect me not to use my gifts for something better right?"

"Annie, you're still young!" Peter replied, "You have a whole life ahead of you! You can choose to do whatever you want with it!"

"Sounds like in this case I don't have a choice-"

"YOU DON'T!" Peter yelled. The car was stopped at this point, right in front of the entrance to Jersey City High School. There was some tense silence in the car, until Annie just opened the door and pulled her backpack out from the foot area.

"Annie?" Peter said more softly, "You know I love you, right?" Annie was silent, but she gave a small smile.

"I know dad," she replied, "See you in class." She closes the door, slinging her backpack on her shoulder. As she walks towards the door, she fails to hear the car window slide down until…

ANNIE ARE YOU OKAY? YOU OKAY? YOU OKAY ANNIE?

The music blared loudly out of the car, causing Annie to freeze and everybody to stop in their tracks and look at the music blaring car.

"DAD!" Annie cried out embarrassed as she turned to face the car.

"You're suppossed to say I love you back!" Peter called out.

"SERIOUSLY?"

"I want to hear it!"

"DAD! COME ON!" Then Peter did the one thing Annie really hope he wouldn't do. He started to sing. Really badly.

"ANNIE ARE YOU OKAY? WOULD YOU TELL US? THAT YOU'RE OKAY?"

Annie growled in annoyance.

"Alright! I love you!" she called out.

"What was that?" Peter replied, pretending not to hear.

"Dad, I LOVE YOU!" Annie yelled out.

"There we go!" Peter replied back with a dorky smile. He finally turns the song off.

"See in you class Little P!" He drives off to the faculty parking lot.

Annie groaned in annoyance, slouching her shoulders to try and hide herself from the snickers and teasing. Why did he have to call me little P?