SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 2)
7:35 am Parker residence…
Peter slept as hard as he could even when the sun is rising up against him. But being a vigilante at times warrants a bit more rest. These days, aside from waiting on his enrolment to tertiary education, Peter was also job searching.
Coming off from her job at F.E.A.S.T., Aunt May now worked at a retirement centre called Restwell Nursing which was located at Brooklyn. However Aunt May did not seem to mind the distance as she missed the place since moving out with Uncle Ben.
"Peter…" Aunt May said knocking on the door.
Peter curled up even further in his bed as he tried to rest his brain. Today was Saturday, he could not wait to just sleep it off. Unless his Spider-Man duties were calling, he was staying in his bed for a long time.
"Peter…Don't forget what day it is." May said again.
"What day?" Peter groaning while his eyes were still closed before it dawned on him.
"Ah, crap! ESU Orientation!" Peter realised waking up before attempting to get dressed.
As Peter got up, a car rolled right up to the front of the Parker residence. George was waiting with his wife and daughter for Peter to come out.
"How long does this boy take?" George wondered staring at his watch.
"He takes 10-15 minutes I'm guessing… Like every time, he's all like, 'Sorry, gotta go do something 'important'." Gwen stated.
"Maybe he's trying to impress you. It's just like how I prepared for prom with your mother." George replied.
"Oh, George." Gwen's mother, Helen said shaking her head.
Exactly fifteen minutes later, Peter came out of the house slinging a bag running and looking too formal for the event that is happening today. Aunt May waved at her nephew as well as the Stacy family as she prepared to watch them leave.
"Hop on in, son. I gotta drive all the way across Queensboro Bridge today and my instinct tells me that the traffic there is going to be rough." George informed before starting up the car engine.
As Peter squeezed into the back of the car wearing his suit. In contrast to Gwen who was just wearing plain clothes, Peter felt out of his element and did not even try make eye contact with Gwen.
"Same clothes you wore to our first 'date'." Gwen noted, "You know, unless you're looking to study business or whatever, you don't need to wear something fancy like that."
"I was partially possessed by Aunt May…" Peter said sarcastically.
"So Peter, what are you looking forward to for today?" Helen asked.
"Anything really…" Peter sheepishly answered, "I mean I'm married to science the most. So I guess that. Like physics stuff really."
"That's nice to know, Gwen was thinking more on the biology side of things." Helen replied, "Isn't that right, dear?"
"Yes, mum." Gwen said.
"I noticed your brother is not here." Peter said looking for something to talk about.
"Ah, yeah. Simon is home alone." Gwen addressed.
"Say, Peter. You had your breakfast yet? I know a nice place in Manhattan we could try go to." George wondered.
"Ah, no. I'm all good for today." Peter said laughing nervously.
"Well, good luck finding what you're passionate about today." George replied.
9:30 am Empire State University…
Empire State University was filled to the brim with visitors, students and staff. Peter and Gwen made sure they were together for the moment as the number of people there were plenty.
"Ring me when you're both done." George reminded Gwen as he stood with his wife in front of the university entrance.
"Will do, see you later you two." Gwen said waving back at her parents as she and Peter ventured into the university campus.
"Okay, ladies choice. What are we after today?" Peter asked Gwen as she grabbed a pamphlet out of a student volunteer's hand.
"Well, there just so happens to be a science presentation I heard that will be going on at 9:45 am. You wanna take a guess who's the lecturer there?" Gwen asked back.
"Let's see…Part of me wishes we're seeing Dr. Reed Richards. Or…You know? Neil deGrasse Tyson? It is Empire State after all." Peter replied.
"Come on…" Gwen said rolling her eyes, "Think back to high school."
Peter then thought about it before his mind clicked.
"Oh I see…" Peter said.
"Come on, we got to get the best seats there." Gwen said dragging Peter along all of a sudden.
Gilbert Auditorium…
Peter and Gwen entered the large corridors of a lecture theatre and decided to take the seats that were close to the front stage. As they sat down, Peter stared at the ceiling where he could see an art drawing of a fire-breathing dragon.
"I always wonder about the strange aesthetic choices here…" Peter commented examining the painting.
"Well, they say you find all sorts of things around ES. As much as the place is top tier…It's also renowned for some of the strangest history." Gwen added.
"Touché, let's see if this presentation tops off that…" Peter said back.
As the auditorium filled up, the presentation was about to start. Just before it began, a student walked up to the lecture desk and informed people about signing up for the university's science society through a microphone.
"If you're interested, make sure you talk to us at the end. In the mean time, please welcome Professor Miller Warren." The student said before walking away.
The audience were then greeted by a grey-haired man wearing glasses. First impressions for anybody pretty much made him look like an approachable person. Peter's interest in the presentation soon lit up.
"That's Mr. Warren's brother…" Peter whispered to Gwen.
"Now you know…"Gwen replied back.
"I've read a lot about him before. He's done a lot in genetics research." Peter whispered again.
"Welcome everyone… Thank you for joining me for this special occasion. It means a lot to me when we have a lot of potential students here interested in science." Miller greeted as his eyes scanned the room.
"Now, let me explain myself. I'm Miller Warren, I'm one of the chief directors of the science faculty here. I specialise of course in biology… Particularly with genetics. If anyone is interested in physics, chemistry or any other field, do note there will be contact details I can provide for everyone." Miller continued.
"First of all, genetics…Revolutionary topic. And one that continues to influence us every day. It answers a lot of things and gives us more questions in return." Miller said, "Just a show of hands, who here is a mutant? I hope this topic isn't too sensitive to you."
A few audience members giggled but the rest just kept listening to what Miller had to say.
"Cool. Now that we got that out of the way. Here's an interesting phenomenon I believe in. So I'm currently working with a lot of health organisations to find cures for many things based on DNA research. Looking for ways to…Make the best versions of everyone. You see, everyone is a test subject." Miller explained before cracking a nervous smile.
"That's weird…" Peter thought to himself, "Everyone is a test subject?"
"Don't get any wrong ideas…" Miller assured prompting audience members to laugh, "All I'm saying is that we as scientists are the greatest resource any experiment needs. Now does that resonate with anyone?"
The rest of the lecture turned out to be a follow up on what goes on in the science faculty of Empire State University as well as study advice and staff contact details. Gratefully, the presentation did not go on for too long.
"Thank you for joining. If you have any questions, please come up to me and I'll do my best to answer them." Miller said concluding the presentation.
"I think I'll ask him a few things." Gwen said, "Maybe even bring up that I know Mr. Warren."
"Okay, I'll go wait outside then. You won't take that long right? There's lots of ground to cover for the rest of the day." Peter said.
Gwen looked at the number of people lining up to ask Professor Warren.
"Yeah, it won't take long." Gwen stated.
Outside the auditorium…
Peter went outside to wait as Gwen took her time inside to talk with the professor. He looked at his watch and counted down the amount of time it would take for Gwen to ask her questions.
"Maybe I can buy the university merch here…" Peter thought seeing a student stand that is selling ESU t-shirts and other items.
Just as Peter was about to go to the stand, a hand tapped him on the shoulder from behind. Turning around, Peter came face to face with his old friend, Ned Leeds.
"Ned? Wow, you're here too?" Peter said in an almost surprised tone before hugging his friend.
"Yeah…Not for study though. I'm here on a job case." Ned replied letting Peter go, "How are you doing, buddy?"
"Me? I'm fine. Just waiting for Gwen to get out of that auditorium." Peter said back.
"Oh, I see. You should come to the Bugle with me. Could really use your help." Ned said to him.
"Excuse me? The Bugle?" Peter questioned.
"Yeah…" Ned said before showing off his name tag to Peter with his name on.
"Ned Leeds. Employee-in-training." Peter read the card.
"I'm doing photography. Hopefully that promotes me to journalism. I'm actually grateful that J. Jonah Jameson has given me the chance to work there." Ned said.
"J. Jonah Jameson? Are you serious?" Peter said raising his eyebrow, "You know who this guy is right?"
"The one that approves the anti-Spider-Man articles? Yeah, I know. But that's not the reason I went there. I have an ambition to follow and my family to help." Ned addressed holding up his digital camera, "And it's the reason why I asked for my camera back from you."
"Right. So is someone writing about ESU back at the Bugle?" Peter asked.
"Up. Actually. I was assigned with someone back there and we were supposed to work together at Queens. Then he decided to drop me off here and take some photos of what is happening here." Ned said, "I also need photos of you, Peter."
"Me?" Peter said bewildered.
"Yeah, I need photos of Spider-Man…" Ned said with his voice toning down to a whisper.
"Uh…I am not comfortable with this." Peter replied.
"It's okay. I'm your friend. You have your suit with you right?" Ned questioned.
"Yeah…In case." Peter acknowledged patting the back of his backpack, "Um…"
"Come on, dude. You have all these costumed people out on campus. They don't have reasons to suspect you unless otherwise." Ned said trying to persuade Peter, "Please…I can't screw up my first job."
Peter looked away a little before he faced Ned again.
"Alright, Ned. Wait here…Let me go back to the auditorium and check how she's doing." Peter said before running back to the building to check on Gwen.
Two minutes later, Peter rushed back out to Ned who was still waiting for an answer.
"There's a huge line going on. Okay, you know what? Let's do this thing for you." Peter said, "Just let me find a place to get changed and…You tell me where you want to take your shots."
12:20 pm J. Jonah Jameson's office…
"Crap…" John said shoving the photos away, "What is this? Comic-Con?"
"You did say photos of Spider-Man…" Ned reminded John.
"And none of which are exhilarating. This isn't even in your neighbourhood." John said turning to the window after noting the photos were taken at Empire State University, "By the way, where's Foswell?"
"Uh…He went to Queens himself. He said that since I'm a rookie that I should be doing stuff that's small in scale." Ned said.
"Who told him to make the rules?" Jameson said shaking his head before shouting on the top of his lungs, "ROBBIE!"
Robbie came rushing to the office after hearing his name before he had to listen to what John had said.
"What is it, Jonah?" Robbie asked.
"Tell Mr. Foswell, that if he doesn't finish that article about that old Oscorp power plant then I'm cutting his salary and if it continues, he's fired." John instructed.
"Okay, Jonah…" Robbie said walking away and shook his head.
"And you, Mr. Leeds. Despite my opinion on your pictures, I'll pay you some of form money just so we can use those images. No copyright from any other competing paper." John said, "Go downstairs to see Miss Brant. She'll add the money into your account."
Daily Bugle 1st floor…
Ned made his way to the reception in which he was nervous about. No matter how much confidence he tries to put in when facing Betty Brant, he could easily lose all of it the moment he started talking.
"Peter, really need your help on this one." Ned said as he got out of the elevator and made his way to the desk.
"Hi…" Ned said approaching Betty, "I'm here for my salary payment."
"You look nervous…Did you cope with Jameson well enough?" Betty asked.
"Oh for sure…" Ned laughed nervously, "So…How much is he willing to pay me?"
"It depends on how much of his good side you're appealing to. Trust me, he's got a big heart inside of him." Betty assured before tapping away on the computer screen.
"It's $250 for all those photos." Betty informed.
"$250? Are you serious?" Ned asked.
"It's not so bad really… I only had $230 when I started. Now I am working at around $510. We'll see where you land if you're here long enough." Betty said.
"I'll take it then…" Ned said, "That money speaks to me nevertheless."
Betty then grabbed Ned's debit card and tapped a couple of numbers on keyboard before returning the card back.
"Done." Betty said smiling.
"Uh, thank you so much. I'll see you tomorrow." Ned said quickly turning around and wiping the bit of sweat on his forehead.
1:35 pm Hammerhead's old penthouse…
Wilson Fisk's personal hitman, Big Man stood in front of the beautifully constructed penthouse that belonged to Hammerhead. Since the Maggia crime lord's arrest, the house had been auctioned off to public with a high price tagged to it.
The Big Man was a secretive person himself concealing his identity from the public using a fake skin mask over his face. He wore a black bowler hat and business suit to look his part and most importantly he wore gloves to leave no trace of his work.
Staring at the house, Big Man dialled up his phone to inform his boss about the property.
"This house is almost perfect. It has everything besides a pool." Big Man informed.
"How much was this house worth again?" Wilson's voice asked.
"$42 million estimate. Trust me, you would wanna buy it." Big Man advised, "He really likes this house, you know?"
"Anything that we can take will be worth the effort. When I have my hands on those assets, the real redevelopment of this neighbourhood will follow." Wilson said.
"Whatever floats your boat, sir." Big Man said before ending the call.
Accompanied by two other men under Wilson's payroll, Big Man signalled them to go back into the car. Just as he was about to leave, Big Man received a buzzing message.
"Great…He's on my ass again." Big Man said shaking his head.
End note: I decided to change the first name of 'Miles Warren' into something else to avoid confusion with 'Miles Morales' since he's one of the most popular characters in Spider-Man media now. It's also a way to make sure that I'm putting my own unique spin on the universe and not just carbon-copying everything based on source material.