SPIDER-MAN: THE OTHER SPIDER (CHAPTER 17)
4:01 pm Warren's residence…
Gwen arrived a minute into Miller's house. The place was a nice two-storey suburban area and is perhaps one of the better houses she had seen around Queens. Walking up to the door, she pressed the doorbell as hard as she could.
"Hang on!" Miller yelled as he rushed down the staircase.
Opening up the door, Gwen was greeted by the sight of Miller's messy hair and glasses.
"Gwendolyn Stacy… You're a minute late. Not that it matters though. Come inside." Miller requested.
As Gwen stepped, the house began to turn into a character itself. There were diagrams depicting human evolution and prehistoric life that acted like house paintings.
"You like prehistoric stuff, Professor?" Gwen asked questioning his taste in art.
"Since I was a child you could say." Miller said leading Gwen to the living room.
As Gwen sat down, Miller asked if she wanted coffee or tea.
"Tea or coffee?" Miller asked.
"I'll go with tea." Gwen said immediately.
"Alright then, make yourself comfortable. I'll be right back…" Miller said before going to his kitchen.
Gwen was then left alone for a brief moment. She looked around the place noting more of Miller's background. There was a picture of Miller with a group of people standing on top of the fireplace. A picture with Miller and a woman, who Gwen presumed was his partner. And an old black and white family picture with a younger version of her old high school teacher, Raymond Warren.
"Hope you don't mind black tea with a lemon piece on top?" Miller said coming back with a cup with a lemon stuck on.
"Creative much?" Gwen asked sarcastically.
"You have a dry sense of humour, I see." Miller said, "But you know why we're here right?"
"Yeah… Um. What is it exactly that I have to come here for?" Gwen asked seriously.
"Well for starters… I'm probably going to lose my position at Empire." Miller said with a hint of sadness.
"I'm sorry to hear." Gwen stated.
"And for people like you, that should have a large impact." Miller said, "I'm trying to communicate with everyone as much as possible on what they can do next. In private, of course."
The words 'private' gave Gwen a suspicious feeling but she ultimately believed that Miller was concerned with the university executives that were going to fire him.
"Well, I'm actually not that hurt if I lose the internship." Gwen stated.
"Not that hurt, huh?" Miller replied almost as if he's raising his own voice.
"Yeah… I do have to confess that I am invested with music." Gwen replied back.
"I see…But science has so much more to offer." Miller said, "And from what I understand, your intelligence could really make things work."
As Gwen continued speaking with Miller, she felt a strange tingling sensation around her as if it's like an alarm to some form of danger. The feeling amplified as soon as she looked at the tea cup in her hand which prompted her to not drink as she placed it down.
"So, let me ask you. Are you willing to support my work?" Miller insisted.
"Support? You mean… It still goes on even after termination?" Gwen asked.
"Of course…" Miller said standing up, "Research never stops. Science requires subjects and samples. Progress demands all these things."
"I'm sure you can find other people, Professor." Gwen stated feeling rather uneasy.
Miller stopped talking for a moment before turning around.
"You're right. But I feel like I lose something if you are out. I can't force you to stay, it's your choice." Miller said while giving out a smile.
Gwen nodded before standing up and leaving the tea which had not been sipped on the table.
"Well, I guess it's a short conversation then. I appreciate your company." Gwen said picking up her bag.
"Aren't you going to try the tea at least?" Miller asked.
"I'm actually okay without it. I do like the presentation of it though." Gwen said as she prepared to leave.
"Why not stay a little longer?" Miller asked as well.
"I would. But I really got other places to run to. So…To keep it short, I'm okay without the internship but I'll try keep in touch with you for future referees." Gwen said as she opened the back of the front door.
"See you later, Professor." Gwen said shutting the door behind her as she left.
"Likewise." Miller said as she left him in the house alone.
"Why didn't we stop her?" Miller asked himself.
"It's her choice, she has that right." Miller spoke back to himself.
"She's important. I can tell. We both can." Miller said going along with the back and forth.
"But what about the boy? Isn't he stuck in a cage now?" Miller said referring to Anton.
"The girl is untested. We will need all the experiments possible." Miller said again.
Miller walked up to his window and stared out into the streets emptily.
"I'll be talking to you again, Gwen. And you'll be cooperative next time we meet." Miller stated.
4:30 pm Alleyway…
Gwen began walking to a bus stop location using the map app on her phone in attempts to find a route to her house. She was also shaken by her visit to Miller's house and wondered why she left.
"I think I made a mistake thinking he was a cool guy." Gwen said to herself as she walked.
As Gwen walked, she took a moment to rest a little against the alleyway walls.
"How the hell is the transport system this complicated?" Gwen asked annoyed at the map on her phone.
As she leaned against wall on her back, her fingers touched the base of the alleyway wall. After feeling okay to walk again, her fingertips tugged her.
"What the-?" Gwen questioned as she felt the pull.
Slowly pulling away and turning around, Gwen stared at the wall.
"Sticky fingers again?" Gwen thought as she looked at her own fingertips.
Gwen then pushed the tips of her fingers against the wall to see if her hands would stick on. The sticky fingers happened again as Gwen felt the force from it. In her own curiosity, Gwen tried moving up the wall with her hands.
"Mother of…" Gwen said before climbing upwards.
With her bag on her back, Gwen slowly climbed up and was in shock and disbelief as she continued climbing. She wondered if the wall was actually covered in a substance or if it was herself. Aside from a few slips, Gwen made it possible for herself to reach the rooftop.
"This is so high and weird." Gwen said looking down for a brief moment.
She then stared around and walked across the rooftop seeing a view of Queens.
"Am I a natural rock climber? I remember sucking at it in high school camp." Gwen questioned.
As she observed the setting sun, she spotted the place where her bus stop is.
"And there's the bus stop." Gwen said.
Just as she was planning to get down safetly, Gwen soon noticed a string of silk near the edge of her wrist.
"Is this someone's hair or a random spider web?" Gwen asked as she tried pulling at it.
Like climbing the wall, Gwen found the string a little difficult to pull before her wrist spewed out more web freaking her out.
4:35 pm Forest Hills Town Hall…
Electro stood near the other side of the street watching a crowd of people stationed around the town hall with banners. These people were protesting the shutdown of F.E.A.S.T., an organisation that has given many disadvantaged people a new purpose in life. And F.E.A.S.T. was an integral part to Wilson Fisk's plan.
"Wow and I thought I need a place to stay that bad." Electro observed underneath his hoodie.
He then noticed a group of black surveillance vans arrive with a group of masked men in suits and Chinese demon masks which were black and white. Most of the men carried batons of sorts while a few had pistols and rifles.
"What's with the freaky mask people I see here?" Electro asked into the ear communicator given to him by Wilson.
"They'll be the cover up." Wilson explained, "Do your job."
"One circuity rewiring coming up then." Electro smiled while his hands sizzled with lightning.
7:03 pm The Rockdrum, Harlem…
Meanwhile, after fixing up his mask, Spider-Man perched on top of building within the Harlem district staring at a specific location from a distance.
"This is the place of Lonnie Lincoln?" Spider-Man observed the door to the nightclub from a distance.
"Looks like it." Ned answered in his ear, "Bad guys like him would definitely use places like these."
"I would have really loved to be partying like the people down here." Spider-Man said looking down at the people arriving to the club.
"Well as long as it's not a vampire one." Ned joked.
"I remember getting kicked out that one time with Harry." Spider-Man said.
"How many times does the past come up? Dude?" Ned asked.
"Sorry, um by the way… This mask still feels shit." Spider-Man noted as he looked through the stitched-up eye lens, "Alright, time to find out how this links to Fisk's dirty business."
TO BE CONTINUED…