Chapter 3
Kaine stood atop a rooftop in…Brooklyn…
Ugh, even the word in his mind tasted disgusting. Why did I agree to this, he thought grumpily. One second, Kaine had been going through a regular morning with his niece and brother; the next his niece started to showcase new powers that neither he, Ben, nor Peter knew she could exhibit. And now he stood on a rooftop in Manhattan in his red and black Scarlet Spider suit securing a makeshift–baby-safe–Spider-Mask over his niece's face as his little brother paced back and forth in his own 'Sensational' Spider-Man suit.
"Okay, he's gonna be here any second," Ben said, taking the last bite of his hot dog and pulling his mask over his face. Despite the mask covering it, Kaine could still make out the evil smirk on his little bro's face.
"Uh huh," Kaine said. Mayday squirmed in Kaine's arms. He looked down at her and watched her little booties kick, almost as though she were climbing. She looked up at Kaine, and through the makeshift mask, he could see her pleading eyes. I'm going soft… "Fine, but you stick to anything you aren't supposed to again and you're gonna be stuck with Reilly for the rest of the week."
Mayday squealed with delight as Kaine placed her on his shoulder and the little hatchling started crawling all over her uncle. The one thing Kaine loved about his mask; no one could see how pleased he actually was.
"You realized you just rewarded her, right?" Ben said as he hopped to the chimney on the roof and balanced on one finger. "I'm the Funcle." As if to prove his point, Ben shifted around so his foot reached Mayday as she climbed down Kaine's thigh. Her little hand latched onto his foot and Ben lifted her into the air. Mayday giggled as she dangled from her uncle's foot.
"Funcle…" Kaine repeated. Sometimes, okay really most of the time, he hated the mouths on his brothers. "That's not even a word."
"Of course it is. I just said it, didn't I?" Ben said as he placed his free foot under Mayday's butt. She released his foot and sat for a moment; her eyes went wide as she looked out into the vast and dense expanse of New York's concrete jungle. Ben bent the leg that held Mayday and extended it! Mayday rocketed into the air, giggling and flipping through it all. Ben pushed off his finger and flew up into the air to meet her. He lifted his mask before he caught her and planted a kiss right on her cheek, then caught her with one hand just as he landed back on the chimney.
Kaine folded his arms. "Show off."
Ben shrugged and flipped Mayday into the air again before he caught her with his shoulders. "You have the camera ready, right?"
Kaine jabbed his thumb up to the crane where he had webbed Peter's old camera. Initially, Kaine wanted nothing to do with this stupid little prank, but that little punk from Brooklyn had sent him a not-so-subtle remark inquiring to whether or not the Scarlet Spider really wanted another trouncing in basketball at Spider-Man's hands. To say he was ready to shoot the kid with a Humble Bullet would be an understatement.
"A Bugle-worthy angle," Ben remarked. "Maybe there's hope for you yet."
"I'm trying not to kill anyone," Kaine said dryly. "I will break that rule if I have to listen to Mustache rant."
"I think the sight of another Parker in the Bugle would be enough to kill JJ," Ben said lightly. "Have you seen the amount of prescriptions he has on his desk?"
Kaine side-eyed Ben, then looked back out into the city. "Where is he?" he asked, annoyed. "Parker's gonna call any minute now to check in and make sure you haven't killed his kid yet."
"Pete's still doing the overbearing dad thing, huh?" a youthful voice called out. Miles Morales, aka the Spider-Man of Brooklyn, landed on the edge of the roof, rolled forward to cushion his landing, then popped up right in front of Mayday causing her to clap and cry out in joy. "Hey there Spiderling!"
Miles reached out to boop Mayday on the nose, but she was swiftly moved out of reach by Ben who cast Miles a disapproving glare. He held Mayday protectively away from Miles. "No."
Miles cocked his head, bewildered. "No, what?"
"Just no," Ben said. "She's a hatchling, not a Spiderling."
Miles looked at Kaine, who shrugged and rolled his eyes.
"The nickname has already been decided. You can't just add another nickname!" Ben said as if it were obvious. "Not without permission from The Council!"
Kaine scoffed. "The Council."
"Yes, The Council," Ben said, nodding. He tossed Mayday into the air and the two-year-old squealed with delight.
Miles jumped into the air in an attempt to snatch Mayday for himself, but instead of a happy little toddler, he was met with a thirty-year-old man in a skintight suit that needed to be washed. Ben had launched his whole body at Miles, forcing the Brooklyn superhero to catch him while he scooped his niece back into his arms.
Miles landed gently, more for Mayday's sake than Ben's, and deadpanned his mentor's unbearably smug brother.
"Who is this?" Ben asked, pointing at Mayday.
"A little hatchling," Miles said through gritted teeth. He could practically see the smirk on Ben's face through his scarlet mask. He would need to find a way to wipe it from his face as soon as possible.
"Maybe next time you'll remember to be present at the birth so you can give the nickname first!" Ben said. He walked over to Kaine's side and leaned on his towering older brother as Miles lifted Mayday into the air.
"That's not fair! I was busy!"
Ben placed a hand dramatically over his lenses and leaned harder against Kaine who stayed as still as a gargoyle. "Oh, did you hear that? He was too busy to be present at the birth of his niece!"
Miles let Mayday climb all over him as he shifted to gawk at Ben and Kaine. "I was fighting Doc Ock!"
"Really? Ock?" Kaine scoffed. "That's your best defense?"
Mayday clambered around Miles' mask and peered into his wide lenses. She stuck her tongue out and blew a raspberry at him.
"Hey, Ock's no joke!" Miles exclaimed. "He's nearly K-I-L-L-E-D P-E-T-E-R a few times!"
Ben snorted. "Dude, she's two. She doesn't know what any of us is saying."
"And yet your plan hinges on her intelligence," Kaine muttered.
"Book smarts and street smarts are different," Ben shot back.
"Uh huh," Kaine said dryly. "Ock is easy pickings, shrimp. And he's, what 80 now? You just have to flick him, and he'll fall over."
"It was a long day!" Miles' hands shot into the air, and Mayday crawled around to his back and started to trace his spray-painted back spider logo with her finger. Completely mesmerized by it. "MJ was in labor for a whole twenty-four hours! Do you have any idea how many villains decided then was the time to commit a crime!?"
Ben nudged Kaine with his elbow with a laugh. "Brooklyn got a taste of the Parker Luck! Like the rest of his borough, he can't cut the mustard!"
Miles pinched his brow. "Puta madre—ugh, it's always a competition with—aaaaahhhhh!"
Miles flew forward at Ben—whose Spider-Sense was too slow on the uptake yet again this day—, and he collided with the youngest Parker. The two Spiders flew over the edge of the roof, and they plummet to the crowded New York streets below.
"What the heck was that?" Miles screamed!
"A successful test!" Ben shouted victoriously! "And glorious home video material!"
The two Spiders recovered fast from their fall and with a thwip of their web-shooters they flew back up to the roof to find a giggling little hatchling's face lit up like the sun as her uncles landed in front of her. I like this game! Again!
"Okay, you've been holdin' out on me, haven't you Hatchling?" Miles leaned in close to Mayday in Kaine's arms and gave her a little boop on the nose.
Mayday giggled and reached for Miles' face. Her stubby little index finger stretched forward but was just out of reach of his nose.
"Did we get the pic?" Ben asked Kaine.
"Pic?" But Miles' question was lost as he leaned too close and Mayday's finger made contact with his black mask. Fast as a bullet, Miles shot backward off the roof again.
His high-pitched scream made Mayday laugh again. She loved it when her uncle made funny noises.
Kaine watched Miles' feet disappear over the edge and looked up at the camera, satisfied. "Yeah, we got plenty."
Ben jumped up to the crane and pulled the camera free of the webbing.
"Okay, someone gotta explain what the HECK is going on with this kid!" Miles shouted from below. Mayday kicked in Kaine's arms as she tried to look for Miles. Kaine lifted her to his shoulders, and she climbed up to the top of his head and sat there. Miles landed on the roof, and this time he kept a wide berth from Mayday. "Why can she do…whatever that was?"
"Oh, we have no idea yet," Ben said as he looked through the pictures taken.
"So, I was your guinea pig!?" Miles asked.
"Kinda."
"This was a teaching moment."
Miles looked between Ben and Kaine, his incredulity building with every glance as if he didn't know who he was more angry with. "The hell kind of a lesson was I supposed to learn here!?"
Kaine shrugged. "Don't beat me in basketball."
Miles' lenses narrowed. "Don't suck at basketball then!" Miles turned to Ben. "So, she can just push things away from her?"
Ben shrugged, still not looking up from the camera. "Seem's like it."
"How does it work?"
"How should I know–oh!" Ben turned the camera to face Miles and Kaine and showed off a picture of Miles flailing back ass-over-teakettle on the roof. "This is a keeper! You know, pictures capture moments in time, but you'll never get a fully real moment from a picture where everyone posed. Everyone puts up a mask when they know the picture is coming. You never see the real them, ya know?"
Miles and Kaine rolled their eyes.
"Why didn't you go to the Fantastic Four?" Miles asked. "Reed would be able to figure this out in an instant!"
"I've been banned from the Baxter Building," Kaine said, then he lowered his voice to a mutter. "Sore losers."
"Sue would also tell Pete the second we got in there with May, and then Pete would be back in the city faster than you could say 'Tiger.' And Reed would just suck the fun out of it all." Ben said, looking back to the camera. "The real you is lovely, by the way. A perfect encapsulation of Brooklyn's people!"
Miles had to concede to that point. The one about Peter and Reed, not Brooklyn. He'd get Ben back later for that jab. Wherever May was concerned, Peter wouldn't be far behind to overanalyze every situation. And he was a little interested in seeing what other powers the little hatchling was hiding in her fingers for himself rather than watching Reed Richards figure it all out in a millisecond.
"Okay, I'm in," Miles said. "What do we do with her, now?"
A siren blared in the distance, and all three Spiders turned to face it. They all looked back at each other, locking lenses.
"That's a terrible idea," Miles said.
MJ spread out on the luxurious sheets of their deluxe suite in their hotel as her husband showered. Velvet sheets always hit the right level of warmth and comfort which was a recipe for putting her into a blissful haze of napping. But of course, just as she was on the cusp of dreamland, Peter's Bugle Alert went off.
Despite the fact he hasn't worked at the Bugle in years, he still had alerts set. She suspected it was more out of laziness than a source to alert him to potential threats. He had been tapped into police scanners for years. And despite the fact she really wanted to sleep, MJ couldn't stop her curiosity from getting the better of her and opening the alert.
SPIDER-MENACES ADD A NEW CRIME TO THEIR REPERTOIRE! Spider-Man and the Scarlet Spiders endanger children!
MJ stared at a video of Miles Morales, Ben Reilly, and Kaine tossing a toddler with a loose Spider-Man mask on her face between each other as they made short work of a group of bank robbers.
"Spider-Brains, all of them." An exasperated smile formed on her face. "Yeah, so we're just not gonna show Peter this one," she said to herself as she opened his home screen and deleted the Daily Bugle app from his phone. She doubted he would even notice. The Parkers are always ten years behind on any technological advancement that can't be turned into a web gadget. He would never notice, and she would get the whole week with her husband where the both of them can sleep happy knowing that their baby is in safe hands. She's just gonna have to give Ben an extra heads-up before they call to check-in. She'll give them a day. For now, she and her man needed some quality time.
