Brooklyn Visions First day of school
Miles walked into the front doors of his new year. Dressed with an ascot around his neck for that time of the day, "Man, this thing's a mess." Miles struggled to get his neckpiece around him comfortable. Looking over the glass window, the reflection of a girl with an elegant figure and dazzling blonde hair passed behind Miles. He turned quickly to see the girl still walking down the campus, swamped by multiple kids in blue uniforms. He lost sight of whoever that was.
"Whoa, who was that?" Miles asked.
The Halloween party isn't the best place to be after what happened to Miles, but things might have turned out for the better. Meeting Angie here was a pleasant surprise, and it's thanks to her he's decided to work at FEAST.
"So Miles, I hear you're a big tech expert?" Angie asked.
"Yeah I am, I once made an energy converter back in Middle School with an old friend of mine back."
"Wow! I'm no tech expert, but I can be a real artist on the street, you ever notice those green spider symbols out in the city?" Angie asked.
"Yeah I noticed one before, that was you?" Miles asked in response.
"Yeah, it's for the Arachnid. Letting him know someone is looking up to him." Angie explained.
"Now that I think about it, was she the one I saw at my first day of school?" Miles thought to himself, "I'm questioning your tast in idols but… you know if you want I can give you some pointers in tech. Especially with our computer class."
"That'd be nice." Angie answered. "But I suck with that stuff I'm better with crafting fabrics and putting paint on canvases. If not for my tutor I'd be failing most of my classes."
"Oh don't worry, I'll start simple." Miles assured her.
"Okay." Angie said.
Brooklyn Oscorp Industrial Site
Arachnid can almost taste the excitement, the final piece to crafting the cure for his kids is just inside those doors.
"Just a little longer, Anna, Josh you both'll be back in our arms in no time." Arachnid thought to himself as he cloaked and snuck through the factory.
Crawling over to the main computer, Arachnid hacked into the files and found the location of the final piece. The final piece to saving his kids is located in storage room thirty-seven.
"Alright Spider-Man here's the moment of truth, your informant either knows her shit or you need better friends." Arachnid said to himself as he made his way to the coordinates. The storage room was filled with plenty of ample devices, but only one piece was going to help him tonight, and it was locked behind a vault.
"Shit, I thought this'll be harder." The lock for the safe didn't take long at all to crack, "twenty-seven seconds. I'm still in practice." Arachnid opened the safe and found the final piece, "I owe you for this Spider-Man." Arachnid thought saying that would be hard, but it wasn't as difficult as he figured. Taking the pieces from the facility, he snuck out easily.
Making his way back to Central Park Manhattan, Arachnid placed the final piece in his newly constructed lab, before starting his first procedure he received a phone call from Martin.
"What is it Martin?" Arachnid called.
"Arachnid, we're going to assault Dr. Morgan Michaels tomorrow at noon." Martin addressed.
"And where do you need me?" Arachnid asked.
"When we get the Devil's Breath we're going to disperse it over at Grand Central, we're going to need you to supervise the final phase of the plan. So wait for us at Grand Central and be ready to kill Spider-Man."
"Very well, anything else?" Arachnid asked for any final details.
"No, just be ready at Grand Central tomorrow." Martin finished before hanging up.
Peter carried MJ after picking her up from a Sable outpost in Central Park. On their way in the air towards her apartment, the trip was completely silent and awkward. The tension reverberated between them, and it was not feeling good. Several agonizing swings later and they both arrived at MJ's apartment, and he was getting a phone call from Arachnid, "Hey Arachnid probably not the best time." Spider-Man called with MJ overhearing the call.
"Why, is your partner mad at you?" Arachnid asked and was correct.
"Yeah, right on the nose, Arachnid." MJ added in.
"Well hello, you got a feisty one here Spider-Man. Anyway, what did you learn miss?" Arachnid asked.
"Can you really trust this guy?" MJ asked Peter.
"Your lead on the Oscorp factory was spot on, thanks for that. With that I'll give you something in return. Martin is planning to disperse the Devil's Breath bioweapon at Grand Central Station." Arachnid gave the two rather useful intel.
"He is?" Spider-Man asked.
"So why's Sable ignoring Grand Central?" MJ asked.
"Because they don't want Norman's science expo to go under heat. Whatever the case, Martin's asking me to supervise the final phase at Grand Central." Arachnid explained.
"Thanks Arachnid, and where's the APC going?" Spider-Man asked.
"They may move in on Dr. Michaels tomorrow, they're transporting him to a secure location from somewhere in the bowery at noon." MJ added.
"Good work, miss. Spider-Man I don't know who she is, but I like this one." Arachnid complimented, "She's bullheaded and knows what to get. And is severely stupid and reckless to the point she doesn't even understand how far in the shit she's in. Just like you Spider-Man, till next time." Arachnid hung up and left the two in a slight pause of mixed feelings.
"Why don't I just go." Spider-Man suggested.
"Yeah, after a talk with that creep, at least I know I'm not mad at you anymore." MJ closed the door behind her.
"Ugh, wait, still partners?" Spider-Man asked.
"Tomorrow I'm going to Grand Central, you gonna stop me?" MJ asked.
"To be honest, I want to, but that's not who I am. I trust you." Spider-Man was honest.
"Thanks." MJ was about to leave, until Peter said one more thing, "And If I may be honest again, while not using his exact words, you always were a go-getter, and I'm happy to be partners with you."
"Yeah… Me too" MJ finally left to her apartment.
Swinging through the city, Peter was about to swing over to the southern parts of town until he got a group call from Otto and Noah.
"Peter, Noah, I'm about to begin another test." Otto said.
"Oh sorry Doc, I'm finalizing a few things of my own, I'll be there ASAP." Noah was in a rush.
"Okay, I'm in the neighborhood I'll be there soon." Peter assured.
Back in Central Park, Noah was putting his last blood sample into the machine to process. Picking up his recorder, he started his entry log, "This is Noah Monroe. We're commencing the first test with my blood and the tech acquired over the past week. The procedure should take a few hours."
Noah switched on the device and his blood started to process into the synthesizer, "Now all that's left is to wait, just a bit longer Emma. Better check with Doc and Peter." Noah ran out of his base and swung over to Otto's lab.
On his way, he received a phone call from Peter, "Hermano, what's up?" Noah greeted.
"I just got a call from Rio Morales, Miles's mom. She says he agreed to take the job." Peter explained.
"That's awesome man! I'm heading to Otto's lab, we'll meet up there." Noah called.
"Alright, I'm heading there now too cya!" Peter and Noah hung up and made their way.
..
Back at Otto's lab Noah prepped his hair to make sure nothing is sticking out, "Alright, Peter's waiting on me." Noah opened the door to see Otto and Peter, "Morning Monroe, is it morning?" Otto asked to Peter.
"It's just about." Peter assured to Otto.
"Anyway, I need you two to check the neurosensors. We need a faster response time." Otto left them the device.
"We're on it." Peter nodded.
"Try to get it under three miliseconds." Otto requested.
"2.8 miliseconds, watch us!" Noah boasted in his precision.
"Alright let's see what's going on." Peter looked over the notes.
"Child's play!" Noah was right.
It took a few minutes, but the neural device was fixed to where Noah was right on the nose with his previous boasting.
"2.8 miliseconds, as promised." Noah called as Peter took the device and gave to Otto with the arms.
"Good work, you two." Otto complimented his assistants.
"I'll check the monitor, Pete stay close to the failsafe button." Noah called.
Peter handed Otto the device and he was hooked up to the heavy wire on the back of his head with the neural implant around his head. The green lights around the prosthetic lit the moment he switched the implant on. One of the arms lifted off the table and reached for one of the tennis balls in the bucket. Lifting the ball the prosthetic threw the ball and quickly caught it by extending it's carbon fiber weave. Otto looked over at Peter, still with his hand near the failsafe. Peter looked at Noah and he gave a thumbs up on Otto's vitals. The prosthetic returned to its original position tennis ball in hand. The arm threw the ball to it's other prosthetic gracefully.
"Yes!" Peter whispered in surprise.
"Wow!" Noah was in shock.
The two prosthetics started taking a couple of more tennis balls and started juggling all three. Peter set down his hand to out this magnificent breakthrough.
"Holy shit!" Noah smiled wide, ignoring the monitor he walked up beside Otto as the metal arms emptied the entire bucket of tennis balls.
Otto was smiling at his accomplishment, and for a moment; Noah and Peter felt like children watching something amazing in front of them.
Otto finalized the test by throwing the tennis balls back into the bucket with all the grace as he started.
"That was… Wow!" Noah smiled wide.
Otto sighed as the test finished, "I'd call that a mild success."
"I'd call it unbelievable." Peter added.
Otto was about to remove the neural prosthetic but his fingers struggled to get a grip. Peter and Noah were quick to notice, "Need some help?" Peter offered.
"Yes." Otto accepted.
While Peter was helping Otto remove the head piece, Noah ran the specs on the implants, and they're absolutely incredible. He hasn't seen anything like them, "Maybe I can use some of this for my own arms." Noah thought to himself.
"Doctor what's going on?" Peter asked.
"It's become that obvious." Otto took the device from Peter, as he began to explain Noah noticed a few schematics on the other side of the lab,
"Doesn't take a genius to know those twitches aren't a good sign," Noah added.
"My doctors call it a degenerative neurological disorder,' probably caused by overexposure to toxic chemicals in my... reckless youth."
"Sorry, is there anything we can do?" Peter waved a hand at Noah.
"You two already are, and besides, I'd prefer to have Noah focusing more on his kids than myself." Otto added.
"Thanks Otto." Noah added.
"The worst part is it only affects the muscles, the mind continues to work, but... It can no longer do." Otto looked at his hands and looked back at Noah and Peter, "You two are the only ones who know. I'd like to keep it that way."
"Of course." Peter replied.
"Uhh... If you'd like to seek a position with more of a future..." Otto looked down at the feet of his assistants.
"I came here to work for you because of what you've got up here, and that's not going anywhere, so neither am I," Peter swore.
Otto looked over at Noah, "Don't get me wrong, when Norman hung you out to dry, I was tempted, but you had that spark that made me want to stay, and don't worry about my kids, with more time we'll have them back home. Don't worry, and even if something were to happen, I've no doubt these arms will live past you. I'm honored to have helped you with these." Noah tapped their new prosthetic project.
Otto gave them both a hug, "Thank you, oh Peter, Noah, before I forget. I read the most fascinating article, outlines possible next steps for the neural interface."
"We'll take a look." Peter called out.
Peter and Noah walked over to Otto's office, "Man, I remember the day I first interviewed here. Showed up with stains on my shirt, showed up ten minutes late." Peter explained not in complete detail.
"Still can't believe Doc hired you…" Noah added.
"Hope he doesn't regret it now." Peter is hoping.
Noah patted his friends shoulder as they looked over the article Otto mentioned, "Direct interface with the basal ganglia. Exciting but risky.
"I dunno, Doc. You'd need a gallium silk-array to make it work." Noah shouted over to Otto.
"Even then the odds of injury are still high. It's too risky right now, Doc." Peter finished.
"GALLIUM! GENIUS! Nevermind the risks, we'll work them out in time!" Otto yelled across the lab.
"Pete, take a look." Noah pointed over to all the pictures and scans of Otto's brain.
"Doc's really sick." Peter said.
"No sugarcoating this, is there? At this rate he'll lose control of his motor functions within a year." Noah added.
"And if we're not careful, an intracranial implant could make things worse. Even alter his personality." Peter was telling the truth. The facts are in these scans.
"Trying to alter the brain is like playing with fire, and you won't leave without burns." Noah compared the two, and they looked at Otto rather worriedly.
"Hey, do me a favor, walk with me, I wanna take a look at some of these side projects he's got." Noah was growing suspicious.
Noah is asking his best friend to take a peek into the lions den. As much as he doesn't want them to do this, he was worried about Otto. So he just nodded yes and they went over to the other side of the lab.
"That's a big needle." Peter mentioned as Noah ran the specs on the computer.
"This needle isn't something that can be dispersed manually it would need to be injected by a… Remote operator. This can't be for…" Noah looked over at the turbine engine specs to his left and found the same schematics design as to Adrian Toomes wings, "Vulture?" Noah took a look at the plates of armor he was fabricating, and the shapes and designs are similar to Aleksi's power armor, "My god." Noah is not feeling safe in this lab anymore.
"Hey, everything okay?" Peter tapped Noah's shoulder, which caused him to shake out the thoughts from his shoulders, "Yeah, I'm fine." Noah didn't dare mention any of these clues to Peter, this doesn't concern him, and he's the last person Noah wants to get roped into with this.
Peter walked up to the white board of the RAFT, "Hey Doc, what's with the design of the RAFT?" Peter asked.
"The city is offering compensation to anyone who can improve their security systems. A tough nut to crack, but very promising for the future." Otto explained.
Noah took a closer look at the Raft and there were six highlights on the RAFT, and he can tell what these positions show, "What the hell is Otto planning? I'll put a pin on these later. Gotta get out of here."
Right on cue, as if a miracle passed over the two, Peter received a text message from May, "Are you coming by today?"
"Uh hey Doc, my aunt just texted me, I gotta run." Peter called.
"We gotta run," Noah quickly added.
"No worries, I was thinking of taking a break myself," Otto called the two.
Peter and Noah exited the lab, but before they could move any further, "Peter, I don't like this. He's taking grants from A.I.M. he's building these strange devices, and working on specs for the RAFT."
"Hey, buddy, it's alright," Peter assured Noah even though it wasn't working.
"Hermano, you said that implant is affecting his personality, what if it's starting to do that?" Noah asked.
"No, the interface isn't at that point, we can still make this right." Peter promised.
Noah wasn't buying it, but he was starting relax his shoulders, "Okay. I'll meet you at FEAST, I need to make a ramen stop." Noah lied.
"You got it, man." Peter exited the lab already.
Noah swapped into his Arachnid persona and swung his way to his base. Going over the results inside the base, the substance has been created, but that's not the hard part.
"Alright, now we need to apply tests."
Running the first test was as expected to be a failure, but after running several more in the span of a few hours the results weren't showing any improvement at all.
"GODDAMNIT!" Noah slammed the table, breaking it upon contact. Noah then ran over to a wall and punched it cracking it.
Noah took a quick breath and gathered his thoughts, "Need to focus, gotta set up another test batch." Noah drew more of his blood and set up the synthesizer to rerun the process, "I got some time, better go see Emma at FEAST."
"Just the chic we're lookin' for." A goon called over at Angie with Miles beside her.
"Your protection fee is due Angie." the other crook called to Angie.
"I stopped paying you guys after I started school. At this point, you've been doing charity service." Angie spat back at the two.
"Eh, wrong answer toots." the goon upfront popped his knuckles.
"Hey stay away from her," Miles called out.
"And what're you gonna do about it?" The first goon pushed Miles to the pavement. The guy was about to kick him to the road, but he managed to block and tackled him to the road.
"Oh ho, you're boyfriend's a fighter!" the second goon looked back at Angie and landed a hard kick in the nuts.
The first goon noticed and threw Miles over to her, sending them both in a daze, "You punks just made your last mistakes." the goon up front said to the two, while the second was getting hauled up by Spider-Man, then the other guy was kicked straight in the jaw by an invisible foot from the Arachnid.
"Does it seriously take this many guys to rob two teenagers?" Spider-Man asked while Arachnid decloaked beside him.
"Either you thugs aren't putting in the effort, or kids these days are getting harder to rob." Arachnid roasted.
"C'mon kill'em both! Arachnid's been going soft." one of the masked thugs called out.
"Oh now I need to put some bad mouths in their place." Arachnid webbed two of the thugs closer to him and launched a hard uppercut into the air and webbed him down to the ground.
Spider-Man web blasted a couple of more thugs to the wall, "Nice Web blast, tri-weaved compressed fluid and extended burst?" Arachnid called the specs.
"Spot on, Arachnid." Spider-Man answered.
Arachnid threw an oldy but goody to the remaining mob of goons. A good old-fashioned web bomb.
"Eh, what is this?" The bomb spread along the rest of the thugs, and stuck to them like glue, "Hold up!" Spider-Man threw out an electric web and the entire group went out like a burnt-out light bulb.
"Nice one!" Arachnid offered a fist bump which Spider-Man returned.
"You guys hurt?" Spider-Man offered a hand to Miles which he quickly took his hand and shook viciously.
"Y-You're Spider-Man? Y-You're the amazing Spider-Man! Y-You're the spectacular Spider-Man!" Miles was super giddy meeting the local web-slinger.
"And a few other choice adjectives Jameson uses." Spider-Man finished.
"Angie, we need to stop meeting like this." Arachnid helped her up.
"Whoa!" Miles looked over at Arachnid buthe was uneasy around him.
"It's okay I can vouch for Arachnid. I'm glad to see you two are getting along more often." Angie assured.
"Alright, well you did dress up as him at the Halloween party." Miles said, offering his hand to shake for Arachnid but still wary.
Arachnid took the offer to shake Miles's hand, "Hey I gotta ask, is it true you saved Spider-Man back at the docks?"
"Where'd you hear that?" Arachnid asked.
"My dad told it to me and Angie just before…" Miles paused.
"Is that right? M'sorry about your dad." Arachnid apologized, guilt quickly took over knowing that he had involvement in that.
"Same." Spider-Man added, "Okay, look, both of you, that was really brave, but next time leave the fighting to the pros, ok?" Spider-Man and Arachnid were about to leave, but Miles stopped them.
"Okay, but what if there aren't any around." Miles asked.
"Well you can't just go swinging at someone twice your size. I mean, don't get me wrong Arachnid and I fight guys stronger than us all the time-"
Arachnid laughed at the idea, "Like Hell Spider-Man."
"Anyway, but when we do it, we ha-"
"Oh like that time you fought Rhino on the Brooklyn Bridge?" Miles remembered.
"Or when you fought Alice, in Times Square?" Angie added.
"Those were so awesome!" Miles smiled wide.
"Perfect example, both of you. If the other guy's bigger, you gotta be quicker. Okay?"
"Whether it's in size or ego." Arachnid added, as hypocritical as it sounds from him of all Spiders.
Spider-Man and Arachnid were about to leave, until Miles kept running his mouth, "Well that's easy for you and Arachnid to say. Sorry, I just can't do what you guys do."
"None of us can." Angie added.
Hearing those words put Spider-Man and Arachnid to pause. They looked over at one another and nodded, "Alright, put'em up." Spider-Man and Arachnid walked over.
"Seriously?" Miles was stumped.
"Yeah c'mon." Spider-Man waved.
"C'mon Angie if you can kick a grown man in his shamrocks we might as well do something about it, hey, is that better-looking Spider-Man still teaching self-defense at FEAST?"
"Yeah, and so is a friend of mine, Emma Monroe. She's been assisting him as a co-instructor. She's been a good mother figure for me." The mention of her name from Angie's mouth and under his mask gave him pause.
"Alright, actually tell him we'll give him an autograph if he agrees to keep training you, both of you, okay?" Arachnid added.
Miles and Angie walked up to the two of them with their fists up, "First thing, don't let the adrenaline get to either of you." Spider-Man raised his fists.
"Breathe slow, breathe deep. Relax, hip squared to your opponent." Arachnid added while putting his hands up.
"And you let them take the first move. Now use your feet and when they go off balance. Look for an opening… Boom." Spider-Man and the Arachnid held their hands for them to punch.
The two kids hit their points correctly, "Like that?" Miles asked.
"Yeah! Yeah, that's it." Spider-Man complimented.
"You're a natural Angie." Arachnid returned.
"Alright." Angie was feeling good inside. Her inspiration is teaching her to fight.
"Hold on Angie." Arachnid stopped their session for a moment to look at Spider-Man and Miles. He quietly nudged Angie to get her attention and showed him his cell phone, and put his finger to his mouth, "Shh." Arachnid hit record.
"Okay! Now only this time, just let me have it. Right on the jaw, okay?! Can take it-" Miles punched Spider-Man square in the jaw as requested.
Arachnid knew it'd be worth it to record this as both he and Angie started laughing, "Oh Spider-Man that was worth every second." Arachnid showed them the recording.
"Yeah very funny, has she punched you yet?" Spider-Man asked trying to be the mature one.
"Alright, get back in positon. Just like him lemme have it!" Arachnid instructed and Angie complied just as well as Miles.
"Uggh, nice hook, Angie." Arachnid rubbed his jaw.
"Anyway, you two keep those up, and you guys'll be fine," Spider-Man said just before attempting to leave again.
"Hey one more thing, Miles has been working on this mobile hacking device, thought you'd want to take a look." Angie added.
"Does he?" Arachnid was a little curious, "We'll check it out later, cya guys."
"Wait Arachnid, today's my birthday. Is there something you wanna say?" Angie asked.
"Happy birthday Angie." Arachnid called to her.
"Thanks!" Angie jumped.
"Yeah, same love from here too, Angie," Spider-Man added.
"Oh, that reminds me." Arachnid pulled out his phone and sent Angie a pic.
Opening the file, she found a photo of Arachnid taking a selfie behind one of Angie's green spider symbols all over town.
"Aww, you're so awesome!" Angie's heart fluttered.
"Alright seriously, we gotta go." Spider-Man called.
"Hey, thanks for that, both of you." Miles finished.
"Anytime kids." Arachnid said as he and Spider-Man swung away from the alley.
Leaving Miles and Angie amazed, "We just punched Spider-Man." Miles started rubbing his knuckles.
"And the Arachnid. Yeah, best birthday ever!" Angie smiled.
Angie and Miles walked out of the alley and resumed their trek to the FEAST shelter, "The shelter is just a few blocks ahead." Angie explained.
"Then let's go." Miles said walking forward.
Miles pulled out his phone to call Ganke, "Yo Miles, what's up?"
"Bro, you're not gonna believe this, Angie and I just met Spider-Man, and Arachnid." Miles cheered over the phone.
"What?! That's crazy! Hey, did you show them our hacking app?" Ganke asked.
"No, Angie brought it up, but they didn't have-" Miles turned around and saw his reflection in the glass window of the local Chinese restaurant. Watching Angie pass behind her gave him a sense of Deja vu, "Hey Miles, what's up?" she asked him.
"Uh, sorry." Miles turned back and looked at Angie, "But yeah, Ganke, Angie brought up the hacking app, Spider-Man didn't have time to check it out, and Arachnid turned it down."
"Uh darn it, we could've been rich if they bought it off us. I'm just glad that criminal Arachnid wasn't interested." Ganke whined.
"Ganke, Did I hear that correctly?" Angie asked.
Miles had Ganke on speaker, "What matters is Spider-Man, and the Arachnid are aware of the app. Also don't bad mouth my inspiration."
"But he's a criminal." Ganke added.
"A criminal who saved me from the streets. So watch what you say." Angie hissed.
"Okay, cool it, I'm sorry." Ganke added.
"Now wrap up the call, we need to get to FEAST." Angie finalized.
"Okay, okay, cya guys." Ganke hung up.
"C'mon I promised mom I wouldn't be late," Miles called to Angie.
Angie and Miles walked their way through Chinatown, "Hey, there's a shortcut through the farmer's market." Angie pointed.
"Hey question, on the first day of school, what was it like for you?" Miles asked.
"Why do you ask?" Angie was curious, but she decided to humor him, "I remember the first day was amazing, those ascots were a pain to wear. I remember this one guy struggling to set up his ascot at the front door." Angie explained.
Those words confirmed everything, that girl who passed him that day was her.
"Alright, I can't believe we didn't meet until now." Miles added.
"Well better late than never, right?" Angie called while passing the street. The people over the street were watching the result of a car crash scene.
Making their way across the street, Miles and Angie spotted a radio, "Hey think the hacking app will work on that boombox?" Angie asked.
"Let's find out. Wanna do the honors?" Miles offered the hacking app to her.
"Sure." Angie took the tablet and pressed the button while aiming for the radio. The hack switched on the power and sweet beats turned on. Sending the whole market in an upright mood and grooves.
"I like this!" Angie said while handing him back his tablet.
Miles laughed as he and Angie moved past the market, "Everyone have their ID's out and ready for inspection." A sable agent called.
Angie and Miles passed the agent and noticed the long line for ID checks, "You've gotta be kidding. This is gonna take forever." Miles kept his head down as he realized. Same as Angie, "Wait, do you think that hacking app will work on that drone?" Angie asked.
Miles was curious and aimed for the drone on the other side of the railing. Sending the signal to the drone it actually worked, "Oh crap, go go go." Angie called. Miles and Angie leaped over the rail and snuck their way through, "That was too easy. I can't believe Sable systems are so insecure. Maybe we should send an anonymous tip."
"Nah, not today, let'em see how long it takes for'em to figure it out," Angie whispered behind Miles.
"Hey, over to the crates, c'mon." Miles pointed and hid behind the ammo crates with the Sable agent on the other side. "Okay, hacking app, don't fail us now." Miles took out the app and aimed for the neon street sign.
The sparks sent the attention to both Sable agents, giving Miles and Angie the advantage. Running through the lot, they found themselves with two choices, the low ground or high ground, "We'll take the scaffolding." Angie suggested, "Less eyes below and only the drones we'll be a problem. Let's do it." Miles put the plan together.
Angie hopped up the pile of bags and reached for the scaffolding. She managed to make it up top and offered her hand for Miles. He took the help, and they both made it to the top.
"Thanks, Angie." Miles breathed.
"Shh, stay low." Angie warned as she took point.
"Hey, you heard from command this morning; Silverbird is sending in the Wolfpack." A Sable mentioned.
"Holy shit, is that for Spider-Man? Talk about overkill." Another Sable agent
"No, you jackass, it's for the Arachnid. Spider-Man's a pussy, he doesn't have the balls to kill, but Arachnid, man. That bastard won't show mercy." The Sable agent added.
"Wolfpack's gonna eat him alive and spit him out like bubblegum." The Sable agent boasted.
"Oh no." Angie whispered in shock, Miles pulled her back to reality.
"C'mon, we gotta go." Miles tapped Angie's shoulder, and nodded back to focus, "Hold on, need the hacking app." Miles pinged the app to the drone to drop it offline.
"C'mon." Angie called and Miles took the lead, "Wait!" Angie called as she noticed the two other Sable agents blocking their way to the exit, "Gimme the app." Angie asked over to Miles.
Miles handed her the app and she used it to ping the car horn from the APC behind the agents, giving them a moment away from the exit so the two can make a break for it.
"Holy, that was intense," Miles said.
"Yeah, not my usual routine when sneaking around," Angie added.
"You've snuck around places before? Miles asked.
"Hell yeah, I know these streets like the back of my hand." Angie smiled with confidence, "C'mon the FEAST shelter is right over here."
Just at the nick of time, Miles's phone went off, "Oh hey mom."
"Hi honey, did you make it to the FEAST shelter okay?" Rio asked over the phone.
"Yeah, almost there. My friend showed me a shortcut."
"Miles, you don't have to work at that shelter, you know." Rio was concerned. It's only been a single day after the funeral.
"You said I did." Miles replied.
"No, I gave you a choice," Rio added.
"Yeah and I chose this over more therapy. I mean it was helpful. The guy said everyone grieves in their own way. This is mine." Miles was truly speaking from the heart. The words made Angie feel warm inside. The FEAST Shelter saved her life, and now it's going to save her new friend.
"Okay, sorry." Rio was sounding sad.
"Mom." Miles called.
"Yeah?" Rio answered.
"Just cause I don't want to talk about it doesn't mean I don't love you, and I have my friend Angie here. I'm gonna be okay." Miles was a true sweetheart, and Angie smiled behind him.
"Oh honey. I love you so much. We'll get through this." Rio proimsed.
"Don't worry Mrs. Morales, I'll help him get through this, I promise." Angie reached over Miles shoulder and spoke to her through the phone.
"Thank you, Angie. Take care of my son." Rio requested.
Inside the FEAST shelter, Miles saw Peter and Noah helping one of the visitors contemplate what he saw at the rally.
"You're gonna be okay Mr. Hodges just keep breathing and we'll get back to you soon." Peter consoled to Hodges as he and Noah went over to Miles and Angie.
"Hey Pete, Noah." Miles greeted the two of them.
"Miles you made it!" Peter greeted.
"Hey I'm sorry I'm late, man." Miles apologized.
"Aw no-no. We're just glad you're here." Peter assured him.
"Took the words outta my mouth, hermano." Noah called his friend out.
"Alright, so um. What can I do to help?" Miles offered.
"You can start by getting comfortable, get to know the people, and of course keep the coffee nearby. Everyone loves coffee." Noah handed Miles the coffee pitcher, "Angie, so good to see you, consider yourselves partners as of today."
"You got it, Noah." Angie smiled.
"And we'll be back in a little while to check on you, is that cool?" Peter asked.
"Yeah?" Miles said as he noticed Mr. Hodges.
"Don't worry about Mr. Hodges. He doesn't bite. Much." Peter pointed as he and Noah took their leave.
"You sure?" Miles asked.
"Don't worry once you get to know him, a real big teddy bear under all that scruff." Angie promised.
Miles and Angie walked up to a man at a table working on a crossword puzzle, "Coffee?"
The man looked over and nodded, "Thanks." Miles poured him a mug, "Need help?" Miles asked.
"Not unless you what the hell a quark is." The man asked.
"It's a subatomic particle; you know the building block of proton, neutrons, hadrons." Miles went on.
"Sub-atomic, that fits. Good one kid." The man smiled at Miles.
"Piece of junk." A regular known as Erie was smacking a TV, "Hell, damn hunk of junk."
"You mind if I take a look." Miles walked up.
"Heh?" Ernie huffed.
"Oh we gave a couple of CRT's at school, I know how to fix these when they-" Miles was interrupted.
"CR- what? No, you just gotta smack it a couple of times." Ernie resumed smacking the TV.
"Could be a loose cable, Mr. Erie, would you allow my friend to see?" Angie asked.
"Heh fine, smarty pants see what you can do." Ernie took a seat.
Miles took a look and found the culprit, "Here we go just a loose coax cable." Miles fixed the problem with a cinch.
"Tributes continue to pour in for Officer Jefferson Davis, the hero killed in the City Hall bombing, as reports emerge that he used his own body to shield others in his last moments of life-" Miles was not ready to see that turn on in front of him. Miles grabbed the coffee mug and was about to leave until Ernie called.
"Hey, New kid." Ernie requested more coffee.
Miles poured him a cup while he watched the TV, "Hero? He didn't do nothing heroic except get himself blown up."
Miles and Angie were about to leave until Peter and Noah snuck up from Ernie, to stop them in his tracks, "Hey Ernie, I see you've met Miles. He's going to be helping out around here. You may have heard of his father, Jefferson Davis."
"Pretty great that even though he's got a lot of stuff going on right now, he decided to come and volunteer." Noah added.
"Wouldn't you agree that's truly selfless of him? Just like his father." Angie stood beside Miles.
"Uh yeah, yeah." Ernie then stood from his seat, "Uh listen kid, I'm sorry about your dad."
"And?" Angie carried on.
"And I'm sorry for what I just said." Ernie added, "And if I may be honest you stick close to this one, a real pistol she is."
"Thanks Ernie." Angie smiled.
"C'mom Miles, let's see if Aunt May and Emma need a hand in the kitchen." Peter patted his shoulder.
In the kitchen, the three of them brought Miles to the two mom's of the FEAST shelter, "Hey May, Emma, I gotta take off, but, uh… We brought you some help." Peter called to Aunt May and Emma.
"This is May Parker, Peter's aunt and Emma Monroe, my wife." Noah introduced for Miles.
"The best woman in the world." Angie pointed to Aunt May.
"Angie!" Emma sounded like a whiner, but she was faking it to add to the humor, "And Emma is the best mom in this or any world." Angie gave her all the love in just a few words.
"Is she your adopted mom?" Miles asked.
"No, but she might as well be after all the time we spent." Angie added a cherry to her love for Emma.
"That's my girl, go on and wash your hands, Miles. Grab an apron and we'll show you around." Emma welcomed Miles.
Miles and Angie walked up to the two moms of FEAST, "Hey Peter, Noah." Miles called, "Thanks for that back there."
"Of course," Peter returned.
"But I think the person you should thank is right beside you." Noah indirectly mentioned Angie.
"Almost noon. Sable's moving Dr. Michaels soon, gotta get going." Peter said to himself.
Putting on his suit, Spider-Man swung his way to the convoy, "Hey Yuri, I'm heading to the Bowery to make sure Michael's gets to his new safehouse, y'know, safely."
"I wouldn't do that. Silver Sable made it clear you are not welcome." Yuri reminded.
"Yeah, well, what's she gonna do, shoot me?" Spider-Man asked.
"Honestly? 50-50 chance. Throw in Arachnid and they'll definitely shoot you both."
"Fine I'll be in the neighborhood, but not too close. Just in case." Spider-Man promised.
"Hold on. Okay be straight with me, if this Devil's Breath gets loose in the city, whats our worse case scenario?" Yuri asked.
"Oh, you know, global pandemic. End of the world. How about this, even Arachnid is shaking in his legs." Spider-Man was being honest.
"No I'm serious, how bad is it? Arachnid doesn't give a shit about this city."
"Oh you calling me a liar? Arachnid, I know you're listening. Care to help a Spider-Bro?"
Just then a third signal was chiming in on the call, "First off don't call me that, and second we agreed to keep Yuri out of the loop about being your mole."
"Umm, Arachnid, I never said you were my mole. You just said that yourself." Spider-Man replied in a positive attitude.
"Goddammit I hate you! Okay yes, I'm Spider-Man's mole in the Demons." Arachnid confessed.
"Wow if this is true, we really are fucked." Yuri realized.
"Severely fucked, Captain. Also what's this death squad Sable has for me?"
"How did you-" Yuri then remembered, he's piggybacking on Spider-Man's tap on the police radio.
"Dunno, but if it were up to me I'd put a bullet in your head myself." Yuri spat.
"Oh sit on a dick, Yuri. I'm out." Arachnid left the call.
"Sorry about him." Spider-Man apologized.
"Just keep Michael safe." Yuri hung up.
Back at the FEAST Shelter, Emma and May were cutting vegetables, and prepping the next meal for dinner, "Any word from your kids?" May asked.
"No…" Emma slowed her cutting as the thought of her own children in the hospital so far for most of their lives, "But Noah says he's close to finding the cure for them."
"Now that is a true father, putting his kids before everything." May praised.
"Yeah but… I feel like he's not telling me everything. The doctors don't even know what's wrong with them. So how would he know?" Emma was growing weary of all that was happening around her, "I mean I'm okay so long as I can hug my kids again, but… I'm worried Noah won't be the same father I hoped he'd be after he saves them." Emma was just rambling as she cut the veggies bit by bit.
"Emma Monroe, you right now are the bravest mom I've ever met in this shelter." May stopped her cooking and took Emma's hands, "I remember when you, Noah, Peter, Mary, and Harry were just kids in high school. The five of you were inseparable, and what's happening now will not break your resolve. And I'll tell you right now whatever's going on with Noah, I've no doubt he has you and the twins as his top priority."
"You believe so?" Emma asked.
"I know so, Noah has a lot of darkness in his past. Peter, Harry, and Mary did their best to keep him away from all of those dark times, but it was you who brought light into his life. Just like he brought light to your darkness." May was absolutely hitting all the right notes, and it left Emma in tears.
"Th-thank you, May." Emma wiped away her tears and gave her a hug.
Angie and Miles walked up in the kitchen, "Hey guys." Miles waved.
"Emma, you okay?" Angie asked, walking up to her.
"I'm okay." Emma gave Angie a hug.
"What's this for?" Angie asked.
"Because you're important to me. I'm just glad my adopted daughter is still in my life." Emma was speaking from her heart.
"Breaking news Manhattan, Sable International is in pursuit of the Demons driving what looks to be a custom-built APC, with Spider-Man caught in the tangle." The news reporter said with the press chopper hovering above with the camera in tow.
I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter, I'd really appreciate if you you all left reviews it'd really help me out.