Rest In Peace to James Earl Jones. He passed away on September 9th, 2024 at the age of 93.
My response when I saw the notification and confirmed that it was real?
". . . I . . . Fuck. That's all I can say."
Today, "The Sun set on his time here on Earth. Raise your lightsabers to the sky, for Darth Vader had become with the Force for the fourth and final time. Roar like a lion for the Sun had set on Mufasa' time for real. Thank you for bringing characters to life by being their voice and much more. May the Force be with you, James Earl Jones. Now and forever. Always."
He was well known for being the voice actor for Darth Vader from Star Wars in the Original Trilogy, the Prequel Trilogy, SW Rebels with Rogue One and Mufasa from Disney's The Lion King as well as Eore from the older Winnie The Pooh adventures and I knew him best for being casted as Mr. Myrtle from "The Sandlot."
Reviews
The Number 1 Guy: Retarded? Nah. Comic book nerd? Indeed.
DJ Rodriguez
Chapter 1: I understand, but I hope you know that this almost follows the story with my OC. And let me remind you that the security guard's name isn't really Larry Dale. Nico's just calling him that.
As for Nico calling the spider racist was just fun for me to do.
Chapter 2: You are right about your thoughts of Nico's repressing of his trauma. More will be shown later.
And glad that you like Nico's interaction with Gwanda.
Also those voices in his head are a form of foreshadowing in case you didn't read the notes at the bottom.
And the joke about Staten Island is always funny for me to write.
As for your question of Batman, well, no spoilers.
Chapter 3: Well, that question will be answered, sort of.
As for mentioning The Sandlot, I was hoping that was going to be pointed out.
And Nico punching the Prowler, the line he said was from Batman Beyond.
And that was more or less an unintentional fourth wall break, LOL.
I prefer Seahawks, myself.
And yes, he tried to quote Captain Jack Sparrow before he fell.
And to be fair, you thought the dog was a German Sherpard because Nico thought that was the dog's breed because he has the same fur color of a German Sherpard.
And the cop is Jim Gordon.
Now, on with the story!
Origins Issue # 04: The Girl From Another Dimension
"Nico, how could you say that?"
Nico's eyes snapped open as he looked around frantically. He then sees the young girl standing a hundred feet from him.
"Sis!" he called out as he ran to her. "Alice!"
"Why would you say that to me?" the girl, Alice asked with a expression of hurt and betrayal.
"I didn't mean it," Nico replied desperately. "I'm sorry!"
Just then a car horn honking was heard before a shadow consumes Alice before she disappears from view.
"No! NOOO!" Nico shouts, reaching his hand forward. Suddenly he feels a hand on each of his shoulders. He looks to the left and right and sees his parents.
"It's okay, Nico-Son," his mom said softly, smiling while saying the nickname she had given him when he was younger.
"It wasn't your fault," his dad said in the same tone.
"No," Nico said in a broken tone. "No, it was. I-It's my fault. I -I shouldn't ever have said to her."
"Let's go home, Nico," they both said in unison. Then they walked ahead of Nico to a dark alleyway that ended with a dark tunnel entrance that looked like the barrel of a large gun.
"No, no, no!" Nico shook his head, turning away from the scene, closing his eyes and covering his eyes.
"Repressed trauma is something you don't realize your dealing with," those words were said by the therapist yet were just spoken by. . .
"Spider-Man?" Nico turned around and suddenly he was no longer in an alleyway. He's in the wrecked collider room. In front of him was the famous Wall Crawler.
Nico ran over to the superhero's side. "Come on! We got to get you out of here."
"This is why you were bit, Nicodemus." Spider-Man said, not moving from his spot even as Nico pulled on his arm. "This is your destiny."
"No, no, no!" Nico cried out. "Not like this. New York is not losing Spider-Man just so I can become a hero."
Spider-Man stares up at Nico before speaking.". . . It's too late for that," And then he was replaced by a shadowy figure with long pointed ears and a black cape draped over his back.
"He's dead," the figure said in a deep voice as it rises up to stand in front of Nico who stumbled back with wide eyes. "We have to finish what he started."
Nico stares at the figure who holds a hand out. "We will set out to do what we promised all those years ago."
Nico shakes his head. "I was just a kid when I said that," he said. "Just a kid."
"But now you're more than that." the figure replied. "We're more than that. We now have the strength and power to make them all pay."
Nico looked away in uncertainty, only to see his sister, parents and Spider-Man laying on the ground at his feet. Alice's torso was crushed, his parents each had a bleeding hole in their chests and Spider-Man was unmasked, bloodied and bruised.
"You're like me."
"This is why you were bit. This is your destiny."
"You'll be the best of us."
"Destroy the Collider. Save us all."
"That's. . . not what Spider-Man is," Nico said, turning back to the figure. The figure stares at the Native American teen before leaning out of the shadows, but even then only his white eyes were visible in the wrecked collider. As if the figure was made out of the shadows. "I'm not Spider-Man! That's not who we will be. We may have his powers and gifts, but we are not him. I am. . . Bat-"
Gasping, Nico opened his eyes and saw the ceiling of the living room above him. Panting, he felt the little dog curled up between his right arm and his torso before he rose up, feet on the ground. As he rubbed the exhaustion from his eyes, he saw some blonde girl sitting on the chair next to the sofa he slept on.
The girl was asleep before waking up upon hearing Nico's movement. "Nico," she said. But then the Native American teen held up a hand.
"The day does not start until I have my morning cup of coffee." Nico said in a tired voice to Gwanda, stretching his arms with a groan. He stands up, not acknowledging the dog that was stuck to his chest as he made his way to the kitchen. "Grandpa, you fell asleep in your chair again."
The elderly man snores in his chair before waking up at hearing his grandson's voice. "Well, that happens when your grandson comes home soaking wet." Cecil remarked.
"Uh huh," Nico mutters as he makes himself a cup of coffee. He turns around, sees Gwanda getting ready to speak again and he holds up his finger at her. "Not until I have my morning coffee."
Gwanda rose an eyebrow and looked to Cecil with a questioning gaze. "He's not fully awake until he has coffee." the elderly man shrugged.
Nico brought the mug to his lips and took a few gulps of the coffee. He sighs heavily with a relaxed smile before taking a deep breath. "Okay, let me recap what has happened." he stated.
Gwanda and Cecil nod to him. Nico nods his thanks before speaking. "Okay, let's start from the beginning. I thought I was bitten by a normal racist spider a few days ago," he began. "Only last night did I find out that the spider, while racist, was also radioactive and I now have the same powers Spider-Man has." He gestures to the dog on his chest. "I met this little guy and he has the same powers as well. And then the next thing I know, I see the superhero himself, Spider-Man fighting the Green Goblin, the Prowler in a giant particle accelerator/super collider. Spidey saves me a third time and says he'll show me the ropes on how to be a hero like him. Only for him to be killed by Kingpin hardly five minutes later while giving me this override key and telling me that I have to destroy the Collider before it destroys all of reality."
"Oh dear Lord," Cecil mutters. Gwanda narrows her eye slightly at the mention of the Collider.
"I was chased by the Prowler thanks to the little dog barking." Nico continued, gesturing to the dog on his chest. "That dude is relentless. A shame he wasn't a hero instead. Dude chased me all the way to the Brooklyn Bridge. And that's where I fell into the river." He stops to chug down the rest of his coffee. "Now I have to plug this override key into the Collider or all of reality is destroyed." He takes a deep breath. "Is there anything else? Any input I need to know?" he asked Cecil and Gwanda.
"Spider-Man's identity is revealed to the public," Cecil replied somberly. "The funeral for Peter Parker will happen around this afternoon."
". . . Okay, his identity is revealed," Nico muttered. "That's to be expected, I guess. Maybe a little surprising how fast that happened. Anything else?"
". . . My name is Gwen, actually," Gwanda-Gwen said. "Gwen Stacy." she adds when Nico and Cecil turn to her. "I'm from another dimension."
Nico and his grandpa stare at the blonde girl with wide eyes before the former gestures to Gwen while looking at Cecil. "Well, there you go." He looks at his mug. "I'm going to pour another round of coffee."
He does that and pulls a chair from the dinning room and plants it in front of Gwen Stacy. He sits down before gesturing to her. "Go on."
"Okay, people. Let's start from the beginning. My name is Gwen Stacy. I was bitten by a radioactive spider and for two years, I've been the one and only Spider-Woman. I'm pretty sure you know the rest."
(A comic book is placed with Spider-Gwen on its cover. A radioactive spider bites Gwen on the wrist. A cry of pain is briefly heard. Spider-Woman runs on a rooftop. She runs to the edge of a building and jumps off the edge in a somersault.)
"I joined a band. Fought a few bad guys. Saved my dad. . . But I couldn't save my best friend Peter Parker."
(Gwen plays on her drum set with a grin. Then she punches a few bad guys as Spider-Woman. She pulls her dad Captain George Stacy out of the way of a bullet with a web line. Her shadow kicks the shadow of The Lizard that turns into man before it hits the ground. She lands on the ground and suddenly her Spider Sense tingles. She runs to the body of her friend Peter Parker.)
"So I save everyone else. And I don't do friends anymore, just so I don't have any distractions. I was in New York when suddenly this weird thing happened. Really weird. The next thing I know, I'm blown into last week. Literally."
(Gwen walks through the streets, alone and ignoring the group/pairs of friends around her. She pulls her hood up in response with a guilt ridden expression. Spider-Woman was fighting a villain when suddenly a portal opened above her and sucked her into it. She seems to race through time and space before she is launched high into the sky of New York, she lands in Times Square.)
"I was in New York, but not my New York. My Spider Sense led me to Visions Academy. I didn't know why, until I met you."
(Spider-Woman looks around Times Square and notices how it looks different compared how she last seen it. Gwen then pulls textbooks out of her locker before she accidentally bumps into someone in the hallway. That someone happens to be Nicodemus Tomeo.)
"You're like me," Gwen said with a shrug.
"You're like me," Nico repeated before furrowing his brow. "Or is it 'I'm like you?' Given that you were bitten before me." He looks down at the dog on his chest who is still asleep.
The Native American teen was silent as the words sunk in. Wow, the girl I asked out after half a year from my last relationship turns out to be from another dimension and a Spider-Woman, he thought to himself. Should I find this very interesting-interesting or should I think this would put a kink in our relationship? Eh, I'll worry about that later.
". . . And you thought calling yourself Gwanda was a good idea?" Nico asked with a teasing smirk.
"I. . . thought it was a good idea to keep my identity a secret." Gwen replied bashfully. "I didn't know if there was another Gwen Stacy in this universe."
"There probably was. I remember reading a name on the paper when I was younger." Nico snorted in humor before looking thoughtful. He shrugs, dismissing that thought. "Well, at least you were honest about being in a band."
"Really? What, you got a thing for girls in a band?" Gwen asked teasingly.
"Not much of a thing, but other than your beauty, and your "South African name," that was one of the interesting things to know about you," Nico replied, maintaining his smirk and making air quotes.
"Oh, well thanks." Gwen giggled.
"Teenagers from another dimension," Cecil shook his head with a sigh. "A dog with spider powers. Now I'm really missing the days when the most interesting thing in the world was Captain America and putting a man on the moon."
Nico chuckled at that before realizing something. "Oh, by the way, have you two introduced each other?" he asked both Gwen and Cecil. "Like as in, you know she was from my school?" he asked his grandpa. Getting nods of confirmation, he looks to the dog on his chest that was starting to wake up.
"Well, then there's one more thing." he picks up the dog and holds him up Lion King style. "Say hello to Mushu the Spider-Dog!"
Gwen looked confused while Cecil chuckled in amusement. "Yeah, my family names our dogs after old Disney characters," Nico said to Gwen, prepared to defend himself from any judgment. "Don't judge me."
Gwen just looked more confused. "What's Disney?" she asked slowly.
Blinking, Nico looked to her in surprise before muttering to Mushu, "Rrriiight, different dimension."
"Okay, now we have a girl with super powers from another dimension, a dog with spider powers, and a dead hero," Cecil remarked dryly, this got Nico to grimace and sighed heavily. "Nico, what's your call on this? Spider-Man gave you that flash drive gizmo to destroy Kingpin's Collider."
Nico nodded at that. "Yeah, he did." he sighs again. "First thing first, breakfast. Then we're going to Spider-Man's funeral."
Nico, Cecil and Gwen stopped at a Spider-Man merchendise store before the funeral. Nico bought a mask along with Cecil.
The clerk, Stan Lee looked at the masks with a sad expression. "I'm going to miss him."
"Yeah, me too," Nico replied, looking down sadly.
"We were friends, you know." Stan said, trying to cheer him up. Nico did remember seeing Peter Parker speaking with Stan Lee on more than one occasion. So he knew the elder wasn't lying.
"He saved my life three times," the Native American teen replied with a hollow chuckle. "I really wanted to return the favor. But I guess that will never happen."
"Well, don't give up." Stan told Nico. "The pain won't go away, but it will get better. And besides, if you can't pay back, pay forward. Pass along his kindness to others like he did."
"Thanks, Stan." Nico said, smiling a little bit before leaving the store. "And I will."
Hundreds of people attended the funeral for Peter Parker/Spider-Man. Among them was Flash Thompson and Harry Osborn. All of the people in the crowds were wearing Spider-Man masks or jackets. It was endearing, really. As luck would have it, it was the church Cecil was one of the ministers and this got both Nico and Gwen to stand closer to the front. The Native American teen noticed that New York's other superheroes were in attendance. Daredevil, the Punisher, Elecktra, Iron Fist, Moon Knight, with some members of the X-Men including the Wolverine and the Fantastic Four along with Superman from Metropolis, the Flash from Central City and Green Arrow from Star City.
Nico glanced to the side of the stage to see Peter's only family, his aunt May Parker and his wife, Mary Jane. He looked away quickly, the sight was bringing back the memories of attending his family's funeral. He shakes his head out of it as Mary Jane walks to the podium.
"My husband Peter Parker," the red haired woman began, "was an ordinary person. He always said it could be anyone behind the mask. He just happened to be the kid who got bit."
That struck a chord with Nico. Peter Parker was a kid when he became Spider-Man. Catching criminals, helping kids, rescuing people from burning buildings, runaway cars or criminals, getting cats out of trees, saving the city from supervillains alone or with the other superheroes and he was sixteen years old when he put on the mask for the first time ten years ago.
"He didn't ask for his powers," Mary Jane goes on. "But he chose to be Spider-Man. My favorite thing about Peter is that he made us each feel powerful. We all have powers of one kind or another. But in our own way, we are all Spider-Man. And we're all counting on you."
Whether it was intentional or not, Nico felt like he was now carrying the entire Empire State Building on his back and his shoulders sagged in response. He feels a hand on his shoulder and looks to the right and sees Gwen looking at him with her Spider-Woman mask, lenses showing her concern. "Are you okay?"
"Y-Yeah, I just feel like I'm carrying the E.S. Building hearing what she said," Nico remarked with a hollow chuckle.
"Don't worry about it too much," said a random person standing next to Nico on the left of him. "I don't think she means you specifically when she said that last part. I-I think it's a metaphor."
"That would make my life easier." Nico replied dryly.
"By the way, Nico, do you think it's best to tell your family?" Cecil asked when they left the funeral. "Like the twins or Stella and Kyle."
"I have thought of that," replied Nico. "But I don't think it's best to tell them yet. Not with what's happened and will happen. After we deal with Kingpin and his collider, I think I'll tell them in person, not on the phone. Or in a group chat."
And hopefully I don't change my mind and decide NOT to tell them, Nico thought to himself as they walked.
"Okay, so do you mind giving me some tutoring on how to be a superhero like you and Spider-Man?" the Native American teen asked Gwen as they got into the backseat of Cecil's car.
"Oh, sure." Gwen replied, a bit caught off guard at Nico's change of subject. "We, uh, will need a location to train without disturbances."
Nico looked thoughtful for a moment. "I know a place that could work." he said.
"Great." Gwen said in response.
They arrived back at the apartment and two teens prepared to leave. "Wait, Nico," Cecil placed his hand on the Native American teen's shoulder. "Does this, any of this, have to do with what you vowed?"
Nico looked away and sighed. ". . . Maybe it would have, if Spider-Man didn't, you know, I would have done my own thing first." he admitted. "But he did, so I need to finish what he started."
Cecil nodded in response. "Well, do what you have to do, Nico." he replied. "I'll be here to help any way I can."
"Thanks, Ce-Grandpa. Thanks, Grandpa." Nico replied before hugging his grandfather tightly.
"And you knew this place how?" Gwen asked, looking around at the place Nico brought them. It was an abandoned subway station, similar to the one Aaron brought him and Miles to.
"A close friend took me here for graffiti," Nico replied, gesturing to some graffiti on the walls.
"Isn't that illegal?" Gwen asked with a smirk.
"When there's no cops around, anything's legal," Nico replied with a smirk of his own and Gwen giggled in response. Nico's eyes then landed on another wall. This one was a mural. A mural for the family he lost.
Gwen noticed that as well. ". . . I saw photos at your Grandpa's." she said softly. "Your parents and sister?"
"Yeah," Nico replied with a nod. He lets out a shaking breath.
Gwen looked to him in concern. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked.
Nico shook his head. "We didn't come here for that, and you're not a therapist." He winced at how harsh that sounded.
Gwen looked a little hurt but sighed. "It's okay, Nico. You don't have to say anything now." she said. He just met me and I just told him about the real me. Social interaction may not be my forte, but I'm pretty sure people don't talk about their past in the first interaction.
Nico nodded and took a deep breath to focus his emotions before turning away from the mural. I just met her this week. And got to know the real her today. I don't need to tell her about my dirty laundry of a past.
"Okay, the first thing we need to go over is your strength," Gwen said. "Like actual spiders, we can lift over 20 times our weight, depending on how we push ourselves. Meaning that we could cripple people or kill them if we're not careful."
"That explains a lot," Nico nodded his head as he recalled instances when Spider-Man stopped a train, lifted rubble that looked to weigh several tons while wondering in the past how Spider-Man hasn't killed any crook on accident. "So Spider-Man was holding back," he murmured in realization.
"Yeah, he was," Gwen nodded in agreement. "I think we all hold our strength back unless the situation calls for it. But we never kill."
"Yeah, we're not the Punisher, or like Moon Knight," Nico nodded in understanding.
"I don't really know who those people are, but at least you get what I'm saying." Gwen said. "Which means lesson one is that you have to know how to hold back your super strength."
Nico nods his head. Gwen then held up her hands, palm open out towards him. He shrugs in response before getting into a fighting stance. He throws a punch and then his Spider-Sense tingles in his skull before Gwen grabs his fist, spun around and then throws him over her shoulder and onto the floor.
"Lesson two, always trust your Spider-Sense," Gwen said, smiling down at Nico as he laid on his back. "No matter what."
"Got it," Nico said in surprise before smirking up at her. He spun around to kick her legs out from under her but she caught herself with her hand and then cartwheeled to her feet.
"Missed me," the blonde laughed.
Nico was surprised before mentally kicking himself. Right, she has more experience with the Spider-Sense than I do, he thought. Dodging attacks like mine are the norm. The only thing I've done with my Spider-Sense is catching a fly.
The Native American teen quickly jumps to his feet. "Let's dance, Gwanda." he said with an eager grin.
Gwen grinned herself. "Bring it, Eagle Boy." she taunted, curling her hand at him in a 'Bring it' gesture.
Nico's grin widened more before the two Spider powered teens began their spar. Throwing punches or dodging hits, almost like a dance.
"So, you're a boxer?" Gwen asked, noticing that Nico was fighting like a boxer.
"Nah, I dated a boxer," Nico replied nonchalantly. "Did not, I mean, did NOT end well."
"Oh," Gwen winced at that. Maybe avoiding social interaction was a bad idea, she thinks to herself as she blocks and dodges Nico's next attacks. Because I do not have any idea how this works. "Sorry if I brought up bad memories."
"It wasn't all bad," Nico replied, throwing a cross punch at Gwen who ducked. "Just our last interaction, really. Besides, it got me into martial arts." Not to mention, therapy.
Just then Nico's Spider-Sense went off. And from the looks of it, so did Gwen's. We're not alone.
The two teens looked over to the subway tunnel. Nico glanced down to a shovel on the ground. He looks at Gwen and cocks his head to the light switch. She nods, pulling her mask down her face. He reaches down to grab the shovel while the Spider-Woman THWIPS a web line to yank down the light switch and the abandoned subway station was plunged into darkness.
Nico holds the shovel like a baseball bat. His brown eyes adjust to the dark and see the silhouette of a man entering the subway station. The silhouette looks like the Prowler.
Instinct took over Nico and he swung the shovel at the silhouette's head.
CLANG! Actually, it sounded more like a BONG!
Gwen turned the lights back on and she and Nico saw who it was the Native American teen had hit on the head with a shovel.
"Oh, it's just a hobo," Gwen said as soon as she saw the large, dirty trench coat.
Nico furrowed his brow as he saw that the hobo was wearing what looked like a Spider-Man shirt under his coat that didn't look too dirty. His Spider-Sense went off and he crouched down to inspect the man's face.
"Gwen, he looks exactly like Peter Parker," he said to her with widening eyes. "But with brown hair, clearly older and . . . fatter?"
Gwen's Spider-Sense went off and she knelt down and saw that the Native American teen was right.
The two teens look at one another before looking down at the unconscious man at their feet.
"Who the Hell are you?" Nico asked what they were both wondering bluntly.
Next issue: The Hobo Spider-Man and the Punk