Time to Stop the Ultimate Spider-Man

Chapter Four

The weekend was weird. Well, of course it was. With Ganke's dad in the hospital, Saturday was dreadful. Miles went to the hospital with Ganke to check up on his dad. He had three broken ribs, a broken pointer finger, and of course his leg. Miles knew his torso was scratched up too, but he didn't even follow Ganke into the actual room he was in. He felt like it should just be family, plus it wasn't like Miles was Mr. Lee's favorite. Still, that didn't stop Miles from hanging right outside of the door.

They spent two hours at the hospital, and Ganke only came out of the room a few short times. Miles spent the majority of that time listening to the people who passed. There was one visiting her grandmother here, one mom who had a teenaged daughter here from a car accident. It made Miles sad. Made him feel like he could be doing more, even though he was already taking on a lot.

After those two painful hours of just listening, Ganke and his mom both finally came out of the hospital room. Mrs. Ryu (Ganke's mom) told Ganke he'd have to go to her house for a few weekends instead of alternating. Ganke was just fine with this, as was Miles. Though, the part that surprised Miles is all Ganke asked was could he spend the weekend over at his house. His mom said yes, and they got to spend the rest of the depressing weekend together. Ganke wasn't as enthusiastic as he normally was. He wasn't exactly sad either though, he was more focused.

Ganke spent almost the entire time on his laptop, doing who knows what. Miles just left him to it, not wanting to be nosy. Then came questions on Sunday morning that came out of the blue, like, "What was the number on the spider that bit you?" and "How did you know what to do so fast on that interview where the interviewer turned out to be Doc Ock?" and "How do you wash your spider suit without someone noticing?". There was nothing too serious about these questions, and Miles didn't mind telling the answers to Ganke, but they came all at once. There was a specific reason he was asking, not just wild curiosity. It was starting to worry Miles, and it didn't feel like an overreaction even with the small things he's doing.

That's when Sunday night happened, when they were both getting ready to head back to school the next morning. Miles was packing his suitcase on the bed, and Ganke set his already packed bag on Miles' desk. Miles could feel Ganke's stare on the back of his neck, but ignored it until he spoke up, "I wanna help people."

Miles looked back at him, not really getting his meaning. He was going to joke but stopped when seeing Ganke's serious expression, "Like- how?"

"Like you do," Ganke pushed himself off of Miles's desk and spoke quickly when Miles opened his mouth a bit. "I could do it. There are lots of superheroes who don't have powers, like Tony Stark. And- and I make your web fluid, I could do something like that for myself-"

"Woah Woah," Miles held out both of his hands a bit, making Ganke stop and stare. They stayed like this for a while before Miles spoke again. "Where's this coming from..?"

Ganke sighed at the question and looked down, moving a hand up to push up his glasses. He was wearing an orange hoodie, having the hood over his head so Miles couldn't see his eyes, "I could've helped my dad, Miles. I could've stopped that from happening if I was like you- and I actually committed to it. I can do more than just helping your wounds and making your gear. I can do more."

Miles stood there, not knowing what to feel. His best friend wanted to be like him. It was touching, but the thought was dangerous. It wasn't that Miles didn't think Ganke would be a good superhero, it was just, well- he had no powers. And that wouldn't be an issue if he was older, and had a lot more money. And- Miles would worry about him. Ganke is anything but a fighter, even if helping others became his sudden passion, "You do help people- a lot. You always push me to do my best, you don't owe doing more to anyone, man."