To Honor A Fallen Hero

Alchemax

We stopped for lunch at a nearby burger joint. "I love this burger. So delicious." Peter said with his mouth full. "One of the best burgers I've ever had. In my universe, this place closed six years ago. I don't know why. I really don't. You two have money, right? I'm not very liquid right now." "Sure." I sighed, paying for lunch. "Now, can we focus?" "Mm-hm. Sure." Peter replied. "The other Peter..." Miles began. "You gonna eat that?" Peter asked, taking Miles' burger. "I'm listening." "Her dad said he was going to be showing us the ropes." Miles explains. "You got any Spider-Man tips you can tell us now?" "Yeah, I've got plenty. Disinfect the mask. You're gonna want to use baby powder on the suit, heavy on the joints. You don't want any chafing, right?" Peter replied. "Is that everything?" I asked. Peter nodded. "I think you're going to be a bad teacher." "Look up where Alchemax is." Peter said. ""A private technological campus in Hudson Valley, New York."" Miles read. "You can teach us to swing on the way there! Fwsh!" Peter and I laughed.

Though I wanted to learn how to swing, Peter insisted that we'd take the bus to Hudson Valley. "I'm not swinging to the Hudson Valley, Miles. Not after a hearty burger breakfast." Peter explains. "Keep your legs fresh. You're gonna thank me later."

Close enough to our destination, Miles and I suited up. Miles even gave himself a cape. "And it's a no on the cape." Peter said. "I think it's cool." Miles retorted. "Now that is a look." I chuckled, taking a picture with my camera. "She gets it." Miles added. "Take that off. It's disrespectful." Peter demanded. "Spider-Man doesn't wear a cape." "So, how do we retrace my dad's steps?" I asked. "That's a good question." Peter replied. "What would I do if I were me? Got it."

Step 1: Infiltrate the Lab

Step 2: Find the Head Scientist's Computer

Step 3: Re-examine my Personal Biases

Step 4: Hack the Computer

Step 5: Download the Important Stuff

Step 6: I grab a bagel from the cafeteria and run.

"So, what are we doing?" I asked. "Uh, Step 7: You stay here. You two are lookout. Very important." Peter replied. "Look, man, you gotta teach us some Spider-Man stuff or we won't be able to help you." Miles said. "Watch and learn, kids." Peter said, swinging to Alchemax. "I'll quiz ya later." "Why did we get stuck with the janky, old, broke hobo Spider-Man?" Miles wondered, punching the rock we hid behind, breaking part of it. "That's new." All of a sudden, a car pulled into the Alchemax parking lot. Escorted out of the car was Kingpin, the guy who murdered my dad. The criminal behind this collider. "Kingpin." I gasped. "Miles, I know Peter told us to stay here, but let's follow him." "I'm down." Miles smiled.

We snuck into the ventilation system to warn Peter about Kingpin. "Peter!" Miles and I whispered. "What are you two doing here?" Peter asked. "Kingpin's here. Just move over." Miles replied. "I don't think that's gonna work, dude." I said. "You're stepping on my foot! Go back outside with Phoebe." Peter demanded. "No! We can't just sit there and let Spider-Man die without doing anything about it." I whispered. "We're not doing that again." "Most people I meet in the workplace try to kill me, so you're a nice change of pace." Peter complimented. We watched Olivia type her password into the computer. "And I got the password." "Mr Fisk, if we fire again this week, there could be a black hole under Brooklyn." We overheard Olivia say to Kingpin. "This is multiple dimensions beginning to crash into each other." "This is pretty standard Spider-Man stakes. You get used to it." Peter said. "Watch this. He's gonna say, "You've got 24 hours."" "You've got 24 hours." Kingpin replied to Olivia. "What this means is there could be a rupture in the space time continuum." Olivia explains. "Ooh, that's bad. Actually, everything she said was bad. I was lying before." Peter said as we escaped the vent and entered the empty office. Peter went to Olivia's computer and typed in the password. I jumped out very carefully. Miles, however, got stuck to the lights. "What are you doing, bud?" I asked. "I can't move." Miles whispered. "Okay, relax your fingers. We don't have time." Peter explained. "Just let go. Be in the moment." "I am in the moment. This is a terrible moment!" Miles said. "They're right there. They're gonna see you." Peter warned. "Miles, you gotta unstick." "Ooh, I know. What do you do to relax?" I asked. Miles breathed in and began to remember his favorite song. After singing it for a bit, Miles started to unstick from the ceiling lights, until he eventually fell down. "Teenagers are just the worst." Peter sighed. I went to check on Miles, but he was nowhere to be seen. "Miles? Where did you go?" I asked. "I'm right here." He replied. "Where? I can't see you." Peter said. "I'm right in front of you." Miles explains. "Can Spider-Man turn invisible?" "My dad never could." I replied. "Not in my universe." Peter added, accidentally poking Miles in his eye. "You just poked me in my eye!" Miles whispered. "This is incredible. Some kind of fight or flight thing." Peter said as Miles disappeared again. "Remember this password. D-g-f-a-m-p-e-s-a-n-d-4-$-3-5-8-7-6-5-3-4-5-4-5-3-5. Download this schematic. While I turn on the charm." I was able to hide behind the desk while Olivia came in, examining Peter. "Phoebe, do you know the last two digits?" Miles whispered. "35." I replied quietly. He typed in the missing digits and unlocked Olivia's computer. "Organize your desktop, lady." Miles said, attempting to escape with her computer. "What are you doing?" I wondered. "I'm just taking the whole thing." Miles whispered. "And obviously, you've been glitching." Olivia said. "Glitching? No." Peter lied, beginning to glitch. "Why would you say that?" "If you stay in this dimension too long, your body's gonna disintegrate." Olivia explains. "Do you know how painful that would be, Peter Parker?" "I don't know." Peter replied. "You can't imagine." Olivia said. "And I, for one, can't wait to watch." "What did you say your name was?" Peter asked. "Dr Olivia Octavius." Olivia replied, revealing her villainous alter ego. "Can I assume that your friends call you Doc Ock?" Peter wondered. "My friends actually call me Liv." Olivia explains. "My enemies call me Doc Ock." "I got this! Run!" Peter shouted, unlocking the doors with his webs.

I snuck out with Miles and the computer, while Peter was still struggling with Olivia. Peter joined us after crashing into the ground. "Alright, let me tell you the good news. We don't need the monitor." Peter explains, before Olivia caught up to us. "Peter! You didn't tell me you had invisible friends." She said. "Could you give me that back, kiddos?" "Peter!" Miles and I shouted after avoiding Olivia.

Miles and I slid into the cafeteria with Peter. "This'd be a good time to turn invisible." I whispered. "Yup." Miles said. "Okay, not gonna turn invisible. Selecting a bagel. Act super normal." Peter explains. "Spider-Man?" A scientist asked. "You know, it's funny. I get that a lot." Peter played along as the entire staff had loaded up weapons. "Okay, now we do a switchy-switchy." Miles and I followed Peter to make our escape with the PC. "Now what?!" I asked. "Time to swing, just like I taught ya." Peter said. "When did you teach us that?" Miles wondered. "I didn't. It's a little joke for team-building." Peter replied, handing each of us a web shooter. "Alright, you ready?" "Of course I'm not ready!" Miles shouted, barely swinging. "Everybody knows that the best way to learn is under intense, life-threatening pressure." Miles and I couldn't figure out the web shooters and ran while scientists were trying to shoot us. "What are you doing?!" Peter asked. "I run better than I swing!" Miles exclaimed. "You're a terrible teacher, Peter!" I added. "Aim with your hips! Look where you want it to hit!" Peter shouted. "Square your shoulders. Don't forget to follow through! Don't shoot off your back foot." "That's too many things!" Miles exclaimed. "Then stop listening to me!" Peter yelled. "That's the best idea you've had all day!" I shouted. Eventually, we both took Peter's advice and did our first successful swings. "Miles! We're actually doing it!" "Nice!" Peter complimented. "Double tap to release and thwip it out again." "I gotta say. You're amazing, man." Miles said. "I regret calling you a terrible teacher." I added. "We're a little team." Peter explains. "Me as the teacher who can still do it. You guys as the students who can do it, just not as good. I'm proud of us. Is there something you want to say to me?" All of a sudden, Peter glitches again as Olivia gets her hands on the PC. At the same time, we were being tied up by webs. A female Spider-Man with a different color scheme in her suit retrieved the PC. She removed her mask and revealed herself as the girl from class. "Hey, guys." She greeted. "Gwanda?" Miles and I asked. "It's Gwen, actually." She corrected. "Oh, you know her. Very cool." Peter said. "I'm from another dimension." Gwen explains. "I mean, another, another dimension." "I like your haircut." Miles says, still embarrassed. "You don't get to like my haircut." Gwen grunted. "Let's go." "How many more Spider-People are there?" Miles asked. "Save it for Comic Con." Peter replied, grabbing us both with his web.