The Eyes of New York

Mazes

"As more details pour in about the harrowing situation in Brooklyn, we turn to Sam on the scene. Sam, what can you tell us?"

"...Yes, hi Jen. As we've been standing here for the last hour, there's been a steady trickle of minors coming out of this horrific scene. Noticeably, one of them had wings, another horns and there was even one with scaly skin. The theory at the moment seems to be that whatever they were brought here for, it was to do with these extra features.

"Notably, an insider revealed to us that all the files they've found so far on these minors have revealed that they had latent genetic mutations giving them these additions, except for one.

"As we get more details, we'll be sure to let everyone know. Back to you, Jen."

~~

Turns out starving yourself to near death is a bigger deal to fix than he had known. Miles found himself attached to various bags of slowly dripping liquids replenishing his minerals and vitamins, while a team of dieticians worked on a plan to 'introduce food back into his system'.

Through the closed door, he had overheard someone talking about how he was in worse condition than most of the kids they had rescued, despite his stay being shorter than most. He tried not to overhear any more of that conversation.

He suspected his advanced metabolism played a large role in his poor state. He had been way hungrier since getting bit by that spider than before it. Starving himself on top of that had probably worked quickly to eat through his muscle and fat reserves.

He forced himself to relax into the pillows provided. The Spider-Man side of him wanted to heal up as quickly as possible and find out who did this, and the Miles side of him wanted to smother that urge and just be normal for a change. That was never going to happen, though, and whoever kidnapped him had so much information on him now. He had to keep it out of the bad guys' hands.

There was a light knock on the door and he idly turned his head to look. One of the nurses, Rebecca, opened the door to reveal his friend. Ganke.

"Miles!" Ganke exclaimed, throwing his hands out wide.

"Ganke," he replied, attempting to give him a big smile.

Ganke hurried to his bedside, throwing his Star Wars backpack to the ground and quickly sitting down on his bed - though he made sure Miles's legs weren't in the way first.

"Oh my god, Miles. I didn't even know what to think when you disappeared for like, two months. I knew you weren't dead, you're you-know-who, but, like, I couldn't wait to hear about the crazy stories that would come out of it. Like, what happened? The news hasn't said anything useful and your parents weren't saying anything either!" Ganke blurted.

Miles couldn't help but pick at a loose thread on his bedsheets. "It, uh, wasn't all that exciting. No... no great stories to tell."

Ganke looked puzzled. "No daring escapes? No 'sticking it to the man?'"

"Um, not really." His thoughts flashed to holding the stolen gun in his hands, desperation making pulling a trigger easier than he would have thought. If Daredevil hadn't been there...

He wiped his eyes with his good hand, willing the thoughts away. The thoughts stuck anyway. "It's, uh, well, maybe don't think of it as a 'spidey' adventure?"

Lying on the cold metal, staring at the food with the shame of knowing it had all been useless. His body wasn't his anymore, just an experiment to keep alive until they were satisfied-