Spider-Man : The Morales Trilogy

Chapter 1

Miles Morales was the best and brightest at Midtown High. But that hadn't been enough for him and so he'd accepted the once in a lifetime scholarship offer from Max Modell and gained admission into Horizon High, a futuristic school of technology and science built by the smartest mind in the world. Rather than the remaining 4 years he had left in Midtown, he only had 2 years left to spend in high school thanks to Horizon and he could choose to stay behind for a three-month internship after his graduation. For a 15-year old, this had been the best offer he'd been able to find because without the scholarship, he knew his mother wouldn't have been able to afford the hefty sum of $350, 000 that Horizon High demanded as fees.

His best friend from Midtown, Dil Casen had also received the scholarship for Horizon High and although, his parents could very well afford the fees, he had accepted the scholarship and so, here they were, on the Horizon Transit Shuttle that had come to pick them up early in the morning to take them for their first day at Horizon. And the shuttle was insanely fast: Miles had tried to study the buildings as they rushed past and had gotten insanely dizzy from it. The shuttle simply shot past the buildings, almost as fast as sound and Miles had a feeling that the shuttle was designed to move faster than sound. He'd seen the ionic propulsion engines the shuttle had.

"Do you see how fast this shuttle is going?" Dil said. "It's moving perfectly, no bumps, nothing. Just one hell of a smooth ride."

"I wonder how Max Modell built this beauty," Miles said and peered out the window at the road. This shuttle was moving impossibly fast but somehow, Max Modell had made it possible.

"I actually don't think Max Modell built this," said someone in the seat behind them. It was the dark-haired girl that Miles had been drooling over when they'd first boarded the shuttle.

"What?"

"Ionic propulsion is something that Stark Industries does. The Modell-M5 convertible car was powered by concentrated dark matter and can move as fast as sound. His M7 plane can break the sound barrier and move twice as fast as sound without even feeling it. No vehicle built on ionic propulsion can move that fast. It's outdated. Meaning, this shuttle is outdated. But I suppose it's still pretty impressive."

"So you know a lot about speed, uh?"

"I'm just obsessed with physics and mechanics. I'm Hay Johnson by the way," the girl said and smiled brightly.

"I'm Miles Morales and this is my friend, Dil Casen. Nice to meet you."

"Yeah, same here. What's your scientific field? What are you so obsessed with in science?"

"I'm good with physics and mechanics too. Built my first computer from junk when I was 7. It worked but always overheated. But I'm interested in biochemistry. I'm not that good there but just thinking of the possibilities in that field makes me wish I was. Genetic manipulation is the future of humanity."

"It's also the past," said a blond girl seated beside Hay. "It's nothing new, to be honest. We have had heroes like Captain America and Quicksilver in the past. Both of them were created as a result of genetic manipulation."

"This is Michelle Hammer, she's my best friend," Hay said and brushed Michelle's shoulder playfully.

"Hammer?" Dil queried.

"As in tech mogul, Julius Hammer? CEO of Hammer Industries? Are you his daughter or something?"

"I'm actually just his niece. Julius is my uncle."

"That's great." Julius Hammer was Justin Hammer's brother and must have taken over the business after the supposed death of Justin Hammer. The truth was that Justin Hammer had disappeared around the same time that the Avengers had vanished off the face of the earth and most people who knew about this usually assumed that Justin had a hand in the disappearance of the Avengers which he probably did.

"Must sound like that."

"The Horizon Transit Shuttle has arrived at its stop. HORIZON HIGH!" said a computerized male voice that sounded more human than robot. And it sounded a lot like Max Modell.

"We're here," Dil said excitedly. The shuttle doors slid open and people poured out, chattering loudly and even pushing themselves past the guides to get a better look at the school.

It was downright beautiful. Most of the buildings were either made of glass or had glass panels in some places. Miles also glimpsed a massive, domelike building made entirely out of glass. From what he'd seen and heard online, that was the most beautiful part of the school and was compartmentalized on the inside. It contained labs and classes as well as a massive cafetaria within it.

Then there were the hostels. This was a week-boarding school. Students would be here from Monday to Friday and then shuttles would take them back home on Friday evening and bring them back early Monday morning.

The school also ran on a completely clean source of power, The Modell Core-X1. It was generated by a couple of reactors and a small particle accelerator, all of which were beneath the school and it powered the entire school consistently.

Two shuttles appeared, slightly smaller ones compared to the one that had brought them here. Each one had a golden letter emblazoned onto it. The blue one had a golden B on its side and the red one had a golden G on its side.

"Girls, get on the G shuttle which will take you to your hostel and the B shuttle is for transporting the boys to their hostel," said one of the guides which was actually someone in a red and blue armor.

"Just so you know, there's no one inside the armor," Hay whispered. "They're remotely controlled. I read it on the school's website."

"You sure did your research," Miles said and glanced at the armor, giving it a lasting look before turning to face the B shuttle which was slightly larger and better-looking than the G shuttle.

Miles and Dil boarded the shuttle to the hostel and Miles stared out the window, the whole journey. This shuttle moved much slower than the one that brought them here so they could take in much of the surroundings and Miles sure wanted to take it all in. He was in the place he'd always wanted to be and soon he'd be doing all he ever wanted to do. Advance science and help the world. All was well and going exactly as planned.

Temporarily...