Spider-Man : The Morales Trilogy

Chapter 22

For the past fourteen hours, which Miles had been counting in his head, Smythe had been absent from wherever the hell he had kept Miles. In a way, Miles hated the isolation and actually wanted someone to be around. And in a way, Miles was glad because he was already regenerating from all the continuous damage of the simulations. Once he got back to full strength, he could properly try and bust the hell out of here, granted Smythe didn't return before then.

The walls were thick and somewhat soundproofed so Miles's super-hearing didn't help in trying to hear what was going on just outside the room. He needed to be sure that Dil and whoever else Smythe had abducted were in perfect health but he couldn't hear them and that made him frustrated. What good were his powers if he's the one who needs rescuing?

"Rudolph, the red-nosed reindeer," Miles sang under his breath. He'd been singing the song under his breath for the past fourteen hours. It was his dad's favorite Christmas song. And Miles didn't really understand why.

"Had a very shiny nose," he continued and looked around. He had a wide range of powers, surely one of those powers could help him break out of here

"And if you ever saw him," he continued and then froze.

He closed his eyes tight and focused on turning invisible and when he opened his eyes and looked down, he couldn't see the rest of his body. He hoped this would fool someone as intelligent as Smythe.

There was a hissing sound and the door slid open. Smythe walked into the room accompanied by Shockwave, to Miles's dismay. Miles thought he'd put the psychopath behind bars for quite a while.

"Where is he?" Shockwave growled. "What kind of games are you trying to play with me, Smythe? You told me you had the boy down here!"

"I did!"

"And what? You let him slip away?" Shockwave grabbed Smythe by the neck and lifted him off the ground. Smythe's feet dangled in hair and he wheezed for breath.

"I've never trusted you, Smythe. You're a cunning bastard who has somehow managed to betray everyone he's ever worked with. Your history dooms you. When the Grandmaster ordered your recruitment, I didn't exactly agree. But if you brought me here to try and conduct some sick experiments on me, you've made your last mistake!"

"Please!" Smythe managed to wheeze and Shockwave threw him to the ground. "He has to be here."

"If the boy somehow managed to escape your straps then he's prowling around the facility. I'll find him and bring his head back to you. Will that be enough for you to conclude your tests?"

"It would be more than enough," Smythe answered and rubbed his neck which was now red.

"Very well," Shockwave said and he turned and left the room.

Smythe got up and headed to the control panel and pushed a green button. The straps slowly loosened until Miles slipped right through them and landed quietly on the ground.

"Freedom, at last," he said.

Smythe swung around with fear etched unto his face, trying to find where the voice had come from. "Who's that?"

"Your scarlet spider," Miles said and he placed his hands on Smythe, jolting him with a significant current that knocked him right out.

"Gotta find the others," Miles muttered and he walked out of the room. It didn't take him long to find the others. They were right across the hall from him, all of them chained to a metallic chair with probes attached. Those chairs definitely didn't look safe.

Smythe had abducted Hay, Michelle, Dil, Sam, Ava and one other student that Miles didn't know. Hay and the other student were both unconscious while Michelle, Dil, Sam, and Ava were still very conscious. Sam's face was bruised and bloodied and Dil had one swollen eye.

Miles closed his eyes and turned visible as he entered the room. Sam smiled upon seeing Miles and Dil muttered 'yay'.

"Where were they keeping you?" Sam asked.

"Down the hall."

"You look like you've had it much worse than us," Dil groaned as Miles ripped the chains off.

"Well, I've experienced a painful death multiple times over the duration of 62 hours. I've definitely had it worse. Why are they unconscious?"

"They were stubborn," Sam answered.

"What the hell is going on here?!" Michelle asked, her expression showing that she was thoroughly confused.

"It's going to be a long story to explain but when I do explain it, you can't tell anybody else."

"Explain it right now."

"I can't. We need to go. Someone very dangerous is here and if we don't leave now, he'll kill us."

"We can't leave him!" Dil yelled and pointed across the room. Connors was bound to a chair and gagged with blood covering most of his face.

Miles rushed to meet him and untied him and removed the gag from his mouth and threw it to the floor. "Thank you," Connors said weakly and stood up. "We need to get out of here.

"Dil, you're going to have to get everyone out."

"What about you?" Dil asked.

"I'm not done here," Miles answered. "Shockwave's out of prison. He's in here with us. I have to stop him."

"We don't have enough time. Let's go."

"The only place you guys are going to is into a casket," Shockwave growled as he entered the room. "Who wants to die first?"

"Dil, get everyone out!" Miles yelled and charged at Shockwave, turning invisible midair and landing a series of unexpected punches.

Sam punched a hole through a wall and led the others out through the hole while Miles waited behind and occupied Shockwave.

"You're becoming a pest. Sucks that I ran out of insecticide weeks ago."

"Spiders are actually arachnids but it's okay, most thick-headed fools like you can't tell the difference."

Miles's hands glowed red and he clapped them together, releasing a directed wave of electrical energy that sent Shockwave hurtling backwards, crashing through walls.

"That's a new one," Miles said and stared at his hands which were still glowing red. He jumped out the hole Sam had created and caught up with them.

"How do we get out of here?" Dil asked.

"Sam, can you fly?" Miles asked.

"What?"

"You're strong and I've seen you shoot beams of heat from your hands. You have to be able to fly."

"I can but I can't carry everyone with me. You won't."

Miles stepped onto the road, right in front of a speeding bus and stopped the bus with his hands.

"Everyone, get on the bus. Sam, you're going to fly the bus."

"Miles! Just how strong do you think I am?" Sam asked.

"Hopefully strong enough to get us all out of here before Shockwave kills us." Sam nodded and waited till everyone was on the bus except Miles who decided to stick to the side of the bus in case of any incoming danger.

Sam lifted the bus off the ground with both hands and blasted himself off the ground, hurtling upwards at an amazing speed. He was moving so fast that Miles wished he'd stayed in the bus like everyone else now he was afraid that he'd fall off the bus due to the wind.

The bus shook and jolted multiple times but just as Sam found aerial balance, something collided into him, leaving the bus in the air.

And it started falling.