The weekend break began just as Miles had predicted. Boring and with his movement restricted to his house since the news of an explosion at Horizon had wildly circulated and his mom kept bringing up her intentions to withdraw him from the school whenever she saw him.
"Mom, I'm okay. It was a small explosion. No casualties. A terror attack. We're getting those everywhere in the world nowadays, aren't we?" Miles protested for the thousandth time in the three hours he'd been at home.
"But it's not expected at a place that claims to be highly secured."
"I'm done trying to explain to you, ma. I'm not going to stay in this house for the rest of this break if you're just going to complain about Horizon every time you see me. I have things to do."
"You won't step out of this house, young man. Your father passed away not quite long ago and you're willing to risk your life so soon? I can't take this anymore."
"I'm not risking my life!" Miles yelled. "I'm trying to make a difference in the world with skills I can only ever acquire from Horizon. I'm not leaving the school. And I need to go see Dil, the shuttle just dropped him off at his house. School project."
"I forbid you."
"I'm going out anyways. I'll be home before dinner," Miles said and grabbed his backpack and started heading out the front door.
"You better be back in here before dinner!" his mother called after him.
"Sure!" Miles said and he closed the door gently behind him. His bike was parked right beside their mailbox so he walked towards it, got on the bike, ignited the engine and drove off.
Their plan was to visit Andy Stark as soon as they got home and that's what they were about to do. As reluctant as Miles had been at first about donning a suit with a spider emblem, he actually couldn't contain his excitement about seeing the suit now. He knew that anything developed by a Stark would be amazing and pure gold and in this case, pure vibranium.
It was a 15-minute ride before he arrived at Dil's totally gorgeous mansion where he met Dil waiting outside in a black leather jacket on a blue T-shirt with black denim trousers and a pair of red and blue sneakers.
"You had time to change?"
"Always gotta dress for the occasion."
"All we're doing is paying a visit to a teenage nerd just like us who has the resources we lack and can build a fancy suit for me. Nothing to dress for."
"This teenage nerd that's just like us has a recorded IQ of 301. That's supposed to be impossible."
"Whatever. Let's just get this over with."
"You realize we'll be seeing the Stark Tower on this trip?" Dil said. "You realize how frigging awesome that would be. So many teenagers would kill for this."
"Yeah, yeah. Get on your bike, let's get going."
"I'm hitching a ride with you. My brother took my bike out to a party at his girlfriend's. Probably won't be back till midnight so no point waiting."
"Let's just go!"
Dil nodded and hurried to Miles's bike before climbing onto it. "Let's ride off into the sunset, my dear Johnny Blaze."
"Ghost Rider puns?"
"Not exactly a pun. More like a direct reference."
"Well, I never really liked the Ghost Rider. He was just confirmation that the Illuminati existed."
"Never," Dil correct.
"Just how far away is this Andy Stark from your place?" Miles asked as he ignited the engine and started pulling out onto the street.
"Probably 30 minutes. But you won't feel it since we'll be talking throughout. Any ideas?"
"I took the symbiote away from Horizon."
"What?" Dil asked.
"It's safely stashed away in my own personal basement. It's where I keep all my techy junk and the symbiote seemed like a nice addition to all that junk. Plus, it's in too much danger at Horizon. No one's going to think to search the home of Miles Morales for an intelligent, bio-organic life form."
"I hope you're right. Because if they do search your home for it then you know your mother would be in danger, right?"
"Why do you have to give me wise advice that I didn't think of all the time?" Miles asked and groaned. "Just let me off the hook just one time. Is that possible, Yoda?"
"Possible it is, my young Padawan."
They spoke about a number of other things on the journey, including Dil's budding romance with Hay Johnson even though this particular topic was to Miles's dismay as he couldn't help but feel a twinge of jealousy every time Dil mentioned her name. He'd started to like her. But a week out of commission definitely had its consequences. Finally, Miles brought the topic around to Sam and the powers he'd exhibited.
"So he has superpowers just like you?" Dil asked.
"Not like me. He seemed stronger. And when I thought about it deeply, there's been some things that he's said that would insinuate that he's been doing this for a lot longer than me."
"How'd he get his powers?" Dil asked.
"I don't know. He could be an alien from an extinct planet who probably gets his powers from the sun on our planet?"
"Superman references?"
"More like puns."
"But shouldn't you be bothered that he has powers and also happens to be in Horizon High. He could be in league with Shockwave and whichever other criminal has Connors in custody."
"No. During our encounter, it seemed like he was trying to protect the symbiote just like me. He probably perceived me as a threat. Like I did him."
"But you haven't spoken to him since the encounter?"
"Not really. Only on the shuttle when we were coming home. I don't exactly trust him anymore."
"I wonder how many other superhumans exist in Horizon High."
"It's not exactly surprising though. It's expected that a scientific and technological establishment like Horizon would have weird people like me and Sam there. A lot of crazy things are bound to happen."
"True. Maybe I'll get powers next," Dil said and chuckled.
"That would be great though. I'd love to have a trusted sidekick out there fighting bad guys with me."
"Why would I be the sidekick?"
"Because I'd obviously have more experience than you and you'd have to follow my lead out there in the field."
"Or I could just be an independent vigilante wielding a bow and arrow."
"I'm getting tired of all these puns."
"But for real though, we should think about starting a superhero team. We'd call ourselves Team Horizon or Horizon Squad."
"And who would the team members be?"
"You. Me. Sam. I'd be the brains or the geek with the computer providing overwatch, intel and strategic plans. You and Sam would be the actual muscles. An undefeatable superhero squad."
"That's a cheesy idea."
"But it's proven to be effective in the past. The Avengers. The Revengers. The X-Men. The Guardians. So many undefeatable superhero squads."
"But you know what happened? They were defeated and now there's not a single trace of them in the world again. They've all just vanished, haven't they? That's the problem with superhero squads. Too many people in danger."
Dil sobered up. "The world really does need heroes, doesn't it? All this crime started with the disappearance of Spider-Man. The last hero standing."
"Yeah."
"I wonder where they all are."
"Do you think we'll find them all someday?"
"It's been over a decade. Wherever they are, it's hard to imagine that they've been able to survive this entire time."
"We're there," Dil said suddenly. Miles stopped the bike and looked around. At an empty expanse of land.
Dil chuckled.