Being Spider-Man was both a thrill and an exhausting experience for Miles. There was never a time when his heart didn't skip a few beats when he leaped off of a building or ran on top of a moving truck. It gave him the adrenaline rush of a lifetime that would never lessen as his days as Spider-Man went by. He lived for the adrenaline, it made him feel alive.
There were some moments where he wished he wasn't Spider-Man. That he was just still the same Miles Morales that he's always been. Being a normal human being was something he couldn't get back but he wouldn't give up his role for anything. It came with consequences and sacrifices. Some sacrifices were worse than others. He was grateful for being able to save people when they needed him or bring people to justice that's been wrecking havoc across town. Brooklyn needed someone to watch over them and that's exactly what Spider-Man did.
Miles was now at the scene of the crime. Recently there had been some problems with an unknown suspect that had been causing terror across Brooklyn. The only lead the police had on him was that he was very similar to Spider-Man. The suspect had been breaking into various stores to steal specific items and very little money. Just moments ago there was a break in at a hardware store of all places. Throughout the police chase the suspect had damaged multiple shops and a few people were injured from attacks.
The owner was shaking uncontrollably by the time Miles got there. She was crying hysterically while a cop tried to hold her to keep her on her feet. Her eyes showed she had just witnessed something terrifying.
"I-It wasn't human. There's no way! He was so tall and h-he had these claws that looked like it could rip through skin."
"Was it Spider-Man mam?" A cop asked. Miles was kinda offended that they assumed he would cause this much fear.
"N-No. I love Spider-Man, he's such an amazing person."
Miles smirked.
"This wasn't anything like Spider-Man. It looked very similar to him though. He was like the terrifying evil version of Spider-Man."
Miles got onto the ground and caught the attention of a few cops. The one that was questioning the store owner approached him.
"There's morning you can do here Spider-Man." This cop's name was Ren Jenkins. Ren had been on the force almost as long as the chief and while everyone else on his squad adored the hero he absolutely hated him.
"These are my people too. Besides, I can do a little bit more than you can?"
"Oh yeah? How so?"
"Can you swing around on webs? Electrocute people? Go invisible?"
Ren just crossed his arms over his chest in annoyance.
"Thought so. She described the suspect, have you seen him before?"
"Not that I'm aware of. He's been doing this for weeks now and we don't know the reason behind it. Every time we think we have him he gets away. We've been chasing him for twenty minutes then suddenly he just disappeared."
Miles started to respond but his spider-sense went off and he grabbed Ren so he could get down just as a sewer cap flew over his head and hit the brick wall behind him. Cops were pointing their weapons at something that was walking towards them.
"Spider-Man!"
The owner was right. He was tall, looked exactly like Miles but he didn't have a suit, claws, and his mask seemed part of his face instead of just fabric. Miles made the cops back up and told them not to fire unless they had to. Whoever this was obviously wanted to deal with him not them.
"Who are you? Why are you hurting these people?"
"I'm on a mission, Spider-Man. A mission to take over this city that you claim as yours. This is destiny. This is fate. This city is mine."
"You're awful confident. What makes you so sure you're going to accomplish this mission?"
The smile he gave made Miles' skin crawl. "Because you won't be here to stop me."
Another sewer cap was thrown at him but he ducked in time and it hit a cop car behind him, denting the door and breaking the window some. Miles shot a web to the hardware store and got onto the roof to create distance between them.
"I think you forgot who I am. What I can do. I'll remind you real quick."
Miles went invisible. The suspect growled in frustration as he turned around to try and find the invisible hero. Miles moved quickly back to the ground and crawled over to him. Smirking, he did a swift kick with his feet and knocked his feet out from underneath him. He fell to the ground but grabbed the air and somehow got Miles by his feet and threw him. He crashed into a cop car and landed on the ground with his ears ringing. His back was aching tremendously and his vision was blurry from the incredibly hard impact. Whoever this was had strength that not even a hundred men could compare to.
By the time Miles got back on his feet with the cops trying to capture the suspect he had slipped back into the sewers. There was nothing they could do once he got down there. They weren't equipped to go down into the sewers so yet again he got away.
"Spider-Man? You alright?" The chief asked. The chief favored him the most, he reminded him of his lost son. How he knew Spider-Man was that young he didn't know.
"I'm alright chief thank you. Just wasn't expecting that."
Miles was back on his feet. He sighed knowing he let him get away. After the scene had calmed down some he was swinging back to Visions Academy so he could change into his normal clothes that he left in a nearby alley. He wondered if his friends were still out eating somewhere as he was changing clothes and decided to go look. He walked to the pizza place he knew they were at and saw them eating by the window. They seemed to be laughing at something Ganke did when he walked in. For a second he hesitated at the door, wondering if they'd be mad at him when he walked up to the table.
"Miles? Hey!" Gwen called out.
Olivia turned around in her seat. She smiled at him. "Are you finally joining us? We've already ate!"
"I still have two slices left so it's good. I got you man."
Miles sat down next to Gwen and took the slices of pizza from Ganke. His head was throbbing from being thrown against a car but it was slowly fading away. Olivia noticed that he seemed to be in pain almost immediately.
"You alright? You look like you're in pain."
The waiter stopped by their table and he ordered himself a milkshake to go. "Just got a headache, I'll be fine. What have you guys been talking about?"
Olivia didn't seem to believe him but she let it slide. "School, life, how much we hate you. Typical stuff."
"Wait a minute-"
They all laughed and Miles rolled his eyes. Gwen softly punched his arm to let him know she was kidding. Their entire friendship consisted of making fun of each other without actually meaning it. It was like that with Ganke too.
"Did you see what was happening downtown?"
"Oh that?" Olivia leaned back in her seat. "All I saw were cop cars flying by. It's probably that suspect that's been going around causing nothing but trouble."
"Probably is." Miles said smoothly. "It's been all over the news for weeks now."
"Are they every gonna catch him?"
"I bet you Spider-Man will." Ganke said.
"Spider-Man? Really?" Gwen scoffed.
"What's so bad about Spider-Man?" Miles got defensive.
"He's just kinda overrated to me. I mean yeah I'm glad he's able to protect us but I just don't really see the hype around him."
"You're an awful person!" Ganke said, clearly offended. Olivia giggled from beside him and Miles laughed too.
"For not liking a superhero? I didn't say I hated him, I don't, I just don't really care for him. Don't twist my words Ganke."
Ganke threw a balled up straw wrapper at her and she swatted it away. She picked up her own wrapped and threw it back at him, giggling. Ganke got on her nerves sometimes but that's just what Ganke did.
"I mean that's understandable." Olivia said. "Not everyone is going to like the same thing."
"Exactly Liv! Thank you!"
Miles was a little upset over the fact that Gwen didn't really care for Spider-Man but he couldn't make everyone love him. Maybe one day Gwen would see Spider-Man in a different light and would like him just a bit more.
"Are we ready to go? I still want ice cream."
"Ganke you always want ice cream."
"Your point?"
They left the pizza place and Miles grabbed his milkshake on the way out. He let Gwen have the rest of it and tossed it in a trash can as they walked down the street. The ice cream shop was only five minutes away so it was perfectly placed. It was getting late and soon they'd have to get back to Visions so they wouldn't get in trouble for missing curfew. They all got their individual cones, Miles getting rocky road which was his favorite, and started the walk back to Visions. They ran into some other people from school who were out doing different things and also trying to make it back before curfew. When they arrived back inside the dormitory lounge they sat on a couch they've claimed since the beginning of the school year.
"Isn't homecoming come up?"
"At the end of October right?"
In about a month from then it'd be homecoming time for Visions Academy which was one of the funnest moments of the school year. This would be Miles' first homecoming here and he was a little anxious about it. It would be a little bit different than what it was back at Brooklyn High but it'd still be fun nonetheless. With the promise of a homecoming court and dance it got everyone excited for what's to come. Not to mention the football game that causes the entire student section to lose their minds.
"Wonder what the dress up days will be like. Hopefully nothing boring." Olivia said. She loved to participate in school activities like this.
"You probably just jinxed it. If it's boring I'm blaming you." Ganke said.
Olivia softly kicked him. "Don't blame me blame the cheerleaders that pick it!"
"Why'd you stop being a cheerleader by the way?"
Olivia had been a cheerleader her entire life up until this year. She suddenly quit the squad and Miles went with her to turn her stuff in. She was upset about it for a long time but never spoke about why she suddenly just quit.
"It's a long story.. it didn't feel right anymore."
"I don't believe that." Gwen said. "It's something deeper."
Olivia shook her head and got up. "I'm going to bed. I'll see you guys later. Don't be too late Miles."
They watched her leave and once she was out of sight Ganke spoke up. "She was one of the best cheerleaders we've had! Probably the nicest one too. It just doesn't make sense."
Deep down, Miles knew why she quit. She quit because she was getting practically bullied by her squad for having a male roommate. They made fun of her and called her offensive names behind her back which she overheard one day in the locker room. Not wanting to be apart of it anymore, she simply just quit so they'd stop. He felt so bad about it since he was the reason for it. Cheerleading had always been her passion since she was a kid and knowing that he caused her to stop altogether made him upset.
He got back to his room a few minutes later. Quietly opening the door, he kicked his shoes off and put them on the black shoe rack that was his; Olivia had a purple one. She was sitting on her bunk bed reading a book with the lamp on the nightstand below being the only light source. He grabbed his pajamas but wanted to talk to her first before he went and showered.
"Liv?"
"Yeah Miles?"
"I'm sorry."
She put her book down, the bookmark setting firmly between the pages. "Sorry for what?"
"You quit cheer because of me. I know you did."
"You blame yourself?"
"Well yeah.." He stared at his bundled up pajamas.
"It wasn't because of you. I didn't want to be apart of a squad that half of the members bullied other people. Only me and three others are actual decent people. I will admit it did have a little to do with it but it wasn't the main reason. I wasn't about to stick around and listen to such bad negativity all the time."
Miles knew that the cheer squad for Visions had some rude people on it, ones that bragged their wealth or popularity. The ones that were really sweet and nice was the complete opposite which some people didn't notice. No one else in the school acted like they did.
"So you don't blame me for it?"
She climbed down from the top bunk and hugged Miles. When she pulled away she fixed the strings on his hoodie. "No, Miles, I don't. Thank you for caring though."
When he left the room to go shower he wondered if she knew about him. His secret life.
She had no clue about what the boy she shared a room with was hiding, or why the window would randomly be open in the middle of the night.
No one knew. It had to stay like that.