Ultimate Spider-Future

Kid Arachnid and Miles were doing their homework on a rooftop. They had only a few minutes before the current universe counterpart had to go home to his dad.

“Ok, we got History and Math covered. Now if only I can get these Spanish ones...”

“Even though I know we’re the same person, but from different worlds, I still get so amazed at how we ace in the same classes.” Spider-Miles looked up to him. Then, Miles’s phone started buzzing. He sighed out loud, annoyed.

“Hey, dad. Yeah, I’m on my way home. No, I’m not taking the danger zone route.” He stated, before covering his phone and explaining it to his superhero counterpart. “You get your phone missing ONCE and pay for the rest of your life.” As he resumed his talking, Kid Arachnid looked over to his own cell phone. He saw the scanned family picture from his home universe.

“Dad...” He sighed.

“Okay, I swear I’m getting home soon.” Human Miles said. “Love you back.” As he finished the call, he sighed loudly again. “It’s just… so irritating how protective he is. He’s got all these rules I have to follow, getting home on time, not leaving my door locked, remember to buy this and that, his messages practically bother me all day, even at class!”

“Aren’t you supposed to turn off the cellphone at class?”

“That’s what I mean; I can’t, or he’ll get all worried that I don’t answer!”

“He only loves you very much, I guess. I hid my secret identity from my parents until my dad... ” Kid Arachnid stopped for a moment, and sighed. “I was always scared of them getting mad at me for being a hero, but Mom was proud of me. I wish I’d shared this with Dad before he died.”

“Well, I don’t have superpowers, my mom is gone, and I still can’t share anything with him.” Human Miles looked down. Then, an idea sparked in his mind. He looked up to his superhero self. “But maybe YOU can.”

“Uh… what?”

Episode 03a - Cats in the Bag

At their home, Jefferson Davis was finishing dinner. Miles finally entered the house, dusting off his jacket.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“Actually, you’re quite on time.” Jefferson said before noticing a rip on his clothes. “Wait, where have you been that your favorite jacket looks so messy?”

“Dad, this thing is pretty old, it would start falling to pieces eventually.” Miles said directly, taking off the jacket and throwing it at the coat rack. “But everything’s still here: my phone, my books, my documents, everything.”

“What about that medal I gave you?”

“The one hanging in my backpack’s inside part? Here.” He pointed out.

“Good. I’ll be taking some time off to help you with your homework after dinner. Things have been quite peaceful, so I don’t think I’ll be called anytime soon.” Jefferson said as he focused on the pans on the stove. Miles looked over to his phone. 

“I hope things are peaceful for me too...” He looked at his phone. A picture of the Web Warriors was its screensaver, and Kid Arachnid prayed that he wasn’t called to help solving any problems. He didn’t like much that idea of switching places with his counterpart; hiding the fact him and that world’s Miles had met was already a big secret, but now he had to pretend to be him. At least for that day.

Meanwhile, at Rio’s apartment, Human Miles, dressed in his counterpart’s uniform, helped cleaning the room, while his alive mother from another world took care of the food. There were plenty of snacks and video game consoles  were set on the living room. Apparently there was going to be a game night or something.

Spider-Man then swung over by the window, Scarlet and Iron Spider following him afterwards.

“Oh, yeah, Web Warriors Game night!” Peter cheered, as he spinned around. “You’re going down this time, Miles!”

“Uh, y-yeah? You’re going down, Spider-Man. Down to H-Hammertown. No, wait-” Miles hesitated. How did Kid Arachnid reacted to Spidey’s friendly teases? Was he doing it right?

“I’m afraid Venom can’t join us. Scarlet needed a break, so he offered to take care of his classes’ schedule at the Academy.” Iron Spider explained. “He just had to, Ben was fainting from overexertion again.”

“He’s not really fooling anyone anymore.” Spider-Man said, as he laid on the sofa and took off his mask. “So how’s the other Miles doing?”

“Oh, you know, same old. Dad’s rules crushing him and both of us doing homework.” Miles answered naturally. The others then looked at him. “W-well, he told me that.”

“Okay, gentleman, we’ll do a full on fair kart race.” Scarlet warned the competitors. “No hacking.” He looked firmly at Cho.

“As you wish...” He muttered, gesticulating his hands for him to relax. Miles chuckled; that was something interesting in the other him’s life: their team acted like the brothers he never had. 

With his homework done, Miles took a look at his father. Even with things so peaceful, he looked so tired.

“Are you okay?”

“Uh? Oh, yeah, sure. You know I don’t talk about my work at home, right? That’s one of our rules.” Jefferson replied, and his last statement made Miles shiver a bit. He sure didn’t want that to give it away he wasn’t HIS Miles. 

“I-I know, you just look so tired.” He replied, putting the books back on his backpack. “Is there anything you want to-”

“Why do you want to know? Are YOU okay?” Jefferson asked back. This caught Miles off guard. His counterpart WASN’T talking to his dad? No, wait, he heard a “Love you back” when he called him earlier. He sure loved his dad…. but something seemed truly wrong between them.

Back to the Web Warriors, Peter threw up the controller as Scarlet slowly clapped at Amadeus and Miles’s victory. They laughed for a while and even high-fived before sitting back.

“So… when you’ll stop pretending to be Kid Arachnid?” This last statement by Cho made everyone look at Human Miles. Even Rio, who just brought a bowl of snacks.

“W-what?”

“Come on, if it was OUR Miles, you would’ve abuse the props in the game.” Amadeus looked back at Spider-Man and Scarlet. This made Human Miles shiver and bow down.

“Please, don’t be mad! It was all my idea, and I wanted to give your Miles a chance to see his dad, well- actually MY dad, but-”

“Hey, hey, dude, calm down.” Peter said, tapping the boy’s shoulders. “If you know Kid Arachnid, you must be keeping his secret well, right?”

“Y-yeah, I do, and I won’t tell who you guys are, I swear. Even because I… don’t know much about you.”

“And what was that about US being mad?” Ben asked, looking over to him.

“I don’t know. I’ve… just assumed you’d-” Human Miles stopped again, fearing he’d say something insulting.

“Something tells me you’re assuming too much and asking too little.” Rio finally took a stand in the talk. Seeing her serious face finally broke Human Miles. He had no choice but to open up to them. Meanwhile a current of electricity flowed over the wires outside. 

“Okay, you can’t talk about your work, but there must be something you want to talk about, even if you’re tired.” Spider-Miles insisted, as Jefferson and him finished dinner.

“I’m surprised you’re so curious over me. You don’t ever ask.”

“You don’t say...” Miles muttered. He needed to have a serious talk with his counterpart once he was out of there. “Well, how about this? I tell you something that happened today, you tell me something that happened today?”

“Okay…” Jefferson raised an eyebrow, curious.

“So, there’s this girl in class. She’s very smart and pretty, but I… can’t truly say something to her.” Miles recalled how Human Miles had an obvious crush on the Gwen from that universe.

“Oh? Is she blonde, with blue eyes and MIGHT be our captain’s daughter?” The clear description of the girl’s appearance surprised Spider-Miles.

“How do you-”

“You do have a picture of her in your notebook.” He looked over to his open backpack. “I saw her in person once when we had an office party for Captain Stacy. She looks like a nice girl.”

“She is. Okay, your turn.”

“Hm, let’s see… Yesterday I was almost stuck in traffic, if it wasn’t for those students from S.H.I.E.L.D. taking out the Wrecking Crew. It got me thinking over how dangerous this hero life is.”

“It’s not that bad. They have superpowers, surely they know what they’re doing, right?” Spider-Miles pointed out.

“But they’re still kids. It isn’t clever of this organization to put their lives in trouble, when they have people to go back to.”

“Maybe they don’t have people to go back to, or they do, but they’re far away...” This answer made Jefferson looked at him. “Just guessing. I don’t… talk to them or anything.” The same electrical current flowed across the wires on the electric pole outside.

“It was just supposed to be a simple thing: I give Kid Arachnid a chance to be with Dad, I get to see my Mom, then we switch back and nobody suspect a thing.” Human Miles looked down every second of his confession. “I didn’t meant to lie to anyone…”

“Especially to your dad?” Peter pointed out. “Kid told me he’s overbearing to you. Could this be another reason for this switch?”

“No! Yes...” Human Miles looked quickly up, but since he was being honest. “I don’t hate him, really. It’s just that since Mom died…” He looked at Rio, and she asked him to go on with a gentle gesture. “He became so obsessed with me being safe all the time. It’s like he doesn’t trust me at all. I’m 14, and he treats me like a child that needs its eyes on everyday.” 

“The Jefferson I knew was also very protective of Miles. In fact, he wanted nothing but the better for both of us and for the city.” Rio added. “He knew he had a dangerous job, so he watched our son as much as possible, wanting to be sure he was doing okay. If your dad is anything like him, I’m sure he’ll understand if you just be honest.”

“She’s right, Miles. If these rules and apparent stalking are bothering you, instead of just anticipating the worst, just talk with him.” Peter tapped his shoulder. “Keeping your true beliefs and feelings hidden-”

His talk was cut short by the lights flickering and the television showing visible interference. As it got harder, everyone ducked behind the couch and soon enough, the power was out, the only glow visible being from the criminal in front of them.

“Sorry to barge in like this, but after a daring prison escape, a guy needs to recharge!” Electro stood in front of them with a cocky smile.

“Electro!” Peter had already put his mask back on. 

“Note to self: MAKE SURE a water cell contains an electrical supervillain.” Scarlet sighed. 

“Oh, no! Oh, no!” Miles shivered, as he put on his mask, only to notice it to be backwards and moving it correctly. He then picked his phone. No signal. “Darn it! I can’t reach him!”

Spider-Miles and Jefferson’s home was also caught in the blackout. As he took a look from the window, Jefferson closed the curtains.

“Okay, this is not a common blackout. Miles, I need you to wait here until I get back.”

“Dad, wait-”

“Miles Davis, wait here! I’ll try reaching for help and see how bad things are out there!” He repeated, more seriously, and walked out the door.

“But, Dad, I can-” Too late: the door closed and Miles heard him lock it. He was going to suggest they go to the roof for better reception, but looks like he would have to do it himself. At least in his hurry, Jefferson forgot to lock the window. He just needed to wait for him to walk out and crawl up the wall-

ZZZSHT!

Unless Electro was going after his dad right at the moment he was leaving with his car. As he watched from the blinds, he was startled by a familiar face: Scarlet Spider just stick the landing on the window, carrying Human Miles with him.

“Good to see you too, punk.” He replied, as he got into the house, Miles entering afterwards. 

“What is wrong with you, dude?!” Kid Arachnid was visibly angry and disappointed with his counterpart.

“Hey, I just talked with your friends about that, you don’t need to-”

“Oh, I do alright! Your Dad is not the control freak you said he was! Alright, he just locked me at home, but he just wants to protect me!”

“I never said he was a control freak! I said this rules were annoying!”

“Not a solid reason to NOT TRY reconnecting with him! He was actually happy “you” were talking to him today!”

“I was trying to not make him upset, I know a bunch of things that can-!”

“Well, clearly THIS doesn’t help!”

“Uh, we’re on a supervillain pursuit!” Scarlet quickly interrupted their talk. “Could you please not do this skit now?”

“Sorry.” Both Miles said, and both nodded before running to the next room. 

“This is Jefferson Davis. Keep your doors closed and do not attempt to use any electronic devices.” Officer Davis talked in the megaphone out to the streets, after noticing the supervillain following him. “Officers, Captain, anyone here?” He called on the radio. “We have a Code Blue on our hands: supervillain on the loose. Repeating, Code Blue!”

“Blue? That’s just flattering!” Electro complimented, entering the car and charging it to explode. Officer Davis made a quick sprint out of there, and Iron Spider and Spider-Man soon landed nearby.

“Okay, I don’t need more evidence that if he gets into my suit, I’m a goner.”

“Haven’t you installed recently some kind of electrical-absorbing shield for this case?”

“Believe it or not, my free time isn’t enough now.” Cho admitted, a bit embarrassed at the statement; he was well known for good time management. 

“Yada yada yada, you two!” Electro cut their chat short with a simple blast. “I’m ready to fry some spiders this time!” As Davis stepped back from the battle, he caught a ride with a fellow police officer. Just as Kid Arachnid was about to leave the apartment, Human Miles grabbed his hand.

“Take me with you.”

“No way! You don’t have powers, and Dad would be worried sick if he didn’t found you home!”

“I’m worried sick about him now! If that electric guy hurts him, I’ll never forgive myself!”

“Let’s go already, punk!” Scarlet pulled Miles with a web. Human Miles stayed looking from the window, and then… he felt the web shooters were still with him. Darn it, he forgot to give them back to Kid Arachnid. Well, they would be useful now: he picked his backpack up, walked out the window, and despite a bit of vertigo, he shoot a web on the window’s glass and climbed down carefully. Once reaching the floor, he hopped on his bike and pedalled fast, trying to not lose Scarlet from his sight.

Iron Spider avoided the blasts and Electro’s touch at any costs, while Spider-Man tried all possible web maneuvers; both were mostly in defensive position, being far from any possible water sources.

“Be honest: how many times on a city that’s in an ISLAND you’ve found yourself needing water for whichever reason?”

“Total mood, Cho. Also, good one.” Spidey complimented. Soon enough, they were joined by a group of officers leaded by Jefferson Davis, though in different uniforms, mixing military camouflage and police armament and some looking like Center for Disease Control agents; all of them wearing blue.

“Men of Code Blue, we can’t let this cretin move ahead. Stand your ground at all costs!” Davis ordered. Electro huffed mockingly, another blast thrown at their direction, and being repelled by the CDC-like members. 

“Dad?” Human Miles watched from the closest alley, his bike parked nearby; Scarlet and Kid Arachnid arrived at the same time, joining Spider-Man and Iron Spider.

“Whoa, he’s a policeman and a Code Blue agent?” Spider-Miles was equally surprised.

“You’re surrounded, Electro. This army here’s specialized in supervillain arresting.” Spidey looked at his foe. 

“But are they specialized in explosive takedowns?!” He grinned evily, blasting the nearby cars, dispersing everyone. Scarlet slashed one of the car pieces, protecting two members. Spider-Man took other two members off the way when another vehicle came flying at them.

“Dad, look out!” Human Miles shouted, seeing a car about to explode nearby him. Kid Arachnid then leaped towards him, pushing him aside. They watched the explosion, and all the team members watched in fear. Luckily, he was okay, 

“Miles?” Jefferson looked at his partially exposed face and then at his own son. “What- But how-”

“I’ll explain everything, but now we need a new plan to counter this super freak!” He promised hesitantly, before giving the team a thumbs up.

“Don’t forget these.” Human Miles threw him the web shooters. “Also, Scarlet said he was in a water cage.”

“We’re not near any of it!” Iron Spider reminded, defending from Electro, and clearly fearing for his suit malfunctioning.

“All we need is the sewer!” Human Miles winked at Kid Arachnid, and he got his plan: even if the water was in small quantity, it could be efficient enough. “Spidey, what do you think of an underground tour to Mr. Bright Guy?”

“Nice one, Miles.” Spidey greeted, removing a sewer top from the streets. Just in time: Electro was already ready to short-circuit Cho’s suit. Scarlet’s arm stood in his way, the electrical current being a pain, but not stopping him to punch and kick his face. Two Code Blue officers grabbed him by the arms and threw him down into the open hole.

“Ugh, disgusting.”

“For some, it’s home.” Scarlet said, holding his arm.

As Code Blue helped Spider-Man with taking Electro back to S.H.I.E.L.D., Miles and Kid Arachnid talked with Jefferson, and Iron Spider looked at Scarlet’s injury.

“I take your resistance to Electro is consequence of Ock’s tortures?”

“Trust me, kid. I’ve felt worse.”

“Two Miles exist, one is a Spider-Man, a-and you switched places to live each other’s lives… That’s- It’s too much to process!” Jefferson tried to take everything in.

“I’m sorry I lied to you, Dad. Please, don’t force me to stop seeing Kid Arachnid again, H-he’s like the twin brother I never had, a-and none of this would’ve happened if I didn’t suggest this switch thing.”

“That’s what you think about me?” Jefferson was surprised. “That I’ll just forbid you of doing anything?”

“... I mostly assumed.”

“He didn’t meant to hurt anyone.” Rio, who had just arrived with her car, approached them and looked at Jefferson. They exchanged smiles, Kid Arachnid looking over to them and then to Miles. “Hi, Jeff.”

“Hi… Rio.” Jefferson stepped closer to her. It was clear the surprise, and even clearer that he still loved her.

“Alternative universe.” She explained. “Our son is Spider-Man and you’re… gone.”

“Gang fight. Stray bullet. Mom found me crying dressed in my uniform.” Kid Arachnid teared up as he admitted. “I was pretty mad about you and your Miles being so out of touch with each other, but… I can’t say I haven’t lied to my family as well to avoid something I feared it could happen.”

“Even I didn’t understand you for real, dad.” Human Miles looked down, deeply ashamed of himself. “Nothing good comes from keeping cats in a bag.”

“I just wanted to protect you, Miles. You’re the most important thing to me, and I don’t want us to stop talking, ever. But I guess I have to make an effort to assure this happens. I-If it helps, I’ll… go easy on the rules. And no more messaging, unless it’s really important.”

“Mom would want us getting along. Right?”

“Right.” Rio agreed, and looked at them all. “Look, as long as there’s no more secrets, I think we can work this out.”

“I’m sure of this, and also that our son, no matter which one of him, is growing up a great man.” Jefferson gave them an assuring smile and they huddled in a group hug. Spidey was sure he was going to cry, but Scarlet bumped him in the shoulder, hissing afterwards.

“Yeah, don’t do this for a while.” Iron Spider pointed out.

Episode 03b - Bravest New Warriors

“Unbelievable! Just- I can’t!” Entering their dormitory, Adrian followed an upset Alex. They had just returned from their first solo patrol. “We finally got to patrol the city on our own and our first captured villain is a crazy man with tattooed letters?!”

“We’ve dropped him to the cops an hour ago, why are you still holding to him?” Adrian asked, sitting with his legs crossed.

“You’ve been in my shoes. We have both been former enemies of Spider-Man, and saw how many types of supervillains are out there.”

“Yes, and you are the one who fell into this path many times. Again, why still holding?”

“Ugh, you’re not taking this seriously?! Really don’t think we can do better?!” Alex replied to him. “I’ve been racking my brains to make my armor support an imminent Hulk attack, and we get to pick the least threatening people in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s wanted list.”

“Alex, I do understand. I really know we can do better and we’re working on it, but I also think we can’t get ahead of ourselves. Former villains or not, we have started everything again, so these small steps are needed.” Adrian looked over to his own armor, polishing his wings.

“It just doesn’t feel fair. Maybe if I could prove my worth to the New Warriors in general...” The boy in glasses mused. Suddenly, they both got a message on their phones. A message from Spider-Man himself.

“Good afternoon, students. This weekend you might want to remain in your dormitories, for we will be hosting our first Kimodameshi. This Japanese tradition revolves visiting set locations at night, testing your survival skills and your teamwork, which makes the translated name “test of courage” more than relevant. All New Warriors will be tested, no weapons or armors. Wish you luck, bravest New Warriors!”

“Uh, this might do. Wait, he said no weapons or armor?! How are we supposed to-” Alex was going to rant again, until Adrian shut him off.

“You are growing too dependable on your own armor. It’s not the fact that we’re not mutated anymore and/or without our themed armors that’ll take away all the training progress we had. If you want to prove your worth in the test of courage, you’ll have to play by these rules.” Alex agreed with his roommate, sighing loudly.

“Since you said it so gently...”

At sunset, in front of the rescued Octopus Island, all students were present for the test of courage: Alex and Adrian were joined by their colleagues Robbie (Speedball), Greg (Gravity), Maya (Echo), Flint (Sandman), Frances (Mysteria), John (Man-Wolf) and Harry (Patrioteer).

“All right, everyone. Usually these tests have a spooky story to follow, but considering the record in monster attacks and invasions in New York and the history of THIS place, we don’t really need these, right?” Spider-Man explained, with a small joke to break the ice. “Anyway, for you that weren’t here when it happened, this used to be the Tri-Carrier...” While Spidey explained the origins of the place, Flash and MJ left their symbiotes in their recipients.

“So no powers either?" Adrian asked.

“Actually, powers are valid, but we really want to make this fair. We’re even using the suits Amadeus made for us.” Flash showed them. “Mine even has a cool hoodie.”

“You will be divided in two groups, and leaded by one of our prime students and your battle teacher.” Dr. Connors explained, giving them flashlights.

“Question, doc.” Robbie held his hand up, refusing the light as he pointed to his luminous energy spheres. “What if Zola is still there somehow?”

“That’s a reason for armors and weapons not being allowed, Robbie. Even with a close perimeter check, Zola can be truly unpredictable.” Unseen to them a shadowy figure observed and quickly made a sprint in the background.

Entering Octopus Island, Venom leaded Speedball, Rhino, Sandman and Echo through one of the halls.

“Okay, without Zola or not, we must be alert for any hidden traps. Both Arnim and Ock have the annoying Kraven habit of having plans from B to Z. And yes, B to Z, because Plan A is what they execute first.” Agent Venom warned everyone. Echo then stopped him on his next step, using the lights of Speedball’s spheres to analyze the current hall they stood in.

“Watch the floor.” She said, before throwing one of her swords against a wall, which seemingly brought out from the floor a bunch of mechanical tentacles. Luckily with the power out they wouldn’t do no harm. “You’re welcome.” She proceeded forward, moving the dead machine arms out of her way.

“Still with that attitude, huh?” Flint asked Venom, who just nodded in reply. Rhino and Speedball analyzed one of the tentacles.

“Just how many of those Ock needed? Geez.” Robbie commented, looking at the very few floor gaps between the other deactivated limbs. “It’s like he made a hundred more for one he lost.”

“A hundred and one. He mentioned once, though I don’t recall when.” Alex corrected him. “Also, this seems freshly installed for a three-part ship that sunk into the ocean.”

“Twice.” Venom added. “But what are you saying, Alex?”

“I’m not sure… and I hope to be wrong about any bad guess.” He admitted, as Echo slashed a door open with her swords.

Meanwhile, Spider-Woman took Gravity, Vulture, Man-Wolf, Patrioteer and Mysteria to the main hall.

“So… Jameson’s son, huh?” Harry tried opening a dialogue.

“Ugh. Not this again.” John openly complained, visibly growling.

“Sorry… I feel the same way when people bring up my dad now. I mean, he DID almost took over the city, barely destroyed my best friend and made me hate him for a long time!”

“At least your dad is trying to be better now. Mine is still the same loud jerk.” John pointed out. “‘Spider-Man put my son in a coma and made him look like a wolf!’ He didn’t even care about writing to me before I went to space, now he’s using my situation to keep this dumb hatred crusade against Spidey.”

“Wait, are we bonding over how much awful stuff our dads did?” Harry chuckled. “That’s ONE way to get acquainted to the new guy.”

“I heard worse stuff about our teacher! Mostly from alumni.” Greg barged into the conversation, using his gravitational ability to cruise around. “Wow, this place is creepy! And I bet with Arnim Zola’s smile all over the place it’d be even worse!”

“Ugh. Who you think would win in a chatterbox tournament?” Mysteria complained. “Greg or Spidey?”

“As much as I like Spidey, I think it could be a tie. But Greg is a close second in chattery.” Adrian was honest in his opinion. “This could be a problem during serious combats.”

“Oof!” Greg’s head seemingly hit a torn-off piece of the wall. “I’m okay.”

“My first not-official mission was in the undergrounds, but I remember well this place and what happened.” MJ looked at the broken panels. “Mechanical arms would pop out of nowhere from all directions.” Gravity then shouted as precisely another tentacle dropped from the wall.

“Get down here and stop touching things.” Frances asked. “Who knows how rigged this reformulated ship is?” John’s pointy ears caught a sound and looked to the side, seeing a figure moving away quickly.

“You saw that?” He called the others and looked around. 

“What? Remember, I have no Spider-Sense without the symbiote.” MJ reminded.

“I think we’re being… followed.” Man-Wolf kept looking around, using his vision to try spotting the figure again.

“Maybe it was just another piece of the ship.” Patrioteer added.

“Then why do I smell trouble?” John stated, as they looked at the direction he kept staring at. “Spider-Woman, perhaps we should-” Spider-Woman was revealed missing as they turned to her to decide whether to investigate or proceed. “Spider-Woman?”

“MJ?” Harry looked around, and Vulture gulped. This was not a good sign: only her flashlight was left and all they had besides that was the outside illumination from the front visors.

Robbie’s kinetic energy spheres were the only light source as Venom’s team crossed the halls. Flint sandified to reach Echo, who was way ahead of the group.

“Maya, let’s not leave the others behind. Especially our coach.” 

“Uh, you know she can’t-” Robbie was going to remind that Echo was deaf, before Rhino punched lightly his arm. 

“Sorry, Flint. I just feel I have to prove myself at once tonight.” She gestured. “Including my condition, I don’t have the best life story.”

“We all have our own bad upbringing.” Flint looked over to the others, both Robbie and Venom unmasking. “I escaped from prison to try seeing my daughter again and was mutated by an atomic explosion.”

“He’s right. My dad was a jerk and his abuse made me a bully, and then I got my house destroyed and mom left us…” Agent Venom counted on his fingers.

“My divorced parents disowned me after I got my powers.” Robbie explained. “Not like they weren’t getting that anyway, but it still hurt.”

“... My guardian killed my real dad and trained me to be an assassin.” Maya touched the hand mark on her face. The others looked at each other.

“Had my… wish for revenge drag me on and on to the bad place.” Alex joined in, though a bit hesitant. “I wanted so hard to get payback, then I was mad for not being able to get back to normal, and hated myself for betraying the team because of Ock, and- and, and-”

“Dude… that’s rough.” Robbie looked at him.

“S-Sorry.” Alex looked down. “Guess it does make sense they don’t trust me enough to go to bigger missions. I’m… a big letdown.”

“Alex, they trusted you enough to let you try again at the Academy.” Echo smiled to him, with slow gestures. “Even without powers, you have great intelligence and determination. You are not a letdown.” 

“I think the point is that we’re all in this together, right?” Robbie tried breaking the ice, looking at Flint. “Just a group of misfits on their way to be heroes.” Something sneaked from the ceiling and grabbed Venom as they were talking, being noticed at the last second by Echo.

“Coach Venom!” They all looked up to the ceiling, an opening closing as fast as it opened.

“Oh, no, you don’t!” Speedball quickly put his mask on and bounced against the ceiling, using its kinetic force to open up the very entrance again. “Anyone want to take a shortcut?” He looked down at the others.

“Ugh, we’ve been looking around this room for hours, or minutes, I don’t know. I don’t have a watch!” Gravity landed, sitting on the broken control panel.

“We’re wasting precious time! If there was someone hidden in here, MJ must be in trouble!” Harry insisted, holding to the flashlight. 

“I still don’t get it. Wouldn’t the agents see and know if someone infiltrated this place?” Mysteria was conflicted. “This doesn’t make any sense!”

“We might get even more lost in this darn ship, and this is one thing I don’t want for myself again!” Man-Wolf argued. Soon they were all arguing about what they should do, except for Adrian, who felt a similar migraine. One he believed he’d never feel again.

“QUIET!!!” As he shouted in both pain and annoyance, his sonic scream manifested, scaring off Gravity from the control panel, and calling everyone’s attention. After recovering his breath, he instinctively covered his mouth. “H-Hey…”

“You’re right… We’re clearly not getting anywhere with this.” Harry approached Adrian and tapped his shoulder. “We must set what’s more important: finding our teammate.”

“Y-yes… And finding her, we find our mysterious person.” With a boost of confidence, Vulture agreed. One more destroyed piece of the ceiling fell down nearby, startling them.

“Hey! I take you haven’t seen the creepy thing that grabbed Venom?” Speedball bounced down and Sandman helped the rest of the team. 

“You saw it?” Man-Wolf asked directly. 

“Well, too much for the plan.” Gravity commented. Echo then felt a vibration on the floor and to be sure, ran to the nearby wall. The mere touch on it confirmed her fear.

“Look out!” 

Mechanical tentacles, some with appearing circuitry, sprouted from the wall in full force, attacking all the New Warriors. Harry feared for a moment: without an armor, he felt useless to help; yet, looking around at the directness of the arms chasing everyone, he came up with a plan.

“Divide and conquer, people! Split into teams and let’s take these things down!”

Man-Wolf ran towards a new group nearby and snatched one with his claws and teeth, Gravity punching another to the ground. Harry made sure another one was following him, leading it to the one Greg was pressing down on the floor. Once they got closer, he tangled them in a knot.

Mysteria paralyzed a couple of them with her powers, and Speedball bounced against them, ripping them apart.

“Nothing personal; just living the momentum.” His comment made her snort: it sounded like something Spider-Man would say. Echo observed the movements of the tentacles around her, and traced a perfect sequence of dodging and slicing with her swords. 

“Save some for me too!” Sandman asked, surrounding the tentacles that tried gripping him. Alex tried looking for a manual way to deactivate that mess, but apparently someone was one step ahead: the circuitry inside the walls was all tangled and sparks flew. Adrian then noticed another mechanical threat charging against them, and sonic screamed at its direction, surprising and saving his roommate, but also feeling his throat sore.

Harry then got trapped against the very wall they stood by a tentacle, others slithering like snakes around the three of them.  Alex looked over for help, but everyone was still pretty busy slicing, breaking, being chased by or knotting tentacles. Adrian tried pulling the one trapping Harry.

“They are too much more than I thought! I’m sorry, guys.” He apologized, also struggling to get free.

“It’s not your fault, Harry!” Alex helped Adrian to pull. “You aren’t the problem, these things are! You’re not a letdown!” He insisted, his irises starting to glow yellow, as his grip grew stronger, denting the mechanical surface. “I am not a letdown!” He shouted, finally taking it off Harry and throwing the tentacle against the ceiling, opening a hole to the surface. Alex looked at what he just did, and Adrian was smiling at him, visibly proud.

“Up there!” Man-Wolf saw the figure watching them again, letting go of the newly bitten tentacle. As he pressed something in its arm, the tentacles immediately stopped attacking and dropped down to the ground. As the figure landed, it stepped forward to reveal itself… it was a blue arachnid armor, which opened to reveal a redhead in goggles and a homemade Spider-Man suit.

“Chill auut, townies! I came in peace!” 

“Wait a minute... aren’t ya the Boston kid Spidey talked about?” Robbie asked.

“Steel Spider, nice to meetcha.” He greeted. “Sorry fah the scare, it was part auf their plan.” Agent Venom and Spider-Woman stepped forward.

“MJ! Flash! You’re okay?” Harry was surprised and relieved, but also a bit mad. “You guys planned this?”

“Sorry, Harry. But this test required a few twists for you to show the results of your training.”

“When Spidey mentioned Ollie and his gadgetry skills, we KNEW he could provide the perfect scares for the test of courage.” Venom added, tapping Steel Spider’s shoulder; the Boston arachnid rubbed the back of his head.

“No wonder those mechanical arms looked fresh.” Alex recalled. “Also, now I have an idea of why these tests are so prominent in Japan. That was scary!” 

“I think it’s fair to say you’re all winners today.” MJ noted. “Then again, these tests don’t have a grading system.”

“So? I’ll give ya all a V of Victory!” Venom cheered. “Good job, everyone!” The New Warriors talked among each other with excitement. 

S.H.I.E.L.D agents helped evaluating the damage caused by the teams, the teamwork decisions they made and how much progress in general they made. Frances was calling her dad, overjoyed about the test of courage.

“Still feeling you have something to prove?” Flint asked a reflective Echo.

“I’m good, thank you.” She smiled at him. “No matter where I came from, I know for sure I’m among the right people.”

“Robbie!” Squirrel Girl’s voice put a smile at Speedball’s face, but he turned mostly to a surprise: she was coming in to a leaping hug, and as she knocked him down, his kinetic energy field bounced them up for a bit, which was a laughing riot for Gravity; to that, Robbie just replied sticking his tongue out.

“Great hacking job, Ollie. Truly knew how to use these upgrades.” Spidey shook Steel Spider’s hand. “I know another Spider you could get along with if you want to stay.”

“I still have things to do back home, but I promise to consida in the fucha.”

“Think we’ll… change back to them?‘ Alex asked Adrian, as they pondered over their powers manifesting.

“Maybe it was only a small portion of the mutations you’ve been through.” Man-Wolf joined the talk. “You should talk with Connors about this.”

“Your powers came back on the right times, boys. I really couldn’t do much...” Harry rubbed the back of his neck. 

“Nonsense! That strategy was on point and the holes are there to prove it!” Man-Wolf slapped his shoulder playfully. “Nice job, Osborn.” His smug grin was hilarious.

“You too, Jameson.” 

“One thing still doesn’t make sense though; if it wasn’t Zola, where he could be?” Alex reflected for a moment. Unseen to everyone, observing from a faraway spot, a figure stood watching, and holding a pendrive in its hands, as it stepped into the shadows.