Miles took a deep breath as his finger pressed on the doorbell.
A few minutes passed before the door opened. What greeted Miles was a beautiful lady with fiery red hair and blue eyes. There was no way to confuse her. This was none other than Mary Jane Watson.
Miles had to say that she was a lot prettier in person than she was in the animation. Even if she currently looked like she had been crying her heart out.
'It seems they must have heard the news already.'
"Sorry, but we're not accepting any visitors," MJ said, her voice sounding a bit broken, as she tried to close the door.
It seemed she wasn't in any mood to talk to anyone. Miles had to think fast if he was going to get their assistance.
"Wait, you're MJ, correct? Peter told me about you." As he said that, MJ stopped halfway, her head peeking out from behind the door.
"Peter did?"
"Yeah, I was there...when it happened," Miles said solemnly.
MJ's eyes widened as she opened the door. "Come in."
...
Miles was sitting in the living room. At his side was MJ and an old lady with white hair. Of course, she was May Parker, Peter's aunt.
The two looked at Miles, waiting for him to tell them what they wanted to hear. Miles made sure to retell the two what he had seen from the movie.
"That bastard!" MJ spat, clenching her fists. Obviously, the one she was cursing was none other than Kingpin.
Aunt May was a bit more quiet, only staring at the cup of tea in her hand.
"Peter, well, he said before he passed that he was going to be my mentor."
Upon hearing him, the two ladies turned to look at him with a raised brow.
"What do you mean by that, dear?" Aunt May was the first to respond.
Miles cleared his throat before he placed his cup down. With a little bit of a warm-up, Miles jumped up and stuck to the wall with his hands before standing upside down with his feet sticking to the ceiling.
"Oh my."
"Indeed."
The two said in astonishment. They had believed only Peter had the ability to be Spider-Man, but now here was a much younger teen going through the same.
And while Miles made it look seamless, the fact of the matter was that he had spent many hours practicing in his room before he was confident enough to do it at will. Miles had to clean his room up many times, to say the least.
"When did this happen?" Aunt May asked, wanting to gauge just how much time the young man had been dealing with this newfound source of power.
"About three days ago?" Miles estimated as he dropped down swiftly. "During his last moments, Peter told me to seek you out, Mrs. Parker."
"That Peter, always thinking ahead." Aunt May said, almost choking up on her words.
Miles rubbed his neck, looking at her apologetically. "I'm really sorry for coming here and bothering you two. Hell, you two probably haven't even finished mourning and then I come here and drop this on top. But were this not important, I wouldn't be here. New York needs a Spider-Man."
"While I hate to ask the help of a teen, the world indeed needs a Spider-Man," MJ said, looking at Miles. "You're very brave for putting everyone's safety over your own. I know it was a dangerous matter for Peter and he was an adult."
"Hm, now that I think about it, we were in so much of a hurry that we haven't even introduced ourselves." Aunt May said, a warm smile greeting her face. "I'm May Parker, but you can call me Aunt May."
MJ flashed Miles a smile as she introduced herself. "As for me. You can call me Mary Jane Watson, or MJ for short."
Miles nodded, before introducing himself. "Miles Morales, or if you want, substitute Spider-Man."
"Don't joke around like that, dear." Aunt May said, standing up. "By the end of today, you'll be able to proudly call yourself, Spider-Man."
"Yes, ma'am!"
"Now follow me. I have to show you something." Aunt May said, making Miles follow behind her.
MJ sighed as she also stood up and followed the two out to Aunt May's backyard.
Once there. Aunt May walked over to a shed which she unlocked, revealing an elevator.
As the three entered the elevator and headed down, the lights flickered on and Miles was presented to the Spider Cave? He never did catch the name of this hideout.
But one thing was certain. This place was going to help Miles become the next Spider-Man.
Aunt May walked over to a computer where she began to type something.
While she was doing that, MJ approached Miles. "So, what do you think?"
"How much do you guys spend on the electricity bill?" When they heard him, the two couldn't help but snicker.
"Can you come here for a second, Miles?" Aunt May called out to him.
When Miles went over, he saw what looked like some sort of equation which was a bit too much for him to understand. "You see, Spider-Man has to produce his webs artificially. Seeing as you're the next to be, you should learn how it's made."
Miles gulped, trying his best to memorize the equation and ingredients needed to create Spider-Man's web fluid.
"Man, I'm going to have to brush up on my chemistry."
"Don't worry sweetie, it took Peter years to perfect this formula to be what it is today. Fortunately, you get the chance to use this hideout whenever you need a resupply."
As Aunt May said that, a cylinder was deployed with 6 small cartridges.
Aunt May grabbed two and fitted them to a pair of bracelets sitting nearby. "Here, fit this on."
Miles did so and found that the bracelets fit him fine.
"Those web-shooters were the ones Peter first used when he began. I'd say he was the same age as you."
Miles stared at the web-shooters in his hands. They were finally in his hands. He really was going to do this...Become Spider-Man.
All the crappy stuff that happens to a Spider-Man, was now going to happen to him.
"I don't know if I'll ever be able to fill in Spider-Man's shoes," Miles muttered to himself. These were just his own thoughts that he was voicing out.
It wasn't until he felt a hand on his shoulder that he raised his head.
MJ was standing beside him with a warm smile on her lips.
"You're going to be fine, Miles. Remember that these are your first steps. We both know that you'll do the best you can." MJ said turning her gaze toward Aunt May. "Now, Aunt May, why don't we fit this Spider with a suit?"
"I was waiting for you to say that," Aunt May smirked, pressing a remote. Soon after, Spider-Man suits lined up before Miles, each looking different from the last.
But while they all looked neat, there was only one that Miles wanted. Walking over to it, Miles stared at the suit. It was all black, resembling a stealth suit.
As Miles looked at the suit, his face became visible through the glass. Taking a deep breath, Miles turned to Aunt May and with a smile asked,
"Do you have some red paint?"