I’m Not Becoming Spider-Man - Chapter 50: Choice (Patreon)

“Wa...!”

BANG!

A strange buzzing sensation erupted at the back of Gwen's neck, making her deeply uncomfortable.

Her body reacted before she could think. She sprang high into the air and out of the bullet's path, seeming to stick to the wall for an instant. Then she launched herself back down, landing one foot squarely on the gunman's hand and using the other to kick his weapon away.

“...tch out!” the boy finally managed to finish. He stared at her in astonishment. The danger had already passed before he'd even completed his warning.

“Get home, quickly,” Gwen told him. “It's not safe here.”

“Thank you!” the boy shouted as he ran off.

Gwen vaulted the fence in two or three quick steps. Once back on the other side, she threw away the overcoat she'd picked up off the ground and removed the paper bag from her head. Her hair seemed to have absorbed the warm smell of wheat bread.

She stared at the two little eyeholes she'd poked in the bag.

Wow... How did I do all that?

As her adrenaline began to fade, she was left gasping. Her head still rang, and the entire episode felt unreal. That had been the most thrilling thing she'd ever done in her life.

Little did she know that even more extraordinary experiences lay ahead.

But what exactly had happened to her back there? One moment she'd been an ordinary girl, and then suddenly...

A bus rolled past on the road beside her.

“Huh?! Oh, no! Not again!”

...

“You're late, Gwen. We've already played through the song several times,” Mary Jane said evenly as Gwen burst through the rehearsal-room door.

Cindy played bass, Hardy handled the keyboard, and Mary Jane sang lead while playing guitar. They'd been rehearsing as well as they could without a drummer.

Gwen's drum kit was still sitting untouched, the protective cloth draped over it.

“I know... Um, something happened.”

“I don't understand. You left the house right after me. How did you manage to arrive so much later?” Mary Jane asked. Her tone remained calm, but Gwen could tell she was irritated. “Come on. You're the only one we're waiting for.”

With no excuse she could offer, Gwen hurried to her place.

As she passed, Mary Jane reached over and brushed some bread crumbs out of her hair.

“I hope you weren't taking a bath in a bakery, Gwen.”

“Uh... Can we just start?”

“I hope you remember the music. If you don't, there's no need for you to play,” Mary Jane replied.

Cindy watched the exchange and shook her head. Thank goodness she hadn't been late. Being on the receiving end of one of Mary Jane's lectures would have been awful.

When their break ended, the band began another run-through.

Almost immediately, Mary Jane frowned at the ragged drumming behind her. To be fair, it was Gwen's first attempt at the song today, so it was natural that she hadn't settled into the rhythm. That didn't make it any less irritating.

Gwen felt her face burning. She couldn't keep time, and her mistakes were dragging the whole performance into a mess.

Calm down, Gwen. Just calm down...

Mary Jane heard the drums fall silent but didn't stop the other musicians. They still had to finish the song, and Gwen's stumbling performance was hardly surprising.

Later, she'd tell Peter all about it and make sure his opinion of Gwen dropped a little.

As far as Mary Jane was concerned, Gwen was the greatest threat to her relationship with Peter. Even so, she saw the girl as nothing but a stand-in, a substitute who could never compare with the original.

Peter belongs to me!

The drums started again behind her. Mary Jane was feeling so pleased at the thought of complaining about Gwen to Peter that her enthusiasm spilled into the music. She sang and played with growing intensity.

By the time the song ended, however, something had changed. As Mary Jane came back to her senses, she realized the drumming had fallen perfectly into place during the second half.

The timing and tone had been astonishingly precise.

“Gwen.” Mary Jane turned around.

“Uh... What is it?”

“Have you been practicing in secret?”

“No. I mean... This was my first time, wasn't it?” Gwen had played around with the drums out of curiosity before, but this was her first proper performance. She wasn't sure what had happened halfway through the song. Suddenly she'd simply known how to play, and every beat she'd chosen had felt right.

And somehow, it had been right.

It was a strange, almost supernatural feeling, as if instinct itself had guided her hands.

“All right,” Mary Jane said at last. “Let's go again.”

...

Miles came home and wiped the dark grime from his face. The apartment was pitch-black. They hadn't been able to pay the electricity bill.

“Miles?” a voice called weakly from the bedroom.

He hurried inside. His mother, a heavyset Black woman, lay in bed.

“Mom...”

“Ah... Miles, where's my medicine?” she asked with a groan, stretching out her hand.

“I... Someone stole the money for it.” Miles lowered his head.

The strange person in the alley had saved him once, but that wasn't enough to make the neighborhood safe. A child without anyone powerful to protect him was an easy target. His small amount of money would have bought a large bottle of painkillers, yet plenty of people nearby didn't even have that much. They lurked outside, watching for another vulnerable victim.

His mother would never have sent him to buy medicine alone if she'd had a choice. But she could barely walk. She didn't even know what illness she had. All she knew was that if she couldn't return to work soon, she and Miles would lose the apartment too.

Creak!

“Miles... Didn't you shut the door?” she asked in sudden alarm.

“I...”

His breathing quickened. He'd been in such a hurry that he'd forgotten. Crime was commonplace in their apartment building. If someone broke in, they might not even have a chance to call the police.

Miles seized a baseball bat and stood trembling beside the bedroom door.

His mother fell silent. If it was a burglar, she would let the intruder take whatever he wanted. There was hardly anything valuable left in the apartment. All that mattered was keeping her son out of harm's way.

Trying not to make a sound, Miles reached toward the lock to secure the door.

It swung open before he could reach it.

Miles swung the bat with all his strength.

To his shock, the person entering caught it in midair. The stranger was vastly stronger than he was and effortlessly shoved him aside. Miles staggered and fell to the floor.

“Miles?”

“Uncle Aaron?”

A little while later, Aaron paid their overdue electricity bill. The lights came back on.

“I came to see how you were doing,” he explained, looking toward Miles's mother on the bed. “I know you'd rather I stayed away.”

She said nothing.

Aaron was Miles's uncle, the brother of his late father. But the two brothers had chosen very different paths. Miles's father had been an honest police officer who died in the line of duty, fighting for what was right. Aaron was a criminal, rumored to work for a particularly dangerous gang.

Miles's mother wanted her son to have nothing to do with him.

“Miles, go outside,” she said weakly. “I need to speak with Aaron alone.”

Miles obeyed. He sat on the worn sofa in the living room and waited for a long time.

When Aaron finally emerged, he tossed two pieces of candy and a thick wad of cash onto the sofa in front of the boy.

“Miles. Are you willing to take them?”

Small dark spots stained the money. They might have been blood, or perhaps just ordinary dirt.

Miles raked a hand through his hair, unable to decide.

Aaron watched him for a moment, then sighed. “Keep the money.”

He reached down to take the candy back, but before he could withdraw his hand, Miles caught it.

The boy took the candy, peeled away the wrappers, and put it into his mouth.

He had made his choice.

But sometimes, there was never really a choice to begin with.