Qué Maravilla

Ch.1 - Only You

"I'm not asking," said Miguel.

The boy he was speaking to was the poster child of the unbridled virtue and righteousness you've come to associate with the youth. Rebellious, head-strong, and empathetic (possibility to a fault). You had heard of this boy, Miles Morales. The first anomaly. The accidental spiderman. He was surrounded by O'Hara and his subordinates who stood as a silent imposing force, no doubt working to disway him by their sheer numbers alone. But the boy? The boy stood his ground. Like an outsider looking in. Or was it an insider looking out? Nonetheless, you knew it took a strong man to be able to stand alone and that he had the makings of a great spiderman, probably one of the best.

Miguel on the other hand, stood with his hands on his hips. Towering frame staring down the teenager with an almost paternal sternness. A monument of the now unshakable chain of command he had built from the ground up. Firm in his stance and belief like a river that would not divert its course.

While everyone in the Spider Society was on the same page, every once in a while there were voices of dissent that would arise from the younger spider folk. The biggest in recent memory probably being the shaky ethics of the 'Go Home Machine.' You have been in the Spider Society for about 6 months now. To your knowledge no one had ever been bold or, dare you say, foolish enough to bring their qualms to Miguel directly, not even Hobie. But the scene before you was probably the most definitive example of the growing uncertainty in authority brewing amongst the younger spiders. It was like experiencing one great big generational divide appear right before your eyes.

Despite the stand off taking place a mere few feet in front of you, your mind was beginning to wander elsewhere. Now silently doing the math Miguel had laid out for specifically Miles but also inadvertently for you.

"Canon Event ASM 90," O'hara explained, "A Police Captain close to Spider-Man dies saving a kid from falling rubble during battle with an arch-nemesis."

    That sentence had taken you completely off guard. You looked around the room from spider to spider, each lacking any inkling of the shock you felt hearing that statement. Even towards the holographic display of thousands of spider men and women kneeling in grief over their dead comrades. You knew all about canon events and the 'fate of the multiverse' junk Miguel would spew from time to time. Of course you knew everyone had their own radioactive spider bite, an arch nemesis, an Uncle Ben, but Captain? You haven't experienced anything like the things he was chastising the young man before him about . So you raked your mind for anyone that could possibly be. You weren't close to anyone on the force. In fact, you didn't have the best relationship with the 'law enforcement' of your dimension. They were corrupt, violent, prejudiced, anything and everything they shouldn't have been. It's the whole reason you became a spider, actually. Was it possible that he told you and you simply forgot then? There's nobody you knew who would even consider-

Oh.

Oh no.

-     -      -

Your niece was 17 years old. She was the only one out of your entire family who knew about your superhero identity, and not by choice either. 2 years ago you had broken through the window of your sister's house after a particularly harrowing battle against your universe's version of the Green Goblin, seeking a temporary refuge. You incorrectly asserted that the entire family was on vacation. As a reward for your incompetence your niece caught you battered, bruised, beaten, and maskless in the bathtub. You were basically obligated to tell her after that. The more and more she pried into you about your double life, the more her sense of justice and righteousness grew. You were against her pleas to help you in the beginning, but she proved to be a valuable asset. She was incredibly smart, not to mention scientific, thorough, and calculated. She uncovered scores of classified information, provided live updates during missions, even helped you develop your new high tech suit. In short, she was your girl in the chair.