Gotham Spider

Chapter 21: Matt

"Hey bro. How's it going?" He asked. His voice was much deeper, which was understandable. It had been years since I last saw him. I immediately pulled him into a hug, my strength accidentally kicking in and lifting him off the ground entirely.

"WOAH!" Matt freaked out before I realized what happened and put him down.

"You...you have powers," Matt realized and he gave me the same type of hug while laughing happily. Tears streaming down his face as he stopped laughing and started crying. He broke down, realizing that I was alone for years and years.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm so SO sorry," Matt sobbed. I pat him on the back and tried to calm him down.

"Bro...it's ok. I'm fine. I'm fine," I comforted.

"I'm still sorry. Everything with Gotham and Falcone. Arkham Asylum..." Matt trailed off.

"It's alright Matt. He can't hurt us anymore," I responded.

"So I heard. That...monster," Matt spat out.

"We have to catch up," I said as I tried to drag him to a chair. He gladly sat down and noticed the red and blue suit.

"Is that...Spider-Man?" Matt asked. I nodded and Matt immediately had a big grin again.

"My little bro is a superhero!" Matt cheered as he picked me up again and swung me around happily.

"Matt! Matt! Put me down," I chuckled as he did so.

"Sorry bro. Just me inner child broke out again," Matt said. I noticed a bit of a sudden scratch to his voice, like there was someone else talking along with Matt. I brushed it off as nothing though, thinking it was just the intense emotions he was feeling.

I decided to watch some TV with Matt, while I told him about how my life's been going. Then the news came on, talking about how another person was killed in an alleyway. Once that happened, Matt made a weird growling noise. Which sounded an awful lot like that weird noise that I heard when I talked to Jason.

"You good, bro?" I asked. Matt seemed to snap out of his weird trance and he was back to normal.

"Uh...yeah. I'm fine," Matt stammered.

"You sure bro?" I double checked.

"I'm. Fine," Matt seethed out. That second voice coming back.

"Ok...If you say so," I muttered unsure of if Matt was telling the truth or not.

"Look, I'm fine. Just upset, crime gets good people killed," Matt said, the second voice leaving once more. I took his word for it, because I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt. Maybe Arkham messed him up somehow.

OH WAIT!

"Hey Matt. How did you get out of Arkham? Especially with that monster inside," I asked.

"Why do you ask?" Matt responded.

I thought the monster had actually killed you. So I'm just wondering," I added.

"I just slunk out when the monster wasn't paying attention," Matt stated.

"Oh cool. Hey uh...did you ever see the monster again?" I pressed.

"See it again? No. Now, if I think it's still out there somewhere...maybe," Matt trailed off.

"Have you seen this new Black Spider-Man going around Gotham?" I asked, thinking that Matt would know some hidden details that I don't. Which is how I would figure out that Matt is this new Spider-Man.