Spider-Man: War of Wisdom

Artifact

"I'm telling you, the lost city has to be right in this area! All the clues point to it!" Jacob Dean walked along a dirt path through the jungle. With him was his friend, Steven. The two were a part of a school hosted history club field trip to Brazil. The friends were a part of a group of 30 students on a hike. They were led by a tour guide, along with a few teachers along on the trip. Steven laughed and shook his head. "You're crazy dude. There's nothing around here but trees and wildlife." Jake rolled his eyes and pushed his glasses up. "Of course you'd think that. You don't have the exploration skills I do." Jake looked around as the group trekked onwards through the wilderness. As he looked, a bright shine caught his eye. He quickly took his backpack off and pulled out his binoculars. He looked in the direction of the light and saw what appeared to be rubble. Jake gasped and pulled the binoculars away from his face. He went to tell Steven, but decided against it. He's just gonna think I'm making it up. Jake thought. He looked ahead of the tour guide and saw a small opening along the trail. "Hey, can we stop at this little opening? I need to catch my breath." Jake yelled to one of the teachers. Other students started to agree with him, so the teachers granted their request to stop. The group reached the opening and everyone started chatting. In the commotion, Jake saw his chance and left the path, slipping away from the group. "Hey, good idea. I could use a break." Steven said aloud. He looked around and realized that Jake wasn't there. "Jake?" He said. His eyes skimmed the entire jungle until he saw Jake running in the distance towards a big rock. Steven looked at the teachers and the guide. None of them were paying attention, so he ran after Jake. He wasn't as fast as him, so he couldn't keep up. Steven watched Jake until he went behind the rock. When Steven eventually reached the rock, he walked behind it to find Jake standing still at the entrance of a cave. "Dude! Are you insane, what are doing?!" He shouted. Jake completely ignored Steven and walked slowly forward into the cave. When he did, the entire inside was illuminated by fire that suddenly arose from torches on the walls. Steven jumped and realized what they had stumbled upon. It appeared to be an ancient temple, with mossy and crumbling columns all around them. The ceiling had many ancient patterns on it and a lot of art that wasn't able to be made out. He stepped forward as well, taking in the temple. "Can you believe this?" Steven asked Jake. Jake said nothing and continued walking forward, his eyes fixated on something. In the center of the room was a platform with stairs leading up to it. The platform had a single pedestal on it, which held something glowing a bright red. Jake walked up the steps and went towards the pedestal. Steven ran up the steps and stood next to Jake. He looked at Jake's face and saw what Jake saw. A small, metal, pyramid-shaped artifact was hovering a couple inches above the pedestal. The pyramid had patterns all throughout it that each glowed bright red. "What...what is it?" Steven asked. Jake still said nothing. He was mesmerized by the pyramid and extended his hand towards it. "Wait!" Steven shouted as he grabbed Jake's hand. Jake turned to Steven in anger. "What are you doing?" Jake asked. "This is a priceless artifact, we need to take it back with us!" Steven shook his head. "This isn't something that we should be dealing with. It's glowing red and it's floating! Since when do you know things to float?" Jake glared at Steven, then looked down. "Fine. I guess you're right." He said in defeat. Steven let out a breath of air. "Ok good. But hey, we can still get credit for discovering this place. We'll be famous!" Steven said. Jake nodded and looked back at the pyramid. Steven went to walk down the stairs, but Jake remained in place. He was watching the pyramid. "Jake...?" Steven said. He looked back just as Jake lunged at the pyramid. "No!" Steven shouted. Jake grabbed the pyramid and pulled it towards him. The pyramid flew out of Jake's hand and hovered in the air in front of him. It then flipped so the flat side was facing Jake. It flew back at Jake, but smashed into his chest, sending him over the stairs and onto the hard ground. "Jake!" Steven yelled. He ran down the stairs and towards Jake. Jake yelled loudly as the red color drained from the patterns on the pyramid. The torches lit all started to dim, the red light mostly illuminating the room. The patterns went from the pyramid to Jake's chest, spreading all over his body. His glasses cracked and fell off of his face as he shook on the ground. Steven stood by and watched as his friend shook in pain. The patterns spread until all the color was off of the pyramid. When it was, the patterns on Jake's clothes and skin suddenly disappeared. The pyramid slid off of his chest and clanged on the ground, now only a piece of metal. The torches grew back to their original brightness as if nothing had happened. Steven ran over to Jake. "Jake! Jake! Are you alright?" He said. Jake's eyes opened and he looked at Steven. His irises were no longer brown. They were the same color red as the patterns. "Hello Steven." Jake said calmly. He stood up and brushed himself off. Steven backed up a few steps. "You're...ok?" He asked. "How do you feel?" Jake looked at his hands. "I feel... powerful." "Yeah, that was crazy. Do you remember any of it?" "Of course I do." Jake continued to look at his hands. They were faintly glowing red, with red lighting occasionally connecting between his fingers. Steven noticed and backed up even more. "That's...not right dude. Something's wrong." Jake looked up at Steven and tilted his head. "Why do you say that?" Jake started to walk towards Steven. "Jake, what are you doing?" Steven back into the wall. Jake kept walking until he was face to face with Steven. "Let me just..." Jake drifted off as he lifted his hands up. He stopped when they were at Steven's ears. Steven was breathing heavily and had his eyes squeezed shut. "I-" He started to speak, but red electricity shot out of Jake's hands and into the sides of Steven's head. Steven screamed in agony as the lighting struck his body. As Jake continued, he could feel himself getting smarter. As if the electricity was sucking the energy from Steven's head into his own. Jake closed his eyes and let the information flow through his head. Steven continued to scream in pain as Jake shocked him. After a few seconds, the lighting lifted Jake off the ground, causing him to hover in the air. Steven was lifted by the lightning in Jake's hands until they were both a few feet off in the air. Steven's feet started to turn to ash, followed by the rest of his body going upwards. He screamed until his entire head was ash. When it was, Jake stopped the lighting, dropping Steven down. His "body" hit the floor and spread all around, nothing more than a pile of ash on ground. Jake descended from the air back down, staying a few inches above the mossy floor. His eyes were still closed when he stopped. In the distance, he could hear voices calling his and Steven's names. He opened his eyes and landed on the ground. Looking at his hands, he closed his fists, each sparking red electricity when he did. He chuckled a little, then looked out at the jungle from the temple. The group was getting closer. Jake stepped forward and walked out of the cave. When he did, he stepped on his glasses, shattering them completely on the ground. He went out into the open and made himself seeable to the group. "Hey, I found him!" One student yelled. The teachers and students all and in the direction of Jake. "Stop where you are." Jake commanded. They stopped as Jake began to hover once more by the power of the lightning. He closed his eyes and reopened them, revealing them to be only red with lighting. Everyone gasped and shouted, all very scared. Jake thrusted his right arm forward, sending a jolt of lighting through the crowd. It connected itself through everyone's heads. They all yelled in pain, while Jake could feel so much power coming to him. As the group suffered, Jake began to laugh maniacally. He was no longer Jacob Dean, a 'straight A' student at Sycamore High School. He was now Dr. Dean, a power hungry genius who grew smarter by the minute. And the world would do as he commanded.