Miles Morales' bedroom, Brooklyn, Tuesday afternoon
"Give me like half an hour," Miles's dad called out from the living room. "I just need to rest my eyes."
"Yeah, no problem," Miles said as he opened the door and stepped inside. And then, when he saw who else was there, he yelled, "Jesus!"
"Sorry for the intrusion, Miles," Jessica said. She was in costume without her mask. The briefcase she gave him yesterday was sitting next to her and his Spider-Man mask was in her hands. She usually tried to present a commanding presence when she saw Miles, but right now she was seated on the edge of his bed and she wasn't even looking him in the face. "Close the door."
"You... You can't just sneak in here," Miles tried not to shout as he closed the door.
"Of course I can. I just did."
"How did you know I was going to be here?"
"I didn't even know I was coming here until..." Jessica started. "You know who I work for, right? You know what I can do."
"But!"
"You might want to keep it to a whisper," Jessica said, gesturing toward the door. "Your dad's been through enough for one week, don't you think?"
"You can't be here," Miles argued quietly. "This is insanely uncool."
"You didn't throw it out," Jessica said, lifting his mask. "I came to see if you threw out the new costume I brought you. You didn't toss it or burn it or sell it. I'm going to take that as a good sign."
"You can take it back," Miles insisted.
"Last year you asked me what the connection was between you and me. You asked me and I told you that I wasn't ready to tell you," Jessica said, staring a hole in the floor. "That wasn't fair. I'll tell you now if you want."
This got Miles to stop and listen. "Okay...."
"A couple of years ago, some scientists with absolutely no moral center took DNA samples from Peter Parker and attempted to clone him. And then they poked around at the DNA, just, you know, to see what they'd get." Jessica finally looked up, looking Miles in the eye. "I am one of the things they got."
"You..." Miles trailed as he processed that. "You're the clone of Peter Parker?"
Jessica looked back down at the mask. "No. For a while I thought I was, but now I know that I'm not. I'm the broken thing they made out of Peter Parker. And that's what we have in common.
"Men of science, who don't give a damn about anything but themselves, messed with the natural order of all things. And that's why we have a Hulk and you and me and Captain America and mutants and pretty much every other problem we have today," Jessica said. "I wasn't ready to talk about this because it's hard to say out loud. It's hard to admit that I'm... I'm not a real person. I don't have a mother or father. I'm not Peter Parker. I'm... this thing.
"It's hard to process myself, let alone get you to. I have years of Peter Parker's childhood memories rolling around in my head... And time has gone by, and those memories have faded, and my feelings about my connection to him have faded and... and I've become this other thing." Jessica sighed, "I'm not Peter Parker. I'm, ha, not even a boy. I'm Jessica Drew. I am Jessica Drew. I'm not Peter Parker. I'm not Spider-Man."
"You are." Jessica let that hang in the air for a moment before making eye contact again and continuing, "And with the part of me that holds Peter Parker inside herself I know - I'm not guessing, I know - he would want me to get over myself and do everything in my power to stop people like the people who did this to me. Te same kind of people that made those kids you ran into yesterday. The ones in the paper. SHIELD intel says those kids are escaped guinea pigs of this monster corporation called Roxxon. And SHIELD turns a blind eye because their dirty little secret is they are deep in business with Roxxon.
"These monsters are going to try and try and try to remake you and remake me and Captain America and the Hulk... And they are going to keep trying, and they don't care who gets hurt. They just want the money." It felt like all of that was said without a breath. Her heart was racing and she was near tears from finally letting all of this out. "I can't make you do anything you don't want. But you and me are both... Well, you get it now. You see our connection.
"I'm not trying to torture you, Miles," Jessica said. "I'm just trying to show yo why this is all so important. Why you need to be Spider-Man. Why there needs to be a Spider-Man."
No more words were said. Miles wrote a quick note to his father to cancel out on dinner. Moments later, Spider-Woman and Spider-Man were out above the streets, swinging toward their goal.
[OOC: Staight up lifted from Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #25 by Bendis and Marquez.]
"Yeah, no problem," Miles said as he opened the door and stepped inside. And then, when he saw who else was there, he yelled, "Jesus!"
"Sorry for the intrusion, Miles," Jessica said. She was in costume without her mask. The briefcase she gave him yesterday was sitting next to her and his Spider-Man mask was in her hands. She usually tried to present a commanding presence when she saw Miles, but right now she was seated on the edge of his bed and she wasn't even looking him in the face. "Close the door."
"You... You can't just sneak in here," Miles tried not to shout as he closed the door.
"Of course I can. I just did."
"How did you know I was going to be here?"
"I didn't even know I was coming here until..." Jessica started. "You know who I work for, right? You know what I can do."
"But!"
"You might want to keep it to a whisper," Jessica said, gesturing toward the door. "Your dad's been through enough for one week, don't you think?"
"You can't be here," Miles argued quietly. "This is insanely uncool."
"You didn't throw it out," Jessica said, lifting his mask. "I came to see if you threw out the new costume I brought you. You didn't toss it or burn it or sell it. I'm going to take that as a good sign."
"You can take it back," Miles insisted.
"Last year you asked me what the connection was between you and me. You asked me and I told you that I wasn't ready to tell you," Jessica said, staring a hole in the floor. "That wasn't fair. I'll tell you now if you want."
This got Miles to stop and listen. "Okay...."
"A couple of years ago, some scientists with absolutely no moral center took DNA samples from Peter Parker and attempted to clone him. And then they poked around at the DNA, just, you know, to see what they'd get." Jessica finally looked up, looking Miles in the eye. "I am one of the things they got."
"You..." Miles trailed as he processed that. "You're the clone of Peter Parker?"
Jessica looked back down at the mask. "No. For a while I thought I was, but now I know that I'm not. I'm the broken thing they made out of Peter Parker. And that's what we have in common.
"Men of science, who don't give a damn about anything but themselves, messed with the natural order of all things. And that's why we have a Hulk and you and me and Captain America and mutants and pretty much every other problem we have today," Jessica said. "I wasn't ready to talk about this because it's hard to say out loud. It's hard to admit that I'm... I'm not a real person. I don't have a mother or father. I'm not Peter Parker. I'm... this thing.
"It's hard to process myself, let alone get you to. I have years of Peter Parker's childhood memories rolling around in my head... And time has gone by, and those memories have faded, and my feelings about my connection to him have faded and... and I've become this other thing." Jessica sighed, "I'm not Peter Parker. I'm, ha, not even a boy. I'm Jessica Drew. I am Jessica Drew. I'm not Peter Parker. I'm not Spider-Man."
"You are." Jessica let that hang in the air for a moment before making eye contact again and continuing, "And with the part of me that holds Peter Parker inside herself I know - I'm not guessing, I know - he would want me to get over myself and do everything in my power to stop people like the people who did this to me. Te same kind of people that made those kids you ran into yesterday. The ones in the paper. SHIELD intel says those kids are escaped guinea pigs of this monster corporation called Roxxon. And SHIELD turns a blind eye because their dirty little secret is they are deep in business with Roxxon.
"These monsters are going to try and try and try to remake you and remake me and Captain America and the Hulk... And they are going to keep trying, and they don't care who gets hurt. They just want the money." It felt like all of that was said without a breath. Her heart was racing and she was near tears from finally letting all of this out. "I can't make you do anything you don't want. But you and me are both... Well, you get it now. You see our connection.
"I'm not trying to torture you, Miles," Jessica said. "I'm just trying to show yo why this is all so important. Why you need to be Spider-Man. Why there needs to be a Spider-Man."
No more words were said. Miles wrote a quick note to his father to cancel out on dinner. Moments later, Spider-Woman and Spider-Man were out above the streets, swinging toward their goal.
[OOC: Staight up lifted from Ultimate Comics Spider-Man #25 by Bendis and Marquez.]