New York — New York Hospital — Late Afternoon
Peter arrived at the hospital in civilian clothes, his backpack slung over his shoulder.
Still out of breath, he pushed through the doors and quickly crossed the lobby toward the reception desk, where an employee was sitting.
— “Good evening, young man. Is everything alright?” she asked gently, a hint of concern in her voice.
— “Yes! Excuse me, I’d like to see a patient: May Parker.” Peter replied breathlessly, speaking quickly while remaining polite.
— “Alright… and you are? A friend? Family?”
Peter hesitated for a fraction of a second before answering in a softer voice.
— “My name is Peter Parker and… I’m her son.”
— “Hold on, let me check…”
She tapped on her keyboard for a few seconds before opening the corresponding file on her screen.
— “Ah, yes, Peter Parker. Alright, you can—”
Without even waiting for her to finish, Peter immediately turned around, ready to rush into the hallways, but the woman called him back before he could get very far.
— “Wait! You don’t even know what room she’s in!”
Peter stopped and turned back toward her, visibly embarrassed by his eagerness.
— “Oh… right. Sorry.”
A few moments later, May was lying in her hospital bed, staring up at the ceiling.
Despite her exhaustion, she couldn’t manage to fall asleep, still worried about George’s sudden departure.
— “I wonder where George went. He seemed to be in such a hurry… I hope it’s nothing serious.”
Her thoughts drifted back to their last conversation, shortly after the call he had received.
George Stacy had returned to the room with a tense expression, his phone still in his hand.
He had barely hung up when May noticed that something seemed to be troubling him.
— “So… how’s Gwen?” May asked.
— “She’s… she’s doing great. Don’t worry.”
May frowned slightly.
Despite his reassuring answer, she could hear an unusual tension in his voice.
— “George… are you sure you’re alright?”
— “Yeah, yeah! Listen, May, I’m sorry, but I have to go. There’s something important I need to take care of… and now that you’re awake…”
— “I don’t know what it is, but don’t worry about me. As you can see, I’m doing just fine! Go do what you have to do, but be careful. It’s dangerous out there.”
— “Thanks…”
George turned and headed for the door, but May called out to him before he could leave the room.
— “When I get out of here, we’ll have our little outing, like we promised.”
He stopped for a moment and gave her a warm smile.
— “Of course.”
Then he left the room almost at a run, leaving May alone with the strange feeling that he was hiding something from her.
Back in the present, she let out a quiet sigh, still unable to shake her concern.
Suddenly, the door to her room flew open.
— “Aunt May!”
She immediately turned toward the entrance.
— “Peter?!”
Peter quickly walked over, pulled a chair up to his aunt’s bedside, and sat down beside her.
— “Hey, Aunt May…”
— “Hey, sweetheart…”
He gently took her hand.
After everything that had happened, finally seeing her awake and able to speak to him was enough to bring a rush of emotion over him, making his eyes glisten slightly.
— “I… I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner.”
— “I forbid you from apologizing, Peter. George explained everything to me: you were safe at his place with Gwen. And I’m glad to see you didn’t take any risks. I had a police officer with me, after all.”
Peter let out a small laugh.
— “Yeah, that’s true.”
But the mention of George suddenly made him notice his absence.
He quickly glanced around the room before turning his attention back to May.
— “By the way… where is he? I thought he’d be here when I arrived.”
— “Oh, he had to leave.”
— “Really? Do you know why?”
— “No, but he worried me a little.”
At those words, Peter’s heart skipped a beat.
A bad feeling immediately came over him, though he tried not to let it show.
— “Worried you? What do you mean?”
— “Well… we’d sent you that picture of the two of us. Then he got a phone call. I thought it was Gwen, but when he came back, his expression had changed. He looked… nervous.”
Peter remained silent for a few seconds, unsettled by what he had just heard.
— “I just hope it wasn’t anything serious… and that Gwen’s alright.” May added, slightly worried.
That last remark only intensified Peter’s bad feeling.
— “And how long ago did he leave?”
May gave a small laugh as she tried to estimate from memory.
— “About an hour, I’d say. Well… I think. There’s no clock in here, so I’m kind of losing track of time.”
Peter remained silent, growing increasingly concerned about the situation.
Still, he forced a smile so he wouldn’t worry his aunt any further.
— “I’m going to call Gwen and her dad to make sure everything’s alright. I’ll be back.”
Peter left the room, pulled out his phone, and immediately dialed George Stacy’s number.
He waited several seconds, but despite the repeated ringing, no one answered.
A knot began to form in his stomach as his bad feeling only grew stronger.
— “Let’s try Gwen…”
He hung up and immediately made a second call.
— “Come on, Gwen… pick up!”
After several seconds that seemed endless to him, the call finally connected.
— “Gwen! I’m so relieved you picked up. I was starting to worry. Is everything okay? Do you know where your dad is? He was with Aunt May, then he suddenly rushed off, and it got us a little worried.”
Peter waited for an answer, but no familiar voice came through the phone.
— “Gwen? Can you hear me?”
— “Uh… yeah, I can hear you. But I’m not… Gwen.”
Peter froze when he heard an unfamiliar male voice answering through Gwen’s phone.
His jaw immediately tightened.
— “Who are you? How did you get her phone?! Where’s Gwen?!”
— “Whoa, calm down! I was outside walking when I found this phone. I was going to take it to the police, but then you called. I have absolutely no idea who Gwen is.”
Peter’s expression darkened as a mixture of frustration, confusion and, above all, fear began to overwhelm him. Get faster updates on g.com.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to regain control and think clearly.
— “Alright… Okay… can you tell me your name and where you are so I can come pick up the phone?”
— “I… my name’s Miles Morales, and I’m near Fifth Avenue.”
— “Fifth Avenue? Okay! Stay where you are. I’ll be there in ten minutes!”
— “Alright… I’ll wait for you.”
Peter immediately hung up, growing increasingly worried about the situation.
— “George isn’t answering, and Gwen doesn’t have her phone? I really don’t like this…”
He returned to May’s room, but the moment he stepped inside, she noticed the serious expression on his face and studied him carefully.
— “Uh, Aunt May, listen… I know I just got here, but I—”
— “You’re making the same face he was.”
Peter blinked, caught off guard.
— “Huh? What?”
May gave him a small smile.
— “You’re making the same face George was. Want to tell me why you look worried?”
— “Uh, well… actually…”
Seeing his hesitation, May let out a soft sigh before motioning for him to come closer.
— “Come here.”
Peter obeyed and returned to her bedside.
Once he was close enough, she held out her hand, which he gently took.
— “I don’t know what’s going on, or why both you and George looked so worried. And if you don’t want to tell me, that’s okay. But…”
— “It’s not that I don’t want to, but—”
— “All I’m asking is that you don’t do anything reckless. Be careful. Do you understand me?”
Peter lowered his eyes slightly, touched by his aunt’s concern, before answering sincerely.
— “Yeah… yeah, of course, Aunt May.”
A relieved smile appeared on May’s face.
— “Good. Now go!”
— “I still want to apologize. I know you’re hurt, and I—”
May interrupted him with a wink, clearly unwilling to let him feel any guiltier.
— “Peter… stop talking and go.”
Peter gave her one last grateful smile before turning around and running out of the room.
New York — New York Police Department — Late Afternoon
At the police station, Yuri Watanabe was sitting at her desk, leaning over a stack of files that she went through one after another.
Despite the exhaustion clearly visible on her face after the events of the past several hours, she continued working relentlessly when a colleague approached her desk with a slight grin.
— “Hey, Yuri!”
Without looking away from her files, she answered in a tired voice.
— “Yeah?”
— “So, is what everyone’s saying true? You teamed up with Spider-Man?”
— “Yeah. Why? You a fan of his?”
The man simply shrugged.
— “Me, not really… but my kids are. And you gotta admit he’s pretty impressive, right?”
— “If you say so…”
Clearly uninterested in the conversation, Yuri said nothing more and instead pulled out her phone to check her messages.
Still nothing from George Stacy.
She opened their conversation and reread his last message, the one in which he’d told her about Tombstone’s right-hand man.
Since then, nothing.
Her colleague quickly noticed that she had been staring at her screen for several seconds and couldn’t resist teasing her.
— “Some guy you like?”
Yuri slowly raised her eyes and gave him such an icy glare that he immediately raised his hands in surrender.
— “Okay… I’ll shut up, I’ll shut up…”
He quickly retreated, leaving Yuri alone with her concerns.
— “I know I shouldn’t be worried… but it’s bothering me. Normally, he always answers. Especially when it’s me…”
She reread their conversation one last time before placing her phone back on the desk.
— “And when I ask the others, it’s the same thing. They all say they haven’t heard from George either, but that he’s probably just busy.”
Growing increasingly frustrated by his unexplained absence, Yuri rubbed her temples as she tried to think of someone who might possibly know where he was.
— “The only person I haven’t asked yet, and who might know, is…”
The image of Spider-Man immediately crossed her mind, but she dismissed the idea almost as quickly.
— “Let’s check his place first. Maybe he’s resting? After all, we’ve all been working our asses off since this whole mess started.”
New York — Fifth Avenue — Late Afternoon
Meanwhile, Peter stood on the roof of a building.
Still dressed in civilian clothes, he carefully scanned the streets below, searching for a boy who looked like he was waiting for someone.
His eyes eventually settled on a teenager in the distance, but from that far away, there was no way to be sure it was Miles.
He discreetly climbed down into an alley before pulling out his phone and calling him.
— “Hey, I’m here! Can you wave your hand?”
— “Uh… yeah, sure.”
From the alley, Peter spotted the young man waving his hand several times in the middle of the street, immediately confirming his identity.
— “Okay, that’s him.”
— “So, can you see me? Where are you?”
— “Right there, to your right. I’m coming!”
Peter stepped out of the alley and walked over to Miles, who seemed slightly intimidated by their first meeting.
— “Hey!”
— “Hey!”
Peter smiled when he noticed his outfit.
— “Nice jacket.”
Miles’s face brightened slightly.
— “Thanks!”
An awkward silence then settled between them.
The two boys stood there looking at each other for a few moments, neither really knowing what else to say, until Peter finally broke the silence.
— “So… can I have the phone, please?”
Miles suddenly realized that he still hadn’t given it back to him.
— “Oh, uh… yeah, of course! Sorry.”
He pulled out the phone and handed it to Peter, who took it and immediately slipped it into his pocket.
Still, something about the circumstances surrounding the phone’s discovery continued to bother him, and he decided to make sure one last time that he had understood correctly.
— “Sorry to ask you again, but… if I understood correctly, you were walking down the street and just happened to find it? I mean… it was just there? On the ground?”
— “Yeah, that’s right.”
— “And you didn’t see anyone else? Nothing that seemed… weird?”
Miles took a few seconds to think before answering.
— “No. Then again, people haven’t really been going outside much lately.”
Peter’s faint smile disappeared.
After everything that had just happened in New York, that wasn’t exactly surprising.
— “Yeah… that’s true.”
Another awkward silence settled between them.
The two teenagers looked at each other for a few moments, neither really knowing how to continue the conversation or how to end it.
Peter eventually cleared his throat.
— “Well, uh… I won’t keep you any longer. Thanks for answering the phone and giving it back to me. A lot of people would’ve kept it.”
Miles simply nodded.
— “No problem. If I was able to help…”
Peter gave him one last smile and started walking away, but after only a few steps, Miles’s voice stopped him.
— “By the way… what’s your name?”
Peter turned back toward him.
— “Peter Parker. Be careful on your way home.”
He gave him a quick wave before hurrying away, still worried about Gwen’s disappearance and George’s silence.
— “I really don’t like what’s going on… but stay calm. There’s no point imagining the worst. Maybe Gwen just dropped her phone without realizing it? I’ll go to her place. Maybe George is there… and they’re just spending some time together as father and daughter?”
Trying to hold on to that explanation, Peter returned to the alley and, once safely out of sight, took a running start before launching himself into the air toward the Stacy apartment.
New York — Stacy Apartment — Late Afternoon
After several minutes of swinging through New York, Peter reached the Stacy apartment and discreetly entered through a window.
The moment his feet touched the floor, he quickly scanned the place.
— “Gwen? George? You guys here?”
No answer came.
Peter moved through the apartment, quickly checking the living room, the kitchen, and then the bedrooms, but found no one.
This time, his concern grew considerably.
— “Okay… now I’m really starting to worry. Her dad not being here… that’s normal, he’s a cop. But Gwen… she should be here!”
As he tried to figure out what to do next, several knocks suddenly sounded against the front door, followed by a woman’s voice he immediately recognized.
— “George? Are you there? It’s Yuri!”
Peter froze, completely caught off guard by her presence.
— “Yuri?!”
— “Hey, George! You there?”
Panicking at the thought of her catching him inside the apartment, Peter hurriedly stepped backward without looking behind him.
His foot caught on the rug, causing him to lose his balance and crash heavily onto the floor with a loud thud that echoed throughout the apartment.
— “Shit! This is really not the time to be clumsy…!”
On the other side of the door, Yuri immediately frowned.
She was certain she’d heard something inside, and yet George still wasn’t answering.
— “Noise inside and no answer? Did someone break into his place?!”
Her police instincts immediately took over.
She drew her gun, aimed at the lock and, without another moment of hesitation, pulled the trigger.
BANG!
The bullet destroyed the locking mechanism and the door gave way.
Gun raised, Yuri cautiously entered the apartment, moving carefully as she scanned every corner.
Peter reacted in a split second.
With a single leap, he propelled himself up to the ceiling and silently clung to it just before Yuri could spot him.
For a few seconds, his plan seemed to work perfectly… until a sound as unexpected as it was embarrassing suddenly broke the silence.
A fart.
A remarkably graceful fart.
Yuri immediately spun toward the source of the noise, but Peter already knew he’d given himself away.
Before she could react, he dropped from the ceiling and fired a web that covered her face.
Taking advantage of her temporary blindness, he disarmed her in an instant before restraining her and webbing her completely to the floor.
— “Webbing?! Spider-Man, is that you?! What the hell are you doing here?! I knew it! I should’ve arrested you when I had the chance!”
— “Calm down, Yuri. Let me explain!”
— “No! There’s nothing to explain! You’re not in your own home, George is missing, and now you’re tying me up?! I’ve got every reason to arrest you!”
Peter blinked, suddenly caught by what she’d just said.
— “Wait… you’re looking for Captain Stacy too?!”
— “I don’t have anything to tell you! Untie me!”
— “Listen, Yuri, we don’t have time for this. I’m not your enemy! I’ll untie you, but first… you really haven’t heard anything from the captain? I’m looking for him too. He and his daughter have both disappeared, and I’ve got a really bad feeling about this!”
At the mention of Gwen’s disappearance, Yuri’s anger briefly gave way to shock.
— “What?! Gwen’s missing too?! And how the hell do you know her?!”
— “We don’t have time for that. Just let me change and I’ll untie you, okay? Thirty seconds, tops.”
— “What?! But…!”
Yuri let out a deep, exasperated sigh, but Peter didn’t exactly give her much time to protest.
He rushed into the bathroom and emerged a few moments later wearing his Spider-Man suit, his civilian clothes now packed inside the backpack hanging from his shoulders.
— “Okay, I’m done.”
As promised, he completely freed Yuri from the webbing before holding out a hand to help her back to her feet.
— “Sorry about… uh… the webbing.”
Yuri completely ignored his apology.
Despite the anger she still felt toward him, the situation had become far too serious to waste any more time arguing.
— “So you really haven’t heard anything from either of them? Nothing useful?”
— “No. Well… the only recent thing is that I got a message from the captain about Tombstone’s right-hand man. And when I tried calling Gwen, some other guy answered. He told me he’d found her phone lying in the street.”
— “Are you fucking kidding me?!”
— “I’m serious! That’s why I came here. I thought maybe she’d dropped it by accident… but she’s not here either. And I have no idea where else she could be…”
— “Fuck… goddammit!”
Growing increasingly frustrated by the situation, Yuri began pacing back and forth across the apartment, her mind racing as she tried to come up with a solution.
After a few seconds, she suddenly stopped, as though an idea had just struck her.
Without wasting any time, she pulled out her phone.
Intrigued by her sudden change in behavior, Spider-Man leaned slightly closer to see what she was doing.
Yuri opened an app called “Track” and immediately began entering several lines of code.
— “Can I ask what you’re doing?”
— “I’m running my tracking program on George’s phone.”
TO BE CONTINUED.