Park bench conversations

“Spider-man?” I say back to him a confused daze

“Oh that’s right! You wouldn’t know him! He’s like an old comic book character I used to..uh…read.”

“Are you a native or transplant?” I asked him the very same question that Moe asked me a few days ago.

“Huh? I mean…dude, I’m a New Yorker if that’s what you're asking!”

‘Did Moe lie to me about there being others like us here….No he wouldn’t have any real reason to!’

“So climbing walls and superhuman capabilities eh, That’s quite useful if you ask me!”

“Dude…you can literally manipulate time!” I say, still recovering from the revelation that he’s like me.

“Yeah that’s cool and all but if someone were to hit me, it would still hurt. Also I can only stop time for like 5 minutes at a time and then rest for 10 seconds before using it again when I’m awake.”

He kept on revealing more about his ability unprompted. I was not going to let go of this opportunity to learn more about him and his powers.

“When you’re awake?”

“Yeah when I’m sleeping, time basically stops until I wake up!”

“.....”

“Well not stop exactly, more like slow down considerably. So lets say I sleep at 12:00 in the night then I could sleep for 8 hours comfortably and it’ll still be only 12:01. For others it would seem like I had only slept for like a minute.”

“.....”

“How else do you think I’m up this early! My powers have it’s benefits and it definitely is cool but I don’t know having Spider-Man’s abilities seems like It would be really useful in life, you know?”

“ARE You crazy? My dude I would take your powers in a heartbeat!”

“Really!

“DUDE If I could stop time while sleeping I would have an extra 8 hours to work. I could literally have a side job and not to mention you can freeze time for 5 whole minutes and then do it again after 10 seconds!!! That’s INSANE. Assignments and Homework wouldn’t drain so much of my time!”

“Man, you make my powers sound boring! Besides, I have to activate my powers in a way that's not too obvious and I wonder how it feels to be really strong and fast!”

“Well of course duh you should be careful! You don’t want scientists cutting you up!”

“It’s fun to talk to someone who has to worry about the same things as I do!” He said with Refreshing friendliness.

‘I know how that feels! When I talked to Moe it was the same feeling for me.’ I thought.

I wanted to speak to him about his universe but I didn’t know if I could trust him yet.

Yeah…sure I don’t think he has any malicious intent and he seems to be a good person but he also seems to be a careless person. The kind of person that could blurt out something that’s supposed to be secret. I’ve met a lot of people like him in my previous profession, loose lips sink ships and all that.

“So I’m guessing that means you don’t know many people like us.” I ask him,

“Yeah you’re like the first super I’ve encountered. I knew something was up when you grabbed my arm that day, not many people have that kind of reflex. Oh by the way I forgot your name.” He said with an embarrassed look.

“It’s Peter.” he extended his right arm to shake my arm,

“Nice to meet you Peter…?”

“Parker. I’m Peter Parker.” As soon as he heard my full name he stiffened up.

‘Of course he did you dumbass? You are spider-man!!!’

Sometimes I forget that I’m a fictional character; at least from his perspective.

“Oh…Peter Parker huh. Nice name!” he spoke with anxiousness.

“So like how’s school life..any girl problems…Peter Parker?”

I’ve known him for only a little while and even I knew he was acting unusual. It was so unlike him to be so nervous.

He was acting like I was the one with the scary ability.

I looked at him for a second, he gave a nervous look back. His eyes darted back and forth.

“What’s the matter Peter parker? Are you not feeling good? Peter Parker. ”

*Sigh*

‘One day being this understanding to strangers is gonna bite me in the ass!’

‘I know who Spiderman is!”

“Huh good to know Spider-Man oh fuc…I mean Peter Parker!”

“Stop saying my full name.”

“Oh okay sir! I mean Peter Park- I mean Parker oh shit i’m sorry I mean Peter!” He apologized with his head down.

*Sigh*

“I know we’re living in the marvel universe. You don’t have to pretend to not know me!”

It was finally his turn to drop his jaw!

“So you mean all this…time?”

“Yes. I knew.”

.

.

.

“You’re a douche you know that, my heart almost stopped when I heard your name. I thought I was messed with the timeline or something!!!” he continued his rant,

“I..uh..thought maybe my interference would end up messing it all up! All the while you were laughing it up and what was with that death glare you gave me before!! I thought your spider sense must have triggered. Geez you were so suspicious! You really are a troll aren’t you?” He said in one breath.

His previous nervousness was nowhere.

*Sigh*

“I had good reasons for doing that! Besides, watching you squirm around made me feel really bad. That’s why I even told you the truth.…but aren’t you going to ask me how I know we’re living in the marvel universe?”

“Oh…that..give me a second.”

“A sec?-” I said,

before I could even respond he answered back,

“You’re a Transmigrator like me!”

‘Transmigrator? Didn’t Moe use ‘Uncommon’ to describe people like us? Well anyways it fits the bill.’

“That was..impressive. From your face I thought you had no clue but then you came up with the right answer!”

He laughed and replied,

“Yeah that’s because I didn’t actually know! I stopped time and thought about it for a while and the answer was obvious! You must be like me! A transmigrator!!! That’s how you you know ”

He said with excitement.

‘Damn this guy was crazy fickle!’ I noted.

“What’s that word? Never heard of it.” I ask him curiously

“It’s like in stories where the guy is transported to another world, most of them are fan-fiction!”

“Fan-fictions?” I ask him,

I wasn’t familiar with the word, I knew about comics and movies. Maybe this was fans writing their own stories about the characters they like.

“Yeah! Fans write their fiction to satisfy their lustful feelings towards sexy fictional characters! They’re a bunch of weirdo’s if you ask me.” He said while rubbing his nose.

“Hmm..”

I got a feeling that a lot of people would be offended by that characterisation. I ignored it because there were more important things to quibble about.

“Yeah anyways, so you’re like me right? so you remember from your birth!” It was his turn to ask me the questions.

“No…I just got my memories back recently…when I got my superpowers!”

“Woah..if I were writing a fan-fiction that’s exactly where I would start too! Makes you wonder if we’re living in one.”

“Hmmm.” I wondered,

‘Maybe who knows, seems unlikely though. I feel like I’m in charge of all my decisions.’

“Theodore, you need to be careful with who you show off your powers to!” I said bringing back the conversation from pointless philosophy

He smiled and said with a huge grin, “I know..I know but to be fair you were the one who started to show off.”

‘Hmmm you know what he’s got a point there!’

I returned his smile and said, “Yeah I know..I’m going through some things so when I saw you try to punk me I just lost control!”

“Yeah you’re Peter Parker. Going through terrible things in life is kinda your M.O!”

“Uh huh” It would be infuriating if it wasn’t true.

“But getting up no matter what every time you're knocked down is also your thing! You’re Peter Parker!” He did Tah-dah and introduced me to the invisible audience.

Externally I smiled with confidence but inside I was choking up. We’re practically strangers and yet, he believes in me so much!

“Thanks for that.”

“No problem, you’re like the second coolest person in this city!”

“I’m guessing that you’re the first one?”

“Is there any doubt about it? Dude I have natural silver hair and can stop time.” He beamed with confidence.

‘Eh he’s kinda right.’

“So……where were you? I mean before….you know….before you reincarnated.” Theo asked,

“I’m from a country called India! Well I was in my previous life…now I bleed the red, white and blue. My uncle would have my ass if I didn’t!”

“Yeah of course I know India! I’m not that dumb, I know basic geography. I was from the Philippines in my past life! Now I’m an American of course, just like you.”

“Have you ever been to the world’s Philippines?”

“You bet! That was the first place I went to when I got my passport.”

“Are they similar? In terms of culture and everything.”

“The history is a bit different but the people are exactly the same as I remember. Happy go lucky and the kindest people in the world!” He said with a bit of sentimentality.

“That’s good to hear!”

I’m glad that he could still relate to his previous homeland, god I wish I could go to India once everything clears up. Once Harry wakes up and Uncle Ben goes into remission!

“People there were really surprised when I started speaking in fluent Tagalog!! You should have seen some of their faces when a white foreigner began swearing in their language!!!” He started cracking up,

We kept talking about random stuff completely oblivious to the passage of time.

‘Well it’s not like he’ll be late for anything ever in his life. Damn I was so jealous of his powers!!’

It was 7:45 now and I had to leave!

“Hey wanna catch up at a later date. I think you’d like Moe’s cafe!” I offered him,

“I refuse.” he declined.

I don’t know why he did that but the conversation was going smoothly so far, so why did he do that?

Sensing my confusion he answered,

“I don’t fraternize with my opponents especially when I’m facing them so soon.”

“Opponents?”

“We’re playing against each other this Friday, remember! I don’t want to get too excited and reveal any of our game plans to you. I plan on winning, so your inclusion to the other team increases the difficulty a notch!”

‘Oh I see he was the competitive type. Just like our team's captain!!’

“Just a notch? You don’t think I’ll give you much trouble.” I say with a sarcastic grin.

“Doubt it!” He got up and proceeded to say,

“There’s no one in this world who can beat me!! I’m looking forward to the show you’ll put on for me on Friday. Good luck Peter, you're gonna need it.”

‘Always with the cocky proclamations! Guess we’ll see what happens on Friday!’

“Good luck Theo!”

He did a small nod and started jogging to the other side.

This world isn’t as big as it seems!

The first thing I did after I left after my conversation with Theo was to jet back to home.

“You’re visiting Harry after classes today right?” Aunt May enquired,

“Yup!” I replied back automatically. She advised me to get some flowers on the way for him and that I take care not to be too late coming back home. Streets weren’t safe after dark apparently!

Uncle Ben seemed to be doing fine, he was busy with gardening, another new hobby he picked up in his free time.

‘I don’t want him to be working too much! If he’s retired like this.’

It was heartwarming to watch him do normal tasks around the home, I didn’t want him to work on his twilight years!

The fact of the matter was that for that to happen we needed some money to make that happen.

‘I’ve got the theory down! the only thing I needed to do now was make sure that I could make a beta product, one that’ll blow the investors!!!’

The time was around 8:16 when my school bus finally came.

I informed Will about the whole thing and he gave me a day off from the practice.

It was a costly session because we’ll be facing the green horns soon. I was confident at the time but now that I know Theo’s powers, it made me worry.

On one hand, I knew what to expect from the game on the other I knew just how great of a challenge we had. If he could stop time for even 30 seconds at a time then he would be able to outpace me. Theo can actually stop time for 5 fricken minutes. Plus that’s assuming he’s even telling the full extent of his abilities which I’m sure he wasn’t kind enough to do.

He didn’t socialize with his rivals after all, I doubt he would tell me everything about his powers in that same vein.

People were giving me looks all day.

‘Guess word reached pretty fast!’

Principal Ditko gave a speech about the importance of not drinking and driving.

He never mentioned Flash directly but it was obvious to anyone who knew what happened. Everyone inferred he was talking about Flash Thompson!

The day carried on as usual, it was just boring without Harry.

I underappreciated the spice he added to my life, I couldn’t focus on the class at all.

My thoughts drifted to the motionless Harry that I briefly glimpsed yesterday!

It was hard to focus on algebra when your mind constantly thought about your friend who was in a coma.

It seemed Jessica Thompson had not attended today either since I heard a lot of murmurs about her.

When the day was done I packed my bags and was about to leave when I felt someone tug my sleeve,

“Where’s..Jessica?……Thompson?” It was the blue haired girl..um what was her name again?

“She’s at the general hospital, she’s fine! Her arm is in a sling though.” I said to her back.

She audibly sighed in relief.

I clenched my teeth, ‘Where was this concern and worry for harry?’

‘No this wasn’t the time for any misplaced anger! I have to go to the hospital ASAP!’

“If that’s all then I’ll be taking my leave!”

Her eyes dilated and her breath became heavy, ‘Oh great what now?’

“I…uh…want…to..come..to the hospital If you’re going.”

I observed her silently.

She might look harmless but my instincts told she was anything but! Sure maybe it was judgmental, but when a person has that much amount of hatred towards me I’m allowed to be a little judgemental.

“Okay but I have to buy some flowers before I go! Is that okay with you?”

She nodded quickly, not wanting to chance it.

We left the school and visited the florist. I got a small bouquet of white daisies with a get well card. While Sarah got a single red rose.

‘Yup she’s definitely crazy about Flash’s sister!’

From there we hailed a taxi to the hospital.

These expenses were piling up, I really needed to find another source of income.

We reached there fast.

The girl, I think her name was Sarah Symanski, paid for the cab and got down quickly.

‘Huh I thought we would split the difference!’

She looked at me expectantly, she really wanted me to hurry up.

She was in a hurry to meet her crush, I guess?

We walked to the waiting room where we saw Jessica sitting glumly. Sarah forgot about propriety and ran like a kid to meet her.

Jessica’s face brightened when it saw the friendly face rushing towards her,

“Sarah!!”

“Jess” she wasn’t meek anymore!

“What are you doing here?”

“I came. To see you….is..that alright with you.” She offered her red rose to Jessica.

Jessica walked near her friend and hugged her tightly!

I don’t think she understands the meaning of offering someone red roses but that’s a problem they have to figure out by themselves!

It took a few more seconds before Jessica noticed me, “Oh…hey.”

Well at least she didn’t cuss me out this time.

“Yeah…any updates on Harry.”

“Um..the doctors say he’s stabilized now and will wake up any day now!” She said without meeting my eyes.

“Did you or flash offer him any alcohol?” I asked her with no emotion.

She looked like she was hit by the worst news in her life.

All of a sudden I felt a surge of hatred directed towards me by the Symanski girl.

‘Oh please take a chill pill, Glenn close from Fatal Attraction!

“I did!” She said with a fierce look.

‘She’s a terrible liar.’

Even without my superpowers I would easily be able to tell that was a lie but I decided to play her game.

“And did Harry accept that drink?”

She looked stunned, possibly understanding where my line of enquiry was going!

“….Yes?” She said in a low whisper.

“Well then why the hell are you so guilty about this then? He’s old enough to know better and besides Flash was the one driving! So you’re not the one to be blamed.”

“But…my brother was….like you said…I let them drive drunk.”

She definitely didn’t sound like the type of person to offer drinks to a person she barely knew.

In fact the way she said that statement, it was very believable that she didn’t even drink alcohol, herself!

I don’t know why but she was covering for her brother for some reason.

“So what? Your brother and Harry should have known better. They decided to do something foolish and suffered the consequences as a result. Believe me, blaming yourself for everything won’t make things better.”

“Did you or your brother force him to drink him anything!” Again a surge of darkness radiated from Sarah Symanski.

Jessica looked down and shook her head like a child being reprimanded!

“Then you don’t have to feel guilty about anything! I get the feeling that you tried to stop your brother but he wouldn’t listen to you.”

Her eyes widened and lips tightened, she looked vindicated as she bit into her lower gum.

‘The only thing she was guilty of was having a dumb brother!’

“oh and one more thing you make a terrible liar!” I say with a small smile.

She smiled weakly.

I was still frustrated at the entire thing but Harry would have wanted me to make good with her. He wouldn’t like it if I took out all of my frustrations on her!

A lot of people would dislike me if I turned out to be such a vengeful person.

She was taking it out on herself and what she needed now was some kind words. That’s what Aunt May would expect of her nephew.

Jessica’s eyes started moistening.

She looked embarrassed.

Before we could speak anymore, a nurse walked up to our group and informed us with a cheery smile that Harry had woken up.