Work Text:
"I'm going to take everything from you. Just like you did to me."
Miles watched in horror as The Spot stared down at him.
"See you back home." The Spot let out a laugh and disappeared.
Miles turned to Gwen and the other spiders in horror. His chest was starting to tighten and his mind was racing.
"I have to go home." Miles stepped towards Gwen. "Take me back. I don't need to be here."
Gwen looked to Pavitr and Hobie before looking back to Miles. She had a look of disbelief on her face, but nodded.
"Yeah." Gwen brought up her watch and pressed a few buttons. "Pavitr and Hobie, take care of this dimension. I'll be back."
The two spiders nodded at Gwen, Hobie making a small comment, before the portal appeared before them.
Gwen and Miles stepped through the portal and back into 1610.
The world looked rather normal, and not like a villain with the power to rip apart the universe was there. It made Miles feel uneasy and he did not know how to feel as Gwen and him flew through the city.
Miles made sure to grab a cake before going home, entering his house quickly and setting it down. Gwen followed behind as he looked through the rooms.
"Mom?" Miles called out, and as if on cue his mother appeared.
"Miles?" His mom frowned and shot a small glance at Gwen. "What's wrong?"
His mother put her hands onto his face and he leaned into the touch. He took a deep breath and looked up to her.
"Nothing. I just saw an accident and got scared for a second." Miles felt relieved that she was okay.
"You poor thing." His mother frowned and looked at the cake. "You got it."
"I did." Miles smiled slightly. "I'm sorry for messing things up."
"Oh, Miles." His mother smiled and put her hands on his shoulders. "You're okay. But I don't think your father will be happy to see your friend here."
"Oh." Gwen shuffled awkwardly. "I'm sorry, Mrs. Morales. I'll be leaving."
Miles felt relieved with the use of his mother's last name. He knew his parents were taken back before.
His mother gave a slight smile at her and gave a small wave.
"Have a good day, Gwanda." His mother said and Gwen shared a wave with Miles before leaving.
Miles watched Gwen leave before turning back to his mother. The two shared a look, one that told him that she knew he liked Gwen and missed her a lot.
"How about you go to sleep early? You've had a busy day and have school in the morning." His mother rubbed his shoulder and he nodded in response.
–
Walking through the hallways of Visions that morning was odd.
The whispers were louder than normal, all excited and speaking of some new teacher that was finally replacing the physics teacher who moved out of town.
"I've heard from the upperclassmen that he's an odd duck." A student said to their friend. "But don't bring up the thing when you see him."
"What thing?" Their friend responded, causing Miles to look at the two.
The student made a face at their friend and shook their head.
"Nevermind. You'll see." They said and shut their locker.
Miles was now intrigued. His senses felt like a barely boiling pot of water. It was keeping him on his toes and it was extremely uncomfortable.
At least he had Physics first.
Miles walked into the classroom and sat down next to Ganke, who looked more interested than normal.
"Hey, Miles." Ganke's voice was quieter than normal.
"Yeah?" Miles looked at Ganke, who looked pale. This worries Miles.
"Did you hear about the new teacher?" Ganke turned to Miles, his eyebrows pinching.
"No? I've been busy with…" Miles trailed off. "Why?"
Ganke turned back to look at the whiteboard at the front. Miles opened his mouth to ask what was wrong, but the door opened. The whole class turned to see the new teacher walk in.
The man was tall, limbs long and awkward. He was wearing an older looking denim jacket and a black hat. Then Miles realized who it was.
It was The Spot.
"Hello class!" The Spot sounded cheerful as he put his shoulder bag onto his desk. He slipped his hat off and sat it onto his desk.
The class echoed a small hello, which made the man laugh quietly. He walked to the whiteboard and picked up one of the many expo markers.
"My name is Doctor Jonathan Ohnn." The Spot wrote his name onto the white board in what could be described as a mix of scrawl and formal handwriting. The letters were tall and skinny, almost too neat, as if he was forcing a good handwriting. "I am going to be teaching you all Physics as before. Mrs. Jennings, as you all know, has transferred to a different state."
The Spot capped the expi and held it with two hands. He turned towards the class and tilted his head.
"I used to work for Alchamex two years ago. I was a leading scientist on the particle collider that malfunctioned about a year ago. I worked with Doctor Olivia Octavius and many other rebound scientists of our time." The Spot made a point to show he was looking at each student by turning his head slowly towards the different sections of the class. "I have read each of your files and teacher notes, so I am already somewhat introduced to each of you. I hope that I can get to know each of you better over the course of the semester."
The class murmured in response, a few kids swearing quietly or them being disappointed they didn't get to introduce themselves.
"Hey! Don't be disgruntled." The Spot waved the expo before setting it down. He waved his hands as he spoke, flourishing his words almost. "This is a journey! I have to do my research. Have you all not been paying attention in your science classes?"
The Spot let out a small laugh before picking up a paper on his desk.
"Now, turn your books to page 328. We have work to do."
–
"Do you think he knows?"
Miles looked up at Ganke as the two sat at one of the study tables in the library. They were studying together after class and Miles was trying to not panic.
"I don't know." Miles sounded stressed. "It is freaking me out. Is he going to randomly come after me?"
"Dude, I don't know. You're the hero." Ganke shrugged. "But you should totally keep an eye out for him. Who knows what's up with him. I should have called the police for hou."
Miles didn't feel any better by that.
"Yeah. You should have.
–
Miles couldn't help but glance at The Spot.
Every five minutes or so, his eyes would flick up to the spotted man who was hunched over at his desk. The man's focus was on stapled packets that he would mark with a red pen and write notes across.
It was unreal that the man that was destroying dimensions and swore to destroy his life was now his science teacher.
And no one was mentioning that he was quite literally covered in spots? It's been a few weeks now.
Miles looked at the worksheet in front of him and resisted a sigh.
Why was The Spot here? Why was he now teaching at Visions? Was this part of the long haul? Miles couldn't handle it.
Mile's pencil lead snapped on his mechanical pencil and a few of his classmates glanced towards him. Miles idly wondered if his thoughts were being broadcasted, and that's why his classmates seemed weirded out by him right now.
The bell rang and Miles let out the breath he was holding.
"Alright! Put your papers into the hole by the door on your way out!" The Spot sounded like he was smiling. "Let's hope you guys did great. Which, I don't doubt of course. You're a great class."
The students all shuffled to get up and move towards the room, a few smiling at the words.
"Oh! I almost forgot." The Spot turned his head towards Miles. "Mr. Morales, could you please stay behind? I have a word."
Some of the classmates let out small oo's and Ganke made eye contact with Miles. Miles just shrugged and Ganke shrugged back in response before leaving.
Miles walked up to the desk, standing in front of The Spot, who was watching the students leave, almost ignoring Miles completely until the door shut. Then, as if he was building suspense, he turned to Miles.
"Miles." The Spot tilted his head and the spot on his face shrunk slightly. "I'm going to need you to be honest with me."
Miles felt a lump in his throat and he nodded.
"What's going on with you?" The Spot broke the eerie feeling by looking down and picking up a file from the side of his desk. He flipped it open and pulled out Miles' profile.
"What…?" Miles was confused.
The Spot looked up at this. Miles wondered if the man would give him a dumb look if he could.
"You've been skipping classes lately and your grades have slipped in Spanish again." The Spot said it like it was obvious. "You seem distracted in class and always look around like you're expecting something to jump out at you randomly."
Oh.
Miles wasn't expecting the man to be concerned for him. Did he not know and this was purely coincidence?
"I…" Miles started and stopped.
"Miles, I know your family has a busy life. It's in your file. Your dad's captain of PDNY and your mom is a nurse." The Spot tapped his finger onto the part that said his parent's descriptions. "Are you staying up late to see them? If so, lack of sleep isn't good for someone your age."
"No… that's not it." Miles shook his head. "I uh… I've witnessed a few things over the last year and a half."
Why did he say that?
"Miles, do you need to see the counselor? We have resources for that type of thing." The Spot picked up a pen and notepad before scrawling something down. "I can also help find you a good therapist if needed. Sometimes school resources are tricky to use for finding things like that. I can also suggest good home remedies for lack of sleep."
Miles watched as the man rambled about the importance of sleep and the odd references that spilled from him. The Spot suddenly stopped and looked up.
"Miles, do you have nightmares surrounding what happened to you?" The Spot sounded serious.
"I…" How does Miles answer that?
"Miles, I've been here for almost a month now. You can open up to me if you want to. I'm here to help." The Spot sounded genuine.
"Yeah." Miles nodded. "I have dreams about my uncle dying… and buildings collapsing around me."
The Spot hummed and nodded before writing down something else. Once he was done, he ripped the page off and handed it to Miles.
"I wrote down good resources and places to start for therapy. Then I wrote down a few good remedies to help with dreams and sleep." The Spot informed Miles as he had taken the page.
Miles stared at the page and the bell rang for the next class.
"You're good to go now. Tell your next teacher I kept you." The Spot wrote another note before sticking it into a hole. "You may go now. And get sleep."
Miles nodded and thanked him quietly before leaving.
The Spot watched as Miles left, seeing the kid's figure disappear behind the shutting door.
The man sat in silence for a minute before sighing.
–
"Class! Time is up!"
The words were called out and students across the room groaned.
Miles watched as one by one, holes appeared above everyone's desk and their tests were whisked away by a pure white hand.
It was amusing watching The Spot use his spots to navigate the classroom.
The man opened up a hole next to Jessica's desk and took her phone right from her hands. He lifted it towards his face, reading whatever message she was typing before exiting the app.
"Hey!" Jessica whined and reached towards the hole that quickly closed behind the disappearing hand.
"No phones!" The Spot laughed and held the phone above his head to take a picture, throwing up a peace sign. "Next time, do it where I can't see it."
He opened up another spot and put the phone back on Jessica's desk. Jessica pouted as she put her phone away. The other students were snickering as The Spot gave a comical shrug.
"What can I do? I am your teacher after all." The Spot stuck his hand into another spot before pulling out a stack of papers.
"Don't take phones." Jessica grumbled and the students all eyed her.
Miles is sure that if The Spot has eyes, they'd roll.
"Anywho." The Spot looked through the stack of papers, comically holding them up. "Do you guys want to know how you did on your essays?"
A chorus of 'yes' came from the students and spots opened up. Papers were passed out that way, and the students took them as they were presented.
Miles took his and snorted at the crude drawing of their teacher on his paper, a little speech bubble telling him he did a good job.
"You all did very well. Some more than others." The Spot sat down at his desk. "But who can help that, am I right?"
A paper, now crumbled up, whizzed past Miles' head and he leaned away from it. It flew past him and it actually made it to The Spot. Not that it'd actually hit him.
Like many times before, the paper went through a spot and hit the kid on his head.
The class has gotten good with aiming objects at their teacher. It was almost like a game; where they'd throw harmless and unassuming objects at their teacher and he'd send it right back. Even if his back was turned.
"Now now. That's not nice." The Spot shook his finger at the kid. "You guys don't appreciate my art in your papers like I do. It's my art isn't it? I'm a scientist, not an artist. That's why my degree is in quantum physics, you know."
The class erupted in laughter.
"Stop laughing at me!" The Spot did a dramatic move of swooning. "I am being ridiculed by 15 year olds!"
Then the paper balls came flying.
"Hey!" Their teacher cried out as he held his hands out, spots appearing to send their projectiles back.
Which they promptly grabbed and threw again.
Miles laughed and threw a different crumpled piece of paper. He wanted to keep his paper.
The Spot crumpled to the floor, yelling about being bested and letting the papers hit him as he laid limp on the ground.
The class slowly quieted down and watched their teacher curiously.
Then he opened spots around him and the paper came raining down. He hopped up with an evil laugh.
"REVENGE!" The Spot held up a finger to the sky.
The knock on the door was almost drowned out, but The Spot turned his head towards the door. He opened the door from across the room and stuck his head through a spot to greet them.
"Oh! Mr. Han. Nice to see you!" The Spot then spoke quietly to the administrator.
There was quiet back and forth before Miles felt his senses kick slightly.
"The kids being a brat, man. He's gotta be dealt with, you know?"
Oh.
Miles could see the spots on the man's body shift, crackle slightly like when he gets upset. His whole body went through the spot that his head was going through. He was now standing almost menacingly in the doorway.
"Please never speak about my students like that again." The Spot's voice held a crackle to it. "You hold no respect for them, which is probably why they don't respect you."
It wasn't said in a hushed tone, so the whole class heard it.
"When you want to be respectful towards him, you can come back. Until then, please leave my classroom." The Spot took a step back and closed the door.
He took a moment to collect himself, his spots still crackling slightly and Miles felt on edge. His senses were telling him that danger was imminent, but as the man calmed down his senses quieted.
The Spot turned back to his class and clapped his hands together once, interlocking his fingers and tilting his head.
"Who wants to watch old experiment videos?"
–
Miles was shooting paper footballs at Ganke's fingers, which were formed into a goal.
Class was idle that day, as they were doing a review that Miles was confident with. He felt like he didn't need to go over the material any more than he already had, and the class seemed to agree.
"Any other questions?" The Spot asked. "Specifically any that would get the game of football in the middle of the class to stop?"
With that, a spot captured the paper triangle mid air. Miles sighed as he looked up to see The Spot holding it.
A kid in the front raised his hand and The Spot lit up.
"Yes!" The Spot threw the football paper at the kid, who caught it.
"Dr. Ohnn, if I can ask… why'd you become a teacher here?" The kid asked.
"Oh. One of those questions!" The Spot seemed excited and sat on his desk.
The class watched intensely as the man got comfortable.
"Well, as you can probably guess, no one would want to hire someone who looks like me." The Spot shrugged. "I actually got into a life of crime before this. I was let go from Alchamex because of the accident that turned me into this. So I went down a rabbit hole of revenge."
"Revenge?" Ganke said it out loud.
"Yes." The Spot sounded slightly sour as he spoke, his spot on his face getting smaller. "I got so caught up in proving myself and trying to make the person who caused this to feel exactly what I felt when my life was ruined. I went on to almost tear apart the different dimensions. I traveled to other universes and caused a collapse."
The students were shocked into silence as they stared at their teacher.
"The universe is okay. I made sure that it was stabilized." The Spot looked at his hands. It was surreal seeing him unanimated. "I was so consumed by myself when I came back. I threw myself into figuring out how to get back. I found this job, it was part of the plan. I minored in education to check a box. I could possibly do it while my life evened out and unfolded. Then I took the job and realized that I actually care about this. All of you."
"Did we change you?" Jessica asked.
The Spot hummed and nodded.
"Within a week I found out that I cared about my students and that I want you all to grow up to be greater than me." The Spot stood up again. "Why be angry when I can see you all become something I could never be?"
Miles stared at The Spot as he picked up the expo marker.
Has this man changed? Was he actually a bad guy, or just someone trying to find his place in the world and deal with the crushing grief of his life slipping away?
It made Miles feel bad for everything.
"Does anyone have any other questions?" Dr. Ohnn wrote an equation on the board before looking back.
"Who is your rival? The one who caused this?" It was a kid from the back.
Miles could have sworn that Dr. Ohnn's head turned towards him slightly. But it was probably a trick or his brain.
"That doesn't matter, does it?" Dr. Ohnn tapped the board with his finger. "Now, whoever solves this first will get to stick a hand through a spot."
–
Miles sat next to Margo, who was a girl in his physics class, as they were having lunch.
They never talked much, just sat next to each other.
Convenience.
"Hey, Margo." Miles started.
"Yeah?" The girl barely looked up from her food.
"Why does nobody talk about Dr. Ohnn's spots?" Miles asked. "Or the fact he's a supervillain?"
This has Margo looking up. She gave Miles a look that looked sour.
"Because he's nice?" Margo said it like it was obvious. "He treats us with respect and is cool. He cares more about us than any other teacher. Why would we bring it up?"
Miles shrugged and mumbled how he didn't know.
"Also. Someone made a deal day one that if we didn't bring it up, he wouldn't assign us the amount of homework we should be getting." Margo shrugged at that and went back to eating.
–
It was a random Tuesday.
Nothing was special or wrong, but Miles felt like throwing up all day.
His senses were crashing over him like waves over a child's sandcastle. Over and over again. It fogged up his brain and he felt like throwing up because of it.
Dr. Ohnn seemed to notice, because he kept looking directly at Miles.
"Miles? Are you okay?" Dr. Ohnn took a step towards Miles.
Miles nodded.
"Yeah. My stomach just hurts." Miles grumbled it out, which had Ganke looking at him.
Ganke did a small hand motion, which was code between the two of them to ask if it was a spider themed situation.
Miles nodded at Ganke, who slowly nodded back.
Miles tried to focus on his work, but it was getting worse. He couldn't see Dr. Ohnn watching him closely from across the room anymore. The edges of his vision were blurring.
Then he heard it.
A loud crashing noise that had the students screaming.
Dr. Ohnn stood up quickly, his head turning towards the door. He was flexing his hands and Miles turned his attention from his teacher to the door.
"Students, stay still and quiet." Dr. Ohnn instructed and the class quieted down.
There was rumbling as whatever it was headed towards them.
Then, as if on cue, Miles and his classmates were falling for a split second. Their vision blacked out before they found themselves in the gym.
Dr. Ohnn had relocated them.
Miles whispered to Ganke that he'd be back and slipped out of the gym. He quickly wrangled himself out of his school uniform and donned his suit before swinging towards the fight.
Miles slipped inside of the classroom to see Dr. Ohnn fighting Tombstone. The two were going hand to hand, Dr. Ohnn keeping up easily and seemingly going easy.
The man was crackling and his body was almost mostly black now. It was sending shocks down Miles' body and had him freeze for a second.
The memories came back before the sound of Tombstone calling his name cut him out.
"Spider-Man! Exactly who I was looking for!" Tombstone yelled.
Dr. Ohnn looked towards Miles before throwing a punch to Tombstone. The punch connected and Miles took this opportunity to jump into the fight.
Miles tried to use the spots as an advantage, but Dr. Ohnn was being difficult.
"What is wrong with you?" Miles grumbled at his teacher.
"If it wasn't for this fight and my students, I would be fighting you. Just letting you know." Dr. Ohnn called out. "But I lead by example!"
Dr. Ohnn kicked Tombstone and Miles pushed Tombstone out of the window.
"You're such a drama queen." Miles responded to Dr. Ohnn, who whipped his head towards Miles in response.
"This is the first time I see you in person in months and you call me a drama queen?!" Dr. Ohnn almost yelled it.
"Calm down!" Miles held his hands up in defense. "Aren't you supposed to be ruining my life?"
Dr. Ohnn stared at Miles, as if he was debating something, but then groaned and turned towards the man below them.
He opened up a portal and Tombstone disappeared into it.
"Scram, Spider-Man. I have a class to tend to." Dr. Ohnn turned his back towards Miles.
Miles frowned at him before going back to the gym. He redressed and slipped back inside just as Dr. Ohnn reappeared.
"Kids!" Dr. Ohnn called out and the students all crowded him.
Miles followed and stood at the edge.
Dr. Ohnn inspected each of the kids, making sure that they were all okay. Even though they didn't witness the fight.
When he had gotten to Miles, he took Miles' face in his hands and turned his head this way and that. It was a genuine inspection and Miles wondered if he actually did know Miles was Spider-Man.
"Good grief. You're all okay!" Dr. Ohnn dropped his hands and did a thumbs up. "Congrats! You guys survived a villain attack!"
"Why were we attacked?" A student asked.
"Something about revenge?" Dr. Ohnn shrugged. "He's back in jail, so who cares!"
The students all glanced at each other and grumbled as their teacher ushered them into their classroom again.
–
Miles was running late.
It was Monday morning, which meant he spent the weekend back at home instead of his dorm. Normally, he wakes up at 6am to leave by 7am, classes start at 8am. But today he slept through his alarm and it was currently 7:45am and he was just leaving his apartment.
Miles ran as fast as he dodged New Yorkers, who all grumbled at him and he apologized loudly to them. He didn't have time to not get caught changing in and out of his clothes, so swinging wasn't an option today. Normally it would be an option, but he didn't have time to risk getting caught.
Miles turned the corner of a block and his senses spiked before he ran flat into someone. Miles let out a small shriek as he fell almost comically onto his back, groaning and rubbing his eyes.
"Watch where you're going, punk." The man he ran into spat out and Miles turned onto his side.
"Maybe you need to not be standing directly behind a corner." The words slipped out of Miles' mouth and his eyes snapped open the second he said them.
"What'd you say, punk?" A hand grabbed the back of Miles' jacket and lifted him off the ground.
Miles came face to face with Kraven.
What was this man even doing in the open? At 7:45 in the morning?
"I didn't mean it!" Miles held his hands up and Kraven shook him slightly.
"Yeah, right." Kraven dropped Miles and rolled up his sleeves.
At least the man was wearing a normal person outfit. It would be weird to be in full outfit at… 7:55am.
Miles was totally late.
"Hey now, I suggest you leave my student alone." A voice came from behind Miles.
Kraven looked up and scowled.
"Well, isn't it the spotted one." Kraven growled and Miles looked back.
Dr. Ohnn was standing with his hands on his hips. He was wearing his old jean jacket, hat, and sunglasses. He was also wearing black pants, which was slightly odd.
"Dr. Ohnn." Miles gave him a look that screamed for help.
"Yup. It's me. Big surprise!" Dr. Ohnn did jazz hands before stepping to stand behind Miles. He placed a hand on Miles's shoulder. "Do you have a problem with one of my favorite students?"
Kraven looked between the two before laughing.
"So you're a teacher now? Couldn't cut it as a villain, huh?" Kraven looked highly amused. "Knew it."
"Actually," Miles was speaking again without speaking. Miles stop it. Miles, Miles don't do it. "He almost destroyed the multiverse before becoming our teacher. I guess he did more than you ever will. Sucks, right? The Hole Man that you think is silly is more powerful than you'll ever be."
The two adults stared at Miles in shock before Kraven drew his weapon.
"You little shit-" Kraven started, but was cut off when Dr. Ohnn shot a hole beneath him.
Kraven fell through with a yell and the hole shut after he was gone. The two stared at the hole before Miles looked up to Dr. Ohnn.
"Well…" Dr. Ohnn started slowly. "Next time, please don't pick fights when you're in the open. It isn't a good look, you know?"
"What?" Miles gave him a confused look as Dr. Ohnn opened up a hole large enough for the two of them.
Dr. Ohnn pushed Miles through and they ended up inside of the classroom. Dr. Ohnn sat his bag on his desk before poking at Miles.
He checked Miles over for any scratches before nodding. The classmates all stared at them.
"Great. You're unharmed. Sit down." Dr. Ohnn moved to the whiteboard and picked up an expo.
Miles moved to sit at his desk next to Ganke as the bell rang.
"Now, students. Don't pick fights with villains, especially if you aren't equipped to fight back." Dr. Ohnn started to write out the lesson for the day on the board casually. "Especially egotistical barbarian hunters. Don't be like Mr. Morales, who had the unpleasant experience of running into Kraven. That man is so miserable, you know?"
Ganke turned to Miles and raised an eyebrow, and Miles held his hands up in defense.
"I turned a corner and ran into him!" Miles tried to defend himself.
Dr. Ohnn threw the marker cap into a spot, which led to the cap hitting Miles in the face. It bounced off his face and ricocheted into another spot before landing back into the teacher's hand.
"Don't be late for school then, Morales." Dr. Ohnn capped his expo and turned back around. "Now, someone explain to me lense refraction."
–
The whole class stared in amazement as Dr. Ohnn plugged many cords into some sort of object.
The room was scattered with wires and tubes. Chunks of different computers were connected and scattered around the room. They were all instructed to not touch anything as he worked.
Dr. Ohnn mumbled to himself as he picked up a screwdriver and tightened a few screws on the largest box on his desk. It looked like it had a lense on it, which held a light bulb behind it.
"Someone turn off the lights and flip the one that's already off to the on position." Dr. Ohnn waved his hands towards the students as the other day down the screwdriver. "To your seats everyone else!"
The class scrambled to their seats as he stepped back. In his hand was a remote, which had multiple buttons.
Miles watched as Anya stood at the light switch, waiting for everyone to sit down. Once they were, she shut the lights off and flipped on the final switch.
She moved to her seat quickly as the contraption came to life. Each box whirred and lit up, glowing orange and purple. It reminded Miles of the collider mixed with the watches that hopped universes.
"Alright class, I thought today I'd show you something I've been tinkering with for you." Dr. Ohnn leaned against the whiteboard, his legs and arms crossed. He held the remote out towards the main machine and tilted his head. "Now, no one touches any of the beams. Nothing will hurt you, but you might mess things up, you know. You've all been good and I did this just for you guys."
The class nodded and Dr. Ohnn nodded back.
"This machine is a mix of different technologies. It harnesses the same power and source of the collider that connected universes and lets me power up. But… less dangerous. Instead of cutting it open, it more like… creates a window with a screen. Then it reflects it into a hologram of sorts." Dr. Ohnn explains. "Completely harmless. It's like watching CCTV."
Miles took a deep breath. It didn't feel harmful. If it was, he would be able to tell. It sounded cool though.
"Ready?" Dr. Ohnn asked and the students all nodded.
With a press of a button, the main part projected a hologram into the middle of the room.
It showed a man with short cut hair and glasses working on something in a lab. The man didn't notice anything was wrong and was inaudibly rambling to someone just outside of the projection.
"That is me, Jonathan Ohnn from Earth 51601. He worked for Alchamex also, but now works for a different company. Alchamex in this universe was destroyed after the VP's son was murdered in illegal experimentation." Dr. Ohnn explained. "The accident that happened to me never happened, due to that."
A button was pressed and the hologram changed.
It was a Spider-Man swinging through New York. This Spider-Man was of the Peter Parker variant, Miles could tell because of his suit. He looked younger and looked a bit beat up.
"This is Spider-Man from Earth 199999. He is about your age, if not slightly older. He has been to space and has experienced extreme grief in his life. His world found out his identity and now all do not know who he is at all." Dr. Ohnn explained. "Do not mess with magic kids. And don't out people's identities. It's morally incorrect. You can ruin their lives."
Miles caught that comment, as it was quieter than the other ones. It made Miles wonder what that meant as he glanced at his teacher.
Another button pressed, a new universe.
"Earth 65." Dr. Ohnn informed.
Miles recognized the number and looked up to see a masked Gwen fighting a male Doc Ock.
"Spider-Woman protects this universe." Dr. Ohnn tucked his hand away and they all watched as Gwen did her work. They couldn't hear her, but she was clearly talking. "She's also about your age. A spitfire, if you ask me. Nice girl when all things considered."
"What does that mean? Did you meet her?" A student from the back asked.
"Yes. I got to meet her." Dr. Ohnn nodded. "I got to visit all of these universes at some point. This one doesn't have Alchamex. Not all universes are made the same."
"Can we go?" Ganke asked. "You could bring us."
Dr. Ohnn slowly turned his face towards Ganke, who now looked nervous.
"Do you know how much paperwork I'd have to fill out?" Dr. Ohnn's voice sounded tired and stressed as he started to talk with his hands. "The waivers would take forever for you all to get signed and brought back also. You're all not the quickest when getting things signs. Plus, interdimensional travel isn't for the faint of heart. I would have to make each and every one of you something to keep your atoms stable. Atoms do NOT like being in other universes."
"Wait… they don't?" Jessica sounded confused.
"No. You start to glitch as your atoms try to scramble and go home. Your genetic coding doesn't like being misplaced, so they try to go home. Which isn't pleasant." Dr. Ohnn shrugged. "The only way is to stabilize your atoms and give them a temporary grounding mask. Like a lighting rod, so when it strikes it thinks that they are actually back home."
"What about you?" Miles asks and Dr. Ohnn lights up.
"I am an interdimensional being!" He sounded excited to explain it. "Since my body was absorbed by interdimensional matter, I am one with the spots, which means I exist in all universes at once while being grounded to my physical being. I'm the lighting rod!"
The class all stared at the man as he laughed.
"It's very cool actually! Messed up, but cool. So I can travel and my atoms don't get upset since they belong everywhere." Dr. Ohnn continued to explain. "My universe serial number is just like you guys, as my DNA has it hard coded. But my atoms are not."
The kids slowly nodded, slowly catching on.
"So… you don't want us to get hurt… and paperwork is annoying?" Ganke said slowly. "So that's why you made this instead?"
"Exactly." Dr. Ohnn nodded.
Miles stared blankly at Dr. Ohnn before looking back up to the hologram of Gwen. Dr. Ohnn had failed to mention that if they went, they'd have a whole group of Spider-People running after them.
In the hologram Gwen was standing, looking at her watch. She was talking to a hologram of a woman now. The two seemed to be slightly heated in their conversation, but it stopped as Gwen looked directly at them.
"Oh! That's enough." Dr. Ohnn turned off the machine and the classroom grew dark again.
There was a bit of noise before the light turned on.
"Can't get into trouble with the spider police." Dr. Ohnn laughed and the class promptly ignored him.
–
"Miles, please stay after class."
Miles groaned quietly and stayed behind. He slowly walked up to Dr. Ohnn's desk once the students were all out of the room.
"What's up, Dr. Ohnn?" Miles cringed at himself and if Dr. Ohnn had eyebrows, he'd probably be raising them.
"The guidance counselor wanted me to write you a nice letter of recommendation for university." Dr. Ohnn clasped his hands together in front of him.
"Would… you?" Miles slowly asked, his face becoming uncertain.
"Of course I am." Dr. Ohnn nodded. He was being oddly calm and not animated. "But I wanted to make sure you were certain in this field of work."
"Ever since I've started here, I've wanted to go." Miles felt confused. Why was he asking this?
"We both know this field of work turned me into this." Dr. Ohnn tilted his head. "And it turned you into who you are. I want you to succeed, Miles."
It hit Miles then, that this whole time he knew. He had come here originally to destroy Miles, but didn't. He kept Miles' secret and protected him.
He was still trying to protect him.
"You know?" Miles felt anxious now. He just thought this whole time he had gotten close to finding out, but given up.
"I've known since you were bit, Miles." Dr. Ohnn sighed. "I kept tabs on you. I couldn't let my greatest achievement get hurt. But then the accident happened. And I let myself get into my own head."
Miles just stared at his teacher.
"But Miles, I didn't destroy your life because I cared. I got too invested. I told you since the beginning of this class that I cared too much and I couldn't bring myself to do harm." The man looked down slightly. "I felt bad. You're one of my kids, Miles. I can't hurt my kids. You guys mean too much to me."
"That's why you gave up being a villain…" Miles knew this already. But the gravity of the situation actually hit. "You actually do care."
"I do. That's why I wrote this letter of recommendation." Dr. Ohnn handed Miles a paper copy of it. "If you genuinely want to go into this field, you have my full support. I will help in any way that I can. You'll be able to reach me whenever you need to also."
Miles stared at his teacher, the one who protected and cared for him all of these months. The man who threatened to destroy his life but gave it up quickly. The man who gave him and his classmates a safe space to exist in.
"Thanks." Miles said dumbly. His brain slowly accepted the fact that he didn't know and wanted to protect Miles.
"Of course. I do hope you know that from the beginning you were an amazing discovery. The consequences are balanced by it." Miles knew that if the man could smile, he would be. "Now, you need to go out there and prove me right."
–
Miles watched as Dr. Ohnn and his classmates built a mousetrap style contraption. It was large and looked intricate.
The students were recording Dr. Ohnn as he did test runs and dramatically sigh when they didn't work.
It had become a constant thing where the students would record the dumb pranks or silly things that the man pulled. They had a collection circulating the school and on private social media.
"Okay! It should work!" Dr. Ohnn called out.
The class got their phones out to record as he opened a spot at the top. He dropped the marble into the contraption and they watched as it went through. It turned on small lights, sent other marbles in other directions, triggered pulley systems, dropped, and bounced around. The class cheered as it worked as intended.
"Congrats!" Dr. Ohnn clapped. "I'm proud!"
The students sent the videos to their friends and Miles felt his phone buzz. He took it out to see his phone light up with dumb memes that they made of their teacher going into the GroupMe.
Miles smiled and looked up to his class.
He loved it here.
–
Miles dodged a chunk of cement that Lizard threw at him.
"That wasn't nice!" Miles called out to the Lizard and shot webs at him. "Stay still!"
Miles thwipped past Lizard and tried to web him up, but to no avail. His father was down below, trying to get people out of the building. He kept stopping to watch Spider-Man fight before going back to his job.
They were down the street from Visions, so Miles was able to get away from the gym pretty easily and show up. He knew his parents would be upset with him, but it would be worth it.
"Look at you, skipping class."
Miles looked to the side to see Dr. Ohnn appeared out of a spot. He looked slightly annoyed at the idea.
He'd get over it.
"It was gym, it'll be okay." Miles quipped back before kicking Lizard in the face.
Dr. Ohnn joined the fight, throwing spots to help Miles dodge and to get Lizard mixed up.
"Yeah? Say that to your Spanish grade." Dr. Ohnn scolded Miles.
The Lizard growled something that Miles couldn't understand, so he ignored him as he moved past him.
"Why do I even need to take gym? I get physical activity from this." Miles complained and Dr. Ohnn gave him a look.
"Sure. Go tell your principal you're Spider-Man. See how that works out." Dr. Ohnn's voice dropped with sarcasm.
"Do you two know each other?" Lizard asked as he swiped at Dr. Ohnn.
"Loosely. He's my nemesis." Dr. Ohnn disappeared into a hole and appeared behind Lizard. "No biggie."
Miles snorted before he saw an opening.
He shot many webs, which Lizard stumbled into and twisted himself into.
"Hah! Eat it." Miles cheered as he finished bundling up Lizard. "You'll see me about what? In six months before you break out?"
"You're so right! You want to bet?" Dr. Ohnn dropped next to Miles on the solid ground.
Miles was going to respond, but his father ran up.
"What is he doing here, Spider-Man?" His dad asked. "Aren't you my son's teacher now?"
"I've had a change of heart!" Dr. Ohnn held up his hands in defense.
"Captain Morales, I can say that he isn't for destroying the world anymore. He's a changed man." Miles gave a slight voice and paused for a moment. "Your son's teacher?"
"Yeah." His dad gave Dr. Ohnn an odd look. "I had a parent teacher conference the other day."
"You did?" Miles' voice went up slightly in fear. "For what?"
"Wouldn't you like to know, web boy?" Dr. Ohnn sounded gleeful before waving and opening up a spot. "Anyways! I have AP Physics to teach. Bye!"
With that, the man was gone.
"He's…" His father started.
"A headache?" Miles guessed. "At least you don't have to deal with him on a daily basis."
"You what?" His dad frowned.
"Nothing! I gotta go!" Miles shot away, leaving his father looking bewildered.
–
Miles stood in a cap and gown, holding one of the many medals he had gained over the years in his hands.
Miles watched as students walked across the stage, shaking hands with their teachers and principal.
It had been two years and Miles was finally graduating.
Miles didn't know how he had managed it, but he got into his dream school with help from Dr. Ohnn and he had gotten great scholarships because of him. He was part of the top 1% of his class and still the web slinger. He had made a plan on how to stay Spider-Man and juggle his classes. Some classes would be online and some in person so he could be home.
Miles took a deep breath and let his medal go, letting it drop against his chest.
"I got this." Miles whispered as he and his classmates walked towards the stage.
It took two minutes for Miles to get up to the stairs on the stage.
"Miles Morales." The announcer said and he could hear his family cheer from the distance as he walked towards his principal.
He shook her hand as she handed him his diploma. They smiled at each other, then towards the camera that took his picture. Miles then moved towards the teachers at the bottom of the stage and shook their hands.
The ceremony was long, but at the end he ran to his family and hugged his mother. She held him tightly and whispered how proud she was of him. His father patted his back and repeated how proud he was of Miles.
"There he is! My favorite."
Miles and his family turned to see Dr. Ohnn waving at them.
"Dr. Ohnn." Miles smiled and waved back as the man approached.
"I'm proud of you, Miles." Dr. Ohnn was holding something small in his hands. "I made you a gift, but you can't open it until you're home. You hear me?"
Miles nodded and accepted the gift.
It was covered in cow printed wrapping paper and had a silly drawing of his teacher on it.
"Thank you for looking out for our Miles, Dr. Ohnn." His mother held out her hand and Dr. Ohnn shook it.
"Of course! He has been my best student and he has flourished so much since I started here. I genuinely believe that he could do things that would help the world." Dr. Ohnn sounded genuine.
"Do you two want a picture?" Miles'father asked, pulling out his camera.
"Yes!" Dr. Ohnn clapped and the two got into position.
Dr. Ohnn held an arm around Miles' shoulder and threw up a thumbs up while Miles held up his diploma and a thumbs up. Miles gave a big smile and felt happy as his father took their picture.
Dr. Ohnn let Miles go and took a step back.
"Congrats, Miles. I'm very proud of you." Dr. Ohnn nodded and Miles nodded back.
"Thanks. I appreciate you." Miles smiled.
–
In his room, Miles was finally alone and able to open up the gift that Dr. Ohnn had given him.
He carefully undid the wrapping paper and opened the box.
Inside was some sort of watch. It was black and had a screen on it. Miles put it on and the thing came to life.
The screen lit up and it had a hub that said 1610, then options on the side in the form of symbols. Miles furrowed his eyebrows before picking up the card that was at the bottom of the box.
"To my favorite student: use this wisely, as it isn't approved by the great spider authority you've met. This should help with you getting back to New York and to see your little friends in other universes." Miles read out loud.
It was Dr. Ohnn's powers as a watch.
"Holy…" Miles stood up and read the instructions.
He got the basics before he pressed a few buttons.
An inky hole opened in front of Miles and he stepped through. The world around him turned watercolor and he was in a bedroom covered in posters. A girl was on her bed and she looked up.
"Miles?" She stood up.
"Hey, Gwen. Want to get out of here?"