Partners (Kyga)

Alone, Benjamin Parker sat in his nearly pitch-black room, thinking about the mistake he had just made. 'I killed someone...' He thought, understanding that what he did was wrong now that his Saiyan rage had waned. 'But he killed Dad... why don't I feel any better?' He asked himself.

He wouldn't be alone for long, as his cousin had arrived, slowly opening up the window before crawling in and standing in front of it. The two boys looked at each other, and though no words were said, Peter knew exactly what Benjamin had done.

It was written all over his face.

"I'm sorry." Benjamin said quietly, looking down at the ground. "You were right."

Peter walked over to his cousin, sitting next to him on the bottom bunk without saying a word.

The two sat crying next to each other, silently grieving their father's death until Peter finally spoke up. "So you did it? You killed him?" Peter asked, receiving a head nod from his cousin.

"I threw him into space..."

"Jesus..." He couldn't believe it. His cousin, his brother, and his best friend had just killed a man. Not to mention the man's death being so violent. "Did it... feel..." Peter couldn't even come up with a way to ask what he wanted to.

"It didn't make it better." Benjamin told him, understanding what his cousin must've been curious about. "I thought killing him would reduce that feeling of guilt, but it didn't." Benjamin's cold voice further conveyed that feeling of guilt not leaving his body.

'So it wouldn't have made a difference.' Peter thought to himself. He wanted to kill that man too, more than anything, but Uncle Ben's words were the only thing that stopped him from going through with those feelings.

"Benny..." Peter said quietly. "Remember what Uncle Ben said to us in the car?" Benjamin looked up at him, nodding before saying what he remembered. "He said we have to be careful what kind of men we become."

Peter nodded back to him. "Yeah. There's something else I remember: With great power comes great responsibility. I understand what he means by that now." 

"I think we should start using our powers to help people. I think that's what he would've wanted." Peter whispered, though Benjamin shook his head.

"I need to turn myself in." He wasn't being dramatic in the slightest, he truly was ready to confess to his murder.

"Benny, what good would someone like you be in jail? If what you want is redemption, we need to work together and stop guys like the one who killed Ben. We need to stop more kids from feeling like how we feel right now. Does that make sense?"

Benjamin nodded his head, wiping the tears from his face. "Right. You're right." Benjamin looked down at his hand and at the key that the police officer gave him, showing it to Peter.

"This key... do you think it's to the basement?" Benjamin asked. "If so, why do you think it was given to me?"

Peter shrugged. "Maybe it has something to do with where you're from? Wanna check it out?" Benjamin agreed and the two of them walked outside to find the basement, which was always locked.

Benjamin approached it with the key, unlocking it before throwing it open. Dust flew at the faces of the two boys, causing them both to cough. Slowly, both boys descended into the dark, damp, basement, finding the light switch and pulling it.

When the lights were on, both boys were shocked to find a massive pod in front of them. It looked almost like a baby carriage made from a metal that was not of that planet. Inside the pod, there was a symbol. It looked like a shield with an S at the center of it. There was also a tail inside of the pod that looked like it was cut from a monkey of some sort.

Immediately, Benjamin understood what this all meant, approaching the pod and rubbing his hand across it. "This is where I came from." Benjamin said cryptically. Even the tail made sense, as Benjamin noticed a weird scar on his lower back from when he was a child. He figured Ben must've cut it off so he'd seem more human.

He was exactly right. Using a piece of metal from the Kryptonian ship, Ben removed Benjamin's Saiyan tail so that way he wouldn't be seen as anything other than human. Unknown to Ben, this prevented the boy from ever becoming a great ape and killing the entire family.

They really dodged a bullet there.

"The pod?" Peter asked, not really understanding what Benjamin was getting at.

"Yeah. Mom and Dad said they 'found' me and took me in as a baby. It was vague, but I get it now. I'm not human, Peter. Or at least, I'm a human from somewhere else." Benjamin admitted, feeling a bit distant after realizing he was some sort of alien.

"I don't care what planet you're from. You're still part of this family, Benny. Remember that." 

"I know. I just find it... strange. I still feel human. I like being human. I do wonder if I have any other family out there though..."

Peter smiled softly behind Benjamin. "I hope so. Maybe you'll get to meet them one day." Peter told him. "Just don't forget who your family is."

"Yeah. You'll always be my cousin, Pete. My brother. No matter what. This is my home now. This is our home. So let's protect it."

"Damn right." Peter told him, approaching his cousin and patting him on the side of the arm. "Let's protect our home, Superman."

Benjamin nodded. "Right, Spider-Man. Let's protect our people."

And so, the two cousins formed a pact with one another. For the rest of their lives, they'd be the duo that protects their home from anyone who intends to bring harm, no matter who it is.

For the next few weeks, the two boys went to school and visited May in the hospital every day before coming home and putting on their makeshift costumes to fight crime together. It wasn't long before the two cousins were known citywide by almost everyone, as were their names Spider-Man and Superman, the names the two heroes told the news outlets after the two stopped a simple bank robbery on their debut.

Once May was out of the hospital, they were finally able to bury Ben Parker, hosting a funeral for the loving father and bidding him farewell. At his grave, both boys apologized for not understanding what he meant when he gave them his advice, but they both promised to take it from now on.

They promised to use their powers for good.

Knowing that they couldn't walk around in rags every day, the two boys decided to upgrade their costumes using better materials and to be a little more friendly-looking. It took a while, but the two had finally made their new costumes, finding themselves atop the empire state building together once they were ready.

Spider-Man, with his new red and blue, skin-tight suit made entirely of spandex, hung from the side of the building using his hands and feet. His mask was also made of spandex, fitting tightly around his head with white bug-like lenses that adjusted to his eyes, making him more expressive and allowing him to focus better when flipping and soaring through the air. On his chest, he wore the symbol of a spider, fitting for his name.

Next to him, Superman floated with his arm crossed, he too wearing a red and blue costume made of spandex, though he didn't wear a mask to cover his face and spikey, black Saiyan hair. On his chest, he wore that S symbol that he saw in his pod, using it as a reminder of where he was from, despite not having a clue what it meant.

"Are you sure about the no mask thing?"

"Trust me, no one recognizes me without my glasses."

As the two chatted on the building, Ben suddenly had a strange feeling. "What the..." he said quietly, catching the attention of his cousin.

"Benny? What's wrong?" Spider-Man asked before he too felt that presence as his Spider-Sense began to tingle. "Wait... you feel that too?" Spider-Man asked his partner.

"Yeah, I feel it. Something powerful is nearby. Let's go." Superman said before blasting off like a rocket, leaving Spider-Man in his dust.

Peter sighed. "I hate when he does that... he could've at least given me a lift." He mumbled to himself before slinging himself off of the building and toward that dangerous feeling.