Work Text:
Monday, December 31st 6:42 p.m.
Spiderman aggressively webbed himself through the streets of Manhattan- his destination: Time Square. The citizens below him only watched stunned, some even took out their phones to record their first time seeing Spiderman in action. Uncharacteristically, Miles narrowed his eyes at each and every one of them. Not to be funny, but he simply couldn’t help his confusion. The residents of Brooklyn, Manhattan, Queens, even the Bronx were beyond used to seeing him by now. So much so, they rarely glance his way when he swings by-save for the children. It was when Miles saw the bright orange road blockages along 42nd-48th streets did it click that a lot of these people weren’t citizens of NYC but tourists who came to see the ball drop. The crowd below him began to condense with more people the closer he got to the viewing area and access points. It was just a few hours ago that the famous crystal ball made it’s appearance at 3 p.m. and thousands- nearly millions of people got to see two popular attractions: the NYE ball and Spiderman himself. Miles pushed aside the irritation bubbling inside him and benevolently waved to the crowd below him. When his webs allowed him to swing lower towards the people, he pounded a few fists and gave a bunch of hi-fives.
“Oh my god I just touched Spiderman!” He heard a few people exclaim. Apparently his fanbase went past New York state lines. Behind his mask, Miles smiled to himself at the knowledge. Unfortunately he couldn’t bask in the tourists’ attention, the only reason he was here and not enjoying his New Year’s Eve at home with Rio was because there were multiple disturbances in Midtown Manhattan. What else was new? NYE always had people losing their minds. Last year, he remembered having to disarm a guy with a machete. This time around seemed to be a bit more tame. On his way here, Miles was able to stop a few carjackings, arsons, and ATM hackings. From what Spiderman could tell, no one in Time Square was in any life threatening danger and the enforces from almost every NYPD precinct patrolled the streets nearby. His father, who was captain of the 66th precinct, was also on duty until midnight. More of a reason for the spider-teen to take himself home and keep his mother company. Miles landed himself on the roof of a random Santander bank for a breather. He could see a lot from where he stood: the hundred-thousands of people scurrying to find a good viewing spot, the cars stuck in traffic being driven by those who are showing up late or the NY natives trying to take an alternate route back home or even the police cars posted up at every intersection. It absolute chaos and Miles never understood why people subjected themselves to this. Maybe being a dimension hopping Spiderman desensitized him to things that were supposed to be sensational. Seeing an LED crystal ball slide down a 77 ft pole paled in comparison to well…everything he experienced in the last two years. There was a sentimentality about something so mundane as seeing the ball drop. His first time coming to see the event was when he was nine. Jeff was patrolling the area that year too and Rio had the idea to meet her husband and bring their son along to watch the ball drop as a family. Because Jeff’s vehicle was parked on Broadway near the corner of 43rd street- little Miles got a perfect view of the ball drop as he sat on the hood of the cop car sandwiched between his parents. Even then, he thought the ball drop itself wasn’t anything special. What made the evening magical was being with his family and knowing that he would walk into a new year with the ones he loved most. Fast forward seven years later and he is a meta human that has seen things and been places his nine year old self could never imagine. Just as Miles prepared to web his way home, he peeped the behavioral shift of the crowd below him. Just five minutes ago everyone was taking selfies and waving around silver/gold party favors. The people were practically buzzing with excitement, unable to take their eyes off of the New Year’s Eve ball. Now their attention was no longer on the century old attraction and the lively chatter that competed with the blasting music, turned into confused murmurs. It was difficult to clock everyones’ facial expressions from this high up, but he was sure their smiles most definitely vanished. With their left shoulders turned toward the Time Square Tower and their backs facing the (in)famous Forever 21, people took out their phones to record the row of virtual billboards across the street. The same iconic billboards that advertised Broadway shows, much anticipated movies and hit new television series all the like. As famous and eye catching as the billboards were, they never took attention away from the NYE ball. Obviously something was amiss. Miles was a few blocks down from all the commotion and he couldn’t see had people in such frenzy.
“ARON, what’s going on that way? Why are people filming the billboards?” In Miles’ opinion ARON’s best feature was his ability to process real time data and give him the information he needed in the matter of seconds. A couple of heartbeats passed and ARON spoke.
“Some dude is standing on the ledge of a balcony, about ready to jump. Video reels are going viral right now.”
Well he sure as hell wasn’t expecting that. Miles racked his brain trying to remember a time when he saved someone from themselves- he came up short. Was Spiderman even qualified to talk someone off of a ledge? Police sirens began to sound below him, indicating that law enforcement was now aware of the incident. Miles shot a web string towards the traffic light pole across the street from him. After swinging himself over, he placed both feet firmly on the metal and squatted- using his left hand on the arch to keep himself steady. From this position, he scanned the buildings across from him and sure enough- about four blocks up off of Broadway was a man who somehow got passed the glass enclosure of the Marriott Marquis’ rooftop/balcony standing on the very narrow ledge. In his head, Miles estimated how far up the man currently stood. Being 51 stories- the hotel stood at approximately 500 ft above ground. However, the open space balcony was on a landing right above the digital billboards which were about 70 ft tall. There were people crowding the streets below him, but even if an unlucky individual(s) passing by broke his 150 mph fall, the likelihood of the man dying remained high. Miles could already see the police that just arrived on scene try to clear the area. Being that there were nearly a million ppl in the streets already- it was not going to be an easy task. It was no doubt that Spiderman was needed because whether this man was drunk or suicidal, he could fall of that ledge in a split second and preventative measures were limited with the fire trucks and ambulance being stuck in the city’s traffic.
*Trigger Warning*
His name was Alex Varma, he was 24 years old and he was in fact, suicidal. Enforcers from the 66th precinct were the first to get to the Marriott and the hotel manager allowed Captain Jeff Morales to enter the vicinity of the closed lounge area to level with the man. It was only when Miles landed on the edge next to him did he notice his father on the other-side of the glass closing. Jeff’s eyes widened the second he saw the masked superhero he knew to be his son and Alex began to slightly panic.
“S-Spiderman! Look I’m not a criminal and I’m not hurting anyone by what I’m about to do.”
“You’re not a criminal, Alex. But there are people who would be hurt if you ended your life today. Spiderman is just here to get you to safety.” Jeff tried to reason. Miles knew his no-nonsense father to have a kind and compassionate side, but he’d never herd him sound so docile. “So please, let him help-
“No!” Alex hissed. Seemingly shocked by his own behavior, he shook his head, closed his eyes, and took a deep breath. He spoke in an even tone after exhaling the dry, winter air. “I have no family and I spend all my time working so I have no friends either…co-workers fucking hate me…trust me, officer- no one will care if I’m gone.”
The mask hid the fact that Miles narrowed his eyes. Sure, he didn’t know this man’s story and yes it’s sad that he is in this state of mind, but there were probably thousands of people in the city who felt the way this man felt right now. None of them are out trying to jump from a building on New Year’s Eve- in Time Square nonetheless.
“Where are you from, Alex?” Jeff asked trying to gear the conversation back home. Being skilled in suicide prevention, his main goal was to keep Alex’s mind off of the current situation that was compelling him to jump from this ledge.
“I was born in India, but I came to the states when I was 4. I grew up in Brooklyn and moved here after graduating college.”
The captain let a second pass, making sure he wasn’t interrupting Alex before speaking.
“Well would you look at that! We’re from Brooklyn.” Jeff said with a chuckle, gesturing to himself and Spiderman. Alex gave a sheepish smile in return.
“Yeah that’s a coincidence. I wish I never moved, but living in Manhattan was always my dream- proof that I made it. I was obviously way in over my head.” Alex’s voice turned solemn in that last sentence and even Miles could tell that they were back in the wrong direction. Quicker than his father, the Spider-teen changed the course of the convo again.
“You went to NYU.” It was half a question as Miles pointed to the signet ring on Alex’s left hand clutching the glass behind him. Alex didn’t look at the ring.
“Yeah.” Was all he said and Miles tried not to take it personal. He looked to Jeff silently asking ‘now what?’
“What was your major?” The police captain inquired.
“Business Economics. I graduated a couple years ago and got my current job as an accountant. I thought I’d be set financially so as soon as I started working downtown I rented out a place in SoHo-
“SoHo? By yourself? Your rent must be ridiculous!”
Jeff shot Spiderman a glare for his unprofessionalism. But instead of going into a fit of anguish, Alex started laughing. He was handsome, seemed normal, and had an okay job- it didn’t make sense for this man to be as lonely as he claimed.
“It was ridiculous. Rent, car note, insurance. It became too much to handle and soon enough I was spending more than what I was making. I used what was left of my savings to try o pay off what I owed in arrears, but that didn’t stop me from getting evicted the first of this month. My credit is shot and I have an eviction in my name- the car I was sleeping in just got repossessed and I’m already on thin ice at work. It won’t be long before I lose my job too.”
This was the part that Jeff wanted to avoid and he gave Miles a look to stay ready in case this man…y’know. There was a far off look on Alex’s face. Unlike the suicidal people Miles saw in movies- he wasn’t erratic or emotional. His dark brown eyes were a bit misty from cold, but he didn’t look close crying. Alex wasn’t shaking, but he wasn’t still either. It was almost as if he didn’t care if he slipped and fell prematurely cause hello? That was the whole reason he was here in the first place. An eerie thought came to the young Spiderman. The movie characters- a lot of the time they didn’t really wanna die and they realize that they just put themselves in a dangerous position so of course, they’d be fearful. Alex on the other, hand looks like he played with this idea many times in his mind and now that he’s up here, he regrets nothing. Miles realizes that Alex intends to see this thing through, but that’s why he himself was here. He wasn’t gonna let this man die no matter how much homeboy wanted to. Miles suddenly noticed Alex’s eyes flicker towards the NYE tower behind him. It was the umpteenth time he’d done it since Miles got there- tracking his time probably. Afraid to turn his attention away from the volatile man even for a second- Miles looked at the time on his dad’s walkie talkie. It was a quarter til eight. After a few minutes, Alex wasn’t even trying to be discreet about looking at the tower; which was funny cause all the people who came to watch the ball were too busy watching him.
“Everyone is so excited for the fresh start New Year’s is supposed to bring.” Alex said, his tone and facial expression distant.
“Yeah, there’s hope that things can change or the better.” Jeff attempted one more time.
“I didn’t wait until today for a dramatic effect, I want you guys to know that. I checked into the hotel yesterday with what was left of my pay check, ordered some room service and ate my favorites all day. I knew that I didn’t wanna go into the New Year, but I just didn’t have the guts to do this til now.”
“Well-
The man didn’t even let Jeff finish his sentence before flinging himself off the ledge. Below them, the whole crowd gasped. It’s a good thing Miles was bracing himself; the Spiderman didn’t even let a second pass before springing into action and jumping to the man’s rescue. He heard his father scream. Similarly to how he saved Gwen from falling due to the collider’s impact two years ago, Miles caught the man mid fall and used his web shooter to connect to a nearby traffic pole. Gripping Alex’s waist tightly, Miles used his web to spiral around the metal post like a tether-ball. As the web got shorter and the momentum they swung at began to decrease, Miles cut the web and was able to land firmly on his feet with the citizen in his arms. Alex slipped in and out of consciousness as Miles was saving his life and was now struggling to keep his eyes open. He looked a little nauseous, but otherwise ok. Paramedics were already on the scene and Miles placed the man on the stretcher that was laid out. The entire crowd was still stunned to silence as they watched the EMS placed a breathing mask on Alex and lift him in the ambulance. By the time Jefferson exited the hotel, the ambulance revved it’s engine and sounded the sirens to prepare for departure. For appearances, Captain Morales and Spiderman shook hands and with the way his father’s arm was trembling, Miles knew he wanted to wrap his son in a hug. But that would’ve looked suspicious.
“Go home to your moth- family, Spiderman. We’ll take it from here.”
It was clear as day that Jeff still struggled with the knowledge that his son and Spiderman were the same person.
“What’s gonna happen to him?” Miles normally respected the boundaries between vigilante and law enforcement. Once he hands the bad guys he catches over to the police, they aren’t his problem anymore. This was different, this Alex Varma wasn’t a criminal. He needed genuine help. “He’s not gonna be charged is he?”
“He’s not going to jail. At least not tonight, but the hotel might wanna press charges.”
“That’s so unfair!” Jefferson urged him to keep his voice down and looked at the people who thankfully went back to looking at their phones and posting about the incident. His father spoke again in hushed tones.
“Look, just go back home. I’ll keep you updated if anything, but I’d rather you be safe at home tonight.” Jeff slipped Miles a twenty dollar bill “And make sure you have this in your pocket when midnight hits.”
Miles listened to his dad and went straight home. There he was greeted with a bone crushing hug from Rio- who saw what happened on the news. Immediately, she insisted they pray to give thanks. Once they did that, Miles helped her finish cleaning and preparing for the New Year. He made sure his room was spotless and changed his bed sheets before putting his clean clothes away. After everything was nice and tidy, he took a shower and changed into some clean pajamas. If only Miles could cleanse his mind of today’s events, but it just kept replaying on a loop. His intuition told him that something was…off about the whole thing because he didn’t remember his spider senses going off once during that entire hour and that didn’t make sense. A man was about to throw himself from off a building for crying out loud- that should’ve sent something off. He sent Peter B. a message asking if they could sense when someone is a danger to themselves. The Spiderman from Earth 616 sent him an affirmative- saying that his Spider sense helped him save many people who intended to take their own life. After that Miles texted his father to see if they received any info additional info on Alex Varma. They hadn’t and the man was still waiting to be evaluated at the hospital.
“Pápa calm down. I know today was stressful, but you don’t wanna bring this baggage into the New Year.” She patted to the spot next her on the couch. “Siéntate” came her clipped command. Wordlessly, he sat on the couch and leaned against his mother as they watched the Channel 5 news that was broadcasting the ball drop. The crowds only grew immensely from earlier that evening and no one seemed put off or disturbed by what happened earlier. It was interesting how desensitized people were nowadays.
“How do people do this for fun? It seems like this thing gets crazier and more crowded every year.”
Miles hummed in agreement. Actual New York natives don’t bother going to Time Square to see the ball drop- its more of a touristy thing. Only residents knew how dangerous things could get if you hung around too long after the clock struck twelve. It takes about six minutes for the the 3500 lbs of confetti to finish falling from the neighboring rooftops and if you really paid attention- there is little news coverage about what chaos that ensues after. Some people pushing other’s out of the way to make it back to their possibly vandalized car, some realize that they were pick pocketed, others are drunk out of their minds and act like fools. That part of NYE in Time Square is never shown to the public. Mile and Rio watched as news anchor: Yari Rodriguez appeared on the screen to give her commentary.
“We are just a few minutes away from the last hour of 2025 and the streets are packed with people celebrating the new year. Tonight, people’s spirits remain high despite what took place just a couple of hours ago.”
The brunette news caster faded out when the picture changed to a reel of the giant digital front that said ‘Welcome to the Marriott Marquis’. A scripted male news prompter voice began to speak- giving a run down of what took place.
“Earlier this evening, a man climbed on the ledge of the Marriott Marquis’ balcony with intentions to take his own life. Despite law enforcers attempts at deescalating the situation, the individual shocked everyone by deliberately free falling off of the ledge. Thank goodness, New York’s one and only Spiderman was at the scene and jumped to rescue the man from what would have been a fatal fall.”
Footage of that exact moment began to play on the screen. Miles tilted his head, it was interesting seeing the jump happen from a third person point of view. He felt his mother grab his hand tightly, but her eyes were still locked on the TV.
“Dios los bendiga.” she muttered, her grip tightening. Just like his dad, Rio was also taking baby steps when it came to Miles’ role as Spiderman. Her faith being the only thing that eases her worrisome heart. A video of Jeff speaking to a news anchor right after the incident began to play.
“Captain Morales of NYPD’s 66th precinct gave Chanel 5 this statement.”
“…we’re just glad that we were able to prevent such a tragedy. Y’know going into this New Year, I hope everyone makes it a point to prioritize their mental health. Things like this can be prevented so please be kind to yourselves and each other.”
Rio smiled proudly at seeing her husband on screen, handling such a situation with respect and care. The news went back to the live viewing of Time Square. A grand vertical LED sign that read ‘2026’ was displayed on the tower and the waterford crystal ball was sitting pretty at the top. The digital clock read 11:00 in sleek white numbers. Miles briefly thought about what his friends were up to right now and if unlike him, they got a bit of a break from their Spiderman duties. Peter was probably home helping MJ host her NYE gathering. He’d extend Miles an invitation to which the teen declined in favor to spend New Years with his family. Gwen also received an invitation, but she had plans to preform at a pub in Earth-138 alongside Hobie and their other bandmates. Pavitr was also spending the turn of the year with his family and Gayatri. Then there was Margo- who had him itching to visit her reality with every piece of information she gave him. Spiderbyte would not be celebrating New Years because the cybercriminals of Earth-22191 ran rampant during that time. She anticipated piracy, ransomware, and many DDoS attacks. With that piece of knowledge, Miles refrained from inviting her to spend the evening with him and his family like he originally hoped to do. Maybe it was for the best, considering that Miles got slammed stifling the chaos in his own dimension.
“That’s weird...” Rio drawled before looking at her watch “It’s 11:02, why does the Time Square timer still say 11?”
Miles checked the time on his phone and it confirmed that it was in fact, two minutes past the eleven o’clock hour. Miles’ mind went with the most logical explanation.
“Maybe there’s a lag in the livestream. You know Channel 5 is weird like that. Plus, look at all those people. They would’ve peeped something wrong.”
“Sí, verdad.” came her unsure reply. The pair dismissed what seemed to be a slight technical issue and continued watching the event. Seconds passed…thirty…forty-five…sixty…ninety. The digital clock still read 11:00.
“No,” Rio declared “I don’t know what it is, but something’s wrong with that thing. Don’t they check to make sure everything works like…days before?”
“Hey ARON, tell me the exact time right now.”
“The EST is 11:04:37.”
ARON’s timestamp was immaculate so that pretty much settled it. No lag is four minutes long and the people in the crowd were starting to notice the discrepancy. They were looking at their phone repeatedly, checking their watches and pointing to the timer that was as good as frozen. The video image panned back to Yari Rodriguez who stood in front of the crowd.
“It seems that there are some technical difficulties here at Time Square. It is now 11:05 p.m. Fifty-five minutes before the New Year and the tower’s clock is frozen. What does this mean for the rest of the evening?”
The people behind the news anchor did not look pleased. Their confused expressions now replaced with anger and vexation. Yari’s microphone picked up some of the exclamations of the onlookers behind her.
….“This is a load of bullshit!”
….“I came all the way from Maryland for this?!”
….“Who the hell is in charge of this thing!?”
….“Let me in that fuckin’ tower, I can fix it bada bing bada boom!”
The program immediately cut to commercial… leaving Miles and Rio stunned.
“Y’know, it was only a matter of time before this thing flopped. A hundred and nineteen years and not one mishap? Dáme un break…”
Rio got up from the couch to grab herself some left over coquito. Meanwhile Miles sat motionless, playing connect the dots in his mind. The likelihood of this being a mere coincidence was slim. On the same New Year’s Eve, a man makes a very public suicide attempt and just three to four hours later- the countdown clock is frozen? The two didn’t correlate at all, but that’s how most puzzles started out. The way Alex tried to end it just screamed ‘I’m doing this for attention’, but then he caught everyone off guard by actually taking the leap. There were also microscopic holes in his story and Miles was wondering the whole time…
How did an accountant let his finances go to shit in the span of two years? And don’t even get him started on how Mr. Varma kept looking at the clock every other minute.
“ARON, how many social media profiles are associated with Alex Varma?” He watched his silver ring flash purple with every beat- indicating that ARON was in the process of collecting information.
“There’s a hundred and three accounts through out Instagram, Snapchat, and Tik Tok. What search filters do you wanna add?”
“Uhm pffft… lives in Manhattan, NYU Alumnus, Accountant, SoHo resident, and…this is gonna sound mad stereotypical but Yogi?
The AI gave him a judgmental pause before glowing purple once more.
“Lookin’ that up now.” the sarcasm was evident in ARON’s tone and Miles could just picture his late uncle giving him a side eye. He’d only had ARON for a week and he utilized him for almost everything- happy to just hear the precious baritone in which the AI spoke.
“Top three IG matches are: alex_varma, alwayalexv, and alexandervarmilton”
Miles took out his phone and began searching. By now, Rio had finished fixing her cold glass of coquito and settled back into her spot on the couch. Miles groaned in frustration after finding out the first two accounts didn’t belong to the guy. He almost dismissed the last username ARON gave him, but decided to leave no stone unturned.
And would you believe ‘alexandervarmilton’- stupid, he knows- was the official IG of the man he was looking for? Blue check mark and everything. His bio read:
Alex V 🇮🇳🗽
NYU alumni
Thespian, Model, Rock Climber, Adrenaline Junkie
living my best life and you guys get to see it
Miles chuckled bitterly at the last part. Alex Varma who claimed to be so isolated and unloved was just short of one million followers on Instagram. They interacted with him too, if the likes and comments under his 388 posts were any indication. Excited with this shocking find, Miles compulsively scrolled through Alex’s account. His page was filled with golden hour selfies, pictures with friends and what looked to be family, clips of his performances, pics of him practicing yoga (Miles was right on the money with that one), and reels of all the landmarks he climbed. Rio was now looking over his shoulder.
“Esperate ¿Es el?” She asked in pure shock “This is the man who jumped off a building!? His life looks great!”
Miles scrolled back up to the most recent post. It was a video of him from yesterday. The “homeless” man was laying comfortably on satin maroon sheets that would not be found in the Marriott.
“Yeah, nothing like how he described it to be.” Miles snorted. He took several screenshots of his findings and sent them over to Jeff “The only thing that was true was him graduating NYU and being from India.”
The teen bristled and stood from his spot to begin pacing, his mother’s eyes moving back and forth with each of his movements.
“So…he’s not an accountant, he’s not homeless, he has a support system, he loves his job, and he’s a whole influencer.”
"And an actor apparently." Rio added before taking a sip of her beverage. "But what does this have to do with the faulty clock?"
Miles didn't know exactly how the two circumstances were connected, but they were. His phone vibrated with a call from Jeff and he immediately answered.
"You saw what I sent, right? That dude is a fraud he played everybody."
"He jumped off of a building-
"He wouldn't have if Spiderman wasn't there to save him. Trust me dad, that guy wasn't gonna kill himself."
From his end of the line, Jeff let out an exasperated sigh. Miles heard chaos in the background.
"Honestly son, I have bigger to fry right now. Folks are losing their minds over this technical issue and we're trying to gear up for when things get out of hand. This dude's prank is the least of my worries."
Miles' adrenaline was so high, he felt like bashing his head into the wall at his father's obliviousness. His mother just watched from her spot on the couch.
“You don’t hink he's behind this? He successfully drew everyone's attention away from One Time Square for a couple hours and now the system is messed up. Charge him with trespassing, endangerment, disorderly conduct- anything to get him to confess to what he did."
"No time for that. Even if he did admit to tampering with the ball's engineering, it'd be too late to do anything. We only have...forty-eight minutes til midnight, less than an hour. The ball is not gonna drop tonight period."
With his mouth closed and jaw tight, Miles gritted his teeth together. Jeff Morales everyone- ever so rational.
"...Well then what's gonna happen when it doesn't?" The questions answered itself. There were over one million people in Time Square who've been there all day waiting to see the ball drop- something that was guaranteed to happen every year. Many were drunk, hangry, cold, crowded, and definitely had to pee. It was unlikely, they would all just pack it up and go back home, going to there cars in a single file line. Nope, they were definitely gonna turn up. Miles wouldn't even be surprised if they started to riot. He ended the call with his father, wishing him luck and telling him to stay safe. Still though, he had no intentions of wasting the forty-eight minutes waiting for mayhem to ensue. Something had to be done.
"What do you mean you have no idea how the New Years Eve ball functions?"
Margo's physical self was in her room, rolling her eyes and squeezing a stress ball, but her avatar stood with her arms crossed in the middle of the Morales' living room. She'd received an SOS just a few minutes ago as she prepared to turn in for the night and when she saw it was from Miles, all the fatigue left her body. The avatar girl was there faster than you could say 'Happy New Year's Eve'. Before she could even greet her crush and his mom, Miles bombarded her with a rundown of everything that took place until now. This boy expected her to run a system diagnostic on the New Year's Eve ball and fix the timer.
"I mean I've heard that certain dimensions celebrate New Year's with a ball drop, but I imagined it was like a government program you only watched on TV. You mean to tell me people actually gather around in one place in the freezing cold to see a disco-ball drop from the sky?"
"Pretty much, but... it's more like sliding down a pole." Rio explained.
Miles briskly walked passed her and gestured to the live stream on the TV. She and her avatar blinked. The blue news banner read "NEW YEAR'S EVE COUNTDOWN CLOCK EXPERIENCING TECHNICAL DIFFICULTIES". People were jam packed on the street booing and chanting: 'FIX THE CLOCK! FIX THE CLOCK!'.
A few (drunk) people attempted to bum-rush the police to get into the building- only to be stopped and detained. It wouldn't be long before people started throwing random objects at the tower.
"I can't make this shit up. We ned to at least try to fix that dang clock."
"Wait what does this have to do that guy you saved earlier?" Margo asked struggling to piece things together.
"His stunt was ploy, a distraction. He did something to the timer. Maybe he had help messing with the controls. I don't know and we have no time to wring the truth out of him.”
From where she sat in her dimension, Margo used her interface to do a quick search on this New York Times building of 1610B.
“From what I can tell, the building is basically empty aside from the Walgreens on the ground floor. Any businesses, bars… they aren’t there anymore.”
“Mmnn, I learned in middle school that they still use the 22nd floor to host meetings and coordinate the event.”
“Is it possible that’s where the control panel is?”
“I…don’t know, but it’s worth it to try.” Miles urged “We should be there anyway in case something disastrous happens. I’m not saying a bomb was planted, but this dude jumped off of a building to cause a diversion- is that not some supervillain type shit?”
Margo’s avatar was idle, indicating that she was occupied with another tab or server. Miles tapped his foot as he patiently waited- he never got offended when she went afk since he knew she managed multiple systems at once. It was likely she was trying to find a way to fix this mess considering they had not a clue of what exactly happened to the control systems in the building.
“We have forty-five minutes. I’ll project myself now and see you over there- make sure to bring your watch.”
Miles had never seen so many famous people in one room before. The 22nd floor of One Time Square was in fact, still the only occupied floor (aside from the ground level Walgreens). There was bar/cafe , an executive board room, a gift shop, and a special backstage/VIP area reserved for the important guest of the evening. In that same room, there was a model-sized NYE ball where the button used to commence the ball drop. On the sleek leather loveseats sat the mayor, activists: Ali Alejander and Kristina Brown, the point guard and center for the Cleveland Cavaliers, City Girls and Steve Lacy who preformed that night, and other social media personalities that he couldn't really name. Despite being starstruck, Miles didn't feel out of place or intimidated- he was Spiderman so technically he was a star too and boy did they treat him like one. They all asked for a picture- to which he took a raincheck for the sake of time. The group even complied with Margo when she asked them to evacuate the room so they could get to work on reversing whatever damage was done on the controls. According to J.T., the control room was bustling with authorized personnel through out the day which let Miles and Margo know that whoever the imposter was, they must've been very discreet and blended in easily. Margo assessed the buttons for any forced or external damage and like she anticipated… she found nothing.
“I have to see what happened here. Everything looks normal.”
Miles entered a command in his watch and tiny drones launched from it to scan the control panel. Miles spoke into his watch:
“Show me what happened.”
To which the automated voice asked “From what intervals of time?”
“From the past six hours. Starting at five p.m. to eleven p.m.” Miles answered.
“…Replay commencing…”
The drones projected an orangish hologram of all the techs in charge of checking the systems. Because they had no time to sit and watch six hours worth of recording, Miles fast forward and skimmed through the footage. From the looks of it, there were three techs who examined the clock’s engineering that day: two guys and a woman. They took turns checking the panel. First it was the tall, South Asian guy who looked nothing like Alex Varma except for simply being…well… South Asian- he came during the five and six o’clock hour. Then there was the racially ambiguous girl with a stylish but quirky bob, she looked… smart with her glasses and army jacket- she was hipster-ish, savvy, and didn’t look like the sort of person who’d be friends with a lofty influencer like Alex. Lastly, the white guy with a buzzcut in a collared shirt, khakis, and a sweater. Based of of each of their looks it was almost impossible for Miles to tell who the imposter was. He’d have to replay the exact moment the techs came in and…
“It was her.” Margo announced confidently as she began skimming the control panel. Miles blinked.
“Did I…miss something?”
“It was a bit fast, but you can tell she was here tinkering for a bit longer than the other guys who only made mild adjustments to the board or barely touched the controls at all. Plus, the time stamp indicates she was here between seven and eight o’clock, didn’t you say that’s when everything went down?”
Margo grunted when she didn’t find anything hidden in plain sight, but Miles’ eyes lit up in excitement.
“All the commotion he caused probably made it easy to finesse herself into the building. But what exactly did she do? Cause the clock stopped at 11.”
Margo grabbed his left hand and rewinded the hologram to the exact time this anonymous woman got her hands on the controls- she let the video play at a normal speed and paid close attention.
“For the upmost accuracy, the whole system is synchronized using an NIST time signal received via satellite. The little button on that model ball out there is just for show- probably a way to make these VIP’s feel honored and more important than they already are. The ball is programmed to automatically make it’s descent at 11:59:00- not a second later or sooner.”
“Unless someone blocks the signal, putting the whole thing on pause.” Miles rationed.
“Yep.”
The hologram displays the lady pulling out what looks like a random piece of hardware-small as hell and could fit in her palm. She carefully installed it in a black circuit breaker like cabinet near the control panel. The two superheroes looked to the cabinet and saw that it was closed (conveniently which was probably why none of the other techs peeped something wrong- even so, the add on was super tiny and would’ve been barely noticeable even if she had neglected to close the door.
“My god...” The holographic woman muttered before sighing and shutting the breaker cabinet. She sounded inconvenienced, but looked wistful. Like she didn’t like what she was doing, but she’d do it again in a heart beat for…
“Alex owes me big time for this.” she said before stealthily making her exit. Miles ended the replay wanting to dance because he just got concrete confirmation that the man from earlier was in fact, scamming them. The urge to call his dad and tell him “I told you so” was strong, but time was o the essence. Margo, who had opened the cabinet the second the recording ended, was was peering at the the little rectangular installment.
“She added a radio frequency jammer. There are many different kinds, but essentially they do the same thing: prevents devices from receiving or sending signals in a certain area. The NIST sends a time signal to everyone across the states- twenty-four, seven, three hundred and sixty-five and she just blocked the building’s access to it. It’s likely that homegirl waited to activate the jammer on her end so the timing of it all couldn’t be traced to her and that guy.”
“In order to do that wouldn’t she have to stay in vicinity?” Miles asked.
“Well yeah, of the building and there is a crowd of people out there. It’s likely she blended into the crowd and waited until eleven- hell she could very well still be there.”
“Then I’ll track her down and-
“No need, I can get the thing off without her help. I just have to be very careful not to mess up any of the other controls. For now, make sure everything is right with the VIP’s.” Margo’s avatar extended her arm and her hand morphed into a pocket-tool before she got to work on extracting the signal blocker.
Miles peeked his head outside of the control room. The special guests of the night were in the main lounge area, chatting about how insane and overwhelming the night had been. Some of the influencers even hopped on live via their own accounts to update their following and create buzz about such a news worthy flop of NYE. The young Spiderteen looked at the time once more then peered out the large windows. More squad cars pulled up to assist in handling the irritable crowd. The pre scheduled special events and performances continued on i.e. …. but unfortunately, the people were uninterested- too busy worrying about the frozen clock and whether they would see the ball drop or not. Many were checking their phone every other second and Miles didn’t think that was such a bad idea. If everyone compulsively watched their clock, time would move much slower. Speaking of which, Miles checked his clock
11:55 p.m. quickly turned into 11:56 p.m and a knot formed in his stomach. He shut the door and went back to watching Margo attempt to safely remove the blocker. Despite his anxiety regarding the lack of time, Miles trusted Margo. If there was anyone who could pull this off, it was her. Part of him felt guilty, dragging her into a mission on New Year’s where no one was in any actual danger. Both heroes had pulsed their Spider senses as soon at they entered the building and detected nothing dangerous. Along with protecting the city, Spideman’s job was to bring justice and restore balance (if possible) and tonight that meant reversing the damage Alex and this lady did to give the people their right to celebrate this timeless tradition. Just as he was about to ask if she needed help, he heard commotion from the lounge area. A series of gasps and hurried footsteps. Everyone was talking over each other.
“Yo! Yo! The clock is fixed!”
“Spiderman fixed the clock! He saved New Year’s!”
“They cut it a little close, but at least get to count down!”
And wouldn’t you know… Margo turned around with a satisfied grin, holding up the damned piece of hardware and dangling it from her fingertips.
It had taken the crowd almost two minutes to calm down and finally see that the time had been adjusted. Miles felt sorry for the people who were sensible enough to evade the chaos and just head home. The celebrities appraised the spider duo Miles and Margo got to experience the best possible viewing of the ball drop. Once the fireworks and the confetti began to die down, Margo who was obviously underwhelmed, quirked an eyebrow up at him. Miles met her look with an adorable sheepish grin, he never felt more disappointed with Earth 1610B. Why didn’t they have a cooler, more wondrous show to bring in the new year? Maybe a missile launch or dolphin show, anything that would woo this spectacular girl who never hesitated to come to his aid.
Tuesday January 1st, 2026 12:54 a.m.
The pair sat on the bench made of book crates near Miles’ bedroom window and watched his neighbor’s cheap fireworks shoot through the night sky. He relished in the warmth that radiated through Margo’s physical being and played with the sleeves of her fuzzy pajama hoodie. Rio insisted for the girl to take a portal to their universe and enjoy some the nonalcoholic coquito that was left over. Jeff was to arrive soon and it seemed appropriate to wait up for him, also not a soul was tired after such a crazy night.
“Wait, so you’re telling me that people show up to Time Square in diapers?” Margo asked through a fit of giggles, despite being amused she was quite scandalized by the idea.
“Yeah, all the business close down their bathrooms to the public so it’s either wear a diaper or go in the subways.”
“Aww no wonder why they were so cranky, they probably needed to be changed.” Margo mocked, causing Miles to laugh so hard, coquito went up his nose. In turn, Margo lost it as well. One would think Rio gave them some from the bottle with rum in it. Soon enough, their laughter settled.
“You were really brilliant tonight, Margo. You always are; that’s why I called you. I know you coming here to on New Year’s to deal with my crazy ass dimension was less than ideal-”
“I’d rather been nowhere else.” Her tone was gentle, but firm and assuring. She even placed her hand atop of his for good measure. It was natural for him to be an awkward fool around her - he was a teenage boy with a crush, but the way she reassured him and did it so easily too… it was everything.
“I never want you to feel silly for calling on me.” He sensed a ‘but’ coming.
“But, if you don’t care much about the ball drop like you say you don’t why did you put yourself through all of this? You could’ve had a peaceful night with your Mom, sipping on some coquito, counting down the new year, and waiting for your father to get home.”
Now that Miles had the moment to sit down and thing, he did. Margo brought up a valid point, Spiderman didn’t have to save this particular day, no one was in life threatening danger. After a brief moment of self reflection, Miles spoke.
“I couldn’t just let him get away with it.” he said with a scoff. “That Alex guy. I didn’t know what his M.O. was and I still don’t, but c’mon…what he did was some diabolical shit. Like who jumps off of a building for no damn reason? And I risked my life trying to save his ass!?”
Margo sat and stared, silent and unfazed. She knew Miles well enough to know that he wasn’t shout at her, he was venting to her and her heart warmed at the thought. It was truly a gift, being able to understand his emotions.
“It’s not just about me, though. Spiderman saves everyone, even the scums of the earth. Nah, this guy embarrassed my dad. It’s not his job as police captain to deal with something like that, but he was the first one to get up there and try to talk that man of the ledge. He even made a statement, telling people to have compassion for the dude. Only for him to do turn around and do that shit…feels like a personal attack…that sounds stupid.”
“No, it doesn’t.” Margo reassured him for the second time that night “Now that your dad’s captain, his reputation is on the line and you wanna protect that almost as much as his life. I get it.”
She rendered Miles speechless cause she really did ‘get it’. Her natural ability to see him was at work and Miles didn’t feel himself swaying towards her, but then his tricep rubbed against her shoulder. Slightly surprised at the contact, he turned his head and their faces were mere inches apart. Margo wore a look of calm contemplation, her ebony eyes slowly skimming his face.
“Margo I-
ARON’s purple light flashed bright and his voice interrupted what Miles was about to say, but the pair stayed put.
“Hey man, your heart rate just increased to 106 beats per minute and you’re at rest. Just thought you should know.”
Miles didn’t get the chance to feel embarrassed, he didn’t even register what the AI said. However Margo did, and ARON’s advisory gave her confidence to do what she wanted to do for the longest time. She used her unoccupied hand to caress his cheek and only had to move a few centimeters for her lips to brush against his. Despite being so in tune with Margo, there were times where she confused him, like now. She had the guts to make the first move, but she held back- settling for a soft feathery kiss. Miles courageously brought her closer and locked their lips together, withholding any tongue. Margo didn’t seem to mind this at all, going slack and relishing in his embrace. The girl briefly forgot why she was hesitant at first until they were startled apart by Rio knocking on the wide open door. Clarity rushed back to her and Margo remembered why she wanted to keep the kiss light and chaste- his mom was literally in the other room. After a few seconds awkward silence, Rio smirked and sipped her coquito. Miles knew she had to be a little drunk as it was her fourth glass that night. He considered it a blessing in disguise as sober Rio would’ve for sure given them the third degree.
“Your dad’s here. ¿Por fin, verdad?”
Jeff didn’t even get a chance to put his hat down before the two teenagers bombarded him with questions. The police captain didn’t have to ask his wife to fix him a glass of coquito for she was already on it. Despite it being a long night an him being exhausted, Jefferson simply smiled fondly at their eagerness to know if justice had been served tonight.
“We were able to safely get everyone out of Time Square after the festivities…if either of you cared to know.” He sarcastically drawled.
“Yeah that’s cool,” Miles said dismissively “but what about the guy? What’re you guys gonna do about him?”
Jeff chuckled and plopped himself down on the living room couch, allowing the two teens to tower over him in anticipation. Rio handed him his glass and took her spot next to him, her eyes shining with curiosity as well.
“C’mon y’all…” he chuckled before gesturing to Margo “We have a guest, I shouldn’t-
“Margo’s my partner, Dad.” Miles proclaimed. He linked their fingers together to indicate the double meaning to the word. Jeff peered at them, truly unfazed that their “friendship” had evolved into something more. After taking a sip of his beverage, he told them all about how one of his lieutenants brought Mr. Varma in for questioning under false claims of bankruptcy and eviction. Apparently, he’d confessed to everything as soon as he got to the station. How just a few weeks ago, he constructed this plan to ruin New Year’s Eve by preventing the ball drop and the false attempt at suicide was just a means to an end. He did all that because…
“…he felt snubbed, not being one of the influencers selected to livestream the event from the tower.”
It was so infuriating and so outrageous that Miles and Margo couldn’t help, but chuckle. This whole mess of an evening happened over a bruised ego. Maybe Alex Varma didn’t plant a bomb or put millions of people’s lives at risk, but the man was definitely unhinged and belonged behind bars.
“What about the woman? The one who blocked the signal in the first place?” Margo asked. “You can’t tell me he didn’t throw her under the bus.”
“He did, gave use her name and address too, but that’s not gonna help him court if there’s proof he coerced her to do this.”
Miles felt satisfaction wash over him and his body swayed closer to Margo’s once more. Being a hero entailed missing a few holidays with the family, but the silver lining tonight was that their efforts weren’t for nothing and that justice was served. Miles couldn’t promise himself or his family that the New Year will be less chaotic, but at least he had them and at least he had Margo.