[video, ID: "miles morales"] frank sinatra plays softly in the distance

[luckynumber42]

So, this is gonna sound kinda random, but. I've been wondering for a little while...what's New York like here? I just wanna know if it's anything like the New York from my world.

Actually, now that I think about it--how does the New York here compare to New York where you came from? If you've ever been there, I mean. 'Cause now I'm wondering about all the different versions of it we probably know.

Comments

[viced]

Uh, normal? I mean, it was New York City. The only differences I've found between one world as far as major changes have been the state of the World Trade Center.

I mean, there are some different businesses, or streets might have different names, but for the most part? It's almost exactly the same, at its heart.

[luckynumber42]

Why? What's with the World Trade Center here?

[viced]

It's...there?

World history's different than the New York I know.

[luckynumber42]

Oh. ...huh.

[He doesn't know what he expected.]

What about other stuff? Like, uh...the flood?

[viced]

What flood?

[ A pause. ]

I don't think it's flooded in some time? Shouldn't have, anyway.

[luckynumber42]

Oh. Then, uh, I guess that's one difference between our New Yorks.

Mine got totally flooded a couple years ago. A lot of it got wrecked. It's mostly fixed up now, but there's still places where you can tell they didn't get fixed afterwards.

[viced]

Glad I wasn't running that place.

How bad was it? [ Curiously, and well -- with that kind of sympathy that knows it's goona be bad. ]

What happened?

[luckynumber42]

Um. [Miles shifts a little, because thinking about the flood makes him think of his dad's rants about mutants and superheroes.]

There were some bad mutants, and they like--made this huge storm that hit New York. It flooded everything, even the skyscrapers. Maybe like...half the city got damaged. A lot of people died--including a lot of superheroes.

[viced]

Oh. That's...terrible.

I mean, bad people exist everywhere, I'm not surprised, but -- I guess it's not a surprise they'd hit New York either.

I'm sorry, that's hard. We shouldn't have to deal with things like that day in and day out.

[luckynumber42]

[He shrugs a little.]

It's okay. My area wasn't hit too bad, my house was still standing. And it's been a couple of years, so a lot of it's been fixed now.

Plus, we didn't have to deal with that sort of stuff every day. If we did, I don't think there'd be any New York left at all.

[viced]

Hell, maybe not, but still -- how long was it after 9/11? Unless it was fifty years down the line, it was too soon.

The city can only take so much, you know? Those things are hard for her to come back from, and for the people? It's even harder. And in my experience, it sometimes feels like there's a crisis every day -- but I ah, I was the mayor of New York, where I came from.

[luckynumber42]

Oh. Wow, that's--sorry.

I mean, in general, not like for anything I did. I don't think I did anything, anyway. I meant for having to like, deal with stuff like this. Even if the big flood didn't happen to your New York I bet crazy stuff still happened too, right? Especially if your New York had superheroes and bad guys too.

[viced]

[ There's a pause. ] We didn't.

I mean, we did, but -- Ah, it's in the past. Retired. There are no villains if there's no hero, right? Thankfully, at least.

[luckynumber42]

[He blinks a few moments, trying to understand what he's saying.]

Wait, so--you had superheroes, but one day they just...stopped? And all the bad guys stopped too?

[viced]

We had...one. Of each.

When the supervillain was taken care of...the other asshole decided to retire. He was shit at it anyway.

[luckynumber42]

Only one?

[That goes against everything Miles holds true about the world in his heart, but okay. In the incredibly unlikely event there's only two superpowered people in the world and one is evil and the other's good...]

And--and what do you mean? What was wrong with the hero?

[viced]

Uh --

When I say he was shit at it, I mean that I was shit at it -- There's only so many times you cause pile-ups on the highway that you decide it's better to just stop.

[luckynumber42]

Pileups?

Why was a guy like that the only hero around?

[viced]

[ A laugh. Hey, at least he didn't notice the slipup. Mitch isn't complaining. ]

Because he's a dumbass and the only one with superpowers?

We don't have shit like this where I come from. Not normally.

[luckynumber42]

Huh. I...I guess that's okay then, if that means less damage.

[Miles clearly is having a hard time wrapping his head around this, though. Superheroes only became common within his lifetime--he even remembers a time before them entirely (except for Captain America, but he doesn't count). But even so, they've become such an integral part of the world and life in New York that he has a hard time thinking of them simply...going away like a bad fashion trend.]

And--and you just don't need superheroes?

[viced]

They...help.

Sometimes. Rarely. The hero came back, made sure that 9/11 wasn't the tragedy it could have been.

[ A beat. ] But one great good deed doesn't mean it can fix all the small ones.

[luckynumber42]

...but it still counts for something, right?

[viced]

Not nearly enough to make up for what shit he was pulling. If he'd been a real hero, he could have stopped both.

[luckynumber42]

[Miles's brows knit together as he tries puzzling this out. Something is rubbing him wrong about that statement and he's not sure what it is.

He speaks slowly, trying to figure out his thoughts as he strings the words along.]

Well...no one can save everyone and everything. If it's not worth it unless you can save everybody, then nobody would be a hero.

[viced]

That...might be alright for some people?

Acceptable losses, and all of that. But that doesn't mean... when you take on that guise? Of a hero? It's a lot of responsibility, and a lot of promise.

I don't think he'd consider himself a hero.