𝟎𝟐 - 𝑴𝒆𝒆𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑯𝒊𝒎 𝑨𝒈𝒂𝒊𝒏

Parvati walked home from school through the intricate alleyways of Mumbhattan. It had been a few days since the ordeal with Manish, and thankfully, he was feeling much better. There was something else about admiring how the light filtered between the cloths and hung clothes that stretched across. She also found a familiar face around the corner, feeding stray dogs while hanging upside down from his webs-slinger.

'Spiderman?'

He looked up, 'Oh hello,' before flipping over, 'How are you going?'

'Alright, I guess,' admitted Parvati, noting how much taller the boy was compared to her.

'That's good... how's your brother?' his voice was concerned now.

'He's on a house lockdown for now... the government says he needs to take rest. We've got a permanent therapist living with us, and the personal number of a psychologist in case we need to call him... I've also gotten famous overnight at school. Everyone seems to be wanting to talk to me.'

Spiderman mumbled, 'Yeah I noticed that. It was kind of annoying-'

'What?'

'I- i mean that's got to be annoying, right?'

Parvati nodded. Though she was suspicious... hadn't he just said something which revealed he was there at the time? But he was Spiderman, he probably didn't go to school. Though that didn't make her get rid of her suspicions.

'What are you doing?' she asked, noticing the stray dogs sniffing on the side.

'I was feeding the dogs,' he indicated them, 'They are neglected and have no one to take care of them... the least I can do is give them food to live.'

Parvati had never though of stray dogs as something that also needs love and care. She'd grown up shouting at them and scaring them when they bothering them. They were a danger, as they probably carried diseases that could transfer to humans if they bit any. That's why she was scared of them and treated them like filth. But here Spiderman was feeding their frail bodies, caring for them in a way no one else would.

'Oh...'

He smiled through his mask, handing her a piece of bread 'Do you want to try? Just drop the pieces onto the floor, you don't need to feed them from your hand.'

Parvati took the bread from him and started to tear it into pieces, throwing them onto the ground, watching the dogs scuffle for the pieces. She smiled as they tried to chomp up the small pieces.

She looked at Spiderman, 'What should I call you? I mean, you must have a name!'

'Yeah I do,' he watched her throw the bread pieces, 'Though I'm not meant to reveal my identity. It's part of the entire superhero-thing. Though if you want, you can give a name to call me.'

She pursed her lips, 'I don't honestly know.'

'Well,' Spiderman swung his arms, 'I... well, who's a person you really like in life? Like your best friend or something?'

'Er, well... he's not my friend, more of a acquaintance... but his name is Pavitr.'

'Well, then you can call me Pavitr! I know it sounds weird and stuff, but I want to be like a friend to you. And since I cannot tell you my real name, you can call me the same name as someone else you know. I hope you don't mind...'

'No no, it's okay,' she assured, 'You'll be... like my Spider-Pavitr or something.'

'Sounds nice! Just maybe don't tell the actual Pavitr that I've stolen his name, huh? Otherwise it would be quite weird and slightly unexplainable.'

"Mhm yeah, I won't tell him.'

'Thanks.'

'No worries.'

They both stood in awkward silence as the dogs dispersed after there was no more bread left. The sun had started to set, filtering through the hanging clothes and colourful broken glass across the alleyway. They reflected in her eyes, and the windchimes swayed against the slight wind, pierced by the distant sounds of the city.

Spiderman shifted from foot to foot, 'Do you... d'you want me to take you around the city or something? On my web-slingers?'

'Oh, I would really like that, but...'

'But what?' he asked gently.

'I have Brugada syndrome.'

He blinked, 'I'm sorry what?'

'Brugada syndrome. It prevents me from going into the air.'

'Really? But what exactly is it?'

'Basically I have a bigger chance than normal people to have an irregular heartbeat. And that can lead to heart failure and cardiac arrest. I also faint really regularly. But what's the most scariest, is that I can drop dead any second because of my heart problems, and it'll look like I've fainted or just fallen asleep. The irregular heartbeat comes depending on my emotions or altitude, hence I cannot easily go into the air without explicit doctor approval.'

'...Holy shit. Like wow. That must be hard to live with,' "Pavitr" ran a hand through his hair, 'How do you like... survive?'

'Somehow. Though the chances for me dying are very low, since I have a machine implanted in my heart which helps keep my heartbeat at a regular pace so nothing happens... but you never know,' Parvati looked at the ground sadly, shifting the dust with her feet.

Spider-Pavitr put a tentative hand on her shoulder, 'I'm sorry you have to live with that. If I also had the power to vanquish sickness and disease, I would.'

But no matter whatever he would say, the syndrome would stay with Parvati forever. Staining her body and merging with her blood, so it never leaves until the day when it once takes her life...

***

Parvati sat in the clunky bus that would take her on the final leg of her journey home. People were crowded in the bus, holding onto the handles and shaking with the momentum. The waltz of bus passengers with the horns and traffic sounds as the symphony in the background.

The back was her preference. It was very sweaty and hot, but more quiet as the rowdy boys took to the front to gossip with the driver. There was also a very big window at the back, where she could look outside at people on the sidewalks, or families in the cars behind them. She liked observing, it was her favourite hobby.

She stared at her reflection in the window. Sweaty skin, which made her glasses fall down her nose, and her dark hair stick to her face. Mumbhattan was too hot, like way too hot. And the smell of people's sweat was climbing up her sinuses... but she couldn't do anything about that. The bus was the quickest way home.

Suddenly there was a great honk, coming from the bus itself. People complained, but the vehicle started to swerve, throwing everyone left and right. Parvati braced herself against the window, but she was not prepared for what was to happen next.

The bus turned a sharp left, before careening off the side of the bridge they were off. Parvati screamed, other people screamed. She had never felt this level of terror she was experiencing at this moment. She was going to die.

The bus fell into the depths under the bridge, with the driver having fainted, and the people panicking as they were thrown about in the air. Parvati had burst into tears. She would never see her family again, never see her brother, never see Pavitr again...

Her terror was then taken over by calmness. Maybe this was her way to die. Maybe the gods had chosen for her to have this death instead of dying from her syndrome. Her body would be found among the wreckage of the bus below, covered in blood, her glasses askew and broken. Like the other people around her who would also receive their demise.

And that's when the bus stopped falling.

***