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Chapter Text

Miles’s lungs ached and his whole body pounded with pain. He was being hit and battered and ambushed by every spider man known to humanity. That crazy Miguel guy had practically attempted to murder him just for wanting his dad to be alive. He already lost his Uncle Aaron, he didn’t wanna lose anyone else! He couldn’t, because he knew his mother would be devastated at losing them both. Miles would be devastated, too.

He wheezed and ducked into an alleyway in some ramshackle universe that was collapsing in more ways than one. He heaved and bent over, holding onto his knees and trying to catch his breath. Miles knew deep down that he shouldn’t be spending too much time doing this. The boy then heard the familiar sound of webs being shot and he ducked behind a trash can, and he was then very grateful he could go invisible.

He covered his mouth as he stared at every possible entryway for a spider-person. Which way were they coming from? How many of them were there? Miles knew he wouldn’t ever have an accurate guess to either of those questions nor did they help with the crippling anxiety that made him want to throw up.

Miles then spotted a couple of spider-people looking into the alleyway, stepping in and looking around. He recognized one of them to be that Scarlet Spider guy. He also saw that Sun Spider gal. Miles didn’t recognize the others. Not in a personal way, anyway.

They were looking inside the trash cans and behind everything that they thought Miles could fit behind. Scarlet Spider then came dangerously close to the trash can Miles was beside.

Miles knew that he couldn’t escape their spider senses. They knew he was here.

He had to get out of here.

The spider-boy slowly got up, trying to avoid making any sounds as much as he possibly could. His eyes were wide as he watched all the spider people look around, their spider senses going off like a fire alarm. Miles looked around, trying to find his best escape route. He settled on climbing his way out of here. Webs would be extremely noticeable, and he didn’t wanna risk bumping into any of the spider-gang.

He slowly stuck his hands on the wall, hoisting himself up on the brick wall and keeping a close eye on everybody cooped up in the alleyway. Some of them must’ve given up on the area, because they started heading out of it, but there were some who knew that Miles was still there. Miles slowly lifted his hands off of the wall, tip-toeing his way out of the alleyway. 

He slowly stepped back down to the outside of the alleyway, still invisible and terrified. He looked back at the spider-people who were hunting him down and shivered.

It started as a quiet walk out of there.

Then it changed into a speed walk.

Then a jog.

And then, Miles was full-blown sprinting out of there with uneven breaths.

His body still hurt and ached, but this was one of those times when Miles knew that he wasn’t getting stronger from that throbbing pain in his legs. His muscles ached from being smashed against walls, his head hurt from it being punched and scratched and hit. His arms hurt from pushing people off of him.

He was in agony in more ways than one. 

Miles was in enough agony that he didn’t even realize he wasn’t invisible anymore. He ran the streets in his noticeable black and red attire, and he knew he was visible the moment he saw his arm awkwardly fly by him with his wobbly run. Miles’s ears were ringing so loud he didn’t think he could hear himself, and it felt like his throat was closing up. 

Water.

He needed water. That was why. He was dehydrated beyond belief from sweating constantly.

Miles needed to get out of this desert of a universe and get a drop of some sort of liquid. Something to quench his thirst and get this horrible, ear-piercing ring out of his ears and head. It felt like his eyes were gonna pop out of his sockets each moment he heard the high-pitched noise. It felt like it was getting louder and louder and louder by the second.

Miles didn’t know how he was gonna get out of here, considering he didn’t have one of those weird watch thingies to keep him from bugging out, and to make portals to get the hell out of here. With the thought of lagging crossing his mind, the overwhelming, painful sensation set in as he glitched out. He yelled in pain and fell over, gripping his stomach and falling over onto the hard, asphalt ground.

Miles was shaking. Everything had already hurt before, and that certainly did not help. The ringing in his ears felt like it was going to make him pass out, and he felt like throwing up. The poor boy just wanted to be home. He wanted to be with his parents and tell them everything. He wished that he never distanced himself from them the way that he did.

He should’ve listened to Gwen, too. If he never followed her into Pavitr’s universe, none of this would’ve happened in the first place. If he had never even become Spider-man, none of this would be happening in the first place. Why was he so persistent with it? It was amazing meeting some people, like Hobie and Pavitr. It was great to see Peter again. But with this as the cost? He’d take it back, he’d take it all back.

Miles let out shaky breaths as he lay there on the cold ground. It felt nice. He knew he wouldn’t be able to stay in this position for long, but he’d salvage it while he could. He rolled over so he was laying flat on his stomach with his face against the cool pavement. It was bliss.

Very, very, short-lived bliss.

He heard the familiar sound of webs being shot in the air and he groaned, rolling against a building and sitting up as carefully as he could. He felt like every muscle and bone in his body would snap if he ran again. His adrenaline wore off quite a bit ago, and getting it back would be a terrifying and painful process all over again.

He didn’t wanna die, but he felt like they were gonna kill him with how this manhunt was going. Even Gwen was hunting him down. It hurt, it really did. Even Peter, his mentor, was after him. At least, Miles thinks he’s after him. He’s on their side, chasing after him, but Miles can never hear anything the man was saying due to the loud environment surrounding everything.

Miles should’ve stayed in his own business. He’d rather fight The Spot on his own, just he and Spot, rather than have to worry about The Spot and the entirety of the Spider Society trying to murder him. He took off his mask and laid it in his lap, putting his head in his hands. He wanted to cry, he really did, but he didn’t think he had enough moisture in his body to even do that. His mouth felt so dry, and he knew if he tried speaking, he’d sound sick.

The Spider boy shakily got back up, holding onto the crumbling walls for dear life. Miles’s vision was spotted, and that’s when he knew he had to get out of there. Would he have to turn himself in? In this dry, deserted universe, it appeared like no one had been there for years on end. Miles had a good guess that he wouldn’t find a beverage here before passing out. 

He didn’t even notice the hole appearing underneath him when he took a step forward to surrender himself to the spider-people. He let out a hoarse scream and raised his hands to grab onto something, anything, just to not fall into this black abyss. He didn’t recognize the hole at first before seeing the familiar outlines of this weird portal. 

“Oh god,” he thought. “Spot found me.”

He fell out of a similar portal, which was unluckily on a ceiling. He hit the ground hard, groaning as he landed on his right arm. That was his good arm, too! Lord.

Miles looked around frantically. Was he back in his universe? He recognized the area. It was the same one he… “won” against The Spot. He realized that the villain himself was the one who brought him here, and he looked around frantically. Miles wasn’t in any condition to fight after being the goose in the goose chase.

He couldn’t see him anywhere, though. Wait, how did The Spot know he was in that specific universe? Was he following the spider-people? If so, wouldn’t they all have caught him already? Either way, as long as Miles was home, that’s what he cared about. He didn’t know what universe he was in, still, nor did he understand all that universe numbering mumbo jumbo. He couldn’t even remember what his universe was named. All he knew was that it had a sixteen in it or something. 

He’s getting off track. He needs to find The Spot and figure out a way to survive.

He could feel that he was here, at least. Thank god for spidey-sense.

Miles slowly stood up, holding his arm and hunching over. This was… not the most suitable battle stance, but it was the most he could manage with the extensive pain he was experiencing.

Unfortunately, his Spider-senses weren’t good enough to pick up The Spot from behind him. Miles only knew because the anomaly had tip-toed his way behind the distressed spider-man and tapped his shoulder like he hadn’t threatened to kill him.

Miles yelled and twisted around, lifting his slightly less injured arm and punching the figure in the chest. That resulted in Miles punching through a hole in The Spot’s chest and his own fist coming out of his face, resulting in Miles decking himself in the nose. He yelped and stumbled backward, holding his nose. He knew it’d be bleeding for a while.

Man, now Miles knows how good he can pack a punch.

He fell onto the pavement and winced. The boy must’ve fallen directly onto his tailbone because now it ached. Did he break the bones? That would suck, it would suck a lot. Miles was sure he had already broken something in his body, he just didn’t know what. He’d have to get it checked out somewhere, somehow, and sometime soon. 

The spotted individual that scared him in the first place noticed Miles’s frantic behavior and raised his arms in the air as if he was being held at gunpoint by an officer.

“Hey, Hey! I’m-” The Spot got interrupted by Miles shooting a web at his face out of instinct. Miraculously, it shot right through the hole and came out of the villain’s chest, right back at Miles. The small web splatted to his own face and he coughed, scrambling to shake it off.

“Shit, it got in my mouth,” Miles angrily muttered, spitting and sputtering to get the bits of webs out of his mouth. He was too distracted to wonder why the anomaly in front of him hadn’t taken the chance to kill him yet. The Spot watched the boy and slowly tilted his head. If he had eyebrows, he would have one of them raised in confusion. Spider-man seemed… out of it. 

The Spot knew why, though. In the middle of searching for the young Spider-man himself, he saw the young spider-man get chased by a lot more versions of him. He swore there was even a cat going after him! A Lego, too, maybe? Whatever, some of those universes are way too weird for Spot to wanna think about. All Spot knew is that this kid was… not going through some of his best times.

The Spot also happened to overhear from that big buff guy that… Spider-man, or well, Miles , was, well.

He was a universal anomaly. Just like The Spot was. 

Hearing those words come out of that man’s mouth made Spot realize two things.

One, He and Miles were more alike than he thought.

Two, he might not have to take over the multiverse alone.

The only issue is that he has to convince Miles to not be afraid of him, and, well, uh… it’ll be a challenge! That’s for sure!

He approached Miles carefully, being light on his feet in an attempt to not seem threatening to the teenager. His friendly plan certainly didn’t work, because Miles scrambled up onto his feet and backed away. Unluckily for Miles, getting up was a vain action. All he did was stumble back and forth again until his knees buckled, and he fell to the ground again.

“Yeesh.” Spot thought aloud, noticing how the Spider-teen glared at him afterward . He sighed. How was he gonna do this? The kid obviously doesn’t trust him, so it’s not like he’ll be convinced when Spot just says “Hey! You can trust me now!” The spotted ex-civilian put a hand on his chin as he thought of potential solutions. Maybe he could help him out, like, you know, physically? Spot didn’t think Miles could even walk properly with his physical condition right now.

“Hm.” He let the noise slip, and Miles’s head snapped towards him. Spot sighed and shrugged at him, shaking his head.

“Kid,” He started, “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’ve been thinking real hard about a lot of stuff, and,”

Spot realized he was doing what he said he wasn’t gonna do. God, he was an idiot, but it’s not like he can back out now.

“I realize that we’re not that different after all?” Spot spoke with zero confidence, shrugging his shoulders slowly as his voice slowly raised with pitch. Miles cocked an eyebrow up with suspicion. This knock-off Dalmatian can’t be serious, can he? He and the Spot are completely different, there’s no way Miles could have even one similarity to The Spot.

Before the Spider-teen could speak, he was interrupted by the anomaly in front of him.

“Now, before you say anything –” The Spot pointed at the teen and walked a little closer, kneeling down. Miles flinched and stared at the long, white finger being aimed at him. Spot gently poked Miles’s chest, but he soon regretted it when the boy winced.

“Oops. Now, as I was saying, before you deny what I said, I overheard some of your little copies at that weird spider-haven.” Despite not having facial features, Miles’s could tell he was being sarcastic by the tone of his voice. Even though Miles wanted to run with every bit of energy he had left in him, he decided to listen to this… guy? Yeah, guy. Guy can work for him.

“...Oh! You’re, uhm, you’re letting me speak still. Okay, well said something about you that changed my whole perspective on you, Spider-man. Do you wanna know what they said?” The Spot cocked his head sideways, similarly to a dog, and looked at Miles.

The injured teenager bit the bottom of his lip nervously. Yeah, he probably wanted to know what they were saying about him, but it would be emotionally damaging to the core. Did he want to know? What if The Spot was lying about it all? That seemed pretty in character for him, it really did.

But then again… Miles probably needed as much information as he could get, especially if it was about the Spider Society.

Miles sighed and looked directly at The Spot before nodding. The… eye contact? Face contact? Whatever it was, it didn’t last very long. The endless hole in the anomaly’s face was unnerving and scary to look at directly. The Spot nodded and laughed a bit. He reached out and carefully grabbed the boy’s shoulder with one of his hands, noticing how Miles flinched. He paid no mind to it and continued with the subject at hand.

“They said that you were an anomaly, just like me. Do you know what this means?”

Miles’s heart dropped. He was an anomaly? Does that mean he wasn’t meant to exist? No, no it couldn’t be true, right?

“You’re lying.” Miles spat the words out like venom and expected his nemesis to laugh, but all he got was a slow head shake. The truth sank into the teenager like poison as his voice quivered. He had the same feeling he had earlier, the one where he wanted to cry so badly but he just couldn’t because he barely had any water in his system. 

Spot watched as the boy's face scrunched up in… sadness? Or well, that, and he was probably upset now that he thought about it. He looked like he was crying, but no tears fell. Oh! Wait! Miles was probably dehydrated! Spot could guess that the Spider-teen didn’t get a chance to hydrate before being hunted down by every Spider-person known to man. It would explain the raspy voice he had!

“Do you, uh, need water? Because I can get you some if you want me to do that.” Spot asked the question carefully, looking down at the fragile teenager and watching as he glared. The spotted villain sighed and shrugged his shoulders at the kid.

“You can just nod, Spider-man, I’m not gonna poison you or something. I could’ve killed you already if I really wanted to.” Spot pointed it out and Miles opened his mouth to speak, before shutting it and slowly nodding. If Spot could, he would’ve smiled and he removed his hand from the Spider-man’s shoulder.

“So, can I help you stand? I could, like, take you to a universe with free healthcare, or… something.”

Spot trailed off, waving an arm around as he spoke to emphasize his words. He felt like he had to do that now that he doesn’t have a mouth. Or eyes.

Or… a face at all. Either way, any of that didn’t matter right now.

Miles didn’t speak, but he nodded. Spot guessed he was gesturing to the first offer, and he grabbed the boy's suited-up hands. He stood up, pulling the teenager up with him. He heard bones pop, and maybe even bones cracking ? Either way, Miles was gritting his teeth and wincing the whole time. Spot held him up for just a moment before slowly letting go of him.

The Spider-teen stayed standing, thankfully. He was holding himself up with as much strength as he had left in him. Spot stayed alert and ready to catch the teen at any given time, though. Miles looked up at Spot with a miserable expression on his face, and Spot winced when seeing all the bruises that were just on his face,

“Youch! That uh… That doesn’t look very fun.” He made a noise similar to sucking air through his teeth, and Miles nodded.

“No, It’s not,” Miles confirmed, “...I have a question for you.” He looked at the guy and watched as he nodded.

“Shoot! Ask whatever, Spider-man.” Spot nodding, bending down to match Miles’s height. Miles rolled his eyes at this but coughed as he prepared to speak.

“Why did you tell me all that? You didn’t have to. That, and why did you save me?” The teenager's eyes narrowed at Spot, who rubbed the back of his neck.

“The reason I saved you was because I wanted to talk to you about the first thing. Secondly, I wanna get back on track before I forget this,” He put both of his white hands on Miles’s shoulders, watching as the boy winced, looking pained and confused.

“We can be friends, Spider-man. We’re both anomalies. As I said when we first met, I made you, and you made me. As creators and creations, we should work together in this mess and fight against the binary.”

Spot spoke quietly, and stayed quiet afterward. The deafening silence let the words sink into Miles’s brain. Did he really wanna do this? No, he couldn’t possibly go against the Spider Society. Especially not with their only nemesis, other than himself if he counted as one. 

Besides, he and Spot could tear the multiverse apart by teaming up and going against them all. He should just let everything get fixed by Miguel, and everything would be fine again.

But then Miles remembered something.

If he played low, then that would mean his Dad would die. According to Miguel, all police chiefs had to die to keep the universe in line. The whole reason he was in this position right now is because he went against Miguel’s statement about it. He couldn’t lose his Dad, especially not after losing Uncle Aaron. Now the suggestion Spot meant had an entirely new meaning. 

He could join Spot, be his friend, and tear apart the Spider Society to save his Dad, or he could lay low and lose his Dad just because some stupid guy with a huge ego says he has to.

Surprisingly, the first option seemed a lot more appealing to Miles than it should’ve.

The teenager looked at the ground. This was a heavy decision. Would his Universe survive, too? Or would it end up as destroyed as Pavitr’s was, and probably still is? He felt bad for messing up the poor Indian boy’s universe, but he was glad that the canon event was avoided for him. He didn’t deserve to lose the girl he loved, especially not if it wouldn’t do anything but make him miserable.

Well, Peter B. Parker said some wise words once, “All it is, is a leap of faith.”

Those words made Miles a successful Spider-man.

Maybe his parents can learn that Miles is Spider-man while he’s alive.

Miles looked at Spot and nodded. Spot must’ve needed further confirmation based on his silence, so Miles cleared his throat and spoke the best he could.

“Okay. Let’s be friends. Anomalies… stick together, I guess?” Miles shrugged slowly, ignoring the pounding pain in his shoulder blades. He awkwardly smiled and watched as Spot seemed to light up from his response.

“Oh, thank god! I’m so glad you agree! I haven’t had a friend since this whole… dark matter corruption thingy. Now, uh, before you pass out, let’s get you water. I, uh, I don't really need that stuff anymore.” Spot said it awkwardly, and Miles nodded. He already felt lightheaded, which made the Spider-teen assume he wouldn’t be awake for much longer. He put his mask back on.

Spot put an arm around the teenager, holding him close in order to help him get through a portal. Miles raised a brow, but he figured Spot had one up on the surface somewhere.  The two walked into some sort of alleyway, and that’s when Miles realized it was almost nighttime. He didn’t realize it earlier because of the conversation he was having with the spotted individual supporting him right now. 

They snuck into a gas station, and The Spot snatched a couple of bottles of water for Miles. He looked at him and mumbled a question to him.

“Do you want a snack or something? I can grab just, literally anything.” He asked, looking down at Miles, who nodded slowly. Spot quickly snatched something he didn’t read the label off, and created another portal to end up back in that alleyway. He and Miles sat down as the Spider-teen chugged the water dramatically and ate like he hadn’t eaten in weeks. 

Miles and Spot sat there in silence, and it gave Miles time to think about his choices. This felt like the right thing to do. He felt like if he had strayed away from Spot, then he’d lose his Dad and probably get killed by Miguel or something. 

This was the right choice to make. 

His Dad was going to live, whether Miguel likes it or not, and Miles has a feeling Miguel isn’t gonna like it.

Chapter Text

  It was around midnight in the city of New York, and Miles was in a deep sleep. The boy was curled up in the alleyway he and Spot hid out in earlier in the day. He snored quietly, using his coat as a pillow and was huddled under a fuzzy blanket. Spot was sitting and watching for other Spider-people he knew didn’t belong in this dimension. He didn’t really have to sleep anymore, so… he may as well make use of it by keeping watch!

Earlier, Before settling down for the night, Spot figured that the kid needed some of his own stuff in order to… You know, blend in. Spot knew he’d have to find a way to do the same, knowing deep down it’d be a challenge with his entire physical situation. Either way, he’d figure something out eventually. So, Miles used his weird magical ability to go invisible and snatch some stuff and stuff it all in a duffle bag. However, Spot did stop him and have him fold it, just so he could grab more items to take with him.

You gotta be practical! Spot’s learned that the hard way multiple times.

So now he sat watching the teenager sleep comfortably. Spot could tell he was tense, though, with how his shoulders were tight and how his fists were clenched. It was concerning, yes, but Spot couldn’t blame him. That many Spider-People sounded terrible to deal with. If Spot didn’t like dealing with four of them, he would’ve hated being in Miles’s place earlier.

Now that he and Miles were on good– or, well, better terms was a better way to phrase it. The question at hand was; how were they gonna go against that weird Spider-club thing? Since all those Spider-people were up each other’s asses all the time, there’s no way he and Miles could take out the whole society one by one. That, and it’d take forever doing that.

Maybe they needed more allies? Despite how much Spot hated saying it, the motto of “Spot and Miles against the multiverse” wouldn’t play out well against hundreds of Spider-men– or well, people? Wait, no, Spot swore he could’ve seen a cat with a spider-man costume on. Spider… things? You know what, Spider Society would have to do, there were too many categories of Spider-things.

Speaking of different universes, Spot probably should get Miles to a hospital in another Universe. He was sure the Spider-teen didn’t want his parents finding out about all his weird spidey-business. Spot was one hundred percent sure that the kid had some broken bones or something severely injured. For Christ's sake, Miles could barely even stand up when Spot found him!

Spot sighed. He knew what it was like to be shunned by his own kind, in more than one sense, even. He was shunned by his scientist peers and shunned by humanity entirely, being deemed “wrong” and “evil.” Hearing every hurtful word drove him insane, and he thought he’d be alone through it all.

He thought that just… killing Spider-man would end it all.

But the more Spot thought about it, if he had actually killed Miles… not a lot would’ve changed. He would’ve gotten his rightful revenge, yes, but he’d have an entire society of Spider-things and Spider-people after him endlessly, and it’d be hard to hide anywhere with his appearance. Things would’ve gotten worse, actually.

Spot was suddenly very glad he overheard that weirdly bulked up dude talk about Miles to a hologram lady.

Speaking of Miles, Spot heard him shift around in his sleep. The anomaly leaned forward and looked at him. Miles’s brow was furrowed and he looked uncomfortable. Oh, is he having a nightmare of sorts? Or is it the fact his physical body was in agonizing pain? Either way, Spot should wake him up and check.

The spot-covered figure raised a hand and gently shook Miles’s shoulder, wincing when he heard the boy suck in air through his teeth. Miles slowly opened his eyes, sweat dripping down his forehead and the side of his face.

The teenager woke up face-to-face to the empty void in the center of his newly found ally’s face. Miles stared at the abyss for a moment before looking away. He just couldn’t handle staring into that terrifying void of nothingness. It just felt… uncanny and it just made his brain go into fight or flight if he stared into it for too long.

Spot was silent for a moment before remembering the entire reason he woke Miles up. He cleared his throat, sitting normally and looking at Miles. The boy sat up while he spoke.

“You uh, looked uncomfortable there, Spider-man,” He spoke awkwardly. He felt kind of bad for waking him up and immediately scaring him. “You dreamin’ about something? Like, y’know, bad?” He shrugged, looking at the freaked out teenager. Miles slowly nodded, looking at the cold wall behind The Spot rather than the figure himself.

“… Yeah. I was.” Miles muttered, sighing and laying back down. He sucked in air through his teeth at the throbbing pain that hit his shoulder blade. That, and every other bit of his body, especially the ribs.

“Oh! And, uh, once you're more well rested, I’m gonna getcha to a dimension where we can get your body all fixed up and whatnot. Can’t fight an entire Spider Society with broken bones!” Spot said, laughing nervously toward the end of his sentence. Miles let out a half assed laugh, but he was grateful for it either way.

Miles then remembered that Pavitr and Hobie were in the Spider-Society, technically. He didn’t wanna hurt those two. He didn’t wanna hurt Hobie because the Brit accepted him immediately, treating him like a younger brother. He didn’t wanna hurt Pavitr for a few reasons. A big one was because he had already partially destroyed the other teen’s universe, which made Miles feel like shit for doing. Secondly, it’s because he was a genuinely good guy.

Margo was a cool gal, too. Despite only talking to her for five minutes, he could tell she was a real one. Gwen was an iffy one. She helped Miguel chase after him. She practically helped Miguel hurt him. She could have visited him for months, but she didn’t do it until she was assigned a mission in his universe. She didn’t come for him. She came because she had too.

It’s not like he wanted to hurt Gwen, but it wasn’t like he wanted to fight for her either. She would have his back one minute and then sell him out the next. She’d be running with him one moment, and then running after him the moment after. She couldn’t make up her mind with what side she was on, and it bugged the hell out of Miles. She was left blank, but Hobie, Pavitr, and Margo were definitely not targets of his own.

Peter was in a similar situation to Gwen’s, but Miles could tell he did truly want to help him. He was upset that he was with Miguel, though. He didn’t see any other friends of his in the Spider-Headquarters, or anyone he knew chasing after him, so he could only hope for the best regarding them.

Being so deep in thought, Miles didn’t even notice that Spot was trying to talk to him. The white figure was waving a hand in front of Miles’s face, his head tilted in a confused and concerned fashion. Miles blinked and moved his head away from the eerily long hand in front of him.

“Sorry, sorry, I was deep in thought,” Miles said, laying his head down sideways on his makeshift pillow.

Spot moved so Miles could still see him from the position he was in. “It’s not a problem, Spider-man!” Spot waved a hand in the air, brushing it off. Miles was sure that he had broken a couple ribs and fractured a few bones. He was sore all over. That was not the kind of work-out routine he wanted to get into.

He sighed, rolling onto his back slowly. He knew that Spot was on his side now, but who else would be? He couldn’t tell his family, all his so-called “friends” from other dimensions were after him, and Ganke wouldn’t be able to do anything, even if he did want to help.

Back at Spider-HQ, the Spider-Society had to deal with Miguel’s cruel, anger-filled wrath. He had completely thrown out every other mission he had planned. The only goal any Spider-person had now would be to catch the “one and only” Miles Morales. Nobody at HQ was happy about this. Well, nobody except for Hobie. No one would be able to know that though, considering he abandoned the society the moment they began to run after Miles.

Pavitr was giving him updates usually. Although, most of these “updates” were Pavitr complaining about Miguel yelling all the time in a weird combination of Spanglish. Gwen didn’t know about these two conversing, but she talked with Hobie as well. It was less talking, and more bribery, though. She’d been trying to convince him to help the Spider-Society find Miles, but he would refuse.

Gwen groaned, “ C’mon, Hobie! Miguel thinks you’d be able to find him in an instant, somehow.” She crossed her arms, glaring at the punk. Hobie was sitting in a bean-bag chair in his room, looking up at the frustrated blonde. Compared to her frustrated and upset expression, Hobie’s was calm and composed. He shrugged his shoulders and shook his head.

“Nah, Gwen. I ain’ goin’ after Miles like that. You shouldn’ be doin’ it either, ya get what I mean, bruv?” Hobie sat up, staring at the Spider-woman with his brow raised. Gwen’s brow furrowed more than it was before. She understood why Miles didn’t want his Dad to die, but it was either his dad or hundreds of universes! She didn’t get Hobie’s point. She didn’t understand what he meant, either.

“No, I don’t , Hobie. Miles is at risk of destroying hundreds of universes if we don’t catch him.” She spoke firmly, pinching the bridge of her nose. Hobie was usually a joy to be around, but right now he’s being more bothersome than a mosquito buzzing around by your ear. Whatever. She’d try again some other time, it wasn’t worth the effort. Her effort needed to be spent on the one mission that’s been assigned.

She raised her arm, turning to an empty area of the room and opened a portal back to HQ. She looked back at Hobie and sighed. “I hope you change your mind, Hobie.” She stated before walking into the array of colors. The Brit stared at the vortex until it disappeared. He scoffed, getting up and searching his room for one of his ponytails.

Gwen had changed. Hobie didn’t believe in consistency, but he did believe in doing the right thing, and what the Spider-Society was doing right now? It was not the right thing. Hobie would love to help Miles out, he really would, but he had no idea where the geezer could be. Besides, even if he did know where Miles was, he had no way of getting to Miles without anyone's assistance. He had smashed his communication bracelet the moment he got home.

So that meant that all hope was lost.

Unless, of course… He recruited Pavitr into his little silent rebellion.

Hobie knew that Pavitr was upset about having to spend every hour of his day going after Miles. Unlike the other Spider-people, he couldn’t go back to his Universe without a risk of dying from the damage. Miguel only blamed Miles for that, but he wasn’t the only one. Hobie knew that he messed it up, too, alongside Gwen. He knew that Gayatri was meant to die. He didn’t want that for Pavitr, though. He deserved to live happily with the woman he loved. 

He’d talk to Pav about it when he visited next. Hobie would even tell him to bring Gayatri along with him. Hobie’s been tinkering with the broken bits of the watch thingamajig, messing around with the hard-drive and motherboard. If he could replicate Pavitr’s or steal one from some other Spider-person, Gayatri would be safe and sound.

Along with using bits and pieces of the old bracelet he was given, he was using items he stole from the Spider-Society’s lab. Laying low can really help with sneaking around.

Hobie knew from the start that this whole “Spider-Society” thing would end out to be his cup of tea, especially after meeting Miguel. As a matter of fact, Hobie hated tea. He grumbled, thinking about how hundreds of grown people chased after a kid at the age of fifteen . It was messed up. It was wrong. It was something that any government would do, and it made Hobie sick.

Hobie pinched himself, dragging himself out of his thoughts. He pulled a chair up to the desk in which the wrist-band laid, flicking on a lamp he had hanging over it. He had been tampering with the wiring and coding on it, aligning it back together like it was before. He flicked the device a few times before it started powering on. The Brit grinned and looked at it closely.

Instead of the color being yellow, though, it seemed to shine a bright cyan color of some sorts. Hobie liked the cool color more than the ugly piss-color that used to be on it. He clicked it onto his right wrist, pressing a few buttons to see if it’d actually work.

The holograms glitched back and forth between colors, flicking in and out. Hobie continued to watch until the hologram stayed on one color.

“That’s a good sign, now isn’ it.” Hobie muttered to himself, chuckling. He clicked around, checking some bits of the watch. He noticed some things were missing, of course, but it was good progress. Maybe Pavi could get one of the more technologically advanced Spider-people on their side.

Hobie flicked off the lamp, spinning around and flopping against his bed. He laid on his back and stared up at his ceiling.

He hoped that Miles was okay. Hobie had a bad feeling from the start when Jess said that Miguel wanted him at HQ.

But, Hobie couldn’t do anything as of now, so all he could do was hope for the best.

He laid down, pulling the covers over himself.

Peter B. Parker shoved the bed covers off of himself. He was in his house with his wife, MJ. She knew that her poor husband was upset about something, she just couldn’t place her finger on it. She let him put Mayday to bed, so she was sitting on the couch and watching some sort of television show she wasn’t very interested in.

She heard her husband's footsteps approaching and she sighed carefully, looking at the depressed man. She patted the spot on the couch next to herself, smiling sweetly at him. “Come here, Peter. I know something’s wrong with you,” MJ started, noticing how Peter’s shoulders slumped when he sat down. Peter rested his head on his wife’s shoulder, sighing comfortably. “I want you to be able to tell me anything, Peter, okay?” She smiled, kissing him on the forehead.

Peter knew that she left a faint lipstick mark on his forehead. It was one of the many things he loved about Mary Jane. He closed his eyes and curled up on the couch, throwing his arms around MJ’s torso and relaxing his muscles. “That kid I told you about, Miles? Do you remember him?” He asked, opening his eyes slowly and looking at Mary.

MJ started thinking, making an audible humming noise. Miles… Miles… Oh! Miles! That kid Peter was fond of! MJ smiled and nodded, “Yes, yes, I remember Miles. What about him?” She asked, resting her chin on his head. He sighed softly, snuggling closer to her and frowning more. “I don’t think he’s okay,” He muttered. MJ frowned softly and kissed his forehead again.

“Why do you think that, honey? What happened to him?” MJ asked, running her fingers through his hair and scratching his scalp gingerly. Peter sighed and leaned into it.

“The Society is after him. Miguel is making me go after him,” His voice cracked. MJ couldn’t see her husband's face completely, but she knew he was on the verge of tears. The red-haired woman kisses his forehead again, caressing his face gingerly.

“Peter, that’s awful. Couldn’t you just not do it?” She suggested, smiling at him. Peter slowly adjusted his head to look at her. MJ was so beautiful, and she was so good to him. Peter was glad he was with her again. He raised a brow at her and she ran her fingers through his hand. “I mean, there’s just so many of you Spider-people and Spider-things, isn’t there enough searching for the poor boy anyways?” She shrugged a little, kissing the bridge of his nose.

A tear slipped out of Peter’s eye, and he shuffled closer to MJ. She used her thumbs to gently wipe away the tears. Peter shakily inhaled, nodding against her chest. “You do have a point. MJ, you really do.” He muttered, sighing gently. She caressed his cheek carefully, kissing his cheekbone.

“Why don’t you stay and relax with May and I for a couple days? It could take your mind off of everything.” She suggested to him, an excited grin spread across her face. Peter thought about it. It would be good to spend quality family time together. Especially with Mayday, considering all the quality time he’s had with her has been her being dragged into missions given by the Spider-Society.

Peter knew deep down that Mayday didn’t need to be exposed to all that. He thought it’d be a great experience for her to be around other Spider-people, but Hobie and Miles proved to be the only ones Peter could trust around her. Hell, Peter could even leave Hobie alone with Mayday and expect her in one piece.

And now both of them are gone, in one way or another.

He blew the thought away, sighing and nodding. “I’m gonna stay here with you two for a while. All this Spider-Society drama isn’t good for May to be around,” He mumbled, sitting up a bit and moving his arm to be wrapped around MJ’s shoulders. She smiled and kissed his chin, grinning sweetly.

“It isn’t good for you either, honey.” She laid her head on the brunette's shoulder.

Peter sighed and nodded. “I guess that’s true too.” He chuckled.

That soft and gentle chuckle turned into a goofy laugh when MJ punched him in his man-boob teasingly, trying to mess with him. “Don’t “I guess” me, Peter Benjamin Parker!” She laughed. Peter grinned playfully and then began to tickle her, his playful smile turning into a mischievous one.

“Using my full name, are you now, Mary Jane Parker-Watson?“ He cackled. MJ squealed and smacked his wrists lightly, a sign that she genuinely wanted him to stop. He stopped after she gave the signal, the both of them laughing and trying to catch their breath.

Staying with them was gonna be the best idea MJ ever had, Peter thought. He needed this. His whole family needed it.

Things were gonna go well, and they would get better. Peter sent his good wishes to Miles, wherever he was, and sent good vibes toward Hobie. He knew Mayday would miss them both, especially the latter of the two. Mayday needed this break too.

“Mayday, Mayday! Wake up, Spider-man, wake up! We gotta roll!” Spot yelled, shaking Miles about as if he’d forgotten all the injuries the poor teenager had. Miles winced as his eyes fluttered open. It was early dawn, probably around 4AM. Miles processed the words Spot had been spouting out and pushed himself off the ground, picking up his blanket and looked at the spotted figure in front of him with a mix of annoyance and confusion.

“Why do we gotta go, Spot? I’m tired, still, and almost no one in the city’s awake,” He grumbled. Miles knew the last bit wasn’t true. There were plenty of people still awake. Spot seemed to finally take in the fact Miles had been calling him Spot and sighed a bit, instinctively putting his hand where the bridge of his nose would be.

“Okay, okay, first of all, my name isn’t “Spot.” I let you call me that when you were disoriented, but you know, I– I figured you’d ask for my real name, haha,” He laughed, but Miles could tell he was annoyed. The teenager slowly squinted his eyes and shrugged a little.

“So… what’s your name, man?” Miles asked, shifting the weight on both of his feet. Both sides hurt to stand on, so he may as well distribute that agony equally.

Spot threw his hands in the air and sighed, his arms then flopping down to his sides.

Miles looked at him and raised a brow, “Are you gonna tell me your name or what, Spot?” He sighed. He was too tired for this, he really was.

Spot gave an annoyed nod, crossing his arms sassily. “My name is Jonathan Ohnn, thank you for asking.” Miles could feel a glare coming from Spot– or well, Jonathan, despite him not having a face or eyes to glare with.

“Okay, Jonathan, I’m sorry for not asking earlier.” Miles stated the apology like the Pledge of Allegiance, like he was forced to say it.

Spot Jonathan nodded and sighed, “Okay, well, I woke you up for two reasons,” He held up two fingers to Miles. It made the teenager feel stupid, as if the lanky man in front of him was mocking him or something.

Miles waited for Jonathan to list these two supposed reasons, but he just stayed silent. Miles raised his brow at him. “… And, those reasons are?” Miles looked at Jonathan. He was starting to get annoyed, now. He was in an agonizing amount of pain, and standing up wasn’t making it any easier to deal with. Miles was exhausted in various ways, and just wanted to sleep every variation of his exhaustion away.

Jonathan could see that Miles was getting irritated. Gosh, teenagers and their impatience! The spotted figure cleared his throat and continued. “First of all, you need medical attention,” Miles nodded. Of course he did! It was obvious. The teenager sighed and his left eye twitched. “Secondly, I’m 99% sure some kid saw us and told someone. So, uh, we gotta bounce.” He made a noise similar to a click of the tongue. Miles nodded slowly, yawning and stretching gingerly.

“Okay, okay, let’s go then. Can I go grab my phone charger, though?” He asked, being unphased by the annoyed groan the anomaly let out.

“Fine, fine! Come on, let's go, sneak time, come on, come on.” Jonathan pointed at the wall, creating a hole. Jonathan had a feeling that Miles would forget something, so he left a hole somewhere in his room.

And so, the two ventured onto collecting Miles’s phone charger. Miles almost fell asleep on his bed while they were there, but Jonathan dragged him out just in time before he conked out. Jonathan didn’t know what universe he’d end up in with this rest-deprived kid, but he hoped it was somewhere with good medical care!

Jonathan was practically carrying Miles when he climbed through a hole into a random dimension. He looked around, noticing that it was very distinct looking. It looked paper-y, if it made sense? He would’ve asked Miles if he recognized it, but he knew that Miles wouldn’t be able to reply. Jonathan swore he could hear the poor kid snoring at this point.

Now, of course, the duo’s whole plan of “staying undercover” was being destroyed quickly when he entered the unknown dimension in the middle of the street. Cars swerved and people screamed, and somehow, Miles didn’t wake up with all the commotion. It worried Jonathan, but he was glad, he guessed? The more sleep Miles got, the better.

The spotted figure quickly opened two holes and got him and Miles out of the way. The sound of cars screeching and vehicles colliding made Miles stir a bit, but Jonathan panicked and tried shushing him gently. “Shhh, shh, it’s okay, it’s nothing, uhh, go back to sleep!” He whispered. Somehow, this panicked hushing worked and Miles drifted back off.

Jonathan could hear a bunch of incoherent angry screaming from people, and he knew it was all directed at him and the sleeping teenager he was carrying.

“Oi, you bloody fuckin’ wankers!” Was the most commonly screamed insult. Jonathan didn’t care for the most part, but the moment he saw phones getting pulled out, he started running and throwing holes around to escape the crowd.

Eventually, they ended up in another gloomy alleyway. Jonathan laid Miles down and sat beside him, sighing. So much for laying low. Not even thirty seconds in, and Miles and him were in some sort of messed up loop. Jonathan had a feeling he and Miles would end up on the news or something like that. A sigh escaped the spotted figure's throat as his shoulders slumped. He needed to find Miles medical attention, and he needed to find it fast .

Hobie flicked through his phone, staring at the blank notifications bar. His brow furrowed and he groaned. Usually there were more events going on. Fortunately, his mental complaints seemed to affect reality, because a news article popped up.

“Aha, a chance at rioting.” He mumbled, a cheeky grin spread across his face, ear to ear. He read the title, and the smile slowly disappeared, turning into a confused expression.

“Mysterious Figure and Unconscious Teenager Cause Dramatic Car Accident.”

Huh. That’s… new? Not the kind of disturbance he was looking for, but it didn't mean he wasn't interested.

Hobie scrolled down until he found photos of these so-called suspects. There were photos sent in from various witnesses of the accident. His eyes widened and he zoomed in on this “unconscious teenager.”

“Is that…” Hobie mumbled, zooming in as close as he could.

Was that Miles? Miles Morales? The Miles Morales? The Miles that was being hunted down by every Spider-thing known to man?

Hobie took a closer look and dropped his phone, leaping out of his chair and rushing to get dressed. Miles and that weird Spot guy were in his dimension, and to make it better, they were in his city . He needed to find them, and he needed to find them fast . Miles needed a bracelet before his genes got all whacked out and he combusted. Hobie didn’t know if the Spot guy needed one, but he’d figure that out eventually.

Hobie tied his combat boots on as fast as he could before bolting out the door.

His chance to save and help Miles was right at his doorstep, and he was gonna take it. He didn’t even have to wait for Pavitr anymore, or try sneaking back in to steal someone’s bracelet! All he had to do was get to Miles and make sure he’s okay.

As long as Hobie gets to him in time is the key. It’s a delicate matter. It’s the one thing Hobie wanted to keep consistent; Miles’s well-being. It was important, it really was.

So off he went, searching like a mad-man.

Hobie had twenty three hours and forty eight minutes left to find him.

Chapter Text

Hey. 

I won't be actively publishing for a while, as both school is starting and I have a lot of family issues popping up.

My grandfather may be dying and I will be doing a lot for the next... I don't know. I'm sorry it's so sudden. I know a lot of you really enjoy this book, and really wanna see what happens next, but having all this dreadful information drop on me all of a sudden has completely ripped any ounce of motivation I had.

I have to be my mother's rock, as my Dad is utter shite at being any sort of comfort to literally anyone. I do hope everyone understands.

I'll try to put content out on my account every now and then, but big projects like this won't be tackled unless I have people to help me with it.

I love you all, and I hope this message finds you well.

- Sailor

Chapter Text

Twenty two hours and thirty four minutes. Fuck.

Hobie had been searching for a little more than an hour, and he’s found not a single clue of where Miles and the Dalmatian-looking guy could be. London was a big place, sure, but he could’ve sworn they were nearby by the looks of the street signs. Curse this disgusting hellhole of a city.

Hobie stopped, sitting down on a bench for a moment to catch his breath. He knew he shouldn’t be stopping, as Miles’s life was quite literally at risk, but Hobie’s chest pounded. His head ached and his muscles creaked like an old table carrying a bloody typewriter on it. The poor Brit’s lungs felt like they were on fire, and his throat hurt from breathing so hard.

If only tracking people down could be easier.

Hobie’s adrenaline wore off, causing all his pain to increase. He groaned, but the lack of the hasty chemical allowed him to think more clearly.

The reason Miles and Spot weren’t in the location Hobie saw in the photo was likely because they moved. Reasonably so, of course. He wouldn’t do the same thing, personally, but seeing as it was something Miles would do, he was convinced Spot had a similar mindset.

Why were Miles and Spot together? Miles said something about Spot hating his guts, he was sure. Over a bagel, of all things. The thought made Hobie hoarsely chuckle. He raised a hand and rubbed his throat gingerly, frowning. He should’ve stopped to start breathing properly while he ran frantically. Hobie was sure he looked like a madman when searching earlier.

It doesn't matter now, though. He was more collected, which meant he could go back to searching for Sunflower Boy and Spot.

Pushing himself off of the bench, he began to speed walk. He had already pushed his muscles by running without a warmup, so speed-walking would be the best and safest option to go with for now. Let’s see, how much of the city had Hobie searched already?

He took out his phone, typing in his password. All his mates keep telling him to get face ID, but fuck that face tracking bullshit. If you’re asleep or something, someone could grab your phone and hold it up to your face in order to sneak in. No way Hobie was falling for that utter dog shite. His nose scrunched up at the perturbing thought.

He quickly searched up a map of London and zoomed in. Okay, he’s already covered bits and pieces of the Northwestern part of London. Now, he just has to search throughout… the entire section he hasn’t covered.

Oh, boy. This was going to be a while, wasn’t it? Would he have to try calling Pavitr for help? Gwen, Maybe?

Hobie stopped. He blinked a few times before shaking his head, muttering to himself incoherent lectures. Gwen wouldn’t be good to have in this situation. As much as she would probably love to help, Jess has a close eye on her alongside Miguel. Hobie didn’t wanna risk Miguel even touching a hair on Miles’s head, especially when he was at risk of imminent death.

Hobie couldn’t really care less about the Spot guy, but he appeared to be helping Miles, so Hobie trusted him. For now, at least. Plus, his funky little abilities are whack, but in a good way. Hobie might be able to get along with him, who knows. If the guy was friendly, maybe he could help Hobie out with his little watch project.

If Hobie managed to find Miles, which he will , he knew Pav would be ecstatic to see Miles again. Hobie predicted that Pav would be smothering the poor Spider-boy with hugs as he spouted out various sentences that consisted of his worries and concerns.

Gayatri would get the chance to meet Miles, too. Hobie didn’t know much about Gayatri other than what Pav would say about her, but Pavitr loved her, so Hobie didn’t have much of an impression than “nice girl who’s good with feelings and makes a mean cuppa.”

Hobie let out a soft chuckle and shoved his phone back into his pocket, pulling down his sleeves he rolled up. He doesn’t remember when he ever rolled them up in the first place, but he could assume he did it in the midst of running. It was bound to get chilly, and it was gonna get chilly pretty fast considering it was already six o'clock in the evening. He was pretty glad he was wearing a sweater prior to his adrenaline filled run, or else he would have regretted it.

Of course, he was a bit more grateful for it when it was nine fifty at night and he was still out looking for the two bastards. Fucking hell. Hobie was cold and hungry, his nose was dripping and his stomach churned as it begged for any kind of sustenance. Hobie groaned, bringing his hand to his nose to wipe a bit of runny snot that stained below his nostrils.

He shoved his hand back in his sweater pockets right after, shivering. He rolled his eyes, glaring at the ground. Why did it have to be so cold? Usually, Hobie would have to complain about the complete opposite. Well, usually because he had all his buddies around, but his point still stands.

Before any other annoying thoughts could cross through Hobie’s tired, starving mind, a flickering light in the corner of his eye stood out.

He took a peek at the strange distraction. Turns out, it wasn’t actually anything strange. It was a simple convenience store with a sign desperately needing replacement.

Hobie’s stomach growled again.

Ah, Right. He was hungry.

Well, the store was right there, right? The universe always knows, after all.

He grinned and peaked between each direction of the road before looking up at the signal heads. Aha! The little guy was walking. Hobie looked ahead and then booked it across the street, a grin on his face. Normally, he utterly despised the smell of fast food, but the greasy scent was heaven to him right now. His stomach growled and churned with every step.

Hobie practically burst into the gas station, the cashier glancing at him nervously. He caught his break and smiled at them. “Sorry, mate,” He put his hands up apologetically. The poor cashier nodded and laid their head down on the counter. Poor fellow. Hobie felt bad for those poor, underpaid workers. They deserved better, so, so much better.

The employee raised their head for just a moment, looking at Hobie, “Fresh food is by the fridges to your left, snack foods are in aisle three, everything else is… everywhere else.” They muttered the words out miserably. Hobie smiled sympathetically at them and nodded.

“Cheers, lad. I’m grateful for ya,” Hobie nodded directly at them, walking over and  and walked in the direction of this so-called “fresh food” the cashier spoke of. He stopped when he heard voices nearby.

“Okay, we can probably smuggle a couple of propels… or something.” The voice sounded vaguely familiar, but Hobei couldn’t place a finger on it.

“Man, can’t we just pay or something? Robbing isn’t very heroic, dude.” That voice on the other hand was the exact voice Hobie was looking for. He dashed around the aisle he was in and looked around frantically. He could see the backs of the voices he heard. One was tall, but wearing an abundance of clothes, as if to hide their identity, as the other was wearing a green and red coat.

Hobie recognized that coat, didn’t he? He’s seen photos of it on a certain on-the-run Spider-man.

Miles? Miles Morales? Was it really Miles? Hobie stared ahead at the two dramatically different figures. He shuffled over, pretending that he, too, was looking over their beverage options. Before he himself could take a look at his suspects, the shorter of the two flipped around and looked at Hobie with wide eyes.

“Hobie?” The Brit looked over at the voice instantly. His gut was right! Miles was staring right at him in a mixture of shock, hope, and confusion. Hobie blinked a few times before grinning widely and immediately wrapping his arms around the shorter boy.

“Peter Pan!” He cheered, spinning the younger man around as if he weighed as much as a feather. Miles grunted, but had a wide grin on his face. Hobie’s odd little spin-hug hurt drastically due to his injuries, but he could tell Hobie was ecstatic to see him. That meant him and Spot were safe here.

Speaking of Spot, the strange figure quickly stopped Hobie from shaking the injured boy around and waggled his finger as if Hobie was a child. “Nuh-uh-uh! Don’t do that! Miles is severely injured!” He put a hand on his hip, slowly pushing Miles down so his feet were on the ground again. Hobie stared at the ominous entity for a moment before gently letting go of Miles, as if not to hurt him.

“Should’ve thought ‘bout that before I straight snatched ya up, lad. Apologies,” Hobie grinned and gingerly rubbed Miles’s shoulder, but the shorter of the two teenagers waved a hand through the air.

“Hobie, it’s fine. You didn’t know.” Miles assured him. Miles didn’t expect to see Hobie again. If anything, he expected to come face to face with Miguel again. If not Miguel, he and Spot– … No, Jonathan. He and Jonathan would come across any other Spider-Person that was on the hunt.

Miles had another guess, but he didn’t know how to feel about the person he had in mind. He brushed off the feeling of dread that washed over him. He tuned out the overwhelming buzzing in his ear, trying to listen into Hobie’s accented voice instead.

The Brit patted Jonathan on the shoulder, A relaxed grin on his face. “Spot, right? Miguel went bloody mad over yer universe hopping,” Jonathan shrugged and laughed nervously,

“It was nothing, really,” He decided to keep his super-duper awesome villain name in Hobie’s vocabulary, rubbing the back of his neck. Miles looked up at the humanoid figure and blinked silently for just a few seconds.

“Dude, you literally created a mini super collider. In an apartment. With like… No resources.” Miles stared at Johnathan with a dead expression, but a small grin formed once the spotted man put a hand over where his mouth would be.

“Oh, stop it!” He gushed, giggling mischievously. Miles rolled his eyes and looked at Hobie, opening his mouth to say something to him before his body broke apart and melded back together, colors flashing and going as soon as they appeared. A strained sound of Miles trying to yell out in pain filled the empty store. Hobie fumbled for a moment before holding Miles up in order to prevent him from hitting the ground.

The overworked cashier peeked over. Spot didn’t blame him, as hearing a customer scream out in a way that made them sound like a song remix isn’t a daily occurrence. Oh, well, would it be nightly? It was around nine o’ clock, so technically “nightly” would be the right word.

Bah, whatever, that didn’t matter right now. Spot quickly turned his head away, putting his hat back on to cover most of what used to be his face. He didn’t want the cops to get called on him because of some “freaky ghost man” in the store.

Hobie’s brow was furrowed, stressed creases by the corners of his eyes. “Miles, mate, we gotta get you back to my apartment,” He shuffled around so Miles’s arm was around his shoulder, hoisting the other teenager up so he’d be able to stand up. “I’ve got a little somethin’ for ya in there. It’ll help with the laggin’.”

Miles blinked, his ears ringing violently. God, that weird glitch thing was never getting less painful, huh? He caught his breath before replying to the Brit, “You got a watch?” Miles looked up towards Hobie, his brow raised.

“You could say that.” Hobie shrugged, a sneaky grin looming on his face. Miles could tell that Hobie must’ve come up with some sort of alternative, in which, great! Screw Miguel and his weird universal technology. “Let’s book it, lads.”

And so, they were off to wherever Hobie lived. Miles could feel a sense of security fall over him.

Hobie would protect him, and so would Spot. He had two strong people on his side, both literally and metaphorically.

Chapter Text

Peter was a simple man. He lived life how it came, even when he got bit by that damn spider. The one thing that never changed in his life was living in Queens, New York.
It was where he was born, where he was raised, where he met the love of his life. Aside from the noise, Queens was practically a perfect place to live in Peter’s eyes. That’s why he was so, so happy knowing that he could raise his beautiful daughter, Mayday, in his hometown. M.J seemed pretty content with it all, too! They were all living peacefully in their own dimension.

Speaking of which…

“M.J! Chocolate or no chocolate?” Peter called out as he finished pouring some pancake mix onto the frying pan. He set down the bowl of mix before grabbing a bag of chocolate chips, dropping an excessive amount of chips into the pancake he was going to claim. Peter’s always loved chocolate, definitely more than M.J ever has.

“Could you do butterscotch chips instead of chocolate in mine?” M.J peaked her head into the kitchen, her auburn hair bouncing when it lost the support of her shoulders.

Peter let a giddy smile slip by when he saw her face. “Yeah, ‘course, hun.” He stepped over to the freezer, opening it and yanking out a halfway filled bag of butterscotch chips. He tossed it on the counter.

He heard Mayday let out some nonsense blabber and he smiled widely, bending down and teasingly pulling on her little hat strings. She giggled and gently squished Peter’s face with her chubby little hands. The brunette beamed and gently took her hands in his, gingerly squeezing her little digits before setting them down so he could take care of the food cooking.

M.J’s voice would’ve startled him, if he didn’t notice her crossing her arms in the doorway. “You’re a great dad, you know that?” She had a loving smile on her face, her bouncy maroon hair supported by her shoulders once again.

Peter’s cheeks warmed up. “Well, you’re a great mom, then,” He giggled, sliding the spatula underneath the pancake and flipping it to the other side. M.J walked over and wrapped her arms around her husband from behind. He giggled at the small peck she left on his earlobe.

“Is that one mine?” She peaked over the brunette's torso, watching her husband reach for the half-way filled bag of butterscotch chips.

“Yeah,” He smiled, opening the receptacle and putting the small treats into the flapjack. “Y’know, I might make one like yours. I haven’t had butterscotch in a while.” He shrugged, continuing to load the griddle cake.

“Oh? No chocolate?” The redhead smirked at him smugly. Peter rolled his eyes and set the bag of butterscotch chips aside, turning around and smirking back at M.J.

“No chocolate.” He spoke in a serious tone.

“Breaking News: your friendly neighborhood Spider-man rejects chocolate.” She teased, poking him on the chest. Peter slowly broke out of the seriousness, giggling and snickering.

M.J, too, broke out into laughter, resting her forehead on her husband's chest. Peter gently ran his hands through her hair as the two shared a laugh.

Mayday stared up at her parents in awe. Of course, it wasn’t the first time they’ve done corny stuff like this, but her Dad seems… happier! He’s happier!

Her mother reached over to gingerly pick her up, and she let out a babbling giggle, pushing her tiny hands into her mother’s thick curls. M.J would’ve allowed it if Mayday hadn’t gotten the devious idea to yank onto her mother’s precious locks. The woman carefully set Mayday mayday down before tying her hair up, picking her back up again afterwards.

“You’re so pretty with your hair up,” Peter grinned cheesily, leaving a kiss on his wife's temple.

M.J smiled brightly at her husband. “You’re just pretty in general.” She pushed some hair behind his ear.

“Sure, whatever you say, M.J.” He grinned.

He turned back to the stove to flip the pancake, carefully lifting the sweet morning meal with his spatula to set upon another plate.

“Smells nice, Pete.” M.J beamed at him, setting Mayday down into her highchair.

“Well, you’re in luck, Mary, cause this one’s yours.” Peter set her plate on the small table, turning to the bowl of pancake batter. M.J grinned and sat down, almost instantly reaching for the butter syrup. 

It was quiet for a while. That wasn’t bad, of course, sometimes silence is comforting.

M.J decided the silence needed to be silenced though, because her voice poked through. “How do you think HQ is doing, Pete?” She smiled. Peter wasn’t looking, but he could tell she was chewing on something.

He hummed for a second before shrugging, flipping the pancake that was meant to be his.

“I’m sure they’ve all calmed down and that everything is fine,” He smiled.

“Oh yeah? What about Miles?” She smiled, taking a sip of milk.

“I’m sure he’s sitting down at home, doodling in that little notebook of his and humming some tunes.”
“Oh yeah?”

“Yeah,” He smiled directly at her, setting down his plate and reaching for the butter. “I am positive that everything is okay, everyone is fine, and Miguel relaxed.”

"You think everything's okay, like, for sure?"

"Absolutely positive."

Chapter Text

Gwen stared at her trap set.

She hadn’t played in a long time. She hasn’t had the time to do so, and she certainly didn’t have the patience to figure out where her sticks went either.

Her eyes hurt from all the bright colors she’d been exposed to, so she would have to buy more tylenol again.

God, what was she even doing?

Why couldn’t she have been a normal girl who had nothing to do with spiders? Or heroes? Or anything related to her so-called “occupation.”

Gwen felt her brain tingle, and heard footsteps coming near her room.

Shit!

She scrambled to get underneath her bed, just trying to hide somewhere, anywhere.

The door handle turned, her bedroom door slowly creaking open as she saw familiar shoes step inside, the person’s breath shaky.

It was her Dad.

Gwen knew she shouldn’t have come back to her universe! It was a stupid idea! Stupid! She should’ve just asked one of the other spider-people for spare clothes or a place to stay. Sleeping on the floor of the Spider-HQ was… uncomfortable, to be frank. Her whole body hurt from the uncomfortable sleeping positions and the tiring patrols.

Her Dad walked inside of the room, his shiny black shoes were the only thing Gwen could see. She felt her bed creak when he sat on it, a large sigh leaving his lips. He sounded tired. More than he usually was.

Gwen bit her lip anxiously. What would he do if he caught her? What would she do if he caught her? She can’t die, not yet. She has missions to work out. She has problems to solve. This wasn’t okay. This is–

She heard her dad’s phone buzz, the man above taking it out and silently checking on whatever it was.

He sighed once more and stood up, walking out of the abandoned bedroom and gently closing the door.

“Jesus Christ,” Gwen mumbled, pulling herself out from under her bed. She grabbed a suitcase that was stuffed behind her dresser, throwing clothes inside of it without bothering to fold them.

That’s when her eyes landed on a photo of her and Miles together.

Miles.

She thought for a moment before carefully grabbing the small polaroid photo, tracing her thumb over it before placing it in a separate pocket in order to prevent it getting crushed.

“Should be enough…” She stared at the mini explosion inside of the suitcase, carefully shutting it to avoid making any noise and quietly snuck out the window.

Swinging through the city at night was unsettlingly peaceful, despite her situation. Gwen didn’t know if she belonged here or needed to be forced out permanently.

“Where were you?”

“I told you, with Hobie.”

“I know that’s not true.”

Miguel was pacing around his little room, fist balled up and voice laced with poison.

“I’m telling the truth, Miguel,” Gwen bit her bottom lip, “I could go get Hobie to vouch for me and everything.”

The much taller man’s fists were shaking. Gwen was glad she couldn’t see his face. She didn’t know if she could handle that.

“I want the truth out of you, Gwen. Now.” He turned around, and god, Gwen was right. Those red eyes pierced into her soul, latching on like a mutated leech that was sucking the life out of her. It reminded her of…

“ Gwen. ”

“I was getting stuff from my house, okay? Like, clothes, and stuff I need to function properly .”

She didn’t realize how much attitude laced her words, but it felt kind of deserved. Miguel had been going crazy as of lately, all because of Miles!

“You have been driving me crazy, Gwen.”

Oh. Not Miles.

“Wha–”

“You dragged Miles here. You weren’t even supposed to go see him in the first place!” He yelled, walking down the stairs. Gwen winced at every little noise the claws on his feet made when scratching the glass.

“I just–” Gwen didn’t realize Miguel got there so fast, letting out a small noise of pain when he grabbed her wrist and squeezed . She felt the joints pop.

“You just what , Gwen? You messed up, you messed everything up. Even from the beginning, this universal mess started because of you guys.” He tightened the grip on her wrist, his deep red eyes piercing into her soft blue ones. The blond yelped and tried tugging her hand out of his grip to no avail.

“I didn’t know , Miguel. I just wanted to go home.” Her voice was shaky, eyes diverted from Miguel’s and choosing to stare at the floor instead.

She felt Miguel’s breath falter and he shoved her away, letting go of her wrist. She blenched and struggled for a moment to keep her feet steady, her other hand gently rubbing her aching arm.

“… We just wanted to go home. All of us.” The worlds fell out of her mouth like an uneven waterfall, dripping out and betraying her with a lack of tone consistency. She wanted to yell, scream, cry, wail, and shriek, anything to give Miguel a piece of her mind.

But she didn’t. Gwen stood there staring at the back of his head, waiting for a reply or reaction from the man in front of her.

“I’m not dealing with this right now.”

“What?”

What?

That was it?

He wasn’t gonna scream at her, attack her, anything?

“You heard me, Gwen. Get out.”

The words settled in her brain uneasily, an off put feeling growing a pit in her stomach.

“But–”

“ Out. ” He glanced behind himself to look at her, side-eyeing the blonde sharply.

Those red eyes terrified her. They were too bright. They were abnormal. They were frightening when filled with hatred, and even more frightening when that hatred was directed at you in particular.

Gwen frowned and turned away, walking out slowly and holding onto her now sore wrist.

She pulled her mask back over her head and straightened her back when walking back out into the main hub, resting her arms at her sides. She still had a place of status here, being Jessica Drew’s student. She had to maintain it the best she could with the current situation.

Jess…

Gwen needed to find Jess. Someone she could talk to.

Her pace quickened and she started looking around. Surely Jess wasn’t on a mission right now, right? Gwen could’ve swore she heard Jess and Miguel talking about her getting some time off from those. She was pregnant after all! She needed time! Right?

She raised her arm that had her Multiversal Gizmo on it, stopping where she stood to swipe around and look for Jess’s contact. She swiped on the hologram until she reached Jess’s universe number, pressing the call button and then continuing to walk. She needed to find a quieter area.

She ducked down into one of the darker, isolated areas, sucking in her breath as she listened to the ringtone drag on.

“C’mon, Jess, c’mon…” Gwen crushed under her breath when it went to voicemail. Instead of leaving a message, Gwen chose to press the call button again. Her back slid against the smooth wall of the Spider-HQ and she pulled off her mask, frowning and wiping small tears from her eyes.

She let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding in when Jess answered.

“Gwen, girl , what do you want from me? It’s my day off.” Jess was clearly not in her hero uniform, rather in some everyday clothes…

Well. The “stay-at-home” kind of everyday clothes. Gwen felt bad now.

“I– I’m sorry, I can leave you be, it’s not that serious–”

“No, don’t do that with me, Gwen. You spent this much time trying to get me to answer,” Jess frowned, adjusting her sitting position and resting a hand on top of her stomach. She wasn’t even wearing her Gizmo properly, just resting it in the palm of her other hand.

“I… I just needed someone to talk to. A lot is going on, and I just–” Gwen felt a lump in her throat form, but she swallowed it before a sob could escape, “I don’t think anyone else would listen.”

Gwen’s holographic face sent a shock of pain throughout Jessica’s body. Jess didn’t know whether it was general sympathy, or her motherly instincts already kicking in, but she knew she had to do something regardless.

“Gwen, Honey,” She mentally debated with herself for a few moments before she sighed, “Do you wanna come over here? Talking about it in person would be better for you.” The woman’s brow furrowed.

Gwen bit her bottom lip, pushing her gloved hand up to her eyes to wipe them again.

“A– Are you sure? It’s your day off.”

“I’m sure, Gwen. Come on. You know my Universe Code.”

Gwen nodded, ending the call without a response before lifting her trembling fingers to type in the code to get to Jessica’s Universe. Earth-616. 

Gwen stepped into the swirling mix of colors, stepping onto some random building in a city she didn’t know the name of. She followed the location her Gizmo led her until she landed on a porch of some kind, the watch alerting her Spider-616 was nearby.

That was Jess.

The next few minutes were a numbed blur, Gwen remembering that she had knocked on the door and got brought inside.

The next thing she knew she was clinging onto Jessica Drew, her mentor, like a distraught toddler who had fallen off their bike, snot and tears stuck to her face.

Gwen sobbed and bawled and hiccuped for however long she did, but she did so with a motherly arm wrapped around her.