Chapter Text
You put up with it for so long, you really did.
You stayed with Miguel for over a year after you began seeing the red flags, brushing off every time he was an asshole to you or others, and justifying his behavior to yourself even when you knew it was wrong. You slowly fell out of love with him, mourning the relationship before it actually ended. He didn’t even seem to notice you withdrawing from him, as he was so consumed with his work in the Spider Society.
There was a time when you understood, though. After all, you were part of the Spider Society, and you once wholeheartedly believed in its mission. You stood by Miguel and his convictions and did everything you could to help, but there came a point when it became an obsession for him. He became deranged with fear and anger beyond comprehension, sentencing innocent anomalies to whatever he saw fit. He dehumanized anything that strayed from the canon he so desperately believed in, and anyone who disagreed with his decisions was confined until he decided they could leave.
You honestly didn’t want anything to do with the Spider-Society anymore either. Miguel was the main problem there, sure, but the entirety was built on fear. You didn’t want to be a part of something that refused to do what’s right out of fear of destroying universes. When you got your powers, your number one goal was to use them your own way to help others. You were sick of being told how your life was supposed to go, especially by Miguel.
Miguel no longer felt like your boyfriend. It’s not like he was abusing you or anything of the sort, but he certainly was a jerk, and you were finally done.
That day was home to one of Miguel’s classic lash-outs, yelling and muttering about someone messing up a mission and how some anomaly was causing trouble. You didn’t get the details, but as soon as he was done and the other Spider-People left, you approached him.
“Miguel…” you sighed. “I can’t do this anymore,”
He sneered, not taking his eyes off his monitors, “What are you talking about?”
“I’m talking about all this. And you and me. I don’t want to be part of the Spider Society anymore, and I don’t want to date you anymore, either,”
That finally caught his attention, and he walked over to you, “I don’t understand,”
“You’re not really that fun to be around, Miguel. You’re mean all the time and you’re bringing this place down with you. Bringing all the Spider-People together was a great idea, but you’re turned it into something out of control,”
“No,” he shook his head, his gaze becoming more stern. “I am doing what I have to do. If I didn’t, the canon-”
“Yeah, yeah, the canon,” you cut him off. “It’s bullshit. This is all bullshit, okay? I will never, ever, invalidate what you went through, but it’s no excuse for you to treat innocent people like garbage just because they don’t fit into that stupid canon!”
“Is that how you really feel?”
“Yes. I’m done. I’m going back to my Earth,”
He ran his fingers down your arms, touching you more tenderly than he has in months, “Please don’t leave, Y/N. I love you, I just can’t stop what I’m doing right now. It’s important-”
“Miguel, please. Don’t make this harder than it already is,” you tried to keep the tears from falling. “You don’t think I love you too? I just can’t do it anymore. I’ve already given you so many chances, and I just need to go be on my own now, okay?
His expression shifted between concern and heartbroken, taking in your words, “If that’s what you want you can go. I won’t stop you. Just...be careful. I’d still hate to see you hurt.”
You nodded at his statement, leaving alone.
-
It’s been a couple weeks since it happened, and you’re back to your friendly neighborhood life and living in your apartment. You’d be lying if you said you didn’t still think about Miguel, because you absolutely still do. You’re 100% convinced it was the right thing to do to leave him, but leaving such a long term relationship and the society you called home would be difficult for anyone. You’ve spent at least a few nights crying yourself to sleep, and one of those nights you get a strange visitor.
It’s the middle of the night, and you decide to take a break from trying to sleep and get up for some water and TV. You sit up with your glass and grab for the remote, when a black hole appears in front of you, and with it a faceless man with paper-white skin. You scream, clutching you blankets to your face.
“Oh shit, I’m so sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you. Would you mind telling me what universe this is?”
You stare at him, dumbstruck at the entity in your field of vision.
“Um…I think Earth 814?” at least you think that’s the number Miguel told you your Earth was.
“Interesting,” he pushes himself out of the hole more., closer to your face. “Wait, were you crying?”
“I...yeah,” you admit. “I broke up with my boyfriend recently. And I quit an organization I was part of that was the only place I felt completely understood and safe. So I’m not doing very well,”
“I know how that feels,” he begins to push himself out from the hole. “I lost my job and my family after the accident that turned me into this. I thought my job was where I fit in and my family would unconditionally love me, but hey, at least now I can travel anywhere I want in the universe,”
“So how…how did you get like that?”
“Explosion with a super collider and black hole,” he says matter-of-factly. “The spots are like portals. I’m pretty new to figuring them out, actually. Usually I’m covered in them, but I used them all fighting Spider-Man,”
“Spider-Man, huh? Which one?”
“The kid in the black suit. The red one died a while ago. Do you have people with spider powers on this Earth too?”
“I do, actually,” you’re not sure you should’ve told your identity to this guy, but you’re a bit too intrigued by him to fully regret it.
He gasps, “Shit, really? Well you seem much more pleasant than the Spider-Man on my Earth. He’s the one who caused the super collider to explode on me,”
“I’m so sorry,” you look down. “This probably doesn’t make it better, but I can assure you he’s not the only Spider-Man in the multiverse that sucks. I’ve met plenty of them,”
“You can travel the multiverse too?” his head pokes even further out of the hole.
“Well, sort of,” you readjust your position. “I used to be apart of this Spider Society thing, where every Spider-Man in the multiverse teamed up and went on missions together. We had technology that could transport us anywhere in the multiverse, and we helped to maintain the timeline. I was dating the leader of the society for a long time, but he turned out to be a delusional asshole so I broke it off, and I cut ties with the entire Spider Society too. I’ve kind of lost everything now…”
You trail off, tears returning to your eyes. The white figure tilts his head, listening to every word of your story.
“Looks like we have something in common then. We both have issues with certain Spider-Men,” his face moves in a way that appears to be a smirk, despite not having a mouth. “Wanna come with me to defeat the one from my world? And after we’re done I’d be more than happy to say a few choice words to your ex-boyfriend,”
You laugh at his offer, but you quickly realize he’s being serious.
You’re well aware of how vulnerable and reckless people can be after a break-up, but usually that pertains to spontaneously dying your hair or something, not running away with a villain from another universe. It’s true, you are very angry with Miguel and the Spider Society, but you don’t wish harm on them, and you certainly don’t wish harm on this other Spider-Man this strange man seems to hate. Yet something about him draws you in, and when else are you going to get a chance to travel the multiverse after leaving the society?
“How would I…” you start. “How would I come with you?”
“Well, uh, I assume you just come through this hole. People other than me have gone through them before, so I promise it’s safe,”
You nod, and slowly stick your hand in. It feels like every sensation at once, the push and pull of gravity, hot and cold, smooth and electric. You push in farther, and soon enough you fall in face first, caught in the arms of him.
The room—or world, you don’t really know—is completely white, covered in floating black spots. You can now see the full figure of the man in front of you, tall and blank from head to toe.
“Wow,” you look up. “This is amazing. So you can go anywhere from here?”
“Yes, but with a lot of trial and error. I don’t know where each of them go,”
“How are we going to find your Earth then?”
“Like I said, trial and error,” he pokes his head into one. “Nope, not there,” he tries several more, until he find one that pops out where he originally started. “This is it! Come on,” he takes your hand and pulls you through.
It looks similar to your world, and you soon find out you’re standing in the remains of the very collider that gave this man his powers. He giddily takes you to his apartment, mumbling something about making a smaller collider to kick start his portals again.
You watch him as he works, fascinated by his intellect. Sure, you might be able to make your own web fluid, but this guy was cracking the secrets of inter-dimensional superpowers. It’s a bit cute how happy he’s getting about the science of it all.
Your eyes drift around his apartment, and they land on a picture of two people in lab coats. You wonder if the man in the picture was him before the accident.
“So...what should I call you?” you ask him as he tinkers with the technology. “I need the name of my new partner and crime, I think,”
“I am The Spot,” he straightens his hunched back for a moment. “I’m out of spots right now, but it’ll make sense in a minute,”
You tell him your own name, and decide to ask him another question, “What was your name before?”
“Jonathan. Johnathan Ohnn. You can call me that too, just make sure you call me The Spot in front of Spider-Man,”
“Of course,” you chuckle.
“It’s not a joke!” his tone takes a dark turn, and the skin on his face scrunches. “I guess you wouldn’t understand,”
“Hey!” you snap back at him. “Just because you don’t like this Spider-Man doesn’t mean you get a free pass to be prejudiced against all of us. Don’t make me regret coming with you, Spot,”
He huffs, “Sorry. I guess I’m a bit defensive about everything,”
“No kidding,” you rolls your eyes. “How about you just focus on finishing that machine so I can see these spots of yours, okay?”
He nods, getting right back to work. It takes a while, but eventually you start to see sparks and movement, and tiny black holes start coming out of the beam. He puts his finger in it, brushing off the danger. Spots begin popping up all over his body, just as he said they would. A hole appears in the floor, and you scream as he starts falling in.
“Johnathan!” you grab hold of his arm, attempting to pull him back.
“No, don’t!” he yells. “Just come through with me!”
“Do you even know where it’s going?”
“Nope!” he cackles, pulling you in with him.
You shriek as you fall in, hanging onto Jonathan for dear life and rethinking all your life decisions up until this point.