Work Text:
"The amazing Spiderman saved South Park once again from another dangerous threat! This time a man with tentacles, why tentacles? We are still unsure. Though we are dreadfully sorry to announce that there were innocent citizens that have unfortunately been attacked and did not survive, we wish the best to all the families of the people who did not make it."
___
He remembered it like a clear picture, a painting of bright red and crimson splashing across the canvas.
It haunts him, each splatter of blood was like brush strokes taunting his mind, reminding him of his failure of the job he thought he did so well. Being Spiderman.
He remembered the fear in Tweek's eyes, the absolute terror in the boy's gaze as the car fell down on him like a piece of rubbish. He remembered running towards him, releasing his webs at it in an attempt to throw the moving object away, he remembered missing it. He remembered holding Tweek's head, pushing it against his chest, his weak and sudden breathing holding back his hot tears, as his fingers tangled between the golden locks of hair. He remembered Tweek crying.
"I don't wanna die-" - The blondie's voice cracked, his eyes swelling with tears as he shook his head repeatedly.
"You're not going to, trust me" - He felt his nose bridge getting stinger and stinger at each and every word Tweek spoke, between his mask and suit, he could feel Tweek's breathing against him, he could feel it getting weaker by seconds.
Tweek kept saying the same things over and over again, crying, begging for Spiderman to help him, but Craig knew that he knew there wasn't anything he could do.
He remembered looking around, shouting for help, trying to find some sort of hope, but he couldn't, there wasn't any solution, and here Craig thought that he could solve any math problem, any questions that his teacher had.
"Please-" - He remembered pulling his mask up, his voice cracking, stuttering, as droplets of water started falling down on Tweek's pale cheeks.
"Craig- Thank god you're here" - The other boy chuckled, but even his chuckle sounded breathless, he didn't seem to care that Craig was Spiderman, the only thing he cared about was that Craig was there with him. "I- I don't want to die, Craig" - He cried.
"You won't, please- trust me I can fix this" - He held Tweek's hand, kissing his palm and leaning his face onto it.
"Craig- I really wanted to live with you" - The pain in his voice made Craig's heart ache, he sounded like he was being choked. "Oh god- I even baked cookies at home" - He groaned.
Craig laughed, his eyebrows furrowing between tears, but he couldn't even form a single word, not even a sound.
"Can you eat the cookies- when you get home- and can you do the laundry?" - Tweek asked, as if he was going to be home later that day, as if he was just about to leave for a while, without even telling how long he would be gone for, like he always did.
The noirette nodded instantly, trying his best to smile, snot and tears crawling down his face messily.
"You better do it" - He smiled back at Craig "Promise me, that you'll take care of yourself" - He sighed, closing his eyes.
"No no Tweek please- Don't close your eyes- please" - He covered his mouth with Tweek's hand, as he begged like a child for the first time.
"I'm just going to- be gone for a while, but I promise I'll come back home, with you." - Tweek's smiled softened, as he felt his body eased off. "I love you."
He remembered hugging the lifeless body of his lover in his arms, longingly, not even wanting to let go, like his whole world had broken down at that same moment, every whimper, every plead he left out after that was just pointless, there was no use.
Tweek Tweak, the barista at Tweek bros, was not there anymore.
___
Spiderman was gone after that, and nobody knew where he went. All his social medias account had been inactive for 6 months at this point ever since the 'Tentacles incident' as the fans called it, and when the hero was gone, the crimes had a perfect time to shine it lights on South Park, Colorado.
To Craig, there wasn't any reason for him to be Spiderman anymore, the only person he even became Spiderman for was Tweek, he only became that superhero to protect the city Tweek was living in, to protect Tweek's happiness, now he's gone, so what more reason is there to keep going?
No matter how many times everyone else tells him that "it's okay" and that he "should move on with his life and meet new people", Tweek wasn't coming back, and that is already not enough.
He remembered, walking into a random café he saw had a bad review on google to check it out. He remembered getting mesmerized by the cute Barista that was behind the counter. He remembered going to that café everyday just to order the worst coffee imaginable and to see that cute guy again. He remembered asking for his name. He remembered asking for his number. He remembered them kissing on their first date.
He remembered them moving in with eachother, so excited, so lively, so in love. He remembered how much Tweek loved Superheroes, especially Wonder Woman. He remembered getting bitten by a radioactive spider. He remembered becoming a superhero.
He remembered how he used to be so happy.
Now he's sitting in his living room, empty bottles of beer scattering all around the house, the TV was playing the same nonsense of needing a hero, of where was Spiderman, of the person he was.
Thinking about it makes his insides twitch.
He leaned back into the couch that they once bought together, turning off the TV that Tweek stole from his parents house. Everything, everything reminded Craig of him.
Adorable, unpredictable and talented him.
Just feeling his pressence made Craig felt so much lighter, so much happier, the soft and messy hair that brushed his chin every morning was now just fuzzy memories of the beautiful person the world used to have.
And it felt the need to just take him away from him.
He misses him.
He misses the terrible morning coffee, he miss walking into his home after work and seeing dinner already waiting for him, he misses the unfinished paintings in their bedroom, he misses wondering if they will ever be finished, he misses being called during patrol, just for Tweek to tell him "be home before 9" or "buy some eggs on your way back", and even when he was fighting random bad dudes on the streets, he'll still do it anyway.
He misses the coffee scent under his nose everyday when he woke up, he misses the person who would cheer for him everytime he did the bare minimum around the house, he misses the text messages with hundreds of typos, he misses the bright and unfairly beautiful blond hair that once was a daily struggle to comb, he miss helping Tweek with his hair, he miss the tics and twitches everytime Tweek gets nervous, he miss comforting him when that happens.
Everytime he thinks about that fateful day, he just kept coming up with all the things he could've done, all the results that could've happened if he wasn't busy crying.
Still, at the end of the day, he knew, that there was nothing that could've changed the way things turned out.
And it angers Craig whenever he jumped to that conclusion, he just hated himself everyday for what he didn't do instead of accepting his now reality.
Because in his head, he did everything right.
___
It was 9p.m, Tucker was sitting on his couch, wasted as usual, the only light source was whatever bland gameshow he was staring at that was playing on the TV, scratching his chin, feeling the unshaved beard under his finger tips. As he moved his fingers to switch the channels, a local news station popped up on his screen, catching his attention as the words “Spiderman” caught his view.
“SPIDERMAN has been gone for 2 years! That means that South Park’s most infamous villains have been active with their schemes recently with authorities struggling to control the situation! What does this mean for the future of South Park? Will Spiderman make his return and save us all? We shall keep you updated on Channel 7” - The nice young lady in the suit said into her mic, her serious tone calling out his name made him shiver.
He just ignored the pleading and changed the channel.
He shot his web at the half-empty beer bottle on the coffee table, chugging it down his throat and feel the spark of satisfaction as the alcohol heated up his skin.
Suddenly, the items around him started floating up, including the dozens of empty bottles on the floor, as a colorful light source opened up above his head.
"The fuck-" - He mumbled, tilting his head as he looked up at what he guessed was some magic portal, as it started to grow bigger.
The next thing he knew, a guy that looked just like him was standing in-front of him, on his table, wearing a Spiderman suit, and for a brief moment he thought he died.
"Jeez- smells like dogshit in here" - The guy pinched his nose with his thumb and pointer finger, looking around his messy apartment with a disgusted frown.
"Who the fuck are you?" - He raised one of his brows in confusion, standing up from his seat.
"I'm you, Craig Tucker, at least another version of you" - He kept looking around the room, judging and mumbling as he gazed at the extreme alcoholism that was being exercised in the cramped apartment.
Craig (the depressed one), looked up at him with what looked like a mix of confusion and suspicion. His eyebrows twitching as his burning eyes forced themselves to stay open, his hand tugging the hair at the side of his head, maybe to check if he was dreaming, or maybe just to keep himself from clawing his skin out.
“Okay so, gonna keep this short and simple for you, but we need you at the HQ, a dangerous villain is on the loose with the ability to teleport to whatever universe he wants to so we need as much help as we can.” - The other him started talking, he guessed that he was trying to explain what was going on to him but most of it sounded like nonsense through his ears. - “So I need you to get going, right now.” - Oh shit he wasn't listening, go where again?
“Uh..” - Craig dragged his voice. “You need me for what? Why?” - he questioned, clearing his throat to sound less tired, not like it worked.
“You’re Spiderman right?” - Other Craig said, but it wasn't a question, more like a clarification, before he continued to talk anyway. “Yeah so just shut up and follow me” - He rolled his eyes, pulling on his mask and waited for Craig to just oblige with whatever he asked for as if there was no more questions to ask, but there was, he just couldn't find a way to word it without sounding like a caveman.
“I’m not- I don't do that anymore, sorry” - Craig just said after a moment, sitting down on the couch again, leaning back, hoping the weird guy that looked just like him would just leave after hearing that.
“What? Sounds ridiculous” - A scoff escaped his lips. “You don't get to choose whether you’re Spiderman or not, I don't care what happened to you that was so bad and made you ‘quit’ your responsibilities because I’m not here to talk about that.” - His words were like a splash of cold water into his face, putting his words in air quotes just to sound more insulting than he already did.
“...Look” - Other Craig continued after seeing how upset Craig was, crouching down on the table to meet his eyes. “I’m sorry for whatever happened to you, and I know that you're sad or whatever but- you can’t save everybody, but you can save most of them if you come with me.”
Talking to himself felt weird, but it’s not like being a spider-human mutant was any less weird, so he agreed, changing into the suit that he abandoned for ages, it felt wrong to wear it after so long, he never noticed how much he changed in his measurements, but he ignored the unnecessary insecurities and followed Other Craig into the ‘portal’ anyway, hoping to himself that he made the right decision and not just bringing himself into something he did not know.
___
The next couple of days was just a haze after that, with him meeting some guy named ‘Miguel’ and the hundreds of thousands of people with ‘Spider’ in their superhero name. Chasing after a dude named ‘Spot’ who’s apparently was just supposed to be a weekly villain but that changed into something much more serious once he realized how to use his abilities more efficiently, which sounds like a great moral story but now is not the time to look at it that way. It felt weird using his powers after mourning the death of Tweek for 2 years and what the other spider people called his “canon event”, they used a lot of terms he did not understand whatsoever.
And with him returning to the field meant that he had to return to being Spiderman, despite how much he didn’t want to be. His comeback made storm back in his universe, he couldn't bring himself to give a shit, saving that town felt meaningless to him now that the reason he became a superhero to begin with wasn't there anymore.
Today Craig and also Craig were sent to also Craig’s universe since that was the last place they’ve seen him running around causing havoc. Their job was just to sit around all day waiting for Miguel’s call for help, but they both didn’t think there would be any call, it has been like that for the last 3 days or so, still no trace of Spot.
The two were spending their afternoon on the rooftop of Other Craig's apartment complex, nothing big happening in particular, just the occasional robbery and car chasing that the other guy could just manage by himself.
After a while, Craig brought up the idea of just dipping and to just return to his apartment to hang out or do anything else that was less boring. But Other Craig disagreed, saying that if he wanted to do that they could just stay at his apartment instead, and that it would be easier to manage that way.
“Oh yeah also, I live with my roommate, but he knows what’s going on so don't worry yourself around him.” - Other Craig said as he unlocked the door into his apartment, which Craig hummed in response.
What happened next felt like a bad dream to Craig.
In the living room, there sat Tweek, Tweek, with his hair still soft and messy as ever, just like how he remembered it to be, he was wearing the blue sweater that they once found in a thrift shop but ended up not buying, maybe in this universe he did buy it for 12 dollars despite him complaining about how ridiculous it was for an old and worn-off sweater to be that price (It’s not even that expensive Tweek was just extremely cheap with his clothing choices).
Tucker felt like throwing up at the sight of him remembering the lifeless state he was in.
“Hey Tweek, bringing my clone I was talking about” - Other Craig casually said. “He’s staying for a bit while I go out, buying some snacks, also checking out the town for anything wrong.” - He said quickly, gesturing into the place as a welcoming to Craig. Before he went Tucker even asked again if he needed any assistance from him but he shook it off as fine and quickly left as soon as he arrived.
Craig stayed quiet, awfully silent, he didn’t want to even think about who was sitting in front of him at that moment. Looking at anything, anything but him.
“God you do look exactly like him” - There it was, the raspy voice he missed so much, with that same high-pitched tone that he desperately wanted to forget, with that chuckle in his words that showed off his sassy personality so well.
Tucker felt like throwing up remembering how that voice was calling out for his help before closing his eyes forever.
Next thing he knew he was holding Tweek in his arms again, hugging for dear life as if he was going to slip away into nothingness, with tears swelling his eyes and his voice mumbling things like “You’re alive, thank goodness you’re alive”, things that he wished he could say the same to his Tweek. Feeling the warmth of the man he loves and taking in his coffee scent that he used to replicate through old t-shirts.
The other boy was understandably confused, but hugged him back anyway, comforting him with awkward pats on the back as he responded with reassurance to each sloppy thing Craig slipped out through his lips during his ugly-crying session.
When he was done, it was already 5 minutes later, and Tweek sat him down on the couch to comfort him despite having no clear idea why Craig was even crying to begin with. His hands running along the small of the noirette’s back, guiding him to breath slowly.
“Sorry- uh- you just look like someone I used to know” - Craig said, knowing how ridiculous he must’ve looked.
“It’s okay man- It was kinda weird, but I get it” - Tweek chuckled, not in a mocking way, just a simple genuine way to lighten up the room, it always works. “You seem to really care about that person, even though I’m not them” - The blonde continued, humming his voice, trying his best not to hit any nerves of a just-cried person.
“You have no idea. They’re everything to me” - Craig smiled, his puffy red eyes looking into Tweek’s. “That’s nice” - Tweek smiled back.
“Super nice, but I did mess up pretty badly though and now they’re not here anymore” - Craig said, clearing his throat as he swallowed his sobs again since he just stopped.
“I don't know them, but I don't think they blame you for anything that happened, you seem pretty guilty man” - Tweak shrugged, tilting his head to the side. “I mean- you can never know what will happen you know? And so what happened would have never been your fault.”
“You don't even know what happened” - Craig chuckled.
“Maybe, but I don't think the guy who just sobbed into my shoulder for like- 5 minutes would ever do anything wrong to the one he loves.” - Tweek replied boldly.
They both laughed about it, and with the back of his hand, he wiped the tears on his cheek away, spiking up a new conversation topic for the two of them, ranting about nothing, as if what just happened never happened, just so he could feel like he was having one of their dinner date talks again.
At the end of the day, when Other Craig returned, he and Tweek were already great friends, and even though the other guy didn’t love him
or even know him for that matter, he still felt like it fixed a part of him that he thought could never be fixed, his guilt.
It was nice to have some closure.