Chapter Text
One Year Prior
The Battle of Earth-1610-B
August 29th, 2019 seemed like any normal day for Martin Li. However, it would be anything but. It would be the day his life and the lives of people around the city changed forever. Going about his normal morning routine, he woke up at 6 AM, rolling over and kissing his sleeping wife of 9 years good morning. After showering, he would walk into the walk-in closet wearing just a towel and select the fine pressed suit he would wear to work that day. That particular morning, he decided to wear a black suit, white dress shirt, and black tie as if he was planning to attend a funeral. But, that couldn’t be farther from the truth. Li had been running the FEAST organization for 6 years. He didn’t witness the end of life. He gave a chance to rebuild it. He couldn’t think of a single other place on earth he’d rather be than in New York City helping the homeless population get off the streets. If Spider-Man was a hero, he was a martyr.
Li rushed throughout the kitchen, trying to balance the task of packing his son’s lunch and cooking him an egg and bagel breakfast simultaneously. In the background, the Daily Bugle news played on the family room TV as J. Jonah Jameson ranted on about the recent absence of Spider-Man. “I’ll tell you why the war waging wonderous wallcrawler hasn’t been seen! Unlike the other Spider-Man, he knows when to quit. While Peter Parker did go down as undoubtedly the greatest hero of all time, there were moments he did go too far and unfortunately, his untimely demise proved as such. You know what’s different now from then? The city doesn’t need saving! Therefore, this city no longer needs Spider-Man!”
Hearing the floorboards creak, Martin Li whipped his head around to see his 12-year-old son, Logan waltz into the kitchen, his backpack slung over his shoulder and looking as if he had just risen from the dead. “Good morning, Lo. How’d you sleep?”
The boy groaned feebly in response, taking his seat at the kitchen table. “I’ll guess that means good. You ready for the big game tomorrow?” Li ran back to the stove holding Logan’s plate, sliding the eggs on next to the bagel before carrying it over and sliding it in front of him, taking a seat of his own.
“The game..” Logan repeated as he ate, still too tired to think. Suddenly, a look of realization washed over his face as if he had just truly woken up. “Oh- the football game! Yeah, I think so. I’m going to give their QB hell!”
“Language.”
Both boys turned their heads to see Martin’s wife, Medea quietly come down the stairs, wrapped in a traditional Chinese robe. With her normally straight jet-black hair disheveled, Martin wouldn’t have been able to recognize his wife if it weren’t for her bright smile that lit up the room. “Lo is just excited.” He shrugged off. However, seeing the look on his wife’s face quickly made him sing a completely different tune. “Buuut..” His wife nodded him on. “It’s still not good to cuss.”
As Medea walked into the kitchen to make coffee, Martin stood up to clean up the mess he had made cooking.
“Nice save.” Logan mumbled with a smirk.
“Wiseass .” Martin mumbled back, only for his wife to slap his shoulder. “Ow!” He cried out, rubbing it with a small smile. Logan couldn’t help but giggle as he finished his breakfast.
Medea watched the coffee pour before turning back towards Martin. “Hey Marty, do you think you could drive Logan into the city for school? It’s kind of on the way to FEAST. I just really need to clean this place up.”
Li turned his head towards her in confusion. “Why’s that?”
“You forgot.” Medea crossed her arms.
“I didn’t forget! It’s.. Our anniversary?”
“It’s August.”
“And?”
“Our anniversary is in July!”
Martin winced, turning his attention to the pan he was washing in the sink. “Okay, I forgot. What’s happening tonight?”
Medea sighed, walking behind him and resting her hand on his shoulder as if bracing him for some terrible news. “My mom is coming over for dinner.” Martin immediately leaned over the sink, groaning.
“Oh come on don’t be dramatic. My mom isn’t that bad!”
Martin glared back at her. “She thinks I’m weird!”
“You are weird!” Medea leaned in and kissed him, pulling back as she left their faces inches apart. “But I love that you’re weird..” Martin looked down, still unhappy. “Oh come on..” His wife leaned in towards his ear. “I’ll do that thing you love tonight..”
“What thing?” Logan’s voice piped up.
The two of them both jumped, turning around to face their son. “Oh- Your mom makes very good jiaozi!” The boy tilted his head. “She’s never made jiaozi before.” Martin sighed, resting his palm on his forehead.
“Logan?”
“Yeah?”
“Eat your breakfast, please.”
“I ate my breakfast.”
“Then go get in the car.”
“Who’s car?”
“Yeah, Martin, who’s car?” Medea asked, crossing her arms and giving him puppy dog eyes. Martin looked at her and back to his son before sighing.
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Martin and his son sat in silence through the busy rush hour traffic of New York City, cars stopped all around them as Martin listened to the Danikast ramble on about the unregulated decommission of Kingpin’s collider. Logan stared down at his phone, his eyes glued to the screen as he swiped through some social media app Martin didn’t understand. Slowly turning his head towards Logan, the father struggled to speak before finally gathering the courage. “So, any girls you like?”
Logan looked up at him, physically cringing. “Yeah, a few I guess. Why?”
Martin shrugged. “I just like to know what’s going on in your life. That’s all.” Logan went back to looking at his phone. “Is there one you really like?”
Groaning, Logan looked back up at him. “Yes, there is.” Martin raised both of his hands in the air.
“You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to..”
Continuing to look down at his phone, Logan nodded. “I know, Dad. You’re just embarrassing.”
“Oh..”
Li looked straight ahead, trying to mask the look of hurt from his face. Logan looked up from his phone and sighed guiltily, turning it off as he looked forward as well. He reached over and turned down the radio. “You’re not embarrassing, Dad. I guess just the topic itself is.. Her name is Liz.”
Martin Li smiled a bit, hiding his pride as he turned his head towards his son. “You know you can talk to me about anything, right?”
Logan nodded. “I know, Dad.”
“Attaboy.” Martin reached over, patting him on the shoulder. Outside the car, wind picked up as trash blew over their windshield. “Huh, the news didn’t mention any wind.”
Logan crossed his arms, shrugging. “Probably because they were so busy talking about Spider-Man.”
Martin chuckled a little, nodding in agreement as he looked forward. Suddenly, his smile faded as it began to rain. “Didn’t mention anything about rain either.. Check the forecast.”
Logan grabbed his phone, trying to pull it up. “There’s.. Hardly any service. It’s like something is interfering with the signal.”
Looking straight ahead, Martin watched people begin to get out of their cars, looking up and pointing towards the sky.
“What is it?” Logan asked curiously, gripping the door handle. However, Martin grabbed his arm.
“I’ll look. Stay here.” He opened the driver's side door. “I mean it.” Getting out of the car and forcefully slamming the door shut behind him through the rough gale, Martin looked upwards past the skyscrapers to see clouds swirling in a hurricane-like formation around a single entity.
A giant black Spot.
‘Spot Holes 2’ begins to play
https://youtu.be/4C-H7Mr7hGg?si=MRTWVa-SqwbeWndw
“What the hell?...” He mumbled, staring upwards as his eyes narrowed.
“What is it!?” Logan shouted through the glass window.
“I.. don’t know.” Li responded back, a hint of uncertainty in his voice. His tie blew over his right shoulder as he took a step back, watching a woman hold up her phone to get a picture, only for it to be pried from her hands by a malevolent gust of wind.
As his eyes squinted through the increasingly intense black rain, trying to follow the phone, Martin Li gasped as he saw what was carrying it through the air. On the skyscrapers around them, giant black portals formed on the sides, pulling in trash, debris, and even people .
The ground began to rumble as a large crane was pulled towards the portal, swaying to its left and tearing through an office building as glass and office supplies were strewn about. The crane kept turning as it teared through the building a spot was on before the front disappeared inside the inky black portal. Glass, supplies, and bodies rained from the sky and onto cars. Mass hysteria formed as people began running in Li’s direction, away from the chaos. Martin’s fatherly instincts took hold as he turned towards his Mercedes SUV. “Logan, get out of the car!”
The boy rolled down the window. “I thought you told me to stay in the car!”
“Get out of the car!” He sprinted around the front to the passenger side door, yanking it open and pulling Logan out, grabbing onto his hand. All across the city, the two heard sirens begin to eerily sound off.
“What’s going on!?” Logan cried out in confusion, trying to turn his head in the direction they were running from.
“Don’t look back!” Martin shouted with the dead remains on the ground in mind. As the two ran, they looked up in the sky ahead to see two military grade Air Force jets swooping in between the towering buildings as glass shattered in their wake. The jets flew directly over their heads, knocking them and the others around them to the ground.
WOOSH!
Looking back and watching the Jets approach the thing in the sky, Martin watched a portal appear in front of one of the planes, causing it to fly through. Suddenly, another portal opened in front of the other jet. The first jet flew out, immediately crashing into its partner and causing a huge explosion in the sky above them, bending the very foundation of skyscrapers as people screamed in terror. Standing, Li grabbed Logan’s hand and helped him up.
Looking forward, both of their eyes widened in horror as they saw a giant spot portal flying down the street, directly towards them, consuming every car and every person in its path. Looking to their right, Li saw an alleyway and immediately pulled his son towards it. Running as fast as they could, the two dove into the alley with just a second to spare as the portal surged through where they had just stood. When the portal passed them, the environment around them turned black and white before reverting back to its normal color.
“Are you okay!?” Martin gripped his son’s face, immediately checking him for injuries.
With tears in his eyes, Logan pushed back his fear and bravely nodded. “Yeah, I’m okay, Dad. Don’t worry about me..”
Martin scoffed with a small smile, brushing dust off Logan’s shirt before standing. “I’m a parent, it’s my job. Besides, if I don’t, your mom will kill me and you’ll have to worry about me .”
A look of confusion spread across Logan’s face before suddenly glaring as he stood up. “What’s wrong with you? We’re in some type of- of apocalypse and you’re making a joke! How do you stay so positive?”
Turning away, Martin began walking. “Because people need me to.”
The two cautiously made their way towards the other end of the alley with Martin holding his hand out in front of Logan to see people continuing to run away from the inky black storm. Suddenly without warning their phones began to sound off an EAS tone, making both Martin and Logan jump. Soon, the loud rings were followed by an automated tone.
“The following message is issued directly from the office of the President of the United States. This is not a test. We repeat, this is not a test. The United States government has received reports of an attack against New York City beginning at approximately 8:32 eastern standard time. With the nature of the attack currently unknown, U.S airspace has been temporarily closed and all traffic in and out of the city has been shut down. We strongly encourage the public to seek shelter immediately. The safety of individuals in the vicinity of the attack is to the utmost importance. The National Guard has been dispatched and will arrive shortly. Do not leave your shelter until help arrives.”
“Jesus Christ..” Logan whispered, his eyes full of tears.
“Jesus isn’t with us today..” Martin Li said gravely, beginning to walk towards the end of the alley that led back out to another street as he watched people run past. However, Li soon stopped in his tracks, not seeing a single other soul in the street from the safety of the alley. Nodding his head at Logan, he and his son made their way out into the street, turning their heads to their left to see a crowd of people whose feet were rooted to the ground and eyes aimed up towards the sky in a mesmerized manner.
‘Rise of the Valkyries’ begins to play (0:00-2:10 only)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGU1P6lBW6Q
Raising his hand above his face to block the inky black rain from getting into his eyes, Martin Li gazed up through the relentless storm. Just under the dark ominous clouds above, a spectacle began to unfold as small orange lights began to appear in the sky, one by one multiplying by the second. With every new rift that opened, they all seemed to be aimed towards the Spot in the eye of the storm. Then, in a heart pounding crescendo, the crowd gasped as an otherworldly army emerged from the luminous rifts. Webs of destiny shot out and intertwined on the Spot’s location, followed by hundreds of Spider-People swinging out and towards the Spot through the thundering heavens.
In the lead was the Spider-Man the city had all come to know and love.
Their Spider-Man.
The crowd began to clap and cheer, urging the spider-people on. Women began weeping tears of joy as they hugged their loved ones as if they would never let go. Martin Li couldn’t help but smile at the joyful sight. However, Logan continued to look up into the sky with narrowed eyes of curiosity. “Who.. are all of those people, Dad?”
Martin looked back up at the sky. “Heroes.”
Despite the celebration, the victory was short-lived. As Li observed the Spider’s approach to the Spot, a large black portal opened up behind him. The Spot threw his hand forward, causing the front of the giant crane that Li had seen be consumed earlier to be thrown out in the spider’s direction. With a chaotic whirlwind, glass, debris, and even people were hurled past the Spot before being scattered throughout the sky and beginning to fall.
In the midst of the chaos, most of the Spider-People broke formation, diving towards the people falling down towards the city.However, Li distinctively picked out two Spider’s, one in black and the other in white continue on towards Spot, swinging onto the crane and sprinting down it before the white speck in front shot a web at the one in black and yanked him towards the Spot, the hero and his nemesis falling through the portal the crane poked out of.
Li was stunned as he stood still, his senses overwhelmed. It was like watching a movie. However, Logan’s hand tugging on his tie caused him to stumble back and break his trance, snapping back to reality. “Dad, we need to go!” his voice shouted over the gale that was only increasing in strength. Martin nodded, immediately beginning to walk away from the eye of the storm. The crowd behind him quickly followed in a grim procession, hearts heavy at the sight of their friends, family, and neighbors plummeting through the turbulent sky.
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During the twenty or so minutes (He lost track) the crowd had been aimlessly walking, Martin Li felt like all feeling had left his body only to be filled by a frigid numbness. His eyes had grown red and stung from staring ahead, past the cruel world in front of him, trying to find a happy place somewhere in the elusive depths of his mind to no avail. He looked like and felt like nothing short of a zombie.
“Dad.. DAD!”
Li almost fell backward, feeling Logan tug at his tie. He had been lost in his thoughts, worrying about his wife, about his friends, about the homeless men and women he helped off the street. Martin wasn’t a religious man, but all he could do was hope that they could be safe.
“What is it, Lo?” He replied in a monotone voice, his cheerfulness having seemingly recused into himself, leaving a cold lifeless overlayer.
“I need to use the bathroom.”
Martin stopped in his steps and sighed, feeling the crowd around him bump into his arms and shoulders as they passed. He slowly turned his head towards his son’s direction. The sight was enough to strike an uncanny fear into Logan’s very being. His usually tidy and well kept father looked anything but his usual self. His hair was disheveled, his tie was loose around his neck, and his eyes looked like they needed at least a decade of sleep.
“Number one or number two?” Martin asked, finding himself praying once again, that it would be a number one.”
“Uhm- One?” Logan replied.
“Oh thank god..” Martin whispered. “Okay, come on.” He nodded for Logan to follow. The two shuffled through the crowd, finding themselves apologizing an endless number of times before making their way to the alleyway on their left.
“Okay, you can go.” Martin crossed his arms.
“....Here?” Logan asked softly.
“No, I’m actually taking you to the Statue of Liberty to use the bathroom- Yes here!” Martin agitatedly replied.
“Can you look away?” Logan asked, standing against the wall.
“Yes, I can look away.” Martin agreed, turning away from the boy to face the entrance of the alley, coming to the realization that the crowd they had been walking with had come and gone.
Wanting to catch up to the crowd, Martin looked back at Logan to see he was standing there awkwardly, facing the brick wall as he went to the bathroom. “Are you gonna go or are you going to stand there for another five minutes?” Martin impatiently inquired.
“I’m going!” Logan groaned as he finished and pulled up his pants, walking towards his dad. “Are you doing okay?” He could tell that he wasn’t himself.
“I’m sorry, Lo.. Just worried about your mom.. I saw all of those people falling and I thought that-” Tears formed in Martin’s eyes.
“Hey..” Logan sighed, lightly hitting his dad on the side. “You said it’s good to think positive thoughts, right? At least we’re together.”
Martin wiped his tears away, being unable to hide the proud smile that spread across his face. “You’re right, Logan. At least we’re together.” Martin pulled the boy into his arms and wrapped his arms around him in a bear hug.
“I love you, son.”
“I love you too, dad.”
Pulling back, Martin would continue smiling down at him. “Come on.” He shrugged his head. “We’ve got to catch up with the others-”
BOOM!
The world with rageful conviction, throwing the two of them to the ground. In the area surrounding, buildings across the city- and the entire world would sway back and forth before coming to an abrupt stop.
“Logan, you good?” Martin asked, scrambling to his feet as he looked around in a paranoid manner.
“I’m good.” Logan groaned, rising to his feet. “What was that?”
“I don’t-...” Martin Li’s voice trailed off. Looking up above at the giant, midnight black portal in the sky that had just rained hellfire upon them, he saw a large crack begin to fill the sky around the portal. It looked like reality itself was beginning to shatter from the utter force of the Spot’s attack.
“Oh..” Logan followed his gaze and found his own eyes resting on the terrifying sight. “That’s not good.”
“Yep.” Martin agreed. “We should get moving.” He walked out of the alley and turned onto the street in the direction the crowd had gone. However, he found it deserted except for one person.
A young girl sat alone, crying in the middle of the deserted road just a hundred yards away.
Even more concerning, the multi-story apartment building to the left of her had become split in half by the sheer force of the earthquake, and was now leaning in her direction, threatening to fall on top of her.
“I’m going to go get her.” Martin told his son. “You stay here.”
“No! I want to come with you!” Logan would shout.
“LOGAN!” Li grabbed his son’s attention. “It’s too dangerous. So many lives have already been lost today. I’m not losing one more. I’ll be right back.”
“You promise?”
Martin heard the building creak behind him. “I promise.” He turned away from his son and began sprinting towards the abandoned girl sitting in the middle of the street. He watched several bricks slip out of the towering building’s foundation.
“I’M COMING!” Li shouted, sprinting towards the girl.
Even further down the road, Li watched Spider-Woman emerge from the subway tunnel, presumably where she had taken the crowd they had been with for their safety. Seeing the situation unfolding in front of her, Gwen began sprinting towards the girl as well. However, it was clear that if anyone was going to get there in time, it would be Li.
SNAP!
Li heard the foundation of the building give way, watching the building begin to come down on top of him and the girl. Glass shattered, more and more bricks became loose, and it was all headed straight for them.
For just a moment, Martin envisioned himself back out on the football field in high school, picking up the fumble that he’d return for a touchdown and win his team the state championship. The moment he truly fit in, the moment he became who he was today.
Reaching the girl, Li would scoop her up just like the fumbled ball so many years ago and sprint down the street. Though, it was clear he was not going to make it. “Spider-Woman!” He shouted. Out of pure adrenaline, Li used all of his collective strength to leap forward and throw the girl as far as he could. At the same time, Gwen would shoot a web and pull the girl into her arms before coming to a sudden stop.
Martin Li, fell onto the ground, ready to meet his fate as bricks began to pelt his back, causing him to scream in pain. The loud roar of the falling debris grew closer and closer. He looked back at his son one last time, a bright light beginning to fill his vision.
‘This is it..’ He thought. “I’m sorry, Logan..”
Suddenly, a black portal opened in the ground, just in front of Li, and just small enough for him to slip through. It was as if fate itself had intervened. His story wasn’t finished yet. With no other option, and wanting to live, Martin crawled forward and let the darkness overtake him as he fell into the spot.
After a minute of free falling, Martin felt himself come to a stop. Opening his eyes, he found that all he could see was darkness. Looking at his surroundings, Martin Li saw nothing but an infinite black void he seemed to be aimlessly floating through. He couldn’t tell if he felt more hopeless in here, or back on earth.
But, he wasn’t alone. All around him, other people, vehicles, and even buildings floated through the void. Martin watched a near human looking duck wearing a- bathrobe? drift by him, clutching onto a bottle of scotch. Wherever they were, it seemed to be a never-ending junk yard, and he was the latest piece of trash that was thrown in to be forgotten.
Had he escaped death to meet a fate far worse?
Li tried to move around. He tried to swim through the dark domain, to find somewhere- anywhere to go. Alas, he didn’t make it far. He tried to make his way towards anything that would give him comfort. But, as he did so, he felt the darkness wrap around his arms like tendrils and hold him in place. Maybe it hadn’t been fate that intervened. Maybe it had been an entity much darker.
‘Negative View ’ begins to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4xzBf8aks8
Without anywhere to go, Li watched as streaks of light began to cross the void. Narrowing his eyes, he realized what it was. Lightning rippled through, filling the negative zone with positive light. Then, wherever he was at- whatever he was in, grew the more brighter as an infinite number of large portals expanded from the lightning, tearing holes in the midnight fabric of the space between realities.
The Spot’s power didn’t go just into Miles, but elsewhere as well. Miles wasn’t the only one absorbing his energy. The black and white on the Spot’s body began to be pulled towards a single portal in his chest just as much as it was pulled towards Miles’ arms. As his energy kept fading, the color of his peach white skin began to return. With his power leaving him, the Spot’s control on the train slipped, causing it to begin to freefall downwards towards the empty street.
The other people and objects that were floating around him began to get sucked into the portals, returning to their home universe’s as the multiverse began to heal from Spot’s attack. However, as he watched everyone return home, a chilling realization went down his spine.
The Spot began shaking in fear. For the first time in a year, he felt normal. And he didn’t like it. With the falling train gaining traction as the street out the window grew closer and closer, What was once the Spot watched Miles’ eyes begin to glow a bright white through his broken left mask lens. It was the power of determination, fueled by resolution, and by love.
He wasn’t going home.
Martin Li’s view began to narrow as the space between realities began to narrow as well, being pulled in all directions, collapsing in on itself. However, despite its distress, it wouldn’t let go of its hold on him.
“HELP!” He screamed even though he knew deep down that no help was coming or ever would.
The spotted dimension was now a storm of darkness that bled into each other, and it was all converging upon Martin Li. The fabric of every reality pierced his being and attached itself to his very soul. Martin couldn’t help but scream from the gut-wrenching pain he was going through. The color on his body inverted as his dark suit and jet-black hair were painted white as the negative energy moved through him. His once-white skin became stained with some sort of glowing inky dark energy. Opening his eyes and mouth, they were filled with a bright light as he screamed again, absorbing reality itself and the power of the Beyond.
“WHAT IS HAPPENING TO ME!?”
Creation was complete.
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The Dark screen slowly brightens blue to show the SONY logo before the light around it darkens. It then quickly glitches into the colors of green and purple before glitching out of existence, being consumed by the darkness behind it once again.
The Columbia Pictures intro begins, zooming away from the torch that the Columbia Statue proudly holds up before it begins to glitch violently, turning into many different things such as Mickey Mouse, Deadpool, the Pixar lamp, and the Statue of Liberty before returning to its normal state as if it was fighting for control.
Finally, it disappears once more to be replaced with the imposing statue of Kang the Conqueror, arms folded behind his back and standing commandingly as he overlooked the darkness. A white light in front of him begins to glow brighter and brighter before it takes up the entire screen, quickly turning to a vibrant shade of red.
The first few beats of Back in Black play before the fanfare begins as we go through the Marvel Studios intro. As the intro goes on and voices are heard, the intro begins glitching, showing glimpses of X-Men and Spider-People between the letters. The MARVEL logo turns green and a purple background as it finishes.
https://youtu.be/CNmAYr-XHBI?si=O0eVND0MTqrJlNRJ (HIGHLY recommend)
“I am Iron Man.”
“That’s my secret, Captain… I’m always angry.”
“I can do this all day.”
“You’re not kids anymore. You’re not students. You’re X-Men!”
“WAKANDA FOREVER!”
“It’s a leap of faith.”
“I assure you brother.. The sun will shine on us again.”
“This is my curse. This is my gift. I’m Spider-Man.”
“So this is what it feels like…”
“Come on Spider-Man.. Come on Spider-Man!”
“Just because someone stumbles and loses their path doesn’t mean they're lost forever.”
“AVENGERS ASSEMBLE!”
“I can’t lose one more friend.”
“Nah.. Imma do my own thing.”
The intro and fanfare both end, now leaving us in pitch black darkness with one voice left echoing into the seemingly endless void.
“Do you know how many rebellions I’ve put down? How many worlds I’ve conquered? How many Avengers I’ve killed?... I AM KANG.”
After a moment of silence, ‘Across the titles’ begins to play.
https://youtu.be/iGqIkjl6aJU?si=NbKumQYCYVrKxgsV
ALL CHARACTERS ARE PROPERTY OF MARVEL STUDIOS AND SONY PICTURES
IN COLLABORATION WITH PASCAL PICTURES AND 20TH CENTURY STUDIOS
BASED OFF THE WORK OF SONY PICTURES ANIMATION
WRITTEN BY THEHEADWRITER
CONSULTED BY:
BYDAVID27
NORTHERNOIR
AND FLYINGSPACEDONUT
EDITED BY CLASSICCOWBOYDV
AND PRODUCED BY AO3
THEHEADWRITER PROUDLY PRESENTS:
SPIDER-MAN: END OF THE SPIDER-VERSE
With there still being nothing but a pitch black void, the hesitant voice of Miles Morales comes on to lead us towards the light.
“I don’t know if you know who I am, but.. My name is Miles Morales.. I was bitten by a radioactive spider.. And for almost two years I have been my world’s one and only Spider-Man- well except for her ..”
A web comes out of Gwen’s web shooter in slow motion as she is in her suit, jumping up and extending her hand out with her other arm held out behind her.
“All I wanted to do was to be with the girl that I love. All I wanted was to be happy! I was done with the Spider-Verse. I was done with all of this. I thought we won.. We didn’t.”
A pair of purple metal boots take deliberate slow steps as a green cape flows behind them.
“We set the Conqueror free. We started the Secret Wars. We thought we could have a happy ending.. We didn’t. This is all our fault.”
Mr. Negative stands on top of a train as everything around him looks to be painted in an old timey black and white like a picture from the 1920’s. His hands glow before he sends a large inky-looking blast forward that resembles one of the Spot’s portals.
“You probably thought you knew the rest.. You don’t.. Not even close.”
Miles jumps back and spins through the air, landing back on his feet as a pair of three adamantium claws slash in his direction.
“I thought I knew the rest…”
Wearing their suits with no masks, Miles and Gwen fall into the mirror dimension, followed by Doctor Strange as a look of fear consumes the duo’s faces. The buildings around them rapidly spiral downwards to create a circular pit opening up to the cloudy sky.
“I didn’t want her to get hurt. I tried to keep my promise…”
Miles and Gwen stand back to back in a bright room with white brick walls, looking around at the many heroes surrounding them. Avengers, X-Men, the Fantastic Four, and even Inhumans.
“I didn’t.”
The Spider-Man of Earth-199999 and Matt Murdock stand in front of a grave, their coats swaying with the wind as red and orange leaves fall off the trees around them.
“We thought we could do both..”
Miles, with his face more bloody and messed up than ever and a look of horror in his eyes, desperately crawls as blood stains the dust covered ground behind him. Inching forward with one arm at a time, Kang the Conqueror slowly approaches from behind like an animal playing with its dying prey.
“We couldn’t.”
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Two Weeks Prior
“Alright, let’s get y’all caught up!” Miles' voice says.
On top of the messy pile of comic books displaying other Spider-People, a TIME magazine is thrown on top that shows Miles Morales and Gwen Stacy wearing their spider-suits and posing together on the cover. The title below them read: ‘ COUPLE OF THE CENTURY’
“My name is Miles Morales and her name is Gwen Stacy! We were bitten by radioactive spider’s-”
“ Different radioactive spider’s.” Gwen cut in.
“After saving the Spider-Verse twice , we finally got together! For the past year, we have been the multiverse’s favorite Spider-Couple! I think you know the rest.” His voice sounded much more upbeat than in the beginning.
“After defeating the Spot, we got the key to the city.”
Spider-Man and Spider-Woman stood in front of a large crowd, still in their torn up suits. But, they both wore bowties to make up for it. With city hall as their backdrop, cameras flashed as Mayor Steve Rogers handed them the key to the city.
“Thank you Mr. Rogers, sir.” Miles saluted and took the key before accidentally dropping it. Thankfully, Gwen shot a web and pulled it into her arms, her lenses narrowed in his direction.
“Gwen got a new suit.”
Gwen twirled around in her new suit, standing in Miles’ living room as he sat on the couch looking down at his phone.
“Does this make me look fat?”
“Mhm.” He replied absentmindedly as he swiped through Tik Tok.
“MILES, WHAT IS WRONG WITH-”
He raised his hands in the air, dropping his phone.
“We gave relationship advice on Doctor Phil.”
Still sitting, Miles’ hands lower to his lap. Miles wore a suit with his mask while Gwen wore her mask and a white dress. Across from them sat another couple and in between the two couples sat Doctor Phil himself.
“Okay Chris, what do you think you could’ve said to Miller differently?” Miles asked.
“I had my first time with Gwen.”
Being filmed on a Xperia smartphone from faraway, Miles and Gwen land on a roof together before they each pull each other’s masks up before starting to make out. Gwen presses her body against Miles’ and they both begin to undo each other’s suits from behind as they walk towards the roof access door with their arms wrapped around one another.
“I had to apologize for having my first time with Gwen.”
On a youtube video, Miles and Gwen sat together in their suits, facing the camera. Gwen looked over at Miles. “Do you wanna-”
Miles nodded his head and sighed before clasping his hands together. “We made a mistake.”
“Then, there were some pretty weird fanfics.”
Miles and Gwen sat together on his bed, hunched over his iPad. “Who spends their free time writing these!? They don’t even know our identities so they’re all inaccurate!” Miles shouted. “Why won’t this ClassicCowboy guy leave us alone!?”
“But, on the bright side, we announced an NFL draft pick!”
Standing on the draft stage, Miles cleared his throat as Gwen held up the card for him. “With the first pick in the 2020 NFL draft, the New York Giants select..Tua Tagovailoa.”
“BOOOO!” The crowd shouted, throwing tomatoes up in his direction.
Miles stepped in front of Gwen “I didn’t make the pick! Wait- how’d you even get those in here!?”
“And also were on the cover of Time Magazine!”
Gwen awkwardly leaned against Miles, putting her elbow on his right shoulder. As she stuck her leg out, Miles wrapped his arm around her waist to hold her against him.
“But throughout all of it, Gwen’s been by my side. Whether it was fighting villains..”
In an alleyway sparsely lit by the moon above, Earth-65’s Morbius leapt at Spider-Woman only for Spider-Man to shoot a web at his back from behind and pull him to the ground. Gwen would shoot a web on top of Morbius, sticking the living vampire to the ground. Miles leapt over him and gave Gwen a fist bump.
“...Or meeting her dad.”
Miles stood at the doorway to Gwen’s apartment as she stood next to him. “You’ve got this.” Gwen whispered, giving him an encouraging thumbs up.
Miles held his hand out as her father opened the door.
“Hello sir, I’m Morales Miles.” He quickly spoke in an unusually high pitched voice.
Gwen facepalmed.
“We’re a team and nothing can tear us apart.”
---------------------------------------
As the setting sun shined bright above, a orange painted U-Haul moving truck slowly drove down the streets of New York City before taking a left turn and pulling up to a security checkpoint at a Department of Damage Control storage unit.
Inside of the checkpoint sat a security guard, leaned back in his office chair and reading the TIME magazine the spider-couple appeared on the cover of. Suddenly, when the U-Haul pulled up, the man glanced up before doing a double take and dropping the magazine, leaning back forward and rolling up to the desk.
The man would stare up at the tinted window only to watch it roll down to reveal the man who drove the truck dressed in a sophisticated black suit and a white demon mask over his face.
“Uhm.. May I help you?” The guard asked, slowly reaching down for the taser strapped to his belt.
“In a matter of fact, you can.” The masked man pulled out a gun and aimed it directly at the guard’s head.
The guard would stare down the barrel of the gun and gulp.
“I don’t get paid enough for this job.”
The large fenced gate to the storage facility parking lot would open up, letting the U-Haul drive in and park. Suddenly, the back of the U-Haul truck slid open bottom to top to reveal 4 more men wearing suits and demon masks standing in the back.
The men would hop down two at a time before turning their attention towards the facility.
“Do you know what we’re looking for?” The guy standing in the back would ask.
“I’d hope so or else the boss will have my head.” The guy standing in the front left would answer, adjusting his suit. “Let’s go in, shall we?”
The others would nod before following the man to the front of the large garage door that led into the expansive building. “How do we get in?” One of the masked men would ask.
“Like this.” The man leading the group would hold out his hand only for a large translucent sword made out of black negative energy to come out of it. The man would stab into the metal with his sword and grunt as he sliced down and across, making a hole for them to climb through.
The men would go in one at a time before the man who held the negative sword in his hand would follow, finding himself standing in a large expansive warehouse with many rows of shelves, holding all sorts of items from the Collider explosion and the battle of New York from a year ago.
“Holy shit.. How do you suppose we find a- wait what we’re looking for, Clyde?” One of the men would ask.
The one with the negative held out his hand only for the energy of the sword to disappear into his body, momentarily turning the veins in his arm black before he was back to normal. “We don’t have much time. We’re looking for a negative matter stabilizer. We find it and we get it to the portal at the rondevu point. As to answer your original question, we find it.. Using this.”
Clyde would pull out a small metal box with an antenna on top. “A negative energy counter. The boss’s mechanical lady retrofitted this from an old geiger counter. Impressive, huh Adrian?”
“I suppose so..” Adrian would reply, adjusting the mask on his face and watching Clyde turn it on. Clyde would wave for the other three men to follow him as he held up the counter with his other hand and began walking through the warehouse. “Let’s be quick, men.”
---------------------------------------
The security guard from earlier now sat in his office chair with a rope tied around his waist, trapping him in his seat. He tried to call out for help, but duct tape was stuck over his mouth. He looked back over at the U-Haul through the checkpoint window.
The getaway driver sat in the truck, listening to the radio with his pistol on his lap. J. Jonah Jameson spoke. “Today, we celebrate the one year anniversary since the battle of New York where Spider-Man irresponsibly lured a fearsome foe into our city streets, into our local businesses, and into our very homes, putting our civilians and our first responders in danger! Not only are we celebrating our perseverance as a city, but also that fact that I was right! Spider-Man is a menace!”
Jonah cleared his throat and continued. “In other news, the city election is heating up this week as newcomer Rio Morales hopes to challenge the longtime aging incumbent, Mayor Steve Rogers for the mayoral seat. This election could be the most important in recent history as whoever is elected will decide the next steps to rebuild our city from the ashes Spider-Man burnt it down to.”
The driver would turn down the radio and stare at the storage facility before looking down and anxiously checking his watch. “Hurry up..” He mumbled.
Unbeknownst to him, as he checked his watch, two figures swung on webs up and above his truck, landing on the wall of the building beside the warehouse.
“Okay, what’s the plan?” Gwen asked, leaning in as she and Miles leaned against the brick wall, looking down at the facility.
“We need to be at dinner with my parents in 15 minutes.” Miles answered, eyeing the U-Haul. “It’s simple. We wait for them to come out with whatever they are stealing and when they do, we will swoop in, take it from them, and save the day. Easy peasy.”
“OR..” Gwen began. “I could take down the bad guys and you could go ahead and get back for dinner and tell them that something came up.” She hurriedly finished, trying to avoid looking at him.
“Gwen, we planned this a month ago..” Miles started
“I know! Your parents just.. Scare me!” She defended herself.
“How do they scare you? They like you! A lot!”
“Your mom looks at me like she wants to kill me.”
“She looks at everyone like that!”
“Your dad looks at me like he wants to arrest me.”
“ YOUR dad looks at me like he wants to arrest me!”
“Miles.”
“Gwanda.”
She playfully hit his chest. “Your plan works.. Doofus.”
“If I’m a doofus, then I must be the Spider-Verse’s most handsome doofus.”
Gwen kept staring at the man made hole in the garage door. “Can’t disagree with that..”
---------------------------------------
“I got it!”
Clyde held the beeping negative energy counter in front of a reinforced metal crate with a thumbprint lock holding it shut.
Adrian and the other two demon-masked men ran over as quick as they could, catching their breath when they reached the man.
“Well, don’t just stand there! We’re on borrowed time. The police were notified the second we breached this building! Give me the crowbar.”
Adrian’s stature changed from one of relaxation to panic at hearing the news of their potential impending doom. He reached to his back and pulled the crowbar out of his belt, handing it to Clyde.
With the crowbar in hand, Clyde attempted to push the end between the box and its lid before pushing down with all of his might, trying to force the box open. However, instead of the metal box snapping open, the crowbar would snap in half and clatter to the ground.
“Fuck it.” He grumbled in frustration. “Stand back!” He shoved Adrian away, who stumbled into one of the others arms, keeping him upright.
Clyde pulled off the gardening glove covering his left hand and stuffed it in his pocket before holding out his palm. A negative sword would emerge from Clyde’s hand, buzzing with negative energy. He shoved it between the lid and rest of the box, pushing down the sword again. Only this time, the edge would prove sharp enough to open the box.
The sword immediately retracted into Clyde’s left hand, his veins turning black as the negative energy traveled back into him. Using the same hand, he opened the box and reached inside, pulling out what was seemingly a metal circle with an empty clear ring around the outside meant to store negative energy. In the center, there was a flat red button.
“We just broke into a government storage facility for a giant hockey puck?” One of the masked men questioned.
“What would the boss even use this for!?” Adrian practically shouted.
“I don’t know and I don’t care. What I care about is getting this thing back to him, and what I know is that if we don’t we will all bear the fruits of our failure. So, any more questions or can we get back to the van?”
Nobody said a word.
“Wonderful. Let’s go.” With the negative energy stabilizer now in hand, Clyde led the way back to the entrance.
“Uh Clyde, we may have a problem.” The voice of the getaway driver came over the radio.
Clyde glared, reaching for the radio in his jeans pocket and pulling it out. “What is it?”
As the four reached the entrance, they found four police cars surrounding their getaway truck. Policemen and women were out of their cars and behind their doors, aiming their pistols towards the entrance.
“I think it’s the police.” The radio spoke.
Clyde began to shake with anger, putting the radio back up to his mouth.
“NO SHIT IT’S THE POLICE!”
Letting out a rageful scream, he threw the walkie talkie to the ground, breaking it instantly. He turned back towards the others, taking a deep breath before letting out a heavy sigh. “Wait for my signal.”
Clyde would turn back towards the hole they made and step through, holding the negative energy stabilizer in his hand.
“Wha- What’s the signal!?” Adrian shouted.
“You’ll see.” Clyde responded confidently, walking out towards the police with his back turned to them. Directly in front of him was the U-Haul that the getaway driver sat in with his hands on the steering wheel. On either side of him, there were two police cars with two cops for each car, making eight cops in all on the scene.
“PUT DOWN THE HOCKEY PUCK AND PUT YOUR HANDS IN THE AIR!” A policewoman shouted.
“It’s- It’s not a hockey puck- I give up.” Clyde sighed and bent down, carefully laying the stabilizer on the ground before standing back up with his hands in the air. “I’m unarmed.”
“You better be, dipshit.” The same policewoman would respond, nodding for the group to close in on him.
Six of the cops would run past Clyde, aiming their guns at the hole in the garage door. The other two came up the Clyde, the one on the left reaching for his handcuffs and the one on the right glaring at him, putting his gun back in his belt. “Wanna tell your friends to come out?”
Under his mask, Clyde could only grin. “I have a better idea.”
The cop on his left grabbed his left hand and held it downwards to cuff it. However, a negative sword came out of Clyde’s hand and directly through the cop’s chest, only for the cop to fall to the ground. The other three slowly emerged from the garage. However, the three all began to twitch and shake as they charged up with negative energy.
A cop lowered his gun. “The hell?”
BOOM!
A black explosion filled the entrance to the warehouse, ripping the garage door to shreds and instantly killing the six cops. All that was left of the policemen and women were black human shaped marks on the ground, indicating their final position. Adrian and the other two, on the other hand, were untouched.
The policewoman on Clyde’s right stared at her fallen partner in shock, completely paralyzed. Clyde raised his sword and got ready to strike her down. However, a web was shot into the policewoman’s back and yanked her back, just out of the sword’s reach as Clyde swung.
Gwen would land from above, directly in front of him, and kick him to the ground.
“It’s the Spider’s!” Clyde yelped out, his voice suddenly filled with fear.
As Gwen walked towards Clyde, her hand balled into a fist that shook with fury, the U-Haul would drive forward and ram into her, sending her flying past the others and into the warehouse.
“Get in the truck!” Clyde shouted at the other three, sprinting away from the getaway vehicle and towards the stabilizer that remained on the ground as the others sprinted to the U-Haul and got into the back.
“Fuck fuck fuck” The Getaway driver put the moving truck in reverse, pulling out and onto the street, hitting a car behind it. “Hurry up, Clyde!”
Clyde dove to grab the stabilizer, but another web was shot from the right, sticking to the stabilizer and pulling it just out of Clyde’s reach as he slid across the ground. Clyde pounded his fist into the ground out of pure anger, causing it to crack. Turning, he saw Miles studying the device.
“Sooo is this one of those Simon memory games? Y’know, the four colors and you have to memorize a pattern. That was my favorite game as a kid.”
“THAT is not yours!” Clyde shouted, getting to his feet.
“Doesn’t seem like it’s yours either.” Miles shot back, gripping it tight.
“Give it, kid. You don’t know what you’re getting yourself into.”
“That makes two of us.” Miles’ voice lowered. His free hand balled into a fist and began to be enveloped in electric blue energy as he charged towards the masked man. Miles swung his fist towards the man’s head, only for Clyde to raise his hand and catch his fist- and all of the energy charging into it.
Miles watched in horror as the henchman absorbed his energy, black lightning dancing around his fingertips. Clyde pushed Miles’ hand back and balled his own before grabbing onto the stabilizer with his other hand and punching Miles in the chest, causing him to let go of the stabilizer and sending the hero flying back past the police cars, through the brick wall that surrounded the parking lot, and onto the street.
A car stopped just in front of Miles, honking at him. “Hey! I’m fightin’ here!” Miles raised his hand at the car, using his other to grip his stomach as he sat up groaning. Miles sat up just in time to see the U-Haul take off.
“No no no no..” He forced himself to his feet and sprinted back into the warehouse parking lot, leaping over the police car and still gripping his stomach as he came to a stop.
“Spider-Man! You alright?” He heard Gwen’s voice, watching her emerge from the garage and sprint over to him and check him for any major injuries.
“I’m fine.” He assured her. “We need to catch that truck.”
“I can help with that..” A shaky voice replied.
Miles turned around, seeing the one policewoman that had survived earlier, standing against his car, clearly shaken up. “What’s your name ma’am?” He softly inquired.
“Officer Wantanabe. That son of a bitch killed my partner.. They.. Killed my friends. He’s gonna pay.” Her voice sounded spiteful- rageful even.
“We’ll catch them. You have our word.” Miles assured her. “But we need to leave now. You follow behind, keep them moving. Gw-” He caught himself. “ Spider-Woman , they’re going to have no regard for civilian life. We don’t need anyone else dying today. We weren’t quick enough before, we will be this time. You make sure any civilians are out of the way during the chase.”
“And you?” the officer asked.
Miles turned away, his fist balling. “I’m gonna stop that truck.”
---------------------------------------
‘The Demon He Became’ begins to play
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0bnJU5Ksr1c
“Okay, I think we lost them.” The getaway driver said, speeding down a city street.
“Good. Traffic ahead.” Clyde pointed out, sitting next to him.
“Hey, you always do this! Stop trying to drive from the passenger seat.”
“I’m not!-”
“Who’s driving?”
“If you’ll let me finish I’m not-”
“Who’s in the driver's seat?”
“You are…”
“Damn straight.”
The getaway driver took a sharp turn right, avoiding the traffic before beginning to speed up again.
“We got to be at the rondevu point in six minutes.” Clyde warned.
“Okay, sounds good.”
The getaway driver pulled the U-Haul over to the side of the city street before getting his phone.
“Wha- What are you doing!?” Clyde shouted. “They could be right behind us!”
“I thought you said we lost them.”
“We did.”
“Then how could they be right behind us?”
“Alexi!” Clyde snapped.
Suddenly, a voice rang out from the getaway driver’s phone.
‘Starting route to rondevu point.’ Siri spoke
Clyde gave Alexi a look from under his mask. But, his posture conveyed his clear annoyance. “You’ve got to be kidding me.”
Suddenly, the two heard police sirens coming up behind them. Alexi began panicking, putting the U-Haul into drive and running into the car in front of them before pulling out to their left and beginning to drive.
Clyde rolled down the window and stuck his masked head out the window.
“YOU HAVE GOT TO BE KIDDING ME!”
Just behind the truck, Officer Wantanbe’s police car closely pursued the group with Spider-Man stuck to the roof of her car, lenses narrowed in pure focus and determination.
Alexi sped the truck towards the intersection up ahead, getting ready to turn right. However the voice of Siri corrected him.
‘Take your next left.’
Alexi mumbled a quick prayer in Russian before spinning the wheel and letting the truck drift to the left, nearly falling onto its side before putting the pedal to the metal.
“ARE YOU TRYING TO KILL US!?” Clyde screamed at him.
“I'M TRYING MY BEST HERE, CLYDE!” Alexi screamed back with tears in his eyes.
In the meanwhile, Yuri Watanabe attempted to close in on the truck in front of her, getting somewhat close, but not close enough for Miles to make a jump.
“Can you get closer!?” He shouted down at her over the wind.
“It won’t get any faster!” She shouted back up.
As the truck and police car came up upon the next intersection, a mother and her young boy began to cross.
“Gwen, you’re up!” Miles shouted through their comms.
“On it!” She replied.
Seeing the truck riding up on them and not stopping, the mother became paralyzed in fear.
“Alexi… Alexi, stop!” Clyde shouted. Seeing the civilians in front of them was clearly a soft spot.
“I can’t stop.. I’m sorry. It’s them or us.” Alexi said, his voice thick with regret.
Suddenly, Gwen swung in on a web from the right, grabbing the child in her arm and shooting a web at the mom, pulling them both out of harm's way and onto the sidewalk.
“You both okay?” She asked worriedly, setting the boy down. The mother would throw her arms around her, sobbing into her shoulder.
“Thank you.. Thank you so much…” She kept repeating.
“No need to thank me.. It’s what we do.” Gwen patted her back before backing up.
The buzz of a helicopter’s rotor blades began to grow louder and louder as Gwen stuck her arm up and shot a web out of eyesight. The web would stick to the helicopter following the chase just above. In one moment, Spider-Woman was in front of the mother and her child, and in the next, she was gone.
---------------------------------------
Dawning a simple purple blouse and jeans as it happened to be her day off, Rio Morales walked through her apartment, moving between the kitchen and the dining room as she set the table for four. As she made her way back into the kitchen, she stopped dead in her tracks, her gaze being revealed to be staring at the TV in the living room that was showing the chase from the helicopter’s view. The current headline was ‘BREAKING NEWS: SPIDER-COUPLE AFTER TRUCK IN HIGH SPEED CHASE’.
Sighing, Rio would look back at the fresh food that had just come out of the oven, sitting on the counter and waiting to be eaten. Just like her therapist recommended, Rio tried to be positive about the situation. “It’ll make good leftovers I guess.”
---------------------------------------
The moving truck would speed through the intersection, making passing cars come to a sudden halt. Yuri took advantage of the gap, following through after it. On top of her car, Miles would wave at the people cussing them out, apologetically. Looking back ahead, Miles’ spider-sense would go off.
His vision would move through his lens and zoom in a couple hundred feet down the current street they were on to reveal the bustling district of Chinatown. Food trucks were parked on the sides of the road. Children played soccer in the street, occasionally stopping for passing cars. And, they were heading straight for it.
Miles’ vision zoomed back out and back out of his lens, looking directly in front of him. The back door of the moving truck would open, revealing two men holding assault rifles with another man behind them, seemingly commanding the two. The two would begin to not shoot at Yuri or Miles, but instead her tires. Miles felt the car begin to wobble as Yuri lost control.
“Shit, I’m losing my tires! If you’re going to jump, it’s now!” Yuri shouted.
Taking a deep breath, Miles would sprint off the roof of her car, leap onto her hood, and jump forward, shooting a web. Miles yanked himself onto the back of the truck, falling with his chest to its back bumper as his feet narrowly floated just above the ground. Looking at the pair of feet in his face, Miles looked up to see the three men all looking down at him.
“Heh heh..” He chuckled nervously.
One of them kicked him in the face, sending him flying back and onto the coarse asphalt, ripping a hole in the front of his costume, just right under his chest. “Oh come on!” He groaned, stumbling to his feet and sprinting forward, jumping up and beginning to swing.
“Gwen, the truck is heading for Chinatown! I need you to get all of the civilians out of the way! Now!”
“Great.. It’s always up to me..” She mumbled, letting go of her web before shooting another onto the helicopter and swinging backwards as she twisted around in circles to give her motion. She flew up and looped around the top of the helicopter before doing so again and letting go of her web, using the air being forced through the top of the blades to propel her forward.
Gwen opened her arms up, revealing her new web wings as she glided through the air and began to gain on the U-Haul rapidly.
“Show off..” Miles mumbled, watching his girlfriend glide past him as he swung.
Reaching the entrance to Chinatown, Gwen shot two webs at the building at either side of the street, pulling herself forward again. She landed onto the street and rolled forward grabbing two kids in her arms and rushing them to the sidewalk before beginning to do the same with their friends.
“Get off the street!” She yelled.
A hundred yards behind her, Alexi spotted the district, beginning to smirk. “I see a shortcut.”
Watching the truck speed up, Miles shot a web into the back of it and held on, climbing towards the truck, when one of the henchmen reached out to shoot him, he shot a web at his rifle and yanked it out of his hands and onto the street behind him. Miles shot another web and yanked himself into the back of the moving van, kicking one of the assailants in the chest and sending him flying into the wall behind him. Miles shot a web, keeping him still.
Hearing the loud thump from behind, Clyde turned back in confusion. “Wonder what that was.”
Miles’ spider-sense went off, causing him to duck as the man to his right swung at him. Miles punched him in the face, immediately knocking the man out, watching him slump against the wall. He bent down, pulling his mask away from his face.
“You guys do realize Halloween isn’t for a few months, right?”
His spider-sense went off again, causing him to turn to his other right towards the open back of the van to see another one of the masked men finishing loading a gun and aiming it forward at Miles.
“Uh oh.”
Miles jumped up at the top of the truck, sticking to the ceiling as the henchman shot where Miles had just been standing. Unluckily for the masked man, a few of the bullets penetrated the wall separating the drivers side of the van to the back, piercing Alexi in the chest and killing him instantly, causing him to slump down on the steering wheel.
“What the fuck!?” Clyde looked back behind him through one of the bullet holes to see Spider-Man lower himself from the ceiling legs first and kick the man out the back of the van. Then, he turned back forward to see the van moving out of control.
“No no no no no no!” Clyde attempted to grab the wheel, but it was too late.
Moving at a high speed, the van would enter Chinatown and smash into a food truck, causing it to flip up through the air. In seemingly slow motion, Miles saw Gwen swing just above him as the back of the van was facing the sky above. They would both shoot webs at each other, meeting midway, before Gwen would yank him out of the flipping van and into her grip before the U-Haul would continue to fly through the air.
Flipping a few more times, the truck came to a stop on its driver's side, leaving the right passenger side upwards. Miles and Gwen both landed in front of the truck on its side, beginning to walk towards it cautiously.
“Thanks for the assist.” He fistbumped her.
“No problem, handsome.”
“You think I’m handsome!?” He turned towards her.
“Not the time, Miles.”
“Right, sorry.”
Suddenly, both of their spider-senses went off. They watched the passenger side door open upwards, only for Clyde to crawl out, facing away from the two before falling onto the ground in front of them.
“Is- Is he dead?” Miles asked, tilting his head as his guard lowered.
“I would guess not.” Gwen determined, seeing the man in front of them move to his feet.
Still gripping the negative energy stabilizer in hand, Clyde stood up, half of his mask sliced clean off to reveal a fresh scar across his right eye. But, the scar wasn’t what struck fear into Gwen and Miles. It was the white soulless eyes that stared back at them. It was like he wasn’t even there. His pupils were gone. His personality was gone to be replaced by- something much worse.
‘He isn’t himself. ’ Miles communicated through he and Gwen’s shared connection that they humiliatingly called their ‘love buzz’.
‘You’re right. Go easy on him.’ He heard Gwen’s thoughts in his head.
‘And what if he doesn’t go easy on us?’ Miles asked.
Gwen didn’t have an answer.
“YOU TWO! YOU TWO RUINED- RUINED EVERYTHING!” Clyde screamed at the two, setting the round shaped stabilizer on the ground as a negative sword emerged from his hand.
“What exactly did we ruin?” Miles asked, fists still raised.
“... Completion.” Clyde answered. Though, his voice wasn’t his own. The one that spoke took on a light Chinese accent, but spoke perfect english.
“Completion of what?” Gwen cautiously spoke.
“You two thought you could run from this war forever..”
Clyde- or Clyde’s body began laughing. It began dying laughing.
Miles and Gwen both looked at each other, feeling chills go down their spine.
“The war?” Miles inquired further, looking back at the man.
“Whether it's the Council or the Illuminati, the war will eventually come here. You will eventually have to pick a side. You’ve doomed your world’s. The best you can do is run like me. You two are dead!” The man inhabiting Clyde’s body pointed the negative sword at them, full of emotion. “YOU’RE DEAD-”
BANG!
Miles and Gwen watched in horror as Clyde’s pupils returned and the man’s voice ceased. Clyde, now back to his normal self, looked down at the hole in his chest before falling over face first, onto the ground. The duo whipped around to see Yuri Watanabe, holding the assault rifle Miles had yanked out of one of the men’s hands prior during the chase.
“Yuri!” Miles snapped, shooting a web at her weapon and yanking it to the ground.
“He needed to die!” She shouted.
“Nobody ever needs to die!” Gwen fiercely corrected.
“Maybe they don’t need to.. But sometimes they just deserve it.”
“We were getting answers out of him!” Gwen exasperated.
“You weren’t getting shit out of him! He was talking crazy! I mean, come on! Dooming your world’s? Give me a fucking break.”
Miles and Gwen both looked at each other cautiously. Outside of their families, nobody knew they were from different dimensions. How did Clyde- or whoever was controlling him know?..
Seeing several police cars approaching from behind Yuri, Gwen lightly hit Miles on the shoulder and nodded her head, motioning for him to follow. Miles’ lenses narrowed at Yuri as they walked past. “You stay put.” He wagged his finger at her, but Gwen pulled him along.
Policemen got out of the four cars in front of them, rushing past them to inspect the damage and make any arrests if needed. But, Miles and Gwen knew that there more than likely wasn’t anyone alive to arrest. Then, they watched as another policer cruiser would casually pull up and park behind the others.
The door opened to reveal the back of Captain Jefferson Morales stepped out, adjusting his hat before walking towards the Spider-Couple. Miles’ eyes immediately widened, not expecting to see his father.
“Ca- Captain Morales! What a pleasant surprise!” he boasted in an overly deep tone. Next to him, Gwen facepalmed.
Jeff sighed, checking his phone. “Twelve city blocks, Seven officers dead, and $21,000 dollars in damages.”
Miles scoffed. “What damage!?”
A street light fell off its pole behind them, smashing down onto the ground and sending sparks flying.
Jeff shook his head, typing something into his phone. “$24,000 in damages..”
Putting his phone away, he looked around to make sure nobody was listening before looking back at the nervous Spider-Couple.
“Miles.. I told you to be more careful. You can’t always save everyone.”
Miles would groan. “But I saved you , dad.”
“Did you save those cops?”
Miles lowered his head.
Jeff sighed, not meaning to hurt the boy. “I said you can’t always save everyone. All you can do is try, and I respect and love the hell out of you for that, man. But, just maybe try to be a bit more careful?.. Please?”
“We will, Jeff! I’ll keep him in line!” Gwen said with an awkward chuckle, resting her hand on Miles’ shoulder.
Jeff would only glare at her.
“Captain Morales..” She mumbled, lightly correcting herself, only gripping Miles’ shoulder tighter.
Jeff’s hardened look would soften before he’d softly chuckle himself.
“Aren’t you two supposed to be home?”
Miles tilted his head.
“Aren’t YOU supposed to be home?”
“I wasn’t planning on a big chase!”
“Neither were we!”
“Just- Get home, okay? Your mother is all alone. I’ll join you shortly.”
“Alright, bye, love you!” Miles replied, now in a normal voice. He and Gwen would both shoot webs and swing off in a hurry, thankful to escape the tense conversation.
A cop would come up behind the captain. “Sir- Did Spider-Man just say he loves you?”
“Yes.. Yes he did.” Jeff said, his voice thick with pride.
“Oh- Anyways, we have an issue.”
Jeff began to follow the officer back to the crash. “What is it?”
“Officer Watanabe is gone.. And so is the device the criminals attempted to steal.”
---------------------------------------
In an open alleyway to the left of the scene, a well dressed man with stark black hair seemed to be listening to the conversation. Adjusting the tie of his pure black suit, he turned around with a sigh. This man wasn’t like any other. The only color that filled his body were bright whites and glowing dark blacks. And, just like the assailants, he had bright white eyes.
It was Martin Li.
“So close..” He tsked, holding his hands out straight. His fingers seemingly got caught on nothing but thin air as he began to pry something invisible apart. Space-time began to distort around him as he dug into the very layers of reality itself.
Prying reality apart, a dark, black, round, interdimensional portal was revealed in the abyss that was left, one that looked strikingly identical to that of the Spot’s. “If you want something done.. You have to do it yourself.” Mr. Negative spoke, adjusting his tie once again before walking into the portal. In an instant, the portal shut behind him, and reality was restored to its previous state.