Prowler and Spider-Man's Kind of Amazing Adventure - D_Man0119 (2024)

Chapter 1: An Introduction

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It’s a dog-eat-dog world, and Miles G. Morales is just doing his best to survive in it. With help and encouragement from his uncle, Miles has gone on to become the Prowler, a vigilante who runs amok for both those on the side of good and side of evil. In some of his spare time when out on the prowl, he’ll hang around Mutant-town, formerly Midtown. He’s even made what some would consider friends there, even met someone who could be considered more than a friend there.

One night when something strange happened, another Miles Morales appeared in his home. Thankfully for the Prowler, Uncle Aaron helped distract the other Miles, allowing for him to knock his doppleganger out. The Uncle and Nephew duo would take the double back to Aaron’s apartment and tie him up, wanting to interrogate him on what he’s here for. The Other Miles seemed to be a bit of a chatterbox, calling himself Spider-Man, speaking of his world and how his father is still alive, and how he needs to stop some guy calling himself The Spot to save everyone.

After some more time and consideration, and Spider-Man escaping, everybody calmed down. Aaron decided that maybe if everybody wanted to chill, they should head out somewhere else. Both Miles agreed, Spider-Man suggesting they talk a bit more over a bite to eat. Headed out somewhere to eat they did.Stopping a small burger joint, they ate while conversing in hushed tones.After everyone ate, they decided to head back to Aaron’s home. A fight that started a couple blocks away would interrupt their little stroll.

The fighters? The Rhino and Rockslide. Rhino running around causing chaos isn’t anything new, but him getting into a fight with the living pile of rocks was. Rockslide is best described by many as a jerk with a good heart.

“Will. You. Just. Go. Down?!” screamed Rhino.

“Not anytime soon!” Rockslide yelled back.

As their fight went on, Spider-Man’s heroic tendencies kicked in, trying to stop the fight and the collateral damage that ensued. As he swung forward, rearing up for a punch, he’d glitch. A result of not being in his native universe. Losing his initial momentum, the Rhino would knock Spider-Man to the side, then return his attention back to Rockslide. As he charged, Rhino would then be hit in the face with a firework, courtesy of Jubilee. With Rhino blinded, Rockslide would rear up for a haymaker, hitting the villain square in the face and knocking him out for the time being. The two mutants would then turn their attention to Spider-Man.

“Hey, dude! Pretty dumb thinking back there, and that’s coming from me!” half-joked the stone goliath.

“Lighten up on him, Santo. Gave me time to get here and help you out, didn’t it?” said Jubilee.

With that, the two would start bickering, almost forgetting Spider-Man is there. Back and forth they went. Eventually, they would be interrupted by Aaron and Prowler, the latter whistling loud to get their attention.

“Well, if it isn’t you two? Still throwing those parties at the old school?” jokingly questioned Aaron.

“And still causing a headache for Jono and Paige?” added Prowler.

“Oh, you know it on the first one! And if going by what they say to everyone, anybody and anything can give them a headache!” replied Jubilee

“That’s cool. The kid in the spider suit try helping you guys out?” asked Aaron.

“Yep! Not everybody tries, so that was pretty freaking cool in my book.” said Santo.

“You're welcome, by the way.” interjected Spider-Man.

With that, attention was turned to the Miles of 1610, Aaron and the Prowler giving him an annoyed look, while the two mutants looked at him with curiosity. For Rocslide and Jubilee, it's not everyday that someone new can hang with Aaron and his nephew. Spider-Man with his half-torn suit, and what looked like some claw scars from what they could see of his skin. He somehow looked like he fit in, yet also did not fit.

“Nice to meet ya! Name's Jubilee! And this is Rockslide!” said the half-vampire girl

“Nice to meet you too! I'm Spider-Man!”

At that, the two mutants would be dumbstruck. Not in their lives would they think that they would hear someone calling themselves that. Never would they think someone would try taking up the mantle.

“Wait, Spider-Man? Like the fallen hero, Spider-Man?” inquired Jubilee.

At that utterance, Rockslide’s jaw dropped to the ground, quite literally in fact, and Jubilee facepalmed, then turned around and screamed into both her palms. Spider-Man took a step toward her, reaching about, and was about to ask her if she was okay when she let out a loud exclamation.

“OH, What a day this is going to be!”

With that, she stalked off, headed back the direction that Rockslide and Rhino had come from.

“Should we follow her?” inquired Spider-Man.

“Uh, yeah, we probably should.” replied Rockslide.

“Alright, then. You two coming with?” Spider-Man asked Aaron and Prowler.

The two having witnessed Rockslide and Jubilee’s reactions to the name “Spider-Man” as well, they were curious. So, tag along they did. Another Miles showing up and calling himself Spider-Man is one thing, now two people they know personally seeming to know something of that name is something else. Something that piques curiosity. When Spider-Man asked where they were going, Jubilee quickly answered.

“We’re headed to the most popular hangout spot in Mutant-town, the old Midtown High School.”

“Heh, you would not believe how crazy the lines could be! The place once had a bouncer after some prick with money decided to try implementing some sh*t. Looooooooooooong-ass lines. Not too long after, we all revolted and kicked him out. Rumor has it he’s joined some higher society club or whatever.” explained Rockslide

“Don’t trust everything Santo says, he’s sleeping half the time. Likes to pump himself up a bit, despite already having a body bigger than his brain.” joked the Prowler.

“Oh, booooooo! Try some new material, Miles!”

“Why? Gets everybody laughing doesn’t it? And admit it, you chuckle a little.”

“Alright yeah, I do chuckle a little. Doesn’t hurt to laugh at myself.”

Slowing down a bit, Spider-Man processed the interaction he just witnessed. Only a few hours ago was the Miles of this Earth threatening him. Now he’s joking around with a guy made of rocks. A small pat on the shoulder and voice next to him would soon catch his attention.

“Pretty cool that he found some friends to hang with, huh? You got people like that?” said Aaron.

“Yeah, it is pretty cool. And kinda? Back home I got my roommate Ganke, we joke and have a few laughs, but not like those two. Must be pret-” a flash of pain stopped Spider-Man mid sentence, his body glitching once again.

The others stopped in their tracks, turning around to see what was going on. A flash of concern on Jubilee’s face, she announced that they needed to speed up. With that everybody started running.

Once arriving there, Spider-Man would see that the outside of the place is filled with graffiti, of all shapes and sizes. Whoever made the art really expressed themselves. Headed inside, while less graffiti, he now understands more why Midtown is now Mutant-town. People of all shapes and sizes exist here, there are many humanoid people, sure, but some people are part reptile, while others have bone growing from their skin. People who can turn into dust, stretch like rubber, or even become a wolf.

Walking past most of the party-goers, who greeted them all very kindly, Jubilee would lead them all closer to the basem*nt, where they’d come across a set of odd doors. With Jubilee putting her eye up the nearby scanner, 1610 Mile figured it was one of those fancy secret lab doors for only a select few. Entering in after her, both Miles would be amazed. While not overly clean like one might expect, the lab was relatively huge. Spider-Man would slowly spin while walking, trying to get a good look at the place, eventually being met face-to-face with a furry blue one.

Chapter 2: Kick Back, Relax

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Spider-Man jumped back, startled from the sudden appearance of another person. How had his spider-sense not warned him?

“Woah! Chill! It's just a hologram! See?” exclaimed Rockslide.

“I am not “just a hologram,” Mister Vaccarro. I am a holographic representation of the copied brainwaves of Hank McCoy.” The projection admonished Rockslide, before turning his attention to Spider-Man “Sorry about startling you, sometimes it's easy to forget I don't make much sound.”

“It's good! Wasn't expecting anyone to suddenly appear, is all.” Replied Spider-Man.

“While I do enjoy seeing new faces, may I inquire why you have brought these strangers here, Jubilee.”

Said person would not have time to answer, as Spider-Man would quickly spasm and glitch once again, falling to his knees.

“Ah, that must be why.” Said the hologram.

The Prowler would help his double up from the ground, Miles of 1610 nodding in silent thanks. Jubilee and the holographic double would discuss what has been going on for her up until this point. About how Rhino tried busting up a little gathering. Rockslide, being the strongest there at the time, jumped to action. Their fight would end up going on for a while, up and down parts of the city, before running into the little group of Aaron, Prowler, and Spider-Man. Eventually ending up in the lab.

“That is quite the tale. I'm guessing you must be from another universe then, Spider-Man.” Said the holographic McCoy.

“How do you know I'm Spider-Man?” Asked Miles.

“Is knowledge of theoretical studies a good enough answer?”

“That could be. Heard rumors that some of you have time-traveled before. It true?” suddenly interjected the Prowler, startling many in the room.

“Always the smart one, Mister Morales. We have time-traveled before, yes, but something even worse can come from it.”

“We figured. And even then, we don't want anything to do with it. Things may be sh*t, but enough good has happened as well.” said Aaron.

With that, silence overtook the room, the mutants quietly agreeing. The duplicate of Hank McCoy got to work, looking to make a molecular stabilizer for Spider-Man. After a bit, he'd speak up, saying that to pass the time the others should go mingle upstairs, and asking Jubilee if she could send down Mister Abidemi and Miss Pryde.

Heading back upstairs, Jubilee set off to find who Spider-Man presumed are also the scientific minds of this place, while Rockslide went… somewhere. The last three went to sit on the bleachers, just enough in the party and just enough out of the party. Aaron and the two Miles would strike up some more conversation, talking about Prowler's friends.

“So, nephew, what's up with your pal Santo? His skin made of rock or something?” Aaron questioned.

“Hmmmmm. From my understanding, it's more like he’s possessing a pile of rocks than being made of rocks. Weird, I know, but that's Santo.” replied Prowler

“What about any of your other friends, anything cool about them?” Spider-Man asked

“Let's see. You've already met Jubilee. There's Sam, he's almost a living cannonball. There's Victor, he's reptilian, he's also dating a famous actor. Who else, who else?”

“Don't strain yourself thinking too hard.” Joked Aaron, then asked. “What about that lady of yours? What's she like?”

“Heh. She's a keeper. Blades or claws can pop out of her hands and feets. Got baggage, but who doesn't? Eyes like emeralds, along with silky black hair and majestic tanned skin. I could go on, but don't want to say too much.”

“Oh, good. I wouldn't want you being too descriptive.” suddenly joked a voice from behind Prowler.

Startled, the Miles of this Earth jumped up. Turning, all three would see just the person who he was describing to his uncle and doppelganger. Green eyes, straight black hair, and lightly tanned skin. With dark make-up and wearing a gothic almost grungy outfit. Black leather boots. Gray cargo pants. A black t-shirt and navy blue flannel hoodie. Silver and black jewelry around her neck and on her ears.

“Geez! Don't scare us like that, girl!” Prowler exclaimed.

“Sorry, I just had to take my chance, since this doesn't happen often.” replied the girl.

“Understandable. Thought you said you were hanging with Kiden and the others tonight?”

“Rhino kinda smashed the place we were gonna meet at. We still hung out, just didn't stay long cause I heard there's some business going on here.”

“What did you hear?”

“Multiverse stuff. Anyway, why don’t you introduce us all to each other?”

“Right. Uncle Aaron, this is Laura. Laura, this is my uncle, Aaron.”

“Who’s the other guy? Another you?”

“How did you…right, the nose knows.”

What did he mean by that? Did she also have an enhanced sense of smell? Spider-Man guesses that he and Prowler would have a similar scent, but similar enough that Laura could tell they're alternates of each other? To him, that's crazy. But who's he to judge, not too long he was being chased by Spider-People of alternate worlds across an entire futuristic cityscape.

After the introductions were over, there would be small talk, but eventually Laura would explain that she wanted to go talk to some of her friends. Off she headed, likely somewhere on the other side of the party. Prowler watched her, this almost sad expression across his face. Seeing this, Aaron spoke up.

“Just go and hang with her. I'll keep Spidey here safe.”

“Huh?” Replied Prowler.

“Dude, even I can tell. Go hang with her, Uncle Aaron and I will be alright.” Spider-Man said.

At that, Prowler nodded. Off he headed, to go hang with Laura and her friends. The Uncle and Nephew duo left behind went to find Jubilee. Hopefully, whoever it is that’s making it is done building the molecular stabilizer. It wouldn't take long to find her. She was on one of the upper floors, talking with someone while holding a small child in her arms. Not wanting to interrupt, they stood back, letting her notice them and finish her conversation. Putting the child on the floor, she gave him a hug. Figuring they wanted to head back to the lab, she led the way.

Back in the lab, the three scientific minds had made progress. Using their combined knowledge and skills, they have made a molecular stabilizer. While not as compact as they would like it to be, the device is big enough that it can fit on the wrist like a watch. A bit of a bulky watch, but a watch nonetheless.

“I feel like this could always be smaller, you know?” said Kitty Pryde.

“Yes, but we don’t have a whole lot of time, if this Spider-Man not being native to this universe is true, Miss Pryde.” replied Neznho Abidemi, also known as Gentle.

Hearing the doors open, all three scientists turned to see Jubilee leading Aaron and Spider-Man back into the lab. Just the people they were looking for. After some quick questions on where Spider-Man is from, and his experiences of the multiverse. A super-collider. A society of multiversal Spider-People. A “Go Home Machine.” Getting sent to this Earth instead of his home Earth. Bit much to take in, let alone believe, but they saw enough during his explanation to believe he’s from another universe. Now all Spider-Man needed to do his put on the molecular stabilizer.

Chapter 3: Stabilize

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Putting the molecular stabilizer on, Spider-Man felt a shift. With his body suddenly acclimated to this world, he felt a huge loss of energy. His injuries must be finally catching up to him. His alternate universe uncle and Jubilee would catch him before he fell. After sitting down, he'd see out of the corner of his eye Gentle heading off. Soon enough a guy with golden skin would walk into the room. Setting hands to Spider-Man's chest and forehead, the gold mutant would heal him.

With that, the wall-crawled not only felt better, he felt energized. Standing up, he stretched, and then jumped onto the ceiling. Felt good to have some energy, but some of these wounds still needed healing. He was surprised he hadn't noticed before. Falling back to the floor, Spider-Man would inquire as to how they figured out how to properly calibrate the molecular stabilizer. The holographic duplicate would explain the basics of Kitty Pryde's phasing capabilities, and Gentle's own power, and how those helped. Seems having superpowers naturally helped a lot with this stuff.

After that and seeing that the guy who healed him is still in the room, he'd thank him. The gold-skinned Mutant would say that it was no problem. Clearing his non-existent throat for attention, the double of Hank McCoy would explain that Spidey needed to keep the stabilizer on, and undamaged to the best of his ability, so that he can survive here.

Heeding the words, Spidey and Aaron would head back outside the lab, intending to find Prowler and head back to Aaron’s apartment. A couple rounds around the building, no sight of him. Figuring he may have headed out on his own instead of waiting for them, Aaron gave his nephew a call. A couple rings and the Miles of this Earth picked up his phone.

“Hey, Uncle Aaron. You good? He good?” Prowler inquired.

“Yeah, we're good. You leave already?”

“Mhm. Me and Laura are hanging around the rooftops of home.”

“Alright. Since he’s already met Rio, give your mother a call and tell her you'll be staying at my place tonight.”

“Yeah. Can I bring Laura?”

“No. I may like her, but no. We don't what side she's on but her own.”

“Alright. I'll give both ladies the news. See ya then.”

“See ya then.”

Ending the call, Prowler turned to his girlfriend. They were already at Aaron's, and she was laying on the couch. He wasn't being particularly quiet with the phone, and her super-hearing probably allowed her to overhear.

“So, you gotta call your mom, and I’m not allowed here, huh?” said Laura.

“Yep.”

“Well, guess I’ll head out. Luckily my place isn't too far from here, and Nico needs a place to stay the night.”

“You still hang with Sister Grimm? Isn't she dating the guy that runs the Techwork?”

“Yeah, and you're dating me. Some people just like to date dangerous.”

“You got me there. Buenas noches, Laura.”

“Buenas noches, Miles.”

Leaving him alone to wait for his uncle and doppelganger, Prowler took a seat. He trusted his uncle enough to tell him about his relationship with Laura. He just doesn’t know what he’d tell his mother. Mutants are more accepted now than they were long ago, but Laura’s past is definitely something else. Her friends are also just a major thorn in the sides of many. Then again, so was he. Maybe that’s why they're drawn to each other?

He’s met his fair share of her friends. In his opinion Kiden’s and her gang are pretty cool. He’s cool with most of the people she helps do some runs with. He trusts most Santo and Jubilee, they’ve proven themselves. Dani’s alright, she needs to loosen up a bit. Anole's good, just needs a bit more backbone to him. That Julian guy though is a bit of a dick. Then again, who wouldn’t be if they lost their own two hands? Don’t get him started on Sister Grimm and her boyfriend, they creep him out. He’s met Victor Mancha when he’s visited Phin, but the dude just has this air to him that ain’t sitting right.

Deciding to take his thoughts of Laura and her friends, he grabbed his phone and called his mother. Still needed to tell her he’s staying the night here. And probably find an excuse for the different hairstyles. f*ck, hope she’s not expecting him to keep his hair like that, the braids are too good! Taking a deep breath, Miles of Earth-42 called his mother. He explained what the deal with earlier was, and how he’s staying at Uncle Aaron’s for the night. She has no problem with him staying here for the night, but then asks when she’s gonna officially meet his girlfriend. He said that they’d meet soon, just they all gotta find the right time, since they all have varying free time. His mother took that. They’d have some more small talk, but eventually the call would come to an end.

Not too long after, he’d hear the door open. Good, his uncle and double are only getting back now.

“You call your mother?” Aaron questioned.

“Yep. She had some questions about earlier, answered them best I could. What of you “Spider-Man,” you good?”

“Huh, yeah. I'm good. Just thinking about this world, and the people here. What it would be like if I hadn't gotten bit by the spider. Who would it have bitten?”

That's right. He said the spider is from this Earth. What would it be like to be in a world with a Spider-Man? Would the Syndicate exist? Would people look to the skies and see a brighter tomorrow? Would his father still be alive and kicking it to this day? Would Uncle Aaron be dead?

“Those are thoughts for another time. You two took a bit longer to get here than I thought you would.” Prowler said, the unspoken question in the air.

“Right. Sorry. My fault, but helping people is what I do.” said Spider-Man.

“You don't need to apologize. Some good in the world is some good in the world. Gave me time to call mama in peace. As well as think some things out privately.”

“Even though I ran into her earlier, I gotta ask. How is mom? She seems stressed.”

“She has been. What with the extra shifts at work, and just the danger of living here. Especially since dad died.”

Silence fell over them all at that. For Aaron Davis, losing his brother had been one of the hardest times for him, he couldn't imagine how hard it must have especially been for his nephew and sister-in-law. For the Miles of Earth-1610, he has to worry about that happening too, especially after he already lost the Uncle Aaron of his Earth.

For the Miles of this Earth, it had been shattering. That was the day everything had truly gone downhill for him. Took a while to get out of the rut it left him, but he made it out, with help. His mom. Uncle Aaron. Phin. Ganke. f*ck, even Fabio. And a whole lot of other people. For as much of this world has gone bad, there's still plenty of good it seems.

Time would pass and they all would soon turn in for the night. Aaron may have a spacious home, but it's only got one bedroom. One Miles will have to sleep on the couch, the other the floor. He let them sort that out. Plans for the day hadn't panned out like they wanted, but what happened wasn't all that bad in his opinion.

Chapter 4: Waking Me Up

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Seeing the other him was still an odd sight. Waking up in the middle of the night because of Spider-Man was another thing entirely. Prowler decided to be courteous and let his double sleep on the couch while he took the floor. Right now he regrets that decision. Spider-Man had woken up covered in sweat, letting out a startled noise. Quiet, but still loud enough to wake him up.

“Ugh. What’s up with you all of a sudden? In the middle of the night?” asked Prowler.

“Sorry. Bad dreams. About what’s to come.” replied Spider-Man.

"What do you mean by that?”

“Nothing. Don’t worry about it.”

While he would have put a pin in this discussion just to go back to sleep, something caught his attention. The molecular stabilizer. Spider-Man noticed Prowler staring at his wrist, and brought it up to his face. The device is glowing. And that it was slowly getting brighter.

“Um, should this be glowing?” Spider-Man asked, concerned.

“How should I know? I didn’t make it!”

The glow would pulsate, brighter and dimmer it went. In and out. Definitely a cause for concern. Grabbing his phone, Prowler would phone Laura, his girlfriend not amused by the sudden call. While grabbing some of his gear, he’d explain what was going on with the molecular stabilizer and how she’s one of the only people he has the number of that can get into the labs at the hangout. Agreeing to meetup with her there, both Miles Morales would quietly set out.

Running across rooftops, the device still pulsating, they had to be careful. While the light was not yet bright enough to light up a city block, the energy it radiated was potentially enough to catch the attention of the Sinister Syndicate. Thankfully, they would not be spotted by any curious eyes. Laura would make it to the former learning ground before them. She saw the glow immediately. They would run down to the lab, but before they could make it down the stairs, the device suddenly glowed blindingly bright.

Next thing the three of them knew, they were caught in the vines of a tree. Around them was an almost unusual jungle. It would have been almost beautiful if not for the danger of hitting the ground. The vines would slowly start tearing themselves apart, the sudden weight causing them strain. Once again, and thankfully before any injuries could be sustained, the device glowed once again. The fall to the floor was not as dangerous as hitting the bare ground of an unknown jungle. Seems their momentum changed between spaces.

Laura went up to the scanner, unlocking the doors. The lab lights turned on, sensing the presence of the three. Soon enough, the holographic Hank McCoy would appear, curious as to their appearance at such a late hour. Both Miles’ would explain the sudden glow of the molecular stabilizer, how it concerned them and they decided to come here to get it looked at. Laura added mention of their sudden teleportation, it seeming to have been caused by the device. That truly caught the attention of the AI replica.

Sudden teleportation? It was not built with that as a feature. Telling Spider-Man to put his wrist on the table, Hank had a small floating orb scan the molecular stabilizer. The glow had died down since the sudden warp between locations, but still visible enough to the naked eye. It would not take very long for the holographic double to figure out that the issue.

While his two proteges were the right choice to help build the molecular stabilizer, they did not account for the element of the molecules of the wearer. While Spider-Man can now exist here without issue, his molecules still want to return to the home universe. They all would calculate that the place the three teens had been sent to earlier was the Savage Lands, so thankfully still in this universe. There is still the chance should they not figure this out soon, Spider-Man and whoever is close by could get sent somewhere worse than the Savage Lands.

After taking a sample of the wall-crawler’s blood for study, the Beast duplicate would send out a call for Gentle and Kitty Pryde. He would apologize for the sudden wake-up call. Telling them it is an urgent matter that needs them both, the two reply that they would be there as soon as they could. It would not take long for Kitty to arrive at the lab, having phased through the floors of the building, her having an apartment in what used to be an office room. Gentle would take longer, having his own little place not too far away.

Both would see the evidence of what had happened, the traces of leaves and thorns on the three teenagers' clothes, as well as the glow of the molecular stabilizer. Putting their minds together, all three scientific minds got to work in figuring out how to solve this. Knowing it was still pretty late, Hank would suggest the three teens get some sleep.

While sleep sounded great, they were all too awake from their earlier trip. While bigger than one would think, the lab is still not big enough for makeshift beds. Not like the owner of said room needed them. Heading back upstairs, Laura would head to the kitchen, deciding to make them all something to eat. Prowler and Spider-Man would play chess to pass the time. Minutes later, Laura would have a small meal made. It was nothing special, a bowl of ramen, some pizza bites, and a pitcher of juice. Handing each Miles their own plate of pizza, Laura took the bowl of ramen for herself.

The sun slowly rose, light shining through the windows. All three played rounds of chess, loser swapping out with whoever is not currently playing. Laura had both boys beat pretty handily, out-witting them many times.

While their attention was on the game, none of them would notice the molecular stabilizer still pulsating. The glow would go in and out, it becoming too common a sight when moving the chess pieces. Eventually, it would flash blindingly once again, warping them to a new location.

Chapter 5: Run Through the City

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Even if it has been a day or two since the whole incident with Spider-Society, the Miles of 1610 is still reeling from it. Especially Miguel. The dude was like a monster from a horror movie, not letting up. But like he told the Rio of Earth-42, he showed them what he’s made of, he showed them all.

Earth-42, so much like home, yet so different. While concerning at first, arriving on the wrong Earth can be seen as a gift. No people from Spider-Society have shown up, meaning none of them really know he’s here. Yet that also means he can't stop The Spot as soon as possible either. There have been plenty of upsides to being here, but just as many downsides. One downside being how he’s not attuned to this universe, meaning he's got issues on molecular level.

While the stabilizer works well, it is not working as designed either. Three great minds made the device, yet unforeseen complications have essentially caused it to glitch and act out. Now not only has he been hurled to a new location, so have the Miles of Earth-42, and that Miles’ girlfriend.

All three are currently sitting in cells, having been warped to Attilan. The City of the Inhumans. On the moon. Now they’re just waiting for the Inhuman Royal Family to hear their case, and hopefully set them free.

They all sat in silence. Individual cells sucked for conversation making. With nothing better to do, Spider-Man thought more about how they got here. The molecular stabilizer had warped them into a random home in Attilan, intruding upon a dinner of an Inhuman family, who had quickly called upon their equivalent of police. Minds bleary from the sudden change of atmosphere, and disorientation from the warp, the trio started running.

Jumping out the window, they would land on a passing by vehicle, taking control of it. The original passengers had jumped out from the sudden scare. Hitting the gas, they zoomed, the officers in hot pursuit. Running from someone again had not been on Spider-Man’s list of things to do, especially in a place that somewhat reminded him of Nueva York.

Laura was at the wheel, having the most experience driving vehicles, but even she had a time adjusting to a flying car. Making it go as fast she could handle, the ride was uneven, erratic. Neither Miles could blame her. When thinking they had lost their pursuers, a quick turn would show that the officers had set up a blockade. The mutant teen gunned the engine, telling the boys to jump out the vehicle. Prowler did it without issue. Spider-Man hesitated, Laura had to tell him she would be fine. She would jump out at the last second.

Landing on a nearby rooftop, they all started running once again. Deciding that taking a lower route would be best for losing their pursuers, they jumped, heading to the undertown. The officers would be lost quickly, but lose them eventually the trio did. Spider-Man has much experience with heights and falling. Laura’s regeneration allowed her to survive damage much more than the average person. Prowler had a harder time than either of them without his gear, but thankfully both were more than willing to help him.

The lower parts of the city were dirty but not overwhelmingly so. Having jumped through a window and hijacked a flying car in their recognizable clothes and the need to be able to lay low, the three teens would look for a way to disguise themselves. Thankfully the people of this area were open to trade and bartering. All would get clothes reminiscent of normal wear for astronauts when on a shuttle or station. When asked, the shopkeeper would say they heard the clothes came from an abandoned shuttle that used to be outside the city.

Unknown to the trio, the head of Attilan security had gotten news of them. A full report was given of how they had suddenly appeared, and quickly fled. How the trail of the three had been lost track of. When asked how, the officers were too afraid to say. Repeating himself, the head of security asked more gruffly.

Gorgon Petragon is not head of Attilan security for no reason. His track record exceeds that of everyone previous. Finding and apprehending these intruders would be like child’s play to him. He found the trio easily, the three sitting at a small food shop, eating something that smelled really, really good to the head of security. He would have to order something from here for himself. Since they would not recognize him, Gorgon took a seat next to them, acting as another getting food. While the two boys did not notice him, the girl certainly did. She addressed him.

“So, what’s it like getting around with that mutation?” saying it with such a cadence that it caught the attention of her compatriots.

“Hmph. Not difficult. What about you?”

“Similar, when somewhere else. I can tell you’re from here. Come to take us in?”

“Not even gonna try playing along. Smart kid.”

With that, he threw a glass at his targets, all dodging out of the way. Being able to tell that even all three of them together would not be able to take Gorgon down in their current state, Prowler, Spider-Man, and Laura ran. They would not get very far, one of Gorgon’s stomps sending a shockwave, knocking them over. They were trying to disentangle from each other, when Gorgon threw a capture device over them. They were carted off, ending up in their cells.

Chapter 6: Meet the Inhumans

Chapter Text

The sound of a door opening would snap Spider-Man from his thoughts. Looking up and over, he would see stepping through would be… a Fishman? Coming up to their cells, he would address them.

“Hello. I am Triton, member of the Inhuman Royal Family. I will be personally escorting you all to the throne room.” said the aquatic Inhuman.

“Bout time. Think my legs were getting numb.” sarcastically said the Prowler.

“Hm. Yes, well, come along.”

Letting them out of their cells, Triton started walking, seemingly in a bit of a rush. Took a minute for all three to catch up.

The walk to the throne room was a small journey. An elevator, many winding corridors, and one large, long hallway. At the end of said hallway were huge extravagant double doors, gleaming silver. Pushing the doors open, Triton leads the teens in. The king and queen sat on their thrones, the other royals standing around them. Triton walked up and took his place alongside them.

“You all now stand before the King of Attilan, Blackagar Boltagon, and I, his queen, Medusalith Amaquelin! Now state your case!” exclaimed the pink-scaled reptilian woman that is the queen.

The three teens looked between each other, silently discussing who would speak. It quickly fell to Laura, who despite her temper, has played diplomat a handful of times. She spoke of how they are here, saying it was an error in a teleportation device. They had not meant to intrude, and went with the officers peacefully to the holding cells. Laura also spoke of when she was questioned. Prowler bristled at what she spoke of. While Laura’s questioning had gone smoothly, where they had tried taking her afterward was not the cell she was in beforehand. Seems even in a place that tries to be as idyllic as here can't escape cops trying to get particular favors from people.

Everyone listened intently, Blackagar especially. Seems he and Gorgon will have to address some things later. A black-haired boy who stood near the throne stared at Laura intently, studying her. Something that did not go unnoticed by anyone. Once Laura finished the tale, all the Royals quietly discussed. Of the three, Laura was the only one with super-hearing, Spider-Man and Prowler could tell she was not listening in. The verdict would come relatively quick. The queen addressed them.

“With all evidence and testimonies reviewed, our verdict is that you are not a direct threat to us or our people. We do wish to discuss the device that brought you here, study it even. If that is not too much.”

“We thank you for your kind verdict. The device in question can not be taken off the wrist of my acquaintance, for he needs it to survive here.” Laura said.

“Hmmm. Since you have been very forthcoming on everything so far, we will trust on that matter. Karnak, please take them all to the Center of Sciences.”

Stepping down from beside his relatives was a bald man with strange tattoos on his face and arms. He looked very human. Leading them out of the throne room, once again through winding corridors, and eventually over connecting walkways between the palace and another building. Spider-Man groaned in his head, why is there no mini vehicle for this big place? Karnak seemed to like the quiet, but this was just agonizing. Since getting to the throne room, Prowler has had some questions on his, and now figures who better to ask.

“So, what’s up with his lordship? He’s mighty quiet for the ruler of such a big kingdom.”

“Do not mistake his silence for incompetence. His voice could shatter an entire planet with just a scream. A whisper could vaporize your entire body.” hissed Karnak.

“Wasn’t making any assumptions, just curious is all. Not everyday you learn there’s an entire society hidden on the moon. What about the boy who stood between the King and Queen?”

“That would be crown prince Ahura Boltagon. His silence is something else.”

Laura piped in, saying “He was staring at me, studying me. Why?”

“That I don’t entirely know. According to his aunt, he’s at a certain age, and that means certain things. What she means by that, I know not. Now quiet, we are here.”

A new pair of doors stood before the group, much smaller than those of the throne room, more sterile looking as well. Inside this room stood one male Inhuman, a purple man with pointed ears wearing a strange black and gold suit, one that almost looked like armor. What kind of sciences happen here that armor is needed? Or is it for something else entirely?

The man would hear the doors open and look to see Karnak and the three intruders he heard rumblings about earlier. On Spider-Man’s wrist, he would notice the pulsating glow of the molecular stabilizer. Curious of it, he would ask the wall-crawler to bring it closer. Taking a look, the Inhuman would see it is of a design he knows relatively well. Excited, the purple one would ask as to how Hank McCoy is doing. Surprised at him knowing that name, Laura would question as to how.

“Oh, I was a student of his for a short time. He had taken me under his wing when he had come to Attilan as a show of peace between Professor Xavier and the Royal Family, teaching me much he knew of. When had he returned to Earth?” said the Inhuman scientist.

“He’s not on Earth. An AI patterned after him was what made the molecular stabilizer.” replied Laura.

“Oh. Well. That is surely something. Excuse my earlier exuberance, I am Thane. Who might you three be?”

Miles of Earth-42 would quickly answer for all of them “I’m the Prowler, this is my girl Wolverine, and that’s Spider-Man.”

“Nice to meet you all. I’m guessing you are for me to check the molecular stabilizer, see what is causing that unusual glow.”

“Mhm. Just don’t break it.”

“I would never.”

Looking it over, Thane would scan and study the molecular stabilizer. Not just the stabilizer, but also Spider-Man. Seeing the state of flux of the young superhero’s form. How it wanted to be home, yet has to be attuned here to exist safely. Alternate universes are a very fickle thing, and some of the proper technology to allow truly safely hop between is so close, yet so very far.

Taking care to improve upon the design of his mentor’s AI replica’s design, Thane’s work could still be seen clearly. The level of technology for Inhumans is advanced compared to most of what Earth has, save for few like The Fantastic Four and the nation of Wakanda. The purple Inhuman would eventually grow tired, having been running experiments for essentially days, him having lost track of time. Spider-Man would suggest he head to bed for the time being, Karnak agreeing. Just as a precaution, Thane would use his powers on the molecular stabilizer, encasing it in a unique amber.

Before anybody could leave the room, the molecular stabilizer would get blindly bright. In an act of desperation, Thane tried quickly to use his powers to contain the energy. But it would be too late, the device warping Spider-Man and him to parts currently unknown

At that, Karnak led the duo out of the lab, taking them to the dining hall, where the rest of the Inhuman Royal Family sat. Prowler, and Laura all had questioning looks, leading Medusa to explain that even if they are intruders, for the time being they are also guests, and so shall eat alongside the House of Agon. Figuring declining would not go well for them, the couple took a seat.

There would be discussion between the royals, the duo of teenagers not contributing, very engrossed in their food. As strange as Inhuman cuisine is at first sight, it is delicious. Prowler was not so engrossed though that he did not notice Ahura staring at Laura again. While whoever this guy's aunt was probably is not too far off on guessing teenage hormones, Ahura’s gaze was not just because a pretty girl caught his eye. Prowler would know, he’s had that same look. The Miles of Earth-42 was not the only to see Ahura staring, Medusalith had as well.

Dinner would finish, the trio saying they would like to give compliments to the chef. The royals taking the phrase a bit too literally, had summoned the chef, so give their compliments to the chef they did. While he did show it visibly entirely, both of them could tell that they had that man’s day. Crystalia would show the two to their room for the time being, apologizing that there was only one that is clean, forcing them to share. Both would say it’s no issue.

Chapter 7: Positive Contact

Chapter Text

Spider-Man and Thane would find themselves back in the Mutant-town hangout, interrupting a surprisingly small party in the gymnasium. Some of the occupants of the room were silently taken aback, others had screamed the bright flash that had appeared before the duo had. Jubilee and Rockslide ran into the room, Aaron not too far behind them. The older man had come to the hangout asking if his nephew had been here. While Spider-Man is not exactly the version of his nephew he had been looking for, it was still good to see him safe.

Jubilee was curious about what had happened, and who was the person with Spider-Man. Thane would quickly introduce himself, explaining what he knew of the situation. And it was back to the lab again. The Inhuman scientist knew that Earth tech is not as advanced as Attilan tech, but the lab was still a surprise to him.

The holographic duplicate was quite the experience for Thane. Very much the intellect of his mentor, just created a bit before the student had met him. Holo-Hank and his template’s student got along like two intellectual peas in a pod. Them together with Gentle and Kitty Pryde got to work, taking the time to try figuring out what they are missing. How to stop the teleporting effect.

Unfortunately, they would not have time to truly figure it out. The warping has now gotten the attention of the Sinister Syndicate. Mister Negative and his followers have raided the hangout, busting into the lab. Kitty and Gentle ran, the woman helping her friend by phasing him alongside her. Jubilee, Rockslide, and a handful of others had tried putting up a fight. Spider-Man and Thane would do their best, but got overwhelmed quickly.

Back on Attilan, Prowler and Laura were in their room, trying to figure out a way to get back to Earth. As they bounced ideas back and forth, an apparition suddenly appeared, one that looks exactly like Ahura.

“Do not be alarmed. This is just a psionic double.” said the apparition.

“You know saying “Don’t be alarmed.” doesn’t mean we will not be, right?” replied Laura sarcastically.

“Noted.”

“Why are you here? Looking for something you can’t have?” Prowler asked.

“I do not know what you mean by that. I’m here to help discuss your ability to get to Earth. I can help.”

“What’s the catch?” replied Laura.

“Catch?”

“What’s the thing you want in return?” said Prowler.

“I just want to head to Earth. My parents have kept me here all my life, and I am tired of this place.”

Laura knew the feeling of being trapped. Growing up not in control of your own life, being at the will of others. But she has been free for a long time now, and helping someone else get that freedom they so desire sounds right up her alley.

Prowler knows bits and pieces of what Laura has told him about her past. And after hearing the prince’s words, he sees a fire in her eyes to help Ahura. He’ll help her help him. And hey, maybe he could get something out of it too.

Agreeing to help each other, all three came up with a plan to steal a shuttle that can get them planetside. Ahura would figure out the best timing to leave, as well as get the credentials for the shuttle. Laura and Prowler would essentially act as muscle for if they ran into any guards. The couple would spend some more time in Attilan, secretly getting supplies, for if the trip on the shuttle took longer than expected.

So as to not arouse suspicion of their escape plan, after lunch Ahura would suggest to his family that he take Prowler and Laura over to the tailor. For if they are going to be staying any longer, they may as well dress the part of Inhuman. Blackagar and Medusalith would agree after some thought.

While Prowler and Laura thought it was just a ruse, the prince did actually want to bring them to the tailor. Not really to help them look the part of Inhuman, but as a way to treat his acquaintances to something nice before they all headed off. The tailor was a kind young woman, having the appearance of a gargoyle, just instead of wings she had four spider legs coming from her back.

Seeing the prince, the tailor got up very quickly. Ahura would ask the woman, who he addressed as Sethany, if she could make some clothes for the two guests of the royal family. Sethany took some measurements, and a very subtle look at their minds, and got to work. She worked fast, very fast. Finishing the Prowler's clothes first, he would find them very much to his liking. Something casual, and something very fitting for a run around in costume. Laura’s new clothes would take a bit longer, for the mutant girl was a bit more averse to touch than her boyfriend. While the tailor was distracted helping Laura, Prowler and Ahura would quietly discuss their escape plan.

“You've figured out the needed credentials to get us through to the ship bay?” Prowler asked.

“Yes. Have you two gathered the needed supplies?” Ahura replied.

“Yep. Just figuring out the best time and route is left.”

“We can get to the ship bay through the Center of Sciences pretty easily, just have to be on the lookout for anyone up late.”

“We're doing it late at night?”

“Figured that would be best. Most people would be asleep, letting us get through without much prying eyes.”

“What about night guards? You figured out their rounds?”

“To the best of my ability. Uncle Gorgon may be boisterous, but even he keeps a tight lip on things.”

Hearing the curtain shift, both boys would look over to see Laura. She now wore an Inhuman style dress, colored black, with blue decals and yellow accents. It hugged her curves, the skirt pooling at the floor. Prowler was awestruck, having never before seen his girlfriend wear something like the dress. While beautiful looking, he could tell she was uncomfortable in it. Sethany handed her the other clothes that were made, Laura grabbing them angrily. Closing the curtain quickly to change, a minute later Laura would step back out wearing something more casual.

Time would pass, during which time was served, and most turned in for the night. Ahura, Prowler, and Laura would sneak out of their rooms, taking their planned route to the ship bay. A handful of guards nearly caught them, but Laura was able to sneak up behind and knock the guards out. They would make it to the ship bay without much issue beyond that, but just as Ahura was about to step into the shuttle, something would grab his leg, pulling him back.

A tendril had grabbed Ahura’s leg. One made of hair. Looking behind the prince, the trio would see the Inhuman queen. Dragging Ahura toward herself, Medusalith started speaking, admonishing her son.

“Ahura Boltagon! You dare? You know the dangers of the filthy planet! You know you are not to set foot there!”

“How did you even figure this out?” the Inhuman prince alarmingly questioned his mother.

“Mother’s intuition.” she replied, coldly.

Acting quick, Laura popped her claws, slicing at the tendril of hair. It would cut, the queen grunting in slight pain. The queen’s hair may be stronger than steel, but the mutant girl’s claws were coated in one of the most indestructible metals known to man. Getting up to run to the shuttle once more, Ahura sprinted. Closing the doors quickly, the group would get the vehicle started as fast as they could. Once powered, Laura gunned the engine, blazing out of the ship bay.

While physically away from the queen, they would not lose her in another way. Over the communications system, her voice blared.

“Ahura Boltagon! Turn that ship around, now! Or so help me I'll send every capable warrior to raze that planet until we find you.”

“No! To turning around, and to razing Earth!”

“No?! My son, you are-” the queen started, but was interrupted.

“No! You listen to me! I am getting older mother, older than that little boy who couldn't even look at Father without wilting. I need this, I need to see this world, need to figure out more about this life. You have been to Earth. Have seen it. So have many others. Why must I be caged?”

Taken aback for a second, Medusalith answered. “You… are right. Go, see the world for what it has to offer. But know this, you will always be my little boy.”

Turning off communications, the trio sat in silence for the rest of the trip to Earth. Hoping that nothing terrible has happened. That the Syndicate hadn't done something.

Chapter 8: Two Miles

Chapter Text

Waking tied up once again, Spider-Man opened his eyes. It was dark, he could barely make out anything. From the sounds around him, Thane and Jubilee are tied up as well, along with a few others. Three males, one female. Only a handful of people were captured, thankfully.

A flash, the lights suddenly on. Bright. Almost disorienting. A shadowed form walked into the room. No, not shadowed. Suited in black. White spider emblem on his mask. Bodysuit and leather jacket. White gloves and boots. A spider-person?

The figure would speak.

“Wake up, maggots! We got questions!”

The figure spoke so loud it woke up even those who were still out. Groaning was heard. Walking up to him, the figure grabbed Spider-Man by the face, jerking it left and right.

“Seems I got a copycat. Or more like a poor imitation. Little boy thinks he can run with Black Tarantula?” said the figure, mockingly.

Black Tarantula? So maybe not a spider-person?

“Ugh. Come on! Stop with the tough guy shtick!” exclaimed a guy with no hands.

“The little Hellion. Was hoping to see your face sometime again. Didn't you have hands the last time we met?”

“Lost them on a run. Didn't you have a nose last time we met?”

Black Tarantula growled at that. Losing his nose had not been the worst day in his life, but it was still a bad day. Some upstart was running around, causing the Syndicate trouble. Not only trouble for them, but chaos in general. The upstart was unpowered. Used technology to augment himself. Black Tarantula was running an operation when the kid interrupted. A fight broke out. Kid was skilled, but also did not know his own strength. Completely shattered the nose, it needed to be surgically removed.

Black Tarantula always covered his face with a mask, but it was practically mandatory once he lost part of his face. The big wigs of the Sinister Syndicate have not let him lead an operation since, but getting to act as Head of Interrogation has been quite the experience.

Interrogation. That's his job. Time to get to it. Now he just needed to decide to. The Hellion likely knows nothing. Same likely goes for Pixie, Anole, and Elixir. He can tell that Jubilee has an idea of something, but it has time since he got to interrogate a new face. He chose to go after the purple one.

It wasn’t difficult getting into New York Airspace, the shuttle having a cloaking device. Ahura was in shock and awe of the city, it looked so different from Attilan. Laura would land the vehicle on top of the hangout, hoping for a warm welcome. But there would be no warm welcome, for everybody had either been taken or escaped. Prowler looked around inside, finding the place in disrepair, more than it usually would have been. Hearing a groan, he found his uncle, waking after being knocked down from the earlier attack.

“Uncle Aaron! What happened here? Where is everybody?” Prowler questioned.

“An attack. Mister Negative and his followers. Took Spidey and some. Others would escape.” said Aaron.

“Mister Negative? Rrrgh! Should have known the Syndicate would do something!”

“Hey, hey, hey! Calm down, Miles! We can get everybody back! We have before!” exclaimed Laura.

Knowing his girlfriend was right, the Prowler took some deep breaths. It is just that many know that if Mister Negative is sent in, it's not a good day for anybody. His powers bent your emotions, warped your thoughts. His ability to attack and pacify was dangerous. And who knows if they got someone asking questions.

All would see the stones shifting, taking form. Rockslide. He must have been left behind, someone thinking they had broken the golem for good. Santo always loved that trick. He's also probably why Aaron was left behind, thinking quickly to act as a form of camouflage.

Interrogating the purple one was proving far more difficult than anticipated. His skin is tough, and his tolerance for pain was something else. The polite way he spoke was just grating, and he was smart enough to not answer everything. Jokes questions were answered, but even someone could glean the truth from those.

Turning his attention to the other newcomer, Black Tarantula got ready. He might even go easy on this kid, with him seeming to be a fan.

“Alright, fan boy, let's see what you go to say. What's with the energy? You got plans for something?” asked the interrogator.

“Fan boy? I ain't no fan of you! You're the one aping my style!” replied Spider-Man.

“Agree to disagree then, kid. Now then…”

Rearing his fist back, Black Tarantula readied to strike a blow to the boy's face. His fist was fast, hitting Spider-Man to the side of his head before he could blink. Ever so slightly dazed, the wall-crawler quipped that his grandma hit harder. Looks like this will be a fun one. Rearing his fist back once more, Black Tarantula readied another blow. The boy before him would interrupt.

“Oh, and one thing: don't watch the mouth, watch the hands.” Spider-Man said.

At that, Spider-Man would release a huge electrical wave, having absorbed some of the energy of the pillar he is tied to, with intent to redirect it. Jubilee and Hellion would chip in on the light show, having seen the superhero’s plan start. With the area now in a state of disarray and the villain incapacitated, all previously trapped would flee.

Gathering everyone together, all would start setting up a plan for breaking out their friends. Aaron and his nephew would head back to the former's home, to get together the latter’s gear. Laura would make a call to her friend Nico Minoru, seeing if she could get them in to talk with someone at the Techwork. Nico would say she could easily get them in to talk with her boyfriend. Victor Mancha would go through city camera footage and ping their phones, doing his best to find their missing friends. He would find that all captured had been taken to the headquarters of the Sinister Syndicate.

Prowler showed up to the Techwork in full gear, putting on an air of menace with how he carried himself. More than a few of the people there shrinked away or tried hiding. The only people that did not were a small group near the back. Composed of some of those closest to him, along with some other friends of those people. He stopped right in front of Laura and Nico, who were chatting. Nico put a straight face, but both Prowler and Laura could tell she’s scared. Not everyday you run into a vigilante like him.

Victor Mancha was pulled from the digital realm, his girlfriend waking him from his self-induced trance. Looking up, he saw the vigilante staring down at him. He knows who Prowler is, the two share a common friend after all. The Miles of this Earth addressed the cyborg teen.

“You can hack into their headquarters?”

“The Sinister Syndicate's? Yeah, man. Even control the building's power.”

“Good.” Prowler said, then turned, speaking to the others. “We got everybody accounted for?”

“Yep. You caught up on the plan?” said Laura.

“Mhm. At its most simple, get in and find them. Just gotta hope we don't get spotted and have to brawl.”

Everybody smirked at that. Despite his cold exterior, the Prowler had a sense of humor. Discussing the plan more, everybody went over their roles. Victor would hack the headquarters, leaving an opening for Nico to teleport herself and the others in safely. Laura and Prowler would act as the lead runners, and Rockslide as the muscle. Now they all just had to start enacting the plan.

Chapter 9: Break In and Break Out

Chapter Text

Teleportation was always a bit disorienting the first couple times around, according to Sister Grimm. Prowler can now attest to that. Even with his gear, the sudden displacement and re-placement hit the senses. Thankfully, it did not hit so hard he had to throw up.

Taking a look around, he saw that their little group had been warped into an unoccupied floor of the Sinister Syndicate’s headquarters. Floor number thirteen according to Victor. People and their superstitions. The cyborg teen had found that the unlucky floor’s security was more lax than any other, letting for an easy teleport in. No guards, nobody really watched the cameras on this floor, and unfortunately no easy way in or out. While Rockslide would have liked to smash his way out, Laura easily cut a doorway to the stairs.

Running was the fastest way up. Or flying if you were Nico and Santo. The witch could just cast a spell and take off, while the golem had got good at manipulating the rocks that made his body in ways you would not initially think possible. Prowler honestly wished he could move faster, that they all could, but a cramped stairway is a cramped stairway.

All the escapees decided that splitting up was their best bet, running all different directions. Black Tarantula would not be able to catch them all. Unfortunately for Spider-Man, once the villain got his bearings, he would target the wall-crawler specifically. Running as fast as either could, the chase was on. Dodges and jumps left and right, going room to room. A venom blast here, and a vision blast there. One huge game of cat and mouse.

Black Tarantula had put out a notice of escaped captives. The other escapees would run into the lesser members of the Sinister Syndicate, such as the duo Styx and Stone, but mostly solo acts like Big Wheel and Shriek.

Jubilee would run into the big game hunter himself, Kraven. Alyosha Kravinoff has been hunting her for years, wanting the vampiric mutant. To him, what better game to hunt. To make his biggest prize.

“My dear, sweet Jubilation Lee. Time for my conquest.” said Kraven.

“Okay, honestly, Kraven. You gotta stop speaking like that. Makes it sound more like you want me as more than just a hunting prize, more than just my head on a mantle.” Jubilee said, disgust in her voice.

His silence was almost telling. Jubilee’s disgust grew. Kraven pounced, intending to end things quickly. His attack would pass right through the woman. She hated using that part of her vampire powers, it was always so draining. The hunter got back up, grinning. More fun to be had for him.

Hacking the system to the Sinister Syndicate’s headquarters was easy enough for Victor Mancha. They made a good system, great even, but he was just better than it. Watching everyone through the cameras that he could without raising suspicion, he saw that there was someone in a spider-themed costume running from Black Tarantula. Through another he saw Jubilee fighting Kraven. Saw the other escapees through other cameras. Getting in contact with Prowler and company, he let the group in on the news.

Getting the news was both comforting and disheartening. Comforting that they could handle things and figure out their own way to get out of confinement. Disheartening just because of who some of their friends were up against.

They were already halfway there. Now they just needed to get their friends and get out of here. Taking the door down, all five ran to help out, but would find someone in their way. Mister Negative. Prowler was ready to start throwing down, but Ahura stepped up, telling the others to take their leave. He was ready to help out his new friends, ready to stop this man. Mister Negative and the Inhuman prince had a stare down. Judging the other, daring the other to make the first action.

The group was not as confident in Ahura as they would like to be, but they trusted him. He seems to have experience in emotion-based manipulation powers.

Making it a hallway intersection, two paths opposite ways, the group split into duos. Laura and Nico went one way. Prowler and Rockslide went down the other.

Running into a gathering of villains was one thing, but a villain birthday party? Color the girls surprised. Who knew they all were amicable enough to do this sort of thing. Both sides readied to fight, the birthday person blowing out their candles, wishing that they come out on top.

Prowler and Rockslide ran into something a bit more uneventful than a villain's birthday party. A laser grid security hallway. The vigilante jumped and flipped through like it was nothing, reaching the end and shutting it down, pretending it was the toughest thing he had done yet. Snark would be had.

“Ha ha ha. I could have just ran through, not like there isn't an escape attempt happening without.” said Rockslide

“And where's the fun in that, Santo?”

Snorting at that, Rockslide pushed through, quite literally. Taking the door off its hinges was practically nothing to the golem. The boys would find… a brick wall? A pretty strange brick wall, it's form shifting in minute detail. Turning back around, the duo readied to go find Laura and Nico, when suddenly a blast came from behind. Rockslide formed as a barrier around Prowler, taking the brunt of the damage. A concussion blast, but the thing still shaved some stone. A face formed in the wall, angry, spiteful. Ready to take out anyone in its way, but especially ready to attack its captors. The body formed and shifted, approximating that of a human. Taking its new hand, the creature stuck in through the ceiling, intending to climb to the top of the tower.

Spider-Man could not run forever. Black Tarantula was getting close. A giant hand interrupted the game of cat and mouse, Spider-Man latched a web to it, getting some upward mobility. The villain would not let his quarry escape, grabbing on, using his super strength to keep hold. Setting his sights on the wall-crawler, Black Tarantula started using his vision blasts.

“What the…!” Spider-Man exclaimed, turning. “This place just keeps getting weirder.”

Laura and Nico were not having a hard time taking down the partygoers. Now just one was left, the birthday person. Or were they, for a shadow now bare down on the duo, then pounced. Nico would be pushed out of the way by her friend, Laura taking the brunt. The mutant girl was pinned. Looking up, she saw a familiar face. Gray, hairy skin. Pointed ears. Adamantium fangs bared. Sabreclaw.

“Got you now, clone bitch.” snarled the Son of Wolverine.

“Surprised it's you. Daken or Raze too busy?” snarked Laura.

A scowl crossed his face at that. His half-brothers. One too good to leave the country he stole rulership, the other too invested in getting wet. They were nothing compared to him. Laura’s words were enough to get her sort-of-sibling to drop his guard, allowing her to throw him off.

Nico had heard stories from Laura about the other children of Wolverine, but seeing one in person was another matter. The witch was terrified. Laura was already scary herself, but this guy was a couple steps above. She would have to quickly turn her attention back to the other villain in the room, who tried running in for a hit while Sister Grimm was distracted. They were slippery, sliding and gliding across the floor. A rumble shook the building, shaking the fours focus.

In disbelief, Prowler and Rockslide watched the creature climb. Not just the creature was climbing, something was climbing on the creature. Activating the telescopic vision of his mask, Prowler saw Spider-Man and Black Tarantula. They gotta go help. Thankfully, now they have room to move.

Chapter 10: Eyes on the Giant

Chapter Text

“Come on! Spider-Man's got someone on his tail!” Prowler screamed to Rockslide, having accidentally left his friend in the dust.

The gear he wears greatly enhanced Prowler's physical capabilities. Run, jump, parkour, whatever you want to say, he could do it like a superhuman. He was able to jump Spider-Man like it was nothing when his double first showed up. Now he was running up to save his doppleganger's ass.

Rockslide bent his legs, and jumped! Soaring higher and higher, flying past the Prowler. He could only simulate flight for a time, nothing infinite. Coming up on the wall creature's legs, he grabbed hold. Climbing carefully, Santo could see Spider-Man and Black Tarantula, an unsteady back-and-forth between the arachnids.

Spider-Man was really reminded of his tussle with Miguel on the rocket train, just that this guy was not screaming about “canon.” Black Tarantula was a different kind of monster. He hits like a truck, has vision blasts, and could fight better than the wall-crawler. Running was the Miles of 1610’s best option so far, but that option was quickly losing steam. Deciding to stop running, he got ready.

Victor Mancha watched through the cameras. Things had quickly gone downhill. Looking through the Syndicate’s files, he found that the creature was Joshua Waldemeyer, just called The Wall by those who knew of his existence. How original. He has been experimented on, his unique physiology making him the best subject they could find for multiversal existence. His existence must have been painful, not just the experiments but being locked up, unable to live how he wishes. Prowler and Rockslide accidentally freed him, so Waldemeyer is likely out for revenge.

One fight had escalated quickly once everybody regained their focus. Laura and Sabreclaw's brawl was brutal, blood flying, limbs lost and reattached. Sister Grimm's was less so, mostly the girl just blocking punches and kicks from the pseudo-speedster. Deciding that enough was enough, Nico cast a small levitation spell, picking up both villains the girls faced, the villains hit the ceiling of the room. Wanting to investigate the earlier rumbling, Laura lent some of her own mana to Nico, giving more power to the spell and extending it.

Running down the hallway, the duo quickly saw the open doorway, and the hole made by The Wall. They saw that the boys had already headed up, going after the brick creature. Could almost mistake it for Rockslide, if not for the fact Santo was hanging on to the leg. Casting another spell, Nico grabbed Laura, carrying her. She flew fast, finding Prowler and grabbing him as well. They all filled each other in.

“What is that?” Nico asked, curiosity and worry in her voice.

“No clue! Just know that it was locked in a room! Broke out as soon as it could!” yelled Prowler.

“It was trapped?”

Before Prowler could answer, the surroundings started warping and glitching. Glitching like Spider-Man did without the molecular stabilizer. Was this guy from another universe too?

This glitching would not go unnoticed to many of the others either. Jubilee after defeating Alyosha. Ahura while clashing with Mister Negative. Spider-Man, Black Tarantula, and Rockslide as they hung on to Waldemeyer.

Climbing up the side of The Wall, Spider-Man and Black Tarantula continued their fight. The battle of arachnids has been going for minutes, Spider-Man having the upper hand with his speed, but Black Tarantula got in a grab, slamming the wall-crawler into the Waldemeyer. Unfortunately for him, the Miles of 1610 could not pull the same trick he did on Miguel back in Nueva York. Readying to squash the spider’s head with his vision blast, the villain was caught off guard by a rocky hand grabbing his waist.

“You bust his head, I break your waist, capiche?” threatened the golem.

Whipping around, Black Tarantula smashed his fist into Rockslide’s chest, blowing a hole into the mutant. Something like that was not enough the stop the golem, but just for it, he threw the villain.

“Safe landings!” Rockslide yelled out. Turning around he said to Spider-Man. “You good?”

“Yeah, I’m good. Thanks.”

“No problem.”

“Just so you know, I do not condone you throwing him off here.”

“Pssshh. He ain’t gonna be hurt… badly.”

Taking Rockslide at his word, Spider-Man turned back to his current ride up to the top of the tower. From his point of view, this guy just busted through the floor and kept climbing. Judging from how he and the surroundings were shifting and glitching, the big guy was likely from another universe. His pain receptors must either be dead or in overdrive.

Prowler, Laura, and Nico were almost enamored at the wild shifts to the area, the colors and forms. Seeing someone falling off the giant brick man, Laura and her boyfriend caught who it was. Black Tarantula. Good. They can get information. Landing, the three tied up the villain with magic chains, and their interrogation started.

Chapter 11: Throwdown

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Caught up to speed on the big guy climbing through the tower, the three teens got back to finding the rest of their friends. Spider-Man and Rockslide could likely handle The Wall and whoever it is targeting. Hopefully they were doing okay, at the very least.

Hellion heard the rumble before he nearly fell through the floor, it shifting and glitching all of a sudden. What the hell was going on? Flying with telekinesis, one Julian Keller now really wishes that he had not gone to that party. It was for a birthday, set up by Pixie and Anole for Nighcrawler’s twin children. Nobody that has babysat those two could hate Billy and TJ. Almost nobody. Julian himself loved those two, they’re like the niece and nephew he’ll never have, but Adrian Luca was already a piece of work. That bastard babysat the twins one time and vowed never again.

He was getting off track. Nightcrawler and his children were to show up a bit later in the day, but then the raid happened. While they figured the Syndicate would send someone to the hideout eventually, Mister Negative was not expected to show up. His power was always a bit strange to everyone. Long range. Mid range. Short range. Mister Negative could fight in any of those ranges.

Finding Elixir was not difficult. He left a trail of bodies, ones somewhere between life and death. Elixir was probably the best healer around, but in a cruel twist of fate it seems, he could also be the closest thing to the grim reaper one could meet. He’s gotten so good with his powers he could leave someone in a state of limbo. A kind man and a cruel man he was.

“Hey. Nice body count. You seen this sh*t happening around us?” said Hellion.

“Thank you. And yes. I think we should get out of here before the roughest sh*t starts going down.” replied Elixir.

While he could agree on some level, Hellion got the sense that if he got out of here, things could get a whole lot worse. Flying off, he told his friend to do whatever he wanted, but that he was figuring out whatever was going on.

Over with Spider-Man and Rockslide, their ride would make it to the top of the tower, slowly shrinking. Jumping off his shoulder, they would try stopping Waldemeyer. To ask him what he is doing. The Wall would ignore them, busting down the big door down that stood before them.

Behind the door was a meeting room. Inside were the heads of the Sinister Syndicate. Beetle. Rhino. Hydro-Man. Speed Demon. Boomerang. They were sitting around, eating fast food. Acting like The Wall wasn't out for their heads. Like people have not been causing havoc in their own headquarters. Speaking for the first time since escaping, Waldemeyer yelled at the group of villains.

“YOU…ALL…WILL…DIE!”

Charging forward, he lightly jumped, rearing back a fist. Hydro-Man launched himself forward, his liquid form catching The Wall. Most other of the Syndicate heads would dodge. Slammed into the surroundings, many things shifted and glitched once again, allowing Waldemeyer to slam down on the back of the temporarily solid Hydro-Man. The other leaders backed-up their friend and teammate, attacking in their own ways. Much of it had very little effect. Rhino charged, aiming to send the former captive flying back down the hole he made and climbed. Controlling his form, Waldemeyer tensed his blocky muscles, then swung a massive haymaker, stopping Rhino dead and launching him across the room.

Beetle and Boomerang circled around and attacked from afar, neither being the best close quarters combatant, in spite of the former's power armor. Speed Demon would zip in and out, landing hits at a speed that The Wall could not match. Growing tired of this, Waldemeyer clapped his hands, his strength creating a shockwave, knocking around his enemies. Now with his captors down, The Wall pondered his next move. He wants to kill them, but did not know whether he wished to make it fast or slow. As he picked up Boomerang, something would grab his arm. Looking, he saw a line of web.

Back with Sabreclaw, he was on the hunt once again. Having broken through the room ceiling with just his own strength, he would find that the levitation spell was localized. Tracking Laura by scent, focused entirely on her alone, he would be ambushed. Judging by the scent, it was someone familiar. Jubilee. A back-and-forth would quickly be had. Mutant vs Vampire.

Jubilee would do her best to end the fight quickly. Her first thought was to try bleeding him out with gashes, but the son of Wolverine healed too quickly. Sabreclaw tried a similar tactic, the vampiric mutant usually phasing through. They were matched, even if unevenly. Sabreclaw had the strength, Jubilee had the speed. Eventually for the girl, enough was enough, sneaking from behind, biting the man's neck. Her vampire bite would not last long enough to turn him, but Jubilee got enough blood out to knock him unconscious. Death has always had a loose grip on Logan and those closest to him. She ran off, seeing the earlier shifting and glitching of the environment fade.

Thane had hidden in what was possibly the last place the interrogator or any other Syndicate member would think to look, the security room. While the Inhuman scientist may be a jack-of-all-trades, master of none in the scientific fields, hacking a computer has never been his strong suit. Luckily for him, he had some help from the outside. Victor Mancha, having already done much of his part, would decide to contact Thane discreetly, filling him in on what has been happening with the others. On who has come to get him and the others that were captured. What the original plan was. How everything has essentially gone F.U.B.A.R

Chapter 12: The Wall Must Fall

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Running up the stairs as fast as he could, Thane hoped that he would not be too late. That he could save not just his friend, but everyone here. He just hoped that his own power was the key to that.

Spider-Man launched a web line at the arm of The Wall, aiming to stop him from doing something he might regret as he picked up Boomerang. Waldemeyer just looked at it, a bit dumbfounded that someone would try to stop him now. After having already handedly defeated the leaders of the Sinister Syndicate. Being pulled forward by someone else’s strength was not on the wall-crawler’s list of favorite moves that people can use against him. Rhino did around when he first got here, and now someone else has had the same idea. The Wall had dropped Boomerang, now aiming to grab Spider-Man by his torso, but the superhero would twist and flip over him. Aiming his web shooters, the synthetic silk sailed past. Pulling taut, the strings would act as a rubberband, allowing Miles of 1610 to launch himself on his now-opponent.

Landing a kick to Waldemeyer’s head, Spider-Man’s own strength would barely nudge his adversary. Acting quick he would use his own momentum once again, dodging a grab. He got the feeling The Wall would not go down without a fight or without doing something so much worse. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Rockslide, who was doing his best to sneak on behind the brick man.

So that his friend could enact his plan, Spider-Man would do his thing, making a big act out of his antics. Bobbing and weaving between blows, talking incessantly. Rockslide would grab the older man from behind, aiming to do a suplex. The older man would elbow the stone-made teen. Tanking the hit, Santo would go through with his plan, arching his back, The Wall's head hitting the ground, leaving a dent and some cracks.

Most of the heads of the Sinister Syndicate would slowly get back up. Seeing the battle before them, they would think it best to get out while they still could. Rhino grabbed Boomerang while Speed Demon prepped their escape vehicle. The Wall saw this. Roaring, he aimed to charge after his targets. He was stopped, tackled by Rockslide and web-grabbed by Spider-Man.

The Wall's form shifted, the surroundings following suit. Dangerous shifts. Thane saw the quick downward ripples caused by the shifts. Concern appeared on his face. Time was running out. He needed to move. Pushing his limits, he slowly got faster, speeding up every couple steps. Soon, he was moving at low-levels of super speed.

Spider-Man and Rockslide's battle with Waldemeyer was a stalemate. Even with it being two against one. The heroes could cover for each other’s weaknesses, but The Wall was nigh-implacable. His weaknesses were hard to discern, with exception to one. Their opponent is not of this Earth. Displaced by a hole in the multiverse, and kept alive by cruel and unusual experiments, he was growing ever more unstable. This instability slowly causes the surroundings to do the same. They needed to end this, and end it fast.

Blow for blow, hit for hit, no one on either side of the battle would let up. A fist from Waldemeyer to the jaw of Rockslide, a kick from Spider-Man into The Wall's side. Thrown from one side of the room to the other, the wall-crawler used his webs to return. Electricity leaping from his hands, Miles of 1610 struck the brick man. The damage was felt, but it was nothing to end the battle. Grabbing the superhero in a bear hug, Waldemeyer started squeezing, only to be stopped by a clap to the sides of his head. Discombobulated, The Wall let go, allowing Rockslide to pick him up for a fireman's carry slam. Spinning his opponent during the slam while also falling, damage was dealt.

Getting back up, Rockslide lifted The Wall again, aiming for a piledriver. Waldemeyer acted quickly, elbowing his opponent as he was being lifted. Once dropped, he tensed his muscle, aiming a huge punch towards the golem boy. The hit landed, the shifting and glitching of the fist adding some extra weight to the punch, blowing the stone-made teen’s torso to pieces.

Thane made it to the top floor. Pushing through the door, he saw the scattered pieces of Rockslide, along with Spider-Man and Waldemeyer’s battle. It seems his hypothesis might be correct. The amber he had earlier put on the molecular stabilizer was still there, and still containing the energy it was producing. Spider-Man had not noticed this himself, being too preoccupied with other arrangements. Getting creative, Thane produced a mallet made of amber, spinning quickly for momentum, throwing it towards The Wall. Hit landed! Even if the quickly made pseudo-weapon did shatter upon impact, it got attention.

Running forward, Thane created an amber gauntlet, jumping to hit his opponent across the face. Another hit connected. Looking at Waldemeyer’s face, Thane could tell that the man was tiring. Taking a look at Spider-Man, Thane motioned for him to get closer. The two would talk and fight, the Inhuman scientist doing his best to explain his plan to his friend.

“I can pacify him with the amber, we just need him down or distracted.” explained Thane between dodges.

“Yeah, and how do you expect us to do that? He’s been kicking ass from here to Timbuktu since he appeared!” loudly said the wall-crawler.

“Distract him! And just get him in a good position, since this might take a bit!” yelled the Inhuman scientist.

Nodding at that, Spider-Man got back to work. The Wall was getting sloppy, his moves less controlled. His rage and tiredness were clashing. Adrenaline could only sustain the body for so long. Waldemeyer and the two teens’ fight was still chaotic however. Spider-Man jumping and bouncing all over. Rockslide acting as a miniature tornado of stone terror. Thane would focus and charge, aiming his best.

“Ready…Aim…” Thane quietly said to himself.

Seeing their ally, the teen heroes did their best to restrain their adversary. Webs and wrestling grapples were used, The Wall ripping the synthetic silk and breaking the holds. The wall-crawler tried his electrical powers, zapping Waldemeyer. After some frustration, the golem boy had an idea. An electrical Fastball Special.

“Spider-Man! Hop in!” yelled Rockslide, holding his open hand out.

Getting the idea, the superhero jumped over. Throwing his acquaintance, the attack would be swift. Hitting The Wall at full speed, electricity flowing, Spider-Man dazed his enemy.

Seeing his chance, Thane sent a big blast of amber towards Waldemeyer, yelling “FIRE!”

With that, the battle was over. Encased in the amber, Joshua Waldemeyer looked almost at peace in a way. Rockslide fell over onto his back, feeling his energy gone. Spider-Man would do his best to wind down. Noticing Thane was ready to collapse, Miles of 1610 supported his friend. Suddenly behind them, a spotlight turned on. Turning around, the trio would see it to be a news helicopter, a cameraman and reporter slightly leaning out.

Chapter 13: Winding Down

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Rio Morales had been given time off work for the day, told she had been nearly overworking herself, so this was not a request but a demand. Her boss was very kind about it, but still a bit forceful. With not much to do around the apartment, she had done some very light cleaning. With Miles usually with his uncle or at school, the place did not really get all that messy. Once that was done she had all that, and with nothing else to do, she figured some television would not be too bad.

Grabbing the remote, she turned on the flat screen. She slowly flipped through channels. Her soaps were on a hiatus between seasons, so she was caught up. While going through, she caught a glimpse of the news. It was live. That caught her attention. This does not happen often.

It was footage from a helicopter, the sights set to a tower. The one that rumblings had been heard from earlier. Zooming in on multiple figures. Footage had cut out quickly, but not fast enough that someone there had not caught her eye. While she did not recognize most, she did vaguely recognize one. Someone in a black suit with red lining. Was that Miles?! Was he doing vigilante work?! Grabbing her phone, she quickly called Aaron, wanting to know if he had seen what she had.

Aaron Davis was still recovering from the Syndicate's attack on the Mutant-town hangout. He was in slight pain all over, but his back was especially killing him. Hearing his phone sound off, he looked and saw that it was his sister-in-law. Answering it, he was immediately asked if he had seen the live news.

“No? What's up with it?” Aaron asked confusedly.

“You've heard the rumblings coming from the big tower, right? News footage caught sight of some people. One of them was wearing the suit Miles was the other day. You don't think he’s gotten into vigilante business, do you?”

Knowing he had to choose his words carefully, Aaron asked Rio to give him her best explanation of what she was talking about. She did just that, explaining Miles' strange state when he showed up at the home, how he said he was wearing a strange suit, calling himself “Spider-Man,” and what she had seen on the television. Aaron would suggest that it was just someone with a similar looking suit, some people have absurdly similar senses of style. How could she even be sure, since the footage had cut out before a good look could be made. Rio took that explanation, probably not wanting to worry herself even more.

His sister-in-law ended the call there. He sighed deeply, sadly. While he and his nephew could keep the Prowler business under lock and key, this Spider-Man stuff with the other Miles was a whole nother can of worms.

Some time later Prowler, Laura, and Nico made it to the top where some of the others were. Seeing Waldemeyer encased in a block of amber, the trio were surprised to see that what seemed like an unstoppable force had been stopped. The three teens stopped before they could end up in the open, cautious of the helicopter spotlight. Nico would cast a spell to teleport the seven occupants out of the tower.

Ending up back at the hangout, Nico was exhausted from the spell, nearly falling over, only to be caught by Laura. After helping her friend lay down, Laura would make some calls, getting the status of Jubilee and others. They were doing good, all had regrouped and made it out on their own once the chaos died down. Ahura tried taking the phone from Jubilee at one point, excited to speak about his triumphant defeat of Mister Negative to another person. Jubilee scolded him for it like he was a child.

Jubilee and the others agreed to get back to the building on their own. With the more rambunctious comers and goers not around, it was quiet, peaceful even. Nico snoozed on a cot. Rockslide was in the gymnasium, quietly shooting hoops. Thane and Spider-Man in the lab, going over the molecular stabilizer. Laura and Prowler were on the roof, just relaxing. The peace the couple had was interrupted by the Miles of this Earth's phone.

“Yeah?” Prowler answered the phone.

“Your mother called. She caught a glimpse of Spidey on the news. It got her worried.” replied Aaron.

Groaning at that, Prowler got ready to head back downstairs. He helped his girlfriend up, kissing her hand as she took his. Laura laughed at that, knowing the romantic antics of her partner.

Back downstairs, Thane had removed the amber from over the molecular stabilizer, the energy from earlier having died down significantly. The superhero and Inhuman talked about theoretical sciences and how that they could be applied to help make the device work more efficiently. Holo-Hank was slowly booting up, having been shut down when the raid happened. Kitty and Gentle had not yet returned, probably having expected the worst and ran to a hidden safe house.

Laura and Prowler would interrupt the two boys, the Miles of this Earth ready to give a bit of an earful to his counterpart, but restrained himself. The vigilante knew that the news helicopter showed up suddenly, they always did. To still get the point home, he grabbed Spider-Man by the collar of his suit.

“You got my mom worried, just so you know.” Prowler said.

“What? She saw? How?”

“For how: the news. Just the aftermath of your battle. Uncle Aaron was able to convince her you were likely someone else, but be careful next time.”

Nodding his head, Spider-Man was silent. This was definitely something had some thoughts about back home, about the worry his parents could have if they knew he is Spider-Man. Seeing the plans the two were putting to paper, Prowler's interest was piqued. He even asked if he could try helping with this. Thane answered affirmatively, figuring another head would be good to help in figuring things out.

Chapter 14: 6 Feet Underground

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Jumping from rooftop to rooftop, the two Mile Morales ran across the city, heading in a direction the Miles of 1610 was mildly familiar with. Mildly familiar in the sense that while he's been this way on his home Earth, just not familiar with how it would be on this Earth. According to Prowler, they were meeting up with Laura and company at a smaller spot, saying the Mutant-town hangout was going to be overcrowded tonight. Spider-Man barely believed those words, thinking something else had to do with it.

Stopping at the edge of a roof, Prowler pointed downward. Taking a glimpse, Spider-Man saw a neon sign that said “6 Feet Underground.”

“What kind of place calls themselves that? And why are we even headed there?” the wall-crawler inquired.

“According to an employee, the place had that name back when it was still a run-of-the-mill villain bar. Said the owner liked the name so they kept it. As for why, I'm hanging out with some friends here tonight, and I know you ain't one for staying put.” answered the Prowler.

Spider-Man could not argue with him on that last point. The two jumped down, the Miles of this Earth setting his Prowler gear into the backpack he brought along. Prowler could tell his double was confused, so he quickly explained that these friends don't know he’s Prowler, and that the wall-crawler could stay in costume. Headed down the stairwell, both Miles saw two figures standing before the door.

“Ganke, Fabio, good seeing you two!” Prowler exclaimed.

“Miles, my man! How you been?” Ganke said, his voice full of joy at seeing his friend.

Making it down the stairs, Prowler gave a friendly hug to his friends. Been a while since he’s seen these two. From the looks of it Fabio may have gotten a bit chunkier since he last saw the guy. His friend always said he was just naturally big boned, saying it was a nice contrast to Prowler naturally being a “string bean.” The fun greetings would be quelled at the sight of Spider-Man, quizzical looks on the faces of Ganke and Fabio. Quickly explaining he's a new face around town, and was showing the new guy around.

Taking their friend at his word, Ganke and Fabio led the way inside. Inside was an arcade/bar combo, packed with people looking. The wall-crawler wondered how they even fit so many, and how did it even run. Sticking together, the four teens played a couple rounds on the different games, even grabbed something to eat between sessions.

“So, you guys see the news about what happened at that tower? What you think happened?” Fabio asked his friends.

“I think a creature that was locked up broke out. Something like The Hulk.” said Ganke.

“What? The Hulk is an urban legend. You really believe that stuff?” Prowler asked, feigning ignorance.

“Considering the world we live in, what’s so unbelievable?” Ganke replied.

Fabio nodded at that. He knew very first hand that the world was crazier than one could believe. Being a mutant kind of did that. He was one of the very few who just figured hero and villain antics weren't his type of thing, just going to school and living his life.

The roar of a crowd could be heard a couple feet away, making the quartet curious, looking over. A blue-skinned red head was walking around on the small stage, having grabbed the microphone, and started belting out… something. They could not really understand what the person was saying, they could tell that the crowd loved it. Prowler and Spider-Man did exactly feel the same love for the style the blue person was performing. To them, punk was fine, just not really their style. Ganke was a bit more into it, but the performance was not getting his attention, too engrossed in the game he was playing.

The red head finished their set, walking through the crowd, right up to the quartet. Fabio noticed first, a glare pointed towards the performer.

“So…how has the time spent here for you all been so far?” asked the red head.

“It's good.” Fabio answered first.

“Seconded.” said Ganke.

“What he said.” answered the two Miles Morales.

“That’s good to hear. If you ever need anything, don't be afraid to holler.”

“Sure, and no offense, but why do you care?” inquired Spider-Man.

“I'll take that as confirmation you're new around here, masked man. For your information, I am the owner of this fine establishment, Raze Darkholme.”

That got all their attention really quick, Ganke even losing at the level he was on. Prowler had heard Laura mention this guy a handful of times when the situation called for it. Even then, Raze was in the news a handful of times for his wild shows, almost always showing up with a different face. Just when you thought you could pin a name to a face, next show it was something new. At one point people just thought Raze was a stage name for multiple performers, but live show footage made it online, showing the transformative powers of the performer. Raze left them be after that, going to talk to other guests that have been mingling for the past while.

“We just got to meet thee Raze Darkholme, guys. How cool is that?” Ganke excitedly asked his friends.

The other three were silent at that. Spider-Man had no idea what made Raze important, he just knew the guy kind of gave him the creeps. Grabbing another bite to eat, the quartet sat and quietly discussed more of how their days have been. When asked how the latest assignments have been, Ganke and Fabio explained how they have all been up and down, some harder than others. Just how things have been going lately for school, at least for them. Miles only showing up for the learning hours, it left little time for them all to talk about this more often. The group played more of the games, Fabio even deciding to get on the dance floor, surprising many with his moves. They all had much fun, eventually splitting up for the night, heading back to their own places.

Elsewhere, something fell from the sky. A meteorite, crashing from space beyond the pale blue dot. That would have been cause for excitement itself, but what it brought with it could be cause for concern. Black sludge crawled from the rock, moving to where it knows not. It just had one objective. Find a host.

Chapter 15: VENOMMMMMM

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Running through fields was a wonderful feeling for Glob Herman. Despite the mutant's, his see-through gelatinous skin and muscle felt the breeze, enjoying the relaxing feeling. He was a sight that freaked out many, even many of his fellow mutants, but he was proud of who he is. Not many people could say that, could they? Finding a tree to relax under, Glob set his bag down and took a seat, leaning back against the trunk. Eventually he fell asleep, taking an unplanned yet welcomed nap.

A feeling against his form would wake him up some time later. Taking a small look, he saw nobody around. Ready to head back to sleep, he felt something again. Looking around his body, he saw no bugs. What he did see though was strange. A black goop or sludge, simultaneously drawn to him and trying to back away. Rummaging through his bag, he found an empty jar, trapping the strange creature.

Running as fast as he could, Glob ran over to a house near the end of the field. It was a small place, very unassuming. What it held inside was just as unassuming as the outside. It was what was beneath that made it pretty special. A laboratory, very much like the one back in the Mutant-town hangout.

Headed inside, he passed by the two owners of the home, Remy LeBeau and his wife Anna Marie, better known to many as Gambit and Rogue respectively. Waving a hello, Glob Herman hurried to show off his findings to the two that would be most interested.

Making it downstairs, Glob looked for the two residents. Kitty Pryde and Gentle had run to this very location, sending a majority of their research to here. They decided that once Mister Negative raided the hangout, there was no such thing as being too careful. Getting their attention, Glob presented his findings.

“So, you see, I was out taking a nap, and then I wake up with this weird feeling. I take a look around initially, see nothing. Try going back to sleep, get the feeling again. Take another look, find this thing.” Glob said, holding up the jar.

The two scientific minds were skeptical, Glob not being the brightest bulb in the building. Grabbing the jar from the young man's hands, Kitty would be surprised by the specimen suddenly trying to jump at her. Her head reared back, having held the jar close to her face. Setting it down, Kitty and Gentle did their research, looking through all their files. Nothing was found.

Needing better equipment to properly analyze this new creature, Gentle sent a message to the Mutant-town lab. Hopefully things have calmed down and Holo-Hank is back up and running. And that nobody gets overly curious. Getting together a transport capsule, Kitty set the jar securely inside. Gentle had already started up the tubeline. Sure it may be old, but sometimes something like this is the best they could get together to send things back and forth. Once it was ready, Gentle set up the location while Kitty typed up a quick message to send over to the Mutant-town laboratory.

Holo-Hank and Thane would be deep into discussion when a beeping sound went off. Looking over, they saw the flashing light near a series of tubes, used for sending objects between hidden labs. A capsule came to a stop. Curious, Holo-Hank checked the messages that could have come from any of the others. He and Thane saw the one from Kitty and Gentle, telling of Glob Herman's findings.

“Mister Herman certainly has a knack for new and odd findings.” mused the holographic duplicate.

“Who is Glob Herman?” Thane inquired.

“Just a boy with a mutation that many would find unsettling. He's not bright but he does have a big heart.”

Thane let out an amused noise. The Inhuman scientist was not the best at understanding his own emotions, being more logically minded. He somewhat envied those who knew their emotions and ran alongside them. Knowing his own strengths however, Thane knew that he did much good with that logical mind of his. Proud of his mind, even if his envy may make him say otherwise at points.

Taking the jar out of the capsule, the two scientists saw the sludge-like creature. It was moving around, slowly and rhythmically, seeming to be sleeping. Yawning, Thane took a look at the date and time. Surprising himself, the purple-skinned Inhuman saw that it has been nearly two days since he last slept. He has not really slept since he and others had escaped Sinister Syndicate Headquarters.

“Why don't you head to bed, Thane? We will have plenty of time to figure out what this is some time after that.” Holo-Hank said.

Thane nodded at that. Leaving the lab, he left a small bit of the power on, enough that the holographic duplicate of his mentor could do some scan. The scans would come out partially inconclusive. They could figure some of what made up the alien lifeform, but not truly say what it was. Holo-Hank powered down for the time being. In the dark, the creature woke up, ramming against its pseudo-prison, aiming to escape. Falling to the floor, the jar shattered, the creature went off on its own.

Some time later, Laura and Jubilee would enter the laboratory. The holographic duplicate awoke, addressing the two girls.

“Laura, Jubilee. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Kitty sent us a message just to check up on if you got that package she and Gentle sent.” Jubilee informed the artificial man.

“Ah. Yes it did. Right over he…” the duplicate of Hank McCoy said, his words stopping abruptly at the end.

He and the girls saw the shattered glass, no creature in sight. Jubilee and Laura took a quick look around the laboratory, not finding the sentient sludge. As Laura turned around, the sludge creature quickly snuck up to her, latching onto the leg of her pants. It wriggled in restrained glee, for it sensed a power in the girl that would benefit them both.

Leaving the laboratory, the two girls discussed whether they should send Kitty the bad news. Their discussion would be short and to the point. What Kitty did not know would not hurt her. Laura called Prowler’s phone, seeing if he and maybe other Miles would be up for hanging out today. Prowler quickly answered that while he would love to, he's currently at school, but he’ll message Spider-Man. Aaron and he had gotten essentially a burner phone for the alternate Morales to use while here on the Earth. Laura quickly apologized for interrupting her boyfriend’s school day. He said it was cool as right now was a time between classes, so to him no harm no foul.

After hanging up, another call quickly came in. Picking it up, Laura heard Spider-Man's voice on the other side of the call. Despite being alternates of each other, the two Miles Morales had very different ways of speaking. Whether it be accent or just general tone. Spider-Man quickly accepted the idea of hanging out.

The two met up at a small restaurant, grabbing a bite to eat. Laura paid for the meal, being the one who thought to bring money. Once they finished, the two would be taking a walk around when a huge form busted through the nearby wall. Scorpion. He was out looking for the upstart that helped take down his friends in the Sinister Syndicate.

Grabbing Spider-Man by the neck and shoulders, the villain readied his stinger. Both teenagers quickly took action, Laura kicking Scorpion in the face, while Spider-Man slipped out of the hold, hitting his new foe with a venom blast. The villain would take significant damage from that, but recover quickly enough. Having experience with superhuman fighters, Scorpion decided to get serious real quick. Jumping past and dodging the attacks of his adversaries, the villain got a number of good hits in. Eventually he would sting Laura, who would only be stopped for a minute or two from that. A long back-and-forth would go on, Scorpion having a slight upper hand from the surprise attack.

As Laura fell once again, the creature had decided to make itself known to the mutant girl, almost telepathically telling her what it is. That it is a symbiont. About how it could help with this situation. Deciding that the option was better than nothing at this point, the two bonded, the creature becoming a suit that greatly enhanced the girl’s strengths. Scorpion would be caught off guard, losing his upper hand quickly. Not before getting a sting in on Spider-Man. The wall-crawler fell to the ground, giving the villain time to escape as Laura checked on her friend.

Spider-Man was in agony, and he swore he was also seeing things that were not there. The symbiote had an idea, jumping from Laura to the wall-crawler. Replicating the mutant girl's powers, the creature helped fight off the venom from the villain. Getting up slowly and steadily, the superhero took a look at his hands, noticing the odd look to his suit, wondering what was up with it. A voice quickly went off in his head.

“Hello, Miles Morales. I am a symbiont. I helped you and Laura get the attacker to retreat.” the symbiont said.

“Cool. Cool. Uh, thanks for the help? What did you do to my suit?” Spider-Man said out loud.

“I did nothing to it. I am acting as a “suit.” I replicated Laura’s powers to act as a help to your immune system.”

“Thanks.”

“You are welcome.”

Ending their little conversation there, the symbiote receded, taking a smaller form to better hide. Laura and Spider-Man decided to continue their little walk, speaking about the similarities and differences of their worlds. About how Earth-42 and Earth-1610 work, how the villains and heroes are changed. Eventually, they made their way around most of Mutant-town. Looking at the time, Laura saw that Prowler’s school day would be ending soon. Rushing over to Brooklyn Visions Academy, they got there as soon as the Miles of this Earth was done changing out of his school uniform. That surprised Spider-Man, that this place still had a dress code with the chaos of the world in general. Prowler walked over, greeting them, asking how their day went without him.

Chapter 16: Downtime

Chapter Text

Spider-Man and Laura slowly gave Prowler the details of their day. They figured it best to not get him worked up over the fight by mentioning it so quickly. Speaking of how things had gone smoothly for most of the day, Laura even brought up how Holo-Hank had lost a specimen that someone had sent him for study. About how she had found the specimen, just not at a point when she could inform the duplicate.

When asked what the specimen was, Spider-Man told his doppleganger to take a step back. Prowler had a puzzled look on his face at that.

“Just as a slight precaution.” Spider-Man said.

After taking the step back, the wall-crawler summoned the symbiont. It slowly grew over the boy's form, mimicking both muscles and fabric in a way. Prowler just stared in shock and awe. Thinking about how cool that the creature was, being capable of doing that.

Upon waking up and forming, the symbiont itself was a bit confused. It was currently attached to Mile Morales, but there was a Miles Morales also standing in front of them. It was debating whether it should reach out. Deciding against that, it instead asked the current wearer of it to explain.

Spider-Man heard the question in his head. Explaining the whole multiverse stuff the best he could to the creature. Miles may have plenty of experience with the multiple realities at this point, but sometimes explaining things in simple terms was harder to word properly than you would think.

Prowler and Laura watched the double as he just stood there. The Miles of this Earth was about to ask what he was doing when Laura stopped him. She explained that the symbiont could talk to the bearer in a form of what she guessed was like a form of tactile telepathy. Only being able to talk to someone mentally if they were in physical contact with each other. Nodding at that, Prowler watched his pseudo-twin. Spider-Man would soon be back with them mentally, not needing to explain since he got some bits and pieces of the two’s conversation.

“I was sort of explaining the multiverse to the symbiote. It was confused by you and me, as we’re the same person.” explained the wall-crawler, the last bit addressing the Prowler.

“Ah. Well, I say you should let the living suit hide so we can walk around without attracting much attention.”

Spider-Man agreed to that, mentally asking the symbiote to go back to sleep for the time being. It did so without issue. It had a long journey to this planet, and it was in dire need of some way to rest and recuperate. That was part of why it wanted to find a host. Finding a host could speed up the recuperation process. Laura and Spider-Man’s superpowers helped with some of that as well. It had felt a new type of energy when it first tried bonding with the mutant girl, but there was something about her that he did not really like. However, the creature did really like Spider-Man.

The trio of humans walked away from their meet-up spot. Just walking and talking around the city. A ringtone would go off, all checking their phones. It would be Laura’s, who picked it up, it being Julian. He called asking if she was up for a city run tonight. She had given him a negative on that, explaining she was busy with and out with others. Julian was a bit saddened at that. No, not just saddened. Disappointed.

“Why don’t you go ask Shark Girl if she can do a run with you? From what I have seen of one of the upcoming plans, this one could use an aquatic person.”

Julian was still silent at that. Laura had noticed that the girl seemed to have taken a bit of a liking to Julian, and while Laura was by no means playing matchmaker, she knew Julian needed back-up with him for his runs. Shark Girl has asked to go on runs with some of them occasionally, and who better to watch out for a newbie than someone who has done a lot of the runs. The Hellion would sigh and say that he would go ask the aquatic mutant girl. Half-jokingly he added that if she got hurt, Laura would be the one paying for medical expenses since this was her idea. Laura laughed at that. He liked to say that, acting like he had no money. And like he would not pay for those himself.

Hanging her phone up, Laura turned her attention to the two Miles Morales. Prowler had a bit of a grimace on his face. She had always joked with him that he was a bit of the jealous type, and he always denied it.

A different phone would go off now, this time the Prowler’s. It was his mother. Picking it up, he greeted her.

“Hola, mama.”

“Hola, mijo. Your uncle and I are at the apartment with groceries. I just got home and we need some help putting them away. Think you can lend a hand?”

“Yeah, I can lend a hand. Judging by the street names, I am a handful of minutes away. See you when I get there?”

“See you when you get here.”

About to start heading off, Prowler was stopped by his doppelganger. Spider-Man reminded him of how it was the wall-crawler that Rio had seen the last either of them were at home. Maybe that it should be him who should go help with putting away the groceries. Having not really thought of that, Prowler thanked his double for reminding him. It had been a long couple days, so some things had slipped the mind every now and then.

Spider-Man ran off to the apartment. Getting to the building, he took the way up the fire escape and through the window, his preferred entrance. Grabbing a clean shirt and pair of shorts, he slipped them over his super-suit, stowing his mask in one of the pockets. Announcing that he was home, he got started on helping. What Uncle Aaron had gotten was everything on Rio’s list, and that was quite a lot. No wonder she called asking for help. Giving his mom a hug and his uncle a handshake between putting things away, they worked like a well oiled machine. All the groceries were in their proper locations faster than any of them thought.

Taking a seat in the living room, for a bit they all just enjoyed each other's company. Rio was often working long hours and Aaron was between his own long hours and planning out missions. Prowler was usually either helping with the missions, at school or out with friends, so he was not home a lot either. Spider-Man was glad he showed up here when he did. It was a bit slower around here despite the horrible state of most of the city, and getting to help his mom with this was enjoyable.

Time would pass and Rio would comment that it was almost dinner time. Aaron got up and offered to make something, saying that Rio deserved the rest and time with her son. He winked at Spider-Man, instinctually knowing that the boy wanted to spend some time with this version of his mother.

Spider-Man and Rio would start their conversation slowly, it being a bit awkward like one could expect. They got into the groove of talking soon enough. Talk about school, what it was like hanging out with Ganke and Fabio, how it is sometimes being home by himself while she works. The wall-crawler heard a bit of the sadness in her voice with that last one. He moved over and hugged his mom, saying that while it may be quiet, it was not all that bad. That it was always great seeing her when he could.

Eventually, Uncle Aaron would announce that he was done making dinner. He had made something pretty simple all things considered. Just a pot of Macaroni & Cheese. They all sat around the table, keeping conversations going in between bites. The topic would eventually turn a bit sour due to an odd tangent, speaking of Jefferson Morales. Right. Dad was not alive here. He grabbed the Rio of this Earth’s right hand, along with Aaron’s left. It was a comfort for all them, knowing they were here for each other, and that like Jefferson was watching over them.

Chapter 17: Demolition Time

Chapter Text

Laura and the two Miles would meet back up at Laura’s apartment. Surprisingly, the first time Prowler would actually be there. He and Laura usually just met up at the Mutant-town hangout and went for walks around town, eating at what were honestly kinda cheap restaurants.

Laying on the couch, Spider-Man was playing with his web-shooters. Mostly just checking on how much he had left in the tank and if he still had some extra on him. Even wondering if making some web-fluid would be different here. The essential elements to make it were easy enough to get a hold of back home, and sure this Earth is very similar, but you never know how different another Earth is. Tangentially related, he wondered what it was that powered Prowler's gauntlets. It was a shimmering purple substance. That was very easy to see.

Prowler saw from across the room that his double was staring at him, his face full of thought. More specifically at the gauntlet he held. The Miles of this Earth kept some of his gear here at Laura's, asking her to keep it as safe as a back-up. When going to take a look at it, he saw that some tuning was needed. Pulling out his space tools, he got to work fixing what he could. Aaron usually did more of the mechanical side of things with the Prowler gear.

“What?” Prowler asked his doppelganger.

“Just curious of what that is that powers your gauntlets.” Spider-Man replied.

“A special chemical compound I cooked up. At its most basic, it allows the things to pack more of a punch. Should I need it, of course.”

The wall-crawler nodded at that, satisfied with the answer. Now it was Prowler’s turn for a question.

“What’s that you're working on?”

“My web-shooters and web-fluid. Figured I should see if there could be anything up with them.”

“Like what?”

“Like, ummm, if the shooters need calibration. Or if I need to whip up some new web-fluid soon. I really wish that stuff was infinite.”

Prowler himself nodded at that. It still surprised him how similar the two of them could be, with how different their worlds seemed at first…glance? He’s never been to Earth-1610, so glance just seemed like the wrong word to use.

Laura was out of the fire escape, talking with Nico. The witch and her boyfriend had an apartment not too far away from hers. She trusted the boys to not make a mess of her home. If they did make a mess, there would be hell to pay. A voice went off in Spider-Man's head. The symbiont speaking to the wall-crawler. It could hear the duo's conversation, and felt like trying to add to it.

“Your technology is so fascinating. As are your customs. I cannot wait to learn more of the multiverse once we are done here.” spoke the symbiote in the young superhero’s head.

Right. This guy. The wall-crawler wondered if it could just form a mouth of its own somehow, since the mental voice was a bit freaky to him. Probably would be freaky to anyone. It mentally replied it should try that at some point. Hopefully it could also stop listening in on his thoughts all the time, since that was also freaky. That time it did not say anything, likely getting the message. The two, or three, sat in silence for the time being.

That silence would be broken eventually. A large crashing sound went off. People's screams soon afterward. Running to the window and out onto the fire escape, they saw a large muscular man in a red and black armored outfit. A dome of a helmet over the man's head. The Juggernaut. From the sounds coming from him however, it was someone new, likely unused to the power.

Laura had already jumped down, putting hands up to show she meant no harm. She knew fighting was not always the way to go. Unfortunately, the large man was still in a state of panic, and lashed a hand out, knocking Laura through the building across the street from her apartment. The two Miles Morales jumped down at that, ready to jump into the fray. Spider-Man launched two web lines, each the hands of the Juggernaut. While held, Prowler jumped in for a punch, hitting the larger man in the abdomen. Flinching a small bit, the impromptu villain lashed out wildly, sending the wall-crawler flying into another building.

Prowler was moving fast, dodging the fists of the massive figure. The Miles of this Earth was keeping to a fast pace, knowing that if he got hit, there's a chance he'll be down. Whether for just a while or forever, he did not want to find out.

Groaning in pain, Spider-Man got back up, ready to keep throwing down. Taking the leap forward, the wall-crawler launched another web line, swinging around the bulky brute. His plan was to web up the Juggernaut and make him unable to move. So far? Seems to be working. Once the fly was caught in the web, so to speak, Spider-Man was ready to start making that exact pun, when the nigh-unstoppable force slammed his head into the ground, creating a shockwave. Debris and the two Miles Morales were sent flying. Juggernaut tore himself from the sticky substance, aiming to run off again.

Spider-Man sent another mass of webs, aiming to slow the larger man down. It was pretty much futile, the wall-crawler being dragged along for the ride of his life. Through buildings and across the whole city they went. Whipped through the air and the bricks, Spider-Man was practically taking a beating without someone needing to throw a punch.

The symbiont sensed that its bearer needed some help, so forming a mouth, it asked if help was wanted. Spider-Man could almost smell the sarcasm, feeling annoyed that it learned so quickly. It asked again, a bit more sarcasm added. Giving an affirmative, the young superhero felt the crawling sensation form over his body, the extra strength from it almost felt rejuvenating. Whipping himself forward, Spider-Man landed in front of the Juggernaut. Forming a massive fist, the symbiote strength added to the wall-crawler's, the uppercut sent a massive shockwave throughout, even knocking the helmet off the bulky brute. Knocked to the ground, that left just enough of an opening for Nico to cast a sleeping spell.

Everything calmed down after that. Nico would do more to get what she assumed was a shard of the Crimson Gem of Cyttorak unbound from the newer Juggernaut. Nothing happened however. Using another spell, she asked the Juggernaut where he got his power. He guessed it was likely inherited. That was not something all that unusual, Nico having that experience herself. Deciding to look into that, she teleported away, the wall-crawler helping the young man stay calm. Sirens were heard off in the distance. Time for them both to get out of here.

Chapter 18: Great Power

Chapter Text

After the young Juggernaut had transformed back to normal, Spider-Man and he had split up. Hopefully the kid could get away safely. Maybe even Nico could come back and get him to a safe place where he could learn to properly get the hang of his powers.

Making his way back to Laura’s, the wall-crawler saw that the mutant girl had gotten back up and was slowly making it up to her apartment. Prowler followed behind his girlfriend, wanting to be there behind her incase she fell backwards. Seeing he was still in the symbiote suit, both raised an eyebrow. He seemed apprehensive of the creature at first, now he was swinging around with it on? Spider-Man quickly got the idea upon seeing them eyeing him up and down, leading to him noticing the symbiont was still visible.

Asking the creature to recede, it did so. With it now resting, that energy he felt earlier was gone. He now felt a bit tired, making him wonder if the symbiont staying with him was a good idea. Thinking it over, he was not just tired, he was also in slight pain. Taking a seat on Laura’s couch once more, he was almost ready to take a nap. Unfortunately for Spider-Man, the owner of the apartment would not let that happen. Mostly because Laura knew Prowler's sleeping habits, and if he and the wall-crawler were as alike as they seem, he's not going to want to wake up when needed.

Yeah, that was true. At the worst of times, Miles, either of him, could be a really heavy sleeper. While both had gotten better about not being so, sometimes the vigilante antics caught up to oneself.

Getting up and heading for the bathroom, the Miles of Earth-1610 splashed some water on his face. It only helped a little. Maybe something to eat could help get that energy back? Asking if Laura had any lunch meat, the girl told that he could go make himself a sandwich, just that he can't eat all of it. She needed to eat too. The two were silent for a minute before bursting into laughter. Just something about that type of joke could sometimes be the funniest thing for whatever reason.

While making his food, Prowler walked into the kitchen and started making his own. Both were silent for a while. Then suddenly Prowler got curious about something.

“What happened to the one-man wrecking crew?” Prowler inquired.

“Hm?” Spider-Man hummed in question.

“The new Juggernaut.”

“Oh. I got his helmet off, allowing Nico to get a spell in. Then we got to questioning. Said he inherited his powers, which got Nico curious. She teleported off to do some research while J2 and I split once we heard sirens.”

“J2?”

“Yeah, J2. You know, Juggernaut 2? Juggernaut the Sequel?”

Lightly nodding at that, once the wall-crawler turned around, Prowler just shook his head. Even somewhat cringing internally. So alike yet so different the two Miles Morales are.

Laura walked into the kitchen, taking one of her boyfriend’s sandwiches while giving him a peck on the cheek. Thanking him for making it. Then she cut to the chase. They were heading to Mutant-town and getting the symbiont checked out by Thane and Holo-Hank. Did not matter how much protest, something was up with the creature and even then, keeping it a secret for longer would come back to bite them sooner or later. Both boys had to agree.

Finishing their food, they all set off. Traffic was a bit busier today. No doubt it had been somewhat held up by J2 and his destruction. By the time they got to the hangout it was dusk. The sun was going down and with the limited sunlight lately, that could mean Holo-Hank's going low on power. If there was one thing nobody had first suspected upon meeting the holographic mental duplicate, it was that he was in part solar-powered. The real Hank did always want to incorporate more clean energy, and that was one way he could do so.

Making it downstairs, Laura let Spider-Man inside. Showing off the symbiote, the wall-crawler apologized for keeping this a secret. While a bit upset, the two scientists were glad to see the creature to be with someone they trusted. You never know what could happen if it ended up in less than savory hands.

Getting ready, Spider-Man called on the symbiont, asking it to help participate in some physical tests and trials. It obliged, taking form once more. Again he felt a rush of energy, his adrenaline practically pumping. A thought crossed his mind. The thought that maybe with this power he could beat Miguel. Not just beat him, but maybe he could beat the entirety of Spider-Society with this power, all by himself. Then he mentally took a step back. Where did these thoughts come from?

The symbiont wondered in its own mind whether this was now a good idea. Spider-Man was a superhero, highly inspirational and always with the best of intentions for the city. Yet its presence seemed to be causing some more dangerous ideas to cross the wall-crawler’s mind. It was shaken from its thoughts when a bright light glided over it and Spider-Man’s form. A scanner, it concluded.

A physical trial was next. With no danger room like the old Xavier Institute, there was no easy way to get the results in a controlled environment. Thane and Holo-Hank quickly whipped up two new devices, one was watch-like while the other looked like a smartphone. These were to help gather information about the symbiont when it and the wall-crawler were in conflict with an adversary.

Spider-Man was apprehensive of the new device at first, the fear of being tracked a bit too real. Both scientists tried putting his mind at ease, with no results. Prowler was able to get his double to calm down however. He could hold onto the other device connected to the watch-like one, saying that it could get proper readings when held by someone close by while allowing someone a bit more trusted to keep an eye on both it was monitoring.

Thane and Holo-Hank saw the logic. Agreeing, they handed over the smartphone-like device. It was really simple in terms of use, no extra features at all. Leaving the laboratory and wanting to waste some time, the trio of Spider-Man, Prowler, and Laura entered the gymnasium. A party was going on once again, with a dance battle going on in the middle. Taking a seat on the bleachers, all three just rested. The hit from J2 still left a bit of a pain in Laura’s back, the girl stretching it to try and ease some of it.

“You and I could try doing something about that later.” said Prowler, putting a voice that screamed it could be something explicit.

“I know what you’re getting at, but not today either. You could just massage my back like other times however.” Laura replied.

Prowler almost pouted at that, but he understood why she did not want to try. Both had agreed on the idea of bringing up the idea and trying to ease into it, nothing yet having come from the efforts. Leaving it at that, both just sat back and enjoyed the atmosphere.

Spider-Man had overheard what Prowler said, and really started questioning similar and how different the two of them were. As well as questioning if the Rio of this Earth would freak like he expected the Rio of his Earth to if she heard that Miles was doing certain moves in bed with another.

A ringing and buzzing caught all three's attention. Prowler’s phone was going off. A call from Uncle Aaron.

“Yo?”

“Hey, Miles. Where you and Spidey at?”

“Mutant-town. Why?”

“News of a Spider- themed person battling a cat-themed villain is making its way onto the news. Just wanted to check if it was you two.”

“Alright. Want us to check it out?”

“I don’t think it would hurt to.”

Nodding at that, Prowler gave his thanks and said goodbye. Looking at his girlfriend and his doppelganger, he explained in hushed tones what Aaron had said. The two nodded, getting up and following the Miles of this Earth out of the hangout.

Chapter 19: Meet the Panther

Chapter Text

It would not take long to find the people Aaron had asked them to look for. Seems Black Tarantula had escaped the prison escort and was now fighting…someone. Definitely cat-themed, just not exactly the same cat-theme that Prowler was running with. While Prowler was more like a house cat, this new face was more like a jungle cat. Jungle cat? Oh. It’s Black Panther. What’s he doing in New York City?

As they stood and watched the two battlers from a rooftop, it slowly became evident this was not the same Black Panther they knew. Well, only one of them knew Black Panther. The two Miles Morales knew of Black Panther, never having met him in person. Prowler had come close a long while back, it was at a party in the Wakandan Embassy. That’s where he first met Laura. He still held onto the gemstone necklace she left for him after knocking both him and Spyke out.

Black Tarantula was getting his ass handed to him. It almost made Spider-Man regret running from the guy back in Sinister Syndicate Headquarters, then he remembered that the supervillain was no joke. He was almost as terrifying as Miguel, just without the horror monster vibes that the Spider-Man of 2099 has.

Black Panther and Black Tarantula’s fight had caused some collateral damage to the area, mostly coming from the villain’s vision blasts and super-strength. Not to say that the Wakandan warrior did not leave anything undamaged. The trio saw him launch something at Black Tarantula, looking almost like large throwing darts, just larger and in an odd coloration. Sort of tan in coloration. That’s what tipped off Laura and Prowler as to who it just might be behind the mask. Prowler snorted while Laura smirked.

Spider-Man was about ready to hop in and help Black Panther when a smoke bomb rolled out onto the battlefield. Smoke covered the large area, the Wakandan Warrior tried activating other visions in his helmet, failing to find the proper one before Black Tarantula could escape.

Prowler hid away his gear best he could while his girlfriend and his doppelganger slid down to ground level to meet with Black Panther. Catching up quickly, he saw Laura greet the Wakanda warrior, raising her hand for a high-five. Black Panther returned the gesture, his attention then turning to the two Miles Morales.

“Good to see you again. Been a while. Who are they?” Black Panther said to Laura.

“Good to see you too, Evan. The guy with the braids is my boyfriend Miles, and the guy in the full-face mask is a new vigilante, Spider-Man.” Laura replied.

The man now known as Evan nodded sagely, trying to hide the fact that Laura having a boyfriend was a surprise to him. He always felt she was a bit too aloof and shut-in to even consider such an idea. Yet here was the proof before him, as Miles wrapped an arm around her shoulders, to which she leaned in. Evan turned to Spider-Man, looking the wall-crawler up and down. He was skinny, but the good kind. Too much or too little muscle could get in the way of doing a proper job. Snapped from his musing by Laura’s boyfriend asking a question, he turned to the couple.

“What brings you to NYC?” inquired Prowler.

“I’m just here for a visit.” replied Black Panther.

“Visiting who?”

“Spider-Man.” said Evan om, pointing at the wall-crawler as he pulled out a device.

The device in question showed a picture of Spider-Man, a special vision showing the energy that has been kept in check in part of the molecular stabilizer. It was primarily a cyan color, with bits of yellow and magenta as the different pools of energy. It was a strange sight and not all of the trio fully understood what they were looking at.

The Miles of Earth-1610 was a bit confused and a bit suspicious now. He’s been through enough trouble with all this multiverse business, especially here on Earth-42. First it was just running into the versions of him and Uncle Aaron of this Earth, then came some minor trouble with the Inhumans, and not too long ago the Sinister Syndicate was trouble. Now a superhero was looking for him to see what was up with him? Could he not catch a break?

Readying himself mentally, Spider-Man watched Evan closely. Evan had noticed this and while he wanted to know what was up with the wall-crawler, he was not looking for a fight. His aunt and uncle would ring him out thoroughly if he started a fight with someone who has been pretty helpful according to news he has seen. Not just helpful but overall pretty harmless. The seemingly harmless ones could be the most dangerous ones in his experience. Laura was one of those examples. A pretty chill and seemingly harmless girl, she was by no means not dangerous.

“I am here investigating the energy signature that is present in Spider-Man. It has been appearing in others that have shown up around the globe every now and then. The people of Wakanda have done their best to help those suffering from what seems to be multiversal displacement. We noticed something similar with you, wall-crawler, only that you have been alive and well.” stated Black Panther, speaking monotonically.

“Uuuuhhhh. If you’re asking for help, we can head to Mutant-town and speak with the holographic duplicate of Hank McCoy as well as Thane. They made this.” replied Spider-Man, holding up his wrist at the last sentence.

Black Panther only nodded. He called his airship to take him and the trio to the hangout quickly, only for Prowler and Laura to decline, saying they have some new plans for the night. The two superheroes were a bit suspicious at that but said nothing.

What neither of the two heroes knew was that Aaron had just sent his nephew a text of a new job they could run. It was a request from an anonymous party asking them to bust up a new drug supply making its way into the city tonight.

Now the couple stood somewhere high up near the harbor, keeping an eye and ear out for just the ship that has the new drug. The sound of a large ship horn sounded nearby. This caused Prowler to activate the telescopic vision in his mask, allowing him to read the name on the side of the ship. “C. Young.” Just the confirmation needed for this to be the right ship. Whoever C. Young was, he had something going on. Dashing forward as quietly as possible, Prowler and Laura landed on the ship with nary a sound. Moving below deck quickly, they snuck through the halls and corridors, eventually happening upon a locked door that looked important. They were about to try getting it open when the bottom of a spear slammed into the ground behind him. It was one of the Dora Milaje. What were they doing here?

Chapter 20: Ballroom B-

Chapter Text

The Dora Milaje. Wakanda's elite warriors, bodyguards to the royal family, as well as protectors of heirlooms. If they're here that must mean something important was on this ship. It seemed a fight was about to go down. The Dora Milaje warrior ran forward, spear pointed towards the couple. Prowle blocked it, sending a right hook into the woman’s face. Stumbling backward, the Wakandan caught herself and split her spear in two with a knee to the middle of it. Now dual-wielding, it gave the woman a bit more use of her weapon. Prowler just groaned. Why were Wakandans so tough and tactical?

As her boyfriend and the Dora Milaje warrior fought, Laura listened intently to the tumbler locks in the door. It did not take long for her to get it open and see just the drug that was being run to New York City. Another new type of Mutant Growth Hormone. Looking at the nearby chart, she figured how to get rid of the MGH. Best way to get rid of this stuff without much hassle? Set if aflame. Thankfully the vats these things were in are fire proof.

Stepping out the small room and locking it back up, she saw that the Miles of this Earth had finished up his fight with the Wakandan warrior. Now they just needed to get out of here. Unfortunately, this particular Dora Milaje member had sent out a message between hits about intruders. Now they needed to get around the place and out without much more fuss.

Running, they nearly got caught by another Dora Milaje. Making it towards more passenger friendly areas of the ship, they would find that it was a closet filled to the brim with many fancy and formal outfits, along with a flier for a Masquerade ball being held on this very ship. That gave them an idea. Getting dressed up all nice, they went with a couples costume. The two of them went with a steampunk aesthetic, emphasis on the punk part. Combination of black, brown, and neon green, red, and blue. They even wore plague masks just to make it all the more odd. Leaving the closet, they followed the subtle signs that would lead them to the Masquerade. Stepping inside the ball room, they would soon see that it was being hosted by Shuri. How could they tell? She was wearing a panther mask.

A man greeted the couple as they walked through the doors, them being dressed up seeming to be the only thing needed to get into the party. While they would get some odd looks here and there from other guests, they only stood out from the punk emphasis of their outfits. Not to say that some people had not complemented their outfits. Plenty had in fact, even Shuri as she passed by them.

Soon enough theDora Milaje warrior from earlier would quietly walk into the party, whispering to Shuri about the two intruders who had destroyed some cargo. Shuri asked what in particular was destroyed, to which the warrior woman just said she did not know.

Sending a message to her brother’s nephew-in-law, Shuri requested that Evan make his way to the ship to see if he could find the intruders. The new Black Panther would say that request would take a bit to enact, as he was having an important conversation with Holo-Hank and Spider-Man. When asked what made it so important, he would sarcastically reply with a question. Right. The whole instability of people seemingly coming from other universes. Shuri had somewhat forgotten about that since the air of the party had overtaken her thoughts. Good thing he had remembered.

Laura, using her super-hearing, had overheard Shuri’s half of the conversation with Evan. Seems it was going to get crazy some time soon here. All the more reason to get out of here as soon as possible. Informing her boyfriend, the two mingled for a little bit longer, before making their way for the exit. Unfortunately for the couple, Shuri would announce that nobody was allowed to leave, as there were potentially malicious people on board with them all. That left the two of them with little options.

Spider-Man, Thane, Holo-Hank, and Evan sat and talked about the molecular stabilizer and some of their recent adventures that have been caused by the energy being kept here by it. It was now something that the new Black Panther could barely wrap his head around, even if he had gotten better with the scientific parts of being a superhero.

He was amazed by the other three in the room. One a superhero from a whole nother universe. Another from beyond just planet Earth, saying he was from the Blue Side of the Moon. The last a digital-mental duplicate of one his old mentors. He really wondered what had happened to the real McCoy. Where he had gone.

Taking his notes and properly compiling them with help from the wall-crawler and Thane, they went over the C. Young. Time to help find those intruders and see just what they had destroyed.

Landing his airship on the deck, Evan and the Miles of Earth-1610 followed the thermal footsteps to a door that has since been reopened by the Dora Milaje. The vats had been burned on the inside, the drug that was inside them gone almost entirely. Keyword being “almost.” Some small bits of it had escaped the burning. Picking it up and turning on a scanner type of vision in his helmet, he saw that it was a new type of drug. Using the tech in his suit to interface with the system, he saw no record of the drug. That got him suspicious. Maybe it was not just the duo that had burned this stuff that was going to be a problem but also another person or group.

Having made their way to the ballroom, upon entering, Spider-Man noticed the two punk steampunks. He had an idea of just who they actually were just going by their hair. He really hoped the two of them were not the problem and that they were invited to be here. Evan was about to question the two when he tripped, he looked back and saw nothing, except that Spider-Man had also tripped. Getting up, the two went about questioning the party-goers while talking with Shuri.

Prowler had secretly set up one of his devices to trip Evan. It only went off once he had pressed a button as soon as the new Black Panther had gotten close. It was funny seeing that his doppelganger had tripped as well. He and Laura stood on the other side of the room, him having dropped the device quietly a long while ago. Taking a look at the time, he saw it was getting late, and he knew that whoever was running this party could not keep everyone here. Or that would be the case under normal circ*mstances. But now this was an investigation into an illegal drug and who supplied it and who destroyed it.

More time would pass and everyone would start getting tired and antsy. All were here longer than any of them wanted to be. Shuri would let go any of them that could be cleared of any potential charges. That left Prowler, Laura, a man named Carlos LaMuerto, a woman named Felicia Hardy, Spider-Man, Evan, Shuri, the Dora Milaje and a small handful of others. When Evan started questioning one of the elite Wakandan warriors, one of them had seemingly snapped. She charged and attacked LaMuerto, spear pointed right at the man’s gut. Shuri and Evan were ready to jump in to stop the madwoman when LaMuerto caught it with his own hands.

His instincts got the better of him and blew his own cover. Using a bit of magic, he ripped his Masquerade suit off, revealing the man as Black Tarantula. Others of the handful would do the same, revealing themselves as ninjas from The Hand. Seems things had just gotten more fun.

Spider-Man and Black Panther hopped into action quickly, alongside the Dora Milaje. The former led all the non-fighters out of the room while the latter engaged the supervillain once again. Both were ready for round two.

Prowler and Laura would make their own escape alongside the civilians, not ready to get into another fight so soon and reveal themselves. They were not as gung-ho about fighting as the supervillain and The Hand were.

The back-and-forth between the hero and villain would almost be a repeat of their earlier encounter. Only this time Evan was ready for the tricks Black Tarantula could pull. A jab, hook, uppercut. Overheard ax-kick, dropkick, leg sweep. All types of punches and kicks, all types of martial arts. Spider-Man was not having as hard of a time with the group of ninjas like he was expecting. He was doing much worse. Either he was getting really rusty or these guys were better than him.

Black Panther and Black Tarantula's fight would go around the room. High and low, under and over. Table and utensil were flung all about, along with Evan throwing his osteo-artillery. His bone weaponry. Combining that with his nanotech fiber Vibranium laced suit, he was for a time giving the supervillain a run for his money. It allowed him to take the tougher hits from the Black Tarantula's super-strength. That was an edge up that he had over the new Black Panther.

Spider-Man and the Dora Milaje fought the ninjas from The Hand. While the Wakandan warriors were skilled, they were doing their best to fight non-lethally, as well as protect Shuri who had gotten lost in looking over the notes that Evan had brought with, leaving her in the crossfire. This was unfortunately just what gave The Hand the edge in combat for this encounter.

As the couple and civilians fled, Prowler and Laura noticed that Felicia was hanging back a bit, eyeing the precious artifacts onboard. It was one cat-like statue that had caught the young woman’s attention. The crouching cougar. Not only did it look interesting and like people would pay a pretty penny for it, it seemed to exude a power, a magic that not many others did. Felicia grabbed the artifact and tried to quickly stash it away, only to notice that someone had seen her falling behind. Seems everybody was ready for something tonight. Putting it away, she set her bag down and raised her fists, ready to tussle. It was a young man in a nice suit wearing a Mardi Gras mask. All he did was walk up to the young woman and headbutt her, knocking her out. Taking her bag, he set off, finally taking his mask off to show a young man with tanned skin and black hair, his eyes a golden color and almost glowing in a way. Pulling out a communications device, he spoke into it.

“This is Sunspot to Black Queen. I have found the crouching cougar. I repeat, I have found the crouching cougar.”

"Good. What about the Mutant Growth Hormone?"

"Did not make it. Destroyed by two unknowns."

“Understood. Report back to base.”

Prowler and Laura had seen and overheard this. Black Queen, huh? Laura thought. What would the Hellfire Club want with that particular artifact? What powers did it have? She had sensed the magic coming off it.

Back in the ballroom, with getting overwhelmed, Spider-Man called upon the symbiote, absolutely thrashing the ninjas with little to no problem now. The same could not be said for Black Panther however. While doing better than before, he was still losing. Black Tarantula had the edge in experience, that’s for sure. Thankfully for the young superhero, he would get help from the wall-crawler very soon. Now two-on-one and not liking his odds, Black Tarantula would weave hand signs and throw down a smoke bomb. It would cover the entire area, letting him and the other ninjas disappear without a trace once again.

Chapter 21: Fun, Games, and Sleep

Chapter Text

Leaving the C. Young and changing out of their Masquerade outfits, Prowler and Laura were making their way over to Aaron’s to inform him of how the mission went. It was a success, with a few new things thrown in to slow them down afterwards. As they made their way to their destination slowly, they chatted and grabbed a bite to eat at a hot dog stand.

“Guess Black Tarantula’s going to be a big problem. Especially since he’s now got those ninjas with him.” Prowler said between bites.

“Those were from The Hand.” Laura informed her boyfriend.

“The what?”

“The Hand. A secretive organization of assassins that will at times work for the highest bidder.”

“Think BT hired them?”

“Not really. I think it’s more likely that he has joined them.”

Prowler nodded at that. Now that he thought back on it, the supervillain did seem more to have the ninjas working alongside than under him. Finishing his hot dog, he saw that Laura had ordered another. He was ready to leave however, so informed her that she would need to take that one to go. She pouted at that but just a look told her that she was not getting her way. Laura sighed and paid the vendor, taking the hot dog and eating it while walking alongside the Miles of this Earth.

They walked in silence as she ate, allowing Prowler to think. Think about how much more crazy the Big Apple has seemingly gotten since his alternate universe self showed up a few days to over a week ago. Sometimes it was hard to keep track of time when so much has been going on.

As they walked, taking a new route through the city to get to Aaron’s, they ran into Jubilee and her boyfriend, Jono Starsmore. Seems the two were having their date night tonight. It was a nice sight for Laura, seeing one of her friends happy. While Jubilee was by no means an unhappy person, she was very upbeat most days, there was something else to her friend's happiness when she was with Jono. The two of them loved each other as much as Nico and Victor loved each other, they were probably going to be together for a long, long time.

“Hey Laura. Hey Miles. You two out for a good time?” Jubilee asked the couple as she noticed the two of them.

“Sort of. We just got done running an errand.” Prowler replied, wanting to keep their latest mission a secret.

“Really? Did that errand include dressing up for a party?” Jono inquired, having noticed the bit of their costumes peeking out of their bags.

“What if it did, Jono? Got a problem with that?” Laura asked, her voice daring the young man.

Jono backed off a bit at that. While by no means absolutely scared of Laura, he did find her intimidating at times. Sure, he felt little to no pain and was practically immortal, there was still this danger he did not want to rope in at the moment. He and Jubilee were out on the town for a peaceful date night and he was not letting it go crazy just because someone has crazy friends.

Laura and Jubilee started talking about…something, just leaving the two boys to hopefully chat. They just stood off to the and looked at their phones. Neither one trusted the other, each for their own reasons. Prowler just felt like Jono was some posh douche that has a stick up his ass most days while Jono felt Prowler was some ignorant punk who needed to be knocked down a few pegs. It was not hatred, it was not rivalry, it was just dislike based on vibes for the most part.

The girls saw that their boyfriends were getting a bit tired of just standing around. Ending their conversation on The Hand and how Black Tarantula is getting involved with the assassination organization, Laura and Jubilee each grabbed their significant other and parted ways.

“You good?” Laura asked Prowler.

“Yeah.” was all he replied.

Laura sighed. Keeping her hand tight around his wrist, she slowly started picking up speed, eventually running at a moderate speed. It was enough of a surprise that the Miles of this Earth almost stumbled over his own feet.

“What’s with the sudden hustle?” he inquired.

“You want to get back to Aaron’s right? Well, what better way to get there faster than to pick up the pace a bit?” Laura replied with a rhetorical question.

Smirking at that, Prowler lightly pulled his wrist from her grasp and started running alongside her, turning into an alleyway to use the fire escape to get to the rooftops. Laura followed, using her own enhanced physical capabilities to catch up very easily. Up and over the rooftops, they made their traversal into a race. Whoever made it to Aaron’s first got to pick out a movie the next time they stayed in for a date night. Prowler would make it to their destination first, quietly cheering himself on as he playfully rubbed it in Laura’s face. All she did was just lightly shove him playfully.

Bidding each other good night, Prowler walked inside and greeted his uncle. Aaron greeted him back, asking how the job went. Prowler told his uncle the truth of it all, and how he had fun doing it. The middle-aged man just smiled at his nephew's jovial expression. He had always gotten a bit pumped up when a mission went properly. Especially when it involved Laura. He knew how much that girl made his nephew happy, and how happy he made her. It was heartwarming. Now all the two would need to do is introduce Laura to Rio and then maybe, just maybe, the two would finally stop acting like this was some kind of secret only they and a small few knew. There was something else that stood out to Aaron however. The Hand. He only knew of them as urban legend. If they are real, then what else is? Was the old protector of Hell's Kitchen also real? Was Hulk? The Ghost Rider?

Some time later that night Spider-Man would make it back to Aaron’s as well. He had finished up with helping the new Black Panther and the Dora Milaje clean up the ballroom, as well as hide what he could of evidence of Prowler and Laura having been there. While he did not meet the Black Panther of his Earth, he did hear stories of the guy. Black Panther was an accurate name for a guy who hunted down his prey and brought them to justice. The guy from this Earth however did seem younger, a bit more inexperienced, a bit more ready to try proving himself. It reminded him of when he first became Spider-Man in a way. Just with less fear about taking up the job and probably without seeing the guy before him kick the bucket.

Waking up the next morning, Aaron and both Miles Morales got ready for the day. Aaron got ready for his normal day job of helping keep the city subway system running properly. While Prowler got ready for school, Spider-Man got ready to go to the Mutant-town hangout. Pulling on the proper clothes, all parted ways, Aaron locking up the apartment.

Running across the rooftop and swinging across the city skyline, the wall-crawler would make it to the hangout once again. He really has been spending a lot of time here since ending up on this Earth. Making his way inside, he high-fived the people he has become friendly with all while making his way down to the makeshift laboratory. Putting his eye to the scanner, he unlocked the door and made his way inside. Holo-Hank has since allowed him access to the place with how often he ended up in here, especially since both the duplicate and Thane wanted to keep up maintenance of the molecular stabilizer since the thing first went a bit haywire and allowed him to travel to the hidden city of Attilan. After the two went over the device and gave the okay for him to go hangout upstairs, he was walking through the corridors when he saw that Nico was hanging up a flier.

“Hey, Nico!” he called out.

Nico turned and greeted him, saying “Oh, hey Spidey! Something up?”

“Nothing’s up. Just saying hi. I am curious, however, of what the flier is for.”

“Oh this! We’re having a theme night tomorrow night. And somewhat sadly, the Stepford Cuckoos’ choice of a 50’s theme is what won this time.”

“Oh cool. And who?”

“You’ll know who the Stepford Cuckoos are once you see them.” Nico said with an ominous tone.

Nodding and walking off, he saw that Rockslide and a few others were out of the gymnasium court playing a game of basketball. Asking if he could get, they gave confirmation, even letting him hop in during the middle of this game. Spider-Man may be able to swing and run around New York City no problem, but he still had some trouble with basketball. Did not help that the people he was playing with were about as superhuman as him. Sure he could beat Santo, having the advantage in speed, but David was beating him with no issue. It was like he had all their basketball skills combined. He was like a prodigy. Imagine his surprise when David explained his powers of telepathically copying skills of the people around him. Now some would consider that cheating, but the Miles of Earth-1610 would say it’s fair, especially since David explained he is more of an academic than a sports person.

Taking a break to eat lunch, the game would be back on soon enough, this time with them all making teams. Spider-Man and David would each be a team leader, picking the others. Once the teams were made, they hopped to it. The whole game would last until close to seven o'clock at night, the intensity of it all being what made them lose track of time. In the end it came down to a tie. All decided that the tie-breaker could be decided and done at a later date. Parting ways, the wall-crawler left the hangout and grabbed a bite to eat at a hot dog stand. Deciding to surprise this Earth's version of his mother, he made it to the apartment. Sneaking in through the window, he opened the bedroom door to see his mom just getting home from work. She looked tired, perking up a bit once she saw her son.

“Oh, mijo. It’s so good to see you!” said Rio, excited to see her son in person once again.

“You as well, mama.” replied Spider-Man.

They hugged, just enjoying the other’s presence for the short duration it lasted. Once they let each other go, they got to work making something small for the both of them to eat. It was nothing all that special but definitely something both enjoyed. The Miles of Earth-1610 was glad to know the version of him and Rio of this Earth also had a shared love of this dish. It would not take long to finish it all, the full stomach making Rio’s tiredness a bit more apparent. She yawned, to which the wall-crawler suggested she head to bed, he could finish up with everything here.

Rio got ready for bed, going through her routine, glancing at her son as he did everything he could to clean up. She smiled, glad to have raised such a good-natured son, but even now she still felt something was a bit off. He’s been so similar yet so different since he showed up through the window that one night. That was something to stew on later however, as she lay down and drift off into sleep.

Once finished with the dishes, Spider-Man would go lay down himself. Once down, he heard his phone buzz. Taking a look, he saw a text from Prowler. It was asking if the wall-crawler had a better day than he did.

“What happened?” Spider-Man texted his double.

“Nothing terrible. Just an overly long day, along with the power to the building getting sapped.” replied Prowler.

“The power got sapped? By who?”

“Who knows. All power is gone from the school. So no classes tomorrow.”

“Alright.”

“How was your day?”

“Good. Had fun at the hangout, played some basketball with many of the others. Team match came down to a tie.”

“Nice! Well, I’m growing tired. See you tomorrow, man.”

“See you tomorrow! Oh, and before I forget. Tomorrow at the hangout is a theme night. Nico said it was a 50s theme!”

It would be a minute or two before Prowler would reply. If Spider-Man had to guess, he was not liking the news of the theme night. Couldn’t blame him, the Miles of Earth-1610 was not the biggest fan of that for a theme night either.

“f*ck!” was all the text from Prowler said.

“You good?” inquired Spider-Man.

“Yeah. Laura is not gonna be though. Those f*cking Stepford Cuckoos…”

“Laura got beef with them?”

“Like you wouldn’t believe. They supposedly feel a connection to her since all of them are clones like her. Laura wants little to nothing to do with them. Buenas Noches”

The wall-crawler just lay there and stew on this information. Maybe he should have asked for a recount, as even Jubilee seemed to have dislike for whoever these Stepford Cuckoos are. Maybe if he asked for a recount, others would have as well. That is if the theme was decided based on vote. As he lay there, a yawn escaped Spider-Man’s mouth. Grabbing his blanket and covering up, he went to sleep for the night, hoping for sweet dreams.

Chapter 22: Watts Up

Chapter Text

Miles would sleep with some strange dreams. They told the story of the void, where the formless Klyntar would be born and grow. The story of the prison they were, the god they were meant to hold in captivity. For if Knull awakened, the end could be upon the universe.

Jolting awake, Spider-Man would nearly scream, holding himself back in case he accidentally awakened the version of his mom from this Earth. He would take deep breaths, even count down from ten in his head, all in a bid to calm himself down from these visions. Did the symbiont create these? Were these memories from the creature’s mind?

The sound of an alarm would go off next to the bed. He must have set it to go off. Hitting the snooze button, he then turned the thing off, laying back down with these thoughts in his head. It was all a bit concerning to say the least. Getting up out of bed, the wall-crawler stretched and pulled on a clean pair of clothes, then headed out through the window off the Mutant-town hangout. He was getting this living being attached to him checked out.

As he swung through the city, his Spider-Sense would go off. Dodging a strike from a flying adversary, he turned around as he swung, seeing a guy in a black and red winged suit. It was a bit fly in the opinion of Miles from Earth-1610. Swinging back around, he aimed a kick for his latest opponent, striking his opponent in their back. The full-face mask and the long hair made it a bit hard to make out the exact gender.

The thrusters on the attacker’s suits would activate, allowing them to fly upwards and turn around, aiming back downward towards the wall-crawler. It would be a swing and a miss, Spider-Man dodging no issue. A couple more attempts at tackling him would end in failure for the newest adversary.

“Just who are you, exactly?” Spider-Man inquired.

“Me?! I’m the Vulture, goddamnit!” shrieked out the one now known as the Vulture.

“Oh! I think I’ve heard of you! Aren’t you supposed to be an old dude?”

“That was Adrian Toomes! I am Teresa Parker!” yelled out the Vulture, who floated in place for a second before screaming out in anger at herself.

That had, thankfully for Teresa, had given the wall-crawler pause allowing his opponent to finally strike him with ease. This was probably the first time an opponent just was so angry that they yelled out their real name for anyone to hear. Using their momentum to turn the both of them and attempt to drain her suits powers, using his electrical abilities. Teresa would activate her jet boosters to go upwards, scraping the back on her wing-pack on the building behind them. Both of these together would not lead to the best outcome. Flying upwards as far as possible, the damage would cause the jets to give out. Now free falling downwards, Spider-Man would use his webs to grab Teresa with one hand and swing to change their momentum with the other. Getting closer to the ground and tossing his adversary in the air lightly, he would trap her in spider webs, leaving her suspended in the air for all to see and the authorities to hopefully bring her in. Swinging once again towards Mutant-town, he would take an erratic route in case anybody tried following him.

Making it towards the hangout, the symbiont would sit in agony, now wishing it had chosen a different host. The electrical power had been just enough to cause pain. It may have started at the hands but that shock went through the whole body and nearly fried the symbiont. Maybe it could jump to a new host soon.

Chapter 23: Detach

Chapter Text

Swinging to the Mutant-town hangout, the wall-crawler landed on the roof and made his way inside. Passing by all kinds of faces, both familiar and not, he saw that Nico was not kidding when she said the Stepford Cuckoos were going with a 50’s theme. Getting to the lab, he slipped in as quickly as he could, wanting the symbiont looked at again. Those dreams, those visions, were not something he particularly liked.

The symbiote was getting impatient, wishing to get away from Miles and his painful powers. Maybe it could reattach to Laura, she was nice and careful. Has no electrical powers. It was nervous once Holo-Hank did not show up right away, powering on seeming to take longer than usual.

“Ah, hello. What seems to be the problem?” Holo-Hank inquired.

“Can you check out the symbiont? It attached to me and I want you to check it out, see if it could have strange effects?” Spider-Man replied.

“Sure thiiiiiiii…” said Holo-Hank, seemingly powering down.

That was cause for concern. Running to the doors, he would be surprised to see them open, identical quintuplets on the other side, their eyes aglow. The Stepford Cuckoos. Also known as the Five-in-One.

“Welcome Spider-Man. Sorry about the interruption, but nobody is allowed out of the voting.” all five said at once.

Voting? Voting for what? Those were the wall-crawler’s thoughts as he was telekinetically grabbed and brought back upstairs, put before a ballot box and told to write who he thinks should be crowned. Looking around, he saw his alternate self and Laura, tied up in chairs, seemingly forced to be here. Grabbing a piece of paper and a pen, he wrote down the first name that came to mind: his own. Unknowingly, that would be just what the Five-in-One were hoping for. Letting things go on, he watched a goth girl who looked like she absolutely did not want to be here tallied the votes. It was once she finished and told the Cuckoos that the Five-in-One let out a high pitched scream and announced that Laura and her boyfriend have been voted as King and Queen of whatever this event was.

It was as Jubilee and Jono were about to place crowns on the winners heads that the two of them broke out of the confines and threw the two of them over their shoulders and into the crowd, glares sent right towards the Stepford Cuckoos.

The Five-in-One screamed out a command to contain the couple, that their plans for tonight are not going to end poorly, eyes aglow. Their combined psychic power created a large psi-construct, one in the shape of their DNA source, Emma Frost. She lifted a hand, aiming to smash Prowler and Laura into the ground, only for the couple to dodge to either side, running forward. Prowler would knock two of them away quickly, only for one of the others to grab Laura telekinetically, aiming to get into her mind. Only Laura’s mental defenses were intense, the three left needing to pool their power together. As Laura screamed, Prowler would attempt to help his girlfriend, only to be knocked away by a mind-controlled Rockslide, Sophie and Esme chuckling while in control.

Not wanting to stand by, Spider-Man ran up and aimed to land a kick, deflected by a psionic forcefield. It was as he dodged an attack from Jubilee and another from Jono that the symbiont would detach from the Miles of Earth-1610 and jump back onto Laura. Acting as an extra defense, the symbiote would bring its memories to the forefront, shocking Phoebe, Irma, and Celeste and forcing them out. The psychic feedback would not just hurt those three but all of the Cuckoos, their minds filled with pain.

It was as things calmed down and power was properly returned to the whole building that Laura would put in a call to Quentin Quire, asking if he could come pick up his not-girlfriends. Taking a bit of haggling, Quire would eventually agree, saying he would be over as soon as possible. Putting a power dampener on each of the Five-in-One’s heads, Laura would ask again why they wanted to be close to her so much, or why they wanted her to join them. All they would give were non-answers in her opinion. Just a bunch of words about how they were all similar and how clones should stick together.

With everything calming down, Spider-Man, Prowler and Laura would catch up and talk about all the things they were doing before all this went down. As they sat on the bleachers and conversed, they looked around, seeing that people were still wanting to keep the party going. Not wanting to bring down the mood and stick out, the trio would go and change, putting on outfits to match the 50’s theme of the night. Prowler and Spider-Man were essentially wearing clothes not too dissimilar to what the Brooklyn Visions uniform looked like. Laura would be the most unused to her look however, wearing a black swing dress with white petticoats, kitten heels, and a pearl necklace. The Miles of this Earth was stunned for a second, making a joking comment that she should dress up more often, only to get a playful slap from Laura, her saying the same thing right back.

As they took part in the night with their other friends, the trio would eventually call it a night, wanting to get back into their normal clothes. It was as they went to the lockers they left them in that they found a note, one from Quentin Quire.

“Hey! Saw you guys having fun on the dancefloor and figured I’d have some fun! Stole your clothes and took them with me! This is for disturbing my good time!” the note read, Laura growled, then chuckled while shaking her head.

Of course Quentin would do something like this. While the three walked the streets of New York City, a strong wind would blow through, nearly lifting Laura’s skirt, a red and black blur the source. Speed Demon. Only he was not causing chaos like usual, seemingly just running through for the hell of it. Either that or having fun with creating strong winds in an attempt to lift women’s skirts.

Making it back to Laura’s apartment, the couple would head inside as the wall-crawler walked off, intending on heading back to the family apartment. Once inside her apartment, Laura and Prowler would split, each going for where they slept. For Laura, her own bed. For Prowler, the couch. Laura’s bed was not big enough to house two, so her boyfriend usually took the couch when he stayed over. It was as he waited for the bathroom, waiting for his turn in the shower, that Prowler had an idea.

“Hey, Laura. Why don’t we keep the theme going for the night and watch some old shows?” Prowler asked, hoping she would get the idea.

“You mean keep those retro clothes on while we watch some really old sitcoms?” Laura asked as she opened the door, covering herself with a towel.

“Mmmhmmm!” the Miles of this Earth hummed, hoping that she would agree.

Laura would think on it for a minute or so, before replying “You know what? Sure. Just let me finish up in here.”

Pumping his fist, Prowler would continue waiting for his turn in the shower, being absolutely stunned when Laura opened the door, revealing herself to have done up her hair and put on make-up, all in attempt to keep the theme going. If she’s going to freshen up and look like a 50’s girl, might as well go the mile, right?

Sitting before the television and and flipping to the right channel, the couple would have a bowl of food with them, eating grapes and sliced fruits as they enjoyed the old shows and detached from the world for just a bit, thinking that maybe they should do this kind of theme night for themselves more often

Chapter 24: Laura & Friends

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Waking up holding each other, cuddled up in front of the couch, Prowler and Laura woke up with some discomfort. Guess falling asleep sitting on the floor in front of a couch was not a good idea. Stretching, the couple went to go get changed back into their normal everyday wear. It was as they ate breakfast the two checked their phones, seeing a handful of missed calls, most of them spam risk, that they decided that the 50’s night for themselves was not as interesting as they initially thought it would be.

“Think it was due to some residual Cuckoo psychic energy or something like that?” Prowler asked his girlfriend, still a bit baffled about how strong their powers could be.

“Oh, most likely.” was Laura’s only response as she texted Jubilee.

“Really?” Prowler responded, not expecting her reply.

“They’re some of the strongest psychic’s on the planet, especially when they put their power together. Doesn’t mean that they have complete control and don’t leave traces.”

That actually made sense, Prowler thought. He could not imagine if they got complete control of their power what kind of terrors the Stepford Cuckoos could create. Shaking his head to clear his head, the Miles of this Earth sent a text to his alternate self, asking if he made it home. A couple seconds passed and he got confirmation, just that he’s still feeling off since the symbiont left. Nothing terrible, just some fatigue.

Getting another text, this time from his uncle, Aaron was asking him and the wall-crawler to make their way to his place. He’s got to catch them up on some things. Prowler would text his double again and head out, his girlfriend giving him a kiss before they parted. That left Laura alone in her apartment, nothing much to do. She could probably head to the hangout but something about the idea did not sound appealing right now. Texting Sooraya and Nico, she asked if they wanted to hang out today. Getting responses quickly, they asked where to meet up. Having no ideas, she told them to talk about it and choose. Silence from her phone let her do some small cleaning around her apartment and reorganize some of her things.

Seeing the 50’s outfit from last night, Laura was both tempted to throw it away and to keep it. On one hand, she was by no means the girly girl that style is associated with, preferring her cargos and flannels. On the other, it did feel nice to wear. Or did it? Was that just leftovers from the Cuckoos psychic power?

A ring from her phone would alert her of Sooraya and Nico’s agreement. All three of them are going to meet up at a hidden mystical hangout. Seeing the flash of magic in the corner of her eye, Laura would quickly toss the outfit into the hamper of dirty laundry, deciding to figure out her thoughts on it later. Teleporting to a little place in the middle of a busy city, they would go inside a building with a fading neon sign. Outside looked almost rundown, but inside? Inside, it was bigger, many different floors and stairs, all interconnecting to very different planes with unique magical games.

“What is this place?” Laura asked, voice full of wonder.

“Welcome to what is essentially a mystic nightclub.” Nico said, making a show of the place while spinning with her arms open.

“How does this place exist?” Sooraya asked, knowing that the basic answer is “magic.”

“That… is a good question. Not even I know everything about how magic works, sadly.” Nico would answer.

Going around and having fun, it would be as they were getting food that some semi-stereotypical mean girls, who looked like people from Vanaheim according to Nico, would get upset at them for supposedly taking their seats. No names are on them, so nobody owns the seats. It was at that threats would be thrown, weapons drawn, powers activated, all parties ready to throw down. Only for the owner to say that bloody fights were prohibited, suggesting they settle it with a dance competition. Laura, Sooraya, and Nico would just look at him flatly and teleport out, not finding the idea worth it.

Now once again within Laura’s apartment, all three friends would sit on the couch, talking about how stupid some things can be. Topics would change to last night eventually, about how weird things were with the Cuckoos want to connect with Laura.

“Actually, it’s not just Laura. They constantly try to bother Noriko, Megan, Cessily, even me. It’s strange.” Sooraya would admit.

“Must be trying to remake a time when things made more sense for them.” Laura would off-handedly remark, the idea actually making some sense to her as she mulled it over.

It was as time passed and with nothing to do, the girls would split ways, agreeing to meet up somewhere more normal to just talk and enjoy each other’s company. Either that or maybe go on their own little mission if they caught wind of something.

Laura was about to see her friends off when Prowler would call her, huffing and puffing up a storm, frantically saying they needed back up and she was the first person that came to mind. Rushing out of her apartment with Sooraya and Nico following, she started asking questions of where she was needed. Bronx warehouse, keep an eye out for large flashes. They got into with Black Tarantula again, the man not letting up anytime they all encountered each other. Not just that, he’s got backup, plenty of it. Heh. Good thing the boys were about to get their own backup as well, and powerful ones at that.

Chapter 25: Warehouse Chaos

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It was as they finished up going over the plan that Prowler and Spider-Man went to the Bronx warehouse, the one housing their target. Aiming to stop both the trafficking of Mutant Growth Hormone and steal back a piece of stolen art.

Going in through a hatch in the roof, the two Miles Morales would land a high up beam, allowing the duo to overlook the floors easily. Nodding at each other, they went to pick off all the guards one by one, slowly but surely. Only for that part of the plan to fall through quickly once someone unexpected showed up and saw the lessened numbers of henchmen. Black Tarantula took one look upwards and saw a shadow move quickly. Pretending to not see anything, he would turn around quickly and unleash a vision blast just as the shadow got close to one of the henchmen. It hit the wall-crawler, sending him backwards into the wall, all while terrifying that particular henchman.

Paging for some backup just in case there was more alongside Spider-Man, Black Tarantula walked over to the alternate Miles Morales, picking him up by the neck and slamming him into the wall. Making a mocking comment, the villain would be surprised by a tap on the shoulder and a punch to the face right afterwards. Stumbling back, Black Tarantula now saw the upstart who broke his nose. The Prowler. That’s right, these two are running together, alongside some of the mutants helping out every now and then.

“Must be my lucky day. Two of my enemies, ready to be taken down.” Black Tarantula said, crossing his arms and planting his feet daring them to attack again.

“More like our lucky day, since it’s two against one.” Spider-Man would quip back, a bit overconfident.

Smirking behind his mask, Black Tarantula saw Alyosha sneaking behind the two, along with feeling the buzz notifying him of his backup. The hunter would pounce quickly, tackling the wall-crawler, all while Black Tarantula ran forwards and aimed to smash his fist into Prowler’s mask, only for the vigilante to dodge quickly and strike back with a punch of his own. The two would have a back-and-forth, dodging and punching. All this while Spider-Man and Alyosha were having a more kinetic and all around battle, using long and short range attacks, all in a bid to get a powerful strike.

Soon enough however, the two Miles Morales would be in for a shock, as four more members of the Sinister Syndicate would appear. Big Wheel, Grizzly, Styx and Stone. Going forward, it would be outright chaos. The two Miles Morales would be dodging attacks from all sides while aiming to get their own hits in. It got so overwhelming that Prowler would call his girlfriend for backup. Telling her where she was needed, it would be some time until she showed up, along with Rockslide, Jubilee, and Dust. Nico had a last minute change of plans, needing to help with something magic-based.

The mutant quartet would jump down, Santo right in the path of Big Wheel. Bulking up with some stray debris and putting his hands forward, the speed at which the villain was going would be enough momentum to push the golem boy back some as Rockslide dug his heels into the ground. Jubilee and Laura would go after quickly taking down Grizzly before turning to Styx and Stone. The villainous duo would run forward, aiming to attack.

Unknown to them, Dust was ready to stop them, turning into a sandstorm and surrounding the two. Laura and Jubilee were about to run off and help the two Miles when Grizzly got back up, slamming into the former as the latter was pushed to the side. Tackled to the ground, Laura was ready to feel a whole lot of pain when Jubilee used her vampiric speed to shoulder tackle the villain and shove him off Laura using momentum. Getting up, the girls would continue their two-on-one fight.

Back with the Prowler, he and Black Tarantula were still going at it. It was as he passed by his alternate self that the two Miles Morales would nod at each other, an idea to get tag team against their respective opponents. Now fighting Alyosha, Prowler would quickly dodge the hunter’s throwing knives, his gear enhancing his speed. Putting a bit of style into his dodges, he would be in for a surprise when a spear nearly pierced his jacket.

“Woah, woah! What is with the spear?” Prowler would jokingly inquire, aiming to grab the weapon, only for Alyosha to pull it back.

“Ah, ah, ah. No cats are allowed to hold weapons.” Alyosha said, as he swung his spear around, tripping the vigilante, then aiming the spear to stab down into Prowler’s gut, only for his target to roll out of the way.

With Spider-Man and Black Tarantula, the two had inadvertently taken their battle to the stairs. The wall-crawler would launch a webline and cause the villain to fall down, then jump forward, aiming to tase his opponent with an electrical poke, only for Black Tarantula to lift his legs up and kick Spider-Man away. Twisting midair, Spider-Man landed on his feet as the villain pulled himself up and ran forward, aiming to do a football tackle. Dodging quickly, he saw that Prowler was having some trouble. Jumping over and tagging his doppelganger, the superhero would then launch web into Alyosha’s face, nodding to Prowler as the villain struggled.

Prowler activated his tech, running up quickly and smashing a fist into Black Tarantula’s gut, only for the villain to anticipate the attack and intercept it with both hands. Acting quickly, Prowler would swing his other fist, landing on his adversary’s face, HARD. Knocked to the side, Black Tarantula would have a minor flashback to the first time he fought Prowler, to how the little punk broke his nose beyond repair. Roaring and charging forward in a blind rage, his opponent would jump out of the way, calling for Spider-Man to do so as well. Black Tarantula only needed a target and unfortunately for Alyosha, he could be just the target.

As Black Tarantula and Alyosha tussled, the two Miles Morales saw that there was a just big and heavy enough box above the two villains that if it fell on them could probably knock them unconscious. Spider-Man would run around them and entrap them with his webbing as Prowler cut the lines suspending the box. A loud crash would be heard across the warehouse by the girls as they finished up with their own battles, tying up Styx and Stone while knocking Grizzly unconscious with a swing from a steel beam.

Congratulating each other and grabbing what they all came here for, they would return the stolen art to the proper authorities and dispose of the Mutant Growth Hormone. Once finished with all that, they would go to the Mutant-town hangout, catch up on the symbiote with Holo-Hank, and finally split to head to their own homes.

Spider-Man and Prowler would back over Aaron’s giving him the rundown on what all went down and. He would tell them it was a job well done and say that one of them should be ready for another offer tomorrow, his eyes aimed at the wall-crawler, knowing that the Miles of this Earth would need to be at school for a chunk of the next day.

Chapter 26: Man, I'm Dumb

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“Man, I’m dumb.” Spider-Man quietly said to himself as he fell downward, thinking about how he actually did give the power cell to a madman.

Backing up a bit, Aaron Davis had gotten the offer for a new job just like anticipated, only this one would not be the usual. They had been given the offer to steal a power cell from a Sinister Syndicate laboratory. Getting his alternate universe nephew listening, the two would take the offer, especially once they saw just what kind of things the power cell could be used for. Things such as building a collider.

Following the plan, the wall-crawler got inside no issue and would find the piece of tech and make it out no issue. It was when presenting the piece to the employer that things would start feeling like they don’t add up. Usually there would be a hidden meeting place, only this guy was telling them to meet up somewhere underground Somewhere underground that no city plans show to exist. That got Aaron and the Miles of Earth-1610 suspicious. When inquiring as to why, the seller would give some story about how they built a hideaway as a safeguard against someone after their head.

Miles could sympathize with that. Some people were terrifying. His alternate universe could also sympathize but sympathy can get you in trouble in this business. Aaron was ready to call the deal off once their employer only gave half the agreed amount of money, the guy on the other end saying they would get it once the part was delivered. That was not unusual, but the tone of voice told the man that something was off, that the guy had no plans for giving them the rest of the money.

Ending the call there, Aaron would take a closer look at the power cell. His nephew, both versions of his nephew, were more tech savvy and knew more on this stuff than him, but from what Miles has shown him, this was not just a part for a collider.

“So, we giving him the power cell or not?” Spider-Man would ask while chomping on a burger.

“I say not. Something’s not adding up.” Aaron replied, thinking off all the possibilities, of just what made their employer seem off.

“Well, I say even we got half the money, we still give him the part. Even then, he said he’d give us the rest once delivered.” the wall-crawler responded.

“Any other day and maybe, just maybe, I’d agree. But a hideout under a part of the city that should not exist?”

“He said he’s hiding from someone going after him. Was that not clear?”

“Oh, it was clear.”

Aaron would set the part down and after a minute or two, would say that he needs to think this out more. Leaving his home for the time being, needing to go to his normal everyday job, Aaron would leave, telling the wall-crawler not to do anything rash.

It was almost as soon as his alternate universe uncle left that Spider-Man would decide to just finish the job they were hired for. Grabbing the piece of tech and following the directions, he would end in front of a pair of metallic double doors, sending a quick message to the employer that he is there. Slipping inside, the wall-crawler would come face-to-face with an African-American man who has a large cranium, his brain seemingly trying to burst right of his skull.

“Thank you.” said the man as he took the piece and passed it to a robotic hand, which would add the power cell to a grander machine that sat in behind.

“You’re welcome. Now, about that payment.” Spider-Man would say, his spider-sense now buzzing slightly.

“Right. Of course.” his employer said, tapping a few buttons and sending the money to the account.

“Alright!” said the wall-crawler, asking the man “Before I forget, what is your name?”

“My name is Angstrom Levy.” he said, tapping a few more buttons and his machine now whirring to life.

It was as the machine started working that the wall-crawler’s spider-sense would start going crazy. Seeing the energy flowing through the machine, seeing it flow all over, it was when Spider-Man finally took the full design in. This was not something harmless, this is a full blown super-weapon. Knowing that he needed to stop this before it could get worse, the superhero would attempt to launch a webline at the power cell and rip it out, only for Angstrom to have anticipated that and caught it.

Standing up and pulling on the webline, Angstrom would land a massive punch on Spider-Man’s face, the wall-crawler slamming right into the wall. With his opponent dazed, the man pulled the webline again, his opponent’s neck in his grasp. Creating a portal, he would throw the superhero through.

Falling downwards, the wall-crawler would call himself dumb and then launch a webline, it going right back through the portal. Its target? Angstrom Levy’s ankle. Pulling on his webline, Spider-Man brought the man through the portal with him, now the two of them falling.

Held tightly in the superhero’s grip, Angstrom would create another portal as Spider-Man changed his momentum, the two of them ending up in another universe. Now in a swamp, the man started attacking the superhero, nearly knocking the wall-crawler out when Spider-Man would catch his fist and headbutt him. Dazed a bit, the two would fall through another portal, this time back onto Earth-42, right into the middle of the Mutant-town hangout. It was as the two were about to continue going at it that Rockslide a basketball would roll by them, Rockslide having dropped it after seeing them fall.

“Dude!” was all Santo yelled, not expecting to see the two of them drop in.

“What?” Spider-Man inquired, genuinely confused.

“Where you been?” Rockslide asked.

“What do you mean?”

“You’ve been gone a whole twenty-four hours!”

That shocked Spider-Man. Shocked him enough that his brain needed plenty of time to process it, allowing for Angstrom Levy to slip away unnoticed. It was as the man took a seat in his chair, he mused about how odd it was that their fight between universes would allow them to essentially jump through time. How interesting.

Chapter 27: Meet Back Up

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Gone a whole twenty-four hours? Were he and Angstrom fighting that long or did the universe hopping do something weird and cause them to essentially time travel?

Those were the thoughts of the Miles from Earth-1610. If he had to make a guess however, it is more likely that the universe hopping was the cause of his twenty-four hours missing. It is both TIME & SPACE that gets warped when traveling on such a massive level. What felt only like seconds or minutes in those other universes could have been days in another.

“You good dude? You zoning out from the shock?” Rockslide asked, waving a hand in front of Spider-Man's face.

Shaking his head, the wall-crawler replied “I'm good. Just overthinking a bit.” Then he thought in his head “Could I be gone for more than just a day now in the timeframe of my own universe?”

His mind was ready to start racing with the logistics of it all when the bell rang. That caused him to raise an eyebrow at Santo, who was now standing next to the thing, his finger extended towards it.

“Did you just do that?” Inquired Spider-Man.

“YEP. You seem to keep zoning out so figured why not try the bell. Besides, if you've been gone long, at least when you get home you can make up for it.” Replied Santo, picking back up the basketball and lining up for a shot.

“Yeah, I guess.” The superhero responded glumly.

“Dude, don’t be so down. At least you got your home, your family. Doesn’t matter whether it’s here or there.” Rockslide said, waving his hand back and forth to try emphasizing his point.

Feeling a bit better now, the wall-crawler got ready to go meet back up with this universe’s Aaron and himself, only to meet them at the doorway, the two having decided to go to the Mutant-town hangout after getting a quick notification from Jubilee that Spider-Man is there. The vampire mutant had been over on the bleachers in the gymnasium playing with her son Shogo while occasionally talking with Santo.

“Hey, Spidey. Where you been?” Aaron inquired, his tone of voice half-curious and half knowing just where the young superhero had gone.

“Oh, you know, just… falling through universes… while fighting the guy who had contracted you…” Replied the wall-crawler, his voice getting a bit quieter and his eyes closing as he continued.

“Falling through universes?” Aaron said, somewhat confused.

“I’m guessing the contractor had some power to rip holes in time and space.” Jubilee added suddenly, having quietly made her way over.

“Let me guess, you ran into this kind of stuff before.” Prowler said, half-joking.

Jubilee’s silence said it all. Well, not just her face, but so did Rockslide’s little smirk, the one that always said that the golem boy found it funny how spot-on the vigilante was. Aaron had noticed this as well, and could only let out a tiny, miniscule chuckle to himself. There was always something with these particular two. First they know who Spider-Man is, next they’re adding that they casually know of people who can traverse the multiverse.

Both Miles Morales were having different internal reactions. Prowler was more exasperated, figuring this was another X-Men secret type of deal, while Spider-Man was a bit annoyed. Annoyed that these guys may have always had a way for him to get back home. He was ready to start asking if that was the case when the fire alarms to the hangout suddenly went off. The cause? The sudden pillar of fire that disappeared as quickly as it had appeared, leaving behind a tall blonde, half-demonic looking young woman, who just strutted past the group and went down the hallway.

“Um, what was that about?” Spider-Man tried asking, his voice barely audible over the loud fire alarms and Shogo’s cries.

“Sorry, what?” Jubilee loudly said while trying to calm her son down, before turning to Rockslide. “Turn the alarms off”

Santo was quickly trying to turn the fire alarms off, doing a terrible job with his big stone hands. Thankfully for him, someone else would get to it at some point quick enough. The Miles of Earth-1610 would repeat his question. That was Illyana Rasputin, also known as the Darkchylde. She really liked teleporting in plumes of flame, which almost always set off the fire alarms and scared Shogo.

“She just does that?” Spider-Man asked, confused as to why.

“Yep.” Jubilee replied bluntly.

“Anyways. We got other things to get talk about.” Aaron said, wanting to get a new conversation rolling.

Chapter 28: Going About

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With everyone caught up on just what the Miles of Earth-1610 had been up to, the next thing on their list of priorities was seeing if the Symbiont had detached from Laura or not. Heading down to the small laboratory, they would find that it was dark, a small note left behind. Laura and Holo-Hank had gone to the Rogue and Gambit’s place, deciding they needed a slightly more secluded location for at the very least test purposes.

Prowler had been hoping to see his girlfriend, and was just a little annoyed that he had forgotten that she was going to be out of town for the next while. Well, at least he could still hang with Santo and Jubilee, he thought. Or maybe he, Spidey, Ganke and Fabio could go hang out again. Been a bit since they could do that. Mulling over his options as they all walked back upstairs, he would nearly bump into Illyana, stopping at the last second.

“Sorry.” Prowler apologized.

“Oh, you’re fine.” Illyana replied noncommittally, her eyes tracing over the whole group before landing on Jubilee and Shogo, the little boy hiding his face in the crook of his mother’s neck.

Jubilee would adjust how she held her son before turning to walk off, leading the rest of the group away from the Ruler of Limbo. Illyana however had other plans, opening a small portal to appear right in front of the vampire mutant. The way Illyana held herself now was that of someone who was not going to be ignored. Knowing this look, Jubilee asked Rockslide to take Shogo as she and Darkchylde had a conversation.

Aaron would lead them all away, Spider-Man taking a quick look back to see that Illyana had opened another portal, leading to what almost looked like a conference room. That would be all he would see before it quickly closed.

“Will mommy be okay?” Shogo suddenly asked, to which Santo gave a big affirmation that she would.

“No way your mother is going to let herself get punked by some edgelord.” Prowler added, knowing Jubilee’s capabilities.

“Really?” Shogo inquired, still a bit worried.

“Totally, little dude. Totally.” Rockslide replied, confidence in his friend very evident in his voice.

Prowler and Rockslide would continue hyping Jubilee up, lessening Shogo’s worry bit -by-bit. Once it seemed like they had sufficiently gotten the little boy to believe what they were saying, the group would walk past Ahura, having not seen much of him since the incident with the Sinister Syndicate. The Inhuman prince seemed to be on call with someone. Someone who seemed to have him a bit high strung, maybe a bit worried, and has him looking for an excuse to hang up.

Passing by a couple familiar faces, they would make their way to Jubilee’s makeshift apartment. She typically left the door unlocked but the group would let Shogo open the door and let himself and Rockslide in. That left the two Miles Morales and Aaron alone in the hall. Leaving the hangout and heading back to Aaron’s place, Prowler would text his friends and do his best to make plans with them on another meet up at 6 Feet Underground.

The next big event would come sooner than expected. Especially since there would be only a couple hours of sleep between them getting to Aaron’s and sleeping and the loud boom that would rock the neighborhood, along with a monstrous scream. Looking out the window, they would see that a huge grayish-green muscular humanoid had landed and was tearing apart the city, many of the members of the local police trying to shoot the creature to no avail.

“The hell is that?” Prowler questioned in his half-asleep daze.

“Looks like a big green man.” Spider-Man replied, similarly half-asleep.

“Pretty sure that’s a Hulk.” Aaron said, more awake than the two teens.

“A Hulk? Hulk’s real?” Prowler asked in disbelief.

“Mhm. And word in the Underground is that Hulk’s shouldn’t be stepping foot in NYC.”