That feeling of unease never left Miles as they arrived back at Aunt May's house. He wondered if the others sensed it as he did. He had also been keeping an eye on Noir, who had been silent the whole time, not partaking in the conversation they had been having during their journey back to Aunt May's.
They were all sitting on the couch, watching some tv. Except for Noir, who was standing and didn't seem at all interested in the colorful images flashing across the screen like he usually was.
Miles leaned over to Gwen. "Does Noir seem off to you?" He asked, his voice barely more than a whisper. She stole a glance at Noir, who was behind her.
"Now that you mention it, he kind of does," Gwen replied. "Do you think something happened at the building? Is he not telling us something?"
Miles shrugged. "I'm not sure. Why would he keep something from us?"
Gwen was as clueless as Miles was. "Well, maybe he's just not be used to the whole team thing," she suggested. "I'm kind of still getting used to opening up my friends' positions again."
"Yeah, wasn't I the first person to make the cut?" He asked, not even bothering to keep himself from smiling. "And it all started from me literally pulling out your hair."
"And my mom freaked out when she saw my hair!" Gwen said, dropping the whisper. It was mostly because they weren't talking about Noir anymore, but it was also because she noticed him looking down at them. Her blood went cold. Had he heard them? Why did she care so much? It wasn't like Noir would ever hurt them. Why did she feel so afraid of him? Noir was their friend.
Still, though, the way he had been acting, the way he looked at them. It was putting up way too many red flags.
"Is it ready now, Lyla?" Miguel asked her. She scoffed and rolled her eyes.
"No, it's not. I already told you it would be a few hours. You're too impatient, you know that?" She said and let out a huff. She was typing something on a screen, pulling up a video from Earth-1610. "Nothing else major has happened yet in Earth-1610, if that's what you're really thinking."
Miguel let out a sigh of relief. "Good, because I wanna be there if something does happen. Just keep working on the goober."
"It's a gizmo!"
The Spider-Gang had gone back down to the Spider-Cave, since it was the biggest area where they could all hang out.
Aunt May was drinking a cup of tea when she heard an announcement over the radio.
Breaking news: The criminals who call themselves Tombstone and Scorpion have broken out jail while Wilson Fisk remains imprisoned. It is suspected that they had help from an outside force, although who or what it was remains a mystery.
"Well, looks like you all have a job to do today after all," Aunt May said. She turned to face the group of Spider-People, who were slipping on their masks, besides Noir and Ham, who already had their masks on.
"I guess it's go-time," Miles said, running to the elevator. All of the others followed him, including Noir, although he was a little slower, which didn't go unnoticed by the others.
Pretty soon, they were swinging through the rooftops, just a blur of color (for most of them). The city had no idea that the group of Spider-People had returned once again. Well, they were a secret for now, at least. They stopped on a building beside the prison, looking down at the police officers below.
"Let me go in first guys, I can handle this," Miles said. He jumped down and used a web to stop his fall before landing on the ground. He immediately spotted his father, who seemed to be talking to the prison warden.
"Officer Davis," Miles greeted, making his voice deeper like a full grown adult. "Did they find out anything else about the prison break?
Miles' dad turned around to see him, not surprised to see Spider-Man there. "Some security cameras picked up the criminals going in that direction, but we haven't caught them yet."
"I can go check it out," Miles suggested. "I'll just scout it out if that's what you want."
"If you have to engage, then do it," Officer Davis said after a moment of thinking.
Miles nodded. "Got it," he said and then swung back to the rooftop with his friends on it, who were still waiting just where he had left them. "My dad says they went that way," he said, pointing in the direction.
They all began to swing.
Peter B. followed Miles, staying close to his side. He would never admit it, but he saw Miles as if he were the son he had never had (well, he didn't have a son yet, but maybe in the future). If anything happened to the kid, he wasn't sure what he would do. That's why he dedicated himself to protect Miles.
So, when he got that feeling that something bad was going to happen to the kid tonight, he decided to stay even closer to the kid, just to be on the safe side. In fact, ever since they had gotten back from checking out the Collider, he felt like something had been off. He just wasn't sure who or what it was. But if it tried to hurt Miles, there was going to be some trouble for sure.
He was going to protect that kid until his final breath.
Soon, they came across a bunch of warehouses, some which seemed to be abandoned. A few were locked, others were wide open. Miles wasn't sure what was in some of them, but he suspected it was nothing good since all the warehouses at the name Alchemax plastered against them.
It was probably something like futuristic technological weapons or something else like that.
They stopped swinging and had started to walk instead.
Ham looked around at all the buildings and raised one eyebrow. "Well, this isn't at all creepy," he said. The midnight sky, the calls of some sort of bird, and to add one more thing to the load of creepiness a fog had fallen over the place.
"Yeah, no kidding," Gwen muttered.
"I'm scanning over the area for any other heat signatures," Peni informed them, typing something on her screen inside of SP/dr. "I'm not picking anything up. There isn't anyone here but us."
"So, we can leave then?" Ham asked hopefully.
"I guess so. I can report back to my dad," Miles said. He began to walk the other direction when his spider-sense went off again, stronger than it had been all day. Panic seized him when he felt someone grab him by the back of his suit and yank him backward, keeping an arm firmly around his neck. He tried to struggle, but it was no use.
"No one takes another step."
That's when Miles' heart fell and all the pieces fell together. The reason why Noir had seemed off. The reason his spider-sense had been warning him. That was Noir's voice. Noir was attacking him. Noir was betraying the team.
Peni Parker had trusted all of her friends. She trusted them with secrets, information, anything. She trusted them with her life. So when she saw Noir grab Miles and wrap an arm around him, she could feel her trust crumbling.
"No one takes another step."
No, no, no! Noir was supposed to be her friend. He was supposed to be someone she could confide in, someone she could trust. He was supposed to take care of her. She had begun to think of him more than just her friend, but... as a father figure. She had already lost one dad, she couldn't lose another. She had to know why he was doing this. She had to know why he was hurting them.
The last thing Peni expected was for Noir to pull out the gun.
Miles tried to escape from Noir, but his grip was too tight, too strong. Somehow, he had to get away. He listed ideas through his mind, trying to think of a solution. He could try to use his webs to pull a rock into his hand and bash it on Noir, but then he would end up hurting his... friend? He wasn't sure anymore. Friends don't do this to each other.
Maybe... maybe it was a prank! But judging from the others expressions, it definitely was not.
Then Miles saw Noir pull out his revolver and press it against his head and panic clutched his heart in its claws. He barely heard the next sentence that came out of Noir's mouth.
Flashbacks of his Uncle Aaron's death came back to him. The ear-splitting BLAM of the gun, Uncle Aaron falling backward, Kingpin pointing the gun at his uncle, Miles taking Uncle Aaron away from that place. The life leaving his uncle's body. Aaron Davis' last words.
You're the best of all of us Miles, you're on your way. Just... just keep going.
Miles couldn't handle it. He couldn't handle it. Fear was running through his veins, causing him to hyperventilate. He could feel tears begin to well up in his eyes, covered up by his mask. However, It was easy to see he was crying. You didn't have to be an empath to see that.
Miles had to find out how to get out.
Peter-but-not-Peter was walking alongside his team, right behind Miles. While he was walking, the thought -or well, command- came into his mind. He wanted to stop himself, but he couldn't. Any willpower he had left was slowly fading away and he wasn't sure how much longer he would still be there.
He tried to seize control of his arm as it grabbed Miles, but it was no use. The mind control serum was too powerful. He couldn't break free.
"No one takes another step." He heard himself say the words, but at the same time, they sounded far away, like he was underwater.
"Noir, what the heck are you doing?" The angry, confused voice of Peter B. reached his ears. This isn't me, he wanted to say. I'd never hurt Miles.
And Peni's face. Sweet, little Peni. The look on her face was sure to haunt him for forever. The heartbreak, the betrayal. She had to know that he would never willingly do this, right? If she did, she showed no sign of showing it. Her SP/dr mech took a step away from him.
Horrified, he realized he was taking out his revolver and was pointing it at Miles' head. Shock and fear replaced the anger and confusion on his friends' faces. "Nobody move or else the kid is a goner." He wondered, could they see how his hand was trembling? The only reason for that was that he was trying to let go of the gun so he could drop it. And maybe, for a split second, he could feel his grip on it loosen. Then it tightened again, maybe even holding it tighter than before.
To make himself feel even worse, he could hear Miles' sobs, which was crushing his heart. Miles said that his uncle had died and he'd been there when it had happened. Oh man, had his uncle been shot? The kid probably had some sort of PTSD from that. That was one of the reasons he was freaking out so much.
Suddenly, he felt his spider-sense activate and he turned around, seeing a portal open up. It was just like the ones that always brought them all here in the first place. Then, a Spider-Man with a dark blue suit with a red spider-emblem emerged from the portal and kicked him square in the face and he lost his grip on Miles.
Another Spider-Man had arrived.
Lyla's hologram popped up beside Miguel. "Uh Miguel, you may want to see this," she said and pulled up a large screen that showed the Spider-Gang walking in a village of warehouses when all of a sudden Noir grabbed Miles and pointed a gun at the kids' head.
"No," Miguel muttered, quickening his pace. "Is the goober ready now?"
Lyla nodded. "Yes, it is," she said, her tone furious. She handed it over to him and he opened the portal up. She never even bothered to correct him on the name.
Taking a few steps back, Miguel began to run towards it and he jumped into it and was beginning to aim his kick. Please, please let him not be too late.
Noir crumpled to the ground, unconscious from the harsh kick to he had received. Miles had stumbled over to Peter, who had a hand on his shoulder and kept trying to calm him down. Peni scrambled out of SP/dr and cautiously approached Noir. Ham was by her side.
Gwen was the only one who was looking at the strange new Spider-Man who had rescued Miles. "Thanks, but who exactly are you?" She asked him. He turned his head toward her.
"My name is Miguel O'Hara and I'm from the year 2099," he responded. "I need you all to come with me and I can explain what happened. Bring the body," he said and jumped back into the portal. The others shared a glance before reluctantly following. SP/dr grabbed Noir before going in.
Once they were all in, Peter asked the question. "Okay, you gotta tell us what's going on."
Miguel pulled up six different screens, which almost seemed like security cameras. "When your friend went into the wreckage of the Collider, he met Olivia Octavius."
"Yeah, we've met," Peter said.
"Anyways, she took him hostage and used a mind control serum on him, forcing him to do all of these things. None of it is his fault," Miguel finished.
"Then we need to help him!" Peni exclaimed.
Miguel nodded "I know. My assistant Lyla is trying to figure out a way right now, but it may take her a while," he said.
That's when Lyla appeared next to them. "A while? I'd like to see you do better," she retorted. "I'm faster than you'll ever be!"
He sighed. "Just keep working on it. Please?" He added.
"Only because you used the magic word. I'll let you know if I figure something out."