Hello friends!
Welcome to the third chapter of Spider-Verse: Life We Never Had.
Hope you enjoy and now story time.
Alright, people. Let's start at the beginning one last time.
My name is Gwen Stacy. I was bitten by a radioactive spider. And for the last four years, I've been the one and only Spider-Woman.
You guys know the rest.
I joined a band. Saved my dad. I couldn't save my best friend and... him. So now I save everyone else. And I don't do friends anymore, just to avoid any distractions.
One day this weird thing happened, and I mean like really weird. I was blown into last week. Literally. I landed in New York, but not my New York.
My Spider-sense told me to head to Visions Academy. I wasn't sure why, until I met you.
Gwen had joined the trio of Spider's on the bus back to the city where she told a bit of her origin story to what had happened when she arrived from her dimension into this one.
"I like your haircut." Miles said sitting next to her by the window.
"You don't get to like my haircut." Gwen said annoyed at what had happened at Vision High. She looked over her seat to stare at Aiden, still wearing his mask, sitting a few seats back next to a window.
For a moment, their eyes met but he quickly returned to look out of the window.
"The Spider in red and black." Gwen said still looking at him, "What's up with him?"
"Aiden? Probably thinking of our next move." Miles said looking over his seat himself, "He has been showing me the ropes about this whole Spider thing."
"Aiden?" Gwen said her blue eyes widening as she turned back to look at him, "Aiden Arclight?"
"Oh, you already know him?" Miles said surprised, "T-That's cool."
"I knew a Aiden." she said, standing up from her seat and walked towards the back of the bus.
"What happened between those two?" Miles said, looking over his seat.
"I don't know." Peter said to Miles from his seat after Gwen walked past him, "But it definitely wasn't good."
Standing at the back of the bus where Aiden was still looking out of the window at the passing landscape. "Hey." she said.
"Oh, hey." he said looking from the window to her, "Thanks for the help back with Doc Ock."
"Your welcome, Aiden." she said much to his shock as she sat down.
He moved his hands and removed his mask, but avoided looking her in the eyes, looking somewhere over her shoulder, "So you know." he said.
"You look older." she said.
"You still look the same..." Aiden said, "Except your hair used to be longer."
"A little incident with Miles." Gwen said rubbing a hand through her blonde hair, "So I guess there is a Gwen Stacy in your dimension?"
"Yeah..." he said turning to look out the window, "Best girl I ever met."
It was during Aiden's High School years, the day after the school trip which resulted in him being bitten by the Spider.
"Come on, Pete..." Aiden muttered, looking at his wrist where he had shot a spider like web out of as he walked passed other students, "Where are you?"
He needed to confine into someone and if anyone could make sense of his strange things that was happening to him, it would be his super smart best friend.
Down where there lockers were, Aiden noticed a crowd of students forming. Pushing his way through until he reached the center of the crowd.
He found Peter laid out on the floor, his glasses knocked off his face by Flash. A new student, a black headband with long blond hair was standing between them.
"...It was just an accident." the headbanded girl said.
"My fist breaking your teeth, new girl." Flash said, "That's the accident!"
Flash attempted to slug her, but it was Aiden's new reflexes and strength that allowed him to react fast enough to catch his arm. Flash let out a scream of pain under strain of Aiden's grip.
"Your seriously going to hit the new girl?" Aiden said, "That's low even for you Flash." releasing his grip on his arm.
Which turned out to be a mistake as Flash adopted a fighting pose. "Come on..." Aiden said annoyed, "I don't want to fight you Flash."
"I wouldn't want to fight me neither, freak." Flash said as he began to swing wildly at Aiden, who simply evaded using his new spider reflexes all the while Peter smiled amazed at his best friend.
Flash rushed at him which was countered by Aiden doing a backflip over him, making Flash run straight into a locker.
"That was amazing." Peter said, standing next to his friend as the crowd began to disparage.
"It was spectacular." the girl said, handing Peter his glasses, "Nicely done."
"Oh, thanks." Aiden said a bit embarrassed that an attractive girl would compliment him, "I'm A-A-Aiden."
"Well A-A-Aiden." she said with a grin, "I'm Gwen Stacy."
Back in the present, Aiden smiled at the memory of the first meeting he had of his Gwen.
"...I'm just going to ask." Aiden said still looking out of the window, "Can I assume there is an Aiden Arclight in your dimension?"
"Yeah..." Gwen said with a small smile, "But you weren't Spider-Man."
"Oh." he said surprised, "But we were friend, right?"
"The best." she said with a slight chuckle, "Maybe something more..."
That evening, the Spider's had arrived in the suburbs in Queens, standing at the front of this Dimensions Aunt May, where many flowers were laid in tribute to the fallen Spider-Man.
"Bad idea." Peter said slightly panicked, "This is a bad idea."
"Peter, we're literally on the doorstep." Gwen said stopping him from turning away, "Just relax."
Peter let out a very deep sigh, before extending his frist and shooting a web lazily at the doorbell. The four of them waited a few moments before a voice came from behind the front door.
"You guys are all very sweet, but no more fans today, please. I'm not ready for this." before the door opened to reveal this dimensions Aunt May.
"Peter?" she said, realizing who stood there.
"Hey, Aunt May." Peter said as his disbelieving aunt walked towards him, "So this is gonna sound crazy, but I'm pretty sure that I'm from an..."
"An alternate dimension. Yeah." she said, holding his face, "You look tired, Peter."
"Well, I am tired..." Peter admitted.
"And older. And thicker." Aunt May continued, "Oh, jeez. Are those sweatpants?"
"I was there, when it all happened." Miles said, getting the attention from Aunt May, "I am so sorry."
"And what dimension are you from?" Aunt May said.
"Brooklyn." the young boy said.
"Aunt... I mean Mrs. Parker." Aiden said, correcting himself as he stepped forward, "Did Peter have a place where we could make another one of these?" he showed her the broken goober.
"A goober. Follow me." Aunt May said with a nod, gesturing to them to follow her, "And you can just call me Aunt May, Aiden."
The Spider's follow Aunt May around the house and into the back garden where she led them to the small shed.
"Oh, yeah, I got one of these, too." Peter said, "A little, old shed where I keep my Spider gear."
With a key, Aunt May unlocks it. The shed lights up, and the doors open to reveal an elevator, they all step inside.
"I mean..." Peter said, "This place is pretentious."
They descend down into a massive underground Spider lair with various costumes, vehicles and weapons.
"Dude." Miles said impressed, "Was yours anything like this?"
"Mine was like this, but take away the jeep, the plane. Imagine it way smaller. Imagine a futon. I feel sad for this guy." Peter said as they reached the ground floor and stepped off it, "Aiden, your extra power is being rich, do you have anything like this?"
"Got a Spider Lair in my penthouse apartment, and a secret science division down at the office." Aiden said casually, gesturing up, "I actually had a jeep like that, crashed it after the only test drive with Johnny Storm. Sue got so angry at us."
"If your done gawking around, you might need these." Aunt May said, handing them name tags and markers, "Do you think you're the only people who thought to come here?"
They look up at the ceiling to see three more Spider people hanging from it.
"Hey, fellas." a male Spider said wearing a trenchcoat and completely monochrome.
"Is he in black and white?" Miles said.
"Thank God." Aiden said, "Thought I was the only one who saw that."
"Where is that wind coming from?" Peter said, "We're in a basement."
"Wherever I go, the wind follows." Spider Noir said, "And the wind smells like rain."
"Hi, guys." a smaller girl in a school uniform jumped from the ceiling, "Konnichiwa." and she landed on a spherical spider shaped robot.
"Aisatsu." Aiden said with a wave.
"You speak Japanese?" the girl said surprised.
"A little bit." he said with a slight chuckle, "My Japanese is very basic."
"Of course he can." Peter said, "This could literally not get any weirder."
Aiden's eyes widen in disbelieve when he looked to the side, "...I believe it can." he said, pointing at a cartoon spider pig.
The pig offers his hand, which is dripping wet, "I just washed my hand, that's why they're wet." he said, "No other reason."
They all look at each other and gasp in realization as their Spider Sense went off.
"You're like me." all the Spider-People said at once.
"My name is Peter Parker." Spider Noir said, "In my universe, it's 1933, and I'm a private eye. I like to drink egg creams, and I like to fight Nazis, a lot."
"My name is Peni Parker." Peni introduced herself, "I'm from New York in the year 3145. I have a psychic link with a spider who lives inside my father's robot. And we're best friends, forever."
"My name is Peter Porker." Porker said, "I'm a photographer for the Daily Beagle. When I'm not pooching around, I'm working like a dog, trying to sniff out the latest story. I frolic and I dance, and I do this with my pants, and my..."
"Okay, enough backstory." Aiden said, taking the lead again, "We're all trying the same, find a way home. The only way is back through that collider. We got the blueprints of it. The only problem, is one of us has to stay behind and destroy it. And..."
At once, every Spider said at once, "I'll do it."
"No, no, no." Miles said at once, "You guys don't get it."
"Don't get what?" Peni said.
"None of you can stay here. If you stay here, you'll die. I'm the guy who's gonna turn it off." Miles said, "And I'm gonna get you all home before I do. Look, I made a promise. So I have to keep it."
"...Who are you again?" Spider Noir said.
"This is Miles Morales also known as Spider-Boy." Aiden said standing next to him, "And he's going to save the Spider-verse."
"Yeah, man." Miles said, still a bit annoyed to be referred to as Spider-Boy.
"This kid can turn himself invisible." Peter said standing on the other side of Miles, "Watch this. He can do it, now."
"I can't do it on command." Miles muttered.
"He can't do it on command." Peter said with the same energy as he used to tell that Miles can become invisible, "But it is cool. Show them the zappy thing, Miles."
"...Can't do it on command." Miles said, looking at his hand.
"Okay, he can't do it on command." Aiden said, "But I've seen him in action. He's got potential. I think he's going to get us home."
"Okay, little fella, Osborn's going to send a lot of mugs after ya." Spider Noir began as he and the other Spiders not Aiden or Peter walked up to him, "And I'm talking hard boys, real biscuit boxers. Can you fight them all off at once?"
"Well, uh, I haven't actually fought anyone." Miles said, "Aiden did most of the..."
"Surprise attack!" Spider Noir shouted, suddenly doing a low swipe to kick Miles down.
"Can you rewire a mainframe while being shot at?" Peni said as Miles crawled back to his feet.
"Can I what?" Miles said confused.
"Show me!" Peni shouted, holding up a datapad.
Spider Noir knocks him down again, "Surprise attack!" he shouted as Peni asked her question again.
"Can you swing and flip with the grace of a trained dancer?" Gwen said as Miles got back to his feet.
"Can you close off your feelings so you don't get crippled by the moral ambiguity of your violent actions?" Spider Noir said before knocking Miles down again.
"Can you rewire a mainframe while four tentacles try to penetrate your every hole?" Peni said.
"Can you help your aunt create an online dating profile?" Aunt May said suddenly holding up her phone, "So she can get out of the dang house once in a while?"
"Can you float through the air when you smell a delicious pie?" Porker said as Miles get kicked down again.
"Can you be strong?" Gwen said, "Disciplined?"
"Ruthless?" Peni said, "Psychic?"
"I-I don't know." Miles muttered getting back to his feet, "Maybe?"
"Show me some moxie, soldier!" Spider Noir said.
"Above all, no matter how many times you get hit." Gwen said as she knock him back down, "Can you get back up?"
"Because when a Spider-Man is on the floor..." Spider Noir said, knocking down Miles again, "When you think you've given your all..."
"Okay." Aiden said, trying to calm everyone down, "That's enough."
"When you think you can't keep going..." Porker said, hitting him as he got to his knees.
"A Spider-Man always gets up." Spider Noir said as they keep knocking Miles to the floor.
"I said that's ENOUGH!" Aiden yelled with a forward leap, he landed in front of Miles.
In quick succession, he kicked Spider Noir back as he threw a back handed punch to Porker. He pushed Peni back into her robot and his fist remained inches from Gwen's face.
"That's. Enough." Aiden panting from anger as he lowered his fist, he turned around and helped Miles into a sitting position.
Giving Miles an apologetic look before Aiden joined the other Spiders huddle together a little distance away from where Miles was sitting.
"You need to be more honest with yourself about this." Gwen said, "He's not ready. It's obvious."
"There's no way." Spider Noir said, "He's just a kid."
"If he can't do this." Aiden said, looking to the ground, "We have to stay and do it for him."
"He's looking right at us while we talk about him." Peni said and they turn to look at Miles.
But Miles had turned invisible as he stood on the elevator platform, which began to rise.
"You see that?" Peter said, "He can, um, he can turn invisible."
"Your all a bunch of jerks!" Aiden said turning to the others, "He has been bitten just two days ago! How long did it take for you to figure out how your powers worked?" he shoot a web upwards and he left the others Spiders behind as he went to look for Miles.
The night had fallen and Miles was sitting on a roof down close to his uncle's apartment. His legs swinging of the edge, the mask down from his costume as he looked down to the streets below as the words of the others rang through his head.
"Miles!"
The young boy looked up to see Aiden touch down on the roof next to him.
"The others asked me to go after you." Aiden said concerned, "They felt bad about snapping at you."
"Really?" Miles said.
"...You do have sarcasm in this dimension, right?" Aiden said with a small smile, "How are you feeling?"
"When I got Spider powers. I never expected that I would have to save New York this soon... Let alone the Spider-verse..." Miles said, "I know that makes me sound like a jerk."
"It doesn't." Aiden said shaking his head, "Being a hero is a hard path."
The older Spider sat down next to the younger one, taking his mask off as he did.
"You see things, you do things, make choices. Even though you try so hard, even if you push yourself beyond what your capable of, even when you win... sometimes people still die." Aiden said, imparting his own sort of wisdom of being a hero, "I like you, Miles. I know how hard this is, to have to figure this stuff out on your own... Part of me wants me to tell you to turn around, walk away from all this... But when I think what we're about to face, what's at stake. I would be glad to have you along."
Aiden stood up as Miles looked at him, "You have potential Miles, a spark." he said shooting a web, "You remind me of myself, eleven years ago. Minus the charisma." and with that he shot a web and swung away back to the Parker Residence.
And that's chapter three, hope you enjoy.
Many thanks to everyone who read, review, favorite or follows this story, you beauties.
If you enjoy my work, don't forget to leave a review and I hope you'll have a fantastic day and I'll see you ladies and gents next time.