A/N: Alright, welcome everyone! Obviously I'm not dead but believe me, it's a tough time for me to even find a half hour to write anything. Other stories of mine in progress ARE only on hiatus until I get out of my writer's block for them all. In the meantime, here's my latest and most concentrated on story! Before we go on, however, I must stress the important details. THIS story is in an alternate dimension, as explained, to our most familiar Earth 616. Born out of the Spider-Verse comic event and created as a replacement universe of sorts by Cindy Moon AKA Silk, this universe functions somewhat similarly to Miles' own from Into the Spider-Verse where Spider-man is technically chronicled as a comic, but under a different name. That is not brought up in this chapter, though. Expect to see many parallels with not just Spidey but the Marvel universe as a whole, but mostly Spidey as Marvel references will be either easter eggs or just that, references. Also some Spider-Verse elements thrown in as well because the idea for this story was born literally out of my buying and reading the entire Spider-Verse comic line. Chapter One itself will be ready as soon as I can manage. Working 12 hour shifts at 711 even with a dead store can only leave so much time to write.

Prologue

The Bitten

Meteor Heights, my home town. It's a big city, and there's always some kind of crime going on, the MHPD can only keep up with so much, that is until the advent of the superheroes and villains. Meteor Heights has only a few superheroes while the villain count steadily rises year to year. The most popular hero is also the first one to make their scene in the city, fighting common thugs and non-powered thieves and their ilk. This hero was dubbed, by the citizens of Meteor Heights, as the Amazing Arachnid. He may be young, but his indomitable will has kept him ahead of the growing villain community since he first showed up three years ago. How do I know so much about the Arachnid? Because I am him.

My name is Nick Negron, I'm twenty-four years old and I fight superpowered clowns like Voltz, Poisana and Pantera. Voltz, if his name didn't seem obvious enough, has powers over electricity and can send shocks upwards of 15,000 volts at whom he deems an enemy. Then Poisana's blood was infused with some kind of toxin, making her able to poison anyone who comes into contact with the lethal breaths she takes. Pantera is an enigma, even in the villain world. As silly as it may sound, she is hot. And, despite being called a villain, she also has her moments of having a conscience, helping me out here and there. She doesn't exactly have powers, per se, but instead has uncanny luck that can allow her to do things people usually couldn't. I think it comes from an amulet. Fortunately for me, her powers don't work on me due to my own heightened senses and abilities.

Of course, there are many more villains that I've fought in my three years of crime fighting, but they'll come up later. The mystery of being a spider-based hero is that we can sense each other when we're near one another. Unfortunately, if there's a precise way to locate each other, I haven't figured it out. There is one other Arachnid around, but they haven't made themselves known, making me wonder why. I have only told one person about the.. Changes.. I've gone through, and that's my best friend Elliot Tate. When I got my powers, we did hang out with a third person, my old crush Rhonda Montero. But, soon after my powers started manifesting, she disappeared from mine and Elliot's lives.

You might be wondering how exactly I got my powers, right? Well it's not a hard story to figure out. College trip to a tech company in Northern Meteor Heights called Sephirii Global. They make pretty much everything but supposedly have a very, very dark side to them. We had been walking through a lab where they had fish tanks full of spiders the scientists had engineered to have webbing with the strength of industrial steel beams, and I noticed the count for one of the tanks was off by one, to which I asked the scientist in charge if that was supposed to be like that, but they looked at me in confusion.

That was when the escaped spider came down on its thread and bit me right in the back of the neck behind the collar of my windbreaker jacket. When I swatted the little shit away, I only felt a sting from the bite that went away quickly enough that I just counted it as crap luck. The rest of the day went fine enough, but then a couple days later was when my powers started manifesting and Rhonda was suddenly gone.

Three Years Earlier..

Nick swatted the genetically-engineered spider away from his neck, giving a short intake of breath as the stinging pain hit him. Rhonda stood just a few feet away, watching the spiders in another one of the tanks as they went about their business. The spider from before, having thrown a web as Nick swatted it away from him, landed right on Rhonda's neck, deciding to try its luck as the small fangs penetrated the girl's skin. "Ow, shit!" She said, slapping the spider dead as it fell from her neck and fell to the floor. Seeing Elliot and Nick walking off with the rest of the group, she followed suit.

The next day at school, Rhonda started noticing some changes with herself, starting with how she was around the boys, Nick especially. She had sat next to Nick, but she could tell something was wrong with herself. She wanted to be closer to him, by any and all definitions of the word. She had to shake her head and take a deep breath before she suddenly gained a splitting headache. Going to the nursing building of Meteor Heights University, she found she had a fever and had the head nurse notify her other professors about her fever, sending Rhonda home.

Rhonda got worse that night, her mind running wild. The feeling she had had around Nick, about wanting to be closer to him, had turned even worse in her dreams. As close as she could get, she wanted more, she needed more. But then, waking up the next morning, she packed a bag, made a call on her cellphone and sighed before leaving the dorm room she had been in for the two months since classes had started. "I'm sorry, Nick. I can't risk being around you like this."

Meanwhile, The Day Rhonda Left..

Nick walked out of his dorm room and waved to Elliot, who motioned for his best friend to come over to him. Coming over, Elliot just looked at him. "I just got a call from Rhonda's dorm RA. Nick, Rhonda dropped out and left campus, no one knows where or why she left."

Nick clenched his fists and, instead of possibly blowing up at Elliot, ran as fast as he could straight to Rhonda's dorm, thinking there might be some clue there. As he burst in through the door, he found that Rhonda hadn't left much in the way of anything other than what she couldn't bring in her luggage bags. But, something glimmered in the corner of Nick's eye. Walking over, he picked up Rhonda's necklace, the small heart-shaped pendant with a sapphire stone consisting half of the heart. Nick had bought it for her himself, the most expensive birthday gift he had ever gotten someone. Pocketing it, Nick shambled back out of the dorm room, saddened by his friends' disappearance. That night was when he had a fever similar to the one Rhonda had the night before, and the next days afterward had him learning he had the abilities of a spider, and superhuman strength and senses.

Present Day..

Nick threw his hand out as he free fell from the skyscrapers in downtown Meteor Heights. A thin yet inhumanly strong thread of webbing shot out of his wrist and attached itself to the side of the building on his right. Swinging his feet out in front of him, he twisted his body and Nick turned down Grimble Avenue. He wasn't in a rush, but he had heard from Elliot- via police scanner- that a robbery was taking place at the Meteor Heights First National Bank.

"Another day, another stupid petty crime to stop. It's better than having to deal with Voltz or Tremor, though. I would rather not have to repair this suit again. That reminds me," He said to himself as he soared between buildings to his destination. "I wonder if he made any headway with that new suit he was talking about making a while back?" Suddenly, he had a strange feeling that caused him to look around in confusion. "Again? God damn it, where is this other Spider? Why don't they just show themselves so I'm not confused as hell about why a second Arachnid is around when I was the only one bitten by that science experiment at Sephirii Global. Wasn't I? It died after it bit me." Shaking his head, he continued on his way.

A figure dressed in a dark hoodie watched the Arachnid swing around on his way to the bank. They had heard everything, and the figure hung their head in sadness. "I'm sorry, Nick. I can't be around you, it would be the end of everything our friendship stood for. And, obviously you haven't noticed the effect our powers have on our hormones. It's better that way, though. Then you can keep fighting the good fight and I can stay in the shadows until I'm ready to face your wrath about leaving." With that, Rhonda Montero threw her own webbing out, swinging away in the opposite direction as Nick, ignoring the pull her powers made toward her former best friend. One that had only gotten stronger over the last three years.

Meteor Heights First National Bank..

Nick was currently hanging a foot or two off the ceiling, suspended by his webbing. He watched the three armed robbers walk around, guarding the fourth member who was filling bags inside the vault. He knew this because, another aspect of his powers, he could change the frequency of his sight to allow for thermal vision, something that had really surprised him during his early days. "Now, who do I go for first?" He asked himself, figuring his options for taking them all down. Once he had a plan, he dropped down behind one, throwing globs of webbing at the man, stopping him in his tracks and then adding another as he covered his mouth, silencing him while disarming the robber.

The other two guards were just as simple to take down, leaving Nick able to sneak into the vault using the ceiling. He crept closer to the thief. Like a spider to a fly. He thought to himself in a sort of creepy voice. Suddenly, he felt a shock and fell from the ceiling, narrowly missing the landing on the floor as the robber laughed, making Nick curse himself. "Sometimes, it really is too easy to catch a Spider, isn't it?" Turning around, the man revealed himself as Voltz.

"Shit, Volty, that hurts you know. I thought you didn't care for hiring common thugs, what with your powers." Nick smirked behind his mask. "It did wake me up, though. Now I won't be half asleep at work."

Voltz grimaced. "Don't you ever shut up with the witty remarks?" He half-shouted, Nick's words getting to him as Nick usually did.

"What's the fun in being quiet? Then you can't rattle your enemies. Like you are right now." He dodged a shot of lightning from the villain. "Come on, now. You never learn." He threw webbing and encased Voltz. "Now, enough with this, let's get you and the hired help to the precinct."

As he walked out of the bank, dragging four people encased in his webbing, the small amount of patrons cheered for their main superhero. "All in a day's work for your friendly neighborhood Arachnid." He saluted the people before swinging away to leave the theives on the police's doorstep.

Meanwhile, Nick and Elliot's Apartment, Upper Meteor Heights..

"Seriously? Nick wasn't the only one bitten? Why didn't you just come tell us, Ro?" Elliot almost yelled while sitting at the desk in the living room of the small apartment.

Rhonda sat on the couch, holding a sweatshirt of Nick's close to her chest. "I couldn't, El! I still can't," Elliot could tell she was about to cry. "Because of these powers, I can't be close to Nick. This.. Lust, I guess.. Is too strong to allow me to be close to him. I had to leave, it was for the best."

"You really think I'm stupid, Ro? I knew even before this whole situation you and him had eyes for each other, so why do you decide that when you feel that way in general and have the chance to make you both happy, you ran away?"

"Because he has that girl, Sayia or whatever her name is," Elliot raised his eyebrows. "I watch him, okay? It's the only way I can stay away but be close."

"You're talking about Sarina Zavid, but those two only had a fling. A couple months, then they broke up. Simple as that."

"Well then why, since I can use my sensory abilities to locate Nick, is he at her apartment now after he took care of the bank robbery?" Now Elliot could see the tears, and he scowled.

"Oh, he is in for it then. Rhonda, I'm sorry these powers have changed you like this, really I am. Nick has truly never been the same since you left, I almost couldn't convince him not to drop out.."

Meanwhile, Across Town..

Nick opened the window of the Oaksdale Street apartment and slipped in, only to find himself embraced by a pair of slender arms that pulled his mask off and kissed him. "Hello, lover." Said twenty-four year old Sarina Zavid. "I was wondering when you were going to show up."

"Sorry I'm late, Rina. Had a bank robbery to stop. Kind of thought it was you." He chuckled.

Sarina giggled. "No, I don't do banks, Arachnid. You should know that."

"Yeah, yeah, Pantera. You're just lucky I let you stay out of jail."

Sarina pouted. "And here I thought you were going to stop using that against me." She said before kissing him again, pulling at his suit. "Take this off." She half-whined.

An Hour Later, Nick and Elliot's..

Rhonda had calmed down and was now just sitting, Elliot continuing his work on the computer. "You do know that Sarina is who you guys have been calling Pantera, right?"

Elliot turned, a look of shock on his face. "What?!" He yelled. "Are you sure?"

Rhonda nodded. "Weren't you listening when I told you I was watching Nick since I 'left'? I know everything about Nick's villains that you do, more so apparently."

"What's going on?" Nick's voice came as he came in through the open window, pulling his mask off. "Who knows more about my villains than you?" Suddenly, his sensing ability towards the other Spiders going into overdrive. Turning, he noticed Rhonda. "R-rhonda?"

Rhonda's eyes widened like a deer in headlights. She opened her mouth to speak, but nothing would come out, so Elliot took over. "When were you going to tell me that not only are you still seeing Sarina, but that she is Pantera?" He said in a tone Nick rarely heard, but knew it meant he fucked up.

He sighed. "Well, it wouldn't look good to see a superhero dating who should be a villain, would it? Why do you think I told you we broke up?"

"Well I thought it was because you realized she didn't want you like that."

Nick shook his head. "I was looking out for you."

Elliot scoffed at his bestr friend. "Nah, you just wanted to keep a secret you thought would keep her safe. I know how you are, Nick, but I had to hear that little fact from Rhonda, of all people."

"That's another thing," Nick turned to the friend who had left three years earlier, realizing she was the origin point of his Other Sense. "Why are you even here? And why is my Other Sense going so crazy?"

Rhonda smirked, a hurt expression on her face. "You really don't know yet? Damn it, I knew you wouldn't have a clue, like always. God, Nick you're so fucking stupid! I don't know why I came and even showed myself to Elliot. Goodbye." And with that, Rhonda launched herself out the window, Nick only watching as she saved herself from the otherwise certain death by a webbing exactly like his own.

He looked at Elliot. "She knows a lot more about this than you do, and I mean your powers. She came to talk to you about everything, so I think you should go after her. You and I can talk later." Sighing but nodding, Nick pulled his mask back over his face and launched himself out of the window, following his sense to find Rhonda.

Meanwhile, Elliot made a call. "Hey, you have a lot of explaining to do, Sarina. What the serious fuck?!"

Nick found Rhonda on the roof garden of a hotel a few blocks away. Swinging up and onto the roof, he saw Rhonda stiffen. "Ro, I.."

"No, Nick. I don't know why I came back. This was a mistake, thinking you would have actually tried to figure out all your new powers and shit. Instead I come back three months ago, and learn you're sleeping with your own villain?! I.. I don't know what else to do."

"Three months? No wonder that sense has been going haywire lately. Rhonda, can we just talk? We need to. Elliot said you knew more.. About our powers." Nick didn't know how to express the happiness he felt at even having Rhonda back in town.

"Do we? I may know more but that doesn't mean I actually know a lot. I know the reason why you know I'm around at all times, though, and that's what has me so fucking depressed about this whole thing! We are literally agents of an ancient, extradimensional being, and you know absolutely nothing about the truths of who- what- we are."

"Then enlighten me! You don't think I didn't miss you, Rhonda?! I was miserable without you here. You, Elliot and I were the three musketeers."

The girl scoffed. "Oh, yeah, and that's why you apparently moved on from me to a girl who fucking robs people?!"

"Sarina is complicated, Rhonda! She isn't like my other villains. In fact, she helps me more often than not. And why wouldn't I move on? She showed me she cared even before I knew she was Pantera, which is more than I can say for the friend who abandoned us!"

Rhonda half-screamed, a blast of webbing shooting past Nick and attaching itself to the nearest wall in her rage. "I had to, Nick! If I hadn't, it would have ruined the both of us."

Nick sat down on a set of vents. "Rhonda, what's really going on? Whether or not it would have ruined us is beside the point. Here," He tossed something to her. "I always keep it on me. It was the only way to remember you after you left."

Rhonda picked up the item and her sobbing got even worse. "You.. You kept it?" She said, holding the birthday pendant to her chest.

"Why wouldn't I? I spent almost four hundred dollars on you for that necklace, I wasn't about to leave it in your dorm after you left. I loved you, Rhonda, was it really that hard to tell?"

Rhonda let out a choked laugh. "Is that rhetorical? You were always the oblivious one, Nick, even with our Spider powers."

"And that's the other thing that's been eating at me. What do you know that I don't about all of this? It's not like you could go ask another person with the same abilities, we're the only two. Aren't we?"

Rhonda shook her head. "Maybe the only active Spiders here. These powers, Nick, they.. They transcend the dimensional barrier. There is an infinite amount of universes out there, each with their own Spider Avatars as they call them. I haven't been, but the man I learned all this from has.

"His name was Ben Parker. He was a little older than us when I saw him, but he's actually much older in the relative physics outlook. He's an alternate universe's child of a Spider Avatar, so he inherited his powers just like his older sister Mayday had. Apparently, when Ben was a baby, some family of extra dimensional vampires started killing off Avatars of the Spider. This universe, according to Ben, created itself after that event to replace one of the many realities that collapsed as these vampiric beings rampaged, sucking the life force and power from the Spiders. But, there's something even more.. Special.. To our reality.

"The man who ultimately united the Avatars, Peter Parker who was the focal point of all the Spiders, was one of three mentioned in a prophecy by a being known as the Master Weaver. He was known as the Spider. Then, there was the Bride, and the third was known as the Other. Now, supposedly, the Master Weaver repaired the then broken strands of the Great Web by using bits of strand from other realities. Ours branches off of the original Peter Parker's reality on Earth-616. Our reality is called Earth-616A. Because of the relationship between those two realities, ours has a new Spiders Three prophecy, but I haven't heard it yet myself.

"What I do know is that you were chosen to be the Spider, and that little shit that bit you? It bit me too, right after. That makes me the Bride, but I still don't really get the point of the names. The Other, however, is different than we are. They get their powers artificially, like a clone or something. At least, that's how it worked in 616. But, there is another major difference between us and that reality, and that is that you haven't met any of the big villains." Nick looked at her in shock. "Ben told me all about 616's Parker, and his enemies that he knew since most of them are also in his own reality. You haven't met any Symbiotes, no Goblins, no Hunters. Oddly, you've met our version of Electro, and Black Cat, who would be your little girlfriend."

Nick could only follow so much at a time, and he was starting to get overloaded with what Rhonda was explaining. "Wait, so this world we live in is only one of many?" Rhonda nodded. "And we're supposedly two of three members of a possibly reality-ending prophecy?" Another nod. "And I've only scratched the surface when it comes to my enemies, and that scratch is like a non-bleeding cut on your hand?" Another affirmative. "Jeez, Rhonda, way to make me realize just how small I am in the grand scheme of things."

"Nicky, don't you get it?! You have to start being completely serious about all this! There are enemies that have almost killed Earth-616's Spider multiple times, and they never give up. If you die, everything we all love will blink out of existence, and I sure as fuck don't want that."

"Rhonda, I understand that. Right now, it's just a lot to take in. Enough about the apocalypse, though. Now, please explain to me what you know that I don't about our powers."

Rhonda turned to Nick, tears still falling. She's still so beautiful. Nick thought, shaking the thought from his head as Rhonda giggled. "So it does still affect you," At his confused expression, she continued. "Our powers are, obviously, connected. Being the Spider and the Bride, we have that connection other Avatars don't necessarily have. We both have all of the same abilities, but I've developed some more than you have apparently, like hearing your thoughts about me just now. Don't give me that look, just listen because this has to do with why I left back then, as well. Now, I can also use our Other Sense as you call it to find other Spider Avatars. It's how I first found Ben. I realize you only know that I'm near you because you never thought to concentrate and figure it out. Then there's the reason I left, my hormones," Nick's face contorted into a confused expression. "The connection between the Spider and the Bride is one that abandons all other emotions in our psyches other than the most primal, or romantic if you look into it deeply enough. The day after we were both bitten, I started feeling the pull our hormones were creating, trying to get us together.

"As much as I regret never telling you how I felt back then, this is the thing I find most ironic. I always wanted you, but I was waiting for you to notice it. Then, enter these powers and I almost had an orgasm in my dorm just thinking about what to wear for the day, knowing I wanted it to be something you would like." She turned away, a crimson blush covering her cheeks as she recounted that day three years earlier. "I have to go."

Before Rhonda could stand, a pair of arms wrapped themselves around her. So strong. She thought as she looked up at Nick. "Please don't leave again. I've only just gotten you back." His voice pleaded with her, Rhonda's eyes shiny with fresh tears.

"I can't just stay, Nicky. What about Sarina? You have her, you don't need-"

"Don't you dare finish that sentence. Of course I need you. Even before all this power bullshit you were my best friend. Losing you once hurt enough, Ro. Please."

"Nick, don't say things like that. If I stay, I'm going to tear your relationship apart. You said it yourself, it's already complicated as it is. Us being this close is not good if you really care for her." She sobbed quietly.

Nick's grip only tightened on her. Now that he heard what she knew about their connection through their powers, he indeed noticed the pull that only wanted him to keep Rhonda close. "Rhonda.." He couldn't finish his sentence, fearing he was about to lose her for good if he let her go.

"Please, Nicky. If you don't let me get distance between us, I won't be able to hold myself back, and the consequences would only hurt the happiness you've found for yourself. I want to stay back with you and Elliot and have our old lives back, but I can't control this, no matter how much I try."

Suddenly, a soft thud marked someone else landing on the roof. "Nick?" Came Sarina's voice, which caused Rhonda to cry even worse.

Nick turned to his girlfriend. "Hey, Sarina. Something wrong?"

Sarina shook her head. "No. Elliot just told me you were around somewhere with her," She looked at Rhonda. "And asked me to make sure everything was okay. Should I be worried?" She hadn't meant to make it sound hostile, but the edge still came out in her voice.

Rhonda stood up then, breaking from Nick's hold and subconsciously throwing another glob of webbing. "No, you don't. If it was different circumstances, I would throw you off this building, see how long that luck of yours stays around."

Sarina sneered. "You wanna say that again?"

Nick had to stand between the two. "Girls, stop. Both of you are important to me, okay? I don't want either of you to leave, I'd be a horrible person if I made that choice. I may have to in the future, but right now there's no point. Sarina, I love you, and I know that helps you stop being a criminal, for the most part. Sexy as fuck criminal, but not the point. And Rhonda, you're still one of my best friends, these powers and circumstances be damned. We can repair the damage to that friendship if you stay, but there would be no chance if you up and leave again. Do I make myself clear?" There was a tone in Nick's voice that told both women he was both deadly serious and torn.

Sarina took a step back. "Yeah, Nicky, crystal. I'm not going to leave. I love you too much to."

Rhonda wouldn't speak in fear it could make things worse. "Fine, I'll stay. But if something happens I swear to God I'm telling you 'I told you so'."

Nick chuckled. "Fine, I'll take that. Alright, girls. Let's go back to Elliot. He's pissed off enough as it is with all three of us." Nodding, Sarina latched onto Nick as he threw webbing off to get back to the apartment. Rhonda sighed, releasing her own webbing and following the couple. I hope Nick has the same bad feeling I'm starting to have.

Sephirii Global, Sub-Basement Level 67..

Though incredibly fit for his forty years of age, Sephirii Global CEO Stephen Zephyr was winded as he descended the final staircase leading to his company's most secretive R&D laboratory. Entering the large space surrounded by several display cases filled with what the company was calling future tech for the United States military, he nodded as he saw his favorite item, a bat-shaped glider that flew and hovered using a small and highly volatile fusion generator floating mere feet from the ground. He personally also liked the.. Creature.. In the display next to the glider. It didn't look like much, until there was organic matter present around it. It had been discovered inside a meteorite a team of Sephirii scientists found frozen in the arctic.

The creature seemed to be some sort of parasite, taking over any living tissue it was exposed to, and the only thing it seemed afraid of were loud noises or fire. A beep was heard throughout the room. "Sir, the serum is ready to be tested. They're waiting for you in the lab."

"Thank you, Hugo. I'll be there momentarily." Stephen replied before making his way back towards the elevator to the testing level.

Back at Elliot and Nick's Apartment..

"How much more complicated can all of this really get?" Elliot asked as Rhonda finished explaining all she knew about her and Nick's powers.

"Seeing as how the most dangerous villain Nick has right now is actually her," Rhonda motioned toward Sarina. "Much, much more complicated. And if you don't truly take this all seriously, Nick could die and this whole reality could collapse in on itself." Elliot's eyes widened, but Sarina looked like she could, would, kill.

"How the fuck do you figure me as Nick's most dangerous villain?!" She all but shouted.

"Because, honey, you have his heart. Lucky for you, until something happens to ruin that. Then Nick is going to be the one who gets depressed and get himself killed because of his mental state."

"Oh? And you think being with Nick would be more beneficial for him? You already broke his heart. I was the one who picked up the damn pieces and brought him back to being happy after two years of being hung up on the best friend he loved who abandoned him."

"He could do so much better! You're technically a thief, a purported master thief. I wouldn't be surprised if that was because you yourself are a heartbreaker. Probably dated half of the football team at the same time in high school." Sarina had fire in her eyes, Elliot looked at Nick in fear.

Elliot mouthed 'stop them', but Nick shook his head. He was dense, but he knew not to mess with either of these women. He could only wait for the right moment.

"You wanna say that again? At least I didn't run away from my emotions like you did. Shit, if I had powers like yours and they caused me to realize my feelings as you've explained, I never would have ran away. Yeah, it might have made me uncomfortable, but at least I'd know the truth about my emotional state. You're sad, Rhonda. Even now, obviously still trying to get on Nick's dick."

Nick turned to Elliot and whispered. "Why don't you have popcorn? You love catfights."

"Fuck that. Either of them would rip me in half for making a joke out of their argument. I'll stay content to watch and see where this goes. But, if they start tearing each other's clothes off, I'm recording it."

"You're an idiot, you know that?" Nick turned back towards the women.

"You can have him! I gave up on that when I realized the connection me and him have now is extremely toxic. For both of us."

"Then what are you still doing here, then? You've been in town for three months practically stalking Nick, for what? Just to tell him you're a bitch in heat for him because of a fucking spider biting the both of you?! That's complete bullshit."

"What is your problem with me? Yes, I broke Nick three years ago. Yes, I feel absolutely fucking miserable about it. But, I did what I thought I had to do. This life.. The life of a Spider.. It's dangerous enough that love usually ends more tragic than you would think. I don't want Nick to get hurt. I still care, I just wasn't strong enough to face my fears." Rhonda looked at Nick. "I'm just gonna go.."

"Good riddance." Was Sarina's only reply.

"If you two are quite done, not for lack of looking sexy when you're both pissed," All heads turned to Nick. "Don't look at me like that. Either of you. I don't care what kind of jealousy bullshit you both have because of your feelings. Yes, Rhonda tore my heart into pieces, and yes Sarina put it back together. Deep down, however, Rhonda will always be special to me, as destructive as that could be. I am adamantly against being with her while with Sarina, and I'm in love with you so there's nothing to worry about. Now Rhonda, earlier you mentioned something about major villains. Who should I be watching out for the most?"

Rhonda sighed, knowing she wasn't going to get out of this. "In the original Earth-616, Peter Parker's most notorious and determined villain was a man named Norman Osborn, or as his villain persona, the Green Goblin. Osborn was the CEO of a big tech company called OsCorp, and mentally sane until they had developed a serum that was supposed to create supersoldiers. And it did work, but there were unforeseen consequences. Osborn became stronger and smarter, but the serum also triggered something in his mind, splintering it off to create the Goblin persona which made him increasingly unstable. After a while, there was no Norman Osborn anymore, and the Green Goblin was all that was left, his only goal to eliminate the Spider-Man, as Peter Parker calls himself. That's all Ben would tell me, saying that if we knew too much, reality would change since that's technically the future.."

Sephirii Global Test Lab 3..

Stephen Zephyr stood, strapped to the test table. His superiors had advised against testing the serum on himself, having not had it tested beforehand, but Stephen knew results came if you acted upon the opportunity more often than not. "Are we ready, Doctor?"

The head of Sephirii's lab, Doctor Ace Chacharia, nodded as he walked around the table, adjusting the IV line. "Yes, sir. Soon, if all goes well, you'll be feeling stronger than even the strongest of bodybuilders. I warn you, this is probably going to sting. Like a bitch."

Stephen chuckled. "Do it." Ace brought up a needle filled with a glowing blue liquid, injecting it into the IV line. Almost instantly, Stephen emitted an inhuman scream as the serum did it's job, the CEO's muscles rippling and expanding as his slender body gained an athletic look, complete with a full six-pack of abs.

As soon as the pain had started, it was gone, leaving Stephen panting from the phantom pain of the serum entering his bloodstream. "It looks like the serum worked, sir." Commented Ace as he watched his boss' vitals for any possibly dangerous changes.

Without warning, Stephen pulled himself free of the straps holding him onto the table, pushing himself off and flexing his new muscles. "I would say it worked better than expected. Report to the Board that the test was a success, and that we can begin mass-producing the serum as soon as they give the green light."

"Yes, sir, right away." Ace said, leaving Stephen alone in the room.

Stephen chuckled darkly, almost maniacally. "Fool. All that serum will do is create my army of minions as I take over. First, Meteor Heights, then the world!" Stephen's maniacal laugh echoed throughout the test lab.

Later That Night, Nick and Elliot's Apartment..

Nick laid in bed, unable to sleep with all the new information Rhonda had shared, not to mention the fact Rhonda was back in his life. She's right about my feelings for her. He thought. They never went away, I just chose to forget them because I figured I would never see her again. But, I love Sarina more than anything, I would die for her.

His thoughts were interrupted by a knock on the window in his bedroom. Looking over, he saw Sarina smiling at him as she knelt on the fire escape outside. He went over and opened the window. "Couldn't have just called ahead?" He asked her, laughing.

"Didn't want to get buzzed in. Plus, my abilities allow me to get up here quite easily, you know." Sarina retorted, giggling.

"True. Come in, before someone around here gets too nosy." Obliging, Sarina climbed into the room, closing the window behind her. "Now, what brings you back here, beautiful?"

"I can't want to come see my boyfriend?" She smirked playfully. "I actually came to make sure you were alright."

Nick furrowed his eyebrows. "Of course, why wouldn't I.. Oh, what's the use? You see through me when I try to hide something. It's just.."

"You're scared that no matter what you say or how strong you think your resolve is, Rhonda is going to come between us, or even break us up." Sarina stated.

"Exactly. And I don't want that to happen. At all. I love you way too much, and no I am not sending her away. I meant everything I said to her today, and I will not take any of it back."

Sarina giggled again, smiling. "I know that, Nicky. I don't care what she does as long as you stay true to your word. Now, let me take away your troubles, lover boy." Before Nick could speak, Sarina had taken his lips with a kiss, his reaction to lay her down on his bed with him above her.

On a nearby roof, Rhonda sat on the edge, tears falling as she watched the scene unfolding in her friends' apartment. That should be me. Always should have. Damn myself for being such a coward. She thought, hurting herself by watching but being unable to look away.

The Next Day, Apex Labs..

Nick walked into the main office at Apex Labs, sitting down at his desk. Almost immediately, he was startled by a voice behind him. "Hey, Nick."

Turning, he saw a friend of his from college and fellow Meteor Labs employee Kyrie Teta. "Oh, morning, Kyrie. Were we supposed to be in early?"

Kyrie laughed. "Yeah, but I covered for you. Nothing matters more than family, right? Plus, I know all the project points for our latest endeavor."

"That's true. So? How did the meeting go?"

Kyrie looked both ways before leaning closer to Nick. "The testing stage is live! They gave us lab 4 and six months to have the armor ready for development."

Nick's smile grew as he realized the project Meteor Labs had Nick and Kyrie working on was accepted by the Board. The two had been researching a way to incorporate nanobots with artificial intelligence into a suit of impenetrable armor. The only problem with their research had been the strange, somewhat rebellious sense of self that the nanobots presented. "Wait, how did you get them to listen to you for a test without the nanobots going rogue?"

"Easy, I just changed the functionality around a bit, tweaked the AI drivers and bam! They listened to me without a problem. Of course I had the limiter in place as well, just in case the meeting went south."

Nick nodded, impressed. "Damn, Grant gave me the best partner for this project. Good work, Kyrie. So, what else do we still have to do other than final testing? I know there's at least one thing you forgot to do."

Kyrie feigned shock. "Well, there's still nothing to attach the nanobots to. The neural link system we developed has been slow coming. But, thankfully, Stephen Zephyr has agreed to help with that and even sent us notes on how to finish the process for a full successful launch."

The hair on Nick's arms stood straight up, a sign that as good as this news was, his Sense was going haywire, telling him something bad was about to go down. Ignoring it, Nick began talking with Kyrie about what their next step would be.

Across town, Sarina sat on the couch in her apartment, bored waiting for Nick to come over after work. She fiddled with the Amulet of Chance, the ancient mystical artifact that made her impossibly never-ending good luck possible. Did the Amulet cause Nick and I to be together? She thought, thinking about the past twenty-four hours. If Rhonda hadn't left town then Nick and her would be together and I'd be nothing more than a thief, getting taken down by the two of them.. She couldn't fathom why, but even that idea seemed highly sexual and definitely sounded appealing to the former master thief. Sarina shook her head of the odd thoughts and sighed. "No use over thinking it. Nick is with me, that's the end of it. Rhonda screwed her chance up, plain and simple."

Meanwhile, back at Nick and Elliot's apartment, Rhonda sneezed while sitting on the couch, watching TV as Elliot sat at the computer, typing away at whatever. Someone's talking about me, Rhonda thought. Probably Sarina, thinking about how not to lose Nick. Rhonda sighed, changing the channel.

Elliot, accustomed to both Nick and Rhonda's behavior for years, rolled his eyes from his chair. "You know, it's kinda depressing seeing you back for one day and you're already sulking about Nick."

Rhonda frowned, crossing her arms in front of her chest. "I'm not sulking, and most definitely not about Nick."

"Oh yeah? I don't think so. You had it real bad for Nick when we were kids, and since that never faded, just got stronger and evolved as we grew up, I know that's exactly how you act. Like in tenth grade when Nick kissed Megan and you wouldn't even acknowledge his presence for two weeks afterward. Even after Megan herself said her and Nick weren't together."

Rhonda stayed silent, realizing Elliot was right. Things really have changed since I first left.. She thought as she sighed again. "Fine, you got me. Am I really that transparent?"

Elliot laughed, shaking his head. "Only to me. It's a curse, really. Being the closest friend to both of you, I've had to sideline the entire last fifteen or so years of flirting and teasing between you both. And with my practically nonexistent love life, it really sucked, to be honest."

Now Rhonda laughed. "Wow, didn't think you were the jealous type, El. I'm sorry, okay? I didn't think it would last like it did with Nick, you know? I figured in high school I'd start drooling over the jocks and Nick would be left behind, if I'm being totally honest. But it didn't and I tried harder for him to see what and how I felt for him."

"I know, and being the oblivious dummy Nick is, he didn't comprehend your actions at all. But that changed when we entered college. You don't remember?"

Rhonda nodded. "No, I remember that clearly. He was a lot more.. showy in his affection." She glared at the snicker Elliot tried so desperately to hide. "Whats so funny.. Oh, I got it. Damn it, Nick."

Elliot couldn't hold it in anymore and cackled. "And Nick's ridiculous continuing obsession with Super Sentai and Kamen Rider strikes again. When did you see Gokaiger with him?"

"First Saturday after we moved into the dorm. You had gone out for some family thing and Nick invited me over and we watched a good portion of that damn Japanese Power Ranger series together like it was nothing. And that line was really catchy. I know Nick wouldn't stop saying it either for months."

"Fair point, but he's always been like that. So, go on. He was more showy but I know that wasn't the only thing. Not with that dummy."

Rhonda rolled her eyes. The banter that otherwise would be rude to another was commonplace for Nick and Elliot, both being inherently troublemakers with Elliot being the usual mastermind. "You're right. There were times he'd just cuddle up to me when we were studying, using the excuse he just wanted to be closer to help look over my work."

Elliot shook his head, chuckling again. "That's my boy. But it worked, didn't it?"

The girl sighed out a giggle of her own. "Yeah, it did. Every damn time. And then he got me the necklace." She thumbed the pendant around her neck that Nick had given back to her the previous day.

"Mhm. The necklace. Over a year's worth of extra savings from his job to even buy that thing. That alone didn't make you think he was serious in his feelings?"

"Maybe. I already told you. The added aggressiveness of my hormones in response to Nick is an issue. One I wasn't ready to even believe when it first happened. I couldn't risk what would happen if I had been in class together with him. From how I felt when I left, I would have pounced on him and gotten us expelled for indecent exposure."

Elliot snorted. "That would have been quite a sight. Either way, you need to move on. To try fighting those overcharged hormones and at least not make it seem desperate that you want him back. As truthful as Sarina has been about mostly stopping her criminal habits, something in the back of my mind tells me their love will end horribly for Nick especially. But, I could be wrong. Maybe, and just hear me out here, there's a reason you and Sarina are bisexual."

Rhonda opened and closed her mouth, lost for words at Elliot's insinuation. Especially when she didn't know Sarina was bisexual, how could she? She focused watching Nick, not the girl he was involved with. Rhonda wasn't that petty. Most of the time. "I don't think so, El. That's a bit odd even for you to say."

"Oh, I'm serious. Nick was a jealous punk when he heard you made out with Erica McCrossin. He wished he had been in on that." The glare Rhonda leveled at him made him smirk. "And so did half the school."

Rhonda threw a glob of webbing at her friend's head. "Fuck you, El! Insinuating something as perverted as that. Why do either of us keep you around?"

Elliot managed to unstuck himself from the threads of webbing that had hit him. "Because without me, both of you would be delinquents. I keep you both righteous, even with your behavior as of late. Back to the issue though. So what we're saying is that you are still hopelessly in love with the only friend you can truly consider being with?" Rhonda nodded begrudgingly. "And because of that, mixed with whatever fears you've felt the last three years, you're still too much of a pussy to go and just tell him?" Rhonda frowned now, nodding again. "So you fucking find him and tell him how you really feel before those feelings sour your heart. Rhonda, you've always been the most mature of us. Isn't not telling him the truth kind of fucked up?"

Rhonda sighed, deflating in her seat. "You're right, I'm nothing but a coward. I can't just tell him how I feel though. Sarina isn't going to back down to me, not even in a mutual relationship. That isn't much more than a means to an end, the easy way out. I can't put Nick through that."

"What if he wants that? Whether he tells you or not, that dumbass has been in love with you since we were in fourth grade. Yeah, he loves Sarina, but she can't truly compare to the one he first gave his heart to, even if you shattered it as well."

Rhonda couldn't help but giggle. "When did you become so insightful?"

Elliot rolled his eyes at the jab. "It's hard not to be with you and Nick. If not for me, Nick would probably be dead five times over by now."

Rhonda couldn't help but roll her eyes. "What are you working on over there, anyway?"

"Specs on a new suit for Nick. Since he keeps managing to scrape his up so badly all the time, we started looking into a self-repairing suit. I wasn't able to make any headway until Nick told me his boss over at Apex set him on a nanobot project. I can build the suit or a mechanism to activate the nanobots but keeping the flighty little buggers in control has been the main issue. You know, if you wanted to actually help him out there I could put a suit together for you too."

Rhonda blushed, having had several dreams during her self-imposed exile of that exact scenario, her and Nick swinging across the city stopping whatever they were faced with. "Don't worry about me, I don't think I'll be joining in his little escapades any time soon." Not with this pheromone situation..

"What are you gonna do all day then? Sit around here and mope until he comes back, then go sulk on some random rooftop nearby watching him?" Rhonda looked at him, amazed. "I may or may not have noticed you last night on the roof across the street after Sarina snuck in."

"Ugh, am I really that obvious?"

"Only to me, and most likely Nick. You know, he's probably beating himself up about this whole situation between you, Sarina and him, too. What's the worst that could come out of just talking to him?"

"Don't you get it, Elliot? The pheromone that caused this whole mess, the one thing that would cause me to lose control of myself? Right now, I can ignore it, and it's pull towards Nick. If he was right here, with us? Fuck, I almost jumped him just to show that little thief she messed with the wrong man. Rip her throat out for good measure."

Elliot turned back to the computer, a look of horror visible on his face. "Alright, point taken. Didn't you mention something yesterday about having met the Master Weaver? She was in the same predicament as you are now with Nick, right?"

Rhonda nodded slowly. "Yeah.. What's your.. Oh. Oh! God, Elliot, that's brilliant! I gotta go. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can. Extradimensional communication is still infantile in this Universe, as commonplace as it seemed in the original timeline." With that, Rhonda flung herself out of the window, leaving Elliot alone typing at the computer.

"Seriously, where would any of us be without me playing mediator?" He chuckled, shaking his head. "Hopefully, one of these multiplying issues can be resolved by the end of the day."