Arc 1 - Chapter VII: Goodbyes

It was evening when Maya Lopez left through the front doors of the gym she went to on a near-constant basis. Especially so since Kairi had since grown up and was out of the house attending Visions. So now, she could go back to the gym she had once gone to religiously during her time as the Ronin and keep in shape.

Luckily, New York was a city that never slept and as such, light was shining through her route home. Allowing her to see an albino man come from the shadows, standing in her way with a cigarette stuck between his teeth as he breathed in the tobacco. Looking over her shoulder to check for both an escape route or the man's accomplice, she found the man she recognized as Adrian Toomes, better known as the Vulture, standing some distance behind her.

Damn, and here she was without her swords.

Sighing, she placed her gym bag on the ground as she rolled her shoulders and neck. With the cigarette between the smurf's lips, she had no idea what he was saying, probably to the Vulture, and as such, she did not care. She had a turkey to fry and a smurf to send back to Smurf Village.

…Queens…

"Is that guy okay?" Spider-Pig asked to Spider-Noir.

However, the fedora-toting Spider-themed hero could only shrug, "No clue."

When Gwen saw Kairi freeze in his place and his phone fell from his grip, she knew something had to be wrong, something important and vital to him. Pushing down her anger and hurt, she walked over to him.

"Sleeper, what's wrong?" she asked aloud, hoping the symbiote would answer.

Sleeper's head came out again. "It's bad, Gwen," said the symbiote before receding.

Frowning herself, Gwen crouched down to pick up his phone, which was still on call with whoever called him.

*Hello? Mister Lopez, are you there?*

"Hi, this is Gwen Stacy, I'm a friend of Kai's, er, Kairi's," she answered as she stood up. "He's uh, having a moment right now." She chanced a glance over to Kai and saw that he hadn't budged, however, his arm had begun trembling, "and I don't think he's in a right place. Can you tell me what's going on?"

*I'm sorry, Miss Stacey, but I cannot divulge that information to you, you must understand. But if it's possible, can you bring Kairi over to New York-Presbyterian in Queens, I've been trying to call his grandmother, but I haven't had much luck.*

"Yeah, of course," Gwen replied.

*Thank you, Kairi's mother is being treated on the third floor. Just flag down a nurse and they'll send you to me.*

"Presbyterian, third floor, got it, thank you," she replied before hanging up the phone. "Okay, guys, if the data is gonna take time to comb over, then I'm taking Kai over to the hospital. It's his mother."

The other Spider-heroes merely nodded with the Spider-robot waving a hand over its shoulder as Peni was distracted by the information flowing across her screen. May, however, was giving a contemplative look that switched from Gwen to Kairi over and over. She certainly wasn't blind to the nuances of romance and she could see it budding between these two teens.

"I'll walk you two up," she volunteered.

Gwen merely nodded as she lightly gripped Kairi's arm, coaxing him into following her. And the moment her hand touched his arm, it seemed to have jolted him. Abruptly, he tore his arm from her grip as he walked over to where the lift was. Her hurt feelings intensified a bit by his behavior, but at the same time, she could understand it. His mother was hurt, there was no way Kairi was thinking straight.

"You know which hospital you're going to?" May asked as the lift ascended.

"Yeah, the Presbyterian in Queens," it was Gwen who answered as she gave a nod. "Is it on 56-45 Main Street in this universe?"

"Sure is," May nodded as the elevator arrived in the shed. "You two okay on your own?

Gwen's brows furrowed into a frown, "I…"

Before another word could be said, Sleeper's flesh wrapped around Kairi's form as he stepped past them. A tendril shot forth from his arm and he used it to get up to the rooftops, leaving Gwen behind. The blonde gave an annoyed sigh as she pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Don't worry, he's not upset with you," said May. "Not really."

Gwen frowned at her, "What?"

"Your argument earlier?" May shrugged. "He won't kill Kingpin."

"How can you be sure? You just met him," Gwen replied.

"Maya said that her son had a good head on his shoulders," said May. "That, and according to her, he's his father's son. And Kazuma Satō was too good of a man to stoop to killing."

"You know Kairi's parents?" Gwen frowned.

"You didn't think my Peter didn't start out with no help at all, did you?" May laughed. "Maya tracked down Peter when he first started out and gave him some advice, even helped arrange for his first Spider-man suit. And I used to know Kazuma back when he operated that little grocery store down the street, a good man, a shame what happened to him."

Gwen's frown deepened a bit. Kazuma Satō, this was the first time the name of Kai's father was said aloud.

"You better catch up to Kairi before you lose him," May reminded the blonde.

With a sigh, Gwen pulled her mask and hood over her head. "Thanks," she nodded to May before she fired off a web and went off in the direction Kairi had gone.

…Some timer later…

It didn't take long before Gwen was able to catch up with Kairi as the two continued their way to the hospital. And once they did arrive, they had landed somewhere where no one could see them so that Sleeper's form could recede back into Kairi's body. Entering through the front door, no one batted an eye at Gwen's Ghost-Spider outfit, something that slightly amused her despite the situation. They immediately went for the elevator and hit the button for the third floor of the building. Once there, a nurse they had spoken to led them to a station where a doctor had left a room.

"Doctor West?" Kairi asked. "I'm Kairi Lopez, we spoke earlier on the phone."

"Yes, of course," Dr. West nodded before smiling at the nurse in thanks, "Thank you, Janet, I'll take it from here." Once the nurse left, he turned his attention back to Kairi. "I'm sorry I couldn't speak to you about the particulars on the phone before, but your mother's status was evolving at the time, I didn't want to give you any news in case if things went South."

"Okay," Kairi frowned. "But how is she? Is my mom going to be okay?"

"Your mother's going to be fine," Dr. West assured. "She suffered multiple contusions, a few broken ribs, a break in her arm, a mild concussion, and some internal bleeding. But we got it all, she'll be in one hell of a recovery time, but she'll make it."

"Oh, thank god," Gwen breathed a sigh of relief.

Kairi took in and breathed out slow breaths, his heart rate had quickened when the doctor had listed his mother's injuries and he swore he felt his head pounding. He nearly collapsed to the floor in relief, but he managed to stay steady on his feet.

"What happened?" he asked. "Who did this to her?"

"I'm sorry, I don't know," Dr. West shrugged regretfully. "The police will probably know more."

"Okay," Kairi sighed. "Can I see her though? Can I see my mom?"

"The surgeon is closing her up at the moment," Dr. West replied. "Don't worry, you can see her when she's done. Although, she'll still be under from the anesthetic. But I can take you to the room we've assigned her so that you can see her when the nurses bring her in."

"Thank you," Kairi nodded.

"Of course, if you will follow me."

Dr. West led the two teens to an empty room and left them there to deal with his other cases. Gwen took a seat in one of the chairs in the room, but Kairi couldn't sit, despite the doctor's words, he needed to see if his mother was safe. So he ended up pacing a bit in the room.

"Kai, your mom's going to be fine."

"Mmhmm."

"You heard the doctor."

"Mmhmm."

"So would you please stop pacing and sit down? You're giving me a bit of a headache."

Kairi paused and looked over at her to see that she was giving him an exasperated look. Sighing, with his shoulders slumped he walked over and took the seat next to her. However, much to her annoyance, his knee began bouncing, so she groaned as she massaged her temples.

"All right, Kai, tell me about your dad."

Surprised, he gave her a baffled look. "What? My dad? Why?"

"Just talk, okay," she sighed. "What was he like?"

He frowned, "I dunno, I never met him. I'm pretty sure I told you this, Gwen. My mom and my grandma could probably tell you better than I ever could."

"Well, then what did they tell you?" she leaned back in her chair.

"I…" his frown deepened as he hesitated. "He was a good guy, opened a little grocery shop in Queens, had a little bit of everything for sale there. Meat, vegetables, frozen foods, candy." He bit his lip, a bit of amusement pulling at the corner of his lips. "Couldn't play cards to save his life, Mom said he had terrible luck when it came to gambling, even when they were playing with friends. But Mom said that it didn't bother him much, he just wanted to have fun."

"What was his name?" she asked.

He was silent for a moment, "Kazuma, Kazuma Satō."

Reaching over, she placed her hand over his, "Why didn't you or your mom ever take his name?"

His shoulders drooped, "Dad died before he and my mom could get married. Dad was planning to though, Mom found the engagement ring when she was clearing out his belongings. She keeps it on a chain around her neck, never once ever seen her take it off."

Her fingers wrapped around his hand, "Kai, I am so sorry that Kingpin killed your dad before you ever got to meet him. I cannot even try to understand what you're going through, especially now with your mother in the hospital, but killing Kingpin won't bring him back, it won't help with the pain."

"Could be worth a try…" he mumbled darkly.

"So that you can end up in jail, Kai?" she replied. "With your mom in the hospital, do you really think that the last thing she needs is her son down for murder? What about your grandma, do you think deserves to find out her grandson is a killer?"

Kairi grimaced, "You're not playing fair."

"Good," she replied. "I'm trying to talk you out of making a huge mistake, I shouldn't be pulling any punches here."

Burying his face into his palms, he released a groan as he leaned forward in his seat a bit. Dragging his hands down his face, he breathed out a big sigh as he leaned back. "Man," he muttered, "what a day."

She has a point you know, killing Kingpin would probably be the worst thing you'd ever do. Not just for you, but for your family. You shouldn't let him take any more than he already has.

Really, et tu, Sleeper?

Goes to show that we're right.

Yeah, yeah…

"Little Wolf?"

Both he and Gwen looked up when they saw Mamy standing in the doorway. Standing up he met her halfway as she entered the room, giving his grandmother a hug. "Hi, Grandma," he greeted her joylessly.

"I got the call a few minutes ago," Mamy said as she stepped back. "I had my phone on silent since I was with some friends I hadn't seen in a while." It was then she noticed Gwen, "Oh, Gwen, you're here too."

"Hi, Mamy," Gwen greeted her as she stood up.

Only to be surprised when Mamy wrapped the blonde in a hug.

"Whoa!"

"Thank you for being here, Gwen," Mamy said earnestly, pulling back to smile at her.

"Kai's my friend," she shrugged. "I was with him when he got the call."

"Just a friend, huh?" Mamy whispered with a smirk.

Easily catching onto what the old woman wasn't saying, Gwen's jaw dropped a little, as a red blush spread through her cheeks. "I, uh," she tried. Goddammit, brain, you're in there for a reason! Work! "Yes?" Dammit! Why'd you phrase it like a question?!

"I see," Mamy chuckled quietly before she turned to look over at Kairi, who wasn't privy to the short conversation that just occurred and was looking at the both of them in confusion. "Has the doctors said anything?" she asked.

"Just Mom's injuries," he replied. "They said they patched everything, but we still don't know how this happened."

"Okay, okay," she nodded slowly. A contemplative frown marred her features as she clearly was thinking about who was responsible for hurting her daughter. A dozen names came up, all of them pertaining to Maya's time as the Ronin, but none of them knew her daughter's real identity. Or at least, she hoped none of them knew.

"Mamy, would you like to sit?" Gwen offered the chair she had vacated.

"Thank you, dear," Mamy gave the blonde a smile as she took a seat.

"Of course," Gwen nodded at her before she glanced over at Kairi, who was looking at the door, waiting for the nurses to arrive with his mother.

When they did a few minutes later, they rolled his mother in on a hospital bed and placed it where it was supposed to go. From what Kairi, Gwen, and Mamy could see, gauze and bandages were wrapped around his mother's head and her left arm was placed in a cast. The woman herself was unconscious as her other arm had leads coming out of it and was connected to an IV bag.

"She won't be waking tonight, but the earliest she might be able to is tomorrow," said one of the nurses. "But don't worry, we'll take good care of her."

"Thank you," Kairi said to the nurses before they left, closing the door behind them to give them some privacy.

"Oh, I haven't seen her this banged up since the first week she became the Ronin," Mamy breathed as she stood at her daughter's side. It was then she looked over at her grandson who stood across from her on his mother's other side. "Gwen does know about your mother, right?"

"She knows/I know," both Kairi and Gwen said simultaneously.

"Good," Mamy nodded in approval.

Kairi was a little confused as to why his grandmother approved that Gwen was in on their family secret, especially when she didn't question the particulars, but he dismissed those thoughts. He found it best not to try to delve into the mind of his grandmother, for his own sanity's sake.

…Fisk's Tower…

Fisk sat at the desk in his office, reading a report by Octavius about the collider. All of it was good news, due to the new data gathered from the last time the collider was used and after the repairs, the collider could once again be used tomorrow night. Which coincidentally was also when the memorial party Spider-man was occurring, a hundred floors above the same location the Spider died in.

If only the Spider-fans knew.

Dismissing his thoughts, he placed the tablet down and breathed out a sigh. It was then he noticed the picture of Vanessa and Richard sitting atop his desk. Reaching out and grabbing it, he smiled faintly when he remembered when this was taken, it was at the park, celebrating Richard's seventh birthday. All his boy wanted was to go outside and enjoy the fresh air. Even at a young age, his son was a better man than he was…

Which was why he needed to get them back.

"Sir?" Someone knocked on the door to his office.

"Come in," he replied as he set the picture frame down.

Tombstone opened the door and walked in, "Mission complete, boss. We couldn't find Kairi Lopez at his school, apparently, he's been gone for the weekend. But we found Maya Lopez, Toomes and I took care of her."

"Is she dead?" he asked.

"Per your orders, we made sure she and everyone else in the city got the message," Tombstone dutifully replied. "Spider-man's death shows that there's no more room for heroes in this city, all of the cops on the payroll know what to do with the investigation."

"Good," Fisk nodded. Despite his misgivings toward Maya as the Ronin, he knew the woman was extremely talented despite her disability. And you should never waste talent. Who knows? Maybe he could get her to work for him as the Ronin. "Make sure Octavius has everything she needs for my collider. No more screw-ups this time."

"Yes, boss," Tombstone nodded.

Fisk made a gesture, one that the former mobster understood that he was dismissed. So with a nod, the blue-skinned man turned on his heel and left his boss's office.

"Oh, and one more thing."

"Yes, boss?"

"Contact Mac Gargan, I'm sure he'd love the chance to kill a couple of Spiders."

…The next day…

The next morning, Kairi, Gwen, and Mamy were still in Maya's hospital room. Gwen and Mamy were sipping their respective coffees while Kairi was polishing a donut he got from the hospital cafeteria. One of the nurses had graciously brought in a cot last night for Mamy to sleep on while Gwen had claimed the couch on Kairi's insistence. He made do with one of the chairs that he had dragged over to his mother's side just in case his mother woke up during the night. Luckily though, he didn't wake up with a crick in his back or neck.

You're welcome.

Someone knocked on the door, bringing their attention over to it as they heard hushed arguing coming from the other side. The three of them shared looks of confusion as the arguing continued. Something about not wanting to see another naked old guy get a sponge bath?

Peter's head peeked in before he looked around. "Hi," he smiled awkwardly when he saw Kairi and Gwen. "Sorry, I didn't want to get the wrong room again." Slipping his whole body in, he was followed by Peni and Spider-Noir. Though it seemed he got his suit fixed at May's, that or he got it replaced.

"Oh, hello," Mamy was confused by their presence.

"Good evening, ma'am," Spider-Noir tipped his hat. "Pardon the intrusion."

"What are you guys doing here?" Gwen asked, baffled that they were here. Though she idly wondered where Spider-Ham and Peni's robot were.

"Um, who exactly are you?" frowned Mamy.

"Uh, they're in my book club, Grandma," Kairi hastily replied.

"Book club? You never mentioned being in a book club," Mamy frowned before she regarded Peter and Spider-Noir with a brow raised. "Who are apparently big Spider-man fans."

"Uh, yup," Peter nodded. "Totally big fans."

"A shame about him," said Mamy. "He did so much good for this city."

"Yeah," Peter nodded.

Gauging everyone's faces, Mamy glanced down at her coffee cup, "Anyway, I'm going to get a refill."

They all watched her leave and when the door closed behind her, Kairi looked over at Peter, Peni, and Spider-Noir incredulously. "Really, guys? You couldn't have called or texted? You had to come here in full gear?"

"No one seemed to bat an eye at us," Spider-Noir shrugged, his hands in the pockets of his trenchcoat.

"We weren't the only ones in costume," Peter nodded. "We saw that there were other people dressed up too on our way over here."

"Just you three?" Gwen asked.

"The pig and the robot are on the roof keeping an eye out," he replied.

"Which begs the question, why are you here?" frowned Kairi.

"I finished updating the goober!" Peni stated proudly as she raised a new flash drive with a Spidey emblem on it. "Using the data you retrieved at Alchemax, this key should be able to take control of the collider and set off a chain reaction that would cause systematic failure for the machine, allowing for it to be destroyed. I also gave May a copy of the data so she could leak it to the proper authorities so they can arrest Fisk when this is all over."

"Nice," Kairi nodded.

"I know, I'm the best!" Peni puffed out her chest as she crossed her arms, a satisfied smirk plastered over her face. "Praise me more!"

"Let's put a pin in that," Peter cut in. "First, the others and I while you and Gwen were gone, we've been talking. I don't think you should come with us to Fisk's tower, Kairi."

Kairi blinked. "What?" he frowned. "No, I have to be there to send you all home and shut down Kingpin's collider so that he doesn't destroy the whole multiverse. How are all of you supposed to go home if I don't do that?"

"I will be staying back to destroy the collider," said Peter.

"If you do that, you'll die," Kairi looked at him incredulously. "Probably by tomorrow given how bad the glitching has been for you guys."

Peter frowned before he lifted his head resolutely, "Part of the job."

"What?" Gwen looked at the others. "Guys, Kai can do this. Sure, he's got only one day of training, but he's got this."

"That may be," Spider-Noir nodded before gesturing to the unconscious Maya. "But the kid's family was hurt and we passed by some real crooked cops on our way here. They're on the Kingpin's payroll and they were told to stall the investigation into your mom's case, kid. We're trying to keep you out of harm's way. Your dad's death and now with your mom all laid up? None of us could bear it if we gave Kingpin the Lopez family package deal."

Kairi's jaw dropped a little as he tried to process that. Kingpin seemed to like giving him reasons to jab a sword through his shiny bald head. "I…" he sighed. "Look, even if that's true, I don't need protecting. And you're forgetting one important thing."

"Such as?" Peter asked.

"Sleeper," Kairi replied. "He's from another dimension too, remember? He needs to go home too and I promised him I would help."

Peter, Peni, and Spider-Noir traded frowns.

"I can't believe we forgot about the alien," Peni whispered.

"See?" Kairi stared at all three of them. "Without a host, Sleeper can't get to the collider."

Actually, I never specifically said I actually needed a host…

…

Wait, what?

And before Kairi could comprehend it, his body almost collapsed as Sleeper's flesh came out from him and as it was about to land on the floor, it took the form of a cat. Sitting on its hind legs, the Sleeper-cat blinked all four of its eyes at him as everyone else stared at the black and gold symbiote in utter shock. Well, except Gwen, who gone over to Kairi's side and steadied him before he fell.

"You…" Kairi looked down at Sleeper incredulously. "You can exist without possessing a body?"

"How else did you think I took this form when we met?" Sleeper replied.

"I thought you possessed a cat!"

"Why would I possess a cat?"

"I don't know!" Kairi palmed his forehead. "Dude, I barely understand how symbiotes work! Are you telling me that every symbiote doesn't need a host?"

"No, my ability to operate without a host like this is unique only to me."

"Well, aren't you the special one," Kairi rolled his eyes angrily.

"Look, Kairi, I don't want to fight," Sleeper sighed as it shook its head. "Not with my first real friend that I've ever made, especially if this will probably be the last time we see each other. "

"Aww," said Peni as she watched the scene, her eyes misting up a little.

"I've been thinking, Kairi, ever since we got the call about your mom and I remembered that you are a regular human being," Sleeper continued, ignoring the others. "With no Spider-powers, what will happen will happen to you once you destroy the collider? Will it take down the building and vaporize everything in it?"

"You don't know that!" exclaimed Kairi.

"Which just proves my point. Like I said, you're the first real friend I've ever made, Kairi. I don't want to see you hurt."

"You can't decide that for me, Sleeper! Friends don't do that!"

"They do when they want to protect the people they care about."

Kairi was struck speechless.

"Goodbye, Kairi. I hope one day that you can forgive me."

It was then Sleeper got up on all fours and turned, leaping onto Peni's shoulder. Kairi's jaw worked as he watched the symbiote turn its back on him, barely able to comprehend what just happened. It was then he looked to the other person who's been with him in all this. But when he saw Gwen's face, he saw that she had come to a conclusion.

"No. No, no," he denied.

"Kai, don't make this harder than it has to be," she tried to put on a brave face.

"You're taking their side, Gwen?!"

"We should probably leave," Spider-Noir said as he turned on his heel and made his way towards the door. Both Peter and Peni followed after the trenchcoat-wearing hero, giving the two some room.

Gwen bit her lip and tried to put a hand on his shoulder, to try to make him understand her actions. But he pulled away as he took a step back from her, causing her to wince, "Kai, please, Sleeper has a point. The rest of us, we all have powers, we can take whatever Kingpin dishes out at us, without Sleeper, you can- no, you will die. And if destroying the collider also destroys the building…"

"I'll plan an escape route!" Kairi tried to reason.

"And if you don't have enough time?" Gwen didn't raise her voice. Like Sleeper, she didn't want what could possibly be her last conversation with… the boy she had come to… like, like be an argument. "Kai, it was always a risk because you had to bring Sleeper to the collider, but if he doesn't need a host, then you don't have to be there. You don't have to risk your life. Do you really think I could live with myself if you died in that tower? That my actions took the life of your mother's only child and left both her and your grandmother alone to pick up the pieces?"

Kairi tried to think of a reason, any reason, even if it was a dumb one. Any reason that would allow him to stay… with her.

"You and I both know how difficult that is, Kai," she shook her head as she continued. "I already know what it's like to be responsible for hurting a family like that, I refuse to do that to another family ever again." She remembered watching the Ben and May Parker of her universe crying over the freshly buried grave of her best friend, of how heartbroken they were. She didn't need to be here in this dimension to know how similar Maya and Mamy would be when they cried over Kai's grave.

"Gwen… I…"

She placed her hands on his shoulders, giving him a trying smile. "Kai, you got Sleeper and I this far, you should be proud of that. And I think it's safe to say that Sleeper won't ever forget what you've done for him and I won't forget what you've done for me either. But now it's time we stop relying on you and stand on our own so we can go home."

But he didn't want to hear it, he didn't want to say goodbye, not like this.

Seeing the despondent look on his face, it nearly broke her heart. So she took in a deep breath and raised herself up on her toes, pressing a kiss on his lips as she gripped the sides of his face. Pouring every ounce of affection she had for him into that kiss, she had no idea how long they stayed like that. Could've been seconds, minutes, an hour, but nonetheless she enjoyed what was their first and final kiss.

When she eventually did pull back, leaning back to stand fully on her feet, her hands shifted to be placed over his chest. And upon seeing the surprised look on his face, she couldn't help but laugh a little, as shaky as it was, he looked cute when he looked like that. It was a shame that they never took a picture together, memories were going to be all she had of him.

"I'm sorry, but I had to do that at least once," she whispered against his lips, tempted to kiss him again before she turned on her heel and left the room. "Goodbye, Kairi."

She found the others waiting, all of them turning to her when they noticed her.

"You all right?" Spider-Noir.

"Mmhmm, yeah," Gwen tried not to cry as she sniffled a bit.

"You did the right thing," Peter placed a hand on her shoulder. "I know it hurts, but you did the right thing."

"Look can we not talk about it?" Gwen cleared her throat. It was taking everything she had not to break down right then and there. The first guy she liked and started to have feelings for ended up coming from another dimension that she probably wouldn't be able to come back to. She really did have the worst luck. "We still have an infiltration to plan, don't we."

Peter nodded as he led the way to the elevators.

As Gwen pulled her hood over her head, both it and her hair creating a curtain to cover her eyes from the world, Sleeper leaped from Peni's shoulders onto her's, his shoulders slumped down just like her own, "I'm going to miss him too."

"I know, Sleeper. I know."

AN:

So... I would've posted this yesterday, but well, I forgot. And I watched Top Gun Maverick yesterday and can I just say it was an awesome movie. Especially the dogfight scene with the Su-57, excuse me, I mean the 5th Generation Fighters. Anywho, we have about two more chapters until the events of the film end. Then this story will basically be in limbo, not because I will be waiting for the sequel to come out next year. But also because of that too. And also I decided to put in the second arc in between this film and the next which will be an original storyline.

Expect the chapter to come up in the next week or two again.

See you all next time and as always, stay safe, stay healthy and you all have a good day.