Miles was surrounded by darkness. The only thing he could see were the red lines along his suit and the only thing he could hear was his heavy breathing.
"Where are you Mysterio?" He called out. "I know you're here, so show yourself!"
An evil laugh boomed around him, racking his nerves to the very core and making him fall to the ground in shock. The man in the green suit and domed helmet appeared in front of him, the laugh seeming to echo from his very body.
"Back already Miles? Didn't know you missed me that much."
"I don't miss you." Miles spat. "I just want to make sure you're gone for good."
Mysterio gasped and stepped away in mocked shock. "And here I thought you'd at least be at least hospitable. Aren't you even wondering how I've survived old friend?"
"I'm not your friend, and I don't care how you got out. It just gives me the chance to kill you myself."
"So be it." Mysterio floated away and giant walls took his place and surrounded Miles, each piece rising and falling and shifted into another place. "But you'll have to catch me first." The laugh once again booming out loud as he flew away into the darkness.
Miles shot a web up to try to swing over the walls but as he rose up, a gigantic Mysterio head popped out right in front of him. "Boo!" Mile's yelled in fright and lost his grip on the web, causing him to drop down onto the floor. He tried to shoot another web but nothing came out. He looked back at his wrists and saw that his web shooters were no longer there. "You're in my world now. My world, my rules. No webs."
Miles growled in frustration but began making his way to the labrinyth. At first the maze looked daunting, each piece cutting off any path that Miles was taking and putting him in a dead end. Soon, however, Miles figured out the solution. All he had to do was stay on one course to the end, wait for an opening, then continue until he reached the end.
"Is this what you call a challenge? Come put here and face me already bubble head!" Miles exited the maze but suddenly fell into a pit of darkness. He was falling with no end in sight. Darkness once again surrounded him everywhere as air whistled past his ears.
Laughter boomed everywhere. The air around him suddenly feeling as if they were made by the sound itself and slammed into his eardrums. "There is no challenge! There is only madness! Madness and defeat! This whole thing was a trap. Just to lure you in and drive you into insanity forever!"
Stress and insanity broke into Miles's mind. He squirmed as every ounce of sanity left him. All that was left was madness. Memories that used to bring him happiness flooded in but were now making him feel furious. Confusion soon came over as he wondered why he felt the way he did.
"WHAT'S HAPPENING TO ME?" He cried out. The pressure of the stress and madness came bearing down on him as he felt tears forming.
"This is what I feel every time I lay eyes on your pathetic, happy face. Every time, since the collider incident!"
Miles gasped out in pain as his insides started to feel as if they were shifting from what was happening in his brain. All of this confusion, madness, and pain shouldn't be able to affect him like this yet every ounce of pain was real. "W-what do you mean?"
Mysterio began laughing now. Not an evil, maniacal laugh that boomed all around, but a calm, yet taunting laugh that made goosebumps form all over Miles's body. "I've been watching you. The whole time. Almost every day since the collider happened."
"H-how?" Miles struggled to even get the word out as his brain was barely functioning. The madness that was crushing him was driving him of any clear thought.
"I've stayed hidden. Everywhere you've been I was watching. Every time you would patrol I was there. Every time you went out with that blonde I was there. That time you got hurt by the rhino? That was me. The doctor that treated you was me. The Inheritors? I killed all of them once Morlun came to me and I just faked them all. Everything was me. Everything that has happened the whole time was my doing and all a trap just to lead you to this moment." Mysterio laughed at Miles as he twitched in agony. "Every bit of reality was a fantasy. You thought you were saving the world, but you were only creating mine. I was in control. And I will always be in control."
The torment immediately left Miles and his brain was finally able to take in the words when realization struck him. "Does that mean..." He trailed off as the thought alone caused every cell of his body to freeze.
"The blonde? Oh no not to worry, Gwen was real as well as your two's silly romance, but every thought and action that you two had was planned by me. Your second crush however." A normal sized Mysterio floated up to Miles and lifted its hand. A struggling Liz appeared next to him and was bounded by chains. She looked at Miles with fear and her eyes pleaded for rescue. Suddenly, a green cloud of smoke puffed under her and she was gone. "She was just a little fantasy to lure you in. It's surprising how just a little bit of planning can make a desperate person be so blind."
Anger bloomed inside of Miles as he lunged his hand forward to try to grab Mysterio but the figure disappeared and was replaced by four more. "Why?" Miles asked him. The anger still boiled inside of him but he could do nothing except to stare at them. "Why did you trick me this whole time and bring me here? What could you gain from this?"
All four Mysterios laughed at his foolishness. "My goals are far beyond your understanding. Just know that everything will fall in place eventually and all will make sense. However, it may be too late for you then."
All four Mysterios came together and formed one that floated all around Miles. Miles glared at him. "How about you set me free and see if you can really get rid of me."
"Hmm, we'll see."
Ground suddenly appeared and was quickly heading towards Miles. He didn't have much time to brace himself before slamming into the ground, feeling some of his bones break yet somehow nothing serious broke. Still, it hurt like hell. He groaned in pain as he was laying face first on the groaned with his limbs sprawled out. Before he had any time to recover, he felt himself being picked up and thrown. He slammed into a run down building and fell to the ground.
He felt pain everywhere. His head was throbbing, his back felt paralyzed, and his feet screamed in agony when he tried to move them. But he was still determined to try and fight through the pain. He slowly got up and staggered onto his feet.
"T-that all you got?" He asked weakly. No answer. Miles looked around to find Mysterio but instead saw a massive boxing glove right in front of the building. The glove quickly sprang forward and launched Miles back into the air.
He landed on a patch of ground before being quickly lifted up and floated high above the ground. Mysterio showed up again and had a black aura flowing around him. "Miles Morales," his voice was now much deeper and boomed with terrifying strength. This was someone else's voice. Someone much more powerful and terrifying than Mysterio. "You have failed the spider verse. Your time of judgement is near."
"What do you mean?" He quietly asked.
The aura left Mysterio. He didn't respond to Miles but simply pointed downwards. Miles began to fall and dropped into a portal but there was no other dimension on the other side. He only kept falling in a bright blue abyss that swirled around him. 3 figures appeared far away from him. They slowly approached him and got bigger as they went until they were recognizable. In the middle of them was a tall man with shadows surrounding him and red eyes that stared deep into Miles's soul. Claws outstretched from his hands and were as sharp as a dagger. Beside him were two smaller figures but their bodies were completely concealed with no identifiable features able to be seen.
"As I said Miles," it was the same deep voice that Mysterio just spoke in. It was haunting of how intimidatingly deep and booming it was and would make anyone shake with fear and want to submit to him. "I was always in control. You have no free will. You can run, but it will always lead to me. Your judgment is coming. Your days are numbered. Prepare."
And with that, the three figures disappeared. Miles panicked at his words.
What did he mean judgment? What did I do?
Questions with no answers dove into his brain as he tried to look for answers but found none.
Another portal opened up beneath him and he fell through it. But as he entered the other dimension, all of his senses completely shut down and his brain turned off. He fell into a room and right onto a white bed with a small group of people in it.
His eyes quickly popped open and sprang up to see his surroundings. His body was covered sweat and was chest was rising and falling quickly from his panting. The room was almost sterile white. Machines were beeping all around him and his arm had wires around it. Chairs surrounded his bed and people were sitting in them although all of them were asleep.
Am I in a hospital?
There was no doubt that he was but what he didn't know was why.
Did I fall into a coma? Did someone find me?
He looked back at the people sleeping and was able to recognize them. They were his parents and... "Gwen?" He breathed out. Her dad was there too he noticed but he only had eyes for her. He had no idea how she was alive. Nevertheless here with him without a scratch or burn on her.
She let out a small groan as she began to wake up and her eyes slowly opened, revealing the diamond blue eyes that Miles had grown to love and missed dearly. She stretched her arms before looking up and saw Miles. "Miles?" A smile grew on her face from seeing him awake.
"Y-yeah?" Miles said in a questionable tone. He still had no idea what was happening and didn't know how he should react. His heart begged him to give in to the happiness from seeing her but his mind told him to be cautious and find out what was really happening.
Gwen let out a yelp of joy and leaped out of her seat to hug Mike's tightly. The sound woke his parents up as well and made sure they weren't dreaming before having huge smiles on their faces and hugging him as well. Miles loved the warmth their bodies provided but the confusion and questions still swirled around his mind and he needed answers. Now.
"What happened?"
Gwen arched an eyebrow at him. "You don't remember?"
"I... I'm not sure." His mind somehow felt as if it was blank. Like someone had already wiped his brain of memories that he needed to attach the pieces. He still remembered the confrontation against Mysterio. The helplessness he felt when he got tossed around like a rag doll and couldn't do anything about it. And the fear that he felt when he met the shadowy man. But he couldn't remember why he felt the fear and what they said to him. It was only a few minutes ago that it had happened and yet he forgot so much already.
"We were fighting the Rhino when you got hurt badly. You weren't suppose to make it but your spider healing was able to save you." Gwen smiled brightly at him. "And now everything is fine."
The Rhino? What? This happened well over a year ago! What's happening!?!?!?
Miles panicked. Where was he? "Gwen, what happened before that?" He asked. Maybe that could tell him more.
Gwen looked confused but answered him anyways. "Uh, well we weren't able to hang out 2 weeks ago so we did last week and the Rhino stuff happened and you were out for about a week. That's about it."
A knock came at the door and a doctor appeared. "Good morning Mr. and Mrs. Morales, Mr. and Ms. Stacy." He looked over at Miles and his eyes widened. "Ah, Miles! You're awake?" Miles slowly nodded but he felt at unease at the sight of the doctor. Something told him that the doctor wasn't what he seemed to be but he couldn't remember what it was. "Feel free to catch up with your visitors but please do so quickly. I will need to do some tests on you."
Miles nodded again and looked back at Gwen. The unease was still there but he finally let the joy of seeing her again take over him and smiled brightly at her. Everyone started talking and brought Miles up to speed of what was happening. The booming laugh that he has heard so many times not too long ago shook his core once again as it thundered across the room. His eyes widened in fright and looked around.
"What's wrong Miles?" Gwen saw the fear in his eyes and was concerned for him.
"Did you hear that?"
"Hear what?"
He heard it again. This time, he was able to hear where it was coming from. He followed the noise and his eyes landed on the doctor, who had his head tilted down and an evil smile on his face. He was hidden in the shadows where nobody paid attention to him. But the most disturbing part about him were his eyes. The were glowing red. Blood red.
Miles finally remembered everything. It was Mysterio. Fear struck him and he felt the urge to run away but couldn't. Things were not ok. Not in the slightest.
Miles tried to look away but the blood red eyes were somehow captivating him. The laugh was still in his head. Unheard but dangerous. Like a creature in the shadow. The doctor lifted his head slightly to get a better view of Miles. His body was moving in silent laughter. He mouthed a few words that could be clearly read by Miles.
"I am always in control."