Chapter 2 - Spider-Man Always Gets Back Up

Upon seeing that damage that was done to the young hero, it was the like world had stopped, yet at the same, going into freefall. No one wanted to believe what they were seeing.

Miles, on the other hand, could barely see through his eyelids, but he could feel their alarmed reactions almost as much as the blazing sensation in his chest; it felt like a hot knife trying to pierce a thick balloon. He hadn't the strength to lift his head to see for himself, however.

"How… bad?" he asked through short breaths.

He rolled his eyes up to see his mother's face hovering right above his; even upside down, he could see how her trepidation mirrored everyone else's.

"You're gonna be okay, Miles." said Jefferson, trying his hardest to sound convincing.

But his son could see the truth echoing back at him. Whatever damage had been done was irreparable.

"How… bad?" He repeated, now looking to Gwen, who face had turned pale.

Gwen dared not answer. Her eyes remained glued to his inflamed chest.

Rio found herself torn; her motherly side wanted to lie while her years of medical training urged her to diagnose him, no matter how horrible it sounded.

Closing her eyes, she inhaled, wishing she would wake up from a nightmare, then decided. "It looks like an inflammation… in your heart." Once those words left her mouth, she opened them to see her son staring up wide-eyed. "It's swollen up… to an unnatural size." Her lip was now quivering.

Jefferson shook his head in denial. "But how?" He tried not to raise his voice. "Our son was the healthiest kid on the planet."

"It's the colliders." Miguel interjected, stepping in with his hands on his hips. "The Spot had absorbed power from all those different colliders in every different dimension… and when… Miles… drained all that power from him… it must have all gone straight to his heart and bloated it up."

"Is there anything we can do?" Jefferson pleaded, his composure hanging by a thread. "He's my son, damn it!"

Rio hushed as her husband to calm down. She didn't want this scene to become any more stressful. "He needs medical attention now." she then stated in a begging tone.

Peter was just standing there, overlooking the severity of this situation. There was his protégé, having beaten the impossible odds, now hanging by a thread; never had he felt so powerless in his life.

This kid had changed his life as much as he had changed his. He was the reason he had Mayday with Mary Jane. He wanted to bring up a child in hopes that she would grow up like him. He was only glad that he didn't bring her this time to see this.

"We can bring him into our dimension." said Jessica. "Our technology should be able to help him."

"Are you crazy?" Gwen leapt to her feet, facing her former mentor. "He can't even sustain his molecules here anymore! He could… die… if we bring him anywhere else!"

"He'll die anyway if we leave him here." She looked down through her glasses sadly. "It's a risk we have to take."

Miguel stepped in again, facing the parents. "Our technology is more advanced than what you have on this world."

That was when the distressed mother shot him a hellish glare. "Now, you want to help our son after you tried to hold him back from saving his father?" The stunned look on the 2099 Spider-Man only amplified her disgust. "All of you!"

"Yes." he answered straight away. "I have too many things to answer for, so please…" To everyone's surprise, he knelt until his eyes were level with hers and extended his hand. "… give us a chance to make things right."

No longer did Spider-Society's leader wear the cold ghostly mask of an oppressor who lost too much. He now had the face of a repentant man who was once an idealist.

She didn't want to trust him, not after everything they went through, but on the other hand, her only son, her greatest joy, needed all the help he could get. She looked at her husband, who was silently pleading with her, then to her son, and finally, back to Miguel.

With a deep sigh, she answered, "Okay… but we're coming too."

Instead of protesting, Miguel nodded solemnly then motioned to Jessica, who handed him two wristbands. "These will keep you from glitching."

A little confused, Jefferson took the wristbands so he and his wife could put them on. They couldn't help but inspect these accessories like they were from a bizarre fashion trend.

The Prowler, whose presence was almost forgotten, gazed upon this family of three, particularly the father. Even through his mask, it took no effort to memorize all his features. He had lost his own father, yet here he was, as another version, still alive; it was surreal.

There was such much he felt like saying, yet he couldn't move his mouth. This man wasn't his father, nor was this his family; he felt like an intruder just standing in front of them.

At the same time, there was something impactful about when he held his other self in his arms… it was like holding a twin that he never knew existed but nonetheless felt connected to, despite their differences. His deafening thoughts maintained his silence.

"Is…" the Spider Miles tried to speak again, everyone whipping their heads to listen to him. "… is everyone else… okay?"

"Yes." Gwen rushed back to his side, managing a smile. "No one else is hurt."

Peter hung his head, shaking in amazement; even in this state, he still only cared about others… like a true Spider-Man.

Tears streamed down the blonde's face again, her nose reddening. Miles reached up a weak hand to touch her face. "Hey… don't cry." He smiles, this time not as painfully as before. "They said… they could… help… me."

"Yes, yes!" Gwen nodded ferociously, clinging to his one hand with both of hers. "T-There's still time… we can save you… just like you saved us all!"

"Then what are we… waiting for?" His last words came out as a loud grunt.

He then proceeded to do something… stupid.

Tensing his body, Miles willed every muscle to first lift his head from his mother's lap.

"Miles, what are you doing?" cried his mother.

"Stay down!" his father barked. "You shouldn't be moving!"

Miles heard their pleas but didn't listen; he didn't want to be helpless.

"You'll only aggravate your injuries!" said Miguel, amazed.

"Kid, please, listen to him, for real this time!" Peter was begging too.

"No…" Miles shook, propping himself up. "I'm… Spider-Man!"

"You've more than proven that!"

He then shifted onto his fours, his palms planted on the road. "Spider-Man… always… gets… back… up." His raspy voice was mixed with conviction.

"Miles, no!" shouted Gwen, almost whimpering. "You don't have to prove anything!"

When she tried to stop her friend, he lightly pushed her away. His blood had turned acidic now, his veins bulging like vines. His face had discolored, leaking sweat like an oil machine. He was on his knees now, panting heavily and spluttering.

"Miles!" Peter was screaming now, his eyes shining red now. "Can you NOT try to be a hero for once!?"

The teen had one foot planted to the ground now. For a moment, he hung his head, his own tears dripping down onto his shadow.

"YOU'RE SPIDER-MAN, OKAY!?" Now it was Miguel who was getting frustrated. "I WAS WRONG TO LABEL YOU AN ANOMALY! IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT THAT THE SPOT WAS CREATED! IT WASN'T YOUR FAULT THAT THAT SPIDER BIT YOU! YOU HAD NO CONTROL OVER WHAT HAPPENED TO YOU! IS THAT WHAT YOU WANT TO HEAR!? YOU WIN!"

Miles began to sob, but not from the pain, but from happiness.

"You were never a mistake!" Overcome with emotion, Miguel was on both knees now. "I just wanted to correct my mistakes!" His voice then lowered to a whisper. "No one else should have to pay."

And now… Miles was standing on two feet, having mustered the last of his strength to do so. The teen was now looking down on the vampiric spider with a somewhat devilish grin. His amazing resilience was for all to see. From afar, he looked like a statue… but up close… he was twitching compulsively, his chest doing harder compressions.

"Thanks… for saying that." he uttered. "Not… that I needed… your approval… anyways."

Barely moving his neck, he looked around at all the different Spider-People.

To Peter…

To Miguel…

To Jessica…

To Hobie…

To Pavitir…

To Margo…

To Spider-Ham…

To Peni…

To Noir…

And finally, to Gwen, who then caught him in her arms as he fell backwards, easing him back to the ground. His face was now stoned with satisfaction.

The rest could only watch as the young hero, perhaps the greatest of them all, was shortly sedated then put on a stretcher to be carried through their portal into Miguel's dimension, his parents following closely behind, and then they were gone.

Gwen, for some reason, had decided to stay behind, staring where the portal closed up.

Peter approached her carefully, putting a hand on her shoulder. He wanted to comfort her but didn't know how. Now many how many tragedies he faced, this was never something he could truly get used to, ever.

"It's okay, Gwen." Peter cringed. He knew he was lying, and she did too, but what else could he have said?

"Why didn't you go with him?" Hobie suddenly asked, leaning on Pavitir now.

"Excuse me?" Gwen turned to him, sensing the accusation in his tone. His cool glance quickly tempered her. "I… don't know."

"Yeah, you do." he shot back. "You're afraid."

"What…? No, I…"

"You're afraid of the possibility of watching him die."

"Hobie, please—" Peter interrupted, only to be cut off.

"SO WHAT IF I AM!?" screamed Gwen.

"You should be with him." Hobie stated calmly.

"I know that, but…" She trailed off, pacing back and forth… and then proceeded to storm off.

"Where are you going?" asked Peter, following after her.

"I have to go see my dad first." She looked back to him over her shoulder. "He needs to know I'm okay."

Peter stopped in his tracks, then relented.

Gwen looked to him, then to the others, before using her watch than Hobie had made for her to open up a portal to her own dimension, her home.

Back on Earth 65B, George Stacy, the now-retired police captain of Chelsea, was sipping out of a coffee mug in the kitchen when the whole apartment vibrated to a great crescendo, bathed in an iridescent light, then dropped back to normalcy in an instant.

Setting his drink down, he hurried out to the living room to see his daughter, alive and well, standing in its center.

"Baby!" He ran over and hugged her. "Thank God!"

Gwen embraced him tighter, and then broke out in muffled sobs against his chest.

"Hey, hey…" he whispered. "What's the matter?"

She pulled away, sniffling. "Dad..."

"Yes?"

"What did it feel like, when mom was in that hospital… barely fighting to stay alive?"

This question took him aback, but then he understood her situation immediately. He knelt, holding her shoulders delicately. He could no longer see a superhero or a vigilante whom he once thought was responsible for their Peter Parker's death; all he saw now was a vulnerable young girl threatening to come apart.

"Oh, sweetie." He cupped her cheek.

"How… is it… possible… to love someone… this much…?" She was hiccuping. "How do you… imagine… a world… without that person in it… like you and… mom?"

George looked away, shaking his head. "It… it's never easy."

"I want this fear to go away!" She was wheezing now, her throat sore. "I don't want this pain! It's too much, dad!"

"I'm so sorry, dear."

"He's not dead, yet!" she snapped, as if suddenly remembering. "But I'm afraid!"

"Have hope." said her father, making her face him.

"I can handle dying… but I can't lose him… I can't go through this again like I did with… Peter." His heart broke for the poor girl, and he hugged her again.

"I don't have the right words to tell you. I can't say that the pain ever goes away, only that it becomes bearable over time."

Gwen shook her head, rejecting his answer; she felt like such a child right now. She wanted him to lie, to tell her that the pain could go away like magic, but even if he did, she wouldn't have believed it anyway, and she hated that most of all.

"Do you want to sleep here tonight?"

Suddenly, she snickered and pulled back. Somehow, this had pulled her together. She was smiling ghostly now. "Thanks, dad, but…" She wiped her face, thankful. "Hobie was right… I should be there for my friend."

George was sad for a second, but then nodded with a warm smile.

"Go on." he urged. "I'm not going anywhere."

"Thanks." she said quietly.

And so, she once again opened the portal in their living room, looked back at her dad one last time, and vanished through it.

Her father stood there among the mess it left behind. "I'm never going to get used to that."

TO BE CONTINUED.

Author's Note: Surprise! I hope that was a good treat for you. I'll do my best to keep updating this story, but don't expect them to be as quick as this one. Some were worried from my last note that I might rush this story to its end, when that is not the case. I'm just going to pace it the way it needs to be paced, so long as each chapter moved the story and characters along. Thank you, and don't be afraid to leave any comments or reviews!