Chapter 9 – Hail Mary

Impossible… where did this Green Goblin come from?

Miguel was transfixed, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. How did this anomaly slip through their fingers… his fingers? He also couldn't recognize which dimension this one possibly came from.

"LYLA," he turned to his AI companion, "profile, asap!"

"Err… okay!"

The Goblin wasted no time; he chucked another pumpkin bomb at the 2099 Spider-Man. This time, he was able to dodge off the platform with a front flip and linked another red web-line to this foe's glider.

"HEY!" barked the Goblin. "NO FREELOADERS ALLOWED!"

He thrashed with his glider, attempting to shake off this annoying arachnid, and then took off at full speed towards the old New York, Miguel gripping on for dear life.

"LYLA!" cried Miguel. "Anything!?"

"Nothing yet!"

He groaned loudly, having to now dodge buildings, lampposts, and antique cars in the streets. He then skidded on the road, attempting to leash down this threat from the air, but without much success. The Goblin unsheathed a silver sparkling blade and severed his thread.

With a devilish cackle, the Green Goblin proceeded to rain more bombs on the innocent shellshocked civilians below. "CAN YOU CATCH THEM ALL!?"

"No!" cried Miguel, and he launched himself into the air again, his accelerated vision increasing tenfold. Anticipating what would happen, he acted.

With his superhuman agility, he swooped low and grabbed a family of three, one with an infant, and cleared them from a sidewalk before one of his explosives could obliterate them as it did to all its other surroundings.

Next, he scaled up a building, sprinting along its side for a better vantage point, and leapt off with a corkscrew. He webbed two of the Goblin's explosives, his last ones, and with a gravity-defying twirl, hurled them right back at the green menace… and made a direct hit.

"NO!" shrieked the Green Goblin. "HOW DARE YOU!?"

Before this crazed villain realized it, the blue Spider-Man was now on his glider. They wrestled in the air, exchanging blows. The Goblin, in his fury, tried to slash him with his blade, but Miguel dodged and weaved those attacks, angering him even further.

LYLA appeared again. "Can I call for backup now?" she asked nonchalantly.

"Yes, fine!" Miguel grunted. "Just do it!"

Just as quickly, she blipped out of sight, leaving them to take their battle to the sky.

"YOU HAVE HELPERS NOW, HUH?" The Goblin angled his eyebrows.

"Just shut up!" yelled Miguel. "Who… are you?" He fought for balance. "Where… did you… come from?" He grabbed his enemy by the throat in a last-ditch effort. "And how… did you get here?"

"WHO CARES?" answered the Goblin with sick glee. "I'M HAVING TOO MUCH FUN!"

Regaining control, he made a sudden dive with his glider towards a trainyard, and with a violent spin, flung Miguel through several stationary coaches. The Goblin hovered low, glaring at his enemy through their self-made tunnel, and laughed again.

Miguel was slumped against the last coach, disoriented. Through his hazy vision, he saw the Green Goblin hop off his glider and stalk towards him menacingly, climbing through each hole-punched carriage.

"LYLA…" he moaned, "… any intel on this guy?"

"No."

"What do you mean… no?"

LYLA appeared back in front of him, stammering. "I can't find anything on this guy!" The Goblin's dark silhouette was growing bigger behind the hologram. "It's like he's a ghost or something!"

"That's… impossible." Miguel struggled to his feet, his back hurting. "You're telling me… that this guy just appeared out of thin air?"

"According to the module…"

Annoyed by this, he handwaved her away. The Goblin was now standing in front of him, his teeth shining disgustingly. Miguel threw him a haymaker. The Goblin caught it and followed up with a gut punch, and then an uppercut that sent the 2099 Spider-Man flying upwards in an arc before slamming back down on the hard gravel.

Getting back up again, he hunched in his stance, breathing heavily now. He was now in an open space under a lone spill of light. This enemy was stronger than he had anticipated.

Then again, in many dimensions, Spider-Man's greatest enemy was the Goblin… considering the damage he had not only done to their respective lives, but also to their loved ones.

The Goblin's laughter echoed through the trainyard again, and he unveiled himself from the shadows like an entity of death and whistled the tune of a familiar nursery rhyme…

The Itsy-Bitsy Spider.

Miguel O'Hara was no stranger to fear, yet it began to wash over him like an ice-cold shower. He clenched his fists harder, his sheathed claws digging into his palms. He had to stop this threat… he had to… but so far, he had been overpowered. His heart raced. His head spun.

How the hell do I beat this guy?

"HAS THIS SPIDER SPUN HIS LAST WEB?" The Goblin clicked his neck, bloodthirsty.

Just then, a bang crackled through the air. The green menace stumbled back, as if knocked by an invisible force, and clutched his side painfully. "WHO DID—!?"

"Why don't you try me instead?" a drawling voice spoke from above.

Both whipped their heads to see a dark hatted figure standing on top of a warehouse with a smoking handgun, his goggles glimmering, his coat billowing to the quiet breeze of the cold night; it was Noir.

"GUNS!?" The Goblin hissed through the pain. "SPIDER-MAN… DOESN'T USE… GUNS!"

"So, what?" he replied calmly.

Just as he aimed his firearm again, his spider-sense picked up another incoming threat jetting towards him from behind.

Just in time, the Spider-Man of the 1930s backflipped high in the air before the Goblin's glider could pierce him with its blades. He then tried to hit their new foe with some more bullets, all of which were shielded by the metallic contraption.

The Goblin hopped back onto his glider as it flew down to him. He hovered off the ground again, still clutching his side, as he glared at both spiders with murderous intent.

And then… he glitched, his atoms discoloring and distorting his entire being.

The Green Goblin shrieked in agony as soon as it was over. He hunched over, bug-eyed.

"WHAT WAS THAT!?"

Both Spider-Men looked to each other, knowing immediately.

"That's what happens when you stay out of your dimension too long…" Miguel thought twice about his answer. "… at least for you, it seems."

The Goblin just stared, no longer grinning, just snarling, before the unexpected happened… a black hole opened up behind the hovering supervillain. "We'll… meet again…" he hissed, no longer shouted at the top of his lungs.

"W-What…?" Miguel's stomach dropped… that hole was just like the Spot's.

The Goblin backed into this portal, his green and purple figure blending into its darkness, and vanished. Miguel, with his own injury, made a dive for him, only to pass through thin air.

Too late… their enemy was gone now.

"How can this Goblin have the Spot's powers?"

"That's what I'm trying to figure out."

Peter B. Parker, having arrived with his cavalry, paced in front of a seated Miguel, who was now unmasked with cuts and bruises, trying to wrap his head around everything he's just been told. "If this Goblin can travel through dimensions, what's to say he won't come to my universe or…" Peter caught his breath and rubbed his face; he didn't even want to think of it.

"Worst of all," he continued, pointing hard at their leader, "why didn't you let us know where you were? You left a pregnant woman in charge!"

"I was…" Miguel shook his head, trying to word his reason, "… trying to confirm a theory."

"Confirm what?" Peter frowned in confusion. "That there's another anomaly on the loose?"

"Not just that…" Miguel stood up, clearing his throat, "… but also the fact that I haven't glitched for weeks without my watch since leaving my own dimension, just like Miles."

Peter's face softened. "If that's the case, then…"

"This could possibly apply to all other Spider-People." Miguel concluded for him.

"That doesn't explain why that Goblin glitched." Noir stepped in with his arms folded, his head cocked to the side.

"Beats me." Miguel shrugged, and then his glare narrowed. "Maybe… we can save those questions for Dr. Jonathan Onn."

All the other spiders turned to him, although Peter gave him a tense side-glance.

The Rio Morales of Earth 42 spent her day like any other nursing her patients in the New York hospital, except these days were much different now. Ever since the titanic collapse of the Six, their tyranny had slowly but surely seeped away, their once-prosperous city finally being restored to what it once was, and what it could be, and it made her feel lighter in a way; she only wished that her husband could have lived to see it.

She also missed seeing her son, who was away most of the time doing God-knows-what. It was also the same with her brother-in-law, Aaron; they were always away together.

On this day, however, she was pleasantly surprised by the arrival of her Miles, who was back on his braids now. He smiled warmly as he approached her with open arms.

"Oh, mijo!" She embraced him tightly.

"Hey, mama."

"What are you doing here?" she asked, pulling away to caress his cheek. "And how did you grow your hair back so fast?"

Miles could only pull a face and shrug. "Genes?"

Shaking her head, his mother laughed and pulled away.

"Can I help you with anything, ma?" he then asked, fidgeting eagerly with his fingers.

"No need." She waved off.

He watched go off to help the other nurses on this floor.

Ever since the other Miles and his Spider-People helped take down the supervillain cartel, he was overcome with a renewed sense of hope. The warm sunshine spilling in through the windows represented that ray of hope. Things could finally be the way they were before… but then he thought about it some more. Even with his New York returning to its former prosperity, nothing would bring his dad back. This was a fact he had begrudgingly accepted a long time ago.

Just then, Miles, as well as everyone else, heard what sounded like an approaching jet plane… but something was off… it sounded smaller than a jet plane… and the sound of its thrusters were moving low in between the buildings of this city.

The walls to the outside suddenly caved in, chunks of glass and concrete flying everything to a blast of fire and smoke. Everyone, including the braided teen, were knocked to the floor, covered in dust and rubble. Screams of panic followed soon after.

When Miles got back up, unharmed but shellshocked, he heard a daunting whistle… the Itsy-Bitsy Spider… followed by a demonic cackle.

"CAN A SPIDER COME OUT TO PLAY!?" the voice boomed, scaring the nurses and patients even further.

Through one of the destroyed walls, he caught a quick glimpse of the purple-green figure zooming by. He had to act fast, but first… he needed to find his mother.

"Ma!" he called out, both hands cupping his mouth, as he stepped over the debris. "Ma, where are you!?"

He swiveled his head everywhere, hoping to God that she wasn't near any of the windows or among the bodies that were now strewn on the floor. His cries grew more desperate. He had lost his father… he couldn't lose his mother too. He did his best not to let the worst-case scenario invade his mind, yet his chest was drum-rolling into overdrive.

The dust was getting thicker, making it harder for him to see… and then he heard a cough. He recognized it immediately and ran over to find his mother struggling to pick herself off the floor. She had few cuts, but she looked mostly unharmed.

"Ma!" He slung her arm on his shoulder. "Are you okay!?"

"Si… mijo." she answered between coughs.

"Let's get you outta here…" Miles' voice was almost cracking, "… you're gonna be okay."

As he carried her away from the devastation, his face darkened with a murderous glare.

After his narrow escape from those two odd Spider-Men, the Green Goblin found himself gliding over a different New York city. Unlike the last dimension he was in, this one was full of colors, mostly bathed in a hue of purple.

Still clutching his bullet wound, he tried to fathom how he was suddenly able to open these portals to new world, but in the end, it didn't really matter… he was here to have fun. All he had to do was find another bug to kill.

But everywhere he looked, there didn't seem to be any traces of Spider-Man in this world; he even caught a few puzzled glances from some panicked civilians like they had no idea what he was talking about when he brought up the webbed hero. On one hand, it'd fill him with glee to be able to terrorize his new playground without any annoying arachnids getting in the way… but on the other hand, it would bore him quickly.

"ALL THIS POWER… IN MY GRASP…"

Suddenly, his head jerked sideways to an invisible metallic force and connected with his cheek. He spiraled in the air, losing control for a moment, then gathered himself. Frantic, he scanned his surroundings for his new assailant, but there was no one.

"SPIDER-MAN…?" he squinted, baring his ugly teeth again. "WHERE ARE YOU!?"

There was another hit, this time from behind, striking the back of his head. This time, he was sent crashing onto the flat top of a lower building. Thrown off his glider, he tumbled and was laid across the concrete. There, in his sideways view on the ground, he saw a cloaked figure materialize out of thin air… he wore a purple mask and a gauntlet.

"WHO ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?" questioned the Goblin as he got up to a kneeling position.

"I should be asking you." said the Prowler. "You shouldn't have bombed that hospital."

He lunged at this green menace, only to get grappled and flung into a billboard. His back slammed hard against the metal supports, and he fell back down.

The Goblin picked him up by the throat and raised his fist, ready to pummel his head in. The Prowler, reacting quickly, unsheathed the claws on his gloved hand and jabbed them hard into his obvious bullet wound.

Dropping him, the Goblin stumbled back in pain. The Prowler then capitalized by punching him in the face with his gauntlet, which knocked him to the ground.

Mounting him, the purple vigilante proceeded to pound him with all his might repeatedly. Unlike his spider-counterpart, Miles G. Morales had no qualms about taking a few lives… so what reason did he have to let this monster live? Each hit he landed drew more cuts and bruises.

He stopped, however, when a sudden glitch took him by surprise. Despite the excruciating pain, the Goblin took this opportunity to kick his enemy off and struggle back to his feet.

The Prowler glared at him, wide-eyed in realization… this Goblin wasn't from his dimension.

"Where did you come from…?" he asked almost quietly, his mind spinning.

The Goblin only answered with an animalistic growl. Near the edge, he then jumped off the roof to make his escape. The Prowler sprinted after him to that same edge.

Down below, he saw the Green Goblin on his glider again, cackling high above the streets, before disappearing into a black hole that collapsed behind him… just like the Spot.

"What the hell!?" he exclaimed, short on breath, and dropped his mask.

Uncle Aaron was in his apartment, just finishing up on some of his equipment, when his nephew dropped in from the skylight with a grizzled scowl, pacing in the middle of the room.

"Hey!" cried Aaron, growing in concern. "What happened?"

"Those useless bastards…" cursed Miles, "… they were supposed to keep their so-called multiverse under control!" He was gasping, almost frothing at the mouth even. "That Goblin… he… he bombed my ma's hospital! He almost… killed her!"

"Slow down. Breathe." His uncle took him by the shoulders to hold him steady.

"I'm gonna find him… and kill him!"

"I get it, but you gotta calm down first!"

Aaron kept his hands on his nephew's shoulders until the teen managed to ease his breaths and relax. His frown dissolved into narrow-eyed contemplation.

"Better?"

Miles nodded, sighing. Wandering over to one of the windows, he stared out at his restructuring city, his eyes glazed. "I thought we were finally free… that I could finally… put down this mask." He turned back to his uncle, his stoicism returning. "I'm gonna find answers."

Stepping away from the window, he walked past his uncle to pick up a peculiar watch from his table; it was given to him by that punk rock Spider-Man. Aaron almost wanted to argue with him to stay here and take care of his mother, but deep down, he knew better than to argue with this stubborn young man.

Putting the watch on, Miles returned to the center of their apartment and summoned a portal behind him. He looked to Aaron. "I'll see you in a few days." And just like that, he was gone.

Turning back to his equipment on the table, a thought crossed the bearded man's mind.

If his brother, Jefferson, was alive in that other reality, he had to wonder what would happen if he encountered him… a meeting between ghosts.

Jonathan Onn, formerly the Spot, sat at a table with his hands chained. He was no longer a white faceless abomination; he was just a little thin man with glasses and a growing beard now. He was in a room with a mirror on one side and a singular light coning him from above. He knew from his brief time in jail that he was in an interrogation room, and that he was being watched from outside.

"I know you guys are standing out there watching me from behind that mirror window." he pointed out. "Can we just… get this interrogation over with so I can go back to jail, please?"

Right then, the sliding door opened, and a blue suited man with a glowing red emblem marched in to take the chair across him, dragging it along the floor noisily.

"Yeah, I know… you drag the chair across the floor so that it makes a loud screeching noise in order to intimidate me."

Miguel leaned forward on the table; his face was unreadable through his mask. "Did it work?" he asked cooly.

The former scientist gulped and nodded. "Yeah… it worked."

"So…" the 2099 Spider-Man laced his fingers in front of him, "… you wanna explain why there's a Green Goblin running amuck with your powers?"

"What?" Jonathan screwed up his face. "I don't know what you're—"

"STOP PLAYING GAMES!" Miguel shot from his seat and slammed the table with his palms, denting its metal top, and pointed with his accusing finger. "You had something to do with it!"

"I'm telling you the truth… Blue Panther…?" He waved his hands, unsure of what to really call this costumed man. "I don't have my powers anymore, but if I did…"

"What?" Miguel egged on. "Go on, what?"

The smaller man began twiddling with his fingers while wincing. "I might have done it by accident."

"By accident?" Miguel staggered back. "How can you gift a dangerous enemy with multiversal powers by accident?"

"I don't know!" he protested.

"How can you not know? You're a scientist!"

"Maybe…" Jonathan fidgeted in his seat, desperate to come up with an answer. "… I might have done it during our last battle as a Hail Mary."

Miguel stared through his mask, then bowed his head. "What the hell's a Hail Mary?"

Now it was the scientist's turn to be flabbergasted. "You don't know what a Hail Mary is?"

"No, I don't…"

"How can you not know what a Hail Mary is?"

"I don't watch football, okay!?" Miguel was losing patience again.

"Neither do I, but I at least know the terminology!"

"Look, I… it doesn't matter!" The masked hero shook frantically. "So… you're telling me that you accidentally transferred your powers into another supervillain across dimensions?"

"When I was in that chokehold, probably." Jonathan was now at a loss for words, and all he could do was shrug.

Giving up, Miguel hung his head and let out the hardest sigh.

Timidly, the former Spot raised a timid finger. "Can I… go back to jail now?"

Miguel could only nod, and then he decided to correct him. "I'm Spider-Man, by the way."

Back in HQ, Miguel returned to the control panel where he was greeted by a visibly aggrieved Jessica Drew. Her arms were folded as she glared at him.

"Can I take my maternity leave now?"

Miguel didn't bother answering her; he simply retracted his mask and took over the console. She quickly noticed his facial injuries.

"Ran into some trouble, I see."

"That's an understatement." He brought up the Green Goblin on their screens. "The Spot threw us a Hail Mary, as he calls it. Apparently, this is his last-ditch effort to get back at us."

Jess observed this supervillain with growing trepidation. "Why would he give his powers to a Green Goblin?"

Before he could answer, a purple glow flooded the room from behind them. Turning around, they saw Earth 42's Prowler standing there, maskless, with a look that could kill.

"Miles?" Miguel, stunned to see him in their HQ, approached him with caution. "What happened? Why are you—?"

Time slowed down, and Miguel saw this young man's gauntlet drawing back. He had more than enough time to avoid this incoming punch, but something in the teen's eyes, the boiling anger, stilled him… and he took the punch. The POW echoed tremendously through this spacious enclosed room. Miguel staggered backwards, but he didn't topple.

He was really getting it from everyone today…

The room quickly filled with other Spider-People who rushed in to restrain the furious vigilante with their webbing. Miles G. Morales kept shouting curses in Spanish, his face reddening by the second. Miguel, who barely reacted, stood upright and rubbed his chin.

"WHAT HAPPENED TO KEEPING THE SPIDER-VERSE UNDER CONTROL!?" he screamed, thrashing wildly against his restraints. "YOUR MESS ALMOST KILLED MY MA!"

"I'm s-sorry…" Miguel stammered, trying to calm him down.

"HE BOMBED A HOSPITAL!" Miles ranted on. "WHERE MY MOM WORKS! WHERE SHE TAKES CARE OF HER PATIENTS! WHERE SHE TRIES TO HELP OTHER PEOPLE!"

"Kid!" The raging teen whirled his head to see the Peter Parker of Earth 616B approaching him with his hands outstretched. "I know you're mad!"

"OH, DO YOU!?" Miles grinned hysterically. "I'M NOT A KID!"

"No… no, you're not… but can you calm down, please?"

"Please, listen to him." Jess interjected boredly.

Miles, managing to free one of his hands, pointed hard at the pregnant woman. "YOU COME ANY CLOSER AND I'LL KICK YOUR BABY!"

A loud gasp rippled through the control room.

"Too far!" cried Peter. "Way overboard!"

Sooner or later, however, the Prowler ceased his struggle, having burned himself out. Remembering what his Uncle Aaron told him, he breathed in, and then out. With this, he finally relaxed.

"Feel better, now?" Miguel asked him.

"Hardly." Miles answered, still glaring.

"Fair enough."

After being released from his binds, Miles G. Morales listened as this Spider-Man of 2099 explained everything to him. When he was done, he had one question in his mind.

"Does Miles know about this threat? The other me, I mean."

"Not yet." Miguel shook.

"And Gwen?"

"No."

"And…" Miles glanced sideways at Peter. "… are you going to warn them?"

"As soon as we can." Peter answered.

"You better," stated the Prowler, "because if you don't, they could be in more danger than they realize."

TO BE CONTINUED.

Author's Note: Coming up next are my two most anticipated chapters... for Gwen and Miles.