"Well, this is kinda awkward. Anyone want anything to eat? This guy has more than just sleazy empanadas", Hobie stated, slowly walking away from the group.

They had portalled themselves directly to Pascal's base after they saw Miles, but he had refused to talk or listen to them. Now, they were all sitting around the main deck across from which, through a stained glass office they could see the silhouettes of Pascal and Miles, arguing. He'd separated the two groups and dragged Miles off.

"Ooo, me! I'm starving!", Ham squeaked off behind him, followed by Noir and Peni

"Oh, I'm good, I'm still full from all the delicious tension there was in the room between new guy and Gwen. Whoo!", Pav said rubbing his stomach but was promptly dragged off by Margo.

"Oh come on, Miles! They're your friends. They understood their mistake. They've literally been looking for you to make amends."

Miles' face darkened. "Friends? You think they're my friends?! The only thing they've done so far is lie to me and hide shit from me. The only reason I'm in this mess is because of them! Friends don't betray you when you need them the most! Friends actually bother to come visit when they suddenly gain the ability to. You know what I was trying to do back in my world?! I was studying so that I could make the same shit MY "FRIENDS" HAD ACCESS TO ALL ALONG SO I COULD ACTUALLY GO AND BE WITH THEM!" He was screaming now and he didn't care whether they heard him outside or not. "THEY'D RATHER HAVE THEIR FANCY PARTY OF HIGH AND MIGHTY "TRUE" SPIDER-MEN THEN HAVE ME AS A FRIEND. THEY'D RATHER HAVE ME WATCH AS MY DAD DIES WHILE SAYING THAT THEY WERE TRYING TO PROTECT CUZ I'M AN ANOMALY! A KID!" He had let all of it out, in a single breath. Seeing them all in his vicinty had just triggered memories of the chase across Nueva York and its revelations.

Pascal grabbed him by the shoulders, he looked up. He seemed like he was about to scream back at him and Miles braced for the impact. But it never came.

"Then stop acting like one." Miles looked up. Pascal was looking down at him not angry, but understanding, his shining eyes of blue and green had suddenly become a still forest and an ocean of soft warmth. "Stop being the one that needs protection. Show them that you're more than the sum of their expectations and estimations. Start being the adult if you don't want to be sheltered any further. And you know what the first step to being an adult is? Knowing that people make mistakes and learning to forgive them."

Pascal sighed, his face falling as he drops his hands from Miles' shoulders, "Miles", his tone was sad, but hopeful.

"Don't let your friends go.", he looked up. "Don't end up like I was, man, alone in the gaps between reality, drinking cranberry juice, trying to escape reality so bad that you take the stupidest way out of there. When my Miles died, I lost myself, I got reckless, almost did the same as Miguel in my attempt to get him back, and in my folly, I became a prisoner in my own mind, stuck in a perpetual non-existence until I pulled myself up. But the world I arose back to couldn't accept me. And I blamed them. I thought they were the ones who were at fault for rejecting me." But that's when I grew up Miles. I stopped living in the dream that he would come back, or that I could bring him back some way. I forgave the world, I forgave the Society. I forgave my enemies. None of them see the bigger picture, Miles and hence I have no animosity towards any of them. They made their choices. It's your job as an adult to respect that and move on. You don't need to accept what they say without protest either. But that doesn't mean you push away the people close to you because, your friends? he points out the stained mirror where he could see the silhouettes of Gwen and Peter, slumped on chairs. "They don't understand the situation any better. They're here for their friend. A friend they'd rather not lose because of a mistake they made, one stupid mistake." He walked away towards the door, the one opposite to the one leading to Peter and Gwen, "They're here to fix their mistakes and make it up to you, Miles."

Miles turned towards him, "And what if I'm not ready? To be an adult?"

Pascal smiled, "I'd understand that much more then you suddenly blooming into one, Miles. And I'm not going to force you to either. If you want me to take over, I would, any day. You'd just have to follow. But remember, this is your battle, and you have much more to win or lose from the outcome. Would you really be satisfied knowing you could do more?"

Miles had nothing to say to that.

Pascal sighed, his hand on the doorknob, "All of us want what's best for you but only you truly understand what actually is, it's your call now, Miles, your own way. The road ahead can only be made by you. So just...keep going, don't stop." The door clicks and then shuts behind him with a thud.

Miles stood there in silence for a while, processing the last two sentences, a small smile on his face as he remembered whose words they'd been and what it was that they meant. What it had been the first time. And what it was this time. He'd taken the reins of destiny last time, what was stopping him this time? No safety net. He realised. There was no backup and no one to save him if he messed up this time. Our family doesn't run from things, Miles. His mother. He had to save her and his dad. And it struck him. The bigger picture. He nodded to himself, affirming his choice. He walked resolutely, without conflict towards the door. He grabbed onto the doorknob,This is it. This is my choice, right? , pulled at it, struggled with it a while, realised it was a push door, and walked out as it closed behind him with a resounding thud. "Guess it's time to be a Morales then."

Gwen was sitting on one of those wheeled office chairs beside Peter, pulling on her hoodie like she wanted to disappear into it. "This was a bad idea."

"You're telling me. I don't think I can face him at all." Peter was spinning his chair around, holding Mayday up, like she was flying. She was giggling and waving her arms about.

"I mean, what am I gonna tell him?" She pulled off her mask, her face marred with worry, stress and...fear, "Hey guess what, I believed a total stranger at a time when I was down and he showed me a way out of my troubles. I then avoided you and didn't tell you any of this cuz this guy told me you were not meant to be Spider-Man. I am also a huge douchebag of a friend who went along with trying to stop you from saving your dad so he could die for some stupid canon, I'm...sorry?" She had burst into tears. It hurt to think about it now. "And I-I- tried to push away my feelings for you because of the same stupid canon idea that it wouldn't end well when all I could even think of when I finally got a chance to see you again was to never let you go. And I-I closed myself up to you, I lied to you, I hurt your feelings and betrayed you when you needed me the most and there's no one else to blame about it all but ME!" She buried her face in her hands, tears rolling down her cheeks. She didn't care if Peter was really listening or not. "All I ever wanted...was a friend who woud understand me" she said through sobbing chokes, "and when I finally found him, I traded him for some stupid watch. I wanted it so I could see you again, and now I don't think you want to see me anymore. I left you and I'm sorry. I'm sorry I ever treated you like a kid, I'm sorry I hid my emotions from you. I got so lost in my own mask and the chance to be a part of something bigger that I forgot what was most important the people around me, my best friend, my father, and now, now you and-and I now I've practically lost all 3 and you-you're truly much more than I could ever be. I'm the real kid here, I'm the one who can't deal with the dual identity, the mask, the balancing. I'm the one who doesn't know any better." she dropped her hands, looking at the mask clasped in her fist. "I'm the one who doesn't deserve this mask. I've done nothing but mess up till now" She stood up slamming her chair back, causing it to roll away "I'm nothing but a-a disappointing daughter and-and-and a horrible friend and an even worse Spider-Woman!" She screamed out she threw her mask with full force, hoping it would disappear from her life. She curled into a ball on the floor, covering her face with her knees, whispering "I'm sorry" over and over again. She was ugly crying and she just couldn't stop. She kept trying to wipe her tears off when she realised that there had been no sound of the mask hitting anything either. And it sure as hell hadn't flown out a window in the middle of the cosmos. She looked up from her crouch. "I-I.." she shakily stood up when she realised Miles was standing their, her mask in his hand. She felt like a mouse trapped in a corner, she didn't know whether to run towards him or away so she just stood there as Miles walked up to her. And then stopped, like he was waiting for some kind of reaction from her. Gwen was looking everywhere but at his face. She couldn't bring herself to meet his eyes when arms wrapped around her, pulling her close to him. He smelled distinctly of sweat, blood, rain and garbage. "It's okay. I forgive you." Gwen was too stunned to say anything. She just reflexively shoved her head into his shoulder, and sniffled. And then again. And then she started bawling. His words pulled her out of the darkness she'd been drowning herself in. The guilt pent-up in her from Peter's death, to her lies to her father, to almost losing Miles forever, the mask and the responsibilities that came with it, it had all built up, slowly and slowly. It had been like a parasite, slowly growing inside her to the point where she'd forgotten how to forgive herself and move on. Miles' words. They struck like a resonant pitch to glassware, shattering her. She clung onto him for dear life, wailing and screaming into his suit as he gently stroked her head whispering in her ear. "It's okay."

Peter and Mayday sat there, smiles as wide as a crescent moons on both their faces. Peter was going to console Gwen when he had seen Miles standing there, a finger on his lips, a gesture to shush. So he did. And it was definitely worth it.

"This is a massive degree of canon derailment Miguel, no amount of cleanup is gonna bring a dead person back up. And I hate to be the one to point it out, but there are no signs of the world collapsing into itself"

"We cannot use this world as a test case, it was unstable to begin with"

"But Miguel-"

"That's enough, Lyla, just bring a Containment Team in."

The module goes silent just as another voice beeps in.

"Miguel, the Spot is on his rampage again. There's another dimension on the brink of destabilization."

"Jessica, focus on your current objective, I'll send another team in", he shuts the comm down.

"Lyla, track Miles via biosignatures, use what DNA you can find from here"

"On it."

The entire situation was a wreck, but Miguel sure as hell was gonna salvage what he can. It didn't matter to him anymore whether the Spot was caught, he just wanted this nightmare to end and the beet way to do it was to nip the problem in the bud.

Morales.

A/N: Yeah, sorry! I may have overestimated my capacity to dish out chapters every other week. This one has actually been sitting in my inventory for over a month now. Couldn't get around to finishing it. Thanks to all of you who are still following it. I really respect you people for being patient with me. Once again, thanks for reading!