Previously, on The Defenders of Remnant...

"I never signed up for any of this," Prowler replied. "I was with Fisk just as security. But ever since he died, I've had a gun pointed at my head to stay here. And now everyone else has gone fuckin' crazy."

"And you're telling us this, why?" Weiss asked.

Prowler pulled off his mask, revealing he was a dark-skinned man with a bald head and goatee. "I didn't want this. I'm not up for killing innocent people. I see kids like them, like Spider-Man, and think of how many like them will die if they get away with this."

"Is he telling the truth?" Luke asked Matt. Matt listened, homing in on prowler's heartbeat. It was steady, consistent.

"Yeah, he is," He answered.

"If you're worried about all this, then why not help us stop them?" Ruby asked Prowler.

"Because I'm not looking for a deathwish, kid," He answered. "If I do that now, they'll kill me, and I got a nephew back home I intend to see again. I'm getting as far away from here as possible."

Ruby looked back as Prowler went the opposite direction, quickly leaving Taskmaster, Torchwick, and the White Fang behind.

"Cinder was wanting a report on your current research, Mason," Mercury said.

"Well, you can tell her that my further endeavors into genetic tinkering have proven fruitful. Take a look," Mason gestured to the cylinder. The two looked up into the cylinder to see the body had the face of Peter Parker.

"I-Is that…?" Emerald started to ask.

"No, my dear, it's not. Peter Parker himself is behind the walls of Beacon Academy now. But Taskmaster was kind enough to give me some of the boy's DNA while he tortured him. This, Emerald… this will be our newest enforcer. We lost the Lizard, but who better to replace him, than an exact clone of Spider-Man?"

Here's a question for you, Professor: what do you intend to do once we're gone?"

"I won't have to think of anything," Ozpin said. "From what I understand, Mister Parker won't be going anywhere anytime soon."

"What are you talking about?" Marc asked.

"Peter has made his wishes clear to stay on Remnant with his new friends and station his career as a masked hero in Vale. And I don't think either of us want to make his choices for him, now do we?"

Matt scowled. "Peter will be left in the dark for his own good.

Black Tarantula looked down at Emerald, who gritted her teeth and glanced at her weapons not too far away. She was about to reach for them when Tarantula kicked them away from her.

"The fight's over," Black Tarantula replied, "Your aura's drained. Try again, and you'll lose."

"You got caught up in the fight, it's all good. I'm not as sturdy as the boys anyway," Jessica said.

"What do you mean?' Pyrrha asked.

"Luke's the obvious one, but the other guys can take a beating more than any normal human could. I just have the strength," Jessica explained.

"I'm sorry, if I would've known, I would've held back."

"Then it wouldn't be a test, right?" Jessica said before patting Pyrrha on the back.

"If you are listening, Mister Masters, Miss Fall, I'd like to let you know that I was wrong about a great many things."

"Fisk?!" Taskmaster exclaimed. A well of anger filled up within him.

"How is this possible..?" Cinder questioned.

"So what do we do?" Tarantula asked.

"Have we found Prowler yet?" Taskmaster asked.

"Emerald reported from her undercover position just before we were called here," Cinder answered. "He's hiding out at a club called Junior's downtown."

Taskmaster then wheeled onto Tarantula and pointed his finger towards him. "Then you and I are gonna start your first mission. We'll pay Junior's a visit, and capture Prowler. I wouldn't doubt Fisk has already contacted him."

"So capture Prowler, and then what?" Tarantula asked.

"Leave no witnesses," Taskmaster answered coldly before leaving the room.

The Defenders of Remnant

Chapter 27: Mirror

Jessica had made her way to Peter's dorm room to check up on him, only to find the room empty and the young hero absent. From there, Jessica only knew of one other place to check, his lab across campus that Ozpin had provided him. Jessica entered the Atlas Labs building and went up the steps to the top floor to reach lab AF-15 before opening the door to find Peter using the tools to repair the Advanced Suit.

"You just can't sit still, can you?" She remarked. Peter shot his eyes up and took off his goggles.

"What are you doing here?" Peter asked.

"I could ask the same thing. You're supposed to be in bed."

"Couldn't sleep. Besides, I'd rather not waste more time afterwards trying to fix up the suit," Peter replied. Jessica looked to the left side of the room and saw two metal mannequins. One was empty of clothing, while the other wore Peter's original cloth suit, stitched together and cleaned from the battle with Fisk.

"Seems to me like you already fixed one up," Jessica said.

"That's just for emergencies"' Peter said before pulling his goggles back down and taking the tools to the Advanced Suit again. "The Advanced Suit is better in almost every way, and it's more protected. I've even upgraded the armored components a bit so they can take more punishment, and made the fibers more aerodynamic to increase-"

"What are you doing, Pete?"

"What do you mean?" Peter asked.

"I mean with the whole hero of Vale thing. Sure, we're in the spotlight too, but all eyes are on you. What happens when this is all over and we're gone?" Jessica questioned. This gave Peter pause, his work with the tools stopping once again.

"S-See, the thing about that is-" he started to say.

"You're wanting to stay in Vale," Jessica answered for him. Peter looked at her in surprise.

"How did you know?"

Jessica replied, "We're friends and I'm a private eye. You really think I wouldn't figure that out?"

Peter considered it for a brief moment before deadpanning, "Ozpin told you."

"Ozpin told us," Jessica admitted while rolling her eyes. "But that's besides the point. Why do you want to stay?"

Peter just sighed and set the tools aside again and pulled the goggles off his head. "Jess, I lost everything in a matter of days to a man I broke my number one rule to stop. I broke my promise to Ben because I couldn't control myself. I gave up the hero's life because there was no more meaning behind it."

"I remember," Jessica said. "I also remember that after that happened, almost every hero in New York came to support you. Tony Stark funded their funerals. Matt read the eulogies. Hell, Thor, the literal god of thunder showed up."

"Johnny Storm handled the cookout too," Peter chuckled. "I get it, Jess. I know I have friends and people who support me back on Earth. But despite that, I didn't try again."

"Until the night with the collider," Jessica corrected. "So why come back to it that night?"

"I don't know. I really don't. Maybe it was a lapse in judgment, or on whim. All I know is the same night I put it back on, we get sent to a whole other universe. But ever since we've come here, something's changed. Ruby, Weiss, Blake, Yang… they all have made things better in a way I can't explain. And here on Remnant, I don't have my past to be haunted by. It's a fresh start."

"So what happens when Rhino starts tearing up a city block? Or Shocker robs a bank? Or Chameleon-"

"Jessica, any other hero can handle my rogues, just like they did after I quit. To the world, nothing will change," Peter said.

"And what about the rest of us? You still have friends on the other side, Pete!" Jessica exclaimed.

"I know that, I'm not stupid!" Peter yelled back. "Once we actually figure out a way back, I'll keep it. I can still come see everyone. But Spider-Man? He stays on Remnant."

"You know what? Just… whatever," Jessica groaned. "You're just missing the point." Jessica then turned around and quickly left the lab.

"Jess, wait-!" Peter started to call after her, but it was pointless. She was already gone.

After slamming another shot down, Aaron Davis pushed the glass forward back to Junior across the bar. "Go ahead and hit me with another one," Aaron said.

"Hey, it's on you if you don't find your way home," Junior remarked before refilling Aaron's shot glass.

"Hey, go easy on him mon ami," Gambit said, standing next to the bar fiddling with his deck of cards. "Or you might leave him on da curb."

"Hey, it's up to him to stop, not me," Junior replied.

"It's just a couple of shots, I'll be fine," Aaron insisted.

"Whatever you say, man," Junior relented while putting the bottle of liquor away.

Aaron was about to down the contents of his refilled shot glass when his scroll went off, showing an incoming call from "Boss". Aaron took one quick look around before stepping away from the bar and answering the call.

"I'll be damned. Thought you were dead and gone," He said. Gambit perked up from his position next to the bar.

"This king is not dethroned yet, Mister Davis. And if you are as unsatisfied with Taskmaster's decisions as I am, then I suggest you rendezvous with Mister Mason and myself at these coordinates in one week. Until then, remain hidden from the witch's prying eyes," Fisk replied.

Aaron pulled his scroll away to see a message with coordinates pop up on his scroll's screen. When he returned his scroll to his ear, he said, "Lemme guess, Tinkerer has us a way home?"

"He's been working on it for some time, right under their noses, though his cover has recently been blown. Escape their prying eyes for just a little longer, and New York will be just a button press away."

"See you soon, boss." Aaron then hung up just before the barrel of a gun was put to the back of his head.

"Don't. Move," a voice threatened. Aaron glanced over his shoulder to see the form of Gambit slowly change into that of Emerald. She took out her scroll and put it to her ear. "I have him."

"Keep him there, we're close," Taskmaster ordered from the other side. Emerald put her scroll away and looked back up at Aaron.

"You didn't make Cinder very happy, abandoning the operation like that."

"Stealing Dust shipments is one thing. But putting that many innocent people in danger? Their blood would be on my hands, and I wasn't gonna have any part of it," Aaron replied.

"You've killed before," Emerald said.

"When the reasons were good enough. But that would have been outright genocide! Men, women, kids. I'm a criminal, not a monster."

"Believe me old man, there are things worse on Remnant than monsters," Emerald frowned.

"Maybe. But probably nothing dumber than you," Aaron teased.

"What?" Emerald growled, her patience growing thin. It was then that a large red-and-black metal bat smashed into Emerald's skull and sent her flying away. The club was held by Junior who gave Aaron a small nod.

"I don't exactly like being lied to," Junior said.

"Yeah, me neither," Aaron nodded back. "Think you can cover me till I get my gear?"

"It would be my genuine pleasure," Junior smirked before walking towards where Emerald had fallen. Most of the partygoers were clearing the area and heading for the doors while Junior's men surrounded the floor, pointing their firearms at Emerald, who only just now began recovering. "Y'know, a problematic blonde broke my original," Junior said while gesturing to his weapon, "But I think this new one is suiting me just fine!" Junior swung his weapon in an upwards arc, and even though Emerald braced herself in time, she was still dazed and the impact sent her flying backwards off her feet again. "Now I don't know who you're working for, kid, but they don't get to come into my club to start trouble."

"All we wanted was Prowler," Emerald groaned before getting to her feet and drawing her twin firearms. "And now you've made it personal." In that instant, a symphony of cocked guns sounded around her, all of Junior's men ready to pull the trigger. "Aw, so many men teaming up on a helpless little girl like me?" Emerald mocked.

"You're hardly helpless," Aaron said, now dressed in his Prowler outfit. He took up Junior's side as his gauntlets whirred to life. "So much for honor among thieves."

"I'm more than a simple thief now," Emerald replied.

"Yeah, Cinder's lap dog. She tells you to sit, and you lay down to kiss her ass better," Prowler remarked.

"It's called loyalty! Not that you would know anything about that, Davis," Emerald exclaimed.

"I have loyalty. Just not to Cinder."

"And now that will cost you your life," Emerald threatened.

"Listen Girlie, you're outmanned and outgunned. It doesn't matter how good you are when as soon as you pull the trigger, all of them will too," Junior warned.

"And as much as I don't like ya, Emerald, I don't wanna see a kid be lit up like 50 Cent. So I'm going to take my leave," Prowler said. But just as he started to head for the front doors, an arrow lodged itself perfectly between the plates of armor on his costume, piercing through and out the other side of his left shoulder. He cried out in pain and held the wound as Taskmaster and Black Tarantula dropped down from the rafters. The new adversaries caused Junior's men to change aim, confused as to who the primary target was. This gave Emerald the chance she needed. She rushed towards junior as two blades folded out from under the barrels of her guns. Junior turned back to face her and started another swing of his weapon.

The huntresses of RWBY and JNPR were grouped together as they strolled down the sidewalks of downtown Vale, searching for something to take up the night.

"So, what do you guys wanna do?" Ruby asked.

"I'd suggest the diner, but it seems we go there so often," Pyrrha said.

"Yeah, Stan's is normally packed anyway," Yang agreed.

"Let's do something different, something fun," Blake suggested.

"Oh, oh!" Nora exclaimed. "Breaking bad guys' legs!"

"I said something different," Blake deadpanned, but with a small smile.

"It's not like the crooks seem to be around anymore anyways, especially after the Grimm attack," Weiss said. "Crime rates were already dwindling because of Peter and the Defenders. The city being swarmed with Grimm disturbs everyone."

"Throw the Atlas Military on top of it, and common crooks don't dare come out. Only the White Fang's reared its head recently," Blake added.

"Girls, girls, no business talk!" Yang said, throwing her arms around Blake and Weiss. "It's supposed to be a fun girls night! No monsters, no supervillains, no terrorist organizations. Just a group of beautiful young women hittin' the town!"

"Now that's an idea I can get behind!' Nora agreed.

"I wonder what the guys are up to right now," Ruby said.

"Probably something boring," Nora replied.

"Speaking of boys, while they're not with us," Yang said before letting go of Weiss and pulling Pyrrha towards her with Blake still on the other side, "We need to talk about you two."

"W-What about?" Pyrrha asked.

"Don't play coy~" Yang teased. "The two of you can't hide everything."

"Yang, what are you talking about?" Blake questioned, a little annoyed at being manhandled by the stronger blonde.

"Oh, you know."

"We, uh, really don't, Yang," Pyrrha said in an exasperated way.

Yang leaned closer to Pyrrha. "How about what's going on between you and Jaune," She switched targets and leaned closer to Blake, "And you and Peter!" The other two Huntresses' faces flushed a bright pink almost instantly and they pulled themselves away from Yang. "There's the tell~"

"I… have no clue what you're talking about," Pyrrha denied.

"S-Same here," Blake agreed.

"Guys, it's painfully obvious, and I mean painfully," Yang said.

"Is this really what we're talking about?" Weiss remarked.

"You're not out of the woods either," Nora said. "If I recall, you were fawning over one Neptune Vasilias up to the dance, heiress."

Weiss nervously rubbed her neck and avoided eye contact. "Well, you and Ren seem awfully close."

"W-We're not together together, just friends! We basically grew up together!" Nora said.

"Wow, I really started something, huh?" Yang thought aloud.

"Hey, you can't be safe either!" Weiss exclaimed. "You have to like someone!"

"Sure I do. I like a lot of people for different reasons. I just enjoy the whole free spirit thing too."

"Name one," Nora demanded.

"I have no shame. Peter. He's cute, he's dorky, he's sweet, but he's also strong and smart. Probably just a few reasons why you like him, huh Blake?" Yang's statement made Blake blush even more.

"Somebody's caught red handed," Ruby giggled.

"W-Why are you getting in on this?" Blake questioned.

"Because I'm the only one with room to talk," Ruby smirked. "I for one don't like anyone like that."

"W-Well no, I don't like Peter like that," Blake denied, averting the gaze of the others. "I don't have time to be caught up in things like that."

"The eyes say otherwise," Nora teased.

"If anything, he has more in common with you than anyone else here," Yang said. "The loner type."

"Stubborn," Weiss added.

"Moody," Nora continued.

"Give Blake some rest," Pyrrha said. "She clearly isn't comfortable about talking about the idea."

"Oh, we haven't even gotten to you yet, Miss Perfect. Your guy is the only one even dorkier than Pete," Yang said. "Why do you like Jaune anyway?"

"Jaune is a good friend and an amazing leader," Pyrrha replied. "He can be… naive at times, but I truly believe he could be one of the best Huntsman on Remnant. But we are merely good friends."

"For now~" Nora teased. Pyrrha's face flushed pink and she glared at her teammate, who only kept a mischievous look on her own face.

"We still haven't figured out what we're doing yet, have we?" Ruby asked.

"Well, that was a waste of time," Weiss commented.

"Hey, nothing's wasted. We found Pyrrha's weakness: Vomit Boy," Yang said.

"Oh hush you," Pyrrha replied.

Tarantula was being closed in by all of Junior's henchmen, their guns all aimed at him. "Open fire!" One of them exclaimed. Just before the bullets started flying, Tarantula leapt up, letting some of the armed thugs kill each other with their crazed shooting. Once he dropped back down, he began taking them out one by one, one hit each, whether it was punches, kicks, or grappling them and smashing to the ground, almost every single attack was enough to floor an opponent. Before long, all of Junior's men were dead. Tarantula turned his attention to the fight between Taskmaster and Prowler, which from a distance, seemed more even a match than it should have been.

Taskmaster was thinking the same. Anytime they had sparred, he beat Prowler nearly every time. But when you corner an animal, it fights for its life. And Prowler was doing just that. He made himself a target and had been cornered, and now his speedy and acrobatic attacks were relentless. Taskmaster had to channel the same type of acrobatics from previous battles in order to keep up. "I'm impressed, Aaron," Taskmaster complimented. "You've never fought like this before."

"I'm not coming back!" Prowler exclaimed. "You've gone insane, and I want no part of it!"

"You lost your chance to come back when you abandoned the train!" Taskmaster replied before bashing his head against Prowler's, cracking Prowler's armor on his helmet and stunning him, followed up by spin-kicking him in the stomach, pushing him backwards and to the ground. "You'll live long enough for me to rip your scroll from your body, then we'll find Fisk and kill him for good this time. We'll destroy his new collider while we're at it too. Then, as the city falls, and the heroes have nowhere to run," Taskmaster stabs his sword through Prowler's right light, sliding it right between plates of armor put over the cloth, forcing a scream of pain from Prowler, "We'll kill them too."

One of the tables collided with him and took him with it in its flight, smashing him into one of the walls across the entire room and cratering in the wall. Prowler and Tarantula both glanced over to see Jessica near the entrance to the club. "Keep talking, asshole," She remarked.

Tarantula lunged for Jessica, but she backhanded him away, sending him spinning back and flying upwards. Tarantula quickly balanced himself mid-air and put his hands and feet out to the wall he was shooting towards, and quickly stuck to it by his soles and fingertips. "What the hell…?" Jessica muttered. "Nice Spider-Man cosplay, but he wears red and blue. You should get your money back."

"Spider-Man…?" Tarantula replied before launching forward like a speeding bullet and slamming Jessica down onto the floor, blowing all the air from her lungs. "You know him? Where is he?!"

Junior was able to black each slash attack from Emerald, but hsi offensive strategy quickly changed to defensive. Emerald's weapons weren't as devastating, but her speed more than made up for it. Junior needed to think of a way to end the fight and fast. Emerald swiped with both blades in a single direction, and Junior blocked it by turning his weapon vertically. Emerald tried to pull away, but her blades were stuck in Junior's club. The info broker smirked and clicked the switch to transform his weapon, shifting it into a rocket launcher, with the barrel pointing right down at their feet. Emeralds's eyes widened.

"You wouldn't…" Emerald said.

"You don't know me, sweetheart," Junior chuckled before pulling the trigger and blasting both of them away, knocking Junior out and shattering Emerald's aura, also putting her out of commission.

Tarantula took his attention away from Jessica as Emerald was defeated, giving Jessica the chance to suckerpunch him between the eyes, stunning him long enough for her to pull one of her legs back, plant it on his torso and kick him away. He was launched not only into a wall, but broke through it, shattering the stone and creating an opening to the city outside. She let out a groan before getting to her feet and rushing over to Prowler, who was still groaning in pain as Taskmaster's blade pinned his leg to the floor. She gripped the hilt of the blade and glanced down at the criminal.

"I'll be honest with you, this is gonna suck," She said.

"Just get it out so we can get out of here!" Prowler exclaimed. Jessica gritted her teeth and pulled the blade out of Prowler's leg before tossing it aside and hauling Prowler up to his feet. "Ugh, I know where Fisk is…"

"Fisk is alive?" Jessica asked in shock.

"Yeah, tough bastard. He's working on another collider to get home. Get me out of here, and I'll give everything I know."

"Definitely sounds like some useful information," Jessica said as she threw Prowler's arm over her shoulders. "We need to make it to Beacon before- Agh!" One of Taskmaster's arrows found its home in Jessica's lower right side. She stumbled, and both her and Prowler dropped to the ground. Taskmaster collapsed his bow back down and returned it to his backpack before stomping his way towards the two. They forced themselves to their feet and Jessica gripped her side. She left the arrow in to keep from bleeding faster. "You need to go…"

"And leave you to fight him alone?" Prowler questioned.

"You have the information, information that can get us home. You had that nephew, right?" Jessica asked. Prowler nodded in return. "Then make sure he sees his uncle again. I'll be fine." Reluctantly, Prowler limped out the door towards a motorbike parked outside. Meanwhile, Taskmaster picked up his bloodied blade from the floor.

"Get out of my way," He said threateningly.

"I'm gonna put a dent in that skull of yours," Jessica replied. Taskmaster growled and took up a straight, firm stance, angling his blade horizontally and holding the pommel near his left shoulder; Weiss's stance.

Jessica lunged forward and swung her fist in a downward arc. Taskmaster stepped back to avoid it before thrusting his blade forward, cutting into Jessica's left shoulder before leaping back to get out of range of Jessica's next swing. Jessica held her shoulder and gritted her teeth while glaring at Taskmaster angrily. She raised both of her fists above her head before bringing them down as hard as she could against the ground. Taskmaster leapt over her just before her fists connected with the floor and sent a shockwave through where he was standing. Once Taskmaster landed, he quickly turned on his heel and slashed his sword upwards, cutting a deep gash into Jessica's back. Jessica quickly stumbled, the pain and blood loss starting to take its toll.

Before Jessica could regain her balance, Taskmaster started taking fast swipes with his sword, each attack connecting and nicking Jessica to break down her defense. Each movement was flowy and elegant. He was still invoking the skills stolen from Weiss Schnee. Eventually, Jessica ducked down then struck a blow to the sword that snapped it two thirds of the way down from the tip of the blade, only leaving a small amount of jagged metal attached to the hilt. She rose up to strike a blow to Taskmaster's head, But Taskmaster caught her by her wrist before stabbing the jagged end of the broken sword into her stomach.

Shock went through her as she slowly looked down at the weapon pushing through her skin as blood flowed over it. If the blade was at its full length, it would have gone clean through her out her other side. But there was still enough length for her to feel the jagged broken metal pushed against her intestines. She tried to speak, but no words came out, just blood as it dripped from her mouth as well. Taskmaster pulled his weapon out of her and smashed his metal-protected head against her face, sending her stumbling backwards onto the floor.

"I tried to warn you," Taskmaster said before wiping the blood off the damaged hilt and picking up the broken part of the blade from the floor. "Look on the bright side, you'll get to see your parents again if there's an afterlife. Makes me worry for your sister though. Trish, was it?" Jessica hacked up blood as she tried to get back up, but her body felt too weak. Cuts and gashes all across her body were emptying the blood from her body too fast. She felt dizzy, almost sick. "Consider it a mercy. Because you won't be there to see this city burn." Taskmaster then left Junior's, leaving Jessica to wait as her vision slowly blacked out from blood loss.

Prowler was flying down the street on his motorcycle, going as fast as he could for Beacon Academy like Jessica had told him to do. His leg felt like it was on fire, and he could feel the swelling already. He could even feel the blood dripping down his leg inside the suit, making the cloth stick to his skin. But he had to block it out and focus on the controls for the bike and the road ahead of him.

The claw of a grappling hook caught the inner rim of the bike's front wheel and upended the vehicle, launching Prowler off and letting the bike skid down the road until it stopped when it hit a parked car. Prowler started to push himself back up when Tarantula leapt down in front of him and hauled him up by his neck. "Hand over the scroll. Now," Tarantula commanded. Prowler responded by connecting both of his feet with Tarantula's torso and firing the boosters in the soles of his boots to empower his double-kick. It forced Tarantula backwards and he had freed himself from his grip.

"I'm not letting you burn this city to the ground because Taskmaster has a grudge," Prowler huffed, bringing his fists up in a fighting stance.

"You'll do as you're told," Tarantula groaned while holding his chest, "Or you will die."

"You wanna kill me, kid? Then come on and do it!" Prowler exclaimed. He knew he didn't have a hope of winning this fight, not in his condition. He was beaten down, tired, and with his leg injury, his normal speed advantage was gone. He just had to hope to survive long enough for one of the heroes to find him. There had been enough commotion in this part of town, maybe one of them, or even the cops, have noticed by now.

He hoped.

"With pleasure," Tarantula snarled before leaping towards Prowler. Prowler brought his armored arms together to protect himself, but a single blow not only shattered the armor, but he still felt one of his arms sprain despite the armor taking most of the damage. Prowler stumbled back but still went for a high kick, which Tarantula blocked with his own forearm before grabbing the leg and throwing Prowler into another parked car, making the car slightly fold and shattering the windows. Prowler felt more of his bones break and groaned painfully before trying to force himself back to his feet. Tarantula approached and punched the stab wound in Prowler's leg, forcing a scream of pain from the thief before following up with a blow to his face, breaking the armor on the mask and forcing him back down to a sitting position.

"I will give you one last chance," Tarantula said, "Give. Me. The scroll."

Prowler coughed hoarsely and hacked up blood before slowly pulling his shattered mask off, revealing a bruised and bloodstained face. "Next time you look at yourself in the mirror, I want you to think about all the kids that will die when you do what you're going to do, then look at yourself… and see if you can keep a straight face in the middle of that massacre."

Tarantula's fist tightened, and he reeled his fist back to deliver a final, fatal blow.

Then webbing enveloped his fist and he looked above to see Spider-Man in his classic suit holding the line of web. "I like the cosplay, but if you're trying to copycat, I usually don't kill the bad guys!"

"You!" Tarantula exclaimed before yanking on the webbing and pulling Spider-Man towards him. He reeled up another slug, but Peter dodged the strike before putting both feet otu and flattening Tarantula in the road before leaping off of him.

"I know, you're floored to meet me, I get that a lot," Peter quipped.

Tarantula got to his feet and growled before ripping the webbing off his fist. "I've been waiting for this. I'm gonna kill you right here, right now."

"Wow, so forward on our first meeting," Peter joked.

"I'm gonna beat you, then unmask you so I can see your eyes go dead as I kill you."

"Yeesh, talk about TMI."

Tarantula popped his knuckles and started for Peter when Prowler kicked his foot out and activated his booster into Tarantula's leg, sweeping him off his feet long enough for Peter to close the distance and deliver a sucker punch to Tarantula's jaw, sending him into a building, cracking the wall and taking all the air from Tarantula's lungs. Peter quickly webbed Tarantula to the wall then let out a sigh of relief.

"You got strength, but you were going too far." Peter approached Tarantula and reached for his mask. "Let's see who'll be filling this week's mugshots." Peter tore off the mask to see Tarantula's face…

… And only saw his own. He took a step back in pure shock. It wasn't a mirror image; the other face had a shaved head, blue eyes instead of brown, and the other face looked a year or two younger, but it was still undoubtedly his face, the face of Peter Parker.

"W-What…? H-How…?" Peter stammered, still trying to comprehend what he was seeing.

In Peter's confusion, Tarantula ripped out of the webbing and grabbed Peter by his neck before slamming him into the same wall, breaking through the brick this time. He applied pressure to Peter's throat to start choking him out. "Taskmaster will be happy when I kill you and bring him your mask as a trophy," Tarantula said before pulling off Peter's mask, then had an almost identical reaction. It seemed Tarantula wasn't expecting a look in the mirror either. He dropped Peter and backed away.

"W-What? H-How is this…? This isn't…" Tarantula was trying to come to terms and failing just as Peter was.

"What… are you…?" Peter questioned. Tarantula, in a storm of indecision, put his mask back on and used his grappling hook to zoom away, escaping the scene. Peter was still shellshocked for a few moments before he slipped his own mask back on and rushed over to Aaron, who was still sprawled against the wreck of a car. "Are you alright?"

"N-Not really…" Aaron groaned.

"Let's get you some help," Peter said as he started to pull Aaron up.

"N-No, no… put me down…" Aaron winced as Peter tried to haul him up. Peter gently set him back down and pulled his hands away to see Aaron's blood staining his hands.

"We have to get you help," Peter said.

"Kid, I've been bleeding all the way across town, and now I'm just bleeding more. I'm not making it to no hospital."

"We have to try!" Peter insisted.

"Even if I survive to an emergency room, they'll just find me again and kill me in my sleep. This is it for me, Spider-Man."

"Hey! You have a nephew to get back to, right? What's his name?"

Aaron hesitated before answering. "Miles."

"I'm sure Miles will want to see his uncle again. We're gonna get you to a hospital, then when this is all over, we're gonna get you home to Miles again," Peter promised.

Aaron just shook his head. "Don't make a promise you can't keep, kid…" Aarom reached into his pocket and slapped his scroll into Peter's hand. "You take that… and you make sure your other hero friends get it…"

"What is it?" Peter asked.

"It's… Wilson Fisk's collider… He's alive… and will be leaving in a week… You get Taskmaster… You get Fisk… and you go home… You tell Miles and his father…"

Peter sighed heavily. "I'll tell them that their brother and uncle died a hero…"

Aaron chuckled. "I don't know about that… but he sure does love his heroes…"

Police sirens finally began to sound in the distance, and Peter could see an Atlas gunship or two come down from one of the massive cruisers in the sky. "Looks like the authorities are finally showing up. Maybe we can get some help for you after all." Peter turned back to face Aaron, but he was already gone.