Chapter 19

Aaron POV

Sitting alone on his leather couch in his darkened apartment, the curtains closed to block out the glare of fires outside, Aaron Davis held his head in his hands, his freshly-polished, single remaining gauntlet laying on the coffee table in front of him, wondering how his life had come to this.

After returning from the Raft, where he'd committed several of the worst crimes he'd ever allowed himself to be a part of, he'd taken special care to clean off every part of his suit. He'd worked until it was done as thoroughly as possible and then some, ignoring the sounds of explosions on the streets outside as he'd gone along, trying to remove every trace of the blood that he'd covered himself in, but even after his suit was left cleaner than it'd been in years, Aaron still felt… tainted somehow. Even with his suit, gauntlet, and mask removed completely, Aaron felt like he could still feel the blood covering him, the blood of the dozens of guards at the Raft that he'd killed.

He'd never done anything like that before. To his shame, he'd killed more than a few people during his career as the Prowler, people he'd never told Miles about while he was training him, but this was different. He'd been sent to the Raft with direct orders to release every prisoner on the island and kill everyone else. For the first time in his life, Aaron had gone somewhere with the actual intention of taking numerous lives, and of course, the Raft guards had stood no chance of stopping him.

On his journey there, he'd tried to convince himself that it was really no different from just killing someone who got in his way on a job. The whole time, he knew that he was lying to himself, but the thought had gotten him into the building. After that… It had been a blur, but now each second replayed itself over and over again in Aaron's mind. The sound of tearing flesh echoed in his ears, accompanied by final screams of agony. Pools of blood covered every surface each time he opened his eyes. He could still feel throats getting crushed beneath his fingers, the last rattling breaths of so many innocent people flowing onto his face.

Worst of all the moments that now remained burned forever into Aaron's brain, he remembered that he could've stopped himself at any time. All it would've taken was a single moment, a second's hesitation at any time during it all, and Aaron might've been able to prevent the horror from continuing to unfold. Or if not him, maybe one of the guards would've managed to hit him with a lucky shot. Part of him was sorry now that he hadn't had that moment.

While was busy with his thoughts, Aaron suddenly heard a low buzzing sound coming from the inside of his mask. Taking a deep breath to calm himself and clearing his throat, Aaron lowered his hands from his face and reached inside the mask to grab his communicator, which he then pressed to his ear and tapped it to answer the call. "This is Prowler," he said, his voice still somewhat weak.

"Prowler, where are you?" the voice of Mr. Nelson, Mr. Murdock's assistant, asked.

Trying to discreetly clear his throat again to get it sounding normal, Aaron asked, "Why? Does… Mr. Murdock need me again?"

"No, no, we just want to make sure you're safely out of the way," Mr. Nelson responded.

Intrigued at that, Aaron asked, "Out of the way for what?"

"Spider-Man's finally narrowing down Mr. Morales and Ms. Stacy's location. And about time, too. What those drones of his are supposed to be good for, I have no idea," Nelson explained. "Anyway, as soon as he's found them, he's going after them personally with everything he has."

An uncomfortable feeling rose up within Aaron. He'd always been against the idea of letting Spider-Man go after those two, especially Miles, on his own. In his eyes, the doctor was prideful at best, but unstable at worst, and possessed some of the greatest power on the planet along with one of its greatest minds. While he understood that those things made him incredibly useful to the Kingpin, Aaron didn't think that the doctor should be trusted with as much as he was. Especially not when it came to Aaron's nephew.

Leaning forward, Aaron said, "Maybe I should go along with him. Last time, those two tore him apart, almost literally."

"No. The boss is giving this one to Spider-Man, and Spider-Man alone."

Disappointed, Aaron looked around his apartment helplessly. Suddenly, his eyes fell on a framed picture mounted on top of his records shelf. The picture showed him and Miles, clearly before this whole deal with Spider-Woman and Murdock due to the way that they were actually together. Aaron had his arm wrapped around Miles' neck while he pulled him in close, and even though Miles was clearly shown trying to escape his uncle's grasp, both of them were smiling widely, showing that it was all just a fun game to them and they were really perfectly content just to be enjoying each other's company.

Next to it was a picture of Aaron and his brother Jeff, showing the two of them in their middle teenage years, back when they were closest. Back then, Jeff had been more playful, less businesslike, and the picture showed that side of him through the way that Jeff stood on the tips of his toes, trying to make himself as tall as his younger brother who had outgrown him just a year or so before this picture had been taken. In the background was a freshly graffitied wall that the two brothers had worked on together, one of the times that they had felt the most like a real family.

A subconscious smile starting to show on Aaron's face as he remembered better days, he then looked down at the coffee table and saw his mask and gauntlet laying on the table in front of him, the eyes of his mask looking up at him as though expectantly.

Knowing what he needed to do, Aaron picked the mask up and asked over the phone, "And what about security at the Counselors' office? Does the boss need me as protection?"

"No," Mr. Nelson repeated. "Wherever you are right now? Home, I'm guessing? That's where the boss wants you. You've done your part. Now, just lie low until this thing's over. Although, if you get bored, it looks like SWAT showed up early and helped a few police precincts survive our purge. If you wanted, you could go finish them off."

Aaron's stomach crawled at the idea of further murder after what he'd just been through, but he said, "Yeah, sounds good. I might do that."

"If you do, you might want to hurry. After Spider-Man's done with the kids, the police will probably be his next mission. And you don't want him to steal all the glory for himself, do you?"

Letting out a fake chuckle, Aaron responded, "No, definitely not. I'll talk to you later."

Mr. Nelson gave a farewell of his own, but Aaron barely even heard it as he hurriedly hung up the phone after saying his own goodbye, not wanting to talk to him anymore. Not ever again, if he could help it. How could he have missed how sadistic Nelson was? Or Fisk or Murdock, for that matter? He'd always thought that Spider-Man was a bit off, but how long had the rest of them been just as bloodthirsty? Maybe the fruition of their plans was bringing out the worst in them. Or maybe it had always been there, and Aaron had just chosen not to acknowledge it when he could instead focus on all the zeros on the checks he received for stealing things. Could Miles have been right about him? Was Aaron really so caught up in this business that he was willing to ignore his better instincts?

After all, Aaron was a genius engineer. He had personally designed one-of-a-kind pieces of tech that would've made worldwide tech giants drool. Even Spider-Man, with all his knowledge of robotics, had never been able to replicate Aaron's work. Over years of working for people like Murdock as one of the highest-priced thieves on the planet, he had amassed tens of millions of dollars, having acquired and put aside years ago plenty enough to retire on several times over while still paying the rent for Miles and his mom through the rest of their lives, and probably through the lives of Miles' grandchildren too, if it came to that.

So why had he stuck to this job? Because he loved it. He loved the thrill and the action, all the unique things he knew he could do. He loved it all. At least… he had loved it. But after this morning, he didn't know if he could do it anymore. He could've been so many things, as Miles had shown him. He could've been a hero. But he chose to be a criminal. So maybe after today, there should only be one Prowler again. But before that could happen, Aaron needed to do one last mission.

Looking back up at the picture of himself and Jeff, Aaron told it, "Don't worry, bro. I haven't forgotten my promise."

Then, Aaron pulled on his mask before he grabbed his gauntlet and slipped it onto his hand before clenching his hand into a fist with a whir of the motors inside it. Miles was wrong about one thing, at least. Aaron did care for his family more than his job, and he was going to prove it, both to his nephew and to himself.

Miles POV

Staring at the pile of destroyed stone that now held the trapped Shocker, Miles asked Gwen, "Is he going to be alright down there?"

Sure that Gwen wouldn't have allowed this plan if Shocker wouldn't have been able to survive it, Miles expected an affirmative response immediately, but after several seconds passed without one, he looked over at Gwen to see that she was staring enraptured at the pieces of the overpass. Looking back at the stones himself and trying to determine what was drawing her attention, Miles suddenly had a thought that he mentally cursed himself for not considering sooner. Just last night, Gwen had watched her dad get killed by a collapsing building, and now she'd had to intentionally bring one down on someone else. Odds were high that she was now experiencing certain misgivings about it for obvious reasons.

Trying to take her mind off those things, Miles turned to her and said, "My scanners suggest that we've stopped about half of the destruction in the city, and now that the cops are getting back to their patrols, they'll clean up even more of it. We can go after Murdock now, whenever you're ready, keep him from trying to run or anything."

Finally tearing her gaze away from the rubble in front of them, Gwen looked back at Miles and asked, "What about Murdock's cronies? Spider-Man and your uncle? Where are they in all of this?"

Shrugging, Miles replied, "Maybe they're protecting their boss. But for now, maybe we should just be grateful for the one thing we do know; wherever they are, they're not here."

One day, Miles might learn the wisdom to speak carefully, as to not summon down the wrath of the fates upon himself. Sadly, that day was not today, and the fates' wrath came swiftly.

As soon as he'd spoken, both he and Gwen let out a synchronized yell of pain as they were both hit hard in the back by a pair of massive blasts. For a split second as he and Gwen fell to the ground, Miles wondered if Shocker might have somehow escaped the wreckage of the overpass and snuck up behind them, but he quickly dismissed the thought as he realized that this attack had been very different from Shocker's. For one, the blasts that had hit them seemed slightly faster, as they had been quick enough to significantly outrace Gwen's danger senses. Additionally, these blasts were not yellow as Schultz's had been, but were instead a bright, lime green. And finally, they felt different, more electrical than vibrational. As a result, they hurt a lot less than Shocker's blasts had done, but were perfectly designed for quick incapacitation, and Miles could already feel his mind starting to shut down, his entire body beginning to feel fatigued.

He'd never seen an attack like this, but given the timing and efficiency, he had a suspicion about the one behind it, and he was proven correct when he used the last bits of his strength to look up to see a familiar mask much like his own, but with black within purple instead of magenta within black. Just before Miles' eyes fluttered closed, his Uncle Aaron stared down at him and said, "Sorry about this, nephew."

Line Break

When Miles woke up next, he was inside what appeared to be an old, run-down subway station below ground. He was still wearing his full costume and mask, given how they'd been designed to be irremovable from his body, but a quick check of his gear told him that he'd been stripped of all of his loose items, from his mini-explosives to his wall-cutters. In fact, despite how he appeared much as he always did when fully armed, all he'd really been left with from his extensive arsenal was his mask, his gauntlets and shoes (which appeared to have been deactivated given how their glow had disappeared), and the apple that he'd been given earlier tonight.

He briefly considered trying to pull a MacGyver with the apple but quickly decided that the seedy shrapnel would most likely kill him before it did anything to aid his escape, because in addition to being largely disarmed, Miles was also in what appeared to be an old bathroom with the front wall removed entirely. In its place, however, was a mostly-transparent wall of green energy, through which Miles could see four floating disks on the other side emitting the energy to hold the wall where it was.

Reaching out tentatively to touch the wall, Miles reared back with an abrupt grunt of pain as the wall fizzled beneath his fingers and gave him a mild shock. Clearly, his uncle had pulled out all the stops to keep him here… wherever he was. It didn't really look like the sort of place that would serve as Murdock's evil prison.

But as bad a situation as Miles currently found himself in, one particular problem stood out from all the rest, one he couldn't wait to voice at the soonest opportunity. He got his chance a moment later when his Uncle Aaron suddenly materialized out of thin air right in front of Miles, clearly having been using some sort of invisibility tech that Miles had never seen before.

So dramatic, Miles thought to himself in exasperation, though he could hardly judge the one that he'd learned his own habits from. However, out loud he asked, "Where's Gwen?"

Ignoring Miles' question, Aaron held up his hands placatingly and began his obviously pre-prepared spiel, "Look, Miles, I know this must look bad to you-"

"Where is she?" Miles repeated heatedly, not to be drawn off-topic.

Still ignoring him, however, Aaron continued, "I needed to get you here, alone, away from prying eyes. Murdock's everywhere, you don't even know-"

Leaning towards the energy wall between them with a glare, Miles threatened, "If I find out you laid one finger on her-"

"Okay, look, your girlfriend's right where I left her, alright?" Aaron cut him off impatiently. "I just needed her out of the way, so I knocked you both out and took you but left her right where she was. She's fine."

Not sure if he could trust him, Miles backed away from the wall and continued giving his uncle a silent glare, knowing that he didn't have to say a word for Aaron to read his skepticism.

Clearly, he was correct, as Aaron saw his expression and said, "Don't look at me like that. After all we've been through together, you think I would lie to you about something like this?"

"I don't know," Miles responded honestly. "There was a time when I didn't think you'd lie to me about anything. Those days are long gone."

Aaron looked rather hurt at that, but Miles could hardly care less. After all, it hurt Miles to have to fight his uncle, so he certainly deserved to experience a bit of pain himself. After a moment's silence, Aaron looked down and said, "If you don't trust me, that's your choice. But we're still family, Miles, and whether I like it or not, I know what that girl means to you. I'm telling you, man, she's safe."

Miles kept his eyes closely watching his uncle's face for any signs of lying, as he'd trained himself to do. It was practically impossible to judge by the minute changes of expression reflected through the eyes of his uncle's mask, but Miles finally decided that he would believe his uncle. This time, at least. He didn't really know why, but he chose to trust him.

Miles nodded his hesitant acceptance and averted his eyes from his uncle, but then Aaron began to pace in front of the wall as he muttered, "How long she stays that way is up for debate, but that's not our problem anymore."

Catching his quiet words and quickly growing wary at them once again, Miles asked, "What? What does that mean?"

Stopping his pacing and waving his hand idly, Aaron answered, "It's Spider-Man. He's hunting her and he's nearly found her, which means he nearly found you until I pulled your scrawny butt out of there. But this is it, Miles. Our chance to change things."

Starting to get a sense of why he'd been brought down here, Miles said, "Please tell me this isn't about you wanting to be partners again, because I don't think that's gonna work out."

Stepping up to the wall between them and shaking his head, Aaron responded, "No, no. Miles, you don't get it. This, all of this? The Prowler, the Kingpin, even New York? I grabbed you because this is the end of all of it. I'm leaving it all behind."

Confused, Miles asked, "Wait, what?"

Getting even more excited as he went along, clearly having thought this all out, Aaron continued, "You heard me. I'm done being the Prowler. I'm done with all of this, this… super-people craziness. I've got a plan. I've been stashing away millions of dollars for years, barely even tapping into any of it, but I worked something out for us. I bought a private jet a couple years ago for a job in Italy, and now, if we can just get to this one airfield in New Jersey, we can fly away from here. Just me, you, and your mom. You can even bring your girlfriend if you really want to, and we can go anywhere. We'll live new lives, get new identities. You can keep being the Prowler if you want to… somewhere else. Let's just go, get away from all this. So what do you say, little man?"

Miles was in shock for a moment. He'd expected plenty of things from his uncle, but this was one thing he never would've imagined. Uncle Aaron was suggesting… What, that they'd just pick up and move anywhere they wanted? He'd still have his family, Gwen, his life as the Prowler, he'd even get back his relationship with his uncle, free of Aaron's criminal ties, and he'd leave behind all of this madness with Murdock and Spider-Man and all the supervillains he'd been fighting all day, getting more annoyed and more hurt with every one he took down. To someone else, the idea might've seemed appealing, but to Miles…

"No," Miles replied.

Uncle Aaron paused for a moment, then asked, "What?"

"No," Miles repeated, more firmly this time. "Uncle Aaron, I know that you're trying to offer me a way out, but I don't do this just for myself, using these abilities of mine as an excuse to let out my anger and get rewarded for it. Not anymore. I found a higher purpose. People need me. This city needs me. When supervillains or guys like Murdock show up trying to hurt people, I can't just stand by and let it happen. I've gotta stop them."

Stepping closer to the wall and pointing a finger in Miles' face, Aaron argued, "No, you've gotta survive. I've been trying to teach you that, but you don't listen to me. You listen to that Spider-Woman, letting her convince you that you're some kind of hero, but you're not. You're not like her, Miles. You're human, like me, just a normal guy playing at being more than you are."

"How many times do I have to tell you that I'm not like you?" Miles asked. "I'm not content with the world as it is, so I do what I can to change it! Isn't that why you taught me to be the Prowler in the first place?"

"I taught you to be the Prowler so you could make a difference in your own life!" Aaron corrected him irritably. "Not so you could get yourself involved in a war of super-people! You were supposed to follow the rules, the few simple rules that kept you safe! Instead you pick a fight with Spider-Man and the Rhino and every other super-strong murderer on the planet!"

"Most of whom I've beaten in the last couple days alone," Miles pointed out.

Getting more and more distressed as he continually failed to change Miles' way of thinking, Aaron said, "You can only get lucky so many times, Miles! Look, I get it, you're letting the adrenaline go to your head, thinking that these tools and that suit make you invincible, but we're NOT! I watched Spider-Man kill a superpowered serial killer like Mac Gargan in a second, and you know what it reminded me? It reminded me that we're just fragile guys in a world that is so much bigger than us! We're not built like those Spider-people. We're not heroes, we're just survivors. Because if we don't know when to accept that we're out of our league, we end up like Scorpion! Like Captain Stacy! Like your father, Miles! They found my brother's body in a dumpster because he didn't know where to draw the line, and I'm not letting the same thing happen to you!"

The mention of Miles' father stung him, but Miles remained firm and stepped forward until he and his uncle were standing face to face on either side of the wall and said, "You know what my dad once told me? He said that, 'A hero's just someone who doesn't give up.' And he followed that philosophy to his grave, but I know he'd be proud of how he died doing the right thing. And I could keep being like you, angry at him for leaving me like that, but I'm done with that. You can keep being stuck hating everything, full of nothing but anger and pain, but I'm not that way anymore. I choose to be proud of him too, and I'm following his example. I don't care if anyone ever calls me a hero. I just know that I'm not giving up trying to save people."

Aaron was silent for a moment, then replied, "Too bad for you, I'm not giving you a choice anymore. You're staying in here while I go get your mom, and then we're all leaving for New Jersey. End of discussion."

However, as Aaron turned and began to walk away, Miles called after him, "You really think you can keep me in here?"

"Yeah, I do," Aaron said, turning back to Miles. "You forget, little man, I gave you your toys, I know how to take them away. I'm the one who taught you everything you know, and I know just how to counter it all."

"You didn't teach me everything I know," Miles responded with a smirk, holding up one of his hands and clenching it into a fist, causing the gauntlet to activate and hum with gradually increasing volume as it powered up.

His eyes widening in shock, Aaron looked at Miles' hand and started to ask, "How did you-?"

"I recently had the opportunity to take my gauntlets apart, and I discovered your depowering failsafe. So I decided to create my own failsafe-failsafe," Miles explained, holding up the small metal shard in his other hand that he'd been using as a makeshift screwdriver, then continued, "Next time, maybe you should watch the hands instead of the mouth. Not that there's likely to be a next time."

Then, before Aaron could react, Miles reared back his powered up fist and thrust it forward into the energy wall in front of him, which tried to shock him again but was unable to deter the power behind his fist from crashing into the wall and blowing it apart completely before Miles flew right through it and also punched his uncle in the face, knocking both of them down by the rusted train tracks below them.

Miles' shoes activated their own failsafe when he landed on the ground, the vibranium inside them absorbing the shock of his fall and powering his antigrav thrusters back on with the sudden inrush of energy, prompting Miles to follow up his first attack by launching himself at his uncle, once again knocking him back.

This time, Aaron had the sense of mind to roll upon landing so that he came back up standing on his feet. However, before he could counterattack or say anything, whichever might've come first, there was a soft and familiar thwip sound just before Aaron's face was suddenly covered by a thin veil of webbing, causing his head to get thrown back as he was hit by it. Then, as Aaron was using his claws to rip the ultra-sticky material off of himself, Spider-Woman began to lower from the ceiling, hanging upside-down from a web line, and introduced herself, "Hey, is this a party? What, is it 'Prowlers only', or did my invite just get lost in the mail?"

"Don't worry, you're right on time," Miles told her as he kept his eyes on his uncle.

Gwen POV

Looking at the original Prowler as he tore the webbing off of his face and glared at both her and Miles, Gwen asked, "So, you know that kidnapping is still a thing with family members, right?"

"I was trying to keep him safe!" Aaron insisted. "And I offered to do the same for you too, but he's not making it easy! And you are interfering in a family matter, Ms. Stacy!"

Letting go of her web line and flipping as she dropped so that she landed on her feet, Gwen shrugged at him and said, "Cool motive. Still kidnapping."

As Gwen kept Aaron in place, Miles walked over to a broken down wooden table behind them, where the various missing pieces of his gear were laid out, and began to arm himself again as he called back, "Also, we must have different ideas of what 'safe' is, because I seem to recall that you were trying to take me to Jersey."

Glaring at Aaron, Gwen folded her arms across her chest and shook her head disappointedly as she told him, "Jersey? For shame."

Getting impatient and annoyed, Aaron returned her glare and said, "I don't have time for this."

He then raised his gauntleted hand to aim at Gwen before using his prosthetic hand to press a button on the back of the gauntlet, causing the purple light inside it to turn a lime green like the symbol on his chest. After a couple seconds, he clenched the hand into a fist, and it immediately emitted a massive blast of green energy just like the ones that had knocked out Gwen and Miles earlier.

However, having already guessed correctly what the new green option in his gauntlet was for, Gwen was ready this time and managed to dodge the blast, cartwheeling out of the way as she called out in warning, "Miles, look out!"

Fortunately, though Miles had been standing right behind her and had been facing away from them when the blast was fired, he finished gathering up his personal belongings from the table just in time and didn't hesitate to heed Gwen's warning, using his shoes to launch himself straight up into the air in a high backflip that allowed him to evade the green blast, which instead hit the table behind where Miles had been standing and immediately reduced it to splinters.

Perched in her three-point crouch on the ground, Gwen looked warily at Aaron and noted, "Touchy piece of hardware. You ever think about selling things like that?"

"Don't give him any ideas," Miles rebuked her as he charged up both of his gauntlets and snapped them out to his sides as he made a sudden dash for his uncle.

At the same time, Gwen shot a web onto the wall behind Aaron and quickly pulled herself towards him, hoping to help Miles overwhelm whatever defenses he had up his sleeves. However, Aaron acknowledged his own limits when faced with the two of them at once and simply narrowed his eyes before he pressed a button on the inside of his prosthetic arm's wrist, causing his body to be instantly shrouded in waves of green energy before he abruptly disappeared.

Flying through the place that she'd seen Aaron a moment before and surprisingly only tackling thin air, Gwen hit the ground and rolled back to her feet before looking around wildly and asking Miles, "He can cloak? You didn't tell me that he could cloak!"

"Yeah, it's new," Miles defended himself as he activated his scanners and looked around trying to locate his uncle. Unfortunately, his mask didn't help him see anything out of the ordinary. Apparently his uncle's cloaking tech had been designed to avoid any form of detection.

Disappointedly deactivating his scanner, Miles warned Gwen, "I can't get a bead on him."

Backing up until she and Miles were standing back-to-back defensively, Gwen said sarcastically, "So neither of us can see the super-strong bad guy. Great."

"Relax," Miles told her. "Speaking as someone who's lived in the shadows for most of the past year, trust me, invisibility's overrated."

Immediately after he'd said it, Miles saw Uncle Aaron appear right in his field of view, becoming visible once more less than a foot in front of him, and before Miles could react, Aaron thrust a fist forward and hit Miles in the face, knocking him backwards and into Gwen, sending them both tumbling. Right after hitting the ground, both Miles and Gwen rolled into a landing on their hands and knees, looking back towards where Aaron had just appeared, but he disappeared once again before they could counterattack.

"'Invisibility's overrated', huh?" Gwen grumbled to Miles.

However, while she was talking, Miles was thinking. Narrowing his eyes as he looked around carefully, Miles abruptly called out, "Gwen, to your right!"

Just after he'd said it, Aaron appeared on Gwen's right, attempting to kick her from the side and send her flying into Miles, but Miles' warning combined with her Spider-Sense allowed Gwen to react to it in time to grab his leg and spin him around before throwing him at Miles, who punched his uncle down onto the floor. As he lay there in pain, Miles lifted his arm for another punch, but Aaron saw it coming and rolled out of the way at the last second before he was obscured by green light and vanished again.

Wondering how they could turn this fight around, preferably sooner rather than later, Gwen once again crouched defensively, trying to prepare herself for anything, and asked Miles, "You can see him now?"

"No, I just know how he likes to fight," Miles responded. "He'll try to keep the both of us off balance. I figured he would alternate which one of us he'd attack, but now he's going to switch it up. But at least we know now that he has to turn off his cloak to attack."

"So you admit that his invisibility thing is bothering you!" Gwen cried triumphantly.

However, Miles wouldn't make it that easy for her and shook his head as he looked around the room warily and said, "It's annoying, but ultimately just another challenge. Gwen, northeast corner. Destroy that water tank."

Looking in the direction that Miles had indicated, Gwen saw the water tank in question, hooked up to an old drinking fountain. Not sure why she was doing it, Gwen nevertheless instantly shot two lines of webbing onto the side of the water tank and began to tug on it as hard as she could. With the tank being made of a flexible plastic, it took a few seconds for it to give way beneath Gwen's strength, only bending at first before finally breaking, splashing great amounts of water onto the ground, spilling across the floor beneath them.

"Move towards the leak!" Miles ordered next.

Still unsure of where this was going but trusting Miles, Gwen began approaching the damaged water tank. However, she had hardly taken her first step when the air above Gwen fizzled with green light to reveal the elder Prowler, who fell towards her and kicked Gwen backwards before he once again disappeared. Fortunately, though, Miles caught Gwen before she could fly too far and set her back on her feet while reminding her, "I said towards the leak, Spider-Woman. You're going the wrong way."

"Oh, thanks. My mistake," Gwen responded sarcastically, pulling herself out of Miles' arms with annoyance while he chuckled at her.

Not taking any more chances of getting interrupted, Gwen shot a web line onto the ceiling this time and pulled herself upwards, getting off the tracks and onto the platform slightly above them, landing with her feet in the water that now coated the entire surface of the ground. She looked back to see Miles jumping off the tracks as well, landing next to her. He then turned to face the same direction that she was, and as he did so, he quietly told her, "Don't look behind you. When I say, jump onto the ceiling, and stay up there 'til it's over."

"What?" Gwen asked, confused. Then, she looked back down at the water at their feet and suddenly realized what Miles was planning to do. Looking at him in exasperation, she said, "You can't be serious."

Sadly, he was, and Gwen had no opportunity to protest further as her Spider-Sense began to tingle just as Miles abruptly told her, "Now!"

Having no choice now but to go along with Miles' crazy idea, Gwen jumped straight up and spun herself around so that she was crouched upside-down on the ceiling, looking down at the sight below her, which featured Aaron appearing out of the air behind Miles with one charged-up fist raised to punch him away. However, just as Gwen had predicted her would, Miles crouched down at the last second and placed his gauntleted palm into the water flowing beneath both himself and his uncle, then activated his gauntlet's inbuilt taser. In an instant, the electricity spread and was amplified by its contact with the water, and both Miles and Aaron were affected by standing in it. Their bodies seized up involuntarily and they began groaning and shaking uncontrollably, unable to move or speak of their own accord

The sight made Gwen wince in sympathy, but fortunately it lasted only a couple of seconds before the electricity faded away and both Miles and Aaron fell to their hands and knees, breathing heavily, looking more than ever like mirrored images of the same being with their movements so similar to one another.

Knowing that the danger beneath her was now over and gone, Gwen attached a web line to the ceiling beneath herself and began to slowly lower herself back down until she was hanging with her head equal to Miles'. She watched him struggle to regain his breath for a few seconds before she told him, "You know, I'm starting to think you have some self-preservation issues."

Miles struggled to come up with a rebuke for that statement and finally just told her, "Just… shut up and… hit my uncle for me… would you? Hard."

Smirking beneath her mask, Gwen acquiesced to his request and shot a second web line onto the wall behind Miles' uncle before she tugged herself towards him and gave him a powerful kick to the face. As winded as he already was, the hit knocked him out instantly, making the original Prowler collapse on his back, the white eye slits of his mask staring upwards blankly as his head layed there in the water.

Seeing that he was properly defeated, Gwen dusted off her hands after a job well done and walked back over to Miles to offer him a hand in getting back to his feet. As he gratefully accepted the offer and stood back up, Gwen told him, "Seriously, though, what were you thinking, Miles?"

Flexing his fingers in his gauntlets, making sure that he was once again in control of his motor functions, Miles responded, "Well, I was kinda hoping that the vibranium in my shoes would protect me. Instead, turns out it's conductive. Who knew, huh? I'll have to do some experiments."

Gwen stared at him uncomprehendingly for a moment, then just shook her head and said, "Okay, sure. You nearly knocked yourself out with that move, but fine. Go ahead and experiment all you want, but no more electrocuting yourself, okay?"

"You know I can't promise that," Miles told her as he turned and began to walk towards his uncle. Gwen sighed to herself in resignation and followed after him. Yes, she knew that Miles wasn't likely to avoid further injury of various sorts. It was simply a part of this life they'd both chosen. But knowing that wouldn't stop her from trying her best to keep him safe.

The original Prowler, lying helpless on the ground, was unknowingly approached by both the first person to defeat him and the young man who had replaced him and his criminal ways with something new.

Gwen knew Miles well enough by now that she knew that he was hurting deep down inside, what he viewed as a betrayal from his uncle doing more damage than electrified water ever could, making this situation more personal for him than Gwen could imagine, and she knew that part of him wanted to punish Aaron for what he'd done now that he was at their mercy. After all, despite all that Aaron had put Miles through, all that they'd disagreed on, Gwen knew that they still cared about each other deeply, and from her experience with her dad, Gwen knew that no wounds were deeper than those caused by your own loved ones.

But she also knew that whatever he may feel, Miles was going to do the right thing and simply arrest him. That task wouldn't be particularly easy either, but she knew that he would still do it. That was simply who he was, who he'd become, and Gwen trusted him completely to do what was right.

However, they didn't quite manage to reach Aaron before a familiar and rather unwelcome voice spoke from behind them. "There you are."

Upon hearing and recognizing the voice, Gwen looked up and sighed in annoyance, then shared an exasperated look with Miles. When they'd been woken up early this morning, they'd been able to easily tell with a single look at the city that it was going to be a long day, but now it was starting to get ridiculous. It was barely past noon and they'd already been forced to fight Rhino, Vulture, Shocker, and several dozen criminals. They'd dealt with fires and guns and robberies and kidnappings and just about every other imaginable manner of crime, and they still had to deal with Murdock and all the rest of the criminals currently running free in the city. And at the end of it, they'd probably be back to running away from the police again as well. As if yesterday hadn't been bad enough.

As a slight upside, if all went well, they might be able to go back to school after today (assuming it was still standing), but that thought didn't exactly lift Gwen's spirits either. And now, they'd also added their defeat of Miles' uncle to their list of accomplishments for the day, but of course that was the moment that Spider-Man decided to show up as well.

Gwen and Miles turned to face the superpowered mad scientist with silent resignation on their faces and saw him descending down the stairs heading into the subway station. His suit had been completely repaired after Gwen and Miles had left it ruined at the indecisive end of their fight last night, making him look like he was back to peak strength as he walked into the station with complete confidence in his steps.

Gwen and Miles took a few steps toward him and took up challenging stances about two dozen yards away from Spider-Man, but he remained unfazed and just continued his casual approach as he gestured around at the room they were in and asked them, "Is this where you've been hiding from me all this time? I must admit, it's a good place to conceal yourselves. In addition to being underground and abandoned, well out of sight, my spider-bots were only programmed to search… Er, habitable environments. It's little wonder they never found you down here."

Ignoring everything he was saying, Gwen met his eyes and told him firmly, "Spider-Man, look around you. Murdock's takeover of the city is falling apart. His supervillains are all down, the cops are back on the streets, and we've still got plenty of fight in us. It's over, Octavius."

"Yes, it is, but not in the way you think," Spider-Man told her, unruffled.

His self-assurance left Gwen feeling uncomfortable, unsure of why or how he could still be so calm when she'd just laid out the evidence of his boss's impending failure, but knowing that it couldn't be anything good.

With Gwen effectively silenced by her anxiety over the unknown, Spider-Man then proved her worries valid as he gave her one last pleased look before he turned his attention onto Miles and told him, "Mr. Morales, I'm going to temporarily revive your old contract. Your orders: Attack Spider-Woman. Do whatever it takes short of killing her to subdue her."

For a few seconds, Gwen and Miles both just stared at Spider-Man in shock, wondering if they'd heard him right and why he seemed to actually have thought that that would work. After that moment's silence had passed, Miles shook his head in confusion and asked, "Sorry, what?"

With the recognizable flair of a showman who only pretended to have made a mistake, Spider-Man waved him off and said, "Oh, right. Yes, my bad. I forgot to tell you the most important part." He then raised one of his arms and tapped the screen on his vambrace, causing it to emit a hologram above it, showing an image that shocked both Miles and Gwen. The hologram showed a small version of Miles' mom, easily recognizable to both of them, tied to a chair and gagged with a spider-bot sitting on her shoulder.

Seeming pleased by the wide-eyed expressions of horror on both Miles and Gwen's masks, Spider-Man began to speak to them once again, keeping his finger hovering over the button on his vambrace. "I see I've gotten your undivided attention. Excellent. Now, Mr. Morales, this is how this is going to work. As you can see, I have your mother in my custody, safely locked away in my new place of business, and I can order my spider-bot to give her a lethal shock and end her life with a push of this button on my wrist. Her life means nothing to me, and I guarantee that I will do it, especially after all that you have taken from me. The only way she lives is if you do exactly as I say. So you will hurt and beat and break Ms. Stacy for my enjoyment. You will give her to me. And then you will undo all the damage you've done to our work, years in the making, even if it kills you, so I can get back to my work in peace. You will kill all of the surviving police. You will release all of the captured criminals. At my word, you will flatten this entire city, or else-"

He didn't finish whatever he was going to say, however, as in a blur of magenta light, Miles was suddenly in front of him, grabbing him by the throat and picking him up off the ground as he aggressively asked him, "You DARE to touch my mother?!"

Spider-Man choked with surprise at the abruptness with which he had been seized by the throat, then looked down at Miles sinisterly and held up his vambrace to tell him, "Tut-tut, Mr. Morales. Don't forget that I can-"

Once again, Miles cut him off, this time by shooting out his free hand to grab Spider-Man's vambrace and instantly crush it in his grip. Spider-Man's wrist was protected by the armor that he wore, but the armor itself was crushed and the technology inside it was ruined as well, the glass casing shattering and sparks shooting out of it as the hologram of Miles' mom disappeared. Miles then set Spider-Man back down on the ground and pushed him away, but not before grabbing his opposite wrist and doing the same to that vambrace as well. Spider-Man stumbled backwards, staring at Miles with all of his wit and control taken away from him along with his greatest trump card. He then raised his arms and looked at his destroyed vambraces before looking back up at Miles in complete disbelief.

Amused by the sight, Gwen walked forward and leaned around Miles to tell Spider-Man, "Yeah, you probably should've seen that one coming."

Finally finding his voice, Spider-Man's expression shifted to one of outrage as he exclaimed, "No! This wasn't how it was supposed to go! Morales, you imbecile, do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"I broke your toys," Miles told him unapologetically as he began approaching the older man menacingly. "Now I'm going to break everything else."

Spider-Man took a few steps backward in worry before he seemed to remember that he wasn't exactly defenseless and said, "You- You- I will not be intimidated by you! You will suffer for this humiliation, both of you! And Morales, for this denial, I will make your mother suffer before I take her life!"

Hearing that threat, Miles narrowed his eyes before dashing forward in a blur once again. However, this time, Spider-Man's four robotic arms suddenly unfolded from his back and folded in front of their master protectively before smacking Miles away, somehow proving themselves capable of reacting to Miles' incredible speed.

Trying to take the smarter approach and start by slowing the arms down, Gwen shot several lines of webbing at Spider-Man, but the artificial limbs caught each of the lines and pulled them taut into a wall of webbing in front of Spider-Man, which he immediately proceeded to cut right through with his hands as he once again extended the claws in his gloves.

Triumphantly raising all six of his arms to the sky, Spider-Man declared, "Ha! Do you know why I no longer use the name of Otto Octavius, Spider-Woman? It's because Otto Octavius was weak! A fool despite his genius, a scapegoat to men who considered themselves above him! Smart enough to have it all, but without the will to seize it! Well, I seized it, and now nothing and no one will ever be 'above me' again! No one will ever again be able to give themselves a leg up by stepping on Otto Octavius, a man too willing to be kept on the bottom when he belonged at the top!"

Looking at him sympathetically, Gwen responded, "Otto, I'm sorry for whatever injustices were committed against you throughout your life. From what you've told me, it sounds like you had a pretty bad time growing up, and I'm sorry I couldn't have been there to help you." Gwen then crouched low in preparation for a fight and continued, "But your own pain doesn't give you an excuse to hurt other people. Our circumstances were different, but you have no idea how easily I could've become like you. Instead, I do this. Whatever happened to you, you chose to be the bad guy. No one made that choice for you. And I stop bad guys. So bring it on."

Spider-Man hesitated for a moment, perhaps somewhat affected by Gwen's words, but she'd spoken only the truth. She felt bad for him in some ways, saddened at the thought of what could've turned a good man so bitter and self-centered, but she was tired of him blaming everyone else for what he became. She had the same powers that he did and had suffered her own fair share of trauma, and while she may not exactly be the golden standard for coping with it, she'd never let it make her want to take over the world. True, it had actually made her consider killing after what happened last night, and maybe she would've had Miles not stopped her.

Or maybe he was right in what he'd said, that it wasn't quite so easy to become a killer, and she was the kind of person who would've failed if she'd tried. Either way, part of her wished that Octavius had had his own equivalent to Miles to regulate his behavior, but even without one, the choices he'd made had consequences, and Gwen wasn't going to let him get away with his crimes.

After his moment's pause, Spider-Man glared at Gwen and told her, "Your pity means nothing to me, Ms. Stacy, and as always, you talk too much. It's time I silenced you permanently. The die is cast!"

With that announcement, along with whatever that last part was supposed to mean, Spider-Man swiftly jumped towards Gwen, crouched in the air with his four mechanical arms spread out to his sides, his eight total limbs creating a shadow shaped oddly similarly to a real spider at Gwen's feet as she prepared to meet this attack. When Spider-Man began falling towards her, Gwen leapt upwards and tackled him in midair, getting in close before his extra arms could come to his defense.

With the use of their sticking powers and their webs, Gwen and Spider-Man exchanged a flurry of blows with one another in the air, going back and forth with both of them landing a few punches on the other, until finally, all four of Spider-Man's mechanical legs grabbed each of Gwen's limbs and spread them out to her sides so that Spider-Man could kick her with both of his feet, knocking her straight down onto the ground. He then fell down so that he was standing above her, his feet placed on either side of her torso to prevent her from moving before he raised one of his clawed hands, preparing to bring it down on her.

Before he could do so, though, Miles suddenly jumped on Spider-Man's back, placing his hands on either side of his head and pulling it back. Grunting in pain, Spider-Man reared back from Miles' surprise attack. Still, two of his limbs tried stabbing at Gwen, trying to finish the job, and Gwen just barely managed to roll backwards and do a handspring to get herself out of the way before the pair of spikes stabbed the ground where she had been a moment earlier, cracking the concrete as they missed their mark.

Despite having saved Gwen's life, Miles' distraction didn't last long, and Spider-Man made short work of prying the Prowler off of his back before holding him up for one of his mechanical limbs to impale. Returning the favor Miles had done her, Gwen shot a web line onto the moving metal arm and tugged on it hard before it could stab Miles, throwing Spider-Man off-balance and allowing Miles to pull himself free, jumping back towards where Gwen was.

Presenting a united front, Gwen and Miles stood side-by-side and prepared to meet whatever Spider-Man threw at them next, but Gwen knew that they could both see the simple truth that so far, they were losing. Even with their efforts combined, they currently stood little to no chance of defeating Spider-Man at the peak of his abilities, not without a major game-changer.

Part of Gwen's mind considered asking Miles why he hadn't employed the same method they'd used last time, turning Spider-Man's arms against him, but another part suspected that he may have already tried to no avail. She was proven correct when Spider-Man spread his arms as he proudly approached them while asking, "Are you starting to understand now? Yes, I can see that you are. You can't beat me, not even both of you together. I've reinforced the defenses of my programming, so you can't hack my arms anymore. I'm stronger, faster, smarter, superior to you both! How could I not be? You two are children, mere byproducts of the monumental changes I've wrought upon this world. Lucky to be what you are, and nothing more."

"We have certain advantages over you," Gwen informed him, remaining determined to continue the fight to the end. "You can't beat us, not when we work together."

Spider-Man just laughed at that and argued, "Can't I? You see, even if Spider-Woman shares my powers, even if Prowler is slightly stronger or runs faster, I am the only one here willing to do whatever it takes to win! And I have. I only ever grow more powerful while everything that stands in my way is eliminated!"

"What about Murdock?" Miles asked. "You act like you're independent, like you're in charge, but that's not true, is it? Murdock sends you to do his dirty work. You're not his partner, you're his enforcer. That makes you his employee. And what happens when he's done with you?"

Spider-Man paused for a second before responding to that one, and Gwen thought she saw his eye twitch a bit as he said, "Murdock is nothing without me. He would never dare to betray me."

Trying to help encourage Miles' trick, Gwen cut in, "Not even when he has complete control, like he clearly wants? Come on, you're too smart not to see the truth. Once he's gotten all the use he can out of you, Murdock will throw you aside, just like all your previous employers."

"Then he'll die!" Spider-Man yelled, finally breaking his composure. "He'll die, because like I told you, I'm not weak anymore! He'll die, like everyone else who tried to control me or stand in my way since I got these powers! Like George Stacy! Like Mac Gargan! Like… Like Jefferson Morales!"

All fell quiet for a second, and Gwen's eyes went wide before she looked sideways at Miles questioningly, wondering if he had ever heard anything about this, but he seemed even more shocked than she was. Miles looked down for a second, apparently trying to process what he was being told, the looked back up at Spider-Man and said, "You- My dad, you-"

"Yes, Mr. Morales," Spider-man responded, acting pleased and not at all remorseful or even worried about his slip-up. "Captain Stacy wasn't the only nuisance for us among the police. He hindered our efforts to buy the loyalty of the cops under his command, but your father? He was arguably even worse. He discovered that some of his fellow cops were being bought and decided to investigate it. He even found out who many of our people were in the department, but instead of turning them in, he opted to save them, knowing that many of them were serving us against their will. So he followed the trails, thin as they were, uncovering too much for our comfort. And he was careful about it. Even Murdock didn't learn about what he was up to until after I had already taken matters into my own hands."

Apparently still having trouble believing what he was hearing, Miles shook his head and said, "But- No, you couldn't have- They said… a couple of punks… they confessed…"

"The advantage of working with the man who owns everyone in the city, you can do anything and have someone else take the fall," Spider-Man explained. "But a couple of punks wouldn't have the strength or the guts to beat up a police officer and throw him off the roof of a 10-story building. If it makes you feel better, I didn't try to throw him in that dumpster. That was just a happy little accident, him ending up among the rest of the past-its-time refuse."

Gwen could see Miles trembling with rage, staring at nothing in particular as he began to see the truth of what Spider-Man was telling him. Gwen wasn't sure what he was going to try to do next. The idea of fighting Miles again didn't exactly appeal to her, but Gwen knew that if Miles lost control trying to avenge his dad's death, she would do whatever she could to stop him just like he had done for her, knowing that deep down, Miles didn't actually want to kill anyone any more than she did.

He must've been trying to remind himself of that same fact at this very moment, as Gwen saw him look away from Spider-Man, taking deep breaths as he said, "No, if you…did do that… you wouldn't have told me."

"Why not?" Spider-Man laughed, nearing them fearlessly. "I have nothing to fear from you, Mr. Morales. You know you're not a killer."

Suddenly, Gwen felt herself get pushed aside as she heard Miles' voice say, "I am!"

For a second, Gwen was shocked at what had just happened, unable to believe that Miles had actually broken, but upon looking up once again, she saw that that wasn't the case. Someone was now tackling a surprised Spider-Man, but it wasn't Miles. Miles had been pushed aside just like Gwen had, and he had not been the one who'd spoken, either. Instead, the statement had been made by the only person who shared Miles' distorted Prowler voice.

Struggling to hold back one of the only pairs of hands that could overpower his own strength, Spider-Man noted, "Prowler! What are you doing here?"

Glaring into Spider-Man's eyes with deepest loathing, Miles' Uncle Aaron answered, "The only thing I'm good for anymore. Fighting for my family."

Seeming to realize that Aaron wouldn't let go and also that he was losing ground against the Prowler's strength, Spider-Man looked back into Aaron's eyes with furious determination and played a card of finality, stretching out his mechanical limbs before impaling all four of them through Aaron's back.

"NO!" Miles yelled, standing up straight and looking on at the scene helplessly. Gwen was similarly horrified, though of course not quite as much, but she still felt for Miles' pain.

As Aaron dangled from Spider-Man's automated limbs, grunting in pain and trying to control his breathing, Spider-Man pulled him in close and told him, "You chose the wrong side, Prowler. Now you end up just like your idiot brother."

Taking a deep breath, Aaron looked back up at Spider-Man and responded, "I'll take that… as a compliment."

And with that said, Aaron suddenly grabbed Spider-Man by the back of his neck with one hand and used the leverage to pull himself closer to Spider-Man until the tips of his spiked legs, poking out the front of Aaron's stomach, stabbed Spider-Man as well, causing him to let out a strangled gasp of shock and immediately push the elder Prowler away from himself, pulling his legs out of Aaron to let the man fall to the ground, but the damage was already done. And it wasn't over yet, either.

Only the very tips of the legs had stabbed Spider-Man, and Aaron didn't seem to have thought that that was enough, which was why he now pulled off his mask and grinned up at Spider-Man with bloody teeth as he held up a small trigger device in his hand. Even more worried now, Spider-Man looked down at his chest to see a small explosive device attached to his chest, glowing around the edges with a bright green light, but before he could try to pry it off, Aaron activated his detonator and caused the explosive to go off in a bright burst of energy that knocked Spider-Man back powerfully, making him crash into a wall before he was knocked back down onto his front.

However, even now, as Aaron laid his head back on the ground, both Gwen and Miles seemed to recognize that Spider-Man was injured but not yet down permanently. Walking over to him, Gwen and Miles watched as Spider-Man struggled onto his hands and knees and looked up at them. He looked even worse than he had last night despite the sped-up healing that Gwen knew he possessed, covered in bruises and cuts with half of his mask missing, one eye lens of the mask missing completely while the other one had been broken, the spider-symbol burned completely off of his chest by the explosive, and his metal limbs hanging limply with no mental input from their master.

He looked up at Spider-Woman and Prowler with mixed hatred and fear in his now-visible eyes, then started to threaten, "I will kill… everyone you two-"

Miles cut him off quite abruptly by seizing him once again by the throat and holding him up in the air. This time, however, Gwen could see Miles squeezing the man's throat, causing his eyes to bulge as his face started to flush with color and he kicked his legs helplessly to escape strangulation. Understanding Miles' feelings but not wanting him to strangle someone or break their neck - not even Spider-Man's - after all his progress, Gwen reached out and gently placed a hand on Miles' shoulder, ignoring the way he turned his glare onto her, and told him, "He's beaten, Miles. Let's bring him in right."

Miles hesitated for a moment, seeming torn between his two options, but finally threw Spider-Man on the ground roughly and kneeled down before starting to tear his bloodied mechanical limbs from his suit at the roots, causing Spider-Man to scream in pain as it happened.

Wincing at the sight, Gwen reminded her boyfriend, "Miles, if those things were neurally linked to him-"

"It's going to hurt him to break them," Miles finished for her without stopping, clearly knowing exactly what he was doing. "Good."

Despite still not enjoying the sight of Miles torturing someone, Gwen raised no further protest after that. At least he wasn't killing him, and she would have to content herself with that.

After Miles was done, Gwen dragged Spider-Man (who had reflexively fainted from the agony of having multiple brain-linked limbs violently removed in short succession) into a corner and webbed him down with an entire cartridge of his own webbing after she took away his entire stock, plugging his wounds with webs while she was at it (though not very well, to ensure that he wouldn't get far if he somehow escaped and tried to run). By the time she was done with that and had restocked her web-shooters, Gwen walked over to where Miles was now kneeling next to his Uncle Aaron. They'd both removed their right gauntlet and were now holding each other's hands tightly, Miles having also taken off his mask so they could look at one another's faces.

Miles looked up as he heard Gwen coming over to kneel next to Aaron as well and told her, "He doesn't have much longer. And there's nothing we can do about it." He tried to keep his voice firm, but Gwen could hear the shakiness in it that he tried to hide.

Whatever bad blood there was between Miles and his uncle, Gwen knew that they both still cared about each other, and a loss like this would affect him badly. Looking down at her web-shooters and wondering if she might be able to do something, maybe buy Aaron enough time to get him to a hospital or something, Gwen suggested, "Miles, maybe I could-"

"There's nothing… we can do," Miles repeated in a low hiss.

Knowing that he was really more hurt than angry, Gwen just nodded silently and let Miles have this moment, able to offer nothing more than her support in this trying time.

Aaron's eyes were starting to become unfocused, but he looked up and asked in a pained and somewhat confused voice, "Miles?"

"I'm here, Uncle Aaron," Miles told him immediately, clutching his uncle's hand tightly.

Aaron also tightened his grip and clenched his teeth through a groan before continuing, "Miles, I… I think I gotta tap out soon, little man. But I did it… right? I did… something good?"

Smiling weakly, Miles told him, "Yeah, man. You did good."

"About time," Aaron said with a low chuckle. "Oh, if your dad could see me now." Seeming to realize something else, Aaron furrowed his eyebrows and looked back up at Miles to say, "Miles, you and your mom-"

"We'll be alright, Uncle Aaron, just-"

"I know you'll be alright," Aaron cut him off, then drew in a deep breath to add, "because I got something for you. In my apartment, in my bedroom, you'll find my will in my nightstand. I wrote it out years ago, Miles, back when I first started this thing, and I left everything I have to you. Now, how I got some of my money is… not the best, but I want you to use it for what I should've put it into."

"A Prowler-mobile?" Miles joked with a teary smile, referencing one of the conversations he'd had with his uncle back during the first days of his training.

Aaron snickered weakly and winced as he said, "Maybe… one day. But for now, just use it to live, and help others do the same. I'm sorry I never taught you the stuff that really mattered before, but here it is, so listen- Listen close. Take care of your mom, your girl, everyone else you care about. Finish school. And then do something amazing with your life, Miles, because you've got this spark in you that I ain't been able to figure out, but now I know why. You're right. You're not like me. You- You've never been like me. You were right when you said that all I knew how to do anymore was be angry at the world. Today, I finally managed to put it to use. But you… You're the best of all of us, Miles. Better than me. A better Prowler… And well on your way to being a much better man than I ever was. So just- Just keep goin'. Just keep-"

Aaron never managed to finish that last sentence, and he used the last vestiges of his strength to close his eyes as his head fell back and his hand loosened its grip on Miles', though Miles continued to hold on tightly. However, he still seemed to acknowledge what had truly just happened, and Gwen saw him gulp powerfully before his mask folded back onto his face while he lowered his uncle's hand to lay on his chest.

Knowing that the mask was currently hiding something much more valuable to Miles than his secret identity, Gwen did as he had done for her just this morning and pulled Miles in close as he tried to turn away from the sight of his uncle, holding his head against her chest while he clung desperately to her arms. And so, knowing that Miles wouldn't appreciate words right now, Gwen just silently held onto Miles while his body shook with silenced grief.