Miguel looked about the mayhem that was occurring in his city and grit his teeth in frustration.

This was exactly why he had so many rules in place. Why he was careful to let everyone know where the line was and that punishment for putting a toe over it would be the same as stepping boldly across it. Because when you allowed people to take an inch they would take a mile. And if you didn't make clear that an inch was too much they decided to do all they could to try and make you suffer.

And suffering was what was happening now.

Oh, what a shame that you came here with someone
So while you're here in my arms

No one knew what to do. Everyone was running around with no sense of order!

Order… that was why he had done all this. To bring some order back to the multiverse. To help people understand why things happened the way they did and get them to see why they just couldn't do whatever they wanted.

The multiverse wasn't a forest path or a bustling city. It was a web. A spider's web. And to walk through it was to carefully balance on strands that were as thin as silk. One wrong move would send you toppling but, just as importantly, if you took too hard of a step you might shatter the line and that would cause the entire web to begin to falter…

Miguel shook his head.

He was losing focus.

He heard a whoosh and twisted around to find the source of his current misery standing behind him, staring at him with a bemused tilt of his head.

Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young

"So… I have to ask…" Spider-Chaos said, arms held out at his sides, palms open, "any regrets?"

"Oh… I have plenty of regrets," Miguel admitted. "I-"

"And let's be honest here, since we've known each other for so long," Chase said, taking a step forward. "We both know that your answer is going to be 'not stopping you' or 'letting you do this' or any of the other clichés. Just like I could say the same thing about you, O'Hara. So how about we actually talk for once? No quips. No jokes. Brutal honesty. Do you have any regrets?"

We're gonna die young

"…yeah," Miguel said. "I have a lot of regrets. I should have never started that project that got me wrapped up in this in the first place. Not for my sake… but for the people that died in my quest for glory." It was odd… he hadn't thought of the men that had been his test subjects in ages. Thought about how they had suffered in his attempts to perfect his gene therapy. "I regret friends I lied to… loved ones I lied to. I thought that I was doing it for them but honestly? I was scared."

Miguel took his own step forward. He didn't know if Chase was trying to goad him into a trap… it didn't matter, he'd break it and then break the man. But right now it felt wonderful just to talk. Most Spiders loved to talk but he'd become a man of action. He was seeing the appeal though…

"I regret running away from my duties," he said in a quieter voice. "I regret getting that world involved. I regret that I'm still here and any of them are the ones who died."

He could still feel his daughter in his arms.

"I regret how I made the Society… I see the mistakes I made now. I made it too big, was too lax in who I brought in. It should have been smaller, more tight knit. You bring in too many people and you will have the wrong ones around. That was my mistake. I made this into a club house when it should have been a strike team.

"And I know you didn't want me to say it… but I will. I regret not taking you down, Chase. I regret not stopping you before you went power mad and decided that it was okay to harm the innocent. But luckily for me if I've learned one thing from the multiverse its that sometimes… you get a second chance!"

And with that he leapt at Chase.

We're gonna die young

Only to soar right through him.

"Are you people NEVER not going to fall for that?" Chase asked from just above him, the hologram version of himself fading away.

Miguel narrowed his eyes before firing off two weblines, launching himself at the gaudy-colored Spider, but the other fighter leapt away at the last moment, causing Miguel to smash into a building.

"That's the problem with not having Spider-Sense, isn't it?" Chase said as he landed on the street, arms placed behind his back as he began to pace like a college professor. "Makes it REAL hard to take on someone who does have it." Miguel slammed back down onto the road and charged after Chase, lashing out with his claws only for the man to continually dodge him. "Slow."

Slash.

"Sloppy," Chase said again, bending slightly to the left, almost insultingly slow, to avoid the strike. "Ha!" He laughed as, when Miguel went in for a strike to the face, he easily caught his wrist and held on tight, lashing out with his other hand and catching his other arm and stopping it. Even though Miguel had height on Chase he was able to force him to slowly bend backwards as he began to push.

Miguel managed to break free with a leg swipe, though much to his annoyance it didn't actually hit Chase as he simply let go and leapt up. He came down and Miguel sprung back, landing on a parked taxi and ripping off its hood, throwing it at Chase to force him to dodge while Miguel went the opposite way, lip curled back in a snarl as the man ended up right where he wanted him to land, in the middle of his descent. He reached out-

Chase grabbed him by the throat without looking and SQUEEZED.

"You're not living up to the legend, gato," Chase said before he slammed him down onto the ground before doing a sidekick that had Miguel's head snapping back as he flew down the road.

Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young

"Sorry, I couldn't help it," Chase said as he began to walk towards Miguel. "Corrosion showed my kids Puss in Boots and the Last Wish and its been now airing on repeat at my place for the last week. Gets stuck in my head." He fired off two weblines, snagging onto two benches and hurling them at Miguel, forcing him to dodge the first and slash through the second. "You remember my kids, right? The ones you wanted to rip from their loving homes because 'canon events'. My Miles who would turn to a puddle of goo if you had your way? My Gwen who would be tortured, assaulted, and killed by a disgusting pedophile if you had my way? My Peter and my Ben who knew only torment in the Red Room and you'd show back in there IF YOU HAD YOUR WAY!?"

Chase suddenly blasted himself at Miguel and even though he tried to brace for the impact the smaller man still hit him like a freight train, driving him into a wall before he began to pound his fists into his body.

"Those kids," he whispered in Miguel's ear before grabbing his head and slamming it against the brick.

Miguel finally twisted and managed to get a blow in, knocking Chase back. "You would doom… billions of people… for your own selfishness?"

"Yes," Chase said in a heartbeat. "A thousand times yes. That's what being a parent means. It means loving your child so much you'd fight the world for them. And then you sacrificing yourself to save them. I wouldn't doom billions… I'd doom myself." He scoffed. "But then again… you never were a parent, were you?"

Miguel let out a roar and tackled Chase to the ground.

"I loved her!" he screamed as he began to drive his fists into the man's body. He could feel whatever tech Chase used adapting to protect against his blows but that was okay… he'd just keep hitting harder until he broke through. "There isn't a damn day I don't think of her! All of this is so that every other version of her never has to suffer what she did!"

"Oh…" Chase said with a dismissive scoff as he fought to get out from under Miguel, "is that all? Tell me… what part of 'nearly kill a teenager' ensures her safety?" Miguel paused at that. "Now whose sacrificing billions to save the one?"

"I didn't want to hurt him!" Miguel roared as he began to pummel Chase again. But the man was hitting back now, not just with his fists but his words. The two rolled along the street like bickering babies, each trying to get the upper hand. "If he had just done with he was told-"

"Boy, I say boy!" Chase mocked in a horrible southern accent. "Ya did this ta yourself, boy!"

"It wasn't like that!" Miguel bellowed, getting to his feet and moving to stomp down on Chase's chest. But the man had already used a webline to rip himself away, landing on the opposite side of the street. "I tried to explain it to him! Tried to get him to understand! But he thought that he had the right to not listen!"

"And how dare someone not take the word of the mighty Miguel O'Hara?" Chase taunted.

Miguel threw his hands into the air. "I'm not saying that either! Stop twisting my damn words!"

"Twisting them?" Chase said mockingly. "Have you heard yourself recently? You are doing a fine job muddling up your words all by yourself, O'Hara. If anything I am separating the strands of crazy from the logic. Too bad there is too much of the former-"

"He's a villain!" Miguel roared. "No different than the Kingpin or Doc Ock or the Green Goblin!"

"None of whom you've ever faced," Chase pointed out. He leapt onto a building and crouched on the side of it. "Seriously, if I called you 'Daddy Long Legs' instead of Spider-Man no one would bat a fucking eye, you know that?"

Miguel ignored him; Chase was making those quips because he didn't have a truly good counter. "Miles Morales is threatening his entire world all in the name of keeping someone close to him. I read up on Peter B and Gwen's reports on their incursion onto Morales' world… that is the same damn thing that the Kingpin tried to pull! But its okay because precious little Morales does it!"

Chase though merely tilted his head. "Huh."

"Huh? Is that seriously all you have to say?"

"Oh god no. I have plenty to say. I'm just shocked by the among of hypocrisy that is going on here."

"What are you talking about?" Miguel asked, annoyed.

"Let's see if you can figure it out. Big genius brain in that big dumb body." Chase got up and began to pace along the wall. "The Kingpin wishes he had a family. Never had one. Had a chance for one but he fucked that up so bad it made what most Spiders do look like a pretty nice and casual day. Anyway, he decides that he is going to travel to another universe and stay there and have a family."

"That… is completely wrong," Miguel commented. "The Kingpin had a family but he lost them. And he didn't go to another-"

He froze.

"And there it is, folks!" Chase said to no one. "You can see the exact moment it all caught up to our big Cult Leader!" Chase dropped his voice to a sinister whisper. "I was describing you."

"No…"

"Miles is the villain? You stole a dead man's life. Impersonated him. Fucked his wife and hung out with his friends and tucked his daughter in at night. You are a liar… a thief."

"I didn't-"

"Rapist," Chase said darkly.

"I said shut up!" Miguel roared. "I made a mistake! Okay? Is that what you want me to say? But I work every day to make up for it!"

"No Miguel," Chase said with a shake of his head. "You work every day to justify why you don't repent. Make up every excuse you have for why you've already been punished so there is no more punishment needed. You're a coward. You lie to yourself because you can't accept that you had a bad day… and maybe you deserved it because of what you did. You make up all these rules and laws because if you do that? Then you aren't so bad. Everyone else is. That's why you weren't mad at Miles, not really… you were GLAD he ran."

"What?" Miguel said, startled. "What are you-"

"You needed him to run," Chase proclaimed. "Wanted him to. Were PRAYING he would. Because then you'd have an excuse to attack him. To beat him up. Because that is what the Society is, isn't it." He blinked, leaning back before he dropped down to the street. "Isn't it?" he repeated, his tone shocked. "You… you made all of this… so that you could forever redo that moment you decided to be selfish. Convince others to turn away. Attack and defeat those that didn't. Do what you weren't strong enough to do… or someone else wasn't strong enough to do to you."

"…no," Miguel said, shaking his head. "No. You… you will never understand." He felt so tired but he was also so frustrated. "No one… no one listens to me! I have all these facts and all the evidence but no one cares! Everyone is just concerned with making sure they get what THEY want! I suffered! I went through it! That should be enough! I earned some god damn trust!"

And with that he launched himself at Chase and pinned him to a wall.

"You know how many universes I've saved? There are trillions of people out there alive because I helped the canon events! And let's ignore that… I stop incursions too. Yes, a Spider might have to lose a loved one or a captain or go through hardship but I am there to help deal with the threats that would have taken everything! Not you! Not anyone else! ME! And all I ask is that people LISTEN TO ME! Is that so damn hard?" He leaned in. "You want me to be the villain SO BADLY because you can't accept that sometimes there is nothing we can do. Not everyone gets to live! With great power comes great responsibility… I hear that all the time. Well I am taking that responsibility. I have the power of the multiverse, the Spiderverse, and I am being responsible! Life isn't sunshine and rainbows! We have to suffer! So that the rest of the world… the rest of the multiverse… doesn't! We take their burden. Because to be a Spider is to not be selfish… it is to be selfless."

He stared at Chase.

"Well?" he demanded. "What else do you have to say?"

"…your daughter-"

Miguel slammed the man's head against the wall.

"Shut up. You don't-"

"What was her name?" Chase got out, pressing on Miguel's forearm.

He didn't move.

"From one father to another," Chase said gently. "Two men that know blood doesn't mean anything when it comes to love… what was her name?"

"…Gabriella. Gabriella O'Hara."

Chase gave a nod… or as best as he could with Miguel pinning his arm against the man's throat. "The multiverse… the Spiderverse… it is huge, isn't it? A world of possibilities." He pushed a bit harder against Miguel's arm, giving him enough to speak without a croak. "So… why don't you tell her… she has to suffer."

"…what?"

"Papi?"

Miguel froze.

Slowly, painfully slow, he turned his head.

There was another Spider standing there.

They weren't as large as him. Not by a long shot. But their costume was very similar to his own. The blues and the reds and the slight flicker as the technoweave prepared for anything. It was so very odd for Miguel to see that costume on a frame so different from his own. The voice was older but he recognized it all the same. A more squeaky version, full of cheer and life, haunted his nightmares every night. And when she removed her mask…

Chase barely shoved him but still Miguel stumbled away from him.

Towards her.

"Papi…" the Spider said again, trembling. He realized she was trying not to cry. "What… what are you doing?"

"Gabriella?" Miguel whispered, feeling sudden shame that she had seen him attacking Chase. He knew he shouldn't care. Chase was the villain here. And… and she wasn't his daughter. His daughter was dead…

Except…

Chase leaned in like the devil on his shoulder.

"So go on then… tell her that she can't save the people she loves. That it is her DUTY to suffer. That losing HER Miguel… won't be the last. Look her in the eye and tell her it is her destiny to be alone… hero."

He dropped his voice.

"Tell her."

Miguel… was utterly silent.

Let's make the most of the night like we're gonna die young