Sorry it's been so long since the last post. I had a lot going on in life, and honestly I didn't think anyone would ever read this. But I'm back now, still stressed, but even more motivated to write. This chapter pick ups with Miguel and members of the society.
Something wasn't right. She knew that much, but she couldn't quite place it. Rio Morales lay awake in bed listening to the wind howl outside. There was a storm, but no rain. Jeff had left early in the night, he couldn't sleep either, but Rio didn't have work to bury herself in. She lay in the dark, her mind her only companion.
Miles would be ok. She told herself that again and again. He wasn't stupid, she often found herself astonished at how smart her son was. But no matter how smart he was, he was still a kid, and he made mistakes. She did too. Letting him go wasn't a mistake. She knew he was keeping secrets, but forcing him wasn't the way to do it. He needed his freedom to learn when he needed her and Jeff. It didn't stop her worrying.
Brooklyn had never felt as openly dangerous as it had since the first spider-man died. She still thought Miles had known something about that at the time. Showing up distraught in the middle of the night. She still remembered his face, Jeff had the same face the first night he saw someone die. Her little man had grown up so much faster than he should have. She had hoped he would share with her. Now she just hoped he was safe. If anyone knew how to get in trouble, it would be Miles.
She covered her eyes as the room was filled with light. Strange hexagonal rings orbited a glowing portal. She clutched the bed sheets close, not much protection, but even feigned protection felt good. A second later she remembered Jeff kept a handgun in a drawer in the bed side table. As much as she would have liked to remain seated, it provided less readiness, and decency was second to survival. In all, her reaction had her on her feet, gun in hand, ready in under five seconds.
She breath caught as someone emerged from the portal. He was massive, head almost reaching the ceiling, and broad shoulders that reminded her of a wrestler. He was covered from head to toe in a blue and red suit, with diagonal eyepieces. He looked like spider-man, if Spider-Man took steroids and became a Mexican wrestler.
"Put your hands in the air!" Rio didn't shout, but she knew how to put authority in her voice, benefits of being a mom. "I am not afraid to shoot."
The man didn't bother. With a twitch of his wrist, glowing red lines shot out and wrenched the gun from her hands. It happened so fast, she couldn't have pulled the trigger if she had tried.
"Rio Morales," the man spoke and Rio caught hints of his accent. Suddenly a Mexican wrestler Spider-Man seemed more of a possibility. "My name is Miguel O'Hara. I lead an elite strike force dedicated to the protection and preservation of the multiverse. I mean no harm to you, but events have grown out of control, and we need your help. Your son is in danger. A renegade spider-man has infected him with a virus that has the potential to destroy everything you know. I know what it's like to be a parent. Yo mismo soy padre. The safety of your child is the utmost priority. Miles has disappeared from our sensors, but we have hundreds of people trying to find him. We must find your son before it's too late. If we can't treat him in time… well that's best left unsaid. You can use this to let us know if he appears," Miguel tossed a small black disk, and Rio caught it with shaking hands, her mind working overtime to process what he just said. "Everything will be fine, just let us know if your son comes home and we can protect him. If we find him before then, rest assured he will be brought home safely."
"You are from another dimension…" the stories from last year's incident indicated multiple spider people appeared during a fight in downtown Queens, but Rio had never really put much thought into it. But that had been when Jeff's brother had died. Somehow Miles was wrapped up in spider man's web, but she had no reason to trust this man. "How do you know my son?" Her voice didn't shake, she offered a quick prayer in thanks.
"I met him once," Miguel said, "The renegade spider-man brought him to society headquarters. This was before that spider-man's betrayal. I wasn't told how Miles met spider-man, but your son is a noble man, and honorable. I promise we are doing everything we can to find him, but if you find him first, let us know."
"The girl," Rio said, "There was a girl that he knew, Gwanda, he left to go talk to her. At least that was what he was supposed to do." Miguel's mask creased, as if he was frowning.
"When was this?" He asked.
"It would have been yesterday, during my husband's promotion party," Rio replied. "Is she a part of this?" She wasn't about to tell him that Gwanda had been back since then, also looking for Miles. O please let her son be safe.
"She isn't important," Miguel said, before turning back to his portal. "Let us know if you hear from your son. He isn't safe until we can treat him." He looked down at the gun he had taken from Rio. "I'm sorry you have to go through this, but everything will be fine. Que tengas una buena noche," He tossed the gun softly to the bed, and stepped back through his portal. The rotating hexagons disappeared in a flash of light, and the room became dark once more. Rio sat down hard, missing the bed and landing on the floor. Her thoughts raced. Her thinking was only interrupted when her phone on the bedside table vibrated. She couldn't sit still any longer. She picked up the phone and called Jeff.
Miguel clawed his way back into earth-928. The society headquarters was almost empty, every spider out to either hunt down Miles, or the Spot. Miguel stalked through the dim hallways, everything could have been so easy. That wasn't true, but he told himself it was anyway. Dealing with the multiverse was never easy. "Spider-verse," he mumbled, and shook his head. The kid might have been on to something, but he would never admit it.
"What was that?" Miguel snapped out of his own thoughts, and realized he had reached the go-home-machine room. Peter Parker, or more specifically the spectacular spider-man, sat in front of one of the consoles.
"No es nada. Have you found anything yet?" Peter was one of the younger spiders, but he had his credentials, and he was one of the best at dealing with computers. Peter opened his mouth to respond, but was cut off.
"Nothing. Same as the last time you asked Miguel," Ezekiel Sims strode into the room, Lyla at his shoulder. "Which I will remind you was ten minutes ago." Ezekiel was a harsh man, but Miguel had put him in charge of this little group for a reason. "With Margo gone, it's much harder to control the system. I swear that girl was too smart for her own good. The sensors are silent. There are no anomaly's. Not only have Miles and the Spot disappeared, but there are no other anomalies."
"According to my models, Miles should have arrived on Earth-42, but he promptly disappeared. The scans show that he left, but the how we don't know, and as for the where? Well like Ezekiel said, we have no idea." Lyla was worried, Miguel could tell from her glasses being slightly off center.
Miguel let off a string of curses and Peter's eyes widened. "Easy Miguel," Ezekiel said, "we will find him."
"I'm going back before something else goes shockingly wrong," Miguel turned and clawed a portal open before hurling himself out into the web of universes.
Ezekiel watched the portal close behind Miguel. He used to be so level headed, but something had changed in Miguel. Ezekiel knew others saw it too. Miguel had chased Miles through the society, and fought him as brutally as any villain. Perhaps it had gone too far, but Miles was dangerous. He had come to that conclusion after examining the data Lyla had on the kid. Perhaps dangerous enough to unravel the whole web. Surely that was reason enough for Miguel to pursue the kid with such gusto. Ezekiel still felt uneasy. He would feel better once this whole situation was mended.
"Peter, can you modify the anomaly sensors to search for dark matter?"
"Most likely, but it's all or nothing. If I do that, we won't be able to detect anomalies anywhere until I can change it back."
"Miguel won't like that," Lyla cut in.
"No. No he won't," Ezekiel mused, "Do it. Switch the sensors."
"Are you sure about that?" Peter questioned.
"Yeah, we can't use it to find Miles, and there haven't been any incidents yet. Spot is the highest threat right now, the others can wait." Peter nodded and thwipped across the room to another console.
"Miguel won't like this," Lyla said again.
"Miguel is distracted," Ezekiel said, studying the photos from the disaster in Mumbatten. "Spot needs to be found, and I am going to find him."
Thanks for reading! Honesty not sure yet what the next chapter is going to be, I have some ideas, but you will have to wait in suspense. This one had mostly been fully written before my break, but I'm excited to explore the spider-verse so more!! Let me know what you guys think of the story so far.