Too many things were occurring all at once for Miles Morales.
Facing the opposition of the entire Spider Society as they all were trying to convince Miles to just accept that his father's death was an inevitability put him in a corner. Nothing was there to provide him a solution as even his friends were surrendering to this idea of letting death happen for some to save the whole. Spiders weren't supposed to just give up. To accept an outcome that felt easier to deal with versus the more problematic results.
Yet here Web Weaver was with an entire multiverse of Spider people all ganging up on both him and Miles as Eric stood in Miles's corner of the issue. Eric didn't hesitate to fight for the teen whenever he needed his help. Only one instance of him not helping Miles remained to be a growing experience that Miles still valued as an important experience to this date still. That fight of trying to stop his teacher from killing Kingpin gave Miles extremely important wisdom in the ways of combat.
"This should be his choice to make. Nobody but him has the right to make that decision."
Listening to this version of his former teacher made it clear that Web Weaver would never abandon Miles in his times of need. Facing a crowd of Spider people and declaring that he would rather fight them all rather than abandon Miles was his choice to make. The saying that the older Web Weaver had given him now made that much more sense as the one who didn't give Miles that piece of wisdom acted upon it.
"It's his father! Even if he puts his universe at risk, it's his burden to bear that weight. You can't take that away from him."
Reminding all the others who the one was at risk of losing their life still failed to move more spiders onto Web Weaver's side. Too many people hated him already. Speaking here on the behalf of Miles was likely the reason that this all was going up in flames. Nobody was willing to interject; mostly from the fact he was terrifying to approach in the first place.
"All of you… Is this it? This pathetic collection of the worst spider ever to exist? Why did you all even bother gathering here?"
Actual anger started to erupt from the crowd.
Miles was panicking while he looked back to see Eve, Gwen, and Felicia all looking calm and collected as Eric spoke. They trusted him with the decision he made. Seeing that trust in real life was an enlightening experience.
Tossing more of his insults into the crowd brought this mob to pay more attention to him over Miles. Many spiders were already fed up with how high and mighty Web Weaver acted amongst them all. A murderous version of them all didn't deserve such an arrogant attitude to begin with.
"No, I get it…"
Something clicked within Miles's mind just now. He saw something in the way his mentor acted that made things look precarious. To leave now felt irresponsible for the young Spiderman. Standing next to this man who was bracing the storm of the fallout of Miles's decisions, feeling himself being shoved backwards by Web Weaver brought the entire world to a standstill.
Time itself slowed to let him see somebody he valued take the burden of his actions. This wasn't right in his books. Accepting somebody else as his scapegoat wasn't something he wanted in the first place, much less putting a valued teacher of his in such a compromising position.
Potential is the combination of opportunity and action.
Those words returned to him in the back of his mind. Letting others protect him from his own blunders wasn't how Spiderman conducted himself. Less than a second had passed when Miles made a brash decision. A decision that put him back in the position Eric wanted to protect Miles from in the first place.
Be proud to be someone who finds theirs everyday.
Facing himself became harder the longer he avoided the harder trials in life. Growing into the man he wanted to be escaped Miles as he instinctively reacted against all common logic. Aiming his web shooter back towards Web Weaver's back, Miles utilized the unique tension webbing that Eric gave him not too long ago. Firing the webbing and gripping it to then pull back against it almost wrenched his shoulder out of its socket. How Web Weaver used this potent stuff to travel around normally completely evaded Miles.
Hitting Web Weaver, the pull he gave his webbing almost made him lose his teeth as Eric realized that somebody hit his body with his own webbing based on that familiar sound he recognized was his formula ejecting at high speeds. None of the other spiders were willing to make their webbing as dangerous as his, so it made it easy to know that he had a unique webbing.
Very few spiders had ever killed anybody; much less design their equipment to become a better assassin.
The reason why Eric had thrown Miles back was to save him from what was about to happen next. Miguel O Hara reacted as expected and was already activating the energy barrier to trap Web Weaver and Miles Morales from the get go. Throwing Miles out of the danger zone only resulted in him webbing himself back into range with Miguel activating an orange barrier that trapped both Eric and Miles within its confines.
Speaking out against the entrapment were those who thought that Miguel was taking things too far. When he approached Web Weaver with a bitter hate that was mutual, they were more than aware of what they felt as Miguel threatened Web Weaver.
"I'm going to enjoy my time with you-"
A fist violently collided with his right cheeks out of nowhere. Miguel went flying and even hit a console hard enough to cause a small explosion as Gwen was seething with rage with what she just heard coming out of Miguel's mouth.
A very strong Spiderwoman was willing to kill Miguel O Hara for his intentions against those who mattered the most to her. Actually hearing the words leave Miguel's mouth was the thing that broke all of her trust of the man altogether.
"What the hell did you just say?!"
Peter needed to stop Gwen from finishing off Miguel with Eric and Miguel now trapped within the same energy barrier now.
"Why are you here, Miles?! I threw you out for a good reason!"
Miles knew that his teacher did this to save him. He knew that Eric wanted to protect him and even throw himself in the line of fire for him. Experiencing these chaotic hours with Web Weaver enlightened Miles more than anything that he ever could expect in such a short amount of time.
"I won't leave you behind to take the fall for MY fuck ups! I can't keep leaving my responsibility to others… The burden needs to be mine to bear!"
The conviction in Miles's eyes was strong. He saw the damage that could come about with careless decisions and realized he couldn't escape his responsibility. Asking to be the one to face his opponents in their full capacity gave Miles reason to not lay back and be passive.
He was fed up with himself.
So many better heroes were all around him and he had yet to lay down something worth risking for his convictions. Becoming who he wanted to be felt impossible so long as he kept living this safe version of his own life. Returning to his mind was that question posed to him by that entity which pursued him with the one question he felt mattered in his difficult journey of self discovery.
What will he do to prove himself worthy of the purpose he accepted to achieve?
Remembering that look that his old mentor gave him as he presented Miles with that picture was a moment he never wanted to forget. His teacher trusted his student to do their best to accomplish their goals. Fighting for his potential now was his responsibility with him now being trapped with Web Weaver in this energy prison.
Observing the walls of this prison informed Miles that it wasn't a completely infallible barrier. Energy wasn't properly regulated with how unstable the fluctuation appeared to be at first glance. Pumping another flood of energy all at once would definitely overload the barrier keeping him and Web Weaver trapped in this trap.
Pressing his hands into the walls of the prison didn't feel right. Touching with just his fingertips made it clear that it wouldn't be enough to overload the shields. Then he remembered how he revived his teacher. Pressing his palms against his chest conducted more energy Miles needed to carefully regulate in order to prevent the venom strike from permanently frying the body.
Making contact with the barrier with his palms allowed Miles to overcome that threshold he had been struggling with just a little while ago. Hobie himself saw Miles remember the advice he gave the younger spider regarding their abilities and laughed under his breath once. A powerful wave of energy swept everybody over and left them sprawled across the ground around the center of the explosion.
Miles and Eric were both a bit dumbfounded as the younger spider was yanked away from the space by Web Weaver.
"Miles, run!"
Now they were once the run from the rest of the entire Spider Society. Miguel O Hara was the first to start chasing the both of them with the others hot on their tails. Everybody else went after them all for their own reason with Hovie opening a blue portal behind him and stepping into the blue box that was his form of transportation between dimensions.
"Just for the record, I quit."
The box sealed itself around him as it then pulled him back to his home dimension. The modifications Eric made on his watch were a blessing as Hobie could travel in comfort without a worry in the world. Still, he knew that this was something he needed to back out of for now. Eric trusted this man to make the right decisions when it mattered. So he did what he felt was necessary in this chaotic situation.
Elsewhere
"Everybody! Stop what you're doing and stop Spiderman!"
An extremely confusing message such as this left everybody extremely confused while pointing their fingers at each other with nonstop requests that nobody moves. Hearing the chaos unfold through the audio made it clear he needed to be much more articulate with his words.
"No, Miles Morales and Web Weaver! They're entering sector four!"
The door opening to the sector had a spider with Doc Oct's arms attached to their back. What this poor souls didn't expect was to be kicked hard enough to shattering the device upon his back into a billion pieces and be used as a human cannonball to strike all the spiders who could pursue the runaways out of the way.
Miles was completely overwhelmed with his alternate teacher of the past helping him fend off their pursuers together. Chasing after two recently convicted felons was a startlingly difficult thing to do when they both had the same baseline physicality as all other spiders.
"Sorry!"
Miles screamed an apology to the poor sap who was kicked in the back to then be used as a human projectile for his and Web Weaver's escape. Escaping this almost impossible situation then became the only thing he could focus on alongside his teacher's side.
Multiple spiders from the multiverse were trying to stop both Miles and Web Weaver. Favoring a more passive method of repelling his pursues exposed how brutal Web Weaver was in actual combat.
Several spiders lost their teeth as Web Weaver still acted with his instincts to strike with lethal intention in fights. Choosing to be more passive in his escape wasn't necessarily out of choice so much as it was out of necessity. That wasn't a point of contention for Web Weaver as he was much more vicious as he kept up with Miles while still fighting without any issue.
Spidercat pounced onto Miles's face and was yanked off by the young man. Trying to make sense of the interaction led to the cat getting kicked by Web Weaver with enough force to send his leg through a sedan like it was made of brittle sugar glass. He felt terrible as the cat was sent flying in an unknown direction while he still needed to run away with Eric.
"You didn't have to-"
Turning back to Miles before he could finish speaking made it clear what Eric felt in this desperate situation.
"Do you want to apologize or escape?! Choose now while I can still think straight!"
Between getting detained by alternate copies of himself or escaping in order to save his father, just one choice made sense. Choosing to side with Web Weaver and escape this dimension was the only option he really had that mattered.
Going through all of these spiders made him feel guilty as a Tyrannosaurus Rex that was another spider webbed itself to swing into the two escapees when Web Weaver then used the infamous slingshot drop kick that all spiders used. Difference being that his webbing produced additional tension which made this counterattack lethal to even a full grown dinosaur where Web Weaver aimed his heels.
Right at the base of their skull on the back of their head.
Many spiders went to save this dinosaur spider from dying from the fall, which helped decrease the amount of spider pursuing Miles and Web Weaver. Though they were still in the densest place filled to the brim with many individuals who possessed similar physical attributes like them. Accidentally running into the cafeteria with Miles being more evasive and Eric taking his usual approach of aggression opened Miles's eyes a little to how deadly Web Weaver truly was.
One spider got a cheap steak knife shoved into his neck by Web Weaver before he could react to the potentially lethal blow. Then a punch that almost spun another spider's head around completely was caught by other spiders with the one who did such overwhelming damage to another like themselves still running alongside Miles.
It reminded the teen that this was a lethal killer. The only reason they weren't killing the other spiders was due to a promise they made with Gwen. A promise he was informed of by his actual past mentor.
Nine Months Ago
Swinging across the New York City skyline with somebody he looked up to was a great way to unload stress. Miles was visited by the future Gwen and Eric after a few months into his new life as this dimension's Spiderman. It made things feel less lonely as he still had people who could understand his situation to talk to.
They collectively stopped a bank robbery and several mugging in record time as they all returned to change back into their civilian clothes. His mentor still had a certain preference of clothing with his open denim button up shirt and black undershirt complimenting his sturdy build as his light beige chinos were well matched with his equally light tan work boots. Gwen was much more expressive with her outfit as she wore this black lacy top with a black tube top underneath with blue jeans that hugged her hips and legs in the perfect way to show off her enhanced figure. Her black high heels were just making something dangerously appealing into something lethal to the eyes of the public. The ass gifted to her genetically had no business looking so good with those stilettos.
All of them were just enjoying the sight of a pelican mingling amongst other birds all shuffling around randomly. Most of them were pigeons with about five seagulls amongst the group with the nearby harbor explaining their presence. Even Miles felt this peaceful sensation flow through him with such a simple joy of nature being itself before him in this isolated part of New York City.
It almost became a very negative experience when he then witnessed a pigeon being captured in the gizzard of the pelican as it tried to eat it. Miles couldn't even think straight in this instance before Eric suddenly ran at the situation and grabbed the pelican to then grip it's jaw and force it to spit out the innocent animal it tried to eat.
Then came one of the most bizarre trips Miles had ever taken across New York City.
A grown Asian man next to a blonde woman and a black teen were all traveling together on the metro with the bird being cussed at whenever it tried to escape. Seeing this honestly felt like he was watching a cartoon with this exact premise with Gwen not batting an eyelash at her man's strange actions.
Only when they arrived at a distant fish market did Eric then open up the pelican's mouth and shove several fresh fish into its mouth before it just flew off. Many of the vendors at the market were already amused by Eric's antics and agreed to feed the damned bird if it ever showed up. Watching this guy charm so many New York Fishmongers was a sight to behold for the younger spider.
"You know, he wasn't always like this."
Gwen spoke with wisdom as Miles turned to listen to the young woman who looked at Eric with pride at how far he had come since his early days. Sharing who he was in the past felt okay as Eric said that she was the better person to share his past with this younger Miles. This felt like the right opportunity to do so.
"He was so cold in the past. All he knew was to protect people through fear he made as Web Weaver… His life was just that. Fear."
Seeing the way Gwen looked at the man she came to love filled Miles with this sense of heartbreak. He cared about his teacher as well, so to see somebody who knew more about them was a serious concern for Miles.
"What do you mean? Fear? How bad was it?"
Looking back at the younger Miles made Gwen feel slightly guilty over what she was about to do. It wasn't a breach of trust between herself and Eric at all. He told her that this was for her to share with whoever she felt was deserving to know of his past. That level of trust existed between them because they did their best to look after one another.
So Gwen shared with Miles this shortened version about one of the worst cases of him being Web Weaver. A brutal school shooting that claimed the lives of eighteen children before he could stop the needless bloodshed led to him killing the three boys who gunned down their fellow classmates in a brutal fashion.
Listening to this chilling tale disturbed Miles. Gwen didn't correct anything and let the teen come to his own conclusions as he tried to process all of this information. Putting himself in his former teacher's position only led to him realizing something more awful than he was ready to face. His emotions practically bred these truly sinister thoughts that were demanding that he take justice into his own hands. Children didn't deserve to die like that; not even at the hands of those similar in age to them.
Those kids died quickly compared to what Eric could have done with them. Sparing them a death worthy of their truly heinous crimes of murder came from the last bit of humanity Gwen still was nurturing within the man she loved so much still. She saw a man who refused to be broken by his brutal world who she wanted to help by carefully rebuilding him piece by piece; so long as they kept loving each other the way that they did.
"He isn't perfect, but he tries."
Turning to face the younger version of her friend showed how seriously she treated her man. Respect between them was paramount with her challenging Miles from this still intact timeline with a genuine question. Trusting this version of Miles felt important as she knew he would be interacting with a younger version of Web Weaver. She still loved him, even in this strange state of separation.
"What is he to you, Miles?"
Being challenged like this did feel a bit off putting at first. The intensity and realization of why she was this way with Eric then had the teenager look her back in the eyes to reply with the one answer he knew was his. He stared Gwen back in the eyes and responded with his truth.
His answer put a smile on her face. Listening to Miles in this timeline made it more than abundantly clear why her man believed in Miles. She trusted this Miles to help her past version of Web Weaver.
There was no reason to worry if this version of Miles was at Eric's side.
Present Time
Escaping the cafeteria into these hallways had Eric release one of his more lethal tools within his arsenal. He would have used it more often before now, but the occasion never called for it as much as it did in this predicament.
Firing something behind then suddenly caused the crowd to cease in their tracks. Miles was pulled by his right arm by his past version of his mentor during this stressful chase. The crowd only stopped pursuing them due to the fact that there were too many potentially lethal wires that could slice through alloyed steel like butter blocked their way.
Wire Webbing.
Apparently, Web Weaver had this rather dangerous tool in his belt that he had yet to demonstrate in front of Miles. It didn't matter all that much as there were more than enough spiders coming at them both from all directions.
From elsewhere, Miguel and the others finally caught up with Miles and Eric in this chase. Peter was still with his daughter in the front carry pouch he had on for May with Gwen, Felicia, and Eve all following the crowd pursuing the wanted escapees. Trying to break the tension had him asking Miguel a very stupid question.
"Hey, this is Mayday's first chase. Mind if we take a picture?"
Not only did he piss of Miguel; he pissed off Gwen, Felicia, and Eve for his carelessness. Holding his phone out like a tone deaf father, Peter failed to break the tension keeping Miguel hot on the tail of Miles and Web Weaver.
Through a special training facility of the Spider Society, both Miles Morales and Eric Yim were utilizing the environment to escape this situation. There was this massive press that pushed the limits of spiders who wanted to demonstrate their strength. Miles simply pulled the legs of somebody reaching their next max weight out for underneath them to cause the entire thing to close the gap behind him and Eric. They seemed to be out of the fire to the just end up in the frying pan when Web Weaver tackled Miles out of the way of Miguel trying to assault him out of the blue.
Blades glowing bright orange were clashing with pitch black weapons blocking their path. The confrontation that emerged from this instantaneous incident was a death match not yet ready to occur. Scanning around for an out too this situation left Miles with only one course of action. Web Weaver and Miguel O Hara were facing each other with weapons drawn with their lives on the line to finally end this charade.
They hated each other.
Only by killing the other man would they finally stop their mission to end another human life. Nothing would suffice in place of their deaths against one another. Hatred of another human being to this level felt as though events of a past life now dictated the emotions of these souls.
Miles was startled when these men were striking at each other with so many lethal blows that his own eyes couldn't keep up with their speed. Less than five seconds passed and these two were out of breath whole glaring death into each other's souls after they separated. Webbing the back of his teacher's body and pulling him through these multiple doors that sealed themselves behind him and Eric then led to a much more dire situation that needed a moment to absorb.
Hundreds of spiders all across the Spiderverse were all ready for them at this exit. Miles was apprehensive while Web Weaver was already preparing for combat. The thing keeping this insane event marching forward didn't happen just yet.
"Face it, guys. There isn't anywhere left to run."
Erupting like a vengeful soul from the underworld launched Miguel up into the air as Miles ran in front of Eric as the older spider yelled at the teen to keep running. Insanity already felt like it had already set in at this point of time. Miguel once again dove at Miles when a black blade nearly struck his chest and pierced his right lung. None of it mattered when Miles, Miguel, and Web Weaver all went out the upper story window.
"My bad. There WAS somewhere else to run."
Plummeting out of one of these high rise buildings made the bottom seem like a long way down. Which it was. All three were plummeting towards the ground with a very pissed off Miguel shooting a line at Miles further below that Web Weaver intercepted by slamming his palm down on the shooter with his left hand did block the webbing from dragging down Miles.
The tip of a black knife hovered over Miguel's chest with the enhanced man catching the wrist wielding the weapon. Now that they were both plummeting with a strand catching Eric just right, using his own weapon to guarantee that there were no stray webs attached to them wasn't necessary.
Out of all of these spiders, only he seemed to expect such a twist of events. Though he didn't expect to be webbed by the back and yanked away from the one he was ready to kill out of cold blood. Just in time since a hover car had been passing by that Miles attached himself to as he dragged Web Weaver away as well.
Right behind them remained the countless spiders from many universes still hot on their tails. Running away was all they could do to find their opening to escape for good. Miles was joined by Eric as they used their tension webbing to close the distance to then revert to normal webbing.
"What. Is. Wrong with you?! Now I feel like I'm pulling you more than you're pulling me out of this mess!"
"Sorry about this."
Without warning, Eric cut both of their lines connecting their cars as they separated midair to face their own issues and keep running. Miles managed to curl up and let Miguel kick the bottom of his boots to launch him forward even more. Web Weaver and Jessica Drew were making eye contact with Jessica unable to do anything until he fired a shot of ballistic webbing through her left shoulder and sent her flying backwards from the air resistance. Many other spiders all went to help her, except those who were still focused on Miles Morales and Web Weaver.
These two were able to swing through the more impoverished areas of Nueva York City to look for a hiding place together. Swinging nearby, Miles was pulled as Web Weaver noticed this and grabbed the Web meant for him before it could grab him, it pulled him all the same.
Yanked to another section of the more industrial parts of the lower class areas gave Peter B. Parker a chance to try and talk to both Miles and Web Weaver. He wasn't getting the unmarked version of him until he started to think straight for Eric.
"No, leave me alone!"
Peter kept shushing Miles while Eric spoke in a hushed tone with absolute shock and contempt for the man.
"Why the hell is May here?! Are you insane?!"
Suddenly, a black shadow emerged from underneath his cloak and May mysteriously disappeared from the front carry bag. Only Miles and Peter were looking around panicked while Eric just swapped to regular webbing and swung away while saying one name.
"Eve!"
Elsewhere
Forty-eight seconds of searching showed Eve cooing over the child while May was more than happy to pay with the scary looking symbiote without a single bit of nervousness for herself. Eve wanted to protect her from all dangers as a caregiver entity who grew to love those she came to love. May Parker was an unexpected addition, but she apparently needed it at this point.
"There you are. I was-"
Eve just huddled up with May in her arms cuddling up to her out of instinct. She didn't dare to make the child uncomfortable and Unfurling to let May know nothing was actually going to hurt her.
Eric looked at May and Eve and knew what he had to say. Nothing could excuse this child's involvement in this conflict. Their eyes met and love was apparent as Eve silently thanked Eric for Having her back as she activated her own dimensional device. Navigating her own menus then allowed her to take a comfy ride home in a chamber that would make the trip safer than an elevator trip.
Stepping inside, both may and Eve waved goodbye to Eric as he was far ahead the other two now finding this place deeper within the maintenance area. All these excuses over how Peter wanted to be a dad because of Miles missed the mark on things. Catching up to Web Weaber just had Peter stop mid-sentence and look around for his daughter.
"Wait, where is-"
"Eve took her home to her mother."
Miles already was too focused on trying to find an exit to acknowledge this event. A missing Miles or Web Weaver would punch holes in all the dimensions that would create more damage than this wild chase. Waiting for Miles to be out of earshot led to Eric cutting off Peter mid rant.
"-Listen, if I even-ugh!"
Slammed against the thick steel wall behind him with Eric's left forearm trapping him in place was different from other situations as he also felt the tip of something sharp sink into the left side of his neck now made this instinctual fear blow up into full on dread. No longer was this the acquaintance he knew of the past. Threatening him with death was Web Weaver. The one who couldn't tolerate potential death from anyone. Not men, not women, not even other children. His actions have proven that conviction many times over already.
If killing this neglectful father meant that his daughter could live a full life, than so be it. Another burden of life upon the citadel of bodies in his repertoire was nothing.
Web Weaver would rather live a life being hated by May Parker Jr. than to let this ignorant ass kill her out of his negligence.