So, this fic is inspired by Aragorn II Elessar's "We always lose someone" one-shot and a little nitpick I've been thinking about for a while back a year ago; along with some other inspiration from seeing gameplay of Spider-Man 2, replaying Marvel's Spider-Man back awhile ago, along with replaying Spider-Man: Miles Morales during the holidays, and seeing Spider-Man during my winter break. Along with an idea I had for a while, so I figured that I might as well do it sooner than later.
This is set after the events of 'Marvel's Spider-Man 2', and this can also be considered tied to Aragorn's one-shot as well, with permission from him, of course. Special thanks to you, Aragorn.
Note: I do not own Spider-Man or any of its related characters.
P.S.: Bold will be for hologram scenes.
"Peter B. has a point, Miles." A voice said, as Miles Morales of Earth-1610B turned his head to see a Spider-Man approaching towards him; but what's distinguishable about him is that his suit has a light-red-and-blue color scheme and a white spider emblem both on his torso and behind his back, along with sneaker design, and white carbon fiber on his gloves. Miles immediately recognized him as the Insomniac Spider-Man of Earth-1048, or the other "video game guy" whom LYLA referred to earlier.
"The hardest part of being Spider-Man is that we can't always save everyone." He said as he removed his mask, revealing himself to be another Peter Parker who looked somewhere in his mid 20s, as he then pointed to a hologram. "Look."
Miles then saw Insomniac Peter, down on his knee as he cried while holding his Aunt May's hand, who laid lifeless on her deathbed.
"This is all my fault. I'm sorry. I'm sorry." Insomniac Peter cried, apologizing to his Aunt May, who had now died.
"What happened?" 1610B-Miles asked.
Insomniac Peter then began explaining. "In my world, I worked with a man named Otto Octavius. We were making technology; creating advanced prostheses to help the world, to help people. But when he created his arms, the neutral interface, along with his resentment of Norman, changed him into someone I didn't know. Otto then staged a prison breakout on the Raft and Ryker's Island, teamed up with my enemies I put away over the years, even worked a man named Martin Li of my reality, and unleashed an experimental treatment called "Devil's Breath" on my city. I was able to stop my enemies, Li, and Otto, and got the cure for Devil's Breath, an anti-serum." His face then took on a look with guilt and regret as he closed his eyes and clenched his fist. "But my Aunt May got sick from Devil's Breath, and I could have used the vial to save her, but then there wouldn't be enough to save the city.
The last thing she said to me was that she was proud of me, as well as revealing to me that she knew for a while that I was Spider-Man. I was stuck between saving May and saving the city, but she told me to do what needed to be done. I was about to use the anti-serum to save her, but in the end, I did what was right and made the impossible choice; I chose to save the city over saving my Aunt May." He said. "And I lost her."
The hologram changed which then showed Insomniac Peter as Spider-Man, as he struggled to hold to a roller coaster carriage on Coney Island with his web while also being slightly pinned down from the structure of the roller coaster.
"I'm sorry!" He cried out to one of the riders, knowing that he was going to fail to save them all.
"After May's death, I began to struggle both in my duties as Spider-Man and in civilian life as Peter Parker. After a while, when my friend Harry came back, that's when we began dealing with the threat of Kraven the Hunter. When we went to rescue Dr. Connors and MJ from Kraven and his Hunters, he fatally stabbed me in my side, and I died, but for a moment. Harry had a substance with him that brought me back to life, but it came with a cost as well." Insomniac Peter elaborated further.
The hologram then shifted to the Symbiote covering Insomniac Peter's body, and creating a new black suit, as it then brought him back to life.
"What is that?" 1610B-Miles asked.
"The substance that Harry had was actually an alien lifeform called a Symbiote, but its name is Venom. It was first bonded with Harry, but it then bonded with me and brought me back after Kraven stabbed me. With the Venom Symbiote, I became more powerful, more stronger than ever before, and I believed that with this suit I could be a better Spider-Man. But I also became more aggressive, arrogant, brutal, and I became more cold towards my friends." Insomniac Peter said, his face now bearing a look of regret and remorse. "It even unleashed my darkest thoughts, my frustrations, to the point where I lashed out at Harry, my best friend; all over some suit."
"Were you able to remove it?" 1610B-Miles asked.
"Yeah, but it wasn't easy, and things only went further downhill from there. I went to return the Symbiote to Dr. Connors, but Harry needed it because it was the only thing keeping him alive as he had a genetic disease." Peter explained further. "I tried telling him that the Symbiote was too dangerous but he was desperate, and the Symbiote then bonded with Harry turning him into Venom. Harry then infected New York with his Symbiote, and me, Miles, and MJ to save the city again, as well as save Harry. And we did eventually, we destroyed the Symbiote and saved the city once more, and saved Harry as well. But in doing so, Harry was put in a coma, and hasn't woken up since."
"I'm sorry to hear that." 1610B-Miles apologized.
"There's more, actually, and this time it involves you. Or more specifically, your counterpart, my world's Miles Morales." Insomniac Peter said, before turning to Miguel O'Hara and nodding his head, to which the latter understood.
The hologram then changed scenes, and this time, Miles saw another version of himself, who looked slightly older than him, as he cried while cradling his father's lifeless body while the area around him was filled with smoke and debris.
"No...!" 1610B-Miles whispered, horrified to see the alternate version of his father dead as his counterpart held him.
"In my world, Jefferson Davis was being honored at City Hall for his duties in the NYPD, until Martin Li led his men, the Demons, in committing a suicide bombing at the ceremony honoring him. I didn't see it coming in time, and I wasn't fast enough to save the people there. And because of that, Jefferson died." Insomniac Peter said, his voice filled with guilt and regret as he closed his eyes and clenched his fist.
"If I had seen what was coming, if I knew what was going to happen, then maybe Miles would still have his father, and Rio would still have her husband. I owed it to them both to help their son, regardless of anything. During the Devil's Breath Outbreak Miles was bitten by a radioactive spider from Oscorp, I took it upon myself to train Miles on how to use his powers and how to protect the people of New York City." Insomniac Peter added.
He then pointed to another hologram which showed Insomniac Miles, now suited up in his Spider-Man outfit that looks like Miles', fighting a young African-American woman his around his age, who sported a black leather jacket with a purple hoodie underneath, and a high-tech mask.
"Who is she?" 1610B-Miles asked, not knowing who the young woman was.
"Her name was Phin Mason, and my Miles told me about her. In my world, she was Miles' best friend since grade school, and someone who he considered a sister. Years later, her brother, Rick, worked for a company called Roxxon, and was hired to build a substance called Nuform, but when they both learned of the CEO of Roxxon, Simon Krieger had planned for Nuform, he tried to sabotage it in order to save everyone. But Krieger knew what he tried to do, and Rick... he didn't make it." The explanation horrified 1610B-Miles more as he listened more.
The hologram then shifted to show Insomniac Miles fighting the Underground, along with fighting some armed soldiers in red armor and high-tech rifles.
"Phin swore vengeance against Krieger and Roxxon became the Tinkerer and joined a group known as the Underground, eventually becoming its leader while creating lots of high-tech weapons to combat against Roxxon, and the fighting spilled into the streets, turning New York, turning Harlem, in a war zone. Miles became the new Spider-Man in my absence and fought against the duo, as he had to stop the Underground from causing too much chaos, while also evading Roxxon as well, as they were interested in his powers." Insomniac Peter continued.
The hologram then showed Insomniac Miles and Phin battling each other on the Roxxon building in Harlem, before changing to show Phin falling from the building as Insomniac Miles caught her as she apologized for everything, which the former understood and accepted as he wrapped her in his arms to protect her from the fall before hitting the floor back-first, the screen turning black.
"Krieger had changed the Nuform and was going to allow Phin to overload to destroy not just Roxxon, but also Harlem, and a part of New York City as well, and remake it in his own image." Insomniac Peter explained as he and 1610B-Miles saw the footage.
The hologram then showed Insomniac Miles absorbing the Nuform from a reactor before having enough as he then collapsed on the ground as he shook, not handling the Nuform well. Finally, the hologram then changed, and this time, Phin helped Insomniac Miles and took him up at the sky, high enough for him to unleash the Nuform in his body in a powerful Venom blast, away from the Roxxon building and all of Harlem.
Insomniac Miles then fell down from the sky and crash-landed back on Harlem. His mother Rio, along with his friend Ganke Lee and Hailey, and the people of Harlem all came to his aid as Insomniac Miles woke up and regained consciousness, asking his mom if everyone was okay, and where Phin was. Rio assured Miles that they were all safe, but she sadly looked up at the sky as lightning rumbled with smoke remaining in the sky. That was all Insomniac Miles needed to know, that Phin did not make it. Rio comforted Insomniac Miles as he cried for his best friend.
1610-B Miles softly gasped as he saw his counterpart mourn for his best friend. First his father, and now his best friend.
"In the end, Phin finally realized that what she was doing was wrong, and that she knew she had to make things right. Miles was able to get through to her in the end, and save the city, but he still couldn't save her." Insomniac Peter said. "Sometimes, Miles, the hardest part of this job, being Spider-Man, is that we can't always save everyone. No matter what we do, no matter how hard we try, it's the ones we love who will always be the ones who pay."
1610-B Miles looked down as he took in Insomniac Peter's words, and he did see some truth in his words that Spider-Man can't always save everyone. He lost his Uncle Aaron to the Kingpin, and couldn't do anything to save him. But if his dad is going to die, and if some... algorithm (sorry, LYLA) just tells him that he is supposed to do nothing, then he can't just sit there and not do anything, can he?
It was honestly surprising to see Insomniac Spider-Man in 'Across The Spider-Verse', but it would make sense, since at that time Sony and PlayStation were promoting 'Marvel's Spider-Man 2', but I wanted to add a reason as to why Insomniac Peter would join Miguel's Spider-Society, just as there was a reason as to why Spectacular Spider-Man joined as well.
Also, I had this discussion with someone a while back, I can't remember who it was, but we discussed on the possibility of Andrew and Tobey encountering Miguel and his views, along with his Spider-Society, and they said that those two would absolutely call out Miguel and demolish completely. So, yeah, I can see that happening.
Let me know what you think of this one-shot, and I'll be back soon with another update.