'We have to take the Spot down NOW,' Miles thought as he whipped around a building and found himself swinging hard along Broadway. In all their planning they had never considered that the Spot would try and go for help; he was a loner through and through, making that very clear to Miles when they had fought before. So him emptying Rikers had been a startling surprise that none of them had been ready for… and they were paying for it.
"You got some trouble up ahead, Miles," Ganke said in his ear. "Looks like the Thorn."
"You know, we do need to discuss a few things," Miles said as he twisted in the air, spotted the villain Ganke had just warned him of, dropping down to avoid his vines and thus get past him; he hated that he wasn't dealing with the plant criminal but he needed to focus on the Spot. There were others that could help out with the villains that were rampaging through New York.
"Well, to answer the first question I figured out you were Spider-Man BEFORE you revealed it to me."
"That actually wasn't my first question," Miles said. "I mean, I don't think it was even on the list."
"You sure? Would be the first question I would ask."
Miles huffed at that. "I'm sure! What is going on with you and the rest of our study group? You all just… superheroes?"
"Well, not me," Ganke said but there was no bitterness in his tone. "I'm the guy in the chair. But Doreen and Franklin and the rest? Yeah, turns out they all had powers. Pretty open about it too, unlike some people."
"Great," Miles muttered. "Anyone else know I'm Spider-Man?"
"Watch your tone there, bro," Ganke said firmly. "I didn't tell them a thing about you. I don't break my word. They all figured it out on their own. You aren't the smartest person at school, Miles… stop thinking that the rest of us don't have eyes."
"…yeah, sorry," Miles said as he fired off another webline. A few miles away he could see the Spot hovering in the air, throwing out portals like he was conducting an orchestra, and he knew he needed to build up his speed if he had any hope of performing a leap that would reach the villain that wanted to destroy his entire world.
"You would have realized they had powers if you weren't so obsessed with your other friends," Ganke commented. "We've been waiting for you to figure it out… we thought about telling you but knew you were trying to establish yourself and didn't want to worry you-"
Miles cut him off. "I wish I had known," he said, more to himself than Ganke. "It… it would have been nice. Knowing I wasn't alone, that is." He shook his head. "Listen, we can all sit down and talk about this when the Spot is done. Discuss this… what did you call it?"
"The Avenger Initiative," Ganke said. "Its an idea we have… a way to share the load and ensure that we all have lives outside of helping others. And Miles… we were real close to breaking and telling you. We were seeing how you were stretching yourself too thin-"
"Yeah… yeah." Miles neared the Spot and began to focus on performing the dives and rises that would help him push his speed to what he needed. "Things are gonna need to change after this."
"Alright… give'em Hell."
Miles smiled as he fired off two weblines, slingshotting himself one more time before he went into a hard dive. It felt wonderful to know that he might have an actual team fighting at his side, waiting for him to join them fully when all the madness was done. He hadn't been lying to Ganke: things had to change. Not just because his parents and friends knew he was Spider-Man but because he saw that his obsession had caused him to be blind to the world around him. He wouldn't ever say that he had wasted his time but rather… he had dedicated too much of his life to the wrong things.
The wrong people.
It was time to stop chasing relationships that clearly never existed.
It was time to live for himself.
'And that only happens… when I take down the Spot!'
Miles fired himself up into the air, arms tight to his sides, legs utterly straight. A dark dart hurtling through the New York sky, coming only within inches of the portals that could send him anywhere. He fought the urges to twist and turn, knowing that if he did so that would risk him losing his speed and not being able to reach the Spot-
His hand snapped out, he fired a webline, and latched onto the Spot.
"What?!"
"Hey buddy!" Miles called out as he yanked hard, half pulling himself to the Spot, half dragging him down towards him. The two collided in a collusion of limbs and Miles smirked as he grabbed onto the villain's wrist. "Heard you were looking for me!"
"Yes… seems your death was advertised too soon!"
"You know, I'd be flattered you were so worried about me if it weren't for the fact that you still tried to tear the world apart," he commented as he wrapped his arms around the Spot, the two grappling as they fell down towards the streets of New York. "That's some crazy ex-girlfriend stuff right there."
"Only I am allowed to ruin you!" the Spot screeched.
"See, that isn't helping the situation!" Miles said. "People are going to ask questions and listen, I have nothing against people wondering if I'm gay. I can appreciate a fine looking guy-"
"I AM NOT A HOMOPHOBE!" the Spot screamed.
"…man, Chris really got to you, huh?" Miles said before he tried to headbutt the villain only for the Spot to form a portal that caused Miles to find himself in a sauna being frequented by two old Jewish men. "Uh… shalom?" he said before the Spot ripped him from the portal and began to kick at him. "Ow! Hey, that's rude! I was having a conversation! What, now you're an anti-Semite?"
"The only thing I am is anti-Spider-Man!" The Spot shouted, freeing one hand and throwing it out, creating a large portal. "Let's see if I can deal with that!"
"Oh, this won't be good," Miles muttered just before they plunged into the portal.
~Earth-42~
The two of them found themselves suddenly in New York once more but now it was dark out, rain clouds producing a constant drizzle that soaked into Miles' costume. The Spot kicked away from him and looked about in interest as he managed to land of a roof while Miles dropped down a few feet away from him.
"Hmmm… dark and dreary and filled with sorrow and pain… yes, I think would be the perfect place to leave you to wallow in your misery while I-AAAAAA!"
Miles' eyes went wide when the lithe form of the Prowler suddenly tackled the Spot, slamming him into the ground and, without even saying a word, held up his hands and exposed the razor sharp claws on his gloves. The Spot, in a panic, flailed about wildly before he formed another portal underneath himself.
"Not good!" Miles cried out, knowing that if the Spot closed the portal then he'd be trapped in whatever freaky world he was in (because it was now VERY clear to him that he wasn't on his Earth anymore) until someone from the Spider Society came to get him. And during all that the Spot would be able to rampage through his Earth or any other one he wanted.
Miles couldn't let that happen.
He fired off a webline, just catching onto the Spot's wrist, and felt himself yanked along the roof, blasting past the confused Prowler before he was yanked into the portal.
On the roof the Prowler frowned before removing his mask, revealing a dark face with dreadlocks.
"The hell was that?" Miles Morales asked.
~Earth-86~
Another Earth. Another nighttime. But this time the buildings glowed with neon, warm but also feeling utterly futuristic. Miles and the Spot tumbled about wildly before the crashed into a road, the two groaning as they slowly got up.
"This… is really beginning to hurt," Miles complained.
"If you just had the decency to accept your doom…" The Spot complained.
Miles just glared at him and moved to attack… only for a futuristic motorcycle to rev between the two of them. "Geez! Watch where you're going!" he complained.
The motorcycle suddenly twisted… and split apart, metal swinging around and rotating until it took on a humanoid shape. "Was… gonna tell you the same thing!" the newly revealed robot said… in a mechanical yet also recognizable voice.
Miles' voice.
"Uh…"
"Miles!" another familiar voice roared out and Miles and the Spot turned to see a futuristic monster truck come roaring along the elevated road towards them, only to suddenly split and transform into a hulking robot that towered over them. Just behind him a white and black plane-like vehicle transformed into a more feminine robot while a car that looked a bit more worn down and beaten up came up at the rear.
"…wow," Miles said only to quickly feel himself yanked away as the Spot moved to dive through another portal, forgetting that Miles was still tethered to him.
~Earth-3002~
Miles stumbled out into chaos.
Pure and utter chaos.
They were on some sort of field that, perhaps, had once been beautiful and peaceful but now smelled of blood, steel, and smoke. All around him were green skinned creatures with leering eyes and sinister smiles dressed in purple rags. 'Goblins,' he realized dimly as he looked about wildly, spotting a great white city in the distance.
"Stay away from him!" he heard a voice shout and he turned to see a great robed figure looming over a man in armor who was trying to protect an old man that had been pinned by his horse.
"Fool… do you not know a Canon Event when you see it?" the raspy voice of Miguel O'Hara declared. The figure refused to move. "No Spider-Man can kill me."
And then a short version of Miles with big furry feet stabbed Robed Miguel with a sword in the back of the knee, causing him to howl. That made the man reach up and remove his helm…
"I am no Spider-Man," Gwen declared before stabbing him in the face.
"…come on, I'm the Hobbit?" Miles complained before seeing the Spot try and escape. He quickly fired off a webline and latched onto him.
~Earth-199999~
"Would you stop doing that!?" The Spot demanded, ripping the webbing from his elbow. "I am trying to abandon you in another world so all you can do is watch as I destroy your world! Is that so much to ask?"
"…yes!" Miles shouted before moving to punch the Spot, who managed to duck the blow.
"I have to agree," another voice said and Miles and the Spot turned to see a young man that looked a lot like the Prowler the Spider Society had captured staring at them in confusion. He was dressed as Spider-Man, but his mask was off and he was eating a hot dog. "I mean… seems kinda rude, you know?"
"No one asked you," the Spot said before creating another Portal only for Miles to tackle him through it.
~Earth-722~
"Let go of me!" The Spot roared as he thrashed, slapping at Miles like he was one of those stereotypical wimps in a sitcom that didn't know how to throw a punch. The two of them tumbled through the air before hitting a stone building, both groaning and trying to get their bearings. "You will suffer for-"
The Spot stopped and sniffed.
"…oh my god!" he screamed, covering his face and Miles didn't blame him. "It smells like Fisk after he got out of a sauna!"
"It smells like the bacon my Tia dropped behind the fridge and forgot about for a week!" Miles cried out, lifting up his mask and dry heaving.
"Its like the bathroom after everyone ate the leftovers from Taco Tuesday!" The Spot said as he doubled over, trying to wave away the heavy hot stink that slammed down on them.
Miles couldn't focus. He couldn't breathe. If he inhaled through his noise he smelled the stink and if he did it through his mouth he TASTED it. "God, its almost as bad as Gwen's feet!" he wailed, remembering the one time when she had been training him and taken off one of her short top slipper shoes and the smell had forced Aunt May to kick her out of the Spider Hideout for 10 minutes.
"Why does everyone keep saying that?" Gwen said and Miles and the Spot turned to see Gwen, or rather a version of her, standing there looking rather annoyed. She was wearing a costume similar to Miles' Gwen but it looked more… handmade, for lack of a better term. A bit more medieval which made sense as Miles, fighting through the stench of the world they were in, saw they were standing on the roof of a red castle.
"Because its true?" a youthful voice said as two more Spiders, one that looked a bit like Peter and the other clearly an alternate of Miles, commented. "I mean, if we wanted to repel Ock we could just throw your shoes at him."
"My feet do not stink!" that Gwen said, stomping her foot and Miles looked down, half expecting a green cloud to come out of her shoe.
"Gwen, I love you-" the Peter said.
"We know, we hear you two fucking all the time," the other Miles said.
"SHUT UP MILES!" the alt Gwen and Peter roared.
"Yeah, hear that too."
"I love you Gwen but maybe you should listen to Natasha about washing?"
"…what?"
"Can… can we go?" Miles whispered to the Spot.
"Yeah, I'm cruel but leaving you with her stinky feet is too far for me."
"MY FEET DO NOT-!" the Gwen shouted just before the Spot made a hole beneath the two and the fell.
~Meanwhile, In Essos….~
"Chaos you son of a bitch!" Wade suddenly declared in the middle of the late evening feast he was having with Daenerys and the rest of her Small Council. "What next? Authors of Our Own Fate is part of the Chaoseverse?!"
"Who is he talking to?" Bruce asked.
"We've found it best to ignore him," Ser Jorah muttered, Logan just glaring at him.
~Earth 519~
Miles and the Spot landed and the two of them stared at each other for a long moment.
"So, uh… thanks," Miles said. "For, you know… the stinky place?"
"Oh, don't mention it. Back to fighting?"
"We… don't need to fight," Miles pointed out. "I mean, we just agreed on something-"
The Spot decked him across the face.
"Okay, fighting it is," Miles said with a sigh before he launched himself at the Spot sending him crashing into some trash cans. The Spot, for his part, suddenly formed a portal right next to his arm.
"I can do this all day!" he declared.
Miles moved to kick at him instead.
"Hey!" The Spot complained as Miles continued to try and kick at his ankles. "Stop that!" He stumbled back out onto the street… and found himself caught in a web.
A web Miles hadn't made.
"I will wrap you all up!" another version of The Spot declared, only he was wearing a white and black Spider-Man costume. "I will trap this entire world in my web and I will make you all suffer!"
"We don't have to do this!" another Miles, this one dressed as The Spot only his portals were Red, declared.
Miles shook his head just as the Spot tried to slip away, once more leaping through the portal before he could be left behind.
~Earth 1049~
For a brief moment Miles thought that they had ended up in the world that smelled like Gwen's feet.
But the buildings were all wrong. They looked like fridges and cupboards and the like. Not the medieval buildings that they had landed on the last time.
"I will make you pay!" he heard the Spot call out only to see it wasn't his version of the Spot. No, he was to the left of him while the one that had spoken was to the right. Looking over Miles frowned, finding the source of the stink.
It was a white block of swiss cheese.
With arms and legs.
"I'm gonna take you down!" Miles heard himself say and glanced up to see a dripping sandwich with arms and legs swing over. "Or my name isn't Miles Marmalade!"
Miles was VERY glad his webline went taunt and he was yanked by the Spot into another portal.
~Earth 969~
Miles landed in Miguel's lab .
"I really hate this place," he complained as he looked around for the Spot, quickly spotting him trying to sneak away for once rather than using his portals to get out of a tricky situation.
"It's a canon event!" an alternate of Miguel roared at another Miles. "Your father WILL die and you will submit to me!"
"…yeah," the other Miles said, "I'd love to submit to you."
Miles stared as his counterpart…. Began to rub Miguel's pecs.
"I'm just a sad little Omega who needs their Alpha-"
"NOPE!" Miles shouted and he leapt at the Spot, putting him in a choke hold. "Unless you want to watch them go at it send us home!"
"Okay, okay, geez!" the Spot declared before forming a portal once more.
~Earth 1610~
Miles and the Spot landed on a roof right in front of Spider-Ham, who was battling with the Shocker.
"Fry piggy!" Shocker roared.
"Like I haven't heard that one before. Oh, hey Miles!" Ham declared. "Good to see you again!" He hefted up his hammer. "Let me just deal with this mook and I'll be right with ya!"
Miles nodded only for the Spot to sock him across the jaw.
"Fine… I was going to be nice and let you just watch this planet die… but you can join with your friends and perish with them!" With that he rose into the air, forming more portals that began to rip parts of the building apart.
"Well, you two had a productive chat, didn't you?" Gwen said as she landed next to Miles.
"Yeah, we really worked things out," Miles said darkly. 'This isn't working. The Spot can just disappear if things are looking bad. And his mind is moldy Swiss Cheese at this point so even if I do find a way to talk him down he could instantly just switch back to wanting to destroy us all! I need to find some way to take him down but I don't…'
He began to think of what he had just gone through. The alternate worlds. The alternate Spiders. What it meant.
And a plan formed suddenly in his head.
"I need one of those dimensional hopppers," he said suddenly.
"What?" Gwen asked… even as she pulled a spare one out from one of the hidden pockets on her costume. "Miles, what are you thinking?"
But he only smirked under his mask as he strapped the watch on. "Buy me time."
And with that he created a portal and disappeared.