Peter POV:
The moment of trepidation was short lived. Apart from Gwendolyn, Gwen, Peter B., me and Miles, everyone began to glitch. Every spider-person felt it deep in their bones. They were unraveling on an atomic level.
I stood at the workbench, adjusting my gauntlet. A new override key was being fabricated at a speed so incredible it even amazed Peni who was glitching. Without hesitation, I threw three dimensional stabilization watches in precise arcs. They snapped onto their wrists mid-glitch and brought everyone immense relief.
The room was heavy with silence until I finally spoke, my voice sharp enough to cut through the tension.
"If it comes down to it… everything burns." My eyes lingered on the glowing schematics of the collider. "I am even willing to use nukes if I have to. This multiverse… I won't let it be consumed. Because I am very selfish about the things I hold dear."
Everyone froze. My words carried a weight that none dared to refute.
Miles's voice cracked, breaking the silence.
"My mom. My dad. Uncle Aaron. My friends. They all live here. You can't just burn everything to the ground. Not when they're still out there."
I turned toward him, the faint orange glow of my spine cutting through the shadows. My tone softened, but only slightly.
"I can temporarily send them to my universe. All of them. They will be safe. But the collider cannot be allowed to stand. But you're gonna have to do that."
Miles's throat tightened. There were too many people, too scattered. He wanted to argue, to scream that it wasn't enough, but deep down he knew I was right.
Before the moment could break further, Peni Parker rolled forward, her mech's single eye glowing. Her voice was unusually grave.
"Someone's going to have to stay behind. To shut the collider down from the inside. There's no way around it."
The words hit like a gunshot.
Noir gave a single, grim nod. "Every mission's got its suicide job."
Spider-Ham tried to sound cheerful, but his voice cracked. "I'll do it. I've been funny enough for one lifetime."
One by one, the spiders agreed. All except me.
Miles's chest heaved as he stepped forward.
"No. This is my universe. My city. My promise. I'll be the one to shut it down. Because I made a promise to Peter. This universe's Peter."
"Kid…" Peter B. started, his voice heavy with dread.
"You're too green." Noir muttered.
"You still haven't swung." Ham said bluntly.
They closed in around him, their voices a wall of doubt. Miles's fists clenched tighter with every word.
Then my voice cut through like a blade.
"He's not ready."
All eyes snapped towards me. Streams of nanobots swirled around my lean frame like floating silver sand, making me all the more intimidating.
"He was bitten two days ago." I continued. "It takes at least a week before the average Spider person even begins to understand their powers. Sending him in now is suicide."
Miles's face burned. His vision blurred. He wanted to fight, to argue but the weight of truth crushed him. Instead, his body flickered. He vanished, invisible, slipping past them without a sound.
"Where's he going?" Peni asked.
I didn't look up. My hands were already working, building more override keys.
"To make the same mistake we all did once. To prove himself before he's ready." My voice hardened. "Let him. But we will be prepared when he comes back."
I raised my gauntlet. Nanobots spread across the surface of the table as I pressed the casings into place.
"Gwendolyn and I can open portals with our dimensional navigation gauntlets. No one else is dying in this fight."
Miles — Nighttime Brooklyn
Miles ran through the streets, invisible tears burning behind his mask. His body flickered between sight and nothingness, his powers unstable under the weight of his emotions.
Only one place felt safe. Only one door he could knock on.
Uncle Aaron's.
The apartment was quiet, dim, familiar. Miles slipped inside through the window, chest heaving. For a moment, he let himself breathe.
Then the lock turned.
The door creaked open. Heavy boots crossed the floor. A shadow filled the room, carrying with it the hum of lethal tech.
The mask snapped into place with a hiss. Purple neon lit the dark.
The Prowler.
Miles's heart stopped. His uncle.
For a moment, Miles froze, praying the invisibility would hold. But Prowler's head tilted. Blades extended with a metallic screech. He knew.
The first swipe nearly took Miles's head off. He bolted, crashing through the window. The Prowler's motorcycle roared to life in the alley.
The Hunt
The neon glow of the Prowler's bike slashed through the night, its roar chasing Miles through Brooklyn's labyrinth.
Miles swung desperately between fire escapes, but his webs were shaky, erratic. He slammed into a billboard, scrambled up — only for the Prowler's bike to climb the wall beneath him. Sparks sprayed as claws dug into concrete.
Miles vaulted over alleys, stumbled across rooftops. The Prowler was relentless. Every turn he made, the purple glow followed.
He darted into a narrow alley, hoping to lose him — but the bike screeched sideways, cutting sparks as it barreled through the tight space. Blades slashed at the air just behind Miles.
Panicked, Miles turned invisible again, clinging to a rooftop ledge. His breath came ragged, chest heaving. For a heartbeat, silence.
Then a hum.
The Prowler stood across the rooftop, visor glowing like a predator in the dark. Still. Watching.
Miles ran. The revelation struck him like a sucker punch in the gut.
He ran, to the only place where he could take a breath.
Many are complaining why Peter didn't save 1610-B Peter but they forget Peter isn't obligated to save anyone. Peter isn't a hero. He is a ruthless pragmatic and a semi-hopeless romantic. Everything he does serves a purpose. Most of the time.
Read 39 chapters ahead on P.A.T.R.E.O.N
patreon.com/Danzoslayer517
New tier available. For 14 dollars you get access to all my stories in Patreon.