Spider verse: The Twist

Chapter 18: Why

Aaron's POV

"Uncle Aaron?" The Spider-boy croaked out in a weak voice.

My entire body tensed as I fell still as a statue. My claws were positioned against his temple motionlessly. His voice sounded so familiar. It sounded like- no! That's impossible.

"Miles?" I whispered back, my voice barely loud enough for me to hear it myself.

"Please, no."

His body started to shake uncontrollably. I lifted his mask just above his eyes and saw that I was right. It was my nephew. He had small streams of blood trickling down the sides of his head. He was extremely pale and had tears flowing from his eyes. He shut his eyes tightly trying to hold them back. He finally looked up into my eyes and asked in a hushed voice, "Why?"

It was a simple question, yet it hurt so much. It felt like a punch to the gut. I gasped as I remembered the fight we had just a few minutes ago. I looked down to his torso and saw the nasty slashes I had left there. I felt tears prick my own eyes as pulled my mask from my face. I hastily pressed my hands against his wound to try and stop the flow of blood that was gushing out of it.

"Why?" He asked again. This time he sounded more desperate and angry. The look in his eyes to see that they showed the same emotion.

I let out a shaky sigh. "I'm sorry Miles," I said, my voice faltering, "I... I wanted you to look up to me."

"How?! By helping Kingpin murder Peter?!" he spat, his face contorted in spite. I looked away from him and let a few tears slide down.

This was my nephew. The person I tried so hard to take care of. He was the person I tried protect. He was everything to me... and now he hates me. He can't even look at me without scowling. I wish I could take it all back.

Miles's POV

"How could he do this?
How could he be the Prowler?
How could he be working for Fisk?
How could he be one of the villains that helped Kingpin murder Peter?"

This couldn't be real. This wasn't my uncle Aaron. My uncle Aaron was kind, funny, loving, and would do anything for me. This couldn't be the same person I saw an hour ago.

"I let you down, man. I let you down," he mumbled as a couple tears fell.

At that moment I heard a low crackly voice order through Uncle Aaron's earpiece, "Prowler, what're you waiting for. Finish the job." My blood turned cold as ice. That was Fisk- the man that killed Peter. I saw my uncle cast me a weary and fearful look.

I took on a solemn expression as I spoke, "Are you gonna kill me too?" I asked, watching as his stare turned sad and shameful.

He slowly shook his head as he responded, "No, I'd never hurt you." His eyes then widened and more tears fell from his eyes as he glanced back down at the claw marks he had left on my stomach. "I-I'm so sorry. I-"

He was cut off by Fisk's voice ringing through his earpiece again. "Alright then," Kingpin growled, "I'll do it myself." Both of our eyes widened to their maximum as they frantically searched for the fat man himself, pointing a gun in my direction.

I finally saw him a ways off. He was luckily far enough away that he wouldn't be able to make out my face, but that wouldn't matter anymore in a mere few moments. He would pull that trigger and it would be over. I would be gone. I wonder if I will see Pete when I'm gone.

What would he think? Would he think me a failure? Would he hate me for letting him die? I guess I will know soon enough. I finally heard the bloodcurdling sound of the gun. It sliced through the sounds of the lively city. The sound wasn't a foreign one to me or anybody in this city for that matter. It was one heard frequently. Many people died by the bullet.

Pete died a hero. He died trying to save the city and the people loved and remembered him for it.

What would happen to me though? I'm no hero. I would just be another kid shot dead on the street, remembered by no one. A kid who died a failure.

I shut my eyes and waited for... something to happen, but it never did. No bullet ever pierced my skin and tore through my flesh. I couldn't be dead. My body was still flaring with pain.

"Could he have... missed?"

I cautiously opened my eyes and immediately sucked in a gasp of air. I couldn't believe my eyes.

"No."

There lying in front of me... was Uncle Aaron. His face was scrunched up in pain and his face was draining of color. The life in his eyes seemed to be slowly fading.

"Uncle Aaron?" I breathed out as tears began to spill from my eyes once again. He gave me a smile- strangled as it was- he smiled. How could he smile when he was clearly dying?

I heard a low robotic whirring sound as his mechanical gloves released his hand. He brought his right hand up to my face and used his thumb to wipe away my tears.

"Maybe you'll forgive me now," he managed, his voice barely above a whisper.

I choked back a sob as I repeated the only word that had come to my mind, "Why?"

He gave me another weak smile. "I already told you," he started, a lone tear rolling down the side of his face, "I'd do anything for the people I love."

His hand then dropped from my face limply. His face paled and eyes glazed over with a dull shade of grey. They stared at me blankly, but I knew they couldn't see me. They couldn't see anything.

"Miles!" A familiar voice screeched. The pain began to overtake my body. It was the pain of my injuries- the gash in my side and the blood flowing from my head, but there was also the pain of loss. They both meshed together, causing my head to pound and my vision to blur.

I could faintly hear the sound of footsteps landing on the ground behind me- four pairs of them- and one heavy thump. The owners of the footsteps spoke, and I strained to hear what they were saying.

I could feel the presence of somebody standing over me, but I didn't have the strength to move. "Hey Kid, it's okay. You'll be okay," the person spoke in a soft nurturing voice. It had to have been Peter B.

"What do we do?" A voice spoke. It sounded like Ham

"He looks bad," another lower voice said. It was probably Noir.

"Yeah, tell us something we don't know!" I female voice barked. It was the same one that had yelled my name.

"Gwen, calm down. Getting angry won't help us," a second female voice spoke. I'm guessing that was Peni. I heard loud, heavy footsteps draw nearer to me. Peni must be inside her robot. There was a pause for a moment before she spoke again. "He's lost a lot of blood. We have to get him out of here so I can treat him or...," she paused, her voice wavering as she said the last bit, "Or he could die."

My blood turned cold as ice at her words or maybe I felt cold from the loss of blood. Either way I was finding it extremely difficult to stay conscious. I tried so hard to stay awake, but the harder I tried, the darker my vision became and the pain I felt at this moment was just as blinding.

I could only hear brief parts of the words exchanged around me.

"Need... hurry."
"... back to... house"
"Just hold on..."
"... be okay... please."

The darkness slowly consumed my vision and brought a feeling of numbness with it. The pain began to subside. I couldn't resist it any longer. I gave in and everything faded to black.