TROUBLE !
iv. nine lives
MILES MORALES WAS IN an overwhelming state of panic, any of his soothed nerves having been spiked once again with fear-induced adrenaline. He barely registered the feeling of clashing into the shoulders of the other Brooklyn civilians, his mind driven by the singular goal of finding his Uncle in hopes of gaining assistance to his uncommon situation.
With the eye catching new piece of information he now harboured, he couldn't have clambered up fast enough from his sat down position in Felicia's dorm and shoving past the girl in disregard for the nearby head of security. Without an explanation, he had sprinted past with the intention of finding the one person he knew he could trust.
His heart sunk to a pit in his stomach as the illuminated picture of his uncle emitted a pale purple hue, his deep voice ringing through with his thick Brooklyn accent, "yo, it's Aaron! I'm outta town for a few days. Hit you when I'm back. Peace!"
Miles outwardly cursed at the small screen, glancing up as the amplified monologue inside his head echoed throughout his entire body in a series of unfamiliar vibrations. Quicker than his brain could process, his reflexes set into motion as he almost came barrelling into the side of a moving car. With widened eyes and the oxygen in his lungs temporarily vanishing, the fourteen year old avoided by the car by vaulting over it and landing on the other side.
He glanced back briefly at the sound of muffled clapping and whistles of awe, the sound appearing distant in comparison to the thumping of his heart circulating blood through his adrenaline-heavy body. Had the situation been different or less severe, Miles might've felt a rush of excitement at the cheers of the public. However, time was of the essence and he was on a mission.
He pressed his uncle's contact again, waiting patiently with the quick thumping of his leg against the train floor, having gotten inside the last train and sitting alone by the end of the compartment. Finally, the train reached it's station, creaking slowly as it came to a halt. A sigh passed though his lips as he made his way off of the subway, hands shoved into his pockets and a melancholy look of perplexity encasing his features.
"Okay, you're being crazy, Miles." He mumbled to himself, the light of the speeding train passing by reflecting over his face in a flush of colour. "You're being crazy." He dismissed to himself as he began his journey to retrace his and Uncle Aaron's footsteps the previous night. Soon enough, he found himself inching for the torch on his phone, shining it down upon the awaiting darkness that clouded the oncoming area.
He shivered, a distant sense of distaste sending a trail of goosebumps over his arms and back as he descended further down the graffitied steps of the tunnel. He glanced up briefly, then to the sides as though expecting something to jump out at him.
His eyes met the familiar 'caution: wet floor!' sign and the black outline of his body that marked the wall in thick black spray paint, and he nodded knowing that he was close.
On the floor, engulfed in an inky blackness, a radioactive spider adorning shades of blue and orange along its entire body, lay on its back. It's eight legs turned inwardly on itself, eyes of nothing but darkness staring idle at the ceiling as the boy approached. Miles' hopes quickly died as he kneeled to glance at the spider, "it's, like, boring how normal this spider is." He nudged it lightly, gasping in surprise when it glitched in a sharp ringing and multicoloured flash.
A distant shuffling caught his attention as he glanced up, creating a small distance between himself and the spider. A frown caught his lips in a downward motion, his eyes twinkling in suspense as the shuffling crept closer, almost daring him to look. He debated wether or not to look at the upcoming rustling, or rather turn away and make his way out of the tunnel before being swallowed whole in the suffocatingly cold atmosphere of the tunnel.
He gasped as a pair of inquisitive green eyes watched his own from their their space downwards, two large skits diving its pupils. To his surprise, a slim black cat crept along the floor, pausing at the illumination of the boy's torch. "Silly cat." He breathed out, creating a 'ch' sound as he held out his hand towards the animal. However, the animal remained paused as it stared at him. Or rather... something behind him.
"Boo."
Turning in confusion, Miles let out a miniature shriek of surprise as he came face-to-face with the upside down figure of the black cat. The domino mask over her skin disguised her features as she hung upside down from a beam up above, her grappling hook tied around her ankle; loose enough for her to slip down with ease, but sturdy enough not to drop her or let her fall. Her black suit covered her skin tightly, the silver outlines glinting in the light of his phone's torch.
Her eyes were as piercing as they had been all those days before, vibrant with emerald hues that stood out in the darkness like bonfires of ignited lights. However, what Miles was quick to notice was the lack of silvery white in her hair—the colour being a familiar shade of raven that was braided in two long braids, multiple stray pieces falling to frame her face tough, due to her position, her hair gravitated downwards.
A sly smirk graced itself over her lips as she looked at the boy, amused at his expression of surprise. "Isn't this a nice surprise." Her voice sounded light, clouded with entertainment like a cat taunting a mouse. "Fancy seeing you here."
Miles exhaled, a large weight of the suspense on his shoulder disintegrating at the sight of the antihero. "God, You again? Next time maybe a warning wouldn't hurt." He rolled his eyes, shaking his head as he watched her lean upwards to untie herself from the grappling hook and land gracefully before standing back up straighter.
"Oh, but it's so much fun watching you get all scared." She mused, winking to the cat who scurried off quickly back into the darkness after allowing a soft meow to purr from its throat. She strolled forward leisurely, black boots gliding against the floor as she did so.
Miles scoffed, quick to follow behind her as she walked whilst shaking his head, "I wasn't scared." He denied, puffing out his chest in an attempt to appear more courageous, though the black cat only snickered in response.
"Sure." She drawled, twirling on her heel with a hum, "what ever you say, Scaredy cat." She shrugged before turning back around, tapping the side of the black mask that covered the upper half of her face. The boy raised his eyebrows in surprise as the lens flickered a bright silver that dimmed into a light glow, disguising her eyes from his view and making her appear less recognisable.
She jumped up onto the crates nearby, mockingly walking across them as though she were an acrobat. She glanced around at the display of distinct and vibrant colours littering the walls, "So, you do all these or do you just like to hang out by yourself in creepy, spray-painted tunnels?" She inquired, glancing back to him through unrecognisable eyes.
Miles watched her movements, his eyes following her as she pranced about humourlessly. "Yes. I mean, yes I did them, not yes I hang out in creepy tunnels alone, that'd be weird and—I'm not, like, a weirdo or anything." He rambled, "what are you doin' here anyway? Shouldn't you be robbing a jewellery store or something?"
"Who said I haven't already?" She turned slightly more serious for a moment as she dangled an expensive diamond necklace off of her ring finger and made a noticeable effort to display the two rings on her other index finger.
Miles raised his eyebrows, pointing a finger at her weakly, "you—you shouldn't say that. My dad's a cop, so I can report you if I wanted to, just so you know." He stated, shoving his hands back into the pockets of his jacket and sparing a glance to their surroundings.
"You're not gonna report me, are you?" She gasped in mock offence, no sense of genuine panic evident in her tone. "Oh, and I thought we were just about friends." She sighed, hopping down and shrugging one of her dark braids over her shoulder.
Suddenly, Miles let out a groan as a thick pounding invaded his brain, pulsating through in an agonising motion that felt as though his brain were to implode. He glanced around at the sound of a heavy rumble, his hearing slightly muffled as he heard the girl's voice call out to him in a tone he would've described as confusion.
He stumbled towards a square-shaped glass window that spread widely along the wall, his hands clutching his head as the girl raised her eyebrows at the situation. She could sense his overwhelmed emotions ranging in intense fits of panic and anxiety to indescribable confusion.
Only hours prior, the boy shoved past her as she stood in the doorway of her dormitory, sprinting off whilst inaudible yelling about finding his uncle. It had taken all of thirty minutes, mostly spent debating her choices, before she adorned her suit and mask, quickly braiding her hair and grabbing her gear before she set off to find the boy's whereabouts. If Gwen thought their arrival in this universe had something to do with him, the blonde would be furious to find out she had let him slip into danger.
A hiss fell from his lips as he backed away, voices burning through his mind in a harsh mess of ranging pitches and volumes. "--way over there-" "--starting to miss you, spider--" "You're like me." "That's all it is, miles." "You're like me." "--the black cat. Nice to meet ya--" "Miles, look out--" "I don't want to be a hero." Finally, the voices began to lower until only a faint whisper remained, "Miles."
"Move!" A harsh shove sent the boy off of his feet as the window behind him shattered in a spiral of cobweb displayed fragments before collapsing on themselves in a piercing screech. Rubble and debris replaced the places where the two once stood, as the girl was quick to shove them out of harm's way. A scowl haunted the once mischievous grin on her face, her eyebrows furrowing under her mask as she pushed herself and miles against the nearby wall.
The sound of rumbling rung through the atmosphere, heavy footsteps vibrating the ground like an uproar of earthquakes tearing through the earth. A sharp colliding of metal shot through the air, the material indenting with the weight of a body being forced into it. Paired with the body, the masculine voice of young man pierced their eardrums, "Norman, listen to me!"
Adorning his webbed blue and red suit that encased his body like a second skin, covering each and every scratch along his battling body, Spider-Man's chest heaved with quick, desperate breaths. Opposing the masked hero, the large, sickeningly green and distorted body of the green goblin sneered in disgust, the source of the shattering footsteps invading the once apprehensive peace of the area.
"Spiderman?" Miles breathed out in shock as he followed the black cat's quick movements of peering past the wall. His amber eyes widened, his jaw falling slack as he took in the almost comical scene before him. This was something he would've dreamed about in his nightmares when he was younger, not something that was ever supposed to be realistic.
Spiderman outstretched his hand in warning, desperate to get through to the villainous figure before him. "I cannot let you open a portal to another dimension! Brooklyn is not zoned for that!" The young man implored, his voice strained as he conversed with the beast.
"It's not up to me." Green Goblin interjected, showcasing his elongated tongue shaded in a grotesque navy blue. He engaged closer to the hero, large body thumping against the debris on the floor.
Miles stared in disbelief, "is that the green goblin?" He inquired breathlessly, his eyes wide with approaching fear as he hid behind the wall that acted as a makeshift shield to the duo.
"Oh, no silly, thats obviously Santa Claus." The girl scowled, elbowing the boy gently as he flickered his gaze over to her, painfully unamused. "Who else would it be, morales?" She snapped, pausing at her error and quickly checking to see wether or not the boy had reacted to the mention of his name. However, miles' gaze only remained stuck on the sight before him.
Wrapping a colossal hand around a nearby pillar, the green goblin strew the large object to the floor with ease, utilising it to push him towards the masked man. "Why wont you quite?!" His voice boomed throughout the building, sending waves of reverberations through their surroundings as his red eyes highlighted the environment in a dangerous glow.
Spiderman scoffed, a synthetically designed rope of web fluid attaching itself to a beam above his head as he used it to swing upwards, slamming his entire body weight into a harsh punch to the Green Goblin's jaw, stunning the creature. The man let out a humorous hum, "I guess I like Brooklyn not being sucked into a black hole!" He responded, swinging once more and slamming both of his feet into the side of his opposer's face.
"Right, time to go." The dark-haired girl mumbled, nodding her head towards the way they had came, motioning for the boy to follow after her swiftly.
"Staten island, maybe. Not Brooklyn!" Spiderman continued to yell, effectively dodging each of the Green Goblin's hits with heightened agility.
Miles scoffed faintly, though was quick to trail after the Black Cat like a lost dog. "Who's the scaredy cat now?" He grumbled with a light tone, a small essence of cocky smugness lingering in the undertones of his voice.
Before the duo could make it any further—or make it at all—a rusted yellow beam shadowed along the floor, barrelling towards them at speeds quicker than they could process. It created a churning creak as it clashed against the ground, springing back up instantly and spiralling towards the two. With swift reflexes, Felicity avoided by the beam, skidding to the side beside an unfortunate Miles who's stomach now harboured a bruise from where the edges of structure had hit him.
Miles helped in a mixture of shock and pain, gripping his aching stomach as he half leaned onto the beam, but before he could regain control of his actions, the beam flew into motion as it was gripped by the Green Goblin. The rusty yellow levitated off of the floor as the creature charged into action at Spiderman.
"Shit! Morales!" The black cat cursed loudly, sliding over the debris and into the maze of chaos that appeared before her. The sound of thumping circulated around her body in an uneven beat, sending shockwaves of adrenaline through her veins that surged her forward, slipping through danger's grasp as her eyes watched Miles' petrified figure hang onto the beam for dear life.
Spiderman and the Green Goblin continued to brawl, sending harsh hits and implicating injured on the other, completely unaware of the two teenagers that weaselled their way through the structure of the building. A chain of fumes and explosions broke free from the cluster bombs, set off by the large creature as he wailed in frustration as the spiderman slipped through his fingers once more.
The Black Cat manoeuvred her way through in search of the boy, sliding skilfully under the moving pillars and using her flexibility to her advantage. Her eyes narrowed on the dooming structure of the beam plummeting towards the ground, throwing the Morales boy off and onto the nearby flooring. Without a second to spend, the boy sprinted past the sea of ignited flames, sliding into a new hiding area as Felicity sprinted over to him.
Fuelled with insatiable fury, the Green Goblin lifted up the roof of Miles' new hiding space, exposing him completely though he didn't have much time to ponder before a hand wretched him up, his panicked eyes meeting an ambitious Black Cat as she hauled him up. "You're good!" She questioned, the melody of her voice making the question sound much more like a statement than a question as she glanced around with an analysing gaze.
Miles yelled in surprise as the girl began tugging him along before letting him go, allowing him the freedom of running beside her as they sprinting away from the fight, which seemed to follow after them in an encaging shield. "Stop!" Felicity yelled, sticking out an arm to block Miles from falling forward into the seemingly endless stark white room.
The chamber was designed intricately with dozens upon dozens of lights upon the walls, each one identical to the last as they adorned the room in a circular pattern. On the other side of the room, opposing them, a royal blue rectangle of glass stared back at them in a dark tint as multiple scientists lingered inside. They all typed away on their computers, scanning files and files of the gigantic piece of machinery before them.
In the middle of the room, an extremely large machine managed to catch their eyes. A supercollider that whirled and moved at an agonisingly slow speed, dozens of metal clogs churning with each other to create a horrific nightmare before them.
"Woah! W-what now? What the fuck is this place?" Miles breathed out, glancing around frantically as he panicked.
"I d-shit!" Just as she had begun to speak, the ongoing battle between spiderman and the green goblin approached dangerously, pushing them over the edge and into the abyss of never-ending white. A shriek escaped their throats as they spiralled downwards, the dark-haired girl quickly moving to activate her grappling hook as fast as humanly possible and aiming it up at the ledge where they had fallen from.
That device hooked around her wrist tightly, keeping her from falling as her free hand was quick to grab Mikes' wrist. Instantly, the boy wrapped his hand tightly around her own, his eyes frantically glancing down in panic as he took notice to the fall that would surely leave them both as two unidentifiable corpses if the grappling hook was to fault and break. "I got you. I got you." Felicity repeated, her chest moving rapidly as she spoke, her gaze downcast to the boy.
She glanced around in desperation for some sort of plan, some sort of escape that could end with both herself and Morales getting out in one piece. Her eyes narrowed on the yellow construction nearby, multiple stacks of wood displaying on the top layer that would be sustainable for them to actually be secure on rather than hang mid air.
However, she wouldn't be able to get them both there. Not whilst she they were both hanging too far to reach it. A frustrated downturn frown encased her lips until her eyes landed on the moving form of spiderman.
Spiderman. I-love-safe-everybody, spiderman. She blinked with realisation that glossed over her in a form of relief as she glanced down at Miles. "Hey, you trust me right?" She asked, her grip ever-so tight on his jacket-clad arm.
"No, you're a literal criminal!" Miles retorted in disbelief, yelping when she let out a frustrated sigh and loosed her grip on his arm. "Yes! Yes, okay! I trust you! A lot!" He quickly changed his answer, using his other hand to quickly grab a hold of her arm again.
"Good."
A mortified shriek vibrated though the chamber, attracting the attention of Spiderman as the man's senses amplified, causing him to turn and watch Miles Morales' descent into debris. The boy's eyes twinkled in betrayal as he fell to what could only be his doom. A foreign ache dared to form in his chest—she had called them friends, have she not? Yet she dropped him like it was second nature. So why had she asked him to trust her?
The older masked hero didn't waste a second in charging after the falling boy, wrapping a hand around his torso and swinging them through the air in a flush of exhilaration. Cautiously avoiding the discord below, Spiderman manoeuvred himself and Miles up onto an observation ledge, checking back for a fleeting moment to make sure his enemy wasn't close on his trail.
Carefully catching the boy as they landed, Spiderman lowered him into a comfortable seating position, glancing over the boy quickly as Miles leaned backwards unsurely. Heavy pants passed through both their lips as they faced each other before the older of the two spoke, "Did you know your shoes are untied?"
Miles stared back at him in a mixture of awe and disbelief, his mind wandering back to where the antihero had managed to scurry herself off to. "Uh-huh." He responded slowly, like a child who had just learned how to talk.
"This is a onesie so I don't really have to worry about it." Spiderman continued, his tone heavily lighthearted despite the previous predicament. He glanced to the boy, his eyebrows furrowing as his aura radiated in waves of blue and red.
Yet miles was drenched in a purple and green hue.
Until he wasn't, and the atmosphere surrounding him fell into a haze of red and blue, much like the man's before him. An unknown connection resonated between the two, their senses churning as they gazed at each other with looks so very familiar yet all the more foreign.
"I thought i was the only one." Spiderman breathed out in disbelief, more surprised by finding somebody like him rather than the monstrosity of a man he previously fought with. "You're like me."
Miles shook his head, "I don't wanna be." He mumbled out, curling into himself in confusion as he glanced around with apprehension. His gaze lingering on the whereabouts of where he and the black cat had lingered, yet the space was now barren of any sign of the girl.
Spiderman winced in apology, "I don't think you have a choice, kiddo." He responded with a sigh. "Got a lot going through your head, I'm sure." He sympathised, an almost paternal instinct making home in his voice as he spoke.
The boy nodded, "yeah." He breathed out with a frown, glancing in pure disbelief at the man before him. The fact that spiderman—the real spiderman was talking to him was almost surreal.
Spiderman outstretched his hands soothingly, "you'll be fine." He promised, "I can help you. If you stick around, I can show you the ropes." He suggested, his tone laced with hopefulness as he spoke to the boy. In some odd way, he reminded the man of himself.
Miles nodded quickly whilst continuing to glance around as though looking for something, or rather, somebody. "My friend. Sh-she's in here-n-"
"Glad you're calling us friends now, curls." The two spider-bitten people glanced to the side at the sound of the voice. To Miles' surprise, there she stood in all her uncanny glory on the external side of the yellow barrier, flipping herself over it effortlessly and landing in a similar position to Spiderman.
The two long braids in her hair appeared slightly disheveled and her claws adorned faint scratches. However, she still radiated her unwavering confidence as she tilted her head at the boy. Spiderman raised an eyebrow at the new arrival though it wasn't visible due to the mask. "Can I assume this is your friend?"
"Ye—wait, no. She is, but we're not friends." Miles was quick to ramble, coercing a faint chuckle from Spiderman as the masked hero nodded at the boy's unorganised choice of words.
A loud rumble tore through the atmosphere once again, the vibrant churning of the supercollider disrupting the moment of friendship in a bitter disturbance. With a sigh, Spiderman glanced back to the two teenagers, "I just need to destroy this big machine real quick before the space-time continuum collapses. Don't move." He ordered, explaining with a nonchalant tone that caused the two teenagers to share a look of uncertainty.
Without another gesture, the older male set off to destroy the supercollider whilst turning to glance back once more. "See you in a bit."
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authors note !
thanks for 4k <3
Next chapter should be out pretty soon. I'm trying to get into the spiderverse done quite quickly because I can't wait to write across the spiderverse so that's why there's updates every week :)