Back on Earth 616B, Peter B. Parker couldn't decide whether to go dressed as Spider-Man or himself. It wasn't like he had anything to hide in Earth 928B, but considering the situation, wearing his red and blue pajamas didn't feel very appropriate; he was going to a hospital, after all, not only to visit Miles, but also to face his parents.
What the hell was he going to say to them?
Ultimately, he settled for a casual suit without a tie. He checked himself in the mirror of their wardrobe, making sure to look as neat as possible, but then he scoffed at himself.
Why was he so worried about how he'd look? Was it the nerves?
"Hey, MJ!" he called out, then exited the bedroom to the living room. "I need your opinion."
There, sitting at the dining table, was his red-headed wife with their daughter. She was fixing Mayday's clothes to make sure she too was dressed appropriately. To Peter, this sight would have normally looked beautiful and wholesome.
Once MJ finished, she went over to fix his suit next. "You look nice." she told him.
"Are you sure?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.
She simply nodded. When she was done with his collar, she brushed him neatly.
His doubtful expression wasn't lost on her. "Hey, it'll be okay." She cupped his cheek. "Just be yourself."
Peter smirked, shaking his head. "When has that ever worked out?"
"I can name a few things..."
"Yeah, it's just..." He took her shoulders, letting out a sigh. "... I'm afraid."
"That's okay."
"No, I mean..." He gazed blankly, turning solemn. "... I think about Mayday, how much I love her and want to see her grow... and then I think of Miles." He raised a hand over his mouth, his eyes now wide and glistening. "Is this what losing a son feels like?"
Just what right did he have to call Miles a son?
"Don't think about that!" MJ seized his coat. "Stay hopeful. You said it yourself; they have the technology."
Peter sighed again. "I'll do my best."
"That's it, Tiger."
They smiled at each other before MJ lifted her heels to peck him on the lips.
"Come on, May!" Peter reached out to his baby daughter, who quickly leapt off the table and swung across the room into his arms.
"I still can't approve of you making her those web-shooters."
*****
The futuristic world of Earth 928B was beyond anything that Rio Morales and Jefferson Davis could have imagined, but all this wonder was tainted by the sickly figure of their son.
He was bedridden and unconscious in Nueva York's ICU, strapped to numerous machines and IVs, the heartbeat monitor beeping semi-regularly. Without his costume, he looked like any other patient. With him now wearing a hospital gown, they thankfully didn't have to see his swollen chest, but symptoms of his cardiac event showed in other places, such as his ballooned hand.
Rio was seated at his bedside, gently stroking his curly afro, which had since dampened from this illness. "My baby boy..." she cooed, unsure if he could even hear her. She was calm. Her husband right next to her, abjectly silent.
A whole day had passed since they were brought into this dimension, twenty-four hours of powerlessness snailing by; it was like being in limbo.
What could they do?
Finally, they were brought outside the room by the doctor with the results.
"I... don't know to tell you this."
Rio clutched her heart, preparing to hear the worst.
"Your son, for now, is stable... but with his enlarged heart, he'll be handicapped for the rest of his life unless we can find him a donor."
"A donor?" asked Jefferson. "What does that mean?"
"I'm suggesting a heart transplant."
"I know what it means... but what does it mean?" He rubbed his head, sore from stress.
"Unless we can find a willing donor from your dimension... he won't have long."
Rio clutched her heart tighter, backing further into her husband, who held her steady.
"There's another silver lining, and I hope saying doesn't jinx it."
"Go on." the father urged.
"He hasn't glitched since he brought him in. We aren't sure why, but we're hoping it has to do with his molecules restabilizing."
The parents felt their chests lighten a little.
"But, just to be sure, we want to leave him for another day."
"Another day?" The mother frowned, dumbstruck. "He might not have hours!"
"I understand." The doctor waved a calming hand. "But should we decide to go through with a surgery, we want to assess the risk to make sure he won't glitch during the operation."
To this explanation, Rio calmed down, still nonetheless frustrated.
"Thank you, sir." said Jefferson, nodding gratefully.
The doctor nodded back with a curt smile. "In the meantime, we'll run some more tests to see if we can find a better alternative." And with that, he left the parents to ponder.
*****
When Peter arrived at the hospital with Mayday in his pouch, he found Miles' parents shoulder-to-shoulder in the waiting chairs. Rio was hunched over, her face in her palms, her husband patting her back, doing his best to comfort her.
In the other chairs, he could the rest of their Spider-Gang huddled together; even out of their costumes, they all stuck out like a sore thumb, especially Hobie, Peni, Spider-Ham and Noir with their unique dimensional aesthetics. Even Margo was there in person. They all exchanged nods once they noticed each other.
The only person he couldn't see was Gwen... where was she?
Awkwardly, the Earth 616B Spider-Man approached the grieving couple, unsure of what he was going even to say to them. Where was he going to start?
When they too noticed his presence and looked up to see him, he held in a breath.
Here goes nothing.
"H-Hey..." He waved meekly, swallowing hard. "I... don't think we've formally met, even though we passed each other a few times... frequently."
"You're Peter Parker..." Rio acknowledged, sniffling. "... just not the one from our... dimension." She shook in disbelief. "Can't believe I just said that."
"Yeah." he chuckled. "It's still hard to wrap your head around."
Not knowing what else to say, Peter sat down next to her, but in one space separate, not wanting to impose. He took Mayday out of his pouch so she could roll around in his lap freely.
Rio stared at the baby, smiling sadly. "What's her name?" she asked.
"Oh!" Her question was a delightful surprise. "Her name's Mayday."
"She's beautiful."
"Yes, she is! Named her after my aunt."
Mayday suddenly reached out to Mrs. Morales with her toothy grin and began crawled off her father's lap towards her; somehow, the child had taken an immediate liking towards her.
"Oh!" Rio, surprised, instinctively took the girl into her arms.
For the first time in a while, the woman managed to laugh a little as this child touched her face with her tiny mittens. Jefferson too smiled, glad to see his wife somewhat happy again.
Both fathers then exchanged looks, their smiles fading a little.
"Your son changed my life." Peter began to explain, unsure if he should but going on nonetheless. "Before I met him, the idea of having kids frightened me."
Jefferson listened on while his wife continued interacting with the baby.
"As a full-time superhero, I didn't think it was possible to raise a kid. I didn't think I was suited to be a father, because I was afraid of failing. But then... I one day get sucked into your dimension. I meet a kid that needed my help... and I ended my really enjoying being his mentor." He motioned to Mayday. "He... became the reason I decided to have her."
"I'm... glad to hear that." the cop replied, then looked away. "But I warn you, it won't be all sunshine and flowers."
"No way! Are you kidding?" The two men laughed together. "Especially with her spider-powers that she got from me?"
Rio, who was hardly paying any attention to their conversation, gazed into the wonderous eyes of Mayday, enamored by the sparkling innocence of this beautiful child. She looked so delicate, so fragile... so... fragile.
For only a split second, this mother pictured Miles' infant face in her hands, his eyes gleaming up at her with unconditional love, his puffy cheeks dimpled by his gummy smile as he giggled, his tiny hands reaching up to tickle his mother's face.
And then she was back in the waiting room, back to reality... back to her nightmare.
A little too hastily, Rio handed Mayday back to Peter, got up from her seat and marched off down the corridor without another word, her clumping footsteps echoing down the hallway.
Peter watched the woman, silently cursing himself. How could he have been so thoughtless?
*****
Rio isolated herself in a ladies' bathroom. If she had it her way, she would have locked herself inside here so she could scream and smash all the mirrors, but she found that she hadn't the energy to do any of that; she was simply too lethargic.
Luckily for her, no one else seemed to be in this bathroom, so she made her way to the sinks. Her hands trembled to hold up her weight as she hunched over, staring at her shadow's outline.
Before she realized it, she was dry heaving through sobs.
She couldn't lose her son... no mother should. She had brought him into this world so he could forge his own path, his future, and carry on their legacy. All those hopes and dreams had now disintegrated. All that was left was this gaping emptiness.
"Please, God..." she begged; her voice was rusty and broken. "Save my boy."
Any miracle would do.
Suddenly, she heard a creak from behind. Spinning around, she saw Gwen Stacy, in her casual punk clothes, standing in one of the bathroom stalls with her blanket on.
"Mrs. Morales?" she croaked, trying to act like she didn't hear the woman crying for her son.
"Oh, I'm sorry!" Rio turned back to the sink to clean her face. "I didn't know anyone was in here."
"It's okay." Gwen stepped out from the stall. She reached out a hand to try and comfort her, but then pulled back. "I... also came in here to try and clear my thoughts."
"How are you?" The woman turned to her, leaning back against the counter.
"Me?" Gwen shrugged, darting her head around... she couldn't answer. "I should be asking you."
"Well..." Rio sighed. "... as well as I possibly can, as you just saw."
Now it was Gwen's turn to sigh. Now what? She was hiding in the stall until she heard Miles' mother weeping. Now that she's out of the stall, what was she going to say now?
Silence filled the bathroom's ambience, both standing uncomfortably in front of each other.
"I'm sorry." Gwen broke the silence, hands covering her face. "I know I'm supposed to comfort you, but I... I really have no idea what to do or say. I just... I really suck at this."
Rio smirked lightly. "You really love my son, don't you?"
The young girl flinched, then lowered her hands to her thighs... and then he nodded. "Whatever charm he put on me... it worked." She shook her head, biting a smile. "The whole reason I took this job with the Spider Society was for the chance to see him again."
Finally, she looked Mrs. Morales in the eye, who mutely encouraged her to go on.
"I've tried to deny what I was feeling... I tried to bury it, even... but all it did was drive me crazy." Gwen felt her chest tighten, but at the same time, it also felt weightless. "Even across several different dimensions, I couldn't get him out of my mind."
"Why?"
"Why?" Gwen was confused. "Why what?"
"Why would you bury your feelings?"
"I was afraid... of hurting him... like I have." She hung her head low, her eyes on the tiled floor. "I knew that if one of us fell for the other... it was not going to end well." She then flailed her arms as her way of saying, 'Look where we are, now.'
It was no secret that Rio didn't take a liking to this 'Gwanda' girl when they first met, but over the two days that passed since, her opinion of the girl gradually improved. She was brave enough to confront them after their son went missing and delivered on her promise to bring him back. She even saw how she risked her life to protect him as he protected her and everyone else.
Gwen didn't feel like crying again; she had done enough of that. She really wanted to comfort this woman, but she was afraid of breaking again. She was supposed to be strong. She was supposed to be a superhero.
"It's not your fault, Gwen." Rio stepped forward from the counter.
"Yes, it is." Gwen shook. "If I hadn't come to visit him-"
"He wouldn't have been able to save the world... or multiverse."
"He wouldn't have gotten hurt." Gwen swallowed hard; she still wasn't going to cry, not now. "It should have been me, not him."
"No..." Immediately, Rio walked over to take the girl's face. "Don't say that."
"It's true." Gwen argued, squinting hard. "I made him fall for me."
"Come on..." Now she was squeezing her cheeks. "Think positively."
This was ironic, considering why she was here in the first place.
Sucking in a deep breath, Gwen managed to pull herself together... and then she embraced Rio, who accepted her hug. Right now, they needed each other.
"There's so much I want to tell him..." she mumbled into the woman's shoulder.
"You will." she assured, trying to convince herself more.
*****
Rio Morales wasn't the only one who found a private place to cry in.
Jefferson Davis had been fighting his own internal battle. As a cop, a father, and a husband, he had to be their rock. He had to hold it all in, but like any rock, he eventually had to crumble.
And so, he found himself a dimly lit staircase, and there, he let himself go. His cries came out in large gasps, echoing off the walls, as he hid his face in his hands, his glasses dangling off his fingers.
"Oh, Aaron... what am I gonna do?" He inhaled shakily. "I can't lose him too."
It had been over a year since he buried his brother, Aaron, who had been working as the Prowler for Wilson Fisk. He remembered clutching his hand as he laid dead on that pavement.
That was when his more intrusive thoughts consumed him... having him picture his own son dying in his arms, breathing his last breath, and then staring blankly.
"No!" he shouted to no one in particular. "I can't think of that!"
The doctor did say that there was a way to save him, and that he would run more tests. He needed to be hopeful, it's what his son would want too.
Then again, there was also another part of him that wished that the so-called canon event went as it was supposed to; he would die, but his son would be okay. That's how it was always meant to be, not the other way round.
Once he calmed down somewhat, his senses became aware of his surroundings again... he wasn't alone... he just knew.
"Who's there?" he called out. "Just know, this ain't a good day to play with me, okay?"
Just then, he heard a sharp breath, and immediately, a cloaked figure materialized in front of him on the stairs... it was the purple masked vigilante who looked almost exactly like the Prowler... almost. He had last seen him briefly after the battle with the Spot.
Jefferson, however, was more aggravated than afraid. "What do you want?" he demanded.
"I..." The Prowler lowered his head slightly, then spoke in his altered voice. "I just wanna talk."
"About what?"
"I don't know..." he answered. "I thought I knew."
There was something about this figure... he couldn't quite put his finger on it. His gut, however, was trying to tell him something.
"You're not from here, are you?" Jefferson raised an eyebrow. "Who are you?"
"A ghost... of some sort."
This answer neither satisfied nor amused him.
And so, lifting his head again, he sighed once... and then peeled his mask back.
A chill surged through the man's body as he saw whose face was behind the mask... it was Miles... but a different Miles altogether; he looked older, wearier.
"I don't think I need an introduction... do you?"
*****
Jessica Drew had returned to their Spider-Society HQ to check on Miguel O'Hara. The complex was crowded and noisy and always, yet the atmosphere was different altogether, and it was no guess as to why.
When he found their leader, he was slouched on his platform, surrounded by his holographic screens that replayed all the events of the past few days. Even with his back to her, she could tell that whatever was on his mind was weighing heavily on him.
"How are you holding up?" she asked, her voice solemn.
"Same shit as usual." he answered with a groan. "So much to clean up..."
"You should get some rest."
"I caused all this, didn't I?"
Jessica didn't answer; she really wasn't sure.
"It's okay." he added. "I admit it. I tried to play God with the fates of every universe, and because of me, another kid's about to die."
"He isn't dead, yet." Jessica assured, stepping forward.
"He may as well be!" he shouted, finally turning to face the Spider-Woman with insomnia riddled all over his face. He smashed his fist on the console, which dented the metal and drew sparks.
"Well, this isn't gonna solve anything!"
"YOU'RE RIGHT!" he growled, causing her to jump back. "BECAUSE I CAN'T SOLVE ANYTHING!" He calmed down soon after. "I thought... I had all the answers."
Again, Jessica didn't know what to say. She could only glance away in deep thought.
"After we've... after I've cleared up the mess that I made..." He trailed off.
"What?" she urged. "Go on, what?"
"We'll either be talking about finding my replacement or disbanding this team altogether."
Jessica widened her eyes. "Are you... quitting?"
"I'll be stepping down." He nodded, his hands now on his hips. "I just can't anymore, Jess."
"Maybe, you should sleep on it first."
"No." he stated firmly. "I've already decided." He turned back to his screens. "I have no right to lead anyone, let alone call myself a Spider-Man, if I don't answer for all things I did."
"You didn't do this all alone!" Jess interjected. "We helped you."
"Because I made you! I convinced you like I did every Spider-Man that it was somehow okay to sacrifice a few lives, because it was meant to happen. It was a way to absolve anyone of their responsibilities... my responsibilities!"
Once again, Jess was silent. Then, she spoke again. "What will you do?"
"I really don't know..." he answered quietly. "I really don't-"
"Hey, Miguel!" The holographic companion appeared out of nowhere, startling him.
"What!?"
"There's something you need to see!"
"Can it wait?" He was annoyed but her sudden interruption.
"No." she answered firmly.
Miguel rolled his eyes. "Fine, what is it?"
"There's been a HUGE development in the Web of Destiny."
"Wait, what?" His annoyance shifted to worry. "How huge?"
"Let me show you."
With a wave of her hands, LYLA transformed the room into a holographic space-scape once more, and what he and Jessica saw next blew their minds.
All the threads connecting the destinies of every Spider-Man had vanished, reduced to mere specs of matter.
"W-What happened?" Miguel could barely speak over his breaths. "What happened to all the threads?"
"Exactly what you're seeing." LYLA answered matter-of-factly. "They're all just gone."
"But if that's the case, then..." He looked to Jessica, who was just as stunned, then back to LYLA. "How are our universes still intact?"
"Beats me. Even Pavitir's dimension is now stable."
"Are you serious?"
"See for yourself." And so, she showed him a screen of Pavitir's world, Mumbattan of Earth 50101B; the whole city was still in one piece, no sign of any more disruptions. "Do you think this has anything to do with Miles breaking the canon or...?"
"No." Miguel responded, and then concluded, "If anything... he debunked it."