A/N: I wanted to explore Miles' feelings after his dad's death a little so pls bear with me if his thoughts are a little depressing lol, I just wanted it to be more realistic 😭 tw blood and death if that's a trigger to you!
Chapter Song Rec: All for Us by Labrinth & Zendaya
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Miles' POV
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BOOM BOOM
Gunshots followed by bombs
THUD THUD
Punches thrown at the bag in front of him
THUD THUD
He couldn't stop. He had to keep going. He had to save everyone-
"Miles!" a whisper. Miles gasped out loud, punching harder, trying to hit the thoughts away, trying to stop himself from reliving the memories-
"Miles! Run, Miles, run!" His dad's voice. Deep. Comforting. Just like he'd remembered it. But when he'd said those words his voice was filled with fear. His last words.
"Run, Miles!"
THUD THUD
PUNCH PUNCH
He couldn't stop. He had to keep going, he had to keep fighting.
But it wasn't enough. It was never enough, right? No matter what he did, he'd never be enough.
He couldn't save his dad. He couldn't stop the bad guys. He...he wasn't enough.
"Dad!" he'd sobbed, holding his dying father in his arms, trying to stop the blood from pouring out of his punctured body. "Dad, please...I'm sorry. I'm sorry" he'd whispered, tears flowing down his face, just like they were flowing right now.
Right now, as he jabbed at his uncle's punching bag, hitting and hitting, his knuckles raw and bleeding, his fists turning a dark red, he just kept hitting, wishing he was the one that'd died that day, wishing for the tears to just disappear and for the rest of him to do the same.
Wishing his dad was still there.
THUD
A final punch. A strong punch. Driven straight through the bag, puncturing the middle and leaving sand pouring out. His hand hurt, it was bleeding, but he didn't care. He kept hitting the bag, no longer punching, but just hitting. Jabbing the sides of his hands into the broken leather, until he just collapsed, hugging the bag tightly, his muffled sobs loud enough for the whole house to hear.
Luckily his uncle wasn't home. Because if he was, Miles would've never let himself break down like this.
He couldn't. He had to be strong. For his Mami, for his uncle, for the Prowler, for his friends, for you.
You.
Would you like him if you saw him right now? Face wet with tears and bloody fists, curled up against the floor, sobbing in a pile of sand.
Would you leave him too?
He sat there for a moment, sniffling, before he stood up, stoically walking over to the bathroom. He washed his face, wiped his eyes, bit his lip to stop it from quivering and stared at himself. His eyes bore into the reflection, scrutinizing every single detail.
He hated himself.
But he'd never tell anyone that. How would they look at Miles Gonzalo Morales, the brave son of a cop, the strong boxer, the man of the house, if they saw him staring at himself in the mirror, fixating on his too-skinny frame, his imperfect hairline, his too big eyes?
He was a joke.
He felt like a joke.
He closed his eyes and sighed quietly before looking up, promising himself he wouldn't cry again. He couldn't.
He dried himself off with a towel and threw a jacket on, pulling the hoodie over his head to cover his braids, tying up the strings as tight as he could to conceal his face. He plopped down onto his bed, pulling out his phone, a dead straight expression on his face.
He didn't want to think about himself right now.
Because if he did...he might just break down again.
He couldn't afford to break down.
A glimmer caught his eye. He looked up, glancing towards his bedside counter.
That weird orb from before...it was still there. What even was it? He'd thought it was his uncle's...but why would it be in his room? Why was it still here?
There was a very gentle light emanating from it, almost impossible to see unless you looked closely. Miles inched towards it, getting off the bed cautiously and grabbing it in his hand. He inspected it, turning it over.
It was a bright white, but it seemed to be blinking slightly. When he stared for a moment, he noticed a tiny blinking red dot. It almost looked like the kind that would be on a camera...but how could something so small be a camera?
He tapped at the orb, playing with it. His nail scratched over the red dot and suddenly, it pushed down. It was a button.
His eyes widened slightly and he kept the button pressed down, waiting to see what would happen. The weird swirly substance inside began to move. Suddenly, it opened.
Miles dropped it out of shock, jumping back as a hologram appeared out of the top of the marble-sized ball. It was a hologram of him.
A recording.
Miles inhaled sharply, recognizing the tape that was playing before him. From a couple of days ago. It was a recording of him walking into the room, talking on the phone.
Suddenly the hologram switched. A different recording. This time it was just him lying on the bed, scrolling through his phone.
It switched again.
It kept switching over and over, a different recording playing each time.
Miles grabbed it, pressing the button to turn the recording off, but instead, it just opened up another hologram. A hologram of a list. A list of videos. There must've been hundreds of recordings in here, and as Miles scrolled down his heart dropped further and further into his stomach.
At the end of all the recordings was a file. He pressed the red button again and the file opened. Another hologram popped up.
It was Miles. Just standing still, like a doll, not even moving. There were red dots all over his body and when Miles moved his hand towards one of them, a small text box opened.
Statistics.
His bone density, his blood type, how fast he could run...
Miles scanned through the different dots, the different text boxes, each one a different statistic about him.
Someone was studying him.
When he opened up one near his head, a mask opened up and a suit covered the hologram's body. The Prowler suit.
It had the same thing, text boxes explaining what each of the little gadgets did, how each one should move...it was like a doll.
A doll that was depicted to look exactly like him.
Miles held the button down and the little orb turned off, morphing back into the marble-sized ball again. He looked up, breathing heavily, his heart racing.
The information this thing was collecting...someone was studying him.
And whoever was studying him...
His eyes widened and he smashed the orb against the wall, letting it shatter into little pieces on the floor, flickering before the lights went out.
...was the one who made his doppelgänger.
The doppelgänger was a hologram.
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Your POV
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"Oh come on!" You exclaimed as you slammed your fist into your desk. You'd been searching through the database of all the files you'd stolen from Oscorp for the past hour, hoping "Q.B." would show up. Quentin Beck.
You KNEW he had been in there.
But you couldn't find him.
You must've never uploaded his file.
You groaned under your breath, covering your face with your hands and leaning back in your chair. This was so stupid.
Why didn't you upload his file with the rest of the others? You felt like an idiot.
A simple internet search didn't do much either. The only thing that showed up when you searched Quentin Beck was a wikipedia page about Quentin Tarantino, who you could care less about at the moment.
Who was this guy?
You hesitated for a moment, then searched up 'Mysteriums', the thing he'd been trying to get you and Maria to try out at the county fair.
Again, nothing.
Nothing at all.
How was this even possible? It was like he and his little brand was a ghost! He wasn't showing up anywhere.
The worst part was, when you'd gotten your mom to take you back to the mall, saying you'd left something there, and you'd driven past where you and Maria had gone before, it was like the county fair had disappeared.
It wasn't there.
And neither was that ominous green light.
How could it have just disappeared so easily? Where did it even come from?
You couldn't remember the last time there'd been a county fair in your neighborhood either, it was all just so...random.
You slammed your computer shut, standing up and pulling your hair. You were just so frustrated.
You hated feeling stupid.
Maybe a shower would cheer you up?
"Yeah...a shower." you muttered under your breath, heading to your closet and roughly pulling out a pair of pajamas. "A nice shower and maybe I'll bake something. Cookies?"
You just needed to calm down a little. Relax.
It was Saturday after all, and the school was finally opening up again. You'd have to wake up early to go on Monday, and it wouldn't do you well to be all angry and bundled up, considering that midterms were coming up soon too.
A nice shower.
You began to head towards the closed door of your bedroom, stretching your arms out, when you felt a chill run down your spine. You felt like someone was watching you.
You stopped in your tracks, turning your head to look at the side slightly.
No shadows or anything...there wasn't anything there. Just you. By yourself.
You sighed, leaning your head back slightly as your heart calmed down. You were just getting worked up over nothing. You needed to relax.
And then a hand came from behind you and covered your mouth. You felt a cloth pressed to your mouth and you screamed, trying to elbow whoever was behind you. But you couldn't.
There was nothing behind you.
So where was the hand coming from?
You felt yourself slowly start to run out of oxygen, your elbowing and jabs slowly becoming slower and slower, your mind drifting elsewhere. You exhaled softly as the hand left your mouth and grabbed around your waist, slowly lowering you to the floor.
Right before you were knocked out, lying on the cold wooden ground with your pajamas still in your arm, your eyes fluttered open slightly.
You saw a mask.
"Prowler?" you whispered, feeling your eyes close again, your breathing slowing. "Is that you?"
And then there was black.
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Miles' POV
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He was swinging through the city, using his grappling hook to propel himself forward as he raced towards your apartment. He had to tell you. He had to warn you.
That doppelgänger had been after you, that other day at the mall. Which meant...he might've been watching you too. Whoever had put that recording device in his room was watching you too.
He had to tell you.
He was going as fast as he could, ignoring the awe-struck shouts and screams of the civilians who watched him fly by, surprised to see the Prowler in broad daylight when he usually stuck to the shadows at night.
He didn't care about them.
He had to get to you.
When he finally arrived at your apartment, your window as locked, the blinds closed, he didn't know what to do. What if you weren't home? Had he ran all the way over here for nothing?
He was about to text you, see where you were, maybe even stalk your location a little, when he noticed something.
Scratches on the wall, right underneath the lock on your window.
They looked fresh.
And they looked like they were made with claws...like his.
Oh no.
"Y/N?" he called out, banging on your window. He tried to push it up, but the lock was stuck. He jimmied it, and when that didn't work, he just broke it with a punch from his claw before pulling the window up.
He tore through the curtains, eyes of his mask wide as he searched for you.
He didn't see you.
And then his gaze landed on a pair of legs, peeking out from next to the bed. He hesitated, before walking over, falling to his knees when he saw you lying on the floor, unconscious. Your room was a mess, like someone had gone through your things.
The doppelgänger.
"Y/N?" he asked softly, trying to shake you awake. When you didn't respond, his voice cracked. "Y/N?"
"Wake up" he put his hands on your shoulders, shaking you. He slipped his claws off, his bare hands cupping your face as he tried to sit you up. "Wake up, come on!"
He sounded like he was gonna cry and that just frustrated him even more.
He couldn't lose you too.
"Come on, wake up!" He yelled, his voice and breathing shaky. "Please." he whispered.
You began to stir, eyes slowly fluttering open. He exhaled a sigh of relief, pulling you into his arms, his hand pushing your head into his chest. "Holy shit" he muttered, rocking you gently. "I thought...I thought you-"
He stopped himself, sighing quietly. "Nevermind."
"Prowler?" You asked, pulling back slightly, rubbing your eyes in confusion. "You were just...you...?" Your eyes widened slightly when you realized. "Fuck! The other Prowler, the doppelgänger-!"
"Shh" he pulled you close again, burying his face in your neck. "I know. I know what happened. Just calm down, alright, I got you. I got you." he whispered, arms holding you tight. You relaxed just slightly in his hold, your eyes closing again.
"He choked me, and I blacked out and, and-" you said, feeling your eyes start to tear up. Miles sighed, his voice slightly muffled by the mask. "It's okay. You're gonna be okay. I'm here, querida." he whispered. "I'm not gonna let you get hurt again, yeah?"
You nodded furiously, wiping your eyes and pulling back. You realized your room looked different, messier, and you immediately stood up, looking around. "Shit. Did he take something?" You muttered under your breath.
Miles wasn't too excited to let you go just yet, but he stood up with you. "What's wrong?"
"My room...he went through my things." you said breathlessly, immediately going to your computer. Still locked. He hadn't gone through it. "What did he take?" You asked yourself.
You saw your bag on the floor and you dropped down, rummaging through it. "Shit." you muttered. Miles' heart dropped.
"Did he take something?" he asked, crouching down next to you.
"My sword. The programmable matter...he took it." you said quietly, looking up at him. "Why would he take my sword?"
Miles stayed silent for a moment. "That programmable matter stuff...it's expensive. Maybe he needed it for something?"
He looked at you, eyes widening slightly. "Look, Y/N, I need to tell you something-"
"I need to tell you something too." You said. He hesitated. "What is it?"
"Yesterday...I was out with a couple of friends. Me and my best friend, Maria, we saw this weird county fair thing. There was a guy there, like a salesman, and he was talking to us about this thing called a Mysterium, it's like a new ride-" you saw the Prowler looking confused, but you kept going, "-but he told me his name was Quentin Beck. He's an illusionist. But I've seen the name Quentin Beck before...he used to work at Oscorp, I saw a file about him that last time I broke in! I think there's something about Quentin Beck...I thing he's related to this all somehow" you said quickly.
"Quentin Beck?" Miles asked softly, looking thoughtful. You couldn't see his expression behind the mask. "Do you know something?" you asked curiously, leaning in a little closer.
He looked a little startled, and pulled back. "no, no, no, I just-" he stammered, standing up. "The name just seems familiar" Miles said, trying to calm down. His heart was beating so fast he was sure you could hear it. "Quentin Beck" he said quietly, looking away.
"What were you going to tell me before?" You asked, standing up after him.
"It was about the doppelgänger...he's not a person. He's a hologram." Miles said quickly. Your eyes widened. "What? What do you mean a hologram?"
"Remember how your sword went through him? How he glitched? Well...I was thinking about that. And today, I found a camera in my room. A recording device. It was keeping track of all the parts of my suit, all my moves, and it was uploading them somewhere. I think someone put that device in my home and was using it to make a doppelgänger of me" Miles said, eyes darting in between yours. "The doppelgänger is a hologram. And he's after yo-"
Miles stopped. He turned his head to the side slightly. "Quentin Beck." he whispered, a light turning on in his head. "Q.B. Quentin Beck. I've seen that before-I know where I've seen that before!" he exclaimed. "Where I took the programmable matter from...that shipment. It belonged to Q.B!"
He put his hands on his head, pacing across the room. "Fuck, that's why he's after you! Because that sword's made up of the stuff I stole from him and he wants it back, that's why he was sending that hologram after you!" He said breathlessly. "That's why the doppelgänger attacked you at the mall...that's why it wasn't trying to fight me. It doesn't want me. It wants you. It wants your gear."
You stayed silent, your mouth slightly agape. It was all coming together. Like the pieces of a puzzle. Quentin Beck was the doppelgänger. He made the doppelgänger. "He said he was an illusionist..." you whispered. "Illusions as in holograms!"
"Mysteriums as in..." Miles started, eyes wide.
"Mysterio." You finished.
The two of you stared at each other for a moment. You'd figured it out.
That's why his file had been with those of all the other villains. Because he was Mysterio. He was an old member of the Sinister Six.
And now he was back...and he was building something with that programmable matter. And he knew that the two of you were up to something too.
"You're amazing." Miles whispered under his breath, staring at you. "You're a genius."
"Me? You're the one who figured everything you!" You exclaimed with a smile, punching his shoulder playfully. "You genius!"
Miles was glad you couldn't see his face...because if you did you'd be able to see the big dumb smile on his face and the fact that he was blushing like a tomato. You were amazing.
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A/N:
🥺 I love them y'all im sorry ive grown so attached to these characters
hope u guys enjoyed this chapter!! have a great rest of your week lovelies <3