Three days later
New York City
3:47 p.m.
They needed a distraction and a good one. They didn't have time for mistakes or mess ups. Everything had to go as planned because if it didn't, they didn't know how they'd come back from it.
The time was now.
First, they needed to come up with a distraction of some kind. They needed to bait Carnage somewhere away from where the explosive was located so Miles could slip in and deactivate it. Cindy would be the one to cause the distraction. But the thing is they had no idea what the distraction would be.
"Carnage hasn't been seen in days. We don't even know if he's here!" Cindy said exasperated. She was pacing back and forth behind a restaurant where her and Miles were trying to form a plan.
"We just have to assume that he is. Where else would he be?"
She sighed. "How do we even lure him out?"
Miles thought about it for a moment. He knew what to do. "That's something I'm gonna have to do."
"How? What do you mean?"
On his feet now, Miles climbed up the wall. Cindy watched him climb over onto the roof which he did effortlessly. He looked down at her. "You'll see."
Confused, Cindy was about to ask more questions but Miles suddenly disappeared. She could see him swinging off in the distance. Before long she couldn't see him anymore and she wondered where he went or what he was trying to do. It was around fifteen minutes later when Miles dropped back down to where Cindy was. Startled, she turned around. He leaned against the wall out of breath.
"I think that should do it."
"What did you even do?"
"Swung around a lot. Tried to get the attention of any news reports that were out. If he sees me on TV and knows I'm somewhere out here, he'll come out and find me. He's so desperate to kill me he's probably watching the news to see if he sees me so he can pinpoint my location."
"Is that gonna work? How do you know he's watching?"
"It has to work. He's always watching."
Miles was right. Carnage just so happened to see Spider-Man swing by on the news behind a reporter. He slipped out from the sewers and was now out in the city. Miles and Cindy were in the center of New York City now. It was the same place where he fought Carnage not too long ago. He had his eye on the sewer cap that would probably lead him to what he was looking for.
"Now what?" Cindy asked.
"It's your time to shine. You need to swing now. I lured him out, now you gotta distract him. I go into the sewers, find the explosive and destroy it, and come back out. When I'm out we take down Carnage once and for all."
"Miles I-I don't think I'm capable-"
He stopped her. "Yes you are. I believe in you. You've been doing a lot of training and I wouldn't make you do it if I didn't think you were capable of handling it. I'm hoping this won't take me long. Just keep him away from this area. You ready?"
Her heart was beating so fast she was almost positive it'd burst. Miles ran towards the sewer cap but before he could climb down she stopped him.
"Spider-Man!"
He looked up. "Yeah?"
"Please be careful."
"Always."
Then he was gone. People on the streets were staring at the sewer entrance wondering what he was doing. She was still perched on the roof. Carnage was near, she could feel it. Lurking somewhere hidden. After a few seconds of motivating herself she finally started swinging.
The plan was working. Carnage saw her.
He was following her now.
Below the city, Miles was running. Running through the sewers trying to locate the explosive. It was such a widespread area that there's no telling where it could be. All he knew it had to be in this general area but even that wasn't confirmed. To be on the safe side in case there were guards or something he went invisible. He had been searching for about ten minutes when he heard something ticking. He got closer to the sound which got louder the closer he got.
He took out two guards that were by the entrance. The explosive was in a room that had been formed by digging and tunneling. There were two more guards in the room that were knocked out as well. Miles went out of invisibility and stared at the explosive.
The timer was at five minutes.
Cindy was doing her job up above. She lead Carnage on a chase through the city where she got him far enough away to give Miles time to find it and deactivate it. It didn't last very long though. At first Carnage thought she would lead him to Spider-Man but eventually he gave us. Cindy realized Carnage wasn't following her anymore she panicked.
Miles webbed the explosive as much as he could. Standing back, he let electricity flow through his hands. It traveled up through the webs and came in contact with the explosive device.
It didn't do anything.
Miles didn't know what to do. He tried again but still nothing. He heard something big drop down into the water near him so he went invisible. Carnage came into the room and Miles was in the corner.
"Spider-Man? Did he do this?"
Miles couldn't run anymore. He couldn't hide. This had to be the last battle. It had been going on for too long because he was scared of what Carnage was capable of. Coming out of invisibility, Miles spoke.
"Who else?"
Carnage immediately turned around. "How? How did you get in here?"
"I have my ways."
"Was that your friend up there? A shame what happened to her."
Miles was taken back for a second. He didn't know if he was just trying to mess with his head or meant what he said. It was obviously a trick to get in his head. Cindy had to be okay. He had to focus.
"She obviously fooled you. Distracted you long enough so I could find this."
"This is none of your concern."
Timer at four minutes.
"Your little friend ratted you out. Gave away that you had something planned. It lead me to here. You trust the wrong people."
Carnage was furious. "And I'm about to make sure you never make it out."
Carnage charged Spider-Man but he went invisible and ducked out of the way. He picked up a broken pipe that was laying on the ground and bashed it against Carnage's head. He yelled out, the sound echoing, and grabbed Spider-Man. He threw him out of the room. Miles was thrown against the hard brick wall. He fell to the ground, weakened momentarily.
"You're weak. You're nothing compared to me!"
Carnage picked him up again and threw him even further away. This time his back was thrown against a large pipe. His head was spinning with pain. He went invisible again. Taking deep breaths, ignoring the pain all over his body, he snuck back up on Carnage who was back in the room. Taking the same pipe he just had, he bashed it against his head again. He webbed him several times and slung him against the wall.
"Why won't you stop?"
Timer at three minutes.
"I won't ever stop. Not until I'm dead."
Carnage smiled wickedly. "That'll be soon then."
They continued to fight in the room. Miles took a good few hits but so did Carnage.
Timer at one minute.
Miles was on the ground after being body slammed. He was being hit repeatedly, nearing unconsciousness. With every ounce of strength he had left, he kicked Carnage off of him so hard he flew to the back of the room where his back hit the explosive device. Miles webbed him to it before he could even comprehend what just happened.
Thirty seconds.
"This is over with Carnage. You're done for."
"You won't make it out before this goes off. You're going down with me."
Ten seconds.
"I don't think so."
Electricity flowed through his hands again. This time more than he ever thought was possible. It was enough to power half the city. It traveled up and through the webs so fast that it shocked him some. This time it worked. You could hear Carnage scream all throughout the sewers as the electricity surrounded him. Both Carnage and the device was destroyed.
The timer stopped at two seconds.
Smoke filled the room. Carnage wasn't moving. This wasn't the exact plan he had on the surface but it still worked. Miles didn't have enough strength to go invisible again so he slowly backed out of the room and slumped against the wall. His body ached. He was sure he had multiple broken bones. Knowing he had to make it out, he got back on his feet.
Nothing could stop him.
He had to make it out.
He had to keep his promise.
Somehow making it back to where he came from, he climbed out of the sewers and back into the streets. Cindy was right there waiting for him.
"Oh my god! There you are!"
Miles collapsed onto the street. His vision was going blurry. He could hear Cindy talking to him right as everything went black.
Cindy's apartment
Several hours later
Late that night
Miles woke up with a groan. He was bandaged up beyond belief and the rest of his body had healed itself. That was the best thing that came with being Spider-Man was how his body was able to heal itself. Grabbing a water bottle that was next to him, he chugged it down in seconds. Laying back down, he groaned again.
"Miles? Miles!"
It was Olivia. He was shocked at first and also confused. "Wait, Liv?"
She looked like she had been crying but smiled anyways. "Yeah.. it's me."
Cindy came into the room with some food and more water. She seemed happy Miles was awake. "Good to see you awake."
"How long was I out?"
"About seven hours."
His jaw dropped a little. "Seriously?"
"Your body had very severe injuries so you had to stay asleep so it could heal. The bandages are from any scrapes or to quicken your healing. I can probably take them off now."
Olivia helped take off his bandages and he looked like he hadn't been injured at all. He was still in some pain but not as bad as before.
"How did you even get me back here?"
She sighed. "Long and complicated story. I did it though. Olivia helped."
He looked over at her. "Thank you." He said softly.
Olivia smiled. They helped Miles out of the bed to see if he was capable of walking. He moved around just fine which relieved all three of them. He got back into the bed and ate the food Cindy brought. It was a grilled cheese sandwich with some fries with a new bottle of water. Two chocolate chip cookies laid on a napkin next to the plate.
"What was it like down there? What happened?" Cindy eventually asked.
Miles explained everything that happened. From finding the device to electrocuting Carnage. At that moment he realized that he didn't even know if Carnage was actually dead or if he was faking it.
"Did someone go down there and get Carnage? What if he's not actually-"
"It's taken care of Miles." Cindy said. "Someone went down there and retrieved him. He was carried off in an ambulance. He's gone."
He ate the food Cindy made him and continued on with his story. Around midnight was when him and Olivia left Cindy's apartment to go back to Visions. Miles couldn't be away for much longer without people thinking he ran away or something. His parents thought he was sick. His friends thought he was back home sick. Either way, the excuse was that he was sick and that's why he wasn't at school.
"How's everyone doing?" Miles asked on the way back.
"Good. They're wondering where you're at."
"Feels good to be missed."
"You were."
Miles smiled. They got back to Brooklyn and started walking back to Visions. It was really late but luckily it wasn't more than a five minute walk.
"What all happened while I was gone?"
"Nothing much. It was actually a really chill week. Not that much school work either. It won't take you long to catch up."
"Was afraid I missed five pounds of physics homework."
Olivia laughed. They slipped back into Visions, thankfully the guards had their backs turned, and returned to their dorm. Miles unpacked his stuff and collapsed onto his bed. Olivia got into her bed above him. It was a routine he had missed this entire week but didn't realize it until now.
"I missed you, you know." He said.
"I missed you too. Was also worried as hell."
He chuckled. "I had to do it. There was no other option."
"You almost died.."
It came out as a whisper but Miles still heard her. "I didn't though."
"What if you did?"
"You would've had to have continued on without me. You would've been okay."
She didn't answer him. For a moment he thought she fell asleep. "Not so sure about that."
"It comes with this line of work, Liv."
"That doesn't mean I still don't get worried. Or scared. I couldn't sleep at all this week."
"Did you really think I wouldn't come back?"
Again she didn't answer him. Silence filled the room due to the absence of her response. In a way, that was his answer.
"I always come back Liv."
"Let's make sure it stays like that."
Before long they fell asleep. The next day when the alarm went off signaling they had to get up Miles forgot his entire school routine. That happened over the summer too. It happened to almost every student after being out of school for a long period of time.
When Ganke saw him in the hallway his eyes lit up, literally. With a smile that took up half of his face he attacked Miles in a hug. It caught him off guard but he quickly returned the hug.
"There you are! I missed you!"
"Missed you too Ganke! You doing okay?"
"I'm awesome! You feeling better? Heard you were sick. What did you have?"
Miles had to quickly make something up. "I had a stomach virus. It wasn't fun to say the least."
Gwen was standing behind Ganke and by the look on her face she didn't seem to believe Miles. They made eye contact but Gwen didn't say anything.
"Doesn't sound like it, those suck. Glad you're back! Dude, did you see what Spider-Man did?"
As they went to class Ganke went on a whole rant about the news of Spider-Man defeating Carnage. There was also rumors that Spider-Man almost died which Miles could definitely confirm was true.
"God I hope he's okay. Apparently people think he almost died or something."
"He was probably severely injured but I'm sure he's fine."
"If he's not out and about anytime soon then I'm gonna be worried."
How much Ganke cared for Spider-Man warmed Miles's heart. It really and truly did. Every time he was brought up Miles wished he could just say the truth.
He would at some point. That's for sure.
Once nighttime came Miles had an idea. He told Olivia about it and she was all for it. When she stepped out of the room to bring Camila back her charger Miles took the opportunity to slip back into his suit.
Ganke's curtains were luckily open. If they weren't, the plan would have to wait. His dorm was on the opposite side so it wasn't like he was going far. Climbing above the window, Miles dangled down until he was eye level with Ganke's room. His roommate was asleep. The upside down pose was his signature pose. When Ganke turned around and saw Spider-Man dangling outside his window he nearly fainted. For a moment he just stood there with his mouth open.
Spider-Man waved at him which made Ganke regain his composure. He ran to his window and opened it.
"Spider-Man?!"
He waved again. "Hello."
Ganke was starstruck. Miles couldn't help but laugh a little. The amount of adoration showed on his face. "What are you doing here?"
"Heard you were my number one fan."
"From who?"
"Someone. Here, have this."
Spider-Man handed him an autographed comic book. When Ganke saw it he looked like he could faint again.
"Why are you giving me this?"
"To show my appreciation for you and the support you appear to give me. A thank you gift."
"Thank you.." Ganke was breathless.
When Ganke looked back up, Spider-Man was gone.
"How does he do that?"
Miles heard him and laughed.
He'd always look out for the ones he cared about most.
Always.