Chapter Text
“I’m going to find him. I don’t know where he is, but I know where to start. One thing I learned from Miles, is that it’s all possible.”
Jess turned off her watch and sighed deeply. She had a point. What were they doing? They’re ambushing a teenager for wanting to save his father? They’re letting people die to preserve the canon?
“We’re supposed to be the good guys.”
Those words will haunt Jess for the rest of her life, she was sure. She sighed and rubbed her belly. “I’m not setting a very good example for you, am I, sweetheart? Miguel has officially gone off the deep end. Something needs to be done.” Jess waited a few minutes and contacted Miguel. “Miguel, I don’t think Miles is here. The machine must have sent him to another dimension.”
Miguel sighed in frustration. “Dammit. How is that possible?!”
“I’m not sure. Margo was in a hurry. Maybe she typed in the wrong dimension?” Jess guessed. “I wonder If the machine sent him to the last dimension he was in before coming to Nueva York.”
“Earth-50101.” Miguel realized. “All right. You go check it out. I’ll contact Ben.”
“I already tried and I can’t reach him.” Jess replied.
“What do you mean you can’t reach him? He’s active, he has to answer.” Miguel snapped.
“I’m not sure.”
“All right. I’ll look into it and I’ll meet you in Mumbattan.” Miguel replied.
“Copy that. Over and out.” Jess replied. She went through a portal.
Meanwhile, Miguel investigated Ben’s last known location. He went to the alley and saw the remains of Ben’s watch laying on the ground.
“Found Ben! He’s in Earth-65.” Lyla piped up.
Miguel crumpled the remains of the watch in his hand in anger. “Gwen.” He growled softly. How did she even get to this dimension?! She was interfering with his plan. Well…then if it’s a war she wants, then a war she will get. He looked up at Miles’ apartment building and smiled.
XX
Rio and Jeff sat on the couch in silence. Miles had never done anything like this before- running away from home. Or did he run away? Was he kidnapped?
“Jeff, what are we going to do?” Rio asked.
Jeff sighed quietly. “I don’t know. I mean, usually this is when I issue an AMBER Alert, but…Gwanda left through a portal to another dimension. So…”
Rio exhaled sharply and rubbed her face. “Ay Dios mio.”
Jeff put a comforting arm around her. “Hey…I’m sure he’s fine.”
“But what if he’s not? What if he’s lost and alone and scared and…oh! I never should have ungrounded him!” Rio let out a sob.
“Don’t worry. We’ll find him.” Jeff pulled her into a hug.
“I thought it would at least be better than him just running away from home and having us worry.” Rio sniffed and took a few deep breaths to calm herself. “You know, I was thinking we should contact Spider-Man to help find him, but…”
They heard a knock on the door and Jeff ran to answer it. A very tall, very muscular man in a blue and red suit stood on the porch.
“Uh, can I help you?” Jeff asked, confused.
“I hope so. My name is Miguel O’Hara. I’m Spider-Man from another dimension.” Miguel replied.
Jeff scoffed skeptically. “Another dimension? Really?”
“I’ll prove it.” Miguel took off his watch and set it on a side table. A few minutes later, he glitched and groaned slightly.
“Holy…!” Jeff exclaimed.
“This transdimensional stabilizer allows me to travel through different dimensions without glitching.” Miguel explained as he put his watch back on. He pulled up a holographic image of Gwen. “Have you seen this girl?”
“Gwanda? Yeah, she’s a friend of my son’s.” Jeff replied. He stood aside to let Miguel in. Rio stood up. “I’m Jeff, this is my wife Rio.”
“Nice to meet you. I’m assuming your son’s name is Miles?” Miguel asked.
“You know our son?” Rio asked.
“Not very well, but when was the last time you had contact with either?” Miguel asked.
“We haven’t seen Miles since yesterday.” Jeff admitted. “He went after Gwanda, and she showed up about an hour ago and told us Miles is missing and she has no idea where he is, but she is going to find him.”
“Do you know where he is?” Rio asked.
“No, I’m afraid not.” Miguel replied. “We’re looking for him now and…did you say this girl’s name is Gwanda?”
“Yes.” Rio replied.
“Her name is Gwen Stacy, and she is the last person you want your son around.” Miguel lied.
“What do you mean?” Rio asked.
“She’s a drug dealer, ain’t she? Is her dad really a police captain?” Jeff asked.
“Yes, she’s a drug dealer, and no, her father wasn’t a police captain.” Miguel lied again. “She’s part of a drug cartel.”
“I knew it!” Jeff said angrily.
“And she is a fugitive from her home dimension. She’s accused of murdering her best friend.” Miguel continued.
Rio was floored. “I… just can’t imagine Miles joined a drug running gang. We raised him better than this.”
“You did. He ran away when things got hairy, actually.” Miguel replied. “Gwen really was not happy about that.”
“What do you mean?” Rio asked.
Miguel hesitated before saying “She pulled a knife on him.”
Rio gasped and covered her mouth.
“I arrived shortly after she started attacking him. I pulled her off of him before she could do any real damage.” Miguel tried to keep his voice even, but the images of him chasing, slashing at, and choke-slamming Miles, and tearing into the Go-Home Machine cocoon with intent to seriously harm Miles flashed through his mind. He felt an overwhelming sense of guilt. He swallowed and cleared his throat. “He…she didn’t exactly have an easy life. She was abused, traumatized, got her family killed…”
“That don’t excuse what she did.” Jeff said with controlled anger.
“I know. And I’m sorry I…I couldn’t stop it before it got so bad.” Miguel replied sincerely.
Rio stared at Miguel as though studying him. He looked and sounded more guilty than he should have when explaining about “Gwanda”. “So, is Gwen from your dimension?”
“No. There are several different dimensions. This is Earth-1610B. I’m from Earth-928, and Gwen is from Earth-65.” Miguel explained.
“So where is Miles?” Jeff asked.
“I honestly don’t know. What I do know is that he’s in another dimension and I promise, I will do everything I can to find him.” Miguel said sincerely.
“Take us with you.” Jeff said.
“I’m sorry?” Miguel asked.
“If you think we are just going to sit here and wander around while our son’s in trouble, you’re crazy.” Jeff said.
“It’s not that simple. He’s in another dimension, and you can’t travel to another dimension without a stabilizer or you’ll eventually glitch out of existence.” Miguel explained.
Anger started bubbling to the surface. Rio glared at him. “You son of a bitch. I want my son back. I want my son back, now!” She lunged for Miguel and started hitting him.
“Rio!” Jeff exclaimed in surprise. He pulled her away. “Okay, okay, just calm down.”
“I’m going to kill you!” Rio shrieked and jabbed a finger at Miguel, who held his hands up in supplication. “I’m going to kill you! I swear to God, I am going to kill you!”
Jeff picked her up, turned around, and set Rio down. “Baby, please calm down. It’ll be all right.”
Rio huffed angrily and turned around. Jeff sighed and turned back to Miguel. “Sorry about that.”
“Don’t be. I’d probably do a lot more than that if I were in your position.” Miguel replied. “Look, Miles is smart and resourceful. I’m sure he’s fine. He’ll be back here before you know it.”
“You better pray he is.” Jeff glared at him and jabbed a finger at him. “Find him.”
“I will.” Miguel promised. He opened up another portal and stepped through.
Rio sighed and turned to Jeff. “Do you buy anything he said?”
“Not really.” Jeff replied. “He looked and sounded a little too guilty.”
“Yeah. Why do you think I attacked him?” Rio raised an eyebrow. “Gwen seems to really like Miles, so I hope she finds him before this Miguel does. It’d be the lesser of two evils.”
“Yeah, that’s true.”
XXX
“Now why would I do that?”
Miles G made a fist and pressed it on the punching bag next to Miles’ head. He tried not to smile as he discreetly venom-struck the chains that bound him.
“Come on, seriously? This is black-on-black crime here. We’re supposed to look out for each other!” Miles exclaimed.
“Are you seriously trying to play the ‘brother’ card?” Miles G asked both annoyed and amused. “And friendly reminder, you were the one who broke into my house and stole my jacket!”
“Because I thought it was my house.” Miles said, trying to keep his voice even. “I’m you from another dimension. That’s why we look the same and why I keep glitching. All I want to do is get back to my own dimension.”
Miles G stared at his doppelganger intently. It didn’t seem like he was lying, but…
“Miles, sidebar.” Aaron spoke up and jerked his head. Miles G threw one last glare at his doppelganger and walked over to Aaron. “I think he might be telling the truth.”
“What makes you say that?” Miles G asked, folding his arms.
“He seems really freaked out. Plus, all that stuff he said about being from another dimension, and was bitten by a spider that gave him powers… you can’t make that shit up.” Aaron shrugged. “Plus, he is glitching out, so… maybe he is telling the truth.”
Miles G sighed heavily. “Okay. But we need to be sure.” They heard clattering and turned and watched in shock and horror as Miles freed himself from his chains. “How?!”
“Little pro tip, dude: don’t watch the mouth, watch the hands.” Miles said, smiling. He raised his hands, then webbed Aaron and Miles G to the counter. “Later, dudes!” He ran off.
“Hey!” Miles G glared after him.
“Damn. Kid’s got style.” Aaron said, impressed.
Miles G scoffed and sliced the web away with his claws and ran out the door and looked around frantically. Aaron followed. “Where’d he go?!”
“I don’t know. But he couldn’t have gotten too far.” Aaron replied.
“Okay, then we need to find him.” Miles G turned down the hall, but Aaron grabbed him.
“Hold on.”
“Hold on?! This guy looks exactly like me. He could ruin my life! Worse- he could tell my mother I’m the Prowler!” Miles G exclaimed frantically.
Aaron raised a hand to calm him. “We won’t let that happen. Now, your mama asked you to get stuff from the grocery store. You do that and I will find your doppelganger.”
“How am I supposed to grocery shop when this shit is happening?” Miles G lamented.
“Just focus. If you don’t come home with food, your mom will ask questions I know you don’t want to answer.” Aaron said.
Miles G sighed heavily. “Fine. Call me the second you find him.”
“I will.”
XX
Miles swung for about three blocks, then swung down to an alleyway and leaned against a wall to catch his breath. He sighed and slid to the ground. Okay, so he was in the wrong dimension. The only way out of here would be a collider or a transdimensional watch. He heard a loud snort nearby and jumped and looked to see a man smelling of alcohol passed out drunk with an empty bottle and a cell phone next to him. Dare he?
Miles quietly took the phone and used the man’s thumb to unlock it and looked up Alchemax… which doesn’t exist in this dimension.
“Really?!” Miles squealed in despair. He exhaled sharply and let the phone drop to the floor. He picked it up again and searched for interdimensional travel, but nothing helpful came up. “Oh, come on!”
He tossed the phone aside and leaned forward, clutching his head. The only way out of here is if someone with a transdimensional watch comes to get him. But where would they take him? Back to Spider Society HQ? Back home? Would they wait until after Dad dies to come get him?
Miles took a deep breath and stood up and almost ran into Aaron.
“So, my nephew thinks you’re here to ruin his life and tell his mom he’s the Prowler.” Aaron admitted.
Miles exhaled sharply. “I am not going to do that. I don’t care about any of that. I just want to go back to my own dimension.”
“Well, how did you get here in the first place?”
“A futuristic dimensional teleportation machine. They call it the Go Home Machine.” Miles explained. “It scans your DNA and sends you to whatever dimension your DNA is from.”
“Then how are you in the wrong dimension?" Aaron asked. A car drove by behind him and the passed-out drunk man started yelling gibberish in his sleep. “We can’t talk here. Let’s go back to my apartment. I promise I won’t tie you up this time.”
Miles chuckled and nodded. Once back at Aaron’s apartment, Miles sat on the couch and Aaron sat on the chair. “The Go Home Machine must have scanned the DNA of the spider that bit me. That spider was yanked from its’ dimension- here- to my dimension. It was a test by Alchemax- a science research facility- to see if their collider worked, which it did.”
Aaron nodded. “I see. So how did you go to that futuristic dimension?”
“A dimensional travel portal opened up by a transdimensional watch. I wasn’t the one who opened that portal, it was a friend of mine.” Miles scoffed and shook his head. “Former friend of mine- long story. We went to a futuristic universe and there was a Spider Society- basically a club for variants of Spider-Man.”
“Never heard of him.” Aaron shook his head.
“Spider-Man is a superhero with spider powers. The original Spider-Man was bitten by a radioactive spider. Vigilante justice is basically what he does.” Miles shrugged. “I guess now they’ve graduated to preserving the multiverse and making sure no one messes it up.”
“Wow, that’s… a lot.” Aaron replied. “I’m not sure I completely believe that story, but at least you’re not here to replace my nephew.”
Miles shook his head. “I’ve seen what happens when you replace another version of you, and… it ain’t pretty.”
“Okay. Good. Now, let’s talk about getting back to your own dimension.” Aaron said.
Miles sighed sadly. “The only way to another dimension is either a transdimensional stabilizer watch which I don’t have, and a collider made by Alchemax which does not exist. I’m stuck. Unless, of course, someone with a watch figures out where I am and comes to get me, and I’m not even sure I want that to happen.”
“Why? I mean if they get you home…”
“The Spider Society see me as an anomaly because I wasn’t bitten by a spider from my own dimension. Because of that, I stumbled upon a battle between the Spider-Man of my universe and like four of his enemies who were trying to run a collider to get replacements for Kingpin’s family. Spider-Man could have turned the collider off, but I distracted him by falling, he saved me, and he was about to shut the collider down when two of his enemies ambushed him. Then it exploded and Kingpin killed Spider-Man.” Miles explained. “So, thus, the head honcho at the Spider Society, Miguel O’Hara, blames me for my Spider-Man’s death. When I destroyed the second collider they built, someone got caught in the explosion and created yet another multiverse threat: the Spot. He became a transdimensional super-being hellbent on revenge against me. They also told me that apparently Spider-Man has to suffer the deaths of at least three loved ones: a police captain they’re close to, a girlfriend- or boyfriend or best friend, and their uncle.”
“That sounds really fucked up.” Aaron stated simply.
“It is. That’s when I ran away from them, luring everyone away so I can access their Go Home Machine.” Miles explained. “Miguel told me I’m a mistake and I was never supposed to be Spider-Man and also turned two of my friends against me.”
Aaron scoffed. “Seriously? Fuck that guy! Also, who cares whether or not you were supposed to have been bit? You’ve been bit, you’re Spider-Man anyway, so you might as well just keep going!” Miles smiled and held back tears. “What?”
“Nothing, it’s just… I really needed to hear that.” Miles cleared his throat. “Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.”