Spider verse: The Twist

Chapter 24: The Best?

Peter's POV

Miles and Gwen came back down the elevator with bright smiles on their faces. Their hands were laced together and they stood so close their shoulders were almost touching. I could not help but feel... proud?

I was proud of Miles- proud that he finally plucked up the courage to tell Gwen about his feelings for her, which were really painfully obvious. She also quite evidently returned them.

Peni, Ham, Noir, and I were discussing the plan to shut down the collider. Eventually we decided that Miles was in no shape to fight against Fisk alone. I was going to be the one to shut it off- the one to stay. Honestly, I was not too upset about being the one to stay. My life was a wreck anyways. If I was going to die I was glad it would be to save millions of people.

I sighed running a hand through my hair. The only problem was that I did not know how to tell Miles. He was not going to make this easy.

"Hey lovebirds, can you two quit gazing into each other's eyes long enough to hear the plan!" Ham shouted, completely disregarding the way Miles's face lit up in a bright red at his comment or how Gwen simply rolled her eyes.

They made their way over to us. Their fingers were still intertwined, when Peni began to speak, "Fisk is hosting a high-end gala in honor of the Spider-Man of this earth." I noted how Miles stiffened at the mention. His hands balled into tight fists as he clenched his teeth. "My theory is that the collider is being prepared to be reactivated during the gala," she continued, "So we have to act tonight."

"Tonight?!" Miles repeated, the pitch in his voice raising two octaves.

"Yes, tonight," Peni answered with a more firm tone.

Miles was silent for a few moments before  he spoke again, "Should I hold onto the goober then... y'know, so I have it for later?"

This made Peni pause. She looked away from Miles and shuffled her feet nervously. "Peni?" Miles asked with confusion clear in his voice. The confusion then turned to suspicion as Ham, Noir and I give similar reactions- all of us refusing to look at him, "What's going on?"

Noir was the one to speak up, "Young Miles, we believe that it would be best if you didn't come with us to the collider."

"Wait, what?!" He exclaimed, staring at us with an appalled expression, "No way am I staying behind!"

"Yeah, I thought we agreed he was going to shut down the collider?" Gwen agreed, casting us each confused glances.

"Gwen, can I talk to you for a minute?" I asked, giving her a look that implied what I had to say was important. She raised an eyebrow at me before nodding and letting me lead her to the far corner of the room.

Miles's POV

"There is no way I'm going to let Peter stay here and die!" I growled as I flailed my arms through the air in exasperation.

"You won't last a minute against Kingpin," Noir stated, his voice monotone as he spoke.

"Yeah, he would completely pummel you," Ham agreed.

I took a step back, my jaw repeatedly clenching and unclenching. My brows furrowed in frustration.

"Miles, we just don't want you to get hurt," Peni stated softly, which only gained her a huff of annoyance from me.

"I have to take that risk. I will not let anyone else die because of me," I spoke lowly, my glare fixed solely on them. This made them descend into silence as they bashfully averted their eyes.

"Miles, you shouldn't go," I heard Peter say from behind me, causing me to whip my head around. My eyes landed on Peter and Gwen making their way back toward the group. Peter looked at me sadly. Gwen hand her arms wrapped securely around herself and her eyes refused to meet mine. She bore an overall downtrodden expression.

"Gwen?" I asked in confusion, wondering what caused her change in demeanor.

She turns to me, her eyes filled with sympathy, as she stated, "Miles, they're right. You should stay." I gave her a surprised, hurt glance and she cast he eyes off to the side.

"I... I thought you'd be on my side," I muttered dejectedly.

"This is for the best, kid," Peter tried to reason, but I was having none of it.

"It's not what's best for you!" I all but screeched, narrowing my eyes on him, "You're not doing this! I... I won't let you." My voice grew weaker on the last sentence. Everybody exchanged odd looks that I could not quite read.

"Miles," Gwen spoke softly. She brought me into an embrace. I slowly, stiffly wrapped my arms around her in return, my tense muscles finally relaxing. "If you go, you could get hurt-possibly killed. I just want you to be safe," she said in hushed voice.

"I promised my Peter that I would stop Fisk," I spoke in the same quiet tone, "I have to go."

She let out a sigh as she replied, "I know." We were silent for a while as we hugged. We must have been standing there for a while, but I did not mind. Then the silence was broken as her breath began to tremble. Her voice quivered as she spoke so silently that I probably would not have heard it if it were not for my heightened hearing, "I'm sorry."

I did not even have time to question what she meant before a sharp, burning pain pierced the back of my neck, causing me to let out a gasp. "I'm sorry," Gwen repeated, her eyes now glassy with tears. My vision began to waver as I put all of my energy into trying to stay conscious.

I caught sight of Peter, who now looked more like a red and blue blur. I felt him place a hand on my shoulder as he spoke sorrowfully, "This is for the best... Sorry, Kid"

The room seemed to spin and I lost my balance. I collapsed to the ground, but surprisingly felt no impact. I could only see everybody's feet as they all gathered around me. Blackish-purple dots began to dance around my vision. My consciousness was beginning to slip out of my grasp. I brought a hand to my head as I tried to scratch and claw my way to lucidity, but my attempts were futile. My body was begging for a rest. I could not hold on any longer. My sight was slowly obscured by darkness.

"Is this for best?"