An Efficient Prison

Part 1/1

Author's note: Yeahhh I know I should be focusing on my other stories right now, but I just watched the new Spider-Verse movie and I couldn't resist writing out this short fic! Again; spoiler warnings for Across the Spider-Verse! Enjoy! ;)

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Miles looked around at the other Spider-People with fear and dread in his eyes. He was outnumbered, cornered, trapped.
Betrayed.

A bright red cage leaped out of the ground and closed in around him, trapping him in place.

Miles's heart raced. He pounded against the walls of his cage. "No! You can't do this! There has to be another way! Let me go!"

"I'm sorry Miles. This is the only way." Miguel glared back at him coldly. He sounded anything but sorry.

Miles's terrified eyes flitted around the Spider-People, searching for a shred of compassion. There was worry and remorse in Gwen and Peter's eyes that made Miles's heart ache. Spider-Punk looked at Miles for a moment, before gesturing something with his hands. Miles's eyes lit up with a shred of hope; an idea. He pressed his hands against the walls of his cage and focused on his powers, draining the electrical charge from his cage. A surge of energy coursed through him, then the cage shattered.

Miles leaped into the air and shot to the ceiling, beginning to run and swing away as fast as he could.

"After him! Everyone catch that Spider-Man— Miles Morales!" Miguel shouted after him.

There was a flood of Spider-People from every direction swinging after him. Miles didn't stop running. He had to get out of here. He had to save his family.

A sudden rush of movement behind him cast a massive shadow over his back. A small glimpse over his shoulder revealed a massive T-Rex donning the same Spider-Man uniform as everyone else. It even appeared to have web-slinging abilities of its own.

"You got to be kidding me!" Miles gasped. He turned his focus forward again, continuing to try to swing away from it. A stray Spider-Woman swung ahead and swiped her leg at Miles's web, slicing it through and sending Miles falling backwards. The Spider-Rex was quick to take action after that. It lunged into the air with its massive jaws open wide beneath him. Miles flailed in the air, catching a glimpse of those horrifying jagged jaws before they engulfed him into a warm slimy darkness.

Miles gasped in horror, his heart racing so fast he felt it might escape his rib cage. He fumbled in the massive Rex's jaws, trying to scramble away from the back of its mouth and tried to pry the jaws open. But even with Miles's enhanced strength, it seemed he wasn't an equal match for the spider-powered dinosaur.

"Let me out!" Miles shouted. "Please! I— I need to go home! You don't understand!"

There was a muffled rumble from the prehistoric beast, though it didn't respond, either not able to, or it simply couldn't speak with Miles stuck in its mouth. There was some movement around Miles as the massive creature seemed to move again. Miles gritted his teeth in frustration, trying to keep his worried emotions at bay. He couldn't stay here. He had to get home. But how?

After a while, the Rex lowered its head and its jaws open, causing Miles to slide out with a light coating of slime. Miles scrambled to his feet, looking around with wide eyes.

He was in a slightly smaller room now, only faced by Spider-Rex and Miguel O'Hara, who appeared less than pleased. The latter's red eyes glared daggers at Miles, and the teen swore he could see some of the man's fang peeking through his lip in a scowl.

"So those cages don't work too well for something that can zap energy out of them." Miguel growled, walking closer. Miles backed away nervously, only to bump into Spider-Rex behind him. He froze. "No matter. I think Pter Ptarker came up with a better solution."
Miguel began to mess with something on his bracelet as he spoke, red eyes still locked with Miles.

Miles swallowed nervously, speaking up. "Miguel— I— We can talk this over. We can figure something out. Let's just talk about this, oka—"

His words were interrupted as a blinding beam of red light suddenly shot out of Miguel's wrist mechanism, blasting Miles with sizzling stinging pain. Miles cried out in pain, stumbling to the ground, dizzy and disoriented. He tried to get to his feet, unsteady at first. Everything felt wrong. Even once the beam had disappeared, the dull, icy hot pain took a while to fade. He blinked up blearily, then his heart skipped a beat.

Miguel was suddenly towering over him, appearing the size of a skyscraper now. He crouched down above Miles, his expression cold and hateful as ever. He reached out and grabbed the dazed tiny Spider-Man into his hand. Miles shouted out in fear, trying to scramble away, but the clawed fingers tightened around him, blocking his escape and making it hard to breathe. One quick glance around Miles's surroundings revealed that Spider-Rex had grown in size as well— and the entire room...

He had shrunk.

Miles fit perfectly in Miguel's hand, only a mere five or so inches in height now. Miles gritted his teeth, punching against Miguel's fingers, but it did nothing.

Miguel frowned slightly. "You're not getting out of this so easily, kid."

He shifted his grip around Miles to hold him above his head, then he opened his mouth wide, revealing a horrifying view of the man's sharp vampire-like fangs. His eyes watched Miles calculatedly, seeming to determine whether he would fit.

Miles gasped in horror. "Wait-wait-wait—!"

Miles's pleas met deaf ears. Whatever Miguel had been thinking, he seemed to have made a conclusion. Without further ado, he shoved Miles into his mouth and shut his teeth behind him. Miles screamed, scrambling on the soft tongue to try to reorient himself, sort of balled-up from the tight space.

He didn't have enough time. The tongue pitched beneath him, pressing him against the roof of the mouth and forced his head into Miguel's throat. The sudden crushing pressure seized the breath out of Miles's lungs.

A small grunt sounded around him, Miguel seeming to struggle for a moment, before swallowing. The throat muscles squeezed tighter around Miles's upper body, dragging the rest of him down into the warm dark throat. More swallows followed, albeit laboriously, seeming to be difficult for the larger Spider-Man, though by sheer determination, he managed. Things grew much tighter as he passed through the collarbone area. A foreign pressure from outside pressed against Miles, massaging at him, and forcing him in deeper. Miguel was rubbing at his throat to try to ease the pressure. Miles squirmed frantically in the tight confines, but to little luck. Another swallow followed, and he was forced past the tighter area and into Miguel's chest cavity.

Miguel's heart boomed deafeningly next to the tiny captive, and the woosh of labored lungs sounded nearby. Miguel gasped a few times, catching his breath after the blockage in his throat cleared, then swallowed again. The squeezing peristalsis of the esophagus pulled Miles down deeper, past the heart and lungs, then through a tight ring of muscle, then finally dropping into the Spider-Man's stomach.

Miles gasped for air once he finally reached the slightly roomier area, but soon coughed as the hot air stung his starved lungs. Miles shuddered, coughing and gasping for a moment. He couldn't wrap his brain around what had just happened. Gwen was right. Miguel was a vampire, and now he was just food.

The area was so tight around him, he was forced to curl up. Slime dripped from the walls, soaking him thoroughly. The walls rhythmically pulsed around him, rubbing and squeezing around their new prey. Miles shuddered, trying to push the oppressive walls away from him, but to little luck.

An alien sensation pressed more firmly against him, feeling at him. Miguel.

"You make this appear much easier when you do it, Pter." Miguel seemed to address Spider-Rex. His voice was slightly strained. "You should handle this sort of thing next time..."

With that, there seemed to be movement again, felt by a rocking sensation around Miles.

"M-Miguel?" Miles called out fearfully, still stunned by the whole experience. He should be fighting, clawing his way out. He just felt so weak.

The rubbing sensation returned, Miguel's hand pressing against where Miles lay. He spoke again, his voice as cold as ice. "This is temporary, kid. You can't cooperate. You can't be trusted. I'll let you out once this is all over."

Miles's eyes widened in the darkness. Horror filled his veins like ice.