Spider-man: The end of all spiders

Chapter 11

Warning: Sensitive content containing self harm ahead. If you are struggling with problems, please consult a therapist or someone to help. You are not alone.

To say the place was a mess was an understatement.

The portal landed Miles and Gwen on a rooftop that overlooked the city. The city looked so much different than the city Miles was used to seeing. Instead of the beautiful skyline, the air was tinted dark, and smoke compiled in the distance. Distant police sirens blared, and there was a sudden distant sound of breaking glass. The nighttime sky coated the city, illuminating everything with a dark edge.

Miles realized with a jolt what happened here.

Spider-man is gone.

The attacker had killed his own universe's spider-man. The first kill of them all, in fact.

Miles mind flashes back to the first suit he saw in his universe, and how that had to have connected to this story somehow. Could it be the suit that was used to kill this universe's spider-man? If so, why was it in Miles' universe?

"Miles, you good?" He heard Gwen say behind him, and he realized he had been staring mindlessly at the city.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine. Where should we go first?" Miles replied, shaking his thoughts away.

Gwen stuck her fingers to her chin. "Well, let's think. If we had to look for evidence anywhere, where should we start?"

"The lab?" Miles suggested.

Gwen's eyes widened in realization. "Right, that would work!"

"Well, let's go."

...

"Log #189, Earth #315627: Home

Miles continues to be a pain in the ass for me. The-"

Miles closed the file there. This meant two things:

One: The attacker hates Miles as much as Miles hated him

Two: These documents are recent

Miles picked up another file.

"Log #206: Earth #315627: Home

The atom fuser is almost up and working. No more annoying pests to deal with, it can all be over. No more spider-man, no more work. No more Gwen Stacy, no more problems. The test runs have been successful. The only thing I need now is to disconnect the universal strings and data to avoid mixups. This will be my last log. If this project works, there is no reason for my logs. Maybe someone one day will find this lab as ancient history. But after this, there is no more left for me of this world. If you are reading this,

I'm sorry"

The words struck Miles by surprise. Not only the mention of Gwen's name, but the sorrowful tone on the log. This wasn't a ruthless killer, but someone in need of help.

"Miles, I may have found something, come look at this." Gwen said, snapping Miles's thoughts from him. As Miles walked over to her, she said, "His name is James." James, the name echoed in Miles' head.

"Gwen, I need to show you something." Miles said, handing her the log he had just read. As she read through it, he saw her eyes widen in surprise, just as he expected. Gwen looked up from the paper and looked at him, with sadness in her eyes. "Miles, we have to help him." Miles finally understood what she saw in the attacker. Not just a ruthless murderer, but a person. Miles nodded his head in agreement as Gwen put the paper down.