i hate labels - hobie brown (;spiderpunk) x oc/reader

thursday june 5th, 2025

10:04pm

for once, i've been too good of a student to provide any meaningful updates to this journal of mine. 

annoyingly, i've had homework - pages and pages of it - and i'm beginning to worry that my teachers have noticed the dozens of pages already missing from me. regardless, while i remain a teenager tied to my studies, i'm fairly certain i have the best study spot in all of New York. 

you see, right now, as i scribble this, i'm atop the Empire State. 

i know what you're thinking (if diaries were capable of thought), what the fuck, right?

you see, the spire's stability hinges on it's foundation, and at it's base, there was a lovely, smoothed corner for me to lean against, hidden above the viewing deck. as far as i could tell, none of the tourists below could squint hard enough to see me, and those enjoying the views below my feet were preoccupied. this spot allowed me to see all of New York and moreso.

i can't help but keep an eye out for any web-slinging punks nearby. 

 it's my job, right? 

-

11:54pm

why am i consistently in the right place at the right time? it's becoming exhausting, doing all this saving while juggling multitudes of biology homework. not that i didn't already know the internal structure of one's brain, but my own was beginning to feel a tad sluggish. 

whilst attempting to be studious, a fantastically poorly-timed pileup occurred beneath my little study spot, and i soon found myself flinging myself, at unnatural speeds, towards the street below, pulling people from the wreck and removing debris. 

just as i had freed the final citizen, lifting them from beneath a pile of crushed and splintered aluminium, i felt it. 

that bizarre tingle, that unsettling shiver. Hobie. he's here. 

of course, by here, i mean this universe. my universe. 

instinctively, my gaze rose to the skyline, searching the horizon was anything even slightly out of place. and that's when i spotted it. 

not Hobie, unfortunately, that would've been too easy. 

instead, i found a portal. his portal, i assumed. it swirled and flickered for just a second, burning amber emanating from it, painting the dark Manhattan skies with a sparkle for just a moment. and just as quickly as i'd spotted it, it had disappeared, fizzling out amongst the starless sky. 

assuring the scene was secured, the police were arriving, and any and all civilians were safe, i threw myself from the scene, propelled by my webs as i desperately closed in on the portal's location. 

imagine my surprise when i found that location to be...my school?

i'd made this trip countless times, though as i had come to a stop afront the school's gates, i stood dumbfounded, reading and re-reading the weeks' announcement adorned upon the letterboard above me. 

while portal's locations were relatively inaccurate, often throwing you into a random location among the desired coordinates, Hobie's weren't. having somewhat perfected his nameless device, he'd previously locked in on locations down to a number of metres. 

if this was Hobie, this was intentional. 

i remembering standing there, reasoning with myself for a few seconds. anyone could've been in there waiting for me, and yet, i found myself taking a shaky step towards the building. the gates, designed to prevent trespassing, did little to stop me from propelling myself over their barbed ends, and it wasn't long before i was standing in one of many long hallways. 

"Hobie?"

this is the part of a horror scenario in which i dumbly call out, giving my position away to anyone and anything. but i really didn't care, whatever it was i could handle it. weirdly enough, i was less prepared to handle Hobie. 

the hallway looked long-abandoned in the dark, shadows falling over the edges, lockers left untouched. i knew the school's power was conserved overnight - luckily for me, my eyes adjusted promptly, scanning the darkness. 

amongst countless closed doors, classrooms,  bathrooms, i found my stairwell. 

i only call it my stairwell because so few others knew it existed - it stood alongside a janitor's closet, allowing maintenance access to the roof. the roof few knew was accessible. 

i found myself climbing the stairs somewhat nervously, the winding steps giving way to a heavy door marked 'FIRE ESCAPE ACCESS - DO NOT OBSTRUCT'. i had always wondered why, in the event of an emergency, anyone would want access to the roof. 

pushing through the doorway, i was first greeted with the metallic scent of blood, finding it's source at my feet. blood stained the aged concrete in droplets, leading me further across the roof. 

it must've been 0.6 seconds before my eyes fell on Hobie next, his crumpled form lying across my decrepit Roof Couch. 

"Bastard!"

i swore, closing the gap in milliseconds.

Hobie's chest was spilling blood, gashes stripping his suit to the flesh. he'd discarded his mask, likely figuring he was hidden here. he groaned at my arrival, though failed to form any words, his eyes lulling behind his eyelids. 

i barely recognised him, had it not been for the spidersuit, i likely would've assumed him to be a squatter. his hair was disheveled, as it always was, though slick with blood and sweat. his lip had been badly bruised, swelling setting in as he parted his lips in an effort to address me.

"what the fuck dude?!"

i exclaimed, my hands immediately falling over the gashes, trying in vain to provide any pressure to the wounds. i think it was then that he spoke, and i hung on his words.

"Miguel...he found me."

was all he uttered before his eyes fell closed, giving way to unconsciousness. his statement had illuminated nothing, though that was one of my lesser concerns as i leaned place my ear on his chest, listening. i was beyond grateful to find his heartbeat - slow, steady, and quiet, but still there. my eyes fell to his wrist, where a damaged gadget clung to him, a shattered screen still reflecting his coordinates.

i sighed deeply, falling to my knees beside my friend, my now-bloodied hand falling from his chest. 

i swore in that moment to protect Hobie, the way he had protected me. and with that, my hand fell to his wrist, the gadget there beginning to respond with ominous beeping.