𝙸𝙽𝚃𝙾 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝚂𝙿𝙸𝙳𝙴𝚁𝚅𝙴𝚁𝚂𝙴

Chapter 10*

"I'm not swinging to the Hudson Valley, Miles. Not after a hearty burger breakfast."

Miles rolled his eyes from where he sat on the public bus. "Keep your legs fresh," Peter said, nudging Miles. "You're gonna thank me later."

As soon as they got where they needed to go, Peter took off his shoes and his coat. Miles, who had his Spider-Man costume on, took off his jacket and bag as well. They then slipped on their masks. They stood in a heroic pose until Peter turned to glance back at Miles.

"And, it's a 'no' on the cape."

"I think it's cool."

"Take that off!", he said, grabbing it and ripping it off Mile's shoulders. "It's disrespectful. Spider-Man doesn't wear a cape."

Miles regained his balance after almost falling and sighed. "So, how do we retrace Peter's steps?"

"That's a good question."

Peter ducked back down behind the huge boulder. "What would I do if I were me...?"

It was silent for a few seconds. Miles put his hand up to his chin as Peter did. "I got it! Step one, I infiltrate the lab. Two, find the head scientist's computer."

Comic pictures of his plan formed in his mind. "That lady with the bike is the head scientist. I saw her in this documentary at school."

"Cool! Step three, I reexamine my personal biases. Step four, I hack the computer."

"It's not technically hacking--"

"Shh, shh, shh. Hold on. I just lost my train of thought. Step five, download the important stuff. I'll know it when I see it. Step six, I grab a bagel from the cafeteria and run."

"So, what am I doing?" Miles asked as Peter stretched, the sound of bones cracking audible.

"Uh. Step seven, you stay here. You're lookout. Very important."

"Look, man," Miles said. "You gotta teach me how to do Spider-Man stuff or I won't be able to help."

"Augh," he groaned as his back popped before he shot a string of web, swinging forward. "Watch and learn, kid! I'll quiz ya later!"

Miles watched as Peter swung towards the building. "Why did I get stuck with the janky, old, broke, hobo Spider-Man?!"

He hit the rock with his elbow, causing it to split open in half. "That's new."

He lifted his mask a little when he heard a car approaching and decided to peek over the boulder. The car stopped near the entrance of the Alchemax building. There were multiple people that stepped out.

But there was one specific person who caught his attention the most. "Kingpin," he muttered, fear laced in his tone.

He sank down to the ground, not knowing what to do. His heart was racing with fear, and his breaths grew a little heavier.

"Whatever it is that's going on, you can trust me... I'm here for you."

M/n...

He shook his head.

No... I can't always rely on him. I... I have to do this on my own.

He narrowed his eyes in determination. "What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing? What am I doing?", he muttered as he ran across the snow.

From where he was, Miles watched as Kingpin walked inside along with what seemed to be one of his bodyguards. He found an entryway through the vents and opened it. Before he could step in, he slipped and fell. "Ahhh!!"

Kingpin's bodyguard looked up at the vents as he heard the thud. Miles immediately backed up against the vent, staying out of sight. They turned around and continued walking. Miles sighed in relief and began crawling forward. "Peter...!" he whisper-shouted. "Peter...!"

After a while, Miles hit his head against something. "Ah! Peter...!"

Peter turned his head as best he could to look behind him. "What are you doing here?"

"Kingpin's here. Just-- move over..!"

Miles squeezed beside Peter. "Ow...! You're stepping on my foot...! Go back outside...!"

"No...! I can't sit there and let Spider-Man die without doing anything about it...! I'm not doing that again...!"

Peter stayed silent, which made Miles arch an eyebrow. "What?"

"Most people I meet in the workplace try to kill me, so...you're a nice change of pace."

Before they could continue, they heard a voice. They both looked down to see the head scientist. "Mr. Fisk! Look at this data", she said, sitting down behind her computer. "I know you can't really understand it, but these are really good numbers."

Peter watched as she quickly typed in her password. "And... I got the password."

"Mr. Fisk. If we fire again this week, there could be a black hole under Brooklyn," she said, clicking with her mouse, causing another image to appear on the screen. "You see this? And this? This is multiple dimensions beginning to crash into each other."

Miles looked up at Peter, who was mocking them by moving his hands like a sock puppet would talk.

"This is pretty standard Spider-Man stakes. You get used to it. Watch this. He's gonna say, 'You've got 24 hours,'" Peter said with a deep voice, making the same motion with his hands.

"You've got 24 hours."

"What this means is there could be a rupture in the space-time continuum," she said, following after Kingpin and his bodyguard.

"Ooh. That's bad. Actually, everything she said was bad. I was lying before."

Peter opened the vent and peeked his head out, making sure the coast was clear before climbing out. He jumped down and sat on the blue exercise ball. The sound of typing filled the room. 

"Okay, hold on," she said from the other room. "Let me get you some more data."

Miles peeked his head out, having heard the head scientist's voice. He waved his hand trying to get Peter's attention. Peter looked up from the screen at Miles, who clung to the ceiling's lights. 

He arched an eyebrow under the mask. "What are you doing, bud?"

"I can't move...!"

The light moved as Miles shook it, trying to unstick from it. "Okay. Relax your fingers. We don't have time. Just-- Just let go. Be in the moment...!"

"I am in the moment...!" Miles replied, panicking. "It's a terrible moment...!"

"I'm not refusing," the head scientist said to Kingpin, the ceiling light moving back and forth in the background.

"No more excuses," the man replied, towering over her.

"I just need more time."

"They're right there...!" Peter said, starting to panic as well. "They're gonna see you...!"