Miles will literally be the death of Peter
Peter breathed in a deep breath of air as he looked down at his target: Hecate Mara. She was an up and coming Vibranium thief, who just seemed to have had the luck of her life: she was about to meet Spider-Man.
Peter glances around: they were near the border of Wakanda. The Dora Milaji probably would hear them fight from where they were posted, though that didn’t bother Peter. He had formed quite a bond with Princess Shuri of Wakanda, and he was about 90 % sure that he would not be murdered by the Dora Milaji on first sight.
He glanced down again at Hecate Mara as she commanded some of her minions to do her bidding. Peter sniffed internally at this as he, for the first time in his life, realised why the minion in Despicable Me where called Minions. One never stops learning, that’s for sure.
He glanced down, taking stock of the situation. There were three buff dudes, one with a goatee that would have made Tony choke on his coffee in outrage if he had ever seen it; one with a scar over his eye (okay, slight tangent here: but did villains do that on person? There had to be a reason why so many had a scar running over their eye right?) and then, last but not least, there was a guy who had a phone sticking precariously out of his pocket, threatening to fall at any second.
Peter swung into action – pun intended – as he knocked Goatee Guy in the chest with both of his feet, knocking him unconscious immediately as his head hit the ground. “GG.” Peter thought with a sly grin as he turned to Scar.
‘Hey, so have you ever watched the Lion King?’ he questioned Scar, as he dodged an attack from Scar’s knife, ‘Because you make me think of a character from that movie: Scar. He kind of looks like you!’ Peter dodged the knife again.
His spider sense went off and just in time he dodged as a bullet was shot at him by Phone Guy. ‘Hey Phone Guy!’ Peter yelled over to the minion, as he dodged another attack from GG, ‘That wasn’t really PG of you, now was it?!’ he taunted, deflating a bit as Phone Guy did not understand the reference.
Instead he shot again. Time slowed as Peter glanced at the weapon: it wasn’t poised at him. He swivelled his head around to see a kid standing there, as stick in his hands as he started charging towards GG. Peter had to give it to the kid: he had guts. Though, he would not have them for long, as they would soon be splattered all around from the impact of the bullet.
Peter did the only thing he could do in the limited time that he had: he dove in front of the bullet. Time sped up again and he felt the familiar sense of pain flare through his torso as the bullet tore through his skin. Peter fell to the ground, gasping and racking, holding his torso tightly.
PG, however, was not done with the kid, he pulled the trigger again, but it was empty. He grinned maniacally as he pulled an electric rod out of his pockets, stretching it out to its full length, and chargin at the helpless kid, who was now trying to tackle GG, unaware of the danger coming his way.
Peter, like always, was aware of the danger. And like always he had to be the hero. He jumped in front of the kid again, grabbing at the lightning rod, the smell of burning flesh reaching his nostrils as he wrenched the wretched weapon out of PG’s hands. Great, not only did he have a GSW to the chest, he now also had charred fingers. Just great. This could not get any worse. But of course, it did.
Dear old Hecate Mara: the person who liked to stand to the side and watch as her minions did all the fighting. Watched in amusement as Spider-Man disarmed one of her henchmen, then sent him flying. That part was not the one she was amused about: she paid these guys too much for them to be out of commission for more than a day.
What amused her, was the self-sacrificing hero that Spider-Man was. He had taken a bullet for the kid who was now grappling with GG, and obviously losing (what had the child expected: he was a child). Then, he had jumped in front of the kid again, saving him from being electrocuted, burning his hands in the progress.
Spider-Man sluggishly turned towards the kid, wanting to help, and Hecate took her chance. She usually didn’t go in to fight, but wouldn’t she be renowned if she were the one to kill Spider-Man? In his weakened state, she could easily win from him: no sweat. And easily build her reputation. Wait, even better: she’d kidnap him and torture him in front of the whole world. Throw in an identity reveal as well.
She pulled a tranq gun from her boots and aimed. She shot. Spider-Man stumbled as the tranquillizer hit him in the chest. Hecate smiled at the scene unfurling before her. Then she stopped. Because suddenly she was standing face to face with a really angry Dora Milaji lady. Well this isn’t good. Was the last thing Hecate thought, then a fist was brought down on her head and she crumpled to the ground.
Okoye rushed over to where Spidey had fallen to his knees, his breath laboured, next to him sat a very scared looking kid. With a groan Okoye recognised him: Miles Morales. Of course. Who else could enable Spider-Man to be shot and electrocuted in the same day?! None other than the prince of chaos himself.
She crouched down next to Spider-Man, snapping her fingers in his face: ‘Spidey, stay awake!’ she ordered gruffly, as he turned his head to look at her. Okoye grimaced, she was pretty sure he had already lost a lot of blood. ‘Morales.’ she said sharply, making the young man look up: ‘Go get the medical personnel. Now. And we will be having a chat when all this is over.’
Miles ran off, and she could hear him muttering under his breath in a strangled voice: ‘I’ve killed Spider-Man. I killed the best superhero. The leader of the Avengers. This is not good!’
Now that Miles was gone, Okoye ripped off the mask, revealing the very pale face of Peter Parker, who was blinking up lazily at her. ‘Hey Pete, I need you to stay with me okay?!’ she demanded, and he nodded sullenly.
She looked down at his chest and retracted the suit. Normally people wouldn’t be able to do that: but Peter had added a safety feature so that certain people could retract his suit if they wanted to. Okoye was pleased to say that she was one of those few trusted people.
She gasped as she looked down at the wound, blood bubbeling out of it. Fear gripped her as she also noticed a tranq embedded into Peter’s skin a few centimetres away from the GSW. That wasn’t good. That wasn’t good at all! He had to stay awake and a tranq dart was not really known for doing that.
She quickly pulled it out and tossed it to the side as she applied pressure to the wound, hoping, praying that the amount of blood that was staining the floor wasn’t as much as it seemed. She glanced back at Peter, who was deathly pale:
‘So how’s your day been?’ she asked. Stupid question, but she had to keep him talking.
‘Eh.’ he said dismissively, with more of a grimace than of a smile: ‘Had this great mission… had a perfect plan… plan got ruined by some random kid… got shot… got electrocuted… both might I add to save the kid’s life… got a tranq dart in me… got to meet you, that’s been fun.’ he added with a goofy smile, making Okoye break character and chuckle, only Peter could turn such a situation into a joke.
‘Yeah, listen, you got to stay awake okay? I know it’s hard with the tranq dart and all…’
‘Meh: not that strong. Couldn’t knock me out on a normal day.’ Peter informed her idly, his eyes wandering about the room, ‘That kid okay?’
‘Sadly, yes.’ Okoye answered, making Peter chuckle:
‘Not his first rodeo?’
‘Daresay he won’t let it be his last either.’ Okoye grumped, ‘Ever since he’s gotten those powers, he’s become even more chaotic and unfocused. It’s driving everyone mad.’ she waited for a response and realised with a start she wasn’t getting one.
Peter’s eyes were half-closed and Okoye gasped. She lightly tapped his cheek: ‘Hey, not the time Pete, not the time.’ he didn’t react. She slapped him softly, but enough for it to sting. His eyes flitted open in annoyance. ‘Pete, you HAVE to stay awake okay?’ Okoye told him, for what seemed the hundredth time.
He nodded sullenly, then opened his mouth to speak: ‘He go’ p’wers?’
‘Yeah, same way you did, only his radioactive spider was brought in excedentally from another multiverse when America Chavez travelled between them.’
Peter nodded softly: ‘He s’r’ do’nt kn’w h’w t’ ‘se th’m.’ he remarked dryly, making Okoye chuckle. Peter’s head lolled back again and Okoye had to slap him out of it again. He looked up at her, his eyes glassy: ‘Sh’r’?’ he questioned, making Okoye’s heart leap to her throat: he could no longer see properly. This was a problem, a huge one.
‘Stay awake.’ she ordered him. She could hear running footsteps close by, orders being barked. Peter’s eyes formed slits.
‘Stay awake!’ she cried desperately, his eyelids hovered, then closed.
‘No, Peter! STAY AWAKE!’ she cried loudly, but he no longer heard her.