The Spider Anomaly

Chapter 1

How am I supposed to explain what just happened to me? Heart’s still racing like crazy, and my head’s this fuzzy mess all over again.

My breaths are shaky, but I'm trying to slow them down, trying to steady myself. Everything around me looks strange, like I’m seeing places, people, things all at once. You can compare it to an acid trip, which I have no experience with by the way. Mon cœur feels like it’s gonna jump out of my chest.

Gotta take it step by step, figure out where I am, and hope that the pieces start fitting back into place.

“Who are you?” someone asks me. From my spinning vision, the person is still standing cautiously from a distance. The voice was male, a bit deep and with a Transatlantic accent. From what I could recall, I had collapsed to the floor, no wonder my knees hurt. I try to speak but my throat feels like it’s been ripped apart.

I’m battered and bruised, and I had just escaped death via weird machine portal. I look up at the only familiar face in the room. Who’s confused, and probably as scared as I am, Miles Morales.

My vision is flooded with different places and faces, like my mind is being transferred to another over and over again. I could barely feel the floor below me, it’s like I’m floating. A piercing sound strains my ears, so many noises. Something that looks like a glitch effect wraps around me. Every time I do hear someone, I can hear them asking my name, how I ended up finding the underground basement of Spider-Man.

Eventually, after what feels like five minutes, my vision clears, I see more faces staring down at me. They're all decked out with similar suits to the Spider-Man I know, one that is the exact replica– another that is white, black and pink–another pure black with a long coat and wearing a fedora.. And what seems to be a young Japanese school girl standing in front of a futuristic robot. I swear I might have hit my head very hard, because I even saw a pig in a Spider-costume, speaking in perfect English.

Did I end up in a different world again? Definitely not, since Miles is still in front of me, looking the same as I remember. Here’s my assumption as I try to assess my situation, just an educated guess you can say.

The group in front of me are all variants of the Spider-Man I know. I mean.. The suits already give it away. They responded to my presence in a way that seemed almost automatic, like they had practiced it. Even the manner of introducing themselves all sounded familiar to me. Their wide expectant eyes tell me they’re expecting me to do the same. They think that I’m another variant, from another world like they are.

I shake my head, my voice is still missing. I’m not. I know I’m not.

My eyes find themselves turning up to look at Miles, I know he knows me. We’re in the same science class, I remember because he’s seated in front of me. Always raising his hand during lectures, trying to make jokes all around the class so they laugh, and every now and then.. Talking to me.

“Colette.” He mumbles my name, I sigh in relief and nod. In normal circumstances, I’d be pissed that he couldn’t recognize me, but judging from how I could barely walk and how I’m bruised all over the place.. I clearly don’t look like the neat person that he knows. My appearance may have been warping around with the “glitch” too.

As I finally calm down, the glitch effect soon goes away with my panic. My legs eventually have enough strength to lift myself up again. I look at everyone in the room though they still look a bit blurry. They had all finished introducing themselves, where they came from, how they came to be bitten by a spider that makes them who they are now, and how they ended up here, in this world.

With some weird comical timing, it seems as though they’re waiting for me to introduce myself just like they did. I speak up, my voice feels weaker but I shake my head, “I’m not doing any of that, I’m not like you guys.”

“Then how’d you find this place then?” The oldest out of them asked me, he was middle aged but had a striking resemblance to Peter Parker, except he was a brunet and not a blonde. “And how did we sense you like we did with each other?” the young Japanese girl asked.

I look at the old woman standing at a distance from the Spider people, she has a soft look in her gaze towards me. She motioned for me to speak for myself.

“It’s a long story.” I hesitate, turning back my gaze to them.

My legs are shaking, and as much as I want to act like I’m alright–something pierces my chest and I exhale deeply. The Japanese girl notices my struggle and grabs my arm, pulling me slowly to a bean bag chair. She looks at me and gives an encouraging smile, her eyes giving a literal sparkle.

“Thanks.” I nod, I relax myself on the chair and look at everyone else awkwardly. I glance at Miles and I can tell even he has nothing to say for this situation. His eyes were narrowed, his mouth closed tightly as though he was afraid to say anything wrong. I look away, embarrassed at my state.

“Go on now, say how you got here! We totally got all the time in the world.” The cartoon pig speaks up, the rest of the group glare at him. I try to hold back a chuckle. A voice that’s a girl’s speaks up, she’s the one wearing the white black and pink suit. She takes off her mask and I recognize her. “We need to know if we can trust you, no offense.” She raised her hands to show her genuine intention. My eyes widen at her face, but I decide to just save my comment for later.

I shrug, “I’ll keep it short for now then.” I sit up on the bean bag, which sinks under my weight, and clear my throat. “For the record, I know all your names. And that plan you got to destroy the Super Collider in Alchemax.” I begin. Though they’re all wearing masks, the eye parts of their masks widen. I look at them for a moment before continuing.

I point at the young Japanese girl, “You’re Peni Parker. You have a psychic link with that robot.” I say, with a soft smile. The robot’s face turns into a big surprised emoticon. “Thanks again for the chair, yeah.” I say awkwardly, Peni smiles politely and nods.

I turn to the person in a full black suit with a long coat and fedora, “You’re Noir. Where you go the wind follows. And you fight Nazis, I like that.” I added a comment to try and ease the situation. It makes Miles and Peni laugh a little. Noir shrugs and nods at my statement. My eyes narrow as I get an idea. “Joli manteau et chapeau, bonne voix aussi.” I add, trying to test everyone’s understanding of French. Only Peni, and her robot understand, they hold back smiles and words when they glance at Noir. Who’s still clueless at my comment.

If you don’t understand what I said either, the translation is “Nice coat and hat, good voice too.”

I glared a little at the middle aged man that resembled Peter Parker, there’s something about the guy that throws me off. “You’re Peter B Parker. I have no comment for you.”

Peter B crossed his arms, I glanced at the pig and said, “I’m still trying to figure out what you are, but you’re Peter Porker.” Spider-Ham shrugs and doesn’t add any other comment like Noir.

I looked at the blonde girl with the half shaved haircut. “You’re Gwen Stacy. You’re the one that got here first. And also, cool haircut.” I compliment her. Gwen brushes her hair consciously and smiles awkwardly. “Thanks, this was totally planned.” she jokes, glancing at Miles in the process.

I smile, and narrow my eyes to look at her expression. “I know, I saw.” The confession was to gauge a reaction from the two. Miles looks at me with wide eyes and mouths the word. “Really?” and I nod again.

The group notices how familiar I seem for Miles, I give him a wave while shrugging. “Miles Morales, we’re in the same physics class.”

A collective “Ooh.” sound echoes around. Gwen speaks up again, “So that means you saw–?” She gestures to her hair.

I snickered, the memory vividly playing in the back of my head. The sight of Miles and his hand stuck in her hair as her pleas turned to threats over letting go of her hair was still clear as day to me. “The question should be who didn’t see it?”

Miles laughs awkwardly now. And I continue, looking at him. My eyes soften with pity as I meet his face. “I saw you and Spider-Man.. I mean Peter Parker, before he died. You weren’t the only one there.”

The atmosphere soon turns cold as they listen to me. I exhale, trying to recollect my thoughts. The glitch warps over me, my voice trembles with it. “I was there too.”

————————————————————

And this is where I think I should begin with my story.. Of how I ended up where I am right now.

I’m Colette Lacroix, a student of Brooklyn Visions Academy. I moved here just recently right before the school year began. I'm planning to take a literature major next year.

I’m half Filipino from my father’s side, then half French from my mother. I have a younger brother named Rye, he’s the best person that I will ever love. I used to live in the Philippines. Around the outskirts of the capital, Manila. But since both of my parents were hired by Social Services, we moved to New York City, and currently live in Brooklyn.

Since my parents are always out and about, I take care of both my brother and myself. I have a few side jobs to keep us well fed, while my parents still handle the rest of our needs. I don’t make many friends, I mean I do but I never have classes with them.

… Unless you count Miles Morales.

We officially met a month after we moved to New York.

_______________________________________

“Hey, psst.”

I heard the seat in front of me squeak as the boy in front of me leaned backward. I look up to see the most active participant I’ve ever seen in physics class, Miles Morales. He had dark short hair and thick eyebrows, he had eyes that resembled amber, and he shone all around with creativity.

He also had smooth brown skin. It was interesting how his hands always looked smooth, no blemishes or scars. Unlike mine that were covered in scabs and scratches. I always caught him doodling or sketching during our classes, though of course, I never told him that. He was tapping on my table lightly, but I was listening to music during our free time and didn’t realize. I notice his hand and I look up, taking out my earphones slowly.

The music fades out and I realize his mouth has been moving and opening. He closes it and seems to be waiting for my response.. Was he telling me a joke?

“What?” I ask, Miles just pauses. A glance at the earphones in my hands answers his question, “Ah, don’t worry. I wasn’t saying anything important.” He reassured me, moving his chair back so it wouldn’t fall.

I look back down to my laptop and type away. I had been trying to come up with a story when one had finally hit me, and as rare as that moment goes, I took the free time as an opportunity to work on it. It’s quiet. So I look up and realize Miles is watching me. “What?” I ask again softly, I lift my consistently sliding glasses up my nose.

Miles repeated himself, “Your name is Colette, right? Colette Lacroix, you just moved here I think..” he tried remembering my introduction from the back of his head.

I put my earphones down and unplugged them out of my laptop. “Yeah, just a month ago.” I smiled, I could tell he was trying to talk to me. It wasn’t easy, given that I don’t talk much. Not like I don’t want to, I sometimes don’t have the time, or the energy too. These are one of the few breaks where I’m not sleeping, maybe that’s why Miles is talking to me now.

I encouraged him to continue by putting away my things. Miles moves away from my desk, and smiles. “Tell me something about yourself, you never speak in class. It’s like.. You’re invisible.”

I raised an eyebrow at his comment and he suddenly corrected himself. He raised his hand up and moved around in an exaggerated manner. “No, wait.. That’s not what I meant, I meant that–” his voice cracks.

“I’m not that memorable, I know.” I nodded lightly, I fumbled with the wires of my earphones and talked to him softly. “Where are you from, Miles?”

He points to himself, “Me? I’m from Brooklyn.”

I glanced at his sketchbook, my words slowly formed. “You.. you do art, right?” I ask. Miles’s eyebrows go up and his eyes widen, he turns to his sketchbook. “Oh, yeah I do a little art here and there.” he answered a bit quietly, putting the sketchbook back in his bag.

I smiled a little and nodded, “That’s nice.”

————————————————————

That was the only interaction I had with him where we exchanged more than two sentences with each other.

It’s about a month after that interaction when for the first time, Miles is late for physics class. I’m not that bothered, since I was distracted by a new face that was sitting near me anyway. She had short hair, and watercolor eyes, blue to be specific. She seemed to keep to herself, like I do. Once Miles does arrive though, he makes a joke about how time is relative and that we might be the ones late, and that he was early. He was referencing Albert Einstein too.

I gave a light snicker at the joke, but the new girl made a laugh loud enough for Miles to notice. I saw the way he looked at her, his eyes all wide and curious. Just like how he looked at me before. He takes the only free seat, in front of me and beside her. I heard the girl, who I heard later was named Gwanda? I know, weird name– say that she liked his joke.

I decided to pay no attention to their conversation at that point.

I didn’t talk to him at all during that class.

The day after, I swear he grew a little. Wait no, it looked like.. A very sudden and noticeable growth spurt.

This happens when I’m on my way to the next class after lunch, and I see him talk to Gwanda again, his face is sweaty. And he awkwardly puts his hand on her shoulder. I can’t hear what he said, but I think he’s hitting on her. It fails miserably, even from afar I could tell, her face goes flat and she just looks at him like she’s just waiting for it to be over.

As Miles tries to pull away from Gwanda’s hair, his hand gets.. Stuck in it? I just think that I’m seeing things, but she’s struggling to move away and Miles is trying to take his hand off her. I squint to make sure I’m seeing this right, my glasses are sliding down again on my nose.

Okay. This is a really weird way of flirting, even for a jokester like Miles.

But soon I hear Gwanda yelling for Miles to let go, it still doesn’t happen. Eventually though, with the whole hallway watching, they make their way to the nurse’s office and she walks out with a half-shaved head and Miles walks out looking all guilty and embarrassed.

I quickly notice that on his way back to the dorm, Miles seems so distracted that he bumps into me and doesn’t seem to recognize me. I don’t approach to ask him though, it’s none of my business. I figure it’s because he’s embarrassed about the entire situation he had with Gwanda. Who wouldn’t be embarrassed after something like that?

But I did spot him after one of my part time jobs shifts had ended later that day, I was on my way back to the dorm before curfew. I see Miles walking alone, his face all scrunched up and without a smile. His hands shoved into his pockets. He seemed to be going somewhere, judging from his determined walk and confident direction.

Out of pure curiosity as to where he was going and why he seemed to be acting differently, I decided to follow him.

I know. Totally stupid of me. But I needed a break, something like a bit of a rebellious decision to make. And I figured, was following Miles Morales so bad?

He goes down into a private subway station, it’s covered in darkness, so I navigate from afar, following the glow coming off his flashlight. Astigmatism sucks, he’s just a faint glowing blob even with my glasses on. He climbs over a gate, and I wait for him to be very far before climbing myself. Underestimating how tall the gate is, understanding fills my head as I climb over. No wonder he took forever to get over this thing.

I pick up the pace and managed to catch up with him. After a few moments, I see a mural that seemed to have been recently painted. I recognized the strokes and the style.. Miles made it. I saw him flashing his light on the ground, staring at something. I hide so he won’t see me. I could barely make out what he’s looking at, but it’s a.. Bug? A spider?

BAM! My train of thought crashes as I hear a loud echo tremble around the tunnel.

Miles runs, as though he knows exactly where it’s coming from, through an abandoned part of the subway. I follow him loosely, hoping to not get lost in the dark. I spot him again, but he’s covering his ears, as though he’s hearing something I can’t. Before I can even figure it out, the glass in front of him shatters. My hand protectively covers my face, a few cuts here and there open up.

When the shards finally stop flying at me, I look up at the damage. The wall had a huge hole gaping out now. Revealing a hidden laboratory, a huge machine that looked like a particle collider I saw during class once filled the air in front of me.

I can’t stop and stare, because a very familiar face crashes past me. Spider-Man. The one and only superhero that I’ve heard about ever since my move to New York. He swung by me a few times, waved to me at least once. A big figure, who I immediately recognize to be the Green Goblin–who wouldn't recognize a big green monster running around–chasing after him.

After my mind screamed for a good thirty seconds, my body moved to a hiding spot. Miles seems to have spotted them too, but instead of hiding, he is quickly caught into the fight by the Green Goblin. Falling into the entirely metal covered space.

From where I can see and figure out, Spider-Man is stopping this particle collider from operating, and the Green Goblin was stopping him from stopping that. After eyeing the place for a few minutes, seeing an observation deck and several scientists and staff working away I noticed something. “Alchemax?”

Miles tries to escape the fight but almost falls down the area where the Green Goblin has crashed and destroyed part of the area. I try to lean over to see, but I fall out too. A shriek escapes my lips but it’s quickly muffled by the noise around me.

Luckily, I had landed on some cushioned area for some delicate equipment. A few cracks faintly make themselves known to me. Whoops. I’m about to run out and try to look for Miles when Spider-Man beats me to it.

The two land at the top of some scaffolding and stare at each other for a moment, before I hear very weakly, the words.. “You’re just like me. I thought I was the only one.”

My eyes narrow, what the heck does that mean? From where I’m hiding, I only catch the end of their conversation, “If you stick around I can show you the ropes.. I just need to destroy this big machine real quick before the space-time continuum collapses. Don’t move.”

My eyes widen in realization and everything clicks.

I realize the dead spider on the floor wasn’t just some random dead bug. It did look pretty funny..

“Diyos ko..” I exhaled at the extraordinary thought.

Was Miles bitten by a spider that made him just like Spider-Man? I could almost slap myself for making such an assumption.

The superhero himself swings out and fights the Green Goblin. I watch from afar, I think he’s about to succeed when someone new interrupts. He’s dressed in all purple, has anti gravity equipment, and has claws as weapons. Eventually, Spider-Man is grabbed by the Green Goblin. The ground trembles, and the particle collider begins to work. I hear someone singing and the sound of a pen clicking in a rhythm, and from the observatory deck that I could barely see.. I see Kingpin.

I hear something that Spider-Man is saying to him, that if he uses the particle collider, now named Super Collider, to get his family back, it’ll destroy the space-time continuum and the world with it. I have no idea how I can hear them over the noise, but right now, I’m not complaining. Kingpin stays firm, and activates the Super Collider anyway. I scoff and roll my eyes. Stubborn New Yorkers.

The entire place is shaking and I could barely hold on to anything. The Super Collider soon begins forming big particles everywhere, a big void of nothingness is in the middle. Spider-Man, who is now being grabbed into it by the Green Goblin, is head first into it. The gravity soon begins to change where I am, and I begin floating.

“No, no no!” I panic, losing my grip on the construction equipment and getting pulled into the void too. A part of Spider-Man’s head seems to be glitching, now that I see it. But the speed at which I’m moving makes me unnoticeable to anyone. And whether I liked it or not..

I was soon consumed by darkness and engulfed in a world of light and confusion.

I was pulled into the Super Collider’s portal. Webs of universes form around me, and at first I only see Spider-Man in different forms. But quickly enough, as though the place detected my presence, I soon see variations of myself as Spider-Man, or at least connected to the superhero in some way now.

I look at my hands and I see myself glitching, like I’m an old video game character experiencing a bug. At first, the experience wasn’t painful, like being lightly tickled with a feather.

But as seconds pass, my head begins to feel pierced. A pounding repeats on every area of my brain. Memories and thoughts that don’t belong to me soon enter my head.

They all feel like they’re me, but I know these thoughts and memories don’t belong to me at all. I look at myself and notice my complexion turning from pale, blue, normal, glitched, sketched, you name it. I was turning into different textures, speaking in different accents and even transforming into different genders at some point.

I try to find a way out, as I’m still floating into the void of webs that probably belong to Spider-Man. These feelings take hours to consume me. It’s quiet, the other end of the portal that had pushed me inside was gone for quite a while now.

I’m slowly accepting that I’m stuck here when a rumble from the distance catches my attention, I begin to be pulled in a certain direction.

I soon feel myself being pulled out. I should feel relieved, yes. But my lungs begin to squeeze, my heart begins to beat and my body begins to bruise and hurt itself. Something seems to be crawling on my neck and I feel a sharp sting.

What could possibly be here to bite me? I pay the sting no mind, I have bigger things to worry about like– how am I supposed to escape this void of endless cobwebs and strings?

A strong force pulls me out, and I’m blinded with a flash of light. I crash into what sounds to be metal and I’m pretty sure I broke something. My body suddenly processes the world around it and inflicts me with all the pain I’ve ever felt in my life. I wince in pain and stand up. My vision clears and I realize I’m back at the hidden subway station, the Super Collider is powered off now. The area is dark, and it’s quiet. How long was I in there? I wonder.

Reaching for whatever I could find, I made a painful climb back to where the Green Goblin had broken the wall. I found my bag untouched and put it over my shoulder. Miraculously, it doesn’t hurt. Only then do I realize how wrecked my glasses are, no wonder everything was cloudy and in broken parts. Taking them off, my eyes were completely fine. Clearer than ever, even.. Did the portal alter my eyesight too? I blink a few times and exhale, trying to process things.

“What do I do?” I mumble, I look at my hands and the same glitching effect covers them. There’s no way I’m going back to the dorms in this state. My ears suddenly ring and I close my eyes, memories of a house that I don’t know of pops up in my mind. It seemed to be half an hour away from the city cathedral.

I look at my clothes and realize how dirty and ripped they are. Opening my bag, I dig through my things and feel some fabric. “Thank you past Colette for always bringing extra clothes.” I exhaled in relief. With a fresh set of clothes, I deal with the next issue. “OW!” I shriek, my left foot all twisted. I fall to the floor with nothing to hold on to. “Ugh..” I reach for a metal pole, I put my weight onto it and lift myself up. This should do for now.

I trace back my steps from when I followed Miles, out of the room, into the mural, and back out of the abandoned subway station. I feel stares on me as I limp my way through, but knowing New York, their reactions could've been worse.

I find myself walking towards the cathedral, but then I notice crowds standing all around, I look up at the city’s displays and I see Spider-Man. Now pronounced dead, with his identity to be revealed as Peter Parker. They even held a funeral. If I wasn’t so numb with shock, my mind would probably flip around like a rollercoaster in an attempt to process this.

How long was I gone?

Everyone around me is wearing Spider-Man masks, or colors, anything they could probably grab to commemorate the city’s only superhero. Ironically enough, I was wearing his colors too, a knitted red shirt and blue denim pants.

It wouldn’t hurt to listen. Walking through the crowd now will only hurt me further. A recording of Mary Jane on the day of his funeral plays on the city’s displays. “My favorite thing about Peter is that he made us each feel powerful. We all have powers of one kind or another. But in our own way, we are all Spider-Man. And we’re all counting on you.” My mind strays to Miles, he must be here somewhere.. Listening too. Knowing him, he’d take her statement to heart.

As I look at the memorial made for Spider-Man, my eyes begin to blur and my head aches again.

“Spider-Man!” my voice calls out for him in my head, “Hey dude! Where have you been?” Another voice of mine speaks up.

“You’re.. Spider-Man?” a mumble escapes from somewhere else. They all sound like me. I must’ve known this guy in all those other worlds. Shame, how would those Colettes feel about this Earth’s Spider-Man being dead?

I shake my head strongly and the voices fade. People begin to walk away, but the pain paralyzes me that I stay stuck staring at the memorial. My mind went in circles, trying to figure out what had just happened to me. I wasn’t dead, I knew that. People bumped into me and looked at me like I was real. A glitch wraps around me again, and I’m definitely not the same person I was before entering that void. Something itches on the back of my neck and I remember the bite I’ve gotten.

I grab my phone and take a photo of the back of my neck. It’s a nasty bump that’s all red and swollen. “Damn.” I frown, deleting the photo immediately. I should probably search up what kind of bug bit me when I find my way home. I look at my hands and they’ve stopped glitching. What was this glitch anyway? A weight in my chest emerged as my thoughts ran around and around. This glitching thing couldn’t possibly be stuck to me now would it? It was probably an aftereffect of getting into that Super Collider particle portal thing.

The same vision that flashes in my eyes, the same suburban house just nearby. “Fine..” I give in, with how messed up recent events were, I figured that listening to my consciousness wasn’t the worst idea ever.

I look down on my left foot and test it without the metal pole. Tipping over and something pierces into my ankle–nope nope! I grab the metal pole and rest myself on it. It’s still as bad as it was earlier.

I made my way down the sidewalk, which was very slow. It's actually impressive how I’m still moving, and walking to the house that keeps appearing in my head. I somehow know where I’m going, like I’m being drawn into it.

The house soon appears in my line of sight, and I hurry myself towards it. I noticed gifts and Spider-Man merchandise, this was a bit convincing to me now that my mind is now connected to the superhero. Doubt grows in my chest and I slow down, is this really a good idea? Just knocking on someone’s door and expecting the best?

“Bahala na.” I sigh as I make it to the front door.

I lift my right hand and knock lightly. “Hello?” I call out, I hear movement from inside. The door opens and a soft light embraces me. I meet eyes with an elderly woman, and I suddenly recognize the resemblance. “I’m sorry, but no more visitors. I appreciate the condolences.” The woman smiles at me softly before closing the door.

She’s a relative of Peter Parker. I’m about to just let the door close in front of me when the glitch effect suddenly happens. I scream in pain and sink to her front porch on my knees. I cover my ears as I try to drown out the voices and noises. The old woman takes a step back with surprise, “Hey– What’s going on with you kid?” she asked with concern.

I take in deep breaths, my vision is tricking me. I’m not standing on the front porch now, I’m in many places now. The middle of the road, at home, at school, somewhere deserted.. So many places that my mind couldn’t even keep up. The moment the movement slows down and disappears, I pull myself up, grabbing the metal pole I dropped.

“You’re alright now..” the woman reassures me, pulling me carefully by the hand and guiding me inside. Clearly my predicament has put me in her favor.

“I’m here.. This is real..” I mumbled. I open my eyes slowly to see myself in the living room. Some photos of Peter Parker and the old woman are placed in frames all over the place. “I’m Aunt May.” She introduces herself as she passes me a glass of water. She rubs my back and looks at me with concern.

“Are you.. One of them?” she asks, I look at her. Her expression seems conflicted but she looks like she knows something. “What?”

Aunt May points to all the Spider-Man merchandise, “Are you like him?” I shake my head, “No.. I’m not.” I exhale, swallowing the pit in my throat.

Aunt May listens to my reply and nods slowly, she doesn’t believe me, I can tell.

“Let me take you somewhere.” She pulls me up slowly and guides me to her backyard. I see a shed and look at her. Aunt May gestures for me to go ahead, opening the shed doors for me. An unusually bright light comes out from inside, I step in and realize it’s a lift. She follows me inside and the lift starts moving down, underground.

I suddenly feel familiar in this place, and my glitch wraps all over me, in a calmer way, as though my body realizes where I am. Aunt May judges my reaction and adds, “I think you’re in the right place.” she smiles.

“What’s your name, dear?” she asks as we go lower. I soon see suits and more suits that belong to Spider-Man, and just at the bottom I see a group of five people talking. There’s only one who has their mask off, and another isn’t wearing a suit at all.

The back of his head looks familiar, like I’ve seen it many times before. That hair.. That skin stained with faded spray paint and markers.. “I’m Colette Lacroix.” I answer Aunt May in a polite tone. She nods again, the lift is all the way down. And I wait for her to walk ahead, she shakes her head.

“Go on, I’ll be right here.” she tells me. I look back at her and she uses her hands to tell me to go. Taking a step forward and off the lift, I approach the group of five facing their backs on me. They seem to be discussing something intensely.

My head suddenly rings the closer I get to them, like my senses are processing their presence. Their heads move up and turn at me immediately and simultaneously. It almost freaks me out, I take a step back. They’re all staring at me now.

My eyes are drawn to the man whose mask is off, and my heart skips a beat. He’s the spitting image of Peter Parker, but his hair is brown, he has a little bit of a beard and looks older. Troubled even. His eyes meet mine and suddenly I’m sent on another trip to pain plaza.

The glitch wraps around me and memories of his face looking at mine flash. I hear voices on top of voices, noises fighting with one another to be heard.

“Stop, stop!” I gasp, sensing someone move near me. I raise my hand, “Don’t–I don’t know what this thing going on might do to you.”

The person approaching me backs off.

The glitch fades as quickly as it comes, I’m taking deep breaths, trying to ignore the pain that the effect takes over me every time.

————————————————————

“And.. that’s how I ended up here.” I exhale, I look up at everyone. Peter B is already rubbing his chin, thinking deeply. Gwen is avoiding eye contact with me and Miles is just stunned.

“You recognized me from the back of my head?” He asked, his voice cracking a little. I frown and bury my face in my hands. I speak through them as my face is covered. “I tell you all of that and the only thing you got from it was that I recognized you from the back of your head?”

Miles chuckles awkwardly, “Maybe?”

My ears turn red and I look up, glaring at him. “Bon sang Miles!” I exclaim, I stand up and quickly sit back down again, a glitch wraps around me for a few seconds to emphasize my words. Spider-Noir’s eyes widen while Peni giggles. Gwen and Peter B turn to Miles for an answer, “She’s half French.”

Gwen shrugs and Spider-Ham just nods. “I never heard her speak like that though.” Miles adds, looking at me as though I was burning. It definitely felt like I was. I close my eyes and take deep breaths.

Peni clears her throat and everyone turns their attention to her. “You mentioned something about a bite.. Can we see it?” she asked. Everyone soon realized this little detail and turned back to me. I felt the bump in my neck and pulled my hair up. The whole group walked towards me and my back, Peni held my neck gently while Gwen brushed out some hair blocking what they had to see.

Spider-Ham spoke up, “That’s a spider bite alright.”

I feel a pang of surprise hit me. Hands go on both of my shoulders and Peni shakes me around. “That means you’re one of us!” She smiles, sparkles and hearts float around her head.

I try to be polite, really I do. But the idea of being like all of these people, like Spider-Man, freaks me out. “Sacrebleu! No, no you must be wrong!” I say, standing up. The group spreads out and gives me some space. The only one who stays is Miles. He’s looking at me with wide and curious eyes, just like a deer’s who’s entranced by something. He smiles slowly, filling up with some emotion. “I’m not the only one that’s from this world who has spider-powers.” he mumbles.

I shake my head. “No, no Miles.” I raise my hands. I look at Gwen and Peter B. “I’m not like you guys. I don’t want to be. This must be just a coincidence, maybe my mind is just connected to you guys because of the Super Collider.” I reasoned desperately. Peter B just shrugs and puts a hand on my shoulder. “You don’t really have a choice in this now kid.” he says firmly as though it’s something I should just accept.

I turn to Miles and gesture to Peter B, “Are you hearing this?”

Miles nods, somehow calm. “Yeah, I made a promise to Spider-Man that I’d stop Kingpin and destroy the Super Collider, I’m not going back on my promise.”

He takes a step forward to me, enthusiastic. “You can help me shut down the Super Collider so everyone else can go home, we can do it Colette.” he encourages me. But he notices the fear and confusion on my face that his later words fade. I move Peter’s hand out of the way.

“I’m not helping you. I.. I’m not like you guys.” I close my eyes. I feel a hand go on my shoulder. Gwen talks to me as she turns to face me halfway. “You are. We sensed you just like we did with each other. You wanna test it out?” she asked.

I opened my eyes and sighed, I looked at Spider-Noir and Spider-Ham, they were nodding along. “Won’t hurt to try.” I say hesitantly. Peni claps enthusiastically and so does her big robot. Miles gives a soft scoff of approval.

“Hold on now, the girl needs her own web shooter.” Aunt May speaks up, grabbing my arm and putting it on my right arm. Peter chuckled, “How many of those do you have?”

“I spent most of my afternoons making spares for my Peter, he broke a lot of them.” she explained. I felt the cold metal wrap around my arm and I looked at the webshooter.

I flick my wrist out and a web shoots out, the entire group moves away swiftly as the web hits the wall. I try to pull it back and end up taking a piece of the wall with me. A loud crack echoes. “I’m so sorry!” I exclaim, putting the piece of debris down on the floor awkwardly. Aunt May just laughs at this lightly. I hear a few snickers from Miles and Gwen from behind me.

I look to see Spider-Ham suddenly pull out a big and exaggerated list of requirements to fit the description of being Spider-Man. He checks one box out, with a comically big pencil. It’s blocked by his large head–sorry not sorry– so I have no idea what’s next.

Peni’s robot grabs me and lifts me up. Peni smiles sweetly at me when I look at her for answers, “This won’t hurt.”

What? I’m flipped around and thrown upwards, I shriek and expect to smack right into the ceiling. But my hands and feet cling onto it, and I’m perfectly fine and land as though I was on the ground. Somehow, my sprained ankle doesn’t hurt in this state.

Blood rushes through my head as I’m looking down below them. Spider-Noir nods in approval and gives a thumbs up, “Nicely done!” Spider-Ham checks out another box.

“Alright, get down from there.” Peter B waves his hand down at me. I try to pull away but I’m stuck. I move my body and use my weight to try and release myself from the spider-like grip. “I can’t! I’m stuck!” I shriek, Miles speaks up this time. “Try to calm down! Think of something that helps you relax!”

He takes a glance at Peter B and smirks, he must be referencing some inside joke. Peter B just scoffs and shakes his head.

“Fine!” I responded. I inhale and exhale. I picture myself at home, cuddled up in the bed to watch a good movie and eat a whole bucket of ice cream for myself.

I exhale again, my fingers loosening their grip. Same with my feet. What’s left of myself attached is my right hand, I dangle off the ceiling. “Drop down!” Gwen says, I push myself off and land safely. I rub my sprained left ankle and wince. Miles holds my arm to help me, Gwen holds the other arm too. “Thanks.”

Spider-Ham yells, “NEXT!”

Miles and Gwen turn behind me and run away like they’re avoiding something. I’m left hopping awkwardly. What in the–A feeling sends my head ducking down, a fedora flies through the air right where my head was. I raised my head up and turned to see Spider-Noir hatless,

“Apologies, had to use the element of surprise.”

I glared at him but I shook my head. “It’s fine, monsieur Noir. Au moins ce n’était pas une arme.” I spit out a little bit of French. I usually do this as a way to keep myself calm. Somehow, my response gives another check in a box for Spider-Ham, “Comedic. Ironically.” he says in a sassy tone. He doesn’t like me.

I frown and roll my eyes, “Is there anything else you want me to do?”

Spider-Ham shrugs, “The last thing is to test your strength.” he makes a punching movement. I smile a little and look at the group. “Who am I hitting?”

Peter B, Gwen, and Miles step back with their hands up or their heads shaking. Peni offers her palm, along with her robot, I shake my head this time. “No thanks.”

The only person left was Spider-Noir.

He lifts his fists up, his sleeves falling back a little. Noir tilts his head, “Hit me all you want, doll.”

Doll? I raise an eyebrow, I shake it off, he must call every girl that way. I close my hands into fists, I throw a straight punch, seeing him dodge.

Hm, let’s put my self-defense training to use. I pretend to punch straight again, I feint, throwing a hook with my left hand, stunning him. A mix of a gasp and a groan emerges from Noir as he recovers. Spider-Ham narrows his eyes, but checks the box. I put my hands down, and I mumbled an apology to Noir who’s holding his jaw now.

“So, what was the point of all of that?” I turn my head back to Spider-Ham.

“Well, as much as you want to deny it, you’re just like us.” He flips the long list of qualifications he had somehow managed to write out within the time he was speaking. I narrow my eyes at the list as I read it. He had written some ridiculous comments beside them:

Has a spider bite (weird that it’s on the neck though)

Super strength (not surprised she tore out a piece of the wall)

Can stick to walls (fairly decent on her control)

Spider-senses (should’ve thrown one of my hammers instead of Noir’s hat)

Can make a decent joke (I’m surprised she got this one.)

Can hit a guy pretty well (Thank God Noir volunteered.)

“So if anyone were to fake these, you’d be convinced they’re just like you?” I was quick to criticize his list. Spider-Ham scoffed and wrote something else, I read it. “Can sense other spider-people.”

My eyes search for an answer in this additional detail, “What? Did you not feel the fuzzy flicker in your body when you saw us? A shiver that feels familiar?” he said in a quite judgemental manner.

He wasn’t wrong, I did have a fuzzy feeling go through me– like goosebumps running through my skin. My frown gives him a clear enough response, so the animated spider pig leaves me alone.

“So, what's the point if I’m like you guys? It’s not like I’m obligated to help you out, there’s clearly plenty of help to go around.” I reasoned with them, trying to find an understanding gaze amongst them.

Pity, they pity me like I have no choice but to be like them. Miles has a look that is a mix of sympathy and guilt, like he has no choice but watch this happen to me. My eyes narrow, I scoffed in disbelief.

“Say something, any of you. I’m looking like an idiot here.”

Peter B spoke up again, “I get it kid, you wanna avoid all the responsibilities that come with the superpowers. We’ve all gone down that route, but we can’t afford to let you do that, we need all the help we can–” he places a hand on my shoulder. Uhm, okay.

“And the only way home is back through that collider gizmo. The only trouble is–” Spider-Noir adds, Spider-Ham also mentions as he pops out from behind me.

“One of us has to stay behind and destroy it.”

The basement goes quiet for a second before everyone says “I’ll do it.” in unison. My eyes narrow. Seriously, what was it with superheroes and self-sacrifice? Miles interrupts them again as he raises his hands up, “No, no, no. You guys don’t get it.” Peni’s eyebrows furrow and her hand is extended in question. “Don’t get what?” Peni asks.

A collective shriek of pain echoes around, everybody except Miles and I are surrounded by the glitch I usually possess and sink to the ground. I hesitate to help the two people nearest to me, Peni and Noir.

The sound of shrieks of pain echoes the basement in almost a second after in response. Everybody except Miles and I are surrounded in the glitch that I’ve usually been in. They sink to the ground for a few seconds, the pain piercing through their very beings.

I’m almost tempted to grab Peni and Noir, the two closest to me to help them stand, but I hesitate. My hands flicker with the glitch as I inch closer, I pull away.

The glitch warps away as quickly as it plagues them, my hands wrap around Peni’s shoulders as I lift her up.

Miles continues his statement as he looks at everyone’s pained faces. “None of you can stay here. If you stay here you die.”

He paused and his eyes brightened up the same way they always did when he was sure of himself. Curved upwards with confidence. “I’m the guy that’s gonna turn it off. And I’m gonna get you all home before I do.” he exhaled.

Miles let out a soft sigh as he looked at the ground. “Look, I made a promise. So, I have to keep it.”

My eyes soften at his words, poor guy. He was too determined, he was definitely screwing himself over.

Though he sounds quite determined, my eyes wander at everyone’s faces. No one, except for Peter B, is convinced that he can actually pull it off.

“Who are you again?” Noir says cluelessly, I could almost scoff in defense for Miles before Peter interrupts.

“This is Miles! And he’s gonna save the multiverse.” he insists with his own confident tone as he responded to Noir.

Miles nods and gives a small smile. “Yeah, man.”

Peter B walks over to him and places his hand on his shoulder like he was showing him off. “This kid can turn invisible. Watch this.” he let him go to look at Miles expectantly. “He can do it now.”

All gazes, including mine, are at him. Miles grunts and looks like he’s trying to release something. Nothing happens. He puts his hands on his pockets, he gives a shrug. “I can’t do it on command.”

“He can’t do it in command– but it is cool.” Peter B almost echoes sarcastically, his smile strained. I get it, he’s trying to convince them, but no one’s buying it.

Gwen and Spider-Ham are frowning, Peni’s just leaning her head on her knee, and Noir is just staring with his hands inside the pockets of his long coat. “Show ‘em the zappy thing, Miles.” Peter B encouraged him. Miles widens his palms and grunts again.

“Can’t do it on command.” he repeats. “He can’t do it on command.” Peter B says so proudly as if that was the goal with a laugh in his voice.

“But he can do so much more. What else do you do?” Peter B turns to him again to try and find more reasons for the group to hear him out. I could almost laugh at the scene if I didn’t pity Miles. He wanted to help, they just didn’t want it. I found it stupid, the more the merrier, right?

“Just those two things.” Miles answers. “Just those two things..” Peter B exhaled.

Noir shakes his head a bit. “Aw man.” he exhaled softly from beside me.

Everyone’s heads turn to Gwen as she speaks up, her arms are still crossed in defense. “Look, I’ve seen him in action. He’s got.. potential.” She tries to be a bit positive just like Peter B expects everyone else to be. She looks at Miles and her gaze is a bit understanding. “I think he’s gonna get us home.”

The two share a long glance that I feel the need to look away from.

Noir speaks up and takes a step forward towards Miles. “Okay, little fella, Kingpin’s gonna send a lot of mugs after ya–and I’m talkin hard boys, real biscuit boxers–Can you fight them all off at once?” he was emphasizing his words with his fists as his tone raised.

I’m trying my best not to snicker at his gestures, I find them quite entertaining. Miles lifts his fists out of surprise. “I haven’t actually fought anyone–”

Noir suddenly declares “Surprise attack!” before sweeping Miles off his feet.

He lands roughly on the floor, I take a step back. Even Peni joins in, her eyes smaller with judgment. “Can you rewire a mainframe while being shot at?” she tosses some sort of device as he stands up.

Miles and I frown in confusion. “Can I what–?” he asks in disbelief as I try to figure out what’s the purpose of even rewiring a mainframe for this situation.

“Show me!” Peni insists as she points her finger, Noir does another surprise attack and knocks him off his feet yet again. Gwen approaches and leans down at him. “Can you swing and flip with the grace of a dancer?” she adds as they shove Miles into the hot seat.

My eyes widen, the tension is high, they’re surrounding him. No one waits, they ask and ask and ask. Their questions fly around rapidly, their voices jumble together.

“Can you be strong?” Gwen continues. Peni leans in with a dramatically dark expression. “Ruthless?”

“Disciplined?” Gwen adds yet again with a pointed finger.

Miles is still stuck on the ground, his eyebrows scrunched together as he looks at them. “I don’t know.. Maybe!” he says in a flustered manner.

“Show me some moxie soldier!” Noir fuels the fire with his own. Gwen goes near and helps him stand as she speaks. “Above all, no matter how many times you get hit, can you get back up?”

Her hands close into fists and she kicks him on the chest–every time he does get up–he’s knocked down by a fist, hammer, or foot. The air is tight and the place is trembling with disorienting sounds. They’re repeating the same words, telling him he can do it, he can get up again. But I find it useless. It’s hopeless.

Miles doesn’t know what he’s doing, and they’re targeting him for it.

I turn to the only one not pressing him, Peter B. He has a frown on his face. “Guys, cool it.”

They don’t hear him as they urge Miles to get up again.

“Come on! You can do it!” Peni lifts her hands up.

“Get up, Miles!” Noir adds with his own gesture.

Gwen’s arms are crossed as her eyes narrow with frustration, “Come on, Miles. Get up!”

The very air trembles, and my vision floods with red and blue. I don’t know if it’s just me, but the pressure is almost shaking Miles and his spirit. In the end, he just sinks to the ground and covers his face in shame.

Everyone else, including myself, just stares at him. I look at them, and I’m tempted to lift him up myself. The frustration in him is quite obvious, it burns as an aura around him.

My hand pulls back and I step away again, closer to Aunt May than with the others. I shouldn’t involve myself in this, this is his journey to struggle with, not mine.

As he lifts himself up again, the group walks away as Gwen pulls Peter B aside. Noir gives Miles a shrug before turning back to them as they gathered. “You need to be more honest with yourself about this..” I could hear Gwen whisper. “He’s not ready. It’s obvious!” She adds emphasis. Noir places a hand on his shoulder. “There’s no way, he’s just a kid.” His voice sounds pitiful.

I turn back to Miles, who’s listening as he’s lying on the ground. He notices my gaze and I mumble, I try to make my gaze not as pitiful as it really was.

“Miles..” I find myself stepping forward to help him up.

Gwen’s voice echoes faintly. “If he can’t do this, we have to stay and do it for him.”

Noir notices us listening when he hears me. “He’s looking right at us while we talk about him.” he brings up before turning his head away. My hands wrap around his arms as I lift him up, I brush him off and give him a nod. “You’re fine. You did good Miles, really. They’re all jerks who can’t deal with newbies.” I reassure him.

Miles just shakes his head, he gives a pat on my shoulder before he disappears completely.

My eyes widen in surprise, he can turn invisible after all. An exhale leaves my lips as I shake my head. The sound of the elevator lift echoes and everyone turns to realize that he’s leaving. “Miles?” Peter calls for him, the rest look back at me.

“I’m not stopping him.” I say stubbornly, crossing my arms.

Peter B has a mixed expression between pride and disappointment. “You see that? He can, uh..he can turn invisible.”

I just shake my head. The group turns to me and my gaze returns to my injured foot. I wanna leave, but I know I can’t. Too many questions if I go home or back to the dorms. Should I call? It’s the weekend luckily, so no one would worry about my absence.. Wait no.

Rye would. My eyes widen again and I search for my phone in my bag. Peter B approaches me and puts a hand on my shoulder. “You okay kid? Your friend Miles just left.”

My hands are buried deep into my backpack as I respond. “Your buddies were too harsh on him. You could’ve stopped them earlier, you know?” I retorted, if Miles wasn’t going to stand up for himself, I might as well do it for him.

He lets out a soft sigh and pulls his hand away. “Got a way home?” He ignores my statement. My hand feels the smooth surface of my phone, I take it out and groan. The dead battery symbol blinks.

I shake my head. “No, I don’t.”

Aunt May approaches me and grabs my arm. “You stay with me until you can walk on your own. I’m not sending a teenager into the city alone to fend for herself.” She said firmly, she glanced down at my foot that’s beginning to swell up.

My eyes are still locked on my dead phone, I need to call Rye. Hopefully he’s sleeping over at his friend’s place again, I still need to pay Charlie’s mom back for his last visit..

Peni stretches her hand out towards my phone, “My robot could probably charge that up in two minutes in full.” she smiles. It’s weird how quickly they move on after what they did to Miles, but I don’t think I should have an opinion on this anyway.

With how expectant Peni’s look is giving me, I don’t think I have a choice with what she does to my phone, I gotta call Rye and make sure he’s safe anyway. After handing the phone over to Peni, she rushes over to her robot and goes inside it. In the corner of my eye, she’s holding two things. My phone, and a flash drive. Must be the goober they were talking about.

My head is pounding from the situation again as it hits me. Miles is superhuman, and now so am I. The glitch warps around me as my thoughts flutter, it’s not as painful of a feeling as before, but it’s still bothersome. My mind still feels split, like I left a piece of it back at Super Collider. There is an occasional vision, where I see things that I’m not familiar with.

Besides my worry over Rye, a part of my heart aches a little in sympathy for Miles. He must be taking it harder than I was. He has the responsibility that I have the privilege to pass on. Should I have shouldered the burden?

Noir must’ve noticed my intense expression that usually washes over my face when I think. Mom says it’s a mix of a frown and a pout. I feel a hand again on my shoulder.

These spider people and their touching.. I lift my head up at him and eye his fedora again. “Got someone you need to check on?” he asks in a polite voice as he has his hand on his waist.

I still find his voice endearing enough to give a nod, and a bit of a sigh too. “Yeah my little brother Rye. He’s seven and lives with me.. I just hope he’s fine. I don’t know how long I’ve been gone since this happened..”

Noir just nods as he pulls me along as everyone gets on the lift. Aunt May’s holding me with my other arm since my left ankle is still sprained. It’s like he’s trying to console me, or whatever. It’s hard to read someone when they’re wearing a mask, goggles and a hat all at once.

Aunt May’s entire living room is cramped with everyone trying to find a seat, Noir pulls me down to the couch and pulls out a rubix cube. Still all jumbled up. “I’d offer you guys my place if we’re cramming up the space.”

“No no, we wouldn’t do that to you.” Gwen refuses.

I frowned. “It’s the least I could do for not involving myself with your plan with the Super Collider.” I added. An exhale left my lips and I rubbed my eyes. “Besides, Rye needs some company for once. And you guys need to help me learn how to hide these powers. Not use.” she looked at them. They went silent again, I must’ve struck a nerve.

“You’re set on not joining us then?” Peni asks, peeking out from inside her robot. A nod is all I give, I have no more reasons to offer them.

Simply put, with or without these powers, I’m not getting myself into trouble for a group of people I’ve just met. They’re nice and all, but.. If I see a way out. I’ll leave. If I can’t offer help, I might as well make up for it in shelter. I eye the group carefully, all in different suits and worlds, yet they work in unison like they have been doing it for years. They’re a team of people who are used to working alone. It’s almost a miracle that none of them are fighting with one another.

Peter B clears his throat and nods. He pats my head. “Will do kid, let’s just wait for the goober to be fixed. Can’t promise you’ll get anything good though.”

My eyes narrowed and my gaze returned to my hands, flickering with the glitch as it wrapped around me. Noir clears his throat. “You gotta get your mind off your brother for now. It won’t do any good for you to worry while sitting around.” he tells me. I just watch him as he shuffles on the couch, his weight pulls us down.

Noir shows me the cube and spins it around with his hands. “Mind helping me figure this thing out? This world’s got more than two colors and I’m in the mood for some learning.”

I eye him and raise an eyebrow. “You’re colorblind?”

He turns his head a bit away from me to look at the rubix cube. “I’m not. I can see ‘em, the colors, I just don’t know the names.”

My eyes soften and I exhale. Have to kill time anyway. “Get ready to take some notes then, you’re missing out on a lot.”