sneaky visit
Miles stood in Peter B’s kitchen while him, Gwen and Hobie spoke in another room. He waited far away from the door as Gwen specifically instructed him to do.
When Miles suggested the visit, the two teen spiders had seemed taken aback, but they didn’t deny it. They simply said that it was an invites-only society and they had to talk to Peter. So that’s what they were currently doing, scheming with Peter, and Miles wasn’t invited.
He stared around Peter’s apartment, it was really nice and bright. MJ had obviously picked it out, and decorated it, and held it together. He sipped his water MJ had handed him and focused his attention on the room. What could they possibly be talking about that was so secret Miles couldn’t know? Before he knew it, he was leaning his ear on the door.
He heard Gwens muffled voice through the door. “Miguel would never allow him in, he hates him… Plus he doesn’t even know we visited him, and he can not know.” Confusion sparked inside him, what could this Miguel guy possible dislike about him, they never even met?
“I say we sneak him. Make him blend in, yeah?” Hobie suggested
Things went quiet for a moment, probably considering the idea. “I have an extra red, blue and white suit I grew out of.” Suggested Peter
“Anybody have any other ideas?” Questioned Gwen, she sighed at the silence and continued “Well I guess we’re sneaking him in.”
Her last sentence rapidly grew louder and closer, before Miles could react the door flung open, pushing him out of the way. He chuckled nervously as Gwen gave him an annoyed look “So I guess you heard the plan?”
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Miles wore Peter’s old suit, it reeked of sweat and left him covered in baby powder, but it worked. He looked just like Peter. It was and odd feeling, looking at your reflection and feeling like you’re staring at someone else.
He turned back when he noticed the room go quiet, Peter opened up a portal, it flashed brightly and called Miles' name with its shifting shapes.
"Ya ready Miles?" Called out Hobie over the loud buzzing of the portal, shortly before giving Miles a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"More than ever" replied Miles before slipping on his mask and diving in.
Bright colours blinded him before quickly adjusting to his new environment. Miles was shooting through a tube of hexagons leading to an other portal. Before he had time to situate himself, he was already crashing through into the new dimension, he prepared himself for a hard landing when he crashed into a soft cushion. Apparently the spider-society had a room designated for travelling, which consisted of a big blue foam cushion, it reminded Miles of the foam pits at the trampoline parks his parents brought him to... He brushed off the thought and started scanning his surroundings.
His friends made their way into the comfortable landing pad slowly as miles got off and settled onto his feet. The ceilings were incredibly tall, the whole place was filled with natural light and windows. Miles was amazed at the high technology of the thing, everything seemed to be so advanced.
Gwen grabbed onto his shoulder, motioning him ahead. "I know it's hard to take in but you're supposed to look like you've been here a million times."
"Oh right, my bad!" He kept walking, keeping his glare forward but still appreciating the impressive technology and architecture from under his mask.
The society was so much bigger than Miles thought, there had to be hundreds of spider-people just roaming the halls.
They passed by training simulators, a grand entrance, a huge passage way with pillars coming from every direction and so much more. People kept calling Miles 'Peter', he simply waved back, too scared to say a word.
Miles' fun was cut short when his friends turned into a boring, shadowy hallway, blocking his view of the huge cafeteria.
"What do you think?" Asked Gwen excitedly.
"It's insane, I can't believe it's been here this whole time." Miles trailed off, examining the walls of the simple hallway.
The others exchanged a look before Peter continued "Well where do you wanna go first? We have food, suits, weapons, training, gosh there's so much you need to see."
Miles opened his mouth before getting abruptly interrupted when sharp pain filled his body, stabbing from the inside out. He fell to the floor, it lasted only 30 seconds before quickly fading away. Miles' shaking body forced itself up to meet the gaze of Gwen who seemed surprised at the notion.
"What was that?" Questioned Miles, staring at his hands, still quaking.
"Shit! We forgot, Miles doesn't have a watch." Exclaimed Gwen, turning to Peter for a solution.
Peter rubbed the back of his head worryingly "Yeah I completely forgot about that, they have to have some kind of pass we could use."
"Seems simple to me. All we gotta do is steal the thing, they ain't gonna notice." Suggested Hobie, leaving Miles with a worried look on his face.
"No no I don't wanna steal for here they'll never let me join if i steal." Protested Miles, waving his hands to add to his disapproval.
Gwen winced but quickly switched her expression to a comforting smile. "Don't worry I'm sure they will let us have one, everything is free here anyways."
"Free? This place is sick."
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The four were making their way to the supply closet where they would get this watch that would finally stop the glitching. Thankfully it was close so Miles only had to go a little longer and he wouldn't have to worry about it anymore.
They turned a corner, where Miles noticed the storage room at the end of the hall. Suddenly Peter, Gwen and Hobie stopped in their tracks, apparently having seen something Miles didn't.
He looked around yet all he saw were the supply room, a floating Spider-Man popsicle talking with a robot looking Spider-Man and a built Spider-Man walking their way.
The three squeezed together, blocking Miles' view. That was his queue to shut up and get in character.
The man approached the others, keeping his face in the same stern professional expression.
"Gwen. Hobie. Have you caught the anomaly in 1108 yet?" The man questioned as he typed something into his wrist gadget.
"Uh, No... we haven't had a chance to go back yet, been keeping real busy." Responded gwen, sinking back into Miles, worry lining her face.
"We'll get on it, and fast. We cant have anomalies running around."
Before either of the two teens could respond, Miles was struck by another loud wave of painful stabs, forcing himself to stiffen his muscles and hold back his screams.
"Who's that?" Questioned the leader, ordering the spiders to move.
Miles caught his breath and steadily met the gaze of the large man. He stared down at Miles who was struggling to stay standing.
"Miguel, this is Peter, he's our friend." Said Gwen, clearly stressing.
Hobie chimed in "Yep. We were just about to bring Peter here round to get him a day pass." Hobie said moving next to Miles and wrapping his arm around the boy, worried he might fall down if he didn't get some support.
"You know you're not allowed unapproved visitors. For all I know there could be an anomaly under that mask." He yelled, looking at the older spider-people.
"Take it off." He continued "I just need to make sure you're not some villain and actually a Peter variant." Ordered Miguel.
"You see my friend here actually has a genetic condition, trust me, you do not want to see what's under that mask." Teased Peter, circling around to face Miguel.
A third wave of glitches knocked Miles straight out of Hobie's hold. This time failing to keep himself up and falling straight to his knees. They were getting worst, each one lasting longer and hurting more.
Miguel pushed peter to the side, tired of his immaturity and grabbed the mask off of the glitching child. He was left in pure shock when the face he saw turned out to be the reason the whole multiverse was crumbling apart. The one person he had ordered everyone to never contact.
His shock quickly turned to rage, he felt himself loosing control of his anger and commanded Lyla to oversee that the four would be in his office in 10 minutes.
Miles laid on his knees, unable to get up anymore, all he heard over the glitching was some yelling but he knew they had been caught at the sight of his mask on the floor. A small hologram lady stood over Peter who nodded disapprovingly while watching Miguel walk off. Gwen stood frozen, a mortified look on her face while Hobie helped Miles up, unlike his friends he seemed unphazed by the situation.
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Lyla led the four to Miguel's office, every step leaving Miles feeling uncomfortable in the strange new environment. Thankfully Lyla had handed him a day pass so the glitching had stopped for now.
They entered a dark cave-like room where Miguel stood, his back facing the entry as they slipped in.
He turned to face them, pure hate laced his expression as he stared at Miles. Miles recalled what he had overheard just a few hours earlier, this guy hated him, and he had no idea why. Except Miles just now realized how big of a deal Miguel really was, he was the sort of leader for the society. Why did they bring me here if their literal boss hated me? More importantly why does he hate me?
When Miles saw Miguel's stare scolding his friends, he wished he had never asked to visit this crazy place. To be fair, Miles was not aware that his sneaking in had much higher stakes than he anticipated.
Miguel sighed before finally breaking the silence "Sneaking in unapproved visitors. Directly disobeying my order. Breaking my trust.
I mean, I expected this from Hobie but Gwen, we took you in when you had nobody, this is how you repay us?
And Peter, you're supposed the responsible one. I asked ONE THING OF YOU! ONE PERSON YOU COULD NOT VISIT.” His tone got more and more unhinged, as he approached the group, his height and build mixed with the anger that filled him only made him that much more intimidating. He pinched his nose as he let go of his tense muscles.
"Miguel I think it's best if we talk in private." Said Peter in a caring calm tone, nudging his head toward Miles.
Miles looked at Peter with a confused and hurt expression before turning back towards Miguel who was staring at him blankly.
"I can't just let an anomaly course around HQ." He gave Miles an accusing stare as he said the words, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a little device which he threw at Miles' feet.
A red laser formed a barrier around Miles, before he could react, all sound cut out and he was completely surrounded. He started to panic, his breaths becoming quicker as he searched the room for help.
His friends all circled around Miguel at the other side of the room. Miles couldn't understand a word they were saying as he banged on the red cage to be let out.
Miles gave up his foolish attempts at being freed and laid his head in his hands. He was seriously in a different reality with a guy three times his size and his friends who he hadn't talked to in almost a year, trapped inside a stupid hologram cage. He had become so gullible, blindly trusting the first person who walks in and gives him more than 5 minutes of their attention…
Miles saw the other spiders go silent as Miguel turned to look at him. Except this time it wasn't a hate stare, it was more compassionate and human. Miguel pressed a button and the barrier went away.
Miles, not knowing how to react, stood motionless for a moment while Miguel mumbled something to Peter. Gwen and Hobie walked over to Miles, Peter following behind.
"Sorry Miles, I didn't think he would trap you." Said Gwen forcing a smile to try and lighten the mood of the room.
"I... It's fine" Mumbled Miles, still confused at the anti-climatic turn of events.
"Let's get you home mate." Said Hobie leaning his arm around Miles' shoulder as he lead them out of the office.