Chapter 3
-~*One Year later*~-
Time flies faster every passing moment. And it would never stop or slow down. Terrance took it to his advantage. It's already been a year now since he's been admitted to the Spider-Society. He never would have thought that he would be better than Miguel O'Hara. Spider-2099. Well, better isn't really the right word. Skilled more or less. Today, Terrance was called to Miguel's office. He swings through the Society Headquarters, greeting all the people he passes and doing his mini complicated handshakes with his closer friends. He arrives at Miguel's office and kicks the doors open (which he most definitely knows Miguel HATES). He takes a seat as Miguel comes down on his platform which never seems to get any faster.
"What's on the menu for today Miggy? Another mission full of theatrical arguments because I'm a world-renowned 'slacker'?" Terrance waved his hands around dramatically.
"Ooh, or maybe because I'm too busy-" He was immediately cut off by Miguel as his platform connected to it respective spot in the ground.
"No. It's a canon event." Terrance groaned as he collapsed into a plush spinny chair.
"Again!? Migs, you know damn well that's not my thing. Take Gwen or even Hobie for fuck's sake." He pushed off of a wall, spinning and rolling across the room.
"First of all, I told you to stop calling me that, and second of all, I need your skill specifically. I don't wanna argue about this now. We need to leave soon. Like today soon." Terrance unknowingly hit a wall and stumbled off the chair, almost colliding into Miguel. But pretty damn close to.
"Waitwaitwaitwait wait wait. You, Miguel O-Fucking-Hara, the one who hates me the most out of everyone here, needs my skill? Huh, it's almost like you forgot our little rivalry." Terrance laughed as he walked to the doors.
"I'm serious Terrance. Don't test my luck." Miguel sighed.
"Besides I think you're gonna like where we're going." Terrance turned, raising an eyebrow. He chuckled at this.
"Oh really? And where is that?" He crossed his arms and tapped his foot, awaiting Miguel's answer.
"Earth-41998. Iteration 3009. Sound familiar?" Terrance's jaw dropped.
"What? 41998? H-hold on a minute, why there?" He walked back over to Miguel's workspace.
"As I said, there's a canon event that we need to deal with, and there's someone we need to catch." Terrance saw what Miguel meant then.
"Ohh, okok, I get it." Terrance dug through his pocket and pulled out a lollipop, peeling off the wrapped and popping it into his mouth.
"And we might be there a while. We have to meet up with someone." Terrance was becoming more and more invested in this mission by the second. First he needed his skill and they were going to his favorite home universe? Things just kept sounding better and better for Terrance.
"Alright, when should I start packin' up boss?" Terrance walked backwards towards the doors. Miguel rolled his eyes and dismissed Terrance who exited with a bow and swung out. Miguel let out a deep sigh after the doors closed and shook his head. The clatter of lunch tables and chatting filled the canteen that day. Terrance sat at a small table with Hobie, Gwen, and Patvir. Sometimes Lego Spider-Man would join them, but most of the time, he was busy dealing with the aftermath of Miguel's canon events.
"Yeah, and that's when I was all like, 'Miguel O-Fucking-Hara', I'm kinda proud of myself on that one," Terrance laughed at his nickname for Miguel.
"Anyway, I was like the one who has an undying flame of hate and jealousy for me, needs my skill? Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if it was all a joke or something like that." He ate his lunch as Hobie laughed, Gwen pitching in.
"Yeah, I mean the most emotionally unavailable man actually wants you to come with him. Something's off but then again, it could be just my Spidey-Senses." Gwen shook her head, looking at Terrance.
"How you managed to fall for him, you've got me stumped. But hey, your feelings, not mine. All I can really do is just watch from afar." Terrance started at her blankly.
"First of all, you and the supposed Miles you keep talking about, haven't talked in what, over a year? So I don't wanna hear it." Terrance said as Gwen hit him.
"Ow! I was just saying..but you know what I mean." Gwen nodded and Terrance finished his food, setting his l tray aside.
"Now, if you'll excuse me, I have a mission to go on with the most emotionally unavailable man in the entire universe." Terrance cleaned up and stood up and suddenly he heard a voice from across the canteen.
"Gwen!!" A tall boy ran over to their lunch table and hugged Gwen who returned the hug. Terrance stood in confusion as the two kissed. He slightly grimaced and whispered to Patvir.
"Who's that? And why is Gwen making out with him?" Patvir looked at Terrance and back at Gwen and the boy. He leaned in and whispered back to him.
"That's Miles, Gwen's boyfriend. There's a whole lotta history behind them. Miles isn't even supposed to be Spider-Man but he still has his powers. I'll tell you about it later. Long story short, he "retired" from the whole Spider-Man thing and just visits every once in a while." Terrance nodded in understanding and walked over to the couple. Gwen looked over and gestured to Terrance. Miles looked at him confused.
"Uhh, who's that?"
"Names Terrance, pleased to meet you. You must be the infamous Miles Morales I've heard so much about." He held out his hand for Miles to shake. He shook it while Terrance had a sly grin in his face.
"At first, when Gwen first talked about you, I thought she was just making it up. But.." Terrance scanned Miles up and down.
"I see..hm..potential." Gwen hit his shoulder harder.
"Owwa! Jesus H. Christ Gwen! That fuckin' hurt." Gwen raised her first and Terrance slightly cowared.
"Miles, this is Terrance. He's one of the top Spider-People here." Miles seemed genuinely shocked at this.
"How long have you been here?" Miles face contorted into one of confusion and puzzlement.
"A year." Miles brain short-circuited at this.
"How is HE one of the top? He looks scrawnier than me!" Miles gestured to him with both hands dramatically. Terrance threw his tray to the ground and grabbed Miles by the collar.
"You better watch your tongue, Miles. Or I'll throw you miles out the window." Gwen peeled him away from Miles. Terrance backed away from him, crossing his arms.
"He's in the top because he beat Miguel. They had a spar on his first day here and got him down." Miles looked at Gwen, then at Terrance who had a death glare on him, and back at Gwen.
"Yeah, the deal was that if I could pin him for a minute, he would let me stay permanently. If he pinned me, I had to go." Miles nodded in understanding.
"Well, I gotta go. Nice meeting you, Miles Morales." Terrance spit out his name like a bad taste in his mouth. He passed by Peter Parker who adorned a long, fuzzy pink robe, slippers and a baby harness that carried a curly, ginger haired child with a knitted Spider-Man mask hat. He looked at Terrance storming away and back to the group in front of him.
"...What's up with him? Miles! You're back!" He hugged Miles tightly as Gwen looked back at Terrance.
Terrance slammed his door shut and sat on his bed, letting out a deep sigh. He layed back scrolling through his photos on his phone. He stopped at one group photo with Terrance on the floor in front, doing some silly, dramatic pose, Gwen, Patvir, Hobie, Margo and Peter in the middle, crushing down a bit, some laughing, and Miguel in the very back with his arms crossed and his well-known resting bitch face. Terrance smiled at this and pulled off his mask. He set it on his nightstand and continued scrolling through his phone. A frantic knock on the door woke him up. He didn't realize he fell asleep and rubbed his face, opening the door to Miguel.
"...Yeah?" He leaned on the threshold, voice groggy from just waking up.
"Time to go. C'mon." Terrance yawned and grabbed his mask from his nightstand, pulling it on. He dragged his feet beside Miguel, music blasting through his ears. This time, some Lola Blanc. They both arrived at Miguel's office, Terrance stretched and woke up his muscles watching Miguel typed something into his watch and opening up a glowing orange and yellow, spinning portal. Terrance walked up beside Miguel who pulled on his mask and checked his watch one last time.
"Ready?" Miguel looked at Terrance who was already looking at him. He looked at the portal and got into a starting sprinting position.
"You bet Miggy." He smirked and laughed when Miguel face-palmed. Terrance took off into a leap into the portal while Miguel calmly walked in. While Terrance travelled through the portal, he took this time to relax a bit and think about the memories he had in Earth-41998. All the adrenaline-fueled police chases, nights out with his best friend, the sights from the rooftops. Those were his favorite parts. The long, silent nights just sitting on the rooftop, drinking, smoking, doing whatever nightly activities he would do. Especially with him. The one person who truly understood him. Before he knew it, he saw the entrance to the earth and he sauntered through with Miguel. He took in the smell, the first sights, walking out of that dark alleyway. Wait..alleyway? He looked at the alleyway he was in. Memories flooded his brain. That fateful night that would soon change the course of his life.
Miguel called out to him which snapped him back to the present. He sighed and beckoned for him to come closer.
"Just saying Migs, we can't just walk around here in full gear. Too obvious." Terrance pulled off his mask and put on a pair of prescribed glasses and a regular face mask. He pulled out a pair of sweatpants from supposedly nowhere and slipped them on as well as a pair of green, low-rise converse. He pulled off his gloves, stuffing them in his pocket, revealing chipped black nail polish. Miguel watched as he did some eye makeup and fluff up his hair. He stared blankly at Terrance who now looks like a completely different person. Terrance threw a pair of black pants at Miguel as well as a sweatshirt and high-top chucks.
"Did you hear what I said?" Terrance rolled his eyes as Miguel threw on the pants, hoodie and shoes. They walked out into the street moving along with the crowd of people. The bright, colorful lights from the tall buildings were mesmerizing and a wave of nostalgia hit Terrance in the gut.
"God, I missed this place. So who exactly are we looking for?" Miguel looked at a map following different streets and roads.
"Someone named Yuki Harogawa." Terrance made a noise of understanding and followed Miguel. They walked through the many streets, winding roads and through many shopping centers. It seemed like they've been walking for hours and Terrance was getting impatient.
"Oh my gooooood, we've been walking forEVER. Where is this person anyway?" Terrance groaned in annoyance and frustration.
"Just a little longer, Terrance." Miguel hated whining and complaining more than anything and Terrance was getting on his nerves.
"My feet fuckin' hurt Migs!" Miguel's eye twitched.
"Stop..complaining.." Miguel said through gritted teeth.
"Well you are taking us through the whole damn city." That made Miguel snap. Before Terrance knew it, he was slammed against a wall and hands on either side of his head.
"I..have had enough of your little whining and complaining. Shut. The fuck. Up. Before I drive a hole through your thick skull!" Through the midst of Miguel's intense reprimanding, the only thing he could focus on was his natural fang-like canine teeth. He found that most fascinating about him. Those teeth that could tear him apart with no remorse. He looked up to his crimson eyes, glowing with rage and anger.
"Are you even listening to me-" Olive slapped his hand over Miguel's mouth as he heard the sound of footsteps nearby. He whispered.
"Shut the fuck up. I think someone's coming." As much as he wanted to stay like this, he couldn't risk anyone catching them like this. It was a personal thing. He pushed Miguel off of him and adjusted his hair. He looked over to a figure in the narrow street they were on. It turned out to be a girl, a foot shorter than Terrance. With jet black hair in a wolf style and hime combination cut and dark eyes. She had piercings decorating her ears and face and had no sense of fashion. She sported a black and gold turtleneck shirt and a star patterned blazer. The mysterious girl looked at the two men and smiled.
"You two must be Miguel and Terrance. Nice to finally meet you. I'm Yuki Harogawa." The men shook hands with her as she led them further down the street.
"So I suppose you're here to talk about the canon event. I don't have the information you're looking for, unfortunately." She stopped and turned around to see Miguel stopped dead in his tracks and Terrance in disbelief and disappointment.
"So, you're telling me, we walked all this way for fucking NOTHING?" He glared at Miguel who had the most confused look on his face, it was almost funny.
"Now, before you go tearing each other's faces off, let me tell you something." The two men stopped their bickering and looked at Yuki who's snarky smirk was wiped completely off her face. Scary...Terrance thought. Terrance noticed that the street went on. On into what looked like an eternal darkness. But he saw what was most likely a small dot of light, far off in the distance. Was that light...getting closer? He squinted his eyes to try to get a good look. Miguel noticed and whispered to Terrance, trying to get his attention. When Terrance is focused on something, it's hard to get him unfocused. Which is a blessing and a curse to him. Miguel focused back on Yuki, keeping a sliver of his focus on Terrance.
"I may not know the details, but I know the person who does. They are extremely professional and won't tolerate any funny business. I already know it's going to be a mess, but it's too late now." Yuki pulled out a piece of paper from her blazer pocket and pressed it into Miguel's hand. She looked Miguel dead in the eye even though she was talking to both men.
"Here are the coordinates. I'm sure you can find your way there. I'm counting on you two. If I hear that you two messed things up because of your insistent bickering and arguing, then sleep with one eye open for I will hunt the both of you down and tear you limb from limb. You hear me?" Terrance looked back at Yuki, breaking his focus away from the dot of light that was very clearly getting closer. Miguel seemed to notice it too. They looked at each other and back at Yuki. Her eyes glowed a vibrant yellow that lit up her face. Her bangs hid her eyebrows with the way her head was tilted forward which made her expression seem extra creepy. They replied, understanding and she nodded. The light was now only a foot or two behind Yuki.
"Good. Now, I'll leave you to it." She smiled and unsettling smile. It seemed to creep up her face, almost smiling literally ear to ear. Terrance stepped back slightly, feeling the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. He looked to Miguel who looked back at him and when they looked back to Yuki she was already gone. With no trace anywhere. As if she was never there. The narrow street was now just a normal street. There wasn't any light or dark endless passage. Just a long, winding and unlit cobblestone road. Miguel could hear Terrance breathing get heavy.
"I..I think we should go. Now. Um..please" Terrance sounded...scared. There was a shake to his voice and a sense of fear. Miguel has never seen Terrance like this. He was never scared. Or at least he never showed it. But it was truly visible in this moment. His eyes were slightly widened, his hands trembled. Ever so faintly though. He followed him out of the dark, narrow road. They could see the entrance to the road ahead. It was only a few feet away. But, why did it take them so long to get there? It should have taken them a minute at most. Miguel just noticed that Terrance had his hand wrapped around his wrist tightly. He was obviously freaked. He could feel Terrance palms had been sweaty which was pretty gross. But Terrance was speed-walking, almost running. The moment they left the road, it was like a breath of fresh air for them. Terrance hadn't let go of Miguel's wrist for the next couple minutes. But when Miguel looked back to look at that road where they had talked to Yuki- whatever...whatever that thing was..the road was gone. Completely. All that was left was just a brick wall. Like it had always been there.
Miguel's mind raced with questions. What was that place? Had they imagined it? Was Yuki even there? Were they hallucinating? He didn't even notice Terrance trying to get his attention for once.
"Miguel! Hello?"
"Oh, sorry."
"It's fine. What are the coordinates?" Miguel suddenly remembered the coordinates Yuki gave them. He reached into his sweatshirt pocket and pulled out a slip of paper folded in half. No, she had to have been real. How else would he have gotten the coordinates? He opened the paper and saw that there was writing indeed, but barely legible. Terrance snatched it from his hand and tried reading it. After about 15 minutes or so, Terrance was able to decide the chicken scratch and typed it into his watch, which pulled up the location.
"Finally." Terrance sighed.
"Let's get going." Terrance didn't mention Yuki for the rest of the journey to the mystery location. Neither did Miguel.