𝐏𝐔𝐙𝐙𝐋𝐄, 𝗵𝗼𝗯𝗶𝗲 𝗯𝗿𝗼𝘄𝗻¹

[1.2] Strategy

"Lyla!"

Miguel yelled, and a tiny hologram of a woman appeared by his shoulder. "Do your thing." He ordered, and Lyla turned to him. "My what?" She blinked. Miguel looked at her, obviously unamused. "The explaining thing!"

Hobie raised an eyebrow at Marina, who only flashed him a nervous smile. The rest of the room fell into darkness, as a small ball of light fell from the sky. "Welcome to... everything!" Lyla beamed, gesturing towards the hologram of a tree growing from the ground. Hobie stared up at the tree, placing his hands in his pockets. "Ion remember joining this lil' club for a tree, mate."

Miguel glared at Hobie, who raised his hands in surrender. The tree disappeared, and turned into spiderwebs connected to each other. "And this... This is all of us. Our lives tied together to fulfill our destinies."

Marina had watched this for so many times now, seeing the reactions of different kinds of Spider people. Watching as pain and guilt wash over them as they find out the truth. She wished she could do something to help them, but with all honesty — nothing can ever heal the pain that comes with becoming a Spiderman. They can only ever move on, and play the part that was written for them.

"This is the Poly Multiverse you were saying?" Hobie asked, walking around to get a closer look at the holograms. "Yeah."

Narrowing his eyes, Hobie approached the hologram that shows different kinds of people being bitten by a spider on the back of their neck. Including Marina. "They are the canon. Chapters that are a part of every Spiderman's story. Some are good, some are bad."

The hologram transitioned to different Spider people kneeling down, holding someone important to them. Hobie stopped in front of a hologram of himself, a blank look on his face. Marina knew that despite the straight face Hobie wore now, he felt a pinch in his heart as he is once again reminded of a loss he blames himself for.

"This is how our story is supposed to go." Miguel stated. Hobie snickered, shaking his head. "Canon events are what binds us together, but they can be broken. That's why I created the Spider-Society, to preserve the Multiverse."

ִֶָ 𓂃⊹ ִֶָ 

Marina didn't actually expect Miguel to be serious when he said she'd have to mentor Hobie. They were only the same age, and it seemed like Hobie acted more like a mentor than she did. For the past month, the two have been sent to missions together. Although Hobie didn't seem to mind the company, Marina struggled to catch up with the way Hobie handled things.

While she preferred to think of a strategy before going for it, Hobie did not hesitate to jump into action. He thought of a plan on the spot, and didn't care at all how hard he'd get beaten up later on. Marina, on the other hand, fought carefully. Sure, she'd get injured, but definitely not as badly as Hobie does. The both of them would usually stop by Hobie's Earth to patch him up.

One thing Hobie noticed was how Marina never suggested they go to her Earth. He's never been there before, but it wasn't like he tried to visit her there either.

"Hobie!" Marina swung to where Hobie sat, kneeling down beside him. "I'm good, I'm good." He sighed heavily, sitting up properly with Marina's help. "I'm so sorry — I didn't expect him to use you as bait..." Her shaky hands held his. "Not your fault, luv. That bastard can't throw a punch for his life." Marina gently took off Hobie's mask, and gasped at the sight. Jesus Christ, Hobie's face was covered with bruises.

"Oh shit. Hobie, you look..."

"Dashing?" He cut her off, grinning. "I meant to say horrible." She mumbled. "Come on, I'll patch you up." Marina opened a portal to Hobie's world, and carefully helped him up and into the portal.

Laying him down on the couch, Marina rushed to the bathroom and opened the mirror to get his med kit. She was already quite familiar around his apartment, how could she not? Almost every time they'd go on a mission, Hobie would get seriously injured because of his recklessness, and that leaves Marina to patch him up.

Sitting down beside Hobie, Marina started placing ointment over his wounds. "I told you we should've planned on a strategy first..." She sighed. Hobie chuckled, "no time for plans, Mari."

"A little hesitance could do you good sometimes, Hobie." Marina said, worry visible in her tone. "Oh. That your first advice for me then, mentor?" He arched an eyebrow, and Marina let out a laugh. "I guess?" She shook her head, placing her hands down on her lap. "M'sorry I'm not much of a good mentor to you. I really don't know why Miguel asked me to help you."

Hobie stared at Marina's face for a moment, noticing how she bit her lower lip for a second as she carefully thought of what to say next. "But, you know what?" She looked up at Hobie with determination, and the other raised an eyebrow at her. "What?"

"I'm actually glad that we were paired up. I think... we'd both be good influences on each other. Don't you think?" She tilted her head, and Hobie chuckled. "Yeah. You could definitely use a little more fun in your life." He said, Marina shaking her head with a small smile.

"And I could maybe use a little more 'hesitance' in my life." Marina's eyes light up at his words, "definitely."