Take Care of My Heart

Chapter 1 - Showdown

Rio Morales and Jefferson Davis stood atop the roof of their apartment with bated breath, both witnessing the climactic battle between the Spider-People and the Spot.

Below, Brooklyn had turned into a warzone. The streets were littered with debris, the air toxified with dust and smoke. Down there, their son was among this chaos; they had recently found out that Miles Morales was in fact their Spider-Man.

Rio was standing in the same spot where she last had her conversation with him before he left to go find that Gwanda girl. Her hands were clasped over her flaming heart. She wanted him back home. She wanted him safe.

Jefferson, sensing his wife's anxiety, had his arm over her trembling shoulder. "He'll be okay." He whispered, though he was unsure himself. "He's our Spider-Man."

"How do you know?" Her voice cracked, eyes watering. "What if...? What if he isn't?" Her breaths became shallow. "What if... he ends up... like the last Spider-Man? What will I do?"

She broke down sobbing, turning away from the scene to bury her face in her husband's shoulder. He folded his arms around her protectively. His eyes remained fixed ahead, praying for the best possible outcome.

"Come on, Miles." He muttered, barely moving his lips.

*****

Down in the belly of this arduous battle, Miles found himself staring into his nemesis through half-lidded eyes; it was like staring into a cosmically horrifying abyss.

He had Gwen on his shoulder, barely conscious. Her suit was torn and dirtied, her mask gone, exposing the cuts and bruises on her face. Miles himself looked no better, for his mask was shredded, revealing only half of his weary face.

"What are we gonna do?" Gwen whimpered, wincing from pain and exhaustion.

Miles didn't have an answer for her. All the Spider-People who had fought alongside them were now laying strewn all over the roads and pavements. They could see Miguel O'Hara, Jessica Drew and Hobie. Miles couldn't tell which of these bodies were dead or unconscious.

At the very least, they had yet to spot the prone form of Peter B. Parker.

But as far as Miles and Gwen knew, they were the last two Spider-People standing in the Spot's way... but what could they do? What hope was even left?

The Spot's voice echoed from the distance. "It's over, Spider-Man. I've won. I will take everything from you as I will from everyone else." His head turned slightly next to him. "And I will start with your girlfriend."

"No!" Miles' blood turned to ice.

"You can't save her, just like you can't save anyone."

"Shut up!" He cried. "You're... wrong!"

He began limping Gwen away, determined to get her away from danger.

Gwen, however, could barely move. Her eyes were glazed over as she looked to Miles. Unlike him, hope had long drained from her face. They were overmatched.

She recalled the clocktower, what she had said to him about to fate of Gwen Stacy in every universe, how each of her relationships with Spider-Man ended in tragedy, and how she had pulled him close, only to push him away; she wanted nothing more than to go back to that time so she could do it all over, and differently. Now, it looked like she was about to run out of time.

"Miles..." She spoke, her voice barely a whisper.

"I'm gonna get you out of here!"

"Miles..." She repeated. "It's okay."