Earth 1610

Chapter 16- Newbies

"Okay, enough!" Peter yelled, making me look over at him. "So, uh, how did you get here?"

"Well, it's kind of a long story." Noir sighed. "Maybe not that long."

"Now, we're just trying to find a way home," Peni said.

Peter looked at me. "What dimension are you from, AJ?"

"I go by (Y/n), and this is my home," I corrected him. "Miles and I are a team."

"The only way home is through that collider gizmo. The only thing is-"

"One of us has to stay behind and destroy it," Ham finished for Noir.

"That's what I'm working on," I said as I looked at the portal opening. "I can't get it to open. The collider must be interfering with it."

"I'll do it," the spider-people said.

Miles stopped them. "No, no, no. You guys don't get it."

"Miles and I are here. You guys can go home, and we'll destroy it," I said bluntly.

After I said that, all of them glitched. I held AJ up by going under her arm. The rest fell to their knees. "See?"

"None of you can stay here. If you stay here, you'll die. I'm the guy who's gonna turn it off. And I'm gonna get you all home before I do. Look, I made a promise. So, I have to keep it," Miles said confidently.

Noir looked at Miles after a moment. "Who are you again?"

"This is Miles. And he is going to save the multiverse," Peter said.

"Yeah, man," Miles agreed.

"This kid can turn himself invisible," Peter said, making my eyes widen. "Watch this. He can do it now."

Miles grunted, but failed. "I can't do it on command." Miles put his hands in his pockets.

"He can't do it on command. But it is cool. Show 'em the zappy thing, Miles," Peter said, referring to the electricity.

"Were you...?" AJ trailed off.

"Bitten by the same spider? That's what I'm thinking," I whispered.

"Can't do it on command," Miles said.

"He can't do it on command. But he can do so much more. What else do you do?"

"Just those two things."

"Just those two things."

Gwen sided with us. "Look, I've seen him in action. He's got potential. I think he's gonna get us home, and so is (Y/n)."

AJ looked at me sympathetically. "We believe in you, (Y/n)."

"Turns out daily patrol is not helping," I said, pressing my hand on the computer and filling it with battery again. "That's as much as I can do."

"Okay, little fella, Kingpin's gonna send a lot of mugs after ya, both of ya. I'm talkin' hard boys, real biscuit boxers. Can you fight them all off at once?" Noir questioned Miles.

"W-well, I haven't actually fought anyone," Miles stammered.

"Surprise attack!" Noir took out his legs from under him, making me wince.

AJ looked at me. "(Y/n)?"

"Can you rewire a mainframe while being shot at?"

I tried to cut in. "Guys-"

"Surprise attack!" Noir pushed him to the ground again.

"Can you swing and flip with the grace of a trained dancer?" Gwen questioned.

"Can you close off your feelings so you don't get crippled by the moral ambiguity of your violent actions?"

"Can you help your aunt create an online dating profile so she can get out of the dang house once in a while?"

"Can you float through the air when you smell a delicious pie?"

"Can you be strong?"

"Ruthless?"

"Disciplined?"

"I don't know. Maybe."

"Psychic?"

"Show me some moxie, soldier!"

I started to flicker from the yelling. I was so inflicted with everything going on. Shouldn't I help him? I needed to. But I didn't want to get yelled at. My mind screamed with commands I didn't want to do. I didn't want to fight them. Don't hurt them.

"Above all, no matter how many times you get hit, can you get back up?"

Their voices echoed, making me close my eyes. My hands sparked, making me worried. Flashbacks of the car crash coursed through my mind. The ringing. The yelling of panic. Miles's scream. Uncle Nick, on the cement, bleeding out.

Something burst out of me and I fell to the ground. I heard running on the floor as my torso hurt. AJ was helping me as she looked at the group angrily. She was going to attack if she needed to.

The yelling stopped as AJ helped me up. "What is your problem?!" she said, making the group jump. "We have two newbies on our hands, can't you see that? (Y/n)'s hurt, and Miles is new to his powers. We can't all train them in an hour how to be Spiderpeople when all of us have gotten years to get the hang of it."

I turned invisible in fear of getting attention from them. They're going to do the same thing to me. I didn't want that right now. Miles turned invisible, too. He walked over to me, placing a hand on my shoulder and a small kiss on my cheek.

"Come on," Miles whispered in my ear as I turned off the computer.

I nodded and walked with him to the elevator. The platform raised and made a noise in the process. I looked down at my superhero alternatives. Somehow, they were like us. All I knew right now was all that we were connected by was one spider bite.

Peter looked at the platform. "Miles? Miles?"

"(Y/n), come on," AJ pleaded.

"See that?" Peter questioned. "He can, uh, turn invisible."

I shook my head. "I can't do this. Not now."

Miles shook his head in agreement.

I ran up to my room and slammed the door shut as Miles went to visit his uncle. I sat on my bed, throwing my mask at my desk in annoyance. It's not possible. I couldn't do it. Not after all of this. I couldn't save anybody. The spider probably didn't mean to bite me. I was just in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Gwen knocked on my door. "Can I talk to you?"

I stayed silent. "I'm sorry about what happened down there. But we needed to make sure you were ready. We believe in you, (Y/n). I believe in you." She knocked three times and left.

I slowly stood up after sitting there for a while and grabbed my mask from my desk. I walked downstairs as Miles burst through the door. He looked frantic, then looked at me with pleading eyes. I hugged him tightly, knowing that look. That look of betrayal and fear.

"My uncle!" Miles exclaimed. "My Uncle Aaron. He's the Prowler. He works for Kingpin. He tried to kill me!"

His face flashed through my mind. The same Aaron who I met at the movie theater. I shook his hand. I shook my worst enemy's hand. My hands shook with fear. What was Kingpin going to do now?

"This is a pretty hardcore origin story," Noir commented as Peni hit him.

"It's okay, it's okay. We're going to figure it out," Peter assured him.

AJ looked at Miles. "Were you followed?"

"No, I don't—I don't think so," Miles admitted.

My senses went off.