MU|| Miles Morales:Fragmented|| The Plan And The Escape

This Story contains violence, mention of blood, and swearing. If these are triggers for you I encourage you to find a different post. You’ve been warned!

In the Baxter Building, the atmosphere was tense as I stood with the Fantastic Four, Gwen, and the Prowler. The room was filled with the buzz of ideas and the weight of responsibility, some of us more than eager to contribute but unsure of the best approach to take down Ultimatum.

“We need a strategic approach. Ultimatum wields fascinating power, so I suggest we analyze his weaknesses first." I scoffed and spun a knife in my hand, my motions almost fluid. “Fascinating? Try chaotic.”

“We… We also need a solid plan for who confronts him directly. If he’s anything like Miles, we can't underestimate his emotional ties." Sue stated, trying to keep the peace as she squeezed Reed’s shoulder.

“Emotional ties? The man literally blew up a universe in front of me! He doesn’t have any emotions!” I slammed the knife into the table, piercing a picture of Ultimatum through the wood.

“That’s not true. We’ve seen him capable of emotion. Anger, Rage, Jealousy.” Gwen stated, leaning forward as her palms pressed against the table. “He’s angry about his life being ripped away, ?”

“See, that doesn’t make sense. He wants to kill Spider-Man, but the original is gone. Maybe Miles is a consolation prize?” Prowler growled before sitting up straight in his chair.

“My nephew isn’t a consolation prize, smart guy. This wacko will kill anyone who gets in his way.” The Fantastic Four looked amongst each other before looking back to the others.

“Regardless, he’s going to have a weakness. Something that he’ll protect. He’s still Miles Morales.” Gwen looked away, and I noticed her saddening expression immediately.

“I can tell you now from the few encounters, he’s unpredictable. We don’t know the full extent of his power, but it’s like he pulls them out of nowhere.” Reed seemed intrigued by the statement, quickly pulling up hologram reports of theories.

“It sounds like he can manipulate the very fabric of reality! If this is the case, his weaknesses will be very limited.” I rubbed my head, feeling it throb as it hurt from the conversation of the multiverse.

“You okay?” Ben asked, feeling his rocky hand on my shoulder, and I nodded slowly. “Yeah, just this alternate universe shit makes my head hurt.”

“I know how you feel, Shady. Wasn’t it not that long ago that we were just dealing with something more…normal?” Ben seemed to question what he was saying, but I understood. How could you call this normal?

“Our version of normal continues to push its limit, Ben. I'm starting to think that we're closer to the end.” Ben laughed and patted my back, which rocked me forward because it felt like a boulder was pushing me forward.

“Well, that’s your normal. Our normal is aliens and world-devouring beings! Trust me, you get used to it.” I was puzzled by his comment, but I shrugged it off as I zoned back into the conversation.

“What about Miles?” Gwen asked, and suddenly the room grew silent as everyone looked at each other. “We… we don’t have a plan to find him.”

“What?! You mean to tell me that this whole time since he got grabbed, you haven’t even made an attempt to make a plan to save him?!” Prowler jumped up and pressed his chest against Reed’s, his anger seething through his mask.

“Aaron, of course we thought of a plan! But we have no idea where he could be!” Prowler growled and tightened his fist, and just as he lifted it, I caught him by the elbow, and he quickly turned to look at me.

“Look, I slipped a tracer on him when I met the kid. I did the same with Spider-Man when I first met him. I couldn’t find him anywhere, and I swear to you that he’s not showing up.” Prowler gave a defeated sigh and pulled his arm away from my grip.

“That kid…he believed in me when I turned Prowler around. I need to find him. Please tell me, can we find him?” I wanted to answer… I wanted to lie, but truth be told, I didn’t even know myself.

“I’ll go,” Gwen spoke up, standing up straight as she grabbed her mask and pulled up her hood. “Gwen, hold on,” Reed tried to stop her, but she waved him off.

“Miles and I…we have this connection. Ever since we met, it’s been this… dance. I need to do this.” I walked over and watched as she slipped her mask on, opened the window, and climbed through it.

“You’re not going alone,” I stated, turning to Prowler and telling him to come over to us as Gwen turned around. “I don’t need a babysitter, Will.”

“I know, which is why he’s going with you. This is serious now, so no more games and no more distractions. Go get our guy.”

They both nodded and leaped through the window, jumping across the rooftops as they began their search for Miles. It’s been two full days since the kid got kidnapped, and it worried me. I turned to look back at the Fantastic Four and saw their worried expressions.

“I’m fine, guys. You don’t need to worry about me,” I said, sitting back at the table as Sue sat on the table beside my arm, putting her hand on my shoulder.

“We always do. You’re part of the family too, Will.” There was something about the look Sue gave that made you feel…comforted, safe, and true to her word.

“Yeah, you’re like the one cool uncle who we rarely invite because it gets crazy when you’re around!” Johnny said, stuffing his face with food, which made the rest of us chuckle.

“Thank you, Sue, and yeah, you too, Johnny. I think I just miss Pete. It’s been months since he left to go help the other me fight Doom; I’m almost worried.” I when Pete left to go help the other me and how I felt. I wanted to go with him and make sure he’d be okay. God forbid what would happen to that kid.

“That kid has always been tough; you made him a little tougher, so I don’t see how he wouldn’t be okay. I’m sure he’s kicking Doom’s ass right now!” Ben said, confident in Peter’s abilities and chances. I liked Ben and his ability to make the best out of things.

“Yes, Spider-Man is agile and strong. I calculated that he had a seventy-nine percent chance to win!” Sue immediately delivered a blow to Reed’s chest with her elbow, and she sighed.

“I think what Reed is trying to say is that we’re worried too. If you need someone to talk to, we’re here.” I nodded as the family went back to talking about a plan, creating a containment field, and throwing Ultimatum in a black hole—crazy ideas per usual. The only thought in my head was if Miles was okay.

Isolation

Miles Morales

The air is thick with dust and despair. Miles hangs limply, chains rattling softly as he struggles against his restraints. His hands are bound above his head, nails nearly digging into the rough metal. His parents, Rio and David, hang nearby, unconscious as they hang almost lifeless.

“Mom… Dad… Wake up!” I yelled out, feeling the pain dig into my side the moment I spoke.

“M…Miles?” Mom spoke quietly, grunting from the nagging pain in her head as she struggled to break free from her restraints.

“I’m here, Mama. I’m here.” I watched as Dad slowly regained his consciousness as well. “What… What’s going on?”

“I wouldn’t even know how to explain this to you guys.” I hung my head low as I felt their sudden gaze on me. The explanation was easy: we got kidnapped by an alternate version of me, but try telling that to your parents.

“Well… let’s start with that you’re Spider-Man,” Ma pointed out, looking at my torn suit, the symbol almost unrecognizable, which… I didn’t really care. It was just a suit. “So you’re the one going out and fightingr-Man’s bad guys? Stopping robbers and teaming up with that psycho?”

“He’s not—” I sighed and dropped what I was going to say. It felt pointless to defend William in this situation. “Yeah. I’ve been Spider-Man for the past six months.”

“And you never thought once to tell us? Did you ever consider that we deserved to know our boy is out there, risking his life for what? Spider-Man’s legacy?” It annoyed me that she assumed I was trying to preserve Spider-Man’s legacy, raged even.

“It’s not for his legacy, it’s for mine!” Both of them looked confused, Dad even more as he leaned out so I could see him clearly. “Your legacy? Miles, you just started life. You don’t have to worry about legacy just yet.”

“Dad, this all started because of my legacy. That other me, the one who kidnapped us? He was me… in another life, another timeline.” Now I really sounded crazy. Being Spider-Man was enough to confuse my parents, but alternate realities? I thought I was screwed.

“ I’m not going to try to pretend I understand any of this…but what I do understand is that you don’t keep anything from your family. Especially something that’s stupid, suicidal, and at the same time brave and heroic.” I looked over to see Dad in tears but carrying a heavy smile on his face alongside Mom.

“You’re our boy, Miles. Yes, it’s dangerous, but if this is who you want to be… then we you. We won’t stop you.” I felt that rush of pride surge through my body. They… they were proud of me and ed my decision to be Spider-Man? It felt like a heavy weight was lifted off my shoulders… I could breathe.

Suddenly, the door creaks open. A cloned Spider-Man — cold, mechanical, with a sinister grin — steps inside. His eyes gleam with malice as he approaches Dad, who tenses as the clone pulls out a wickedly sharp blade.

Mr. Smythe sends his apologies. He couldn’t attend this meeting himself due to unfortunate circumstances.” Dad pulled on the chains as he growled loudly. “I’ll show you unfortunate circumstances!”

“Threats will not help you here, Jefferson Davis.” The clone said, almost robotlike, as it set the knife on the table beside it and stood in place like a statue.

“Why are we here?” I asked, watching as the clone slowly turned its head to stare at me. which only made me feel uncomfortable and cold on the inside. “You could’ve killed us and wouldn’t have to waste the energy keeping us alive.”

“For Ultimatum, yes. Mr. Smythe wants to keep you alive. Another specimen is needed for his cloning process.” Goosebumps crawled up my skin as he talked about the cloning process. I felt violated, and yet they hadn’t done anything yet.

Years ago, Smythe had obtained a sample of Spider-Man’s blood and created clones, but they were unsuccessful until the latest batch. Smythe was promised that if he helped Ultimatum with his mission, he would have Miles Morales as a specimen and an endless supply of blood samples and DNA coding at his disposal. I get the guy's a bad guy, but he literally just offered himself as a reward.

“Cooperation is best for you, Miles Morales. Although, if you will not cooperate, I’m sure your parents will convince you otherwise.”

I clenched my jaw, feeling the electricity flow through my veins and throughout my body as he picked up the blade again and aimed it towards my parents. I yanked again against my chains and suddenly heard a snap. I looked up to see the chains were wrapped around an old pipe, a classic bad guy mistake.

“You want my cooperation? Fine.” I took a deep breath before yanking with all the strength I had left and broke the pipe off the ceiling, smashing the rusted metal against the clone's head. “Here’s my cooperation!”

The clone backed away, dazed and confused as I continued to batter him with the pipe. I didn’t stop until he was on the ground, but once he looked up at me, I saw the grey skin of his face and the red eye of a twisted being as he began to chuckle.

“You’re going to die. Ultimatum is going to make you watch as he rips your family apart in front of you.“

His words blurred out as I started beating on him. My vision was getting blurry, my thoughts clouded as one thing became clear. No one’s going to hurt my family! My fists kept smashing his face; I could feel the bones snap with each punch. I was lost in the violence…and it scared me.

“Miles!” Mom roared out as they both struggled in their chains, her voice echoing through my mind as I snapped back to reality. “Miles, are you okay, son?”

“I…I don’t know.” I stepped backwards and then fell to my knees, sending a small blast of electricity to the base of their chains so they could be free.

I watched as the clone started to slowly melt away, almost like if someone threw water onto the wicked witch, but then he dissolved into a pile of shimmering particles, vanishing in a cloud of what looked like digital dust.

My breath was heavy, feeling both my parents' hands on my shoulders, which delivered the warmth and safety I needed in that moment. “I…I almost.” Dad squeezed my shoulder and looked into my eyes.

“You did what you had to do, Miles. That’s what we do. We make decisions we’re not always going to like, choices too.” I sighed, slowly standing up with my parents as they held onto me tightly.

“How do you both do it? How do you make that decision?” Mom and Dad looked at each other and gave a soft smile before looking back at me. “It’s not easy, but we had each other when we made those decisions.”

They’re right. I’m never alone. I’ve had a whole family helping me through this! Mom, Dad, Unc, William, Gwen, the Fantastic Four! And they needed me.

“We need to get out of here. Now.” I rushed to the door and led the way. I felt my heart pounding with a mixture of relief and determination. Despite the darkness, hope flickers anew — a reminder that even in captivity, I always have something to fight for and something to come back to.

To Be Continued.

Tate: Gwen Stacy

#MarvelUltimatum

#MU

#MUMilesMorales