Peter’s eyes grew wide as he stared at me, then after a quick glance to the others he rushed forward.

“Lucas?! What happened?!”

“Nothing. Don’t worry” I mumbled, the words barely a whisper. He took a hold of my arm, helping to right me alongside Emi.

“Your Peter?” she said, staring at him before glancing to Gwen.

“Yeah” Peter said, quickly looking around at everyone, before turning back to the portal. “Give me a sec”

He rushed over to it, poked his head through, then raced back over to me followed by three others. A Spider-Man in a black and white costume, a Spider-Woman in all red, and then a Spider-Man in purple and black - the other version of me.

“Lucas!” everyone cried, a few rushing forwards. He pulled his mask off and looked around surprised as the team swarmed him with hugs, whilst Peter and the others rushed to me.

“Holy shit” the spider-woman said, as she looked over my injuries.

“Yeah” Peter said. “Let’s get you to hospital”

They took me from Emi, the symbiote Spider-Man picking me up in a bridal carry as he looked around.

“Wait” I mumbled. “Let me... say goodbye”

“You can say bye later Lucas” Emi said. “They need to take you to a hospital”

“She’s right” Peter said. “Let’s go”

Before I could protest, they were jogging back towards the portal, past the others as they watched us. I looked to the other me as we neared the portal, feeling a strange mix of emotions grow in my chest.

As we rushed past him, I squeezed the symbiote Spider-Man’s arm and he slowed looking down at me. I pointed to the other version of me and he looked back and forth, then to Peter before speaking up.

“Uh… he wants to say something to you” he muttered uncertain, looking to the other version of me. He nodded and stepped forward, his stoic expression slightly shaken as he looked down at me.

“What’d you want to say?” he said.

“You’re amazing. Seriously” I wheezed.

“I- What? Don’t waste time with that, you need to go to the hospital”

“I know. I just- you should… talk to everyone. To your family”

“W-what?” he said, furrowing his brow.

“Trust me. They miss you”

“Y-you can’t just… ok. I’ll try”

“Good. And get rid of the gun man”

“I- I was going to”

I nodded, smiling, before looking to the others.

“Hopefully I get to… see you guys soon” I said. “Thanks… for everything. Really, you… you helped me a lot”

They all nodded back, concern filling all their faces, but hidden behind smiled. Relief flooded me and I let out a heavy breath, before finally letting myself pass out.

-

“Shit” Peter said, watching as Lucas fell unconscious. “Yu, Jess let’s go! Quick!”

Yu nodded and rushed forwards through the portal, followed quickly behind by Jess. Peter followed the two of them, but as he went to enter the portal, a familiar voice - full of vulnerability - spoke.

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“Pete?”

Peter froze, then glanced back at. She hesitated, then pulled off her mask and his eyes widened.

“G-Gwen?”

“I- sorry. I know you need to go I just… yeah. It’s… wow” she stuttered. “It’s really good to see you”

“It’s… I… I yeah. It’s good to see you too” he said.

“It suits you” she said suddenly.

“W-what?”

“The costume. This Spider-man stuff” she said, smiling at him sadly. “It suits you”

Pete looked down at himself for a second, then back up at Gwen. He wiped at his eyes quickly then smiled at her.

“It suits you too” he said. He gave a small wave, then stepped back toward the portal. He hesitated then glanced back at her as she smiled at him.

“If we figure this portal thing out, we can talk again sometime” he said.

“Sure, thing Pete”

He nodded, then stepped back through the portal. Gwen watched the shimmering surface for a moment, then wiped her eyes too. When she looked back up, it’d already fizzled out of existence. She took a step back, then slumped to her knees.

“Gwen?! Gwen?!” the others cried.

“It’s ok” she chuckled bitterly. “I’m okay”

-

Yu swung through the air quickly, Lucas in one hand as he fired strands of web out and swung. Jess followed behind him, the two of them weaving through the surrounding concrete towers as they headed for the nearest hospital. He glanced down at Lucas as he held him watching as blood seeped from his side.

It smells good.

He quickly shelved the thought at the back of his mind, continuing his swings. The thought wasn’t anything new, just one of the many irregularities he’d developed since fusing with the symbiote.

“He ok?!” Jess shouted from behind.

“His hearts still beating!” he shouted back.

“That’s… not exactly encouraging”

“We heal fast so he’ll probably be fine” he shouted back.

"Still not exactly encouraging" Jess shouted back. He ignored her but chuckled to himself, firing another web as they drew closer to the hospital. But as he continued on, his brows furrowed in confusion. Something felt wrong. Not with him, but the symbiote.

He could feel something emanating from it, a new feeling he'd yet to experience like this. Fear. Flickers of images passed through the back of his mind, memories of pain that Yu didn't even register consciously. He frowned further, looking down at himself as the symbiote shifted weirdly against his skin.

Why am I afraid?

He considered the question for a moment, then shrugged it off, dismissing the feeling.

It was probably nothing. Just like all the other random thoughts and feelings from the symbiote. Nothing at all.

-

I opened my eyes, blinking slowly as I sat up, my mind still foggy. Pain jolted me and I jerked upright, clutching at my side. Breathing was hard for a few seconds, but gradually the pain faded, the lights around me dimming. I winced as I laid back down, hand still on my side as it throbbed.

“Ow” I mumbled. My spider-sense buzzed slightly as my anxiety grew, waiting for another glitch. I gripped the bedsides tightly, my breaths growing short as I sat up again. Then the moment passed, the anxiety replaced by confusion. I looked up, staring out the hospital window as the light of the sunset shone through. Beyond I could see buildings, a familiar atmosphere filling the place. Oh right, I was back home.

Suddenly the noise of outside chatter filled the room and I spun around, looking at the now open door. Big Sis stepped inside, a bottle of water in one hand as she tapped away on her phone with the other, then looked up. Her eyes widened as she saw me, and she froze, before rushing forwards. She wrapped me in a hug then pulled away as I winced.

“Sorry” she mumbled.

“It’s ok” I said, holding my side. She nodded, looking over me as her smile grew further.

“You’re awake”

“Yeah” I grinned.

“The others are going to be so happy”

“How long was I out?”

“You got here this morning and it’s about… ten pm now” she said checking her watch. I nodded, leaning back in my bed. “The others all came during the day, but… I… what the hell happened?” she said, her demeanour switching from relieved to an angered concern.

“Uh… can I ask how the last three days have gone?”

“You don’t remember?” she said worried.

“Uh… not all of it”

“Nurse! she shouted, turning to the door. “Nurse!”

“Wait!” I cried. “Don’t- you don’t have to do that. I’m fine”

“You said can’t remember things Lucas”

“I remember it’s… difficult to explain. I didn’t hit my head or anything. Well… not like that at least”

“Lucas…” Big Sis trailed off, putting a hand to her temple. “What happened?”

“I… there’s no point trying to lie about this. I know what happened but, it’s… like I said, difficult”

“Difficult how?”

“There’s a lot I have to explain”

“I bet there is” she said.

“And I will explain. Just… I want to do it with everyone. Alexandra, Aunty, Quinten, Maria, Sofia, Yerin. Everyone.”

Big Sis furrowed her brow, then sighed and took the seat next to the bed.

“It’s not something really bad I hope”

“Not really”

“Lucas?! Is this about those underground fight rings and stuff like that?! They were saying on TV they were targeting teens from ethic minorities. You didn't get involved in did you?!”

“What? No, no.” I chuckled. “I... my thing’s not illegal or anything. It’s good… for the most part”

She furrowed her brow further, then lent back in her chair and sighed.

“Well, just rest for now. It’ll take you a while to heal from... whatever happened. You’ll probably be here for a few weeks.”

“Maybe” I smiled glancing out the window. “But I think I’ll be ok for graduation”