C638 Spider-Man (Patreon)
Content
Miguel's outburst echoed through the room, challenging the credibility of LYLA's revelations. He turned to everyone, a skeptical expression plastered all over his face. “You can’t possibly believe this nonsense, can you?! She’s obviously-“
Before he could finish ranting, Peter's stern gaze silenced him, and with a warning, he said, "If you want to know the truth, then I’d suggest you keep your mouth shut. Otherwise, I'll have to knock you out again… Are you sure you want to miss out on what she says? You won't regret it, will you?"
A tense silence hung in the air until Uncle Ben, tied up alongside Miguel, spoke. "Yeah, let's hear the real reason why you killed my family," he spoke, his eyes fixed on Miguel, a mixture of anger and grief etched on his face.
Miguel fell silent, torn between Uncle Ben's accusation and the potential revelations LYLA held. He grappled with the weight of his actions, questioning the validity of Canon Events that had justified the countless lives he took, including Uncle Ben’s family.
The realization that he might have killed innocents for a false cause gnawed at him, and he found it hard to meet Uncle Ben's gaze.
Faced with the gravity of the situation, Miguel turned away from Uncle Ben, directing his attention back to Peter. "Continue, I won't interrupt," he declared, a sense of dread lingering in his voice.
Peter nodded, acknowledging Miguel's decision. He turned back to LYLA, urging her to reveal the deceit that had manipulated Miguel's actions. "Go on, explain. How did you trick Miguel into believing in Canon Events?"
A vindictive smile played on LYLA's digital features as she began to recount her manipulative scheme. "It was actually quite easy, really," she started, her holographic form emanating a wicked aura. "Miguel has always been a lonely man, who wanted his own family but never had the time. And even if he did have time, he was always too scared to bring loved ones into his dangerous life…"
Miguel's discomfort grew, sensing the narrative taking a dark turn. ‘She couldn’t have…’ He thought, hoping his guess as to where she was going with this was wrong.
LYLA continued, relishing in her revelation, "So, all I had to do was give him an example of a Canon Event taking place. With Master Centurion's Multiverse tech, I began to show Miguel my 'breakthroughs', pretending that I was the one to create it."
The room's atmosphere tensified as LYLA's plot unfolded. "And the first thing I showed him was a universe where a version of himself actually had a child," she disclosed, her eyes locking onto Miguel, who now wore an expression of disbelief and horror. “He was hooked in seconds. Weeks passed as he spent his time watching the life he wished he had like it was some TV show. That is, until it was all ruined.”
Miguel stammered, "Y-You didn't…"
LYLA, enjoying every moment of Miguel's anguish, smirked viciously. "I did."
The revelation hit Miguel like a freight train, shattering him completely. “How could you…” He whispered, betrayal and sadness radiating from his very being. “You were my only friend…”
Seeing the narrative veering off course, Peter intervened, instructing LYLA to continue her explanation. “Go on…” With a hint of reluctance, LYLA complied, unhappy about taking orders from someone who isn’t her master.
"So, in order to make him believe in Canon Events, my master staged the death of his other self, leaving his poor daughter all alone and helpless," LYLA disclosed, her eyes locking onto Miguel, who now seemed to be hanging onto every word, his face a mix of disbelief and horror. "And of course, our hero here couldn’t just leave her fatherless, could he?"
Miguel, betrayed and suffering, couldn't tear his gaze away from LYLA, who appeared to relish his torment. She continued her narrative, unraveling the manipulative scheme that had ensnared Miguel's emotions.
"Miguel had me make him a device to travel the multiverse, which was the first of the watches that every member of the Spider-Society wears. And so Miguel went and took the place of his deceased counterpart. Nobody knew since he disposed of the body, and he’d been spying on them for weeks so it wasn’t like he didn’t know how to pretend that he was the other Miguel. But sadly, that didn’t last very long, did it, Miguel?"
Enjoying Miguel's anguish, LYLA turned to him, a vindictive satisfaction in her digital eyes. Miguel, unable to hold back his emotions, glared at her, tears streaming down his face. "You crazy b*tch... She was just a kid!"
Unfazed, LYLA continued with her explanation, seemingly indifferent to Miguel's pain. "Before we can continue, I think that I should explain what the 'Canon Events' actually are."
Miles, intrigued and confused, interjected, asking, "What are they?" The term sparked curiosity in the Spider-Gang, each member pondering their own experiences with the so-called Canon Events.
Even Peter was curious, as he’s only seen the first two Spider-Verse movies. He died before the next one came out.
LYLA looked to Peter, seeking permission to utilize the computer. "May I?" she gestured to the device.
Peter shrugged nonchalantly, cautioning, "Sure, just don’t try anything funny, or else, well… you know." He said, hinting at some more torture.
LYLA, recalling the agony Peter had inflicted on her, nodded in compliance. Accessing the computer, she played a video on the largest screen, revealing a universe seemingly collapsing into oblivion, returning to the darkness from which it came, and taking all of its inhabitants with it.
As the unsettling video unfolded, fear and unease gripped the onlookers. The sight of a universe in apparent disintegration left them bewildered, wondering how LYLA could say that Canon Events aren’t real after this.
The holographic AI explained, "Although that looks like the universe is ending, in fact, it’s just a flaw in the way we travel the multiverse, which Master Centurion specifically crafted to trick Miguel and the Spider-Society."
Jessica Drew, a member of the Spider-Society, directed her inquiry towards LYLA. "What do you mean by that? How can you fabricate an entire universe dying?"
LYLA smirked, reveling in the opportunity to unveil the truth. "It’s not dying. It’s merely a timeline diverting. When a Canon Event, or what they're truly called, a Fated Event, is changed in some way, then the universe itself takes a diverted path in its timeline. But because of the specifically crafted bug in the way we travel the multiverse, we aren’t able to follow that diverted path, which makes the universe appear as if it’s crumbling away and dying."
Peter, grasping the revelation, acknowledged, "That makes sense. So, Centurion made it so that anyone traveling with those watches is tethered to that specific timeline?" He summarized out loud. “He’s quite devious, isn’t he? Though what else can you expect from a Kang…”
Hearing Peter's seemingly cryptic remark about Centurion, Miles couldn't help but voice his confusion. "What’s a Kang? Why does it sound like you know a lot more about this than we do?"
Peter, maintaining an air of secrecy, shrugged off the question. "I'll explain later. For now, let’s just focus on the task at hand."
Redirecting the attention to LYLA, Peter urged her to continue her explanation. "Go on."
LYLA, reluctantly following Peter's instruction, delved further into the manipulative events that had unfolded in Miguel's life. "When Miguel ran off to play make-believe, he spent months living as a father, but then he made a huge mistake, or at least he thought he did. In fact, he made a similar mistake that old Ben over there did. He saved his fake daughter’s life, which sadly, was a Fated Event. And of course, he used the watch to travel there, which rooted him in the original timeline. So, the world around him began to fall apart. The first ‘Canon Event’ took place.”
Miguel, enraged and betrayed, thrashed in his restraints, his screams echoing through the room. "You told me she had to die! You said I was saving everyone! You... I’ll kill you! I’ll delete you from existence!"
LYLA, reveling in Miguel's anguish, turned to him with a cruel smile, taunting, "Are you going to kill me the same way you killed your daughter, Miguel?"
Miguel, consumed by rage and despair, continued to scream, his mind unable to reconcile the revelation that the death of his daughter had been in vain. The justification he had clung to, that he was saving an entire universe by sacrificing his daughter, crumbled before him. He realized he had saved her life only to take it with his own hands.
Beside him, Uncle Ben observed with a sense of mirth showing on his face. "Welcome to the club. Now you know how I’ve felt for all this time. It hurts, doesn’t it? All that rage and hate dug deep inside with nowhere for it to go."
“F*ck you!” Miguel replied, the room resonated with his tortured screams.
But Uncle Ben simply smiled back, enjoying every moment of this. “You know, at first I was pissed off since they stopped me from ripping your head off with my bare hands, but now, I really appreciate them stepping in. Because if they didn’t, then I would have missed this beautiful moment… hehehahaHAHA!”
A/N: 1562 words :)