Spider-Man Issue #5: United They Stand (Patreon)

Miles had been trying to call Phin nonstop. She hadn’t picked up the phone or even a text. For two days, Miles had been searching for Phin. She wasn’t at home; she wasn’t at any of her normal spots that she liked to hang out. He wasn’t just searching as Spider-Man, even as just himself he was searching for her. 

Her parents hadn’t heard from her in a few days. Peter and the new Spider crew had been reaching out but Miles hadn’t responded. If he wasn’t searching for Phin, he was in his room usually face down in his bed sulking. His mind kept repeating how his best friend had done so much damage and almost killed a hero who helped so many in Jennifer Walters.  

Jen had woken up but still had a long way to go before she was discharged from the hospital, let alone actually helping people on the streets. He had been right behind Peter to see her as they filled her in on what had been happening. When they had gotten to the part about Miles's friend Phin, he had almost broken down into tears, apologizing to Jen repeatedly as she told him it was okay. Friends’ choices aren’t ours. 

It hadn’t helped.  

He had been searching for Phin all night and had been in bed for a few hours. He ignored calls from Peter, Gwen, and Cindy. He only periodically checked it for responses from Phin, but there was nothing.  

He was barely aware of his window being opened and someone standing over his bed. 

He opened an eye expecting to see his mom or dad or Peter standing over him. Instead, it was Cindy Moon in her Spider Costume. She pulled the red bandana down from her face, looking down at Miles. 

“What?” He asked. It came out garbled because he was speaking into his pillow.  

“You aren’t going to find your friend laying in bed.” She said waiting for him to spring up and leave with her. 

“I’ve been out all night looking for Phin.” He said, which still sounded muffled into the pillow.  

“Well, maybe if you worked with us instead of disappearing on your own, you’d have found her. Now get up.” Cindy said giving a kick to the side of the bed. Miles just turned away. She gave a huff of annoyance before making her next move to get Miles out of bed. She grabbed the blanket that he was currently hiding under. 

Cindy pulled back the covers to reveal Miles. He was in just a white t-shirt and black and yellow boxers. While he should be embarrassed having a woman her hardly knows in his room seeing him in his underwear, Miles just groans a go away. 

“Get up.” Cindy ordered. 

Miles gave her a rude gesture. She took a moment to let him get adjusted before upping her efforts to get him up. 

She reached down and grabbed the back of his boxers and pulled him right off the bed. Miles let out a shocked squeak as the material was yanked up his behind as he was pulled from the bed. He landed on the floor with her hand still secure on his undies. He laid there for a fraction of a second, but Cindy wasn’t done. Thanks to her spider strength, she lifted Miles to his feet by the back of his boxers.  

He was on his feet then on his tippy toes just as fast as Cindy wasn’t just going to let him pout on the floor. Miles was fully awake and mentally in the moment as he was going to be. 

“Alright, alright.” He said, slapping Cindy’s hand away. She released his boxers, and he quickly adjusted himself before looking at her, slightly annoyed. He let out a long sigh and sat down on his bed, the weight of the past few days pressing down hard on him.  

Her expression softened at seeing Miles so down. She realized dragging him out by his ear or his underwear wouldn’t help. The talking cure would help more than that.  

“Peter told me you and Phin were close.” Cindy said, sitting down next to him. 

“Yeah.” He said. He was a million miles away, thinking of all the good times and how he failed his best friend, allowing her to become the Tinkerer.  

“I’m sorry.” 

“I messed up.” Miles said as he put his head in his hands. Cindy raised an eyebrow. 

“You messed up?” 

“I let her go down this path. I could have been there for her, and I wasn’t. Everything with my powers and her just getting back from her year abroad. We just didn’t connect like we used to. And what does she do? She almost kills Jen, like my best friend almost killed her.” Miles said. He had thought a lot about these feelings, but it was the first time he verbalized them out loud, let alone verbalizing them to another person.  

Cindy let him get that out before putting a hand on his back and looking directly into her eyes. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” She asked, rubbing his back as Miles gave her a disappointed look. “Phin is a grown woman. You didn’t make her decisions. Everything she is doing out there is her choice, you being around or being more involved. She made her own choices, and you can’t change that, but you can stop her from hurting anyone else.” 

“But I could have talked her out of it. I could have stopped her.” He said as he wallowed in his pity party. 

“Instead of worrying about the past, we can do something about it now. You can do something about it now.” Cindy said, standing up and offering Miles her hand. “Peter thinks he can track the energy signature from the stone Phin has.” 

He looked at her hand. 

“Miles I know we barely know each other from school, but right now you can either do something with friends, or you can do nothing alone.” 

His face turned from sadness to determination. 

“Let’s do something about it.” He took her hand. 

A few minutes later the window to Miles’ bedroom opened and one after another two figures swung out into the city. 

Across town and ten minutes later, Peter was on the roof of his apartment building. He had contacted Reed Richards and after a quick discussion, the super genius had offered advice on how to track the energy signature of the red gemstone that Phin carried. He currently wasn’t dressed as Spider-Man, but as Peter Parker, which left him in an ESU sweatshirt and a pair of sweatpants.  

In his hands was a small tablet, about as thick as paperback book, with a small antennae at the top. He fiddled with it as the device was on but not tracking the energy, at least not yet. 

The rooftop door swung open and out walked Gwen Stacy, not his Gwen but still a Gwen. She also wasn’t dressed in her alter ego. The blonde walked out in a white ESU sweatshirt, one of Cindy’s, and a black pair of gym shorts she had stolen when she first ended up on this world.  

“Any luck on what you’re working on?” She asked as she approached Peter. 

“Slowly but surely making progress.” He said as he tinkered with the device. 

“Cool, cool. What exactly is it?” She asked. While Cindy had been sent to get Miles and Peter was focused on his device, she had been left to suffer the worst fate. Watching daytime television on Peter’s couch. She couldn’t take it anymore.  

“With this I should be able to track the energy signature from the stone that Phin has by using the radiation emissions it leaves behind.” Peter explained while holding up the device to show her as Gwen nodded her head. 

“So, nerd stuff.” 

“Yes, nerd stuff.” Peter said, rolling his eyes. He continued working on the machine as Gwen let the silence settle before she decided to break it. 

“So, you and your Gwen were close?” She asked. It was still strange seeing Peter alive and well after all these years. Yes, he wasn’t her Peter, but he sounded like him, acted like him, hell even smelled like him.  

“Extremely. We uhhh dated.” Peter admitted as he hadn’t been sure he would even mention that to this Gwen. He wasn’t sure what her relationship was with her Peter Parker.  She looked at him, her eyes a bit wider. 

“Wow, gross.” She said before realizing she had just insulted him. “I meant weird, sorry.” 

“It’s fine. Lots of her friends said the same thing.” Peter said, focusing on her work. 

“Yeah, Peter got plenty of questions about why he was hanging out with me in my universe.” She admitted. 

“Really?” He asked, giving her a confused look. The way she described her was similar to himself. A smart but scrawny, dorky guy. Gwen was attractive; anyone with eyes could see that. 

“Yeah, like why was he hanging out with someone who would never be able to keep up with his brain. Why was he hanging out with a girl who was going nowhere when he was going to be valedictorian with a bright future. But we just clicked.” Gwen said, looking away from Peter and thinking about the one she lost.  

“Do you have a Miles or a Cindy on your world?” He asked. He stopped fiddling with the device, putting it down on a rooftop air conditioning unit.  

“Not sure. I haven’t run into them. No other spiders in my universe.” She said with a shrug. 

“Ah? How do you like it? I at least had Jessica when I first started to get used to it, not that we always say eye to eye on things.” Peter admitted. While he was the first world known Spider, Jessica Drew had been operating in the shadows for a few more years than Peter, first as an unwitting agent of Hydra before officially joining S.H.I.E.L.D. When he had first started, she had shown up to keep an eye on him occasionally and they discovered they had a lot in common in terms of abilities but not so much in personality. 

“Cindy is something.” Gwen said with a small chuckle. “I just worry she doesn’t take it as seriously as she should.” 

“She doesn’t take it seriously?” Peter asked, crossing his arms and giving Gwen a sarcastic look. He happened to remember Gwen’s fighting to be a bit unorthodox. 

“Okay, maybe I don’t take it as seriously as I can too, but I don’t know. I think she just doesn’t use her powers to their fullest.” She tried to explain. This time Peter nodded his head. 

“I agree. Miles has a lot of bad habits that thanks to all this we haven’t been able to get away from with practice.” Peter said as they took a small walk towards the edge of the building. The pair stood out looking over the city as they discussed their proteges. 

“I guess you’ll be stuck with both of them.” She said with a smile. 

“Oh yeah, I am going to have to revamp training and figure out group activities." Peter said sounding like a real teacher. "They'll have all the preparation and training I never had." 

"One day they'll be as good as us, but for now." Gwen said with a smile. "They are still pretty bad." 

Neither Peter or Gwen realized that their two proteges had just landed on the roof and were slowly making their way over to the pair. Cindy and Miles slowed to a crawl when they realized they were being talked about. 

"Oh, come on, they aren't that bad. Miles is doing better than I did this early into his career, and Cindy has some fighting skills." Peter weakly defended them. 

“Fine they’re good but can be annoying.” Gwen said as Peter chuckled in agreement, unaware Miles and Cindy could hear them, both scowling behind their costumes' masks. 

“Yeah, I keep telling Miles to be aware of his surroundings, but I feel like he is only half listening and he ends up clipping into buildings or firing extra webbing to stop himself from falling because he misses so much.” 

"I blame myself for Cindy's immaturity. Like I showed her how fun it can be without any of the downside." Gwen said as Cindy and Miles made their way closer to the pair. Cindy motioned to Miles, who nodded his head in agreement. 

While Peter and Gwen were having this heart to heart, neither realized Miles and Cindy were right behind them. The two proteges got behind their mentors, Cindy behind Gwen and Miles behind Peter. 

Cindy gave a three, two, one count down. 

On one, she reached out grabbing Gwen's shorts. At the same time Miles grabbed Peter's sweatpants. At the same time they pull down.  Gwen's short are yanked to her ankles revealing her orange boyshorts. Peter's sweatpants are yanked to his ankles to reveal white briefs. Cindy and Miles take a step back laughing as their mentors' faces went red. 

“You guys should pay more attention.” Miles said with a laugh. 

“Yeah, very immature not to be paying attention like that.” Cindy agreed with her own laughter as Gwen and Peter fixed their pants.  

"When did you two get back?" Gwen asked as she adjusted her shorts. 

"How much did you hear?" Peter asked, yanking back up his sweatpants. 

"We just got back and heard enough." Cindy answered. 

"She said you guys have a way to find Phin." Miles said as after the moment of fun, he wanted to focus. 

"Yeah, this device will track the energy from the red gem she stole." Peter explained, picking up the small scanner. He handed it to Miles. 

"If you don't mind watching that while we get changed." Peter and Gwen went back down into his apartment to get changed into their costumes. 

By the time they came back dressed for work, the scanner was going crazy. 

The Tinkerer had made her next move. 

A few minutes earlier two figures stood outside of Stark Tower as pedestrians gave them a wide berth. The shorter one was Phin Mason, dressed in her Tinkerer garb. Phin wore her old Tinkerer helmet bulkier and more square after Titania destroyed her upgraded model, a denim jacket over a purple sweatshirt and black jeans. In her hands was her home-made sword, extended and buzzing with purple and red energy. The red gem was in the hilt of the sword, boosting its power to levels she could barely contain.  

Next to her was the towering Titania. A muscular redheaded woman in jeans, purple boots and a black spandex top that barely contained her muscles. Once Phin had told Titania her plan, the massive woman had let her down from her hanging predicament and let her prepare for the assault on Stark Tower. 

"Let's get this show on the road." The larger woman said. Just as Phin shouldn't have trusted her, and now didn't, Titania didn't trust Phin to live up to her end of the bargain. The sooner they handled this; the sooner they could be rid of each other. Titania had kept the cannon Phin built as insurance if the Tinkerer's plan failed. At least she'd get the money originally promised by her contact. 

Titania grabbed a lamp post and threw it at the front doors of Stark Tower. The lamp post smashed through the front door sending shards of metal and glass everywhere. People began to flee as they walked towards the front of Stark Tower. The whole where the doors used to be were open for a moment before thick steel shudders crashed close, blocking entrance.  

Titania cracked her knuckles, but Phin stepped up first. The Tinkerer grabbed her sword with two hands and slashed upwards with it. An arc of red and purple energy burst from the blade. The energy arc exploded against the steel shudders, slicing right through them like a hot knife through butter. The pair took a step towards the opening.  

A burst of webs exploded, blocking the freshly made opening. Titania and Tinkerer turned around to face four Spider-people facing them down. 

"If someone goes for a job interview, they usually don't blow up the front door." Spider-Man said.  

Titania ignored him and grabbed a car that had been parked on the curb. She lifted it over her head with ease and tossed it at the foursome.  

“Webs.” Peter shouted as he began firing weblines at the car, hurtling towards them. Gwen joined almost the instant later with Cindy and Miles being last. The car made it twenty feet from the ground before enough webline was in place to hold it.  

"You got this." The Tinkerer said as she turned and ran towards the gap. Titania had barely turned her head and the helmeted woman had slashed the webbing and jumped inside Stark Tower. 

Miles watched Phin rush through the hole. He turned to see Peter, Cindy and Gwen before his head went back to where Phin had gone. 

“I gotta go after Phin.” Miles shouted as he fired off a webline, swinging past Titania and jumping through the gap. The large red head tried to reach out and grab him, but Miles was fast enough that she missed. 

“Wait.” Peter called, but Miles was already off to go find his friend and maybe talk some sense into her.  

"Great, already a man down." Gwen said as Titania cracked her knuckles. 

"Don't worry." She said walking towards the trio. The massive woman dwarfed the three of them. "It wouldn't have mattered if you had an army." 

While Miles was only a few moments behind Phin, he felt like he was an hour behind. The lobby of Stark Tower had been decimated with energy sword slashes all over the place. The lobby was empty as the employees had fled during the attack to the upper floors. 

He made his way quickly and quietly, following the damage his friend had left behind. The path led up the stairwell to the second floor. The second floor housed a lab with a sign labeled as "Nano Lab". Miles entered the room. 

The lab was a massive room with a few dozen computers and workstations on one side of the room; the other had a massive pool surrounded by smaller ones. Inside the pools was a shivering silver liquid that moved with a mind of its own. In the center was a computer. 

Phin was standing next to the computer, typing away as she changed the commands of the nano-bots. Miles ran through the sliding doors just as Phin was finishing up. 

“What are you doing?” He asked firing a web blast that knocked one of the screens off the table. The Tinkerer jumped back, whipping her helmeted head in the direction of Miles. 

She whipped her hand toward Miles as he rushed her. From her sleeve, her sword assembled, and an arc of purple energy shot out at him. He dodged, but that was all the time Phin needed to stick her sword into the pool of nano-machines.  

“It’s too late, Miles.” She dipped the end of her sword into the pool. The wave of nano-machines rushed to her sword and helmet. The Tinkerer’s gear began to change as it was upgraded by the microscopic machines that now enhanced her helmet and sword. The blade grew a few more inches, growing sharper, and the energy glow became brighter. The Tinkerer helmet went from bulky and squared to a rounder and more compact shape. It looked even more advanced than her previous helmet.  

He didn’t have time to admire her new gear as she fired another blast from her sword, this time a much larger blast of energy. The purple blast put a hole in the floor as Miles landed on a wall.  

“See what the technocrats keep hiding from us?” Phin said as her helmet folded back revealing her face. It wasn’t the face of a friend, but someone mad with power. 

“This isn’t you, Phin.” Miles said landing on the floor. This has been the girl he had grown up with. They had play peewee soccer, movie marathons, sleepovers, science fairs, and everything else in between. All that was wiped away as she swung the techno blade at Miles. He dodged the energy that shot out.  

“You were supposed to be my friend!” Phin shouted as she brought the newly enhanced sword down again letting loose another energy slash. Miles dodged the second attack as he realized the time for talking was over.  

Outside in front of Stark Tower, things weren't going well for Miles' fellow spider powered heroes. While Peter tried not to hit women, in this case his attacks were pretty useless. Swinging full force into Titania's back hadn't even made her budge, but it did hurt his foot. 

The almost seven-foot redhead wasn't slowing down as she threw whatever she could grab at the spiders, trying to knock them from the walls or midair. A bus stop bench was flying through the air as Gwen swung by, webbed it and redirected it back at Titania. The large woman put up one arm as the bench smashed to pieces off of her forearm from the impact. 

"Why don't you bugs come down here and fight me." She shouted as she rushed to try and grab Gwen who had landed. Their one advantage was they were far faster than the tank of a woman. Between the Spider-Sense and reflexes, she was unable to catch them yet. 

Gwen and Peter fell back as Cindy fired blasts of webbing at the redhead's feet, which she ripped free from with ease. 

“Nothing’s really working.” Gwen said as the three spider powered heroes had hit Titania with everything, and she didn’t even slow down. 

"She's smarter than Rhino. I can just get him to charge into stuff." Peter said as he fired a web to catch a sewer lid that Titania had picked up and threw towards them. He spun it back and fired it back at her. The giant knocked it aside as she kept coming towards them. 

"I think it's time to call for back up. Think you can keep her busy?" He asked as Cindy back flipped to join them. Before Gwen could say anything, Cindy answered for her. 

"Yeah, I think we can." The half masked woman said before turning to Gwen. "Ghost-Spider special time."  

Gwen shrugged. It was as good idea as any considering nothing else was working. It threw Peter and She-Hulk off their game, maybe it would work on Titania. 

Cindy jumped high, drawing the giant woman's attention. She landed on a lamp post and began firing webbing at the aggressive redhead. The newest addition to the spider family tree's aim wasn't great, but it did distract. Gwen waited for the right moment and charged. 

Titania noticed her right as she was within grabbing distance. The redhead tried to catch her, but it was difficult to catch a Ghost-Spider. 

Gwen slid right between the larger woman’s legs. Unlike everyone else, Titania, didn’t bend over, instead she threw a kick back that Gwen had to dodge. Even the old reliable moves weren’t working.  

Ghost-Spider flipped backwards away from the blow. The larger woman busied herself by picking up a scooter, preparing to chuck it at Cindy. Gwen figured this was her best chance to use old reliable.  

As Titania raised the vehicle over her head, Gwen jumped and landed behind the red head. Without hesitation, she reached into the jeans of the powerfully built woman, found the fabric and yanked up with spider strength. A purple and black zebra print thong was yanked out of Titania’s jeans. She pulled with all her might and held on to see if the plan had worked. 

It hadn’t. 

Ghost-Spider had been hoping for more of a reaction from Titania, to knock the giant woman off her game. Instead, the titan of a woman threw the moped at Cindy, who managed to dodge it, though the lamp post wasn't so lucky. 

Titania looked over her shoulder and cracked her knuckles. 

“Oh, so that’s how you want to play?” The much larger woman asked menacingly. Gwen let out a small gulp and let the thong snap back against the giant’s behind. 

“Crap.” Ghost-Spider said as she fired a web off to swing away. Titania was hot on her heels. It might not have thrown the larger woman off her game, but it at least got her to stop throwing things and just chase Gwen. 

Inside, things weren't going much better for Miles. The upgrades to Phin's gear had made it difficult for him to do much than just keep out of her way. The right shoulder of his suit was cut open and her had a burn wound as the end of one of her energy slashes had caught him on the shoulder. 

"Phin you need to stop." Miles said as he landed on a wall. He was panting from having to keep his distance. He didn't want to hurt Phin, but she was more than likely to kill him at this rate. 

"Talk? Talk about how you hid this from me? How you're working with Spider-Man, the real Spider-Man, who works for scumbags like Tony Stark. Who protected Roxxon when they were poisoning us and keeping things like this from us." She shouted as she swung her sword again. The energy the gem on the hilt was giving off was becoming more dangerous by the instant. 

The first few slashes were precise and razor thin. Now they were chaotic and massive, shooting off little energy bolts of their own. He realized too late he wouldn't have time to move and get to a safe distance. Miles quickly webbed some of the paneling on the wall. It popped free and ended up in his hands just in time to block the blow, barely. 

He was thrown back at the panel disintegrated in his hands. He bounced off the wall before landing on a heap on the floor. Slowly, he got to his hands and knees. His eyes opened to see the blood from his wounds pooling from the impact.  

His mask and suit were torn. A few pieces were still burned from the explosion. He took a deep breath and shakily got to his feet. Phin was waiting, chuckling. 

"You need to stay down. I still care about you after all these betrayals, but if you don't stay down, I will keep you down." 

"Bring it on." Miles said with pure determination. 

"I kicked your ass in school, in sports, in video games, this won't be any different." 

Miles was done playing nicely. He wasn't going to talk anymore; it was time for action. The newest Spider powered hero had a villain to stop. 

Outside, Titania stood in the center of the three spiders. Peter was a live, but he had been pounced into the front of a taxi. Cindy was on her feet, but her hands were on her knees as she was out of breath.  

Gwen was four stories up on the floor of an office building. When Titania had caught up to her, the giant woman had grabbed the Ghost-Spider by the ankle, spun and hurled her up there laughing the whole time Gwen flew through the air. The hooded hero crawled over to the shattered massive window to look down as Titania prepared to finish either Cindy or Peter off. 

“Without She-Hulk around none of you can stop me.” Titania shouted, laughing as there was finally no one who could stop her. 

“I might not be green, but why don’t you give me a shot.” A gravelly voice shot out.  

Standing down the block in a pair of blue shorts wasn’t a Hulk but was the next best thing. Ben Grimm, The Thing, the strongest member of the Fantastic Four who was made out of orange stones that made his skin look like gravel had arrived right on time. 

 Peter had done the reasonable thing and called Johnny to ask for back up. 

“You want a piece of me?” Titania asked, cracking her knuckles. 

“No, I want the whole damn thing.” Ben charged her. The man made of stone tackled Titania, forcing her away from the downed group of spiders and smashing into a parked truck. 

“You guys alright?” Johnny Storm asked. He flew down covered in flame before turning back into his normal self, a conventionally attractive blonde guy in blue pants and a blue long sleeve shirt with a big, stylized FF on the center. 

“Took you long enough.” Peter said, getting to his feet. He picked bits of glass from his costume. 

“You know, Reed. Always keeping us busy.” Johnny said as Cindy and Gwen joined them. While Gwen just gave him a nod of thanks, Cindy almost let out a squeal. 

“You didn’t tell us you were inviting Johnny Strom, The Johnny Storm to help.” The Korean American girl said blushing under her mask.  

"Uhh, yeah." Johnny said, focusing on Peter. "Where's that gem thing. He said he needs to have it to power the gate thingy." 

"The universal gate." Peter corrected. 

"Yeah, that. Without it he doesn't think he can power it to do the other thing you need." Johnny said. He had not really followed along with what Reed had been saying to Peter just something about universes, gates, stones and getting someone back to their proper reality. It sounded a bit of science fiction to him. 

"Okay, so we need to stop the Tinkerer." Peter said as he looked at the battle down the street. While Ben was winning against Titania, a lot of chaos was happening with civilians fleeing and things being destroyed.  

"Okay, Cindy." Peter said. Cindy was looking at Johnny with dreamy eyes. Peter let out a sigh and tried not to get annoyed watching Cindy fan girl out over Johnny. It wasn't lost on him that she was fawning over Johnny, but he had been a hero just as long and when she first met him, she chose to humiliate him. 

"Cindy." Peter barked again this time getting her attention. She looked at him. "You go help Miles. Gwen, Johnny, and I are going to try and keep Ben from destroying the block." 

"Easier said than done." Johnny added. Cindy nodded and fired a webline off to head inside. The remaining two spiders and the Human Torch turned. 

"Time to go to work." Spider-Man said as he and Ghost-Spider swung their way down the block. 

"Flame on." Johnny said, igniting and flying off right behind them.  

Inside, Miles realized he had a lot to learn about being Spider-Man. Right now, he was realizing that he had a lot to learn about using his powers to fight a super powered foe. He worried he might not have a chance to learn. 

He was leaning against the wall, sitting on the floor. He had gotten some good licks in on Phin, but he was pulling his punches. The Tinkerer was not. With her upgraded gear thanks to Stark nanotech and her willingness to hurt him, she now had him right where she wanted him. 

Her sword began to crackle with energy as she aimed at Miles. 

“I’m tired of getting pushed around, tired of getting picked on. With this, there isn’t anyone who is going to get in my way ever again.” Phin said. "You could have joined with me, but instead you chose their side." 

He opened his mouth but stopped. Slowly descending from the ceiling was Cindy, upside. He said nothing as his fellow hero hung silently behind The Tinkerer. 

"You made me do this." Phin said, disappointed. 

"And you made me do this." Cindy said. The Tinkerer tried to turn but Cindy was too quick. She webbed the stone on the sword and pulled it. The blade flew from Phin's grasp and slid across the floor. As Phin fully turned, the spider powered woman was already ascending on her webline. As she went up, her free hand reached out, grabbed Phin's helmet and twisted. The Tinkerer's helmet didn't fall off, but it did twist so that the wearer couldn't see anymore. 

Miles made his move. With speed and strength, he didn't realize he had, he jumped up and ran at Phin. She had just begun to twist the helmet to the right side when Miles slid through her legs. She managed to get visuals back in the helmet just in time to see Miles' foot connect with the face of the helmet. 

Phin was knocked back hard against the wall. The blow from the kick followed by the smack against the wall knocked her out. 

The Tinkerer's reign of terror was over. 

For Miles the two hours were a blur. He and Cindy webbed Phin to a wall before heading outside to see what had happened with Titania. He left first, giving just enough time for Cindy to yank down Phin's pants as she was webbed to the wall, leaving the villain's rainbow boxer-briefs for the authorities to see when they arrested her.  

Outside, the fight between Thing and Titania was over. The giant redhead had tossed a minivan full of screaming kids at him, which Ben had thankfully caught. While Peter, Gwen and Johnny had been saving others and literally putting out fires, Titania had escaped. The fight was over, but she had escaped.  

The group of heroes had rushed over to Miles and Cindy. 

"We stopped her." Miles said out of breath and a bit woozy. 

"Good work, kid. I guess Web Head really knows how to train'em." Ben said giving Miles an approving nod. They all congratulated him but the one that meant the most was Peter telling Miles. 

"I'm proud of you." 

He then proceeded to pass out. 

The next week went by in a blur. Peter, Gwen and Cindy had searched high and low for signs of Titania but found none. Miles would have helped, but he was healing from his fight with Phin. He had to explain to his parents that he had fallen off his skateboard doing a grind on a railing and crashed badly. Thankfully, his friends had been there to help him. 

His mom forbid him from riding a skateboard again. Which sucked, but it could have been worse. 

Phin Mason was not having a good time. While her trial wasn't underway yet, she was being held in prison, where it turns out a lot of her former gang members were. The women who used to part of the Tinkerer's crew hadn't enjoyed being left behind so Phin could wage a techno war against the city.  

Phin had heard them out and then told them in no uncertain terms where they could shove those feelings. That led to her current predicament. Her former gang had decided to shove her head in the toilet and give it a good swirly.  

She removed her head from the toilet, coughing up dirty water and shivering as her former gang also thought to remove part of her prison uniform. 

Phin pushed her frizzy wet hair out of her face, the toilet water dripping down her head. She watched as her three of her former underlings ran off with her prison issues pants leaving the former gang leader and super villain pantsless as well as humbled from the swirly. She pulled down her oversized prison shirt to cover up the large white briefs, the only things now on her lower body.  

It was going to be a long prison sentence. 

Titania was having a much better time. She had escaped arrest and still was going to make some money off of the Tinkerer's designer weapon. She placed the weapon on the table in front of her contact. 

"Excellent." The skinny man said smiling. While the tall redhead didn't particularly like him, she liked the briefcase of money he slid across from her.  

"Pleasure doing business with you." Titania said as she stood up. She turned to the door, but a figure was blocking her exit. It was a figure made entirely out of sand. She turned her head back at her buyer. 

"How would you like to go another round with The Thing?" He asked, leaning on the table. Titania nodded and smiled. She would like that.  

A few days later, the four spiders stood on the roof of the Baxter building. Peter stood manning the controls of a gateway. The device was the size of a doorframe with wires and machinery connecting it to a console. On the top of that console was a glass enclosure with the red stone that had been causing so many problems.  

Gwen, Cindy, Miles and Peter all stood with their masks off as it was time for Gwen to say goodbye. Cindy was teary eyed as they embraced. 

"Thank you so much for taking me under your wing." Cindy said, holding back a sniffle. Gwen fought back some tears of her own. 

"You're amazing. Never forget that and I am leaving you in good hands. He may be a dork, but Peter is a great teacher." Gwen said as the hug ended. 

She didn't have as emotional time with Miles, but they still hugged. 

"Thanks for all the help with Phin." He said, and he meant it. Without the extra hands of Gwen, so much more could have gone wrong. 

"Anytime and Miles, people do grow and change. Your friend is still in there somewhere." Gwen said as nodded in agreement thankful for the kind words.  

Finally, Gwen turned to Peter. They stood for a moment without either one knowing what to say. Peter broke first. 

"I wish my Gwen could have met you." He said sad about the friend he had lost but happy about the one he had gained. 

"I wish my Peter could have met you. Could have seen what his sky-high potential could have become." She said and they hugged. When the hug had finally concluded, Peter powered up the device. Thanks to Reed, it zeroed in on Gwen's home dimension. She looked at the portal that formed, seeing her New York City. 

"Well, I guess this is it. I'll see you guys on the flip side." She said, smiling as she pulled on her mask and pulled up her hood. With a small wave, Gwen Stacy jumped into the portal and returned home. 

Peter shut it down, and the three remaining spiders stood around for a moment. They had had a long week, and it would have been time for a rest. If they hadn't heard the sirens down below. Without a word, they pulled on their masks and jumped off to help their city. 

Later that night, Peter stood on the balcony of MJ's apartment. He was still in his Spider-Man suit, though it was a little smokey from a house fire he had helped stop. 

“And that’s pretty much what happened.” Peter said to Mary Jane. He was still in his Spider-Man suit, crouched on the railing of her balcony. She was in her pajamas. He had stopped by and they had talked, where Peter went over everything she had missed for the past few days.  

She just let out an impressed whistle after Peter had finished. 

“Just when I think Spider-Man's life can't get more complicated." She said as she bit her lower lip. 

"Yeah, imagine if I still had a girlfriend." He said jokingly as he looked over the city. 

"Well, Tiger." Mary Jane said in a way he hadn't heard in a long while. "Why don't you step inside, and we'll see what we can do about that."  

Peter turned and saw the way she was looking at him. Peter's life may be complicated, but it was a good life. He hopped off the balcony and entered MJ's apartment. 

Many miles away deep in a crack in the sidewalk was a bubbling black mass. It bubbled and as the bubbles popped it almost sounded like a name. 

Spider-Man.