PROLOGUE
LATE NIGHTS

BABYLON TOWERS, NUEVA YORK
EARTH-928

MIGUEL O'HARA kept himself on a tight leash. He didn't have friends, or family, and especially not lovers. Fate had designed him to be dedicated to one thing and one thing only: his job.

Leading a task force of Spider-people to protect their multiverse was a hard job, but it was his job. No one else's. Who else had the strength to hold themselves back from life's pleasures other than him? It wasn't like he didn't want family, didn't yearn for someone to hold in the late hours of the night, but the strands of his canon were set. There was no changing his Fate now, no matter how much he wanted to.

Miguel liked to view what was happening in different universes when he couldn't sleep. He would sit in his uncomfortable chair, his eyes half-closed, and look across the Web of Life and Destiny on his holographic projector. He checked in on his variants, wondering which villain they had just defeated or if their first canon event had occurred yet. He liked to pluck at the polychromatic strands like a guitar, pulsating underneath his fingers as he moved over the Web. His variant in Earth-744 just proposed to his soulmate, and Miguel cringed, switching to another strand.

"Another late night?" LYLA, his personal AI assistant appeared on his shoulder. She was wearing a fluffy orange coat over her computer-generated designer dress. He didn't even jump when he noticed her.

"I'll go to bed soon," Miguel sighed, swiping his fingers across the holographic screen. He then rubbed at a scar on his bicep and shifted in his seat. He was only wearing a pair of dark navy sweatpants, his most uncomfortable pair.

LYLA appeared in front of the screen, her hands on her hips and her pink sunglasses perched on the tip of her nose. "Yeah, okay. Right, right." She moved to one of the armrests on his desk chair. "Maybe not so soon, though. I caught something just now."

Miguel's eyes finally cut away from the Web and moved towards his assistant.

"I discovered two disturbances in Earth-616," LYLA informed, and Miguel quickly swiped through the strands to reach his desired universe. He inspected the strands, tapping on one to see what his AI was rambling on about.

"The first involves your variant there. In six days time, he's supposed to meet your – well, his destined soulmate, Willodean Wright." LYLA helped him zoom in closer, focusing on the image of a pretty blonde driving out of New York in an old car. "As you can see here, she's leaving New York City. Definitely not meeting your variant in six days. She broke the canon on her own accord, and I'm not understanding why. She's now heading to her hometown. Some sort of energy must be pulling her there."

Miguel didn't speak for a moment. He couldn't help but admire Willodean Wright on the screen. She was tapping her fingers against the steering wheel and bopping her head to a song playing through her speakers, a lit cigarette in one of her hands. He brought up her identification profile on screen.

NAME: Willodean Jude Wright
GOES BY: Jude
AGE: 29
HAIR COLOR: Blonde
EYE COLOR: Brown
FAMILY: Deacon Wright, Bonnie-Mae Wright –

Miguel's eyes shifted, studying her face. She looked exactly like every one of his variants' soulmates, the face of a woman he could never have, thanks to his own Fate. He tsked and switched back to the live feed. He watched her closely, noticing how her bangs were just a bit too long, the way she was driving becoming a little more erratic as she bobbed her head, how her long lashes dusted her cheeks when she blinked. She was beautiful.

Willodean Wright reminded him of the life he'd always wanted, when he had found another world where he had a family. Just a few days after his own 30th birthday, he discovered a variant had died in Earth-415, and he thought it was harmless to take over his life. And it was innocent ... for a while. He didn't have the burden of being Spider-Man. He was a dad. He had a wife named Willow, who looked similar to Willodean. Except Willow had soft, dark brown hair and freckles scattered over her face. He loved her. Until his presence broke that dimension completely, splitting it in two and killing his wife and daughter. All because of his selfishness.

"Hello?" LYLA said, appearing in different places in front of him, waving her hands wildly. "Earth to Miguel. Helloooooooooo –"

Miguel blinked, coming back to himself. Instead of playing into his assistant's antics, he asked, "How are they supposed to meet in six days?"

LYLA moved in contrasting directions around him, searching through her databases. "It says here that she's supposed to ..." The AI snorted. "She almost runs him over with her car. That's how they meet. Then it's love at first sight, and you know the rest."

Miguel cleared his throat. "And where's she headed now?"

"A small town in Louisiana called Barton Hollow. She grew up there before moving to NYC." LYLA then shrugged. "Coincidentally, the second disturbance is seated in that same town. I think an anomaly's energy is pulling her there and trying to create a bigger disruption in the canon."

Miguel zoomed out and located Barton Hollow on the map in front of him. "What's the non-typical activity?"

"Two murders in the past few months, all bitten like –" She sighed. "Well, it doesn't make much sense –"

"Like what, LYLA?"

"Well, like ... like vampires." LYLA moved behind his head, hiding. "What if it's one of the Morbius variants? Gods, you know how much I hate those motherf–"

Miguel exhaled heavily. "There's no what ifs. It's definitely one of them." And now, it was looking like he'd have to head to Barton Hollow in Earth-616 to stop two anomalies, just what he wanted to do on a night with no sleep. But how was he going to find the Morbius anomaly and push Willodean – actually, Jude, if she wanted to be that difficult – back to NYC? There was no way he could do both at the same time, and Jude wouldn't be able to get back to NYC so quickly. She was already halfway to her destination. Miguel had a better chance of meeting her and creating the canon event in Louisiana, which wasn't against the rules completely –

He pinched the bridge of his nose, muttering a string of words in his native tongue. "LYLA," he said, getting up from his chair, "you and Jess are in charge of the Web while I'm away. Call the watch if you need anything."

"Don't forget your duty while you're there, Miggy," LYLA chided while perching herself on top of his chair. "You have a job to do."

He rolled his eyes, sliding the vile of bright green spider DNA into the jet injector. "I never forget," he mumbled before injecting the poison into his arm. His bicep hurt momentarily, and then his body felt invigorated again. He placed the empty injector on his desk and slid his chair into place.

"Uh-huh," LYLA quipped, raising a brow. "Sure you don't, Miggy. Be safe."

Miguel waved her off as he walked away. LYLA of all people knew he was the only person who could be on this case, who was strong enough. He wasn't like the other Spider-people, and he didn't always like what he had to do.

But he knew he had to be the one to take care of this.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: hiiiiiiiiii did you guys enjoy this little preview of what's to come? I headcanon miguel 100% checks in on his variants late at night 🤭 looking very hot 🤭 and sleep deprived 🤭 and being jealous of them 🤭 just the way he should be !!

next chapter is very long, so STAY TUNED!!! hope you guys enjoyed!