#cybersbyte

                   ❝ yeaa, naw. in that case, i won't make it ten minutes in the cyberverse if i'm bound to get disconnected, all because i was passed out from catching whiffs of yo earrings-back and kidney failings. how about ladies pick the film, and the gentleman pick the snacks, seeing as how i already brought us some on the way here? ❞

miles was stone-walled by a brick new york summer. the weather never liked making sense over in the big apple. mean, or nice, it never picked a struggle and he was feeling illa' than sickle cell anemia from the lack of consistency. one day, you can just have on a hood and be gucci, the next, that puffer jacket was a must, lest you wanted to be colder than polar bear's coochie. you not going nowhere is what he heard the howling winds tease from outside his window. it's clipped, done, fineto, no rational human being was coming out to run the block in nova scotian drafts, so miles was stuck at home without someone to chill with.

or was he? the beginnings of a whine and soft cries snapped his attention away from his sulking. his staring down his invisible adversary somewhere in the skies was put on pause for the little lady singing her blues from the crib. miles made sure to fix his face before dragging his butt out of bed to greet the latest jazz kid. billie, no holiday, had awoken on her gloomy sunday, with a good morning heartache. he got the beat on that when he had to take a couple of steps back as he approached closer. his nostrils were instantly assaulted with a vile stench. you can't be deadass right now, the ancient new yorkean cuss the child will never hear, whispered almost to the silence akin to a 1920's movie.

the elder morales leaned over his railings, looking down at the cute-as-a-button small human snuggled up in poop-laden spider-man covers.

❝ lil stinkabutt, now you know you dead wrong fo that. ❞ he teased softly. his was half-repulsed, grin awkwardly crooked, the other inwardly contented in relief. the night prior hadn't been easy to get through. miles was stricken with paranoia he assumed new parents are inflicted with when they have their newborns. piling prayers on top of prayers for nothing bad to happen. with his newly bestowed obligations, the way his prayers stacked he could write his own bible. last night, when he was done watching a sleeping billie like a gargoyle, eyes wide like wadjet, he had gone off to pray harder than he had before. for his sisters health, for protection from any evil that may seek to do his family harm, and for the wellbeing over the people in the city he protects. it took a while before the sandman took him, but when miles finally succumbed, it wasn't sweet dreams that awaited him.

a relative of death, an unshakable spawn of nightmares plagued him with a visit. it tore away locks to a vault of soundly secured insecurities and shames he hid at the far corners of his consciousness and imposed them onto him.

it all happened so fast, it felt hypnagogic.

the nightmare...

the morales siblings were just talking in hushed tones in their room, not wanting to have their parents privy to their secret conversation. an older version of billie, appearing around the ages 11-13, had caught her brother sneaking into their bedroom, whilst pretending to be asleep. she'd spook him by popping up from the covers, like a jack-in-the-box, ah-huh'n excitably at his blown cover, then obstinately pushed him for an immediate explanation.

the wily heathen, with no choice on the matter, he caved to her demand. they would have spent well over an hour going over how his superheroics came about; with miles then talking about how their uncle took him tagging in an underground section of the nyc subway tunnels, then the odd spider bite that led to the growth spurts, dimensional travels, and how he broke canon and he would do it again if it meant saving their family again, and that nothing could stop him.

billie was gushing with pride throughout the talk. not only was she excited to be the first one to have the insider scoop of the origins of brooklyn's spider-man, but happier that it was her hermano mayor.

❝ alright, la harminta. i know that goofy ahh look on your face. i'm ready, i'm ready. hit me with your questions. ❞ spider-man lifted his mask halfway at a slant across one half of his face, smiling. when the young girl opened her mouth to rain a hailstorm of questions on him, the words wouldn't come, as their room suddenly erupted in an explosion. what had used to be their window was reduced to a cavernous opening of its former brownstone front. glass spittles and flaming rocky rubble shot off like rapid bullets from a gatling gun against the siblings' bodies and what was left of their apartment.

spider-man had quickly covered the young girl from the ensuing debris, hissing through the pain of fiery licks peppering his back. he endured for his sister's sake, but his skin was hot like fish grease, making providing billie security ten times harder. it was a grim challenge to concentrate his thoughts on anything other than the searing torture. the question of why his spider-sense was out-of-order didn't even dawn on him yet. but, given the circumstances, that was neither here nor there, all he knew was that he had to do something like move!

it was literal hell to budge his muscles. still, as long as he wasn't dead, that's what he did. he hurriedly scooped a baby billie in his arms—not realizing that his entirely talking and walking sister reverted back to a one-year-old crawler—and broke off into a jog toward his bedroom door. as he neared the knob, a heavy jerk abruptly prevented him grabbing it. a new sensation that felt like a thick flaming rope finding purchase around his calf muscle disrupted his rhythm and dropped him. the little life in his arms could've been crushed underneath his weight, but impulse and a sliver of willpower made his free forearm and knee the recipients of the sharp fall instead.

the hot tears stinging his chest brought his attention down to billie, and he starts whispering sweet promises to her in their mother's language, telling her that everything would be okay. but with a second look, he finally realized. why was holding an infant?! his mind briefly ran the idea that illusionary tricks were at play, but that couldn't be it. the pain he was feeling was quite real. feeling himself being cruelly dragged back like some roadkilled rodent drove him back to the fact that he was the captive of something or someone.

spider-man's grimacing eyes spy the rear, catching the root of his newfound anguish, and he wished he hadn't. ❝ ?!?! ❞ what he saw was the seemingly impossible gripping not just half of his leg, but most of his nerves as well. they trailed along skeletal appendages that possessed flesh practically melting off the funny bone like oxtail. the owner had a gruesome papyrus-sculpted skull the size of a titan on a set of limber shoulders that didn't look like they should have the strength to luggage the head's weight for long. fragments of dark complexion clung feebly to the malformed mold of rotting meat. he spotted the sight of thumb-sized worm clusters around the bulbous eye sockets that appeared like swollen white tears. except the streams were films of blood that were dripping off the jaw whilst the feasting on meaty tissue over the lithe cheeks continued to leave the rawhead unbothered. it became a struggle not to lose his stomach and vomit, but it was not the menacing imagery staring at him with glassed green pupils that had him ill. it was the fact that the decaying monstrosity was recognizable.

it was his uncle aaron! the full brown lips that he remembered worked like a charm over woman's hearts and smiled like a ray from the sun was now mangled leftovers of a gross cheshire grin. the jagged openings betwixt bloated mouth tissue hosted webs with creamy oblong sacs. the average human eye wouldn't be able to see the clutter of bumps, but spider-man could. he saw as tiny webbed cracks suddenly spread across the shells, and little barbed eight-legged spider hatchlings busted out their eggs with excitement. they had to have numbered in their millions. spider-man watches helplessly as the hatchlings moved out in two units. one unit moved in mass over the unaware flesh-feasting larvae and in unison, sunk their lethal baby fangs into their plump white corpuscles, turning the corpse worms into their namesake with the quickness. the second unit was making its way toward him and his sister!

                   ❝ what's happenin', nephew? why you got that long look on your face, man? i thought you'd be happy to see me? ❞ the voice asked, seemingly confused at miles distress. the vocals were a disturbing dark echo of his uncle's suave cadence and performed like oppressive drums around his heart. facing the gnarled carrion of his late uncle's bloody bones stunted his ability to speak and choked him up bad. fear had paralyzed him, and the intense tightness in his chest made it difficult to breathe. his inner voice screamed at him to get it together and go! no hero quips, no trading blow to blows like this was some villain of the week, just go! billie's cries led him back to the reason he needed to heed the internal pleadings.

but how?! the slightest resistance, a meager effort forward the bone-exposed digits applied greater pressure over his pierced leg. miles took another look at the approaching horde of spider hatchlings. they nearly swallowed half of the harrowing skeleton's long arm. ❝ u-uncle aaron, s-stop this! please! ❞ spider-man screamed, knowing his desperate pleas were useless. holding billie tighter in one arm, spider-man struggles to turn his body halfway around to gain a better shot of defense. bursts of webs discharged from his web-shooters, gunning the arachnid invaders. it worked in slowing their approach, as each shot took out a sizeable portion of the aggressive crawlers. for some reason, this garnered a joyless chuckle out of the spider-infested head.

                   ❝ you wylin' out right now, kid. quit playin', miles, and tell me what's that i see you holdin' on? ❞ the globose mucus-pussing eyes squint down at the small wailing brown face. the irritation that had plastered the ghastly face was now being replaced with genuine ghoulish glee. ❝ hold up, is that my niece? let me have a look at her. ❞ the voice was no longer sounding like the contortion of uncle a's voice, it was far more sinister. spider-man's brain signals were fired up, going completely haywire in alerting him to a danger ( now it works?! ), as if a new threat arose. behind the spiderlings, he could see a broad grin forming across the gory corners under the misshapen cheekbones. but it was quickly losing visibility as the creeping crawlers halted their march, and started mounting each other instead.

they were... fusing?! spider-man observed with morbid raptness as the hatchling mountain intelligently configured itself in the blackened form of man. the makeshift silhouette shaped its head as the same long and svelte frame of uncle's aaron. in fact, its mold was entirely based off of him! the glaring difference is the six stumps growing out of the back until they contoured into six enlarged spider-like legs. spider-man didn't wait for this thing to strike first. in his desperation, he proceeded to spray at the newly formed creature, but to no avail. the six tendrils worked in perfect harmony to sweep the incoming webs as easily as a broom does when knocking out old cobwebs from unattended corners. the humanoid spider figure turned around, its expressionless face staring in the direction of its two helpless prey. as spider-man tried shooting off more webs, three of the large spider legs extended on the offensive like whipping tendrils. the first cleaved the web like soft butter and speared into the wrist device, lancing miles wrist in the process. miles didn't have the chance to scream before the second tendril pierced the forearm that was cradling billie, while the third roped the baby away from her brother and into the arms of their owner.

                   ❝ nn-nooooo! gi-give my sister back or i-i'll fuckin' kill you! i'm not playin'! i'll kill you!! ❞ spider-man snatched his mask off, revealing an enraged white-hot pair of russet eyes set to burn the devil. a crackling yellow arc emitted from the fingertips that were previously holding his sister, and slammed them down on the middle of the huge index that seized his legs. powerful jolts jumped, engaging in a wild dance across the monstrous hand, wrist, and arm, up until they reached the spiderling construct.

he spared no second for a response, and definitely spared no second to feel the pain of his crushed leg, as he scrambled off the floor and used his good leg to support the weight to bounce him off the ground mid-air. cocking his fist back, whilst assuming the web-shooting gesture with his other hand, spider-man was prepared to retrieve his sister and destroy her captor in one explosive go. he nearly made it to his mark before his spidey sense went off and he saw the tendrils lashing forward at eye-blinding speed. given his condition, his reaction time be damned. he managed to blast one with a punch and dodge the second, but the third and fourth slipped under his offense and stabbed him through the abdomen. a fit of blood hurled from his mouth, the venom sparks that leaped around his fingers diminished, and the fire and light in his eyes considerably dimmed.

                   ❝ aww, there you go. frontin' again, miles. what i tell you about telling the truth to women? your family at that, my man. my niece not even walking yet and you already filling her up with more lies than the c.i.a. ❞ a sickly grin that looked like it held the secrets of deviltry behind the curves of its crooked lips spread from ear to ear. the twin legs holding the hero in place reel him in closer like a hooked fish until he was face to no-face with the humanoid creature. the loss of blood blurred his vision, making it harder for miles to keep focus on his enemy, but the enemy isn't who he wanted to see. it was his sister. with his head dangling past his shoulders, his virtually dead brown eyes looked at his crying sister, holding onto a fleeting flare of anger, confusion, sadness, and regret.

he's unsure of how he got here, the demons that are slowly killing him, and their cryptic taunts. something is eating him up from the inside, and he couldn't tell if the hatchlings that were breaking from the main body and working their way into his open wounds, or if it was a problem coming from his soul. the worse part of this all was the obvious, he couldn't do anything about it. no, no, that's not right. the worse part was that somewhere inside he knew that there was plenty of what he could've done to avoid the issues that have been threatening to swallow him up. he didn't think it'd manifest like this, but what did he know? so many demons he kept buried, he couldn't begin to imagine how and what they morphed into over time.

spider-man watches helplessly as billie's small body is quickly covered in spiderlings and gathered in the creature's chest, disappearing entirely. he was unable to cry out for her because when he tried, spider babies violently exited his mouth instead of words. his eyes almost popped out of their socket as he choked on the menaces lodged in his throat. ❝ no more lies, youngin. we've heard enough of that, don't you think? if there's life after the one that's about to come to a close, maybe you'll get it right. or maybe... maybe you'll have the pleasantness of seeing me again. maybe next time i'll be filled with your entire family. ❞ the malevolent voice needn't hide its excitement. throughout this entire ordeal, miles was like a mouse who had its tail caught between the paws of a playful cat. until it was ready to have its meal. the corpse's gargantuan mouth opened wider, revealing large cracked fangs jutting out of black and sickly green rotting gums. everything went dark when the noxious mouth edged closer to the dying hero's body.

nightmare's end...

that was the last time he ate a heavy meal and went to bed afterward. last night was among the worst nightmares he ever experienced. waking up with beads of sweat bathing him, and a heart that was throwing more kicks than bruce lee to escape his chest wasn't pleasant in the least. he took almost an hour to get out of the shower. miles had stood in limbo, shoulder and head leaning against the square plates of the ivory bathroom walls, lost in thought. he was the person that stood the furthest away when it came to drinking, but the headache had been killing him as if his skull received a crushing blow from rhino's knees after having one too many.

the nightmare was telling him something though. there are unresolved conflicts he has residing inside him. he tried consulting his therapist about it, as well as his parents, but he haven't found the vocabulary to properly articulate his feelings. he had roadblocks on top of roadblocks in his mental, and he was going to need help sorting through it.

he looks at billie longingly, caressing her soft baby cheeks before he starts the diaper-changing ritual in deep thought. mid-process, a thought, a wild one, lit up in his head. he hasn't come across anyone in his world yet that had sophisticated tech that could potentially help with his inner turmoil, but he was well acquainted ( putting it mildly ) with someone from a different dimension. finishing up with billie, miles threw her funky doo-doo diaper in the garbage, rolled into the bathroom to wash his hands, and sped back in his room to rummage through his dresser drawer for his transdimensional watch. swiping away some toys, collectible cards in their tin cans, and unsorted pens and markers, he found it lurking in it the back.

billie's baby babbles took his attention as he adjusted the settings for margo kess's dimension. ❝ aww, don't worry, mi amor. what kind of big brother would i be if i left you all behind on your lonely, princess? c'mere. ❞ miles retrieved billie from the baby crib, holding her in one arm, after pressing the button to ignite the portal to earth-22191. he wasted no time and jogged bravely through the gigantic colorful gateway that transported them swiftly to a realm far, far away from theirs.

earth-22191

                   ❝ yurrr! ayoo, what's the vibes, gogo? ❞ miles exclaimed, his voice trilling with excitement as the opening dimensional tunnel to margo's earth gave him a clear view of her bedroom and the beauty situated in front of her computer desk, unaware of her visitors. billie and miles safely landed on margo's bed, her neon blue comforter softening their descent. he looked outside her window and noticed it was snowing. ❝ sheesh, it's brick ova here too? ❞ he said, shaking his head. he wondered if their months, weeks, and days were aligned, but that's a question for another time.

@cybersbyte asked: [ painkiller ]  what is their greatest regret?