Chapter Text
Gabriella stared out the window at Nueva York, She’s lived here her whole life, but today it just.. Looked different. She bounced her foot on the floor of the car as she waited for the light to turn green.
Maybe it was just game day nerves.
The flags on the coffeeshops looked different, and even the buildings seemed taller. She couldn't tell if that was just the nerves she was feeling for the day, though.
“Gabri.” A calm voice called her, she looked to her father, Miguel, driving the car, waiting for the traffic to pass. She was worried they wouldn't get to the field on time, even if they’d left two hours early.
With all of this traffic, who knows how late they’d be. And she didn't even want to think about being benched. She’d been benched before - and it did not feel good.
“You’re nervous.” he commented, looking down at her leg. She stops bouncing her leg, sighing for a moment before putting on a brave face.
“Me? Nervous? No. Never.” She sputtered, waving her hand at him dismissively. “I’m excited, see?” She smiled, almost too widely, Her dad chuckled.
“It's alright to be nervous, I just know you’re gonna do great, pequeña.” He assured her, but it didn't make her feel any better.
Gabriella, Also known as ‘Gabri’; to her father at least - Had her first ‘big’ soccer game today. She couldn't help but be nervous, she knew two other girls on her team. The rest of them had been almost invisible, barely paying attention to her. She felt strained by their team dynamic already and it had only been about two months.
Things weren't like this with her last team.. Her last team and her were so close, she didn't even have to call out things on the field. They were like a hivemind..
Gabriella pulled her legs up to her chest and pulled her phone out of her pocket, her confidence was dwindling. What if all of those years of training to go pro meant nothing?
What if she failed this first game and it gave the wrong impression to her coach, even if he’d told her that she played well?
Miguel looked over at her after he merged into a lane. He couldn't help but be a little saddened by Gabriella's nervous look.
He knew change was hard for her, her last soccer team and her were close. He knew that better than anyone. He’d find her in her room sometimes in a huge call with all of them - even if they werent a team anymore like they used to be, she kept well in touch with all of them.
To go above and beyond, sometimes you have to give up something close to you. And Gabriella hated that. She always had.
She scrolled on her phone, checking her notifications to be met by her old team in their old group chat. They were talking about some new movie, or a new game they were trying to get everyone else into. She closed her phone and put it in the center console.
"I'm trying to be excited, you know.." She finally said, looking over at him, her head on her knees. "What if they don't work with me?" She asks.
Not that they hadn't worked with her before, she was just so used to getting to know them all, and they’d made no effort back. She didn't want to follow them and continue to be a sheep of silence.
"What's not to like? You're good at your sport, you're funny, and anyone would be lucky to get to know you." He told her, "And I'm not saying that just because I'm your father, I mean it."
"Thanks, Dad.." She says, a grateful smile on her face.
She looked out her window again, seeing the buildings getting smaller and smaller as they made it out to the outskirts of town. She swore that every time they got outside of Nueva York everything got a bit brighter.
Maybe because of the smog that didn't affect the outskirts as hard.
On top of that, They were probably going to make it with how the traffic started to dissipate a bit. And that gave Gabriella a comforting feeling, other than her dad's words, of course. Somehow he always knew how to make her smile.
~
"Alright Gabri, you got this, yeah.?" Miguel asked, watching her warm up. Dancing and shaking herself around, attempting to get all the anxiety out of her system.
A while back , she’d gotten a tip from a friend. Who told her that she should turn all of that nervous energy into something more positive. Excitement, in the end, is always more powerful than fear. Or at least thats what she was told.
"Yeah. I think I got this." She nodded, shaking her arms out, and checking her phone one last time before giving it to her dad.
"No nerves?" He asked,
"Nope, I've got all of them." She responded, looking up at Miguel, her father, who raised an eyebrow and chuckled at her confidence. Whether it was fake or not.
"Oh?"
"Trust me, dad. Me and the girls, we're gonna win this."
"I'm loving the confidence, pequeña." He tells her, turning her around and adjusting the ponytail she had in her hair.
"I wonder who I got it from." She said as Miguel handed her her 'lucky' sweat band to put on.. He gave her a comforting smile, finding her comment to be at least a little bit amusing.
Gabriella and Miguel made their way from the parking lot onto the grass, the field was large, bigger than any of the ones her team had practiced at before.
The sun shone through the minimum clouds in the sky, it was bound to be a perfectly clear day. And, the small patch of trees nearby almost made it look like it had a forest framing it, too. .
Gabriella put on and adjusted her sweatband as she walked up to her coach to check in. It was early morning, so it was perfect outside, though she could feel her cleats squeaking on the grass from the dew that covered it.
She looked behind her, her dad was setting up his comfy black and blue camping chair, he liked to sit in and watch her games when he could. She was just glad that today was one of his days off. Not that he wouldn't have taken a day off for her - because he would've,
"O'Hara!" Coach Steele greeted with a smile that was contagious.
Coach Steele was a powerhouse, an absolute bulldozer on a soccer field, at least he was back in his days of national pro soccer – He had to quit a while back due to an unknown injury that had caused him to lose a leg. Or two. He had these cool mechanical legs now, which in Gabriella’s opinion, were a lot cooler than his old flesh ones. Though he begged to differ.
And somehow, in all that chaos, he'd become a high-school girls soccer coach.
"You'll be our left back today." He told her, clapping his hands together.
"Left back?" She raised an eyebrow, "I'm usually a-" She stopped herself from complaining, she didn't need to seem like she wasn't happy to be here.
She’d worked so hard to get on this team, since it was invite only. She used to look up to the girls on this team, watching them in all their perfection in kicks and plays.
At least she wasn't benched.
"Nevermind, sounds good, coach.!" She said, giving him finger guns as she walked onto the field, grimacing to herself after she turned around.
She just had to change her approach, maybe she could get back on mid field if she did well in this game, and that thought made her feel less horrible about everything, honestly.
The other girls on her team huddled around each other. Most of them talking through strategies, others gossiping between themselves.
This game was going to be rough, especially considering the other team went to a much bigger school. Some even called it better, since it was one of those prissy all-girl’s schools in the upper city of Nueva York, rich girls.
Not everything uptown was better. Even if people said otherwise. Downtown had its own charm. And better food, but that was just Gabriella’s opinion.
She found herself gravitating towards the two girls she’d known from her previous team, they were already talking, they were an interesting duo. Even weirder when you added in Gabriella, they looked like they wouldn't be friends in a million years had they not all been soccer girls.
"That girl with the blonde hair on that team? Yeah. She used to go to my old school, total bitch. Bullied my friend to pieces." One of Gabriella's teammates, Scarlett, gossiped to the other girl Sunny, pointing out the blonde on the other side of the field surrounded by other girls.
Gabriella had known the two since their first ever team, and it had stayed that way. Or at least - mostly, Until Scarlett’s parents decided to move her halfway across the country through a soccer season one year.Surprisingly she was able to come back with enough complaining, being able to live with her uncle, or something. Gabriella couldn't remember.
Sunny was a sweet girl who always had a huge smile on her face, and bows in her hair - no matter the size, shape or color. She was a complete beam of sunshine. She was odd, in a way, she always liked the weirdest guys, real or not. Her taste in men in the shows she watched were… disturbing to say the least.
Scarlett on the other hand was sharp, almost Gothic. She liked darker things, black and red were her signature colors. And she always said she wanted to quit soccer, that it made her more depressed while she was being dramatic but… That seemed the furthest from the truth, especially since she was one of the only girls that could do a good bicycle kick and land it. She’d show it off to anyone that would watch. She said she hated the sport, but really she thrived in the spotlight.
"Ugh. I hate girls like that, she needs to get a life." Sunny responded, scoffing. “Who does she think she is anyways? She doesn't look special at all.”
"Right? Like actually." Scarlett sighed, looking over at Gabriella as she walked up to them. “A complex, I swear.”
The both of them turn their bodies slightly as they see her.
"Oh my gosh, finally~" Sunny Said, running up to her, lighting and pulling her by her wrist with a huge smile. "We're finally playing Mid field together!"
"About that - I was put in the left back." Gabriella puffed out her cheeks as she sighed. Sunny’s smile dropped after she realized what she was saying and groaned, putting both of her hands over her face.
"What? But you're a midfielder." Scarlett remarked,
"I know! It's so weird." Gabriella agreed,
"He's always put you in mid before now, too.." Sunny Said, "I guess I should've known we were switching up when we did it at practice that one time." She pouted.
"I thought we were just doing it for fun." Scarlett said, looking around, noticing the coaches meeting up in the middle.
"Same." Sunny and Gabri said, following Scarlett's glance.
The coaches yelled at them all to get in position,
"See you on the other side of the war." Sunny Said, running into place, Scarlett nodding, leaving Gabri to go to her own.
~
Scarlett tries to pass the ball to Gabriella, her feet shuffling as the other players shuffle around her as she runs around the large field. She couldn't pass like that safely - there were too many people on her.
"Gabs!" Scarlett calls, She was going to attempt to get this shot. But it was a risky one at that.
"Got it!" Gabriella replies as Scarlett attempts to pass the ball but is tripped by the girl she was talking about earlier.
"You-!" Scarlett goes to cuss at the girl but stops herself.
Coach Steele pulls out a foul card and holds it up for everyone to see as he uses his whistle to call attention. Gabriella goes to help her up. The blonde girl smirks and flips her hair at Scarlett as she walks off.
How could she be smirking when she did that on purpose??? And lost her team a good few points as well.
‘She must be vain, or something..’ Gabriella thought to herself.
In the end, though.. It didn't matter, Her teammates were winning, anyways. They'd been doing amazing as a team all game. Call outs were good, they were moving smoothly. A yellow card for the other team was just more opportunity and points for her team.
As Gabriella pulled up Scarlett, Sunny came over to check everything out and make sure they were more than okay.
"I told you she was a-" Scarlett said, before looking up behind Gabriella's head and her eyes going wide.
"What?" Gabriella asked, Scarlett didn't say anything - she froze. Which made Gabriella feel like something was wrong
Gabriella turned around, an odd portal came out of nowhere, and she saw something – or more, someone, flying towards her.
Miguel darted towards the field, something was hurling towards Gabriella. As the panic set in he couldn't help but try to get to her. He knew Gabriella had a tendency of freezing up, and the fact that she would most likely freeze now, when she could get hurt, weighed on his mind.
“Everybody! Get out of the field! Now!” He shouted, it caught gabriella’s attention and everyone seemed to pull and pay attention to the sudden commotion, realizing that something was very wrong. And their attention being pulled to the sky before chaos ensued.
Miguel watched the chaos ensue, everyone running off of the field as the man with four tennicle-like mechanical arms, rose on the field. Miguel had to buy time for Gabriella. He watched as she froze just as he expected.
The odd man’s freakish movements were like nothing Gabriella had ever seen before.The man with mechanical arms got up from the place he landed,
Miguel started waving his arms, He didn't know what else to do, it seemed to catch the man’s attention though, His eyes seemed to lock onto Miguel and he darted towards him at a fast pace.
Well, that couldn't be good, Miguel started to run backwards, His years of teaching and lightly coaching Gabri how to play soccer had to pay off eventually,
“Don't you run away from me, Spiderman!" The man called, grabbing Miguel and bringing him close. "Not again!"
"You know it's rude to just grab someone?" Miguel says, struggling against the arms.
Miguel didn't know what was happening, why it was happening. It wasn't normal for things to come hurtling through the sky.
"You're not my spiderman." The man scoffed after inspecting him as if he was nothing better than an action toy, before growing disinterested.
Suddenly, Miguel was thrown into the forest boarding the field. Breaking a few trees in the process.
Gabriella stood there. Frozen. She couldn't even believe what she just saw. It all just sat there, frozen in place. The anxiety scoring through her veins, the panic in her mind making it harder to think.
A flash of light appeared before a streak of blue and red came out of another portal, The man had a mask on with red highlights, he crashed right into the man Or, As He’d know it. Doc Ock.
“Lyla, get me a lookout of what's happening.” 2099 inquired about his AI, Lyla. As he grabbed onto doc ock, who was now attempting to peel 2099 off of him.
“Well, our anomaly seems to still be in fight or flight - Choosing fight.” Lyla says, zipping around his shoulders with holographic pads that followed her around
“Obviously.” He says, “Did you alert the local spider?”
“There isn't one.”
“Damnit.” he mumbled to himself, Dodging another one of doc ock’s mechanical arms and ripping it off as he made his way up to his body, he needed to pin him down.
2099 used one of Doc Ock's arms to swing himself over to his body, he just had to get close enough to his real body that he could paralyze him.
“Your fault for not checking the model~” Lyla mused, distracting 2099.
“That’s your job, not mine!” He retorts, before she zapped away, Doc Ock’s tentacle swinging around, 2099 didn't see it coming and was flung into a goal.
"Score." Doc Ock mocked, his tentacles swinging around as 2099 came back for another round.
Gabriella nearly dodged a swinging arm, realizing this wasn't a silly dream that she’d wake up from. She had to get out. She had to find-
"Dad!" She exclaimed, her body started moving without her in a frenzy.
Why was this happening? Why did it all happen so fast?
She could barely think, Doc Ock’s machine arms whipping about, not paying attention to anyone but 2099, who was too busy trying to get the anomaly captured that he didn't realize anyone else was on the field, Gabriella didn't know how but she managed to dodge all of the swinging arms and pieces of sod that were being thrown around..
A ringing in her ears was all she could hear, everything else sounded as if it was in another room.She had to keep running, she had to find her father. How could she have let him get to the field, why did he have to be so heroic?
She pushed through the small forest shrubbery, following the sounds of falling trees and birds flying away from the disturbance.
"DAD?!" She wailed, hearing a loud crash from the field startled her as she looked around.
Where did he go? He should be around here somewhere. She tripped over a rock and fell on her knees, breathing heavily from the running but getting up quickly and looking around.
" Por favor padre dónde estás?!! " She cried,
She heard a cough from her left and she darted in the direction, the grass and plants feeling as if they were slowing her down and grabbing onto the bottom of her cleats.
As she came up the small hill she saw her dad leaning against a log, a huge stick going through his side, the blood coming from the wound she could see so well staining his shirt that was now tattered. She didn't even want to think about what his back looked like.
Gabriella slid up to his side. "No, no no.."
He was panting, like he’d just run a million miles and couldn't catch his breath. Every breath made Gabriella feel more and more sick.
"Gabri.." Miguel said, his voice strained from the pain. He was trying to ignore it, trying to be strong for her, even if his entire body was broken and hurt.
"Please.. please.." She pleaded, her eyes welling up with tears. She looked down at his injury, seeing the pool of blood that was starting to surround him.
"Don't look, Gabri. Look at me." He said calmly. His panting getting faster and faster.
Why is he panting? Why was he breathing so fast? Surely he didn't run that much before, did he? He was fit, the amount of running she saw him do was nothing compared to what she'd seen him do on a treadmill.
She looked at his face, why was he so calm? Even if he was panting there was an air of peace on his face. After all of this happened, why was he calm? She looked away for maybe an instant, looking back at where the field should've been.
"SOMEONE PLEASE... ALGUEIN AYUDA MI POR FAVOR.. ALGUIEN ..ANYBODY" She yelled towards the field again, but nothing happened. No one answered, she felt her father grab her hand. She was yelling into the void, wasn't she?
"It's okay…" He tried to calm her down. Obviously, it didn't help much at all.
"No! No it's not! Please- please don't leave me!" She cried, he coughed, sputtering a little bit of blood. "This is a bad dream, this is just a dream… I'll wake up and you'll be okay and all of this will have not happened and-"
She couldn't help but ramble, this couldn't be real. This was all too surreal. Her mouth said words that she couldn't even think through before she said them.
"Gabriella." He said, his voice getting quieter. Trying to get Gabriella’s attention.
"What? What? What's wrong?" She got closer, her heart sinking with every given moment.She didn't want to think about what was about to happen. She didn't want to think about it, but she couldn't help it.
He couldn't leave her, he couldn't die. She couldn't live on her own, She had no one else but him.
"I love you." He said, trying to give her a small smile, "You're going to do great things.And I want you to know I’ve always been so-’ He panted, “-proud of you.."
"Stop! Dont- Dont say any of that! You're going to be okay..!" She said, but he shook his head, squeezing her hand, she stopped and looked at him, her eyes wandering to his wounds..
"Te amo pequina nunca lo olvides..." He said again, her eyes darted back to his.
"Te amo too lo siento..!" She started watching him slowly start to close his eyes. “Por fas!! Please don't leave me!”
"Dad..?" She said quietly. "Dad please!"
She could feel it. Her heart started to break as his entire body relaxed. And his fast-paced breathing slowed down, letting out a nice and calm exhale.his head tilted to the side so slightly and she could feel her entire world burn to pieces.
"No… No, no, no…" She begged the universe, not letting go of his hand, putting it up to her face before letting it go and grabbing his upper arms, trying in a futile attempt to shake him awake
"Don't leave, please! Please wake up!" She begged. Shaking him a little bit, desperate for him to wake up, to tell her he was joking. Or for her to wake up from this horrible dream and run into his room and be so grateful he was okay.
But it didn't happen. And Gabriella knew it wasn't going to happen. It was real - it was all too real.
Sobs were the only thing that made their way out of Gabriella's mouth after that.Grappling with the fact her life had entirely crumbled since this morning. That it would never be the same.
She wouldn't see her dad coming home from work anymore. She wouldn't be able to complain to him about stupid little futile things that she got angry about.
She’d never be able to watch him furrow his brow and huff at her as they went out for ice cream and she stole a bite of his.
Everything had been fine less than 10 minutes ago. Why did everything have to change?
She let go of her dad for one second, who was slowly but surely going cold, he didn't feel like him anymore. There was no warmth to him anymore.
He wasn't there. He was gone. And Gabriella was officially alone in the world.
Gabriella brought her hand to her face to wipe her tears, knowing they’d keep running anyways. A shock went through her as she felt a prick on the back of her hand, and as she quickly pulled her hand away to look, she found a small spider on her hand.
She gasped and quickly smacked it as it bit her. Shaking it off into the forest dirt.
In a way, she was hoping it was venomous. So that she truly wouldn't have to be alone. So that she could be with her dad again.
She didn't want to be alone.
She let herself simmer down, sitting next to her late father’s body, curling up against it. She didn't want to leave his side. In her mind, She knew he wouldn't leave her if she was the one who had died.
And maybe, in a weird way, she wishes she did..
~
“Gabriella!” Someone called, she stirred, groaning. “Gabriella!” They called again, she sniffled and opened her eyes.
People were hovering over her, flashlights flashed in her eyes against the darkness of the night. She grimaced as she looked away, tightening her grip on whatever she was holding onto.
Her headache was insane, a painful reminder that she was still here. She looked to her side, her dad still laying there. It wasn't a dream, and the memories came flooding back the second she saw him again.
He was still gone, and tattered, and soaked in his own blood. It made Gabriella’s stomach churn.
“She’s responsive!” An officer called. A ringing in her ears pained and caused the headache to worsen for a minute. It was like someone had played really loud music straight into her ear. Everything was so much louder.
The officers started taking pictures around her, of the broken trees, the blood.
“Stop that. We have a victim.” A woman commanded one of the men taking pictures. She had gorgeous blonde hair, and a figure that belonged on the front of a magazine even through the uniform. Gabriella watched as she approached and narrowed her eyes, tightening her grip on her dad.
“Hey Gabriella..” A female officer leaned next to her. “I'm officer Ruby Lacy.”
Her voice was soft, and sympathetic, Her smile was bright and easy. She looked calm. Why was everyone so calm? Her dad was gone. No one should be calm.
Gabriella looked at the officer, not saying a word. But she nodded as an acknowledgement to the officer’s introduction.
“Do you remember what happened? Do you want to talk about it?” Officer Ruby asked,sitting down with her.
“I remember…” Gabriella spoke, “And No… I just..”
Her tears welled up even more, her tears pouring again like a never ending waterfall as her heart squeezed in her chest in unease. She felt so lost, and she knew exactly where she was. She didn't want to move. She didn't want to go anywhere.
“Take your time.” Officer Ruby assured her.
“I just want my dad..” She cried, sobs coming out of her mouth as she scooted away from the officer and closer to her dad.
Officer Ruby nodded in understanding, Gabriella didn't want anything else.
“You’ve been through something so terrible, Gabriella, I'm so sorry.” She says calmly, “We need to get you off the ground, is that okay?”
Gabriella shook her head. “Go away.”
“I can't do that, Gabriella.” Officer Ruby says, “I’m here for you, we need to clean you and your father up, okay?”
“Leave us alone!” Gabriella tells them, She can hear the other officer’s whispering.
They were going to take him away, they were going to strip the only thing left of her away. She didn't want him to go. She wanted him to stay, even if he was already gone.
“Do you have anyone we can call?” Officer Ruby asks. “A mom? Aunt? Family friend?”
“No..” Gabriella whispers, sniffling. Her tears stain her late father’s shirt as she tries her hardest to stay with him.
She couldn't leave him.
“Do you need anything?” She asks, “Water? Are you hungry?”
Why were they asking her all of these questions? She just wanted to stay here and rot away with her father. That’s all she wanted.
She didn't want anything else. She wanted something she couldn't have.
~
2099's Miguel chucked the now very tied up Doc Ock into the portal, looking around, everything was still lightly in chaos.
The fight had lasted longer than he'd liked. He was losing his touch. He really had to stop sending other people out for him. His outings were important. They kept his mind off of one thing.
The one thing he didn't want to remember.
"Lyla." He huffed out,
"Mhm?~" She hummed, appearing at his call, floating over his shoulder with a sweet smile.
"Check for any further anomalies." He tells her and she thrips out a few holographic pads.
She taps around a few times, everything seems clear.
"No further anomalies, the canon-" She paused, looking at the pad and bringing it closer to her.She adjusted her heart shaped glasses and brought it closer to her face.
"What? What's that face for?" He asks, his brow furrowing as he attempts to get closer to her, she zips the other way. He sighs out.
"Is the canon in danger or not?" He pries, Lyla shakes her head in response, but she looks a little too interested in her little pad to really pay attention to much else. Including but not limited to, him.
"* No puedo mas.. *" He sighed, rubbing his eyes.
"What was that?" Lyla asked in a playful tone.
"Nothing." He snaps back at her, She rolls her eyes in a fake type of annoyance. Maybe he should get rid of that function.
Lyla and Miguel share a glance before he goes into the portal, and Lyla zaps away.
There was an odd feeling in Miguel’s gut that this wouldn't be the last time he’d be in this universe.