The Three Spider-Men
The Daily Bugle.net released the latest news about Peter Parker aka Spider-Man. Ned and MJ were staring at the television from the dining room table. They had heard that Happy's apartment had been ransacked. That Aunt May was dead, and Peter was on the run. Neither of them had any news from their friend and this worried them.
Ned was waiting impatiently for their friend to call them both. His grandmother Lola tried to comfort him before returning to the kitchen.
Gloomy, MJ looked at both her phone, expecting to hear from Peter, and at the same time the television that was broadcasting the latest news.
"We are told that multiple people have been injured. And we can confirm at least one person has been killed. There is a manhunt across the city for these suspects, and they are also looking for Peter Parker…"
Turning away from the TV, MJ turned to Ned.
"Still nothing?"
Peter's best friend checked his phone, but Peter still hadn't called him. He always wore Dr. Strange's Sling Ring.
"No." he replied, overwhelmed.
MJ sighed and sat down at the kitchen table. For a moment, she looked at La Macchina di Kadavus box in front of them on the table.
"I'm gonna press it." said MJ looking at the Box.
Bewildered, Ned looked at her, but she continued with a sullen look on the Box.
"Peter told me to wait, but... I'm gonna do it."
But before they could decide anything, the door rang. Convinced that it was Peter, the two friends got up from the kitchen to open the front door. But they were almost disappointed to notice Alex and J'onn. Ned invited them in.
"Have you heard from Peter?" asked MJ worried.
"No, and we thought he'd be here." replied J'onn. "After what happened to his aunt, we assumed he would be with you."
"No, he's not." replied Ned.
"Did he contact you both?" asked Alex.
"Nope. We have no news of him." MJ replied still anxious. "We tried to call him multiple times. Texting him over and over again. He's not answering."
"He's alone and vulnerable." J'onn says anxiously. "And with the police and the feds after him. We must find him faster."
"I was considering pressing Strange's Box when you arrived." explained MJ.
She reminded them of La Macchina di Kadavus still lying on the table.
"Hold on. We need to find Peter." says Alex in a categorical tone. "Nobody touches that Box until we find him."
"Where's Peter?" says a voice behind them.
Alex, J'onn, MJ and Ned turned to see Mia in her bow suit join them in Ned's kitchen.
"Is Peter there?" she asked them when she joined them. "I've been following the police frequency. They still haven't found him. Where's Peter?"
"We don't know." declared the Martian powerless.
"I just wish... I just wish that we could see him." said Ned, shaking his fingers where the Strange's ring was.
Immediately, Ned's gestures had made some sparks appear which suddenly disappeared. All had noticed him and stared at Ned with perplexity. Even the latter was stunned.
"What was that?" asked Mia.
"Ned is wearing Strange's ring." says Alex looking at the young man. "Do what you just did."
Ned gesticulated, bigger this time.
"Yeah. I just wish we could see him."
More sparks sprang from nowhere, creating a small golden portal... and closed as soon as it appeared.
Ned stood alert.
"I think Ned must have a magical power related to the Masters of Mystical Arts." J'onn supposed. "Ned, do it again with more conviction."
Ned tried again. Even more forcefully.
"I just wish we could see Peter!"
The golden portal reappeared, widening in great! On the other side, a dark figure in an alley could be seen. Could this be Peter?
Lola watched her grandson create a magical portal with eyes wide open in amazement. She spoke in her mother tongue, Tagalog:
"Salamangkero!"
"You're right." Ned nodded in shock. "I am magic."
But MJ, Alex, Mia and J'onn had their eyes fixed on the dark individual in the street across the gate.
"Is that him?" asked MJ.
"It has to be. He looks like Spider-Man." J'onn explained as he tried to distinguish the dark silhouette.
Ned, still shocked to be magic, was completely confused.
"Yeah, yeah. That's him."
All called him.
"Peter! Peter! Peter! Peter!"
The dark individual heard them and began to run towards the gate. He was wearing a Spider-Man suit. He jumped in as they all stopped, looking at him. He was taller than Peter and his suit was also different. Ned's grandmother suddenly started to scream while the other Spider-Man waved at her.
"Hi. Hi! No, no, no. It's okay, it's okay. I'm a nice guy."
Lola threw a pillow at the new Spider-Man, then went into hiding.
"What the hell's this guy?" asked Mia not recognizing Spider-Man.
Spider-Man removed his mask, revealing a young man with black hair and a beard of three days, a little older than Peter. It began to expire.
"Okay."
Alex, Mia, J'onn, MJ and Ned stared at him with astonishment and confusion.
"Who the hell are you?" asked MJ.
"I'm Peter Parker." replied the man looking at the future female archer. "Uh… Nice to meet you, Miss... Robin Hood? Hey guys. My name is Peter Parker."
"That's not possible." MJ objected.
"I am Spider-Man... in my world." said the man disguised as Spider-Man who looked at his interlocutors with embarrassment. "But then, yesterday, I was... I was just here. Wow…"
"Is this guy really Spider-Man?" said Mia skeptically.
"He doesn't lie." J'onn replied, who had just used his telepathy on the new visitor. "He's indeed Peter Parker. And he's Spider-Man in his world."
"A Peter Parker aka Spider-Man with a different face from ours." explained Alex finally understanding the strangeness of the situation.
"Another Spider-Man in the Multiverse?" asked Ned.
"The Multiverse exists?" exclaimed the new Peter Parker with astonishment. "String theory... Multidimensional reality... And matter displacement. All real?"
"Yeah." said Alex, Mia, J'onn, MJ and Ned at the same time.
"Knew it!" exclaimed the new visitor from another Earth.
"You're on an Earth with a different Spider-Man than you." explained Mia. (She turned to the others.) "You think he's the only Spider-Man from the Multiverse to come into our world? Or are there others like him?"
"It's hard to say." J'onn replied. "Strange's spell must have brought more people than we thought."
"All this is interesting, but it doesn't help us find our Peter." says Alex looking at Ned. "You opened a portal, but you didn't bring in the real Spider-Man."
"Ouch!" cried the new Peter.
"No offense Peter." she told the visitor.
"Maybe Ned should try until we find our Peter." J'onn suggested.
"Sorry I'm not your Peter." said the Amazing Peter.
"That's cool, no offense." said MJ embarrassed. "It's your turn, Ned."
Peter's best friend raised his hands and made new gestures.
"Find Peter Parker."
He tried again, swinging his hand in wide circles.
"What's the thing on his hand?" asked the Amazing Peter when he noticed the sling ring on Ned's fingers.
MJ shushed him, while Ned continued to gesticulate.
"Find Peter Parker! Find Peter Parker!"
Suddenly, a new golden portal opened behind them. On the other side stood a new dark silhouette. It was a man. He walked through the gate, revealing that it was a middle-aged man wearing ordinary clothes.
"Great, so it's just some random guy?" Ned will be disappointed.
"Who now?" asked annoyed Mia.
The man greeted them with sympathy.
"Hello! Um… I hope it's okay, I just came through this, uh…" (He turned to look at the portal which was suddenly closing) … "It just closed."
This time, the man was familiar to Alex. He looked like the Spider-Man of Earth – 962.
"Have… have we met before?" she asked him puzzled.
The man stared at her with a frown.
"I don't think so."
"It was a time of crisis." said Alex. "The timeline has been changed. Or you don't remember me because of the Crisis... unless you're another Spider-Man than he is. I would go for the second hypothesis."
"I've no idea what you are talking about." the puzzled man replied. "But I'm sure we've never met."
"You're Peter?" MJ asked.
"Yeah. Peter... Parker?" the man replied looking at the two teenagers. "I-I've seen you two…" (He noticed Mia with curiosity) "And I remember seeing this girl Robin Hood on the news."
Then he noticed the other Peter.
"Wait, he's… He's not your friend…" replied the man, staring at the Peter who had arrived before him.
The two Peters looked at each other for a moment before launching, in synchronization, a jet of cobwebs and jumping to dodge it. The first Peter landed on a table and the older one threw more cobwebs, touching his wrist. The younger Peter shook his head, impressed while the older smiled.
"So… Two Spider-Men?" said Mia stunned.
"He's also Spider-Man." J'onn said looking at the old Peter. "I scanned his mind. He is Peter Parker and also Spider-Man in his world."
"He looks a lot like the Spider-Man of Earth – 962." added Alex. "But I think he's another Spider-Man. This one looks better than the other."
The elderly Peter looked serious at everyone.
"This might seem kind of weird, but... I've been trying to find your friend ever since I got here. I just had this sense that... that he needs my help."
"Our help." added the Amazing Peter.
"Oh yeah, he does. He needs all our help. Right now." Alex confirmed the sad look in her eyes as she looked at both Peters. "His secret was revealed to everyone following a revenge of one of his enemies. After that, his life has out of control…"
And she exposed what had happened: the failed spell of Strange, the arrival of the Villains in New York, and the Green Goblin killing Aunt May.
Once Alex was finished, Ned said again with sadness.
"We don't know where he is."
"And, um... Honestly, right now, we're all he really has left." added MJ.
"He's alone, out there and wanted." J'onn added. "We don't know how to find him."
The elderly Peter thought for a moment, then came to ask them.
"Well, is there some place, that he might go that has meaning to him? Like a... a place where he would go to just..."
"Get away from everything?" concluded Amazing Peter.
"For me, it was the top of the Chrysler Building." said the elderly Peter.
"Empire State." replied his young counterpart. "Better view."
"That is a sweet view."
Mia turned to Ned and MJ.
"You two know him better than we do. Do you know where he would go to get away from everything?"
"Yes. Yeah, I think I know exactly where that would be." MJ nodded.
Later, on the roof of Midtown High School, Peter was sitting there staring at him. He turned and saw Alex, Mia, J'onn, MJ and Ned coming towards him. All five stared at him in sadness.
"I'm so sorry for May." the female archer said to him with grief in her voice. "I remember my dad's death during the Crisis. I know how you feel."
Ned and MJ came to him and held him in their arms as he wept on their shoulders. Also saddened, J'onn gently laid his hand on the boy's shoulder.
"Peter... we've all been there." he says with sympathy and sadness. "Alex, Mia, me... we all know what it's like to lose someone you love. And you don't have to face it alone. We're all here for you."
"You were there for me when my dad died." Mia said in a broken voice. "I want to be there for you."
"And so do I." added Alex.
Peter still cried in the arms of MJ and Ned who comforted him. Then MJ spoke.
"Peter... there's… there's some people here for you."
"Wh-Wha-What?" asked the young man confused and puzzled.
At the top of the high school building, he saw two silhouettes covered by shadow before jumping from above while Peter could better see their faces. Alarmed, he stood on guard.
"Hey, wait, wait, whoa!"
Alex came to him to reassure him.
"It's okay Peter. They're with us. They're two Spider-Man. And they're both called Peter Parker just like you. Your doppelgängers."
Stunned, Peter stared at Alex before focusing on the two men who had just landed close to him. One was an older man who wore a different Spider-Man costume than his own, and the other was a middle-aged man, and Peter recognized him as the Spider-Man of Earth – 962. Unless it was another Spider-Man who looked like him physically.
He was the first to express himself to his young counterpart with a distressed look:
"Sorry... about May."
"Yeah. Sorry." added the Amazing Spider-Man. "I got some understanding of…"
"No, please don't tell me that you know what I'm going through." Peter replied.
The two new Spider-Man nodded, realizing that their young doppelgänger was in a state of suffering.
"She's gone." said Earth – Prime's Peter in a sad tone. "And it's all my fault. She died for nothing."
"You're wrong, Peter. You know that." says J'onn with sorrow.
But Peter continued, as if the Martian had said nothing.
"So I'm gonna do what I should've done in the first place."
He raised his hand to the Strange's Box held by MJ. His young counterpart tried to talk softly.
"Peter…"
"Please, don't." he replied with sadness and determination looking at his two counterparts. "You don't belong here. And Mia, too. Either of you three, so I'm sending you home. Those other guys are from your worlds, right? So you deal with it. If they die, if you kill them... that's on you. It's not my problem. I don't care anymore. I'm done. I'm really sorry that I dragged you into this. But you have to go home now. Good luck."
He turned to Mia.
"I'm sorry I dragged you away from your brother. I'm sending you home, Mia. I hope you find William. Sorry for wasting your time."
Then he reached for La Macchina di Kadavus, but MJ drove him away. And Mia came to take his hand gently, as if to prevent his from pressuring the Box, and spoke to him in a very soft voice. Much softer than before.
"Peter, stop. Don't do that."
The young hero from Queens looked at her with round eyes, as if the female archer had gone mad.
"I thought you wanted to go home in your future to save your brother."
"I still do." Mia replied with sympathy. "But I can't leave you like this. You're not well right now. You're not rational at all. You lost someone you loved. You suffer, you mourn. And I can't leave you like this. Trust me, Peter. I understand your suffering more than you think. And somewhere in you, you wish the Goblin's death, but that will not disappear this suffering."
As she spoke to him, she had tears in her eyes.
"You see... when William was taken away from me... I couldn't do anything to stop it... I completely lost my mind. I was in pain. Terrible pain and it didn't stop. I have done things that I am not proud of. I became hostile to all those around me and made the wrong choices. D-Don't... don't be like me. Peter, you don't want to be me. You're Spider-Man. And Spider-Man is supposed to be beyond that anger. My dad trusted in you. He saw a hero in you. I know that he wouldn't want to see you like this. Your aunt is gone, but what happened to her wasn't your fault. And she would never want you to feel guilty and go down in suffering."
Then J'onn spoke, as sad as the female archer.
"In my planet, I'd a family. I had a wife and two daughters. They were my world. I lost all three in a horrible war. I couldn't save them. I miss them every day. For years, I was filled with anger. I thought I'd never be whole again. Until I met a wonderful woman... a good friend who completely changed my life. Someone good who gave me hope. She made me realize that my loss had made me stronger and I must continue to exist to honor them. Peter, before you decide to press this mystical box, I think you should listen to your doppelgängers. Because they have a lot to tell you."
"My Uncle Ben was killed." the elderly Peter said with a look of sorrow. "It was my fault."
And the Amazing Spider-Man added, too, in a very distressed voice:
"I lost... I lost Gwen. My, uh... She was my MJ." (He had tears in his eyes as he looked at his young counterpart.) "I couldn't save her. I'm never gonna be able to forgive myself for that. But I carried on. Tried to, uh... tried to keep going, tried to keep being the... that friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, because I know that's what she would have wanted. But… at some point, I just... I stopped pulling my punches. I got rageful. I got bitter. I just don't want you, to end up like... like me."
All looked at him with sorrow. As they looked into his eyes, they could see that this Spider-Man had experienced terrible pain, tragedy and much misery. Mia saw herself in him and gave him a compassionate look.
Then it was the turn of the elderly Peter to speak with the same sad look as his young counterpart.
"The night… Ben died, I hunted down the man who I thought did it. I wanted him dead. I got what I wanted. It didn't make it better. It took me a long time to… learn to get through that darkness."
Listening to their stories, Peter began to understand what his two counterparts were trying to tell him. They didn't want him to be lost in the darkness because of the loss he had suffered, as they had done at one time... But would he make it back?
Still with a broken voice, he said again:
"I wanna kill him. I wanna tear him apart. I can still hear her voice in my head…"
He seemed to go off with tears, but did everything to contain himself.
"Even after she was hurt, she said to me that we did the right thing. She told me that with great power…"
"…comes great responsibility." the elderly Peter replied with a nod.
The three Peters looked shocked and surprised at recognizing these words.
"You know that, too?" asked Peter surprised.
"Uncle Ben said it." replied the Amazing Peter.
"The day he died." added the elderly Peter.
The three Spider-Man stared at each other, while understanding all three. An odd connection seemed to bring them together. They were almost similar.
"Maybe she didn't die for nothing, Peter." the old Peter said with sympathy.
"He's right." Alex nodded with a comforting look at the young man.
Peter seemed to regain hope in him. He looked at Alex and Mia and nodded, determined to remain a hero despite his suffering.
In high school, the Peters had taken place at the Midtown science lab. Alex had joined them there. Peter laid the cures for the villains on the table. Some were damaged by the carnage in Happy's apartment.
Peter summarized the situation:
"Okay, so... Connors, Marko, Dillon, and, uh... Look, I think that I can repair the devices for Dillon and Marko, but the others..."
"Well, I got Connors." replied the Amazing Peter while putting on a scientific coat. "I've already cured him once, so no big deal."
He noticed the looks that Alex and the two Peters gave him.
"What? It's no big deal."
"If you have already done so, so much the better." replied Alex rejoiced.
"Great." says the old Peter.
"Yeah. That's great." said Peter playfully.
"And what about the evil Goblin?" asked Supergirl's sister.
The elderly Peter took the syringe that was to cure the Goblin and answered.
"I think I can make an antiserum for Doctor Osborn. Been thinking about it a long time." (He noticed that his young counterpart was pensive at the mention of Osborn.) "Gotta cure all of 'em, right?"
"Right." just replied Peter who seemed to be in conflict over what he should do to deal with Norman Osborn.
"Sure we'll cure them." Alex said. (Addressing the elderly Peter) "We can work together on Osborn's antiserum."
She took a moment to admire the three Peter's taking on the task of healing violent enemies.
"You know, guys, it's weird to see three different versions of Spider-Man. The Multiverse will never cease to surprise me."
"So do I." said J'onn as he watched them in turn. "Three Peter Parker. And three Spider-Men."
"We are." said the three Peters at the same time.
Earth – Prime's Peter looked at his doppelgängers and laughed at the absurdity of the situation. The other two Peters put on gloves and goggles and took the chemicals from the science room shelves. Alex repaired the syringe, while the elderly Peter poured liquid from a dropper into a test tube with a flame on top.
Ned came to him gently. He wanted to know if this version of Peter had a Ned Leeds in his world.
"Um... So. Do you have a best friend, too?"
The dark gaze, concentrated on his task, the elderly Peter answered with a neutral voice.
"I did."
Alex, Ned and the other Peter stared at him, puzzled.
"You did?" asked Ned.
"He died in my arms." replied the elderly Peter. "After he tried to kill me. It was heartbreaking."
"Sorry to hear that." said Alex.
Ned seemed shocked by this revelation. Then the sister of Supergirl made a sign to ask for no more information about this «friend» who had tried to kill the elderly Peter.
Slightly confused by what he had just learned, he joined the Peter of whom he was a friend.
"Will you, uh, run a diagnostic?" asked him the latter showing him the computer turned on.
Ned nodded and pressed the computer keyboard before moving away, looking down. Peter looked at him, confused, while MJ joined him.
"Hey, you okay?" she asked worried.
"Uh, yeah, I'm fine, are you okay?" hastened to reply Peter abruptly.
MJ nodded, but was concerned about her boyfriend's state of mind.
"You don't deserve this." whispered Peter. "I brought you a life of…"
Wanting to reassure him, MJ grabbed his face and spoke with sympathy.
"Peter no. No, no, no, no. No. Look at me. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere. We're gonna get through this, and we're gonna get through it together. Okay?"
"Okay." Peter nodded.
Alex watched Peter and MJ barely interact. Her friend Martian joined her.
"Alex, are you okay?" he asked.
Supergirl's sister turned to him with guilt.
"Did we do the right thing, J'onn? After the Crisis, Kara and I decided to help Peter. We promised him that he would get out of it, despite what the media and authorities had against him. And look what happened. The visitors. Osborn. And May. Now this. We didn't protect Peter as we should have. He's young. He doesn't have to go through all that. Even if we can cure the other guys and send them home... how are we going to do it for Peter? He was not a loved hero and now he's again a fugitive wanted all over the city. DODC is back on the trail. Cleary's not gonna let it go. And Lex! He'll do anything to get Peter on his side. How do we fix this, J'onn?"
As worried as she was, J'onn laid a comforting hand on the young woman's shoulder.
"I don't know. But we'll do everything to help Peter. In the meantime, we take care of our visitors. Then we'll decide how to help Spider-Man."
The Amazing Peter also watched his young counterpart with his girlfriend. With a sweet-bitter desire. He envied his young double of his love life. The elderly Peter noticed him and asked him the question.
"Do you have someone?"
"No." sighed the Amazing Peter as he looked away. "I got no time for, uh... Peter Parker stuff, y'know? Do you?"
The elderly Peter gave him an ironic look. His love life hadn't been easy.
"Um, that's a little... complicated."
His counterpart nodded with relief.
"No, I understand. I guess it's just not in the cards for guys like us."
"Well... I wouldn't give up." the old Peter replied as if to comfort him. "I admit it took a while, but we made it work. Me and… MJ."
The Amazing Peter leaned his head slightly worried towards MJ who was always with Peter from Earth – Prime.
Seeing the discomfort, the elderly Peter hastened to clear it up with embarrassment.
"Well, my MJ, which, uh... It gets confusing, huh?"
Amused, the Incredible Peter chuckled.
"You know, I can't believe that on this Earth, Superman's real. In my world, it's just a comics character."
The aged Peter seemed ecstatic at these words.
"Same for my Earth. Superman, Supergirl, Flash, Batwoman, Black Lightning, Green Arrow... all fictive characters. And I'm hanging out with an Alien from Mars. It's even more amazing!"
"Fictional superheroes becoming real and aliens." approved of the Incredible Peter. "Man, I can't believe it."
"I was thinking of something." said the old Peter with a pensive air. "If on a alternate Earth, Superman lives happily with his Lois, there should be a Spider-Man who lives with his lover. And it could be you."
"Maybe." sighed his unconvinced counterpart.
"Peter?" called suddenly Ned.
Immediately, all the Spider-Man in the science room answered in unison:
"Yeah? Oh, sorry. You mean…"
"Peter-Peter." said Ned embarrassed.
"We're all called Peter, Ned." the three Spider-Man answered in unison.
"Peter Parker?"
"Same. We're all Peter Parker."
Rolling her eyes, Alex came to help Peter's friend.
"Can my Peter answer Ned to see what he wants?"
"The computer!" said Ned sighing.
Peter went to his laptop and saw the results of the diagnosis of the remedies for the enemies.
"Oh, I'm ready."
"Yeah, me too." said the Amazing Peter. "Okay, so… Now, all we gotta do is lure these guys someplace, right? Try to cure them, while they try to… kill us, and then, send them home."
"Using a magic box?" added the puzzled old Peter.
"The wisest thing would be to lure them to a place outside of the dwellings." J'onn suggested. "There is no way we are putting civilians in danger."
"Yeah, that's the plan." Peter approved.
"Superman or Supergirl could come lend us a hand?" proposed the old Spider-Man.
"Both are unavailable." replied Alex. "We'll do without them. And Flash is busy in Central City. Same for Batwoman and Black Lightning. And the Legends are unreachable."
Frowning, the Amazing Peter stared at his former counterpart and came to ask him.
"So are you gonna go into battle dressed as a cool youth pastor, or do you got your suit?"
The elderly Peter lowered his T-shirt collar to reveal that he was wearing his Spider-Man' suit underneath. Alex was delighted.
"Clark and Kara do exactly the same with their suits." she says smiling. "You three should get along well. If Superman or Supergirl don't exist in your world, I think you represent them well, Peter."
"Thank you for this compliment." the elderly Peter thanked her.
"Good." added the Amazing Peter.
Ned slipped liquid canvases to Peter.
"Here's your web cartridges."
"Oh, thanks, man." said Peter to him.
"What's that for?" asked the puzzled old Peter.
"Uh, it's my web fluid. It's for my web shooters." explained Peter confused. "Why?"
Old Peter fired another web out of his wrist. The others all reacted with shock and disgust.
"Wow!" exclaimed the Amazing Peter, stunned.
"That came out of you." Ned reacts in amazement.
"Your web is organic." added Alex impressed. "It's part of you. As if you were a real human spider."
Peter remembered that his counterpart from Earth – 962 could do this too. He never asked him about how it worked, given the time of the Crisis.
Stunned, the elderly Peter stared at Alex with a slight grin.
"Yeah. What's wrong? Yours can't do that?"
"No." replied Peter shaking his head.
"How on Earth does that even... ?" exclaimed the Amazing Peter.
Peter was amazed. But very quickly, he pulled himself together and stood up. It was not the time to be distracted. He spoke to his two doppelgängers.
"Anyway, we're getting sidetracked. J'onn, I have the perfect location for our operation. The Statue of Liberty."
"Are you sure about this?" asked Mia who had been put aside from the group.
"He's right, it is the strategic place if we must confront our guests." replied the Martian approving the young man's idea.
"It's isolated, so no one should get hurt." said Peter. "Look, this is where we're gonna do this, okay? We draw them there with the box, it's the one thing they all want. All we have to do is figure out how we're gonna get there."
"Oh, we can portal there." suggested Ned. "I'm magic now."
"What?" said Peter, confused.
"Yeah, no, no. He's right. He can. He can." MJ said.
"Yeah, we saw him." added the elderly Peter.
"He is, now." said Alex.
J'onn and Mia nodded as well.
"Wait, really?" said Peter, impressed in front of his best friend.
"Dude, I got Doctor Strange magic." replied ecstatic Ned.
"No way!"
Ecstatic, then serious, Ned gave a sincere look to his superhero friend.
"Yeah! And I promise you I won't turn into a supervillain and try to kill you."
The Amazing Peter patted Ned on the back and nodded proudly. Earth – Prime's Peter stared at his friend with confusion before answering.
"O-kay… Thank… you?"
And after a embarrassed silence, Peter turned to his girlfriend.
"What's that thing you always say? If you expect disappointment…"
"No, no, no…" interrupted MJ. "We gotta kick some ass."
"Okay." Peter nodded.
"Cure." rectified the elderly Peter, insisting well on the word. "Cure some ass."
"Cure that ass." replied Ned even more smiling.
Later, it was time for Peter to draw his enemies to his rendezvous point. With his phone, he contacted the Daily Bugle. J. Jonah Jameson replied:
"Ladies and gentlemen… The Bugle tip line has just received a call from none other than the fugitive known as Spider-Man, fresh from his rampage in Queens. So, Peter Parker… What pernicious propaganda are you peddling?"
"Just the truth." Peter replied in a natural tone.
"Oh, sure." replied the old sarcastic journalist.
"Truth is…" said the hero of Queens walking with his phone raised to reveal his face on the screen. "That this is all my fault."
As he spoke, his face was again displayed on the buildings of Times Square. Peter spoke:
"I accidentally brought those dangerous people here."
"Well, he admits it!" rejoices Jameson always sarcastically.
"And if those people are watching…" said Peter as if the journalist had not said anything. "Just know that I really did try to help you. I could've killed you." (He lifted the magic box.) "At any given moment, but I didn't. Because my Aunt May taught me that everyone deserves a second chance. And that's why I'm here."
"And where is here, exactly?" asked Jameson with confusion.
"A place that represents second chances." Peter replied by unveiling the face of the Statue of Liberty.
"The Statue of Liberty?" exclaimed Jameson, stunned. "Good God, folks! He's about to destroy another national landmark."
"The world, if you're watching…" said Peter, unaware of the journalist's state of amazement.
"Believe me, Parker, the world is watching."
"Wish me luck. Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man could really use some."
And at his words, he hung up on the journalist mortified with stupor and jumped on the crown of the Statue of Liberty, firmly holding La Macchina di Kadavus. He looked at the horizon.
"Okay, guys. It could be any minute now." he told his friends.
The elderly Peter glued his webs to the cures all along the scaffolding, keeping them hidden and safe.
"Yup. Almost done." he replied.
Mia, dressed in her Green Arrow suit, attached another cure well hidden in a corner of the scaffolding.
"We will be ready to receive them, my friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." she announced in turn.
J'onn hovered in the air in his Martian form before the face of the Statue and scrutinized the horizons.
"I don't feel any thoughts from our visitors." he says to others.
"Get ready." said Alex in her Sentinel suit.
The calm before the storm. The two foreign Spider-Man were hanging on the scaffolding. The Amazing Peter was stretching on the scaffolding.
"You know, Max was, like... the sweetest guy ever. Before he fell into a... pool of electric eels."
"That'll do it." replied his former counterpart.
The Amazing Peter was thinking for a moment, then spoke again.
"All the things I wished I could have done differently."
"Now to have a second chance…"said the pensive old Peter too.
The back of old Peter was stretched. It will stretch.
"Yeah."
He came to lean against a steel bar nearby.
"You okay?" asked his young doppelgänger.
"Oh, it's my back. It's kind of stiff from all the swinging, I guess."
"Yeah. No, I got a middle back thing too." the Amazing Peter explained with a nod.
"Really?"
"Yeah. You want me to crack it?"
"Yeah. That would be great."
The Amazing Peter lifted his counterpart's body, with his back against it and squeezed it to crack his old back. A crack was heard.
"Yeah. That's good." the old Peter announced.
"How is it?" says his rejoicing counterpart.
"Wow. That's good."the elderly Peter muttered with relief.
The Amazing Peter was ecstatic. He had not felt so amused in a long time.
"God, this is so cool. I always wanted brothers. We should do this again some time — we should all hang out."
"It's nice!" said his former counterpart. "But we should maybe… Y'know, focus on, uh—"
"…On not getting killed tonight?" he concluded his young doppelgänger. "I'll just grab your number at the end of… The Battle."
"Yeah, for sure, that's a good idea."
Then, he resumed on the subject that intrigued him on the paintings of his old doppelgänger.
"So, you could, like, make your own web fluid in your body...?"
Somewhat embarrassed, the elderly Peter tried to divert the subject.
"I'd rather not talk about this." (Seeing the amusement of his counterpart, he replied.) "Are you teasing me?"
From his observation post at the crown of the Statue of Liberty, Peter intervened:
"No, no, no, no, no, no. He's not teasing you. It's just that... We can't do that, so naturally we're curious as to how your web situation works. That's all."
"If it's personal, I don't wanna, like, pry. I mean, just think it's cool." Amazing Peter replied.
"No, I… I wish I could tell you." replied the elderly Peter. "But it's like, I don't do it… Like I don't… Like, I don't do breathing. Like, breathing just happens. It's just like, when it releases, it's like a clean release."
"So, like, can I ask something?" asked Amazing Peter. "Is it like a- When you think it, it webs? You know what I mean?"
"That- That's a good way to put it." replied the elderly Peter.
"Because I- If I press- Like, I have to- I have a mechanism. But is- i- for you, is it, like... Web. And then it webs?"
"Um, not even... Conscious at this point, like just..."
"It's just like riding a bike."
"Yeah."
"Like, does it just come out of your wrists, or…" came to ask Peter from Earth – Prime. "Does it come out of anywhere else?"
"Only... only the wrists." replied the old Peter a little embarrassed.
"You never had a web block?" said the Amazing Peter. "Cause I run out of webs all the time. I had to make my own lab. And it's a hassle."
"That sounds like a hassle, yeah." replied the elderly Peter with pity for his double. "But I did, actually, as you said that. I was like, oh... I had a web block."
"W-Why?"
"Existential crisis stuff. I- I'm not sure what to say, it's just a - An natural thing, it just happens. It's... I don't know."
"It's so cool, man. Like, I wanna see the holes."
Then, Peter from the Earth – Prime decided to change the subject.
"Hey, what are like, some of the craziest villains that you guys have fought?"
"Seems you've met some of them." replied the elderly Peter.
"That's a good question." answered the Amazing Peter.
The old Spider-Man thought and then replied.
"I-I fought a... an alien... made out of black goo once."
"Oh, no way!" exclaimed Peter "I fought an alien, too. On Earth and in space. He was purple. I faced a guy dressed as cheetah. And I also fought a cosmic being who wanted to destroy the multiverse and a Mad Superman from another world who wanted to enslave the entire Multiverse. An insane Superman who thought he was Hitler! A real monster!"
His two counterparts seemed stunned by his revelations.
"I wanna fight an alien and a mad Superman." says the Amazing Peter.
"I'm, I'm still, like... that you fought an alien, in space and a Mad Superman." added the impressed old Peter. "I'm- I'm almost simultaneously, like... completely stunned by the fantastical nature of these things and it's also just like, Yeah! Yeah, okay, so... You, Peter, are lucky to live on a Earth where there are all the superheroes who are comic book characters with aliens... I'm jealous, man!"
Above them, Alex and Mia watched the three Spider-Men interact with each other with amusement.
"Boys." says Alex giggling. "In the whole multiverse, is Spider-Man such a childish?"
"Now, there's something you don't see every day." added Mia.
The Amazing Peter sighed:
"Yeah, Monday! Monday. It's Monday, yeah. I mean, I'm lame, compa- Like, I fought a Russian guy in a... Like, a rhinoceros machine."
"That's cool." old Peter replied.
"Not as c- No, it's not."
"Can- can we rewind it back to the I'm lame part? 'Cause, you are not."
"Aw, thanks. No, yeah. I appreciate it, I'm not saying I'm lame, but I'm saying, like-"
"But it's just the self-talk maybe we should, you know... Because you're... You're amazing. Just to take it in for a minute. You're amazing!"
But the other young Peter didn't seem convinced.
"Thank you, yeah. I kinda needed to hear that. Thank you." he replied with little enthusiasm.
Peter enjoyed the company of his doppelgängers. He was having fun with them. It was a tender and pleasant moment for him. However, it was the end of the calm before the storm, because his sense of Spider was fading. A danger was coming. And many, even.
"All right, guys, focus up. You feel that?"
"Yeah." approved the old Peter.
The time for battle on the Statue of Liberty had come.