How The Blood Clot
There is a saying that the future is made of the choices people make today. Every choice can lead to a certain future, which sometimes can bring happiness or even sadness. Only human beings always make a fuss about whether they make the right choice or not, while for every person what right and wrong are different.
And of course, while people are free to make their own choices, other people are also free to do so.
Peter Parker, or now known as Peter-Two, knows that better than anyone.
Ever since a long time ago, he used to let people trampled on him just because they chose to do so. From his bully during high school to his late best friend, to his former girlfriend, to his nemesis, and more. People might think he is a pushover who can’t say no and let people mistreat him whenever they want.
But, Peter-Two thought that people are free to choose whatever they want to choose. It isn’t his choice to make. Whether when his best friend took away his crush and hid it from him, or when his girlfriend left him for another man. It was their choice to make, while their doings hurt Peter-Two deeply in a way he couldn’t admit, but he thought that he couldn’t stop them from making that kind of choice.
Or well, he is just that passive. He knows that he is that kind of person and he thinks that he has accepted himself.
But, maybe he is wrong.
The face of the horrifying humanoid spider is in front of him, with his eight eyes reflecting Peter-Two’s image.
Deep inside these exoskeletons, there should be his sweet little brother, Peter-Three.
Even if Peter-Two has a hard time understanding this creature’s body language, there is no trace of recognition of him. Peter-Two has tried to find something, anything, from the visible bond between them, but Peter-Two can’t find anything other than…
Fear and anger.
The oldest Spider-Man doesn’t even realize that he is crying.
Deep inside, he wonders if he has made a stupid mistake.
Should he let the wizard cut his bonds? Maybe, even if he forgets his little brothers, he can learn to love them again like before.
Maybe, he should have stopped his little brothers from taking the burn of his choice. They shouldn’t make a risky choice like that, that was Peter-Two’s burden that he needed to bear, and yet--
He doesn’t know, he doesn’t—
It is too late at this point. There is no point in regretting what has happened.
And yet, he can’t help but feel deep regret. The fact that his sweet little brother lost his humanity in this way--
“What happened- oh.”
Peter-Two notices another new presence and the familiar voice. Of course, the wizard appears quickly in this room. And based on his voice alone, Peter-Two knows that what is going to happen will be bad for Peter-Three.
“Sir, my brother-“
“Yes, I see him. I already warned you about this risk but you two were being stubborn.”
Peter-Two can hear his anger and Peter-One’s soft sobs. Being angry won’t do anything for this situation, really, Peter-Two can feel how sad and guilty Peter-One is through their bond.
“Then, please, can you do something-“
“Kid, I already warned you. I warned you because I can’t do anything if this happened.”
There is an angry huff, Peter-Two doesn’t need to turn around to see Strange’s expression. He can imagine it from his place. The oldest is focused on observing Peter-Three’s unfamiliar faces, looking through them.
And busy thinking and processing the situation.
“You see, this is because of the mutation. It is outside of my expertise, I can’t revert back the mutation. I don’t know whether there is a technology out there that can separate the mutation of combined spider genes and human genes, but for this, I can’t help.”
Peter-Two closes his eyes as he hears Peter-One sob harder.
The oldest opens his eyes again, he tries to search for something more inside his new bonds. Peter-One is overwhelmingly full of emotions but from Peter-Three is…
There is still only fear and anger, and probably hunger. Peter-Two thinks that in this condition, the middle brother can’t understand or recognize anything around him. His mind is revered back to basic animal instinct.
Hunger…
“What does a spider eat again? Bugs? Meat?” Peter-Two voices out his questions absent-mindedly. Poor Peter-Three, after going through a body-changing second-phase mutation, must be starving. Is that why he tried to attack Peter-Two and Peter-One? Because he is hungry?
“What—”
“He must be hungry, he needs to eat, a lot,” Peter-Two answers again, more to himself than to others. He did bring some food inside his duffle bag, but he didn’t bring any meat.
Let’s focus on what he can do for now, after that--
“Are you serious?”
Peter-Two finally turns around and looks at Strange’s face. The wizard is looking at him with a mix of bewilderment and anger on his face. “You are thinking of feeding THAT thing…?” he asks again with such disbelief.
Peter-Two blinks, he only realizes that his eyes are a bit wet so he erases the trace of tears from his face. The oldest Spider-Man can’t help but feel insulted to hear how the wizard called Peter-Three that way. “Then what I’m supposed to do? Kill him?” Peter-Two asks back with a cold expression.
Strange doesn’t respond back, but based on his serious expression it seems that is what the wizard expected him to do. Peter-Two sighs and ruffles his hair in frustration.
Right, maybe from Strange’s point of view, there is a humanoid spider monster that is being bound by webs but keeps trashing around in his binds and screeches inhuman noise. He looks dangerous and may pose a threat to humanity, or something absurd like that. But, the wizard should understand that Peter-Two has taken control of the situation, Peter-Three isn’t going anywhere for now and he won’t terrorize citizens or anything like that.
But, to see that someone sees his little brother as a threat…
Deep inside his heart, Peter-Two wants to be angry and scream in madness. The universe- multiverses seem to love to toy with Peter Parker so much as if everything is a game where they need to endure wicked ordeals to the point they may break to pieces. But, sadly, Peter-Two knows that he can’t be angry with anyone but himself.
He is the one who let Peter-Three choose this. So, Peter-Two needs to take responsibility for this. And more, everything spiraled out of control originated because Peter-Two hid his brother-sense ability from his brothers.
“So, that’s what you are going to do, keeping him alive and feeding him like some kind of monster pet?” the wizard finally asks back with a pissed-off expression.
Peter-Two can hear how the humanoid spider behind him is struggling in his binds. There is an inhuman screeching noise from him, but in Peter-Two’s ears, he sounds so pitiful.
“Please don’t talk about him that way, no matter how his appearance is, he is still my brother,” Peter-Two redirects his anger and frustration toward the wizard. There is no way that he will let anyone hurt Peter-Three for whatever reason. Even if it means that Peter-Two needs to fight Strange or the Avengers, he won’t let them harm his brother.
“That’s right! It is ridiculous to give up this quickly!” it seems Peter-One is done weeping, he steps in front of Strange with a determined face. “We will find a way, we have to. We won’t give up just yet!”
The strange wizard looks at them with an annoyed expression then he sighs. “Whatever you do, just don’t create more problems. I hate to clean up after your mess.”
Peter-Two wants to spit out that Strange doesn’t have to bother himself to do any of that, but he knows that they can get this far because of the wizard’s help. It still hurts to hear his words though.
“It doesn’t like we make more problems purposefully…” Peter-One mutters under his breath, but the wizard ignores him as he floats away from the room.
The oldest can let out a breath of relief now that the wizard left them alone.
He still needs to observe Peter-Three’s situation and… decide whatever he is going to do from now on.
Peter-One looks at him with a confused and scared face, he has stopped putting on bravado. “What are we going to do…?” the youngest’s eyes start to get glassy again.
Peter-Two turns to see the struggling humanoid spider behind him.
Obviously, being immobilized with webs isn’t a nice experience, regardless of his appearance. Now that Peter-Two keeps seeing him, he is starting to get used to that appearance. Well, true, it is quite disturbing to see a humanoid spider who has 8 eyes and an exoskeleton, but Peter-Two has seen a lot of weird and horrendous things before.
And he knows, deep inside, Peter-Three is still there.
If only he had a way to reach his little brother, to know that Peter-Three is still inside there… But, what important is…
“Whatever it is… I just don’t want Peter-Three to be in pain…” Peter-Two approaches the struggling humanoid spider again, observing how he is trying to break through the binds. “As long as he isn’t in pain… I don’t mind, whether he is a human or a spider or whatever…”
Being human is overrated, in Peter-Two’s opinion. True, as a superhero, he can’t give up on humanity no matter how sometimes he loses his faith in the people. But, sometimes, he knows that humans can be the worst monsters on Earth. So, from that point of view, maybe turning into a humanoid spider with basic animal instinct isn’t all that bad.
Maybe…
The oldest reaches one of Peter-Three’s limbs, the exoskeleton feels weird, but it isn’t that repulsing. Peter-Three is just… unaware of everything.
He is scared and angry, which is understandable if he loses his ability to think properly. He may think that he is in an unknown place, with strangers that hurting him. Peter-Two stares deeply into his eyes, trying to see something in those eight eyes that staring at him back. “I won’t hurt you, okay?” he mutters gently.
He has promised him that no matter what happens, he will take his brothers home. And he will keep his promise no matter what.
Whether he has to fight that wizard to bring Peter-Three with him, whether he has to find a way to make a shelter for him, whether he has to hunt for his food… After all, his brother is alive inside this body, he is still Peter-Two’s little brother. He is lost, scared, and angry. Peter-Two can’t abandon him, he won’t.
He will never.
As long as he can stop Peter-Three from doing something that he will regret, it should be alright.
Right, he can do it. He has to do it.
If it isn’t him, then who-
Peter-Two is stunned when Peter-One hugs him out of nowhere. It takes him a second to remember that the youngest can feel what the oldest feels through their bond. “You are right, he is still Peter-Three. We will find a way.”
Peter-Two can hear how much fear and anxiety in Peter-One’s voice. He pats the youngest’s head and then stares again at the struggling humanoid spider.
Peter-Two pushes Peter-One a little before he reaches Peter-Three slowly. His webs are strong enough to bind and immobilize Peter-Three, so Peter-Two knows that he won’t suddenly break away. But, he just doesn’t want to startle him too much, he is so lost already.
But, Peter-Two needs this. So, he hugs Peter-Three, a bit awkwardly because he can’t quite figure out how to hug a humanoid spider. He ignores how his spider-sense is warning him noisily. Even if the exoskeleton under his skin is cold and hard, at least, Peter-Two can feel that this body is still alive.
He is still his little brother. No matter what other people say, he is still Peter-Three no matter what. Even until his last breath-
No, even after his death, he is still his little brother. No one else can change his mind.
Peter-Two feels how Peter-One is joining the hug with a nervous face. His arms are trembling, but he clings to him, and also Peter-Three, tightly.
Peter-Two’s eyes soften.
Right, he will work this out. He will find a way to make everything work out, to make sure that his brothers stop being in pain.
0o0o0o0
Everything is dark.
Peter-Three is trying to look around, but beside himself, he can see nothing else around him.
What is this place? Why is he here-
Right, Peter-Two.
Peter-Three comes here to accept his spider part or something like that. After that strange wizard’s spell… he is here now.
This place… feels eerie.
There is nothing but darkness in here, Peter-Three doesn’t even feel that he is standing above something but is not quite floating either.
Nonetheless, he has to find his spider part or something like that. So, he starts to move. He doesn’t know where he should go but he can’t just stay in one place and do nothing.
But, the more Peter-Three moves deeper, the more anxious he gets.
He is never good at reflecting on himself, probably that’s why.
He wants this to be done quickly, as soon as possible, because he is bad at something like this-
“Ouch—” Peter-Three stops when he is hitting something. He taps it with his hands, it seems he is hitting a wall. He isn’t sure because it is so dark in here-
But maybe, because this place is all just something made of his own mind, Peter-Three’s eyes start to get adjusted to the darkness and he can see what is in front of him.
A giant spider.
And a transparent wall between them.
Peter-Three is trembling seeing the horrifying creature in front of him. There is just something frightening about this giant spider.
It feels as if, Peter-Three can get eaten alive—
“Why do you come here?”
Peter-Three wants to run backward when he hears how the spider can talk. It shouldn’t be possible with that insect mouth—but then again, everything feels like magic and fantasy, so he guesses physics won’t work here.
Still, Peter-Three gathers himself, as best as he can.
“I come here because I need you.”
The strange wizard didn’t inform him specifically of what he should do, probably because the wizard didn’t know either. But, based on Peter-Three’s understanding, he needs to accept his spider part so that he can go through another mutation to get more spider DNA inside his genes-
Peter-Three is petrified when the spider moves as if it is bending down to observe him more carefully.
“Ridiculous.”
Peter-Three is staring back at the eight eyes that look back at him menacingly.
“You sealed me here.”
“Huh…? Me?” Peter-Three asks back in confusion. He looks at how the spider taps on the invisible wall between them.
“You are afraid of me.”
Peter-Three feels that is the truth because he is scared of this talking spider-
“But, you are scared of yourself more. You are afraid that… I will turn you into a monster… worse than you already are.”
Peter-Three is shaking when he sees how the spider slowly morphs into something else. His eight limbs are turning into four, and the eight eyes melt into two. Then the one who stands across him is a very familiar being.
Spider-Man…
“Isn’t it funny now that you come here because you need me while it is you that sealed me here?” he says with a very familiar voice, his own voice, in a familiar mocking way.
“How come… I sealed you?” Peter-Three is bewildered with all of this progressing, he can’t understand what is happening—
“It is easier to explain it in this form, thankfully,” Spider-Man answers wittily. But, despite his expression being unreadable, Peter-Three can tell just how menacing and overwhelming his presence is. “In human’s language, you are afraid… if you become even more unlovable than you already are.”
Spider-Man is pointing out at him.
And that is when Peter-Three is noticing himself.
He sees how his arms and legs are changing into more spider-like—
“What is happening!? How come I—”
Then he hears Spider-Man laugh mockingly at him.
“Oh, come on, as fellow monsters, don’t act like you are afraid of me,” Spider-Man pauses as he presses his face closer to the transparent wall. “You are more afraid of yourself.”
Peter-Three can only stare at the Spider-Man with a shocked expression. How come he-
How did he know—
“That face… are you perhaps wondering why I know all of this?” Spider-Man asks for clarification, but Peter-Three is only stunned in his place. It doesn’t seem that Spider-Man is waiting for his answer anyway. “Dude, please, I’m you. You are me. So, of course, I know you.”
Peter-Three… really hates this.
He is utterly hating this.
“That’s right, it sucks right? Everything sucks, you suck, I suck.” Spider-Man responds as if he can read Peter-Three’s mind, or maybe, probably he can. “After all, you hate yourself, of course, you hate all of this, me included.”
Peter-Three half wonders that the previous spider monster is way better than this bully Spider-Man who can read him like an open book.
“I’m not sure why you come here when you hate me as much as you hate yourself, maybe… you need to take a better look at yourself first?” Spider-Man suggests then he snaps his fingers.
Then the transparent wall turns into a mirror, the Spider-Man has vanished behind it.
Peter-Three is stunned to see his horrifying appearance. It looks as if he is slowly turning into a spider monster.
Peter-Three grimaces as he closes his eyes.
He hates how Spider-Man is right about everything.
If he thinks about it again, the answers are all obvious.
The wizard mentioned how Peter-Three stopped the mutation because instinctively he stopped the spider genes from invading his human genes too much. Probably because he knows that, deep inside his heart, if he mutated further…
No one would love him…
Even before becoming a Spider-Man, Peter-Three has struggled to fit in. Even when he was a normal human being, he was so alone. What if he changed into a monstrous person, it is easy to imagine his uncle and aunt would kick him to the street or report him to the police.
And everyone would hunt him down because he was a monster.
Even before becoming a Spider-Man, Peter-Three always struggled to accept who he was…
He didn’t think that he did anything wrong and yet—people always treated him like he was a nuisance and an outcast. Deep down, Peter-Three used to think that… he wanted to become someone else… to stop being himself because—being himself, he always felt so lonely and out of place. He was in pain and he didn’t know how to make the pain go away.
So, after becoming a Spider-Man, Peter-Three always tries to be someone else who isn’t him.
Spider-Man is friendly, witty, understanding, kind, funny, strong, tough, admirable and the list goes on.
Some people hate Spider-Man but some people love Spider-Man, amazingly it worked.
But, Peter-Three understands that… everything is fake. He isn’t like that. He isn’t that… loveable.
That’s why people avoid or hate him.
And the ones who chose to stay at his side, perish one by one tragically—
Right, Peter-Two…
He can’t, he doesn’t have to wallow in self-hate like this. This isn’t why he comes here. He doesn’t come here to do some self-reflection. Peter-Three shakes his head, letting some tears fall away from his face. He can’t exactly erase his tears using his spider arms after all.
“Hey, Spider, you get back here!” Peter-Three shouts. He runs to the mirror and starts to hit it desperately.
That sly Spider-Man is clearly just playing around with him. He knows how to hurt him in the way it hurts the most. But, Peter-Three won’t play in his game anymore.
Peter-Two needs him. His older brother needs Peter-Three to mutate further with this damn spider so that they can make bonds. So that Peter-Two won’t die because of his bonds so the oldest won’t die because he gets crushed by Peter-Three’s pains.
After hitting the mirror a few times as hard as he can, Peter-Three sees how the mirror turns back into a transparent wall. And the Spider-Man is standing across of it, by the way he looks, it seems he has been waiting.
“You did well for distracting me from my original goal,” Peter-Three glares at him. “I don’t care whether what you have said is right. Whether I hate myself or I’m afraid of myself or I’m an unlovable monster, that isn’t important now.” Peter-Three hits his spider arms to the transparent wall again. It doesn’t budge at all.
“I need you. I need you to merge inside me so that I can mutate further—so that, I can save Big Bug…” Peter-Three says, his voice breaking a little bit at the end.
This time, he won’t let someone important for him to die in vain because of him.
Not if he can help it.
“Are you sure?” Spider-Man tilts his head with doubt. “To be frank, I’m not sure if you can win against me.” He puts his hands across Peter-Three’s spider hand on the transparent wall. “If you let me devour you, we will merge into a scary spider. Are you sure?”
Peter-Three grimaces a little bit, he looks at his spider limbs, which is something straight out of a nightmare.
But…
“I just need to make the bond… Even if I turn into a monster, I can still make the bond, right?” Peter-Three mutters while gritting his teeth. The Spider-Man in front of him doesn’t say anything, maybe because he doesn’t know the answer either.
“At least if we turn into a monster, you will stop being in so much pain. That’s the good point,” Spider-Man says instead, he points out at Peter-Three’s head. “Human thinks too much.”
Peter-Three frowns, does that mean he will become some sort of a mindless monster?
But, at this point, it isn’t important any longer…
“Let’s just do it…” he says with a determined face, though he is full of anxiety.
“Then, please go ahead,” the Spider-Man takes a few steps back.
Peter-Three looks at the transparent wall, he frowns then kicks it with all of his might. The wall finally cracks and crumbles away like an exploded water balloon.
Peter-Three looks at the Spider-Man across from him. The Spider-Man pulls up his mask a little bit, revealing a horrifying spider mouth underneath.
“Thanks for the meal,” he says with a sneer and he jumps toward Peter-Three with inhuman speed.
Peter-Three closes his eyes.
He is really sorry… for his brothers. He is sorry-
0o0o0o0o0
Everything feels weird. Every sound makes him flinch. And he can’t move his limbs no matter how much he is struggling. This is suffocating and annoying, he wants to escape but he can’t.
He is hungry, he feels hot, he wants to run away. He is thirsty, but there is nothing to drink. The things that move around him, make undecipherable noises that he can’t understand, they are so noisy. He wants to shut them up, he wants to slash-
And he is hungry. So hungry…
It seems he loses his strength after struggling against what binds him. So, he stays put for the time being. He needs to rest, though he is still hungry. As long as nothing touches him—
Then, something touches him.
He trashes around but again, he can hardly move. This is something that is touching him and what he knows is that he is in danger so he needs to move away.
He feels more things touch his body and he tries to struggle harder, but the binds are so strong that he can’t do anything. He lets out a warning and angry noise, hoping that whatever is touching him will get scared. But, nothing works.
Nothing hurts yet though, he isn’t in pain yet, so maybe he is still safe. He doesn’t know. And he knows that he is hungry and the ones that touching him smell good—
Smell—
They smell… familiar…
Familiar…
It feels as if a veil is just being lifted in his mind.
Right, they are… they are his brothers---
Peter—Peter---
And he is… what is---
He screams when his head feels immense pain suddenly. It feels like his brain melts and burns inside. Then the burn travels through the entire of his body and he is crying and shouting.
He can’t no longer sense anything from the outside world. It just hurts too much—too much—
0o0o0o0
“What--- what did happen? What just happened--?”
Peter-One feels like a mess, he is shaking as he looks at the bundle of webs on the floor.
A few moments before, he saw how Peter-Two hugged Peter-Three, somehow not even being repulsed by Peter-Three’s monstrous appearance. Through their bond, Peter-One can feel how the oldest was falling apart but also hanging on desperately. He was in very deep sadness but still trying to hold on.
So, Peter-One followed his suit.
He couldn’t be as accepting as Peter-Two, he couldn’t imagine what would happen if Peter-Three stayed this way forever. But, Peter-One couldn’t just give up yet. There should be a way, there should be. They would find a way to fix this, so that the three of them could go back to their life again, together.
So, Peter-One hugged Peter-Three too, while trying to fight back his nausea and fear. He has seen worse, he has—
If he tried to think about it, he could just imagine Peter-Three as some sort of alien. That made him feel less repulsed.
Then, suddenly the humanoid spider screeched loudly. Peter-One grimaced at how he could feel pain from their bond and he realized that Peter-Three was in a lot of pain. Peter-Two moved quickly as he cut away all the binds. Peter-Three’s body let out so much steam as if he was boiling inside.
Then Peter-Three crumbled down on the floor and webs came out from his mouth, starting to cover his body before he turned back into a cocoon.
And now, Peter-One is here, watching the cocoon with bewildered eyes.
“I don’t understand either—I only could feel that he was in pain, so suddenly…” Peter-Two shakes his head with a pale face. “I didn’t hurt him, I didn’t—”
“You didn’t do anything, you just hugged him,” Peter-One tries to comfort the oldest. It is rare for Peter-Two to lose his composure completely like this, to be so shaken up so badly. But, Peter-One can understand, the image of a humanoid spider, that is supposed to be his brother, screeching in pain and steam coming out from his body as if he was being boiled alive—
Yeah, that was really horrifying.
“And I also hug him. And I don’t think your webs hurt him either, he was fine before but suddenly—” Peter-One stops because he can’t understand what happened either. Whether what they did hurt Peter-Three or not, he doesn’t know.
Peter-Two stops shaking and looks at the cocoon made of web on the floor.
“At least, he is still alive… that’s good…” he mutters solemnly as he takes a seat on the floor.
Peter-One can still feel that Peter-Three is still alive through their bond, but besides that, there is nothing else.
Complete silence.
“Is he going to undergo another mutation again?” Peter-One crouches down on the floor, observing the quiet cocoon.
“I don’t know…” Peter-Two shakes his head. He looks at the ceiling with conflicted eyes before he sighs and then he drapes himself on top of the cocoon. “I hope he can hear me…I hope he knows that he isn’t alone…” Peter-Two mutters softly with his eyes closed.
Peter-One hopes so as well, then he sees how Peter-Two stops talking all of a sudden.
“Peter-?”
The oldest’s body slides from the cocoon to the floor, but he is still circling the cocoon with his body.
Did he just lose consciousness all of a sudden--?
“Don’t you guys have any limit--? Please give me a break…”
Peter-One turns his head quickly when he sees how Strange appears inside the room so suddenly. Probably he is using his teleport spell, but Peter-One missed it completely.
“I come here to check what was with all of the noises---” then Strange grunts in anger. “I already warned him to not make the bonds even stronger—is he such an idiot, or what!?”
Peter-One can only blink in confusion then he flinches when the wizard turns at him with glaring eyes.
“You, go inside and tell him to not mess around with the spider boy’s subconsciousness. He can’t do that, not even a monster’s subconsciousness should be messed up with, they will lose their sanity completely,” Strange lifts up his finger toward Peter-One.
“Huh, what? Wait-“
Peter-One only remembers how he sees such a bright light before everything turns to dark.
0o0o0o0
It feels as if he is inside a dream… with everything white beside him. Peter-Two looks around at the endless whiteness around him.
But, with all this white… it feels so incredibly empty and hollow, it is so eerie.
Anyway, he wonders if it is…
He taps on something invisible, but when his fingers hit something, the air is rippling and he can see something.
“Peter! No!”
Peter-Two falls to the ground when someone jumps on him.
“Huh!? Peter?” Peter-Two is surprised to see his little brother here. “Why are you here? How come you—” Peter-Two stops talking when he can see how Peter-One’s body is glowing in gold color softly.
“Doctor Strange asked me to stop you, he said you can’t mess with Peter-Three’s subconsciousness! He will lose his sanity for sure!” Peter-One says as he hugs Peter-Two tightly.
“…I’m not going to.”
“Huh?”
“I’m not going to go to Peter-Three’s subconsciousness.” Peter-Two huffs as he looks around. Then, he pats Peter-One’s head.
This place feels very weird, he doesn’t feel anything under his skin when he touches Peter-One. He guesses, his senses are all messed up inside his own mind. It feels as if he is dreaming.
“Really…?” Peter-One releases the oldest from his death hug and takes a seat in front of him. He looks doubtful. Peter-Two thinks that the youngest is connected to his mind with the wizard’s help and also because of their bond.
“Yeah, I’m just… going to wait here,” Peter-Two confesses. He taps on the air in a specific place and sees how the air ripples again. “This is the bond of Peter-Three and me. I will wait here.” Peter-Two puts his hand on top of the invisible bond. “Just so that he knows that I’m waiting for him here.”
Peter-Two doesn’t know what is happening with Peter-Three, what kind of battle he is fighting inside his mind. But, Peter-Two is going to wait for him here. Hoping that through their bond, Peter-Three can feel his presence.
The oldest sees how Peter-One takes a seat beside him with his eyes fixed on the rippling air.
“Then, I’m going to wait here with you.”
“…really? You can wait outside,” Peter-Two suggests to him. After all, he doesn’t know how long it will take for Peter-Three to wake up. So, he doesn’t know how long he is going to wait here.
“I’m okay… I rather wait here with you than wait alone outside,” Peter-One sounds so sure about his decision, so Peter-Two doesn’t question him further. “But, I’m surprised that you want to wait for Peter-Three… here.”
Maybe, Peter-One still can’t understand what Peter-Two is doing, though he decided to go along with the ride anyway.
“Knowing that someone is waiting for your return… that is what helping me going through my life as a Spider-Man,” Peter-Two admits with a solemn smile.
Waking up in the middle of a dark alley after losing consciousness after a brutal fight, full of bruises and wounds, Peter-Two remembers how he used to think that it might be easier to just…
Given up…
Life was so tiring and even if he was gone, no one would really be sad for him…
Those kinds of bad days, Peter-Two can still remember it clearly. At least, he still has his MJ--
However, for him, it used to be just MJ waiting for him to reply to her text regularly. But, still, that alone helped him to fight his battle.
And of course, after that, his little brothers. Knowing that they are always waiting for his return, helps him to go through his battle.
“I see…” Peter-One hums. “It is really sad when there is no one waiting for your return after all…” he says quietly.
Of course, the youngest understands that pain, even though he only knew it for a few months.
Peter-Two smiles sadly at the youngest, then pulls Peter-One’s head to rest on his shoulder.
They will wait for Peter-Three, no matter how long, until the middle brother comes back to them.
0o0o0o0
“Why don’t you just give up? It is easier to surrender yourself to be a mindless spider! We can still survive, we can still live! There is no use for petty feelings or destructive thoughts!”
Peter-Three is dodging the attack from the Spider-Man barely. The Spider-Man in front of him now is more like a humanoid spider wearing a Spider-Man suit. He shoots his web and Peter-Three fails to dodge it, he wails helplessly as Spider-Man pulls him toward him.
“I know it is easier that way but—I don’t want to give up just yet!” Peter-Three is holding onto the spider arms’ that are pushing on his direction. Then he kicks his legs so that he can twist his body to get up.
“I really can’t understand you…” Spider-Man groans in frustration.
“Same, I can’t understand myself either,” Peter-Three admits wittily.
The Spider-Man jumps at him but Peter-Three rolls to the side to dodge him. He doesn’t think he can win against this monster Spider-Man, he needs to find another way…
Can he just… escape from here? If he can get here then there should be a way to get out from this place.
Peter-Three changes his strategy and then starts to run away from the Spider-Man.
“Hey! You! Get back here!”
Peter-Three ignores the Spider-Man behind him. Thankfully, it doesn’t seem he is following him.
“You think you can get away from here? There is no way out…”
Peter-Three closes his eyes as he shakes his head.
“You can’t run away from yourself.”
The last sentence feels like it is being spoken directly to his head. Peter-Three stops running in surprise and he falls to the ground because of the momentum.
But, he gets back to his feet again. He doesn’t care, he will keep running.
So, he runs again.
He doesn’t know where he should go, so he is just running blindly.
This place that is within endless darkness, he wonders if it is truly inside of him. Even though he feels scared in here, he guesses that is because he is scared of himself.
It feels like he keeps running endlessly, with more and more anxiety-riddled thoughts weighing him down.
At this point, he doesn’t even know why he is running away, just why—
Even if he escapes from here… does he have someone waiting for him outside?
Or is he just going to live alone with full of pain again?
He doesn’t know, honestly, he doesn’t know—
He has his brothers, right, he isn’t alone. But, to be honest, Peter-Three isn’t that sure anymore. He doesn’t understand what is going on, what happened to him, how long this has been happening.
He understands nothing of this situation.
What he knows is just, he is scared and he wants to escape from here.
He wants to meet his brothers again.
Are they waiting for him? Are they giving up on him?
Peter-Three is surprised when the darkness starts to cling on his legs as if he is walking on quicksand. The more he is struggling, the more he is being swallowed down.
No, he needs to get away… he has to…
Even someone like him… wants to be happy… he has been thinking that he doesn’t deserve to be happy for such a long time… even thinking about happiness alone hurt so much… he knew that Gwen wanted him to be happy but… it was so hard before…
But, not anymore… deep down, he wants to be happy.
Being with his brothers makes him happy.
So, he doesn’t want to give up just yet.
He can’t--
Peter-Three notices there is a glimmering light on top of his head. It shines dimly, but it is the first light that he sees in this endless darkness. So, he extends his hand toward it with a struggle as the darkness is clinging to his body desperately.
He feels how a hand, no—two hands catch his hand and pulls him out from there.
0o0o0o0
Peter-Two looks at how Peter-Three is breaking through the cocoon with a huge gasp.
Peter-Three is back in human form somehow.
He is completely covered with slime and goo, with a considerable amount, more than Peter-One previously. His skin, under all of the transparent goo, looks all red and flaming. Not to mention how Peter-Three seems to have difficulty of breathing.
“Peter—Peter? Are you okay- no, you aren’t okay—” Peter-One has woken up beside the middle brother and slowly gets panicked.
Peter-Two moves swiftly, he webs his bag and pulls it toward him. He quickly finds a towel and cleans Peter-Three’s face from slime and goo. “Calm down, take a deep breath, do it slowly,” he coaxes the middle brother as he cleans Peter-Three’s face more throughout.
Peter-Three gasps slowly and starts to slow down his breath.
It looks as if Peter-Three is learning again how to breathe properly… or maybe he does.
His skin is all soft and red as if he is just being reborn again.
Maybe, he is indeed being reborn again.
Peter-Two wonders whether Peter-Three has gone through another phase of mutation, separating enough spider genes from his genes and rebuilding his body again. Whatever happened, at least, Peter-Three is alive and well now.
“Come on, let me get you out of there…” Peter-Two crouches beside Peter-Three and holds his torso from behind, Peter-One quickly helps him and together they pull out the middle brother from the cocoon of webs full of transparent white goo.
“Uugh… it is almost as if he is covered with snot from head to toe…” Peter-One is obviously holding back his nausea. His face is a bit green.
The fact that Peter-Three is naked and covered with sticky but slippery slime is probably repulsing for the youngest.
“At least, he is alive…” Peter-Two reminds him as he cleans Peter-Three’s sticky hair, the middle brother seems still a bit delirious and not fully aware yet. But, he is still trying to regulate his breathing, so that’s good. From their bond, it seems Peter-Three is in pain, but not as bad as before.
“Oh right… that’s right…” it seems Peter-One only realizes the situation. “Peter-Three is back, he is… he is human again and he is alive…” Peter-One’s lips tremble, it seems he wants to hug the middle brother but stops because of his disgusting condition so he hugs Peter-Two instead.
“We did it! I don’t know how, but WE DID IT!” he screams as he sobs and cries.
Peter-Two can feel so much mixed emotions from the youngest through their bond, but the most apparent ones are relief and happiness.
“You don’t feel any pain, right? I can feel Peter-Three, I think? That is him--- ugh, it is kind of hard to tell apart of you two from the bonds, but at least it seems to work! It works out!” Peter-One mumbles and screams uncontrollably, seeming to bursting with so many emotions.
Peter-Two is just watching him calmly as he keeps cleaning Peter-Three on his lap. “I’m okay, I don’t feel any pain.”
“Yes! YEESSS! No one dies, I can’t believe we did it!”
Peter-One is crying again but from happiness.
Peter-Two is itching to tell the youngest to get a hold of himself because, through their bond, the youngest’s emotions are quite overwhelming. But, the oldest doesn’t say anything. Peter-One has gone through a lot and he has suppressed his emotions a lot too for a few days, so it is obvious that he is bursting with emotions right now.
“Uugh… thirsty… hungry…” Peter-Three whimpers weakly on Peter-Two’s lap.
“Obviously,” Peter-Two smiles sheepishly at the middle brother. Let alone Peter-Three who underwent two mutation phases continuously in a span of a few days, even Peter-Two is starving.
The middle brother must feel famished worse than any of them.
“I—I’m hungry too…” Peter-One has quieted down and admits bashfully.
Peter-Two rummages through his bag and pulls out a few canned foods and a few bags of crackers. “I only have emergency foods with me now, lets eat this for now, okay?” Peter-Two pulls out a bottle of water from the bag as well.
“Wow, you are so prepared for everything…” Peter-One mutters in awe as he opens a bag of crackers.
“After that, we have to bath Peter-Three, thankfully I brought a change of clothes for him,” Peter-Two adds as he helps Peter-Three to drink. As the water touches his lips, Peter-Three takes the bottle away from Peter-Two and drinks it desperately.
Oh, he must be that thirsty and hungry.
“You are completely prepared for anything,” Peter-One corrects his words. Peter-Two chuckles, he helps Peter-Two to open a can of chicken noodles then the middle brother devours it hungrily.
“Not really for anything,” Peter-Two reminds the youngest as he watches Peter-Three with tender eyes.
Now that he sees how Peter-Three is in human form again and devours the food with no trouble, Peter-Two feels very relieved. His little brother is alive, and well and he can eat well too.
That’s such a relief…
“More…” Peter-Three shows Peter-Two an empty can, clearly still hungry. The oldest chuckles, erasing some tears from the corner of his eyes. It seems Peter-Three is still a little bit out of it, not completely himself just yet. But it is okay.
Peter-Two opens a can of beans and gives it to Peter-Three.
Peter-Two observes him eat with soft eyes. Peter-One pats his back and offers him his bag of crackers. “You must be hungry too. Come on, there are still a lot of things to do after this, right?”
Peter-Two smiles at the youngest and takes the offer. He takes a few crackers and starts to eat it.
Right, he needs to help Peter-Three clean himself then he needs to cook for the three of them—
“Color me surprised! You brothers are really… beyond comprehensible…” Strange pops out from a magical portal. “Amazing but also very handful as well,” he adds more.
Peter-Two glares slightly at him, quite angry at how the wizard always pops out so quickly without giving them a moment to relax first. He sees how Strange gives Peter-Three a look. The middle brother is busy eating and ignoring him completely.
“We all need to talk, after you are done eating and make yourselves presentable,” Strange points out at Peter-Three then to Peter-Two and Peter-One as well. The other brothers are a bit covered with some goo because of Peter-Three. “I will wait outside,” he says then he leaves the room without waiting for their response.
Peter-Two glares slightly at the door, cursing the wizard secretly in his mind. Then he turns at the anxious Peter-One and the oblivious Peter-Three.
Of course, that strange wizard won’t give them a chance to enjoy their moment together. Peter-Two can tell that the wizard wants to talk about the portals and their continuous travel-through-multiverses.
He is probably planning to stop them.
Peter-Two doesn’t know what he is going to do yet, but…
“Peter…” Peter-One pulls his sleeve, asking for his attention. The oldest can see how scared and anxious the youngest is. And also how sad he is.
Peter-Two pats Peter-One’s head. “Don’t worry, let’s eat first and clean ourselves after that, okay?”
Peter-One nods meekly.
“More,” Peter-Three shows Peter-Two another empty can. The oldest smiles and opens him a new bag of crackers.
After what has happened with them, Peter-Two doesn’t think he will let his brothers go willingly. He still doesn’t know what he will do but…
He won’t let anyone bring harm or hurt his brothers in any kind of way, anyone. Not even that wizard, or Avengers, or maybe even God himself—
Peter-Two sees how Peter-One looks at him with a bit of fear in his eyes.
“I forget that you can be scary sometimes,” the youngest mumbles quietly.
Oh right, the youngest can feel Peter-Two’s emotions as well, he almost forgets about that.
Peter-Two just smiles at him.
“Well, don’t forget that Spider-Man is also Public Enemy Number 1,” Peter-Two reminds the youngest.
Even though it is rare for Peter-Two to feel angry, that doesn’t mean he can’t get angry.
Especially if it is about his precious people. Especially if it is about his brothers.
He partly can understand how Peter-Three lose his cool and almost obliterated the scum that poisoned the youngest.
Maybe Peter-two can even destroy the world if it is for his brothers’ sake, that is how Peter-Two feels for them. He just loves them that much.
That very much.
To Be Continued
A/N
A bonus fanart for everyone. This fanfic has been really bringing everyone down with its tragic plot.
Please enjoy it