The mentor's curse
Wendy is sitting quietly in HQ as Miguel works and Peter B. Parker sits off to the corner playing with Mayday. They’re a little rowdy but not to the point where it was unworkable or unbearable. Jess sat nearby eating a small lunch before she had to go on her next mission. Wendy didn’t know why they were all there. They just sort of gathered there for a mentor meeting or something like that. Wendy was staring at Miguel and watched as his eyes flitted between the screens in front of him, her legs crossed, her arm balanced on one knee holding her head up.
It’s been almost a year and a half since she joined the Spider Society and she’s been enjoying her time so far. It’s a couple months from when Miles shows up. Mentoring Pavitr was at times interesting, but it was rewarding nonetheless. Gwen seems to be settling in so far since she too just came from her universe not too long ago.
Wendy’s knowledge of the multiverse grew everyday and she now knows a lot more of canon events and what every spider goes through. She was fixated on one thing, though. In almost every universe there’s a mentor that dies from some sort of tragic accident or something else. Look at Earth 199999. They battled a freaking alien and that Peter’s mentor died. What if something catastrophic happened to them.
When Wendy opened her mouth it didn’t really come out as that, though.
Wendy: Do you really think it’s right to bring children into this world as spider people?
Silence as everyone stopped and took in what she said for a minute.
Jess: That’s…incredibly blunt. You might want to elaborate.
Peter B.: Yeah, you said that about my baby in front of my baby. Not to mention Jess is pregnant and Miguel…
Miguel: Let that be the end of your sentence, Peter.
Peter: You know, he’s Miguel.
Wendy gets up and starts to walk around. Something she usually does when thinking.
Wendy: Well, we’re living this life, right, where there’s countless ways for us to die. Isn’t it selfish to bring a child into this world and then just go poof?
Miguel: Wendy, you’re not making sense. Why would we just die out of nowhere?
Peter: Our jobs are dangerous, but that doesn’t stop us from living the way we want to. As long as we’re not doing anything illegal or adding to the chaos, I don’t see what the big deal is.
Wendy: I mean, I guess you’re right, but we could still die!
Miguel: Again, why do you think we would die?
Jess: She’s got a valid point.
Miguel: You’re seriously entertaining this? You’re pregnant!
Jess: I’m not talking about the kids thing. I’m talking about the dying out of nowhere thing. Anything could go wrong on our missions.
Miguel: That’s not possible. I plan everything out so nothing goes wrong, ever. Wendy, I think you’re getting at something but you’re not saying the full thing out loud.
Peter: I’m getting that too. Where’s your brain taking you?
Wendy walks around a little more. She uses her webs to get to the control panel where Miguel is standing and starts to fiddle with the controls until she gets to the web of canon events.
Miguel: When did you learn to do that? I never taught anyone that.
Wendy: That doesn’t matter right now.
Miguel: It’s going to matter later when you get reprimanded.
Wendy pulls up the canon events of the mentors. One by one they passed by in a flash of light showing all the spiders in that room what could be in store for them. Some of it clicked for Jess and her expression turned sad as she watched Wendy jump down from the control panel and down to where the images were flashing by.
Peter: I’m not sure I get it.
Wendy: In every universe we’ve recorded, a spider’s mentor dies, right? It’s written in our canon events. What if we’re next? All three of us are mentors.
A long silence ensues. Miguel looks at each of the spiders with him and sees how all of their expressions are sad and contemplative.
Jess: Did you think about this at all? (Directed toward Miguel)
Miguel: It has crossed my mind a couple of times, yes.
No one had to say the quiet part out loud because Miguel answered it.
Miguel: I’m not setting you guys up for failure. There’s a very low chance of a spider from any universe dying due to some mentorship they have with a spider in another universe.
Wendy: But what if? We can’t exactly rule it out. It’s not like there’s no chance!
Miguel stays silent getting to the end of his rope. He has a hard time answering questions like this because she was right. There’s no rule in the canon that says a spider can’t die because of a mentorship to another spider. But he couldn’t tell them that. It would cause anarchy.
Wendy: What would Gwen do if she found out or you died? (Waving her hand toward Jess)
Jess: I don’t know. (Said quietly)
Wendy: What would Miles do? (Waving her hand toward Peter) What would…?
Peter: What would Pavitr do?
Wendy nods silently.
Wendy: It would crush them. All of them.
Jess: Like what Peter said before, we can’t live our lives on what ifs. I say we cross that bridge when we get to it.
Miguel: And we’re not going to get to it. That’s the last I want to hear about this conversation. Got it? Isn't it time that you got to Pavitr anyway? I thought you were training with him today.
Wendy sighs a little defeated and starts to walk out of HQ. When she gets past the door and a little ways down the hallway, Hobie meets up with her.
Hobie: Shhh.
They walk out of earshot of the HQ and they start talking.
Wendy: I know you were listening, but how much did you hear?
Hobie: Just about all of it.
Wendy: And?
Hobie: And I think you’re right. I’m surprised Mr. High and Mighty didn’t chew you out for questioning him.
Wendy: Anything to get me to shut up, I guess.
Hobie: Don’t shut up. Keep questioning him until he breaks or you’re proven right.
Wendy stops and sighs and Hobie stands with her for a little bit.
Wendy: Let’s hope we never get to that point where one of us has to die for him to realize he’s fucked up.