saudade

A portal opened and a man with a red cloak came out of it, the box in his hand.

“You must be Professor Weird then”, Peter exclaimed and pointed at him. Wizards were real. He couldn’t believe it.

“Excuse me?” The wizard eyed him and raised an eyebrow. “It’s Doctor Strange. And who the hell are you?”

“You’re a wizard!”

“A sorcerer. Wizards have those ridiculous hats.”

“Strange, wait-“, Peter 1 called.

“I’ve been dangling over the Grand Canyon for twelve hours!”, the sorcerer interrupted him. Clearly, he wasn’t pleased by Peter’s actions.

Peter and Peter 3 jumped to Peter 1 to support him. The youngest brother needed support and they were a family, so they’d give him the necessary support.

“I’m sorry about that, Sir, I mean-“

“You went to the Grand Canyon?”, Peter asked ins disbelief. A teenager needed help and the wizard went to the Grand Canyon?

“He could’ve used your help”, Peter 3 added with a harsh tone.

“It’s okay”, Peter 1 tried to calm down his older brother. “These are my new brothers. They’re mes from other universes and they’re here to help.”

“Look, I’m really impressed that you managed to give them all a second chance, kid. But this has to end, now”, Doctor Strange told him.

“Can the Spider-Man come out to play?” It was Norman Osborn’s voice that sent a shiver down Peter’s spine.

A storm of the blades that Peter hated so much approached them, but Dr. Octavius protected them and one of his arms caught Norman who somehow took the box out of Dr. Strange’s hand. Dr. Strange casted a spell and took the box again.

A bomb was placed in the box.

It was about to explode.

“Strange, no!”, Peter 1 yelled in panic, but it was too late. The bomb already exploded. The giant shield fell off the statue. Someone screamed.

It was MJ.

She was falling.

Peter 1 jumped but Norman Osborn rammed him. Peter saw the horror on Peter 3’s face who didn’t hesitate and jumped to save MJ. Peter didn’t know what happened to Gwen in the other universe, but he knew Peter 3 wanted to make up for not being able to save her.

The whole scaffolding started to crash. Peter used his webs to get Dr. Octavius and Electro to the ground safely. When they were safe, he focused on leaving the scaffolding without being harmed.

He needed to find Peter 1. He needed to save him from becoming eaten up by revenge.

He needed to save him from himself.

On the way, he ran into Peter 3.

“Where’s Peter?”, Peter 3 asked.

“I don’t know but we have to stop him from killing Norman. He can’t end up like we did”, Peter said.

Peter 3 nodded and they searched together until they find Peter 1 at the water. He was beating up Norman Osborn.

Peter ran as fast as he could but as he saw Peter 1 taking Norman’s glider to stab him, he ran even faster. He couldn’t let that happen. Not again. Peter didn’t want Peter 1 to live with the feeling of guilt for the rest of his life. And Peter didn’t want Norman to die again. He needed to cure him.

Maybe it would prevent Harry from dying.

Peter jumped between Peter 1 and Norman. Peter 1 tried to fight against him, but Peter was strong enough to hold against him. He just looked in Peter’s suffering, tear-filled eyes but he didn’t say anything.

Peter 1 had to make the choice by himself.

And he did. His arms sank and together, they laid the glider aside.

A knife stabbed Peter’s body.

Peter sank down. This must be what Harry must’ve felt like as he willingly sacrificed himself so Peter could live. And now, Peter understood why he did it. He did it to save someone he loved and to escape from his misery.

In a way, Peter was doing the same now if he died. He saved Peter 1 from a horrible fate and that was all that mattered, wasn’t it?

“She was there because of you. I may have struck the blow but you? You are the one that killed her”, Norman told Peter 1. He was insane, completely insane.

Peter 3 threw the cure and Peter 1 slammed it into Norman’s throat.

Peter smiled. His goals were fulfilled – Peter didn’t make his mistakes and Norman was saved.

“Peter?”, Norman asked and looked at Peter 1. Then he looked at Peter. “What have I done?”

Peter 3 knelt next to Peter. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, don’t worry. I’ve been stabbed before”, Peter said as he remembered the fight in the Osborn mansion. Both of them couldn’t think clearly that night.

And both had made mistakes.

Peter 1 knelt on his other side. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m good. Don’t worry about me”, Peter repeated. It wasn’t the exact truth since his body hurt like hell, but the fate of the world was more important than him being stabbed.

“Nice catch, by the way”, Peter 3 complimented Peter 1.

“You saw it?”

Peter tried to smile. They really were like brothers to him. But his smile faded as he saw the sky breaking. It was purple and white figures were standing in the sky. “Is that happening or am I dying?”, he asked. He didn’t want to die.

“No, that’s real. You’re not dying, mate. We need our oldest brother, okay?”, Peter 3 told him.

“I gotta go”, Peter 1 said.

“Yeah, go, I’ve got him”, Peter 3 said and stayed at Peter’s side.

“Peter, I’m sorry. I don’t know what I was thinking. I never meant to hurt you.” Norman Osborn approached him.

Peter 3 stood before Peter to protect him.

“Peter, it’s fine. I want to talk to him”, Peter told him and Peter 3 hesitated but then he did as he was told.

“I know what the Goblin did to you. And I know you’re not bad, Norman”, Peter told him.

“But I’ve done horrible things. I hurt you. I hurt your Aunt May. I killed the boy’s aunt. I killed the board members and I tried to kill Harry. I tried to kill my own son”, Norman’s voice was shaking as he said it. But it was the truth. He did all those things. “I’ve been a horrible father to him, and I almost got him killed. How can you say I’m not bad when I clearly am?”

“Harry loved you. He never successfully coped with your death. He missed you so much and all he ever did was to make you proud”, Peter said and cleared his throat to prevent himself from crying.

“I am so proud of him. He was so scared to tell me about your relationship, but I told him I’m proud of him. I’m glad he has you. How is he doing?”

“He- he’s dead.” Peter had to pause. A lump was forming in his throat. “He wanted revenge for your death. He blamed me for it. Then he discovered your secret, and he took the serum to kill me. But deep inside him, he knew it wouldn’t make it better. We fought together against Sandman and another dude. He sacrificed himself for me.”

“No.” Tears streamed down Norman Osborn’s face. “No, he isn’t dead. Tell me he isn’t. Tell me my dear son didn’t do the same mistake as I did.”

“I’m sorry.” Peter couldn’t hold back the tears any longer.

“I thought seeing my Harry die was terrible but hearing what happened to your Harry …”, Peter 3 whispered. He also had tears in his eyes.

For a moment, they were just silent. Everyone grieved separately about their loss.

Peter 1 ran towards them. Peter 3 helped Peter to get up and Peter wished he didn’t. The wound hurt even more now.

“I think this is it. You’re about to go home”, Peter 1 said. “Thank you. I just want to tell you … I don’t know how to say it …”

“Peter”, Peter 3 interrupted him.

“It’s what we do”, Peter said.

They hugged each other. Peter would truly miss them, but they were his brothers. Forever.

“I need to find Ned and MJ. I guess I’ll see you”, Peter 1 said. He was obviously overwhelmed by the whole situation.

“Yeah, we’ll see each other again”, Peter 3 agreed.

Peter just nodded. Saying something would reveal in how much pain he was.

Peter 1 smiled at them and left.

“You’re in so much pain, aren’t you?”, Peter 3 asked.

“I am”, Peter confirmed.

“You’re amazing, Peter. I want you to know that. And you have to promise me to form a band once you’re home, okay?”

Peter 3 laughed. “I promise.”

They hugged again and when they let go of each other, Norman was already gone. Peter could barely see Peter 3’s smile before he was gone too. Peter could return home with a good feeling – he saved people and corrected mistakes that had serious consequences.

And he got the best brothers in the whole multiverse.