Another Spider-Man appeared in the distance. Combining this with what the out-of-shape Peter had muttered while watching the news just now, Peter and Gwen quickly arrived at another conclusion—namely, that in this universe, there was more than one Spider-Man.
"That Jewish fellow explicitly stated during his self-introduction earlier that he believed himself to be the sole Spider-Man of this world, right?"
"Yeah." Gwen blinked upon hearing Peter's words. "Wait, you say he's Jewish?"
"Right, didn't he mention investing in a Spider-Man-themed restaurant himself?"
Why would investing in a restaurant make someone Jewish... Gwen muttered a few words to herself, deciding to put that particular question aside for the time being, and instead turned her thoughts toward the other Spider-Man on the far side. "Which means that Spider-Man doesn't actually originate from this universe, right?"
"In most scenarios, that can be safely assumed, yes. Like us, he hails from another universe. However..."
Peter left the alternative scenario unspoken, prompting Gwen to ask out of curiosity, "However what?"
"There is another possibility: duplicates. If that's the case, it means the Peter Parker of this universe is in serious trouble!"
Peter leapt forward, giving chase in the direction of the distant alarms, and Gwen quickly followed suit after a brief pause. The two of them rapidly arrived at the scene where the alarm had been triggered. Tearing up nearly the entire street at the scene was a figure Peter found simultaneously familiar and unfamiliar: the Rhino native to this local Earth-1616 universe.
His appearance was almost identical to the Rhino of the 616 universe, but his rhino hide was entirely different. Unlike the white metallic skin and powerful exoskeleton from Osborn Tech in the 616 universe, the Rhino here truly resembled a real rhinoceros, utilizing a grey biometric skin.
Meanwhile, the other Spider-Man was actively engaged in combat with the Rhino right here.
"What is the deal with you, Alex? I thought you perished in that explosion! Pal!"
Spider-Man dodged cars flying haphazardly through the air, then used his webbing to hook one of them and hurl it against the Rhino. A minor explosion erupted, and Spider-Man, landing on a telephone pole, spread his hands helplessly. "Of course, I knew you'd be just fine, Alex. We've been through this kind of routine plenty of times."
"This time is different, Spider-Man!"
The Rhino charged out from the flames of the explosion. "This time, I'm sending you to hell!"
"To hell? Well, that's just terrible."
Peter and Gwen remained hidden in the distance, quietly observing everything—though it was primarily Peter doing the observing. His nano-suit allowed him to see much further, monitor the distant conversation, and even search for historical news reports from this universe simultaneously. Peter listened to that Spider-Man trading quips while battling the Rhino. After a brief silence, he looked toward Gwen. "The worst-case scenario has manifested. There is a high probability that both that Rhino and Spider-Man are clones."
"Uh... so... someone is cloning you, along with all of your villains?"
"Mhm, exactly. It's likely Miles Warren. In our universe, he hasn't amounted to anything and is still working for Osborn for the time being, and Norman synchronizes his work with the supercomputer back at the Web Base basically every week. But just because he failed in our universe doesn't mean that in this universe..."
Peter trailed off into silence, subsequently shaking his head. The news archive indicated that the vast majority of Spider-Man's adversaries, including the Green Goblin and Doctor Octopus, had already deceased. Some had died in accidents, others had been executed, and some had even been shot dead in court by the family members of their victims. The last recorded battle between Spider-Man and a supervillain had taken place five years ago.
"There's just one thing I don't get," Gwen, who could only make out a vague blur even while squinting, asked in confusion. "The Spider-Man native to this universe has clearly become a complacent slacker. While it would make sense to clone his enemies to deal with him, why clone him? This clone is obviously much more energetic."
Peter pondered briefly before arriving at the answer. "The best method to strip a city of its will to resist isn't pure violence, but shattering the people's confidence to fight back. Therefore, the adversary needs to stage a grand spectacle of killing Spider-Man."
"Most importantly, once this clone dies, even if the original stands up to fight again, he might simply be branded as just another clone."
"But what if that out-of-shape fellow runs out to help?"
"Then what could possibly destroy the original's life more effectively than replacing him with a duplicate who is superior in every aspect, possesses all of the original's memories, and genuinely believes himself to be the original? Though I don't know what kind of profound vendetta the Warren and Peter Parker of this universe actually share."
As Peter spoke, he suddenly cried out, "Not good!" and immediately rushed toward the distant battlefield, with Gwen following right on his heels.
He had witnessed a highly precarious sight.
The citizens of New York had already begun fleeing in all directions, yet a few individuals still hadn't escaped. While Spider-Man was still locked in combat with the Rhino, a pumpkin bomb came hurtling toward him. Spider-Man immediately dodged the bomb, looking up into the sky toward the approaching Green Goblin in sheer disbelief. "Norman? No, that's impossible, you're dead!"
"Dead? Hohoho, Peter! Of course I died, but I've been brought back to life!"
The Green Goblin clamored as he threw out several more bombs. Relying on his Spider-Sense, Spider-Man dodged consecutively before landing on the ground. In the next instant, yet another adversary from his memory who had supposedly perished manifested. Innumerable grains of sand materialized around him, startling him into an immediate retreat.
"The Sandman has been resurrected too?"
Beholding the three suddenly resurrected adversaries, this Spider-Man briefly fell into a panic. Even the out-of-shape Peter witnessed this scene from inside his attic, his jaw dropping in shock. He repeatedly told himself that these ought to be counterparts from the multiverse, but the correspondence was simply too uncanny; not a single enemy possessed any differences.
What exactly was going on?
Meanwhile, the Spider-Man engaged in the fray spotted a little girl standing frozen on the side of the street, having forgotten to leave the battlefield. He resolved to spirit the young girl away first before dealing with these old adversaries, so he swung over and scooped the little girl up by the waist.
"Mister will take you... wait, the weight is wrong!"
His Spider-Sense suddenly flared to life. Spider-Man beheld the little girl in his arms morph into another long-dead adversary: the Chameleon, who promptly discharged a firearm directly into his abdomen. This gunshot forced him to release the enemy instantly, plummeting from midair, while the long-deceased Vulture caught the Chameleon and landed safely.
The Sandman's raging sands swept across the surroundings, on the verge of submerging him entirely. However, in the next instant, lightning blanketed the area, utilizing high temperatures to melt all the grains of sand into glass, while another, slightly smaller Spider-Man materialized right in front of him.