The battle concluded with incredible swiftness and a jarring suddenness—mid-fight, one enemy after another collapsed, their forms directly disintegrating into a substance resembling sand and dust.
The sole exception was the Green Goblin, who smashed right through a wall and made his escape. Before the two Spider-Men could even process what had happened, they were swallowed up by a portal and deposited right back inside the out-of-shape Peter's house.
"My god, we actually did it! I mean, it was a little bizarre... but we did it!"
The out-of-shape Peter smiled broadly, on the verge of cheering out loud. On the other side, though Scarlet Spider felt somewhat bewildered and uneasy, a smile broke across his face as well.
The only one who couldn't bring himself to smile was Peter. He immediately reached out, unleashing a massive surge of symbiote mass, blanketing more than half of Scarlet Spider's body with Anti-Venom. Had their spider-senses not remained completely dormant, the two clones would have probably retaliated on the spot.
"What are you doing? What's going on?"
"Uh... simply put, the person who cloned you is highly likely Miles Warren. And either to keep you under control or for some other reason, he chose to limit your cellular replication capacity. The cells of you clones have been embedded with a replication threshold; once it exceeds a specific limit, your bodies will spontaneously disintegrate. Just like the Sinister Sixteen did."
Peter explained the general situation. "I'm using the Anti-Venom and chi to treat you, which should help buy you a few more days. But if you intend to solve this permanently, you'd better locate your creator. At the very least, you'll need the equipment in his facility to perform a corrective procedure."
Witnessing Peter's deeply grave expression, Ben Reilly fell silent for a long moment. If this had been just a few hours ago, he wouldn't have feared death in the slightest. But now, for some inexplicable reason, he suddenly felt that there was no longer any need for him to die.
"Alright, thank you, Peter Parker from another world. I intend to have a proper chat with my alternate self. Thanks."
Having temporarily averted the Scarlet Spider's mortality crisis, Peter stared at him for a moment, then nodded and took his leave.
Following his departure, Scarlet Spider looked over at the out-of-shape Peter and pulled off his mask, revealing the face beneath. Facially, he was practically identical to Peter Parker, yet he sported a completely distinct, somewhat messy head of blonde hair.
Lacking any social tact whatsoever, the out-of-shape Peter remarked to Scarlet Spider, "Cool! That's a nice dye job."
"I figured if I could increase the differences between us, it might prevent some highly awkward situations. For instance, if we ran into some friends and they saw two identical Peter Parkers, they might just faint on the spot."
"Don't worry about it, there's absolutely no way they'd mistake us for the same person. Just look at this belly of mine, and then look at you. We're worlds apart, alright?"
The out-of-shape Peter's remark caused Ben Reilly to let out an involuntary chuckle. After a few more minutes, having caught his breath, Ben scratched the back of his head and revealed the true purpose behind his arrival. "But before we get to that, I intend to talk to you about your situation with MJ."
At those words, the out-of-shape Peter's entire expression instantly slumped. Scarlet Spider hastily stepped forward to explain, "It's like this: I know exactly what you're worried about. You're afraid that by committing, you'll lose too much. You're terrified that even though this is clearly a pivotal step forward, you won't be able to handle it or protect what comes with it. But that shouldn't be your reason to run away."
"Of course I know that! I was completely terrified at the time! And... and what choice do I even have?"
The out-of-shape Peter let out a highly helpless sigh. The typical 'Peter Parker luck' was already enough to give him a massive headache, and was he truly prepared to become a father? Probably not. Being Spider-Man demanded entirely too much of his time, and becoming a father meant the child would constantly be exposed to severe peril.
Yet that was precisely what Scarlet Spider wanted to address. "Perhaps I have a way to resolve this dilemma. A way that will allow you to watch your child grow, to be by their side every step of the way, without demanding any additional sacrifice from you."
Hearing this, the out-of-shape Peter snapped his gaze toward Ben Reilly, his eyes practically blazing with intensity. "What way?! You seriously have a solution?"
"Simply put, the root of your fear stems from your inability to be in two places at once. You're worried that you won't be able to accompany your child as they grow up."
Scarlet Spider spoke for a good while before finally presenting his resolution: "So, I came up with a very straightforward way to counter this predicament. And that is for you to choose retirement. Become MJ's husband and properly build a life with her again. I will be the one responsible for the superhero aspect of Spider-Man, keeping up the fight."
After listening to this proposal, the out-of-shape Peter froze, completely unable to believe his own ears. But after repeatedly confirming the terms of the arrangement, he pondered over it for a long while before finally arriving at a conclusion.
It seemed... it felt like... this actually was a viable solution.
However, doing so would shift the entirety of the burden onto Ben Reilly's shoulders. The out-of-shape Peter wasn't entirely certain if such an arrangement was appropriate; his brows furrowed, and he refrained from giving his immediate consent.
"Though, that was the original plan. It might not hold up now, considering..."
Ben Reilly let out a self-deprecating chuckle as he trailed off. After all, Peter had just delivered a piece of highly discouraging news to him. Just as the out-of-shape Peter was about to offer a few words of comfort, his phone suddenly rang. He glanced down at the screen. "Sorry, it's MJ..."
As it turned out, Ben Reilly was in far more of a hurry than Peter himself.
"Answer her, hurry up. Do what you need to do."
Ben Reilly smiled and shook his head, waiting patiently for the out-of-shape Peter to finish his conversation with Mary Jane. The out-of-shape Peter accepted the call, and that familiar voice resonated through the speaker.
Mary Jane!
"Are you alright, Peter? I saw you on the news fighting all those people. Did you get hurt?!"
"I'm fine, Mary Jane..."
While this exchange was taking place, Peter himself, standing just outside the house, was busy analyzing something entirely different.
"What exactly are you tinkering with?"
Gwen leaned in curiously to ask. She observed Peter assembling a device that appeared to be constructed from a pile of scrap metal—an instrument she didn't recognize at all. Peter continued fitting the components together as he replied, "This is an energy detection array. No matter how many cloning experiments Miles Warren intends to conduct, he has to contend with one massive variable: electricity bills. It's a factor he simply cannot bypass."
"And once I hook this apparatus directly into New York's power grid, it won't take long at all for me to pinpoint the exact coordinates of Warren's laboratory."
Having finished his explanation, Peter stood up and looked over at Gwen. "So, we're currently left with just one final question, and then nearly all the problems plaguing this universe will be resolved."
"What question?"
"Why exactly does Miles Warren harbor such a deep, burning hatred for Spider-Man?"
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