"So did you kill her?"
America asked the question almost immediately. From her perspective, sending someone to a place where they could never bother anyone again sounded suspiciously similar to killing them.
"No."
She wasn't convinced.
"Do you think it's easy for me to kill someone who shares the face of a person I love?"
That was a fair point. "So what did you do then?"
Luke glanced toward the sky. "I erased her memories. The ones driving her obsession. Then I sent her to a peaceful world where she can live the life she wanted."
"You can do that?"
He looked at her as if she'd asked whether water was wet. "Yes."
America decided she no longer wanted to know where his limits were. Every time she thought she'd figured them out, he did something even more ridiculous.
"How did you even find a specific universe like that? The multiverse is huge."
"It's easy for me."
That explained absolutely nothing. Tony looked equally unimpressed. Luke had no intention of elaborating.
America gave up, then thought of something else.
"Can you teach me something too? My powers." She pointed at herself.
"I still can't properly control them. They activate when I'm scared, or when something's trying to kill me."
"You have the answer in your own question. They're your powers. How would I know them better than you?"
America opened her mouth, then closed it. Annoyingly reasonable.
Then Luke considered something. "If you really want a teacher, I can introduce you to a mage."
"A mage?"
"She'll find your abilities very interesting."
"Is she good?"
Luke went quiet. The Ancient One's teaching methods were effective. Dangerous. Questionable. Occasionally traumatizing. But effective.
"Yes." America relaxed. "Although her methods can be a little dangerous."
"Can I get another teacher?"
"Life isn't always full of luck. Sometimes you have to struggle."
"That's easy for you to say when you aren't the one constantly getting into trouble."
"Sorry to burst your bubble, but I wasn't always this powerful." Luke's tone stayed calm.
"In my past there was a period where I was practically a beggar. For an entire week I barely had food to eat."
Tony nearly stopped walking. "You're joking. Why didn't I know this?"
"Do you think I go around sharing my worst memories with people? That was one of the darkest periods of my life."
Tony couldn't argue with that.
Luke looked back toward America. "So do you want the teacher or not? Your alternative is wandering the multiverse alone. And next time a villain comes after your powers, you might not run into someone willing to help."
America knew he was right. After a moment she nodded. "Okay."
Luke opened a portal. The three stepped through.
America expected a mystical location.
Instead they found themselves inside an endless dimensional passage — a tunnel stretching infinitely in every direction, streams of energy flowing through it like rivers while fragments of realities flashed past the walls.
Entire universes appeared within crystalline cracks before vanishing moments later.
Even Tony looked impressed. "Luke, is this another one of your attempts to show us how huge the multiverse is and keep our egos in check?"
"No." Luke's expression sharpened. "Your lesson is finished. We have another problem."
Far beyond the tunnel, an enormous cosmic structure stretched across realities — an infinite web of glowing strands connecting universes, carrying possibilities, timelines, destinies.
Some strands burned bright and stable. Others pulsed with fluctuations that shouldn't have been there.
Luke's eyes narrowed.
The Web of Life and Destiny.
A cosmic construct connected to every Spider-Totem throughout the multiverse. Across Marvel reality, Spider-Man wasn't simply a superhero — every version was tied to the Web through a role that connected their existence across infinite realities.
Different faces, different worlds, different histories. Yet many of the same tragedies repeated. An Uncle Ben. A Captain Stacy. A mentor. A friend. Someone important.
Certain moments became fixed points anchoring reality together — Canon Events, structural supports holding portions of the Web stable.
If too many were disrupted, the strain spread through every connected thread, and entire sections of reality could become unstable.
Luke could see fractures spreading across several portions of the Web.
The disturbances weren't natural. Something had interfered — something powerful enough to send ripples across countless realities.
He already knew the source. Somewhere in the multiverse, a sorcerer had cast a spell involving Peter Parker and the memories of the world.
That spell had collided with forces older and more fundamental than Doctor Strange had intended. Now the damage was spreading through the Web itself, and if left unchecked, the consequences wouldn't stop at one Spider-Man.
"Teenagers are really troublesome," Luke said, shaking his head.
He waved his hand. The tunnel disappeared. The Web vanished from sight, and all three reappeared inside Tony's house.
America looked around, then pointed at herself. "Is that for me?"
"No. It's for a certain teenager with spider powers."
America made a face. "Spider powers? Ewww. Does he shoot webs out of his back like a real spider?"
Tony turned and looked at her. Luke did too.
"What?"
Luke raised his hand. America realized too late she'd asked the wrong question.
He gave her a karate chop on the head.
"Ow!"
"Out of all the questions you could ask about Spider-Man, that was the one you chose?"
*****
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