"Peter?!"
"Aunt May, I know this sounds crazy, but I'm from another—"
The middle-aged Spider-Man stood in front of Aunt May, speaking with a trace of sadness, but before he could finish, someone else cut in.
"Another universe, right? Looks like things didn't go too well for you. What exactly did you do when you snuck into Oscorp this morning? And what did you do after that?"
At some point, Peter had already leaned against the doorway. He was holding a slice of pineapple pie, taking bites out of it while asking his questions.
"Hey, it's you, kid! You were tracking us?!"
"Just a little spider gadget. You don't have one?"
Peter pulled the ruined tracker out of his pocket and smiled at the middle-aged Peter.
"Peter..."
Spider-Gwen stared at Peter, momentarily stunned.
Because this Peter, who looked about her age, was almost exactly the same as the Peter from her universe in terms of appearance, temperament, and personality.
But anyone who had come to this universe had to be Spider-Man, which meant he could not be her Peter.
"Hi, Gwen. Long time no see~"
"Long time no see?"
Spider-Gwen looked confused, but she still ignored him and turned to Aunt May instead.
"Aunt May, I'm from another universe too. Peter and I are classmates. We're... very close."
"I'm sorry. I was there when Peter died. I'm really sorry I couldn't save him."
Miles spoke with a face full of guilt. No matter what, Peter had died saving him, and that guilt had kept him lost ever since.
"And which universe's Spider-Man are you?"
"Uh... Brooklyn..." Aunt May's question left the young Black boy at a total loss. He pulled a damaged device out of his pocket and continued, "I'm from this universe. Also, Peter, do you have somewhere we can rebuild this?"
"That little thing? Twenty minutes and it's done."
Peter finished off the last bite of his pineapple pie and added, "I told you there are a lot of our kind here. Want to see for yourself, middle-aged Peter?"
"I don't like that title."
Still, the whole group went inside.
The moment they stepped in, the strange resonance between all their Spider-Senses immediately triggered, and several shadows rushed out.
The first to emerge was a pig not wearing his mask but still dressed in a Spider-Man suit.
It was Peter Porker.
"Oh, my God! I can't believe we've got three more companions!" He stretched out one sticky, sauce-covered hoof and continued, "Oh, sorry, my hoof is covered in lasagna sauce. Aunt May's cooking is just too good. Let me lick it clean first, then we can shake hands!"
Then he happily licked the sauce clean.
"No thanks. That's disgusting."
"Get lost, pig. Alright, everyone, let's introduce ourselves."
Peter grabbed the disgusting pig and tossed him straight into the bathroom without hesitation. The guy had absolutely no sense of hygiene.
Then again, he was a pig. Even if he had not started that way, being filthy now kind of made sense.
"Then I'll start. Hi, everyone, I'm Peter Parker, a cheerful, sunny, lively middle-aged man."
The older Peter proudly stuck out his belly a little as he said it.
Beside him, the Black teenager introduced himself a bit shyly.
"H-hi, everyone. I'm Miles Morales. You can just call me Miles."
"Gwen. Gwen Stacy. In my universe, I got bitten by a radioactive spider while interning at Oscorp, and I became Spider-Woman. Though I prefer to call myself Ghost-Spider. In my universe, it's 2023, I'm still a high school student, I have my own band, and I like dancing..."
Gwen continued with her introduction.
"Like all of you, I was bitten by a spider too. I'm from 1933, a dark era in the middle of the Great Depression. I'm a famous private detective. I fight Nazis while also doing my day job. Oh, and my favorite drink is egg cream~"
"I'm from New York in the year 3145. There's a spider living inside the robot my dad built, and I have a psychic connection with it. Its name is SP//dr. Want to pet it?"
Peni held out a tiny red-and-blue jumping spider sitting on her palm. It had huge eyes and looked adorable.
"I'm a photographer for the Howler Daily. When I'm working, I'm like a paparazzo digging up the hottest stories, and I fight crime too. And what I love most is Aunt May's pie... I really love it."
Then the other three all turned to look at Peter, who awkwardly pointed at himself and sighed.
"Fine. I'll tell the truth."
"Peter Parker, same as all of you know. I'm also from 2023, and I'm a student at Midtown High. I was never bitten by a spider, but somehow I still got spider powers. In my world, there was already one Spider-Man, and I became the second. I like calling myself Wraith Spider, and that Spider-Girl likes to call me... Mister Spider."
"In my universe, I changed Uncle Ben's fate and kept him from dying. I use brutal, ruthless methods and some homemade gadgets to fight crime, and criminals are terrified of me. People in New York call me the Spider Executioner~"
The room went quiet.
Spider-Noir slapped Peter on the shoulder in irritation.
"So everything you told us before was a lie?"
"When you're out in the world, your identity is whatever you say it is. I can't guarantee every Spider-Man is a good person. I'm not one myself."
"Benjamin?!"
Spider-Gwen asked uncertainly.
"Wanda~"
Peter answered with an infuriating grin, indirectly confirming it.
"Oh! That hurts! Gwen, are you... mad?!"
Peter clutched at his foot. Spider-Gwen had just stomped on it with all her weight.
"Hey, you lying jerk. You've been laughing at me this whole time, haven't you?! You even used a fake name to fool me! Was that fun?!"
Spider-Gwen sounded deeply wronged as she started pinching him over and over.
"We weren't the same, though. And Benjamin isn't even wrong. My full name really is Peter Benjamin Parker..."
"I should've realized it sooner. Same birthday, same arrogant streak..."
"How did you know I was Spider-Woman?"
Spider-Gwen asked curiously, though it did nothing to lessen the resentment bubbling inside her. She had already decided she was going to make him pay for this.
"Those green dance shoes? I bought them for you. You even drew a cartoon version of me on them. If I still couldn't recognize you after that, that would've been ridiculous."
Peter spread his hands, sounding completely helpless.
That was only one of the reasons, of course. He obviously could not tell her that he knew from reading comics in a past life.
Spider-Gwen glanced down at the blue-green dance shoes on her feet, and her face immediately flushed. Then she remembered that time during the fight when Peter had accidentally copped a feel, and she turned even redder.
"You bastard, Peter..."
"Hey, that sounds like you're insulting me."
The middle-aged Peter and Spider-Noir both spoke at the same time, and even Peter Porker tried to jump in.
But really, what business did a pig have joining this conversation?
"So I get it now. You two are from the same universe, right?"
Spider-Noir finally pieced it together, then gave Peter a deadpan look and said, "Didn't you say the Gwen in your world was dead?"
Peter: ...
Brother, there was really no need to go for the kill like that.
The moment those words landed, the whole room froze.
At the same time, everyone's Spider-Sense triggered. Every single person could feel the resentment rolling off Spider-Gwen like something solid.
She slowly cracked her fingers, a terrifying smile spreading across her face as she walked toward Peter and said through gritted teeth,
"Peter, care to explain exactly how I died?"
(End of Chapter)
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