Earth-90214, also known as the Marvel Noir Universe, is the home dimension of Spider-Man Noir.
If Peter recalled correctly, the most defining characteristic of this universe—aside from the setting spanning the Great Depression to World War II and its oppressive, gloomy art style—was the total absence of superpowered individuals other than Spider-Man. Every villain was a mob enforcer; the Brotherhood led by Magneto was merely a gang of immigrant racketeers, and the X-Academy taught anti-social prowess rather than mutant abilities.
Even Spider-Man Noir's own powers were at the lowest tier among the Spider-Totems. Although he could produce organic webbing, the yield was extremely low, insufficient for swinging through the city. The speed and strength he gained were very limited, and his durability was essentially no different from that of an ordinary human. His most distinct feature and primary source of damage was a revolver.
If one were to say that other Spider-Men could punch a person into an unrecognizable blur at full strength, Spider-Man Noir could, at most, punch someone a fair distance away. That was roughly the scale of the difference.
Thus, Peter had initially been quite curious as to why the Web of Destiny had dropped him into such a "low-power" world. As it turned out, the moment he arrived, he saw Morlun pummeling Spider-Man Noir.
"Alright, that guy is gone for now. Are you okay?"
Peter reached out a hand, intending to pull Spider-Man Noir up. The latter, however, executed a tactical roll and raised his gun to interrogate him. Peter, aided by his Spider-Sense, promptly plastered the man's hand and gun with a glob of webbing, leaving Spider-Man Noir utterly bewildered.
Where did you get that much webbing?
"I'm not entirely sure if someone from 1933 can grasp the concept of the multiverse, but I am not your enemy."
As Peter spoke, he pulled off his mask, revealing a face identical to a younger version of Spider-Man Noir. "I'm Peter Parker from Earth-616. Er... from the year 2013."
Spider-Man Noir once thought he would never be surprised again. He was dead wrong.
Roughly half an hour later, Spider-Man Noir—or rather, the older Peter Parker—led Peter to his safehouse. Along the way, he gained a rudimentary understanding of the multiverse; while the scientific principles escaped him, he understood the general gist. He also learned the identity of the individual who had suddenly appeared today trying to "eat" him: the man called Morlun.
"They call themselves the Inheritors. I'm not sure what they inherited—perhaps the original Universe 001 where the gods once resided. To put it simply, our power comes from the Spider-Totem, while their power comes from the Leech-Totem. Of course, they claim to be the Vampire-Totem. A key trait of the Leech-Totem is the ability to absorb the life energy of other totems."
It was because of this trait that, regardless of strength, most Spider-Totems faced a death sentence upon encountering an Inheritor. The Inheritors' raw stats weren't necessarily god-like, but to a Spider-Totem, they possessed a total racial advantage.
Naturally, the Inheritors had their weaknesses. If the absorbed Spider-Totem carried some form of contamination, it would damage their vitality. Additionally, Symbiotes could serve as a shield to block a Spider-Totem's life force.
Consequently, Venom—whom Peter had brought along as a precaution against the Spider-Army and who had not yet fully recovered—became his armor. Morlun had been unable to do anything to him.
Furthermore, while Inheritors held a racial advantage over Spider-Totems, "Spatial Ripping" was a mechanical effect. It had still sheared off half of Morlun's face, though Morlun apparently had skin so thick that he remained perfectly active despite losing his face.
Spider-Man Noir looked quite conflicted. He felt that everything this Peter Parker from another world was saying far exceeded his wildest expectations. No matter what the man spoke of, it sounded like gibberish from a divine tome. It wasn't that he couldn't understand the words, but rather that it felt entirely disconnected from his reality. I'm a Spider-Man whose maximum output is a handgun; how in the world am I supposed to pick a fight with Morlun? You should find someone more qualified for this.
"In short, I'll handle Morlun. But clearly, that isn't the only reason the Web of Destiny sent me here."
As Peter spoke, he produced a spider idol. It was crafted in a style very reminiscent of an African totem. The moment Spider-Man Noir saw it, he grew alert. "Your world has this too?"
"In a manner of speaking, but mine is empty. I didn't gain my powers through the spiders inside it, either."
In truth, Peter had a rough idea of what he could investigate by coming to Spider-Man Noir's world. Since both universes shared this totem, and Spider-Man Noir's timeline was exactly 1933 on the eve of World War II, everything aligned. Moreover, this totem was actually the symbol of Anansi—in other words, it was related to the Spider-Army.
Perhaps this was the true objective of the Web of Destiny: to let him discover exactly who that woman from the WWII era was. And besides that, he had to protect Spider-Man Noir.
After listening to Peter, Spider-Man Noir sighed with weary resignation. "Have it your way, then. Just don't interfere with my work."
"Speaking of which, I'm actually curious about something." Peter looked at Spider-Man Noir and asked the question he wanted to know: "Where is that totem statue?"
Spider-Man Noir answered him promptly. "With Norman Osborn. But it's useless now."
A few months ago, Osborn had smuggled a shipment of goods from Europe, which included an unknown statue. One of Osborn's henchmen, Karhun, touched the statue, and the spiders that swarmed out bit him so severely that not even his bones remained. Later, Peter Parker—who had nearly been killed by the "Goblin Gang" while trying to protect Aunt May during a street speech to unite workers—was thrown into the swarm of spiders as an execution.
Instead of dying, he experienced a vision of the Spider-God Anansi and gained his spider abilities.
"I couldn't destroy the totem itself, but I could deal with the spiders. I've already killed every spider inside it. You don't need to worry about it."
"That may not be the case. From what I know, as long as you house Tarantula wolf spiders from Italy within the hollow of the totem, those spiders can also transmit spider abilities."
"Osborn doesn't know that."
"But what about the person who sold the totem to Osborn?"
Spider-Man Noir narrowed his eyes, falling into thought.
Just then, Peter felt a sudden wave of dizziness. His Spider-Sense began blaring manically, and he nearly collapsed to the floor.
"What's wrong with you?"
"It's Morlun... he's planning a frantic hunt of Spider-Totems across the multiverse to heal his injuries."
Gritting his teeth, Peter sent a message using the multiversal travel watch Miguel had given him. He then took the watch off and handed it to Spider-Man Noir. "I have to go save them. If Morlun comes, press the button on the right side of the watch."
"Then I'll go investigate the totem. You go save the Peter Parkers, Chief."
Hearing this, Peter paused.
"Actually... Spider-Totems aren't just Peter Parkers."
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