In a universe widely known for its "Amazing Spider-Man," Peter Parker stood as the world's singular Spider-Man. Having just graduated from high school at eighteen, he had already saved the city years prior by stopping the Lizard's plot to spread a virus via lizard serum. Today, with the help of his girlfriend Gwen, he had once again saved New York, having just defeated Electro and prevented the total destruction of the city.
However, just as they thought it was all over, Peter's childhood friend, Harry Osborn—ravaged by a hereditary disease—injected himself with the Green Goblin serum. Becoming the New Goblin, he vowed revenge on the Spider-Man who had robbed him of hope. The battle culminated in a final showdown within a crumbling clock tower.
Gwen, unable to evacuate in time, was caught in the crossfire. Eventually, the platform at the top of the tower collapsed. The Amazing Spider-Man struggled to save her amidst the New Goblin's interference, but the obstacles were overwhelming. Finally, he fired a line of webbing toward Gwen as she plummeted, praying it would reach her in time.
But he failed—because a sudden presence knocked him aside. As Gwen fell, watching a massive gear fly past, she saw her lover vanish as well. She seemed to understand her fate.
Yet in the next second, a Spider-Man leaped down from the air and caught her in a mid-air embrace. He fired webbing toward the ground, creating a trampoline-like buffer zone. After setting Gwen down safely, he immediately sprang back into the air. Gwen climbed out of the heap of webbing, stunned, watching the disappearing figure of Spider-Man.
The suit... it looked different?
The suit was indeed different, because the Spider-Man who had saved this universe's Gwen was our protagonist, Peter. He leaped upward rapidly, delivering a powerful kick to Morlun, who had already seized the Amazing-Bug by the throat. Morlun was sent flying, and Peter helped the Amazing-Bug up—the latter had been drained of a small portion of his life force but was otherwise unharmed.
"No time for small talk. I saved your girlfriend. Other Spider-Men will be along shortly to explain everything. Right now, focus on capturing the New Goblin. I have other universes to reach and other Spider-Men to save. See ya."
The Amazing Spider-Man coughed uncontrollably as he was helped up. Before he could even process what had happened, the other Spider-Man vanished with a wave of his hand. Moments later, a portal opened, and a female Spider-hero in a white suit stepped through the polygonal gateway.
"Uh, from Earth-120703... wait a second. You're Peter Parker, right?"
Hearing that voice, the Amazing-Bug looked at the Spider-Woman in total shock: "Gwen?"
"Great, another Peter Parker. I hate the orientation part of this job," Gwen muttered, tossing him a wristwatch. "Round up your bad guy, say your goodbyes to your girlfriend, and get ready to head to HQ. Your girlfriend is Gwen Stacy, right?"
By exploiting the Master Weaver they had captured, the Inheritors were able to utilize the Web of Destiny to travel incessantly across the multiverse. Peter, too, could move back and forth using the Web. Not only that, he could sense vibrations within the Web of Destiny; as long as the universe Morlun occupied was close enough to his own, he could arrive there directly.
Even so, Peter could not guarantee that he would save the local Spider-Man in every universe. He was chasing his quarry, and while the distance between him and Morlun was shrinking, Morlun usually managed to get at least a "sip" of a local Spider-Man's essence before Peter interrupted him, preventing the kill.
Morlun was well aware of the spatial lacerations Peter could inflict on his body, so he avoided Peter as much as possible. However, Peter felt that the villain was more likely treating this as a twisted, entertaining hunt.
Because the bodies of the Inheritor family were mass-produced clones, even if they died in battle, they would not truly perish as long as the cloning facilities remained intact. Furthermore, their consciousness and entire memory banks were not stored within their physical forms but rather within a crystal. This meant that even magic could not prevent their regeneration.
Peter was somewhat confused as to whether this meant they were creating a clone with identical memories and abilities, or if it proved they were merely remotely controlling their clone bodies. Regardless, none of that mattered now.
In a future version of New York, after Peter once again prevented Morlun from attacking a counterpart of Miguel, the two continued their fierce brawl. By this time, Morlun's injuries had mostly healed. They chased each other across the cityscape until Morlun leaped into the air, opening a spatial gate to another part of the multiverse.
Peter followed immediately. One moment they were in the New York of 2099; the next, they appeared in the sky above a distant past. There were no cities to be seen, only ancient, primitive villages.
In mid-air, Morlun drew a sword from the void and slashed at Peter. Peter dodged using his Spider-Sense, then snagged the ground below with a web-line. With a violent pull, he used Morlun as a footstool to slam back down to the earth.
Morlun hit the ground hard, but simultaneously, the surrounding world shattered like a mirror. The two appeared in a New York City that seemed to have been overtaken by a world of flora. Just as Peter found his footing, the surrounding plants suddenly moved. Not only were these moving plants massive, but they possessed vaguely human silhouettes.
This universe was filled with plant-people—or rather, Man-Things. They were terrifying monsters covered in vines. On these rising Man-Things, Peter saw the tattered remains of costumes belonging to many superheroes, including Spider-Man.
It appeared that this universe was either a Man-Thing universe by nature, or it had been infected by some kind of Man-Thing plague. The latter seemed more likely.
"Looks like you're going on a vegetarian diet here, Morlun."
"Who would want to stay in this hellhole?" Morlun said as he stood up, immediately intending to flee. This time, Peter did not let him escape unchallenged. Peter rushed toward him and opened a portal first, preemptively choosing the next universe to prevent Morlun from harming a new Spider-Man.
As a result, both opening portals simultaneously triggered an anomaly. A second later, they arrived in a brand-new universe. Of course, as always, they were in New York.
Peter smelled a thick scent of blood; the surroundings were devoid of life. There was no doubt that this place was not a friendly one. Morlun, however, broke into a grin as he pulled himself up.
He had mostly recovered. Furthermore, he sensed the Spider-Totem of this universe. It was nearby.