Peter clenched his fist, feeling the immense power contained within.
If his initial level of power awakening was "Extremely Low," his current level was at least Medium! Perhaps even higher!
He didn't know his current physical strength, but it was definitely several times greater than before! And...
Peter's eyes pierced through the swirling, dazzling particle streams, focusing on the individual, different worlds flashing there. He felt a strange certainty, as though a single thought was all it would take to traverse them! The cost would be a "small" amount of the special energy now surging through his body...
After a moment's hesitation, Peter chose not to act. He reached out, mentally indexing these variables representing different worlds within his own genetic code. With these variables, he could activate the mysterious power in his genes to quantize himself and cross over!
"Is this the ability of the super-gene latent in my body?" Peter murmured to himself. He involuntarily recalled Gwen's earlier question. "You've been to other worlds? Are you some kind of Spider-Man with the power to travel the Multiverse? A Temporal Spider-Man?"
Gwen's words had become a prophecy! Judging by the power now flowing through his genes, he genuinely possessed the ability to travel to other universes. He also realized one crucial thing: his original dimensional jump was purely an accident. None of the world variables he was currently seeing in the particle stream belonged to his original world! Clearly, his specific gene signature was the reason he ended up here!
"Then, from now on, I am The Temporal Spider-Man!" Peter clenched his fist.
The surrounding particle streams were still surging and colliding. Some annihilated, while others entered an entanglement state with quantum entities from other universes...
With a single thought, Peter propelled himself out of the stream. It wasn't that he didn't want to absorb more energy—he could sense his body communicating that it wasn't full yet! But considering that the other Spider-People (besides Gwen) needed the collider to return to their respective worlds, Peter felt he couldn't selfishly absorb all the remaining energy.
"Hey! Peter! You're okay!" A voice called from above. Spider-Man Noir and Peni dropped down from the ceiling. They each grabbed one of Peter's hands and jointly pulled him onto a nearby platform.
Peni looked at Peter and asked: "Where is Gwen?" Peter replied: "Gwen already used the stream to return to her world. You two should go now too."
"That's good..." Noir and Peni both sighed in relief. Although they had only known each other for a few days, they felt like a family. Aunt May was the eldest matriarch of this family. The mature Spider-Man Noir and Middle-Aged Peter were the mainstays. And Spider-Ham, Gwen, Peter (Earth-616), Miles, and Peni were the rising stars. Naturally, they had all been worried about Peter and Gwen's safety.
Noir asked, puzzled: "Why did you fall in but not return to your own world?" Peni was also confused. Could they not use this to go back? Why did Gwen go back then?
Peter explained: "I unlocked my true powers, and I promised Miles, I would help him deal with Kingpin. I'll go back after that."
"Alright, let's go then," Noir said, his voice tinged with approval. He saw Peter's newfound sense of responsibility and witnessed his growth. Peter shook his head, extending a hand to stop them.
"You two need to leave now," Peter stated. Noir protested: "Are you kidding? I promised Miles too!"
Peter shook his head again: "I can sense it. The energy in the collider is almost depleted. It can only sustain itself for about one minute. You must leave immediately!"
"So, you don't need the collider to return home?" Noir looked at Peter with keen interest. Peter nodded: "That is the nature of my true power."
However, Noir and Peni clearly weren't convinced. Peter extended his hand and pressed it toward Noir. Noir raised his hand in a blocking stance: "You little squirt, I taught you those moves. They won't work on me..." Before he could finish, Peter's figure shimmered and vanished.
Then, a figure appeared directly behind Noir. Since there was no malice, Noir's Spider-Sense didn't activate. Peter's hand naturally rested on Noir's back.
Noir finally turned around: "How did you do that?" Peter explained: "My power is Space-Time! What I can do now is instantly quantize my entire being and then re-materialize myself in another location. I call it: Quantum Shift!"
"Cool!" Noir gave him a thumbs-up. He then pulled Peter's hand toward him, wrapping Peter in a tight hug: "In that case, I leave this to you. Help Miles."
"I will, I promise!" Peter hugged Noir back fiercely. Neither of them mentioned the earlier tension. Peter then pushed him gently away.
Noir walked to the edge of the platform: "Then I'm off. Say goodbye to Miles and Aunt May for me." "Goodbye!" Peter waved.
Noir stepped forward, falling into the particle stream. Peter watched his body rapidly quantize, get drawn toward a specific variable, and follow the channel created by that variable... Clearly, Spider-Man Noir had returned to his world.
PLOP— The cockpit cover of the SP//dr mech opened, and Peni jumped out, immediately leaping into Peter's arms for a big hug. "Peter, I know you'll become a very reliable man!" Peni encouraged him.
Peter smiled: "Thanks. Now go quickly." "Goodbye!" Peni lightly nudged Peter with her SP//dr mech, a farewell from her robotic partner. Then, she too dropped into the particle stream, returning to the year 3145 (Earth-TRN701).
"Well, that leaves Spider-Ham and Peter (Middle-Aged) up there," Peter collected his thoughts, shot a web, and swung past the dense metal platforms and steel structures toward the area where Middle-Aged Peter and the others were fighting.
... Meanwhile, the fight on the other side was already nearing its end.
Although The Prowler was briefly driven into a rage by Madam Octopus's taunts, disrupting their formation, he was not truly stupid. After a brief time, The Prowler recovered his composure. Middle-Aged Peter fought Madam Octopus while The Prowler engaged Tombstone, leading to a brief stalemate.
Then came Spider-Ham.