Spider-Man was dead, and now Spider-Man was alive again.
It sounded absurd.
After all, not every Peter had a best friend like Deadpool who would go all the way into the underworld to drag his soul back.
A guy who could even beg Hela, the Goddess of Death, to let an undead Spider-Man live again.
And from the way Miles described it, the revived Ultimate Peter was barely any different from a zombie.
Could it be some kind of new virus controlling a corpse?
Who knew?
This was Marvel, after all. There were Celestials, aliens, and all kinds of impossible things. A virus that could turn a corpse into a walking dead man would not even rank that high on the weirdness scale.
After Miles finished his frantic explanation, everyone present had more or less confirmed that the so-called zombie Peter was most likely this universe's Ultimate Spider-Man.
As for why he had turned into a walking corpse, nobody knew.
Maybe he had been exposed to some kind of radiation.
Maybe he had contracted some kind of virus.
Maybe he had been hit with some bizarre magic.
Maybe someone had dug him up, shoved a chip into him, and turned him into a puppet.
Whatever the reason, that was for Miles to worry about.
This was his universe, and if everything went as expected, he would become its second Spider-Man.
"Listen, Miles. This is your universe. You're going to become the second Spider-Man here eventually. You have to take responsibility for that, understand?"
Middle-aged Peter still had that older-brother tone as he spoke gently to Miles.
"What do you mean?"
"It means you need to grow up. We're going to put you through special training, but we only have two hours. After that, we're destroying the collider. As for the mess left behind in this world, that'll be on you, you unreliable little punk."
Peter curled his lip slightly. He had liked Miles as a character well enough back in his previous life, but looking at him as a real person, he was not nearly as likable.
The reason was simple.
A guy who kept trying to steal someone else's girl was hard to like.
"I already told you, I can destroy that collider myself! You don't have to do this!"
Miles protested anxiously.
"But you have something even more important to do. First, you need to become a qualified fighter. Second, you need to figure out what kind of Spider-Man you want to be."
Spider-Noir sighed as he said it.
"All right, then let me start his training first."
Peter had already put the Black Suit back into the system space, but with two-fifths of Tobey Spider-Man's peak combat ability, he was still more than enough.
That was the upside of Tobey's version being the powerhouse type.
Even at two-fifths, Peter still had around forty tons of strength.
And when it came to training this kid, he had no intention of holding back.
"Hey, wait, I'm not ready yet!"
"Aaaagh!"
Miles's miserable screams echoed through the whole building. Peter beat him so badly it was hard to watch, though the training clearly worked. At first, Miles could only take hits. By the end, he could at least fight back a little.
Maybe it was because Black kids usually had a naturally solid physical base.
Then the other Spider-People each took turns training Miles in their own ways.
In just two hours, the teenager had managed to get a basic grasp on his spider powers and start using them properly.
Looks like a hard beating really could solve a lot.
"Miles, Aunt May asked me to give this to you. That cosplay suit of yours is hideous. The material on this one is top-tier."
Middle-aged Peter, who really seemed to be treating Miles like his apprentice now, handed over a properly fitted Spider-Man suit, then vaulted out the window.
"So which one of you is planning to stay behind?"
When Miles asked that, he looked straight at Peter.
He still had not given up.
If one of them absolutely had to die, then he hoped it would be Peter.
But that was obviously never going to happen.
A selfish, cold-blooded guy like Peter would never sacrifice himself just to save someone else.
That would make him the biggest sucker alive.
"Not every question gets an answer. Sometimes, if you close your eyes, maybe the wind will give you one."
Spider-Noir settled his fedora on his head, crouched on the windowsill, and jumped out, vanishing on a webline.
"Hope you remember this cartoon pig, kid. I'll remember you."
Peter Porker left behind a line of his own before leaping away too.
Spider-Gwen and Peni said nothing. They simply left.
Soon only Miles and Peter remained in the room, and there was a teasing smile in Peter's calm gaze.
"I'm warning you. Do not get any ideas about Gwen. Otherwise I don't mind beating you up again before I leave."
"Don't look at me like that. I know you don't like me. Yeah, well, I don't like you either."
"You're probably wondering why I can't be the one who nobly sacrifices himself, right? That just means you still don't understand me. From beginning to end, I've always been selfish. Throwing your life away like that is stupid."
"And didn't you notice? I'm not suffering any quantum distortion. Because I'm the special one."
Peter raised his middle finger at Miles, then jumped out the window as well.
Miles was left standing there in the wind, a total mess. He had gotten beaten up a few times for no reason, then threatened on top of it all.
It was unbearable.
But what could he do?
He couldn't beat Peter, and he couldn't win an argument against him either.
...
In an abandoned warehouse, every Spider-Person except Miles had gathered.
Now they were officially voting on who would stay behind.
Peter and Spider-Gwen had voting rights, but they were not eligible to be chosen.
Because the two of them came from the same universe.
If one of them died and the other went back, then the only two people among all the Spider-People who still had a chance at a good ending would be forced into another tragic separation.
Wouldn't that just make them no different from all the other doomed Spider-People?
After the votes were counted, Spider-Noir was chosen to remain in this world, stop the collider from starting up again, and destroy it completely.
In his world, he no longer had family, friends, or a lover.
In other words, there was not much left for him to lose.
At least that was how he saw it.
"According to Kingpin's plan, he'll activate the collider tonight. That'll be our best chance to leave."
"So basically, we still have the whole day to prepare, right?"
Spider-Gwen tried to sound encouraging.
"Exactly. We can use that time to get ready. Kingpin is tough, but if we work together, we can handle this."
"You're right. In my universe, I could go toe-to-toe with Kingpin alone. And now we've got six Spider-People."
Peter Porker clenched a fist, sounding full of confidence.
"Actually, there may be a better way. Maybe nobody has to stay behind and sacrifice themselves."
Peter let out a sigh.
"You're still pinning your hopes on that kid? He's just a kid. He only just got his powers. He still needs time to grow."
Middle-aged Peter sounded helpless.
"Speaking of young, Peni's the youngest one here, isn't she?"
Peter gave a dismissive snort.
"You really are holding a grudge."
"Whatever. I'm too lazy to explain it to you. There's something I need to take care of, and maybe, just maybe, none of us will have to die for this. I just remembered that there's someone in this world who might actually be able to help us."
A slight smile tugged at Peter's lips.
He had suddenly remembered Norman.
How had he forgotten about him?
Norman was a native of this universe. That made him the perfect one to destroy the collider.
"Peter, what are you planning to do?"
Spider-Gwen looked over, puzzled.
Everyone frowned, because Peter always looked so casual and unreliable that they could not help worrying when he said things like that.
Peter answered calmly, "After I split up with you guys, I nearly ended up sleeping on the street. Someone took me in. I think I should go say goodbye before I leave. And while I'm at it, I'll go see the members of my team."
Spider-Gwen's expression turned complicated, though curiosity won out in the end.
"Then I'm going with you. I want to meet her too."
Middle-aged Peter looked surprised.
"You actually built a team here?"
"What, like a band or something? I want to see your teammates too!"
Peni raised her hand enthusiastically.
"What nonsense are you even talking about? Anyway, none of you will guess who my teammates are. I only just remembered one of them myself. And with his help, maybe none of us will have to stay behind. All right, Gwen and I are leaving first. The rest of you should take care of your bodies. I don't want to hear anyone whining tonight about a pulled back or a cramped leg."
Peter waved them off with a grin, deliberately keeping the details to himself.
"You're sure you can make it back here by seven tonight?"
Spider-Noir asked seriously.
"Relax, Spider-Noir. We'll be back on time. And stop thinking about sacrificing yourself all the time. Didn't you say you and I were the same kind of person?"
Peter patted him on the shoulder, then left with Spider-Gwen.
"I understand him less and less..."
Spider-Noir shook his head, then pulled out a colorful Rubik's Cube from inside his coat and started twisting it this way and that.
"Is this one red?"
"No."
"Green?"
"Also no."
"This one's black and white, right? Just like me."
"It's actually several colors."
Right, Spider-Noir saw everything in black and white.
So telling colors apart was completely impossible for him.
(End of Chapter)
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