chapter sixty-nine
go get 'em, tiger, part two

THEY FELT like they were working against time. None of them knew what the Green Goblin, Electro, Sandman and the Lizard were planning on doing▬and none of them knew where Doc Ock was either. From what Peter told Nina, was that he managed to cure Otto Octavius, but hasn't seen him since the fight at Happy's condo. She didn't want to ask more, knowing that he wanted to keep his head forward and focus on ending this once and for all▬for Aunt May and for the world. As they all continued to work, Nina tried to move around without an awkward breath, but she couldn't help it.

She didn't know how to explain to the other Peter Parkers that she knew them, and yet she didn't. She didn't know how to explain that she remembered memories that weren't even her own, and yet deep down felt as though she lived through every single one. How does she say that she remembered falling, and she remembered Peter desperately trying to catch her▬how does she explain that she knew exactly what Nina was feeling before she died; her last thoughts ... and yet wasn't the same person?

How does she ask the older Peter Parker what happened to her in his world? How does she ask how she died? Did Nina Hart really want to know?

All of her friends were helping out in their own way. Felicia hovered over MJ's shoulder as the both of them worked with Nina's Peter, rebuilding the broken pieces. Ned was pushing his chair back and forth from his computer running diagnostics and checking every other serum out with a curious eye. He had so many questions and unlike Nina, wasn't scared to ask them.

"So ... do you have a best friend, too?" he asked the eldest Peter Parker as he fixed his goggles over his work.

"I did," answered this Peter Parker, concentrating on passing the right amount of concentration between beakers.

Ned faltered at his choice of words. He swallowed hard and frowned. "You ... did?"

"He died in my arms after he tried to kill me." He squeezed the drops into the serum with a distant look on his face. "It was heartbreaking."

Ned didn't know exactly how to react to that. He heard the other Peter Parker whisper a soft, "Dude," as if he knew exactly what his variant was talking about. Ned glanced at him and a horrible realisation hit him. He went pale.

He slowly rolled his chair away from them, a bit blank of thoughts▬he was absolutely scarred by what he heard. He wandered back towards his laptop, barely comprehending his best friend, Peter Parker, look away from the anti-serums he was constructing with MJ and Felicia.

"Hey," murmured Peter, a little confused by his best friend's face. "Will you run a diagnostic?"

"Yeah," mumbled Ned in a small voice. He started the diagnostic and then quickly shuffled away without a word.

Peter, MJ and Felicia all watched him go with confused looks. He passed Nina who went to say something, only to arch a brow when she was met with silence. The friends all locked gazes across the room. Nina shrugged, bewildered.

Nina frowned at Ned one final time, wondering what had happened before she let it be and slowly walked over to the Peter Parker working on Dr. Connor's antidote. She pursed her lips and swung her arms at her side awkwardly, the school-issued lab coat a bit too big for her. Noticing her make her way over, the Amazing Spider-Man looked up, surprised to see her so close▬and had a moment where he thought it was his Nina ... and that struck a horrible bullet to his heart.

He pushed it away and tilted his head. "You okay? You need something?"

Nina pursed her lips again, finding it hard to look away from this Peter Parker's face. She remembered him so well, and yet they weren't her memories, and yet she experienced them in her dreams all the same▬so did that make them her own memories, too?

It was confusing, and it was making her feel torn between what was real and what wasn't real all over again.

"Um, I'm okay," Nina nodded, awkwardly resting her palms on the edge of the lab desk, swinging absent-mindedly. "How's Dr. Connor's antidote coming along? I mean, it's a bit weird to make it in a high school lab, right?"

The Amazing Spider-Man made a face, shaking his head. "It's alright," he managed a chuckle, but she could hear the hesitance in it. "I've got everything I need here. It's a good high school lab."

Nina smiled. "Yeah." Her smile faded away when she watched this Peter Parker, and then the older Peter Parker work. She caught the way the older Peter quickly looked back to his work as if he had been watching her. She took a deep breath and frowned at her fingers. "Um, actually, I wanted to say something."

Both Peter Parkers glanced at her, frowning. Despite their different faces, the way they furrowed their brows was very much the same. Nina took another deep, shaky breath and swallowed the nervous bile down her throat. "I ... um ... I..." she clenched her hands and stuffed them into the pockets of her lab coat to hide the way they were shaking. "I'm sorry," she finally managed, her heart racing. "A▬about what happened to Nina in your worlds. I ... I'm really sorry."

The older Peter Parker smiled sadly and shook his head. He took a deep breath himself and glanced at his work. "Hey, it is what it is, kid," he murmured, and Nina swallowed a lump in her throat. "We ... we can't change what happened▬the past is the past. All you can do is just keep on fighting, and keep on doing the right thing. It's all any of us can do, even if it hurts▬and sometimes it hurts like hell."

She wanted to say more. She wanted to say I knew you, but did she? What did she know? Nina was stranded with so many words on her tongue but with no way of knowing how to speak them. "What was she like?" Was all that came out of her throat in the end; and it sounded broken and distant▬as if it wasn't truly her who was saying it.

The Amazing Spider-Man watched her intently, as if he could tell she was hiding something▬of course, he could tell. She was Nina Hart, and no matter what universe, Peter Parker always knew Nina Hart, just like she always knew him. But instead of asking questions, he just answered hers. "She ..." he didn't look away from her when he spoke, "... she was amazing," he ended up saying. Then, a little smile tugged at his lips. "Hey, I gotta ask, do you like hot chocolate?"

Nina bit her lip, sheepish. She shrugged and suddenly felt shy. "I▬well▬yes, I sort of do."

"Sort of?" the older Peter Parker chuckled. "No, no, you're obsessed with it."

"What?" she gaped, chuckling, too. "No, I'm not."

"Chocolate house," smiled the Amazing Spider-Man.

Nina glanced at him, taken aback. "Huh?"

He watched her for a moment before shaking his head. "Oh, sorry. It's just ... something my Nina said to her father, um ..." he scratched the back of his head. "She▬uh▬said she wanted to live in a chocolate house if she could."

Nina flushed. "I▬well▬" She's also said that. "Well, that's impractical," she blurted out the first excuse that came to mind. "A▬and fattening."

Those words made the Amazing Spider-Man freeze. His gaze snapped to her and she realised what she had just said▬and she didn't even mean to. He looked like he had been struck with cold ice, chilling him to the bone. But then, she saw a soft smile. "Yeah," he chuckled softly.

"You're a lot like her," said the older Peter Parker, and the anxiety Nina had suddenly drifted away, replaced with a warm breath of nostalgia; bittersweet nostalgia.

"I am her," Nina whispered. She sighed and then pursed her lips. "I mean ... a version of her but ..." she hesitated and chewed on the inside of her cheek. "We're all the same, I guess. At least, it feels like it."

Both Peters frowned again. "Feels like it?" murmured the Amazing Spider-Man, suddenly confused▬but she could see it in his eyes, he was starting to figure it out.

Nina felt her heart twist as she went to explain, but then Ned's laptop lit up, interrupting all of the conversations in the room with a sound that let them know the diagnostic had finished.

Ned sat up in his chair and exclaimed: "Oh, Peter!"

All three Peters stood up. "Yeah?"

They realised and glanced around. "Oh ... sorry▬" they all pointed at one other in a jumble of words in unison. Nina blinked, stepping back and feeling a little overwhelmed, "▬did you mean▬?"

Ned stammered, taken aback. "Oh, uh▬" he grew overwhelmed, too, "▬Peter Peter?"

"We're all called Peter▬", "▬We're all Peter, Ned▬"

"Peter ... Parker?"

Nina sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Her Peter threw his hands up, exasperated. "Same again▬", "▬We're all Peter Parker▬"

"Okay!" Nina had enough of trying to differentiate the lot of them. She pointed at each Peter in turn. "You, you're Peter One▬" she gestured to her boyfriend, "▬Peter Two▬" her finger moved onto the older Spider-Man, "▬and Peter Three▬" she landed on the final Peter Parker. "There! Are we happy?"

Peter Three frowned and then pointed to himself as if to wonder why he was number three. Ned sighed and gestured his hand, frustrated, at his laptop. "The computer!"

"Oh!" Peter One raced around the bench and was quickly joined by Nina, MJ, Felicia and Ned all at once. They stared at the diagnostic and Nina hitched a breath when she realised it worked▬the serums Peter worked on were done. "Oh, oh▬I'm ready," he announced.

"Yeah, me too," Peter Three took off his safety goggles and walked towards them with Connors's antidote in his hands▬made with Midtown's very own blue steel water bottle. Peter Two didn't say a word, but at the way he pulled off his gloves, Nina could see that he had finished his antiserum for Osborn, too. "Okay, so now, all we gotta do is lure these guys someplace, right? Try to cure them while they try to kill us, and then send them home."

He passed Peter One the antidote and Nina's Peter turned the water bottle and the makeshift nozzle poking out of the top with a curious frown▬impressed. As he did, Peter Two stepped in next to Felicia. "Using a magic box."

"Well," muttered Peter One, "that's the plan."

"Just a normal day for the F.O.S," added Felicia, patting MJ's arm as she let out a long breath, admittedly confused by the absurdity of what was going on▬it seemed it was finally catching up to them. At the other Peter Parkers' confusion, she added: "It means Friends of Spider-Man."

Peter Three pursed his lips. He went to say something but then thought better of it. "Okay ... uh▬" he then frowned at his older variant. "Wait, wait▬Are you gonna go into battle dressed as a cool youth pastor, or do you got your suit?"

The older Peter Parker tugged down the collar of his shirt, revealing a glimpse of red and blue designs, webbed together in a simple Spider-Man suit. Peter Three nodded, tugging off his lab coat to reveal his own suit with an impressed smile. "Good."

"Oh!" Nina let out as she realised what she was actually supposed to be doing. She rushed to the desk she had been working at, grabbing Peter's web shooters and the refilled cartridges▬she had gotten so distracted by talking to the other Peter variants that she forgot to let her boyfriend know she had finished making them. "Here▬" she smiled as she handed them over to him. "All ready to go."

Her Peter smiled as she dropped them onto his wrists and they snapped around, locking on and securing without him clipping them. He blinked, startled and met her gaze. "Hey, that's new."

"Oh," Nina shrugged, blushing. "I▬uh▬added something small. Just some magnets I found, since you don't have the Stark technology anymore for it all to be nanotech. It's not▬like▬really the same thing, but, uh, same concept."

His smile softened for a moment. He nodded at her. "Thanks," he said gently.

Peter Two tilted his head, taken aback. "What's that for?"

The younger Peter Parker glanced up, confused as well. "Oh, uh▬"The rest of them all had similar frowns. "It's my web fluid. It's for my web shooters. Why?"

Thwip!

Exclaims echoed into the high school lab when the older Spider-Man shot a web, striking the faucet behind them without any web shooters at all▬but instead straight from his wrist; underneath his very skin. Organic webbing; and it made Nina's eyes grow wide and her jaw fall open in shock.

The group of them stared, stunned to silence for a good second.

Then Felicia let out. "I▬what?"

"That came out of you!" said Ned.

Meanwhile, Peter Two watched Peter One with eyes filled with intrigue. "Yeah ... You can't do that, huh?"

Nina's Peter made a face▬as if both disgusted and distraught by this revelation. "No!"

"How does that even work?" blurted Nina, shaking her head and trying to lean forward to see where the webbing originated. "You▬that's organic? Is it▬is it in your veins? Your▬your▬?" she made a face and reared back again, a little disgusted as she tried to figure out the science behind it. "You▬you would have to have silk-spinning organs in your▬Do you have a web sack, like, how▬?"

Felicia took a breath and then closed her eyes for a moment. "Nina," she said softly. "Hon, don't ... don't say that. Don't say web sack, please."

"Okay, okay▬" Peter One held up his arms and cut off all of their shocked whispers, "▬We're getting sidetracked. This is where we'll do this, okay?" He showed them a location on Google Maps from his laptop. "It's isolated, so no one should get hurt. We draw them there with the box. It's the one thing they all want. All we have to do is figure out how we're gonna get there."

MJ frowned at the little pin on the Statue of Liberty. "Can't you just ... swing?"

Peter One stared at her for a moment. "MJ," he murmured. "The Statue of Liberty is surrounded by water▬my webs don't go out that far."

Michelle stared at him and then rolled her eyes. "Well, then get longer webs."

"Thanks," muttered Peter sarcastically, nodding. "I▬If only I had thought of that MJ. Thank you."

"What if Ned just portals us there?" suggested Felicia, propping one hand on her hip.

Their Peter Parker stared at his best friend. He blinked. "Wait, what?"

Ned nodded with a burst of excitement. "Yeah, dude. I'm magic now!"

"Yeah, no, no, he's right," said MJ, nodding. "He can, he can."

"He can do the whole Dr. Strange sparkle thingy," Nina gestured her hands in a circle to exaggerate her point. The other two Peter Parkers nodded, backing her up with mutters of: "Yeah, we saw▬", "▬Yeah, he is."

Peter smiled at Ned, amazed at this▬and his eyes lit up with a breath of pride for his best friend. "Wait, really?" he walked closer to him.

Ned nodded and held up the magic ring Peter stole from Strange. "Yeah, dude, I got Dr. Strange magic," he whispered.

"No way!"

"Yeah." Ned then pushed up his safety goggles and looked Peter dead-straight in the eyes. "And I promise you, I won't turn into a supervillain and try to kill you."

Their Peter blinked. His face slowly contorted into a dubious frown. Peter Three nodded and clasped Ned's shoulder, proud of him. "O▬Okay ... Thank you?" Peter and Ned watched each other for a few seconds. Nina tilted her head, not exactly sure what to make of the conversation. MJ and Felicia narrowed their eyes at Ned's happy smile as if he had done wonders in this very moment by promising Peter those words.

Peter moved on. "Okay. Here goes nothing," he took a deep breath and glanced at Nina. "What's that thing you always say? Expect disappointment and▬"

"No," Nina quickly cut him off. She shook her head and smiled. She nodded, feeling her chest swell with pride. Her Peter was taken aback, but a gentle look settled in his eyes. She matched it with her own. "We got this. You got this, so ..." her smile brightened for a moment as she glanced at all three Peter Parkers. "Go get 'em, Tigers."

*ೃ༄

"LADIES AND gentlemen, the Bugle tip line has just received a call from none other than the fugitive known as Spider-Man, fresh from his rampage in Queens. So, Peter Parker, what pernicious propaganda are you peddling?"

"Just the truth."

"Oh, sure."

The early morning haze of New York's lights lit up the darkest hour before the dawn, making even the night seem like the day. Streams of blue, yellow, red and green▬all from Manhattan, to the Upper West Side and Harlem, and down to the Meatpacking District; an island full of people who did not appreciate the work Spider-Man did to save them all. People who had been left behind by Earth's mightiest heroes after they lost so much for five years, and left struggling to find the pieces to put themselves back together. People who did not matter to the people in those tall skyscrapers, watching them down below hug the streets and keep the city alive even in its darkest nights▬those who worked their days hard, and their nights even harder. Those who could barely afford a one-room apartment and barely pushed by each day. Those who did not even have a roof over their heads, and slept in the tents in back alley streets, or came to the steps of F.E.A.S.T. centres for refuge. Across the water onto the borough of Queens, where the suburbs at Forest Hills watched in their homes and people forced themselves awake to glance at the broadcast on their phones as they travelled on the trains over Sunnyside. And then to Brooklyn, where people stopped walking home from late-night adventures under the stars and stripes of Captain America murals. Each and every one of them▬the little guys▬stopped what they were doing to listen and watch the news the moment the one person in the city who ever cared about them asked for their attention. A boy who recently, owed them nothing after all he's gone through, but wore a responsibility on his shoulders as he stood on the scaffolds of the Statue of Liberty to save their lives, once again, despite it.

A boy with a power▬a gift▬that could very well be a curse; one he had to wear as a mask every single day, even when he was broken down, even when he was torn apart▬sick, tired, mourning and barely with any energy left to stand ... He still got back up onto his feet, every single time.

Because with great power, comes great responsibility.

That was what it meant to be Spider-Man.

Peter Parker took a deep breath, glancing down at his phone▬bruised, bloody and beaten, but still standing. "Truth is," he admitted, "that this is all my fault." He sighed and looked out at the island▬a sea of bright lights and extraordinary people. "I accidentally brought those dangerous people here."

"Well!" J. Jonah Jameson laughed on the other end, making Peter resist the urge to roll his eyes. "He admits it."

Peter ignored him and continued. "And if those people are watching..." he fixed his gaze back onto his camera, "just know that I really did try to help you. I could have killed you ..." With his other hand, he held up the artefact and showed it to the camera, his jaw set. "At any given moment, but I didn't. 'Cause my Aunt May taught me that everyone deserves a second chance. And that's why I'm here."

"And where is 'here', exactly?" grumbled J. Jonah Jameson.

Spider-Man tilted his head. He stepped to the side and showed the face of New York right behind him. Even with all the scaffolding, and the construction▬even if they had decided to return her to her prior glory of bronze copper and added a shield on her arm, she still stood as a symbol for every person from New York. Whether they were born and raised, whether they fought for freedom inside a country or they crossed the seas in search of work before and after the World Wars. Even if the people in the streets didn't always welcome them, and didn't always have the nicest tone or the care for anyone other than themselves and their busy lives, at least there was one other person who cared about them▬Who offered them a light to guide their way.

"A place that represents second chances," answered Peter Parker.

"The Statue of Liberty?!" let out Jameson, furious. "Good God, folks! He's about to destroy another national landmark!"

Spider-Man glanced up at the haze of orange and yellow that hovered like a cloud over New York City high in the sky rather than the blink of stars▬but New York had its own stars; its own beauty in the cityscape of promise.

He pursed his lips and looked back at his phone. He wasn't talking to J. Jonah Jameson▬not at all. "World, if you're watching▬"

"▬Believe me, the world is watching▬!"

"▬I know a lot of you hate me right now, and honestly, I don't blame you," Peter swallowed hard. "But even then, I promise you I'll fix this. I promise you, I'll always look out for you. So ... wish me luck," his voice dropped to a murmur. "Your friendly neighbourhood Spider-Man could really use some."

He ended the call before J. Jonah Jameson could burst into another angry yell. Peter took a final deep breath and pocketed his phone. He glanced up at the crown of the Lady Liberty and struck a web to the points. Spider-Man leapt into the night sky and landed on the bronze, his heart racing with nerves. This was it, he couldn't help but think. There was something about this fight that made him feel like it was the end of a chapter, and perhaps it was. He thought of where he started. Fifteen, scared, barely understanding his powers and what he could do▬but trying to do better, in the name of his Uncle Ben. A boy who so desperately wanted to prove himself to the Avengers, to the girls he liked, to the world ... He has fought super soldiers, Vultures, tinkering villains and ones that could shock him. He has fought purple aliens, human flies, crazy super fans and vicious gang leaders. But none of those fights amounted to what he will face this morning▬none of them meant as much as this moment, right now.

Peter felt as though he had finally come full circle. As he thought of his Aunt May's grave next to his Uncle Ben's▬the two of them finally reuniting in a place that was forever, whatever it might be, Peter Parker felt the same determination to do the one thing he always tried to do: be better. For them.

He set his jaw and Spider-Man tapped the comm piece in his ear. "Okay guys, it could be any minute now."

Down below in the scaffolding, the other Spider-Men leapt to and fro, webbing their antiserums and antidotes to separate parts of the construction▬hidden in plain sight until they needed them. "Yep!" answered Peter Two. "Almost done."

Peter Three stretched and twisted his body, using the scaffolding as a base to make sure his muscles were warm enough for the evident battle that would surely leave him with more than a few bruises. As he did, he sighed and glanced at his older variant who watched as the final antiserum flung upwards a few levels into a nice hiding spot.

"You know," he murmured, "Max was▬like▬the sweetest guy ever before he fell into ..." he winced to himself, "... a pool of electric eels."

Peter Two pursed his lips. He nodded. "That'll do it," he murmured. He was frowning at the shield on the Statue of Liberty, wondering why this universe seemed to deem it necessary. What did the shield even stand for?

The Amazing Spider-Man slowed his exercises to a stop. His eyes wandered out to the cityscape, and there were a lot of things on his mind. Max, Connors ... Nina. He couldn't help but remember the moment he tried to visit Nina's father after she died ... and the way her family shattered to pieces at the loss of their only daughter still haunted him to this day. He broke the promise he made to Nina's father in the end▬the very thing he did everything to avoid. "All the things I wish I could have done differently ..."

Peter Two nodded. He understood. "Now to have a second chance."

He thought of Nina again. This Peter wondered whether his variant thought similar. They failed to save their Nina Harts, but here stood this universe's beacon to the world, and she was very much alive. Perhaps there was a way that by doing what they were doing, they were protecting her, too. The Amazing Spider-Man was saving Nina Hart, and he was also saving this universe's variant of himself the emptiness of living in a world without Nina Hart in it. "Yeah..."

His older variant pursed his lips. "You know ..." he began, almost hesitant. "Flint Marco▬the Sandman▬he was the reason I couldn't reach Nina in time." The Amazing Spider-Man glanced over, gaze gentle. "Maybe if we cure him," continued Peter Two, "then there will be a universe where I didn't have him to stop me, and I made to her in time▬A universe where I caught her. I ... I haven't thought about having the chance to ... to somehow change that night, even if it isn't for my Nina. Not until now."

He glanced at Peter Three, and he knew what he meant▬Perhaps this is your chance, too. The Amazing Spider-Man sighed and shook his head. That lump returned and he forced it down. "There's no way I can change that night I lost her," murmured Peter Parker. "Even if I cure Electro and the Lizard, the Goblin will still get his revenge on me ... and I will still end up being too late."

"Norman?"

"No," said Peter with a grasp of pain in his voice. "Harry ... his son."

Peter Two pursed his lips and nodded. "Yeah," he sighed and leaned on the scaffolding bar. "Harry..." the two Spider-Men shared a soft, sombre understanding of their best friend whom they lost.

There was a brief silence before the older Peter Parker stood up straighter. He stiffened. He twisted his body from side to side slightly. "Oh▬" he grunted slightly and turned to lean back on the scaffold, trying to stretch the pain out of his spine, "▬there it goes."

The Amazing Spider-Man watched him, slightly incredulous. "You okay?"

"Oh, it's my back." There was a story there that this Spider-Man would not share. "It's kind of stiff from all the ... swinging, I guess."

"Oh, oh, yeah▬" Peter Three nodded. He shuffled on his feet, still moving as if he was having trouble staying still. "No, no. I got a middle back thing, too."

"Really?"

"Yeah. You want me to crack it?"

Peter Two went still. He glanced over, taken aback. "Yeah," he stood up straight, pleasantly surprised by the offer. "That'd be great."

"All right," the Amazing Spider-Man stepped in behind his variant as he stood back up. "You ready?"

"Yeah."

The Amazing Spider-Man wrapped his arms around his variant's crossed arms and chest. He hoisted him up and after just a few jumps and awkward bounces▬crack; there it was.

"Oh▬yep!" let out Peter Two as Peter Three set him down. "That's good..." he felt his back, amazed at how much better it felt.

"How is it?" the Amazing Spider-Man held out his arms with a smug grin.

"Wow ..." the older Peter Parker glanced back to see his younger variant grinning. "That's good. That's better."

"Right?" he chuckled as he crouched down by the scaffolding barriers, a bright smile on his face▬one of the few he's managed in a long time. "God, this is so cool. I always wanted brothers. We should do this again▬like▬all hang out."

"It's nice."

"Yeah."

"But we should maybe▬you now▬focus on, uh..."

"On not getting killed tonight▬"

"Yes."

"Yeah, yeah. For sure. That's a good idea. I'll just grab your number at the end of the battle."

Peter Two wasn't exactly sure how multiversal text messages would work▬or what the phone bill would be▬but he chuckled anyway. "You got it."

"So you▬like▬make your own web fluid in your body?" chuckled Peter Three as well, still quite amazed.

His older variant frowned. He suddenly seemed rather defensive. "I▬I'd rather not talk about this."

"No, no, no, I don't mean to▬"

"▬But are you teasing me?"

"No, no, no, no▬" a third voice came from the Lady Liberty's crown above as Peter One crouched at the very edge of a bronze point. "He's not teasing you," he reassured Peter Two. "It's just that▬" he gestured to his arm, "▬we can't do that, so naturally we're curious as to how your web situation works, that's all."

"I▬if it's personal," added Peter Three, "I don't wanna pry, but I think it's cool."

"No, I▬I wish I could tell you, but it's▬like▬I don't do it," said Peter Two. "Like I don't do breathing. Like, breathing just happens."

"Whoa."

"It's just▬like▬when it releases▬" he gestured his hand out as if to spring a web, "▬it's like a clean release."

"So, can I ask something?" Peter Three sat himself down on the scaffolding and spread out his long legs.

"Yeah."

"Is it like, uh▬When you think it, it webs? You know what I mean?"

"That's ..." Peter Two considered this. "That's a good way to put it."

"Because if I press▬" the Amazing Spider-Man pointed up along his arm, "▬I have to▬I have a mechanism."

"Right."

"But▬But if▬if▬for you, it's like▬" he gestured his fingers as if to press the trigger, "▬'Web' and then it webs?"

"Uh ... no. It's not even conscious at this point, like▬"

"It's just like riding a bike."

"▬Yeah."

Peter One shifted from his post as a strange thought occurred to him. He pursed his lips, not exactly sure how to ask it. "So ..." He grew a little awkward, "... does it just come out of your wrists? Or ..." he hesitated, "... does it come out of anywhere else?"

The older variant glanced up at the younger version of himself, a little exasperated. He sighed and closed his eyes for a moment. "Only▬" he chuckled and shook his head, "▬only the wrists."

"You never had a web block?" asked Peter Three. "I mean▬I run out of webs all the time." Peter One hummed in agreement from above, making a wild gesture of understanding. "I▬I have to make my own in a lab and it's a hassle compared to what you got."

"Yeah, yeah, right," nodded Peter Two. "No, that sounds like a hassle, yeah. But I did. You said that, I was like▬Oh, I had a web block."

"Whoa... Why?"

"Existential crisis stuff."

Peter Three scoffed and rolled his eyes, nodding. "Yeah. Don't even get me started on that."

The older Peter Parker shrugged. "I▬I'm not sure what to say, you know? It's just a natural thing. It just happens. It's ..." He shrugged again with a small smile. "I don't know. Organic web fluid. That's it▬what Nina said."

All three Peters hummed in agreement at the mention of Nina.

"Yeah, yeah, she'd know," said Peter One quickly, taking the chance to boast about his girlfriend. "She's▬like▬amazing at biochem. She's gonna be a scientist one day."

"It's so cool, man," smiled the Amazing Spider-Man. "Like, I wanna see the holes."

Peter Two stared, not sure how to respond to that. He glanced down at his wrists.

"Hey," Peter One shuffled so he was standing upside down from the spiked crown above to be closer to them. "What are some of the craziest villains that you guys have fought?"

Peter Two chuckled. "Seems you've met some of them▬"

"▬That's a good question," mused Peter Three, laughing softly.

"Yeah, I▬I fought an alien made out of black goo once," offered the older Spider-Man.

"Oh, no way!" let out the youngest. "I fought an alien too. On Earth and in space. Yeah, he was purple."

"I wanna fight an alien," mumbled the Amazing Spider-Man.

"I'm still▬like▬that you fought an alien in space," Peter Two glanced up at Peter One, admittedly impressed. "I▬I'm always simultaneously, like, completely stunned by the fantastical nature of these things▬"

"Yeah▬"

"▬and it's also just like, 'Yeah. Okay. Yeah'▬"

"▬Yeah, it's Monday. Yeah." Peter Three took a breath and leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "I▬I mean▬" he sighed, "▬I'm lame compared▬I mean▬I fought a Russian guy in like a rhinoceros machine."

"That's cool."

"And just▬like▬before I was pulled into this universe, I was fighting a guy in a big wheel machine."

"I fought a Human Fly," said Peter One. "That Rhino guy sounds way cooler than some guy called the Human Fly."

Peter Three made a face. "Eh▬Yeah, but like, not as▬No, it's not. I mean, you fought a purple alien, man."

"Can we▬can we just rewind it back to the 'I'm lame' part?" spoke up Peter Two, holding up a hand to Peter Three. "'Cause you are not."

"I▬Thanks. I appreciate that. I'm not saying I am lame▬"

"But it's just the self-talk. Maybe we should▬"

"▬Listen, I▬"

"▬'Cause you're ... you're amazing. Just to take it in for a minute."

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I can take it in▬"

"▬You are amazing."

"I can take it. Thank you."

"You are amazing."

"Thanks. Y▬yeah▬"

"Will you say it?"

"N▬No. But I kinda needed to hear that. Thank you."

Spider-Man in his suit of red, black and gold went to say something else to his older counterparts, but then the air shifted. Peter Parker stilled from where he walked back and forth in the shadow of Lady Liberty's crown. He glanced out at the night sky, watching the waves gently brush against the shore of the island. He somersaulted back up onto the top of the bronze spike, his hair on end. All light conversations and gentle smiles were gone, and what replaced them was a tense chill down his spine.

"All right, guys, focus up," he murmured, his hand tightening its grip around the artefact. "You feel that?"

The Spider-Men below were on their feet, their jaws set and their brows knitted together as all three stared out at the smoke of light in the New York sky. A bright yellow thunder cracked across the horizon▬lightning burst forth as if the very sky was fracturing apart.

It was time.

*ೃ༄

a/n: from the moment i watched nwh i was like yeah i gotta write the conversation between the three of them. it's so like natural and just ... realistic haha. i mean, they're just chatting and bonding before a battle like, it's funny i love it. but it does mean like the second half of this chapter is all dialogue lol i'm sorry.

not the three of them totally bonding over nina lol. and then peter 1 is all just like yeah well thIs nINA is mY gIRlFrIENd shE's sO cOOl.

we're getting closer to the end of this book SHIT. I'M NOT READY. I literally gave like two years of my life writing this.

also, i finished the first spider-man game today and i'm emotional. i knew what happened in the story already, but it put me in an emotional spider-man mood omfg its--it's such a perfect spider-man story i-

ALSO BRO I'VE BEEN DOING THE ROMAN NUMERALS FOR SIXTY ONWARDS WRONG THIS ENTIRE TIME WHOOPS. time to go back and fix all of that LOL.

(minimal editing).