In truth, regardless of whether Peter had said those few extra words, the Symbiote Spider-Man would not have stopped. He was facing an impossible dilemma: even if he were willing to leave, wouldn't organizations like SHIELD eventually come knocking?
In fact, even if SHIELD guaranteed that everyone could just part ways, the Spider-Man of this universe likely wouldn't believe them anymore. One had to remember that previously, in order to combat the symbiote crisis triggered by Venom, the "geniuses" at SHIELD had made the cryptic move of blowing up every bridge and tunnel leading out of Manhattan, effectively trapping every civilian inside to be infected by the symbiotes.
Later on, SHIELD had no way to handle the infection crisis at all. They were forced to swallow their pride and seek a partnership with Kingpin, enlisting the Tinkerer to design a massive anti-symbiote bomb.
Naturally, in this timeline, SHIELD could very well claim that everything became irreversible only because Spider-Man turned traitor at the last second and destroyed the bomb. However, in another timeline where Spider-Man did not succumb to his dark side and successfully detonated the device, Venom still remained completely unscathed and proceeded to take control of the entire Helicarrier.
The verdict: a total disaster.
Of course, none of this had much to do with Peter. From a gameplay perspective, one could weigh the options, but in a realistic universe, God only knows why they didn't seek out scientists from the Avengers or the Fantastic Four to solve the problem. For now, the only enemy Peter needed to deal with was the one right in front of him.
"Uh, Peter? Black Cat seems to have headed your way for quite a while now. I'm guessing things are clear on my end?"
"Yeah, I just received a 'warm greeting' from this world's Felicia."
Peter spoke half-jokingly, then fired a web at the Symbiote Black Cat, only to have it intercepted by the Symbiote Spider-Man. The latter knew very well that under the influence of Anti-Venom's abilities, anyone other than himself wouldn't last a second. He immediately waved for Black Cat, as well as the arriving Scorpion and Rhino, to leave. "All of you, get out of here! I'll handle this guy!"
"But—"
"Did you not hear what I said?!"
Enraged, the Symbiote Spider-Man drove the group away, telling them to just go after Gwen, before resuming his battle with Peter. In reality, he couldn't defeat Anti-Venom either. He was surviving entirely because every symbiote molecule on his body was independent; Anti-Venom couldn't kill them all at once, and the symbiotes were splitting and replicating at hyper-speed to compensate.
In other respects, however, the Symbiote Spider-Man could at least hold his own against Peter.
"You're stalling. You're actually looking for another way to deal with me—because you know that simply eliminating one enemy won't solve the problem—"
"Actually, it can. As long as SHIELD has the Tinkerer whip up a second idiotic bomb and I take care of you, it's over. And I guarantee they didn't listen to me about standing down; they've already moved in."
Peter spoke while waiting for something. Meanwhile, on the new Helicarrier, Maria Hill looked somewhat awkwardly at Fury, who was rubbing his temples. "Sir, should we temporarily suspend..."
"We cannot place our hopes on a Spider-Man from another universe who claims to have the ability to solve the problem. Continue the operation."
The white Nick Fury spoke with grim determination. He certainly knew that this multiversal Spider-Man might truly have the power to resolve the symbiote crisis. But the problem was, if a person from another universe did everything, wouldn't that make SHIELD look utterly incompetent?
Though, in reality, the fact that they had to pay the Tinkerer to build a bomb was already proof enough of SHIELD's incompetence.
Down on the ground, the battle between the two Spider-Men continued. Simultaneously, Gwen had begun the next step of the plan according to the manual. First, she continued her previous actions, allowing countless symbiotes to perceive completely different conditions, thereby flooding the Symbiote Spider-Man—the hive hub—with conflicting information. Next, she began using equipment developed by the Airbus Team to send fake signals directly to the symbiotes.
By collecting sufficient data and taking advantage of the fact that the symbiotes on the Symbiote Spider-Man originally came from Venom, it was easy to broadcast signals similar to those he used to command the hive. Under normal circumstances, such signals would be discovered and corrected by the host in short order, but now?
Right now, the opponent had no time to deal with such matters, nor could he sense the discrepancy.
This was one of the countless protocols designed by the Airbus Team and Peter to combat a symbiote hive network. By causing large-scale sensory errors, the hive mind's hub would be unable to transmit correct signals to the subordinate symbiotes. Then, through specifically designed signal commands, the subordinate symbiotes would be ordered to dismantle themselves.
Furthermore, after collecting as much data as possible, they could research a more advanced possibility—whether it was possible to completely collapse the entire network by affecting only the hub.
"Good news, Peter."
Watching the symbiote grunts below collapse one by one, losing their ability to bond with ordinary people, Gwen happily reported the situation to Peter. "All enemies within coverage here have been dealt with. Every symbiote has lost the ability to bond with humans. It worked."
"Yeah, it worked."
Peter replied while pinning the Symbiote Spider-Man to the ground. He looked up at the sky where SHIELD had begun installing the anti-symbiote bomb on the Empire State Building. "I suppose all of this is finally coming to an end..."
Simultaneously, Peter's and Gwen's spider-senses flared violently. Peter's was even more intense; his spider-sense, which had been enhanced countless times, clearly foresaw exactly what was about to happen.
He saw a god. A brand-new god, walking upon the Great Web of Destiny.
No, the figure was not entirely walking upon the Web of Destiny.
The way the Web of Destiny spread across the multiverse was similar to how the symbiote hive mind spread across the multiverse. This meant that any connection achievable through the Web of Destiny could also be achieved through the symbiote hive network.
This was exactly why a certain deity was so obsessed with strengthening the Symbiote Spider-Men across the multiverse. He intended to seize the symbiote networks of one universe after another from Knull and bring them under his own command.
And now, he had arrived.
He overlooked time, connected to the World Web; he possessed infinite forms, seated at the center of the stars.
The Symbiote Spider-Man pinned beneath Peter suddenly let out a wailing roar. Peter quickly backed away. In his spider-sense premonition, he watched the symbiote on his opponent twist and deform, molding itself into an entirely new appearance.
"Hello, Peter Parker."
It spoke.
"I am the God of Symbiotes, the King in Black."
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