It had been a full year since Gwen returned to her own Universe after completing her last TVA mission.
At first, she assumed the Time Pad was malfunctioning and that she simply needed to wait for the TVA to find her. But as months passed, she realized there might be a problem with the TVA itself.
Gwen's mood sank gradually. During that time, she kept busy daily, even quitting the school band.
Then one day, a villain from a parallel world appeared in her city. While stopping the villain, Gwen encountered members of the Spider-Man Alliance.
The Spider-Man Alliance functioned similarly to the TVA, both dedicated to maintaining Multiversal stability. However, the TVA oversaw countless Universes, staffed by members from different worlds, while the Spider-Man Alliance existed solely within the Sony Spider-Verse, composed entirely of Spider-heroes from different realities.
Gwen had initially joined the Alliance to locate the TVA and investigate what had happened. Though she never found any concrete information, completing missions with the Spider-Men gradually convinced her of the organization's significance.
Time passed with Gwen traveling between worlds, maintaining peace, while waiting for the TVA to find her. After more than six months, she sometimes wondered if everything at the TVA—the Mutants, Wanda, even Malrick—had been a vivid dream. Now that the dream had ended, she returned to her own world, often distracted during missions.
Fortunately, the Alliance's missions were straightforward: travel to worlds with anomalies, resolve the issues, and capture rogue elements. These anomalies were usually villains who had accidentally escaped their own worlds. The work was challenging, but uneventful, and Gwen's life passed in relative peace. She began to doubt whether her experiences a year ago had been real.
Then Morlun arrived.
The Morlun she had fought—and Malrick had killed—in Universe 1610 had been resurrected through another Multiverse. Gwen remembered clearly: she and Spider-Ham were on a mission in a parallel world when an abyssal portal opened beside him. She pulled Spider-Ham away just in time, but Morlun emerged, tearing Spider-Ham's arm from his body.
The villain, hair slicked perfectly with long dark strands flowing behind him, devoured the limb greedily, savoring the fresh blood.
"Mmm, delicious, little piglet spider," he sneered, finishing the arm and throwing the bones aside. His crimson gaze focused on Spider-Ham, though its intensity still sent shivers down Gwen's spine.
Gwen recalled what Malrick had told her: Morlun belonged to the Inheritor Family, creatures that fed on animal totems. A prophecy had foretold that a Spider-Man would destroy them, and they hunted and consumed Spider-Men mercilessly. Their presence nullified Spider-Sense, and anyone caught would be devoured completely.
Before Morlun could strike again, Gwen bit her lip, using the pain to suppress her fear. She activated the Spider Alliance's world-traveling wristband, carrying Spider-Ham through the spacetime tunnel into another world. Though temporarily safe, she remained vigilant, tending to Spider-Ham's wounds while preparing to escape again.
Morlun, however, did not pursue immediately. He was using Spider-Ham's coordinates as a springboard. His true target was the entire Spider-Verse, a vast and appetizing hunting ground.
Landing, Morlun honed in on the strongest Spider-Man scent: the Spider-Man Alliance headquarters in Universe 982.
After patching Spider-Ham's wounds, Gwen realized why Morlun had ignored them: more tantalizing prey awaited him. She opened another spacetime tunnel and raced to the Alliance headquarters to warn the other Spider-Men.
She was too late. Morlun's massacre had begun. Every floor of the Alliance building was littered with bodies, drenched in blood.
In the main assembly hall, Spider-Man 2099 led the strongest Spider-Men in a desperate battle. Tyrannosaurus Spider-Man charged, only to be pinned as Morlun devoured his soul. Cowboy Spider-Man, riding a tall horse, launched webs from the hooves to entangle Morlun. Spider-Man from Universe 1610, along with many other Peters, joined the fray.
The Spider-Men's coordinated assault finally disrupted Morlun's formation. Using careful, indirect strikes, they hammered him with punches and kicks, webbing him repeatedly.
Just as Morlun seemed on the verge of defeat, a portal opened. Two figures emerged, a blonde man and woman in long red trench coats, exuding the elegance of vampires.
They immediately attacked. The man broke the leg of a young Spider about to strike Morlun, drinking the blood with relish.
"How delicious. Look what our elder brother has found," he said.
The woman licked her lips, her gaze hungry. "A group of little Spiders. Our elder brother seems selfishly enjoying them alone."
"Yes, beaten by a bunch of food. Truly amusing," the man chuckled, discarding the empty limb.
The Spider-Men warily shielded the fallen Peter Parker.
"Enough!" Morlun roared, regaining his composure. His anger flared. "Blix, Berna, if you still want to survive, join me in finishing these stinky spiders!"
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