[Happy Hogan's Condo. The Lobby. Night.]
"Hands where we can see them!"
A dozen tactical lights blinded Sebastian. Damage Control agents swarmed the rubble-strewn lobby. Aunt May's body lay still under Sebastian's ruined tailcoat.
Sebastian stood calmly, his hands raised slightly, palms open. He was burned, bleeding black ichor, and covered in dust, but his posture was unbroken.
"Step away from the body!" An agent yelled.
"She deserves dignity," Sebastian said, his voice cutting through the noise. "Treat her with care. Or I will haunt your nightmares."
"Get him!" An agent lunged with zip-ties.
Flick.
The lights in the lobby shattered. Darkness swallowed the room.
"Where'd he go?! Thermal is negative!"
By the time the emergency lights flickered on, the tall man in the tattered suit was gone. Only a few black feathers drifted down onto the concrete.
[Midtown High. The Front Steps.]
MJ and Ned stood in the cold, watching the smoke rise from Happy's condo in the distance. The news helicopters were circling.
"He's not answering," MJ stared at her phone, her knuckles white. "Peter's not answering. May's not answering."
"Maybe they got out?" Ned's voice trembled. "Maybe Spidey swung them out?"
A shadow lengthened on the brick wall behind them.
"Mr. Leeds. Miss Jones."
They spun around.
Sebastian stepped out of the darkness. He looked terrifying—his skin was pale and cracked, his eyes were dull red, and his chest was singed from Electro's lightning. He was shivering slightly, the cold air hitting his exposed skin where his shirt had burned away.
"Sebastian!" MJ ran to him. "Where's Peter? Is he okay?"
Sebastian looked down. He couldn't meet her eyes.
"Master Parker... has fled," Sebastian said quietly.
"And May?" Ned asked.
Sebastian didn't speak. He just slowly shook his head.
MJ covered her mouth. Ned dropped his phone.
"No," MJ whispered. "No, she can't be."
"The Goblin," Sebastian's fist clenched, drawing blood from his own palm. "I... I was not fast enough. I intercepted the lightning, but I missed the bomb."
He looked up, his eyes burning with a self-loathing that terrified them.
"I failed the Young Master. He is alone now. And I do not know where he has gone."
"We have to find him," Ned wiped his eyes, trying to be brave. "He needs us."
"We cannot stay here," Sebastian looked at the police sirens approaching the school. "They will be looking for accomplices. Do you have a secure location?"
"My Lola's house," Ned said. "She... she makes good bread. It's safe."
"Then lead the way," Sebastian said. "I must... acquire new garments. I cannot serve in rags."
[Queens. Ned Leeds' Grandmother's House. The Dining Room.]
The air smelled of lumpia and sorrow.
Sebastian had "borrowed" (stolen) a simple black dress shirt and trousers from a dry cleaner on the way over. He stood by the window, peering through the blinds, watching the street.
MJ paced the room. Ned sat at the table, clutching Doctor Strange's Sling Ring, which Peter had entrusted to him before the fight.
"We have to find him," MJ said, her voice cracking. "He's out there alone. He's going to do something stupid."
"I'm trying," Ned said. "I just... I wish we could see Peter."
Ned waved his hand in a circle. Sparks flew.
Sebastian turned from the window. He felt the magic. It was clumsy, raw, but effective.
"Keep going," Sebastian ordered, stepping closer. "Focus on the boy. Visualize the intent."
"Find Peter Parker," Ned chanted, sweat beading on his forehead.
A portal opened.
Through the sparkling orange ring, they saw a dark alleyway. A figure in a Spider-Man suit walked into view.
"Peter!" MJ yelled.
"Hi?" The figure waved.
He stepped through the portal into the dining room.
He took off his mask.
It wasn't Peter Parker. It was a tall, lanky guy with great hair and nervous energy (Andrew Garfield).
"Who are you?" MJ asked.
"I'm Peter Parker," the stranger said.
SWISH.
Sebastian moved.
In a blur, he was behind the stranger. He kicked the back of the stranger's knee, forcing him down, and pressed a silver butter knife (the only weapon available on the table) against his throat.
"Don't move," Sebastian snarled. "You are an impostor. You are too tall. And your suit smells of cheap polyester."
"Whoa! Whoa!" The stranger held up his hands. "Chill, Dracula! I'm Spider-Man! In my world!"
"Prove it," Sebastian pressed the dull knife harder. "Before I carve the truth out of you."
"Okay, okay! Look up!"
The stranger shot a web at the ceiling fan, pulling himself up and sticking to the ceiling.
"See?" The Amazing Spider-Man pointed down. "I stick! I'm sticky! I'm Spider-Man!"
Sebastian stared up at him. He sniffed the air.
Spider-venom. Mutated DNA. Guilt.
"He is telling the truth," Sebastian lowered the knife. "Though his fashion sense is atrocious."
[The Second Portal]
"There's another one," Ned said, staring at the ring. "I just... I want to see Peter Parker."
He spun the ring again.
A second portal opened.
A man in "civilian" clothes stepped through. He looked older. Tired. He had kind eyes and a bad back (Tobey Maguire).
He looked at the Amazing Spider-Man on the ceiling.
"Hey," he said.
"Hey," the other replied.
Sebastian walked up to the older man. He didn't draw a weapon this time. He just stood in his path.
"And I suppose you are also Peter Parker?" Sebastian asked.
"I am," the older man said calmly.
Sebastian leaned in. He sniffed.
This one smelled different. He didn't smell like technology or teenage angst. He smelled like suffering. He smelled like a man who had carried the world on his shoulders for decades. He smelled like... Tony Stark, right before the end.
"You have been doing this a long time," Sebastian noted respectfully.
"A long time," the older Peter nodded. "And you? You're not human."
"I am the butler," Sebastian bowed. "Sebastian Michaelis."
"Weird butler," the Amazing Spider-Man dropped from the ceiling.
[Midtown High. The Rooftop.]
They found the real Peter Parker (Tom Holland) on the roof of the school. He was curled up, crying.
Sebastian stayed back in the shadows. He watched as the two "brothers" approached the grieving boy.
He watched them share their pain. I lost Gwen.I lost Uncle Ben.I lost Aunt May.
Sebastian listened. He realized that while he could protect Peter's body, only these two could save his soul.
"We want to help," the Older Peter said. "We can cure them."
"I don't want to cure them," Tom's Peter sobbed. "I want to kill them."
"I know," the Older Peter put a hand on his shoulder. "I've been there. But that's not who we are."
Sebastian closed his eyes. That is not who we are. It was a lesson he, a demon, could never teach.
He stepped out of the shadows.
"Master Parker," Sebastian said softly.
Tom's Peter looked up. "Seb?"
"The lab is prepped," Sebastian lied (he would prep it in a second). "If we are going to save these ghosts... we will need tea."
[Midtown High. The Chemistry Lab.]
An hour later, the lab was a hive of activity.
The three Spider-Men were working on cures for the villains.
Sebastian Michaelis had found a Bunsen burner, a beaker, and a stash of loose-leaf tea he kept in his pocket dimension.
"Tea is served," Sebastian announced, placing three beakers on the lab bench. "Earl Grey. Hot."
"Thanks," Andrew took a sip. "Whoa. This is actually good. How did you make this with a Bunsen burner?"
"Talent," Sebastian wiped a counter.
He watched them work.
"So," Sebastian pointed at Andrew's wrist. "You make your own web fluid?"
"Yeah," Andrew grinned. "Chemistry set. Pretty cool, right?"
"Crude," Sebastian critiqued. "But resourceful."
He turned to Tobey. "And you?"
"I... it just comes out of my wrists," Tobey demonstrated. Thwip.
Sebastian looked horrified. "Organic? From your body?"
"Yeah."
"Does it... come out of anywhere else?" Sebastian asked, genuinely disgusted.
"No!" Tobey laughed. "Just the wrists."
"Fascinating," Sebastian muttered. "And entirely unhygienic."
He walked over to Tom's Peter, who was staring at a hologram of the Goblin's glider.
"Are you alright, Sir?"
"No," Peter admitted. "But... I have to finish this."
"That," Sebastian placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "is the Stark way. He would be proud of the company you keep."
Sebastian looked at the three Spiders.
"Three Spiders," Sebastian mused. "And yet, the laboratory is still a mess. I suppose some things are universal constants."
"Hey Seb?" Andrew asked. "Do you have any cookies? I have a metabolism thing."
Sebastian sighed. "I shall see what I can forage from the vending machine. Do not blow up the school while I am gone."
He walked to the door.
"Oh, and gentlemen?"
The three Spiders looked up.
Sebastian's eyes flashed fuchsia.
"The Goblin is mine. If you cure him... fine. But if he resists... I get the first bite."
He walked out, leaving the three heroes in stunned silence.
"Is he... is he gonna eat the Goblin?" Andrew whispered.
"I think so," Tobey nodded.
"Yeah," Tom said, returning to work. "He does that."
[End of Chapter 62]
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