Peter had been in bad shape lately.
More than anything, he kept thinking about whether changing his own fate had also changed the fate of the people around him.
If those changes were for the better, then there was no problem.
But if something that should have fallen on him ended up falling on the people beside him instead, then he would rather bear it himself.
He had thought about that question over and over, without ever finding an answer.
As a result, Wraith Spider had not appeared for quite some time, and the safety of Queens had been resting entirely on Ghost-Spider's shoulders.
Naturally, that led to plenty of news speculation that Wraith Spider might already have been taken out by criminals.
After all, Peter's methods were extreme enough that having enemies was only natural.
Of course, none of them would ever guess that the scruffy, hollow-eyed mess sitting in Midtown High was Peter himself.
He had barely slept all week. When he was not questioning life, he was at the hospital running around for Harry. Even Norman Osborn felt a pang of sympathy when he saw him.
To Norman, Peter was almost like another son.
And at the same time, he felt relieved that Harry had a friend like Peter.
Today was Midtown High's monthly exam day.
Harry had returned to school. Because he was wearing a prosthetic arm with a synthetic outer layer, and because Oscorp's secrecy measures were airtight, no one besides Peter, Gwen, and M.J. had the slightest idea that Harry had already lost an arm.
And while the prosthetic had been awkward at first, once he got used to using it, it became much easier. For example, when gaming, his control had been rough in the beginning, but after mastering the prosthetic, his moves were absurdly sharp, even better than before he lost the arm.
The sensors in the prosthetic were just that responsive.
"Peter, you've spent this whole week with me. You're not going to crash and burn on the monthly exam, right?"
Harry looked at Peter, who at seventeen already looked like a worn-out middle-aged man with stubble, and asked with concern.
"I already learned all that stuff ages ago. It'll be fine."
"Good. Then I'll probably get a good score this time too."
That was Harry for you.
Even in a situation like this, he was still thinking about how Peter was going to help him cheat.
Still, that was fine too. As long as Harry could stay upbeat, Peter did not care what form it took. Better that than watching him bottle everything up until he broke.
"Is that... Peter?! Oh my God, I can't believe it..."
M.J. looked at Peter in surprise. Over the past week, the guy had practically been changing by the day.
They had only gone two days without seeing each other, and somehow his beard had grown a lot more and he looked even thinner.
She had almost failed to recognize him.
One thing worth mentioning was that she and Harry had finally made things official. Harry had even shown off about it to Peter and had been encouraging Peter to hurry up and make a move on Gwen.
But after remembering that slap, Peter had decided it would be better to spend a little more time building up the relationship. That girl clearly had violent tendencies, and he had to fix that problem first.
Anyway, it had already been eight years.
A little more time would not hurt.
"Peter, you actually look pretty handsome like this."
At some point, Gwen had appeared on Peter's left side with her backpack over one shoulder. The dreamy look in her eyes was impossible to hide, though she quickly masked it with a playful smile.
"You're not planning to go for a rugged older-man image so you can charm middle school girls, are you?"
"To charm you, obviously."
Peter shot her a look. He was increasingly convinced Gwen was exactly the type to say one thing and mean another. At some point, he was probably going to have to just say certain things directly, because otherwise she would keep dodging around them.
"Y-you've got issues! I... I'm not talking to you anymore..."
Even though her eyes were smiling like flowers in bloom, Gwen still forced herself to put on an annoyed expression and turned her head away from Peter.
Harry gave him a thumbs-up.
"Bro. That was smooth."
"Basic skills. No need to worship me."
...
This was a mysterious and extraordinary place.
From the outside it looked ordinary, but inside it contained an entire hidden world.
You entered the building, stepped into the elevator, entered a coded number, and instead of rising upward, the elevator plunged rapidly downward. When it finally reached the bottom, the doors slowly opened...
The underground complex contained countless pieces of technology far ahead of their time, along with endless rows of men and women in matching uniforms operating computers.
On the main screen appeared a profile.
The photo was of Flash Thompson, along with his basic data and mutant information.
This was a mutant training facility, an organization secretly built by Stark Industries.
The Defenders Alliance.
In this universe, the Defenders Alliance had been founded jointly by Doctor Strange, Stephen Strange, Hulk, Bruce Banner, Captain Carter, Peggy Carter, Captain America, Steve Rogers, and Iron Man, Tony Stark.
Its purpose was to fight terrorists, out-of-control mutants, and all kinds of cosmic threats that endangered Earth.
At the same time, it existed to train promising mutants to protect public safety and face future threats.
This was the justice organization of Earth-65.
It resembled the equivalent group in another Marvel universe, but was also completely different, because even when the same organizations existed, the course of the world had changed dramatically.
For example, this universe had no Captain America in the traditional sense.
Instead, Captain Carter had appeared.
And Steve Rogers held the rank of Captain. He had also taken the Super-Soldier Serum, and by chance had gained a mutant ability as well, allowing him to fight Hydra even more effectively.
One detail worth mentioning was that in this world, Captain Carter and Captain Rogers were married.
As for Iron Man, there was not much difference from other universes. Before all this, he really had been a carefree playboy. But once he learned that his father had been a founding member of S.H.I.E.L.D., he chose without hesitation to create his own justice organization. That led to the early birth of Iron Man, and his armor was forged from a super-alloy made of 30% Uru metal, 30% Adamantium, 30% Wakandan Vibranium, and 10% cosmic cloud iron. Its defensive capability was astonishing, and its output power could be amplified without limit.
Doctor Strange was not much different from his counterparts in other universes. Before becoming a sorcerer, Stephen had been a doctor. An accident left him unable to operate, and after that he began studying magic. Despite starting out at the bottom, he ultimately became the Sorcerer Supreme. The difference was that in this universe, he possessed a dark grimoire filled with forbidden spells, though no one had ever seen him use it.
Hulk was as hot-tempered as ever, except Banner was firmly in control. In simple terms, there was nothing scarier than a powerhouse who also had brains. He was an indispensable member of the organization.
Inside the Defenders base conference room, the group sat around the table screening promising mutants who had appeared this year.
Flash happened to be among them.
A few days ago, they had secured Flash's release and decided to train him.
"This year's crop of young people looks pretty good, but it seems we missed two especially promising ones."
Tony tapped the table lightly, then slid two photos into the center.
"Spider-Man and Spider-Woman? I have no issue with Spider-Woman, but I don't like that Spider-Man at all. He's too ruthless and too brutal. He's not suited to being a proper defender."
Sitting beside Carter, Steve looked at Peter's photo, the one showing him swinging on webbing, and his tone was openly dismissive. Then he added in a lower voice,
"Two pajama babies..."
"I already worked out Spider-Woman's identity long ago. But that Spider-Man really is unusual. Even my magic can't figure out who he is. Tony, what does JARVIS say?"
Stephen turned the ring on his finger thoughtfully. Under normal circumstances, he could see clearly through the world. But Peter's arrival had made the whole world harder and harder for him to read. The fate of this world was changing every day because of him. That was not necessarily bad, but it was not necessarily good either.
"If even you can't work him out, Doctor Strange, then JARVIS definitely can't. Still, I think that black-and-red Spider-Man is someone we should focus on training. Hulk, what do you think? Actually, wait. Why are you wearing floral shorts? What happened to your usual pair?"
Tony's question made Hulk, who had already been in a bad mood for days, even more irritated.
He had no idea which bastard had stolen his shorts. It had happened while he was in the shower, forcing him to wear a loose pair of floral shorts instead. The old pair had been with him for a long time, and ever since losing them, he had not even been able to sleep properly.
"Some thief stole them while Hulk was showering. If Hulk finds out who did it, Hulk is absolutely going to smash him."
Hulk's face was practically turning green with anger. He was genuinely furious.
"I lost something too."
"Oh my God. Doctor, you lost your shorts too?" Carter asked in confusion.
After all the years she had known him, she had never realized he shared that particular hobby with Hulk.
"What shorts? I lost a scalpel. Christine gave it to me. Her name was engraved on it. The strange part is, I can't trace the thief at all. It's as if it simply vanished into thin air..."
As he spoke, Stephen's voice softened noticeably.
"You mean Christine, the one you broke up with but still can't quite let go of? So you really are that sentimental."
The playboy Tony could not resist poking at him.
"Ever since I became Sorcerer Supreme, I've known the two of us were probably impossible. I calculated eighty-five possible outcomes, and all eighty-five ended in separation. I don't think I'll ever touch another relationship in this life."
"You're New York's number one hopeless romantic," Hulk cut in mercilessly.
What Strange knew, however, was that his dark grimoire contained a forbidden spell that could temporarily let him possess one of his parallel selves. He had been hesitating about whether to learn it.
He wanted to see whether another version of himself, somewhere, had actually ended up with her.
"Enough of that, everyone. I have a bad feeling. I think our universe is about to face a disaster, one unlike anything before. We need to prepare as fast as possible."
Stephen's tone turned grave, and the Sorcerer's ring on his hand began to glow with a strange light.
(End of Chapter)
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