The Spider-Men looked at one another, their grief slowly shifting into a silence none of them could quite put into words.
Gwen gave a soft chuckle, taking a small step back, her hands folding loosely behind her in a girlish manner.
"Well, I can't say I understand the sorrow of you Spider-Men who are about to hit middle age," she teased gently. "But everything will get better, right, Spider-Men?"
"Exactly. Things will get better," Holland's Spider-Man said with a nod, though his eyes carried a trace of sadness. He quickly added, "But for the record, I'm not middle-aged. Those two are. I'm about to start college."
Toby's Spider-Man and Garfield's Spider-Man exchanged a knowing look before shrugging and smiling faintly.
The moment of calm didn't last long.
The Ragged Spider suddenly spoke up, his voice filled with pain. "Everyone… I'm Peter Parker too. I'm from Earth-616. I also lost Uncle Ben… and Dr. Connors… and Harry… and Gwen…" His voice broke as the names spilled out, too many to list in one breath.
"Wait, did you just say 616? No suffix, no alternate designation—just Earth-616?" Malrick asked, surprised.
"That's right. Just 616. Is there a problem?" Ragged Spider tilted his head.
Malrick's eyes narrowed as he focused, activating his X-ray vision and scanning him carefully. "No problem," he muttered. "I just didn't expect you to be from the true Main Universe… That makes you the Peter Parker of the Prime Marvel reality."
The realization hung heavy in the air.
Earth-616 was no ordinary world. It was the foundation of Marvel's Multiverse, the original and central timeline of the comics. The Spider-Man of that universe wasn't just another variant—he was the strongest of them all. No matter the challenge, he had endured. No matter the loss, he had risen again. He was the one Spider-Man who could never truly be broken.
During the events of Secret Wars, he had even wielded the power of the Beyonder itself, briefly becoming the Beyonder Spider-Man, capable of reshaping the entire Multiverse with a single thought.
"What?! The Main Universe Spider-Man?!" Before Malrick could say more, Deadpool sprang up from where he had been lying, bouncing to his feet like a coiled spring. His eyes widened behind his mask, and his voice cracked with hysteria.
"You're that Spider-Man! The most iconic, the most beloved, the sexiest Spider-Man with the most perfect little butt!"
Deadpool clasped his hands over his masked face and began squealing like a fangirl, his hips wiggling in an exaggerated, catlike sway. "Oh! My! God! Peter! You're my Peter! My favorite Peter of them all!"
Before anyone could stop him, Deadpool lunged at Earth-616 Spider-Man, arms wide as if to embrace his destiny.
"Damn it," 616 Spider-Man muttered, sidestepping him with practiced ease. He flicked his wrist and a stream of webbing shot out, pinning Deadpool against the nearest wall before he could get close.
"Listen carefully, Deadpool," 616 Spider-Man warned, glaring at him. "If you try hugging me again—or say anything about Deadpool swords, Spider-eggs, or whatever insane nonsense you've got going on—I'll web your mouth shut and shoot your head into your own underwear."
Deadpool froze for only half a second before shouting, muffled and dramatic, "Oh my God! Do it! Please! But the back or the front? I think the back is—"
Thwip!
Spider-Man cut him off by sealing his mouth shut with another well-aimed shot of webbing. He didn't even blink while doing it. Clearly, this wasn't his first time handling Deadpool.
The other Spider-Men stood stunned. They thought they'd seen Deadpool at his most outrageous before, but this was on another level entirely.
"Uh… he's not gonna die like that, right?" Shadow Spider asked, pulling his pistol free just in case.
"No, no, he's fine," Penny Parker said quickly, her face red from Deadpool's words.
Even Garfield's Spider-Man couldn't stomach it anymore. He and Holland's Spider-Man exchanged a look, then crouched down together and began tossing little chunks of rubble at Deadpool.
Deadpool, of course, seemed to enjoy the punishment. Muffled laughter echoed from beneath the webbing on his mouth.
Malrick simply shook his head. He was used to this. Deadpool wasn't exactly a villain, nor was he a true hero. He was chaos incarnate—reckless, infuriating, yet somehow loyal to the people he cared about. Chaotic good, if one had to label him. His powers of regeneration, mixed with his tendency to break the fourth wall, made him one of Marvel's strangest wild cards.
Turning back to Malrick, 616 Spider-Man spoke in a calmer tone. "You seem to know a lot about me. May I ask if you know how to defeat Morlun and the rest of the Inheritors?"
"I know a little," Malrick admitted with a nod. "Their weakness is nuclear radiation. It can kill them. But be careful—Solus, the father of the Inheritors, is terrifyingly powerful. He has the strength to destroy entire universes. Don't rush into anything."
"Destroy universes…" Spider-Man's voice faltered. "Then I need to speak with Captain Britain Spider-Man immediately."
Malrick's brow furrowed. "Tell me, have your universes started colliding with others recently?"
"Colliding?" 616 Spider-Man asked, puzzled. "I haven't heard Tony or Steve mention anything like that."
"I see…" Malrick muttered to himself. That meant this timeline was still earlier than the one he remembered.
Before the thought could linger, 616 Spider-Man rallied the group. "You've all seen the kind of monsters we're up against. To avoid drawing them here, we need to restart the particle collider as soon as possible."
The others looked around the half-collapsed lab. Only one of the collider's massive generators remained intact. Rebuilding it would take months. Their faces fell.
"Well, maybe we can figure something out tomorrow. You can all crash at my place tonight," Miles offered. "Aunt May will be glad to have you. Oh, and she knows I'm Spider-Man."
"She knows? You actually told her?" Gwen gasped.
"Not exactly. She kind of figured it out herself."
"Then… did it cause any problems?" Gwen asked cautiously.
"Not really," Miles admitted.
"Sometimes it's not that simple," Holland's Spider-Man said, lowering his eyes. "My Aunt May knew too… and I still lost her."
The room grew heavy with silence.
Finally, Malrick raised his voice. "Before you all run off to hide out, why don't I just fix the collider myself?"
All eyes turned toward him.
"We can fix it?" 616 Spider-Man asked, doubtful.
"I don't mean 'we' can fix it," Malrick clarified, lifting his hand toward the broken machinery. "I mean, I can."
Golden magic light pulsed from his palm, spreading across the ruins like liquid sunlight. The collapsed machinery began to rattle and shift, fragments rising into the air as if drawn by invisible strings.
"Reparo," Malrick whispered, channeling the spell.
The collider began knitting itself back together piece by piece.
_____
Read chapters in advance on patreon.com/Zphyr_