"You must understand, as the first Spider-Totem, I've witnessed countless Spider-Totems, and many of them were named Peter Parker," Anansi's voice said, as some of Peter's memories gradually faded. "So I find it very strange that you are so unique."
"I..."
Peter found himself forgetting everything about that matter. He knew he had gone through it, but he had forgotten what choice he made.
"Is your uniqueness because you know the future?"
Peter unconsciously retorted, "Don't you know?"
"No, I can't see your memories. I can only see the story."
Everything returned to normal. Peter remembered he was there to participate in an underground boxing match. However, he couldn't remember why.
But since he was there, he participated dutifully and left with his winnings. Just then, he heard a woman's cry for help.
"That man's a thief! Stop him!"
Peter looked at the person running toward him. The person seemed to be holding a gun. He looked around, picked up a beer bottle from a trash can, and threw it. The aim was perfect, and the bottle hit the person's head with just the right amount of force.
"Did you really have to help like that?!"
The woman morphed into Anansi. She walked over to the unconscious robber. "Did you have to take this guy down? To show how different you are from all the other Peter Parkers, huh?"
At that moment, Peter's memories came back. He kindly offered a suggestion.
"How about you get rid of the bottle?"
The problem wasn't the bottle! Would you be willing to not find something else to stop this guy, and let Ben Parker die just like the other Ben Parkers in other universes? The moment you got your spider powers, this scene was destined to happen!
Anansi thought about it and suddenly laughed. The next second, Peter lost his memory again, finding himself in a police station because the bottle he threw had cracked someone's head open. In the end, he was acquitted by the jury.
"But you killed a man. He died because of you. You can never forget that the power you wield can easily kill people..."
Anansi's whispers gradually merged with the world. Peter experienced a robbery again, just like the last time.
But his hands were trembling. He thought of the robber he had accidentally killed. So, he chose to use his modified web-shooters to trap the robber.
Suddenly, Peter appeared on a street. He failed to stop Knull. Knull was consumed by flames, but Peter could only hold Gwen's bones. He threw the Spider-Man suit into a trash can.
Anansi smiled happily, but in an instant, Peter Parker sprinted back, picked up the suit, and hastily put it on—because a new crime had happened outside, and someone else needed his help. He couldn't bear to watch a second person die in front of him.
Anansi let out an angry curse. "Damn!"
He began to write a new story. Next was Cindy. Peter arrived too late, and she was killed by the Scorpion. Next was MJ, who was crushed into a bloody pulp by a car. The next was Felicia, who died in a Hydra base. Time and time again, Peter Parker would throw away the suit. But time and time again, when he witnessed another life about to be lost, Peter Parker would act, returning and putting on the suit again.
"Damn! Damn! Damn!"
Anansi appeared in front of Peter. He stood there like a normal person, begging Peter.
"Can you please want something? Do you want women? I can get you every girl you've ever met. Do you want to be the master of the world? I can give you world after world! Do you even want me dead?"
Peter grabbed Anansi by the throat. "I'm right here."
Peter broke Anansi's neck and tossed him aside, but nothing happened.
"But can you please not run off to save someone just because you think Spider-Man is needed?!"
Peter looked at Anansi seriously and shook his head. "I never thought the world needed Spider-Man."
Anansi shook his head helplessly. "Then what the hell are you doing?!"
"Making myself feel better? Because their deaths won't be my responsibility. I did the best I could."
Anansi took a deep breath, but then he suddenly thought of something. He laughed, and Peter's memories dissipated once more. He looked around blankly, finding that his leg was broken, and he was walking down the street with a cane. Not far away, superheroes were fighting, but he was just an ordinary person with no superpowers.
In that case, I shouldn't interfere with the superheroes' battle.
Peter thought to himself, watching the Avengers fight their enemy. The enemy seemed to have gone mad; Magneto even killed his own daughter to give the Absorbing Man more power. But Peter couldn't get involved. He didn't have any superpowers.
"Yah-hah!"
A cane struck the Absorbing Man's leg. Thor, who had been badly beaten, saw this and urgently shouted, "Stand back! Mortal!"
Peter didn't say anything. He just raised his cane and hit the Absorbing Man's leg again. He lifted Mjolnir, shattered all the illusions, and turned everything back into a normal platform. Only Anansi was left, sitting on a stone stool, sighing helplessly.
"It was all an illusion?"
"My illusions couldn't make you lose your memory. I was just re-enacting and adapting stories. But it's a shame; I can't guide the protagonist's thoughts."
Anansi sighed again. "You... this is why I hate heroes. The Legion won't even try to recruit heroes. You're like a rock in a latrine—smelly and hard."
"Or, you could choose to kill me." Anansi laughed. "Fine," he gestured to Peter. "Put down your hammer, throw it aside, and revoke your powers as Thor. I can kill you right now."
Peter looked at Anansi, and the two seemed to be at a stalemate. But then, to Anansi's surprise, Peter offered a solution. "Perhaps we can solve this problem another way."
"What?"
"Let's make a bet, and we'll write this bet as a story."
Anansi was intrigued. "What do we bet?"
"If I win, you and your Legion can never enter this universe. If I lose, I'll revoke my powers as Thor." Peter looked at Anansi and laid out his condition. "But the bet must meet one of my requirements."
Anansi closed his eyes. He knew that the current Peter also had godlike power. "Fine, what is your requirement?"
"Let's start the bet first."
A moment later, the two were sitting at a card table. Before the cards were revealed, Peter finally stated his requirement.
"I demand that the location of the bet be at my timeline's East University."
Though confused, Anansi placed the story in the requested setting. "And then?"
"Then, the story goes like this: Two men are gambling, and then—"
Peter swung Mjolnir at Anansi's head. And the contract of the gods was, at that moment, invalid, which was far beyond Anansi's understanding. He was defeated by the very logic of the story he created himself!
"They were arrested because, in this country, gambling is illegal!"
Mjolnir struck the God of Lies in the head, sending him flying once more.