"All done."
Peter returned with the USB drive, just in time to see Gwen tying the thugs together like a bunch of crabs.
"The particle collider linked a total of six universes... Hmm? There's one here too?"
He also spotted Miles. With a flick of his wrist, he shot a web strand, ripping away the cover Miles had been hiding behind and exposing the young Black man to everyone's view.
Miles instantly threw his hands up in a panic. His surrender was so swift it practically proved he had French ancestry.
"French Spider-Man,"
Gwen said without missing a beat.
"What? No, my dad's African American, my mom's Puerto Rican, and I'm Brooklyn-born."
Miles immediately rattled off his background like a machine gun. At the same time, his eyes couldn't help but steal glances at Gwen, clearly terrified that she might mistake him for a villain and rough him up with the rest of them.
"Oh, I'm from Queens," Peter replied politely.
Meanwhile, the bound Prowler called out Miles' name in surprise.
"Miles?!"
"What are you doing here?"
Miles froze. "That voice... Uncle Aaron?"
Even though the Prowler was still wearing his mask, Miles instantly recognized his uncle's voice.
In that instant, he forgot all about his fear. He stumbled toward the Prowler and, with trembling hands, pulled off the metal helmet.
And beneath the mask was, sure enough, his uncle.
"Uncle Aaron!" As if struck by a heavy blow, Miles dropped the helmet. He stumbled back half a step, his entire body swaying.
He never could have imagined that the uncle he idolized was actually a villain working against the very heroes he looked up to.
The idealized image he had of his uncle shattered in an instant, and the blow was devastating.
Peter scratched his head. "What, you guys know each other?"
Then, as if realizing something, he added, "Wait, you're not from another universe?"
"To think that besides me, there's actually another Spider-Man in this universe."
Peter had assumed Miles was one of the Spider-Men from the other universes, but that clearly wasn't the case.
Looking at Miles, he seemed quite young, which reminded Peter of his own early days right after getting his powers.
His gaze drifted to Aaron, then he walked over to Miles and spoke earnestly.
"Kid, I know this is hard to process right now. But look on the bright side—at least your uncle is still alive."
Miles: ...
Miles thought about Uncle Ben's fate in the Spider-Man comics and was instantly left speechless.
He looked up at Peter and asked with concern, "What are you going to do with them?"
Although Uncle Aaron's true identity left Miles feeling disappointed and lost, at the end of the day, the man was still his uncle. Their bond might not have been quite like father and son, but it was deep.
He couldn't just stand by and watch Aaron actually die like Spider-Man's uncle did.
"Send them to prison," Peter said.
That was Spider-Man for you.
Even though these villains had been opposing him for over ten years, sending them to prison was the only thing Peter could think of.
Bant didn't say anything.
After all, this universe's Peter was a grown man; he knew how to take responsibility for his actions.
In fact, in the original storyline, Peter had already prepared the program during his investigation. Had Miles not suddenly barged in, blond Peter alone had the capability to stop the collider crisis.
Now this universe had two Spider-Men. Once Miles was trained, these crooks wouldn't be able to cause much trouble anymore.
"Alright..."
Miles knew he was in no position to ask Peter to let his uncle go, so he could only remain silent.
Peter patted his shoulder. "Don't worry. As long as he genuinely repents, I'm sure he'll have a chance at a reduced sentence."
With that, blond Peter looked at Gwen—or more accurately, at Bant residing on her.
"Kid Bant, what about the particle collider?"
"If we destroy it by brute force, I'm afraid it'll affect Brooklyn's foundation and cause the ground to collapse."
"Don't worry."
A gooey face peeked out from over Gwen's shoulder.
"Did you forget we still need it to get back home?"
Bant's sudden appearance clearly startled Miles.
"What the hell kind of monster is this!" The kid leaped several meters into the air like an ape, his head smacking right into the ceiling.
"Monster? How rude!"
Bant shot him a glare before dismissing Miles entirely.
He reminded Gwen in their mental space: "Get dressed, I'm about to change back."
Hearing this, Gwen hastily activated her nano-suit.
Bant was one thing, but she absolutely couldn't let anyone else see her looking so exposed.
Once he confirmed Gwen was dressed, Ultra Bant peeled himself off her like a receding tide. Under Miles' astonished gaze, he transformed into a creature that was primarily black with green stripes, looking like a hybrid of a circuit board and an amoeba.
"And this is?" Peter asked.
"A Morphalian. It can possess machinery."
"Before all the Spider-Men from the other universes gather here, I plan to study its structure first. Don't worry, it'll be quick."
The emblem on the Morphalian's forehead blinked, emitting a sound.
"I can upgrade the mechanical structure, or destroy it."
"I have a question," Peter raised his hand. "If this Morphalian is so powerful, why didn't you just have it possess the particle collider from the start? Why go through all the trouble?"
"It's not that simple," Bant shook his head. "When the particle collider fires up, the intense energy pulses make it impossible for me to get close."
In fact, electronic pulses were one of the Morphalian's weaknesses.
This machine-possessing ability wasn't entirely foolproof.
"Any other questions?" Bant asked.
Peter nodded, his face dead serious. "Why do you smell like seafood? Is that just a natural scent of this cosmic creature?"
Bant: ???
You'll have to ask Gwen about that one.
Right, Miss Gwen, getting all wet while fighting?
Bant turned his head toward Gwen. Gwen was so mortified that simply covering her face with her mask wasn't enough; she yanked her hood up, wishing she could retract her head straight into her chest.
"It's a bit stuffy in here. I'm going to step outside for some air."
Gwen fled the scene, and in the end, no one answered Peter's question.
Afterward, Peter hauled Kingpin and his goons off to prison. He told Miles to head home first, promising to train him later, while Bant arranged to meet up with Peter in Queens.
Meanwhile, Bant surged toward the particle collider.
The instant the Morphalian latched onto the collider, its ability completely parsed the structure of the massive, building-sized machine.
If he wanted to, he could instantly accomplish what Doc Ock had failed to do: stabilizing the machine.
However, overusing the thing would still make multiverse collisions inevitable.
After all, the particle collider essentially used brute force to directly shatter the barriers of the multiverse to achieve traversal.
After analyzing the structure, Bant reverted to his normal form.
"Using it to traverse the multiverse is still a bit risky. It needs optimization, but if we only use it within a single universe, there's nothing to worry about."
Bant pinched his chin in thought.
Wasn't this exactly the teleportation device he'd been looking for?
He'd just obtained the Space Stone later on, so he hadn't bothered to look into it further.
And now, it was delivered right to his doorstep.
——
"So... that's the whole story?"
Aunt May's house, underground lab base.
A day after resolving the collider crisis.
Several Spider-Men had gathered together, having just listened to Peter's explanation.
Spider-Man Noir, hailing from an earlier era, was fascinated by this vibrant, colorful world. The other one brimming with curiosity was Spider-Ham.
"Where the hell did I end up?"
"So many hairless monkeys..."
Peni Parker stared at Spider-Ham in amazement. "I never would've thought a pig could be Spider-Man."
Peter Porker tilted his head back and glared at her, clearly offended. "First of all, I'm a spider. Second of all, you pilot a spider-robot. What right do you have to call me weird?"
The group bickered animatedly amongst themselves. Gwen sat on top of a computer desk, her slender legs crossed, while Aunt May watched the scene in sheer astonishment.
Of course, what shocked her the most was the guy in the group wearing the classic suit.
He had brown hair and a face nearly identical to blond Peter's.
If not for the fact that he looked far more haggard, had a face full of stubble, and despite seemingly trying his best to suck his gut in, his beer belly—which looked nine months pregnant—was still incredibly conspicuous.
Aunt May almost thought this was her nephew who had dyed his hair.
And of course, Peter B. Parker was her nephew.
He shared a similar past with blond Peter, except everything in his life had spiraled toward different, worse outcomes.
Blond Peter was successful in everything, living a blissful life, whereas he had accomplished nothing—like a dark, funhouse mirror reflection.
Seemingly noticing Aunt May's gaze, Peter hiked up the long johns he was wearing over his suit and forced a smile.
But the more he tried to play it off, the more Aunt May's heart ached for him.
"You look like you've been through a lot, haven't you, Peter?"
She walked over to Long-Johns Peter. Cradling his face in her hands as if he were still a growing boy, she pulled him into a hug.
"Life hasn't been easy, has it?"
That was the final straw. Long-Johns Peter completely broke down.
Middle-aged, a failure, having lost Mary Jane, and with his own Aunt May long gone... Peter had made a complete mess of his life.
And standing before Aunt May, every facade he'd built crumbled.
"Compared to him, I feel like I'm doing alright,"
Gwen whispered to Bant.
After all, Long-Johns Peter's life was just that pathetic.
"Don't worry."
"Didn't I tell you? Meeting me guarantees your luck will turn around," Bant said, gently squeezing her hand to comfort her. "Wanna go for a walk outside?"
A few minutes later, the two found themselves back on the rooftop of the Williamsburg Bank Building.
"I don't know what to do."
Gazing out at the inverted city, Gwen let out a long sigh. Whenever she thought about her relationship with her dad back in her own universe, a wave of frustration washed over her.
Thankfully, things were better now than they had been.
Back then, she had been completely consumed by Peter's death, her entire being shrouded in a dark depression.
But now, at the very least, she had found something else to cherish.
Gwen looked at Bant, her eyes brimming with deep affection.
"I think you should just come clean to your dad about everything," Bant said. "He might be a little lost at first, just like Miles was when he found out his uncle was the Prowler, but I believe he'll come around."
"Really?"
Gwen wasn't so sure.
She thought of her dad as an incredibly strict cop, completely impartial and incorruptible.
"I feel like he'd arrest me on the spot. He might even shoot me."
Bant nodded. "You know, secrets always come with a price. If he were to discover this without any warning, it's definitely not impossible."
"But if you take the initiative to tell him the truth, giving him time to process it, he'll believe you."
"He might not believe Ghost-Spider, but he will believe his lovely daughter, Gwen Stacy."
Just like in the movie, George Stacy ultimately gave up the chance for a promotion to Captain for Gwen's sake, choosing to believe that she wasn't the one who killed Peter.
"Alright, I'll give it a try," Gwen said hesitantly.
"But if my dad still refuses to believe me and insists on arresting me, I'll be homeless. You'll have to take responsibility!"
Gwen reached out and punched Bant's arm, teasing him.
But Bant just nodded seriously. He held her hand and said:
"Don't worry, I'll find you."
And right at that moment, a wisp of pink light began to bloom from their clasped palms.
"What is this?"
Gwen raised her hand in surprise.
A white-pink speck of light drifted upward slowly, like a dandelion seed.
"Heavenly Energy."
Bant was equally surprised that his Heavenly Energy had awakened at this exact moment.
But truthfully, he had been practicing magic for quite some time now. If he hadn't been deliberately suppressing the magical forces from other dimensions, he would have crossed the threshold to become a true mage ages ago.
Because of that, it wasn't really a surprise as to when his Heavenly Energy awakened.
"This is a Heavenly Energy seed. With it, anyone can master Heavenly Energy."
Bant gave Gwen a brief explanation of what Heavenly Energy was.
"It's a form of life energy. It can be used to power magic, or you can just use it as pure energy to blast your enemies."
"Life energy? Doesn't that mean anyone can awaken it? Can I do it too?"
Gwen asked, astonished.
"Not before, but things are different now."
Bant smiled faintly.
After awakening his Heavenly Energy, he could scatter the seeds. For anyone who received them, the energy would take root and begin to sprout inside their body.
Since Gwen had been there to witness his awakening, Bant decided to let her be the first to receive a seed.
Of course, that was entirely up to Gwen.
"Gwen, do you want to receive a Heavenly Energy seed?"
Gwen's eyes grew hazy. She gripped Bant's hand, pulling it against her chest, and whispered,
"What I want... is more than just a Heavenly Energy seed..."
Bant: ???
/-\
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