But did the Ultimate Universe ever experience an incursion of other-universe Spider-Men? Peter glanced at the stunned Spider-Man Noir standing beside him, confused. However, he quickly recovered and decided to share the information he knew with Noir. At a moment concerning their very survival, sharing information was paramount. Furthermore, he trusted that a Spider-Man wouldn't break down over something like this, given that the Multiverse concept was established in Marvel. The only difference here was that this "parallel universe" had become physically accessible to them.
As expected, Spider-Man Noir was only shocked: "You mean, in your universe, there are films and games about this world's Spider-Man and other worlds' Spider-Men?"
Peter nodded. "That's incredible... What about me?" Noir asked expectantly. "Uh..." Peter tried hard to recall, then shook his head. "There are many works about Spider-Man in our world, and I haven't seen them all, so..."
"Fine," Noir shrugged, looking slightly disappointed. "Guess I'm not that famous."
"Hey, man, don't be like that. How about we focus on solving our immediate problem first?" Peter put a reassuring arm around Noir's shoulder. He didn't want the hope of finding a way home to vanish. Moreover, for some reason, he felt an immediate kinship with Spider-Man Noir, as if they were meant to be together.
"You're right," Noir nodded. "Speaking of which, based on what you said, perhaps we should look for that kid, Miles?"
Peter shook his head: "Miles might be hard to find, as that name is common. I was thinking, why don't we look for Aunt May?"
"Aunt May?"
"You're right, even though we're from different worlds, you're still Peter, so you should know where Aunt May lives, right?" Peter suggested. Spider-Man Noir considered this for a moment, then nodded: "That's true, but my era and this one are vastly different environments." "It's the only solid lead we have, isn't it?" Peter shrugged. "Alright, you have a point," Noir conceded.
The two stopped procrastinating and walked away from the street. On the screen nearby, the report on the death of Peter Parker, "Spider-Man," continued. "My husband, Peter Parker." "He was just an ordinary man." "He always said anyone could be the person behind the mask." "He just happened to be bitten by a spider..."
Both Peter and Spider-Man Noir felt a sense of heavy sadness.
They soon arrived in Queens, in front of a detached house with a yard—it proved that even across different universes, Peter Parker is Peter Parker; certain things remain constant. "If I'm not mistaken, this should be the place..." Spider-Man Noir stated. Peter scanned the area, nodded, and confirmed: "This is it. Look, there are messages and gifts from fans over there..." The picket fence was adorned with hanging gifts, bouquets of flowers, and notes reading things like: "To our beloved Spider-Man," "Our forever friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," and "Dear Peter, the Spider-Man."
"Well, this is definitely the place..." Noir shrugged, his own mood sinking.
"You go ring the doorbell." "You go. You're Peter." "You're also a Peter. You go." "But I'm the one from Earth-616." "Earth-616, Earth-90214, what's the difference?" "In the old style, I'm the senior Peter..." "Buddy, judging by the number of excuses you're making, we are definitely the same kind! #%...!"
As the two were pushing each other, trying to decide who should ring the doorbell, their bodies suddenly felt a violent, wrenching sensation simultaneously. Peter involuntarily fell to the ground, the intense pain making him feel like his atoms were being pulled apart. It felt like someone was smashing a heavy hammer into his chest, except the hammer hit... well, somewhere much worse.
This sudden condition was as quick to arrive as it was to leave. A few seconds later, they both sighed in relief and stood back up.
"What just happened to us?" Spider-Man Noir asked, still shaken. Peter pondered for a moment: "We know we traveled from our respective universes to this parallel universe due to some kind of forced Quantum Collapse event. The quantum signature carried by our bodies, originating from other worlds, is obviously incompatible with the fundamental quantum state of this universe..."
"Stop!" Noir quickly raised a hand to cut off Peter's scientific analysis. "Just tell me the consequences."
"We will die!" Peter stated firmly. "If we don't return to our respective timelines within a certain amount of time, our foreign quantum signatures will be crushed by this universe's inherent quantum state, leading to a complete collapse and our total disappearance!"
Spider-Man Noir visibly shuddered. He instantly darted to the doorbell and pressed it repeatedly.
"Aunt May! Aunt May—"
"Who is it? It's the middle of the night... I'm not accepting any fan visits right now..." The lights inside the house quickly turned on, and a slightly aged voice called out.
The door opened, revealing a figure. It was an elderly woman holding a baseball bat, her face looking quite worn—which was understandable, given that her nephew, who was like a son to her, had just passed away. How could she not be heartbroken, burying her "son"?
"Uh..." Peter looked at Aunt May, then at Spider-Man Noir, and decisively stepped forward, quickly pulling off Noir's fedora.
"What are you doing?" Noir asked, confused. "Can you bear to look at her suffering? Besides, how else are we going to get inside?" Peter explained.
"I get it," Noir instantly understood, then reached up and removed his mask. Under the mask was the rugged, chiseled face of a middle-aged man. Compared to the Peter Parker whose photo was on the screen, he looked much more weathered. However, anyone could see the extremely high degree of similarity between the two faces.
Aunt May was clearly not face-blind. Clang! The baseball bat fell to the ground and rolled down the steps. But no one noticed the forgotten bat. Aunt May was trembling with emotion: "Pe... Peter!"
Spider-Man Noir clearly wasn't used to smiling, but he managed to force one: "Hi, Aunt May. I'm Peter, but... I'm not this world's Peter..."
Aunt May walked right up to him, examining him as she spoke: "I know. You are Peter from another time and space."
"Huh?" × 2