"So... you guys are Spider-Men too?" Peni Parker asked, astonished. Her SP//dr mech conveniently displayed an amazed "Σ(⊙▽⊙ "a"" face on its screen.
Aunt May's living room was now completely packed. This was because three new Spider-People had just arrived: First was Gwen Stacy (Spider-Woman / Ghost-Spider), in her sleek black, white, and red uniform; Next was a middle-aged, slightly overweight Spider-Man with a noticeable paunch, wearing a classic red-and-blue suit with sweatpants—Peter B. Parker (the official designation for the tired, main-universe Peter); And finally, the second generation hero of this universe—Miles Morales (The Ultimate Spider-Man), the 'Dark-Suit Spidey.'
"Emmm... yeah, I didn't expect to have so many counterparts. Honestly, I'm pretty surprised," Middle-aged Peter (Peter B. Parker) said.
Peter (Earth-616) quietly observed the three newcomers. He was highly surprised to see them. Miles Morales was an obvious presence—the future protagonist and heir to the Spider-Man mantle in this world. Peter had even played a game featuring a version of him. As for the middle-aged Peter, he was actually from Earth-616, the main Marvel Universe! (Peter immediately recognized the character from the comic continuity, even if this version looked worse for wear.)
He had, however, reached middle age, and having suffered a series of devastating personal blows, he had become lethargic and entirely consumed by middle-aged malaise. Moreover, the term "Main Universe" was debatable. Peter (Earth-616) knew there were three movie-verse Spider-Men: Raimi-Spidey, Amazing-Spidey, and MCU-Spidey. Theoretically, all three were considered mainline Peters in their own contexts, but this middle-aged Peter looked different from all of them, leaving Peter (Earth-616) uncertain exactly which iteration he was.
Finally, there was Spider-Gwen (Gwen Stacy). She hailed from Earth-65, a world that developed differently from others. In her world, the spider that bit most Peters did not bite Peter Parker; instead, it bit Gwen. Gwen didn't immediately become a superhero; she continued to be the drummer for her band. It was only later, after her classmate, Peter Parker, created a Lizard formula to retaliate against bullies and transformed himself, that tragedy struck. Gwen eventually stopped the Lizard-Peter, but due to a flaw in the serum, Peter died in her arms. After that, she truly embraced the philosophy of "With great power comes great responsibility" and became Spider-Woman.
As the saying goes: Two Spider-Men ≈ five hundred ducks. The chaos of seven Spider-People gathered together was unimaginable.
Fortunately, not all of them were Peters. And among the two Peters present, Spider-Man Noir, though sarcastic, wasn't overly chatty. Middle-Aged Peter (Peter B. Parker) desperately wanted to deploy his second superpower—excessive verbal commentary—but was trying to maintain an adult image for the sake of the kid (Miles Morales).
Thus, after an initially intense discussion, the living room quickly fell silent again. During this time, everyone offered a brief introduction of themselves, completing the initial acquaintance phase. Due to their shared identity, the three newcomers quickly integrated into the growing Spider-Family.
Peter (Earth-616) suddenly had an odd thought. "Seven spiders gathered together—isn't this just a Spider's Den?"
The arrival of the three not only increased the population of the Spider's Den... ahem, the Spider-Family, but also brought good news—they had obtained the data related to the Particle Collider! This was the result of their hard work during the day.
Middle-Aged Peter and Miles Morales had successfully infiltrated Kingpin's laboratory and managed to steal the computer host containing the Particle Collider data from this world's female Doctor Octopus, Dr. Olivia Octavius. Spider-Gwen then helped them successfully escape. This was excellent news for the group, who had been completely stalled!
Furthermore, they learned that Kingpin planned to conduct another Particle Collider experiment in a few days. That moment would be their window to return to their respective universes! In addition, Miles Morales was carrying a "key" needed to destroy the Particle Collider, which he had received from the deceased Peter Parker of this world. Aunt May simply referred to it as "The Gadget." However, the key was currently damaged.
This simplified their next steps considerably. First, they needed to study the collider data on the computer host to repair the key or manufacture a new one. Next, they would take the key to Kingpin's lab and locate the Particle Collider. Finally, when the collider was activated again, they would enter it to return to their worlds, and one person would remain to use the key to destroy the collider.
This was the entire mission plan.
However, the question of who should stay behind to shut down the collider led to immediate disagreement. Theoretically, the most suitable candidate was Miles Morales, as he was native to this universe. But Miles was only a 14-year-old child, and his situation was similar to Peter's (Earth-616): he had been bitten only a few days prior. The slight advantage Miles had was that his powers were already activated, but his combat experience was virtually zero—unless the chase while stealing the data counted. Clearly, none of the experienced heroes present could agree to leave an inexperienced child to face Kingpin and his forces alone.
The next moment, as if speaking in unison, everyone declared: "Let me do it!"
Making this decision required immense courage, as it meant that person would be forever stranded in this strange, foreign universe. No, due to the Quantum Collapse effect... that person would die. A complete and final disappearance in an alien dimension.
Just then, the quantum-induced distortion phenomenon hit everyone simultaneously. They all cried out and collapsed to the floor.
"No, you can't, this isn't right!" Miles looked at the others. "You'll die! None of you can stay! I should be the one to shut down that machine! I'll wait until you've all gone back before I make my move."
The heroes had begun to recover but were silent. Clearly, though they wouldn't say it aloud, they still doubted Miles's ability to handle the task.
Miles insisted: "Listen, I promised him, so... I have to do this." Everyone knew who "him" was, as Miles had explained his bond with the deceased Spider-Man of this world.
Middle-Aged Peter chimed in: "He's right, the kid is pretty talented. He can even go invisible... Quick, show them how you disappear, Miles."
"Emmm..." Miles tried to activate his Camouflage ability. Embarrassingly, after a long moment, nothing happened. "I can't just turn invisible on command yet," Miles admitted sadly.