Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man in the Multiverse

Spider-Man led the Punisher into the base of Avengers Tower, then pressed the top floor button after reaching the main elevator.

As a guest, the Punisher hadn't brought too many weapons, just seven or eight guns and a dozen explosives, but J.A.R.V.I.S. was clearly well-versed, calmly welcoming them inside the elevator.

[Hello, Mr. Spider-Man, Mr. Castle, welcome to Avengers Tower.]

"Avengers Tower, Stark's toy. I never thought I'd come here."

The Punisher muttered, either self-deprecating or mocking Iron Man. Peter, still wearing his mask, nodded: "Yeah, I heard this elevator hasn't been used in ages. Last time was when construction workers took building materials up..."

[In fact, most Avengers use this elevator to go upstairs.]

Peter spread his hands: "I usually just swing straight to the rooftop, so, I only heard that."

The Punisher glanced at Spider-Man, who crossed his arms and fell silent. After the elevator ascended a few floors, he couldn't help but speak again: "Do you ever feel unsafe when you're in an elevator, like it could drop at any moment—"

"Shut up."

"I'm just, a little nervous, phew." The young web-slinger let out a long breath: "Just two people, sitting in an elevator for a minute or two, and saying nothing."

"Can I please ask you to shut up?"

"Sorry."

Peter then fell silent, but he remembered something that happened during the recent fight. He was about to speak but saw the Punisher slightly turn his head, staring at him with a silent gaze, so he closed his mouth.

He'd ask later.

The elevator finally opened on the top five floors of Avengers Tower. Peter stepped out, expertly instructing J.A.R.V.I.S.: "J.A.R.V.I.S., please search for recent missing person cases. Even if Karl King can mimic humans, he still needs to adhere to the law of conservation of mass—though many people seem to disregard that these days, he definitely still needs to consume others to restore the spider swarm's numbers."

"It's useless. This city is full of homeless people and junkies that no one cares about. Your spider friend can easily fill his belly."

The Punisher said this while pulling a bottle of whiskey from under the bar, casually opening it and pouring himself a glass: "As long as he wants to hide, he can hide anytime."

"From what I know of Karl, he won't give up so easily. He might not be able to deal with me immediately, but he'll go after the people around me. Luckily, my family is all out traveling, and he doesn't know where I live. His only option is to go to the school gates tomorrow morning and look for my friends."

Frank's drink hadn't reached his mouth. Hearing this, he paused for a moment, then put the drink down and walked towards Spider-Man: "What's your deal?"

"?"

"A student? Maybe not even a college student, a high schooler? You... you just swing around the city in that outfit, dealing with those gun-toting thugs, and that's fine. And that 'jumping guy' you fought earlier (Shocker), the Chameleon, and now this guy. What are you doing?"

"...Trying to be a friendly neighborhood, helping people out and stuff."

"Is that right?" Frank didn't intend to ask any more questions, he took his drink and sat on the Avengers' sofa: "So how are you going to deal with your friend? By talking him down?"

Of course not by talking him down. Peter pulled out the only spider corpse that hadn't been incinerated after the battle.

"The physical structure of animals dictates their behavior. Karl King's mind needs to control so many spiders simultaneously, and it must rely on something else, like pheromones. I can totally borrow from Hank Pym's research. With proper pheromone inducement, I can force Karl King to follow me."

This wasn't particularly difficult. Peter believed that with J.A.R.V.I.S.'s help, the modulation of this pheromone could be done overnight. The rest would be to ambush the school tomorrow morning, to prevent Karl King from suddenly appearing and harming his friends.

Besides that, of course, there was thermal imaging. There's a difference in average temperature between spiders and the human body, and a creature mimicked by countless spiders would certainly appear different on thermal imaging. This would give Peter enough information to deal with him.

Frank watched the busy Spider-Man, saying nothing more, just lying on the sofa and resting. He had killed many villains and bastards, but he had never killed a whole swarm of spiders.

He hoped he could have a peaceful dream tonight.

Meanwhile, Peter sent the spider into the lab for analysis. He also checked his phone; the screen was already cracked from the past few days of fighting. He sighed, then saw a message from Gwen:

—When are you coming home? I have something to tell you.

"I have something going on tonight; I might be back very late..."

Tonight, Peter most likely wouldn't be able to go home. Even if the possibility was low, he had to monitor any news and be ready to deploy at any moment. No place was better suited for monitoring the entire city of New York than Avengers Tower.

Looking at the risen moon, Peter received another message from Gwen. Gwen said she could wait a little longer. Peter then tried to dissuade Gwen again.

"Doesn't seem urgent; she didn't call me. Phew."

When he walked out of the lab, he heard the Punisher's sharp, muffled snores.

Peter took off his mask, silently staring at the entire map of New York.

Frank Castle rarely dreamt, not since that day.

He seemed to no longer need to dream, as every time he closed his eyes, he could see the horrific sight of his wife and children dying before him, hearing their voices. He could never forget that afternoon, just an ordinary afternoon picnic in Central Park.

If they hadn't encountered the gang shootout, if they hadn't gone on that picnic, nothing would have happened.

But Frank didn't dream of that.

He dreamt of a mother and a daughter. He saw the mother raise a gun, aim it at her own head, and pull the trigger.

Frank Castle awoke. The sky was still dark. He looked up silently, then got up and smelled the aroma of coffee.

He saw Spider-Man, with half his face exposed, drinking coffee.

"Good morning. Want a cup? The Avengers' coffee is pretty good."

The Punisher ignored him, instead taking out his pills and swallowing them with a gulp of water. Spider-Man walked over to him, asking the question he hadn't asked in the elevator.

"When you were dealing with the Chameleon, why did you choose that method? It was as if you had some personal grudge."