Marvel: The Amazing Spider-Man in the Multiverse

Since the battle with the spider swarm ended very early, no one was absent from school today. Even Peter Parker, who had been thoroughly electrocuted, only felt his hair was a bit dry. After all, for Spider-Man, high-voltage electricity was a minor inconvenience.

The most direct impact of the entire battle was evident at lunchtime in the Midtown High cafeteria, where a conspicuous student wearing a cheap Spider-Man cosplay costume gesticulated wildly, bragging about his morning adventure to everyone around him.

"Listen, guys, I met Spider-Man today! And I helped him a lot!"

Peter sat not far off, silently stuffing a spoonful of mashed potatoes into his mouth, sighing. Honestly, even without "Flash" Thompson's timely intervention, it wouldn't have mattered. His contingency plan accounted for the possibility of a dry fire hydrant; for that scenario, the Punisher had already prepared plastic explosives to blow up water tanks in nearby high-rises, letting water cascade down to conduct electricity.

So, Thompson's help wasn't truly essential, but since he was already on the scene, not letting him do something might have led to unpredictable chaos.

"Hey, guys, I saw something amazing."

Amadeus, unusually excited, walked over in a lab coat and a mismatched green T-shirt: "You absolutely won't believe what happened!"

"Did the Hulk show up?"

Harry's joke didn't elicit a response from Amadeus, who was practically bursting with excitement, almost speechless.

"Internship opportunities at the Baxter Building! Our school got three spots!" Amadeus announced the truly shocking news: "Can you believe it? A chance to do research with Reed Richards! No matter what you guys think, I'm definitely signing up!"

Peter was about to speak when a slender hand suddenly rested on his shoulder. Looking up, he predictably saw Gwen's expressionless face.

"Excuse me, guys, I'm borrowing someone. Are you done eating?"

"Uh, yes, sorry, guys."

Peter awkwardly nodded to his friends as Gwen pulled him away. Amadeus and Harry exchanged glances, then Harry suddenly asked: "Are you planning to go to the homecoming dance this year, Amadeus?"

"I can't find a date at all. What about you, Harry?"

"I think there's a really pretty girl, but I don't dare to ask her."

The two exchanged another glance, sighing in unison.

Peter was led by Gwen to a small room filled with various musical instruments. After Gwen released his hand, she sat on the drum stool and stared intently at him: "So, are you ready to explain what happened this morning?"

"Uh... what happened?"

"Alright, let's go through this step by step. First, the first time I met Spider-Man, he was wearing the same shoes as you. You had just run off then, and only came back after Spider-Man had handled everything."

Gwen just stared at Peter Parker, who silently stared back at her.

"...Second, I went to deliver dinner to my dad yesterday and saw a note Spider-Man left him. It was identical to your left-handed writing."

"Why would you remember my left-handed writing?" Peter was taken aback; he truly hadn't known Gwen noticed such a thing. Gwen also paused, then recalled.

"Because it's cool. It was the first time I'd seen it, and actually still the only time I've seen someone who can write with both hands, and with such different handwriting. So I remembered it. But never mind that." Gwen waved her hand, giving her third reason: "And then, last night, I was planning to hear your explanation, but you didn't come home all night!"

"You didn't stay up all night, did you?"

Peter finished, looking at Gwen. Gwen looked back at him as if it were the most natural thing in the world, and Peter sighed helplessly. Sometimes, having a childhood friend like her could be truly troublesome. He scratched his head, thought for a long while, then nodded.

"Alright, remember the OsCorp Science Expo half a year ago? We walked to the spider exhibit, the display suddenly shattered, and then Karl King grabbed that radioactive spider that got out and put it on my neck—"

"And you became Spider-Man?"

For the first time, Gwen felt that becoming a superhero could be such a casual affair. What if OsCorp had been researching mutated cockroaches or mosquitoes? What would Peter Parker be now?

However, Gwen decided to skip that question for now.

"Alright, does Uncle Ben know?"

Peter nodded.

"Aunt May... Aunt May definitely doesn't know. You're afraid she'd worry. What about me? Why didn't you tell me?"

Peter was silent for about two seconds, then shot back a string of questions.

"If I told you, could you promise not to try to help me, not to ask me to swing around New York with you, or ask if I can drink coffee upside down from the ceiling?"

"Dream on, wait, you really can—"

Peter hadn't even finished saying "that's why I didn't tell you" when the room door opened. It was Mary Jane, who looked quite surprised to see Peter there: "Hey, Peter, what are you doing here?"

"I found something fun and didn't tell Gwen, so she called me over for an interrogation. I have to go, I have something important to do after school."

Peter sidestepped past Mary Jane, giving Gwen a nod that conveyed "I'm not done with you yet" before closing the door.

He wasn't just making excuses to avoid Gwen after school; he genuinely had pressing matters to attend to: his web-shooters had been damaged by the spider swarm during the fight with Karl King. This wasn't something that could be fixed with a screwdriver and wrench. After some thought, he decided to simply abandon the old web-shooters and use Avengers resources to create a new, more efficient model.

Moreover, he still needed to verify if the other individual was indeed Karl King. Though unlikely, if it were true, that would be a problem.

So, subway passengers that day witnessed a bizarre scene: Spider-Man dutifully swiped his card to enter the station, squeezed into the crowd on the train, and even politely gave up his seat to an elderly woman. Twenty minutes later, he jogged into Avengers Tower, pressed the top floor button like a familiar employee, as if he were just an ordinary worker coming in for overtime.

"J.A.R.V.I.S., prepare the lab for me."

The elevator doors opened. Peter, without waiting for J.A.R.V.I.S.'s reply, entered the Avengers' office area. Almost instantly, he felt something was wrong—his spider-sense didn't react, but he just sensed something amiss behind him. He leaned back, dodging a kick aimed at his head, then continued to lean back, supporting himself with his hands on the ground, kicking out at the attacker's legs. After confirming he hadn't hit the enemy, he used the force in his arms to do a backflip, throwing a chair directly.

"Whoa, that's not very gentlemanly to ladies, kid."

Peter, who had thrown the chair, stopped and turned to face the owner of the sarcastic voice. A black, one-eyed Nick Fury came into view. Nick Fury was wearing a black trench coat and holding the same brand of liquor the Punisher had been drinking yesterday, pouring himself a drink.

"Before Tony Stark and his Avengers disappeared, he told me some things about the multiverse and some Madame Web. I've brought the person you're looking for, kid." Fury raised his glass, gesturing behind Peter: "Meet our SHIELD Level Four Agent, Silk, Cindy Moon."

Peter turned. Standing behind him was a girl about his age, her face uncovered. She wore a suit made of an unknown material; the torso portion of the suit was white with web patterns, the webbing extending from the chest, transitioning from red to black, forming a red "S" at the center. Her limbs were pure black, with no visible web structure, and only the index and middle fingertips of her gloves were red.

Seeming to notice Peter's gaze, the girl pulled up the red mask around her neck, covering the lower half of her face.