Chapter 64: Alright, Let's Go Over It Again

"You're saying you're leaving today?"

Tony Stark, in Avengers Tower, was quite surprised to hear the news, his coffee cup suspended motionless in mid-air. "This is a historic moment."

"I know, Mr. Stark, but the Avengers press conference..."

"Who's talking about the Avengers press conference? I'm talking about you traversing the multiverse! This is the first time in human history."

Tony Stark rubbed his brow, looking at the reporters pouring into Avengers Tower. "I'll call Reed right away to get ready. While they're still settling in, you come to Avengers Tower, show your face, and then we'll head to the Baxter Building together. Tell your little girlfriend to get to the Baxter Building and prepare."

"Silk isn't my girlfriend—"

"Alright." Tony didn't have time to waste on such matters now. "Tell that young lady who isn't your girlfriend yet to get ready. You have her number, right?"

Tony Stark felt Peter Parker's three seconds of silence stretch endlessly, to the point where his knuckles were tapping out the rhythm of Beethoven's "Symphony No. 5" on the table. But he finally got the reply, "Yes," and punched the air, shouting, "Yes!"

"I've got to rush to the press conference. Get over here quickly."

Minutes later, as Captain America spoke on stage about "our firm belief that the Avengers will be a volunteer organization, transcending borders, fighting for justice and freedom..." Spider-Man finally arrived, riding the elevator down from the top floor of the Avengers building.

"Can I discuss something with you? I don't want to expose my identity here."

"Of course." Tony Stark wasn't focused on the press conference at all and immediately agreed to Peter's request. But before Peter could say anything else, Tony cut him off: "But what if reporters ask later..."

"Forget the reporters." Tony impatiently interrupted him. "I'll go up now, then you show your face, and then we'll say we have a special mission and leave immediately, leaving everything to Cap, okay?"

Seeing Spider-Man nod, Tony smiled, then gracefully strode to the front of the stage. Captain America had just finished talking about the significance of Black Panther joining the Avengers. Seeing Tony come up, he handed over the microphone.

"I'm delighted that today the Avengers will welcome two new members, not just one. Let's welcome—Spider-Man."

Even the time for joking with reporters was skipped. Tony completely abandoned his usual style, gesturing with a wave. Spider-Man then jogged to the center of the press conference, looking nothing like the real deal.

Peter merely nodded to the reporters, about to say some opening remarks, when Tony abruptly cut him off. With a wave of his hand, his Silver Centurion armor, which had just finished maintenance, descended and began assembling around him. "Unfortunately, Spider-Man and I have an urgent mission today. All further questions will be answered by our leader, Steve Rogers. Come on, kid, quickly."

Watching Iron Man swiftly fly away with Spider-Man, the reporters were all dumbfounded. This was truly the most inexplicable press conference they had ever attended.

Until the first reporter began questioning Captain America, who had returned to the stage.

"Excuse me, who exactly is Spider-Man?"

Ignoring the baffled Captain America, who hadn't been informed beforehand and was utterly overwhelmed, Tony, after confirming Peter's physical resilience, took him to the Baxter Building at supersonic speed. After landing on the roof, they immediately took the elevator down to the Fantastic Four's laboratory.

At this time, Banner was still explaining to Ben Grimm, The Thing, how he had changed back.

"Hulk got really angry when he saw Mysterio, and he understood that the angrier he got, the less likely he was to punch Mysterio, so he just fell asleep, and I came back."

"Haha, it's pretty good not having to see that big oaf."

As they talked, Iron Man and Spider-Man arrived. Tony practically shouted as he entered: "Hank, Reed, have you got it done?"

"I'm finished." Hank Pym, wearing a white lab coat over his Ant-Man suit, walked over, produced two bracelets, and pulled Peter's hand to put one on him. "Consider this my gift to you for joining the Avengers, Peter. I originally prepared these for exploring the Quantum Realm, but they should also be effective for detecting multiversal data. I'm not entirely sure."

"I can start on my end too." Mr. Fantastic, stretching his head to focus on a large screen while operating another data console with his elongated body, said, "I apologize for not coming out to help you with Mysterio yesterday morning. I was busy debugging the multiverse traverser. Actually, if Sue just expands her force field over Manhattan, it would paralyze all of Mysterio's equipment."

Tony looked around. "Where's Sue? Invisible again?"

"She went to take care of Val, Valeria, our newborn daughter." Reed said, then brought his head close to Peter's face. "How do you feel, kid?"

"I've been feeling it since last night, and it was strongest just now, but now it seems a little... weaker."

At this, the four scientists present, including Reed who had just said he planned to debug the equipment further, immediately shouted in unison: "Quickly!"

"Quick, stand directly in front of the traverser, then open the multiverse channel."

Reed excitedly moved his hand to the front of the traverser, but to Peter, it just looked like a white flat surface with a groove carved out and a ring placed on top.

Peter jumped in front of the ring. He didn't actually know how to open the multiverse gate, but he instinctively reached out.

It felt like touching a wall.

He suddenly had a realization: he could actually traverse the multiverse anytime, anywhere, ever since he was bitten by that spider. It was just that before the Web of Destiny called to him, he couldn't control where he went, nor could he figure out how to come back.

And the call of the Web of Destiny was essentially providing him with coordinates.

He tore open that "wall," and an irregular spatial裂隙, filled with all colors, appeared before him.

He looked at everyone. Reed Richards's eyes stretched long, looking like a telescope, quite startling; Tony opened his armor's faceplate, smiling at him; Hank mumbled with a detection instrument in hand, and even Bruce Banner was rapidly typing on a computer.

Everyone had the same opinion: Why aren't you going in yet?

"So... I'm off?"

"GO! GO! GO!!!"

Feeling everyone's cheers, Peter finally looked at Cindy, who had been silent the whole time. Perhaps because they were surrounded by strangers, she also had her mask pulled up, covering half her face. Seeing Peter's gaze, she simply nodded.

Then Peter stepped forward, and he was swallowed by the spatial rift.

All the observation instruments in the lab began to whir frantically.

"I heard Spidey arrived. I wanted to apologize to him..."

Johnny Storm, the Human Torch, flew in and saw everyone busy, no one paying him any attention.

"Alright... I'll come back later."

"Alright, let's go over it again."

In the afternoon New York sun, light streamed through the intact skyscrapers onto the streets. A street sweeper suddenly felt a shadow fall over his head. He looked up, pushed his hat back, and grumbled, "What the hell—"

"My name is Peter Parker, and I was bitten by a radioactive spider."

The man in the red and blue suit swung through the skies of New York, protecting his city with his webs.

"For the past ten years, I've been the one and only, the unparalleled, Spider-Man. You all surely know what happened next."

Uncle Ben's dying words, "With great power comes great responsibility," falling in love with Mary Jane, including the iconic upside-down kiss. He saved this city countless times, even once stopping a speeding subway train heading towards a broken overpass.

Of course, let's not forget he once danced the bully dance in the streets, had his own theme song, released a Christmas song, endorsed a brand of oatmeal, and even had a less-than-stellar co-branded ice cream.

"I've been through many rough patches, ups and downs, knocked down time and again, but I always get back up, pressing forward bravely."

"I still really love being Spider-Man. Who wouldn't?"

Spider-Man landed beside a gargoyle on the Empire State Building, leaning on it, looking at the city he had protected countless times, filled with emotion.

"After all, the only pillar keeping this city from falling is me."

Welcome to Earth-700, a universe with only one superhero: Spider-Man.