Chapter 66: The Invalid Canon Event

The last rays of the setting sun slanted across the porch as Peter Parker pushed open the white wooden door of the Parker home. He ran a hand through his slightly messy blond hair and turned to look at the young man behind him, who shared a similar silhouette.

He asked in a low voice, "Did you memorize your lines?"

"If anyone asks, just say I'm Aunt May's distant nephew, Ben Reilly." Our protagonist, the Peter from the main universe, nodded lightly, his gaze sweeping over this universe's Peter's striking blond hair. "I remember everything. By the way, your blond hair is pretty good."

"Ha, your black hair isn't bad either." Blond Peter (as we'll call him from now on) grinned, then turned, took a deep breath, and lightly knocked on the familiar door.

The elderly Aunt May opened the door. Seeing her nephew return, she happily embraced him. She then noticed Peter and turned to Blond Peter: "Peter, is that..."

"Oh, that's Peter Benjamin Parker, with an extra middle name. Remember how I told you about parallel universes and the multiverse?" Blond Peter chuckled, turning to Peter. "How old are you again, kid?"

"Fifteen, a freshman in high school."

"This kid is a year younger than I was when I first became Spider-Man. Anyway, he's here to help. We have a spare guest room, right? We need to entertain our guest."

"I'll go get it ready." Aunt May smiled, her gaze shifting between the two young men before settling on Peter's somewhat youthful face. "What would you like to eat, dear? Are muffins okay?"

"Of course, no problem."

After Aunt May left, Blond Peter looked at Peter. "So... want to find a place to chat? Follow me."

Peter likely knew where Blond Peter was taking him. Sure enough, he led him to the entrance of a warehouse. After unlocking the electronic lock with a key, an elevator was revealed inside. Blond Peter couldn't help but burst into laughter. "How about that? Never seen one before, have you?"

Peter rolled his eyes.

"It's nothing compared to the Avengers' lab."

"What are the Avengers? A band?"

"A superhero organization. My world has a lot of superheroes, unlike yours."

The two took the elevator down to the basement, where various Spider-Man gadgets appeared, including a Spider-Car and a Spider-Motorcycle. Honestly, Peter couldn't understand why Spider-Man needed cars and motorcycles; they probably weren't faster than swinging on webs, and they lacked flexibility.

There were also all sorts of suits. Blond Peter couldn't resist showing off. "Look at my wardrobe, I bet you don't have such a colorful collection of outfits, rookie."

"You have a suit that's exactly the same as the regular one, but with a cape?" Peter couldn't understand as he looked at the suit, prominently displayed in the costume exhibit. "What's the point?"

"Ha, you're just jealous, kid, because you don't have these cool suits."

"Then why don't you wear it?"

"I wore it once, and the cape got stuck between the elevator and the shaft while I was rescuing someone. It almost strangled me." Blond Peter unconsciously rubbed the back of his head. Peter rolled his eyes again; wasn't that pointless?

Blond Peter said nothing, simply walked to his desk, which was piled high with Spider-Man merchandise, removed his mask, and opened his computer. "Let me see, the key isn't fully completed yet..."

Peter placed the Spider-Man from Universe 42 on the desk. Blond Peter saw the little creature flickering uncontrollably, like abstract static, and couldn't help but ask curiously, "What's wrong with it?"

"Different universes have different frequencies. I guess its molecular structure can't remain stable. That's why I'm here. This spider is still alive, and that universe doesn't have a Spider-Man yet."

Blond Peter stopped typing on the keyboard. He was silent for a long moment, then turned and looked at Peter.

"You need to know, kid, if someone becomes Spider-Man, it might mean they're destined to lose something. Perhaps for us in that universe, or someone else, being an ordinary person is better than being Spider-Man."

Peter was about to say something when a voice suddenly echoed through the secret base.

"No, he's right. This has to happen."

The two stood up simultaneously, their spider-senses blaring. Appearing from the darkness was a man taller and stronger than both of them, almost a wall of muscle. Spider-Man 2099's mask had no visible eye lenses, only a fierce outline.

"I'm Miguel O'Hara, from Earth-928 in 2099. I'm here to help you."

The wary Blond Peter glanced at Peter. "I thought you were the only one who knew how to cross the multiverse."

"Yeah, I thought so too."

Peter couldn't understand how Miguel had gotten here. According to the animated timeline, he only finished developing the prototype of the multiverse-traveling wristband after the first movie ended. Theoretically, he shouldn't be able to travel yet, so how was he here already?

"Every universe needs a Spider-Man. We are specific existences of the multiverse. Similarly, every Spider-Man must experience what they have experienced." Miguel said, adjusting his wristband. The multiverses were arranged in a web-like structure, displaying the lives of Spider-Men in each parallel universe he observed. "Experiencing the death of loved ones, the death of their police captain, the betrayal of friends, the death of loved ones—these are things every Spider-Man cannot avoid."

"So this kid is right, Universe 42 needs its own Spider-Man, even if it means going through those things."

Blond Peter listened to Miguel's long speech and couldn't help but raise an eyebrow. "First, I didn't invite you, and I don't know how you snuck in. Second, do you have proof? All these things—"

"I've experienced it. I witnessed the destruction of an entire universe, just because I wanted to make up for something, I disrupted a canon event."

Miguel spoke with great conviction, but Blond Peter persisted: "Is it possible that your theory is flawed? Perhaps there really are canon events, but not to the extent you're saying? It sounds like every Spider-Man in every universe has to be so tragic."

Miguel stared intently at Blond Peter, who returned the gaze. Peter opened his mouth to say something, and Miguel turned to him: "You handled it well. I'll send you back to your universe, and that spider too. The matters of this universe will be handled by this universe's Spider-Man. He can handle it."

"I don't need help from you, who suddenly appeared... a guy with shoulders wider than my refrigerator." Blond Peter looked at Peter, lazily greeting him. "Kid, come here, let's ignore this guy."

Miguel also looked at Peter, staring intently.

"I've wanted to speak this whole time." Peter finally managed to speak. He looked at Miguel and asked, "Your canon event theory might not actually be valid. Don't rush to refute it. What I want to say is, in my world, Uncle Ben didn't die."

Miguel ripped off his mask. A look of confusion and shock appeared on his resolute face, while Blond Peter instantly stood up, grabbed Peter, and held his shoulders. "Really? Uncle Ben didn't die? You saved him?!"

"...Yeah, he trained with me, taught me how to control my powers. We designed my first suit together."

"Hahaha!" Blond Peter laughed happily, while Miguel incredulously asked Peter, "You're lying, aren't you? Aren't you?!"

Before Peter could say anything, Blond Peter shielded him behind him and roared at Miguel, "Why? Why can't you believe there's a world where Uncle Ben doesn't have to die? Why can't you believe there's a world where Spider-Man can protect everyone?!"

"I've saved this city countless times! All the Spider-Men in all the multiverses have saved the world countless times! Why can't the multiverse give us some compensation?!"

"Why can't you believe this?!"

Blond Peter clutched the spider emblem on his chest, pointing at Peter. "This kid, he didn't come here meaninglessly. He came to tell me, to tell you, maybe even to tell all Spider-Men—our universe isn't cold and heartless. Why can't you believe that?"

"Because... because..."

Miguel fell silent, and so did Blond Peter. He watched Miguel sit on the ground, completely dejected, as if all his strength had left him.

Peter walked over to Miguel and sat down on the ground as well.

"We are Spider-Men, Miguel. Whatever reason made us choose to be Spider-Men, we are all the same. Spider-Man never waits for miracles to happen; we create miracles."

"I don't want to sound too... smug, but now a miracle is in front of you. Will you resist it, or will you join us?"