chapter sixty-seven
the tragedy of spider-man

    "WHAT ELSE can I call it? What more need be said? The damage, the destruction. You saw it with your own eyes. When will people wake up and realise that everywhere Spider-Man goes, chaos and calamity ensue? Everything Spider-Man touches comes to ruin. And we, the innocents, are left to pick up the pieces. J. Jonah Jameson reporting. Good night, and God help us all."

    Nina felt numb. She didn't know whether she'd felt a feeling quite like this before▬to know something terrible had happened without truly knowing what. To watch someone's world fall apart from the outside and not able to get to them. To feel their pain crushing her and yet be so far apart. To want to be near them so desperately, and yet have no idea where they were▬if they were even okay.

    It was quiet in Ned's home. They all sat around each other at his Lola's dining table, rigid and not saying a word to each other. The news reports from their phones, but also from the television clouded their heads▬a ringing, buzzing noise in their ears as they sat there, their chests filled with poisonous breaths of dread and it slowly tainted their hearts until they were numb with shock and horror.

    Ned's home was cozy and sweet. It had dim lights and carpet on the floor. Pictures in frames donned the walls, the cabinets and on the hallway tables. Photos of him smiling, of his parents and other family. It was the home of any grandmother, and it was filled with bits and pieces that she had kept with her all these years▬from the Philippines to America. Ned's grandmother, his Lola was one of the, if not the sweetest person Nina knew. She always made Nina feel at home whenever she visited, and this was no exception. Except today, as the horrible news reached their ears, Nina could barely muster a thank you when Lola took her dinner away from her, feeling like she was wandering on a suffocating cloud.

    Lola gave her grandson a gentle kiss on the forehead as she took his food, too, gently brushing some of his hair off his face, silent and sombre.

    Nina glanced over her shoulder back at the news playing on the small television, feeling her throat close in as the Breaking News described Spider-Man fleeing the scene of destruction. Happy's condo is now nothing more than a burning cloud of debris, fire and smoke▬and they called it Peter's fault; labelled him a criminal and something worse than a menace. They labelled him a killer.

    It didn't matter to them that the person who lost her life was Peter's aunt. Aunt May. Nina felt herself choke up with tears. She's known May for what she could say her entire life. Only five years did she spent without ever knowing Aunt May▬without having her take her under her wing and always welcome her in her home no matter what. Aunt May who let her stay over, gave her clothes to borrow and was the first person to teach her how to do her makeup. Aunt May was an aunt to everyone who she crossed paths with▬she cared for them with all of her heart; whether it be her nephew's friends or the homeless person down the street who just needed someone to believe in them again ... Aunt May was always there with open arms.

    The world felt darker▬it felt bleak without her in it. It felt like the final candle had been snuffed out and they were left to fend for themselves in the bitter cold without no warmth, and not even a light to guide their way.

    And if that was how Nina felt, then she couldn't imagine what Peter was going through right now.

    He had lost his parents. He had lost his Uncle Ben. He had lost Tony Stark and now ... now he's lost Aunt May.

    The universe had never been kind to Peter Parker▬this world always had it out for him, and Nina wished she could fight whoever decided the most caring, brave and warm-hearted boy had to face such tragedy. He who did everything for everyone else; saved their lives even if he was beaten down and broken ... and this was how the world repaid him?

    But that was the burden of his responsibility▬the weight he must carry. Heroes always lived tragic lives; rarely were they ever happy.

    Lola put a small bowl of warm bread on the table for them as they sat and waited. Nina hugged her Spider Plush to her chest, fighting back tears as she kept staring at her phone▬desperately waiting for Peter to get in touch with her. Even just a text. Anything to let her know he was okay. She glanced up at Dr. Strange's artefact and felt it stare right back at her▬the spell the sorcerer had contained laughing right in her face. Should Nina have pressed it? Should she press it now? She didn't know, and she was terrified that as soon as she did, it would be the wrong timing. She was desperate to keep her faith in Peter. Even after all she knew, and all she had seen, Nina believed in Peter Parker. She trusted him. She didn't want to press the button because he's ... well, he's Spider-Man ... he'll get back up. Peter had to.

    MJ glanced away from the television and to Nina who went back to staring at her phone. "Still nothing?"

     Nina shook her head, upset. "No," she mumbled.

    Michelle sighed and stood up. She went back to sit with them at the table. Felicia rubbed her back as she did and MJ leaned into her touch slightly.

    Nina's leg bounced. She glanced up at the artefact once again. Her heart was racing with a decision on what to do, or what not to do▬on what would be the right choice. They said that if they didn't hear from Peter, Nina would press the button, and right now ... well, right now, she didn't know. She knew Peter needed her, and yet she had no idea how to get to him, or what to do to help.

    Felicia noticed her watching the object and pursed her lips. There was a long silence before she whispered: "I think you should press it."

    Ned sat up, startled by what the Black Cat said. "W▬what?" he let out, a bit slow as he dragged himself out of the painful silence, his mind distant and sombre over May's death. "No, he▬"

    "I know, I know," Felicia said. She reached out and rested a hand on the table to grab Nina's attention. "Nina, hon, I know he told us to wait, but ..."

    "What if he's in danger right now?" MJ slowly started to agree. Felicia had a point▬she made a really good point. "I mean ... look..." their eyes all wandered to the news playing on the television.

    Nina swallowed back the lump in her throat. She sniffled back tears and fixed her stare back onto the artefact. "I don't know," she mumbled. Nina was always so sure about a lot of things, and yet, she always seemed to find herself back here▬at a crossroads where she didn't know where she was supposed to go. "I just ..."

    Ned sighed and leaned forward. He placed his head in his hands before he sat up and waved them in slight frustration. "I just wish▬I just wish we could see him."

    It happened so quickly, that Nina almost missed it. But Felicia didn't. Her eyes widened when she saw something in the corridor of Lola's apartment. A slight crackle▬a spark of orange flames and lights that flickered out of nothing in midair. The same sparks that Dr. Strange created from his fingers.

    "Did anyone see that?" she murmured, her breath hitched.

    MJ stared at the space that was dark of any magic▬maybe they had imagined it. But when she took a shaky breath and said: "No, I saw it, too..." they realised what Ned had done.

     Nina's heart hammered. "Ned...?" she glanced at him, eyes wide.

    Ned was rigid still with surprise. "Yeah...?"

    "Do that again."

    "Yeah..." Eyes wide and slightly trembling, he carefully leaned forward in his chair. At first, Ned didn't really know what he was supposed to do. He glanced down at Dr. Strange's ring on his fingers and chewed on his bottom lip. Then, with a deep breath, he held up his hands and tried to copy what he had done last time. He closed his eyes and waved his fingers. "I just wish we could see him!"

     Nina stood up slightly when the sparks returned. This time, they lasted a little bit longer▬they expanded out and they spun, showing a window into a place dark and damp. Nina couldn't see anything else before Ned got distracted and the portal closed.

    The rest of her friends all stood up as well. They didn't say anything▬mostly because they couldn't believe what was happening right now. Nina clutched the Spider Plush to her chest, close and tight, still. MJ glanced at Ned, her breaths a little uneven▬all of their hearts were starting to race.

    Ned cleared his throat and held up his hands again. He focused on the spot where the portal had appeared and tried to copy what they had seen Dr. Strange do whenever he had created the windows through space and time. "O▬Okay..." he took another deep breath. He fixed his fingers and then started to move his free hand in a circle. Closing his eyes, he called out: "I just wish we could see Peter!"

    Nina held her breath as she watched the sparks reappear▬and the portal spun open round and wide. The flaming spire illuminated an orange glow into the dark, narrow shadows of a damp New York alleyway. The single dim street light in the distance brought light down upon a figure in the distance. Nina's eyes widened▬she recognised that silhouette. Her heart pounded and she stepped forward, staring as the shadow turned around, startled at the portal opening.

    Behind her, she heard Lola hitch a gasp as she peered out from around the kitchen display cupboard. Ned stared, shocked at what he had managed to do▬he stared down at his hands, amazed. She shuffled towards her grandson and said something. Ned nodded. "Lola, you're right. I am magic."

    Nina kept her stare on the figure in the distance. As he took a few tentative steps forward, she saw wide lenses and the slight red of a webbed, skin-tight suit. She slumped with relief and hitched back a sob. She felt a twist in her heart▬but that relief was filled with something different; something she couldn't quite describe. But it was telling her▬no, trying to warn her that there wasn't something quite right about the figure she was staring at.

    "Is that him?" whispered MJ to Felicia.

    The Black Cat shrugged. "I▬I mean, it would have to be, right?"

    Nina took a deep breath, blocking her friends from her mind as she took a step closer to the window and called out: "P▬Peter?"

    The figure stared at her. Spider-Man moved his hands away from his mask lenses and stared right back at her. Nina grinned. "Peter!" she cried out, relieved through her tears to see him.

    Behind her, her friends joined in and waved. "Peter!" they all exclaimed. "Hey▬Peter▬!" "Peter▬!" Ned waved and gestured for him to make his way over. No doubt he was surprised about Ned's sudden talent in magic.

    Nina smiled and felt her heart race as Spider-Man slowly started to make his way towards them. She stepped back and watched as his slow walk turned into a jog. But as he got closer, her smile slowly faded away into a confused frown. The first thing she noticed was his height. He was taller. He was lean. Nina's heart raced, but it wasn't out of relief and anticipation, now▬intead, it was with a breath of shock.

    Spider-Man's lenses were wide, but they didn't move to show if he smiled. That wasn't the suit he was wearing before▬it was a darker red and blue; the pattern was different than Nina remembered. Peter had a few suits, but she's never seen him wear one like this before.

     But she recognised those lenses. She saw them whenever she closed her eyes and dreamed▬even when she did not. Those wide, unblinking lenses that she saw herself fall in their reflection as the man behind them desperately tried to catch her in time.

    Nina stumbled back further when Spider-Man leapt through the portal and into Ned's home. Ned, MJ and Felicia all let out startled exclaims as they, too, recognised that this was not the Peter Parker they knew.

    Lola screamed.

    Spider-Man spun to her. "Hi▬" he let out, holding out his hand to try and reassure her. "Hi▬" he waved but Lola just hitched another scream of terror. She grabbed a pillow off one of the chairs and threw it at him. "No! No, no, no▬" he ducked and it hit the wall behind him. Lola hid behind the cabinet again. "No, it's okay, it's okay. I'm a nice guy. I'm▬"

     He reached up to the top of his head and tugged his mask off.

    Nina's eyes widened.

    Those eyes found her first. That didn't change. But they were different than she had remembered in her dreams▬they were heavy and tired; exhausted. But it was him. She recognised his messy hair, his narrow face and the slight sheepish breath he carried on the tip of his tongue. Memories cascaded in her mind▬the way he hid behind his broken camera, the little smiles and the teasing jokes ... Nina had witnessed all of those memories first-hand, even if they belonged to someone else. But right now with the way he stared at her, it felt almost as if that person hadn't been a variant, but her.

     Then she realised something else. (How did she not see it before▬how did she not recognise him before?). Nina shook her head, shocked to the bone. It had been him. He had been Ben Reilly▬the stranger who had caused a scene in front of the paparazzi with spilt milk and ramblings to help her. That hadn't been Ben Reilly, it had been him. Peter Parker.

     "Okay," let out this Peter Parker. He glanced at them all, breathing heavily▬the lingering contact he had made with Nina broke. She stepped back to her friends, but she could not look away.

     MJ pointed a wary finger at him. "Who the hell are you?"

    "I'm Peter Parker," said the variant, sounding just as breathless as them.

     "That's not possible," muttered Felicia.

     "I am Spider-Man," continued Peter Parker, "in my world. But then yesterday, I was▬I was just here." MJ and Felicia shared a frown. Ned's mouth was agape. As Peter slowly took a few steps sideways, they shuffled▬keeping a good distance between them. Felicia dragged Nina with them and MJ held her hands out, as if ready to attack Spider-Man with a well-aimed smack. "String theory," he continued, barely noticing. He glanced around the apartment, amazed, "multidimensional reality..." he stopped in the kitchen and glanced at them, "...and matter displacement. All real?"

     "Yeah," the four of them muttered.

     Peter grinned. He made a small fist pump. "I knew it!" he whispered.

     Nina felt weak at the knees. She continued to stare at him, her mind lost in memory and disbelief. At last, she managed to speak in a full sentence. "You're not Ben Reilly."

     Peter Parker's smile slipped away the moment he turned to look at her again. He looked older than she remembered▬maybe just a few years. But even then, he looked as though he had aged years ahead. He looked more than tired; he was drained. He set his jaw and swallowed harshly. Then he shook his head. "No," he told her softly▬his voice was broken and barely seemed to make it out of his throat. He took a shaky breath. "Nina..." he tried to take a step closer but Felicia quickly stood in front of Nina, protective.

     "Wait," Ned frowned, whispering to Nina. He glanced at the variant of Peter Parker. "You know him? He knows you?"

     Nina didn't know how to explain it. She stared at this Peter Parker and remembered so much▬memories that she lived which were technically not even her own. But she remembered them still; she felt them and felt them afterwards when she woke up again. How does she explain that?

     "I ... it's complicated," she whispered to Ned, looking away from Peter and turning to her friends. "I ... I sort of met him at a shop before the spell thing went out of control. I didn't know it was him though."

    "Wait, spell?" Peter cut in, staring at them with wide eyes. He looked at Nina as if expecting her to explain everything. She felt tense and awkward. She wasn't his Nina and yet ... yet at the same time, it felt like she was. "Like magic spell?"

    Nina hunched up, realising she slipped up. Her friends quickly shook their heads.

    "There's no spell," blurted out Ned.

    "No spell▬" added MJ, clearing her throat.

    "No spell, no spells at all, here▬" Felicia gestured her hands as she explained this. "We are a spell-free universe."

    Ned hummed, nodding.

    But this Peter knew it was a lie. He had heard them. His eyes lit up with excitement. "Magic's real here too?"

    Nina stammered. She glanced at MJ. "I mean▬"

    "Shut up, Nina," MJ shushed her out of the corner of her mouth.

    Too late, Nina was anxious, confused and overwhelmed▬she was about to rant. She made a nervous face. "I▬I mean, no, there's no such thing as magic▬"

    "Shut up▬" Michelle elbowed her side subtly. "Stop talking▬"

     "▬Well, I suppose it would have to have something to do with some sort of science▬"

     Felicia slowly face-palmed, expecting this as Nina continued.

     "▬I mean, because there's like magicians, like Dr. Strange, but▬"

     MJ tried to get a word in to shut Nina up but she was too far gone now. "Stop." She told Nina in a whisper. She kept going on about magic and science and Dr. Strange until she was about to run out of breath. "Stop."

     This Peter held up a gentle hand. "Nina, Nina▬" he said to her like he had done so many times before in her dreams and it startled her right out of her rant to stare at him, breath hitched. "Breathe."

    (It was so absurd. This Peter Parker was so different to her Peter Parker, and yet there were so many aspects of him that were the same. But then again, were they the same because she knew him so well? How does that make her feel▬Nina felt weak at the knees and she wondered whether she was going to collapse at everything that was happening right now).

     "Stop talking," MJ spoke in the same tone towards this Peter that she had spoken with to Nina. Peter pursed his lips, taken aback. Michelle Jones stood straighter and took a deep breath. She nodded at Spider-Man. "Prove it."

    "Prove what?"

    "That you're Peter Parker."

    Peter stammered, very bewildered. He chuckled awkwardly. "I▬" he glanced at them all, but even Nina was eyeing him with a breath of suspicion now that MJ had brought up her scepticism. "I don't carry an I.D. with me, you know? Kind of defeats the whole anonymous superhero thing▬"

     MJ threw a piece of bread at him. As it hit his chest and dropped to the floor, Michelle held up her hands as if ready to attack. Peter Parker stared at the bread on the floor, then up at her. In a whisper, he asked: "Why'd you do that?"

    Michelle eyed him warily. "Trying to see if you have the tingle thing."

    Matching her tone, Peter Parker responded sarcastically: "I have the tingle thing just not for bread."

    As MJ went to grab another piece Spider-Man held up his hands. "C▬Can you not throw the bread again?" She narrowed her eyes but kept her bread ammo in her hands. "You're a deeply mistrusting person ..." Peter nodded and gestured his hand to her, "... and I respect it."

    Then with a soft leap, his feet left the ground and his hand touched the ceiling. Spider-Man stayed there, hanging from the ceiling with the same powers their Spider-Man had that allowed him to stick to surfaces.

    They weren't satisfied with this. Ned was holding his fingers up as if to put Peter back through another portal. MJ held up her bread higher. Felicia's legs were slightly bent in her Black Cat stance. Even without her claws, she was ready to strike. Nina just hugged her Spider-Plush, watching the situation in wide-eyed silence.

    Michelle shuffled on her feet. She pursed her lips, still not ready to believe this strange Peter Parker variant just yet. After a moment, she cleared her throat and pointed across the room. "Crawl around."

    Spider-Man stared at her blankly. "Crawl around?"

    "Yes."

     "... No."

    "Do as she says," Felicia backed up MJ. "Crawl around."

     Peter glanced at them all again, getting frustrated. "Why do I need to crawl around?"

    "Because this▬" the Black Cat pointed at him hanging from the ceiling, "▬is not enough."

    "This is plenty."

    "No, it's not," said MJ.

    "Yes, it is."

    "No, it's not."

    "It is."

    "Nuh-uh."

    "How do I stick to the ceiling?"

    MJ grabbed Spider-Plush from Nina's arms and chucked that instead. "Hey!" let out Nina softly as her Spider-Plush hit Peter Parker in the chest. She watched her plush drop to the floor in dismay.

     "Do it," ordered MJ.

     "Ned," they all glanced over at Ned's grandmother's voice. She had reappeared from her hiding spot. She spoke to her grandson for a moment. Ned listened before translating.

    "Uh," he looked up at Peter awkwardly. "My Lola's asking if you could just▬" he gestured to the corner of the ceiling, "▬get the cobweb there. Since you're▬like▬up there, already."

    Peter glanced over at the corner. "Yeah," he decided and placed his mask between his teeth. Then he hoisted the bottom half of his body upwards and just like that, crawled across the ceiling without another word. The group of friends below all stared, quite amazed▬if it hadn't dawned on them before, then now, it finally did. This was another Peter Parker. Not their Peter Parker, but a variant of him; a multiversal trespasser.

    Once Spider-Man snatched the cobwebs out of the corner of the room, he dropped down from the ceiling. "Are we▬" his words were muffled by his mask. He sighed and took it out of his mouth. "Are we good?" he asked them.

    MJ eyed him for a second longer. "For now," she decided before turning her attention to Ned. The four friends huddled together. Nina glanced over her shoulder at Peter every now and then. She watched him look back to the portal only for it to close. He held his hands up, exasperated.

    "So, I opened the wrong portal to the wrong Peter Parker," realised Ned in a murmur.

    "I mean, it makes sense, right?" muttered Felicia. "If there are villains from these other universes, there's gotta be other Peter Parker's▬right, Nina?"

    "Yeah," she mumbled, her heart still pounding as she glanced away from Spider-Man and back to her friends. "Yeah."

    "So, that means you should keep doing it until we find the real one," said MJ to Ned.

    Peter heard her and glanced back. "Ouch."

    She frowned at him, not bothered. "No offence," she muttered.

    Taking deep breaths, they all focused back onto Ned who stared down at the ring on his finger, suddenly feeling a lot of pressure. Noticing it, Nina smiled at her friend and murmured: "You got this. And we will all be thinking of him, okay?" she glanced at MJ and Felicia. They both nodded. They all wanted to find their Peter▬desperately.

    "Okay," muttered Ned. He took another deep breath and held up his fingers to the opposite wall. "I can do this."

     "You can do this," Felicia echoed encouragingly.

    When he started to move his fingers in the same gesture he had when the portal opened up for the Peter Parker here with them currently, Nina closed her eyes and let out a breath. Ned concentrated hard: "Find Peter Parker," he said and Nina heard the flickers of a portal opening slightly before closing.

     "What's he doing?" Spider-Man gestured at the ring on Ned's fingers. "What's▬what's the thing on his hand?"

    Nina shushed him and went back to focusing on her Peter Parker. Spider-Man stepped backwards, holding his hands up in surrender.

     She clenched her eyes shut, thinking of her Peter Parker's face, his hair, his eyes and his smile▬she thought of how desperate she was to find him. Right now, he was alone▬he needed them. He needed her.

     "Find Peter Parker!" said Ned again, and there was more command in his tone this time.

     Nina's eyes opened with a hitched gasp when she heard a portal open behind them. They all spun around on their toes, staring in awe and wonder as the window to Ned's Lola's apartment split apart into a rooftop in New York. Nina saw the Empire State Building glowing blue with lights at the tip in the distance.

    But then she saw the silhouette right at the portal's entrance. Her eyes widened once again. There was a stilled silence between them all as they saw not their Peter Parker, but a man who looked to be in his late forties with mousy brown hair and a slim, pointed face. Dressed in jeans and a jacket over a dark green shirt, the man stepped through the portal with a look that had aged far older than the rest of him.

    Nina let out a breath, shaking her head in shock. She felt her hair stand on end and her heart pound. She stared at the man who glanced back at the portal before looking at them each in turn. The stubble on his jaw was greying, and he had lines on his forehead and crinkles on the outside of his eyes▬but she recognised him like he had never aged a single day.

    She stepped back, unable to believe it. "Peter..." she whispered, and though while her friends might not have noticed her words in their shock, he most certainly did.

     He glanced over at the sound of her voice▬his eyes widening, too, as if he hadn't heard it in years. Nina couldn't believe the sight of him. Just yesterday, she had dreamt him, young and smiling▬Go get 'em, Tiger, he said with that grin on his face. And here, he stood before her, years afterwards and finally reunited. Years had passed▬years and years, but for Nina, it had only been a single night.

    Not for her, she had to remind herself, and it sent her spiralling. A version of her.

    (And she wondered whether, for him, it was like a moment had frozen in time. She had frozen in time. The vision of the girl she used to be, almost fresh out of high school▬that day when he caught up with her outside that diner, and everything followed afterwards like a butterfly effect).

    This Peter Parker seemed to age years and years more the moment he recognised her.

     Ned sighed and threw his hands up in his disappointment. "Great," he grumbled, "it's just some random guy."

     The older Peter Parker moved his gaze away from Nina and awkwardly held up his hand. He waved at them. "Hello. Um ... I hope it's okay, I just came through this..." he glanced back and frowned as the portal spun to a close. He pursed his lips. "It just▬" he turned to them, unsure, "▬it just closed."

     "Peter," Nina said again, her voice breathless.

     "Yeah," he murmured, watching her with the same confusion. "Peter Parker."

     "I'm Nina," she said, even though she figured that was obvious. "Nina Hart."

     "I know," muttered the older Peter Parker▬his voice sounding weighed down with an old wound that had reopened fresh and painful. "You ... You look exactly like..."

     "Like the Nina from your world?" she mumbled. "Y▬yeah. It's ... it's a long story."

     He looked like he wanted to ask her more questions, but hesitated. His eyes wandered back to Ned and MJ. He lightly pointed at them. "I've seen you two on the ..." he paused on Felicia. "I haven't seen you?"

     "Felicia," she waved awkwardly. Nina never knew Felicia to be awkward with anything until now. She didn't blame her▬if there was anything to be awkward around, it was being in the same room as two other Peter Parkers. Cia cleared her throat and nodded. "Hardy. Felicia Hardy. Black Cat."

     He nodded. "Hello. I▬" he was cut off by Ned's Lola who, hovering in the corner of the room near the kitchen, bit back a smile as she waved at the older Peter Parker▬a little bashful. Peter chuckled. He waved back at her. "Hi."

     However, that little smile that was ever-so-slightly crooked slipped away the moment he noticed something else in the corner of his eye. Nina felt the air in the room shift the moment one Peter Parker met the other▬the younger stopped in his path to gaze down the older. They looked different, and yet, held themselves in such a familiar way that no matter their different noses and furrowing brows, it was like Nina was standing right in between a mirror where she saw both reflections staring at one another.

     They didn't need to say a word to understand who they had met. The older Peter Parker took one glance at the suit the younger Spider-Man wore tight to his broad shoulders▬the spider emblem on his chest carrying the same weight and symbol any who wore it would understand.

     "Wait..." murmured the older Peter Parker. He glanced at Nina and she pursed her lips▬she glanced between the two of them. She, MJ, Felicia and Ned were all waiting on the tips of their toes for something to happen, whatever that might be. "He's▬he's not your friend."

    And then it truly dawned on both of them▬at the same time, their eyes widened and their brows knitted. The hairs on the back of their necks stood on end simultaneously.

     Ned yelped when two webbing threads flung out from opposite ends. Nina stared, a little amazed as she watched the two Spider-Man react in sync▬their leaping moves and twisting bodes that somersaulted up to the roof and back down almost entirely parallel to the other.

     Until the younger Peter Parker landed on the table and the elder flung out his hand. Thwip▬

    Webs encased the web-shooter on the younger Peter Parker's right wrist and he froze. He glanced at it, and then to the older version of himself across the room, admittedly impressed.

     "That was so cool," Ned whispered to Nina as the two Spider-Man shared a chuckle, acknowledging one another in a scene none of the others would ever imagine seeing in their entire lives. "Wait▬" Ned then turned to the older Peter Parker as the younger leapt off the table and back onto the floorboards. "So, you're Spider-Man, too? Why didn't you just say that?"

     Nina made a face. "He did," she glanced at Ned.

    "What?"

     She shrugged. "He literally said his name was Peter Parker."

     "But he's so ..." Ned hesitated and the group of all four of them eyed the variant of Peter Parker carefully. "Old..." finished Ned after a moment. Nina smacked him lightly for that.

     "Uh▬" the older Peter Parker chuckled, not too sure what to make of Ned's comment, "It's▬it's okay. I generally don't go around advertising it. Kind of defeats the whole anonymous superhero thing."

     They all stared at him.

     "I just said that..." whispered the younger Peter Parker.

     "That's what he just said," agreed MJ in the same whispered amazement.

     The following silence was broken by Ned's grandmother who noticed the spilt bread and knocked china on her table and threw her hands up in a burst of frustrated emotion and words. She ranted in Tagalog, incredibly annoyed.

     When she finished, Ned scratched the back of his neck and glanced at the two Spider-Men. "Uh ... my Lola's asking if you could clean up the webs you just shot."

     "Oh, sorry, Lola."

     "Yes, of course."

     She sighed and flung her hands down. "I'm going to bed," she muttered and started to head down the corridor.

     "Night, Lola▬", "▬Goodnight, Ned's Lola▬", "Night▬", "Night, thank you, Ned's Lola," chorused Ned, MJ, Felicia and Nina all at once.

     Nina then quickly rushed over and picked up her Spider-Plush from where it had fallen. She hugged it to her chest again, her mind still on overdrive. She watched, still bewildered as the younger Peter Parker began to clean up Lola's table.

     Meanwhile, the older Peter Parker pursed his lips and took a few careful steps closer to the rest of them. "Uh ... This might seem kind of weird, but, I've been trying to find your friend ever since I got here. I just have this sense, that..." he hesitated. Then, he let out a soft, sombre sigh, "that he needs my help."

     "Our help," added the younger Peter, walking back towards the group.

     Nina hugged her Spider-Plush closer to her chest. Frowning and feeling her heart twist, she murmured: "He does."

     The friends all shared an anxious, upset look. Nina felt that heart-wrenching feeling rise up her throat once again the moment she thought of May.

     "We don't know where he is," added Ned, his voice soft.

     "And, honestly," whispered Nina and both Peter Parkers looked at her, their gazes gentle, "right now, we're all he really has left."

     The older Peter Parker took a breath. "Well ..." he stepped closer to Nina and she couldn't help but tense up slightly. But that tension fell away the moment she recognised the soft look he had in his eyes▬it was still the same as she remembered in her dreams. "If ... is there someplace that he might go to that has meaning to him?"

     Nina's eyes drifted off to the side as she thought. There were many places she could think of. She chewed on her bottom lip, her worry increasing as she continued to fret over her Peter.

     "Like a place where he would go to just▬"

     "Get away from everything?" finished the younger Peter Parker, his voice heavy with understanding.

     "For me," continued the older Peter, "it was the top of the Chrysler Building."

      "Empire State," nodded the younger Peter. He sighed and shrugged. "It's just a▬it's a better view."

     "That is a sweet view."

     Nina glanced up. Her breath hitched as she suddenly knew exactly where her Peter would be. With that realisation, was also the desperate fight to hold her own tears back. "I know where he is," she announced.

*ೃ༄

    a/n: bro I WISH i wrote the REUNION BETTER! *Sobs*

    I am crying because i am emotional this chapter was not good to write on my period.

     bro i can just imagine what is going through both peter's minds when they see nina and it HURTS.

     the actual frustration it is to try and distinguish between two peters while writing is so real ... and soon it's gonna be three *sobs*.

     i just like how ned's like ... pft, tobey maguire? who tf is that?

    i have been waiting to write this chapter since NWH came out and i hope it isn't anti-climatic. i'm sorry if it is.

    MEMES:

    (lol be prepared for a lot of mj and bread vs. peter 3 jokes cos i think i'm so funny apparently haha).