"What are you all standing there for?! Attack!"
"Take down these traitors!"
"Damn it, do you want to just stand by and watch this universe be destroyed?!"
Miguel O'Hara looked at the Spider-Men standing frozen in place, his expression bordering on manic. He still tried to lean on his authority as the leader of the Spider-Society to bend them to his will and eliminate the "traitors" before him.
But... there was no response.
The dozen or so Spider-Men still capable of standing simply watched him in silence. Not one moved to follow his orders.
"Madmen! You're all mad!"
2099 stared at the "betrayers" in disbelief. He struggled to push himself off the ground, his body trembling with exertion. "I knew you people couldn't be counted on! In the end, I have to do this myself!"
Staggering and weaving, he lunged toward Neighbor #3, intent on tackling him. But before he could get close, a figure stepped into his path—Peter.
"The end is staring you in the face, and you're still throwing a tantrum?"
Peter's casual, dismissive tone was the final needle that popped Miguel's fraying composure. Miguel's eyes, bloodshot and wide, fixed on Peter. A crazed, hysterical smile spread across his face as he shrieked:
"Peter Parker, you think you've won? No! You're wrong! Soon, you'll be the biggest loser of all!"
"Your family, your lovers, your friends—everything you have will turn to ash because of your stubbornness! You will eventually become just like me!"
Faced with this curse, Peter merely said two words: "Five minutes."
"What five minutes?" 2099 barked.
"It's been five minutes since the moment your supposed 'Canon Event' was disrupted." Peter crossed his arms, a cold sneer on his face. "According to you, disrupting two Canon Events in a row makes a universe collapse. Well, five minutes have passed. Nothing has happened."
"What do you have to say for yourself now?"
Miguel froze. Has it really been five minutes already? How long had that other universe lasted when he was there? It felt like... it hadn't even made it to the five-minute mark before the ground began to dissolve into digital static.
2099 opened his mouth to argue, but Peter didn't give him the chance. He sat down cross-legged right in front of Miguel.
"I'm going to wait right here with you. It's 8:00 PM now. In four hours, it'll be a new day. Even if a universe's collapse has 'lag,' it surely wouldn't lag into the next day. That would be a bit much, don't you think?"
Hearing the absolute confidence in Peter's voice, the other Spider-Men looked at one another. It made sense.
The underground lab fell into a long, heavy silence. Everyone was waiting. Waiting for the arrival of the so-called "Doomsday."
In the meantime, Peter looked over at Neighbor #3 and teased, "I thought you said you weren't coming back? Why are you here?"
The "MVP" of this turnaround coughed twice, looking quite awkward. "Well..." He hesitated for a long time before finally admitting honestly: "Fine. I admit it. You convinced me."
"After I left, I kept thinking about what you said. The more I thought about it, the more it made sense, so..."
Seeing him struggle to articulate his thoughts, Peter finished for him: "So, you pretended nothing happened, but secretly gathered a crew to make a 'Heroic Entry' and pull off a 'Righteous Backstab' at the last second?"
"Pretty much~" #3 scratched the back of his head. He looked over at the visually striking Spider-Punk and added, "Actually, it was Hobie who gave me the courage to make the final call."
"He told me he'd been suspicious of the Canon Event theory for a long time. He said if there was even a one-in-a-thousand chance that we could actually change things, then as Spider-Man, we had an obligation to try."
Peter looked at the coolly-styled Spider-Punk. That tracks. In the original story, Hobie was never on board with Miguel's methods and even secretly helped Gwen by making her a homemade portal watch. He was a gold-tier support through and through.
Knowing that this version of Hobie was essentially a variant of Aaron Davis from Earth-138, Peter struck up a conversation.
He even mentioned that if there were a chance later, he'd arrange a meeting between Hobie and his universe's Aaron—a prospect that would likely be very interesting.
Under Peter's lead, the tension in the room began to thaw. The Spider-Men started chatting, sharing stories of their respective universes and how they dealt with the same villains in different ways.
Dr. Otto Octavius heard his name mentioned several times during the exchange. It made him shiver. He couldn't help but ask, "So... is that why you were able to shut down the 'Artificial Sun' without any help from me?"
He had been curious about that. Normally, it would take an expert to navigate the complex cooling sequence required to shut the device down safely.
"Exactly, Doctor. We've all fought you, and we've shut down versions of this thing more times than I can count," the Spider-Men replied. The chorus of voices made Otto's ears ring.
"So I'm a massive supervillain in almost every universe?" Otto murmured to himself.
Hearing about his crimes in other worlds didn't release a monster within him. Instead, it solidified his resolve to become the most unique version of himself: "Good Guy Dr. Octopus." Apparently, the competitive drive to be "Number One" at whatever he did was hardwired into his DNA.
As the chatter continued, time ticked away.
As the hands of the clock approached midnight, the "Little Spiders" held their breath in unison.
They feared the terrifying images Miguel had shown them via holograms—the instant shattering of a universe, billions of people turning to ash.
The clock struck twelve.
The world remained unchanged.
Nothing happened.
No spatial collapse. No city-wide destruction. No people dissolving into dust. Everything in the lab was normal, as was the world outside.
The "Universe Collapse Theory" that Miguel had used to turn himself into an executioner had been debunked in the most direct, undeniable way possible.
"This... how is this possible?" one Spider-Man whispered, staring at his hands. "Nothing happened. The universe is... fine?"
"Then... everything we did before... what was it all for?"
That question was a boulder dropped into a still lake, sending out massive ripples. The eyes of every Spider-Man changed. From doubt, to shock, to a crushing realization and an almost bone-deep hatred for 2099.
How many of them had personally stopped another version of themselves from saving a loved one? How many had watched Gwen or Uncle Ben die in another world, clenching their fists and telling themselves it was a "necessary sacrifice"?
They thought they were maintaining stability. They thought they were fulfilling the mission of "With great power comes great responsibility." But reality had just slapped them in the face.
They were the ones who had personally authored the tragedies of the Spider-Man.
"No... it can't be..."
The crowd instinctively looked toward Miguel, waiting to see how he would justify this. But to their total shock... 2099 was the most broken person in the room.
"Why didn't this universe collapse?! Why?! Why did mine..."
He muttered in disbelief, and then a realization struck him like a thunderbolt. He let out a soul-shredding scream:
"Damn it! It's that bastard! How dare he lie to me! How could he lie to me?! He's one of us too!"
"FK YOU! I'm going to kill you! I'm going to kill you a thousand times over! IT! WON'T! BE! ENOUGH!"
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