Chapter Text
Humans can’t live alone. No matter how some people can be individualistic or introverted, no one can live on their own. This means, for people to be happy, they need other people. Whether to share their happiness or to complete their happiness. That might be a given, but for people who are isolated by themselves for various reasons, it means that they can’t be fully happy.
Peter Parker, now known as Peter-Three by his loveable brothers, knows that. He knows it, to be happy he needs to have people at his side. He can’t be alone. But, it feels such a luxury to think about his happiness when he can barely survive juggling double lives.
Because, to be born as Peter Parker and blessed (or cursed) the power of Spider-Man, whoever is above there seems to love to torture him in as many ways as possible.
Just like now.
Peter-Three opens his eyes and stares around the place confusedly.
“Peter, snap it out, hey!” Peter-Three blinks and adjusts his vision.
“Big Bug…?”
“Are you okay?” He seems very concerned, but something about him makes Peter-Three feel off. “It is alright… everything is fine… we will control the situation.” It is rare for the oldest to be nervous, so Peter-Three looks around his surroundings again.
There is someone unrecognizable on the ground. It is unrecognizable not only because Peter-Three doesn’t know him, but his face is mangled beyond recognition. Peter-Three snaps in surprise and jumps more when he sees bruises and blood on his hands.
“What did you do this again? You need to control your anger!” the youngest’s faces come into view, looking very distressed and angry.
“Peter, don’t make it worse, it is already bad as it is,” Peter-Two sounds tired as he stops Peter-One from approaching the middle brother.
“Yeah, but it isn’t the first time! And what? Are you going to help him again, Peter?” the youngest sounds frustrated as he wriggles on from Peter-Two’s hold.
“Then what? Are you going to report him to the police, let him be captured then be experimented?” Peter-Two taunts back then he clicks his tongue. “Like I said, don’t make this worse, we need to get away from here first.”
Peter-Three is only watching the event unfold with his eyes.
There is something off with his brothers, but he can’t tell what.
But, he can’t understand this situation either. What happened?
Then again, everything feels painfully familiar. As if, it has happened before and Peter-Three is used with how everything flows.
The next thing he knew, Peter-Two already grabbed his arm and pulled him to move. They run from the scene, with Peter-One follows them closely from behind. He doesn’t look happy.
This is really strange.
“Wait, what actually happened!?” Peter-Three yanks back the oldest’s hold, stopping them from running. The oldest looks surprised at first before his face shifts into a more understanding expression.
“You don’t remember anything?” Peter-One asks from behind him. “How could you…? After you did that…?” He asks with disbelief.
Peter-Three feels his heart twist because it is his first time seeing Peter-One look at him full of distrust and disappointment.
“Don’t be like that, maybe he is in shock,” Peter-Two scolds the youngest, but he sounds too tired to sound angry.
“Please stop defending him like this, Peter-Two! This is getting unhealthy… Do you think it is normal for him to beat people to death just because he got riled up?” Peter-One shouts back at the oldest while pointing at Peter-Three rudely.
“I know that he didn’t do it on purpose,” contrary to his words, Peter-Two sounds… resigned and exhausted. “And you know that we can’t use normal standard to us, we are way stronger than the strongest normal human.”
“Yeah, but even among us-“
“STOP IT!” Peter-Two shouts to cut Peter-One from finishing his words.
Peter-Three stares at the oldest in shock, it is very rare for the oldest to look pissed and shouting at them like this.
“Just stop it… okay?” Peter-Two says again, now looking sorry, sad, and even more tired than before.
“You know that we are… we are superheroes, Peter… you know that this is wrong… this is very wrong, I can’t keep doing this…” Peter-One whimpers as his eyes become glassy.
Peter-Two is silent for a second, with a solemn look and he is staring at the ground.
“That doesn’t matter anymore…,” he says with a face void of expression.
“Huh?” Peter-One sounds surprised.
“Being a superhero doesn’t matter anymore…” Peter-Two shakes his head, repeating what he means. “I already said that I love you all more than the multiverses… some dead people won’t change it…”
“Peter, you need to snap it out!” Peter-One shouts, looking angry but also scared.
“Are you being naïve or what? You do know that if Peter-Three gets locked, he won’t just be imprisoned like normal people! He will get experimented for sure! Or even torture… or maybe even more horrendous things… I don’t want to imagine that… so there is no way that I will let him give himself into the police!” Peter-Two explains while looking angry.
“You don’t know about that yet-“
“Can you two stop talking as if I’m not here!?” Peter-Three shouts at them, unable to stay silent any longer. Finally, the brothers turn at him.
“So… I killed people…” Peter-Three concludes bitterly. He always managed to stop himself from delivering the finishing blow, but he has a long history of beating criminals half to death. He purposefully never sought what happened to them at the end after the police captured them, because he was afraid of destroying people worse than killing them.
So, hearing the fact that he killed people surprisingly… doesn’t feel that surprising.
But, what is surprising for him is to hear how Peter-Two and Peter-One argue about this.
Peter-One, shockingly, has a better moral compass than the oldest. Then again, Peter-Three always feels that Peter-Two is extremely protective toward the brothers, sometimes in an eerie way.
“It is okay, you didn’t do it on purpose…” Peter-Two says as if he wants to comfort him.
“He didn’t do it on purpose doesn’t change the fact that he murdered innocent people!” Peter-One retorts back. “And the moment you covered his crime, you stopped being a superhero!” Peter-One shouts to the oldest.
Peter-Two looks shocked but then he looks down. “I never wanted to be a superhero, unlike you…”
“Then, that means you threw away the decades of your efforts just like that!?” Peter-One asks desperately. Then he turns at Peter-Three and pulls his arm. “Peter… you know that you are in the wrong… I love you, I really do love you but covering you is just… wrong… I can’t keep doing this, you need to stop… and you need to stop Peter-Two too…”
“Why are you like this!?” Peter-Two yanks away Peter-One’s hand from Peter-Three’s arm. “If we let him be captured, we might never see him again!”
“We shouldn’t worry about that now! Stop overthink it! Let’s just do the right thing first!” Peter-One grabs Peter-Two in frustration.
“I won’t risk someone to capture or hurt or split apart us just for the sake of doing the right thing!” Peter-Two slaps off Peter-One’s hands from him.
Peter-One looks so shocked.
And so does Peter-Three.
He knows that Peter-Two loves him, though he still feels undeserving sometimes, and he knows that Peter-Two said that he loves them more than multiverses. And they have joked about the extent of what they could do for each other.
But, maybe, more than the multiverses itself, Peter Parker always strives to do the right thing.
Sure, it isn’t the easiest thing to do, by far, no.
It is really hard to hold tight to their moral compass when the people that they want to protect are not always the nicest people. Or when they want to do the right thing, but the karma slaps them so hard in the face as if they are doing the wrong thing.
So, for Peter-Two to say that he puts aside doing the right thing is… like losing his core identity as Peter Parker and Spider-Man. The thing that makes him Peter Parker and Spider-Man.
“Don’t you think you are going too far?” Peter-One asks him with a sad voice.
Peter-Two looks solemn but then he nods.
“Wait, don’t ignore me again!” Peter-Three steps between the two brothers. “I’m the source of the problem… the choice should be up to me!”
Then Peter-Two’s expression changes into a more serious face. “Do you think I will let you do that?” The oldest grabs Peter-Three’s wrist out of nowhere with such strength that catches the middle brother in surprise. “Knowing you… you could choose to end everything by killing yourself…”
Peter-Three flinches as he trembles. Because, true, that is one of the choices that he considering in his head.
“You can’t run away… not after you made Peter-Two to be this extreme either…” Peter-One grabs Peter-Three’s other wrist. “You always run away from your problems, I won’t let you do that this time.”
Peter-Three is cornered and trapped by his two brothers, then he sees how slowly there are black webs spread through their faces and bodies. He looks at them with shock.
The wizard did warn him about how the darkness could spread to his brothers but—
“Then why don’t you just abandon me? Why are you fighting between yourselves? It is easier to just abandon me…” Peter-Three asks them if he wants to run away from them because this is suffocating. Everything is his fault.
He corrupted his brothers in a way that he never thought he could. He always thought that his brothers would abandon him in the end, but instead, they persisted in staying with him and then falling to the bottom of the abyss together with him.
“Do you think it is easy? I want to abandon you too if I can… but I can’t…” Peter-One whimpers with glassy eyes, the dark webs spread more and thicker on his face.
“I would rather choose to be a spider monster with you than to abandon you, Peter… I can’t let anyone precious to me leave me again…” Peter-Two says with a sad but gentle smile. The dark webs have spread on his face too.
“No, no, you can’t… you two… you can’t… this shouldn’t happen…” Peter-Three shakes his head while he mumbles deliriously to himself. His body is trembling hard while he is refusing to look at his brothers’ faces.
That is the last thing that he wants. He sees how the dark web has also spread so thick and dense on his own skin. Peter-Three watches in horror at how the dark webs slowly transform into an exoskeleton, transforming his body in the most sickening way.
“NO, let me go, I-I’M TRANSFORMING—” Peter-Three is trying to yank his hands away from his brothers’ strong grip, but they refuse to budge. He sees how his brothers are slowly transforming too.
“It is okay… I won’t leave you alone… we will go through this together,” Peter-Two smiles as his face slowly turns into a spider monster with no clear expression.
“I guess, maybe this is the easiest choice… I don’t want to be alone again so… yeah…” Peter-One chuckles sadly as he slowly transforms as well.
Peter-Three’s breathing is quickened as he is getting panicked.
No, this can’t be happening.
This can’t be.
He pulls away from their tight grip with a stronger force, pulling the brothers from their feet and then throwing them to the ground. The moment they release their grip, Peter-Three starts to run.
“PETER!”
“NO, YOU CAN’T LEAVE US!”
Peter-Three doesn’t look at the back of his shoulder.
He needs to get away as far as he can from his brothers.
He doesn’t know where he should go, but he just needs to run.
Then he sees how his surroundings have changed into endless darkness.
Peter-Three stops and looks around in confusion.
“What is this--- where—”
He jumps when his brothers suddenly jump and land in front of him with a synchronized movement.
“Why did you run away? Don’t you love us?”
They talk in unison, with their face fully transformed into spider monsters.
“No… no… this isn’t real, this isn’t—” Peter-Three pauses as he realizes it. “This isn’t real.”
“Yeah, but it could be reality anytime soon.”
Peter-Three snaps in surprise when he hears his own voice coming from his brothers. He sees how the two spider monsters walk closely before they merge into one. And that one becomes Spider-Man. Peter-Three’s Spider-Man.
“Did you enjoy the show?” he asks wittily.
Peter-Three tries to regulate his heavy breathing, but he fails. The shock is still there, his body is still trembling, despite it was all just sickening play from his horrendous being, but it felt so real… In his horror, Peter-Three feels his knees weak, he falls to the ground.
“Why did you do this…?” Peter-Three asks him.
“So that you can stop resisting and let me eat you…” Spider-Man crouches down to his eye level.
Now that Peter-Three is in this… strange place, probably it is somewhere deep inside himself, Peter-Three remembers what this spider has done to him before. He mocked and ridiculed him, trying to eat him before Peter-Three managed to wriggle away then he chased him. Then—
Right, what he is doing is different now…
“Because your fear has changed… it is much easier to understand everything after the bridges have formed,” Spider-Man says as if he can read Peter-Three’s thoughts. Or probably, he indeed can.
“Huh? Bridges?” Peter-Three doesn’t get that part. “My fear has changed…?” Peter-Three mumbles.
“Yeah!” Spider-Man suddenly stands. “Before, you are afraid of… failing to prove yourself, you know. You are afraid to prove that you are indeed a failure and you don’t deserve to live or be happy,” Spider-Man shrugs as if he is saying something insignificant, but his words stab deep inside Peter-Three.
His fists clench as his body trembles harder.
“But, well, you have changed,” Spider-Man shrugs again. “You become… happy,” he says as he points to Peter-Three.
Peter-Three blinks as he processes his words. “And… you don’t like that? You want me to be unhappy?”
Spider-Man sighs. “Well, I’m you, so you aren’t wrong about that, but…” he pauses as he shakes his index finger toward him. “Being happy is dangerous you know.”
Peter-Three blinks in confusion.
“The happier you are, the more miserable you will be when you lose that happiness. Haven’t you learned about that?”
Peter-Three is speechless to hear that because he knows how much it is true.
He also has been afraid to feel so happy these days, something in the back of his mind keeps reminding him to not be overly happy with something that can be temporary.
“You remember what happened with Gwen, oh… Gwen…” the Spider-Man is walking in a circle around him. He sounds as if he is mocking but Peter-Three can hear a hint of sadness inside his voice. “You knew her just for… what? A few weeks? You fell harder when she died, harder than our Uncle Ben’s death, and you know why.”
Of course, Peter-Three knows why. Maybe for other people, it would be just something about teenagers falling in love, having a fling, nothing serious about that. But, for him, Gwen is—was…
She accepted him for who he was… She didn’t make him feel like an outcast that didn’t belong anywhere. She…
She was his home. A safe place. A safe person that he wanted to come back whenever he felt like shit or lost.
Meeting her was like… an enlightenment.
He forgot how it felt to have a safe person… someone that he could feel safe and anchored him. He had been chronically lonely deep inside his heart and the loneliness felt familiar more than being with someone else. But she reminded him about how it felt to have a safe place to belong to, just like before his parents abandoned—left him.
So, when she died, it wasn’t only because of the guilt that he broke down so hard—but to lose the only safe place that he had and the thought that probably he would never be able to have someone so accepting as her again in his life… He fell into despair.
Only a decade later, he got transported into another universe suddenly and then met his counterparts from the multiverses.
“Frankly, are you thinking I’m the bad guy who wants to torture you to death?” Spider-Man asks him while patting his own chest. “No, I’m you idiot, I don’t want to kill you or anything like that. I just want to… you know… stop being in pain. Stop being so miserable.”
For a moment, Peter-Three feels sympathy for his spider part. It must be not easy as well for him, to live with someone like Peter Three.
“You know how you are happy right now… you are also scared of what would happen if something bad happened to them, right?” Spider-Man says softly, barely a whisper, but it sounds like a horrifying threat.
He snaps his fingers and suddenly, his brothers appear from the darkness.
But with a very terrifying condition.
Peter-One is lying on the ground with blood all over him and his joints are turning into unnatural positions.
Peter-Two is lying on the ground with his body half turned into a spider monster and his stomach exploded, pooling a mix of red blood and hemolymph.
“No, don’t-“ Peter-Three turns his head and closes his eyes tight, but Spider-Man grabs his face and forces him to keep seeing.
“No, no, no, you need to see this. This is something that may happen to your sweet lovely brothers…” Spider-Man says with a hiss. “Do you think as a Spider-Man, your brothers will lead a happy life? Hmph… no way… and you know that. There is a huge chance that they will die in their battle… and there is another huge chance that they will die… because of you. Just like what happened with Gwen.”
“Stop it, just stop it, I know, I know this… I also fear this, this is haunting my mind too,” Peter-Three is trying to turn away from the gory sights, but Spider-Man is holding his face strong. Peter-Three is trembling hard as tears start to fall from his eyes.
“Right, you are in pain just to see this kind of illusion, what will happen if it really happens? How much pain you will suffer?” Spider-Man whispers to his ears.
Peter-Three doesn’t want to follow this spider’s words, but strangely, he does. It hurts so much just to think about bad things that happened to his brothers, but thinking of what will happen if one or two of them are gone… is unbearably painful.
Even though Peter-Three knows that sooner or later everything will come to an end, what he can think about what will happen if his brothers are gone from his life then…
His world will come to an end.
His small and cramped world is only lightened up now because of the existence of his brothers.
If he loses them and he has to go back to the way that he was before he met them then…
He would never be able to…
Now that he understands how it feels to be happy again after meeting his brothers.
Now that he understands how it feels to lose everything after he loses Gwen.
“See? It is unimaginable, right? You won’t be able to endure that kind of pain… not to mention that it is also dangerous for you to keep staying at your brothers’ side.”
Peter-Three sheds more tears because he knows how true those words are.
“Don’t hear what your brothers said… knowing them, they will keep toxic people around them because Peter Parker is just that kind…”
Peter-Three feels like the spider’s words echo inside his mind as if he is telling him the bittersweet truth that he needs to hear.
“So… if you… stop trying so hard… if you let me handle everything, not only you won’t suffer more pain in the future, but your brothers will also be safe from you… won’t that be a win-win solution?”
Peter-Three blinks and takes a look at the Spider-Man in front of him.
He doesn’t know what to say to him, because it feels like everything that he has said is true.
He is tired of trying his best despite the reality of the impending impending doom.
He is tired of hurting the people around him.
He is tired of losing precious people for him.
He is simply tired of living.
“…okay…” Peter-Three whispers back. He has lost all of his will to fight back.
“Good, nice boy…”
Peter-Three closes his eyes as he sees Spider-Man open his mask to uncover his spider mouth.
0o0o0o0
As both Spider-Man and Peter Parker, there were many times when his patience was tested. But, personally, for Peter-Two, there is nothing harder than being patient at this moment.
“Peter…”
Watching his younger brother, Peter-Three, slowly turning into a spider monster while he keeps whimpering and trashing in his unconsciousness. The dark webs are spreading all over his body and some parts of his skin have turned into exoskeletons.
Peter-One, who has been sitting on the side of the bed, is holding his brother’s hand tightly while he also whimpering and sobbing softly.
It is hard for Peter-Two to just watch and do nothing while his brothers are suffering in pain, especially for Peter-Three.
“Is he going to be okay? Is he losing the fight?” Peter-One finally asks him with teary eyes.
Part of him is amused by Peter-One’s innocent question, the way he asks his older brother as if the older brothers always know things better than him. Peter-One should know that Peter-Two is as much as clueless as him about this matter. But, Peter-Two understands that the youngest is asking this because he is stressed.
Both of them are.
“I don’t know, Peter,” Peter-Two answers then pats Peter-One’s head tenderly. “For me, I don’t like seeing Peter-Three suffering in pain like this…”
Peter-One’s eyes are full of tears but there is a hint of curiosity there. “Why are you always saying it like that? I mean… people usually say that ‘I wish you to be happy’ or ‘I hope you will be okay’.” Then Peter-One’s attention shifts back to Peter-Three when the middle brother spasms harder on the bed.
Peter-Two puts his hand on top of Peter-One’s hand that is holding Peter-Three’s hand.
“Because… it is kind of burdening and pressuring you both if I say that I wish you to be happy. You know that it isn’t easy to achieve that…” Peter-Two answers solemnly. “And I know… how hard it is to suffer in pain, especially when you have to suffer in pain alone…”
In the past, having bad days was almost normal for Peter-Two. Something went wrong, his luck swept him off his feet then he got hurt countless times in many ways possible, whether it was physically or mentally. For him, he could keep fighting with the boost of adrenaline, but what was hard for him was when the fight finished and he needed to deal with whatever pain he suffered.
The fact that he couldn’t ask for help. He needed to suffer silently and deal with everything alone. During those dark times, even Peter-Two has thought about how easier it was for him to just… give up. Under the crushing pain and burden, with no one else at his side, it was hard.
Not to mention, when he saw other people being so… happy so easily. Sometimes, it hurt him even more. It alienated him even more. He had no other choice but to numb himself and accept the pain as his part of normal life, just so he could keep his sanity.
“Peter-Three said, that he never wished you suffer that kind of pain…” Peter-Two smiles gently at the youngest. “Me too, I also always wish that you two never suffer that kind of pain… I don’t ask you to be happy or to be okay, I just want you to stop being in pain.”
Peter-Two sees how Peter-One cries even more. Peter-Two is smiling but then his lips tremble as he sees both of his brothers are in distress.
“Because of that, this is especially hard for me…” Peter-Two admits with a bitter smile as he starts to cry as well. When this happened before, both of his brothers were covered by cocoons, so he didn’t know their suffering inside.
But now, even if the bonds that connect Peter-Two to Peter-Three are quiet, the oldest can see directly with his own eyes how in pain Peter-Three is now.
Peter-Two remembers how Doctor Strange has warned him to not test what could do with his bonds. Just how extreme he is when his brothers are involved, which is… true.
Maybe, even stronger than his feelings for MJ, Peter-Two cares for his brothers more. Simply because, he believes that MJ could live without him, but not the same for his brothers. MJ doesn’t need him as much as his brothers need him. MJ is such a brilliant and brave woman, while Peter-Two knows how amazing and strong his brothers are, but being their counterpart, Peter-Two knows how suck their lives are.
So, he attached himself harder to them, more than to anyone else. Because if it isn’t him, then who else? His protective instinct shot to the roof it involved his brothers and Peter-Two has been trying to control it.
But, his resolve starts to crumble down, he can feel it. He wants to save Peter-Three whatever it costs. He probably can, because of that Doctor Strange warned him. But, if something bad happens to Peter-Two, then the last incident will repeat again, so he is trying to hold on.
Peter-Two doesn’t notice his hands are trembling, he sees how Peter-One puts his hand on top of his hand.
The youngest doesn’t say anything, but he sees Peter-Two with strength inside his eyes. He is probably trying to convey that ‘he got him’.
Peter-Two chuckles softly.
Because of this, he loves his brothers so much. Peter Parker always tries his best even though he doesn’t fully understand everything going on.
Then Peter-Two flinches as he feels a sudden headache attack his head. He groans sharply as he holds on his head in pain. He feels his vision become hazy for a second before he refocuses his eyes again.
“Peter!”
Peter-Two raises his head to see that Peter-Three’s body is releasing steam, just like how it happened to him before when he changed from a spider monster to a human. But, this time, there is no cocoon to block the sight, so Peter-Two can see how quickly the dark web is spreading out and turning every part of his body into a humanoid spider.
“Peter… no…”
Peter-Two bites his lip… if it comes to this then-
“Ugh!” Peter-Two feels sharp pain around his head again, and he can vainly hear Peter-One groaning in pain as well.
“Peter-“ Peter-Two stops when he can see how the dark webs start to spread on Peter-One’s face.
“Peter, your face!” Peter-One shouts in panic as well.
Peter-Two touches in own face in confusion. “You as well…”
“Huh!?” Peter-One caresses his face. “What is happening?”
“Maybe… it spreads through our bonds…” Peter-Two turns back at Peter-Three who has transformed into a humanoid spider completely. But, aside from that, Peter-Two doesn’t know what is happening.
If it comes to this then… there is no way he just can sit down and do nothing.
0o0o0o0
Whenever Peter-Two is doing this, he always feels weird. It feels like he is on the inside of a very vivid dream, but he knows that he isn’t.
He sees how everything is surrounded by webs that are dripping with strange black liquid.
He wonders if he can do something to stop this.
And to save Peter-Three too.
Peter-Two runs around, he doesn’t know where he should go but he needs to find something. The source of this.
He stops when he can see it.
There is a giant black hole in the air…
The source of webs that surround this place is coming from there.
“Is this… the bonds?”
Peter-Two tries to touch it and it seems he can go through, though he can’t see the inside.
He wonders whether it will be okay to cross the bonds but with all of these webs that are changing his body…
He has to.
He goes inside, praying that he is doing the right thing. Based on his history, usually, it is the opposite. But, for now, he puts that thought aside.
Peter-Two sees there are many interconnected threads that formed into some thick ropes—or maybe it is easier to call them bridges made of white webs. These bridges are interconnected all over the place randomly, almost like the roots of a plant.
And then he can see it.
And a Spider-Man is fighting with a humanoid spider on top of a bridge. No, two- one of Spider-Man is down and groaning at the side.
Is that Peter-One’s spider then?
“Dude, no offense, but you are crossing the line here, literally!”
“No use, he can’t communicate at all you know.”
“Hey, it is worth trying—and don’t say anything back to me, I don’t want to talk to another spider.”
“Rude.”
Peter-Two can identify which is his spider. He wonders why the spider takes the form of Spider-Man, but maybe that is how they want to represent themselves inside this place that is neither reality nor dream.
“Peter!” But Peter-Two doesn’t care about them now, he wonders whether the spider monster is Peter-Three. Probably yes. So, he comes running toward him, he doesn’t know what he should do but he should do something-
“Hey, watch out!” Peter-Two is shoved aside when the spider monsters aim his insect limb toward him. His Spider-Man is receiving the attack and gets thrown to another side.
“Wait, why he can be here!?” Peter-One’s Spider-Man is asking Peter-Two’s Spider-Man who is clearly not in the condition to answer anything.
“I said that don’t talk to me! I hate other spiders!”
Peter-Two sees how his Spider-Man quickly jumps back to his feet then he launches a kick at the humanoid spider.
“No, stop it!” Peter-Two doesn’t know how he does it, but he manages to catch his Spider-Man’s foot then twists it and throws him to the side.
“Hey! You shouldn’t-“
Peter-Two feels something is stabbing him from behind, piercing something through him. He can see a spider limb go through his torse and he groans. “Peter…”
“Damn it, idiot!”
Both Spider-Mans are coming toward him, Peter-Two can see it.
“STOP, YOU TWO!”
Peter-Two moves away from Peter-Three’s spider limb, detaching himself. It hurts, but in a bit vague way, unlike physical pain.
He turns around and watches Peter-Three. This humanoid spider is unable to communicate, but Peter-Two wants to figure out why he is doing this.
The most possible reason is probably…
“You are lonely… aren’t you?” Peter-Two is holding his torso that is dripping out something, not blood, but something else. It isn’t important for now.
That is what Peter-Two can think of.
Strangely, this humanoid spider isn’t as aggressive as he met him before. Well, probably their first meeting, he was simply afraid and attacked as a defense mechanism. Now, other than spreading the webs, this humanoid spider doesn’t do anything else. Again, he attacks because others attack him first.
“He is lonely so he wants to turn us into monsters like him?” his Spider-Man lands beside him, so casually, without any concern. “FYI, his webs will influence me to want to eat you whole. Either you stop him or I will beat him.”
Peter-Two wants to ask whether his spider does not have any interest in eating him.
“Dude, I have been protecting you for so long, why would I eat you? It will put my effort in vain, I despise that,” the Spider-Man answers as if he can read his mind, probably he can. “Though, I despise all of these,” he moves around his arms wildly. “Also them.” He points at Peter-One’s Spider-Man and Peter-Three. “If all of these and they put you in danger, I will cut the line.”
Peter-Two doesn’t know what to say, because, this Spider-Man hasn’t done anything before—oh well, he did warn him before, but he vainly remembers that now that he is here.
“Thank you,” Peter-Two translates everything as his spider is really kind to him.
His Spider-Man is silent for a moment. “Well, because you have accepted me if you met me a couple of years ago, I would like to eat you too.” He points to the Spider-Man behind him and Peter-Three. “They are still naïve.”
Peter-Two simply chooses not to respond to that. He only smiles and moves forward.
As expected, if he doesn’t get provoked, Peter-Three is only silent and slowly spreading out his webs all around his mouth.
“Peter,” Peter-Two calls him. He doesn’t know what he should do or say. But, he knows that… instinctively, Peter-Three is doing all of this because he doesn’t want to be alone. “It is weird isn’t it, that you can feel lonely despite spiders usually being solitary… it is because you have a human heart, and because of that you feel lonely.”
Peter-Two moves closer. This humanoid spider is standing tall but in the same posture as how Peter-Three hunches sometimes. “I don’t mind being a humanoid spider along with you, being human is overrated anyway.”
Peter-Two hears a yell of protest from his Spider-Man from behind but, he ignores him for now.
“I have said it, right? I just don’t want you to be in pain, if you do this will you stop being in pain?” Peter-Two asks him.
He knows that he can’t answer him.
But, Peter-Two wonders if Peter-Three can hear him.
“Maybe I’m wrong, but… the source of your pain is from within yourself, right?” Peter-Two carefully reaches Peter-Three’s spider limb. If the source is from his brothers, then Peter-Three will come to attack him rather than do this.
“If you let me help you to untangle your pain and carry it together, will you let me? We don’t really share our pain because we don’t want to trouble each other, I know that. I will share mine so that you can share yours,” that is the flaw of Peter Parker, they don’t really open up their pain to anyone. Peter-Three did have outbursts a couple of times, but it was different from talking openly about his pain.
“…alone…”
“Hm?” Peter-Two hears that Peter-Three is mumbling something, but his spider mouth is hard to guess the articulation and his voice is weird so Peter-Two can’t hear anything.
“He is probably saying that he is afraid that he will end up alone again.”
Peter-Two turns to Peter-One’s Spider-Man who also has been watching silently. He shrugs. “My Peter also feels that way, he is scared when that time will come,” he confesses.
Peter-Two is silent for a while. He knows that there will be times when they will get separated, whether by death or something else. Nothing lasts forever and he knows that. It pains him if he thinks about that, but he chooses to savor the present and shower his brothers with love just so he won’t regret anything when the end comes.
“I guess… we never have a proper talk about that too, I’m sorry… but you know what? It is normal to feel scared about it, but if you let your fear consume you, then… you can’t be happy,” Peter-Two caresses Peter-Three’s face tenderly. “Even if that time comes, you have to know that I will always love you, okay?” Peter-Two stops then he chuckles. He looks around the webs that have been spread so thick into the hole that connects the bridge to his inner self.
He wonders how much he has transformed into a humanoid spider as well in the real world.
“Though, if we change into humanoid spiders together then we can’t talk with each other after that… But as long as we can stay together, I guess, it is fine,” Peter-Two smiles solemnly.
Though, he wonders if they can spare Peter-One from being roped into it. The youngest is still too young to throw his life away like that. In comparison, Peter-Two himself doesn’t really mind it. Maybe, it is better this way so that Peter-Three won’t ever be alone again.
“…Peter…”
Peter-Two smiles tenderly to his brother. Then, surprisingly, he sees how Peter-Three’s exoskeleton starts to crumble down and reveals the human under it.
“Why are you separating yourself from me, again!?”
“Let me go…!”
Peter-Two hears two voices from Peter-Three, weirdly. Something else is talking with his voice. Oh right, is that his spider part? When they become one, they become a humanoid spider. That's what means for the spider to eat them, huh?
“Peter…” Peter-Two wants to help because the exoskeleton part of the humanoid spider seems to latch tightly to Peter-Three. But, Peter-Two knows to keep himself from helping, this is something that Peter-Three needs to fight on his own. His own fight with himself.
“You said that my brothers will be safe from me, what a BIG liar you are!” Peter-Three rips off the shell from his arm and he does it again on the other one.
“Hey, mind you, we were doing this together. Probably you love your brothers too much-”
“Shut up!” Peter-Three sounds so angry. “You touch my brothers, you crossed the line, I’m done with you and your lies!” Peter-Three successfully rips the rest of the shell away from his lower body then he throws away the leftovers of the humanoid spider.
Peter-Two sees how Peter-Three almost stumbles but he manages to catch himself. Then, behind his brother, Peter-Two sees how the shell and whatever is left from its mold into one and transform into a Spider-Man with Peter-Three’s suit.
“Good… you are doing good—” Peer-Two’s vision starts to feel hazy, weirdly. Something that has been dripping out from him is pooling under him and it is too much come out—
“Peter!”
0o0o0o0
Peter-One doesn’t know how it ends up here. The last thing he knows, he was crying helplessly while holding to both of his unconscious brothers. He prays sincerely to anyone who wants to hear him that he wants to help his brothers and show them the way.
And somehow, he ends up here.
It took him a while because he was fascinated by the surrounding webs that were dripping with black liquid and had to inspect them. He knows nothing besides… it felt weirdly like a blackened tear.
But then, he realized instinctively something was wrong so he came through the black hole and he arrived here.
Peter-Three is holding onto the unconscious Peter-Two who has a scar on his chest.
They are weirdly surrounded by Spider-men who observe from a distance.
“Peter…” Peter-Three is weeping while cradling Peter-Two on his lap.
“How did this—no, that isn’t important. We need to do something, but how—” Peter-One looks at something that is dripping out from Peter-Two. It isn’t blood, but something else.
“It is his feelings, probably, things that make him human and differentiate from us,” a Spider-Man in Peter-One’s suit answers.
“Feelings…” Peter-One mumbles. “Then, how can we stop it?”
The Spider-Man that looks like him is just silent and standing awkwardly, then he points out at the other Spider-Man. “He probably knows, he is the oldest.”
Peter-One shifts his attention to the Spider-Man with Peter-Two’s suit. He has been watching without saying anything. “Can you please help us?”
Peter-Two’s Spider-Man is being silent for so long before he finally responds. “I don’t know what he sees from you two… or those two as well,” he mumbles in annoyance. “If you pour your feelings to him, probably it will help it to stop but… well… there will be some side effect for you, but I don’t know what.”
“Will that be alright…?” Peter-Three asks full of tears.
The oldest Spider-Man shrugs. “You two are also Peter Parker, maybe it will be okay, maybe it won’t. Not that something like that is new, what important is to make sure that he survives first.”
Peter-One frowns a little but it seems like that is the only choice that they have.
“I guess we need to make some sort of wounds on ourselves-“ Peter-One stops talking when Peter-Three is already stabbing his finger deep into his wrist in an unsettling way.
Something is dripping out from Peter-Three’s wrist then he lets it drip onto Peter-Two’s chest.
Peter-One watches him a bit nervously before he follows his lead. It is a bit disturbing for him to hurt his own wrist with his finger, but he can’t do it any other way.
Both of them let their wrists dripping something to Peter-Two’s chest. Now that Peter-One can see it, his chest is a bit empty, and now that it is replenished, the bleeding stops.
“Ugh…”
“Peter!” Peter-One smiles in relief when he can see Peter-Two opens his eyes.
“Peter… I’m really sorry…” Peter-Three mumbles as he crouches down and hugs Peter-Two’s torso. “I hurt you--- I hurt you, I’m really sorry…”
“Hey, hey, I know you didn’t do it on purpose, it is okay… And I don’t know what happened, but you two saved me, right? It is okay…” Peter-Two caresses Peter-One’s wrist then he pats Peter-Three who hugs him tightly.
“In the end, I couldn’t fight alone again, you saved me, it is all for nothing…” Peter-Three whimpers on Peter-Two’s chest.
“Hey, you are the one who broke away from him, I only helped a little,” Peter-Two points out at Peter-Three’s Spider-Man. “Don’t think too bad of him, he is just a part of you, you can learn how to accept him… and of course, yourself too.”
Peter-Three is still for a moment, as if he is afraid, but because he is buried his face on Peter-Two’s torso, no one can his face. “…alright…” he sounds so ashamed though.
“And you need to be easy on him as well, okay? Please be kind to him,” reminds Peter-Two to Peter-Three’s spider.
He doesn’t say anything and only shrugs as he walks away. There is something else from him that makes him way more intimidating than the other Spider-Man, Peter-One shivers a little bit.
Peter-One wonders what actually happened and he thinks that his brothers are amazing, Peter-Three included. For him to hold down that scary spider, his middle brother is strong.
“Now… should we go home?” Peter-Two asks gently, ruffling Peter-Three’s head who still refuses to let him go.
“Okay…” Peter-Three retreats back, his face is a mess but he looks better than before.
Peter-One looks at both of his brothers then he hugs them both.
“I love you guys!” He doesn’t know why but he just wants to say that.
Peter-Two chuckles and Peter-Three nods.
“Yeah, me too.”
“Me too.”
And the scene is turning into white before they disappear.
0o0o0o0
“Don’t be too sad.”
“I know… but it feels like, I didn’t do it correctly again, and it might happen again…”
“Well, if it happens again, now we know how to deal with it.”
Peter-Three caresses the mug filled with hot milk tea in his hands while he watches the sunrise in the sky with his brothers sandwich him.
“But… thank you, for saving me…” he says timidly. He is always like this, he always needs his brothers’ help—
“Peter, I know you will do the same for me. And more, as I said before, you are the one who saved me first when you went to find me after we got separated from Peter-One’s world,” Peter-Two says with a smile. “If it wasn’t because of you, I would be alone now… so of course I will help you whenever I can.”
“It is right, we always help each other. I don’t know many things and I’m still naïve too, I know I still need a lot of help but I also will always help you when I can,” Peter-One says cheerfully as he drinks his milk tea.
Peter-Three doesn’t know whether he deserves such caring and loving brothers like them, but for their sake, he needs to get better.
Accepting both himself and his spider part will be… hard. Deep inside, he always despises himself, so it will take a lot of work.
But, Peter-Two has said that he would help him…
Though… Peter-Two rarely shares something with the other brothers, so Peter-Three doubts him a bit.
“You aren’t the only one who has something dark that can eat you up, you know…”
Peter-Three blinks in surprise.
“I’m tired now, but I will share with you two about the story another time. Just for a warning, if you find a weird black goo that can move around, avoid it at all costs and don’t touch it, okay?”
“Oh… is that have something to do with why you hate the black-colored Spider-Man suit?” the youngest asks curiously. He picks up things fast.
“Unfortunately, yes…” Peter-Two nods solemnly. “Later, okay, later, I promise.”
Peter-Three watches the oldest who gives him a knowing smile.
“Then… I will also… tell you the story of… the late Avenger member who helped to be a Spider-Man later…” Peter-One says heavily, he seems a bit reluctant but he gives them a smile. “I always want to talk about him with you two… but I need time.”
Peter-Three sees the brothers on either side and then smiles at them.
“I will also tell you two my story… later…”
The two of them nod then they watch how the sun rises higher in the sky.
There will be a lot to untangle. Peter-Three is sure that his brothers are carrying a lot of pain and trauma all alone.
But, they aren’t alone anymore.
So, they will be fine.
They will be fine for now.
And, that is enough.
End