Chapter 151: Leaving
They remained there for some time, drinking and talking. Peter did not attempt to force his counterpart into accepting his methods, nor did Peter 616 suddenly abandon everything he believed. Instead, they argued.
About responsibility.
About killing.
About second chances.
About enemies who repeatedly escaped confinement.
About heroes who demanded accountability from everyone except themselves.
About Stark.
About Reed.
About the Avengers.
About the endless expectation that Spider-Man should sacrifice everything while asking for nothing in return.
Some arguments became heated. Others ended with uncomfortable silence. A few unexpectedly ended with both of them laughing.
Eventually, Peter 616 looked toward the glass doors leading to the balcony on the second floor.
"Come on," Peter said.
"Where?"
"You need to see something."
They climbed the stairs until they reached the glass doors. Peter pushed them open and stepped onto the balcony, placing both hands inside his trench coat.
Peter 616 followed him.
Then he froze.
Across New York, enormous screens were displaying images of Spider-Man. Some showed footage of his rescues. Others displayed messages of support. On one screen, a large symbol appeared:
I ♥ SPIDER-MAN
Peter 616 stared at it in disbelief.
"What? Is this.... is this an illusion?"
"It is real."
Peter stood beside him and looked across New York City.
"The most powerful weapon is not the sword. It is the pen, as they say. In this case, it would be words and evidence." Peter glanced toward his counterpart. "I released information that had been hidden from the public, and this is the result."
"A change," Peter 616 murmured.
"Exactly."
Peter 616 remained silent for several seconds, staring at the screens.
"You did this?"
"Partially."
"Why?"
"I already told you. I came to save you."
Peter 616 looked at him with a strange expression before turning back toward the city.
"So what do I have to do to get my freedom and change?"
"Actually, not much. I have already done most of it. The only thing we need to talk about is, with great power comes a-...."
"Do not you dare finish that sentence. Do not dare. It is getting on my nerves," Peter 616 said as he walked toward the edge of the balcony and leaned against it.
"You know, Uncle Ben in my Multiverse never said those words to me."
That immediately attracted Peter 616’s attention.
"Strange. It is always the same phrase that marks the Spider-Men and makes them what they are."
"In my case, it was not like that. I decided to become Spider-Man. There was not a death that suddenly made me realize how I should use my powers."
"Wait, then Uncle Ben...."
"No. If that is what you want to know, he died right in front of me. Beaten by a gang, just like me. But I was luckier. They did not shoot me multiple times."
Peter 616’s eyes widened. Unknown to either of them, a certain woman in blue was also listening to everything.
"I still remember the warm blood splattered across my face. I remember the gunshots and the pain in my body from the beating they gave me. The only thing I clearly remember about that gang member is that his hair was red."
Peter frowned as the memories returned.
"For a while, I looked like a living corpse, and the constant harassment from Flash did not help. In the end, I reached a very dark point, but my body did not cooperate with that decision, and I ended up coming back from the edge."
He deliberately left out the details.
"Well, from my perspective, my origin was better than that. Yours was brutal," Peter 616 said.
That brought a small smile to Peter’s face as he remembered hearing similar words from Noir.
"I will tell you something you should know, Parker. After that, I started to change. I started becoming a better person. I studied more. I became more responsible, confident, self-assured, intelligent, and cunning. I created a game that gave me enough money to pay off the house where I lived with Aunt May and eliminate our debts. I improved in an incredibly short time."
Peter looked across the city.
"And that was because we are Parkers. We do not walk. We do not run. We do not take small steps."
He placed a hand on Peter 616’s shoulder.
"We leap into greatness."
Peter 616 looked at him silently.
"Do you want to know what Uncle Ben told me? What he used to say?"
"That if you had the power to help someone, you had a moral obligation to do so."
"No. He told me: ’Do what you can. Do not do everything, because that would be impossible. Do nothing? Immoral.’ That is the code I live by. When I lost the person I considered my brother, I finally understood it. I understood that it is not our losses that define us, but how we learn from those experiences."
Peter 616’s expression drifted into a quiet trance.
For some time, they remained in comfortable silence while looking across the city. Peter remembered everything he had done and, to this day, regretted none of it. He lived by more than one phrase. Uncle Ben’s words had remained with him too: live life to the fullest because there is only one, and never regret the choices you made.
"Now that we are done with the emotional talk, here."
Peter handed Peter 616 a Goober.
"There is a lot of important information in there. If you had not been so stubborn, you could have prevented several of the things recorded inside, but do not worry. I already resolved the most important and dangerous ones. I recommend that you review everything."
"Understood," Peter 616 said before putting the Goober into his pocket.
"Take this and this."
Peter handed him two sheets of paper and a cylindrical sphere.
"Once I leave, press this button and look at the papers after activating the sphere."
Once I activate the sphere, a little of my essence will enter his body so that he become slightly more like me. Not enough to make him kill coldly, but enough to make him more decisive, lethal when necessary, intelligent, and capable in other ways.
Peter looked ahead.
Okay, One Above All. I am ready.
His clothes slowly began transforming back into the Superior suit as his body started disappearing. He placed one hand on Peter 616’s shoulder and looked directly at him.
"Listen. We are not merely Meta-Humans, ordinary men, or random creations of fate. We are more than that, and the responsibility is much greater. We always have to be better. Better than all of them."
He nodded toward New York City.
"That means we do not give up. We do not kneel before the misfortunes of fate and its whims. We rise again, as we always do. Stronger, more determined, and more stubborn than ever. We rise, look fate directly in the eye, and make it blink first."
Peter’s body continued disappearing.
"Remember this, Peter. Just because we hit rock bottom does not mean we have to stay there."
With those final words, he disappeared.
"Thank you. For everything," Peter 616 said while staring at the empty space where his counterpart had been.