Chapter 54 - I Am Spider Tobey

Hey! Old Peter here.

I had just left the girls and started weaving webs to surround the falling helicopter. Once I saw it was properly enclosed, I shot myself between the rotor blades. Using my Silk Sense, I pulled off this stunt without getting hurt. As my body passed between the blades, I stretched out my wrist and shot a web blast at the rotor.

With the blades locked, the helicopter fell faster, landing directly onto the web net below. The webbing stretched and snapped in places under the weight, but soon, the helicopter was suspended in mid-air, trapped like a fly in a web.

The webbing began breaking again as the two monsters continued fighting while still hanging onto the helicopter. Just as I was about to act, a girl dressed in black and white appeared as a blur, slamming her boots straight into Abomination’s jaw, sending him flying and forcing him to let go of the poor helicopter.

Abomination and Hulk might be strong, but they don’t weigh over 100 tons, which is our current strength level. With a well-placed kick, Nat sent both of them flying several meters away, away from civilians.

Emily appeared right above where Abomination had crashed. With a flick of her wrist, an adamantium blade extended, and she immediately tried to drive it into the ugly monster’s head. Unfortunately, Abomination managed to react in time, avoiding being impaled right between the eyebrows, but he still lost an eye and part of his face.

He roared in pain and threw a punch at Emily, who easily dodged it. Just as she was about to counterattack, a green fist shot forward, smashing into Abomination’s head and sending him flying. Nat soon arrived and joined in the beatdown. I almost felt bad for Abomination… almost.

Leaving the fight to the girls, I rushed toward the helicopter.

At the door of the helicopter stood Betty and Thaddeus Ross, along with some soldiers.

I climbed inside, and everyone tensed at my presence. I don’t get offended easily, so I ignored it.

“Spider-Man, thanks for the help. I hope you’ll turn those two monsters over to us after they’re defeated. They are property of the military,” Ross said, making a request, but his tone sounded like an order. So I ignored him.

“Is there a wounded soldier?” I asked, barging in without any manners and pushing aside anyone in my way.

“Jack is injured! Please, Spider-Man, help him!” A soldier was holding a bleeding comrade. They must have been close friends—I could hear the fear and desperation in his voice.

“Let me see.” I approached.

“The helicopter’s fuselage broke apart and stabbed into his lung. I can’t remove it or move him. The medics won’t be able to save him here. Spider-Angel can, but she’s busy elsewhere…” I analyzed the situation.

“I-Is there nothing we can do?” his friend asked desperately.

“Don’t worry. Now step aside.” I said, and without waiting, I shoved him out of the way.

I then stuck my hands onto the fuselage beside the injured soldier, and from my back, four spider legs emerged. The spider legs sliced through the surrounding fuselage like a hot knife through butter.

Because my hands were attached, when the fuselage was cut, it didn’t fall but instead lifted with my strength.

Using the fuselage as a stretcher, I quickly jumped out of the helicopter and landed as softly as a feather, not even jostling the injured soldier. I ran forward a bit and found an ambulance. After leaving the wounded soldier there, I returned to the helicopter and got everyone out.

Once again ignoring Ross, who tried to talk to me, I left to help others. That made Ross turn red with anger.

Now, the question is, why did I help Ross and his men first? Because they were the ones who needed help first when I arrived. Simple as that.

Before I left, I saw Abomination lying on the ground, and the girls fist-bumping Hulk playfully before the big guy jumped away.

That scene made me curious and nearly made me laugh, but I had people to help.

By the time we finished rescuing everyone, it was already 1 a.m. Abomination had caused a huge disaster—over 90 people died, and the number of injured was ten times that.

We gained a lot of experience in a single day, but none of us were happy. Even though I’ll revive the good people in the future, the suffering and grief happening now can’t be undone.

With great power comes great responsibility. But great responsibility doesn’t mean all responsibility.

Many Spider-Men misinterpret those words, thinking they need to carry the weight of the world alone.

But I’m not like every other Spider-Man—I love good and doing good. But I am not the world’s babysitter, and certainly not the multiverse’s. I’ll be bringing back good people. That’s a good thing. It’s not my fault they died.

Yes, I could have saved them if I had stopped playing around.

I could also be a tyrant and eliminate all crime, but in the end, I’d be the villain too.

In the end, my motto is simple: I do what I want.

And I don’t want to be evil. So as long as I don’t do evil, I don’t care.

My second life is about living without regrets. Not about carrying the weight of the world.

Period.

Okay, I’m just talking nonsense now… I feel terrible.

I got home quietly. The girls noticed my distress.

I took a quick shower and lay in bed.

The girls came and sat around me, surrounding me. Ursula started running her fingers through my hair.

“Peter, what’s bothering you?” MJ asked softly, holding my hand.

I was silent for a few seconds before finally sighing.

“Sigh I feel guilty about all the deaths that happened. If I had stopped messing around… I-I could have saved them,” I said, my lips trembling at the end.

The girls had never seen me this down since I killed millions of people in a second.

They started kissing me and hugging me, whispering words of comfort.

“I-I know I shouldn’t blame myself. I’ll still save the good people who died. But they had family, friends, spouses… And because I didn’t save them, those once good people might become bitter from their loss. They could become bad people… And that’s my fault,” I said in a whisper.

At that moment, the room grew heavy. They didn’t know what to say to console me. They knew that while my thoughts seemed right, they were actually wrong. Even I knew it. But none of us knew how to refute them.

“You’re right, you didn’t save them.” A voice suddenly spoke out of nowhere.

The girls went on high alert, but I remained lying down, not looking up—I already knew who it was.

“Ancient One, looks like you finally decided to show up,” I said, still staring at the ceiling.

“So you already knew. Even though I used the Time Stone to find the moments when you let your guard down, you still sensed me.” The bald woman appeared out of nowhere and spoke to me.

“With Cosmic Awareness, it’s easy to tell,” I replied, not really in the mood for conversation, still gazing at the ceiling.

“Hmm, a convenient ability. But that’s not why I’m here.” She said.

“Oh? You came to tell us we’re disrupting the timeline and need to leave?” I said, barely paying attention, my mind occupied.

“No. I came to stop you from being foolish,” she stated plainly, without emotion.

My wives stayed quiet, looking at the Ancient One with hope, waiting for her to help their husband where they couldn’t.

“What’s foolish about me?” I asked, finally sitting up and looking at the Ancient One with doubt.

She wasn’t a beauty, but she certainly wasn’t ugly either—not that it mattered.

“Who is more important—your family or the world?” she simply asked.

I didn't understand why she asked that, but I answered without hesitation, "My family," I said seriously.
 "Your family or the universe?" she asked again with a small smile.
 "Family," I replied, waiting to see where she was going with this.
 "Your family or the multiverse?"
 "Family."
 "Your family or the omniverse?"
 "Family! Now get to the point, there’s nothing more important to me than my family," I said, wanting to end this already.
 "Then why are you thinking about sacrificing your time for unknown faces?" she asked.

I raised an eyebrow at her abrupt change of subject, but I didn’t question it.
 "Don’t you do that? You sacrifice yourself every day for unknown faces. Look, I already regret it. I don’t think forcing peace is the right thing to do, I was just shaken up," I said, deciding to end the discussion. It was true, I was just shaken up and not thinking straight.

The Ancient One wasn’t surprised by my answer. I’m limiting my powers, so it’s easy to see my future unless I block it on purpose.
 "Yes, unknown faces from Earth. I don’t sacrifice myself for the universe or the multiverse. There are other versions of me who carry the burdens of their respective worlds, just as there are those who bear the weight for other planets. And I’ll tell you, I’m strong, but the burden is still heavy for me. I sacrifice myself for what I cherish, for what I protect," she said with a serious face.

"But I’m stronger, shouldn’t I carry a bigger burden?" I asked, confused.
 "You can. But why would you?" she asked.
 "Because I should?" I asked back.
 "For whom?" she replied.
 "For the other good people. They deserve it," I said as if it were obvious.
 "So you're going to sacrifice your time for people you've never seen and never will, even though you prioritize your family?" The Ancient One said with a small smile on her face.

"What? No! I was just overthinking things. It was just a little 'Parker flu' that I caught. And I was arguing with you because that’s what people do when they get defensive. I admit that I can help good people, and in the end, I will help them, but I don’t owe them anything. They should be grateful," I said, as if I hadn’t been depressed just moments ago.

I just had an existential crisis, people just need to give me space to think.
 "Well, Ancient One. You should have known from the Time Stone that this was just a small hiccup and nothing serious, so why are you here?" I asked curiously.

"Wait a minute." She sat down, opened her eye, and with a few tremors, peeked into the future. After getting up, she looked at me strangely.
 "W-well..." The Ancient One did something that shocked me. She stuttered and blushed.
 "Ever since you arrived, I haven't been able to see my future beyond this day," she said hesitantly, her face still flushed.
 "I didn’t do anything to block your powers. And why are you blushing?" I asked, confused.
 "Well, I’ve always received messages from my future self, saying that if I came to meet you, something good would happen and that it was me blocking my own vision of the future. But now that I used it, I received a message telling me to call you 'husband,'" she said, looking bewildered at her own future self’s decision but deciding to follow through with it anyway.

"Oh?! Interesting…

…

That’s all that has been written so far.