"Gwen?!"
Peter seriously wanted to smack himself for being such an idiot. No wonder he had felt from the very first glance that the woman in front of him looked familiar.
Because she looked so much like Gwen from The Amazing Spider-Man, just with finer features and an even more striking beauty.
Still, after so many years of living in another world, expecting Peter to immediately connect her to Gwen was honestly asking a lot.
From head to toe, Peter looked her over carefully. Delicate features, pale blond hair falling over her shoulders, and a mature, intelligent air about her. It was a kind of charm that the teenage Gwen in his own universe simply did not have.
Of course, even though they were both Gwen, their resemblance only rated about a six out of ten.
They were like two flowers that looked similar yet different, each blooming in a different world along a different path of fate.
For example, in this world, she had never become Spider-Woman. She had also given up on the idea of starting a band and becoming a drummer, choosing instead to become a police officer like her father George.
"Yes, I'm Gwen. Don't tell me you don't remember me?"
Gwen smiled awkwardly and reminded him, "We were classmates in high school. We went to Midtown High together. And your deskmate was Harry, though... he isn't around anymore."
"Of course I remember. You just don't look the same as the Gwen I remember. Did you go to South Korea for plastic surgery?"
Then he grinned.
"Just kidding. Not bad. You actually became a cop. Planning to take over for Uncle George?"
Faced with this familiar stranger, Peter naturally slipped into joking around.
Since she was still Gwen, then logically her personality should not be too different.
Though, then again, with so many universes out there, who was to say there were not a few oddballs?
"Don't say that. My dad already made police commissioner. I'm just a lowly captain under him for now."
"How's Aunt Helen doing?"
"Peter, actually, I have a lot of questions I want to ask..."
"I know you do, but let's not do all of them at once. Sit down, take it slow, and I'll clear up whatever's confusing you. Want some fries?"
Still stuffing his face, Peter motioned for her to sit and pushed a box of fries toward her.
So Gwen sat across from him. After hesitating for a moment, she finally asked softly, "The news said you were dead. So how are you alive? And I even attended your funeral."
"And also, you look way too young. You look exactly like you did back when we were in high school."
"Officer Gwen, is there any chance that's because I am a high school student?"
Peter took a sip of soda and answered at an unhurried pace.
"As hard as this is to believe, I still have to say it. I'm from another universe."
He spread his hands.
"The Peter of this world is dead. There's no question about that. I still don't know why, but some kind of energy suddenly called me here, and that's how I ended up in this world."
"To be honest, when I found out that 'I' had died, I was shocked too. But dead means dead. The thing is, if he's another version of me, then I decided I have to find out the truth."
"The multiverse theory?"
Gwen fell into thought.
"As expected of the genius who used to keep pace with me in high school. One hint and you get it. But what I don't understand is, why did you show up here?"
Peter had imagined running into people this world's Peter knew, but he had never expected the first one to be this universe's Gwen, and certainly not in such a sloppy way.
"There were a few street fights nearby, so I came with my team to deal with it. But then I ran into something interesting. A bunch of underclassmen from Midtown High reported that someone robbed them of forty-eight dollars. That's not even enough to file a case over."
She smiled.
"And I was hungry, so I figured I'd stop and grab something to eat on the way back."
Peter, already full, wiped his mouth with a napkin and pointed at himself with his thumb.
"If nothing weird happened, then the robber they were talking about was probably me."
"What?! How?"
"They tried to rob me, and I robbed them back. You know, when I suddenly got pulled into this universe, I didn't have a single dollar on me."
Gwen burst out laughing.
"The famous Spider-Man actually hit rock bottom like that?"
Peter blushed a little under the teasing. If she found out he had crossed over in pajamas, she would probably laugh herself unconscious.
"Go ahead and laugh. It's not that embarrassing... Anyway, enough about me. Why did you become a cop?"
The moment that question came up, Gwen straightened and looked at him with burning eyes.
"Because of you."
"Me?"
"Well, the you from this world."
Gwen smiled, then seemed to drift into an old memory as she spoke.
"When he and I were both at Empire State University, we dated for a while. But later, every time we had plans, something went wrong. He'd either be late or stand me up. Then after that, he disappeared for a while, and I broke up with him."
"At the time, I didn't know he was Spider-Man. And during that period, he had been seriously hurt fighting an enemy. He was licking his wounds all alone, like a solitary wolf. If I had known that was what was happening, I would have gone after him without hesitation."
"Later, he got together with Mary Jane. I took it hard. Then, by accident, I found out he was Spider-Man. I knew there was no way for us to go back to how things were. But in order to follow in his footsteps in my own way, I gave up music and biotech, and joined the NYPD."
"With great power comes great responsibility. That was one of the things he always used to say. So I started wondering if I could use my own abilities to do what I could, even if it felt small."
Peter stared at Gwen's wistful, sorrowful expression and found himself at a loss.
He understood some things about this universe's Peter, sure, but only through bits and pieces from comics and animated versions he had seen in his previous life.
When he had truly become Peter Parker, when he had truly put on the Spider-Man suit, he had felt a resonance inside himself, the same kind of resonance every Peter Parker seemed to carry.
But his own will had been strong, and he had forced that resonance down.
He had to keep one thing clear in his mind.
He could not let his own heroic impulses bring disaster down on the people close to him.
"I'm actually not like him..."
Even though Peter still believed firmly in his own way of thinking, at this moment he felt ashamed.
He always repeated the phrase with great power comes great responsibility, but he had never really followed it through with action. Worse, because of his recklessness, people close to him had suffered irreversible harm.
That was why he had been so lost these past few months.
So uncertain.
Peter raised his head, looked into Gwen's blue eyes, and said seriously, "I don't know what kind of Spider-Man I'm supposed to become."
"Then maybe the question isn't what kind of Spider-Man you should become. Maybe it's how you should live as Peter Parker. Anyone can be Spider-Man, but Peter, you can still be yourself."
As expected from a Gwen with more than ten extra years of life experience.
Even the way she spoke had a depth to it.
"Then, Peter... do you want to see him?"
Peter knew exactly who she meant.
He also knew that the man was lying in a cemetery in Brooklyn.
Maybe going there would be a good idea.
It was a strange situation, yes.
But so what?
"Yeah..."
(End of Chapter)
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