"The spider tracker showed that the middle-aged me came here. Looks like he and Miles must have found something..."
Wearing the classic red-and-blue suit, Peter swung his way to the top of an industrial tower and crouched on the rooftop, muttering to himself.
This industrial building was almost identical to the one in his own world.
He came here all the time, too.
Only some of the architecture had changed, and the interior looked a little different. Even so, Peter still knew exactly where he was.
Because this was Oscorp Tower.
Based on the signal from the spider-tracking device he had planted on the overweight version of himself, Peter knew that middle-aged Peter and Miles had come here. This was also the last place where the signal had transmitted.
If nothing else had happened, the tracker had probably been destroyed.
He just didn't know whether middle-aged Peter had noticed it, or whether it had been scraped off by accident and crushed underfoot.
If Peter's guess was right, Kingpin wasn't the only one involved in the quantum collider experiment. Norman in this world had probably taken part in it too. What Peter didn't understand was why they wanted to use a quantum collider to open tunnels between universes.
What exactly were they trying to do?
The roar of a mechanical engine suddenly rang in his ears. With his spider-sense now evolved into Super Precognition, Peter's expression sharpened, and blurry images of the near future flashed through his mind.
The vision was vague, but he clearly saw a spiked glider stabbing toward him.
And as the sensation grew stronger, Peter reacted on instinct, springing up and flipping away just in time.
Sure enough, the glider slammed into the wall beside him.
The moment Peter got a clear look at the one attacking him, he froze.
It was a face he knew better than almost anyone.
From elementary school to middle school to high school, he had seen it so often that he was practically sick of it.
But that face was horrifying now. Half of it had been burned and twisted into something grotesque. Peter could hardly believe this was someone he knew.
"Hi, Peter! So you finally ditched that damned black suit and went back to your tasteless red-and-blue one!"
Wearing dark green armor, the disfigured man smiled in a way that was almost eerie. Hatred, pain, and joy all tangled together in his eyes.
"Harry..."
That was right.
This was Harry.
And the instant Peter saw his scarred face, he knew exactly which Harry this was.
This had to be Harry from Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man universe.
That face looked far too much like the Harry in Peter's own universe. So much so that Peter had initially thought he'd landed in Tobey Maguire's Spider-Man world and that the only difference was that he himself didn't quite look like Tobey.
"That's right. It's me, Peter!"
Harry, the New Goblin, kept staring at Peter with that same complicated expression.
That classic red-and-blue suit was something he would never forget for as long as he lived.
"Peter, you owe me an explanation. I treated you like my best brother, and you killed my father! My father treated you like his own son. How could you do that to him?!"
How could he do that?
Because Norman had become insane. A true super-criminal in New York.
Except... Peter hadn't done any of that.
This was somebody else's blame being dumped onto him.
And besides, it had been Norman who tried to ambush Peter and ended up killing himself. Not every crime in the world could be pinned on Peter.
Peter wanted to say all of that.
But looking at that face, identical to the face of the good friend in his own universe, Peter instantly thought of how his own recklessness had cost his Harry an arm.
So all he could do was stand there and look at him.
"I'm sorry, Harry..."
"I don't want to hear that! You betrayed our friendship! You took my father away from me!"
Harry shouted like he'd gone mad.
"Harry, listen. I'm not apologizing for that. I'm sorry because my recklessness caused you to lose an arm."
Hearing those bizarre words, Harry glanced at his own hands.
Both of his arms were still intact.
Why would Peter say something like that?
"Don't say another word, Peter. I don't want to hear your nonsense. Everything that's happening to you is karma!"
Harry threw a punch straight at him.
Peter twisted away in a flash, and the blow slammed into the wall instead, cracking it instantly.
Harry had taken the Goblin Serum too.
It could turn an ordinary person into a superhuman with incredible strength and speed, but it also came with one terrible side effect: it gave birth to an extreme and violent personality.
That was why Norman, once a gentle businessman and philanthropist who helped the poor and the lonely, had become a vicious monster.
Of course, that flaw could have been avoided.
But there hadn't been enough time to finish the research before it was going to be shut down, so Norman had chosen to use himself as the test subject.
Looking at the chunks of shattered wall falling around them, Peter kept backing away with both hands raised.
"Harry, I don't want to fight you! And that Peter didn't kill your father! He tried to kill Peter and ended up accidentally killing himself!"
"Shut up!"
"You bastard! Even now you're still talking in circles and saying things that make no sense!"
With an angry wave, Harry summoned the glider back, dragging a huge slab of broken wall with it. The slab smashed into Peter and sent him flying.
Peter forced himself to steady his footing on the falling debris.
He wanted to stop this Harry. With his strength and his methods, he could have killed him if he truly wanted to, even if it meant taking some injuries himself.
But he didn't do it.
He had sworn he would never hurt Harry, even if this wasn't the Harry from his own universe.
That identical face still made him hesitate.
Harry accelerated and smashed the falling slab into dust. Peter had no choice but to fire a web line and start circling through the air while Harry pursued him.
Peter only blocked.
He didn't dodge to counterattack. He didn't strike back.
Harry, on the other hand, attacked relentlessly, all fury and no control.
"You bastard, why won't you fight back?! Are you looking down on me?! Peter!!!" Harry roared.
He thought Peter was belittling him.
That Peter didn't think he was worth fighting.
"Calm down, Harry. Let me explain, alright?!"
If this had been anyone else, Peter wouldn't have cared what they felt.
He wouldn't have stood there taking hit after hit.
"My God, even knowing he isn't my Harry, I still can't bring myself to hurt him..."
"I really am..."
"...just as indecisive as every other Peter Parker."
(End of Chapter)
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