Max and Alice stayed together for hours, not really doing anything important—just sitting together, talking, holding each other, and occasionally just enjoying the fact that the other was actually there.
Neither of them wanted to move.
For Max, it still felt like if he blinked too long, she might disappear again.
For Alice, she had waited over a million years to see him again. A few hours wasn't nearly enough.
Eventually, Max looked out the window and noticed the sky getting darker.
"…Shit," Max muttered quietly. "I've got stuff to do, babe."
He started to stand up, but Alice grabbed his wrist and gently pulled him back down next to her.
"Listen," she said seriously. "I know you're going to pretend to be a Spider-Man and help stop the collider, but there are things you need to know first. Okay?"
Max nodded and sat back down beside her.
Alice took a breath.
"You must have felt it by now," she said. "That hatred toward Fisk that you can't explain."
Max frowned slightly.
"…Yeah," he admitted. "I thought that was the Ghost Rider judging him or something."
Alice shook her head slowly.
"No. That's me," she said quietly. "Or more specifically… my resentment toward him."
She paused for a moment.
Then she dropped the bomb.
"…Fisk is my uncle."
Max blinked.
Once.
Twice.
"…What?"
"My parents died when I was younger," Alice explained. "So I was supposed to go under his wing. He was supposed to take care of me. But after his wife and son died… he changed. He became cold. Detached. More than he already was."
She looked down slightly.
"A lot of my problems growing up were because of him. Not directly… but he just didn't care. He had money, power, influence—but he didn't care about anything except his work."
She looked back at Max and smiled faintly.
"But I always had you."
Max didn't say anything to that. He just held her hand tighter.
Alice leaned forward and rested her forehead against his.
"I can't communicate with your symbiote anymore," she said softly. "Not now that it merged with the Ghost Rider spirit. So I can't modify your abilities further."
She smiled slightly.
"But at least you don't have to share your body with another personality anymore."
She looked into his eyes seriously.
"Just don't let rage consume you," she said quietly. "I can't risk losing you again. Not after everything. Not after how long it took for us to be together again."
Max nodded slowly.
"I won't," he said.
He stood up again, this time successfully.
As he walked toward the door, Alice spoke again.
"Oh, and you're moving out of this terrible apartment," she said casually.
Max turned around.
"…What?"
"I already got a house," she said with a grin. "One of Fisk's old properties. I doubt he cleared it out properly, so we'll be staying there for now."
Max just stared at her.
"…You came back from another universe and immediately committed real estate theft?"
Alice smiled proudly.
"I prefer the term reclaimed family property."
Max shook his head and laughed slightly.
"Alright, alright."
Alice walked over and gave him a goodbye kiss.
"Hope you come back soon," she said with a wink. "I've got some surprises to show you."
Max smirked slightly.
"Now I'm curious."
Then he left.
On his way across the rooftops, Max shifted into his Spider suit again, the black symbiote forming over his body with faint glowing cracks of hellfire beneath the surface.
As he moved, he suddenly got an idea.
He landed on a rooftop near some construction materials and scrap metal.
Pipes.
Metal plates.
Wood.
Gunpowder from construction charges.
Max focused, combining his symbiote shaping ability with Ghost Rider hellfire forging.
Metal bent and twisted.
Wood reshaped.
Gunpowder packed and reinforced.
Within minutes, he created a weapon.
A four-barreled shotgun.
The Blundergat.
His favorite weapon from Call of Duty Zombies back in his original world.
"…Yeah," Max said, admiring it. "This fits the Ghost Rider half perfectly."
He slung it across his back and continued swinging across the city toward the Spider-Men hideout.
He arrived shortly after Miles and the others had gathered.
Max slipped in quietly, climbing up into the rafters and sticking to the ceiling, watching from the shadows. His black symbiote suit made him nearly invisible as long as no hellfire leaked out.
Below him, the Spider-People were introducing themselves to each other.
Miles.
Peter B. Parker.
Spider-Gwen.
Noir Spider-Man.
Peni Parker.
Spider-Ham.
Max watched quietly for a few minutes.
Then decided to make an entrance.
He dropped down dramatically from the ceiling, landing in the middle of the room.
Every Spider-Person immediately jumped back into defensive positions.
Their Spider-Senses went insane.
They couldn't sense him before—but now that they were close, their instincts were screaming at them that Max was dangerous.
Very dangerous.
Max raised his hands slightly.
"Relax," he said calmly. "I'm not here to hurt anyone. I just want to help."
After a few tense moments, they relaxed slightly—but not completely.
Miles looked at him curiously.
"So… what Spider-Man are you supposed to be?" Miles asked.
Max thought for a moment.
"…Not one you'd expect," he said.
The symbiote pulled back from one of his hands, revealing a burning skeletal hand beneath.
Flames flickered between the bones.
"I'm cursed," Max said calmly. "You could say that."
Everyone stared at him.
Then Spider-Man Noir suddenly grabbed the shotgun from Max's back and started inspecting it.
"And what exactly are you planning to do with this?" Noir asked, turning it over in his hands.
Max immediately shot a web strand, yanking the gun back into his own hands.
"It's a tool," Max said. "Don't act like we don't fight enemies that can't be taken down normally."
Noir considered that for a moment… then nodded slightly.
Miles looked at him again.
"So," Miles said, "what exactly can you do?"
Max smiled slightly.
Flames flickered briefly across his suit.
Black biomass formed claws over his fingers.
A chain of burning metal formed in his other hand.
"…A lot," Max said.
"And I'm pretty sure we're going to need it."