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There is a famous quote, when life gives you lemon, make lemonade, which can be translated roughly as never giving up even when faced with misfortunes. However, there is another counterword for it, which is toxic positivity. In other words, everything needs to be balanced.
Which is easier said than done, Peter Parker, now known as Peter-Two by his amazing brothers, knows that better than anyone.
He knows that as a Spider-Man, he shouldn’t give up easily. Even though sometimes… it is so tempting.
Peter-Two looks up to the blue sky for a second. The weather is so nice today, which is a little bit annoying. His body is screaming with various pain, which is understandable because he just got thrown and hit the wall before he landed on the ground.
He is taking a little break, just a second to catch his break.
“Are you giving up, Spider-old man?”
Peter-Two frowns a little under his mask. His nemesis loves to taunt him in the battle, probably because Peter-Two taunts them first. But, from various name-calling, it is rare for him to be called an old man by his nemesis. It reminds him of Peter-Three, a little bit. Only the middle brother loves to remind him how old he is.
Peter-Two finally sits up and jumps onto his feet. “Excuse me, Old Man?” Peter-Two asks back. He stares at the lizard man, someone who shares the same fate and name as the lizard guy from Peter-Three’s universe. Peter-Two kind of forgets that their nemesis also has different counterparts in different universes. This one is much younger than Peter-Three’s enemy though.
“Yeah, from what I know, you have been fighting like… what? 20 years or something. No matter how young you started, behind that mask must be a middle-aged guy,” the lizard guy makes a cackling noise, a bit weird probably because of his lizard appearance. “But then again, you are some kind of monster as well, like me, are you even aging normally?”
Peter-Two wants nothing but to tune him out. This guy is irritating, childish, but most importantly, not cute, unlike his brothers. There is something from his manners that reminds Peter-Two of his brothers, especially Peter-Three, but no, he isn’t cute at all so, no, they aren’t familiar.
“Are you curious? Do you want to find out?” Peter-Two taunts back. He ignores how his body is screaming with pain. He can feel how some cuts are bleeding and healing slowly, probably because of some venom from this lizard guy’s claws and teeth. But, based on his experience, it is nothing too bad. He is healing slowly, but he is still healing. “So many people are dying to unmask me.”
Chatting and being witty in the battle always helps Peter-Two to stall some time. As he ages, there are times when he is too tired to talk or banter with his enemies, but every time he puts on his mask, words flow smoothly from his mouth.
“No thank you, I’m not that eager to be dying for you,” the lizard guy speaks in a more serious tone before he charges toward Peter-Two.
Peter-Two takes a second to appreciate the blue sky above him.
This life of being a superhero, this burden that becomes too heavy to carry on his aging body. Peter-Two used to think that, he would lose his life in a battle, for sure when his body breaks down when his spirit is extinguished, when he is too tired to carry on. Before, he had no real reason to keep pushing on. He just did, as best as he could.
Peter-Two takes a leap and backflip to avoid the charging lizard guy. He lands on top of the abandoned building smoothly.
But now, he has changed. He has every reason to not give up. No matter how his body is breaking down, he can’t back down. He can’t give up. He needs to carry on.
“You are right, me too, I don’t plan to die today,” Peter-Two says with a serious tone.
The lizard guy screams something incomprehensible toward him, but Peter-Two doesn’t feel intimidated at all. “I won’t lose to some old man!”
“I’m not just some normal kind of old man, sadly,” Peter-Two replies back as he lets himself fall toward the enemy below him, letting both of his hands shoot webs to the side to help him move in the air and catapult him faster.
He is a Spider-Man.
And he is the oldest brother of Spider-Man brothers… or Spider-Bros that Peter-Three suggested before.
He has every reason to not lose now.
So, he won’t lose, no matter what.
0o0o0o0
Peter-Three knows that he isn’t the most fortunate being in his universe, in fact, he is the opposite of that.
He has his own words for it which is Parker’s luck. Things that can go wrong will go wrong. For no reason, misfortunes really love to give him surprise. When he thinks something is going well, suddenly everything goes wrong in a completely different direction.
And ironically, his brothers also share the same fate, and also probably, the same wording as well. While their misfortunate lives vary, their lives… suck a lot.
He knows that, as a Spider-Man, he can’t just give up. He needs to push through. He needs to be strong. He needs to carry on. He knows that better than anyone.
However, sometimes he also just wants to scream in frustration and wail in anger.
Just like now.
“Come on, Old Bug… where are you…?” Peter-Three hisses under his breath, trying to control his overwhelming emotions but he is losing the battle.
[Peter-Three, do you find him…? Do you find anything?] Peter-One speaks through their intercom. Even with all of the static noises, Peter-Three can hear how the youngest’s voice is thick with worry.
“I haven’t found anything…” Peter-Three answers reluctantly.
The middle brother pats his chest.
He is still adjusting to having invisible bonds with his brothers, where they can feel each other’s emotions. Separating his own emotions and the emotions that aren’t his are hard, then trying to identify which emotion is who, that one is another hurdle.
But now, Peter-Three can tell that besides the worrying and anxious feelings from their bonds, there are more emotions there.
Desperation, frustration, anger, pain, tiredness… and many more.
Peter-Three knows these feelings very well. It is how he feels when he encounters a strong and deadly enemy. When he is battling his enemy with all of the pain, fear, and anger fuelling his movement. When he is pushed to the edge and on the verge of giving up, he can’t go down without a fight.
Peter-Three feels uneasy to feel Peter-Two’s emotions like this—not like he expected the oldest always to be calm and zen all the time. But…
It has been almost half a day ever since he last saw Peter-Two.
Well, no, it has been half a day since Peter-Two faced up with an enemy.
The oldest went to work like usual, before suddenly, Peter-Three and Peter-One could feel that the oldest went into a serious battle with an enemy. They did try to give Peter-Two to resolve his battle in his own, mainly because the younger brothers don’t know Peter-Two’s whereabouts.
But, it has been almost 12 hours, and based on how Peter-Two’s emotions from their bonds… it hasn’t ended yet.
Or, maybe, even if the fight has ended, Peter-Two is still in a predicament.
Peter-Three needs to find him quickly… The oldest needs his help, he is sure of it.
[Why can’t we locate Peter-Two using our bonds? You would think that that kind of skill would be included in our bonds.] Based on how Peter-One is babbling nonsense through their intercom, the youngest is getting impatient.
“Right? I didn’t know how Old Bug did it before…” Peter-Three stops swinging and lands on top of a building. In the past, it seems that Peter-Two always knew when their brothers’ condition was unwell and then came to their rescue. Well, maybe, not always. But, Peter-Two seemed to know how to find them.
[Now I understand why… getting a GPS tracker sewn into my suit was a good idea… We should do that, after this.] Peter-One tells him, referencing something that Peter-Three doesn’t know.
“Good idea…” Peter-Three agrees.
But now, they need to find Peter-Two first.
Peter-Three knows that he shouldn’t search for the oldest blindly without some clues. Peter-Three doesn’t know where Peter-Two’s fight is located, but if it lasts this long then the scale of the fighting should be quite catastrophic.
Unless the oldest is being confined in a remote area or somewhere—no, if it is like that, then Peter-Two would feel different emotions. Usually in that situation, mainly fear and confusion. Not anger and frustration.
Then, if the scale of the battle is catastrophic, it bounds to leave some traces.
Peter-Three changes his direction and tries to find a monitor billboard that shows the recent news. It is really rare, in this universe, unlike in Peter-One’s universe. But, there will be one on the building of the news station itself.
Peter-Three lands on the top of the TV station building, watching the big monitor billboard with the recent news displayed on it. Did he already miss it? Or is no one aware of it yet?
Peter-Three perks up when he reads the breaking news in the form of text flashing on the screen.
‘A fire reported on the empty factory warehouse’ Peter-Three thinks that it is what he is searching for. Then another text of breaking news flashed again. ‘Spider-Man sighted on the scene’. Peter-Three doesn’t need any more information than that.
“Little Bug, I think I found where Big Bug is-“
[Me too! I heard there is a strange gas leak in the downtown, the residents and passersby are suggested to evacuate from there.]
Peter-Three tilts his head in confusion. “I saw a fire reported on the news and Spider-Man sighted on the scene.” Then Peter-Three pauses. “But… gas leak… that sounds familiar…”
[Fire… should we check both? I think I can see the fire that you are talking about. It is close to my location.]
“Okay, I will check the gas leak, be careful, Little Bug.”
[You too.]
Peter-Three jumps from the rooftop and starts to swing. Now that he has a location in mind, he moves quickly.
Now, he can see it. His heart drops then flutters in confusion when he sees the sight.
It is the sight of the lizard people slowly turning back into human form.
“I’m—I’m turning back!”
“Where is that f*cking Spider-Man!? He shouldn’t drop the bomb in the first place! If this leaves a mark on my skin, I will sue him!”
“Yeah, he has one job and he should do better than this!”
Peter-Three frowns while hearing the commotion, making sure that he is hiding in the shadow on the top of the building. He is frowning while looking at the angry citizens who are turning back into humans. He doesn’t know what happened, but he doesn’t like how people are talking badly about his brother.
“No, don’t get angry now… I should find Big Bug first.”
He should be close from here… he-
Peter-Three pats his chest in confusion because he only notices that the bonds are quiet.
No, he can feel the anxious and worried feeling from Peter-One, but other than…
It is quiet.
“Big Bug—no,” Peter-Three hops from the building to another building, suspecting that his older brother has lost consciousness somewhere. The quietness is too sudden. It is worrying.
Peter-Three doesn’t know where to look, he is just praying deep in his heart to whoever hears him, to help him to find his only older brother-
Peter-Three is about to jump to another building before he stops when he sees something red and blue under him.
“Big Bug—”
Peter-Three jumps down quickly and lands on the ground. His heart breaks to see that his older brother is lying on top of a pile of garbage, obviously unconscious. A quick check on his tattered suit, the fight must have been ugly. There are burn marks, cut wounds—
Peter-Three grimaces and he braces himself. He kneels and pats Peter-Two’s shoulder gently. “Big Bug, hey…” He shakes harder as his voice breaks. Based on Peter-Two’s breathing, the oldest is still alive but other than that, his condition is bad. “Big Bug, please… wake up…”
Peter-Three touches the intercom on the inside of his mask, on his right ear. “Little Bug, I found Big Bug. We are at the downtown, on the dump site of restaurants… you will know where.” Peter-Three turns off the intercom, he doesn’t have the heart to tell Peter-One more than that. He has to handle Peter-Two first rather than comforting the panicked Peter-One.
“Big Bug, you need to wake up…” Peter-Three says again, firmer, more desperate.
Peter-Three hears a soft groan and a slight stir from Peter-Two. “Ugh…”
“Big Bug…” Peter-Three calls his older brother again, with his right hand gripping onto Peter-Two’s shoulder tightly.
“Ugh… Peter…?” Peter-Two’s voice is slurred which is alarming. He is about to raise his head but then he lets his head fall on top of the plastic garbage again. Based on the groan and Peter-Two’s failing attempt to curl up in pain, Peter-Two might suffer a head injury.
“Big Bug… hey, I’m going to move you, okay?” He says gently and nervously. He knows that after a fight, someone can be jumpy because of the high adrenaline. He doesn’t want to startle the oldest. He slips his arm under Peter-Two’s armpit and his knees then pulls him away from the dump site. Peter-Two is groaning in pain but otherwise, he is limp.
Peter-Three thinks that the oldest must be in a great deal of pain if he can’t even curl up defensively.
The middle brother wants to pull off Peter-Two’s mask, to check the extent of his head injury, but…
He can still hear the commotion from here. It is fain but there are many people just outside of this alley.
And they are angry.
At Peter-Two.
For whatever reason, Peter-Three doesn’t know. But, he knows that it is bad.
How will they react if they find two Spider-Man? Honestly, Peter-Three can’t imagine it.
“Peter?”
Peter-Three’s heart lit up when he saw the youngest land in front of him. Peter-One really moves quickly—
Peter-Three can feel the raging confusion, fear, and worry from the bond. Based on how Peter-One suddenly froze in his place, he must be in shock to see Peter-Two’s condition.
“Hey, hey Little Bug, stay with me,” Peter-Three snaps his fingers in front of Peter-One to pull his attention. The youngest shakes his head and turns at him.
“Is he okay? What happens-“
“I don’t know either, okay. Big Bug is alive, he is in a bad condition but he is alive… We need to evacuate from this place, quickly,” Peter-Three explains the situation quickly. He knows that it is far from enough, but he doesn’t understand anything either.
“Yeah, I heard people shouting about a gas bomb exploded and Spider-Man was at fault…” Peter-One mutters weakly. He checks behind his shoulder, Peter-Three knows that the youngest is scared too. “We need some sort of disguise, let me find it.”
Peter-Three looks at how the youngest is frantically digging through the garbage to find something. Honestly, Peter-Three doesn’t really mind being seen carrying Peter-Two openly, meaning that the fact there is more than one Spider-Man would be leaked out, they can handle the burn later. But, what Peter-Three is afraid is their reaction. A crowd of angry citizens is… scary. If the police get involved, it will be ugly. Peter-Three doesn’t want to risk any harm coming to his already beaten-up older brother.
“Here, I think this will do.”
Peter-One finds a coat full of paint stains. It isn’t enough, but better than nothing.
“Big Bug, I’m going to put this on to you, okay?” Peter-Two explains gently to his older brother in his arms. Peter-Two only grunts without saying anything else, so with the help of the youngest, he moves Peter-Two gently but quickly. They manage to drape and button up the coat on Peter-Two somehow, so Peter-Three feels it is safe to unmask the oldest now.
“I will pull off your mask,” Peter-One informs the oldest, having the same thought as Peter-Three. The middle brother sees how the youngest pulls off Peter-Two’s mask gently, though, it is a bit sticky. Peter-Two shudders and groans incoherently.
Now, Peter-Three can see the ugly bruises and dried blood on Peter-Two’s face. The most worrying injury is on his forehead. There is a big lump there with a slight of dried blood. Whatever caused this injury, Peter-Two’s head suffered quite a lot.
“People are coming here—” Peter-One informs the middle brother in panic. Peter-Three doesn’t need him to to tell him that because he knows it too from his spider-sense.
“We have to run,” Peter-Three pats Peter-Two. “I will carry you, you can hold it, right, Big Bug?”
Peter-Two opens his eyes slightly then closes them again. Peter-Three takes it as a yes. The middle brother pulls Peter-Two onto his back and Peter-One ties them together with his web.
“Maybe we should run away to a different direction so that we don’t pull out too much attention-“
“I think I will stay here.”
Peter-Three turns at the youngest in surprise. “What?”
“I will buy off some time for you two to escape, then I will follow shortly after. That way, all of the people's attention will be directed at me.”
“Little Bug, you don’t need to do something like that-“
“I will be okay!” Peter-One says louder, half shouting. “Be careful!” he says as he leaps toward the end of the alley.
Peter-Three stares in shock then he frowns. “He doesn’t need to—” Then he pauses as he hears Peter-Two’s soft groan behind him.
Right, Peter-One… will be okay. Hopefully. A crowd of citizens is scary, but not deadly. The youngest will run away after distracting them, probably.
Peter-Three needs to evacuate Peter-Two away from this place first. That is the priority here. Peter-Three quickly climbs the wall, trying to ignore the commotion on the street not too far from here.
0o0o0o0
Peter-One knows this situation very well. He is quite familiar with it, sadly. The moment when the citizens are angry and dissatisfied with what the superheroes have done.
Because there are Avengers and other superheroes in his world, people got used to them. Superheroes became the norm… and they took it for granted. They got angry with the destroyed facilities, they got angry with the number of casualties, and so on.
Even if Peter-One has erased the people’s memories about his identity, he still remembers how people blamed him for all of the chaos that followed him. They blamed him even when he tried to do the right thing as a superhero.
Peter-One doesn’t know that much about Spider-Man’s reputation in his older brothers’ universes. Probably because superheroes aren’t that common, it isn’t such a huge issue…
Or he thought so, before…
“There he is! Finally, you are brave enough to show up yourself!”
“Yeah! You need to take responsibility! How dare you let a gas bomb explode and turn us into lizards!? What if there is a lasting effect!?”
“You call yourself a superhero!? You need to do better!”
Peter-One raises both of his hands in a surrendering manner. He doesn’t know what happened and why these people are so angry, but he needs to divert their attention from his brothers, giving them enough time to get away from this place.
Based on his quick observation of some residue of scales on the skin of some of the citizens, which are disappearing quickly, whatever happened has been resolved. Peter-One doesn’t know how the gas bomb, which probably contained poison that turns people into other creatures with scales, exploded but Peter-Two has resolved it. “I’m sorry for scaring you all, but look, the antidote works,” Peter-One points out, the antidote gas reminds Peter-One of Peter-Three’s antidote that he made a few months ago—is that what it is?
“You just need to give it a moment to work fully. Of course, if there is a lasting effect you need to go to a healthcare facility, hopefully, there will be none,” Peter-One adds again. “And, just a reminder, I’m not the creator of the poisonous gas,” Peter-One pauses wondering whether Peter-Two was the one who created the antidote, anyway, he doesn’t lie about it, “I did my best in the given situation, so please be more understanding.”
“That’s not the problem! The fact that you dropped the gas bomb here, is the problem! I poked on it to check it, but then it exploded right on my face!” a passerby shouts angrily, but also, weirdly recording everything with his phone.
Peter-One is blinking behind his mask, which, fortunately, is not being shown to his inarticulate mask. “What? You poked it?”
“Don’t pretend to be dumb about it! I have everything recorded here!” he points at his phone in his hand.
“He is right! You shouldn’t drop something dangerous in the first place! You couldn’t even swing properly and hit the front of the restaurant!” some other passerby shouts at him. Peter-One turns to check the disarray of tables and chairs in front of one of the restaurants.
Peter-One can imagine it now. Peter-Two being utterly spent out from the battle, miscalculated his swing and hit the front of the restaurant there. The poisonous bomb that he carried, probably to take it away to a safer place, fell to the ground and got poked by a curious passerby. It exploded, thankfully Peter-Two carried the antidote gas as well, so he unleashed it. Then, the oldest got away from the street and passed out on a pile of garbage.
Did no one notice how badly injured and beaten up his oldest brother was?
Based on how people don’t even notice that Peter-One, with his pristine suit and a slightly smaller build, isn’t the same Spider-Man as the previous Spider-Man, no, they don’t pay attention at all.
“You know, it is common sense to not touch something suspicious,” Peter-One says with a cold tone. “You should know better than that.”
“How would I know that it was dangerous!?” he shouted back, Peter-One felt his anger rising with how this guy kept recording him.
How can’t he understand? If the bomb didn’t explode after taking a stumble, then that guy must have triggered some kind of mechanism when he poked it needlessly.
Peter-One sighs. No, this is useless. This guy, and many others here, are totally ignorant.
Also selfish, and ungrateful.
“You would know if you used your head a little,” Peter-One adds coldly.
“What!?”
Peter-One doesn’t wait for more response from the angry crowds, instead, he backflips and lands on the nearby wall then crawls away.
“Hey! You get back here!”
“Yeah! You need to take responsibility!”
Peter-One chooses to tune them out. They should realize that he and his brothers fought crime and protected the city, without any kind of pay or reward. No one asked them to do it, and yet they do because they feel the responsibility after gaining extraordinary power. But, behind all of the fancy swinging and acrobatic stunts, they are just humans who can make mistakes.
“Such ungrateful bastards… urgh…” Peter-One would prefer to find the enemy and hit them, rather than having to hear an angry crowd bashing his brother like that.
He can’t hit someone innocent, but honestly, Peter-One wants to make them shut up. He knows better than to do that though. So, instead, he takes a leap into the air and starts to swing back to Peter-Two’s place.
Dearly hoping that his brothers would be alright.
0o0o0o0
Everything hurts, but at least, he is alive. He did his best and he managed to survive, again. The fight was ugly, and there were some casualties, which probably he would hear tomorrow on the news where people would blame him for doing such a lousy job as a superhero, but he just wanted to go home now.
When he steps into his apartment, he is stunned by the eerie quietness in it. He walks in with a confused face, feeling that something is missing but he doesn’t know what. And contrary to his quiet apartment, everything outside is loud. Unbearably loud.
It feels like the outside world is laughing at him, for wanting to come back to his quiet and empty apartment.
But… he thought that… someone would wait for him here… someone…
Peter-Two opens his eyes in shock. He blinks his sleepiness away while he is controlling his overwhelming emotions.
A nightmare huh?
Peter-Two observes his surroundings again, expecting himself to wake up on a pile of garbage, because that was the last thing he remembered before he passed out.
But, instead, he wakes up in his room. Peter-Two pauses and blinks again before he realizes that he isn’t alone.
Peter-One is sleeping next to him, curling up and clinging to his sleeve.
Peter-Three is sleeping on the chair, with his head on his folded arms on top of the bed.
Peter-Two pauses and then feels how his heart getting warm.
He pats their head softly, trying not to wake up them both but he needs to make sure that they are real. Peter-One’s curly soft hair and Peter-Three’s straight rough hair are pleasing to the touch.
“Uhm… Peter-Two…?” Peter-One mumbles sleepily before he blinks awake in surprise. “Peter-Two, you are awake?” the youngest raises his body into a sitting position quickly.
Peter-Two smiles and nods.
“Ugh… what is it? Oh… Big Bug?” Peter-Three rubs his eyes before he opens them widely.
“Are you okay? Are you in pain? Are you hungry? I have prepared some food,” before Peter-Two can say anything, the youngest already jumped down from the bed and ran outside of the room. The oldest caresses his own head, noticing several bandages that cover his body.
“Thank you for patching me up,” Peter-Two mentions. He must have passed out really good to not remembering any of it.
“It is okay, don’t mention it.”
Peter-Two looks at the middle brother’s expression, he can see how worried and sad Peter-Three is. They only started to get better from their trauma and yet this happened again.
“How did you find me?” Peter-Two asks, he needs to understand the whole situation first before he can comfort his brothers.
“We just did, after searching for clues throughout the city… when the scale of the fight was that big, you couldn’t hide it,” Peter-Three answers bitterly.
Right, it has been years since Peter-Two fought such a dangerous and deadly enemy like that, excluding what happened when he first got transported to Peter-One’s universe. “Right…” Peter-Two sighs.
“So, are you okay? Are you in pain? I noticed that several wounds are healing slower than others,” Peter-Three repeats Peter-One’s questions that went unanswered.
“I think, the lizard guy from my universe has venom in his claws and fangs…” Peter-Two answers. “But, it will heal eventually, it just takes time.” Peter-Two has experience handling this kind of wound, as long as his wounds still healing, he will be okay.
Peter-Three nods without saying anything. Peter-Two feels sorry for him, handling him after a big battle is ugly. “Oh yeah, what about the gas bomb, it exploded-“
“Here is the food!” Peter-One enters the room with a bit of a forced cheerful voice, and Peter-Two stops speaking abruptly. “You must be hungry, right? I tried my best, I think at least everything is edible.”
Peter-Two smiles at his brother, letting him serve him food despite the oldest’s lack of appetite. Right, Peter-Two always shoved food to his brothers, so of course they learn it from him.
“Thank you,” Peter-Two takes a bite of Peter-One’s potato stew, he shudders a little when he can taste how salty it is. But, if he eats the potatoes with less broth, it is still edible.
Peter-Two glances at his brothers while he eats. “So, about the gas bomb-“
“You don’t need to think about that, what important is that the matter has been resolved,” Peter-One cuts his words harshly with a frown.
Peter-Two blinks in confusion. He wonders whether his brothers know about that matter… probably they have seen the news. “I threw the antidote gas right away after that… I just hoped that it has an adequate amount…” Peter-Two says as he continues to eat his stew. Now that he is eating, he can feel how hungry he is.
“Everyone that was turning into a lizard was turned back into humans, don’t worry,” Peter-Three explains.
Peter-Two nods. That is a relief. He doesn’t want to fight another lizard guy in the near future.
The oldest checks on his brothers’ expressions again. Based on their faces, and also their bonds, they are riddled with anxiety, worry, and sadness.
Peter-Two wonders what he should say. He guesses it must be shocking to find him unconscious on top of garbage, fully beaten up. But, at the same time, both of them should know that it isn’t something new for them as Spider-men. They got beaten up all the time.
But, Peter-Two thinks, maybe seeing it happening to the other brother rather than themselves, was more shocking.
“I wonder if we should just buy phones… for us in each universe… that would be 6 phones—oh but we won’t bring one inside our suit… ugh…” Peter-Three mumbles as he folds his arms, thinking seriously.
“My previous suit was connected to the intercom and has a voice and video call setup, it has a built-in GPS tracker as well… but I don’t have access to the technology to make more of it…” Peter-One says with a deflated face.
Peter-Two looks at both of them and understands the meaning of their words.
They are worried about him and they want to find a way to locate or contact him when emergencies arise, well, not only him but the three of them.
“What? Are you against it too, Old Bug?” Peter-Three looks annoyed despite Peter-Two hasn’t said his opinion.
Well, Peter-Two has decided on several rules for them to live peacefully while crossing to each other’s universe. Doctor Strange added several ones after that, but Peter-Two did it first.
The oldest personally thinks that they need to do their own duty as Spider-Man in their respective universe, as much as they can, without depending on the other brothers. But well, from the recent incidents, their situation could turn dangerous quickly and they could risk losing their lives.
Peter-Two needs to stop being a hypocrite.
“I think it is good if we can find a way to communicate or locate each other when needed, even better if it can be used through multiverses,” Peter-Two admits with a small smile. However, he thinks that building a dimensional portal is easier than building an interdimensional communication device.
“You think so too? So, you aren't against the idea?” Peter-Three perks up with a genuine surprise. Peter-Two shrugs.
“I didn’t mean to be strict or discourage you two, like when you want to find a way so that we can do patrol together. I just don’t want to put our situation at risk, Doctor Strange also said so. I will be happy if we can find a way where we can patrol or fight together without risking the balance of the world or putting our lives together in jeopardy,” Peter-Two explains. His face softens. “But we all need to remember that we are all Spider-men with our own duty and burden to carry on. I know you can’t help but worry, but you also need to believe that I will always try my best to come back home to the two of you.”
He will always try his best, though, he doesn’t know whether there will be a time when he can’t go home despite trying his best to. Peter-Two also believes that his brothers will do the same, that no matter how strong their enemies or how hard their ordeal is, they will always try their best to go back home.
The oldest can only smile sheepishly when he sees how his younger brothers start to cry softly. They have all become such cry babies these days, but that must be because they feel okay to cry openly in front of each other.
“People were talking shitty about you! They blamed you for dropping the gas bomb, but I know that you couldn’t help it! After what you have done to protect them, how dare them!?” Peter-One lets out his bottled-up anger while softly crying.
“Do you know how worried I was? You were barely conscious back then, you were full of wounds and couldn’t speak up or move your body… what if someone else found you? What if bad guys found you?” Peter-Three also speaks up about his worry.
“People are free to talk what they want about me, it is nothing new. I’m happy as long as there are no victims and I know I did my best. If they felt inconvenienced, it wasn’t up to me to make them feel better,” Peter-Two answers Peter-One’s worry first. “As Spider-Man we have a duty to protect the citizen and the city, but we don’t have the responsibility to protect everyone’s feelings.” Peter-Two caresses Peter-One’s cheek tenderly. “But thank you for getting upset for my sake.”
He knows that Peter-One is getting upset because he loves Peter-Two. The oldest just hopes that the youngest doesn’t take it too hard.
“And I’m sorry for making you worry, you know that it wasn’t my choice when my enemy was strong… But, I tried my best and I managed to win. I know I shouldn’t pass out in an open space, I probably planned to rest a bit before I could continue my way back home. If someone else found me, I think my spider-sense would alert and wake me up. I was only able to take it easy because I recognized you two as my safe place, thank you,” Peter-Two caresses Peter-Three’s head.
After all, this is the first time that someone found him after a big battle, patched him up, and took care of him like this. This time, he could take it easy because his brothers took care of the rest. Peter-Three is also upset for his sake and Peter-Two can’t be mad at him for that.
“Ugh… at the end, you are always the one who comforts us, it should be the other way around…” Peter-One pouts a little as he erases his tears.
“It is hard, Little Bug. Big Bug is too formidable for us,” Peter-Three shakes his head.
Peter-Two raises one of his eyebrows and chuckles softly. “Hey, don’t be like that, the fact that you found me and took care of me, is formidable for me,” Peter-Two reminds them. “You two are the reason why I could do my best to fight and come back home, so, thank you.” The oldest says with a sincere expression.
Peter-One jumps onto the bed and hugs him tightly, and Peter-Three does the same. Peter-Two hugs his brothers back.
“I won’t forgive you if someday you fail to come home,” Peter-One whines softly under the pile of hugs.
“Right, if you fail to come home, I will find you even if I need to dig you out from your grave,” Peter-Three adds as well.
Peter-Two holds back his strong urge to scold his brothers for using morbid jokes like that, but he understands that his brothers really love and depend on him a lot. He wants to throw the joke back that it is also applied to them, but he doesn’t say it. He doesn’t know whether he is the weakest compared to his brothers, he can fight efficiently but he isn’t as agile and strong as he used to be. So, their worry is justified.
“Okay, okay, I understand,” he says back to humor them.
His brothers are a good kind of burden, for Peter-Two. They become the reason for him to never give up so easily, to keep pursuing a happy life together, and to keep surviving as long as possible.
It is good, very good.
End