Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Multiverse

Peter and his two teammates were certainly not idle.

Using the Spider Mech Girl as cover, the three quickly left the cramped elevator and dispersed in different directions.

The injuries of Middle-Aged Peter and Gwen had largely healed after a few hours of rest, leaving them ready for action.

This allowed Peter to let Gwen operate solo without much worry.

In truth, Peter's uncertainty about his own role was evident.

Facing such a grand situation for the first time, Peter was undeniably nervous.

Family, can you relate? Two days ago, he was just a failing writer, and now, he had to charge through a hail of bullets fired from dozens of automatic rifles to carve a path forward.

Anyone would be scared out of their mind in his shoes.

Even Peter himself didn't realize that his nervousness was plainly visible.

This nervousness had both pros and cons.

The upside was that his Spider-Sense and reflexes seemed to have heightened.

For instance, earlier in the elevator shaft, when the gunman below fired his weapon, Peter reacted the moment the bullet left the barrel. Even before the bullet pierced through the metal ceiling of the elevator, he had already started dodging.

The downside, however, was equally apparent.

His reactions were overly intense, bordering on neurotic.

Of all the people involved in this operation, Peter was the one who most needed to be watched over.

On the other side, Gwen and Middle-Aged Peter continued fighting while keeping occasional tabs on Peter.

Unbeknownst to him, Peter had unwittingly become the teammate everyone was subtly "protecting."

With a powerful push of his feet, Peter launched himself forward, running straight up the wall and onto the ceiling.

Behind him, a string of bullet holes riddled the air where he had just been.

The gunmen trying to predict his movements were utterly frustrated—his speed was simply too fast for them to keep up.

But Peter wasn't just running; his hands kept flinging "web shots" blindly behind him.

The so-called web shots were a technique where he rapidly fired webs at high speed. Since there was no Spider-Man pulling to absorb the recoil, the shots retained their full kinetic energy.

While non-lethal, these web shots could leave an unarmored person completely dazed if they hit their face.

Several unlucky gunmen found themselves knocked out cold as Peter's "blind shots" struck them squarely.

Reaching the ceiling directly above his enemies, Peter pushed off with his legs and dove straight down, landing in the middle of four or five gunmen.

"Hey, guys, shooting guns looks fun! Mind if I join?" Peter, still nervous, couldn't help spouting banter to calm himself.

"Oh, shit!" one of the gunmen cursed. He hesitated to fire his weapon and instead swung the butt of his rifle at Peter.

Peter didn't dodge. Instead, he caught the rifle butt with his hand and pushed it forward.

Wham!

The rifle smashed into the gunman's face, and the excessive force from Peter's nervous grip sent the poor guy flying several meters, crashing out of the small stronghold.

The other gunmen quickly reacted.

Some swung their rifles, while others drew knives.

But to Peter, their movements were laughably slow.

With a few swift dodges, Peter avoided their attacks, and in no time, his hands were at work, webbing up the remaining gunmen into a tangled bundle.

Once they were securely tied up, he gave each of them a sharp flick on the forehead, knocking them out cold.

"Well, if you guys don't want me on your team, I'll just go find the next group," Peter quipped, shrugging as he glanced at the "giant dumpling" of webbed-up enemies.

He bent down to pick up an automatic rifle.

Peter had always wanted to know what it felt like to fire a real gun, but the opportunity had never arisen—until now.

He tested the trigger, and a burst of bullets immediately tore out of the barrel.

Thanks to his enhanced physical abilities, his hands remained rock-steady, with the recoil reduced to almost nothing.

Excited by this newfound experience, Peter moved behind cover and aimed at another group of gunmen stationed not far away. He let loose a burst of bullets in their direction.

Rat-tat-tat-tat!

Screams erupted from the other side.

Listening to the cries, Peter felt no guilt whatsoever.

He had hesitated to kill before because beating someone to death with his fists felt unsettling. But using a gun? Well, he couldn't even see if they were dead or not, so it hardly mattered.

Besides, these guns were their weapons to begin with.

This was just "returning the favor."

And let's face it—everyone here was armed. If someone died, that was just bad luck.

"You say I can dodge bullets?" Peter thought with a smirk.

"Well, why can't you dodge them, too?"

"Wait, you're not dodging bullets… don't tell me you expect the bullets to dodge you?"

Peter was like a child who had just discovered a new toy, holding down the trigger without a single thought of letting go.

The automatic rifle fired at a blistering rate, and in just a few seconds, the magazine was empty.

Peter glanced at the weapon, flipping it over to inspect it. Having never learned how to reload, he couldn't figure it out for the life of him.

Not that he had the time to experiment anyway.

It didn't bother him, though.

After all, there were plenty more guns lying around.

He picked up two at a time, dual-wielding them like a makeshift Rambo, and unleashed a relentless barrage of bullets on the distant gunman outposts.

It didn't take long for him to empty all the magazines on those as well.

Feeling the warm metal of the guns, Peter tossed them to the ground with a hint of regret.

"If only I had some sort of storage space," he thought. "I could bring these back and probably sell them for a few hundred bucks."

Yeah, he was clearly desperate for money.

The nerves didn't help either, as his thoughts began to spiral aimlessly.

Moving on, Peter vaulted over the current outpost and charged toward another.

Thanks to the intense firepower he had unleashed earlier, the gunmen in nearby positions were too afraid to poke their heads out.

This allowed him to infiltrate the next outpost with ease.

Another round of quick takedowns followed—webbing them up, knocking them out, and repeating his usual routine.

After dismantling yet another outpost in the same manner, Peter heard Middle-Aged Peter's voice crackle through his earpiece, snapping him back to reality.

"Stop wasting time! Our goal isn't to fight them—just push through!"

Peter chuckled awkwardly, realizing he might've gotten a little carried away.

He quickly abandoned the idea of attacking another outpost and dashed toward his objective.

Ahead of him, dazzling lights erupted from the clash of particles, clearly the result of the particle collider at work.

It was only then that Peter noticed Gwen and the others were already there.

"Finally, you're here. Gwen was this close to going back to fetch you," Middle-Aged Peter teased.

"Uh…" Peter glanced at Gwen, scratching his head with an embarrassed smile. "Sorry about that, I got... a little into it."

"No worries, we get it," Middle-Aged Peter replied. "Shadow and Ham have already emerged on the other side, and they're looking for a place to set up that little gadget."

"We…zzzt…at the…position…zzzt…you coming…zzzt…?" Shadow Spider's voice cut in intermittently over the comms.

Middle-Aged Peter's eyes lit up. "Sounds like they've found the spot. Let's move!"

"Got it!"

(End of Chapter)

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