Parallel World Spider-Man

There was no denying it—the Spider-Man of the Ultimate Universe was truly remarkable, a master of resourcefulness.

After all, Spider-Man wasn't like Batman; he didn't have "money superpowers" to rely on. All he had were his extraordinary abilities, not a bottomless bank account.

Everything he had—his equipment, his gadgets—was built through sheer ingenuity, without the cushion of wealth.

Miles Morales, the young Spider-Man known as Little Black Spider, looked at the middle-aged Peter Parker with admiration and asked, "Did you also build all this on your own in your world?"

Miles assumed that the older Peter must also be a legendary figure of this caliber.

However, middle-aged Peter scratched the back of his head, looking a little sheepish. "Uh… my world's… well, it's sort of similar to this one, just… you know, without the jeep and the plane. Kind of like… uh, a scaled-down version."

The more he spoke, the more his voice trailed off, lacking confidence.

At that moment, the anti-gravity lift descended steadily to the ground, stopping precisely at the center of a massive spider emblem on the floor. Lights around the room lit up, revealing their surroundings.

On one side of the room were tall display cases, each holding a different Spider-Man suit. Counting them, there were twelve in total!

As a semi-dedicated Spider-Man fan (having watched the movies and played several of the games), Bid could only recognize about half of them.

For example, one suit looked vaguely like Captain America's uniform. It was called the Insulated Suit, designed by Spider-Man to combat Electro.

Another, a red-and-blue suit with a white spider emblem on the chest, was the Advanced Suit—an iconic design from the Marvel's Spider-Man video game, beloved by fans for its sleek look and pronounced muscle contours. It had been Bid's favorite suit to use when playing the game.

Then there was the jaw-dropping red-and-gold Iron Spider Suit, crafted entirely from nanometal. It even had four mechanical spider legs extending from the back, a gift from Iron Man to Spider-Man.

The collection also included Spider Armor Mark I and Mark II. The first was bulky and cumbersome, while the second was more streamlined, both built for defense against heavy weaponry with significant bulletproof capabilities.

However, as Spider-Man was naturally an agile fighter, these armor-like suits weren't popular choices and were rarely used in action.

As Bid took all this in, he instinctively patted his own suit—a standard red-and-blue design, the everyday look of practically every Spider-Man named Peter Parker.

So, counting the suit he was wearing, the Peter Parker of this universe actually had thirteen Spider-Man suits!

"Where did he even get all of these?" Bid wondered. "Could he have traveled through different multiverses, too?"

Middle-aged Peter, however, didn't seem all that impressed by the suits.

Instead, he stood before a table, holding a picture frame. It was a photograph of this universe's Mary Jane Watson.

In his world, Peter and Mary Jane had long since parted ways for complicated reasons. Seeing the photo brought a wave of melancholy over him.

Just then, Miles walked over to one of the display cases and pointed to a Spider-Man suit with a cape. "Peter, look! Isn't this a cape?"

Hearing this, middle-aged Peter turned around and chuckled softly.

Bid and the others, however, were baffled.

Unlike the two of them, no one else understood the inside joke.

Earlier, when Peter and Miles had infiltrated Kingpin's lab to steal data on the particle collider, Miles had worn a suit with a cape. Middle-aged Peter had teased him about it, saying that no Spider-Man would ever wear a cape—it was just too impractical.

Now, seeing a suit with a cape here? A major slap in the face.

Miles' lighthearted comment broke through Peter's lingering sadness.

Bid walked over to another display case, drawn to the Advanced Suit.

"You were just bitten by a spider recently, right?" Gwen asked, appearing at his side out of nowhere.

"Why does everyone keep asking me that?" Bid thought, glancing at the blonde girl before nodding silently.

Gwen blinked her bright eyes in curiosity. "You mentioned you're a Mars researcher. Does that mean your world has already reached Mars?"

Bid looked at her quizzically, unsure why she had suddenly struck up a conversation—especially such a random one.

Still, he replied politely, "Not really. Our world's technology isn't as advanced as this one's. Our Mars research mostly relies on rovers and similar equipment. Why do you ask?"

"Oh, no reason. Just curious," Gwen said with a bright smile.

Her charm didn't faze Bid in the slightest.

After all, Gwen was only 17. While Westerners tended to mature physically earlier, making her look curvy and strikingly mature, to a grown man like Bid, she was just a big kid.

And no, he was definitely not into that.

"You're not just here to chat about Mars, are you?" Bid asked.

Gwen's smile turned a bit awkward. "Alright, fine. I wanted to ask about what you said earlier regarding Miles. You mentioned knowing his abilities. Is that true? Because you weren't with us this afternoon."

Bid smiled. "It's true. I know about Miles' abilities, though maybe not this universe's Miles. But yes, I do know them."

"You've met another universe's Miles? You've traveled to other worlds? Are you some kind of Spider-Man with multiverse-hopping powers? A Time-Spider?" Gwen's eyes widened with excitement.

Bid laughed and shook his head. "Of course not. I just… uh… played a video game starring Miles as the main character."

Gwen: ???

Miles: ???

At some point, Miles had wandered over and overheard the conversation. Now he was staring at Bid, wide-eyed.

Not just him—the others had also stopped what they were doing and turned their attention to Bid.

As Spider-Men with heightened senses, they'd easily caught every word.

Now, curious and intrigued, they all began moving toward him.

"A video game… starring me?" Miles gaped. "Are you serious? You're telling me there's a version of me in your world? Someone as famous as Spider-Man?"

In this universe, Spider-Man had indeed become a household name, inspiring countless spin-offs, including games.

Miles naturally assumed that Bid had learned about him through something similar.

"Not exactly," Bid replied. "In my world, there's no real Spider-Man. But there are plenty of movies, games, and other media centered on Spider-Man. That's how I know so many stories about Spider-Men from different universes—including you, Miles."

For a moment, the massive Spider-Cave fell silent.

Then, in an instant, that silence shattered.