Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Multiverse

"Hello, Scott. Hello, Hope. It's a pleasure to meet you both," Peter greeted them warmly, before shifting his gaze to the Ghost standing nearby.

Since his arrival, the Ghost had stopped attacking Ant-Man and the Wasp. Instead, she stood silently, her piercing eyes fixed on Peter.

Of course, Peter didn't think this woman was suddenly enamored with him.

It was all because of energy.

His unique spider abilities had granted him the power to store quantum energy within his body. Thanks to the particle streams from that collider, every cell in his body was now brimming with quantum energy!

The molecular instability affecting the Ghost's body was strikingly similar to what Gwen-Spider and others from the Ultimate Universe had experienced—a condition commonly referred to as "quantum rejection," or formally, quantum collapse.

Gwen-Spider and her counterparts suffered from quantum collapse because the quantum particles they carried originated from their respective universes. The essence of what makes a "parallel universe" lies in the fundamental differences between them.

The greater the differences between two universes, the larger the quantum disparity, and the more pronounced the quantum collapse becomes.

Conversely, smaller differences mean less severe quantum effects.

A great example of this can be seen in Spider-Man: No Way Home, where Tobey and Andrew's Spider-Men traveled to the MCU. Although they came from parallel universes, the differences between their worlds and the MCU were minimal—they were all live-action universes and set in closely related timelines. Thus, the quantum collapse they experienced wasn't significant.

Additionally, their brief stay further minimized the effects, so they didn't suffer any visible quantum collapse.

But if they had stayed longer, it likely would have occurred.

The molecular instability in the Ghost's body followed the same principle.

When Dr. Pym's quantum device exploded, it probably created a brief tear between parallel universes, allowing quantum particles from another universe to flood into Ava's body.

The mixture of quantum particles from multiple universes caused the Ghost's body to oscillate between several parallel universes.

When her body shifted into another parallel universe, she became "invisible" in this universe's field of vision.

However, because her ability was incomplete, she couldn't perceive or receive any information from those parallel universes, nor could she feel herself "traveling" there.

In reality, she wasn't truly traveling. Rather, portions of the quantum particles in her body briefly returned to those universes before quickly snapping back to her.

Fixing this problem was actually quite simple.

By stabilizing her molecular structure using quantum energy, she could free herself from this condition.

This was why she had stolen Dr. Pym's lab and clashed with Ant-Man and the Wasp. She needed the quantum tunnel inside the lab to extract quantum energy and heal herself.

"You…" Ghost began, her eyes fixed on Peter. But before she could finish, she staggered backward, collapsing against a nearby lab bench before sinking to the floor.

Her body began to fracture into countless flickering phantoms.

Some stood, some sat, some lay down, and others wept in pain. These were all versions of her from different parallel universes or timelines, symptoms of the quantum distortion in her body.

Peter sighed and stepped forward, crouching down beside her.

The Ghost glared at him, enduring the pain while watching his every move.

Peter extended a finger.

"Hey, buddy, what are you doing? I think you'd better stay away from her. She's... strange, and pretty dangerous," Ant-Man called out from behind in a friendly warning.

Peter didn't respond. He placed his finger gently on the Ghost's forehead and activated the quantum switch within his body.

A faint glow radiated from his fingertip as invisible quantum energy flowed steadily into the Ghost's body, repairing the damaged molecular structure within her.

As the repairs progressed, her body gradually stabilized. The bizarre and eerie phantoms surrounding her vanished completely.

Behind him, Ant-Man and the Wasp exchanged astonished glances, their confusion evident.

Only now did they realize that this Spider-Man from a parallel universe was actually healing the girl!

"Does the Spider-Kid you know have this kind of ability?" the Wasp asked, nudging Ant-Man with her elbow.

Ant-Man shrugged. "Maybe? I don't really know him that well. That kid doesn't seem much older than my daughter, so I can't say we've hung out together."

"Alright, your body shouldn't have any more issues now," Peter said after a long moment, standing up.

He didn't have much fondness for the Ghost. In the original story, she had gone to insane lengths to cure herself, completely disregarding the lives of Dr. Pym and the original Wasp, who were still inside the lab at the time. She'd even uttered the heartless words, "If he dies, then so be it."

While Peter could understand the desperation of someone terminally ill willing to do anything to survive, her actions—stealing someone else's work and endangering their lives in the process—were impossible to condone.

There's nothing wrong with wanting to live, but when survival comes at the cost of someone else's life, that's crossing the line.

Especially when that "someone else" was essentially her savior. If the quantum tunnel truly cured her, then Dr. Pym, who developed it, would be her lifesaver.

It was the classic tale of the Farmer and the Wolf.

So why was he helping her now?

First, it was to stop her from targeting the quantum tunnel again. After all, he still needed it to open a quantum portal and find Gwen-Spider.

Second, as long as the quantum tunnel remained functional, he could replenish his quantum energy at any time. Using a portion wasn't a big deal.

Besides, his body stored a massive reserve of quantum energy, especially after he had absorbed so much in the particle stream.

Healing the Ghost had consumed less than one-tenth of his total reserve, so it didn't affect him much.

Lastly, it served as a small experiment.

If he could use his quantum energy to stabilize the Ghost, didn't that mean he might also be able to use quantum energy to stabilize Gwen-Spider's body?

If so, he could truly take Gwen-Spider on adventures across different parallel universes!

On the other side.

The Ghost sat on the floor, stunned as she examined her body.

Stable hands. Stable body. Stable everything!

Since the accident when she was seven years old, she had endured over twenty years of unrelenting pain—the sensation of her cells being torn apart and stitched back together, a torment so intense it had nearly driven her insane.

But now, that pain was completely gone!

The entire world suddenly felt brighter and more beautiful!

She reached out and touched the leg of the table beside her. Her body didn't phase through it.

The sheer joy of being able to touch something tangible was overwhelming.

Not far away, a tall, heavyset Black man watched her, a look of heartfelt relief spreading across his face. He glanced at Peter and gave him a grateful nod.

Buzz!

At that moment, the quantum tunnel emitted another brilliant flash of light.

A sleek, futuristic car expanded as it shot out of the tunnel at high speed.

And then—Boom!

The quantum tunnel exploded.

Peter: "???"

Where's my giant quantum tunnel?

(End of Chapter)

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