Marvel’s Spider-Man: Across the Multiverse

Peter sensed something was amiss and immediately asked, "If we were to create a small quantum tunnel inside this very train car, how long would that take?"

"A small quantum tunnel? Inside this train car?" Dr. Pym seemed taken aback by Peter's bold suggestion.

However, he held a favorable impression of Peter and made an effort to turn around, carefully examining the interior of the train car. After some deliberation, he replied, "If it's only this small, it should take about four to five days."

"Four to five days!" Peter's face turned slightly grim.

The entire timeline of Avengers: Infinity War spanned roughly 48 hours, just two days.

Subtracting those two days, it meant that in another two or three days, the Infinity War would begin!

This was bad news.

The only good news was that, at this point, Thanos had likely just destroyed Xandar and obtained the Power Stone.

Right now, he was probably on his way to intercept the Asgardian ship.

If there were a way to contact Thor and convince him to change the ship's direction—or better yet, to take the Space Stone inside the Tesseract and flee—could Thanos be delayed?

Then, perhaps they could get... Captain Marvel involved.

Could Nick Fury—ugh, that bald-headed Fury—call her back?

Would that be enough to take Thanos down directly?

In Avengers: Endgame, Captain Marvel held her own against the 2014 version of Thanos, who had all six Infinity Stones. It was only after Thanos used the Stones' power that he managed to knock her away.

And now? He only had one!

With the assistance of a few other superheroes, the odds seemed favorable.

Peter's eyes lit up as the pieces of his plan began falling into place. It actually seemed feasible!

"What's the matter, Peter? Do you urgently need the quantum tunnel for something?" Dr. Pym asked.

Since they needed to rebuild the quantum tunnel anyway, he didn't mind lending a hand to this young man.

In fact, he was quite curious about Peter's ability to wield quantum energy. If Peter permitted, he wouldn't mind studying it a bit.

Peter's expression turned serious as he replied, "Right now, a storm that will engulf the entire known universe is brewing. If things reach the worst possible stage, the quantum tunnel may be our only hope of turning the tide!"

His words were no exaggeration.

Although the machine used in Endgame to travel to past timelines—or possibly alternate universes—was ultimately developed by Tony Stark and Dr. Banner, the inspiration had come from the quantum tunnel.

Without the blueprint of the quantum tunnel, even if they tried to create one, it would likely take a long time.

After all, neither Iron Man nor Dr. Banner were specialists in quantum physics.

There was also a personal motive behind Peter's decision.

After careful consideration, he had decided to participate in this Infinity War.

Originally, his plan was to enter the quantum realm through Dr. Pym's quantum tunnel and find a way to reach the world of Gwen Stacy's Spider-Woman, to escape from this world that was about to lose half of its life.

From a superhero's perspective, this idea would be considered shameful.

It was undoubtedly the act of a coward.

But Peter never saw himself as a superhero.

When he first gained his spider powers, he unintentionally entered the Ultimate Universe and met Spider-Man 2099.

With a sense of "pilgrimage" and "adoration," he donned the spider suit and became a Spider-Man.

He quickly integrated into the Spider family and spent two wonderful days in the early stages of gaining his powers.

But then, within the particle stream, he saw parallel universes on the verge of destruction, and gradually came to understand the heavy responsibility that came with his powers and the title of Spider-Man.

For the first time, the weight of this responsibility made him feel uncertain about his abilities.

Especially after leaving the Spider family and suddenly becoming a lone warrior.

This confusion wrapped around his heart at a visible speed.

If Shadow Spider had been by his side at that moment, perhaps she would have told him, "Every Spider-Man goes through a period of confusion. Whether you become a butterfly or sink into despair, the choice is yours to make."

That might have helped him recognize his current state.

If Gwen Stacy had been there, maybe she would have comforted him: "I went through a phase like yours. You were the one who saved me, and now, it's my turn to save you."

Perhaps that would have helped him pull through and re-evaluate himself.

But now, there was no one by his side who could truly be called a companion.

The Ghost Woman and Dr. Bill Foster, though reluctantly forming a team, shared nothing more than a relationship of mutual convenience—a temporary alliance without any real synergy or teamwork.

As for the others, the connections were even more tenuous.

Thus, Peter could only follow his instincts.

And his instincts told him the truth: he was well aware of his own capabilities. Having only acquired his powers two days ago, being thrust into a battle of this magnitude felt akin to a novice stepping out of the tutorial zone straight into a boss fight on hell difficulty.

Although he had, by a stroke of luck, unlocked quantum energy, his understanding of its application remained in its infancy.

At the moment, he wasn't within a particle stream to replenish his energy. If he were to expend quantum energy as recklessly as before, the reserves in his body wouldn't last for many uses.

In essence, he was still just a "street fighter" level combatant.

Spider-Man's baseline abilities were what they were.

And as for Thanos' Black Order, the enforcers sent to Earth were no ordinary foes.

This wasn't a movie where, aside from the climactic snap, most of the named characters survived until the very end. In this reality, someone like Vision—one of the more prominent figures—was already dead.

For Peter, this world felt entirely real.

Death here meant true death.

So his first instinct to flee was perfectly natural.

It's just human nature.

But then, he realized something troubling: even if he entered the Quantum Realm, he had no idea how to navigate the countless parallel universes to find the one where Gwen-Spider existed!

Based on his observations, the world he currently inhabited was peculiar.

At the broadest conceptual level, it seemed to fall under the category of "Infinite Worlds," encompassing all universes.

The second tier divided into the "Sony Universe" and the "Marvel Universe." The Ultimate Universe he came from was vastly different from the Marvel Universe he had known.

Take, for instance, the other universes he glimpsed through quantum channels. The worlds shown in Doctor Strange 2 had none of the bizarre elements he had encountered.

There were Lego people, anthropomorphic animals, prehistoric worlds, and even a dark timeline where Spider-Man had become a monstrous spider demon—a clear product of some grim "What If?" scenario.

As for the third tier, Peter wasn't entirely sure about its specifics. However, one thing he could confirm was that within the Marvel Universe, there were distinct subdivisions like the "Marvel Cinematic Universe" and the "Marvel Animated Universe."

His reasoning came from Doctor Strange 2, where Miss America's chaotic door-opening abilities never led them to any of the strange universes Peter had seen. Instead, they only traveled to live-action universes!

(End of Chapter)

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