I think I lost count as to how long it has been since the last update. I apologize for the long wait. I've been working on this since the end of January, but then real life happened which meant this kept getting pushed back. I know, my time management is poor and I'm working on that. I really am. So, after an excruciatingly long wait, we're finally here with a brand new chapter.

Chapter 26

Manhattan, NY

Norah Winters, clad in biker chick wear, runs through the alleyways of Manhattan. Right on her tail are three men, also in biker wear. For the last couple of weeks, Norah has been looking into some criminal activity involving Intergang. After getting a tip from an anonymous source about the organization having moved from Metropolis and is now setting up shop here in the Big Apple, the young reporter decided she had to find out why that's the case, and maybe expose whatever evil plan they are hatching. This led to her going to a local bar in the East Village. Word on the street is that certain members of Intergang usually come here just to hang out.

Norah's plan was to go to that bar (using a fake ID of course), track down those members and, using her trademark charm, be able to get into their good graces and reveal all of their dirty little secrets. But then something really stupid happens. Just when the young reporter was getting up to go to the restroom, her tape recorder fell out of the pocket of her leather jacket. One of the Intergang members saw it, and was able to come to the conclusion that this woman was some kind of reporter. With her cover blown, Norah makes a break for it. She continues to run through the alleyways when suddenly she hits a dead end. The thugs now have the blonde haired girl cornered and they begin to slowly walk towards her.

Norah tries to reason with the men, "C…Come on guys, can't we just talk about this?"

"I gotta hand it to you reporter ladies," says one of the thugs. "You sure know how to stick your noses where they don't belong. Unfortunately for you, there are no "Supermen" around to pull your ass out of the fire."

"You may be right about that," says a strong feminine voice.

The men and Norah look up and sees Power Girl hovering in the air with her arms crossed.

"But I guess I'll have to do for now."

Norah grins widely, knowing what's about to follow. Power Girl lands on the ground and proceeds to take out the thugs with ease. Once they were all down, Norah knew it was safe to approach her rescuer, so that's exactly what she did.

"O. M. G. You're Power Girl."

Power Girl turns to the young reporter with a smile, "In the flesh. I couldn't help but overhear these guys. What were you doing at a bar full of dangerous criminals? Aren't you a little young to be doing stuff like this?"

Norah then scowls, "First of all, I'm 19, second of all, those men were my only lead to knowing the whereabouts of Intergang."

The older blonde raises an eyebrow, "Intergang? The criminal organization? What on Earth are they doing here in New York?"

"That's what I'm trying to find out."

"Listen kid…"

"Norah."

"Norah. I appreciate you trying to fight for justice the only way you know how, but as you can see, it can be pretty dangerous and I may not be here to help you next time."

"Well, I'll just have to be more careful next time."

Power Girl sighs, "Aren't there OTHER juicy stories you should be going after right now? Something that DOESN'T involve throwing yourself headfirst into trouble?"

Norah then crosses her arms and smirks, "Sure, since you're here, let's talk about you and Spider-Man."

The older blonde's eyes became saucers, "W…What do you mean?"

"Every time we see the webhead in action, there you are not too far behind. When he got injured fighting that mysterious pale guy, you were the first and only cape to visit him at the hospital. So I have to ask." The younger blonde then pulls out her tape recorder. "What is the deal between you and Spider-Man? Is the relationship only professional, or is it more than that? Rumor has it that it's the latter."

"Well…uh," Power Girl stammers. "Look, just…try not to get way in over your head, okay?" The heroine takes off into the night sky.

Upon seeing her flying in the distance, Norah grins again, "She didn't say no."

The Next Day

Peter leans against the rail, taking in the view of the Statue of Liberty. Accompanying him are Clark Kent, Barry Allen, and Hal Jordan.

"So," Barry began. "How does it feel to be yet another superhero who happens to cheat death?"

"Honestly," Peter responds. "It's like a massive weight has been taken off my shoulders, like I've been given a moment of clarity. It was still really trippy though."

Hal puts an arm around the spider hero's shoulders, "And now you're one of us."

Peter chuckles, "Yeah, I'm pretty sure that was the case the moment I got bit by that spider."

"How did Karen handle your sudden resurrection?" asks Clark.

"Pretty much how Lois reacted when you came back from the dead. Other than that, she was really happy."

The Kryptonian smiles, "I'm glad, she has suffered through so much. If anyone deserves some happiness, it's her."

"Yeah. Oh, and Karen told me about the whole Morlun thing. I can't thank you enough for helping her."

"Karen is the most kind-hearted and noble person I have ever had the pleasure of fighting alongside with. After Kal-L passed, I made a silent promise to him that I would watch over his adoptive niece. To have her cross that line would mean that I have failed to keep that promise."

"Well, I know for a fact that Karen probably doesn't want you out of her sight after everything that's happened," Barry continues.

"And boy are you right," says Peter. "She already has planned for us a special retreat this weekend. She won't tell me the specifics of where we're going though. Honestly, I'm just glad we were able to patch things up. I still have to make up for breaking my promise to her."

"With your charm, I doubt it will take long," says Hal.

After some silence, Barry looks at his watch, "I better head back to Central City. Iris and I have dinner plans this evening."

"And I promised Cowgirl I would give her some piloting tips," says Hal.

Barry zips away, while Hal runs behind a nearby tree, materializes his Green Lantern uniform and flies away. With the two men gone, it was just Peter and Clark.

The Kryptonian was the first to speak, "Peter, there's…something I want to confess to you, something I haven't told anyone else."

The wall crawler turns to his friend, "What is it?"

After some silence Clark continues, "There's another reason why I didn't want Karen to kill Morlun…It's because I have actually killed someone myself."

Peter's eyes became saucers, "You WHAT?"

The Man of Steel then begins to tell Peter about a moment really early in his career. Three Kryptonian criminals had escaped from the Phantom Zone and were causing all kinds of chaos. Having completely run out of options, Superman decided to take a lead box filled with Green Kryptonite and uses it to kill the criminals, ending their reign of terror once and for all.

Peter was at a loss for words for only a moment, but then says, "That must have been the hardest decision you have ever made."

Clark nods, "It was, and it haunts me even to this day. Lois can even tell you the amount of times I would wake up in the middle of the night from nightmares related to that day. It made me vow to ALWAYS find another solution. As long as there is a single breath left in me, no one is dying on my watch."

The spider hero was silent for a moment, "…I can relate."

"And that's why I stopped Karen from going down that same path. Even if killing Morlun would have given her some fulfillment, knowing her as well as I do, she will regret it in the long run, and the last thing I want is a woman as pure as her to be saddled with that kind of burden."

"…Well, again, thanks for stopping her when you did."

"Don't thank me thank the "other" Spider-Man. He was the one who reached out to the Justice League Watchtower."

"I'll be sure to give the kid a Nintendo Switch for Christmas."

The two heroes say their goodbyes and part ways.

The JSA Brownstone

Mr. Terrific and Doctor Mid-Nite are in the lab examining the shedded skin Peter came out of following his resurrection.

"I'm telling ya Doc," Mr. Terrific spoke. "The fact that the kid was able to bounce back the way he did is a miracle."

"Indeed," says Doctor Mid-Nite. "But how he was able to bounce back is still a mystery I have yet to solve. Then there's the question about his brand new abilities."

"Well, when I asked Peter about it, all he told me was that he "embraced the spider". Whatever that means."

"Hmmm, maybe the disease he had prior to his death may have been the work of a greater force at play."

"Your guess is as good as mine. You think we have to worry about the same thing happening to Miles?"

"Doubtful, according to the boy, the spider that bit him was genetic, not radioactive. So, things might go differently with him, if he does go through any changes."

After some silence, Mr. Terrific says, "Yeeeeah, let's just hope we don't have to deal with any more spider problems."

However, unknown to the both of them, the ceiling was covered in webbing and crawling with tiny spiders. Some of them begin to descend downwards.

Meanwhile…

After spending the entire evening on patrol, Spider-Man and Power Girl are sitting together on a rooftop watching the sunset.

"So, do you still have your teaching job?" the blonde asks.

"I do thankfully," the spider hero answers. "I gotta thank Helena for covering for me. For a hard-case, she's not so bad."

"I told you she's a nice person once you get to know her."

"So are you going to tell me where we're going for our weekend getaway?"

"Hmm…Nope?"

"Aw come on, I thought we promised no more secrets?"

Power Girl gives a stern look, "Says the guy who broke that pinky swear first."

Spider-Man sighs, "And I'm still trying to make up for it."

The Kryptonian's face softens and then she smiles, "I know, and we're making good progress."

"Who would have thought it would take me dying to have the two of us patch things up."

"Yeeeaah, let's hope that doesn't happen again…I really thought I lost you for good."

Power Girl feels Spider-Man's hand on top of hers. She looks up to see her boyfriend take off his mask and give her an apologetic look.

"I'm sorry you had to go through something like that," he says in a soft tone.

Power Girl shakes her head, "If there's anyone to blame on that front, it's me. I was so mad that you broke your pinky swear to me, that instead of having the two of us handle the situation like adults, I just got up and walked away. I never should have abandoned you, especially in a time when you really needed me."

"Well, if I remember correctly, you got a call from the Hall of Justice for something urgent. You had a job to do."

"Aunt May told me the same thing, still doesn't make me feel any better."

The spider hero was silent for a moment until he faces his girlfriend once again and puts out his pinky, "How about we make a new pinky swear, let's promise that we will never turn our backs on each other, that no matter what happens, we will always be there for one another. And this is a promise I KNOW I will keep."

Power Girl looks at Spider-Man's pinky and then at her boyfriend's hazel eyes, and then grins. She takes out her pinky and interlocks it with his.

"You're not one to give up on someone so easily, so I believe you."

The two heroes then stare at each other affectionately and begin to lean into each other for a kiss when…

"SPIDER-MAN, POWER GIRL!"

A loud voice startles them and they look ahead to see the astral form of Julia Carpenter, Madame Web, floating in front of them.

"You again," Spider-Man and Power Girl both say.

"Sorry to interrupt your little moment," says the strawberry blonde. "But there's a serious matter that needs to be taken care of. You need to head to the JSA Brownstone immediately."

Spider-Man, Power Girl and Madame Webb all arrive at the JSA Brownstone, and what they saw shocked them. The whole place is covered in spider webs.

Power Girl looks over at her boyfriend, "We REALLY need to talk to Miles about his art hobby."

"This isn't the boy's doing," Madam Web explains. This is the result of Peter becoming one with his inner self."

"But I thought me "embracing the spider" was a good thing," says Spider-Man.

"Well it looks like it's embracing you back," says Power Girl. "Come on, the other JSA members may already be inside."

The three make it inside and the jaws from at least two of them had dropped. The whole interior of the Brownstone was covered in webbing.

"Talk about your websites," the wall crawler quips.

"Doc Mid-Nite? Mr. Terrific?" Power Girl calls out. "Sing out Louise."

Suddenly, Spider-Man and Madame Web become alerted.

"Karen, my spider sense is going nuts."

"I too sense a disturbance," says the strawberry blonde.

This grabs the Kryptonian's attention, "You have spider sense?"

"Oh, right, she has spider powers too for some reason," says the spider hero.

"I'll explain everything once we deal with this threat," Madame Web reassures.

Power Girl follows the two spider people down the corridor to wherever their senses are taking them. They reach a door that leads to the examination lab where Spider-Man's "corpse" is being held. The door is also covered in webs and spiders are crawling all over the place.

The spider hero stops in his tracks, "Wait a minute, these types of spiders crawling on the door, I know these kinds."

"Care to fill me in Mr. Irwin?" asks Power Girl.

"They're Pirate Spiders," Spider Man explains. "They're from the Mimetidae family, genus ero, also called Cannibal Spiders since they feed on…Other spiders…"

That realization made Spider-Man rip open the door to the examination room, and upon looking inside, he sees a swarm of spiders devouring his shed skin.

"…They eating my corpse." As nonchalantly as he said it, deep down, Spider-Man is in disbelief that he even said something like that.

Madame Web simply puts her hand over her mouth in disgust.

Power Girl shrugs, "Eh, when you see a lot of horror movies like I have, you get used to it."

Then the spiders begin to pile on each other and take the form of a being with a feminine physique. Spider-Man tries to grab the attention of this mysterious creature,

"Hey, if you're hungry, there's a Panda Express not too far from here."

The creature stops what it was doing and begins to rise from the ground. Spider-Man, Power Girl and Madame Web take a good look at it and sees that, while the body looks feminine, it looks like the creature is made out of what looks to be Peter's dead skin.

"Is this the gatekeeper creature again?" the spider hero asks.

"No, this is something completely different," says Madame Web.

"I'll just pretend I know what you guys are talking about and leave it at that," says Power Girl. "Can we kick this…thing's ass now?"

But before either spider person could respond, the creature darts towards the nearest window and breaks through it.

"Oh, great, now it's going to terrorize innocent bystanders," the blonde Kryptonian quips.

"We have to contain that thing before it hurts someone," the wall crawler says with urgency.

The mysterious spider creature is now leaping over the rooftops of Manhattan, using agility that is quite similar to that of Spider-Man's.

Power Girl was able to catch up to it and yells, "HOLD IT!"

She rockets towards the creature in an attempt to grab it, only to go right through it. The blonde looks down at herself and sees spiders crawling all over her.

"Eewewewewew," she says as she brushes them off of her.

The creature rematerializes itself on a building adjacent to where Power Girl is hovering. Spider-Man and Madam Web were finally able to catch up.

"This is as far as you go," says the strawberry blonde.

The spider hero then says, "We're not here to hurt you."

"Hurt…you," the creature responds.

"Okay, so you CAN speak. You mind telling us why you teepeed the Brownstone back there? Who are you anyway?"

"Who…are…you?" the creature mimics.

"Look, if you're just gonna repeat everything I say…"

That's when it finally dawns on Madame Web, "My God, you're The Other."

"…Yes," the creature finally answers.

Spider-Man looks over at the trenchcoat wearing woman, "The "what" now?"

Madame Web explains, "It's a totemic deity that represents your other half. Everything that you are, she is not. In other words, she's your polar opposite."

"This just gets weirder and weirder," Power Girl comments.

"Why are you here?" Madame Web demands.

The creature once again speaks, "Morlun came for you. His time to feast was your time to die…and die you did. But the Great Weaver said, "No, not your time", and brought you back. But…another became angry, said there must be a cost."

"So you're saying a couple of cosmic entities don't have anything better to do than to argue about whether or not my time was up?" asks Spider-Man.

The creature nods.

"So the other deity has sent you to kill him," Madame Web confirms.

"Uh, yeah, I just got my man back. I am NOT about lose him again," Power Girl says as she gets into a fighting stance. "You want him, you'll have to get through me."

However, before she could do anything, Madame Web raises her arm, stopping the Kryptonian from going any further.

The strawberry blonde speaks, "Do you know who I am?"

The creature nods again, "The seer of the Great Web."

"Which makes me a harbinger for the Great Weaver, the one who opposes the deity who sent you. I have a message for your boss."

She then points at Spider-Man. "This man is under MY protection, and in turn, under the protection of the Great Weaver. He has given him a second chance for a reason. Question his authority and there will be dire consequences. If you want me to use force to get my point across, I will. But my power is NOT to be tested."

The creature was silent for a moment and then says, "A great multiversal threat is looming. He won't stand a chance. No other totem like him will. His time WILL come…soon."

And just like that, the creature dematerializes into a swarm of Pirate Spiders and they begin to separate.

After it has been confirmed that the mysterious being is long gone, Spider-Man and Power Girl demanded some answers on who Madame Web is, and where she came from. They settled on a random rooftop where the trenchcoat wearing woman is standing in front of the two heroes. The spider hero and the blonde Kryptonian are both sitting Indian style on the ground, like a couple of preschoolers during story time. Madame Web crosses her arms and sighs.

She begins her story, "It all started when I was in college. A friend of mine wanted me to volunteer for a "secret athletic project" she was working on. Turns out that project was to create the next big superhero. I was injected with a mix of spider venom and various, exotic plant extracts, hence the spider powers.

"But out of all the superheroes to replicate, why me?" Spider-Man asks.

"They theorized that you may have gotten your powers through scientific means, therefore making it easier to replicate. That and having me get struck by lightning would have been a little too extreme."

"That still doesn't explain your fortune teller powers," Power Girl points out.

"I'm getting to that part," says Madame Web. "So after I got my powers, I did some work for the government, got myself involved in covert operations. Didn't really enjoy them, especially during times when I was tasked to help out Rick Flagg and his rag tag group of circus freaks, but it helps pay the bills so I wasn't going to complain. And hey, it's the closest I could ever get to being an actual superhero like you Power Girl." Then she blushes. "You were…sort of my inspiration."

The blonde puts her hands on her chest and coos, "I'm touched."

The strawberry blonde chuckles and continues her story, "Then I got married, had a kid, and went into an early retirement living a happy home life…until my divorce that is."

"You're a mom?" Power Girl asks. "Aww, that's so sweet."

"A single mom, and let me tell ya, it ain't easy. Anyway, here's where I explain the fortune teller powers. I was home alone one day. An interdimensional portal opens and a being, much similar to that of Morlun, attacked me. I tried to fight back and didn't stand a chance. I thought my little girl was going to come home after spending a week at her grandmothers to see her mother dead on the floor. That was when another portal opens, and a British Spider-Man stepped in and got me out of there. He took me to the safest part of the multiverse and nursed me back to health. He and a few other Spider-Men, one of them having cosmic powers mind you, told me that there are more people like the one that attacked me, all of them hell-bent on destroying the Great Web. These "Inheritors" as they are called had kidnapped my predecessor, the ORIGINAL Madame Web, and were planning to kill her. Her death would prevent any spider totem to be warned of the Inheritor's oncoming attack, making them easy pickings. We managed to find her, and after a grueling battle, while we didn't beat them, we at least kept them at bay for the time being. But…the previous Madame Web was gravely wounded in the crossfire. In her dying words, she said she was impressed with my valiant efforts and chose me to oversee the Great Web in her place."

"So she "Abin Sur-ed" you," Spider-Man confirms.

"You could say that."

"You said there are more people like Morlun," Power Girl cuts in.

"Unfortunately yes," says Madame Web. "And as we speak they are biding their time for something big. All will be revealed in due time, just know that they haven't made their move yet."

"And you had help from multiple Spider-Men? Like, throughout the multiverse? Please tell me this isn't going to be another crisis."

"A more personal crisis, but a crisis none the less."

Power Girl sighs, "Well, as long as the Anti-Monitor isn't involved, I guess it can't be TOO bad."

"To be honest, all this talk about totems and the Great Web is making my head hurt," says Spider-Man.

"I never expected you to understand the situation right away Spider-Man," says Madame Web. "But I assure you, all of it will make sense in the future. Until then, enjoy the second chance the Great Weaver has given you. You deserve to be happy for once in your life. I better get going. I need to run some errands before my daughter gets home from tutoring."

But before she leaves, Power Girl says, "Wait."

The strawberry blonde turns around.

"I wanted to say thank you, for warning me about Morlun before he got the chance to kill Miles and guiding Peter back to the world of the living. You pretty much proved your worth at being a hero like yours truly. You're a-okay in my book."

"Coming from you, that means a lot," Madam Web says with a smile as she fades away.

Once she was gone, the two heroes finally stand up.

"Hmm, something tells me this won't be the last we see of her," says Power Girl.

"Well if her ominous future prediction isn't anything to by," says Spider-Man.

"In any case, if the Morlun family ever show up in our friendly neighborhood, just know that you won't be alone this time around. I will never turn my back on you again."

Spider-Man just smiles. He then lifts up part of his mask, pulls his girlfriend close to her and gives her a passionate kiss.

"I believe you. Now come on, let's say you, me and a certain orange demon do some Netflix binging."

Power Girl traces a finger from her boyfriend's neck to his chin, "Lead the way, handsome."

The wall crawler grins, "God I missed you."

With his mask fully on, he leaps off of the building and swings to their apartment.

As the blonde watches him swing a way, she also smiles, "I missed you too." She then flies after him.

So yeah, a lot of Spider-Verse-esque foreshadowing, and Peter and Karen are sure to keep that in the back of their minds. So with our favorite web-slinger restored, with new powers that have yet to be discovered and back with the love of his life, what new challenges will come his way? That question will be answered in the chapters to come.

I'm sure everyone knows this now, but just late last year the man himself, Stan Lee, had passed away. I already went into detail on my thoughts on the tragedy in my recent chapter of The Phantom and the Witch. The reason I'm bringing this up is because someone asked me if I could have him cameo in one of my stories. To answer that question, there are plans of him making an appearance in Spider-Man: The Young Avenger, and let's just say Peter and Karen's neighbor who lives downstairs from them isn't going away any time soon. Like I said, while he is no longer with us, he will forever live on in his cameos. "Into the Spider-Verse" was a testament to that.

Be sure to leave your thoughts about the latest chapter, and in the meantime, I'll get to work on updating Hope and Responsibility ASAP.

Until next time...