PAST.
As usual when neither Peter nor Leopardon had anything to do, both the teenager and the kwami were lying on the human's bed, staring at the ceiling, almost completely silent, except for the background music Peter had put on his cell phone, which ranged from songs by Jagged Stone to the teen's guilty taste, songs made by the mutant Dazzler.
The arachnid creature and the young nerd had been lying down for half an hour, just listening to the music and thinking about their stuff.
And at that moment, Peter's thoughts led him to remember words of encouragement that his kwami had told him, words that he'd never let Leopardon forget.
"You're probably the smartest of all my Spider-Men." The kwami's words echoed in his mind.
- Leopardon? - Peter asked.
- What is it, kid? - Leopardon asked.
- You told me that I'm the smartest of all your Spider-Men...
- No, I said you're probably the smartest.
- Whatever, that makes me wonder, how were the Spider-Men that preceded me?
- Well, it took you long to ask me that question, Peter, one of the things that sets you apart from the other Spider-Men is that they didn't take more than two months to ask me about their predecessors, you instead took almost a year to do what.
- Just go to the point, flying rat.
- I swear I'll punch you if you call me rat again. - Threatened the kwami. - Anyway, all my spiders were quite different from each other. For example, the name that each one took, each had a unique name. Even you.
- Then why do you call them "Spider-Men"?
- It's a good name to generalize about my holders, in addition, your hero's name, although simple, is catchy and quite good.
- Alright. Besides the name, what were they like?
- Well, there was a time when I was in Pre-Hispanic Mexico, there my chosen was a boy named Tenyaoyoktli, he called himself Teyaotokatl, which in Nahuatl means Spider Warrior; he was my most stubborn spider, but he was also very intelligent and brave, until his last breath during the Conquest. Another spider that I remember with a lot of affection was named May O'Reilly, she called herself Lady Spider, she did a lot of things to help the Londoners of the 1800s, and she faced her fate with courage, even at the cost of her own life. Other spiders like Spider-Knight, Web-Slinger, Soldado Araña, Agent Spider and Poison Bite shared something in common: they all worked for different armies or agencies, and gave their lives to serve those organizations.
- I'm sensing a pattern...
- What do you mean?
- All your spiders before me, at least those you mentioned, ended up dead, will that happen to me too? - Peter asked with a trace of nervousness and fear.
- They all had to die at some point, Peter, but if they died, it was not because I influenced their demises, but because they faced other Miraculous holders.
- That doesn't make me feel any better, I'm also facing a Miraculous holder... two of them if we count Hawk Moth too.
- Yes, but you have something they didn't have, and that's a team... well, Teyaotokatl and Agent Spider also had teams, Soldado Araña and Spider-Knight were part of militias in Mexico and England respectively, and Poison Bite and Web-Slinger technically were part of criminal groups, but none had friends as loyal or as united as you have them with Ladybug and Chat Noir, not to mention the New Avengers, especially the Torch, Firestar and Iceman.
- Just a moment. Did you say Poison Bite and Web-Slinger were part of criminal groups? Does that mean that there were chosen who were bad?
- Yes, as your uncle once told you, with great power comes great responsibility. But sometimes, because they weren't ready for such a big responsibility, my spiders were corrupted by power. But don't think that I'm the only one who has gone through it, having gone through so many holders, the other kwamis also suffered that; Coffee, Nooroo, Wayzz, Plagg, Trixx, Dapper, Betrug, and even Tikki have had carriers that turned evil. In fact, Lady Spider's greatest enemy was one of Tikki's holders.
- Who's Tikki?
- The kwami that gives Ladybug her power. She is the only one of my brothers and sisters who acts with a bit of maturity and wisdom, besides Wayzz and Shou-Lao. Plagg and Dapper are simple gluttons, Trixx and Betrug are very childish, and Nooroo is too shy.
- I think you're just a spoilsport, Leo.
- It's because you're an ugly and irresponsible teenager.
- Whatever you say... It can't be!
- What?
- I forgot that I had to meet Marinette and the others at Marinette's!
Leopardon couldn't help but chuckle at that moment, which made Peter glare at him.
- If you dare to joke again that Marinette is my girlfriend, I will switch your chocolate with Brussels sprouts for a month!
The kwami simply chuckled again and hid inside the inner pocket of Peter's sweatshirt as he grabbed a chocolate bar and his recently recovered camera.
Seconds later, the young photographer said goodbye to his aunt and ran out of the apartment, trying to think on yet another excuse for being late.