Arc 1 - Chapter IV: Last Respects

The next morning, Kairi was glad it was the weekend. Before he went to bed, Gwen had texted him to meet her early tomorrow for training. Sleeper had been excited, something about finally being a superhero or something. Honestly, he wasn't really sure about that as he knocked out completely after his head hit his pillow. And boy, did he really need his sleep last night.

I always get up…

Listen, kid, we gotta team up here… We don't have much time…

If he turns the machine on again, everything you know will disappear…

It's gonna be okay, you'll see…

If only they hadn't been filled with nightmares.

Kairi? Are you okay?

Wiping away the steam that had accumulated on the bathroom mirror that was close to the showers, Kairi breathed out a sigh when he saw his reflection. "Yeah, Sleeper, I'm fine," he muttered. "I'm fine."

You don't sound fine. What's wrong?

"Nothing," he sighed. "Everything. I don't know, take your pick."

Is this about Peter Parker, Spider-man?

"What, you a mind reader too?" Kairi gave a sardonic chuckle as he grabbed his fresh clothes. As there was no school today, he had grabbed a casual set of clothes for the day; jeans, a hoodie, and… a Spider-man t-shirt with his logo on it.

Of a sort, I can only read your mind if I wanted to. I don't usually, but you are so… sad right now.

"Yeah, well, I did see Spider-man die in front of me," he remarked, his voice almost breaking, as he sat on a bench to lace up his boots. "Who wouldn't be sad?"

Fisk, Tombstone, and Vulture. They were ecstatic that Spider-man is dead and if they have their way, everyone is going to die. Like Spider-man said, your family, your friends, everyone.

"And how the hell am I supposed to stop it, Sleeper?" he muttered angrily as he threw his bath towel over his shoulder and gathered his dirty laundry before heading out of the communal bathroom and back towards his dorm room. "How is one teenager supposed to stop supervillains that can fight Spider-man?"

By not doing it alone.

Kairi paused as he considered the symbiote's words. Sleeper was right, he had him and Gwen on his side. And with Gwen's experience in this hero business, maybe he could get through this all in one piece. Well, relatively in one piece. He had to set realistic expectations after all… especially after Spider-man's death.

Sighing wearily, he went back to his dorm room, moving carefully to not wake up Miles.

…A few minutes later…

"Good morning," Gwen greeted him when she spotted him. She had been sitting on top of the concrete railing at the main entrance to the school, working on a cup of coffee she had in her hand while nodding her head to the beat of the music she was listening to on her earbuds. Pulling out said earbuds, she stuffed them into the pocket of her jacket.

"Morning," he nodded.

"And good morning to you too, Sleeper," she added.

Good morning!

"He says hi."

Gwen chuckled as she finished the last of her coffee and tossed the plastic over her shoulder into a nearby garbage can.

"Nice shot," he complimented.

"I try," she grinned as she stepped off the concrete railing. "All right, time to train."

He looked at her curiously, "About that, how exactly are we going to do that? Is there some sort of, like, twelve-step how-to-be-a-superhero program or something?"

"Or something," she replied cryptically with a shrug.

"Why does that not fill me with any confidence?" he frowned.

A smirk was his only reply.

Seriously, Kairi. Ask. Her. Out.

Shut up!

Gwen had led him through the city, eventually taking him to an empty, abandoned warehouse. "All right, here we are. A place to train without anyone else getting hurt and more importantly, finding out."

"Right, secret identity and all that," Kairi nodded as he looked around, remembering Spider-man's words to keep his identity concealed. Though hopefully with Sleeper covering his face with his… alien flesh, he hoped that this would just be a one-time gig. "So what's first?" he asked, turning back to Gwen.

"You know how to fight, right?" she asked rhetorically. "4th dan in kendo, a Sandan in kenjutsu, and an eighth-degree black belt in krav maga, pretty impressive."

He paused, "Did you… Google me?"

"Had to," she shrugged shamelessly. "See what I was working with."

"You could've asked," he smirked. He never talked about those accomplishments, his mom said that bragging is for people who are compensating for something. However, he wasn't offended that Gwen checked into his background, in fact, he felt a little flattered.

"Would you have answered me truthfully?" she replied.

He paused to think about it, "Hm, fair enough."

"So since you don't need to learn how to fight, you need to learn how to move like a Spider-person does, the web-swinging," she said before gesturing to the warehouse around them. "Hence the warehouse. If Sleeper can make something similar to web-fluid, then all you have to do is just get the hang of swinging."

"Care to demonstrate?" he asked.

She smirked, "Thought you'd never ask." Before he could react, she fired a shot webbing from some sort of device on her wrist, pulling herself to swing from the rafters above.

He watched her move, swinging from web-shot to web-shot. It was… beautiful actually.

You should tell her that.

Okay, Sleeper, still not taking dating advice from you.

Hehe. Again, your loss.

She completely went in a full circle around him before she landed in the same place she had started from initially. "Ta-da!" she smirked with a bow. "Now you try."

"Sleeper, think we could do something like that?" he asked aloud as he shrugged off his jacket and set it aside to keep the flash drive Spider-man gave him safe.

Totally.

Sleeper's form materialized onto his skin, conforming around him and he saw things through the symbiote's vision. Looking down at his hands, he tightened them into fists. "Huh," he hummed in contemplation. Unlike the first time, 'suiting up' didn't feel as disorientating.

We weren't fully bonded then, it takes a full forty-eight hours for a symbiote to completely bond to a host. Usually, the hosts undergo mood swings and cravings for raw food, especially brains of any kind.

Wait, hold the phone, brains?!

We symbiotes require food high in phenethylamine, a chemical compound that is found in the brain and chocolate. Symbiotes cannot generate the chemical ourselves, hence our need for it.

So when you had me get chocolate with my dinner last night…

Bingo.

So then, why haven't you tried to eat someone else's brain?

What do you think I am, a zombie? Feh, fortunately, I do not have the same requirement levels for phenethylamine as other symbiotes do. Don't ask why, I really don't know. Either way, consider it a blessing we haven't bitten someone else's head off, I'm told it's not a pleasant feeling for the host.

Gee, I wonder why…

"Huh…"

Kairi looked up to see Gwen looking at him with her head tilted to the side as if trying to see him at a different angle. "Oh, right. Pretty scary, huh? I know I freaked out a little when I saw myself in the mirror."

"This isn't the first time I've seen you like this," she replied offhandedly, only to freeze when she realized what she had just said.

What?

He raised a brow at her, "What?"

A blush starting to stain her cheeks, Gwen averted her gaze as she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Um, so, remember when I said my Spider-sense was acting up when I met you?" she asked nervously.

"Vaguely."

She winced, "Well when you got your quote-unquote headaches, my Spider-sense was going off then too. I realize now they were reacting to Sleeper but at the time I didn't know why. So I may have been eavesdropping when you left for Fisk's tower and saw you leave."

Ohhh, she's a keeper.

"Look, I'm sorry, okay?" she raised her hands in a contrite manner. "I didn't mean to, it just happened that way."

He frowned as he considered her for a moment before he sighed, "It's fine."

"Really?" she looked at him in surprise.

"Well, if you didn't, then you wouldn't have found me and I would be figuring all this out on my own," he replied with a shrug. "Besides, it was just a one-time thing, right? That was the only time you did it?"

"Absolutely," she nodded emphatically. "It was just the one time, not a stalker."

"Good."

"Great."

"Cool."

"Awesome."

A moment of awkward silence permeated between them as both of them couldn't look the other in the eye.

As touching as this is… we are training, remember?

"Right, training."

Gwen gestured to the ceiling, "Um, just go for it."

Looking up at the ceiling, Kairi raised his right hand towards it and a black tendril similar to the web fluid used by Spider-man and Gwen shot forth from the palm of his hand. Once the other end stuck to the surface of the ceiling, he took in a deep breath. "Nothing ventured…" he mumbled before he swung.

And nearly shot himself into the far wall before he shot another tendril from his other hand to get himself to move in the other direction.

"Watch your speed, Kai," Gwen advised. "But if you do want to go faster, then shift your weight on the next swing. You used to do gymnastics, right? Ever do the swing rings? The same rules apply."

"That was years ago!" he cried out as he unsteadily swung. Sleeper, couldn't you do it?

If I do everything for you, how would you learn, Kairi? I am content with just coming along for the ride.

Really, dude?

Did you become a master of the sword by doing nothing?

He groaned in frustration. Fine…

He put more effort into the whole web-swinging thing, but it was clear he was a bit out of his depth even as he continued swinging. Only to slam into a wall every few moments, causing Gwen to wince in sympathy as he slid down. It would've been funny if her continued existence didn't hinge on his help. She hoped Sleeper could heal Kairi, otherwise, she probably should've brought a first-aid kit.

Wham!

She winced again when she saw him eat concrete before falling back onto the floor.

No, she definitely should've brought that first-aid kit.

"How am I going to this, Gwen?" he demanded as he stayed on the ground, the defeat getting to him. "I'm just a regular guy, no Spider-powers, no bionic arm, no shield. I'm just me, a regular seventeen-year-old kid."

Maybe, but I did not choose someone who has Spider-powers, or has a bionic arm, or has a shield. I chose you.

Kairi wasn't able to suppress his reluctant smirk, "Was that supposed to be a pep talk?"

It is whatever you choose it to be, Kairi. Just don't ever give up.

…

Otherwise, I would start doubting my ability to judge people.

Chuckling despite himself, Kairi got off of his back and onto his feet, much to Gwen's approval. Raising his arm to fire another tendril to the roof above, he gave himself a running start before swinging, giving him some distance. But when he shot off another tendril to change directions, the movement was jerky and unsteady.

Gwen shook her head with a sigh before she launched herself up and swung at the same pace as him. "Just keep moving, all right?" she said to him. "Match your movements to mine. Thwip and release. Thwip and release. Thwip, release."

"Thwip, release."

Like a mantra, he repeated it in his head and after a few minutes, he was moving in sync with Gwen.

"See, you got it!" she grinned at him.

"I got it…" he mumbled as he kept concentrating on the act of swinging.

"All right, back to the floor," said Gwen before the two stopped swinging and landed on the concrete floor. "Okay, so now, I want you to move in the direction I tell you to, all right? We'll keep doing this until you can move on a dime."

He nodded, "Let's do it."

For the next several hours, Gwen directed him to swing, having him build up his skills on his own. Using the experience she had accumulated herself swinging while running from the cops or previous villains, she had him run drills over and over. And Kairi didn't complain, the repetition reminded him of the lessons and training he did for kendo and kenjutsu.

"All right, next lesson," said Gwen, catching his attention after he landed on the floor. "Sticking to surfaces with only your hands and feet. You can do that, right?"

Kairi frowned, "We can do that, right?"

Pretty sure we can do that.

"Sleeper says yes."

"Good," she nodded. "Then go around the warehouse four times using only the walls."

Kairi nodded before he approached one of the walls. Tentatively, he placed his fingertips on the wall made of concrete and gently tried to pull, only to find out his hand was sticking to it. Breathing out a small sigh of relief, he then placed his other hand higher on the wall. Then one foot, then another.

Except, when he tried to climb further up, he found himself stuck.

"Dammit, not again…"

Gwen, having followed him over to keep an eye on him, shook her head. "Don't think about the actual 'sticking' part too much. It's like moving in general when you walk or run or swim, it's instinctual. Just think where you want to go and just let your body do the rest."

Kairi looked back at her with a frown as he took her advice. Looking back up the wall, he chose a spot close to the ceiling before closing his eyes and taking a deep breath. And with a gentle tug, lifted one hand.

Eventually though, after a few more hours, the both of them got tired of drills and training, allowing Sleeper to recede back into Kairi.

That was fun.

For you or for me?

Why can't it be both?

Hearing his phone chime, Kairi fished it out of his pocket and looked at the screen after inputting his key combination.

Spider-man's funeral today to be hosted by his wife and aunt.

And just like that, his guilt came rushing back to him.

"Hey, Gwen? Do you think we can head to Spider-man's funeral today?" he asked "I just want to pay my respects."

She frowned, "Are you sure?"

"I owe him that much," he nodded.

"It's at noon today, right? In Queens?" she said as she pulled out her own phone to check the time and the details. "Yeah, we can head over there. If we leave now, we can grab some brunch along the way."

"Thanks," he smiled gratefully.

Heading to the appropriate subway station that would take them to Queens, Kairi and Gwen found a couple of empty seats and sat down for the ride. Kairi pulled up his phone and read yet another article on Spider-man's death, giving his real face and name.

Peter Parker.

"You know, it wasn't hard to forget that beneath the mask there was a person," he said aloud, staring at the picture of Peter. "But it was easy to put him on the pedestal, especially after some of the threats the city has faced. Shocker, the Lizard, Green Goblin, Mysterio. He was always there to save the day. He died in front of me and it's still kinda hard to believe he's gone."

Gwen put a hand on his arm, "Believe me, Kai, it'll be that way for a long time. It won't get any easier, but it will be less hard to live with."

"You said you couldn't save the Peter Parker of your dimension, right?" he turned to her.

"Yeah," she nodded. "He, uh, was the Lizard there. Pete was always awkward in school, a prime target for bullies. We stood up to them as best we could but when I started my career as Ghost-Spider, he apparently looked up to Ghost-Spider a lot. Enough to make the Lizard serum to be just like Ghost-Spider, like me." She cleared her throat when her voice got heavy. "Except when I was fighting the Lizard, I didn't know it was Pete and he died."

Oh.

Kairi stared at her, even as she kept her gaze on the train floor. Accidentally killing your best friend, he didn't know if he could live with that. He had let a lot of friendships whither this past year, which mostly started happening when he broke up with Elsa now that he thought about it. Miles was probably the only friend he had left at Visions Academy, hell, he was probably his best friend. He wasn't sure if he could live with himself if he accidentally killed Miles.

"I'm so sorry for your loss," he said, beating himself a bit for being unable to think of anything else to say.

But it was enough. "Thanks, Kai," she favored him with a small smile. One that he returned as he stared into her bright blues with his amber eyes. Eventually, though, both teens realized they were staring and as blushes bloomed on their respective faces, they averted their gaze.

"Anyway," she cleared her throat again as she tried to suppress her blush, "from then on, I worked to keep people in my New York City safe, to make sure what happened to Pete would never happen to anyone else again. Be the hero the city deserves."

Kairi managed to get his own blush under control, "Well, then it looks like you're already doing a good job doing so."

"How can you be so sure?" she challenged with a brow raised.

"You want to be a hero not for the sake of it, but because it's the right thing to do," he shrugged. "A lot of people in this city, especially kids, would say that they wished they could be a hero like Spider-man, but honestly, I don't think half of them even know what the hero gig means."

"Do you?" she asked, gauging his reaction.

"No," he immediately shook his head. "And that's my point, for all the talk people make about being a hero, we all don't know when we become the hero and understand the role until we do."

She furrowed her brows a little, a smile playing at her lips. "Well said, Kai," she nodded.

Nothing to say, Sleeper?

I… hmm. I need some time to think.

Kairi was a little surprised by that, but he let the symbiote be. Eventually, they arrived close to the neighborhood of the church where the funeral was going to take place. However, the two stopped by a cafe for a bite to eat but were bewildered by how many people had dressed up in Spider-man costumes or at least had the masks.

"Whoa," Gwen's eyes looked around at the masked customers.

"We probably stick out by not wearing masks," Kairi frowned at his ironic statement.

"I know," she agreed. "Have to admit, this is a little weird."

The two made their orders at the cashier and grabbed an empty table near the window to wait. But a thought hit him as their discussion on the subway flitted back into mind. "Hey, Gwen, you don't have to come with me to the funeral if it might make you uncomfortable," he said to her.

She frowned, "What? Kai, what do you mean?"

"Won't it be weird to attend another Peter Parker's funeral?" he asked, the concern etched over his face.

"Oh. Ohhh," she paused. Biting her bottom lip, she pondered on it for a long moment. Long enough for their orders to arrive and be placed in front of them. "No," she said eventually after taking a sip of her bubble tea. "It isn't the same Peter Parker, same name, same face, but oddly enough, different hair. Was kinda surprised to find out he was a blonde in this dimension." She gave him a grateful smile, "But thank you though, for caring."

"What are interdimensional friends for?" he shrugged with a chuckle. "But if it does get too heavy for you, we can leave at any time."

She chuckled as she shook her head before she reached for her ham and swiss sandwich. After swallowing a bite of it, she looked across the table at Kai's left wrist which had two bracelets. One was made completely out of beads, variously colored in blacks, reds, yellows, and oranges, and patterned in numerous arrowheads. The other was also made of beads, but it seemed that a leather band was the base for the bracelet itself. Though the leather one had colors of various shades of blue and the pattern looked to be like some sort of sword. If she was remembering correctly, Kai's mother also had a few bracelets on her wrists, a metal armband on her bicep, and the feathers in her hair.

"Mind if I ask a personal question?" she asked.

"Shoot," he nodded before taking a bite of his sandwich.

"How does someone be Japanese, Hispanic, and Native American all at the same time?" she raised a brow at him. "Sounds like there's a good story there.

He blinked before swallowing the bite in his mouth, "Well, a Cheyenne grandmother and a Mexican grandfather to make my mother, who eventually met a Japanese guy before having me. And believe me, I know how a bit out there the story can be and it's weird sometimes, being stuck between four different cultures."

"Four?" she frowned.

"Well, my grandmother likes to remind me of my Cheyenne history whenever I go meet her, and it was sometimes disorienting when my grandfather used to lay on the Spanish so quickly," he shrugged. "Haven't really dabbled much in the whole Japanese culture, never really found the time to learn Japanese or anything like that but some of my Asian friends have been mentioning some stuff." At her curious look, he elaborated, "My dad died before I was born, never met him, but Mom likes to tell me stories about him." Though most of the time at the end of one of those stories, his mom would go to her room to cry. "And my mom recommended I learn at least the language for my heritage's sake."

"I'm sorry to hear about your dad," she offered.

"It happened a long time ago," he shrugged as he shifted his gaze out the window where many passersby were also wearing various Spider-man masks. "And like I said, I never met him, so there isn't anything for me to mourn."

"Still, you lost a father," she replied. "I don't know what I would do if I lost my dad, he's all I got left. Even if you never knew yours, it must've left some impact on you, right?"

"A lot of attempts at bullying for one," he grumbled, scowling at the memory.

Gwen let out a soft scoff as she lowered her sandwich, "Kids can be cruel, can't they?" She got a lot of heat from bullies as a kid for not having a mom and that was a lot worse than being bullied for being weird or for liking things 'normal' girls shouldn't like because it was a harsher reminder that her mom had been taken from her and her dad. "I know what that's like, kids used to make fun of me for not having a mom."

"I'm sorry," he offered sympathetically.

"Thanks," she nodded. "We're quite the pair, aren't we? Two people who lost their parents."

"Mmhmm," Kai hummed before releasing a sigh and giving her a wry smile. "Well, that conversation turned out a little depressing."

She chuckled, "Yeah, a little. So why don't you tell me about those bracelets of yours, I really like the colors."

"They were gifts from my grandmother," he said as he tilted his arm so that she could see them better. "Every time I passed an exam for kendo and kenjutsu, she would make a bracelet for me completely from scratch…"

However, before he could get another word in, he heard his name get called out.

"Kairi? Kairi, is that you?"

Understandably, he was a little startled when a girl he didn't recognize, a brunette around his and Gwen's age had appeared at their table, a big smile at him. "Uh, I'm sorry," he frowned. "Do I know you?"

"It's me, Liz," the girl smiled at him.

He stared at her, the name not ringing any bells.

"We had biology together last year?" Liz tried.

He blinked.

"We were partners for our project on molecular genetics?" Liz looked a little hurt as she tried again.

"Oh!" Kairi's eyes widened before nodding. "Right, sorry, it's just that I've had a crazy past few days. That class was with Miss Kowalski, I remember."

Liz gave a beaming smile, one that was tinged with relief. "Yeah, so how have you been? It's been a while since I last saw you, how was your summer?"

"It was good, can't complain," he replied. "And yours?"

"Not too bad," she shrugged. "I heard on the grapevine earlier that you and Elsa broke up not too long ago. I'm so sorry to hear that."

"Well, it happens," he shrugged, frowning a little at the reminder of his ex.

"Still, a breakup is never easy," she gave him a sympathetic smile.

"Right," he nodded before he noticed Gwen had been watching the two of them with a bit of amusement on her face, stirring her bubble tea with her straw. "Oh, where are my manners? Liz, this is Gwen. Gwen, Liz."

"Hi, Gwen."

Gwen raised a brow at the rather stiff tone the Latina was giving her but smiled politely all the same. "Hi," she offered.

…

The silence was tense for the two girls, but for Kairi, it was awkward as hell. His gaze shifted between the two as the mood between them was as if the other had just insulted their family or something. Polite smiles were still plastered over their faces though, reflecting a mood that obviously wasn't there.

Suddenly, I don't want to be here… we should go, our lives might be caught in the crossfire.

Crossfire of what?

Ugh… really?

What?

You've had a girlfriend before, are you telling me something like this hadn't happened to you before?

Has what happened to me?

Nevermind…

"So… how do you Kairi?" Liz eventually asked.

"We have the same lunch period," Gwen replied, giving Kairi a fond smile across the table. "Actually, we met when he was getting chewed out for writing on one of the lunch tables with his lunch. A blueprint for an art project, right?"

When the attention of both girls was now centered on him, he looked like a deer in headlights. "Um, uh-huh," he nodded unsurely.

"Is that so?" Liz bit out. "I didn't know you were into art, Kairi."

"Um, yeah, I am," he replied slowly. Whatever was going on, he did not like it.

"That's good that you're into art," Liz made a quick comeback, favoring him with a smile. "Of course, you're already smart, so it'd make sense you'd have time for your hobbies. Thanks again for all your help in our project last year, that was the first time I got an A+ in a science class. I've always preferred literature."

"You're welcome?" Kairi didn't intend to phrase it like a question, he swore on his father's grave that he didn't.

"I have to say, Kai," Gwen chimed in, "it's amazing that you've managed to put so much time and effort into your sculptures when you have to juggle school work and your training in kendo, kenjutsu, and krav maga. How do you do it?"

He gave the blonde a baffled look. What was she doing? "Um, good planning, I guess?"

"Hmm, makes sense," she nodded, noting how one of Liz's hands had tightened into a fist when she had shortened Kairi's name. Which had only tightened further when she had listed Kairi's other extracurriculars and hobbies. Ones that Liz obviously didn't know about.

However, before another word could be said, the three of them heard Liz's name get called out by a group of girls standing at the coffee shop entrance, one of them waving at her.

"Sorry, Kairi, I've got to go," she smiled apologetically at him.

Gwen rolled her eyes.

"But here," she pulled out a strip of paper from her purse dangling from her shoulder, wrote her phone number on it, and placed it on the tabletop in front of him. "Why don't you give me a call later and we can talk about the good old times?"

"Sure," he nodded unsurely.

Beaming a smile at him, she gave Gwen a sideways glare as she went over to join her friends. A glare that Gwen took in stride as she took a sip of her bubble tea. Lowering her drink, she glanced over at Kairi as he had paid no attention to the slip of paper that held Liz's number on it and had gone back to his sandwich.

"You have no idea who she was, do you?" she accused with a smirk.

"Not a clue, no," he shook his head.

Gwen could only chuckle quietly.

Poor Liz.

…Elsewhere…

From the rooftops, a man wearing a full authentic Spider-man suit stood at the edge of the roof as he watched people ready everything for a funeral. His funeral. Or rather, the funeral for the Peter Parker from the universe he was now in. That certainly wasn't going to be confusing in any way, shape, or form.

He had been on his way to talk with his ex-wife, Mary Jane, to try to patch things up and make their marriage work again when some portal had sucked him in and tossed him into another New York City that had a Spider-man who was Peter Parker that wasn't him. He wasn't going to lie, he looked rather good as a blonde. Or rather, this New York had a Spider-man. Watching your own funeral, how crazy was that?

"Looks like I'm not in Kansas anymore," he mumbled.

…Some time later…

"He didn't ask for his powers, but he chose to be Spider-man," Peter Parker's wife, Mary Jane Parker spoke from the stage in front of the church, with the man's aunt standing nearby. "My favorite thing about Peter is that he made us each feel powerful. We all have powers of one kind or another and in our own way, we are all Spider-man."

Kairi and Gwen stood in the middle of the crowd that had gathered to pay their last respects to the webbed hero of New York City, listening to the man's wife make her speech. She had begun with a story of when they had first met, in high school that had evolved into a story of how the nerd ended up dating the head cheerleader. And Kairi found it interesting to note that throughout her speech, Mary Jane didn't speak about her husband directly as Spider-man much, but as a man who wished to make the world a better place.

Peter's aunt was about to come up and speak when Mary Jane was finished, but that was when Kairi found a hand gripping his own tightly. Looking down, he saw that it was Gwen's, looking back up at her face, he saw that she was barely holding it together. He was about to slip his hand out from hers so that he could lead her out from the crowd, but she gripped it even tighter when he tried.

He was so glad that Sleeper could enhance his body because he was sure she would be breaking the bones in his hand by now.

Placing his free hand on her shoulder, he gently pushed his way through the crowd, muttering apologies and asking for a way through. Luckily, the people gathered for Spider-man's funeral were courteous enough to allow him through. Eventually, the two of them made their way out of the crowd where he further led her to a fairly secluded alcove.

"You okay?" he asked gently after he got them to sit down on some steps, she still hadn't let go of his hand yet.

She shook her head, her blonde hair swaying. "No," she said hoarsely. "I'm sorry, I thought I could handle it, I really did. But seeing Mary Jane and May there, it made me realize that no one really knew about my Peter Parker. No one knew what he struggled with and how he just wanted to be a little better, to be a little stronger. To be recognized and respected as a person and not someone's target or punching bag."

"You have nothing to be sorry about, Gwen," he assured her. He then considered her words, "Sometimes it doesn't seem fair, does it?"

She shakily nodded her head in agreement as tears began to drip down her face as she remained hunched over, leaning over her knees. "No," she choked out, "it's not fair at all."

As she still had his hand in a fierce grip, all Kairi could do was gently lean against her as his own tears began to fall. The two of them leaned on one another as they cried for those who had been lost. He mourned, he mourned the death of Peter Parker of this dimension, mourned the loss of the city's greatest hero, and without even knowing the guy, he also mourned the Peter Parker from Gwen's dimension.

Because loss, regardless of where it happened, was still tragic.

…Earth 252…

Several men in tactical gear were thrown back by a large burst of magical energy, crashing into the wall behind them before collapsing down to the floor in groaning heaps. One of them tried to reach for his rifle, but the end of a whip made of bright orange magical energy snapped around the weapon before pulling it away. The soldier lifted his head to look up at his adversary, but before he could, a portal appeared beneath him and his fellow soldiers and they disappeared into it with a yell.

The magic caster released a tired sigh as he stepped forward to close the portal he had created. Once that was done, he lowered his hands after fixing his hair that had fallen into his eyes. Hopefully, they were the last of the mercenaries Alchemax had sent.

"Strange! Strange, you all right?!"

The Sorceror Supreme turned at the voice calling for him. Adjusting his gloves as he started walking towards the origin of the voice, going through the halls of the Sanctum he eventually reached the upper staircase of the entrance hall where he found one Eddie Brock standing in the middle of the room.

"Brock," Dr. Strange nodded before he spied the unconscious men who sported the same clothes and gear. "Thank you for dealing with my… house guests. And thank you Venom for not eating their heads, blood is so difficult to get out of oak hardwood."

Venom's head materialized from Eddie's shoulder, sniffing derisively at the unconscious soldiers strewn about. "Pretty sure they would just give me indigestion."

"You alright, Strange?" Eddie frowned. "Who are these guys?"

Dr. Strange sighed as he floated down to ground level from the balcony, "Alchemax."

That certainly got both Eddie and Venom's attention.

"Where's Sleeper? Is it all right?" the journalist immediately asked.

"Relax, Brock, I opened a portal and had Sleeper go through it just in case while I dealt with another few groups of Alchemax's mercenaries," Dr. Strange raised his hands to assure not only him but the symbiote connected to the man.

"So you can just open up another portal and bring Sleeper home then."

"Exactly," Dr. Strange nodded before facing a spacious area to open a portal, using the signature of the youngest of Venom's brood to lock onto. However, after he made the motions to use his sling ring and nothing so much happened, it gave the sorcerer significant pause. "Uh oh…"

Eddie's gaze snapped towards the former surgeon. "Uh oh? Uh oh? What do you mean by uh oh?" he demanded.

"'Uh oh,' usually that means something bad has happened, Eddie."

"I know what 'uh oh' means, Venom! I just want to know why Strange here said it!"

"Well, there's no need to shout."

Dr. Strange frowned contemplatively, "Something seems to be blocking Sleeper's signature from me, otherwise, the portal would've opened up in the last place Sleeper was. As such, I have two hypotheses as to what had happened. Either Sleeper is at the bottom of the ocean, with the sheer depth blocking Sleeper's signature. Or…"

Eddie raised a brow, "Or?"

"Instead of my portal sending him to a random location, it had sent Sleeper into another dimension."

…

"You're joking, right?"

…Earth 291999…

Some time passed and the mourners gathered to honor Spider-man had eventually left after Peter's body was buried. Neither he nor Gwen actually witnessed the actual burial, but they were fine with it. They had left with the crowd, no destination really in mind, just walking. Eventually, though, after a long time of walking, he noticed that it was starting to get dark out.

"It's gonna be dusk soon," he observed.

"What?" the corner of Gwen's lips lifted in a ghost of a smirk. "Afraid that witches will come out and get you? Don't worry, Kai, I'll protect you."

He looked at her in amusement, "Funny."

"I thought so," she chuckled with a shrug.

He was glad that her mood improved a little, today was really a heavy day; talking about their respective dead parents, the deaths of two Peter Parkers. He didn't really blame Gwen for letting it get to her, he had barely kept it together as it was. The only reason he was able to, is because if he did lose it, then the two of them would've been one big mess and they wouldn't be able to get anything done.

"You know, my house isn't that far from here," Kairi said as he took a look around the neighborhood they were in. "We can head there to figure out what our next step is."

She blinked before a teasing grin curved her mouth, "Why, Kai, how forward of you. What would your mother think, bringing a girl home at this hour?" While she knew that what wasn't what he had meant, she nonetheless saw an opportunity.

He raised a brow at her, perplexed for a moment before a blush began to stain his cheeks. "No! No, no!" he shook his head frantically. "Gwen, you have to believe that I didn't-"

She couldn't help it when she burst out laughing, cutting him off from continuing. He just looked so cute and innocent, like a puppy who realized they did something wrong and was acting up trying to figure out how to fix the problem. Laughing so hard, she had to hold her gut from the pain, her laughter doubled when she saw the confused look on his face.

"R-Relax, Kai," she managed between laughs. "I know what you meant. Still, will your mom have a problem with me showing up unannounced?"

Kairi frowned for a moment as she had a solid point, so as she recovered from her bout of laughter, he texted his mother. Not long after, he got a reply. "There, problem solved," he said as he slipped his phone into his pocket.

"Just like that?" she raised a brow at him dubiously.

"Pretty much," he shrugged. "By the way, I hope you like smoked salmon, cuz that's what my mom is cooking dinner for tonight."

"Sounds good," she nodded.

Leading Gwen to the house he grew up in, a modest townhome in a decent neighborhood, Kai was about to unlock the door with his house keys when the door opened. He smiled, ready to greet his mother who must've seen them through the window, but to his mounting horror, it wasn't his mother who answered the door.

It was his grandmother.

"Ah, Kairi, it's so good to see you, my Little Wolf," the elderly woman smiled at him before noticing Gwen. "Oh, and you must be Gwen. Maya mentioned that Little Wolf here would be bringing in a guest. Please, come in, come in."

"Little Wolf?" Gwen said to him with an amused grin as she went inside.

Kairi released a groan as he buried his face in his hands.

AN:

I meant to release this chapter this past weekend, but, unfortunately, Google Docs decided it hated me. Oh well, what can you do?

If any of my Fate readers are reading this, you no doubt know that the Summer Vegas event has started so the summer Servants will be out again. If you are rolling for them, I wish you luck. I, for one, will be saving all my SQs for Castoria later. I've already saved up enough QP, level-up materials, and skill materials for her so that I can level her up once I get her. I just hope it won't cost me all the SQs I've saved up. 700 SQs should be fine, right? God, sometimes I hate gacha...

Anywho, I've got drafts for this story written up all the way to the end of the film, so I'll be releasing the next chapter this upcoming weekend at the earliest.

As always, stay safe, stay healthy, and you all have a good day.