Setting: Another Spiderverse event has just come to conclusion. The threat has been defeated, and the gathered Spider-People are spread around the city while waiting to return to their worlds.
Peter Parker sits by himself on the edge of a rooftop watching the setting sun, mask off, when he is approached by a spider person in a red and blue suit not unlike his own. They are the same height, with slightly different builds.
"Peter, right?" she says.
"Hey. Yeah, yeah." He keeps his eyes on the horizon. It's been a long day. "And you are?"
"Emily. Emily Parker."
"I always liked that name."
Emily sits next to him and takes his mask off. Their facial structure is eerily similar. "I know."
Peter looks at her, momentarily confused to be looking at his reverse-gendered mirror. But in a multiverse, anything is possible. Maybe in that world his parents had a daughter. He feels just the tiniest little hit of secret sadness in his chest.
"Lots of Peter Parkers here," she says.
He nods. "Yeah. No matter what universe, I always seem to get bitten by a radioactive spider. You're the first Emily Parker I've met, though. What's your story?"
She smiles. "Same as yours, I imagine. Born to Richard and Mary Parker. Lost them when I was six. Raised by Uncle Ben and Aunt May. Bitten by the spider, and then…"
As she goes quiet, he understands. "Uncle Ben?"
"Yeah. I didn't… I didn't stop him. I could have saved him, but…"
"Me neither. It still haunts me. But with great power…"
"…comes great responsibility," she finishes with a sad smile. "It's been decades now. You'd think I'd be used to it."
"I feel you, sister. Can I call you sister? I mean, we have the same parents, and everything." He's got that goofy Peter Park smile on.
She chuckles. "If you want. But…"
"But?"
"I… I've been thinking. Throughout this whole day. Every time I run into another Peter Parker." She winces as she says the name. "I was like you once."
"In what way?"
She gestures at his body and face. "You know… Like that. Before transition."
Peter's eyes widen in surprise. "Oh. You mean…"
"Yeah. I'm trans."
"Okay, that's cool."
"Pff," she scoffs. "Cool, sure. But here's what I've been wondering… All those other Spideys, all those Peters… Am I the only one who is trans, or am I the only one who had the guts to actually do something about it?"
Peter is silent for a while. "I don't know what you mean," he finally says with a serious expression.
"You've never… felt like something wasn't right? Like you just didn't belong in the life you were living?"
"I mean, of course I have. I was bullied every day at school for sixteen years. How could I not think something wasn't right?"
"You know what I mean."
"No, look. I'm a guy," he says, defensively. "I'm a heterosexual male. It's in the contract, and it makes my life easier. I'm okay with that."
"Right," she says. "So you've thought about it."
"No. I do think you're brave though. I mean… what was it like?"
"I was 19. I… I was dating Gwen. And— Peter, are you okay?"
"Me? Yeah, I'm fine." He says, with a lump in his throat. He fakes a smile. "It's just… That's when Gwen…"
"Oh. She… Your Gwen, she…?"
"Yeah. The Green Goblin."
"Fuck. I'm sorry, man."
"It's… Well, you know. It is what it is. But keep going. I didn't mean to interrupt you."
"Okay. Well, she almost died. My world's Gwen. Goblin threw her off a building and I charged after her. I webbed the floor to propel myself further down. Caught her as she was about to hit the ground. Broke every single one of my ribs. I could barely breath. I usually heal pretty fast, but I felt that one for months. The important thing is, I protected her. She was in the hospital for a while, the impact was still significant, but she pulled through. She's a strong one."
"And the Goblin?"
"He got away that day. I later tracked him to a warehouse… I was so angry, and I wanted to beat him within an inch of his life, but… I was mostly angry at myself. Also, my body was a wreck and I couldn't fight him if I wanted to. Had to think of something else. So I… talked to him."
"You talked to him? After he… almost killed Gwen?"
"Yeah. I mean. He almost did it. But he didn't. And I was so so scared that he would. And I wouldn't be able to protect her if he did it again. So I appealed to his humanity. I took my mask off and I told him I'd do whatever he wanted. Did he want me to unmask in public? Did he want me to suffer personally? Fine, I'd do it, just leave my loved ones alone. He laughed at first, he said I needed to suffer like he did. I asked why he was suffering. Showed him I cared. And somehow, a piece of that humanity brought through the Goblin. Norman started talking about Harry. And he was in so much pain. He thought he had failed as a father, and let's be honest, he had. But I told him it wasn't too late. And that I'd be there for him if he was willing to change."
"And that worked?"
"Well, no. I mean, he stopped coming after me for a while. Harry got out of rehab. But life — our life — isn't that simple. He kept falling back in and out of the Goblin persona over the years. We fought again and again. And he fought Harry, too. At one point he tried to — honestly, I don't know what he was trying, but he was leading this fucked up version of the Avengers, and it awful, and then Harry killed him. Chopped his head clean off. That's how that whole mess ended. It wasn't pretty."
"Damn."
"Yeah, damn. Anyway. After Gwen got out of the hospital, she told me she had come too close to death and couldn't live a lie anymore. She told me she liked girls. And at that point, I just broke down laughing."
Peter watches in disbelief. He had no idea.
"Here I was, hiding that secret for years, and she had one too. Well, hers didn't surprise me much. If anything, it made me happy. Mine, though, I knew that was going to blow her mind. So I told her! I told her I was trans. But that I was terrified of coming out publicly, for a million reasons. From Aunt May, to the fact the world already knew me as Spider Man. To the fact I couldn't go to a doctor to get hormones, because I have freaking radioactive blood that I don't want anyone to be running tests on, and heaven knows how the hell it's going to interact with the medication. To the fact… that it's just really scary being trans, even if you have superpowers. It's really hard coming to terms with it… but a life or death experience sure helps."
"…how did she take it?"
"As expected. I mean, it was hard at first. But not for very long. Gwen is amazing. She actually helped me with hormones. I mean, she's a science genius. She knew how to handle my blood work safely. And the dosages and stuff… I mean, I could have figured it out myself, but it was nice having someone by my side. I didn't feel so alone."
"Are you two still together?"
"No, it didn't work out in the long run. We separated and got together a few times but ultimately decided to be apart. We're still good friends. She just adopted a little kid. I… well, the superhero life doesn't leave a lot of room for raising a family."
"And how did people take to Spider-Man becoming Spider-Woman?"
"I stopped being Spider-Man it for a while. People just assumed he was dead. And there were other heroes around to keep the streets more or less safe. I told the guys at the Fantastic Four about my decision to lay low for a while, and my reasons for it. Johnny promised to be extra vigilant about street-level crime on his flights around town. Ben gave me an awkward hug and started being extra nice to me from then on. He knows a thing or two about not fitting in. Sue was kind of a dick, though, and Reed didn't take sides, which as you know means he was not on my side. Haven't had much contact with those two since. But such's life."
"Dang. I didn't expect that… Well, good to hear about Johnny and Ben, I guess. And Aunt May?"
"Oh… Yeah, she didn't take it well, either. She raised me and I loved her so much, but… There are bridges people won't cross and that was hers. Went against everything she believed in, she said. Didn't kick me out, she just refused to ever call me Emily. Invited priests over to splash me with holy water and what have you. Said she still loved me and that it was her way of showing me she "cared" and wanted to save me. I wasn't a fan. I moved out. I'd still contact her every few years or so, give her a chance to get used to it. But she never changed. Kept hoping it was 'just a phase' until her last breath and we could never be a family again."
"But… She's the sweetest and most understanding person I've ever know. My Aunt May would never do that."
"Well, Peter, I thought the same thing. But people have a way of surprising you."
Peter stays silent. You can almost see the gears turning inside his head.
"I know how much you cared about her. I felt it too. I still miss her. I wish things hadn't gone that way." Emily pauses to looks at the sky. It seems brighter. "You know, I can't help but to feel that Uncle Ben would have been more accepting, and that he would have been able to change her mind, make her come around. He always was the least conservative of the two. I feel that if I had come out earlier, maybe everything would have been different, maybe even… Ah. But I try not to dwell on it too much. We can't change the past."
Peter nods.
"When I eventually went back to superheroing I was in the black suit, and everyone just assumed I was a different person. I went with it."
"Oh, Venom. How was that like for you?"
"Oh, it was great. I miss having that guy in my head."
"Wait, you what?" He squints.
"…he's bad guy in your world, isn't he?"
"Oh yes. Or… Well, I guess not anymore. But mostly yes. He's a brain eating alien from outer space!" Peter waves his arms around. "I get that the black suit made me feel great, but once I was clean, I realized how high the cost was. It's like doing heroin. Why on Earth do you miss him?"
"Um. Well, it wasn't like that for me. I got taken to… Well, whatever that place was. And I brought him back to Earth. And that was on me, you know? He had nowhere to go. As soon as I realized he was a life form, I tried talking to him. Did you do that?"
"…no. I got rid of him immediately."
"Well, that's probably what we did differently. But he told me about himself. About how he was an outcast. And we could relate to each other. Being trans… You're excluded a lot. I had just cut contact with Aunt May for the first time. Gwen had started seeing someone else. I was very alone. Venom was someone I could talk to, so I was honest with him. And he offered to fill that gap. To bond with me permanently, to be the one who's always there by my side no matter what. I told him no."
"And he was okay with that? In my universe, Venom has some serious separation anxiety. Of the violent, deadly kind."
"He was upset. But I explained why. I was just, for the first time, learning to live with myself, to be by myself, and enjoy who I am. And I wanted to keep going down that road. He understood. I mean, he was literally inside my mind. He could see that it was about me, not him. So he was honest with me too, about his needs. We agreed to hang out with each other for a while, and that's when I went back to slinging around the city. I figured out how to synthesize the chemicals he needed so he wouldn't need to sap more from my body than necessary or eat brains, though he did bring up wanting to do that a few times. I eventually befriended this guy, Eddie… He was a mess, but there was good inside him, and Venom knew it. Venom though he could bring it out, so I gave him my blessing. They're still together. They're real heroes."
"Looks like you've made some really smart choices. I'm kind of jealous."
"It's never too late, you know."
Peter laughs. "Ah, yes, it is. I'm in my forties. I'm married. We're thinking about having kids!"
"I mean, you do you, but… Clearly we had some things in common. When you were a teen — did you also use to-"
"No! Okay, no, don't say it out loud. Yes. I know exactly what you're talking about. But don't. It was kid's stuff. I was a kid. I grew out of it."
"Right."
"I'm happy," he says with a frown.
"Yeah, I'm sure you are." She fist bumps his shoulder. "I'm not going to try and change your mind. It's crazy, though. All these Spider-Men here, every single one of them would jump inside a burning building without a thought, face off against a guy five times as strong, go to another universe and stop the end of the world. But when it comes to confronting their own thoughts about gender…"
"In our defense, gender is pretty terrifying."
"Yeah." Emily chuckles. "Yeah, it is."
A bright light shines over the horizon. The sky is blinding.
"Looks like it's time to go," Peter says standing up. "But this was interesting."
She gets up as well and looks into his eyes. "Yeah. It was."
Both start heading their separate ways, before turning back at the same time and jumping into a tight hug.
"Good luck, bro," says Emily. "I'm sure you did what you thought is best for you. There's nothing wrong with that. Really."
A tear streams down Peter's face. "Thanks, sis. I'm… really proud of you. So proud."
"'Til next time," she says as they part. The light intensifies further, and before they know it, they are home.
