Chapter 21

"In Which Kendrick Sees The End Of Spider-Verse."

You guys ever seen Man Of Steel? I thought it was actually a pretty cool movie. I mean, yeah, Clark was practically a brick the entire time, and I think he had less dialogue than every other character in the movie, and pretty much just reacted to everything. And the relationship between Lois and Clark seemed forced. They've never had an actual conversation, and they're over here sucking face. Ugh.

Thanks to Smacky for following me.

Thanks to bc7788 for reviewing. Yeah, I forgot that, but still. I never said he didn't have it.

Thanks to WolfDragon for reviewing. And...come on, man. Don't do this to me. Regardless of if you want to see MJ and Mayday interact with Daisuke, it would be almost impossible for me to write that. For one thing, Mayday is with the other spiders, while Daisuke is traveling across dimensions recruiting Spider-Men. MJ...nope. Can't do it. Sorry. Maybe next time.

Thanks to Exile037 for the reviewing. Glad you liked my introduction of Jason, it's always a little nerve racking when you're writing somebody else's creation, but I'm glad you liked it. And clone daughters totally count, so she's total milf.

And lastly, I know I've been releasing these chapters pretty quickly, faster than normal, but that's because I'm using bc7788's OC while he's still writing his story, so I don't want to mess him up. But after Spider-Verse is over, it's back to every two weeks.

And back to the story!

"Ken...?" Drake/Spider-Man said. "How are...how're you...I thought you were dead..."

"Listen...Drake," Kendrick said. "I'm...I'm from another dimension..."

Drake wrapped Ken up in a hug. It wasn't long before Ken was hugging him back.

"Hey guys," Peter said. "Let's, uh, head back to the bus. I think I left something in there."

And with that, they all left, heading back to the bus. That just left Kendrick and Drake.

"So...you say you're from another dimension?" Drake asked as they pulled away from each other.

"Ye...yeah," Ken said. "In my world..."

"I'm dead?"

"Yeah...and in this world?"

"You're dead."

"Yeah," Ken said, rubbing the back of his head. "I've been finding that out a lot lately."

"How did I die in your dimension?" Drake asked.

"You...uh," Ken pondered, not sure how much he should tell him. "Killed yourself..."

"I what?" Drake asked. "Why would I do that?"

"Uh, you got turned into Venom somehow and attacked me, then you realized that you had hurt me, then you killed yourself."

"...wow."

"Yeah."

"Why would I attack you?"

"You didn't know it was me."

"Okay, why would I attack Spider-Man?"

"I...," Ken said before taking a deep breathe. "I stopped you from doing a school shooting."

"..."

"Yeah..."

"A school shooting?"

"Yeah."

"Damn, your world must be crazy."

"I'm...wow," Ken said. "I'm surprised you're taking this whole alternate reality thing so well..."

"Well, I saw you die," Drake said, not meeting his eye. "You being from another dimension is the only thing that makes sense."

"How...did I die?"

"You have a Marshall in your world?"

"...yeah?"

"Don't trust him," Drake said, seriously. "In my world, he killed you."

"What?!" Ken asked, incredulous. "But...Marshall is my best friend!"

"He was here too," Drake responded. "Until he wasn't."

"Can we...talk about this on the bus?" Ken asked. "I just...I gotta process this."

It wasn't long until they were back on the bus, traveling between dimensions.

"So...he just snapped?"

"Basically," Drake said. "He just came to the school and popped you. Then he surrendered himself to the cops."

"Why would he do that?"

"I have no idea," Drake said. "And I never will. He hung himself in his jail cell."

"Fuck me," Ken said. "This...this has been a high day for depression, among many depressing days."

"Yeah, I can only imagine," Drake said, before digging around in his pocket. "Hey look, here's something my Kendrick would like."

"What is it?"

"You been to Comic-Con?"

"Uh, no," Kendrick said. "Shit, I missed it. I was probably traveling across dimensions during that time."

"Look at this," Drake said before holding a phone towards Ken.

"The Batman v Superman trailer?"

"Just watch it."

Three minutes and thirty nine seconds later.

"Oh shit!" Kendrick exclaimed. "Quick, Peter!"

"What's up?" Peter called from the front seat.

"Help me find my shit, cause I just lost it!"

"Uh, where was the last place you saw it?"

"Dude, did you see Wonder Woman?!" Drake asked, excited.

"She looked awesome!" Ken said. "And hot!"

"And did you see Batman?"

"I knew Batflek could pull it off!" Kendrick exclaimed. "And was that Jason Todd's costume?!"

"Oh man, I hope so," Drake said. "Imagine if we got a Red Hood movie!"

"That was Rated R?"

"Red Hood and The Outlaws!" they yelled in unison.

"No!" Daisuke yelled from the front. "Lobdell ruined Starfire on the page, I will not let him ruin her on the screen!"

"Okay, for your information Wilbur," Ken said. "Most of the people who complain about The Outlaws have never actually read the comic. Yes, in the beginning Starfire was a bit of a hot alien slut who slept around with everybody, but then she stopped doing that when she started having real feelings for Arsenal! It's a little thing called character development!"

"Hot alien slut," Jason said shaking his head. "That's a hashtag."

"#hotalienslut," Connor said. "If I get off not guilty at my trial, that's the first thing I'm posting."

"Hey guys...," Daisuke called from the front.

"What now?" the rest all called in unison.

"You might want to hear this," he said before pushing a button by the radio. Suddenly, the voice of 616 Peter Parker came up so they could all hear.

"Anyone who's still out there- whatever you're doing- drop it! We are going to Loomworld!"

"Well, I guess that's it then," Ken said. "The final battle."

"I don't know if I'm ready...," Jason said. "I mean, are we strong enough? Is this even a battle we can win?"

"I think so," Ken said. "It doesn't matter if we're strong enough. Or fast enough. Or smart enough. All of us, we're Spider-Man. Spider-Man. As long as the will of the man stays strong, the spider part really doesn't matter. I don't know if we'll win this. Hell, I don't even know if we'll survive. But as long as we stay strong, and remember that With Great Power, Must Also Come Great Responsibility, we'll damn well try. And that's all that matters."

They all just sat there for a while, a feeling a dread upon them. But also a feeling of hope. A hope that they'll see tomorrow.

"It's...it's been awesome hanging out with you guys," Connor said, a small tear going down his eye, but a smile on his face. "Just thought I'd say that...y'know...just in case..."

"Hell, I just met you guys," Jason said. "But if I faced down certain annihilation again, I'd want it to be with the same mother fuckers."

"I'll drink to that," Ben said.

"Dude, I think you're an alcoholic," Peter said. "But yeah, it's been real. We should do this again sometime. Like, just ride around different dimensions, having adventures."

"Yeah, that actually sounds pretty cool," Daisuke said. "Agent Brad Hall should write that..."

"What?"

"Uh, nothing," he said before he turned a dial on the dash. "Well, if we're gonna die, we might as well do it in style."

As he turned it, Freaks And Geeks by Childish Gambino started playing on the speakers.

"Oh hell yeah!" Ken said. "'Alright, Gambino is a mastermind, fuck a bitch to pass the time, mass appeal, orange rinds, smoke your green I'm spending mine.."

"The beat is witches brew, but beware this shit is potent," Connor broke in. "E.E cumming on her face, now it's poetry in motion..."

Everyone looked at him.

"What?" he asked. "Asian guys can like rap too, you racists."

Then, everyone started dancing.

"Yeah, Gambino make it work, I'm the boss, move something..."

[Okay, the rest of the chapter is probably pretty much gonna be from Ken's perspective. This is his story, remember?]

Carnage. This...this is carnage.

The bus had arrived a few minutes before. And it was all hell.

There was a large battle around them. Various creatures, which Ken was guessing were villains that he hadn't encountered yet, and they were fighting various spiders.

So much death, so much...destruction, Ken thought as he dodge a metal tentacle. God, where do all these crazy guys come from?

He gave a right hook to who was apparently called Doc Ock, and watched as he fell down, unconscious.

Wow, that guy was actually kinda lame, Ken thought. Like, he's just a regular guy? With metal tentacles? Who thought that up?

"Hey, you don't know what you're talking about!" an older Spider-Man with an awesome mustache called while kicking a goblin in the face. "Excelsior!"

Damn, they get crazier by the second.

"Ken watch your back!" Ken heard Drake call. He turned and saw Drake deflect what had been a bomb thrown by a goblin.

"Drake!" Ken yelled before fist bumping his alt universe brother. "You got my back?"

"Never left it little brother," Drake said. "You ready?"

"Let's fuck shit up," Ken said.

"Hell yeah."

Drake ran out first. He punched a Doc Ock in the face, then Ken used Drake's shoulder to vault over him and kick an Electro in the nose, breaking it.

"On your right!" Ken yelled out.

"Got it," Drake said as he elbowed Kraven in the face. "Thanks."

"No problem," Ken said.

It went on like that for a while. Ken and Drake fighting side by side, working in complete sync. Brothers. Friends. Partners. Spider-Men.

"Hey, I think we might actually win this!" Drake called.

"Yeah," Ken said as he wrapped his legs around Shocker's head and flinging him. "I think the big spiders are in the castle, fighting the Inheritors."

"I think I'll let them have that," Drake said. "My doctor told me to explicitly avoid getting my life force sucked out by energy drinking vampires."

"Really?" Ken said. "Mine said I was pregnant."

Drake snorted. "Well, you were always the daughter Mom and Dad always wanted."

"Go to hell, Drake."

"Yeah, I'll meet you there."

"Deal."

"Hey...hey Ken," Drake said.

"What's up?"

"When, uh,...when you were alive...I never got to tell you this...and I wanted to see how you'd react," Drake said solemnly.

"Yeah dude, you can tell me anything," Ken said.

"Well, it's, uh," Drake started. "Ken, look out!"

"Huh?" Ken turned around and saw behind him...Venom. And he looked angry.

"Move!" Drake called out as he got between Ken and the large monster. Then, all Kendrick could hear was a SHUNCK!

"Drake...?"

Drake fell to the ground, a large black tendril rammed into his stomach.

"Drake!"

Ken punched Venom. Repeatedly. He punched him so much it hurt him. He could swear he heard a few bones breaking. He didn't know if they were Venom's or his. But he didn't care. He just kept hitting him...and hitting him...and...and...

Until he was nothing. Nothing more than a puddle of black goo, with a dead body in the middle.

Ken had killed him.

Ken kneeled back next to Drake.

"Drake!" Ken said. "Drake, hold on! I'll...I'll figure something out! I'll...I'll get help, I'll..."

"Nah, I think this is the end for me little brother," Drake said. "I think it's about time I head off into the sunset."

"No!" Ken screamed, then buried his head into his brother's chest. "I can't...I can't lose you again..."

"Hey...I still had to tell you something...," Drake said, his eyes starting to unfocus.

"What...what is it?"

"I'm...I'm gay..."

"Drake, this isn't the time for jokes..."

"No joke...," Drake said. "I'm totally gay."

"Drake...you think I'd actually care if you're gay or not?" Ken said. "You're still my brother. I still love you."

"That's what I thought," Drake said, before digging into his exoskeleton. "I..gr...grabbed this...before we left...just in case..."

He pushed the piece of paper into Ken's hand.

"Go...to this address...for me...," Drake said. "Can you...do that for me, little brother?"

"Y...yeah, of course," Ken said, hot tears streaming from his eyes. "I promise..."

"Good," Drake said before closing his eyes for good. "That's...good...good...that's..good..."

Drake Durham was dead. Killed by Venom.

Again.

"Drake?" Kendrick said, lightly shaking him, fearing it was the end. "Drake, don't do this to me...Drake...Drake stay with me Drake...!"

But Kendrick knew it was too late. His brother was dead.

"Drake...," Kendrick said, before screaming to the sky, to the stars, to God, if he was indeed there. "NOOOO!"

And Kendrick laid down on the ground, amid the battle, holding his brother's body, repeating "no," over and over again...

The battle was over. The spiders had won. Many spiders were starting to go home back to their realities.

But Kendrick Durham never moved from that spot. He never stopped holding his brother.

"Hey, Ken!" Ken heard a voice call out. "Hey, I was just coming to say..."

New World Spider-Man stopped when he saw Ken holding the dead body of Drake Durham.

"..goodbye...oh my god..."

He kneeled by Ken's side. Ken stayed, unmoved.

"Ken, I'm so sorry...," he started as he put his hand on Ken's shoulder.

Ken flinched, moving hisself away from Peter's hand.

"Ken...?" Peter asked. "...are you okay?"

Ken sat there a moment. He didn't move. Then, he replied.

"...yeah," he finally said. "Yeah, I'm fine."

He stood up, holding Drake's body in his arms.

"Where's Daisuke?" he asked.

"Huh?" Peter asked. "Oh, uh, last place I saw him was the bus."

"Good," Ken said as he walked away, carrying the body. "And Peter?"

"Yeah?"

"Thanks."

"For what?"

"For being the coolest person here," Ken said. "For being the only person who didn't look at me like I was some freak."

"No...no problem," Peter said. "Anytime."

Kendrick continued on his walk. Eventually he ended up back to where they had parked the bus. Daisuke was sitting in the driver's seat, apparently getting ready to go.

"Daisuke?" Ken asked. "Why are you in the bus? I thought they were sending spiders off using the Great Web."

"Yeah, I...," Daisuke started before he saw the body in Ken's hands. "Oh...oh my god...!"

"Daisuke, can you do me a favor?" Ken asked.

"Um, yeah. Yeah, anything."

"Give me a ride?"

"Get in."

Ken walked up the stairs into the bus. Inside he found, Connor, Jason, and Ben already inside, cuts and bruises all over their bodies, but alive. Ken was glad. He couldn't lose any more friends. Any more brothers.

They all looked surprised at Drake's deceased body, but they quickly went back to normal.

"You all...you're all using the bus?" Ken asked. "None of you are using the Great Web?"

"Yeah, I don't...I don't trust that thing as far as I can...yeah...," Ben said, obviously trying his best not to look at the corpse in Kendrick's hands.

Ken walked past them all, and sat in the back, holding his brother's body.

Peter walked on to the bus. "Are we, uh,...all here?"

Everyone nodded, not wanting to speak. Daisuke started the bus, and they set off across dimensions.

Kendrick stood in the graveyard, looking at his own tombstone.

Here Lies Kendrick Durham, Gone Too Soon.

He was back in Spider-Man/Drake's dimension. He didn't know what the other spiders were doing about all the dead bodies.

But he would be fucking damned if his brother didn't get a proper burial.

Kendrick took the shovel and rammed it in the ground, scooping the dirt and then tossing it. And then again. And again. And again.

Peter walked up to where Ken was digging. He had a shovel in his hand. Ken nodded to him, and he started digging. Ken turned to his right. Jason, Connor, and Daisuke were standing there with shovels in their hands.

It wasn't long before Drake's body was buried. Kendrick lifted up the tombstone and put it at the head of the burial site.

"Where did you get a tombstone?" Connor asked.

"Stole it," Kendrick said simply.

"Oh."

Kendrick put his middle finger up, causing his bone claw to come out. He started carving into the stone. Eventually, he stood back and looked at his handiwork.

Here Lies Drake Durham, A Real Fucking Hero.

"I think he'd like it," Peter said.

"Yeah," Ken said. "Yeah, I do too."

The tombstone sat right next to Kendrick's, proud. Daisuke walked up to the stone with a small ray gun in his hand, and blasted the tombstone with what looked like liquid nitrogen.

"Daisuke," Ken started. "What...?"

"It's an invention of mine," Daisuke said. "It makes it impossible for the rock to erode. And it increases its weight to where we couldn't even lift it. It'll be there forever."

"Thank you," Ken said.

And they all looked at the tombstone. Mourning. Their heads bowed. A small part of Kendrick was happy.

Looks like I got to make it to Drake's funeral after all.

"Hey guys," Ken said. "Wait here. I'll...uh, I'll be right back."

"What're you gonna...?" Jason started before Kendrick swung away.

Ding!

Kendrick sat in front of the house, nervously. He had his mask on.

Eventually, the door opened, revealing Clarissa and John Durham. Kendrick's parents.

"Oh my god!" Clarissa exclaimed. "You...you're that Spider-Man from the news!"

"No...I'm not," Ken said before removing his mask. "It's me, Mom."

"So, you say you're from another dimension...?" John asked.

"Yeah," Ken said.

"Where your alive," Clarissa asked. "And Drake is dead?"

"Yes."

"And you say...our Drake," John started.

"He...he died a hero, I swear to you."

"Oh John...," Clarissa said as she buried her head in her husband's chest.

They hugged each other and cried. Kendrick wondered what his parents were doing right now.

"I...I should go..," Ken said. "I have my own Mom and Dad to see."

"I...thank you...Kendrick," John said. "Thank you for coming to see us. For telling us yourself."

"Yes, just knowing...knowing that you're out there...," Clarissa said. "Knowing that you're alive somewhere. It...makes it a little easier."

"You don't have to thank me," Ken said. "And I just want you to know...your Kendrick loved you. If he was anything like me, he loved you. He might not have said it, and he probably wished he did...but he loved you guys."

The cried again. But at least they cried together. Kendrick was crying too. But he was crying alone.

"And here we are," Daisuke said. "Welcome home Jason Doyle."

"Thanks you guys," Jason said as he walked to the door of the bus. "It's been real. I'm gonna...I'm gonna go see my parents."

He stepped off the bus. Soon, he was greeted by a woman, who you could tell was a little older, but still attractive.

"Dude, is that Adriana Soria?" Peter asked. "He's right, she is a milf."

"Total milf," Connor said.

They looked towards Kendrick to see if he wanted to comment of her milf-ness, but he just sat in the back, keeping to himself. Eventually, he spoke.

"Connor," he said. "Did you see your brother?"

"Y...yeah," Connor said. "He said he'd meet me back in my dimension."

"Good," Ken said. "You have a second chance with your brother. Something that I...something I wish I still had. Cherish it. For me."

"Yeah, Ken," Connor said. "Of course."

"And we're off," Daisuke said as they flew away to another dimension. Eventually they parked on a rooftop. "Here we are. Earth-1618."

"Well, I guess this is my stop," Connor said before stopping. "Hey...would it be totally completely one hundred percent weird if I asked you guys a favor?

"No," Peter said. "It wasn't okay for you to ask us if it would be totally completely whatever the hell you said weird."

"Well, it's just uh," Connor said. "I'm...gonna be on trial here shortly, and I was wondering if you guys would..."

"You want us to speak for you at your trial?" Peter asked.

"Would that be totally wrong of me to ask?"

"Uh, okay. I'm up for it," Peter said. "I don't know if..."

"Yeah," Ken said. "Yeah, I'll help you out."

"Thanks man," Connor said. "I ow you guys one."

Kendrick stood up, ready to leave. Peter walked up to him.

"Hey," Peter said.

"Hey," Kendrick replied.

"I'm gonna do something here that you did for me, that I think you need, but I really don't want you to venom zap or whatever it's called me when I do it."

"What the hell are you...?" Kendrick started, before Peter wrapped him up in a hug.

It caught Ken off guard, and he almost pushed Peter off of him. But instead, he returned the hug. Eventually they broke it up.

"You know what Pete?" Ken said. "You are one of my best friends."

"You see, I told you," Peter said as they walked towards the door of the bus. "You can't deny charm like this."

And they walked towards the courthouse or wherever this pace would be held, as friends.

And that's the end of Spider-Verse. Finally!

Seriously, this went on way longer than I originally anticipated. This arc took seven chapters. Seven! That's more than the actual event had (unless you count the epilogue, in which case they're equal). I meant for this to last a few chapters, but it turned into this whole thing.

As for the thing about turning them driving around in the Dimension Bus, having adventures, and having that be a story...I would be lying if I said I wasn't at least considering it. I just had so much fun with these characters, and having them interact, I almost don't want it to end. I think the best part of this event was having all these different characters from different fanfictions interact, and I'm glad I was able to helm the pen. Or, the pad. Because I typed all this on my iPad.

Thanks to bc7788 for allowing me to use his character Connor Cheng. Connor is an awesome character with the story potential that very few characters have. I recommend everyone to read his story The Unstoppable Spider-Man, which Connor is the star of.

And thanks to Exile037 (probably the most loyal reader of this story) for letting me use his Spider-Man Jason Doyle. Another character with great potential, and I wish that I got to explore his character more and give him more chapter time, but it just didn't end up that way. Maybe if I write this Spider-Bus story (that is officially the bus' name, I just thought of that!) you and bc788 will let me use your Spider-Men again...?

And thanks to WolfDragon for letting me use his character Wilbur/Daisuke. And I actually do have an idea for a story starring Daisuke, however I don't know if I'll do it. Maybe.

And I hope this explains why Kendrick was suffering from PTSD all those chapters ago, when in Spider-Verse he was perfectly fine. Yeah, you guys never thought of that, did ya?!

And I think that's it. It was fun guys.

NEXT: THE STORY CONTINUES IN UNSTOPPABLE SPIDER-MAN, BUT NEXT CHAPTER, WE GO BACK TO THE PRESENT WITH KENDRICK! GOBLIN NATION BEGINS HERE! IN TWO WEEKS! [MAYBE MORE, BECAUSE THIS WRITER IS BEAT...]

I'm about to go jack off.

-Brad