Chapter 2 - Along Came The Spider

/_\

It occurred to Raylan during his long fall down that he had no idea where he was going. He knew the world was called Teyvat and that was it. This was quite literally a whole new world to him. Long gone was the concrete jungle he was familiar with, instead Spider-Man now faced a world of unknowns.

With nowhere specific in mind, he could start anywhere he wanted to.

But of course, he had to play it smart. He was in a new world after all.

"Let's see what kind of trouble there is here," Raylan yelled to himself as he closed his wingsuit, allowing himself to fall further at a much faster rate. Just as the ground closed in, Raylan fired off a web toward a cliff face, transferring his falling momentum into a swing that threw Spider-Man across the tops of several trees.

Soaring above the tree line Spider-Man web zipped to a nearby tree that stood taller than all the others, giving him a perch that stood higher than most of the surrounding landscape.

"I've gotta play this smart, I can't rush into this. Not with Carnage involved." Spider-Man said aloud to himself. "I can't just drop straight into a city I know nothing about yet." The last thing the wall-crawler needed was to startle the entire armed forces of a city, have them chase him out like most security forces usually did. So the best bet would be to start small, head for one of the smaller towns outside a city and find out more from there if possible.

Carnage was about, and with the power of a God at his cruel tendrils.

Some investigation was in order. With that in mind, Raylan noted from his perch a smaller village south of the main city. The web-slinger had no clue as to what these places were called but he supposed he was about to find out.

Raylan leapt from the top of the tree, with much more force than he had anticipated which caused the top of the tree to shatter into splinters and leaves.

Spider-Man winced as he flew through the air, "Increased super strength…. Right. I'm going to have to pull my punches more until I know what my strength limit is."

It wouldn't do to punch the head off a criminal because he didn't hold back. That would kinda defeat his whole superhero thing. Same would probably go for his speed too.

With that thought in the back of his mind, Spider-Man fired off a web to the tallest trees he could to web-swing in the direction of the small village he'd seen on his descent. Rapidly swinging across the forest, with speed Raylan shouldn't have been surprised by, the wall crawled neared the village quickly.

But much to his horror, he saw fire by the village.

"Time to move it!" Raylan yelled as he switched from web-swinging to web-zipping to pull himself into the village. Reaching the village, Spidey landed atop one of the building's roofs. Much to his initial, and swift, surprise, the village looked… old? Compared to the cities of his world, this little village was positively medieval.

But those thoughts were pushed to the back of his mind as the situation rapidly revealed itself to him.

The village was surrounded by wooden walls that stood taller than many of the smaller buildings, obviously used as a form of protection, but by the main entrance to the village were the villagers desperately pushing back against the gate as it buckled from a powerful hit.

Luckily the fires hadn't reached the homes of the villagers, but the wall was currently ablaze as well as trees outside the entrance.

The portion they were pushing on began to crack and splinter as it was struck by another powerful blow.

"Run!" One of the villagers, a young male, yelled.

At his command every villager that had been bracing the gate scattered in multiple directions. A second later the gate shattered.

Revealing the cause of the chaos.

A hulking monstrous creature carrying a large shield and wielding a club. Many smaller creatures that somewhat resembled the big one flanked around it, holding clubs of their own, ready to raid the little town. It was painfully clear the villagers stood no chance against these things.

"Alright," Spider-Man began as he launched into battle. "Here we go!"

First and foremost Spider-Man threw himself into the creature's line of sight, landing in front of the small horde in a crouch. He was immediately noticed by the creatures, all their attention turned to him instead of the fleeing and hiding villagers.

"Eyes on me ladies and gentlemen!" Raylan called out, leaping into action, with a web-strike he pulled himself into the largest foe with such speed and force to shatter the wooden shield the creature held.

The creature lost its footing from the impact and was thrown backward across the ground, colliding with several other of its smaller kin. The ones that remained standing all turned to him and rushed Spidey with their clubs raised.

"Come on Clubbies!" Spider-Man jeered, coming up with the silly nickname almost instantly. "Take a swing!"

Having not needed his instruction in the first place, two of the creatures swung their clubs simultaneously. Spidey flipped out of the way of the swings and fired a web toward each one, on the other end of the flip Raylan pulled them toward him.

The force of the pull was more than Raylan expected, but he still managed to kick the creatures in the head in one swing of his leg, throwing the beasts across the battlefield. The two bounced violently to a stop over two dozen feet away.

Raylan winced at the sight, "Maybe I should have held back more…" And that was coming from a Spidey who had been holding back ninety-eight percent of his strength with that strike. If that had been a person, that may have killed them then and there.

Spidey was going to have to keep that in mind, he didn't know what kind of people, besides gods, that he might be facing. Were they stronger than his foes back in New York? He couldn't say, he would have to take extra care in the future.

Another three of the smaller beasts, now nicknamed Clubbies, came rushing at him, but this time Spider-Man fired a web bullet toward the legs of two of his foes. The creatures staggered and fell to the ground face first, with the third of the group reaching him.

Spider-Man flipped over the beast and, in mid-air, fired two webs over to the down creatures to restrain them. Landing in a crouch Spidey quickly wheel-kicked his foe in the back with enough force to knock it forward and have it smack face-first into the dirt.

Just like their other friends!

Raylan casually fired his webbing over the Clubber to restrain it, leaving it completely covered and unable to move.

"Five Clubbies down," Raylan said to himself, his head turned back to the big boy he'd thrown back to the gate a couple of moments ago. The creature and several of its smaller friends had gotten back to their feet. Each one of them holding their clubs again.

"One Big Clubber," Raylan decidedly named the big one, "And five more Clubbies to go." Springing into action, Spidey web-striked one of the Clubbies and pulled himself toward the creature with speed that left no time for it to react.

Raylan punched the beast in its face, downing it in a single strike. A second came in with a swing of its club but was swiftly dealt with when Spider-Man avoided the strike and judo threw it onto the ground with the beast slamming into the ground back first before covering it with webs.

The Big Clubber came next.

Not that it mattered much.

Raylan crouched low, bio-electricity formed in his hand and pulsed up his arm. As the Big Clubber came in Spider-Man lunged forward and slammed the creature in their solar complex with an electrically charged punch.

But much to Raylan's surprise, his electricity flared far more than he'd anticipated, creating a vortex of light-blue lightning around the area he'd struck the beast. The Big Clubber was violently electrocuted, despite Raylan attempting to be careful with his strength it seemed his venom powers had been supercharged.

Spidey couldn't help but wince as the beast crumpled into a heap as he bounced off the wooden wall across the village before slumping down fast first in the dirt, just like its little posy.

"Maybe I should hold back… everything," Raylan mumbled to himself as he jumped up and over two of the small Clubbies whilst also firing webs toward the Big One to restrain the beast in case it woke up.

With three of the Clubbies left, Raylan threw himself at two of them. The first was dealt with by an uppercut to the face which threw it into the air a good ten feet, whilst the second was slammed into the ground when Raylan fired two web lines to the one he'd launched into the air and pulled the first Clubbie into the second. The impact was… rougher than Raylan had wanted but not as violent or brutal as his other takedowns.

With two more Clubbies piled up, Spider-Man restrained them as one pile, leaving only one Clubbie left.

Raylan turned to see the creature just standing there, shivering as it looked at him with its club in its hand. In all honesty, the thing looked absolutely terrified of him. The poor thing was basically harmless to the likes of Spider-Man.

Seeing that the danger had passed, having not sensed it, Spidey prepared to end the last minor threat to the village.

"Well," Raylan began in a heavy Western accent, casually waving at the creature, "It's just you and me now partner!" Spider-Man shifted his stance, standing like he was in a wild west duel. "This town ain't big enough for the two of us." He stated, his hands hovering over his non-existent holsters. "Make your move."

Three seconds passed before the Clubbie worked up the courage to raise its club.

But as soon as it did the little fella took a web mass to the face, causing it to drop its club. As soon as the creature's hands came up to try and remove the web from its face, a second web pinned its hands to its face.

Not even a moment later, another web wrapped around the creature's legs, tying them together which caused the Clubbie to fall over onto its side from the, rather comical, loss of balance.

Another shot of webbing to the torso pinned it to the ground completely, leaving no room to wiggle free, ending the fight then and there.

"Not fast enough, partner," Raylan said as he pulled up a finger gun to his mouth and blew on it.

With the duel won, and no new danger incoming from his spider-sense, the fight was well and truly over.

Spider-Man surveyed the scene, numerous Clubbies lay defeated, most of which were pinned underneath his webbing. The Big Clubber lay face first in the dirt, each of his limbs restrained by his webbings off by the wall. All enemies lay defeated, and the town was safe.

The battleground was somewhat disheveled, but the village itself was intact. The buildings were untouched, which Spider-Man was happy to note, with the only real damage being to the gate that now lay in ruin.

A satisfactory ending if you think about it.

"First battle in a new world, and it couldn't have gone better," Spider-Man said cheerily. Sure, the gate was destroyed but that happened just as he arrived. Other than that, nothing was damaged and all the beasts were defeated. "A good start to this adventure."

Raylan sensed movement nearby and turned to see some villagers advancing on him.

And much to his surprise, several of them advanced on him with spears and pitchforks.

"Woah," Raylan mumbled as he slowly turned to face the approaching crowd with his hands raised in, what he hoped, was a peaceful manner. "Easy, I'm not here to cause trouble." Taking a step back in process.

The village folk ceased their advance on him as well, but maintained their position with their weapons pointed toward him. This situation reminded him of the days when cops used to shoot at him when he'd first started his spidey career.

Simpler times then.

However, Raylan noted how the villagers seemed to be trembling, uncertain, their weapons shook slightly in their hands. It was painfully clear to see the people of this village weren't fighters, they were farmers, workers, hunters at the best.

Not seasoned fighters like he was.

One the townsfolk seemed to work up the courage to speak to him.

"W-who are you?! A-and w-what are you doing in our h-home?!" He yelled, stuttering as he said it. His voice and appearance betrayed the man's age, he was young. Looked barely eight-teen, if that. His pitchfork rose higher, stretching further toward the spider hero as if to threaten him to answer.

With as calm a voice as possible, Raylan replied, "I'm Spider-Man," he stated, placing a hand on his chest as he introduced himself. "And I'm only here to help. I saw your village was in trouble and came swinging in."

His words didn't change much if he was honest.

"Spider-Man?" He said in confusion and suspicion, his eyes narrowed, "What k-kind of name is that?! T-that doesn't tell us who you are at all!"

Some of the other villagers, which Raylan noted also looked rather young, seemed to steady themselves at their leads words. The age of everyone present was striking, ranging from mid-twenties at the oldest to what looked like teenagers on the younger side. That raised the question, where were the older middle-aged adults?

"Yeah, it doesn't really answer anything, I know." Raylan replied honestly, "But I don't typically go around announcing my name, kinda defeats the purpose of the whole anonymous superhero thing."

The villagers seemed to hesitate, some looking between one another for reassurance. Including the one who had initiated the questioning. Before any of them could continue their grilling, another voice called out to the crowd.

"Enough!" All eyes, including Spider-Mans, were drawn toward a building opposite the destroyed gate. A building that Spider-Man figured was some kind of town hall since it stood out amongst the others in the village. It was a building, better decorated, and banners with an insignia were draped across the front.

On the porch of the building, having just stepped through the double doors behind them, stood an elderly woman looking out over the village grounds. She seemed to hold some sort of authority as many of the younger teenagers lowered their weapons without needing to be told.

The woman herself seemed fragile, she was certainly old judging by her gray hair and wrinkled features, but she wasn't bone thin or scrawny either. One oddity Spidey noticed was that one of her arms was cut off to just below the elbow, which is quite the wound to have all things considered.

There had to be a story there.

"This man comes into a village, fights our attackers off single-handedly without so much as being as to, and we repay that favor with hostility?" The older woman asked, her tone of voice leaving no room for arguments. "Enough." She gestured to everyone present with her one good arm, "We must quickly repair the damage done, and check in with the youngsters." Her eyes tracked over the young men and women present, "Go! I'll handle our savior."

That seemed to do the trick as all the teenagers and young adults quickly dispersed to carry out the elders' orders, many went to the main gate in a likely attempt to save whatever they could to repair their defenses. The others, mostly the teenagers, rushed toward the other buildings to check to make sure the occupants were alright.

Spider-Man felt obliged to help, and he was just about to when the elders' voice called out to him.

"Come here," She gestured toward him with her hand, "Allow me to speak to you in private."

Spidey eyed the woman for a moment, before relenting. "It wouldn't do to refuse her I suppose, not like I know where else to go yet. I need to scope the city before making my move, so maybe I can see if I can't learn anything from this grandma." Normally, back in New York, whenever he finished defeating criminals, Spider-Man would tie them up in his webbing and let the cops handle the clean-up before slinging off into the city to fight other criminals.

But he couldn't really do that here, could he? He wasn't familiar with this land, or what he was facing, and so had no idea where he should be going. His next stop was the big city, but that could wait.

Spider-Man briskly walked up to the elder.

"Let's head inside." The woman turned and walked back into the building.

Spidey decided now was the time to respond, "I'm not expecting any form of repayment by the way." He felt the need to mention that, "Everything I do is purely to help others, no rewards or payments required."

The people of New York knew that even if they sometimes gifted him food whilst he was on patrol, being Spider-Man wasn't merely a job to earn money from.

The woman huffed a laugh, "That's surprising." The elder reached a table in the center of the room, a simple coffee table with four stools surrounding it. She took a seat on one side, so Spider-Man assumed he was meant to take the one opposite. "Most people nowadays aren't really in the business of helping each other without some form of compensation."

Raylan shrugged, "Well I am, it's a part of the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man thing I've got going on."

The older lady seemingly stumbled at the web slinger's introduction, which caused Raylan to raise an eyebrow. But she quickly recovered and hummed as she eyed him curiously, up and down she went taking in his costume in all its detail. Spidey did notice the odd twinkle in her eye, even if it faded rather quickly. She seemed to realize she was staring. "Ah, where are my manners?" She shook her head. "My name is Elanor, I'm the village elder of this little town, and so I welcome you to Springvale."

"Spider-Man," Raylan greeted back, "A pleasure to meet you, ma'am."

"The pleasure is mine," She countered. "Firstly, I'd like to thank you for what you did for us. As I said, not many strangers would stick their necks out for us like you had. It means a lot knowing there are outsiders that still care about us."

"Think nothing of it!" Raylan brushed it off. Although, he did mentally note Elanor's words. If other people weren't as helpful as he was he would need to keep that in mind for the future.

"We shall think highly of it young man," Elanor replied, smiling softly at the superhero. "But I have to ask, where did you come from? I've never seen nor heard of someone like you around these parts."

And that was an understatement on her part.

But that gave Spider-Man pause. He considered telling Elanor he was not of this world, and that he was here to deal with his foe, Carnage. But would she believe him? He didn't know.

But what did he really have to lose?

So Spidey took the shot.

"Look, I'm… gonna be honest with you ma'am," Raylan began slowly, "I'm actually not from this world." He paused to judge her reaction, not that there was much of one. Elanor merely tilted her head as she continued to regard him. "I came here in search of one of my enemies, or two rather, they go by the name Carnage."

At the mention of his symbiotic foe, the woman sucked in a breath, as if physically struck by something, going stiff.

"You've come to fight Carnage?" The woman asked tersely. Her hand drifted to her amputated limb as she asked him that question.

Raylan's fist subtly clenched at the implication of that.

"I have," Spider-Man confirmed, "I'm here to take Carnage down and free this world of his terror and chaos."

The elder said nothing for a moment, awkwardly so, as she rubbed the wound on her arm. Spider-Man quickly wondered if he said something he shouldn't have. Just as he was about to apologize, Elanor spoke up.

"He's expecting you, you know." She stated softly, her eyes turning back to him. "Carnage has been waiting for you to find him." Elanor heaved a heavy sigh, "I've heard of how it drives him mad that he hasn't had the chance to kill you yet."

Spider-Man hesitated to speak for a second, processing what the old woman had just told him, which gave the elderly woman a chance to continue.

"Carnage, for many centuries, was convinced that someone going by the name Spider-Man would eventually come for them." She explained, "And that when this person did, they would joyously kill him for everything they'd ever done."

"That sounds like Carnage alright," Spider-Man said. "And like Osborn too." He mentally added.

"The death, destruction, and suffering that monster has brought to our lands is unforgivable," Elanor said with such heated disdain. "Despite the best efforts of the people and the gods, Carnage has ruled this land for over half a millennia now."

Raylan couldn't help the guilt that swelled up in his chest hearing the pain in the elderly woman's voice.

"Please, Elanor," The wall-crawler began softly, the eyes on his mask meeting the womans, "Explain to me what Carnage has done to this world," His fist clenched softly, "I need to know how this world has changed since he arrived."

"That's a long story, Spider-Man, going back further than I could truly know for certain." The older woman held his gaze, "But, I suppose if you really are the one Carnage has been waiting for then I better educate you as to what you're going up against."

"Thank you, ma'am."

Elanor sighed, "I suppose I should start with the stories I heard when I was young. Centuries ago, the world lived in relative peace. The nations of Teyvat had not seen wars with one another for many years, creating a time of prosperity for many." Elanor's face shifted to a frown, "But that's when he showed up."

"Carnage brought with him destruction and suffering everywhere he went," Her words grew hollow, strained. "That monster set about conquering the nations, the gods themselves, so that he could take over the land as its sadistic ruler and to do that he set his sights high."

"His first target was Celestia itself, the Realm of the Gods."

Spider-Man's eyes widened under his mask. "The Realm of the Gods?"

The elder nodded solemnly, "The floating garden of the gods in the sky above Teyvat, currently it sits above the ocean where nobody can ascend to reach it."

Raylan made a mental note to actually look up when he was outside to actually look for the floating kingdom.

"Nobody knows what truly transpired up there, but soon after Carnage descended onto Teyvat with an army of corrupted deities and beings, similar to him but lacking any sense of cunning and cruel intelligence like him." Elanor paused for a moment, which gave Spider-Man a second to think.

"This is similar to when Venom infected New York," Raylan mentally recalled. "The city was in chaos for days and on the verge of collapse, even other heroes had been infected."

S.H.I.E.L.D had gotten involved but had been quickly overwhelmed by the symbiote. Ultimately, it came down to a final showdown between him and Venom atop the heli-carrier, with the symbiote making a final sacrifice to end the chaos he didn't truly wish to create.

Thankfully, Raylan had saved enough of the uncorrupted symbiote to heal him. And from that act of kindness, a partnership was formed, Miles could join him in crime fighting as the host to the Venom symbiote. It all ended as well as one could have hoped.

But this time, it was different. It hadn't ended well for Teyvat.

"With an army by his side, Carnage turned his sights on the Archons and their nations. Among the first to fall were Sumeru and Mondstadt," Elanor's one good hand tightened, "but the others supposedly followed. Liyue, Fontaine, and Nathlan fell next over many years. But around that time, another nation caught Carnage's interest. The Kingdom of Khaenri'ah."

An important nation to remember by the sounds of it.

"It was rumored that in order to defeat Carnage and his army, the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah utilized the powers of the abyss to combat the dark god." Elanor rose from her seat and moved toward a bookshelf off to the side of the room, "Utilizing powers and technology not seen anywhere else across Teyvat, they stood the best chance to defeat Carnage."

The aged woman pulled a book from the shelf, turning back to bring it back to the table.

"Unfortunately though, Carnage had anticipated the idea of the world revolting against his control. So when he conquered a nation, he did not slay its Archon. He corrupted them, turned them into…" Elanor struggled to find the right word, "-abominations of their old selves."

If that meant what he thought it did…

"I think I know what you mean," Raylan said to the woman, "It might be hard to believe but I've seen something like this before."

The older woman's sad eyes regarded him, "...and how did that end?"

Raylan, beneath his mask, frowned softly, "I, with the help of my friends, managed to take down the one behind it all and save the city, and perhaps the world, from total destruction."

Elanor smiled sadly at him, "We weren't so lucky." Spider-Man suppressed the grimace that ran through his body. "Despite their best efforts, the Kingdom of Khaenri'ah fell to the combined might of Carnage, his army, and his corrupted Archons. Not even the Great Protector herself could defend against their overwhelming power."

"Great Protector?" Raylan thought.

"Although she managed to do substantial damage to Carnage's army, the Great Protector was forced to retreat when the Kingdom finally fell." Elanor stated sorrowfully, "With that final obstacle out of the way, Carnage's attention returned to the rest of Teyvat."

"Did nothing truly slow him down?" Raylan asked, "Surely he couldn't have conquered all of Teyvat."

"Truthfully, I'm not certain." Elanor answered, "It took Carnage centuries to conquer the nations he did, each nation fell one by one. The only known remaining stronghold of the world is Snezhnaya, but that's due to the combined efforts of the Fatui forces and the Great Protector working together to keep at least one nation alive. Rumors here and there talk about the other nations, specifically Inazuma and Sumeru, but nothing can be confirmed. Travel between nations is dangerous, and few have the time to investigate the states of other lands when they fight to save their own."

That perked Raylan up, "People continue to fight? So there is a resistance movement against Carnage?"

Elanor nodded, "Yes, each nation under Carnage's control has some form of a resistance movement. That's where many of the men and women of this village have gone." That explained why it was only the very young and old left in Springvale then. "But none of the movements are joined, they're all individualistic even though they all share the goal of liberating their homes and freeing their Archons from the control of a mad god."

"Woah," Spider-Man couldn't help but mumble. It was inspiring to think people under centuries of rule continued to fight for freedom and peace, for the lives of the gods they believe in.

It showed just how strong the people of this world were.

"But why don't they combine forces?" Raylan asked. "It doesn't make sense to fight alone as they do."

The woman sighed, "I agree, but at the very least the forces of the Fatui are spread across many of the nations. The Tsaritsa and her Harbingers are the ones aiding the resistance movements as best they can, but they can't afford to over-extend either. Otherwise, they risk their nation being taken in a moment of weakness."

Raylan's head sagged, eyes tracking to the floor. "Divided and scattered. That has to be Norman's idea." Splitting the nations apart to better control each region sounded like something Osborn would do, Carnage alone wouldn't have been intelligent or patient enough to do that.

"The only reason there is a resistance or even a haven in Snezhnaya is due to the Great Protector." The elder continued, "Although she works alone most often, her constant actions against Carnage keep him from ever fully committing his forces to any one region."

"Sounds like I need to find this Great Protector." Spidey responded, "She sounds like my best bet at finding Carnage."

"If you can find her, then yes," Elanor confirmed. "More than likely he resides in his fortress atop Celestia, but she may well be your only way to reach him. Typically, people can't find her. The Great Protector normally finds you."

That made things easy then.

"If that's the case then all I need to do is cause enough problems for Carnage for her to come and find me," Raylan replied.

"...so you truly wish to fight Carnage?" Elanor asked, mostly to herself. "I honestly don't know whether to believe you insane or a fool."

Raylan huffed a good-natured laugh, "Both."

"I suppose you'd have to be." Elanor laughed softly. For the first time, the woman's mood seemed to have been uplifted during their conversation.

"I have another question," Raylan stated, "What's the city I'm currently closest to now? I saw one in the distance when I swung here."

"That would be Mondstadt, the once great city of freedom." Elanor's mood soured slightly, much to Spider-Man's regret. "Ruled by Lord Barbados." The way she said the gods name, it indicated a strong belief in the god despite what they must have been turned into.

"...then that's my first destination." Spider-Man stood from his seat. "I promise, somehow, I will free your home and your god." He vowed to the older woman.

Elanor watched as the hero turned to leave.

"Thank you again for your hospitality, ma'am," Spidey said with genuine gratitude, "And thanks for answering my questions about the world, you've been a great help."

Spidey moved to quickly leave the building.

Spider-Man swiftly exited the town hall with a hop, with Elanor not far behind him. The sudden appearance of the two figures garnered the attention of all the old and young villagers who has since existed their home to help with repairs.

"...Spider-Man!" Elanor called out, pulling the superhero's gaze to her just before he had the chance to leap away. "I'd like to thank you again for saving our homes this day." She said loud enough for the entire village to hear. "And… I truly hope that your campaign against Carnage goes well for you."

"Thanks for the support, ma'am," Raylan cheered back, "I promise you, Carnage will fall. Teyvat will be free from his grip one day!" The spider hero declared. "If you ever need my help again, I'll gladly help out. Don't be afraid to find me if you need me!"

Elanor smiled at the hero, "Until we meet again, hero."

The hero nodded his last goodbye before Spider-Man launched himself into the air, swinging out and into the forest heading for the city of Mondstadt.

The villagers of Springvale looked on after the web-slinger with mixed expressions and emotions from them all, ranging from awe to shock and disbelief.

One of the young men approached Elanor and asked, "Do you think he means it? Do you think this Spider-Man can truly defeat Carnage?"

Elanor was silent for a moment, watching the forest the spider-themed hero had disappeared into. Then, she spoke.

"I don't know, it's hard to believe anyone can defeat the Dark God Carnage." She answered honestly, "But I truly believe that, no matter what that hero might face, he will give his very life to succeed."

It was impossible to know what the spider hero could even do against such a monster.

But for the first time in her life, she felt a sense of hope.

C2: End.

Will 100% need to edit this chapter later. Certainly needs a cleanup.

Exposition Chapter.

Told you didn't I? Heavy-AU Teyvat. Characters in this story are gonna be OOC but that's just due to the "New Teyvat" they live. Some characters will be better, others will be worse due to the circumstances they find themselves in. But given Carnage is involved, you know things have gone to shit for a majority of the world.

Some of the "Good Guys" in Genshin are gonna be "bad", and some of the "Bad Guys" are going to be "good". Carnage has fucked this timeline, so very few things will be familiar to you, the readers. I hope that's entertaining to you all at least. It's different for sure, ain't it?

Let me know what you think of the world, what you think certain characters are gonna turn out like, and how things might turn around for the better. Lumine seems like she's going to be our traveler too, so we'll be seeing her and Paimon relatively soon.

Also, the scale of Teyvat has been drastically scaled up. Can't have a city be completely transferable by walking around for thirty minutes, you know?

Funny how this story was supposed to have 3K - 4K chapter lengths but it turned into this.

And yes, Raylan has canonically lived through a modified version of the Web of Shadows campaign. Why not? lol

—

Review Response(s):

Harisnorw: Thank you for your support!

Shelu: I still do enjoy comics myself, but I must admit I'm mainly a Spidey fan more than anything. I mostly read their stories, some Iron-Man stories too. Basically only the Bat Family from DC, lol. But I'll reference comic book moments/characters in this story every now and then just because I can.

Drem: Seems like Lumine is gonna be the traveler, which is fine by me. And yeah, gotta appreciate the comics and source material!

—

Spider-Man Info:

Name: Raylan Ward

Nationality: Irish/American

Age: Mid-Twenties

Superhero Career: Began when he was 14.

Career: Struggling Freelance Programmer

Ambition: Inventor/Scientist

Spider-Man Original Powers:

Organic Webbing

Super Strength, Speed, Endurance, Healing.

Enhanced Spider-Sense

Bio-Electrical Venom Powers (Miles' Original Powers)

Venomous Bite/Talons (Spews Venom)

Water Walking/Crawling/Running (Via Webbing)

Light-Core Additional Powers:

Celestial Light/Purification Powers

Minor Spacial Powers

God-like Strength, Speed, Endurance, Healing

Enhanced Bio-Electricity (Venom) Powers

Spider-Man Tech:

Web-Wingsuit

Cloaking Tech

Web Tech (Insomniac Web Gadgets basically, some of the Suit Abilities too)

More additions will be made as the story progresses and Spidey evolves and grows.

—

I'll explain more about this New Teyvat and the New York Raylan came from in the next chapters, when appropriate. Raylan does have to investigate the world as a whole so he'll learn about the world just as you do.

Anyway, that's the chapter done. I'll add some polls to this story as time goes on, let me know if you're interested in anything specifically and we can poll it for fun.

Could be things like:

"Who's gonna be Spider-Man's closest allies?"

"Who will be Spider-Man's biggest rival/enemy?"

"Who should Spidey be romantically tangled with?"

I hope you enjoyed it and I'll see you in the next chapter, whenever that might be!

Till then, good luck!

AlcatrazDGold - Peace!