Two Spider-Men going back to Gotham together, to be properly taken in by the big Bat?
Fate was not that merciful.
As had already been said, the name Peter Parker brought misfortune to family, friends, and himself. Now there were two Peter Parkers, doubling its power.
When the rumble of artillery rolled over from behind the dunes, another layer of dust fell from the tent roof.
Peter raised his arm, shielding Chen Mo on the hospital cot from the sand.
Only half of Peter's mask remained. Something had burned through the nanotech armor on his left shoulder, and the four mechanical spider legs on his back were covered in yellow sand.
The lowest spider leg braced the cot, keeping the relentless tremors from pushing it into the corner.
The person on the bed was far too still.
Seven hours earlier, the two of them had fallen out of midair into a dry riverbed.
Peter had tried to brace against the sand with his four mechanical spider legs, but he had clearly misjudged how sand bore weight and ended up rolling more than ten meters with Chen Mo in his arms.
New York and Avengers Tower had both disappeared. Burning vehicles stood on either side of the riverbed, and soldiers were still exchanging fire in the distance.
Carrying Chen Mo on his back, Peter had searched the desert for signs of people for a long time before finally finding this field camp.
The doctor had stitched up Peter's shoulder wound, then performed every examination he could on Chen Mo.
When the equipment could not find the cause of his unconsciousness, the people in the camp had called this old man over.
Peter could not understand much of what these people said, but from their scattered English, he could just about piece