It was time to make the cure for the villains.
Peter dumped a bunch of objects from a bag. It was everything that was used for the cures but was broken.
He arranged them based on which one belonged to which villain and said each name as he picked up each container.
"I think I can repair the devices for Dillon and Marco," Peter said as the middle Peter put on a lab coat.
The oldest one picked up one of the devices.
"The others..."
"Well, I've got Conners," the middle Peter said. "I already cured him once, no big deal."
He was met with silence by the other two Peters.
"You cured Conners once before?" Chase said, impressed.
"Yeah," the middle Peter said.
"Sick," Chase said.
The middle Peter seemed relieved to know at least someone was relieved.
"I think I can make an anti-serum for Doctor Osborn," the oldest Peter said as Hailey and Chase went to help Anthony and Ned. "I've been thinking about it a long time. Gotta cure all of them, right?"
"Right."
"That's what we do."
Hailey stopped in her tracks staring at the three Peters.
"What?" her Peter asked.
"Its just... the three of you..."
Her Peter glanced back at the other two and smiled.
It was a lot to process.
The multiverse existed. There is a universe out there where none of this happened, a universe where Thanos didn't snap his fingers and everything was normal, where Peter didn't lose everything. In that universe, Chase and Peter and all of their friends would've been older than her and would have graduated high school and possibly college.
Chase wouldn't have lost five years of his life. What he would have been doing, she doesn't know, but she knew he would've done a lot more. He would probably have gone off to college and graduated at this point and possibly working.
The same thing would probably happen to Peter. He wouldn't be with her, but, like Chase, he wouldn't have lost five years of his life. She would probably just be Chase's little sister in Peter's eyes.
Peter and Chase weren't really close or anything, to begin with until the summer, but who knows what would've happened if Thanos hadn't happened.
Hailey couldn't help but wonder what the other universes were like.
How many Peter Parkers are there? How many of them look like her Peter? How many of them look different? Does she exist in any of them? If she doesn't, who would Peter be dating?
She knew in one universe, he would have dated a girl named Gwen.
So many scenarios went through her mind as she thought about what she and her family's lives would be like in different universes.
Hailey was to help the older two Peters when Ned rolled over in his chair.
"So," Ned said to the oldest, "do you have a best friend too?"
The oldest Peter didn't respond immediately.
When he did, he said, "I did."
"You... did?" Ned asked.
"He died in my arms," he responded.
Hailey's heart dropped.
"Oh my..." Hailey said in a small voice.
"After he tried to kill me," the oldest Peter continued.
Hailey's jaw dropped.
"It's heartbreaking."
It certainly was heartbreaking.
His best friend not only tried to kill him but also died in his arms.
Hailey could only imagine what that would have been like to lose a best friend and that happening to someone.
Well... she did lose her brother for five years, but that type of pain and grief is different than that.
The oldest Peter continued to work.
"Dude..." the middle Peter said in a quiet voice.
"Are you... are you okay?" Hailey asked the oldest Peter.
"Yeah, I guess so," he said.
Ned was in shock at what he heard.
Chase and Peter looked up at Ned, who was walking at a slow pace.
"Can you run the diagnostic?" Peter asked.
Ned did that.
As soon as he did that, he left.
Chase and Peter looked at him confused.
Hailey walked over to them.
Chase glanced between the two and got up and went over to Ned.
"Hey, are you okay?" Hailey asked Peter.
"Uh, um, yeah, I'm fine," Peter said. "Are you?"
Hailey nodded.
"You don't deserve this," Peter said. "I -"
"Peter, no, no, no," Hailey said, "look at me. I'm here. I'm not going anywhere."
"Neither am I," Chase said.
They both looked at him.
Then it hit him.
"Oh, sorry," he said. "You guys are having a mom... go on, I'll just..."
"We're going to get through this," Hailey assured Peter. "We're going to get through this together. Okay?"
Peter nodded. "Okay."
Hailey was exhausted. She felt like she couldn't do this anymore, but she knew she had to. She won't forgive herself if she didn't help Peter cure the villains. He didn't deserve any of the stuff that happened.
"It's going to be okay," she said.
She mainly said it to reassure herself, but she knew that Peter needed to hear it as well.
The other two Peters were working on their cures. Chase went over to help.
He noticed that the middle Peter was looking at Hailey and her Peter. Their Peter.
The oldest of the three Peters, like Chase, noticed.
"You have someone?" he asked.
The middle Peter looked over with a look on his face.
"No," he said. "Uh, I got no time for, uh, Peter Parker stuff. Do you?"
"Uh, that's a little... complicated," he responded.
"No, I understand. I guess it's just not in the cards for guys like us."
"I wouldn't give up," the oldest Peter said. "It took a while, but we made it work."
"Words of wisdom from Peter Parker," Chase said. "I never thought I'd say those words at all."
The two Peters chuckled.
"Who do you have back home?" Chase asked the oldest Peter.
"It's me and... MJ," he said.
"MJ?" Chase repeated. "MJ Watson?"
The oldest Peter gave Chase a look.
"You have an MJ here?" he asked.
"Yeah," Chase said, his face turning bright red. "Yeah, we have our own MJ."
At that moment Anthony said, "Peter."
All three of them responded.
"Yeah? Oh, sorry," they said in unison. "Do you mean?" they all pointed at each other.
Hailey bit her lip, trying not to laugh. She looked at Chase, who, like her, was trying not to laugh as well.
"Peter Peter," Ned said.
"We're all called Peter," they said, still pointing at each other.
"Peter Parker?" Ned said.
"Same thing again."
"The diagnostics," Anthony said.
"Oh."
Hailey's Peter went to check the diagnostics.
"I'm ready," Hailey's Peter said.
"Me too," the middle one said. "All we have to do is lure these guys someplace, right? Try to cure them while they try to kill us."
The oldest Peter walked over to them.
"And then send them home," the middle Peter finished.
"Using a magic box," the oldest added.
"That's the plan," the youngest said.
The middle Peter turned to the oldest of the three.
"So are you planning on going into battle dressed as a cool youth pastor or you got your suit?" he asked.
The oldest Peter pulled down his shirt to reveal his Spider-Man suit underneath his clothes.
"Okay," Peter nodded.