Three Spiders
ARC FIVE · NO WAY HOME, PART 2 — FINALE. Two more Spiders fall out of the crack. And one of them knows what it costs to be forgotten.
MJ pulled the second Spider out of the crack first. Older. Tired. A man who'd been at this since the seventies. A man who had buried a girl off a bridge once and never quite stood up straight again.
"Hey, kid. Real nice suit. Real nice hair. You ever lost somebody on a bridge?"
"…yeah, man. Uncle. Stoop. Two years ago."
"Then you and me — we're the same Spider in two suits. Listen to me good."
Then the third one fell out. Younger than Zachary thought he'd be. Lonelier than Zachary thought possible.
"I— I'm sorry, you guys are real? In my world I was the only one. I thought I was the only one."
They cured the Doctor. They calmed the Sandstorm. They grounded the Lightning. They put the Lizard back inside the doctor. And then the Goblin came for the people Zachary loved.
The elder Spider did. The way he hadn't been able to, all those years ago, off the bridge. He held her, and he breathed, and he gave Zachary the moment he didn't have for himself.
"I got her, kid. Go save your goblin."
"Silva. The crack is closing. The only way to seal it is if everyone — EVERYONE — forgets Zachary Silva exists. Including her. Including your abuela."
"…do it. I'll find them again. I'll knock on every door in Bed-Stuy if I gotta. I'll EARN them back."
He stitched a new suit. Red. Black. Hand-sewn. The promise. The grief. His.
"Aight, Brooklyn. Round one. From the top."
END OF VOLUME ONE. ZACHARY SILVA — THE AMAZING SPIDER — WILL RETURN.