Gwen blinked, observing Mark and sensing an enigmatic aura emanating from him.
It felt somewhat mystical.
Mark turned to Gwen, smiling. "Don't worry, it's still me; I haven't transformed into something else."
Gwen's eyes widened suddenly. "You can actually read my thoughts?"
Mark chuckled awkwardly. "Sorry about that, just gained this ability. I wasn't controlling it well. I've completely shut it off now."
Casually reading someone's thoughts is indeed a very impolite act.
Even if that someone is his girlfriend.
"This ability? Have you gained a new ability?" Gwen blinked, curious about Mark's behavior, not angry, just genuinely curious.
Mark didn't respond immediately but turned to Madame Web. "So, Madame Web, for the upcoming period, you'll still be helping Peter. I'll directly head to the world two years from now. We'll meet again then."
"Yes, Master," Madame Web nodded respectfully.
Mark snapped his fingers, and he and Gwen vanished from there.
Later, Gwen realized they were in a desolate area.
"Where are we?" Gwen curiously surveyed her surroundings.
The ground seemed an endless expanse. Looking in all directions, only a horizon met the eye, aligned perfectly with the sky. It was barren, covered in yellow sand, devoid of any greenery.
Above was a pitch-black void, endless, devoid of stars, moons, or anything else.
Mark explained, "This is the Beyonder's dimension. It's a universe undergoing destruction and rebirth."
"Undergoing destruction and rebirth of a universe? You mean this is a universe?" Gwen exclaimed in surprise.
Mark nodded, gesturing towards the ground and the sky above. "This ground is at least several thousand kilometers wide, and it's constantly undergoing destruction and rebirth, just like the sky."
Gwen furrowed her brow. "Wait a second, isn't the universe supposed to be the result of the Big Bang? How can it be like this, all flat and vast?"
The Big Bang theory refers to the process by which the universe expanded and evolved over billions of years from an initial state of extreme density and temperature to its present form.
This theory is currently the most widely accepted and recognized explanation.
(A/N: Go wild, y'all. You know who y'all are)
However, now Mark was telling her that the ground she stood on was a universe?
"Moreover, a universe? Several thousand kilometers wide and not even as big as Earth, how can it be called a universe??" Gwen suddenly spotted a flaw.
Mark smiled. "That's why it's undergoing destruction and rebirth. However, evidently, at this point, the rate of destruction exceeds that of rebirth, so it's about to be completely destroyed."
"What about the Beyonder then?" Gwen looked around, puzzled. "Didn't you say this is his base?"
Mark extended his hand, sweeping the ground, transforming the area into a small grassland with two lounge chairs. "Let's lay down and talk slowly."
Gwen watched this magical scene unfold but refrained from being surprised again. She'd experienced too many astonishing events, leaving her somewhat numb.
Both laid on the lounge chairs. Gwen, however, chose to rest in Mark's embrace, so he adjusted the chair's size to accommodate her.
Subsequently, Mark began narrating the trade between him and the Beyonder and the information he had gleaned from the latter.
Before delving into the Beyonder's origins, it's crucial to clarify the universe where '94 Spidey exists.
In fact, it's an exceptionally rare paired universe, even amidst the multiverse.
One is the so-called "Real Universe," where the Spider-Man actor and the old man appeared, and the other is the "Creative Universe."
The Creative Universe was initially a virtual world existing alongside the Real Universe but lacked any form of life.
Naturally, there were no creator gods or originators in this universe.
However, despite the absence of these entities, there was a very special existence at its core—controlling all authority within this universe.
At the inception of the Creative Universe's evolution, it was due to the unconscious actions of this being.
One day, it received messages from the Real Universe, prompting it to evolve along with these messages, thus developing into an existence akin to the works in the Real Universe.
Spider-Man, Iron Man, Doctor Strange, mutants, and others came into existence.
However, as the universe gradually evolved, one day, these lives created by it nearly destroyed this universe!
Just as the universe was on the brink of destruction, it was awakened and forcefully bifurcated a new universe using its abilities.
This new universe was the one where the Spider-Carnage exists.
This time, it decided to thoroughly investigate what had caused these seemingly insignificant lives to take actions that would lead to the universe's destruction.
Through investigations, it traced events back to Spider-Man.
Consequently, it extracted an individual from the previous universe's history, making her the Madame Web responsible for observing the evolution of this universe.
The true identity of Madame Web is, in fact, Mary Jane—Peter Parker's girlfriend from that universe!
In that universe's history, mirroring the '94 Spidey universe, Mary Jane accidentally fell into a time-travel machine during Peter Parker and the Green Goblin's battle, getting sucked into a black hole.
Originally meant to die there, she caught the attention of the entity, ensuring her survival and becoming the sole survivor of the "Creative Universe."
They watched as Peter Parker evolved from a regular student into Spider-Man, gradually succumbing to various adversities and eventually turning dark, becoming the Spider-Carnage and embarking on the path to destroying the universe.
After understanding the cause and effect, the entity decided to erase this world, but Madame Web persuaded them against it.
She felt that the birth of the Spider-Carnage was purely coincidental. Being Mary Jane, she understood Peter Parker.
The Peter Parker she knew wasn't that kind of person.
Consequently, the entity extracted several branching timelines, creating three new universes: the '94 Spidey universe, the Octo Spidey universe, and the Iron Spider universe.
This time, per Madame Web's request, she occasionally appeared, providing suitable guidance to Spider-Man.
For this purpose, they prepared a test called the Secret War.
If they could pass this test, proving that goodness could triumph over evil in the eyes of the entity, they could save another universe and their own.
Should they ultimately be defeated by evil, these universes would vanish alongside the "Creative Universe."
However, at this moment, Mark appeared in the '94 Spidey universe.
This directly altered '94's Spidey's fate, resulting in significant changes from his original trajectory.
Not only was there an increase in power, but also his guidance to the '94 Spiders, and the inadvertent rescue of someone changed his reputation, and so on.
All these aspects made his destiny vastly different from the previous universe's Spider-Man.
Madame Web felt extremely anxious upon observing this.
She didn't know where this would lead in the future. She didn't even dare to contact the Beyonder, fearing that once they knew, they would erase this parallel world derived from the timeline even before the test began.
Until Gwen revealed the aura of the Spider Totem—of course, Madame Web didn't know what a Spider Totem was, but that aura, so similar to Spider-Man's, was undeniable.
"You know everything that happened after that—you were summoned by Madame Web into this space, and I followed the pull of destiny to your side," Mark said.
"And the Beyonder, where did they go?" Gwen asked.
Mark replied, "They used their power to completely sever the relationship between the Creative Universe and the other derivative universes. This way, these derivative universes won't perish along with the Creative Universe."
As he spoke, he looked towards the sky.
Actually, the Beyonder and their deal were related to this.
While observing these worlds, the Beyonder was inevitably influenced by some human emotions, especially those related to the Spider-Man they were focusing on.
So, originally according to the Beyonder's plan, if a Spider-Man truly stopped the massacre of Spider-Man, then they would expend their final strength to separate the Main Universe (Creative Universe) from the other derivative universes.
Although it still couldn't be certain if these rootless derivative universes could ultimately continue, at least it could ensure that they wouldn't perish like the Main Universe.
But Mark's appearance gave them another option.
The Beyonder sensed the power of "destiny" and "transcendence" in Mark. This was an ability on par with or even higher than his, but it manifested in a Spider-Man.
Even though Mark didn't know what the Beyonder meant by "transcendence," he showed them his Web of Destiny and roughly introduced the concept of the multiverse and countless worlds.
Afterward, the Beyonder directly struck a deal with Mark.
Their only request was for Mark to supervise and complete this battle between good and evil, and then, using his Web of Destiny, link these parallel worlds into the main multiverse so they could continue in their own way.
In truth, Mark was skeptical about whether he could achieve this.
After all, based on what was seen so far, his Web of Destiny could only connect with Spider-Man, not to connect universes.
But the Beyonder firmly believed he could, and for this, they offered their.. power..
°°°
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