-----
-----
[You have been eliminated. No revival slot obtained. Reward: Strength +0.1 tons.]
[Eight resets remaining. Reset?]
On his third revival run, Julian stuck to the plan. First thing: dive into the alley.
"Shit, there's a creep..."
The two guys in the alley had barely spoken before Julian neatly snatched their clothes and hung them up on the wall like laundry.
"I warned you. Cover your faces next time."
He leaped up the nearest building and left the two men staring at each other.
"When did he warn us?"
"I don't even know him."
"Crap, that was Spider-Man. He saw us."
"Relax. It's not like he's your husband or something..."
With that little incident behind him, Julian smoothly made it to the clock tower.
Right on cue, everyone had already started brawling over who would get to save Gwen first.
Same mess as last time.
The tower rumbled with nonstop explosions.
Tony was busy showing off his nano armor while keeping one eye on Peter Parker, treating the whole revival match like a game.
The Chitauri soldiers only cared about one thing: killing Iron Man. Winning the match meant nothing to them.
Peter Parker was tangled up with Harry, trying to shake him off, and every time he tried to go for Gwen, more Chitauri soldiers intercepted him. Spider-Man was also on their kill list.
Once again, it was Lizard-Parker who snagged Gwen at the last second.
Before they could hit the ground, Julian swung onto the clock tower balcony and fired two webs, catching them in midair.
"Hey, handsome lizard guy, hand her over. She's gonna die if you keep holding her like that."
"Peter!"
Gwen brightened the moment she saw Julian. Clearly, she had the wrong idea.
Julian braced his entire body to pull the two of them up. His muscles trembled, his feet slid across the stone, and he hissed between breaths, "Guys, this is not the time to play Beauty and the Beast. Work with me here..."
Right then, the web snapped. Julian pitched backward and a falling gear smacked him straight on the head.
Julian stared into the void.
These webs were absolute garbage.
Forget it. Reset.
[You have been eliminated. No revival slot obtained. Reward: Strength +0.1 tons.]
[Seven resets remaining. Reset?]
Fourth revival. Same plan.
Alley. Clothes. Done.
"Next time, cover your faces."
Back to the clock tower chaos. This time, at the critical moment, Julian aimed only for Gwen instead of both her and Lizard-Parker.
"Hand her over. She's gonna—"
Before he could finish, the web ripped off part of Gwen's shirt and both of them fell.
Julian's face blanked.
Yeah, using spiderwebs to rescue people was a terrible idea. Especially Spider-Man.
Reset.
[You have been eliminated. No revival slot obtained. Reward: Strength +0.1 tons.]
[Six resets remaining. Reset?]
Fifth revival run. Back to the alley. This time he webbed the two guys' mouths shut and hung them upside-down from a billboard.
Fire blasted overhead as Julian swung out toward the tower.
Same script unfolding again. After Lizard-Parker caught Gwen, Julian fired multiple webs and successfully secured both of them without breaking the strands.
Just as he prepared to pull them up, another explosion ripped through the air. A Chitauri aircraft spiraled down and the blast swallowed him whole.
[You have been eliminated. No revival slot obtained. Reward: Strength +0.1 tons.]
[Five resets remaining. Reset?]
Julian stared at the screen.
Five resets later, his strength was up to 1.5 tons, but he still wasn't strong enough to actually participate in the "Gwen rescue competition."
If he got dragged into a fight for even a second, he died instantly.
Maybe he could try stopping Harry early, before Gwen got taken.
But the mission required him to save Gwen as she fell from the tower. Even if he rescued her earlier, he wouldn't win the round.
Thinking it over, he realized the Chitauri only ever went after Tony and Peter.
Harry's sole target was Peter. Tony also kept watching Spider-Man, and because he was distracted, he missed the best window to save Gwen.
Tony clearly didn't take the revival match seriously.
Peter Parker didn't even need explanation. Things were way more chaotic than the movie and he had no time for Gwen.
Which left only Lizard-Parker.
Julian could tell that the guy genuinely wanted to save Gwen, not because of the revival reward.
And he was tough enough to survive the chaos.
Maybe the key was working with him.
With that in mind, Julian hit Reset.
Everything repeated. Julian arrived at the tower. The battle began. He locked onto Lizard-Parker climbing the wall and landed beside him.
"Hey, lizard handsome, I got a little proposal for you. Let's talk about saving Gwen. You should have time. I mean, looking like that, it's not like you have a job interview to get to..."
Julian mimicked his movements, climbing fast.
"Get lost!"
Lizard-Parker roared and whipped his tail. Julian shot backward into the wall and left a human-shaped crater.
His spider-sense didn't even trigger.
Half-dead in the crater, Julian watched Gwen die again and just silently cursed.
No talking to this guy when he's worked up.
Another explosion hit and Julian blacked out.
Seventh revival.
The moment the countdown hit zero, Julian abandoned his original plan.
He sprinted straight to the tower and didn't stop on any of the buildings nearby.
A web shot out and he dove inside.
The window shattered and a green monster lunged through the opening.
"Spider-Man?"
Lizard-Parker leaped after him, climbing up the interior in a frenzy.
Julian shrugged. "Name's Julian Parker. We want the same thing. We can work together and save Gwen."
"Impostor. You're not qualified..."
Lizard-Parker's eyes narrowed dangerously. Julian saw it coming and fired a web upward, swinging to a higher level.
Fine. If talking didn't work, he'd use another method.
"I'm going to tear you apart!"
Lizard-Parker barreled after him, smashing through gears and machinery as he climbed.
Tons of gears rained down. He didn't notice Harry dropping Gwen from above.
A pumpkin bomb flashed. The tower's top exploded in a chain reaction. Chitauri soldiers arrived and fire swallowed the upper floors. A nano-device shielded Gwen and dragged her into the tower.
"Peter!"
Her scream echoed as both Peters answered.
"Gwen!"
"Gwen...!"
Peter Parker abandoned Harry and dove for her. Lizard-Parker leaped at the same time.
Gears fell like rain. The two Spider-Men met in midair.
"Out of my way!"
Lizard-Parker tore through a gear with his claws and whipped his tail, trying to smash this impostor to pieces.
"What the—"
Peter twisted through the falling gears using web-assisted movement, dodging the tail and rushing toward Gwen.
"Cackle all you want, Peter. You're not saving her."
The Green Goblin swooped in. Harry's glider fired micro missiles and another wave of explosions filled the air.
"No!"
In the horror-filled stares of both Peters, a third strand of web shot through the fire. Another red-and-blue figure burst through the explosion and dove toward the girl about to be consumed by flames.
Julian of gears slashed through the air. Julian wrapped his arms around Gwen at the last second. His back was torn open instantly.
Clutching her tightly, he grabbed a webline with one hand and lowered them both to the ground. His legs buckled the moment they landed.
Beside him, Gwen's body convulsed. Blood spread across her abdomen.
Her eyes filled with terror. She tried to speak but only blood spilled from her mouth.
When she turned and saw the nearly-dead Spider-Man beside her, the panic slowly faded.
And in that moment, Julian saw every detail of Gwen's death clearly.
"....."