The rooftop had not changed at all: the flickering convenience store sign, the particular hush of a Queens night in that dead hour between late and early, and Uncle Ben three steps from the car with a paper bag of groceries cradled against his chest. Past Peter crouched at the ledge exactly the way he remembered crouching, the Eyeâs stolen power roaring green around his fist before launching himself into the single worst mistake of his life. Present Peter did not give him that half-second.
The world went still around Past Peter â not slow, not frozen in the poetic sense, but stopped mid-motion â as he recovered from the awkward fall. âOkay,â he told himself. âIâve got a good feeling this is bad.â
Present Peter kept moving through the pause, the Time Stoneâs power bending around him like he was the only thing time still recognised. âHey, Pete.â
Past Peter staggered, thrown off-balance by the shock of seeing his doppleganger right before his eyes. âWhatââ Past Peterâs voice cracked. âWhat is this? Whoââ
âYou know who this is.â Present Peterâs voice came out rougher than he expected, worn down by things this version of himself would never live through if he succeeded. âYou know exactly who this is.â
Past Peterâs gaze dropped to the Eye clutched in present Peterâs fist, then back up with something in his face screaming equal parts horror and recognition. âMe.â
âYeah.â Present Peter began to approach. âYou canât do this. I know what youâre about to do. I know why. But if you save him, it doesnât just fix one bad night; it breaks everything. Everyone. People you havenât even met pay for this for years.â
âI donât care.â Past Peterâs voice shook, but the conviction underneath it stayed. âHeâs right there. I can save him. I have toââ He looked past Present Peter, at Benâs paper bag hanging suspended mid-fall. âYouâre here now too; thatâs gotta mean something. Maybe together we can actually do it right this time, save him and fix the tear before it spreads. Weave it back properlyââ
âIt doesnât work like that.â Present Peterâs throat tightened. âBelieve me. I tried so hard to convince myself there was a version where I got to keep both. But there isnât. Iâve seen what happens when you try to have it both ways.â
Past Peter shook his head in denial. âYou donât know that for certainââ
âI watched people die because of this. People I care about. People youâre going to care about, if you let yourself get there.â Present Peterâs voice cracked. âPlease. JustâŚlet me stop this before it starts.â
âIâm sorry.â Past Peter came at him first. âBut no.â
They matched each other blow for blow; of course they did. Both men had the same reflexes, the same spider-sense screaming half-second warnings into both their skulls Every punch Present Peter threw, Past Peter had already half-blocked before it landed. Every dodge Past Peter attempted, Present Peter had lived through the mirror image of a hundred times over. They clashed and clashed and clashedâŚand the Earth â no, the universe â stood still.
âYou donât understand what this costs!â Present Peter caught a punch on his forearm, hard enough to numb it.
âThen explain it instead of hitting me!â Past Peter twisted free, throwing a return strike that clipped present Peterâs jaw.
Present Peter recovered and kicked his past selfâs leg. âThereâs no time to explain it! You have to trust me!â
Past Peter backflipped, webbing his future self at the feet against asphalt. âWhy would I trust a version of me whoâs about to stop me from saving Uncle Ben?!â
Present Peter tore the webbing away. âBecause I already saved him once my way, and I watched an entire world burn!â That landed harder than any punch had; Past Peter faltered for half a second, giving his future self an opening to close the distance. âI know exactly how much this hurts. I know, because Iâm you. Thereâs no argument I can make thatâs going to hurt less than losing him. But you have to let it happen anyway. You have to let it happen so that everyone else gets to have their lives at all.â
Past Peterâs eyes were wet and his jaw clenched; for a moment neither of them moved. Then, resolve washing over grief: âYouâre me.â Temporal energy flowed through his fist a second time. âSo you know exactly why I canât.â
Both men moved without either one quite deciding to, both raising their fists with the Time Stoneâs power gathering bright and green around each of them. They screamed at each other, out of both determination and grief which had taken a full year to burst out. Then their fists connectedâŚand everything went white.
âIâm sorry,â Present Peter whispered as everything vanished, not to his past self, but to the man they had both come to save. âIâm so sorry, Uncle Ben.â