I had a dream...
Seriously, I had a real wierd dream last night. I had some bad mexican food and got pretty sick, and what do I dream about? Spider-Man. I was dreaming of an issue that dosen't exist yet, it takes place in between the last two panels of that Ultimate Spidey post where Cap finds him under the rubble and he opens his eyes.
It's all done kindof out-of-bodyish, and Pete's walking around with the narrator. He's nobody in particular, just someone connected with the supernatural. At first Pete's all messed up and woozy, not sure what's going on. The narrator tells him that he got caught in the building coming apart and he's just coming to his senses. He askes if he's alright, if he's covered with 3rd degree burns or anything. The narrator (Let's call him Joe, it's as good a name as any) askes him if he wants 3rd degree burns? Pete of course looks horrified and says no, and Joew chuckles and says just as well, things hurt less that way.
You're given the impression that Joe could have fulfilled that 'wish' if he wanted to, and that he's somehow responsible for Pete surviving what happened. As a matter of fact, Joe starts talking about the little things that can make all the difference in the world, and we see a chunk of wall that had 'got in the way' of most of the blast. "Here, you're pretty much OK. But here... (moves the wall piece three feet to the side) you're going into early retirement."
Glah!! The details are slipping away from my brain. Joe goes on to show Pete how his precieved death are affecting everyone around him, from JJJ to Aunt May. When Pete asks him "Why me, why am I so special?", he gets as an answer that he shares a special ability, that only one other person has. He's present in <i>every</i> universe, wheather as a living person, a good guy (or bad guy) with powers, or even a simple series of 2d drawn sketches. He gets abit nervous and glances up, and sees the Watcher. Who grins at him before dissapearing, which unnerves him even more. Joe says "Don't you mind ol' Bill, just because he can't interfere dosen't mean he can't enjoy how things work out now and again."
"The Watcher's name is Bill?"
"Of course not. His real name can't really be pronounced right in english, and he's never complained when I called him Bill before."
When Pete asks who the other person is that is in every universe, Joe says that it's Pete's equal and his opposite. When he asks if it's Venom, Joe says he's his opposite, but not his equal. Likewise for Jessica Drew, whom he says is his equal, but not his opposite. I imagine he meant Pete's Clones in other worlds, not Jessica.
At this point Joe turns to leave, citing that he's stayled longer than he should have already. Pete calls out to him and asks who it is, and Joe (who is <i>beaming out like in Star Trek of all things</i>), says not to worry, when the time is right he'll figure it out. Cut to a bunch of cheering faces getting a phone call from Cap saying that Pete's been found, and he'll be alright. The very last panel is MJ by herself in absolute tears that he's ok.
I hope you like it, I figured after I had that dream I needed to get it down and share it with folks around here. I've really been feeling bitter and angry about the whole OMD/BND thing, and this actually helped me let go of some of that. Now I know this has to have scans to be legal, so I went digging and came up with this from ASM #500. Sometimes Pete *does* catch a break.