#187 - Preparation and departure
A massive ring stood upright on a circular platform, connected by cables of varying thicknesses, their purpose—whether for power supply or something else—unknown.
"Done!"
Valeria spread her arms wide, like an actress making a grand entrance.
"This is impossible..."
Peter muttered beside her, as if deeply shocked.
"Too bad there wasn't more time; I could only make this clunky thing," Valeria said, puffing out her chest, seemingly pleased to have rattled Peter.
"If I had enough time, I'd still want to make it smaller, something portable."
"Does it work now?" George asked, clearly not concerned with the details; he only cared if the device could let him see his daughter.
"Of course," Valeria replied.
"As long as there's enough energy."
"Then what are we waiting for?" George asked, looking around at everyone, clearly impatient.
"Hold on, Uncle George," Yang Le interjected.
"You don't think you're going to fight monsters in shirts, do you? You need gear."
Yang Le pointed to a device in the corner, saying, "That's the 'Loom' I made for Gwen, a suit-making machine. You can use it to create custom-fit armor for yourselves."
This Loom was originally Gwen's favorite. Since its creation, she would sew a new suit every so often, only making slight modifications each time, so subtle that Yang Le barely noticed.
Later, the birth of Snowball rendered all previous suits obsolete, fit only for display in the showcase. However, the machine wasn't scrapped; after all, it could still sew ordinary clothes, with a quality surpassing even luxury brands, and allow for unrestricted customization.
"You can design according to your own preferences," Yang Le added, pointing to the wall, which opened to reveal a hidden compartment filled with various weapons.
"These are things I made in my spare time. Feel free to choose something that suits you."
George and the others stared in shock at everything before them. George couldn't help but ask, "Happy, just who are you?"
"That's what I'm about to explain," Yang Le said solemnly.
"Since everyone's here and involved in this, I'll let you all in on a secret."
"I'm not originally from this universe. I come from another universe, but due to certain reasons, I ended up living in this one."
"Does Gwen know?" George asked.
"I've already told her everything. After she got her superpowers, I was the first person she told. I'm basically her mentor," Yang Le replied.
Hearing this, George couldn't help but feel a little down. His daughter went to some kid instead of her own father when something happened. Was he a failure as a father?
"What are you waiting for?" Yang Le asked, waving his hands to urge them on.
"Go get yourselves equipped. Franklin, you should know how to use the Loom. Help Uncle George and the others operate it."
Franklin gave an OK gesture, confident that even if he'd never used it before, he could figure it out quickly.
Hearing Yang Le's words, the others reacted and looked at each other, deciding who would go first to avoid wasting time.
George took the lead and headed towards the Loom, initially planning to just grab any suit that was of decent quality, until he saw Gwen's discarded suits in the display case.
Looking at the uniform black and white suits, George had an idea and approached the Loom.
"Any ideas?" Franklin asked.
"I have a few," George replied with a smile.
Under George's instructions, Franklin input his requirements, and the Loom worked efficiently. In less than a minute, a suit was made.
"Try it on," Franklin said, pointing to the back of the machine, where there was a changing area.
George readily accepted, taking the newly made suit behind the machine. If Valeria wasn't there, he might have changed right there, since they were all men and didn't need to be so particular.
George quickly changed into the suit and emerged from behind the machine. George's suit was also black and white, clearly inspired by Gwen's suits. It also had a hood and a spider logo, making it look like part of a series.
Spider-George made a dazzling debut.
"Cool," Peter, a fan of superhero comics, was immediately drawn to it. He tugged on Harry's sleeve and said,
"Let's get the same design. We'll look like a super team."
"Sounds good," Harry readily agreed.
"Looks good, Super Dad," Franklin said with a smile.
"Go weave your own clothes, little tailor," George replied with a smile, then yielded to the next person, Frank.
Seeing that everything was proceeding smoothly, Yang Le didn't waste time and began explaining the cause and effect of the incident to everyone.
"You don't have to worry about Gwen's safety for now. If you didn't see wrong, the people who rescued her were Spider-Men from other parallel universes. This crisis involves all parallel universes, which is why they've gathered together."
"The instigator of this crisis, the Inheritors, are hunting Spider-Men from all parallel universes because of a prophecy that Spider-Man will kill the Inheritors."
"I have a question," Peter said, raising his head and shifting his attention away from the Loom.
"Isn't it possible that if the Inheritors don't hunt Spider-Man, Spider-Man won't kill them? Isn't that a closed loop? That prophecy sounds too far-fetched."
"Who knows?" Yang Le shrugged.
"Maybe those magic-side guys blindly believe in these mystical things. Anyway, they've launched a hunt for all Spider-Men."
"As for why they can accurately locate Spider-Men, it's because they kidnapped the Spider-God—the Master Weaver, the source of all Spider-Man's power, including you, Uncle George."
"Wait a minute!" Peter interrupted Yang Le's explanation again.
"Uncle George's power clearly comes from the spider serum I concocted."
"I'm sorry, Peter," Yang Le said.
"But that's the rule. The source of all Spider-Man's power is the Spider-Totem, and the Master Weaver chooses who can inherit that power."
"This..." Peter looked incredulous, his worldview once again shaken.
"Don't think about that," George slapped Peter on the head, pulling him out of his thoughts.
"So, you're saying we just need to beat up that Solus family, right?"
"That's right," Yang Le nodded.
"Then let's not waste any time," George cracked his neck and stretched his limbs.
"We'll talk about the rest on the way. Peter's and the others' suits are ready. I can't wait to kick their butts. It's time they learned the fury of a super dad."
