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Chapter 2: Issue 2 - Along Came A Spider-Man

Izuku had no idea how long he'd been staring in shock. Every one of his thoughts just ground to a halt. How could they not?

He'd just gotten the powers of Spider-Man after being bitten by a spider (which may or may not have been radioactive) and now he's being confronted by a Caucasian man who just happened to be wearing some sort of Spider-Man costume.

Who happened to be wearing some kind of device on his wrists that shot out webs.

One of which was still attached to Izuku's chest.

"N-No! Now's not the time for this!" Izuku then whipped out his phone and shakily swiped right to open the emergency call function. "W-Whatever that was, the power was likely related to electricity! I just electrocuted this man! W-What if I short-circuited his brain! W-Was it some sort of defense mechanism that...?"

Izuku froze when a firm hand gripped his right arm before he could hit the call button. He looked down to see the man staring at him.

"{Kid, whatever you're muttering about... stop. It seriously hurts.}"

Izuku clammed up. English had been one of his better subjects, and Izuku had the best grades in class since it was the one course he didn't have with Kacchan

He had no idea how it would benefit him since he wasn't going to be working in the United States like his dad. But he ended up taking it for the sake of having one relatively peaceful period.

Now he was thanking whoever was listening upstairs that he took it.

The man slowly got to his feet and staggered as he stood upright. "S-Sir!" Izuku got up and tried to lend a hand. But he was waved off while the man massaged his forehead. "Y-You got a shock! I-I'm really sorry! I just got my Quirk and..."

"{Christ, my head...}" The man muttered something else in a low voice that Izuku couldn't catch. "{Feels like I got hit in the head by one of Herman's blasts...}"

"I-I'll call an ambulance!" Izuku had to. Despite what the man said, Izuku's power had knocked the man out for several minutes and he still seems disoriented! Who knew the side-effects that blast had?!

Izuku's phone was then plucked from his fingers. The man looked exhausted as he held it outside of Izuku's reach.

"{Alright look,}" he began, "{I know you can't understand me but...}" he motioned to himself, pointing with both fingers as he shouted, "{I!}" he grinned and gave an awkward thumbs up with both hands. "{Am fine!}"

He shrugged with the best attempt at a puzzled expression. "{Now what...}" he pointed at Izuku. "{did you...}" he shook his body, making buzzing noises with his mouth before stopping. "{...do...}" he then pointed back to himself, his cheeks flushed in embarrassment from having to play this game of charades. "{...to me?}"

Izuku swallowed the saliva in his mouth as he worked up the courage to speak. "{I-I can tell and hear English, sir.}"

The other reason why Izuku had the best grades in English class was because he was the only one who cared enough to work for them.

The man blinked before muttering, "{You can understand...?}" he sighed before palming his face. "{Smooth, Peter. You just made an ass out of yourself in front of a teenager.}"

"{I am most sorry, sir!}" Izuku bowed before continuing. "{I have just received my Quirk, and have struck you without thought! I most humbly apologize!}"

"{Kid, you don't...}"

"{I humbly request for phone!}" Izuku inwardly cursed himself for the lack of a "my" in the sentence. "{We must notify hospital for your recovery and...}"

"{No hospitals!}" Izuku looked back up to see the man shaking his head. "{Look just... I'm fine. It's no big deal. I feel fine now,}" the man grinned. "{But... if you really wanna make it up to me, maybe you get me something to eat? Haven't eaten all day.}"

Izuku bit his lip as he slowly translated the words in his head. The man really should go to a hospital. Something could be seriously wrong with him.

"But he still has my phone..."

"{I accept,}" he bowed, "{M-My name is Izuku Midoriya, a-and I humbly apologize again.}"

"{What's with all the bowing?}" the man shook his head and gave a light bow of his own. "{Peter Parker. Nice to meet you.}"

Izuku blinked. He had his suspicions, but hearing it now...

...Well, there is only one logical response.

"What."

"Oh my god, this is so good..." the man, Peter, moaned as he shoved another forkful of rice into his mouth. "I had this katsu-stuff in New York a couple of times, but this is the best one I've ever had." Peter began shoving a piece of fried pork into his mouth and pouring soy sauce into his rice. He then began muttering something that Izuku couldn't understand, oblivious to the stares he was getting from the other patrons.

And why wouldn't they stare? To them, Peter was a homeless Caucasian man who had wolfed down three katsudon as if he had just discovered food. He also didn't seem to know what a shower is.

Oh, and he smelled like he'd been sleeping in a dumpster.

Izuku couldn't help but gape at the scene before him. The soda in his hands was just as untouched as the katsudon, his favorite food, to his left.

The man in front of him said his name was Peter Parker and Izuku had told him that was impossible since Peter Parker, who was also known as Spider-Man, was fictional.

The man had stopped for about five seconds before continuing to chow down.

Peter finally pauses to look up at Izuku. "Kid, you're freaking me out. Would it kill you to eat?"

Izuku was about to respond in his native tongue but reminded himself that Peter didn't speak Japanese. "I-I am very sorry. It is just most strange," Izuku admitted with a frown. "You seem to take the news well."

Peter just raised an eyebrow and leaned back in his seat. "Kid, after all the crap I've seen in my life let me tell you, me being fictional over here is a... four out of ten on my "freak-out" meter."

"I still do not understand."

"I don't blame you. If it weren't for the interdimensional vampires I would have a hard time accepting it too."

"The what vampires?" Izuku had no idea what Peter was talking about, and part of him was sure the story would just confuse him even more.

Peter then looked up in thought before glancing back at Izuku. "I'll give you the short version later. Let me just tell you that you dodged a bullet with that shitshow."

Izuku said nothing, only staring until Peter spoke again.

"Okay, let me put it in terms you'll understand," Peter jabbed his fork into the katsudon and retrieved a piece of fried pork. "This delicious piece of meat is your universe. It has tons of white meat and fried to the point that it has a nice crunch without compromising the overall flavor."

He then put it in his mouth, chewed and swallowed. He then took a forkful of rice that had absorbed the soy sauce. "And this rice, which honestly kinda sucks without all the flavoring, is my universe."

Izuku didn't touch his food as a new wave of puzzling thoughts raced through his head.

"Another universe? Like in the comic books?"

There were hundreds of stories where Heroes and Villains crossed over to other worlds and vice-versa. However, while there were theories of alternate dimensions, stuff like that was something that stayed in comic books! It shouldn't happen in reality!

"But I got the powers of Spider-Man... that should be impossible..."

Peter sighed before scratching the back of his head. "Would giving you the full story of how I got here help?"

It probably wouldn't, but Izuku nodded anyways.

Whatever Peter said, there might be some grain of rational truth for Izuku to wrap his head around.

"Alright. I'll speak as slowly as possible so you can catch everything. Word of warning: things will get kinda real at times. Sorry in advance, but I gotta vent to somebody or else I'm gonna curl into a ball and cry."

And so, Peter Parker began his tale.

Okay, as I said before, my name is Peter Parker… and considering that you believe I'm fictional, I'm pretty sure you know the rest.

I've been a superhero since I was fifteen. I've been in more fights than I can count and luckily I came out on top of most of them. I've lost track of how many times I've saved New York, which a lot of superheroes can say but I can take pride in the stuff that I did.

I used to be called a menace by an old skinflint named J. Jonah Jameson, who unknowingly paid me for photos of myself. Oooh boy, did I laugh about that at night. Needless to say, a lot of people believed him and I was considered a threat by most of the city and a lot of other heroes were wary of me… at first.

Saving the city numerous times tends to make people wise up.

People began to stop buying Jameson's crap and I even joined the Avengers. Eventually, Jolly J. got the message himself and eased up.

That's when I married my high school sweetheart, Mary-Jane Watson. MJ for those of us who were close to her (and no, not that MJ. She hated it when people made that joke).

She was really something else kid. Her smile could light up a town and her deep hair shone in the sunlight. When she smiled, she meant it, and her kisses could set off fireworks in your brain. MJ could be fun and witty when the situation called for it, a real party girl, and when you needed a shoulder to cry on…

...Sigh… I'm getting ahead of myself.

We got married, and while I was Spider-Man she got kidnapped a couple of times. She used to complain about it all the time, and let me just say she gave those guys hell before they took her. She found out I was Spider-Man and MJ still loved me. For a good fifteen years after we graduated, things were going great.

Though maybe I'm deluding myself.

Dunno how the comics depicted it, but being a superhero ain't all keys of the city and overcoming the odds. When you throw yourself into the life you get hurt. Like… A LOT. I sprained my back around five times, broke my legs six times each, got a ton of concussions, dislocated my shoulders around eight times each, broke my nose fifteen times, fractured each and every one of my fingers more times than I can count, tore open my muscles…

Yeah... if it weren't for my ridiculously resilient body and healing I would be hospitalized for life.

And that… seeing me hurt all those times and having to wonder whether I'm going to come back one night or if she's going to read my obituary on the front page of the Daily Bugle the following morning… Honestly, I can't blame her for wanting out. I didn't want to put her through that anymore either.

So yeah, we got a divorce.

...And my Aunt May, the woman who was like a mother to me, died of old age.

...And when we got the divorce, MJ found out she was pregnant.

Which then brings me to yesterday and the point of all this.

Peter Parker had to stare at the email on his desktop just to be sure that this was actually happening.

"Please let this just be a nightmare so that I can at least try to leave this apartment with some dignity."

No such luck. The email would not just magically poof away because Peter was wishing as hard as he could.

Peter,

I regret to inform you that as of this moment, you are no longer employed at Horizon Labs.

I have tried to be patient with you. I hired you after your expulsion from Midtown High because my good friend Curt Connors vouched for you. I have tried to be an understanding boss, giving you flexible hours in exchange for your brilliant engineering and genetics work. For a while, that seemed to be fine.

However, as of late, your work has been slipping. There are far too many mistakes for me to ignore and you have not been coming to work even for the minimum number of hours required of you. You have even been slipping away while you were on call when we needed you for delicate stages of experiments.

I understand that you are still going through a rough time after the death of your aunt, but it has been well over a year. Being a researcher at Horizon Labs requires you to balance your work and your personal life. You cannot seem to find that balance, and we have been falling behind because of it.

I am truly sorry and wish you luck in your future endeavors.

I am willing to write a letter of recommendation for your next employer. Please call me for coffee first so that we may talk it though.

-Max

"Well… Shit…" Peter groaned as he slumped back in his chair. He was now an unemployed forty-seven year old. His dream job was now gone, and just after he was starting to get into the groove of things.

"Can't blame Max though," Peter combed his brown hair streaked with strands of grey. "He was being patient with me…"

Max Modell had been Curt Connors', the one-time Lizard who owed his life to Peter for curing him, friend and had been more than willing to hire Peter. Considering that Curt at least had a sneaking suspicion about Peter's double life, he told Max to give him more flexible hours. And after getting fired from his science teacher position at Midtown High, Peter really needed the job.

Rent in New York wasn't cheap.

And neither was child support.

But after Aunt May had died… things had been slipping for Peter. He couldn't focus on work and most of the time his life as Spider-Man seemed to be a good way to blow off steam. Now it looked like Max had finally had enough of Peter's shit and just fired him.

Peter then heard something slide under his door and he glanced to see it was an envelope addressed to him.'WHERE'S MY MONEY PARKER!?' was scrawled across the top in thick, black sharpie.

Looks like a few jokes and Peter's best attempt at Aunt May's wheatcakes wouldn't be enough to get him out of this one.

Peter glanced at the window as he heard the familiar sounds of police sirens, gunshots, and screams. The police scanner attached to the earpiece of the inside-out mask on his workbench blared out, "All units be advised, suspects are fleeing the scene on a red convertible. They are heavily armed and…"

"Another day in paradise…" Peter glanced at the clock. It was noon, meaning he still had time to get to Liebert's if he did this now. "God, I don't get paid enough for this…"

And considering that his Avengers check was about a thousand and a hundred dollars every two weeks, he really wasn't.

Peter then got up and stretched his arms up, reaching to the sky and hearing his spine crack. He then grabbed the upper body portion of his costume and whiffed it, cringing as he breathed in the scent of sweat-encrusted spandex.

"Crap. Right… forgot to wash this last night," He shrugged his white sleeveless shirt and snapped on the web shooters. Over the years he managed to make them less bulky, the web fluid now stored in small flat rectangular containers around his wrist with a screen on the center displaying the levels of web fluid in blue. They were both full, but Peter aimed both his arms at the dartboard by his apartment entrance just in case.

He pressed both pressure levers with his ring and middle finger, causing strands of web-like material to shoot out from each wrist and hit the center of the dartboard. With a nod, Peter slipped on the top portion of his suit before grabbing the bottom half from the floor. After putting both on, Peter slipped on the gloves and then turned the inside out mask on his work desk back to its proper form. He then slipped it on…

...and blinked as his world turned blue for a second.

Peter had long since modified the lenses of his mark. Not only did the eye portions match his eyebrow movements (something he did to convey emotion through his mask, which helped to put people more at ease) but he gave himself a heads-up display to stay on top of things. His web fluid levels were on the top left while caller IDs showed up on the bottom left. The bottom right displayed a 2-D map of the city.

Peter looked at his mirror for a second. The classic red and blue with black spider-webs that converged to the small spider-symbol on his chest.

"I look like shit," Peter mused. He'd heard of dad bods, but seeing it on himself was still something else. "Thought I'd have a six-pack forever."

With that, Peter turned around and ran past his bed, past the workbench were photographs of Aunt May with Uncle Ben smiling on a beach. Another had him accepting his diploma with Harry and Norman Osborn. The one to the far left was him with Gwen Stacy on Coney Island, her hand grasping a piece of popcorn from the cardboard bucket in his hands.

Between them were two more photos. One of Mary Jane, smiling at the camera with a hand on her hip. On the other was Peter with a four-year-old girl on his shoulders. Short, dark-red hair stood out against her navy blue jacket and jeans with pink gloves. She was beaming as Peter held her dangling legs with his arms.

Peter tried his best to not linger on those thoughts as he jumped out his window…

...and began to swing.

Web-swinging was something Peter could always enjoy. He was able to watch the buildings whizz by at lightning speed while the wind howled in his ear. There was nothing more liberating than the feeling of swinging around town. Not even flying came close. That's just cutting through the air in a straight line. But when you swung, every arc was an adventure.

Peter shouted into his mask, "Wire Ditkovich the money earmarked for rent!"

His phone's AI then said into his mask's earpiece, "The money has been sent. Please note that with deduction as well as the amount earmarked for child support leaves you with $500 in your account."

"Well, that saves me from being evicted," Peter let out a sigh as he headed to the marker indicating the fleeing criminals' car. "Looks like I'm going to have to break out the Ramen Joy cookbook Harry gave me."

Peter reached the street in minutes. He could see the speeding convertible with the two crooks in ski-masks. They were firing at the cops chasing them as they swerve through traffic. The driver had a pistol while the passenger was spraying his surroundings with an automatic rifle..

"Looks like this is my stop!" Peter fired a line with his right hand and waited for it to hit its mark. With a tug, Peter launched himself to the car and landed on the hood.

"OH SHIT!" The driver shouted, pointing his handgun at the windshield. "It's Spid…!"

"Please! Please!" Peter jumped to the top edge of the windshield, avoiding the first few bullets which cracked the glass. "Hold the applause!" Pete kicked out with his right foot, knocking the automatic rifle from the hands of the just turning passenger. "I would like to thank the future prisoner 3347…"

Peter brought his foot back, nailing the driver in the back of his head and smashing his forehead against the wheel. He webbed their bodies to their seats and stuck the driver's hand and gun to the door. Peter jumped into the driver's seat and slammed on the brakes while turning the wheel. "...For his introduction to this motion picture I like to call…"

The car began flipping and Peter jumped out. Twisting his body in the air, he attached webs to the front and back ends of the car and aimed a few more at the surrounding buildings. Soon the car was suspended in the air before it could even hope to slam against a storefront or mow down any bystanders.

Like a fly in a spider's web.

Peter then landed on the top of the trapped car, which lightly shook but did not fall. "...Two Idiots Rob a Bank at Hero Central."

He peered over the edge to stare at the two crooks trapped inside. "Seriously, I don't understand you people. You'd have to be a moron to try and rob somebody in a city that every hero from D-Man to Thor calls home."

"Screw you, man!" came the muffled cry of one of said morons.

Peter simply shook his head before aiming at the top corner of a nearby skyscraper. "Hey man, you're lucky you got me! Let me tell you, ya would've been disappointed if it was Wolverine. That Canuck is not a people person."

"Yeah! Go Spider-Man!" One guy on the street hollered, clapping his hands with a huge grin on his face. Other people also applauded, and Peter returned it with a thumbs-up before launching a web line just as the cops came to a stop nearby. He then pulled and shot himself into the air, launching a web-line from his left hand to start swinging again.

"Set a marker for Liebert's."

"Lookin' good tiger."

"Yeah, well…" Peter scratched his cheek, trying not to wince at the feeling of the tiny unshaven stubs on his skin.

The clothes he he hid in his backpack on the roof weren't exactly suited for the occasion.

Especially since it was just a Captain America t-shirt and jeans with a pair of black sneakers.

And especially since Liebert's was a five-star restaurant.

"Things are… kinda complicated right now."

Mary Jane was wearing a beautiful black dress that split to her right mid-thigh. Her red hair still cascaded down her back, complimented her emerald green eyes and cherry-red lips. But the faintest wrinkles were showing up on her cheeks and brow. The bags under her eyes weren't much better than Peter's.

Despite the obvious worry on her face, MJ let out a small amused huff. "Would it have anything to do with the little bank robbery on 54th Street?"

"Kind of…" Peter sighed as he looked down. He really should have thought ahead. He and MJ had set up this meeting weeks in advance. He'd written it in his calendar and everything!

"Yet somehow it slipped my mind that Liebert's was not the kind of place to be wearing a t-shirt and jeans!" He ignored the looks he was getting from the waiters and other patrons before glancing back at MJ. "Sorry in advance."

"Don't be. It adds flavor to the evening," MJ sipped her wine, "I'm still glad you're doing alright, Peter."

"You shouldn't have to worry about me."

"Can't help it. Call it a habit that's hard to break."

Both of them were silent for a moment.

"How's Mayday?" Peter asked.

MJ smiled, but Peter could see how strained it was at the corners. "You know… she's at that rebellious age. She's still pretty angry over how you don't let her visit your place."

"I know I should," Peter admitted with a frown. "But I worry MJ. What if she finds my suit? The last thing I need is my daughter worrying herself sick over me."

"Don't know. Mayday's a tough little girl," MJ sighed, "She might even be tougher than me."

"MJ…"

"Peter… I know that you can't help being who you are. Nothing I could say would stop you from going out there," MJ motioned to outside the restaurant. "But I just… I couldn't handle it anymore. Worrying about you while you are swinging out there…. Sometimes I feel like I'm weak for doing this to the both of us."

"You aren't weak, MJ," Peter placed his left hand on her right and said, "What you did, you did because of the life I'm living. Like you said, I can't stop."

Peter's gaze fell. "I made a promise."

Peter hated how every word tasted like ash on his tongue.

MJ went silent as if to contemplate every syllable. Then she laughed a hollow and mirthless chuckle, nothing like the warm, bubbly laughter they used to share.. "It's amazing we stuck together for as long as we did."

"Ah… we made it wo-"

Peter was interrupted by a flash of purple. Peter glanced out the window to see a plume of violet light peeking over the rooftops of the buildings on the other side of town.

"Ah, crap…" Peter moaned before looking at MJ.

She smiled sadly and raised a glass to him, "Go get em', Tiger."

Peter nodded thankfully but reached into his pocket and handed MJ a crumpled envelope. "See you next month, MJ."

"You too…"

Peter bit his lip as he ran out the restaurant, ignoring the sour looks he got from everyone else. When he went into the alleyway across the street, Peter reached into his right pocket and pulled out his mask before putting it on.

"Damn it…!" He set his right foot on the wall to his left and thrust his body up, his left foot hitting the wall as he sprinted up. Gravity should make him fall and break his spine like a twig like any other person, but momentum and the nifty gift of super strength helped to prevent that problem.

"Call Cap!" he yelled out as he jumped over the edge and onto the roof. There were a few rings as Peter began taking off his shirt and pants while running to the closed backpack on the roof before there was a small icon of a grinning Captain America at the edge of his vision.

"Kch… Not the best time sold-!" Steve Rogers was interrupted by the sound of something deflecting off metal.

"Cap, I think it's the best time!" Peter struggled to put on the top portion of his costume. "There was just a huge light show downtown, and we've both been in the business long enough to know that means something's going down."

"Well, we can't get to it right now!" Steve shouted back, huffing as he if he jumped over something. "All Avengers, even the reserves, are on duty over here in Sokovia. Ultron is… well, being Ultron."

"What is with that metal head and Sokovia? Did the locals piss on his extended cousin's circuit board or something?" Peter groaned before shouting, "Wait, if this is so important why didn't you call me!?"

"You made it plainly obvious over the past few weeks it would only take the world ending in the next few minutes for you to go on a mission today."

Oh crap, that was right. Peter wanted to bang his head against something as he stuck his legs into the bottom of his suit. He had been looking forward to meeting MJ today that he canceled almost everything that could get in the way. Including his Avenger duty for the day. "Wait, does that mean I'm the only one here!?"

"Pretty…"

"On your left!" A muffled shout interrupted Steve, with the sound of something huge and fast knocking aside metal. "Yes! Score one more robo-velociraptor for me!"

"Keep your head in the game, Khan!" Steve yelled back, "Teenagers…"

"Oh, great…" Peter patted himself down, making sure his costume was on right. He quickly webbed his clothes and backpack to the roof to prevent theft as he ran to the edge in the direction of the light. "Please just tell me this isn't a magic thing. I hate magic!"

He was put on hold for a few minutes before Steve replied, "Strange, Minoru, and Rasputin say it's not magic. Good luck soldier. Cap out!" Before he hung up Steve was shouting something along the lines of, "Now's not the time for donuts, Reyes!"

It was a miracle that Captain America didn't have a full head of grey hair yet.

As Peter jumped over rooftops and swung through the city, he could not help but feel… slightly bitter.

In a city that was just lousy with superheroes, how come it always seemed like he was the only one on top of things like this? How come he doesn't see someone like Daredevil just a few rooftops away also going over to investigate?

"Aw, who am I kidding? He's probably busy with the Hand or something," Peter sighed as he jumped onto a passing train, running forward as the train made a turn to jump across the street and continue to swing. "You're the one that's making these choices Petey-boy. You're the one thinking that you just have to go now rather than take a deep breath and wait two seconds."

It was quiet self-reflecting moments like these that reminded Peter why he was divorced.

The header in his lenses helped to guide Peter to… an abandoned warehouse at the edge of town. "Supervillain lair," Peter muttered to himself as he launched a web to the telephone pole just a few feet away from the building. "With my luck, it'll be AIM or HYDRA attempting to summon some Lovecraft-lite aliens using a portal to outer space or something."

Peter had been in the superhero game long enough to know that blindly jumping on the roof was just asking for trouble. With that in mind, Peter shot a web at a broken bottle on the side of the street

"Thanks, New York," Peter flung it to the metal roof. It bounced on the roof and Peter quickly webbed it before it rolled to the ground and made another sound. "OK. No alarms or sentries. Looks like nobody's home."

Peter jumped to the roof and slipped through a cracked window after carefully plucking out the remaining shards on the frame. He began crawling down but took note of the interior. The place was pretty empty. The windows were boarded up and the doors were sealed shut with a welding torch and tons of junk. On the far left was a small workbench with a computer in the center and a ratty chair. There were also various power tools and some sort of Doctor Doom-looking mask with tubes and tinted full-head visor.

Next to the workbench was a mannequin wearing gloves (which both looked strangely like the Nintendo Power Glove) that had wires hooked up to a strange piece of headgear. It was a helmet but made mostly of what appeared to be computer chips and two red teardrop-shaped eyepieces. On the far right were cages, recently washed if the puddles at the bases were anything to go by.

Oh, and Peter could only see all of this because of the large geyser of purple flame-like energy emanating from the center of the room.

"Okaaay…" Peter fired a web underneath him, grabbed onto it, and slowly began bringing himself to the ground. When his feet touched the ground he let go and walked to the workbench.

"So, if this isn't magic it's probably science-related. So this is a portal…" Peter glanced at the metal ring around it. "Wait, I recognize that tech… definitely AIM's stuff. But since they aren't crawling around the place whoever set this up just bought the stuff and had a third party set it up."

Peter then walked over to the mannequin and looked at the mask. "It's a neural interface of some kind… but to what?"

Something flashed in Peter's eye and he looked back to the workbench. On it was a glass dome, big enough to fit a head. "Hello." Peter walked over to the workbench and lifted it off the table, turning it around to see that there was indeed a hole large enough to fit a head inside. Peter glanced to the left and saw something he'd missed before.

A small clothing rack with a single full-body green suit made out of material styled like lizard scales, with yellow boots and gloves attached to gauntlets shaped like Chinese lanterns on the floor.

Attached to the suit was a billowing purple cape attached to the suit with golden eye-like clips by each of the armpit areas.

"Quentin…" Peter muttered to himself. "Just what the hell are you doing here?"

Quentin Beck, a former special effects genius. He had specialized in practical effects and optical illusions, and his craft was considered revolutionary albeit expensive. Unfortunately, it turned out that CGI was cheaper and so they invested in that and gave Quentin the boot. Quentin then decided to use his skills to give himself the money he 'deserved', He put on a costume with a fishbowl for a helmet and started calling himself 'Mysterio'.

Peter had fought with Quentin for years, fighting through the illusions and punching through his dome helmet more times than he cared to remember. Quentin often worked with other villains and was almost always a part of the newest iteration of the 'Sinister Six', a group of villains that hated Peter enough to stop bickering with one another to try and kill him.

Time and time again, Mysterio lost and was sent to prison until he broke out again.

He was always in the business for money and fame.

Interdimensional portals seemed to be several ridiculous steps up from that.

Peter set down the glass dome and noted that next to the rack was a headless body wearing a skintight long-sleeve dark purple shirt, dark green gloves, leather black pants, and dark green boots. It also wore a dark purple belt with a buckle that consisted of a dull gold metal eye. Around its neck area was a green brace of some kind with the same eye in the center.

"Was Quentin using that?" Peter glanced back at the neural interface. "Was he exploring?"

Peter walked over to the computer and pressed the spacebar. It opened to a screensaver that was the poster of Big Trouble in Little China with a request for a password. "Hm…" Peter glanced at the screensaver and decided to take a leap of faith, keeping Quentin's love of practical effects in mind.

JC'sTheThing

"Holy shit, that worked?" he muttered as the computer began booting up. Quentin really needed a more complicated password.

He noted the file titled 'deliveries' and clicked on it.

It was a simple Excel document, with two tables titled 'World A' and 'World B'.

"World A Deliveries. Age 1-10: 11, Age 11-20: 9, Age 20-30: 5. Total: 25. Successfully delivered to…" Peter's eyes widened. "Mr. Sinister."

He'd fought the mad genetic scientist with the X-Men years ago and knew his M.O. Torture, live dissection, cloning crimes against humanity to create the perfect being… Dear God, was Quentin getting into human trafficking?

"Funds successfully wired to Account A. World B Deliveries. Age 1-10: 5, Age 11-20: 15, Age 20-30: 10. Total: 30. Successfully delivered to… All For One?" Was that some new up-and-coming villain?

No, this table was labeled World B. Quentin must be kidnapping people and sending them to the other world!

Even though his instincts screamed at him to just email all of this to Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, and literally ALL of the X-Men before leaving, Peter clicked on another table. "Trigger Distribution Efforts... Weapon Profits and Deductions...?"

And that's when his Spider-Sense kicked in.

Peter jumped up just before the ax came down, splitting the keyboard in half. "Woah! Woah there!" Peter looked down at his attacker. "I've gotta give you props! You're the first person I've seen do what I've always wanted to whenever my PC froze!"

Dressed in his Mysterio costume minus the fishbowl was the familiar face of Quentin Beck, his head shaved and age showing on his face. The black eye Peter had given him a month ago was receding, but it still showed.

It also gave the animalistic scowl on Quentin's face an even more frightening edge.

"Well, you seem to be looking good, Beck," Peter said, narrowing his eyes at the supervillain. "Though I never took you for a Christian Bale fa-."

"You shouldn't be here!" Quentin shouted as he reached into his belt and threw something up. Peter began launching a web at it, but the small circle exploded and released gas everywhere. "This is my place! Mine!"

Peter began to cough and felt his grip loosen. "That smell… ethyl chloride!?" Peter dropped down onto his feet and rushed at Quentin. "Have to end this fast!"

He punched Quentin… only for the man to fade as Peter's fist went through his chest. "Shit…!"

Peter's Spider-Sense went off and he leaned back with all the grace of a professional limbo dancer, watching as the ax's rust-covered edge passed over his nose.

"I finally made it! I am bigger than I had ever been, without you getting in the way!" Quentin then brought the ax up. "Always… always you getting in the way!"

"Okay! Enough of your crazy!" Peter's hands met the ground and he held back a cough. Using his strength and years of practicing his balance, he picked up his lower body and kicked Quentin square in the chest. It wasn't an illusion and the kick connected, sending the man back.

"N-No…!" Quentin coughed out, wheezing and clutching his chest. Peter didn't dignify Quentin with a quip as he simply got to his feet, ran to the workbench and grabbed the stool. He then flung it as hard as possible through the boarded up-out skylight overhead. The gas then rushed out, clearing the air of most of the ethyl chloride. "No, no, no…!"

"Oh yes, yes, yes!" Peter then spotted Quentin reaching for the axe with his right hand. "Uh-uh! None of that!" Peter shot a web, nailing Quentin's hand and the axe to the ground.

"You can't do this to me!" Quentin shouted in anger. "Not when I've come so far!"

"Yeah, and at what cost, Quentin?" Peter glanced at the purple portal, flickering and shimmering in the air. "Selling lives and drugs? Were you really that desperate to be a big shot?"

"Better than being a joke… better than being your punchline," Quentin grit his teeth. "Over there I'm something more. I've got respect… hell, soon I'll be bigger than any movie star!"

Peter's Spider-Sense went off, and he saw Quentin use his left hand to take something out from his back.

Quentin Beck, Mysterio, the Master of Illusion, was now aiming a revolver at him.

"And I won't let you take it away from…!"

The only reason Quentin got that far was because Peter hadn't expected it.

Peter's villains didn't usually wield guns. Mostly because it clashed with their gimmick or wounded their pride or something. The last one Peter had to deal with that pulled something like this was Kraven, and that ended… messily.

He was ready this time.

Peter shot out a web to Quentin's hand and brought it down. But the gun fired anyway, the bullet passing between Peter's legs…

...And hit the bottom ring around the purple flames.

Both of them looked at it as the flames then grew wild, reaching out randomly with purple electricity crackling around it. "Ah cra-!"

A lick of flame hit Peter.

"Let me tell you kid, whoever thought getting ripped out from your universe to another was a painless experience is a filthy liar."

Peter impaled another piece of meat with his fork. "Imagine every single fiber of your body screaming in pain as if it were being torn apart and glued together over and over. Meanwhile, your eyes and mind feel like they're burning as a million images pass through them every millisecond. You want to scream but you're drowned out by the noise of TV static, nails on a chalkboard, and shattering glass."

He sighed wearily, "I didn't get to experience this during the vampire fiasco because my ride, which was a talking pig version of me and a kid in a robot suit, had some sort of disk in their hand that helped open a tube. I didn't get a tube this time. I got kicked into here against my will with what I can guess was a busted stabilization ring."

Izuku didn't know what to say. As his mind tried to catch every word in the sentences Peter spoke too quickly for Izuku to understand, the boy only thought one thing.

"This can't be real… And yet it is."

This was actually happening.

Everything Peter said was far too detailed, far too emotional to be the stuff of lies. If it had been just the details Izuku would called Peter a lunatic. Someone who crafted a well-made story and had a seriously loose grip on reality. Izuku would have fled before he was dragged into their craziness because he happened to have Spider-Man's powers.

"But I have Spider-Man's powers. Something which should not be possible. And he has those web-shooters…" Izuku then looked down. "And…"

His weariness while recounting his firing, the sadness of meeting his ex-wife and talking about their daughter, and his rage at Mysterio's crimes… they were all too genuine to chock up to madness.

Which meant it must be true.

"What do you do then?" Izuku finally asked Peter, who was eating the last few bites of his katsudon.

"Well…" he sighed as he set down his fork. "First thing I did was throw up. Going to another dimension isn't good for your stomach. Then I noticed I wasn't in New York, heard a bunch of stuff in words I couldn't understand, and looked out to see a bunch of people with stuff like cactus heads, iron arms, elephant ears, and the like. It didn't really take that long to figure out I wasn't in Kansas anymore, especially since a bunch of superheroes passed by that I didn't recognize."

Peter sank into his seat, "Then I had to find an abandoned building to stay in… and dig out clothes from the trash. I need to apologize to D-Man when I get back, now that I think about it."

Izuku's heart sank. This Hero, one who helped inspire countless others, was homeless here.

"Oh, and when I woke up and tried walking around and see if you guys could possibly have any tech to send me back, I saw your little stunt with the truck," he then laughed and said, "Gotta tell ya kid, that takes me WAY back. That happened to me when I was your age and discovered what I could do from that."

Izuku blushed. Now that he thought about it, the entire incident did have a lot of similarities to the first Spider-Man comic. "B-But why seek me?" he asked, his hands clenching the glass of soda. "I-I am just a child. I cannot help you home, and I humbly apologize but I do not believe others have the means to…"

Peter held out his hands. "Whoa, slow down. I'm not expecting you to take me home," he glanced away and scratched the back of his neck. "But to be honest, I don't believe it's hopeless to get myself back home. If you've got superheroes there's bound to be a super genius at least dicking around with the concept of interdimensional travel."

Izuku wanted to protest but held his tongue. "How can I be sure enough to say there aren't any?"

Peter was living proof that anything was possible.

"Nah, what I wanna do…" Peter grinned as he finished his katsudon. "Is teach you."

Izuku blinked once. Twice. "T-Teach me?"

"Yup," Peter grinned even wider as he said, "Look kid, I know what you're going through is complicated. Your body is changing, you're getting hairs in unfamiliar…" he chuckled when Izuku's face reddened. "Okay, okay. I'll stop. But the point is that I know what you're going through better than anyone. The last thing I want to do is leave you hanging out to dry while you try to find out the ropes yourself. God, I hated having to go through that."

Peter brought his finger across the table until it was right between Izuku's eyes. "I… can teach you to be Spider-Man."

Izuku went rigid. His heart was beating a mile a minute. His hands were already coated in a film of sweat. A cold shiver of excitement and nervousness was coursing through him every second.

"H-He wants to teach me!? Spider-Man wants to teach me!?"

He didn't know what to feel. Amazed? Honored? Uneasy? His brain did somersaults as he tried to process everything that happened today.

Just a few days ago, Izuku only had the slimmest of chances to become a Hero. A few days ago he was Quirkless, a powerless minority in a world full of amazing individuals like Kacchan and All Might.

Yet here he was, with powers that defied logic and a Hero who should not exist.

A Hero who wanted to teach him.

Him!

"B-But am I really worth it?" Izuku bit his lip while looking down. "I was Quirkless… I was just a fanboy who couldn't let go of his impossible dream. I haven't even had these powers for a full day. Can I really do it? What if I mess up and just keep him from finding a way home?"

"Plus, y'know, I do need a place to stay until I head back home so I would really…"

"I-I am most sorry!" Izuku shouting with his eyes squeezed shut, "I needs time to think of this!"

Peter pursed his lips, his crest falling at terminal velocity.

"Yeah… I guess it is a lot to think about. A lot to take in too," he gave Izuku the same mirthless chuckle that MJ probably gave him. "You just learned other universes exist, and as far as I can tell your world hasn't had to deal with an alien invasion yet."

"And aliens exist too…" Izuku was surprised his head wasn't hurting yet.

"Okay, fine. How about you sleep on it?" Peter then motioned around him. "You can meet me in front of the place I'm staying at. It's just five blocks from here to the right in that skyscraper that's being built."

Izuku nodded. He knew the place since he passed it on his way to school. "Yes! Yes, thank you Parker-san!"

"Just call me Peter, kid," Peter then pointed to Izuku's katsudon bowl. "You gonna eat that?"

Izuku shook his head as Peter swiped the katsudon bowl. Izuku dug into his pockets and produced his wallet.

"Three, four…" Izuku slid the cash across the table. "This is five thousand yen. It's to pay for food and… well…" Izuku blushed as he scratched his cheek. "...f-for you to go to the public bath."

He bowed one more time, "I will have answer by tomorrow Par… er, Peter-san! Thank you so much!"

He then turned tail and raced out of the restaurant. But as he left the door he could swear he heard Peter yell, "Wait, kid I don't…!"

Izuku was already running down the block with his heart pounding in his ears.

"I can teach you to be Spider-Man."

Those words kept repeating in his head, and while it filled Izuku with joy a pang of guilt shot through him.

He had just left Peter, a man who was lost in a strange world, completely alone.

Just what could he be feeling right now?

What could he be thinking because Izuku hadn't said yes at that moment?

"Kid's smarter than I was at his age."

Peter stared at the ceiling in his web hammock. The building he had chosen was abandoned. From what he could tell construction had started but had then stopped when it was halfway done. No doubt due to the workers and building owners getting into a fight over something.

"I mean, when I first got my powers I just ran to cash them in like an idiot. He's being cautious, and is handling all this well," Peter couldn't help but smile to himself. "Haven't even met him for more than two hours and I can already tell he's got potential. A hell of a lot of potential and… and…"

Peter pinched the bridge of his nose. "Damn it…"

What the hell was he doing? He was stuck in some world with no way to contact those Web Warriors (which sounded corny as hell) for a ride back and Mysterio was still out there dicking around with his portal… and Peter didn't even know where to begin to look for its opening on this side! For all he knew, Quentin had irreversibly busted it when he shot it and now Peter was stuck here permanently!

Away from his apartment, away from New York, away from his friends…

Away from MJ…

...And dear god, what about Mayday? She'll be wondering where the hell her dad went. The dad who always visited but never let her get too close. The dad who joked and played with her but never spent as much time with her as he should.

What if she thought he had just left her? Abandoned her?

MJ would probably think he died…

"Shit… no, don't think like that…" Peter ignored the tears leaking from the corners of his eyes and wiped them away. "Can't afford to do that. Not now…"

God, was he just using this kid? Using him just to take his mind off the horrible situation he now found himself in?

...No, that wasn't it.

Peter made a lot of mistakes in his life.

The last thing he would ever want was to sit by while another kid made the same ones and…

Peter's Spider-Sense went off and he pulled on his mask. He jumped out of the hammock just as something pierced his right ankle. "Gah!" Peter shouted, the nerves in his foot now on fire while he hopped on his good one. "What the…"

Peter peered into the darkness and was barely able to make out the form of a woman. One that was wearing a ridiculously long coat, boots, and gloves in purple and black. And as they adjusted more, Peter saw that his attacker had a familiar mask.

"They have their own Prowler here?"

The Prowler glared at Peter while aiming her right arm at him, a small cylinder peeking out of the top of her wrist.

"Ah, crap…" Peter groaned as he jumped to avoid another projectile, only for this one to explode into a cloud of gas that obscured Peter's vision.

Looks like this was going to be one of those nights...