Chapter Text
Peter is considered first gen when it comes to superheroes. He wasn’t the first but he came into the scene when all you had were small-time vigilante’s and the mutant scare. He didn’t even get into the newspapers until his second year of vigilanting where there was undeniable proof he existed.
He’s been doing this shit for 25 years and he’s pretty sure he’s the only first gen active now. Sure some others will still come out if it’s an emergency but they're too old, too broken down by the weight of the world to do what they used to do.
Spider-Man has had it easy. He has no life changing injuries, no traumatic incident to make him quit forever. He’s seen the unluckier ones. The teens who crumble in the face of pressure, the overworked ones who do one stupid thing and get their arm ripped off, even the ones who do everything right and still die because the world is unnecessarily cruel to the best of people.
So now he makes sure to protect the younger ones. He doesn’t bother trying to discourage them, knowing that there won’t be any way to stop them but he’ll protect them in any way he can. He’s not their mentor but it’s the older ones' jobs to protect the younger ones.
And that’s exactly what he does when Miles is about to get hit by the beam of light some aliens were firing. Miles is Peter's first and only mentee. He’s the closest thing he has to a son.
Peter has sworn to a million graves to never lose another person. He won’t swear on Miles grave.
There are a million other ways they both could’ve made it out of the encounter alive but Peter breaks the most important rule of being a vigilante and panics. He does the stupidest thing a hero could do and sacrifice himself.
His spider sense screams at him to look away from the fight and to protect Miles. Putting himself in front of Miles is the easiest thing he can do and as he feels laser burns through his body his only hope is that his death doesn’t traumatise anyone.
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It stinks like piss, mould and death and his body hurts like a bitch. He can’t hear the sounds of fighting or the burning smell of the spaceship, so Peter is assuming he’s safe. He should sleep a bit more. Claire always said sleep was the best medicine and he was tired.
His plans were immediately ruined by a high pitched scream next to him. Peter scrambled to get up before noticing that he was completely naked and in a dumpster. He had traumatised this poor teenage girl.
He quickly covered his privates with a trash bag before looking up at the girl. She was wearing some sort of server uniform and was holding a trash bag.
“Hi, do you have a set of clothes I can borrow?” She nods and quickly runs into the door behind her, to either call the cops or get him some clothes. He’s hoping the cops get called, to be honest. That way he won’t have to walk all the way back home from wherever he is and not wear something 2 sizes too small.
The girl comes out with a black shirt and pants and brings it right up to the dumpster. Stupid move on her part, but luckily Peter isn’t a pedo. He quickly gets changed and the girl continues to stay around instead of going back to work.
“Thank you, Is it ok if I use your phone to call someone?” She does so without complaint. “Um sorry but where are we?”
“15 Piant street, the Mcdonalds next to Robinson Park” Peter nods his thanks and calls MJ. No answer, that's fine. He calls Clairie and then Matt then Steven. He even gets desperate enough to call Wade who unsurprisingly doesn’t answer. He’ll just have to walk back home.
“Thanks, I’ve got to go.” He gives the phone back to the girl before rushing off into the streets.
He’s hoping he’s still in New York but as he begins walking he’s less and less hopeful. With the gothic architecture and the fog that soaks the street he’s more likely to be in a vague European town then America.
A newspaper slammed into his face; ‘The Gotham Gazette’. A bit on the nose but at least he knew where he was now. An English speaking country but not in America. A city this big would definitely be one that Peter would know.
Peter began walking again half-heartedly studying the newspaper. He hadn’t been unconscious for long since it was the same date as the fight although it was now nighttime but that may just be due to the geological location.
The photograph in the newspaper was of a teen with vividly black hair and blue eyes raising a middle finger to the camera. ‘Heir of Wayne corporations delinquent or just disturbed?’ Wow the newspapers were really toeing the line of being sued for defamation.
‘During the anniversary of the late Thomas and Martha Wayne, Bruce Wayne was spotted sneaking out of the dorms of the prestigious Roxbury Academy to fight in an illegal boxing match that the Police Department busted during that night. Wayne was arrested but released after his guardian paid the bail.’
At least this small country had little to worry about if this was front page news. But then again New York was a hell hole and he can’t really judge.
“Excuse me. Do you know where the embassy is?”
The man looks down at Peter clearly judging him about his too small workers clothes and his bare feet. “Rough night buddy?”
“Yeah, yeah. I have no idea how I got to Gotham in the first place.” He grins, probably trying not to burst out laughing at Peter’s appearance.
“You’re close. You should hurry, though. They say the border’s going to close soon.”
“Hm? Why?” Peter tries to keep his voice calm and kind like he does with his students, but a tinge of harshness comes out as panic overwhelms him.
“The lady, the one who saved the senator. They’re saying she’s an alien; I had my bets that she was a secret experiment done by the government.” There was something strange that Peter couldn’t figure out.
“I’d say the government is just hiding it” He wanted to shout at this poor excuse for a man to just tell him where the embassy was. But Peter didn’t because MJ would be disappointed in him and his friends would call him a Karen so he kept silent.
“That’s what I was thinking! I don’t believe in all that crap about aliens. What will we have next? Superhero’s?”
Oh.
Peter wasn’t teleported. He was transported to another universe. Fuck this was going to be hell to take care of.
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Breaking into a lab is easy; finding the equipment is harder. It’s the same year and the technology seems the same but apparently having uranium on hard isn’t important as it is in his universe. He eventually has to break into 3 more labs until he finds it and is able to build his multiversal conduit that will hopefully take him home or at least to a universe with an active spider-man who could actually help him make it home.
It’s early afternoon by the time he makes it to the city's power source. He’s tempted to wait until morning but the longer he waits the more likely something horrible might happen. He hopes MJ hasn’t heard of his ‘death’, he can’t stress out his beautiful pregnant wife.
He’s rushing as he begins setting up the portal. If only his clothes hadn’t been shredded to bits he wouldn’t even have to go through this procedure. It was even one of the rare days that he was wearing the watch that would let him teleport.
It’s luckily still bright when he finishes setting it up (he may be desperate but he isn’t irresponsible enough to turn off the power at night). The lights in the city start to fall as he turns the device on. It isn’t noticeable unless you have super senses like him but it still makes Peter feel bad.
The portal hisses behind him the energy crackling along his skin. He turns his attention back to the portal turning bright yellow to white to a colour only Peter can see because of his senses. He just needs to wait until it turns brighter before he can enter.
It never comes. Instead, the portal breaks into a million little shards. The shards come straight towards him, right into his heart. It doesn’t hurt, it's just cold.
The portal shouldn’t have broken. He knew that universes were different, but it was a reaction that he’d never seen before. Peter is a teacher, but before that he was an astrophysicist and he’d been taught a good number of things from spider-people with much more advanced universes. The reaction wasn’t possible at all, it didn’t make sense at all.
He should find a place to sleep for the night. Peter takes the wreckage of his broken portal and goes back into the city. It’s not worth staying here and potentially getting arrested.
He’s still in too small clothes so he rumbles through a donation bin outside one of the giant thrift shops. It’s been a good few years since he wore something thrifted but they’re in much better quality than he remembers. Maybe because he’s in the richer neighbourhoods or maybe because he’s in a different universe but everything he got was extremely durable.
The boots he’s wearing are too small and the jacket smells a lot like blood and bleach but he doesn’t let the fact bother him. He still keeps the scraps of the portal assessing them closely.
Fog seeps over the city as night falls and the lights begin to turn on. Peter finds a high building to camp out, using the moon to inspect his gadget. The workmanship is sloppy but he can’t find any flaws in his device. Hunger pangs his frame and his energy depletes itself quickly and he falls asleep before he knows it’s.
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This wasn’t MJ. It looked like MJ but it wasn’t MJ.
“You can’t leave yet” The thing is trying so hard to sound like her.
“Stop pretending to be my wife you piece of shit” It changes into someone else. A person with blonde hair with androgynous features.
“I apologise. I just wanted to see you.”
“Let me guess you’re a coward who fucked something up and need me to fix it.”
“You’re right. I do need you to fix something.” It’s too calm, Peter wants it dead. “I’m sorry but it’s going to take a long time though.”
“How long?”
“At least two decades.”
Peter explodes. He’s been calm and kind and respectful for too long. “What? I can’t be your stupid champion. I have a life back there. A wife and a kid and other people who need me. Choose someone else. There are a million other spider people who want a second chance at life.”
“But I need you”
“No, no you don’t. Choose someone else. My life is finally, finally going the way I want it too. I was even thinking of retiring. You can’t do this to me.”
“I’m sorry but they need you. You’re stuck here until I let you go.”
Peter throws a punch at it with full force. It doesn’t even reach it before it teleports itself behind him.
“If I have to make you a little sad to save millions I’ll do it”
“A little sad? You’re ruining my entire life when there are a million other people who would want this”
“Peter. I’m sorry” It’s voice crawls up Peter’s spine, faking sympathy like it knows how it feels to have to start your life all over again.
“Even if you send me back I’ll do nothing. I’m not afraid to die.”
The thing starts to melt, its face peeling off and turning into a more masculine figure. Its hair starts to grey and his-it’s voice “Peter, you have to be better than this. With great power comes great responsibility”
It's Uncle Ben. But Uncle Ben would never be so cruel or hold the tone of the voice that’s dripping with fake sympathy.
He can’t move. He can’t attack this caricature of Uncle Ben because he can’t tell if it’s actually uncle Ben or not. He knows the thing is trying to manipulate Peter but for a moment even with its cruel words Peter can pretend it’s his beloved Uncle Ben.
But no, he can’t do that to the memory of Ben. “Fuck you”
It glares at Peter “I hope you at least try to save us.”
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Peter wakes up in the middle of the night wearing his spider-man costume. He’s determined not to help out all. Call him petty but that thing, this universe doesn’t deserve his help.
But Peter is spider-man and spider-man means responsibility so when he hears a girl about to get mugged he swings down to save her.