Peter's vision twisted and warped. The world around him folded over itself again and again before finally settling down, calm and still, as if nothing had happened at all.
Standing in a room that felt both familiar and unfamiliar, Peter had the strange sense that none of it was real. It was definitely his room, and yet the setup inside was different. He could not quite explain how, but he could feel it.
Still, he knew one thing for certain.
This was his home in Universe 1610.
He got off the bed and slowly looked around the room. The walls were covered in posters of the classic red-and-blue Spider-Man suit. Various photos sat on the desk, but the most eye-catching one was a picture of Peter kissing M.J.
The Peter in the photo looked older than him, and even their hair color was clearly different. His own hair leaned more blond, while the other Peter's hair was more sandy.
So in Universe 1610, Peter and Mary Jane ended up together...
1610...
That should be the Ultimate Spider-Man universe.
Which meant there was another version of him in this world.
If that guy ran into him, how exactly was he supposed to explain this?
Better to get out fast.
He opened the closet, only to find it packed with expensive suits. Peter's eyes practically spun.
So this universe's version of him had such boring taste? Never mind not ending up with Gwen, how had his fashion sense gotten this bad too?
Honestly, these suits were not even as good as the discount suit the system had given him.
Right.
He still had Tobey Maguire's matching suit.
Peter pulled the matching suit out of the system inventory and changed into it. To his surprise, it fit perfectly.
The light blue shirt, dark blue tie, and neatly tailored suit instantly made him look less like a seventeen-year-old high school student and more like a man in his early twenties. It gave him a more mature kind of charm.
Hearing movement outside the room, Peter stopped admiring himself in the mirror and quickly climbed out through the window.
After all, this was not his universe's house. Better not stir up unnecessary trouble.
It was night in his own universe, but daytime here. The sunlight was warm and glaring. Peter had no idea why he had been dragged into this universe, but he had already decided to grab some fries while he was here.
There was just one problem.
His phone had no signal in this world.
And he had not brought his wallet.
Damn it.
He really should have grabbed a little cash on the way out. It was technically still his own money. That Peter Parker probably would not have minded, right?
With a sigh, Peter started wandering the streets without any real direction.
Busy crowds passed by in waves. Everyone was wrapped up in their own lives, wearing all kinds of expressions. Some smiled, some looked troubled, some looked sad.
He wandered like that until night fell, and after circling around for a long time, he somehow ended up back in Queens. He did not know who he should look for, or why he had been brought here in the first place. Maybe the other Peter could help, but explaining things would probably be a pain.
The wind blew softly, and a newspaper drifted into Peter's hand. He glanced at it absentmindedly and saw the headline.
In the last two weeks, Brooklyn has experienced two mysterious earthquakes, one last Monday and one this Friday. The exact cause is still under investigation. Experts believe that although the epicenter lies directly beneath Brooklyn, it is extremely deep underground and should not seriously affect daily life, so the public should not panic.
That was the front page.
Peter flipped it over with his fingers and found another story on the back.
Local philanthropist Wilson Fisk has recently donated one hundred thousand dollars' worth of lab equipment to Midtown School of Science and Technology. This marks Mr. Fisk's fourth major charitable donation this year. He truly is an extraordinary man.
Wilson Fisk.
If Peter remembered correctly, Wilson Fisk was a major supervillain in Spider-Man, Daredevil, the Punisher, and a whole list of other Marvel stories.
He had another name that was even more famous.
Kingpin.
"That fat bastard's up to something again..."
Peter muttered the words in disgust. He knew that in every world, Kingpin was bad news.
At that moment, Peter suddenly felt his spider-sense trembling hard inside his mind. But this was not a warning. It was excitement.
He had felt something similar once before when he first encountered Gwen.
"Hey, pal, you look a lot like me."
Peter was startled.
That voice...
Was that this world's version of him?
He instinctively looked toward the source and saw a dark figure hanging upside down beneath a roof more than thirty feet above him.
Peter did not hesitate. He leaped up in one bound and flipped himself upside down as well, ready to have a proper talk with this world's Spider-Man.
But the man in front of him did not look quite like the Ultimate Spider-Man Peter remembered.
Normally, Spider-Man's suit should be red and blue.
This one was black and gray.
And over the suit, he wore a long black coat.
It looked cool, sure, but once Peter remembered that he was still supposed to be Spider-Man, the whole thing started feeling pretty weird.
"Oh, cool. So you're Spider-Man too."
"Spider-Man Noir?"
"Spider-Man Noir. I like that. Let me introduce myself. I'm Peter Parker. Are you the Spider-Man of this world?"
Alright.
That made it clear. This guy was not this world's Spider-Man either.
If Peter had to guess, this was probably the one from the Great Depression era.
He nodded slowly and said, "I'm not this world's Spider-Man either. Funny enough, my name's Peter Parker too, and I'm Spider-Man as well. I got sucked into some weird black hole and ended up here."
"Hey, pal, same here! Wait, you're Peter Parker too? My God, we're actually the same person!"
Spider-Man Noir pulled off his mask and revealed a face identical to Peter's, though older, rougher, and still washed in black and white.
"Yeah, pretty crazy. I'm from another universe in 2023. Judging by how you dress, I'm guessing your world is somewhere in the 1930s? Right in the middle of the Great Depression?"
Spider-Man Noir nodded, then noticed the newspaper in Peter's hand. He took it and read it carefully.
"So this world has a Kingpin too. But no matter which world he's in, Kingpin is just as disgusting. A fake philanthropist putting on a show."
Spider-Man Noir curled his lip in disdain.
"You think our being here has something to do with him?"
Peter pointed at the pudgy man in the newspaper and voiced his guess.
He knew the Ultimate Spider-Man universe, sure, but he had never seen a story exactly like this before. When he had transmigrated, it had been 2015, and after another seventeen years on top of that, unless it was a major character or a major plot point, most of it had long since blurred together.
Spider-Man Noir shrugged helplessly.
"You've got me there. Before this happened, I always thought parallel universe theory and infinite world theory were just the kind of nonsense scholars came up with when they had too much time on their hands. Never thought any of it would turn out to be real."
Peter copied the shrug and let out a helpless sigh of his own.
"Tell me about it. I had just finished dealing with a crime and wanted to get some sleep, and instead I ended up here."
For a moment, the two little spiders looked at each other and sighed together.
(End of Chapter)
[Check Out My P@treon For +20 Extra Chapters On All My Fanfics!!][[email protected]/euridome]
[+500 Power Stones = +1 Extra Chapter]
[Thank You For Your Support!]