Chapter One
It was a normal day!
At least as normal as a vigilante's day can be. She didn’t face any witches or aliens, just thieves and a couple of cats stuck in a tree. She had a chat with an old lady whom she helped carry groceries and assisted three kids with their homework.
With nothing else to do, she went to her apartment early and called it a day.
Her suit shrunk into a ring, which she wore as she went to grab something to eat. Suddenly, she felt herself fading into dust, like when Thanos snapped his fingers. Terror filled her mind with possibilities: Had Thanos returned? Did they die for nothing? Was there a new enemy? Who? Why?
When she opened her eyes, she found herself in a glass container surrounded by green liquid. She tried to break the glass, but her body felt weaker than usual. In a desperate attempt to climb out, she realized it was locked. Then she noticed her ring; it extended into a glove that covered her fist. She punched the glass, shattering it and causing Penny to fall, the green liquid flowing around her.
As she looked around, she realized she was in an empty lab. The gauntlet extended to her suit, and she asked, “Karen? Are you with me?” After a pause that felt like hours, Karen replied, “Yes, Penny.”
Penny sighed in relief. “Do you know what happened? Do you think Thanos is back?” Karen responded, “It will take me some time to find the answer.” “Take your time,” Penny said.
She looked around the lab and headed to the desk with the computer. Noticing the dust on the desk, she inferred that no one had touched it for some time. Penny turned on the computer, revealing a page with her face on it. She looked about 15 or 16 years old, and there was information about her.
**Name:** Penelope Maria Parker
**Birthday:** August 10, 2002
**Age:** 16
**Father:** Unknown
**Mother:** Mary Parker
**Background:** After the death of her Aunt May, who was Penelope's caregiver and guardian, and with no other relatives to contact, she was placed in the care of Child Protective Services. A year later, she applied for and was granted emancipation.
Penny's heart raced as she read further: “Penelope was chosen as a sample because she was not infected with any diseases or viruses like the rest of the street children, but she was unsupervised like them.”
“What?!”
“Karen? Please tell me you found an answer!” Penny was on the verge of crying, feeling lost and scared.
“I have found an answer to your questions, Penny, but I don’t think you will like it,” Karen said.
“Anything would be better than nothing. Tell me!”
“Through my research, I discovered that Stark Industries satellites no longer exist. Therefore, I hacked another satellite from what is called LexCorp Industries. Upon further investigation, I concluded that we are in another dimension.”
“What!!!”
“Come again?” Penny exclaimed, shaken.
“For some reason that I couldn’t pinpoint, we traveled to another dimension.”
“Oh god! I was wrong, Karen. This isn’t better than nothing,” Penny said, her voice dry.
“Does that mean you don't want to know what else I found?”
Penny took a deep breath. “Go ahead, tell me.”
“There are no Avengers or their civilian identities in this world, but there are other heroes. There is a Justice League, which consists of heroes, each with students and teams.
There are more cities and countries than in our world, like Gotham City, Metropolis, Central City, Star City, Themyscira, Nanda Parbat, Hub City, Atlantis, Blüdhaven, and Opal City. However, there is no Wakanda. The history is also different from our history. The only thing the two worlds have in common is you and your deceased family. It appears that you are in Gotham City, home to Batman, a member of the Justice League, along with his many followers. Yet, Gotham is still considered the most dangerous city in the United States, and perhaps the world.”
As the weight of the information settled in, Penny felt a wave of dizziness wash over her; the room seemed to spin uncontrollably. She sank to the floor, desperately clutching her head. Why is my heart racing like this? It feels like I can't catch my breath!
“Penny, it’s okay. Just try to calm down,” Karen urged gently, her voice soothing.
“I can’t breathe!” Penny gasped, panic rising in her chest.
“Just take it slow. In, out. In, out,” Karen guided her, staying close.
“Panic attack protocol has been activated,” she noted, her tone steady and supportive.
Amidst the chaos, Penny heard a soft, familiar melody—the sound of Aunt May's voice singing gently in her mind.
Slowly, with each breath, her heart began to stabilize, and her senses started to return. Remembering the calming breathing exercises Aunt May had taught her, Penny focused on reclaiming her breath and grounding herself.
Penny shrank her suit into a smartwatch this time, determination shining in her eyes.
“What are you doing?” Karen asked.
“I’m going out. I need to find a way to get home. Equipment to gather, theories to study, and…”
“You can’t,” Karen interrupted.
Penny was confused for a moment. “What do you mean?”
Karen explained, “You have to endure the interdimensional travel protocol that Mr. Stark designed and planned.”
Penny froze for a moment. “That’s real? I thought it was a joke. I mean, he laughed it off.”
“It started as a joke, but Mr. Stark couldn’t stop thinking about it, so he designed the protocol with some advice from Natasha Romanoff.”
Penny stood motionless for a few moments. “Are you going to cry and laugh at the same time again?” Karen asked. “No! And stop mentioning that day.”
Penny took a deep breath and asked, “So what do I do first?” “First, you need to find shelter.” Penny shrugged. “This lab will do.”
“Second, you need to find water. Third, find food.” “Maybe I’ll find something here,” Penny said as she looked around. When she spotted what looked like a kitchen, she opened the fridge and found twelve bottles of water along with some fruit. She closed the refrigerator and went to the sink, turning on the tap.
The water looked no different from regular water, but her spider tickle told her it was dangerous, so she turned the tap off and walked away. “There’s enough food and water for three days, seven if you’re careful. What’s number four?”
“Four, you need to make sure you’re in contact with me and the suit.” “I am.” “Five, gather as much information as possible before putting yourself in danger.”
“How am I going to gather information without going outside?” Penny grumbled. “With my help,” Karen replied dryly. “I’ll give you all the information I can, and since you already have an identity here, you should use it.”
“But I don’t know anything about my alter ego other than what I saw in the file,” Penny said, feeling like she would roll her eyes if she had eyes.
“I already found out everything about your alter ego. You rented an apartment for three months in advance. You have a job at a club as a bartender on the weekends and another job at a coffee shop as a waitress. The two places belong to one person.”
“A club!”
“You had another job, but you quit because it wasn’t safe and didn’t pay enough. This job is on the safe side of Crime Alley under the protection of a vigilante who works for Batman under the name Red Hood. You took a week off to study for an exam that would qualify you for the Wayne Scholarship at Gotham Academy. You were kidnapped on your first day of vacation, which means you will take the test in four days.”
“Why are you talking as if I will take the test?”
“Because you will take it.”
“I already graduated from school! I am 19 years old; I love science, but that doesn’t mean I love school.”
“You are 16 in this world; your body has reverted to what it was when you were 16. You have to find a way back without alerting the vigilantes and heroes of your presence.”
“Oh, come on!” Penny complained. “It should be easy. Even though history is different here, science, math, and other subjects are still similar to our world, albeit a little less advanced since they don’t have Stark Industries.”
“Alright, give me the history lesson.”
It took a long time for Penny to learn this world’s history, and every time she answered a question wrong, Karen would play a recording of Tony scolding her. It was annoying.
Now, here she was at 4:40 AM, heading to her apartment so she could take a shower and change her clothes before going to school.