(Not) Stealing Bagels
Peter looked intensely at the map before him, his eyes scanning the street names, searching for a semblance of familiarity. After finding nowhere he knew, he began to search for a library.
Of course, he didn’t really expect to find anything familiar on the map, but he supposed he had to at least confirm his suspicions.
This was not his New York.
This wasn’t New York at all.
The map stared back at him, dark text engraved into the frame. ‘Gotham City District Map’.
Gotham City?
He really needed to find that library.
After five minutes or so of searching, his eyes met a dark, orange symbol at the corner of a block. So, off he went to Gotham Public Library.
It shouldn’t have been a long walk by any means, but, of course, Parker luck strikes yet again.
And it started raining. Yay.
Only this time, it was a less extreme form of Parker luck. Instead of a parental figure dying, Peter’s path was blocked by two guys arguing in the middle of the sidewalk. Sure, he could have just walked around them, but that would require venturing into the middle of a road due to an inconveniently parked car, and that road looked… slightly mutilated. Whatever villains and heroes existed in this city, were certainly doing a good job of destroying it.
One of the people in Peter’s way was a pale man, with messy dark hair and deep blue eyes. He wasn’t particularly ‘built’ but he wasn’t really small either. The man was wearing a baggy red hoodie and dark jeans. He also wore matching red trainers, not designer since they were clearly quite worn, but expensive all the same.
The other man was tanned. He was obviously more physically well-proportioned than the first guy and wore a varsity jacket over the top of his off white shirt. His bleached blonde hair shifted as he took a step towards the first guy.
Let’s call him trainers.
Varsity approached trainers with what seemed to be anger; his rage only growing by the second. Oddly, trainers didn’t seem phased by this.
Instead of backing away, trainers took a step forward.
Although Peter had no idea what they were arguing about, he’d be lying if he said he wasn’t curious.
“Did you know 18% percent of arguments end in a physical fight?” Peter quipped.
If his journey was being delayed by some randos, he would at least make it worth it.
Trainers and Varsity just stared at him, seemingly unsure of how to react. Peter didn’t know much about this Gotham City but judging by their faces, it was rare to be so social.
After a few seconds of blinking, Peter continued.
“I’m not saying there’s a high chance of that happening, but I’d like not to get involved if it does, thank you very much.”
The path was still blocked. Somehow, Peter’s attempt at getting them to move had only resulted in him being rooted in his spot for longer.
Although, what made this even more interesting was the men’s (boys’? Peter didn’t know how old they were) reactions.
Varsity, even if he wasn’t a threat, was certainly irritated by Peter’s presence. His brows were furrowed in a threatening stance, causing the buzzing in the back of his mind to heighten slightly.
Trainers however, just stared at him.
He wasn’t even blinking (slightly terrifying).
The silence was deafening. That was until…
“Move along kid” Varsity had spoken. His stance hadn’t changed, as though exaggerating his control over the situation.
Peter looked him in the eye, before glancing towards the sidewalk beyond the trio. “That’s what I’m trying to do buddy. So if you could just skidaddle out of my way, that would be great thanks!”
Look, Peter may be in an awkward situation here, but aunt May taught him better than to forget his manners.
This had once again, earned him an earnest glance from Trainers. It wasn’t concern that he saw in his eyes, more like curiosity. Like Trainers was trying to figure out his intentions.
Admittedly, Peter couldn’t criticise this too harshly as he would have done the same, but there was something different in the way his gaze seemed to calculate his every move. Something almost familiar.
“Skidaddle? Where’d you learn that one, Kindergarten?” Varsity replied, taken aback by Peter’s response.
So Varsity wasn’t used to being challenged.
Interesting.
“Actually my vocabulary is very vast. Extensive. Immeasurable. Limitless you could say.” Peter smiled at him. After all he’s been through, Peter would not let his knowledge of the English language go to waste. Hours spent in the school library with MJ would not be for nothing.
Surprisingly, Trainers let slip a smirk at this remark.
Unfortunately for him, Varsity had noticed.
Raising a fist, Varsity looked as though he was about to snap.
Peter’s spider sense went haywire, not for his own safety, but for Trainers’. Peter hastily stepped forwards, almost missing how the corners of Trainer’s mouth were slightly upturned at this turn of events.
As Peter was about to intervene, Varsity was stumbling backwards.
Well that was easy.
Trainers was left, standing in the centre of the sidewalk massaging his knuckles.
Wow.
Ok.
Peter had not expected that.
Now, Peter wasn’t one to underestimate people. He was underestimated by people all the time: teachers, classmates, even Tony would underestimate him sometimes. But Trainers… he just didn’t seem the type to know how to so confidently punch someone twice his size.
In New York, it was normal to know a little self defence, but to have the ability to take out your opponent in a single swing? It just wasn’t normal.
But then Peter remembered.
He isn’t in New York.
He’s in Gotham.
And Gotham? This place looked rough.
Trainers was now glancing between Peter and Varsity, clearly unsure of how to continue without making a scene (he already had).
So, Peter continued for him.
“Bye”
And he walked away. Not quickly. Just at a normal pace.
As he strolled along the sidewalk, he heard Trainers call out “Are you good dude?”, intentionally aiming the projection of his voice towards Peter rather than Varsity.
Peter simply turned his shoulders and gave a tilted thumbs up in his general direction. Trainers looked like he could take care of himself.
***
When Peter reached the library, the large gothic clock outside, dripping with water from the miserable weather, told him it was almost 11pm.
This wouldn’t be so much of a problem if he had a place to stay. Unfortunately for Peter however, he did not have a place to stay.
What made matters even worse, was the steadily decreasing temperature. Ever since he had been bitten, Peter had struggled to regulate his body temperature. It wasn’t extreme to the point that it was life threatening, but if the weather was this bad, it was always best if he wore a coat.
Great.
Another thing he didn’t have.
No . He couldn’t stay in this mindset. Optimism was half of his brand, he wouldn’t let that slip just because he may or may not be in another universe.
It was only a minor inconvenience . Anyway, he would probably be home soon right? Surely Tony would be looking for him right now. Especially after the hundreds of phone calls Ned would be sending his way when he realised Peter was missing.
Yes.
He would be home soon with Ned and MJ and Tony and May. Even Happy would be happy (haha) to see him.
With that thought in mind, he pushed open the door to the library. According to the sign, the library would be open for another half hour, although it didn’t look like many people were going to take advantage of that.
Peter’s first impression of the library was that it was completely empty. Of course it had shelves stacked to the ceiling with novels and encyclopaedias similar to his school library at home, but he could only pick up on two heartbeats in the building.
His own, and that of a woman sat at her desk in an adjacent room.
He could hardly complain about this though. The less people around him, the less careful he had to be when researching this universe. Something told him staying away from prying eyes would be a good idea over the next few days.
Listening closely, he deciphers that the woman is 5’6” and roughly twenty eight years old. She shouldn’t be too much of a problem, so he leaves her to keep working on whatever she was doing on her unnecessarily high-tech computer.
After a moment, Peter spies three rows of desks towards the back of the room, all decked out with old-ish computers.
He supposes this world is a little behind on technology without Stark Industries around.
Either that or Gotham City needs to put more funding into its libraries.
Either option could be plausible.
He took a seat next to one of the computers in the far corner and began his task.
First, Tony. Puddle guy didn’t seem to know who he was when Peter spoke to him a couple of hours ago, which was unbelievably rare considering his status as genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist (as he so often likes to remind people). The only logical explanation for this, was that there was no Tony Stark.
Peter logged onto the computer as a guest and began his search.
Search: Tony Stark
Results:
- Anthony Greeves creates all-new Stark vacuum cleaner
- Lab results reveal a stark contrast between people named Tony and people named Steve
- Stark.com/paintyourhome
Unless Tony suddenly had a career change into a home renovator, it was clear he didn’t exist here.
Unless… Tony did exist here, just not as famously.
No, Peter didn’t have time to be thinking about that right now. He promised Paul he’d think about the implications of his thoughts but Paul wasn’t here. (I’m so sorry if you don’t understand this reference).
It didn’t look like anyone was.
Okay next up, The Avengers. Peter admired The Avengers. In fact, so much so that when he was younger, he hung a poster above his bed with all of their names on it. Of course, now he knew them personally, but he may still show some signs of fangirling behaviour around them.
Search: The Avengers
Results:
- Boy avenges his cow ‘Bruno’ by founding an animal shelter in Metro City
- Crimson Avenger sighted using a green gas compound to subdue his opponents
- Avenge your children's futures today by signing our petition for an earlier curfew in Gotham City
Curfew?
Peter hadn’t expected a curfew; not considering all the lurking strangers he saw on the way here. Not to mention Varsity and Trainers!
On another note, there are no Avengers here either. Maybe there was another superhero group? He could use all the help he could get.
Search: Superheroes
Results:
- Justice League Wiki page/all you need to know
- r/Superman/Fan Theories
- Justice League takes down ‘Flying Snow Machines’ with the help of sidekicks
- Batman: Hero of Gotham? Or Vigilante Menace?/written by JJ.Jameson
Peter had to stifle a laugh.
He grinned at the words on the screen. Of course it was Jameson that has a recognisable counterpart. He guessed he would never escape that guy after all.
What Peter also noticed was the name ‘Batman’. While the articles about this ‘Justice League’ were interesting, Batman seemed to be the signature hero of Gotham.
Peter’s in Gotham. Peter needed help.
Deciding he needed to know more, he got to work researching this caped crusader. After maybe ten minutes of reading, he discovered that Batman didn’t work alone. Nearly all of the articles he read detailed his sidekick ‘Robin’, unknown in age and with a notably changing appearance. Peter also found a fan site based in Gotham.
Finally, some real intel.
It wasn’t that Peter thought of reporters as unreliable, but in his experience, fan sites tended to be much better at guessing games.
If you ever need your secret identity revealed, leak it on Reddit.
On this fan site, he found an absolute treasure trove of information. Woah, DP would go crazy over a resource like this.
There was fan art, theories, news blogs, and most importantly, a summary. He kept reading, and over time figured out most of the City’s vigilantes and villains.
There was Batman and Robin, often accompanied by the rest of the ‘bats’ including Nightwing, Spoiler, Red Robin, Signal and Batgirl as vigilantes.
Okay… so there’s a weird bird theme going on here.
As for the villains, there was Joker, Harley Quinn, Two-Face, Clay-Face, Poison Ivy and those were only the ones Peter had read about so far. He had to admit, some of them had some interesting abilities that he would love to find out more about, but overall, these just sounded like some of his weekly bullies back in New York.
Now there was one last thing Peter wanted to search.
Search: Spider-Man
Results:
- Spider bite causes powerful hallucinations in Queensland, Australia
- Top 10 craziest spiders in the world!
- Oscorp rumoured to use spiders in newest project regarding DNA mutation
- Man protects young girl from spiders during suspected extra-terrestrial terrorist attack
- What type of spider are you? Take this quiz to find out/Buzzfeed.com
At least he wouldn’t have to worry about a doppelganger. Although, maybe that made him feel even more lonely…
Nah emotions are overrated anyway.
Footsteps
The heartbeat had moved from its original position in the office. And right on que…
“Anything I can help you with, kid?” came a woman’s voice from over his shoulder.
What was with everyone and calling him ‘kid’?
Acting somewhat surprised, Peter replied “No thank you. I’m just doing some homework”
“Ah I see, science?” She adjusted her reading glasses.
Peter glanced back at the computer screen on the desk. The results of his ‘Spider-Man’ search remained on the screen. “Uhh yeah. Biology.” She seemed to buy it.
“You got a name kid?”
Would people stop calling him that?
“Peter. Peter Parker.” Peter’s usual sarcasm was lost. This woman was being perfectly polite and his spider senses liked her so he really had no reason to question her motives.
That being said, he still didn’t know her name.
“Well Peter, I’m Barbara, but most people just call me Babs.” She smiled, obviously trying to appear as trustworthy as possible. Peter believed her.
“You hungry? I’m about to close up but I can recommend a place?” She asked calmly.
Hmmm. He could definitely use some food. His metabolism was super fast and it’s not like he has any other source of nutrients.
“I suppose I could eat” he said as nonchalantly as possible.
Barbara looked him over as though trying to check his health. (She wouldn’t get very far, his baggy hoodie and jeans covered most of his physical prowess).
“Well there’s a cafe across the road that hands out free food when they close. They hosted a meeting earlier tonight so they’ll still be open to handouts if you’re quick.” She responded in a positive, encouraging tone, her smile almost guilt tripping him alone.
“I’ll head over there now, thanks Miss Barbara” He stood from his chair, promptly clearing his search history and logging off of the computer.”
“You’re welcome back anytime Peter. Oh and it’s Babs by the way.” Peter could practically hear the ‘:)’ at the end of her sentence.
And with that, he nodded politely in Bab’s direction, and left the building. Stepping out into the cold streets of Gotham wasn’t exactly a pleasant experience. The street lights were cracked and the rain still pelted his hood like bullets.
But Peter was used to bullets.
Anyway, food was the priority right now. Food and shelter took precedent, just like uncle Ben (not the rice) always taught him.
Crossing the road, Peter took count of his surroundings. If he squinted, he swore he could have seen shadows around the rooftops. It was probably just mice or bats. Or Bats.
The cafe Babs had mentioned was just across from the library, and as he imagined she usually was (she just gives off that vibe), she was right; they were open late.
He moved from his place at the edge of the road-turned-small-river and started walking towards the warm glow of the cafe windows. It wasn’t a particularly fancy establishment, but it was perfectly suited to Peter’s needs. Actually, he was fairly sure he had worked somewhere similar before in Queens. He and Ned had worked a singular shift there before Ned decided to quit. He was only really there for Peter’s sake anyway (emotional support and all).
The lilac curtains that bordered the windows shifted slightly as they were nudged with a broom handle. The bell rang out across the room as Peter walked in from the torturously cold streets.
The waitress with the broom noticed his presence, before discarding it and making her way over to the counter. Peter tilted his head slightly and smiled at her with wavering confidence.
Smooth.
The waitress must have quickly realised why he was here because before Peter could ask anything, she was pulling a small brown paper bag from under the counter. At first, he thought it was a gun or something, however, not wanting to alarm the waitress, he forced himself back to his senses and kept his calm composure.
“Do you like bagels?” She asked, her sweet English accent carrying across the room.
“Love them thanks” Peter replied in his ‘I’m cool and totally normal’ voice.
The interaction didn’t last long, maybe totalling 2 minutes maximum. The waitress had stepped into a storeroom for a second to collect some water for him while he took a look around the place. The walls were lined with framed posters from different presumably vintage TV shows, the floor covered with a generic chequered pattern.
When she returned, Peter briefly thanked her before walking out the door, not having any idea where to go next.
There was always a homeless shelter, but they would be too hard to find and definitely not trustworthy enough. He could find an abandoned building but that could take all night and they were likely all occupied by addicts and rats.
Peter walked and thought. He must have been walking and thinking for a very long time though, because by the time he stopped to check on his drenched appearance, he was near the map again. The one that had reminded him of his situation.
He was stuck in another universe.
He was stuck in another universe without knowing why, how, or if he had the power to get back home.
May would be waiting for him to come home from patrol, undoubtedly sick with worry and anxiety.
Tony would be pacing in one of his offices, having known exactly when and where Peter disappeared, paranoia driving him insane.
Happy would be trying to comfort Tony, probably checking his voicemail a million times over to see if he had left a message.
Ned would be calling Peter all night to make sure he was okay. He needed his guy in the chair to check up on him every so often.
MJ would be telling herself she’s overreacting, that there’s a simple explanation for what’s happening.
But what was happening? Did Peter even know? Did he really have any control over this situation?
However he got here, it wasn’t of his own volition. It can’t have been. Peter wouldn’t leave his friends like that, it was too cruel. But someone must have sent him here…
Someone or something was the cause of one of the biggest problems he had ever faced in his life and he had no way to fix it…
His breathing picked up pace.
Peter had no way to control this situation and so many people were relying on him and…
Peter had stopped in his tracks, now leaning against a harsh brick wall.
Uncomfortably aware of his surroundings, his senses were dialled up to one hundred.
It wasn’t fair. It wasn’t fair how he was stuck here and he didn’t know how to get back. He had done everything right! Surely he didn’t deserve something as bad as being trapped in another universe with little to no similarity to his own! He wanted to see his friends, his girlfriend, The Avengers, heck even Flash!
Well…
Being a superhero has its drawbacks. Now Peter was just facing his.
***
Tim arrived back at the manor at around 1 AM. His hoodie was soaked to the core and there wasn’t even a point in wearing his trainers anymore.
He supposed he ought to avoid Alfred for the time being, at least until he cleaned himself up. Sticking to his word, Tim crept up the stairs, careful not to alert any sleeping members of the household. Although, he was not really sure who would be home at that moment.
Unfortunately for him, that question was soon answered.
At the top of the staircase, stood Bruce Wayne. Batman was taking a break tonight then huh.
“You’re home late, you’re soaked from head to toe, and you look like you’ve just picked a fight with the joker and lost.”
“I wouldn’t be the first Robin to have done that.”
Bruce looked at Tim sternly.
“Explain.”