Chapter 1
Peter pulled the door to his dingy little apartment closed, careful not to stress the handle lest he be forced to fork over half of his weekly earnings to have it fixed again. His landlord could be such a loanshark sometimes. Quickly scaling down the dirty carpet covered stairs, breathing through his mouth as to not to let the stench of dirt and whatever else coated the shoes of other occupants inside his lungs. He'd learned that lesson the hard way.
Carefully pushing the chipped wooden door at the bottom of the staircase open, he stepped outside, the humid air made his hair stick lightly to his forehead, and his skin feel all sticky and wet, but Peter was on a mission, and he'd be damned to let a little early spring air get to him. He increased his pace slightly as his destination came into view. The sign on the storefront remained unchanged, the same 'Best Sandwiches in Queens!' printed onto it.
Maybe it was pathetic to be this excited over something so unimportant as a sandwich, but Peter didn't really have anything to look forward to these days. Ok, he knows what that sounds like, but it's true. Everyday was mostly the same, the same laborious task of getting out of bed in the morning, the same freelance gigs, the same brand of instant noodles and cheap snacks from the nearby grocery store - the only things he can afford to buy in bulk to compensate for his metabolism while being mindful of his meager living wage. He went out every day, not wanting to spend more time than necessary in his dingy little apartment. So lonely. So unlike it used to be when it was just him and May and Ben.
He took special liberties to stay clear of the donut shop MJ worked at. God, even looking at it was enough to make his stomach curl in on itself. Seeing them there, talking and smiling, planning their next hangout, or sharing their class schedules for MIT. It hurt. It hurt so bad hearing Ned drone on and on about his new Lego set. And everytime he couldn't help but wonder. Is this how it should have been from the beginning? They deserved this, Peter thinks, a life free from the burdens that came with being too close to Spider-Man, a life free from the pain that came with being too close to him. It was better this way. Better for the people he cared about and, in the end, it'll be better for him, too. So what if the loneliness got to be too much sometimes? It didn't matter that it was eating at him from the inside; sitting on his chest like a ten-ton weight that had him staring up at his yellowed ceiling, gasping for breath.
This was just how it had to be. It was his responsibility as Spider-Man, and it would have been his responsibility as Peter Parker, Ben and May's and Richard and Mary's son, Peter Parker, MJ's boyfriend, and Peter Parker, Ned's best friend.
Purging the thoughts from his mind, and forcing down the Nausea, Peter opened the glass door, hearing the little bell at the top sound his presence. "What can I get ya, kid?" Mr. Delmar's voice, thick with that familiar New York accent asked from being the counter. Peter quickly rattled off his order, his usual. Not that Mr. Delmar knew that anymore, ofcourse. Back then - before Beck before everything - they would go back and forth, Mr. Delmar making an unwelcome comment about his Auntie, and Peter shooting back one about his daughter in response. Now, though, Peter thinks rattling off his mouth like that would get him a burning hot toaster oven and a hard slap to the face.
Or worse, he thought, a permanent ban. Peter shuddered at the thought. Mr. Delmar handed him his order after a few minutes and Peter payed him what he knew was the exact total. He turned towards the door. "Thank You, Mr. Delmar," he called over his shoulder, he might have said it with more familiarity than he meant to, but hopefully Mr. Delmar wouldn't read too much into it.
Stepping back out into the stifling humidity, Peter leaned against the wall of the neighboring alleyway. Peter closed his eyes and brought the perfectly toasted slice of heaven to his mouth, but just as he was about to go to town, his Spider Sense flared in the back of his neck, sending a jolt of warning down his spine. His eyes snapped open in confusion and building dread. Couldn't anything go right for him just this once??
Sensing no immediate threat directly infront of him, and instead moving his attention downwards, Peter spotted what his sci-fi addled mind identified as some kind of portal. The edges swirled a kaleidoscope of colors while the center remained an inky black. For a moment, Peter could only stare in awe and what he assumed to be a kind of muted fear.
Then the pull started.
The portal flared, seeming to grow in size, random clutter in and around the alley being drawn into its abyss. The force of it was almost enough to pull Peter off his feet, luckily, he managed to attach himself to one of the alley's walls. Though, with one hand still tightly clutching his sandwich to his chest, that left him with only 3 points of contact, and -with the way the portal's suction seemed to increase, as if determined to take him with it to who knows where - That left him with two options. Let go of his hard-earned sandwich -his Delmar's Deluxe, if you will - in order to maintain a stable grip on the brick wall, or keep holding on to it and risk losing his grip, and probably (most-likely) his life.
Choices, Choices. In the end, the portal must have gotten impatient and made the decision for him, as its suction tripled in force - and, well, spider stickiness could only go so far. Especially when he was partly distracted, trying to hold on to his foil-wrapped slice (or multiple) of heaven, which proved to be futile, seeing as it was wrenched from his grasp by a particularly huge trash bag.
Peter made the extremely stupid decision of attempting to lunge for it, which led to all of him being unstuck. As a last ditch effort, Peter fired a string of web at a nearby rusty fire escape and held on for dear life. The creaking of the weathered metal coming undone, and the deafening SNAP! of the webbing was the last thing he heard before everything went black.
The first thing Peter noticed when he came to was the freezing cold. Everywhere. It was everywhere. Beneath him, above him, inside him, and so unlike the sticky spring air a few minutes ago. The frosty breeze sunk its teeth into his flesh, digging deep into his bones. The second thing Peter noticed when he came too was the smell.
Oh God, the smell.
Yeah, you've probably guessed, but, with enhanced senses, things that would normally be small inconveniences with simple fixes to regular humans could be an absolutely pain for him. Meaning, crash-landing in a dumpster such as the one he now resided in Sucked - or should he say, Stank? - with a capital S.
He could smell rot, and piss and shit and - it felt like he couldn't breathe. Coincidentally - or not so coincidentally considering how much the universe liked to screw him over - his Spider Senses chose that very moment to chime in, it was a low hum and it felt just like the cold. Inside, underneath, everywhere.
Normally, this wouldn't be so bad considering that it could have been much much worse, but, that on top of everything else was a death sentence for the Parker psyche. Peter frantically grabbed ahold of the dumpsters ledge and hauled himself over and onto the damp floor of what seemed to be another alley? Peter couldn't tell between the thrumming of his Senses in his ears, and the sensory overload.
Peter doesn't know when he managed to stumble away from the maybe alley, but the next time he opened his eyes, he was hunched over on a street corner, his arms pressed tightly against his ears, trying to block out anything and everything. His senses were still a constant humming at the base of his neck, but the smell wasn't as bad anymore, and when he finally let his arms fall to his sides, even the influx of noise that pointed to him being in a bustling city was tolerable.
Peter inhaled deeply. Okay. He's okay. Trying his best to ignore the stares he was receiving, he stood up on trembling legs, and took a look around. He took immediate notice of the gothic architecture and the so-called 'workplace buildings' that would give safety inspectors and MJ a hernia or two. Everything was painted frankly depressing shades of gray and Peter swore there were actual gargoyles on some of the more residential buildings.
...where the fuck was he? Wherever he was, it was definitely not New York, or anywhere he'd every been, for that matter. Peter's adventures (derogatory) as Spider-Man had taken him almost everywhere in New York, or atleast in Queens, so he thinks he'd notice if a whole other section of the city was constructed overnight.
So not New York, probably not the Netherlands or Germany, considering the billboards and newspapers were written in English. Wait, newspapers! He walked over to the conveniently placed newspaper stand and snatched one up. Let's see...
Crime in Central City hits All-Time Low
Metropolis Experiences First Minor Alien Invasion in 2 Years! New City Record, Sources Say!
Blah blah blah..Oh! here.
Batman Thwarts Yet Another Scheme in Our Very Own Gotham City: Two-Face Behind Bars Once Again!
So..apparently he was in Gotham City, and shared the same skyline with not only a horribly scarred maniac/mob boss who looked like he could be Cruella's long lost brother, but also a bat-themed vigilante who the public actually seems to like? Something tells him some research is in order.
So, Peter drags himself away from the dingy old newspaper stand, and sets off in search of a library, maybe a community center? Somewhere with a computer, 'cause something (the constant buzzing of his Spider-Sense and the scent of gunpowder and metal on most passersby) tells him the locals might not be so eager to answer his questions.
Man...he really wanted that sandwich.