Strange world
Peter watched as the red and blue figure swung from afar, swinging from buildings to buildings with ease. It was obviously Peter Three, he recognized the agility and his longer swings. The middle man always waited longer than them to swing himself back up, he had claimed to enjoy the feeling of free falling.
“Hello, pedestrian!” Three greeted as he swung by before continuing his route.
Peter watched him swing further and further away until he was nothing more than a tiny dot on the horizon. Two approached him with their bag slung at his side.
“At least we know we’re in the right place,” commented the man. “He didn’t seem to be hurt either.”
He hummed in agreement as his eyes lingered on the last spot he had seen his brother. “Now we just need to actually find him.”
“Well, if there’s one way to find Spider-Man, it’s to follow the sirens and gunshots,” casually said Peter Two. “So, I suggest we start with that. Plus our tingle will help.”
***
They had wandered around for a while, trying to find traces of where their counterpart could be. In the meantime, they had learned a few things about this universe, mainly that The Daily Bugle still hated Spider-Man, and that it was also run by an identical J Jonah Jameson as their two other worlds. They had dubbed this discovery as a multiverse constant, three instances were more than enough proof to confirm that theory. Interestingly enough, there were also villains they had never encountered, such as this mysterious thief that called themselves ‘Black Cat’.
When they had eventually found a bunch of police cars, fire trucks, and ambulances heading one way, it hadn’t taken long for the red and blue figure of Spider-Man to follow their directions. So he and Two did the same and they blended into the crowd of curious onlookers eager to see Spider-Man in action.
It was a standard ‘burning building’ situation where it was a run against the clock to save as many people as they possibly could before the structure collapsed. Peter was amused to see that the firefighters had given one of their coats to Peter Three, probably to help against the unforgiving flames. The look of the gray and neon yellow striped coat was interesting when mixed with the red and blue of his superhero costume, and despite the taller status of Three, it practically swallowed him whole from the bulkiness of the fabric. When the evacuation was over, the borrowed garment was returned with a snarky remark about yellow not being his color, and Spider-Man turned to the sea of people surrounding him. They watched as he talked to people and even did his best to come up with a signature as a child asked for his Spider-Man plush to be signed. He, ironically, signed his hero name with a little spider web at the end. When the crowd started to subside and Three was about to leave, they knew it was time to act.
“Spider-Man!” called out Peter Two, probably using their shared superhero name because there were still people around them.
“Hi, guys!” He greeted them, cutting through the crowd. “How’s it going?”
“We’re good,” Peter said, before looking around them. “Is it okay if we go somewhere less busy? We need to talk to you.”
There was a slight hesitation in Three’s steps before his demeanor relaxed again. “Yeah, sure. Lead the way kid!”
Peter rolled his eyes at the overused nickname but couldn’t help the small smile that stretched across his lips. The crowd parted to let Spider-Man through, and he also noticed the many eyes on them. Most were looking at Peter Three with fascination and wonder, but he caught a few people looking at both him and Two with envy and even jealousy. Peter continued walking until they reached an alley empty enough for them to be able to talk in private. For a moment, nobody spoke up, they all looked at each other as though they couldn’t find the right thing to say. Even if Three had only been missing for a little more than a day, it had felt so much longer than that. So seeing him alive and unscathed despite the circumstances felt like a weight had been removed from his shoulders.
Peter Two apparently felt the same way since he looked at the taller man with a relieved face. “You’re okay, you’re really okay.”
“Uh… yeah? Of course, I am,” said Peter Three with a hint of confusion in his voice. “Why wouldn’t I be okay?”
Peter couldn’t help himself, all the giddiness that had been building up inside him ever since they had found their missing brother came out in a cry of joy and a bear hug.
“I’m so glad you’re okay,” he told him as he squeezed the man tightly. Maybe a little tighter than usual, but he was certain that he’d understand given the circumstances. Besides, they had all endured worse than a strong hug.
Something started to feel wrong when instead of reciprocating the hug as tight as Peter did, Three only let out an awkward laugh. “Oh wow, I have to say, sir, your kid is pretty strong. You gotta tell me what you feed him!”
Two frowned so hard, that it was almost audible. “What?”
Peter removed himself from the hug to stare at his brother confusedly; a bad feeling was starting to pool in his belly. “Three, what are you talking about? We’re here to rescue you.”
“Rescue me from what?” Asked the man, his body language screaming his uncertainty. “And why did you call me Three?”
“Because that’s what we’ve been calling each other?” He answered, wishing with all his might that the taller man was messing with him. “I’m Peter One, he’s Peter Two and you’re Peter Three.”
“Who’s Peter?” He asked, his voice trembling with fear; a telltale sign that he was lying.
“You are!” He told him, a little more desperate than he had wanted.
Peter tried to grab his shoulder, but Three took a step backward, he could hear his heart speeding up because of his panic. “My name’s not Peter, it’s… Ben.”
Now that was an obvious lie, if he’d ever heard one, it wasn’t hard to see through it. However, the situation remained scaringly worrisome with his brother staring at them through his large white lenses. He was on edge, but he wasn’t moving just yet. If he felt anything like he did back when they were on the rooftop, he was probably wondering why his tingle wasn’t telling him of the danger despite what his logic told him.
“Peter…” he tried again, only for Three to jump on the wall next to him and crawling up a few meters.
“Why are you calling me that? I don’t know you!” His eyes went to Peter Two. “Or you!”
Without giving them time to answer, Three shot a web and swung away as fast as he could. Peter went to follow him, but Two grabbed his arm, stopping his momentum. He turned to the man as he unsuccessfully tried to wrench his arm out of his steel grip. “What are you doing?! We have to follow him!”
“No, we don’t,” answered his counterpart, keeping his grip tight. “If we pursue him, that’s going to confirm his fears and he’ll think of us as the enemy. We need to come up with some kind of strategy before we face him again.”
“I don’t— I don’t understand,” he stammered, a sick feeling in his stomach. “Why didn’t he recognize us?”
The deep sigh from Peter Two did nothing to help the situation. “If this world is as perfect as Wanda told us, think of it as denial. This world is a make believe where everything that ever went wrong in his life never happened. Us being here is a reminder that it’s fake, so the witch made him forget about us.”
“What are we going to do?” He asked, feeling ready to do anything to save him. “We can’t leave him to die.”
Peter Two didn’t look at him, he instead had his eyes focused on the sky. An expression of fierce determination decorated his features. “We’re going to make him remember.”