Black And White
1933 for Miles's universe, or any of the Spider-Gang members', is very different when compared to Noir's. Their 1933 had color while his did not.
His world was bleak, dangerous, ugly, and colorless. Every day, the news paper was riddled with deaths that had happened the night before. Some were suicides, others murders. The Great Depression had hit hard, and it had swept everyone off their feet. Peter, though not born during the Great Depression, had always been poor. His family couldn't afford to put food on the table every night, not that Peter had minded. He understood how hard life was on Aunt May and Uncle Benjamin. His parents had dumped him with them and.. left? He wasn't sure what happened to them.
A gentle hand on his shoulder brought Noir back to the present. He looked over at the hand, which apparently belonged to Miles, goggles glinting ominously in the lighting. "Are you fellas sure you want to go? It really wouldn't bother me if you stayed. 'S not a pretty sight."
"I'm sure," Miles said.
"Same here, Edge!" Porker had a stupid grin on his face, now that he had his mask pulled up.
"I wanna see where you live," Peni announced, excitedly.
"Yeah, me too. I've always wondered what it's like to live in a black and white world," Gwen said with a small smile before pulling her mask back on.
Noir turned to glance at Peter B., curious as to what the older man's response would be.
Peter gave him a reassuring smile. "I gotta go with the kids on this one. I'm curious."
A heavy sigh left Noir, but he eventually nodded. "Alright. Let's go, then." And with that, he pressed a button on his dimensional watch and a portal opened up in front of him. He walked through first with the other five Spiders following close behind.
The reactions he received were not what he expected. His colorful friends were all in awe as they stared at the old-timey black and white building's around them.
"'S not nearly as nice as your universe's, I'm sure," Noir said, quietly. He fiddled with his hands, nervously, as he waited for someone to start asking if they could go home.
The question never came.
"Noir, this is so cool! It's like, straight out of a detective novel!" Porker excitedly scaled the black and white man and sat happily on his shoulder.
"Dude, please tell me we can beat up some Nazis! I've always wanted to punch one," Gwen exclaimed as the eyes on her mask curved into a happy squint.
"Oh my god, same!! Noir, Noir you gotta let us punch some Nazis," Miles said, grabbed lightly at the taller man's arm.
Noir laughed. Full on laughed. He was so surprised by Gwen's and Miles' request that he just couldn't help it. Everyone was surprised by the sound, but Noir couldn't bring himself to care. He laughed so hard that he sides hurt, and eventually, he heard the others laughing too. He couldn't remember the last time he had laughed this hard, but it was nice.
"Of course you can help me punch Nazis!" He hadn't been expecting such excited responses from his friends.
"Hell yeah," Gwen said, punching a fist in the air.
Peni wrapped her tiny hand around Noir's with a big smile. "Oh! Can we look around! I wanna see all the really old tech you guys have!"
Noir felt himself smiling as he gently squeezed Peni's hand. He could hear Porker humming in agreement from his perch on his shoulder. "Sure, kiddo." He couldn't help but blush when Peni let out an excited squeak and hugged his leg.
0000
"Oh my gosh, what is that?"
"What's what?"
"That," Miles repeated, pointing at a car.
Noir tilted his head. "A car? What else would it be?"
"No, no. I know it's a car. But why does it look like that."
"Leave the old man's version of a car alone, Miles. They don't have the nice stuff we've got now," Peter B. said with an amused grin.
"Hey, I'm not that old," Noir huffed. "'M only twenty six."
"Okay, but in my universe, you're like one hundred and twenty years old," Miles side with a mischievous grin.
Porker snorted and climbed onto Noir's head. How the pig was able to keep himself balanced up there, Noir would never understand. "Ah, don't worry 'bout it, Edgey. It just means you're a really, really cool grandpa."
Peni giggled at that as she swung her (and Noirs, since they were currently still holding hands) arm back and forth. "No, no. He's a really, really cool dad! Get it right, Ham!"
"Sorry Peni, but I'm gonna have to agree with Ham on this one," Miles hummed.
"Yep, me too," Gwen added.
Peter B. chuckled at that. "Hey, it means I'm not the old man anymore. Sorry, Noir, but you're definitely older than me."
Noir wanted to tilt his head, but Porker was still perched on it. He elected to stay still for the time being. "Dunno how I feel about the title, but I suppose I don't mind it," he hummed. "I'm still not that old, though. Geeze."
That earned laughs from everybody as they made their way to the next rooftop.
Even though Noir's universe was dull, ugly, dangerous, deadly, and colorless, he couldn't seem to bring himself to hate it nearly as much with his friends around.
His friends really were the light of his life.