I don't own anything except any original character and/or any original plot.

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Chapter Twenty-One: Another Dimension

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A/n: Remember when I said I'd post this on the Sunday after Thanksgiving? Yeah, me too.

~*~

"Oh my god," I was nauseous. It sounded like Harry was talking to someone in the final voicemail, but there were no other voices to be heard. Almost like... like who he was talking to didn't exist, "Peter! We need to go back to New York, now!"

"What's wrong?"

"It's Harry. I think he had a breakdown. Like a breakdown. Peter... he sounded like Norman."

Peter's eyes widened. Harry may have hated his guts, but he never tried to hurt us, and Peter never stopped thinking of him as family. Especially since we still hung out in the same circle. So for Harry to be delving into madness, following the same path as his father, we were all terrified.

"Shuri, we need to go back to New York. Now."

"Uh, sure. You can take one of the quinjets. You remember how to fly them, right?"

"Yeah. Thank you, Shuri. We'll hang again soon!"

Shouldering our overnight bags, we ran to the nearest quinjet, trusting Shuri would tell whoever she needed to that we had taken it. Loading up, we clicked New York's preset coordinates and set it to the top speed.

Pulling out our suits from our bags, we quickly pulled them on. I was thankful that it was a Shuri suit because I simply pulled on the cuffs and had my suit cover my clothes. If I had to pull the full thing on, my hands would be shaking too badly to operate.

"Where are we gonna land this thing?" Peter wondered when we settled into our seats again.

"Put it in cloaking mode and land it on the building next to the mansion. Then we can swing over to his roof."

Within the hour we arrived in New York. Harry's manor had no lights on, despite the late hour. Landing the jet on the nearest flat rooftop, we rushed out.

While Peter was swinging us both to Harry's roof, the sky opened above us. Peter gasped in shock as he was pulled toward the portal. Holding onto him for dear life, we screamed as we were sucked in, so close to helping Harry.

~*~

"(Y/n), (Y/n) wake up!"

Snapping up, Peter's familiar face greeted me, but-

"You look like a cartoon."

"So do you."

Pulling out the small hand-held mirror I kept for my lipstick, I looked myself over carefully. Sure enough, my features had taken on a cartoon-ish nature, while still maintaining some semblance of realism. The world around us was different. Straight out of a comic book with bold lines for building borders and stark highlights on people's clothing.

"What the hell happened? Where are we?"

"New York," Peter looked around, "There's Times Square. But it's not our New York."

"No kidding."

The giant Times Square screen across from us flicked away from its normal picture of whatever advertisement had bought a spot for the day. An emergency news bulletin gave us the final shock of the night.

"We interrupt this broadcast for a special report. Sad news tonight. The hero known as Spider-Man has died after injuries related to another powerful earthquake in Brooklyn. Multiple sources are confirming that Peter Parker, a 26-year-old grad student, and part-time photographer, operated as SpiderMan for at least a decade, saving by some counts thousands of lives around the world. With these tragic seismic events on the rise, one can only wonder, is there anyone who can keep New York safe?"

"I'm dead?"

"You're blonde?"

Two very different reactions, and Peter and I exchanged looks when we said them. Not only was Peter apparently dead in this- wherever we were, but he was in his 20s again.

"He is survived by his wife Mary Jane and his aunt, May Parker. Our hero Spider-Man is gone."

And he married MJ. Who was a redhead... okay.

"We need to find my apartment," I muttered, tapping Peter's arm frantically, "If this is like our universe then my parents should be here. We can explain this to them-figure it out."

"(Y/n)-"

But I was already leaving. I was off of the rooftop and onto the next, overwhelmed by how many differences there were from our universe, and how scarily similar it was. But Peter was dead, he had been killed in an "earthquake".

My apartment building was in sight. Desperately, I touched down on the fire escape and thundered down the steps until I was at the familiar level. Peeking inside, I scowled when I couldn't see anything and pulled out my phone flashlight.

"(Y/n), stop," Peter grabbed my arm, but I pressed the flashlight button and it was too late.

There was no one inside. The room was different, not that of a teenage girl, or even of me when I'd be twenty-six and stayed in the apartment while my parents moved somewhere else to retire. It was someone completely different, a boy's room full of sports posters and football equipment.

"There may be the same people, and the same heroes, but all we've noticed is how different it is, too. We need to find somewhere to stay and then we can figure this out."

"We need new clothes, too."

"I don't have any money for that. I barely have room for my phone in this suit."

"Misty, can you make a credit card out of nano-tech? Something that'll pass through the scanners."

"I must advise you against doing something illegal, but it is in my capabilities."

"Let's get some clothes," I pulled my suit back into my cuffs, "Actually, I'll just do. You stay in an alley or something. I look like a teenager, you look like Dead Spider-Man."

"Oh, right."

Reluctantly I left my apartment building with the knowledge that wherever I was in this new universe, I wasn't with Peter. On the streets, I found the nearest clothing store, picking out the first couple of outfits that would fit me and Peter. I didn't know how long we'd be stuck in this new New York, but we'd need to play it safe.

I gave the cashier a smile, and nervous swiped the credit card made out of nano-tech that thankfully still worked. It worked, and I had no idea if Misty hacked the system or if it was taking money from the account that Tony left me and Peter that didn't exist anymore. But it didn't matter.

I met Peter in the nearest alley, and he quickly switched out of his Spider-Man costume into some civilian clothes. From there, we decided our best course of action would be to find a hotel to stay in, and figure things out the next morning.

The secretary at the hotel was very suspicious of us and asked for an ID that I had to have Misty make on the spot. She probably thought we were runaway sweethearts, which was half true. We were sweethearts, but we hadn't run away from anything.

In our room, we showered and laid down, taking advantage of the free Wifi to do some simple searches on our phones and report back to each other with our findings.

"The Avengers don't exist in this universe," Peter started.

"I can't find any traces of a twenty-six-year-old named (Y/n) (L/n)," I continued.

"And this is a different dimension," we concluded together.

After the whole thing with Beck, Peter and I never even considered the possibility that there were alternate dimensions. Beck confirmed it, then quickly disproved his story when everything fell apart. But there was some truth to his words, there was a Multiverse, and we were smack dab in the middle of a different reality where Peter Parker had just died.

"Tomorrow, we'll look for Aunt May and figure things out," I whispered to Peter, grabbing his hand under the blankets to both give and feel reassurance.

"Wouldn't it be kind of scarring, seeing her dead, young nephew right after he died?" Peter's eyes widened.

"There're no Avengers or Shuri Udaku we can go to in this dimension, and no Xavier's as far as I can tell. She's all we have."

Peter didn't respond. Instead, he pulled me closer. I pushed down my negative thoughts, and worries about how we'd get back home. Of never seeing my parents or our friends again. Worrying wouldn't get us back home, and it wouldn't help me sleep either.

Matching my breathing pace with Peter's, I drifted off to sleep.

~*~

Peter and I woke up at eleven the next morning. We would have slept in later, too, if it weren't for our bodies splitting apart and slamming back together in rapid succession.

"Oh my god," I groaned in pain, curling in a fetal position when it was over, "What the hell was that?"

"Our atoms must be splitting apart and reforming to deal with the new dimension. We aren't supposed to be here and our bodies know it," Peter gave the smartest answer, "In other words, there's no giving up and making a life here. If we don't get back-"

"We're dead."

At that sobering thought, we changed into a new set of clothes and checked out of the hotel. All I had on me was my cuffs, my phone, and a few other small items that I kept in my suit like my lipstick. Peter had his Spider-Man suit in a plastic store bag.

"You don't think we can just google May's address, do you?"

"No, but we can just trail her like stalkers," I grabbed his hand and dragged him into a large crowd full of people wearing Spider-Man memorabilia.

It was a public memorial service, and at the front stage was red-head MJ and older-May.

"My favorite thing about Peter is that he made us each feel powerful. We all have powers of one kind or another. But in our own way, we are all Spider-man. And we're all counting on you."

MJ backed away from the podium, walking away with Aunt May just behind her. Tapping Peter's arm, I motioned for us to get out of the crowd. He nodded, pausing. His eyes trained on a spot farther away in the sea of red and blue.

"Peter? What's wrong?"

"Don't know. I got a Peter Tingle."

Nose scrunching up at the use of the term, I sighed, "We need to call it something else. Like a Hero Premonition, or a Sixth Sense- Spidey Sense! That's the one."

"Okay. I got a Spidey Sense about someone over there."

"Good or bad?"

"Neither. It was almost like... they're like me."

My eyes shifted over to MJ and Aunt May. They were almost out of sighed.

"Peter I would love to look for whoever set you off, but we have more important things to worry about. Misty, I need you to track May and make a map to her address."

"It will be completed when she arrives home."

"Awesome. We need to put our suits on and then we can start following the map."

Most of the alleys nearby were full of people passing through to get to and from the memorial. Because of that, we were stuck changing inside the nearest "WcDonald's" bathroom. No one batted an eye when we walked out in full hero garb. Peter being dead was weird, but convenient.

Misty pulled up the map to May's house and sent it to Karen so Peter could swing us there. It was around six at night when we finally touched down. We'd wandered the city and maneuvered through the Spider-Man mourners most of the day.

While walking up to the porch, Peter didn't say a word. I knew what he was thinking. May and him had been stuck in a dingy apartment when we first met. Since he had been working with Tony and Happy, things had improved, but to see any version of May in a house must have been endearing.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Peter's lenses narrowed in on the gifts left around her porch.

"It'd be a better idea if you too your mask off," Peter did as I said, and I pulled mine off as well, "She's all we have in this dimension unless you want to try the other MJ."

Peter rung the bell. We only had to wait for a few seconds before May answered.

"Thank you, for being such sweet fans but-" she cut herself off when she saw us. "Peter."

"Hi, May."

"You're so young," May put a gentle hand on Peter's cheek, "And a brunette."

"Yeah, about that, I'm from-"

"Another dimension." She noticed our shocked faces, "Why don't you come inside? I'll heat up some of the many casseroles I've been given, and we can talk before you meet the others."

"Others?" I questioned.

"How do you think I knew where you two were from? You are from the same dimension as him, aren't you?"

"Yeah. I'm (Y/n) by the way. In his dimension we're partners."

"Ah, I understand," May smiled, ushering us inside, "Let's talk."

She set us up with a premade casserole and a mug of coffee. It was silent while we ate, but the two of us had been ignoring our hunger since we arrived, and a meal was appreciated.

"We're sorry to put this on you so soon after... um..." I trailed off awkwardly, not sure where to go from there.

May smiled gently, and despite the age difference, I saw young May in her eyes.

"You weren't the first people to come to me," May set out dishes in the sink, "Although you are quite different, (Y/n)."

"Thank you?"

"Follow me."

May led us into her small backyard, producing a key from her pocket and clicking it into the lock. It glowed bright blue, and clicked open to reveal a high-tech platform. In awe, we stepped onto the platform.

It took us into an HQ stocked full of Spider-Man related equipment. Tony would have been proud, and Shuri would froth at the mouth at the sight. It was an amazing ideal of what Spider-Man could be.

Leaning over to Peter, I whispered, "This is what we need to invest our Tony money into."

Peter nodded in mute amazement, eyes still glued to all the amazing tech surrounding us. I knew as soon as we got back to New York that he'd be having a talk with Shuri about making an HQ.

"It started last night. I knew what Peter was doing could lead to what happened, and I accepted that he'd never give up being Spider-Man, even if it cost him his life. But how he died is what brought you all here."

"Us all?"

"Another comrade to fight against the hands of darkness that have dragged us into the strange world." A deep male voice, reminiscent to Nick Cage.

"That's a dark way to look at it." Higher, female, a middle schooler maybe.

Three people total, drastically different in appearance, all held one thing in common.

"They're like me," Peter's eyes widened, and I knew he was having a Spidey-Tingle moment, "Spider-Men, women, uh, pig?"

"That's right!"

"John Mulaney," I whispered. recognizing my favorite comedian's voice anywhere.

"Come here kid," the pig waved me over. Hesitantly, I approached and kneeled down when he motioned for me to, "Bitches get stitches."

Jumping back, I nodded once in understanding. On his orders, he definitely wasn't John Mulaney.

"Spider-People from other dimensions, just like you two," May explained shortly, "Peni, Porker, and Noir."

It was easy to assign names to the person. Peter gave a small wave, "Hi, I'm uh, I'm Peter."

"(Y/n)."

"As of right now, Peni is trying to track down the source of these earthquakes. We believe they're connected to what happened to you. There're bunks here, and a bathroom. You'll be safe here until you can get home."

"Thanks, May," Peter's hand twitched, and I grabbed it before he could move and hug May. It was instinctual for him, and I understood, but he wasn't her Peter and all of us knew it.

"If you need anything, let me know, you can take the platform up to the house," May stepped onto the platform again, "Good luck."

When she was out of sight, we turned back to Peter's dimensional-counterparts. All of them weren't anything like the dead-Peter we had seen. They were drastically different from my Peter.

"You aren't one of us, are you?" Peni asked innocently, skipping up to get closer to me.

"No, uh, I'm a different hero. I got sucked into the portal with Peter and we're both stuck here."

"What can you do?" Noir interrogated.

"Control water."

The three seemed to nod in collective agreement and left us to our own devices. Peni was typing away on the super-computer while sitting on top of a robot, Noir was messing with a Rubik's cube, and Ham was eating a pie.

While exploring everything the HQ had to offer, Peter, and I suffered from another atom separation. All of the other Spider-Men suffered from the same thing at the same time. No one said anything about it, but we all knew how dire our situation it was.

When we were finished, we retired early, exhausted from the day of running around the city in search of answers, and of the mental effort it took to process how many dimensions were clashing together.

Unsure of whether or not more Spider-Men would show up, Peter and I laid claim to only one of the beds. Neither of us wanted to admit it, but being close to each other was the only reassurance we had that we weren't going crazy and imagining this different dimension with cartoon/comic/anime people.

"What do you think they're doing back home?" I asked Peter, trying to hold back my tears.

"Looking for us, worrying, assuming we got dragged into another long-term mission."

It was silent for a few seconds after that, "Peter... will we ever get back home?"

"I hope so." It was all he could say.