Note from author: I do not read the Spider-Man comics or watch the animated TV shows, I have only seen the movie trilogy and the first and second Amazing Spider-Man movies. In this story, all Spider-Men shoot webs from their wrists like on the original movie trilogy. My only experience with alternate Spider-Men is that I saw the cover of the Spider-Man: Shattered Dimensions game. That's it, so if I get something way wrong, forgive me. Otherwise, enjoy reading the story and tell me if you like or don't like it.
Chapter 1
The police were after him. This fact didn't surprise him; the police were always after him.
In fact, the whole country was after him. The United States government had officially recognized him as enemy #1 for a few months now. They had spent billions of dollars custom-making tanks, helicopters, trucks, and other military equipment built just to catch and/or kill him.
He didn't really care. They hadn't caught him yet and they'd been trying for years. First Manhattan's finest, then the entire state of New York, and finally the United States government.
They didn't see him as a hero, but he didn't do it for the fame or the glory. He had been given a gift, so he used it to help people. It was as simple as that.
The police sirens snapped him out of his thoughts. Somewhere a crime was happening or a building was burning. He didn't move. Nowadays he let the police take care of police business, while he took care of everything else. Besides, if he tried to help, the cops would stop whatever they were doing and try to catch him instead. Many bad criminals had escaped because the police were too busy trying to capture the guy trying to help them.
"Spider-Man!"
Peter heard the call and looked around. He saw a lone police officer who had probably been doing his rounds of the downtown alleys when he saw Peter sitting there.
Time to go. Peter raised up his right hand and shot his black web from his wrist to a building across the street. He jumped just as the police officer was taking his gun out of its holster. Peter didn't know why they always tried to catch him, especially alone. They knew he would get away. Protocol, maybe.
Peter swung through the rainy streets of Manhattan. Occasionally he heard cheers, but mostly insults and the like. He was used to both.
Suddenly, he saw something swinging up ahead. That wasn't right; he was the only one with spider-powers that he knew of. He followed the figure until he could make out what he was wearing. It was a red and blue costume with a black red spider on the back. This man was shooting webs out of his wrists just like Peter, but the mysterious figure's webs were white, not black.
Peter got close enough to call out, "Hey you!"
The red-and-blue spider-guy turned to look at him and pointed to a small dark alley, then headed in that direction. Peter followed him, keeping a distance just in case. His spider sense wasn't warning him of any danger, but he had had plenty of run-ins with people that seemed to be able to bypass the spider sense. He landed on the ground 10 feet away from the red-and-blue spider-guy.
"Who are you?" Peter asked the stranger.
"If I tell you, you'll think I'm crazy, or that you've gone crazy," said the stranger.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Peter.
"Let me explain where I'm from and why I'm here, and then I'll tell you who I am," said the stranger.
"Fair enough," Peter told him. "I'm waiting."
The stranger sat down on a nearby stack of pallets. "First of all, awesome costume, by the way. Personally, it's a little too dark for me, obviously." The stranger pointed to his own brightly-colored costume. "But it fits this dark world you live in. I also noticed you have black webs instead of white. How did that happen?"
"Look, stranger, I'm the one asking the questions here. Who are you and where did you come from? Explain yourself."
"Ok, wow, someone isn't as nice and friendly as they used to be. Fine, I'll tell you what you want to know. I work at Dr. Connor's lab as his assistant. Earlier today, I was testing chemical mixtures to try to change the venom so it would only make you stronger and faster, not meaner. With me so far?"
Peter nodded. "Yeah, I know what the venom is, continue."
"So I was combining the venom with the other chemicals and there was an explosion behind me, and then I was here."
Peter was confused, "What do you mean, there was an explosion and suddenly you were here. You mean here in this alley-way?"
The stranger shook his head, "No, I mean here in this world."
Peter didn't believe him. He'd heard of things like this happening in comic books and movies, but never in real life. But the stranger kept talking.
"I know it sounds crazy. I didn't believe it myself the first time I heard it, but then I visited some alternate realities, I saw myself, but as other people. Personally, out of the six me's I've met, you are by far the most serious and moody, but your costume is the coolest, I must admit."
"Wait a second, are you saying you are me and you are from a different reality?" Obviously this guy was crazy, but how did he get the spider-powers? Peter would have to give him the cure and check him into the loony bin. He slowly started moving toward the stranger. He got about one centimeter before the stranger noticed.
"Hey, wait a second now, I know how it sounds but it's true, and I'm going to prove it to you in about one second. I just had to tell you first so you wouldn't lose your mind." The stranger reached up and took off his mask. It was like looking in a mirror, only the guy staring back at him was wearing a different outfit. The stranger walked toward Peter and held out his hand. "Peter Parker, and your name is?"
Peter shook this other Peter's hand, still trying to convince himself it wasn't real, yet the evidence was standing right in front of him. "Peter Parker, which you obviously already knew."
The other Peter laughed, "That I did! So now that we've gotten that out of the way, tell me how your web is black. No one else's web is black, except Venom obviously, but he doesn't count as an alternate Spider-Man."
Disclaimer: I don't own Spider-Man. Marvel does.
