In the darkness was a single entity. All he was or ever could be was void. There was no sound, no sense of feeling or even a thought. He couldn't register his own existence. There was just a voice; an empty feeling where something should have been; Loneliness he couldn't mourn, a sadness he could never shed a tear for.

Then, suddenly, there was a gentle burst of light that shined through. The light was of many colors, coming together to bring the first sense of anything he'd ever felt; warmth. It touched his skin, caressing it with the only love he'd ever had. He didn't even know what love was supposed to be, or why it was important, or what any of these words meant.

All he knew was that he did, in fact, exist.

...

Desperation turned to panic as Peter tried to open the breach. There were no visible faults in the small device resting between his fingers, yet there was no response from it. Hatsume could only sit with her knees to her chest, watching as her friend had a panic attack.

"Has this ever happened before?" She asked him, somewhat fearful of his response.

"Uuuuh, no!" He said, rather unsure, "It's worked flawlessly before!"

"Maybe it needs a change of batteries?"

He looked at her with disappointment, "Did you just ask me if a device which opens portals runs on batteries?"

"…Does it?"

"No! That is such a shameful question for an inventor to ask!"

"Batteries are an inventors' best friend!"

Peter finally surrendered his efforts with the necklace and tucked it back under his shirt. They were both trapped on this world, cut off from the other. Even if he technically belonged here, Hatsume didn't.

"Okay," He took a deep breath before helping Hatsume to her feet, "It's fine. It'll be fine. We're gonna go and see Doctor Strange. He can get us both back and probably fix my gate key, too."

"Oh, good!" her smile returned, "And we could always call home for a ride or something."

"…Right," he hesitated.

"In the meantime, I'm finally visiting New York! Properly! We should totally go do stuff!"

"Hatsume, now is not the time for sightseeing."

"I can sight see on the way there! Come on!"

She didn't understand just how much trouble they were in, and he had a feeling it wouldn't be long before he had to explain it.

…

After putting on his costume, it was easy to swing them both to Manhattan from Queens. He could barely hear the sounds of the city over Mei's cries of adrenaline-fueled joy. She begged him to visit Time Square, but he refused her.

They came upon the Sanctum Sanctorum; the home of Doctor Strange, famous for the circular skylight on the top. No one noticed the Sanctum was there, not even Hatsume. The only reason Peter could see it was because he had been there before, and it didn't mind his prying eyes.

"So, what's Doctor Weird like?" She asked over the wind.

"Strange."

"I bet."

Spider-Man released the web and let gravity carry them down to the roof. When they landed, the surface beneath them changed. Replacing it was the carpet of the Sanctum Interior. A great chandelier hung above them, seemingly attached to nothing. The lights were dim, but warm, as the airflow gently pushed up the stairs.

"Nifty!" Hatsume said as she climbed off Spider-Man's back, "How'd he do that?"

"We can ask when we see him. He's probably expecting us."

He had only been here a small number of times, but he knew immediately something was off. The air was cold as silence took the building hostage. They should have seen Strange by now, yet they found themselves alone in the Sanctum.

Spidey called out Strange's name as he dragged Hatsume up the stairs. He had never been here without Strange's guidance, so he was worried he would actually get lost. Miraculously, they found their way to the library where the Sorcerer Supreme spent most of his time. It almost looked as though even more books had been added since his last visit; some to the shelves, others to the floor.

In the corner of the room, he saw Doctor Strange himself, laying face-first on the ground and surrounded by books and journals of different sizes. Spidey rushed over immediately and turned his body over, "Stephen?!" He called to his unconscious body, "Come on! Wizards don't slack!"

It took a moment of shaking to release the Doctor from the grip of slumber. Those weak eyes clawed their way to the light only to squint in defiance of it. He managed to sit up and adjusted his cloak, still dazed and confused, "Mr. Parker …" he said weakly, "I was expecting you …"

"Hold off on the 'I'm omnipotent' stuff for like, five minutes?"

"Comes with the job, kid."

Hatsume helped bring him to his feet as he brushed himself off, almost immediately regaining his composure. With a flick of his wrist, a spell book flew into his hand, much to Mei's entertainment.

"Strange," Spider-Man pressed, "What happened?"

"I can sense when you travel between worlds," The sorcerer admitted, "I do so to make sure you're safe. You're inexperienced with the multi-verse, especially traversing it."

"Gee, thanks."

"It's the truth. Today, though, I sensed something was different."

"Yeah. The portal imploded on us. Some of the energy was leaking away."

"Leaking?" He paused, using his magic to levitate several other books around him as he made his way to the rooms center, "That's not good…"

"Why were you on the ground?"

"When I tried to peer into the alleyways between realities, something had pushed back, as if the walls of the multiverse were driven to a breaking state," He grabbed a book from thin air, "I would have summoned you straight away, but-"

"You were unconscious."

Mei perked up, nearly standing between them, "Did he say multiverse? Realities? Something about alleyways?"

Strange paused with a flinch, awkwardly turning to the next page of his spell book, "You …haven't told her?"

"…Not …yet?" He admitted.

Spider-Man composed himself before taking off his mask to look her in the eye. He remembered the first time he had to tell his secret, before the great battle that took place with Lumina. It turned out okay, but that didn't retract the fear. He didn't know whether his friends would believe him, think he was crazy, or maybe hate him for lying. Hatsume was a very expressive person, so there was no telling how she would react.

"So…" he started slowly, "when he mentions multi-verse…"

"Are you from another universe?!" She asked excitedly.

"…How …yes?"

"Aha!" She pointed, nearly poking his nose, "I knew it! Well, I didn't know it, but I knew something was off! I knew there was something you weren't telling me! OOooh this makes so much more sense now! Agh! The puzzle pieces! They fall into place!" She laughed hysterically, almost maniacally.

"You're not …like …mad?"

"What? No! Stupid! Bad question! Who would I be mad?! I don't blame you for not saying anything! Any simpleton would call you loony tunes!"

He paused to take it all in, resorting to giving her a warm embrace, "I adore our friendship."

Her go-lucky attitude shifted into something more genuine, as she returned the embrace with a warm smile. The truth he had given her was surprising, but it made perfect sense. She was a science geek, which meant these ideas were a dream come true to her, barely flinching when he confessed.

Yet what made her freeze was not the truth bigger than this entire universe, but rather, the warm embrace of her friend. The support lab was always so lonely before he came along, even when other students made a visit. It was like being in a foreign country and only one other person knew how to speak your language. Peter was that "one other person".

"Since we've cleared that up," Strange continued, "I need time to look into what has happened. Can you give me your gate key?"

Peter was reluctant, at first. The gate key acted as a lifeline for him. Being apart from it was like being apart from one's phone, causing nothing but anxiety as a result. Inevitably, he relinquished the artifact to the original owner, who examined it between his fingers. A small voice in his brain begged the wizard not to break it, even though it was once his to begin with.

"Whatever happened shorted this out. I'll make an attempt to fix it for you, Peter."

"How long will that take?"

"Examining the balance of the multiverse is a tricky task. I should have it done by the end of tonight."

Peter groaned in frustration. Getting stuck here, even if it was supposed to be his home, was not ideal. Inko would soon get worried about Mei's absence. While he has made a habit of staying out late, she has not.

Mei flung her arm over his shoulder unexpectedly, shooting him a cheerful grin, "It'll be fun!" she said, "We can explore the city while we wait! I still want a churro from Times Square! You owe me!"

"How?"

"'Cuz I made your suit."

"We made my suit."

"Potato, flapjacks."

He shook his head with a smile, before giving Doctor Strange a nod, "We'll be back tonight."

With a final farewell, the duo left the Sanctum, while the Sorcerer Supreme stayed behind to discover what went wrong.

He'd been the sorcerer Supreme for a long time, having faced monsters and demons from infinite realms and realities. New York, and the entire world, have nearly fallen multiple times and no one ever knew because Strange was able to stop it. Despite all of this expertise, he didn't know how to proceed. The walls of the Multiverse should not have been this fragile, so what happened?

…

The dark, disconsolate room was what the mad doctor called home. He had no lab, no house, no money to his name. All of it was stolen from those who lay beneath his boot. They—who he preferred to see as ants—boasted and complained of him while he crushed them against the soil. To him, they were ants; to them, he was an octopus.

Otto sat at his desk with a tool in his hands and one of his metal arms resting before him. They had taken damage in the last fight with Spider-Man. That same hero thwarted him over and over. No matter how many times he reworked his genius, that bugs wits somehow outdid his own. He was superior to the hero; he had to be.

Sitting beside the metal arm was a canister, one that was glowing with a blue mist. The energy within was stable, for now, but it would soon dissipate back to where it came from. He was only able to take a small amount from the portal which opened into this world, the breach Parker used to play his role in two plays. It wasn't enough, however. Without a stabilizer, the energy would fade away and he would be back to square one.

"I will get back," Otto spoke with himself, "I will get back to her."

Failure was a term he ripped from the dictionary.

…

Peter put his civilian clothing over his costume just in case he needed a quick change, before taking Mei out onto the streets of New York. She would gasp over the simplest things like landmarks that Peter would barely bat an eye at. She wanted to look inside every fancy store they passed. It felt like he was dragging around a child who just had a three-course meal of sugar.

"Can we go in there?" she would ask.

"No," he would reply.

"Why not?"

"Because I said so."

"That's not a reason!"

"It's a reason because I say so."

"That's also not a reason!"

"Boohoo!"

As much as she wanted to pretend this was a vacation, it wasn't. If Doctor Strange couldn't figure this out, both he and Hatsume would be stuck here. Mei's parents would never see her again; Izuku, Kendo, and all of his other friends would be devastated; Inko, especially, would be heartbroken. Doctor Strange was a good sorcerer, so he had faith that he would figure this out. Until then, Peter didn't want to let himself be at ease.

"I knew something about you was off," Hatsume stated with glee, "Now it all makes sense! The multiverse! That explains why you just popped out of nowhere at the school one day, why you always seem so secretive!"

"I'm honestly surprised that you've taken all this so well," said Peter, "You've taken it the best out of everyone. Keeping a secret from you wasn't easy; I really did want to tell you sooner. Being from another universe made things so complicated. That's why I had to go on the run for a while because there were things that I just couldn't explain."

"Back up— out of everyone?!" she suddenly cried, "what does that mean?! Who else did you tell before me?!"

"Oh, you know …" he spoke sheepishly, "Midoriya, Kendo, Yaoyorozu, Ashido, Jiro…"

"You told the entire Parker Squad before me?!"

"Well-" Peter paused with a raised brow, "Parker Squad?"

"Yeah, you know, the group that hangs around you the most, consisting mostly of girls despite it not being a harem. It's not a harem, right?"

"No! It's not a harem!"

Hatsume, still unsatisfied, crossed her arms and pouted as they walked, "I still can't believe you told the Parker Squad before your best friend!"

"Best friend?"

"Yeah! I'm totally your best friend!"

"What about Midoriya?"

"Pft, he's your brother, stupid. Unless one of the girls is my competition."

Peter chuckled and kept walking with his hands hidden in his pockets. Hatsume spent the next few minutes harassing him about the idea of who his best friend was. She was dead convinced it was her; she helped him with his suits, after all. With how much time they spent in the lab together, it basically made them partners in her eyes. She usually wasn't one to make friends, but with Peter, she was strangely attached.

"So you went on the run because of your secret?" She suddenly asked.

"Well, yeah," He said, surprised by the sudden change in subject, "I ended up on your world by accident. Forging the papers, getting into the school, lying about everything; I never meant to do any of it. Everything I did was to protect myself in an unfamiliar world. Eventually… It caught up with me."

"And then you beat the crap out of All Might."

"Yeah, and him finding out wasn't awkward at all," he said sarcastically.

"All Might knows too?! Come on, Parks! Best friend, over here!"

Being able to talk to her about this night was nice. Before, they were just partners in crime; two scientists and inventors who shared a love for creating things. she had always been so easy going, and so accepting of everything. most people would need days, maybe even weeks to come to grips with this information yet she took it in no problem. Mei Hatsume was a real tough girl.

"So …" Mei suddenly stopped in the middle of the sidewalk, which left him confused, "I am your best friend... right?"

Peter thought about this for a moment. Midoriya was his brother, and Kendo was his girlfriend. That left Yaoyorozu, Ashido and Jiro. While at this point he was very close with the three of them, he wouldn't say that any of them were his "best friend", but they were his family. He trusted them with his life. Mei was just different, somehow. She was like his more excitable reflection. That's why seeing her now, with that serious, sad look on her face, worried him.

"You're one of the coolest people I have ever met," he admitted, "I really am lucky to have you in my life, just like I'm lucky to have the others. When I arrived on your world, I thought that I had to fight my battles on my own. Everything had to be my responsibility; my burden. Living with Midoriya, being with Kendo, and having the rest of you as my friends and family has shown me how to be better."

"You really do see me as a friend?" She asked.

"Of course, I do. You're one of my best friends."

"Correct yourself."

He sighed with a smile, "You're my best friend."

Her excitable personality quickly returned, "Much better!"

This wasn't the first time he had seen this from her. Little moments where her veil lifted to show her deepest thoughts and fears. Peter had to remember that she likely didn't have many friends before him. There aren't too many people at the school who share her passion for inventing. He just hoped it wasn't another case like with Yaoyorozu and Ashido.

Perhaps he should be sure.

"Specifically speaking, how do you feel about me?"

"Elaborate."

"What are …your feelings toward me?"

"Oh …oh!" she suddenly understood, "Dude, bro, nah. I ain't got no feelings toward you, rest assured."

He breathed a sigh of relief, "Okay—I mean, not that you having any romantic feelings toward me would be a bad thing in any way. I'm not trying to oppress your feelings, I'm just trying to make sure that things are not complicated between us. You're a really nice girl and I'm sure somebody would love to date you, but it just can't be me— not that I wouldn't want to it's just that I'm already with-!"

"Bro, chill."

"…okay," he exhaled.

She laughed at his awkwardness, which only made him turn red from embarrassment.

Screeching tires erupted through the streets followed closely by loud sirens and blinking red and blue lights. several police vehicles passed by them quickly as traffic made way for them. People on the sidewalks backed off in surprise only to quickly return to whatever it is they were doing. This was a normal occurrence for them; a trait shared on two worlds.

"Well, that looks important," Hatsume stated, "funny coincidence that the world's coolest superhero happens to be around today," She winked and nudged him.

"A coincidence that there happens to be something going on as soon as I get here?" He retorted, "in my life that is never a coincidence."

"You gotta go?"

"Yep."

"Okay, let's go."

Peter laughed awkwardly before putting a hand on her arm, "No, you're not coming. You don't have any of your inventions to defend yourself."

"So?"

"So …you're not coming?"

"Is that a question or a statement?"

"Just stay here!"

Peter pointed at her with stern eyes before rushing into the nearest alleyway.

…

The spinning lights of the sirens blinded the bystanders who stood cut off by yellow tape and shouting officers. A wall of dust climbed the air and stood boldly over the crowd, blocking the scene further like an opening night curtain. All they could make out was a shadow beyond the curtain, as the lead actor of the play prepared for his debut.

As the curtains of dust opened, the scene began on a tall, grey building; Horizon Labs. The lead stepped out from a large hole in the wall with his body kept aloft by four metal arms. Otto Octavius was holding a hexagonal piece of technology in his hands, one that illuminated a quiet blue glow from its center.

"Freeze, Doctor Octopus!" shouted one officer, "You're under arrest!"

The mad doctor scoffed at them with such discontent, "It's as though you've all forgotten my invaluable achievements in the scientific field. To call me an 'Octopus' …how disgraceful!"

As police opened fire, Octavius used his metal arms as a makeshift shield. The bullets bounced off like rocks against a tree trunk. The mad doctor would have retaliated if not for the two feet that swung down and struck him in the chest, sending him stumbling back.

He recovered just in time to see the wall-crawling hero posed before him.

"Aw, man! I hate sushi!" said Spider-Man, "I thought today was tacos! Really disappointed-!"

Spider-Man paused to examine the large hexagonal object in Otto's hands. It was extremely high-tech from what he could tell, which made sense considering it was coming out of Horizon Labs. Peter had read much of their work, so it was easy to deduce what the object was.

"Is that a quantum generator?!" He squealed, "I didn't know Horizon Labs finished that! I was gonna go and see their presentation for it next year!"

"Correct. For now, their prototype will serve a new purpose."

"Ah, that's your problem, Otto, you boast too much."

Otto's metal arms sliced through the air toward the hero, who quickly dodged by slinging himself upwards. The officers lower their weapons and allowed the superhero to do their work for them. Spider-Man bounced off the building and launched himself back toward Otto who quickly caught the hero's arms with his metal tentacles before flinging him back into the air.

Spider-Man quickly shot two webs at the nearest surfaces to sling shot himself back at his opponent. He tackled the Mad Doctor to the ground and struck him with the brunt force of his knuckles. If he was lucky, he would fall unconscious before long.

Unfortunately, the hero's spider sense went off just as Otto grabbed him from behind with the metal arms and slammed him into the sidewalk with an audible "crack!"

Hatsume arrived just outside of the police barricade despite being told otherwise. Grabbing the yellow tape tightly, she leaned as far forward as she could and cheered the hero on.

Hearing her voice distracted the hero just long enough for Octavius to grab him by the leg and throw him into the labs, or several scientists just barely managed to step out of the way as he slid across the marble floor. Some of the workers wanted to help him up but didn't want to be considered a criminal asset by the police.

"Come on out, bug!" Otto shouted from outside, "Meet your end like a man!"

The mad doctor was prideful; he was genuinely convinced that he was going to win no matter how many times he lost. This wasn't the spiders first tussle with him and he knew just what buttons to push.

Looking around some lab he quickly scanned the tables for something he could use. to his far left he found a metal staff decorated with several buttons in the middle. The scientists complained when he picked it up, "You can't take that!"

"Why not?" he asked.

"That's an electric-staff! We're developing that for the police-!"

"Cool, I'll field-test it."

Holding the staff by its grips Spider-Man rushed back out into the fight. Auto try to attack with two metal arms which Spider-Man dodged quickly, keeping the staff close to his chest. has another metal arm came his way, Spider-Man blocked it with staff and press the closest button to his thumb.

With his hands protected by the grips, the rest of the staff ignited with powerful electricity that surged through the circuit of the robotic arms. Auto fell to his feet as the arms gave out, unable to control them anymore. This gave the hero just enough time to web the man down before taking the quantum generator from his hands.

"Like I said, you boast too much. That pride of yours is going to be your downfall," said Spider-Man, holding the quantum generator in one hand and the staff in the other.

"I'm rather sick of your smart mouth! Do you not know what it means to be humble?!"

"Are you talking to yourself? I know you ain't talking to me with that attitude."

Spider-Man examine the quantum generator in his hand. Even though Otto claimed it was just the Prototype, it was rather advanced. in fact, it was unlike anything he had ever seen, even outdoing Oscorp's robotic department.

"What were you doing with something this powerful?" Spidey asked.

"After all this time, you're still as blind as ever," Otto insulted.

"Sure, whatever. Tell that to the judge when they see you in-"

All his senses muted suddenly. His hearing was replaced with a loud ringing, his sight blurred and its focus pulled to the alleyway behind him. It was almost involuntary that he did so, as if a silent voice beckoned him. it was the same feeling as before; once outside the Musutafu police station, and the other within the U.A Gym. The pain from the senses only calmed when he saw her.

She was there again; the red-haired girl with the blindfold over her eyes. She was hiding in the alleyway behind a trash can like before, watching him closely. Their gaze, as if he could even tell, seem to be locked with each other. For once, she didn't seem to run away after she was noticed. She just stood there, drawing his focus to her.

This time, however, he heard a faint echo in his ears when her lips moved. Her voice called out "Hello?"

Otto's metal arms regained their functionality and struck the hero just as his senses returned to him. "If my weakness is pride," said the mad doctor, "Then yours is having your head in the clouds!"

The quantum generator dropped from Spider-Man's hands and into the clutches of Doctor Octopus who's scurried up the walls of horizon Labs as the officers rained down their metal bullets. The effort was fruitless at the mad doctor escaped.

As much as Spider-Man wanted to chase after him, his attention was still on the young girl hiding in the alley. Normally, she would be gone by now. This time, however, she was still there, hiding behind the trash can. It was as though she was waiting for him.

"Spider-Man!" Shouted a reporter from the Daily Bugle, "care to comment on what just happened?"

New York knew the hero as one to talk whenever possible. That's what made it so strange when Spider-Man just swung away without so much as a quip. Hatsume stealthily followed him as he left.

…

The little girl with the blindfold, shivering and afraid, watched as the hero she admired swung out of sight. The rags she wore over her body were too big for her, making her trip as she tried to run down the alleyway. Despite the blindfold, she never ran into anything. She didn't need to see the world to understand it; she could feel it's every atom.

Just as she reached the center point of the alley, a tall figure stood in her way. Mei Hatsume blocked the exit with her hands on her hips and leaned to one side. She grinned and shook her finger, "Where do you think yer off too, little missy?"

The rather frightened little girl turned around trying to escape but was met with another body to oppose her. It was Spider-Man himself; his knees fully bent as he balanced on his toes.

Despite the bug eye mask, the little girl found comfort in seeing the bright, clashing colors of his costume. In fact, the big white eyes were a soothing site for her. They removed the shivering of her fingers and the trembling of her toes. This was the young man she had been watching from afar, who she never expected to meet face-to-face. Would he yell at her? Question her like a criminal?

Instead, he reached out his hand with a clear smile under his mask, "Hey there," He spoke calmly, despite the exhaustion from the previous battle, "My name is Spider-Man. What's yours?"

His welcoming voice moved her and she leapt into his arms, seemingly crying through her blindfold. Surprised as he was, Spider-Man embraced her gently as tears stained his suit.

This is not at all how he thought this day would go.