Arc 1 - Chapter VI: Spider's Nest

"Oh, this is perfect…"

…

"Oh, come on, Maya, this is the first girl that I've liked that Little Wolf has brought home. You can't say you disagree, I know you hated that stuck-up, redheaded bitch as much as I did. If not more."

…

"I will not make a 'scene.'"

…

"Fine… I'll get breakfast started."

…

Blearily, Kairi opened his eyes as he released a groan. First things first, he saw was his mother standing over him, arms crossed with a smirk plastered over her face. Second, he felt a weight lying on top of him. Wait, a weight? Looking down, he found a head of blonde hair obscuring his vision.

…

Gwen?

Kairi's face turned red as he felt heat burning throughout his cheeks.

Bow chicka bow wow…

Shut up, you! Nothing like that happened!

"Mom… I," he tried to explain himself. Only for his mother to shake her head before heading off in the direction of the kitchen. "Wait, Mom!"

"Nnn," Gwen grunted as she shifted, stretching her arms before lifting her head. She smacked her lips as she blinked blearily before clarity came to her and her eyes widened when she realized who looked back at her and how close she was to him. Her face began to mirror hers in terms of redness and she launched herself off him with a squeak.

That he found a little adorable.

"I'm so sorry, I didn't- I didn't…" Gwen began to ramble.

"I've got coffee~"

The two were interrupted by Mamy entering the family room with a mug of coffee in one hand and a teacup on a plate in the other. "And, Little Wolf, your tea, Earl Grey, and a dollop of blueberry honey," the grandmother said as she handed her grandson the tea and held the coffee towards Gwen. "Tanzania Peaberry coffee with a splash of almond milk."

"Uh, thank you, Mamy," Gwen gave an awkward smile, avoiding looking anywhere in Kairi's direction, or else her blush would come back full force.

"Thanks, Grandma," Kairi nodded.

Mamy looked at the two of them as the two teens refused to look at each other, their faces still a little pink. She blinked as she realized something before she threw her hands up in frustration. "Oh, great," she muttered in frustration as she walked out of the room. Her grandson and Gwen were in denial.

Perplexed, the two teens watched the elderly woman leave.

"What was that about?" asked Gwen.

Kairi shrugged, "No idea."

…Some time later…

[Kai, I don't know what you and Gwen are up to.]

Kairi stared at his mom, a frown on his face. After breakfast, he and Gwen got ready to head to Hudson Valley, neither his mom nor his grandma knew about their plans and he aimed to keep it that way. Give them both some plausible deniability if things went downhill. And now he was waiting downstairs in the entrance hall, waiting for Gwen.

[But be careful, okay?]

Maya gave her son a hug, one that he returned easily.

"I will," he promised.

Aww, that's so touching.

Hearing someone come down the stairs, Kairi looked over as Gwen came over, dressed in the clothes she had worn yesterday.

"Thanks again, Miss Lopez, for washing my clothes," Gwen offered with a grateful smile.

Maya nodded before signing.

"Her pleasure," Kairi translated.

Gwen nodded but absently thought to sign up for a sign language course when she got back home. Plus, there was always a chance she might encounter someone who couldn't speak or hear while out on patrol. "We good to go?" she looked over at Kairi.

"Yup," he replied. "Got the bus tickets on my phone."

"Great, let's go," she said as she sidestepped him, opened the door, and left.

Maya watched her leave with a smirk on her face, giving her son a significant look. [She's a spitfire, isn't she?]

"Yeah, I guess," he said. "I'll see you later, Mom." Giving his mother one last hug before he left, he slipped out the door to join Gwen outside.

Mamy, who had been listening in around the corner, walked over to stand by her daughter. The two of them looked out the window of the door to see Kairi walk over to Gwen, who had been waiting at the sidewalk. The two said something to each other before walking off, Kairi leading the way. And the two women didn't miss the smile on the girl's face as she followed after him.

"Twenty bucks says they'll be together by Christmas," said Mamy.

[Forty says by the end of the week.]

"You're on," Mamy laughed. She saw them this morning, those two were going to walk around each other until one of them popped. Frustrating, but at least it would give her some entertainment the next time she saw her grandson.

…Later, Hudson Valley…

…Alchemax facility…

"So what's the plan?" asked Kairi as he and Gwen looked stared at the campus from the hills that overlooked the place. Gwen had changed into her suit, sans the mask, prior to arriving while he had stood guard.

"Sleeper, you said you could make Kai invisible, right?" Gwen asked, her eyes on the main building, looking for entry points, open windows, an air duct, etc. Nice thing about being small, thin, and light, crawling through the vents was child's play.

Sleeper's head formed out from Kairi's shoulder as it nodded, "Yup, I can keep him camouflaged from anyone. I can even release a pheromone that will confuse the sensory systems of other people, making them unable to detect us."

"Perfect," Gwen nodded. "Then after you two have suited up, you two will enter the building through the main entrance, stay invisible. I will enter the building through the vents via the air duct. Look for the office of Olivia Octavius, she's the head researcher here at the labs. I'll keep an eye on things from above while Sleeper can do his computer thing. Maybe I can listen in on some important conversations that might include whatever Fisk's planning along the way."

"Do bad guys really do that?" Kairi tilted his head to the side.

Gwen chuckled, "Sometimes, though it's really a matter of luck in being there to listen to the conversation." She then frowned, "Though I wish we had some sort of way to communicate, it would've been a big help. Phones won't cut it." She should've gone to get some radios or something before they came here.

"We work with what we've got," he shrugged.

She nodded, "Right." Pulling her mask over her head, she pulled her hood over right after. "Remember what I taught you. Both of you, stay safe, remember, we're here to get the data, no fighting unless you don't have a choice. And especially no blades."

"Aww…"

"Aww…"

Gwen shook her head with a chuckle. "Good luck," she said as she fired a web and swung over to the lab.

"Ready?"

"Ready, Freddy," Kairi replied before Sleeper's flesh enveloped his form. As he viewed the world through Sleeper's eyes, he looked down at his hands. "So how does the whole invisible thing work?"

One second.

In a millisecond, the only thing he could see of his hands was a reddish outline. Holding his hand away, he saw that the outline went along his entire arm, and looking down, the outline continued over the rest of his body. "So I'm invisible now?"

Yup, the outline is so that you can see yourself for your own awareness.

"Thanks, Sleeper."

You are welcome.

"All right, insert Mission Impossible theme here," Kairi smirked to himself as he followed Gwen's example and swung over to the building.

However, it was then a black SUV pulled up at the entrance of the building, catching Kairi's attention. Especially when Tombstone stepped out from the driver's seat and went around to the backdoor of the passenger's side to open it for its passenger.

Kingpin.

Aw, shit.

Just stay calm, Kairi. As long as he doesn't go in the same direction we'll be going, we'll be fine.

Yeah, but Gwen!

She can take care of herself, she has been doing the hero gig for two years, right? So she has a lot more experience than both of us combined. Trust her and stick to the plan. I'm already releasing some pheromones, no one will know we're here.

Dammit, you're right.

Of course, I'm right. Now if you'd only just take my dating advice…

Dude! Not now!

Slipping through the door at the same time Kingpin and Tombstone passed through, Kairi kept his distance from the pair, waiting for them to leave the building's lobby before he made his move. Heading close to a directory, he peered at the listed names, looking for Octavius's office location. And once he found it…

Bingo…/Bingo…

Fourth floor, room 408.

Heading for the elevators, he almost paused when he noticed the backs of Kingpin and Tombstone, who were also heading towards the elevators.

You've got to be kidding me.

Either that's just a coincidence or we have terrible luck…

Breathing out a quiet sigh, Kairi followed after Spider-man's killer into the elevator, keeping himself small in the back corner. Though privately, he wondered how the hell Kingpin could fit in the thing, the elevator barely had enough room for a man of the guy's physique. However, he also noted that both Kingpin and Tombstone didn't seem to notice his presence at all, even when he was staring at the back of their heads.

Told you, once we're invisible, nothing can detect us. Well, unless you trip a motion trigger or heat sensor. Please don't do that, by the way.

I'll try.

No, no. This is me pulling a Yoda here, there is no try. Either you do or you don't. So don't. Don't trip motion triggers and heat sensors. EVER.

All right, all right, I got it.

Kairi's attention was drawn when Tombstone lifted a hand to the elevator panel. Please don't hit the fourth floor, please don't hit the fourth floor, please don't hit the fourth floor… And nope, he and Kingpin were going to the fourth floor. The same floor Octavius's lab was on. Great. Well, hopefully, they weren't going for her office.

"The doctor's plan better work," Fisk spoke. "With Spider-man gone, any roadblocks to my goal are virtually gone."

"Sir," Tombstone spoke up, catching his employer's attention, "what about the Ronin? They were the active vigilante before Spider-man showed up. Who's to say they won't come back again since the Spider's dead."

Kingpin chuckled, "Oh, don't you worry about the Ronin, I already took care of that problem years ago. You see, Lonnie, I found out about the person behind the Ronin's mask, and you'd be surprised to find out that the Ronin is actually a woman."

"A woman?" Tombstone stared at his boss in surprise.

"A woman," Kingpin nodded. "And the Ronin decided she was going to retire and have a family, but before that, she had decided to end her career on a good note and disrupted a counterfeit operation I had going. So I encouraged one of my managers who survived the Ronin's raid to hit back and join a bunch of amateur bank robbers to kill the vigilante's husband-to-be when he was going to his weekly visit to the bank. So believe me, Lonnie, we won't have to worry about the Ronin ever again, not when she has a son to worry about."

Kairi stilled. His mother had always thought that his father was a victim of being at the wrong place at the wrong time. He would have never had thought that his father was killed in retaliation for Mom's activities as the Ronin. But if his father's death was a hit ordered by the man in front of him…

Kairi, we have a job to do, remember that.

If we kill him right now, we don't have to worry about him destroying the space-time continuum. If we chop the head off this snake, we can just take the data and use it to get you and Gwen home. We just have to take this chance.

You do that and this whole place will go on high alert! Don't forget we're already here on a mission, Kairi!

This is the man who orchestrated my father's death, Sleeper! I cannot let that stand!

The moment you do that, then you will put Gwen in danger!

Kairi paused. I…

Gwen thought of a plan, she told us our role in it, we can't break away from it. I can feel how angry you are, Kairi. Believe me, I felt the same anger when men showed up, shooting up my father's place and when he sent me away for my own protection. But if we go with Gwen's plan there is a good chance that we will face Kingpin again at the collider. And once we do, we can kill him, Kairi. I will form a blade for you to kill him with and you can slice his throat and watch him bleed to death or slice open his stomach and watch as his gut spills as he dies from shock.

Normally, Kairi would've commented how dark Sleeper got, but it was then he realized that the symbiote took those scenarios from his own mind. Because he was thinking of doing either of those two to kill Fist, right here and now.

But not now… later.

Kairi took in a quiet deep breath, Not now… later.

Once the elevator reached the fourth floor, both Kingpin and Tombstone stepped out as Kairi leaped onto the ceiling, crawling upside down as he looked for Octavious's office. And as it turned out, he didn't need to search as Kingpin and Tombstone had gone in that direction.

Our luck can't be that bad, can it…?

"Mister Fisk," Octavius greeted her boss. And Kairi remembered seeing her from a video discussing the particulars of quantum theory in his physics class. "Take a look at this data," she said as she headed over to her desktop. "I know you can't understand it, but they're really good numbers." Inputting her password, she opened the relevant files and spun her monitor over for her boss to see; pictures of the side effects on the city that happened as a result of using the collider. "Mister Fisk, if we fire again this week, there could be a black hole under Brooklyn." She then indicated a few of the images, "You see this and this?"

Kairi peered over, it was like five buildings were trying to occupy the same space all at the same time.

"This is multiple dimensions beginning to crash into each other," Octavius continued.

Kingpin gave his researcher a dry stare. "You have twenty-four hours," he said before he turned to leave, Tombstone following after. He needed results, not warnings.

"What this could mean is there could be a rupture in the space-time continuum," Octavius got up from her seat to go after them, locking her computer before she did.

Once the door closed behind the three, Kairi walked over to the doctor's desk. All right, Sleeper, do your thing.

Plug in the flash drive and prepare to be amazed…

After slotting in the flash drive into a USB port, tendrils, still invisible, stretched out from Kairi's hands and branched over to the other ports. Looking up at the monitor, he saw the screen glitch out as data began to roll across. Idly, he wondered if hackers would throw a fit with how fast Sleeper was working. His alien buddy could probably put a lot of hackers out of business if he had ever decided to become a hacker.

However, it was then he began to wonder where Gwen was. Although, before he could think further on the subject, a body fell from the vent, crashing into one of the tables. Startled, Kairi looked over and found… Spider-man?

Does he have a beer belly…? And are those sweatpants?

Both human and symbiote stared at… the hobo Spider-man, who was groaning in pain. "Okay, I did not plan that," he grumbled as he got up.

It was then Gwen slipped down from the vent the hobo Spider-man had fallen through, landing on the floor. "Really?" She looked at hobo Spider-man incredulously, "Did you really have to crash into the room?"

"Hey, you distracted me," hobo Spider-man accused, pointing a finger at her.

Sighing, she slapped the guy's finger away before she looked about, "Kai? Kai, you there?"

"Yes, I'm right here," he replied as Sleeper made them visible.

"Holy cheese and crackers!" hobo Spider-man yelped.

"How far are you on the data?" she asked as she went over to him.

"We're almost done, just a few more seconds and all of Achemax's data on their collider will be ours."

"Wow, you can hack that fast? I mean, I can totally do that too, you know," hobo Spider-man said as he sauntered over. Though the effect was ruined by the belly he sported. "What's up, I'm Spider-man."

Kairi looked over at Gwen, "Seriously?"

"It's a long story," she sighed.

"All right, let's do this one last time," hobo Spider-man took in a deep breath to tell his origin story. "My name is Peter B. Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider and for the last twenty-two years I thought I was the one and only-"

"No time for introductions now!" Gwen hissed.

Peter gave her an affronted glare, "Okay, rude."

"She has a point, dude," Kairi replied.

"You have a voice changer?" Peter frowned at him before he shrugged. "I mean, I guess it would help with the secret identity thing. But I have to ask, are you Spider-man too? Cuz the whole four eyes thing is kinda much and a little stupid, don't you think? You kinda look more like a monster than a Spider-person."

Jumping spiders have four eyes, asshole! I have enough eyes to actually call myself a spider! Unlike some beer belly toting, sweatpants wearing Spider-man who looks fifteen minutes away from a midlife crisis!

Sleeper, dude, take a chill pill. Relax.

I refuse!

Kairi grimaced from behind the Sleeper mask before sighing, "Okay, so dude-"

"Spider-man?"

The trio froze upon hearing the new voice and turned over to see Dr. Octavius standing there in amazement as she regarded them. "Spider-people?" she breathed. "Oh, this is so fascinating."

"Uh, do you have a Doc Ock in this dimension?" Gwen whispered to Kairi.

"Who?" he replied.

Before she could answer, a robotic arm burst forth from Octavius's back and wrapped itself around Peter's windpipe, and yanked him over to the floor. Tossing off her lab coat, revealing a green suit, three more of the robotic arms came out.

She only has six arms, why would she call herself an octopus? She'd be Doc Bug. Oh wait, don't tell me she counts her legs too. See, that is dumb.

"Finish the download!" Gwen said to Kairi as she leaped over the desk and aimed a punch at Doc Ock, only to stop to avoid two of the robotic arms. "Whoa!"

Tearing off the robot arm from around his neck, Peter joined the fight, but it was all he and Gwen could do to avoid the swings from Doc Ock's extra arms and keep her away from Kairi. "Whoops, missed me!" he taunted. "And again! And once more!"

"Dude, is now really the time?" asked Gwen, landing on the floor only to dodge another strike from the octopus-themed villain.

"Of course, it is," Peter replied only to get his ankle snagged by an arm before it slammed him down to the floor a few times. "Ow, okay, so I know I just met you two and all… but do things go wrong like this around you two?" he said as he was slammed into the floor and the glass wall a few more times before he managed to get himself loose.

"Funny, it actually started happening when you showed up," snarked Gwen as she avoided a swing from a robotic arm that cleared everything off the other table in the room.

"Wow, you two are chatty," observed Doc Ock as her robotic arms swung at them.

"It's a gift," quipped Peter as he dodged another blow before firing two web-shots that were aimed for Doc Ock's face, only for them to be intercepted by her extra arms.

However, Gwen followed up by firing webs from both her wrists and pulling on them to slingshot herself and a kick into Doc Ock's abdomen, sending her flying out of her office. "Kai, how's that download?" she asked as she landed on the floor.

"Done!" he replied as Sleeper's tendrils removed themselves from the computer and he grabbed the flash drive.

"Cool," said Peter. "So, insert a cool getaway scene here?"

Both Gwen and Kairi looked at him incredulously.

"And have either of you wondered why the alarm hasn't gone off?" the pot-bellied Spider-man asked, a hand on his chin.

That's because I disabled the alarm, you walking midlife crisis! And I sent an alert that there are intruders on the other side of the building! Go on, Kairi, tell him! Tell him how I bought ten minutes for you to escape!

"Our mutual friend disabled the alarm," Kairi said to Gwen. "We have ten minutes."

No, Kairi, rub my excellence in that guy's face!

"Okay, then let's web," said Peter as he grabbed Doc Ock's desk and threw it into the window wall behind, shattering it. He then leaped out, firing a web so that he could swing outside.

Both teens stared out the broken glass, completely dumbfounded.

"Did he just say…"

"Yeah. I heard it too."

"Where did you find this guy?"

Gwen sighed, "It's a long story." Leaping out she followed after the Spider-man from another dimension, though she had moved to web her backpack from where she had stashed it where she and Kairi had overlooked the facility.

You know, Sleeper, my life was relatively normal before I met you.

Hey, don't pin the sweatpants wearing Spider-man on me. I refuse to take responsibility for that.

Shaking his head, Kairi jumped out the window and swung after Gwen and Peter.

…Some time later…

…Hudson Valley Explorer bus en route to New York…

"I found him trying to get into the building through the vents too," Gwen said to Kairi as they took the bus back into the city, indicating Peter, who was lying across the bus seats behind them. Between the three of them, it was only Kairi in regular clothes since neither Gwen nor Peter had time to change, though they had taken off the masks. It was just as well, other people just thought they were big Spider-man fans. "Apparently, he had the same idea as us since he's from another dimension too," she continued. "Oh and the glitching thing isn't just unique to me, he's been getting them too. That's how he fell through the vent."

"So it wasn't really a long story then," Kairi raised a brow at her.

She shrugged, "It sure felt like one."

"Hey, I take offense to what you're insinuating," said Peter, not moving from his position.

Gwen rolled her eyes, causing Kairi to chuckle.

"So what's our next step?" asked Kairi, raising the flash drive containing the Alchemax data to eye level. "Find out what's on this thing?"

"Yeah," she nodded. "But I don't want to lead Fisk's people to the school or your family's. The Spider-man of this universe must have had a base of operations, somewhere for him to make that access key he gave you."

Peter leaned forward, "You guys got a goober?"

Kairi raised a brow at him, "Gazuntite?"

"A goober is a do whatever key," Peter rolled his eyes, "A bypass key, a virus key, an override key, a who-cares key. I can never remember what it is in a specific situation, so I've always called it a goober."

Kairi blinked, "Riiiight." He turned his attention back to Gwen, "So how exactly are you going to find this dimension's Spider-man's secret lair."

"His aunt," Gwen shrugged. "She must know where he operated out of."

"No, no," Peter immediately shook his head. "That's a bad idea, a very bad idea. In fact, that idea is so bad, it's almost as bad as going to the Aunt May of this universe and asking her where the other Peter's base of operations is."

I think this guy has gone insane…

"Dude, you just basically said that going to May Parker is a bad idea twice," Kairi frowned at him.

"That's how you know how bad of an idea it is!" Peter exclaimed, pointing a finger at Kairi's face. "See! Bad! So, so bad! Really bad!"

"All right, we get it," Gwen rolled her eyes as Kairi moved Peter's finger out of his face. She then crossed her arms as she regarded the other Peter Parker. "It's bad. But tell me this, do you know someplace else we can do this?"

Peter raised one finger and opened his mouth to answer… only to come up with nothing. "Ugh, this is such a bad idea," he groaned as he palmed his face.

If he thinks this is a bad idea, then we should do it. We should definitely do it. Are we doing this? Please tell me we're doing this.

Kairi groaned as he rubbed his temples.

"Something wrong?" Gwen looked over in concern.

"Yeah, a headache," he replied, giving her a significant look.

She easily caught on, "Oh. Uh, is it really bothering you or is it just coming and going?"

"No, it's pretty much bothering me," he replied.

I can hear you two, you know.

"Are you guys talking in code?" Peter asked. "I feel like you're talking in code."

Kairi sighed. "You wouldn't have brought that bottle of aspirin, would you," he asked Gwen, a miserable look on his face.

"Sorry, Kai," she smiled regretfully.

Kairi's head fell onto the back of the seat in front of him with an exhausted groan.

You know, this time, I think aspirin would work.

…Back at Alchemax…

Wilson Fisk stood in the shattered remains of Dr. Octavius's office, cold wind blowing into the room as he stared out the broken window wall, clicking his pen. It was an old habit he had that he did when he was stressed. It had gone away when he had met his wife, Vanessa, and they had their son, Richard. But after their deaths, the habit came back.

Tombstone stood in the corner of the room just as Doc Ock walked in.

"I killed Spider-man," said Fisk. "Why do my technicians say there's two more?"

"This is good," Octavius said, a grin on her face. "This is very, very good. Do you know what this means? It means that you get what you want, my collider works. All we have to do is kill a couple more Spiders and the collider will bring your family back, as many of them as you want."

Fisk's eyes narrowed. "And the third intruder?"

"No idea," she shrugged before she grabbed a tablet from a drawer and started tapping away. Once done, she turned it over, revealing that she had security cameras in place, and selected an image of the person in black and gold. "This one look familiar to you?"

Tombstone peered at the tablet. "Mask is different, but that color scheme… boss, remind you of someone?"

Fisk turned on his heel and looked over, a scowl soon appearing on his face. "Ronin," he bit out as he pondered it over. "Even if it's not her, she could've trained someone to take her place. Lonnie, look up Maya Lopez, see where she and her son are at. We need to make another example, I do not want any more interference at my collider."

"Yes, boss," Tombstone nodded as he and Fisk left the room.

"Our collider," muttered Doc Ock as she looked down at the tablet.

…Queens…

It was evening when Kairi, Gwen, and Peter found themselves on the sidewalk in front of the house of May Parker. And it was Peter who fired a web-shot from his web-shooter to ring the doorbell, only for him to have a change of mind.

"We should probably go," he said.

"Peter, we are literally on the doorstep," Gwen rolled her eyes.

Peter stared at the front door of the home, which looked so much like his own Aunt May's place. The place where he grew up. And when he saw a shadow approach the other side, he decided a tactical retreat was the best strategy at the moment. "Bad idea," he said, echoing his earlier words. "This is a bad idea."

Gwen fired a web-shot as Peter took three steps at his back to prevent him from going any further, "Dude, just relax."

"Was I like this yesterday when we went to my house?" Kairi whispered to her.

"No, you were cuter," she replied.

…

Wait, what?

"What?" he asked.

"What?" she had asked, though it seems she was just as confused about what she had said as he was.

I swear, I will never need to buy a subscription with how much you two amuse me.

And luckily, Gwen was saved when the front door opened before Kairi could question her. Or the symbiote in his head for that matter.

"You guys are all very sweet, but no more fans today, please," May opened the door, a little exasperated by the well-wishers that have plagued her door as she held a baseball bat in her other hand. However, when the door fully opened and she saw one of them in particular, her grip on the bat fell.

"I'm so not ready for this…" Peter muttered awkwardly.

May took a step forward tentatively, as if almost afraid that if she got any closer, the sight of her nephew would disappear like smoke. However, when Peter's smile just became more awkward, she took another step, and another as she held her hand out towards him.

"Peter?" she whispered.

When her hand touched his chest and she could feel that he was real, she almost collapsed.

"Hey, Aunt May," Peter he sighed. "So this is gonna sound crazy, but I'm pretty sure that I'm from an-"

"An alternate dimension," May finished for him. Her Peter was blonde after all and this one had brown hair. What other explanation was there to explain why there were two different Peter Parkers?

"Uh, yeah," Peter was a little perplexed that she understood so easily.

She gave him a smile, "You look tired, Peter."

He chuckled, "Well, I am tired."

"And older," May then gave him a once over, "and thicker…"

"I may have put on a little weight," he reluctantly admitted.

"Oh, jeez. Are those sweatpants?"

"My suit tore when I got here, okay?" he said a little defensively, wrapping his jacket a little tighter around himself. Which had only really put emphasis on his belly. "I didn't have time to get it fixed."

May just gave a little chuckle as she pressed her hand on the side of Peter's face. Oh, what had the world done to this Peter?

Kairi stepped forward, "I was there when it happened. I… I'm so sorry, I wish I… I wish I could've done something."

"And what dimension are you from?" May turned to regard him.

"This one," he replied before he held up the flash drive the Peter from this universe gave him. "Do you know where Peter made this? We have some new info that we should probably update it with."

May took it with a frown, "A goober?" She then looked at the three with a nod. "Follow me." Taking them through her house, she kicked the back door open.

Was that really necessary? I don't think it's good door maintenance to be kicking your doors like that.

Kairi almost laughed at Sleeper's comment but held it in as May led them over to the shed in the back corner.

"Oh yeah, I got one of these too," said Peter, recognizing the same shed from his home dimension. "A little, old shed where I keep my Spider-gear."

However, Kairi raised a brow when May pulled out a key from her pocket and turned it in the padlock keeping the shed door locked. However, to the surprise of the others, a mechanical whir sounded off and light in the form of a spider appeared on the door before the doors slid open to reveal an elevator.

"Well, this place is pretentious," mumbled Peter as they stepped in.

The four of them were lowered down into an underground facility where they saw several platforms that held various things. Such as a plane, a motorcycle, a jeep, and a workout room. All of it was Spider-man-themed.

Am I the only one wondering how exactly Spider-man paid for all this…?

The royalties off his merch maybe?

Once the elevator lowered, Kairi and Gwen looked around in awe. While Peter walked over to a table where some pictures were kept, particularly one that was a photo of Mary Jane Parker. He had been on his way to talk to his ex-wife in his dimension, the first time in months, when the portal opened and swallowed him up. Oh, he hoped that he could make it back in time and… well, save his relationship.

"Peter knew how dangerous the job was," said May as she stood in front of a murder board, and in the center of it was Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, drawing attention to it to the others. "But he figured the only one who could stop this guy was Spider-man."

"Kingpin will know we're coming," said Kairi, frowning at the pictures pinned to the board. Kingpin, Tombstone, the Vulture. "We're going to be outnumbered and outgunned. With stealth off the table, how are we going to do this?"

"Don't be so sure on the numbers factor, kiddo," May smiled before pulling out name tags and some markers. "You might need these." She then nodded upwards, "Did you think you were the only ones who thought to come here?"

"Hey, fellas," spoke a voice and the three found a… Spider-man in black and white with a trenchcoat and a fedora? He was hanging above with two others.

"Where's that wind coming from?" frowned Peter. "We're in a basement."

"Wherever I go, the wind follows," said fedora-Spiderman dramatically, waving his hand about before tightening it into a fist. "And the wind? It smells like rain."

What?

"Hi, guys!" one of the others spoke, revealing themself to be a young Asian teen girl wearing a school uniform and sitting on top of a red and blue robot. "Hajimemashite, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"

Is this… are we in an anime now?

"This literally cannot get any weirder," muttered Peter.

The last one then stepped forward, revealing a… pig? A walking, talking pig in a Spider outfit? Well, the pig stepped forward, completely wet and offering his hand for a handshake. "It can get weirder! I just washed my hands, that's why they're wet."

Kairi and Gwen blinked while Peter just looked so done with everything.

"No other reason."

Bullshit.

Everyone in the room, save for Kairi and May, suddenly frowned before they gasped and said in perfect sync, "You're like me."

"My name is Peter Parker," said the Spider-man in the fedora. "I was bitten by a radioactive spider and in my universe, it's 1933, and I'm a private eye. I like to drink egg creams and I like to fight Nazis, a lot."

I'd like to kill a Nazi.

"My name's Peni Parker," Peni stepped up. "I'm from New York in the year 3145, I was bitten by a radioactive spider that I have a psychic link with who lives inside my father's robot that he designed. And we're best friends, forever!"

Hey, they're just like us! Well, if the robot was an alien symbiote.

"And I'm Peter Porker," said the cartoon pig replied happily. "I was bitten by a radioactive pig and I'm a reporter for the Daily Beagle. When I'm not pooching around, I'm working like a dog, trying to sniff out the latest story. I frolic and I dance and I do this with my pants-"

"Okay, enough with the introductions!" Peter cut in as he waved his arms wildly.

I'm just trying to understand how the pig exists in the first place…

Kairi wanted to laugh at Sleeper's remarks, but honestly, he was just confused about how he went from having to help two interdimensional travelers to six in one day. Palming his face, he sighed into his palm as he used his thumb and forefinger to massage his temples a little.

"So, how did all of you get here?" asked Peter.

"Well, it's kinda a long story," said Spider-Noir. "See…"

In short, they all had been sucked into portals in their home dimensions before they were tossed out into this one.

"Okay, maybe not that long," Spider-Noir amended with a shrug.

"Now, we're just trying to find a way home," said Peni,

"Wow, so now I've got six of you to send off before I destroy Fisk's collider," Kairi deadpanned. This was not how he originally planned his weekend to go. Originally, he was going to continue working on the Spider-man statue that he and Miles were working on.

"Wait, who are you?" Spider-Noir asked.

"Hi, I'm Kairi Lopez," Kairi deadpanned. "I wasn't bitten by anything radioactive, but I do have this fella."

"Hi, I'm Sleeper!"

"Oh my god!"

"I thought that was your suit! You're telling me it's alive?!"

"Gee willikers!"

"What the fucking hell?!"

Everyone paused to look at the frightened pig as it stood atop one of the Spider-man outfit displays as he stared at the symbiote in fear.

"Is he allowed to swear like that?" Peter mumbled. It seemed weird for someone who looked like they belonged in a kids' cartoon to swear at all, period. "I feel like some sort of law has just been broken."

"Wh-What are you?" Peni asked from behind her robot.

"I'm an alien," Sleeper replied.

Gwen, who was already used to Sleeper's presence, only smirked as she watched everyone's reactions. She could only hope her reaction when she first met Sleeper didn't look that embarrassing.

"Interesting," mumbled Spider-Noir as he frowned at the symbiote before looking at Kairi. "So is he attached to you or…?"

"More or less," Kairi shrugged.

"I'm right here, you can just talk to me." It then snapped its gaze towards Peter B. Parker, "Except for you! Don't talk to me!"

Peter gave the alien a perplexed look, "What? What did I do?"

"You called my eyes stupid!"

"What? I did not," Peter dismissed.

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Okay, so before this devolves into a shouting match," Kairi cut in as he pulled out the two flash drives he had on him. One that Spider-man of this universe had given him and the flash drive containing the data from Alchemax. "We need to analyze the data on one of these drives so that the other flash drive has the relevant override keys so I can destroy Kingpin's collider after I send all six of you home."

"Ooh, you've got a goober?" Peni's eyes shined.

But before anything else could be said, everyone who wasn't from this dimension began glitching out, well, save for Sleeper whose head receded back into Kairi. With Gwen being close by to him, Kairi was able to catch her before she fell to the floor, but the others didn't have the same luxury as they all constricted in pain.

"Ugh, I think it's getting worse," mumbled Gwen, allowing Kairi to help her to her feet when the moment passed. "Do anyone of you know the exact reason why this is happening to us?"

"Cell decay," Peni piped up. "Since we aren't native to this dimension and were pulled by the collider to here, it isn't safe for us to remain here long. Our bodies would literally disintegrate."

"Disintegrate?" Spider-Ham gasped.

"Into ash, yes," Peni nodded.

"Then we should probably get these scanned ASAP then," said Kairi, holding up the flash drives again.

"Ooh, I'll do it!" Peni volunteered through a wince as she held her head, an aftermath of the glitching. "I'm kinda a whiz with tech and stuff since I'm the one who has to do maintenance on SP/dr."

"Have at it," Kairi handed over the flash drives.

Peni took them with excitement, despite the fact that a moment ago she was on the floor contorted in pain. Popping herself into the robot that accompanied her, she began doing her thing as she chowed down on some snacks. Even geniuses need brain food!

"So I guess we just wait then," said Peter, crossing his arms.

Kairi stood next to Gwen and asked her, "You okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine," she nodded. "The glitching is getting worse, probably will the longer we're in a different dimension. Makes me a little jealous of Sleeper since he doesn't have to deal with it."

Yeah, I do not envy the Spider-folks.

"What about you," she asked him. "Are you doing all right? I mean, one or two interdimensional travelers was one thing."

"To be honest, I figure this is par for the course now," he replied with a small smile before it faded as a frown furrowed his brow, his thoughts turning to what Fisk had said in the elevator back at Alchemax. "But I…"

Picking up on his change of mood, she frowned in concern. "What? Kai, is something wrong?"

Kairi took in a deep breath, "It turns out my father's death wasn't as random as my family and I thought it had been, a bank robbery gone wrong. It turns out that Kingpin put a hit on my dad in retaliation for my mother's actions as the Ronin when she had dismantled one of his operations he had running."

Gwen stared at him, "Kai, I'm so sorry."

"I'm gonna bring Kingpin down," Kairi swore. "I have to make him pay, for what he did to my dad, to Spider-man, and to this city. His rule will end."

She frowned, "Wait, Kai… you're not planning on killing him, are you?"

"He owes too many lives for it to be fair," he replied sardonically with a shrug. "Who knows how many other lives he's taken. But if I do it, if I kill Kingpin, then he won't be able to hurt any more people, take away any more people."

"Whoa, Kai, that's not what we do," she grabbed his shoulder, gripping it firmly. "You go down this path and it will never end, okay? And don't justify it by saying it's for everyone's sake, it's still murder."

"You don't do it, yeah," he yanked his shoulder from her grip roughly. "I'm not one of you Spider-people. I'm not a hero, Gwen, I'm just a regular guy."

She scowled at him, "I'm pretty sure being a host to an alien that gives you the same powers as I do, heck, even more, pretty much puts you under the same umbrella as the rest of us Spider-people in the room, Kai. You are not killing Fist."

"And you think you can stop me?" he hissed. "The moment all of you are gone, there's nothing stopping me from going to Kingpin and slitting his throat!"

"Whoa, whoa, why don't we all calm down here, we're all friends, right?" Peter came forward between the two of them. "Jeez, you two were two peas in a pod, what the heck happened?"

"Nothing that concerns any of you," said Kairi snidely as he turned on his heel to leave.

Gwen couldn't help but flinch at his words, she could feel they had been aimed at her. She's known him the longest out of everyone in the room, been at his side for the past three days, and he's shutting her out like this? Anger blossomed within her chest as her heart began to ache.

Before Kairi could reach the elevator, however, his phone rang and he answered it without checking the caller ID. "What?" he barked.

*Is this Kairi Lopez?*

"Who's asking?" he growled.

*This is Doctor West at New York-Presbyterian in Queens. I'm sorry, but your mother's been attacked, she's currently in the ER room.*

His phone slipped from his fingers.

AN:

Wassup everyone! Sorry about the cliffhanger, but this was the prime place to stop for this chapter and I couldn't help myself. I've got three more chapters on this arc that covers the events of the Spider-verse film. The next chapter should be up by either the same time next week or the week after should something come up IRL.

As always, stay safe, stay healthy and you all have a good day!