I do not own Spider Man or any of the characters. Starting now, I'm going to be doing a mixture of crossovers and making up universes as I go, so try to bear with me, and if you have any suggestions for a universe, I'd love to hear it.
Splitting Up
I stare at the computer in silence. the plan isn't good. The list was longer than we thought. Enough that, for the most part, we're pairing up and taking one universe per pair, and yet still each pair has an average of three separate universes to check using a small watch-like sensor Peni made that could apparently scan an entire universe in a few hours. There's a couple of exceptions, of course. Fire Spider's going alone, and Superior and Antivenom are taking Man Spider back to his own universe, since it's on the list, then locking him up. I'm with Jess, heading to one of the other worlds, one with the designation of 199999. It's listed as one of the ones that shares its laws of physics with us, because apparently there are some that don't, but that's about all we know. We don't even know if there's a Spiderman there.
"Is everyone ready?" Peni asks. "We might not be able to talk to each other once we're scattered, but your sensors should be able to scan the entirety of that reality in about four hours of this universe's time. If the scan comes up negative, head for your next destination."
"Question," I say, raising a hand. "What do you mean 'this universe's time?'"
"Some of them experience time differently," Peni says. "Yours is a lot faster. A few hours here will be a few days there."
I nod. "Well, at least we'll have time to get to him if he's there. That raises another question, though. Is he going by the time flow of the universe he's in?"
"We'll have to hope that wherever he is, its time is so slow we have a long time here, because we have a lot of universes to go to," Peter says. "Alright. Enough wasting time. Let's get this over with."
Everyone nods and, one by one, opens portals to their chosen universe, all heading through in silence. Finally, it's me and Jess's turn and we step through our portal and stop, looking around. We're standing at the top of the Empire State Building, having agreed that it would draw less attention to us. Around us, the city looks completely different. Off to one side, there's a gigantic tower that I definitely don't recognize where Fisk Tower is in our universe, our school is gone, there's a huge memorial site with a statue of what looked like a robot, apparently the thing being memorialized, but there were others. He saw a pair of murals of faces, and he could make out that one of them was an old man with white hair and a kind smile that somehow gave the impression that he knew something you didn't. The other was a man in his forties or so with combed hair, a serious expression, and a goatee and mustache.
"Wonder who they are," Jess says.
"I'm sure we could ask, but then we'd look stupid," I say. "Come on. Let's go find a place to change. Better to be inconspicuous for now."
Jess nods and we swing down to an empty alleyway where I quickly slip out of my suit, pulling on a pair of jeans and a tee-shirt, passing the suit to Jess, who absorbs it, keeping it inside of her body, so I don't have to carry around a backpack. It was actually a good idea, which I'm kind of annoyed I never thought of before. Actually, to be fair, I didn't think of it at all. It was all her idea. We walk to the memorial and I squat down, reading the plaque at the base.
"Tony Stark," I say. "Says he was some hero called Iron Man, and he sacrificed himself to save the entire universe from something called Thanos. Probably a person."
Jess nods. "Probably. We could find a computer and look them up."
"Good thinking," I nod.
We start down the street, looking for an internet café, since my phone is unable to connect to the internet of this universe, for some reason. We stop, however, as we see a group of robbers running out of a jewelry store and into an alleyway nearby. We run after them, Jess enveloping me the moment we're out of sight, and we jump, swinging through the alleyways and around the corner, only to stop on the wall, watching as the Spiderman of this universe finished sticking one to a wall with his webbing. his suit was fancy. He wore one made of some kind of metal with gold highlights and small blue lights here and there.
"Oh, so there is one here," I say, the Spiderman spinning and holding out a hand to shoot webbing at us but stopping, seeing us in a white spider suit, kneeling on the side of the wall with our feet and right hand.
"Who...You…" he stared before holding his hands to the sides of his head. "Holy shit! You've got the same powers as me! Oh my God! That's incredible! How much can you lift? Do you have that sense thing? Do you know of any more?"
He asked all of the questions within about a second and we hold up our other hand, stopping him. He sounds young. Probably about our age.
"Calm down," I say. "Let's get somewhere to talk, then we'll answer your questions."
"We?" he asks. "So there are more? Shit, sorry. You're right. Let's go."
We turn, swinging away and the Spiderman follows us. After a bit, we reach the top of a tall building and land in the middle of it, the Spiderman landing behind us, mask deconstructing like it's dissolving. We cock our head to the side as we watch it. He looks a little like Peter, but with a thinner face and darker brown hair.
"How's your mask do that?" we ask.
"Oh, this suit's made out of nanites," the Spiderman says. "I got it from Mr. Stark."
"Mr. Stark?" we ask. "Tony Stark?"
"Yeah," the Spiderman nods. "Do you know any other Starks?"
"Actually, we don't know any at all," we say, Jess separating from me, leaving me in my suit, my mask in my hand.
"Whoa!" the Spiderman says, gesturing between us excitedly. "That's so cool! how'd you do that? Is that your superpower?"
"Calm down," I say. "We'll explain, but you gotta listen. You're more energetic and talkative than the others. Anyway, my name's Ben. I'm called the Ice Spider because I don't have actual Spiderman powers, I have ice powers that can replicate them. I'm like, as much as I hate to admit it, Subzero from Mortal Kombat."
"So you can generate ice?" he asks.
I hold out a hand, forming a miniature version of the robot's statue out of ice.
"That is so cool!" he says.
"So, is this like, a robot?" I ask.
"No, it's a suit," he says, frowning. "Do you really not know who Iron Man is?"
"We're from a parallel universe," I say. "I assume you've heard of the Multiverse Theory?"
"Yeah," the Spiderman nods.
"Well, it's true," I say. "Not quite as...detailed, as the theory, but there are separate universes. I'm from one. She's from another. This is Jess. She's not really a Spider, since she usually doesn't fight crime, but she's acting as a stand-in for White Spider, her sister, Lexi. My girlfriend. They're an alien race known as Klyntar, or Symbiotes. They're organisms that usually have to bond with other life forms to survive, at least in our atmosphere, but Lexi and Jess are the queens, so they have the ability to survive without them."
"So, where's Lexi?" the Spiderman asks. "I'm Peter, by the way. Peter Parker."
"I figured," I nod. "Lexi is actually here too. She was wounded, so she's resting inside of my body, healing slowly. Pretty soon, she should be healed and she'll be able to leave my body again." I grimace, not looking forward to that pain, despite being anxious to be able to hold Lexi again. "Anyway, symbiotes are made of...well...it's kinda like snot."
Lexi shifts inside my chest and Jess smacks me in the arm. I chuckle, rubbing my shoulder and holding a hand to my chest.
"That's...um...okay," Peter nods. "So, what are you doing here?"
"We're looking for my cousin," I say. "He was infected by a parasitic spider from another universe that's going to turn him into a monster, as well as having a psychopathic, murderous symbiote named Carnage inside of him. We need to find him, but we don't know where he is. So we're traveling from one universe to another to look for him."
"You're going to search every single universe, like the whole universe, until you find them?" Peter asks. "That's...going to take forever."
"This will search it in a few hours our time, a few days here," I say, holding up my wrist, my sensor outside the suit.
"Whoa, cool!" Peter says, stepping forward to check it out. "Sorry."
"It's alright," I say, taking it off and handing it to him. "Just don't mess with anything."
He nods, inspecting it for a moment before his phone rings. He hands the watch back and pulls his phone out, answering. "Hello? Oh shit! I'm on the way back. Stall a little more for me! Thanks Ned!"
He hangs up, reforming his mask. "I gotta get back to class. Meet me on the Empire State Building later, alright? I got a thing tonight, but before then, it'd be awesome if we could talk."
"Sure," I nod.
He turns and swings away and Lexi envelops me again, taking the suit back before swinging us down into an empty alleyway and separating from me. We follow Peter back to his school. Since we're here a few days, we've already agreed to enroll in the school as temporary transfer students, if only to give us a chance to learn about the universe we're in, as well as pass the time. We have convincing forged documents already, and when we reach the school, one of the students directs us to the principal's office, though a lot of the guys we walk past stares at Jess as we walk past. She doesn't seem to mind, but I find myself feeling a bit protective of her. I shake my head, forcing the thoughts away and sighing. This has been happening ever since I found out she sleeps with people other than Jake. I want to teach her to be monogamous. So guys that she'd definitely be willing to fuck staring at her ass with little to no attempt to hide it is annoying me.
"Can I help you?" the school secretary asks politely.
"We're supposed to be transferred here," I say, holding out the papers, including some for Lexi. "Me, Jess, and Jess's sister Lexi. She's a little sick today, or she'd be here, but she should be better tomorrow."
"Alright," the secretary nodded. "I'll get the paperwork started, should just be an hour or so. And you're all in luck. There's a field trip tomorrow. You'd better pack. You're going to Europe."
My eyes widen before I grin. "Sweet. Uh, is it a problem for Lexi that she's not here?"
"Not really," the secretary says, shaking her head. "She can sign her papers in the morning before you all leave for the airport."
I nod and we sit down to wait. As we do, I feel my chest starting to ache more and more and hold a hand to it, feeling Lexi shift slightly. I wince, then nudge Jess.
"I've got to go," I say. "I think she's feeling better. I'll be right back."
Jess's eyes widen before she smiles widely and nods. I quickly hurry out of the room before finding a secluded place and sit down to wait. After a couple minutes, Lexi suddenly begins to move. I suck in a breath and grit my teeth, clamping down on a scream, my face screwing up in effort. Then, after a minute, my left palm splits open and Lexi forces her way out of it, immediately enveloping me and healing the damage before we separate again and she helps me stand. I throw my arms around her instantly, kissing her.
"I'm so glad you're okay," I smile, resting my forehead against hers.
"Thanks to you," Lexi says. "Sorry for hurting you so much."
"It was worth it," I smile. "Come on. We should go finish enrolling. You know everything that's happened, right?"
Lexi nods, and I return the gesture before we head back inside. As we reach the office, Jess is just finishing with her paperwork and smiles up at us, jumping up and hugging Lexi.
"You're back!" Jess cheers. "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine," Lexi smiles. "I feel much better. So, Ben says I have some paperwork to do?"
"Yes," the secretary nods, handing us both our paperwork.
She helps us fill it out, then decides we'll get lockers when we get back from Europe. She hands us our class schedules, and we leave, walking through the school to the room where we have study hall. I open the door and my face splits into a grin, seeing Peter sitting at a small group of desks, talking quietly to an overweight Hispanic kid, probably Ned.
"Step five, I tell her how I feel," Peter says. "And then, step seven, hopefully she...tells me she feels the same way."
"Don't forget step seven," Ned says, Peter preparing to write it down. "Don't do any of that."
I snort, covering my mouth as Lexi and Jess both smile knowingly. Ned and Peter look up at us as we sit down with them and peter stares at Lexi, wide-eyed. Lexi had gone back to her blonde hair, and formed herself a low-cut V-neck shirt and a skirt that was, admittedly, a little on the short side. After a moment, his eyes shift to me and widen further.
"What are you doing here!?" he hisses.
"We decided to go to school to pass the time," I shrug. "You're Ned, I assume?"
"Yeah," Ned nods.
"Nice to meet you," I say, holding out my hand, Ned shaking it. I drop my voice "I'm Ben, the Ice Spider. Sort of like an ice-type Spiderman."
Ned's jaw drops.
"Anyway," I say, turning back to Peter. "Proper introduction, Peter, this is my girlfriend Lexi."
"Pleasure to meet you," she smiles sweetly.
"You too," Peter says, then glances across the room at a girl across the room with wavy brown hair and tan skin, looking to be mixed race, maybe black and white.
I slide his notebook over to me, scanning through the plan he actually wrote down, then chuckle. "This is a good plan."
Peter glances at me and blushes, snatching the notebook back. "Uh, thanks."
"What's her name?" I ask.
"MJ," Peter says, glancing at her again.
"Don't listen to Ned," I say. "Go for her."
"Oh like you can talk," Lexi laughs.
"Hey, that was a completely different situation," I say. "Miss Manipulative."
"Hey, it worked out pretty well," Lexi says.
I laugh.
"Who are your new friends?" MJ asks, walking over.
"Oh, they're not my friends!" Peter says nervously. "Th-They're new here!"
"That's a little hurtful," I say. "But that's fair." I turn to MJ. "Nice to meet you. I'm Ben Dover."
MJ raises an eyebrow.
"I'm being on hundred percent serious," I chuckle. "My parents thought it would be a funny joke."
MJ shrugs and tilts her head slightly. "Can't pick your parents, I guess."
"That's true," I say.
"I'm Lexi," Lexi beams. "You're really beautiful. What do you use in your hair?"
"Shampoo," MJ says.
I grin. She's a smartass.
"I'm Jess," Jess says. "Lexi's sister. So, we're going to Europe tomorrow, right?"
"Yeah," MJ says, turning to Peter and Ned. "Anyway, I suggest you guys download a VPN on your phones so the government can't track you."
Then, she walks away. I smile.
"She's basically a goth, right?" I ask.
"Pretty much," Ned says.
"Hey!" Peter says. "That's not true!"
I chuckle. "Anyway, what was it you were saying about why he shouldn't ask her out?"
"We're going to be bachelors in Europe," Ned says. "I may not know a lot, but I do know this. Europeans love Americans."
"Really?" Peter asks.
"And over half of them are women," Ned adds.
I frown, debating pointing out the errors in his statements, but I let it slide.
"Okay, but, I really like MJ," Peter says. "She's really cute, and really funny, in a kinda dark way, and-"
"And you're going to follow your plan to ask her out," I say. "Ned, if you need a wingman, I'll give you a hand."
Lexi and Jess both burst into fits of laughter, drawing a couple of the other students' attention, and covering their mouths, forcing themselves back under control.
"Thanks for the vote of confidence, ladies," I say.
"You couldn't flirt well enough to pick up a prostitute," Lexi grins.
"Ouch," I say. "That's just hurtful."
"Yeah, I think I'll stick with Peter," Ned says.
"Sorry Ned," Peter says. "I'm going to follow my plan to be with MJ." Just then the bell rings and Peter stands. "Have Ben help. Or One of the girls. Girls make awesome wingmen, from what I've heard."
"That's true," Jess nods. "No one can pick up chicks as easily as a chick."
I roll my eyes. "We should get to our next class before we're late." I stand and walk out of the room, Jess and Lexi following, since we're all in the same class.
Apparently, though, that's the only one we have with Peter and his friends, because we don't see each other again for the rest of the school day, which drags by.
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