I couldn't help but outright stare at this Reed Richards. He was… maybe slightly younger than me. He was absolutely nothing like any of the previous Reed Richards I'd met before. I wasn't sure if I even could count all the differences between them both because there were so many. The only similarity was how smart they all were.

He waved another homemade device at me and sighed, "Yep, only a Tony Stark could make such an obvious and simple mistake."

"A mistake? But I thought he was a genius?" I asked, confused.

"See, I think what he did was a contingency plan if you didn't get straight to your Universe… because he didn't use a very precise tool, and maybe just a scan, to figure out which exact universe you were from it threw all the readings off just enough to send you here instead."

Spider-woman, who was sitting in the corner with her arms crossed, finally piped up. "So what does that mean? Is he getting home?"

"Eventually. See what I'm pretty sure the contingency is, is that if your readings didn't completely sync with the universe you're in the device that Tony had in his world will recharge for about twelve hours or so to gain enough power then send you to another universe. However, there are time differences in different universes. So you could be here for days or just a few hours." He explained, putting away his various gadgets.

"You're kidding me? Right?" At the sympathetic look he gave me I buried my head in my hands, "Can't you send me straight to my universe?"

"I don't think I should… I don't have all the technology and even if I did it could mess up everything. In other words, you would get home and then you would be sent to another universe, or something even worse," he said.

I thought it over. So I would have to jump through some universes until I got to mine. On the bright side, I would see more universes than pretty much everyone else, ever. On the really bad side, I might come across a really bad universe. I bit my lip, thinking. "I'm going to need some supplies then. Can you help me make a lot more webbing Reed? I think I've nearly run out of mine."

"Of course. Should be easy enough."

"Spider-woman, if it's not too much trouble, would you get a bag filled with water and food cans? I don't care about what's in the cans as long as it's edible and not expired. Then I should be more or less ready for whatever the world-… universes throw at me." I asked, giving them the most pleading look I could with a mask on.

She sighed and nodded, "Sure, I should be back in twenty minutes or so. I can also grab you a change of clothes if that helps?"

"That'll be amazing, thank you," I said. She got up and climbed out of the window, a thwipping sound following.

I took out my webbing and put it on his workbench. "Here, will you need any help?"

"Do you know the exact formula?" I shook my head. "Then… no."

I had been silent as Reed worked on creating as many batches as he could. So far he was on his third, which I believed was almost done. I didn't really feel like talking much. It seemed to suit him just fine.

But I did have a couple of questions still.

"When will I know I'm about to leave?" I asked, twiddling my thumbs.

They shrugged, not looking away from their work, "I have no idea. There might be no warning or you might fade away or leave in a flash of light. You'll probably figure out a pattern on your own."

There was a thump outside the window and we both looked up. I put fresh webs into my web-shooter and braced for a fight, while Reed froze in place. A few seconds passed before someone knocked on the window. I breathed out quietly and went up to the window. There was Spider-woman, with a backpack in her hand.

I opened the window and let her in. "Thanks. I got you all the cans I could find in my cupboard and plenty of water. And an old blanket, because I thought you might want that and a hoodie and sweatpants. By the way, thanks. I got to clean out my cupboard and for once it doesn't look like a disaster. How're things here?"

"I've finished the third batch of webbing, so you Spider-man should have enough to last you for ages," Reed explained, turning around in his chair and showing a handful of refills. My eyes bulged. "I'll find a little bag for you to put them in and then you're set."

Before I could think about it too much I launched forward and hugged the two of them. Reed seemed to accept it as a fact of life and did nothing but Spider-woman went tense. She awkwardly patted my back.

I stepped back, "You have no idea how much this means to me. It would have sucked having to steal or something."

"Yeah, no problem. Here are your webs. I was happy to help," Reed said, passing me the small ziplock back of refills. I quickly stuffed them in my bag, which I noticed was nearly full with everything in it.

"So, now what?" I asked after a moment of silence.

"We could go patrolling together?" Spider-woman said, and I grinned.

"Superhero team-up!"

It was when I was taking down a ninja that I started to feel… something.

I roundhouse kicked the ninja into a wall and webbed him up. He struggled for a moment before seemingly giving in and falling silent.

I looked down at my hands as the sensation grew stronger. It was like tiny pins pricking me in a randomised pattern. It wasn't necessarily painful, but it was distracting.

"Spider-woman? Did the Ninjas hit you with something? I mean, do you feel like there are tiny pins pricking you?" I asked, approaching her.

She finished up her phone call to the police before she replied. "No, I don't feel anything out of the ordinary. Are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine, it's just… weird. Where to next?" I asked, shifting the bag straps so they were a little more secure.

"Actually, could it mean you're about to jump universes?"

"If it is then-"

A flashing light and bang interrupted me. A feeling of weightlessness came over me. It was as if I was falling…

Falling?

I rubbed my eyes and groaned in frustration. I was falling one thousand or so meters above New York… again! I swear, if this happens every time I might just run out of webs before the universe… exploring? Adventure? Teleporting? Was over.

This time at least, I could improve how many webs I put on the ground. This time, hopefully, I wouldn't be knocked out.

It was so annoying though, like, this probably was definitely not supposed to happen. Why did that Tony Stark have to be so unreliable? He had one job!

As I grew closer to the ground, I noticed that this New York was bustling with people. So a horrible universe was probably crossed out. I could be wrong, everyone could secretly be snakes or it's all an illusion created by toxins in this Universe's air, but I had a feeling everything was okay. Mostly because my Spider-sense was only screeching about falling from so high up.

A few seconds earlier then I had the last time I was falling I began piling up the area I would land in with webs, extending all the way up to the top of the buildings. Just when I was about to fall into the net I tucked my body into a ball and covered my head.

I fell into the nets and I fell around ten meters before slowing down and stopping. I waited a few seconds before breathing out a sigh of relief and relaxing into the webbing. Now to find out just how messed up this Universe is. How fun.

Just as I was about to crawl out of the webbing, the webbing dipped under someone's weight. Whoever they, or it, was, they were behind me.

I whirled around to find a Peter Parker Spider-man crouched in his classic pose. Or at least I presumed it was them from their familiar costume. But I had a strong feeling it was them, the one I had met before any of this.

"Peter! Oh, it's good to see you. How's life been? It's been ages since I last saw you!" I stood up and they slowly followed suit. That's when I noticed that they were only slightly taller than me. "Um…" Oh crap, oh no, they aren't the Peter I had met, red alert! Red alert!

They grabbed me by my costume and tugged me forward, "How do you know my name? I haven't told anyone besides Mr Stark and Ned. Who are you anyway?"

That's when I finally noticed the extra black lines along the costume. Why didn't I notice that sooner? "I'm going to sound absolutely insane, but please believe me."

Their eyes narrowed with a whirring sound, and I absently noted that it sounded like a camera zoom. "My girlfriends Dad was secretly a guy running a black market for superhero and alien weapons and fought me in a suit that looked kind of similar to a Vulture. I don't think much could beat that."

"Join the club, honestly." Their grip on my costume tightened and it threatened to tear. "Wait, wait! Don't do that. I'm a universe hopper-" Nope, that wasn't a good name either. I would think of a different one at a later time, "-and I thought you were a Peter Parker Spider-man I had met before but clearly you're not because there are some tweaks in costume design, his eyes do not move like that and he's clearly older than you. Not that there's anything wrong with that!"

There was a small pause where the seemed to dwell on what I said before saying, "Prove it."

"Um, well, I don't know how? If you search up my secret identity there's either going to be a copy of me or I just don't exist in this world and I know next to nothing about you or this universe yet so please cut me some slack. I'm tired enough as it is without you threatening me three ways to Sunday." I babbled nervously.

Their eyes widened, and if I wasn't in my current situation I probably would have either cooed at how adorably innocent it made him look or snort. Or a combination of both. "I wouldn't hurt a random person, that's just wrong-"

"Well, obviously but I'm not exactly a civilian so-"

"And I don't want to hurt a kid-"

"You're a kid too! Honestly, at this point, it's probably a contest on who's older-"

"And I really need to call Mr Stark, this is insane."

"Yeah, Nah. An alternate version of him meant well but now I'm jumping universes because he couldn't be bothered to do more than a scan on where I was actually from."

"What? Mr Stark would never do something like that!"

"Don't get your knickers in a knot, he meant well and he actually had back up plans if I didn't go straight home. Now that's good thinking. He just didn't do more than a scan on which Universe I was on." I said, resisting the urge to cross my arms.

"Oh… Can I call Mr Stark now?" they said, finally letting go of my costume and stepping back. I was thankful to notice there was no damage to my costume.

"No way, and if Reed Richards said there was nothing I could do but wait until I reached my universe, I'm going to trust their word over the guy who got me into this situation," I explained.

"What? Who's Reed Richards?" They asked, tilting their head just so.

I gaped, "Your universe doesn't have Reed Richards? But he's in nearly every universe and he's super smart. Even if in my universe him being that smart is bad… still!"

"Alright, whatever. What should I do with you then if you really don't want me to call Mr Stark?" They said, putting their hands on their hips.

"Um… well, I don't know exactly when I'll be leaving so probably just take me to your house or something. Now that I think about it… I'm really tired. I don't think I've slept since that first Stark put me in this mess. Unless you count being knocked unconscious sleeping?" They shook their head. "Alright then, I haven't slept in… thirteen hours or so. Man, I didn't realise we had been patrolling that long!"

I finally turned back to look at them, "Anyway, can I crash? Thanks! Lead the way 'Spider-man-that-has-a-high-chance-of-being-my-age, or SMTHAHCOBMA. That sounds like a Harry Potter spell, don't you think?"

"Karen, am I this annoying?" I heard him whisper.

After a quick swing, I was climbing through this Peter Parker's window. It was a… cozy room. I saw some Lego builds, posters relating to science, and clothes on the floor. So a typical teenagers room then. I looked to my right and saw a bunk bed. Oh man, he had a bunk bed! It was like the Universes had planned this just to make me jealous.

"I call top bunk!" I said, dropping my bag and jumping onto the bed.

Peter by this point had climbed through the window and taken off his mask. "Be quiet, or Aunt May will hear you." He pressed the spider on his chest and I watched in fascination as his costume loosened and fell off him.

"Whoa… I'm totally going to see if I can figure out a way to get my costume to do that. That would save so much time…" I whispered in awe.

They threw on some clothes before they turned back to me. "Please try and be quiet while you sleep. If Aunt May finds you here…"

"Relax Peter, I'll be as quiet as a spider." I tugged my mask off and extended an arm over the side of the bed. "I'm Miles Morales, by the way. Thanks for letting me crash."

They shrugged, "It's fine." They chuckled quietly, running a hand through his hair, "Ned is never going to believe me."

"Take a picture, it'll last longer," I joked. "Anyway, I'm going to sleep so please don't wake me up unless an alien invasion is happening, or the end of the world in general… or if you're going to die. Good night."

They said goodnight before walking out of their room, closing the door behind them. I quickly changed out of my Spider-man suit before tucking myself in. I thought for a moment before webbing my bag over to myself and shoving my costume in. I then put the handle around my wrist. Just in case I teleported when I slept, so I wouldn't leave it behind. Then I realised if that happened I would need my web-shooters to survive so I put those on. Never hurt to be prepared.

Finally satisfied, I turned over in bed and closed my eyes.

When I woke up to morning light streaming through, relief passed through me. I hadn't teleported.

Wait, maybe I had and I was in a new universe and someone had saved me? I looked over the bunk and saw Peter snoring softly. I breathed out a sigh of relief, nope, still in this Universe.

I relaxed and put my head back on my pillow. That was a good sleep. This bed was so much better than the couch I had slept on at Brad's. Like, there were no lumps. And the pillow was just right. It felt like a five-star experience after way too long of dealing with a one star. Except for Brad, Brad was at least a three. Brad was nice.

I settled further into the sheets. To stay in bed or to not? That was the question.

I looked around the room and spotted a laptop. Hmm…

I quietly climbed out of the bed, careful not to make the bed creak. I paused for a moment, making sure Peter was dead to the world before I wandered over to the computer and turned it on. A picture of what looked like some school team was on it. Huh.

I pressed enter and was surprised to find it already welcoming me into the laptop. He didn't have a password? For someone so smart, that just seemed silly.

After a few seconds of waiting, I was in. That felt way too easy. I clicked on a folder named 'school' and was unsurprised to find all his subjects organised into their own folders. When I clicked into one of them, I find he had named folders by the assignment names. When I clicked into those, I finally found some of his work. Organised nerd, thy name is Peter Parker.

I clicked around, quickly growing more bored. This was not as exciting as I hoped it would be. I sighed and gave up on the laptops folders. What else could I do? I mean, I could find out more about the heroes in this world but I saw no point. I wouldn't be coming back here, ever. Wait, I wouldn't be coming back here ever…

I guess I had to find out more about the heroes in this world or Ganke would never forgive me. I would look them up… as soon I dig up some embarrassing search histories.

Just as I was about to click 'history' a hand reached out and tugged the screen down. "Aw," I whined, looking up at the culprit. They gave me a very unamused look. I held my hands up in surrender, "I was bored because you're a typical organised science geek. There was nothing interesting to look at in your computer folders."

"I do actual work on that computer. What did you honestly expect to find on here?"

"Do I really need to answer that?"

His face turned crimson red and he silently grabbed some clothes and walked out of the room. I snickered, now that was fun. Now to find out what superheroes there were.

Ten minutes later I had found out everything I really needed to know. Wikipedia was brilliant in that respect. There was a knock on the door and I was about to call out to Peter when I heard a distinctly female voice call out, "Peter? Are you in there? Time to wake up for school."

I looked around the room, crap, crappity crap. Crap, crap, crap, crap- The door squeaked open and I camouflaged. A head popped in, huh, looked like this Aunt May was much younger than the Aunt May of my world.

She looked over in my direction and I almost felt like my heart stopped by how scared I was. Camouflage isn't invisibility, there was always a slight chance of me being spotted! She frowned as she looked directly at me before seemingly passing it off, shrugged and closed the door behind her.

I slowly let myself breathe, that was terrifying. I really needed to ask Peter if Aunt May knew about his secret identity or not.

I abandoned the computer and went and got changed. Into my Spider-man suit of course, not my casual clothes. I was only being realistic because if I had learned anything, it was that life hated my guts. Want to relax? Nope, not allowed. In civilians clothes? Whoops! You can't be wearing those, you need your costume. Better yet, there will be no civilian clothes available!

A few minutes later a freshly showered Peter appeared. "So what are you going to do while I'm at school?" They asked, folding their arms nervously.

"Don't worry, I won't try and blow up your house. I'll probably patrol or something, and avoid Tony Stark. You go do nerd stuff at your school. Oh, and potentially this is my goodbye."

They stared at me for a moment (presumably processing what I had said) before saying, "If it is, bye? Good luck on getting home."

"Thanks. Also, thanks for letting me crash. Bye!"

They waved and closed the door behind them. I relaxed in the chair. So what now? The answer was obvious, but there was also tons of other things I could be doing instead of patrolling. Like… giving Tony an earful? Maybe I should make sure I have absolutely everything I would need for different universes. I had been to nice universes but with my luck, my next one would suck.

So I had a set of civilian clothes, a blanket, plenty of webbing, food and water… but I didn't have any bandages. Wait, I should double check that.

I grabbed my bag and dug around inside. Huh, Spider-woman really had thought of everything! There was a bandage in here.

Well, life gave me no choice. Patrolling it was!

Around four pm this Universes time I got the feeling again. The one where it felt like tiny pins were pricking me. I sat down on the edge of the building and waited to disappear. Here we go again.