Chapter 1: New Day, New World

Forcing open your eyes, having the light blind you, and having to keep yourself awake long enough to adjust is terrible. Waking up at all is one of the worst experiences that you'll ever have in your life, even more so when you had gotten barely any sleep. But awaking is especially terrible when you wake up in a pile of rubble, in a place that you don't recognize.

And that's what Peter Parker, also known as Spider-Man, was experiencing at this very moment.

He woke up, feeling as if he had been out drinking with friends the previous night. His back ached every time he slightly moved, he was still wearing his suit, and the sunlight directly in his eyes made it difficult to see. He couldn't remember anything from the past few days, and he was trying to recall any bit of information he could, but then he noticed something. It was quiet.

If he had been in New York, or almost any place he was normally, he would've heard people or at least cars. And then he noticed that there were no buildings above him. And all of this led him to look around him.

He sat up slowly, making his whole body hurt in protest, but he fought through the pain and was able to get a good look at his surroundings.

He was sitting in a lot of dust, rocks, and a few metal spikes that looked like broken car bumpers. All around him was the ruins of a city. And it looked old as if it had been like this for a long time.

"Oh gosh," he said aloud to nobody in particular. "That must've been a pretty crazy night."

There was no answer. In fact, there were no signs of life at all, other than the destroyed remains of buildings that were scattered about. He began to panic, which wasn't a terrible idea considering it looked like the world ended, but in the distance, he spotted a city block of buildings still standing. The nearest looked like some kind of apartment.

"Okay. Looks like I'm heading somewhere." After a second of testing his footing, he started walking towards the nearest building which looked like an apartment complex. His back was still in pain, and lungs were clearly damaged, making it difficult to breathe, let alone walk.

As he hobbled along, he took off his mask. There was nobody around to see him, so he figured that putting something against his mouth when he was struggling to breathe probably wasn't the greatest idea.

The apartment was far from where he was, and he didn't dare the move faster than a strolling speed, so it was gonna take a while. He could feel his body slowly healing itself, but he definitely wasn't healed enough to run.

The only thing keeping him going was those buildings, those barely noticeable images in the background. He kept his eyes trained on them, using his Spider-Sense to make sure he didn't trip. He held his chest in one arm and used the other to hop over debris or hold his body weight as he stepped down.

He sighed, slightly hurting his lungs. He had absolutely no clue what had happened, where he was, or what he was gonna do. In fact, he was sure he didn't really know anything at all at that second. All he knew was that he was ready for whatever he had to do.

He had a long trip ahead of him.

Somewhere in a Completely Different Universe…

"Where… could he be?" Iron Man asked, rubbing his head. His head was resting in hands as paced around the small room. "He hasn't been spotted anywhere for the past two days."

"I'm well aware of that, Stark." Doctor Strange replied. He was as worried as Tony, but he wouldn't all his face to show that.

"Yeah, well I don't see you doing anything about it," Tony said, putting his hands on the round wooden table that separated him from Strange.

"I'm planning and thinking very carefully. This whole thing is-"

He was cut off by Tony, who was still standing with his palms flat on the table.

"Planning, and thinking, and whatever else kind of garbage you're doing right now won't bring Peter back."

Strange knew Tony was desperate. He had been a wreck ever since the incident that left the beloved Spider-Man teleported to who-knows-where.

"But something has got to bring him back. And I- I-" Tony sputtered. "I have got to figure out what that thing is."

Strange was feeling sympathetic and tried to calm him down.

"Look, I know you feel responsible for this, but-"

"I am responsible. I am." He pointed his finger into his chest. "I could've helped him, I could've done… something. Anything. But I didn't. And now look, here we are, trying to save someone when I had the ability to save him in the first place."

Strange remained silent.

"I'm going to go test some stuff," Tony said this coldly. He turned, and without another word, left the room, leaving Doctor Strange alone in thought.

Peter hummed an old song to himself. His Uncle Ben used to play it on an old record player when Peter was little, but Peter couldn't remember the title, nor the lyrics. So, he walked and hummed to himself. It was comforting, in this strange, unfamiliar place.

He had already walked at least a mile, and he could see that the buildings were getting closer. He was healed enough to walk normally as long as he held his side, although after trying to run once, he had been reduced to lying on the ground for roughly 5 minutes.

He was tired, but that didn't mean he was slowing down. He had to reach the buildings. He had to. It was his duty to figure out what had happened, along with saving as many people as he could.

If there were people to save.

Now quickly approaching the cluster of still-standing buildings, he became excited a little. It was the first time he had felt something positive since waking up.

He raised his walking speed, but not much past a jog. He had to make sure not to hurt himself any further, otherwise, he wouldn't be much of a help to anyone, which included himself.

Even though his costume was ripped, his skin was scarred, and he was half-expecting to not find anyone there, he persevered and kept on venturing forth, towards the apartments.

Saitama was lazily sitting on a beanbag chair, flipping through what little TV channels he got. There weren't many of them, and they were mostly news. Normally, he wouldn't mind this but today there were no monster attacks, no exciting battles, or anything else that made the news bearable. It was all weather and small news. Although one channel had some stories about something related to politics, which Saitama wasn't particularly fond of.

"Ugh, I'm so bored," he said, resting his head on the wall. He clicked the TV off and sighed.

"Master," Genos said from the kitchen. He was scrubbing a plate and had many other plates stacked next, all of which were clean. A smaller stack had dirty plates. "If you wish, I can get some more manga for you after I finish this."

Saitama turned his whole body around and looked back at the cyborg.

"Um, no it's fine Genos. You have other, more important stuff to focus on. Or something like that." He turned back around and got more comfortable. "Plus, I kind of want to pick out my manga on my own." He said this last part a little quieter.

"As you wish." Genos turned back to his cleaning.

Saitama turned the TV on again, only to be greeted by a warning. The footage on-screen showed a giant Tyrannosaurus-like creature destroying buildings. People were screaming, car alarms were blaring, and the ground shook.

"-this unidentified creature is put at somewhere between a dragon and a demon level threat. All citizens within City H are required to evacuate. Several heroes have been sent to the-"

"I will go." Genos stepped away from the dishes and took off his apron. "I must stop this creature before any more people are harmed."

"Um, okay I guess. Do you want me to come with you?" Saitama once again looked at the cyborg.

"No, I need to do this on my own. I still haven't fulfilled your assignment."

"Assignment? Wha-" Saitama suddenly remembered what he meant. "Oh, you're still trying to get into the top ten in Class S?"

"Yes master, I am." Before he could say anything else, he suddenly perked up. Genos looked out of the window which faced a particularly large destroyed area. "There is a creature approaching. It is moving slowly but it might still be dangerous."

Saitama got up and walked to the door that leads out to the deck. He looked out, scanning for someone, or something.

"I don't see anyone." He opened the door and stepped out. He looked once more, and this time saw a flash of red and blue. "Oh, wait. It looks like a dude in a red and blue suit. Must be a hero."

Genos' eyes narrowed.

"Or it could be a monster."

"Well, yeah, I suppose, but either way, shouldn't we go talk to them?" Saitama looked at Genos quizzically.

"I suppose so. I shall go and-"

"No, no, you have to go to that monster thing." He pointed at the TV where the news was still reporting on the creature.

"But I need to-"

"You don't need to do anything." Saitama stood with his hands balled against his hips in a pose that he though looked heroic. He also put on his most deep and cool-sounding voice. "You must go and help the people. For that is what a hero is, someone who helps people. I will stay behind and deal with that thing. But you must help everyone. Do not worry about me."

Genos gasped audibly and began writing things down in a notebook.

"I will, master, thank you!" He opened the door and crouched down. Then, faster than the eye could see, he ran off, leaving a trail of smoke.

After he left, Saitama turned back to the window.

"He bought it, huh? I must be pretty convincing as a hero. Maybe I should try to be more heroic-y more often. It might improve my image." Saitama looked at the red-and-blue spot in the distance. "So, let's see what you are."

He climbed over the short wall that protected people from falling off the balcony and landed on the ground with a soft thunk.

He started walking towards the figure in the distance, but as he did, something came out of the ground near the person. It leaped at him, and Saitama knew that the person wouldn't be able to defend himself in time.

He sprinted up to the man, and when he reached him he hit the creature, which now looked worm-like, except it had a large mouth filled with sharp teeth. The worm exploded into a burst of something that looked like guts, spattering Saitama, and the man.

Peter looked up, still clutching his side, still in pain. His breaths were long, drawn-out, and heavy They attacked his insides with pricks of pain every time he inhaled.

"Oh, um, cool. Thanks, dude. Who-" He winced. "Who are you?"

Hey guys, this is my first fanfiction that I'm posting. I hope you enjoy it! I have a few chapters written, so I'll be posting them randomly, but once I get to the point where I reach stuff I haven't written, it might take a little to get posts out.