"Oh, that's perfect..." Said Jeanne.
"Don't say anything about it." Demanded Isabelle.
"Oh, come on, Isabelle. This is the first girl Andrew has brought home that I've liked. You can't say you don't agree, I know you hated that stuck-up redheaded bitch as much as I did. If not more." Retorted Jeanne.
"You better not make a scene." Asked Isabelle.
"But nah, don't worry about it." Said Jeanne before marking a pause. "All right... I'll start breakfast."
Hearing his mother and grandmother speak, Andrew opened his eyes as he let out a groan. First, he saw that his mother was standing over him, arms crossed with a smirk plastered on her face and Onyx tilting her head with what appeared to be a curious look. Secondly, he felt a weight come down on him. Looking down, he found blonde hair obscuring his vision.
…
Gwen?
Andrew's face turned red as he felt a warmth burn his cheeks.
"Mom...I..." He tried to explain. Only to have his mother shake her head before heading off in the direction of the kitchen. "Wait, Mom!"
"Nnn." Gwen grunted as she moved, stretching her arms before lifting her head. She smacked her lips as clarity only came to her and her eyes widened as she realized who was watching her and how close she was to him. Her face began to mirror his in terms of redness and she backed away from him with a squeak.
"I'm so sorry, I didn't- I didn't..." Said Gwen began to ramble.
"I have coffee."
The two were interrupted by Jeanne entering the living room with a cup of coffee in one hand and a cup of tea on a plate in the other.
"Here, Andrew, your tea, Earl Grey, and a spoonful of blueberry honey." Said the grandmother as she handed the tea to her grandson and held out the coffee to Gwen. "Peaberry coffee from Tanzania with a touch of almond milk."
"Uh, thanks, Jeanne." Said Gwen with an awkward smile, avoiding looking at Andrew, or her blush would come back full force.
"Thanks, Grandma." Andrew nodded.
Jeanne looked at them both as the two teenagers refused to look at each other, their faces still a little pink. She blinked as she realized something before raising her hands in frustration.
"Oh, great." She muttered in frustration as she walked out of the room.
Her grandson and Gwen were in denial.
Puzzled, the two teenagers watched the old lady leave.
"What's going on?" Asked Gwen.
"No idea." Answered Andrew.
… Some time later…
"Andrew, I don't know what you and Gwen had done." Said Isabelle.
Andrew looked at his mother, a frown on his face. After breakfast, he and Gwen prepared to go to Hudson Valley, neither his mother nor his grandmother knew of their plans and he intended it that way. Giving them plausible deniability if things went wrong. And now he was waiting downstairs in the lobby, waiting for Gwen.
He was wearing a biker jacket, a gray long-sleeved crew-cut t-shirt, and a black sweat suit.
"But be careful, okay?" She added.
Isabelle gave her son a hug, one he returned easily.
"Okay." He promised.
Hearing someone coming down the stairs, Andrew looked over his shoulder to see Gwen coming in, dressed in the clothes she'd worn the night before.
"Thanks again, Mrs. Bateman, for washing my clothes." Said Gwen with a grateful smile.
"You're welcome." Said Isabelle.
Gwen nodded her head.
"Are we ready to go?" She asked looking at Andrew.
"Yeah." He replied. "I have the bus tickets on my phone."
"Great, let's go." She said as she opened the door and left.
Isabelle watched her leave with a sly smile on her face.
"I'll see you later, Mom." Said Andrew as he gave his mother one last hug before leaving to join Gwen outside.
Jeanne, who was listening on the corner, came over to stand next to her daughter. The two women watched as Andrew walked toward Gwen, who was waiting on the sidewalk. The two said something to each other before they left, Andrew leading the way. And both women didn't miss the smile on the girl's face as she followed him.
"Twenty bucks says they'll be together at Christmas." Jeanne declared.
"Forty by the end of the week." Added Isabelle.
"Here we go." Laughed Jeanne.
She saw them this morning, those two would walk around each other until one of them took the step. 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 Andrew, now wearing in addition to his clothes a red full face mask with only eye holes, a black beanie, and polarized sunglasses, as he and Gwen stared out over the campus from the hills above.
Gwen had put on his suit, without the mask, before arriving as he stood guard.
"Are you ready?" Asked Gwen, her eyes on the main building, looking for entry points, open windows, a vent, it was the advantage of being small, thin and light, they could crawl through the vents.
"Yes. I just hope we don't have any unforeseen problems." Said Andrew, nodding his head.
"Perfect." Gwen nodded. "While you enter the building through the main entrance, remaining unseen. I'll enter through the vents via the air duct. Look for Olivia Octavius' office, she is the head researcher here in the lab. I'll keep an eye on things upstairs while you use your key on her computer. Maybe I can listen in on some important conversations that might include whatever Fisk is planning down the road."
"Do bad guys really do that?" Asked Andrew, tilting his head to the side.
"Sometimes, though it's purely luck to be there to hear the conversation." Gwen chuckled before frowning. "Although I wish we had a way to communicate, it would have been a great help. Phones won't cut it." She should have gone for radios or something before they came here.
"We work with what we have." Said Andrew.
Gwen nodded her head.
"Okay." She said, pulling her mask over her head, removing her hood right after. "Remember what I taught you. Stay safe, and remember, we're here to get the data, no fighting unless you have no choice."
Andrew nodded before the teen weaved and headed for the lab.
"Alright, insert Mission Impossible theme here." Andrew smiled as he became invisible, distinguishing only the outlines of his body, following Gwen's lead and heading towards the building.
However, it was then a black SUV that pulled up to the entrance of the building, drawing Andrew's attention. Especially when Tombstone got out of the driver's seat and walked over to the rear passenger door to open it for his passenger.
That passenger was Wilson Fisk.
Andrew worried about Gwen, but he trusted his friend. He knew she could handle herself, she was more experienced than he was after all.
Walking through the door as the Kingpin and Tombstone passed, Andrew kept his distance from them, waiting for them to leave the building lobby before moving. Walking over to a directory, he looked at the names listed, looking for the location of Octavius' office. He quickly found it... Fourth floor, room 408.
Heading for the elevators, he almost stopped when he noticed the back of the Kingpin and Tombstone, also heading for the elevators.
"Nah but you're kidding me." He thought with a quiet sigh.
Andrew followed the Spider-man killer into the elevator, hiding in a small in the back corner of the elevator. Although privately, he wondered how on earth the Kingpin could fit in the elevator, which barely had enough room for a man of the guy's physique. However, he also noted that the Kingpin and Tombstone didn't seem to notice his presence at all, even as he looked at the back of their heads.
Andrew's attention was caught when Tombstone raised a hand to the elevator panel. He was praying that the two super-villains would not ally on the fourth floor... But his prayers were falling on deaf ears, Tombestone and the Kingpin were going to the fourth floor. The same floor where Octavius' laboratory was located. He hoped that with any luck they wouldn't go to his office.
"The doctor's plan is more effective." Declared Fisk. "With Spider-man gone, all obstacles to my goal have all but disappeared."
"Sir." Said Tombstone, catching his employer's eye. "What about Taskmaster? He was the active vigilante before Spider-man arrived. Who's to say he won't be back now that Spider-man is dead."
the Kingpin laughed at his henchman's question.
"Oh, don't worry about Taskmaster, I already took care of that problem years ago. You see, Lonnie, I've discovered the person behind Taskmaster's mask, and you'll be surprised to find out that Taskmaster is actually a woman."
"A woman?" Said Tombstone looked at his boss in surprise.
"A woman." Repeated the Kingpin, shaking his head. "And Taskmaster decided she was going to retire and devote herself to her family, but before that, she decided to end her career on a high note and disrupted a counterfeiting operation I had going. However, Taskmaster's spouse worked here. I had him working on recreating a very special serum. However after a while he ended up trying to run away. Leaving Taskmaster with their son. But when he got on the plane, there was one of my men inside who blew him up. Killing the vigilante's future husband. So believe me, Lonnie, I was able to both get rid of a giant, and make sure we never have to worry about Taskmaster, not while she has a son she wants to protect."
Andrew stood still. His mother had always told him that his father was away doing something important to do. He would never have thought that his father had been killed trying to get in Fisk's way, and to get revenge on his mother, or rather Taskmaster.
He wanted to take the opportunity to kill him, but bringing Gwen back was more urgent than revenge.
Taking a deep, silent breath, he calmed himself as best he could, even though this revelation was disturbing to him. Given that he thought his father had just gone away, leaving him with his mother.
Once the elevator reached the fourth floor, the Kingpin and Tombstone got out as Andrew jumped on the ceiling, crawling backwards as he searched for Octavious' office. And it turned out he didn't need to look because the Kingpin and Tombstone had gone in that direction.
"Nah but it's not true, I have as little chance as that...?" Thought the teenager in the printed hero outfit.
"Mr. Fisk." Said Octavius, greeting his boss.
Andrew remembered seeing her in a video discussing the details of quantum theory during a physics class.
"Look at this data." Says she as she walks toward her desk. "I know you can't understand it, but these are really good numbers." Entering her password, she opened the relevant files and turned her screen so her boss could see it; images of the side effects on the city resulting from the use of the Collider. "Mr. Fisk, if we fire again this week, there could be a black hole under Brooklyn." She then pointed to some of the images. "Do you see this and this?"
Andrew looked over their shoulders, it was like five buildings trying to occupy the same space at the same time.
"It's several dimensions starting to crash into each other." Octavius continued.
The Kingpin gave the scientist a dry look. "You have twenty-four hours." He said before turning to leave, Tombstone following him. He needed results, not warnings.
"This means, there could be a break in the space-time continuum." Warned Octavius rose from his seat to pursue them, locking his computer before she did.
Once the door closed behind them, Andrew headed to the scientist's office. And after inserting the USB key. Looking up at the monitor, he saw the data starting to scroll. He raised his mask for a second to breathe less hot air for a few seconds before putting it back on.
Lazily, he wondered if the hackers would throw a fit with the speed at which his key was working. If he marketed this on the dark web, in addition to making a lot of money, he would put many hackers out of business.
However, that's when he started to wonder where Gwen was. However, before he could think any further on the subject, a body fell out of the air duct, crashing into one of the tables. Surprised, Andrew looked over and found... Spider-man? With a belly that he would describe as a big pack of beer... and sweatpants?
Andrew looked at the... Spider-hobo, who was moaning in pain.
"Okay, I didn't plan this." He grumbled as he stood up.
It was then that Gwen slipped out of the vent that the Spider-hobo had fallen through, landing on the floor.
"Really?" She said looking at the wandering Spider-man in disbelief. "Did you need in the room?"
"Hey, you distracted me." Accused the Spider-hobo, pointing at her.
Sighing, she pushed the guy's finger away before looking around.
"Andrew? Andrew, are you there?" She asked
"Yes, I'm right here." He answered as he became visible.
"Holy crap!" Yelped the Spider-hobo.
"How far along are you with the data?" She asked as she approached him.
"It's almost done, just a few more seconds and all the Achemax data on their Collider will be ours." He answered.
"Wow, can you hack that quickly? I mean, I can do it too, you know." Declared the Spider-hobo as he struck a pose. Though the effect was ruined by the belly he was sporting. "Hi, I'm Spider-man."
Andrew looked at Gwen.
"Seriously?" Andrew asked.
"It's a long story." She sighed.
"All right, let's do this one last time." Started the Spider-hobo, taking a deep breath to tell his origin story. "My name is Peter B. Parker. I was bitten by a radioactive spider and for the past twenty-two years, I thought I was the one and only..."
"We have time for introductions now!" Gwen hissed.
Peter gave her an offended look.
"She has a point." Answered Andrew.
"Okay. But I have to ask, are you Spider-man too? Because your costume really looks more like something improvised in a few minutes than a Spider-hero costume, don't you think?" Said Peter.
"Because I am, man. And I wasn't going to buy a knock-off costume from a costume store." Andrew quickly retorted.
Peter was going to admit that it was indeed a good move, when at that moment...
"Spider-Man?"
The trio froze upon hearing the new voice and turned to see Dr. Octaviuss standing there in amazement as she looked at them.
"Spiders?" She said before taking a deep breath. "Oh, that's so fascinating."
"Uh, do you have a Doc Ock in this dimension?" Gwen whispered to Andrew.
"Who?" He answered.
Before she could answer, a robotic arm sprang from Octavius' back and wrapped around Peter's windpipe, pulling him to the ground. Throwing off his lab coat, revealing a green suit, three more robotic arms came out.
"Finish the download!" Said Gwen to Andrew as she jumped over the desk and punched Doc Ock, only to stop to avoid two of the robotic arms. "Wow!"
Snatching the robot arm from around his neck, Peter joined in the fight, but it was all he and Gwen could do to avoid Doc Ock's extra arm swings and pull him away from Andrew.
"Oops, missed!" Peter scoffed. "And again! And again!"
"Do you think now is the time for that?" Asked Gwen, landing on the ground only to dodge another octopus-themed strike from the villain.
"Of course it is." Answered Peter only to have his ankle hooked by an arm before he threw him to the ground a few times. "Ouch, okay, I know I just met you both... but do things go wrong like this around you?" He said as he was thrown against the floor and the glass wall a few times before he managed to get out of the way.
"Funny, it started happening when you showed up." Gwen grunted as she dodged a robotic arm strike that was taking everything off the other table in the room.
"Wow, you two are chatty." Doc Ock observed as his robotic arms swung towards them.
"It's a gift." Peter joked as he dodged another blow before firing two webs aimed at Doc Ock's face, only for them to be intercepted by his extra arms.
However, Gwen continued by weaving webs from both of her wrists and pulling them to launch herself at her and a kick to Doc Ock's abdomen, sending him flying out of his office.
"Andrew, how's that download coming?" She asked as she landed on the floor.
"It's over!" He answered as he removed the flash drive from the computer.
"That's cool." Said Peter. "So, insert cool getaway scene here?"
Gwen and Andrew looked at him in disbelief.
"And did any of you wonder why the alarm didn't go off?" Asked the paunchy Spider-man, one hand on his chin.
"It's because while the key was spiking the data on the Collider, I disabled the alarm. We have ten minutes." Said Andrew to Gwen.
"Okay, then let's get to the flying." Declared Peter as he grabbed Doc Ock's desk and threw it into the window wall behind, breaking it. He then jumped, weaving a web so he could swing outside.
The two teenagers looked at the broken glass, completely stunned.
"Seriously where did you find this guy?" Asked Andrew.
Gwen sighed.
"It's a long story." She answered as she jumped up, she followed the Spider-man from another dimension, even though she had moved to get her backpack from where she had hidden it where she and Andrew had neglected the installation.
...A little later on the Hudson Valley Explorer bus on the way to New York...
"I also found him trying to get into the building through the air vents." Declared Gwen to Andrew as they took the bus back to the city, pointing to Peter, who was lying on the bus seats behind them. Of the three of them, there was only Andrew in his normal clothes since neither Gwen nor Peter had had time to change, although they had removed their masks. It was just as well, other people thought they were just big Spider-man fans. "Apparently he had the same idea as us since he's from another dimension too." she continued. "Oh, and the glitch problem isn't unique to me, he has it too. That's how he fell out of the vent earlier."
"So it wasn't really a long story then." Retorted Andrew with amusement.
She shrugged.
"No more than his introduction earlier." She said.
"Hey, I'm offended by what you two are implying." Said Peter, not moving from his position.
Gwen rolled her eyes, making Andrew laugh.
"So, what's our next step?" Andrew asked, 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 drive Fisk's people to school or your family's house. The Spider-man of this universe had to have a base of operations, somewhere for him to make the access key he gave you."
Peter leaned forward.
"Do you have a gizmo?" He asked.
Andrew raised an eyebrow at him.
"A thingy?" He asked.
"A gizmo is a key to do anything." Peter answered, rolling his eyes. "A bypass key, a viral key, a forcing key. I can never remember what it is in a specific situation, so I've always called it a gizmo."
Andrew blinked.
"Riiiiiiight." Said he turned his attention back to Gwen. "So, how exactly are you going to find the secret lair of the Spider-man of this dimension."
"His aunt." Said Gwen with a shrug. "She must know where he was operating from."
"No, no." Said Peter immediately shook his head as he laid a finger on Andrew's face, "This is a bad idea, a very bad idea. This is bad! So, so bad! Really bad!" With each word he tapped his finger on the teenager's face.
"Okay, we get it." Said Gwen rolling her eyes as Andrew removed Peter's finger from her face. She then crossed her arms as she looked at the other Peter Parker. "This is bad. But tell me this, do you know another place where we can do this?"
Peter held up a finger and opened his mouth to answer... only to say nothing.
"Ugh, this is such a bad idea." He growled as he stroked his face.
Andrew's head fell on the back of the seat in front of him with an exhausted groan.
…Back to Alchemax…
Wilson Fisk stood in front of the broken remains of Dr. Octavius' office, a cold wind blowing through the room as he peered through the broken window wall, repeatedly pressing the button on his pen. It was an old habit he had that he did when he was stressed. It had disappeared when he met his wife, Vanessa, and they had their son, Richard. But after they died, the habit had returned.
Tombstone stood in the corner of the room just as Doc Ock entered.
"I killed Spider-man." Declared Fisk. "Why do my technicians say there are two more?"
"That's good." Said Octavius, a smile on his face. "That's very, very good. Do you know what that means? It means you get what you want, my Collider works. All we have to do is kill a few 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?" He asked.
"No idea." She said with a shrug before grabbing a tablet from a drawer and starting to tap away. Once that was done, she flipped it over, revealing that she had security cameras in place, and selected an image of the person in normal attire with a mask on as he was pulled up for better breathing. "Does this one look familiar?"
Tombstone looked at the tablet.
"I've never seen him before...how about you boss?" He said.
Fisk turned on his heels and looked over, a scowl soon appearing on his face.
"I recognize him, he's part of the Taskmaster family." He said, thinking about it. "She could have trained her son to take his place. Lonnie, look for Isabelle Bateman, see where she and her son are. We need to make another example, I don't want any more interference with my Collider."
"Yes, boss." Tombstone nodded as he and Fisk left the room.
"Our Collider." Doc Ock muttered as he looked at the tablet.
…Later in Queens…
It was dark when Andrew, Gwen and Peter found themselves on the sidewalk in front of May Parker's house. And it was Peter who had to weave from his web-slinger to ring the doorbell, only for him to change his mind.
"We should probably get going." He said.
"Peter, we are literally on the doorstep." Retorted Gwen, rolling her eyes.
Peter stared at the front door of the house, which looked so much like his own Aunt May's. The place where he grew up. And when he saw a shadow approaching from the other side, he decided that a tactical retreat was the best strategy for the moment.
"Bad idea." He said, echoing his earlier comments. "This is a bad idea."
Gwen wove a web behind Peter's back as he took three steps to prevent him from going any further.
"Relax." She said.
"Was I like this yesterday when we went to my house?" Whispered Andrew to her.
"No, you were cuter." She answered.
"...What?" Asked the teenager, surprised by his friend's answer.
"What?" She asked, though it seemed she was just as confused as he was about what she had said.
Luckily for her, Gwen was saved when the front door opened before Andrew could question her.
"You're all very kind, but no more fans today, please." Said May as she opened the door, a bit exasperated by the supporters who tormented her door as she held a baseball bat in her other hand. However, when the door opened fully and she saw one of them in particular, her grip on the bat faded.
"I'm so not ready for this..." Peter muttered awkwardly.
May took a step forward hesitantly, as if she was almost afraid that if she got closer, thinking she was delirious at seeing her nephew. However, when Peter's smile became more awkward, she took another step, and another as she held out her hand.
« Peter ? » Chuchota-t-elle.
Lorsque sa main toucha sa poitrine et qu'elle put sentir qu'il était réel, elle faillit s'effondrer.
« Salut, tante May. » Soupira Peter. « Alors ça va paraître fou, mais je suis presque sûr que je viens d'une.. »
"Peter?" She whispered.
When his hand touched her chest and she could feel that he was real, she nearly collapsed.
"Hi, Aunt May." Peter sighed. "So this is going to sound crazy, but I'm pretty sure I'm from an..."
"Another dimension." Concluded May for him. Her Peter was blond after all and this one had brown hair. What other explanation was there for why there were two different Peter Parkers?
"Uh, yeah." Said Peter a little perplexed that she understood so easily.
She gave him a smile.
"You look tired, Peter." She said, making the other dimensional version of her nephew chuckle.
"Well, I am tired." He said.
"And older." Then threw May at him once more. "And thicker..."
"Maybe I've put on a little weight." He admitted reluctantly.
"Oh, my goodness. Are those sweatpants?" Asked May.
"My suit ripped when I got here." He said a little defensively, wrapping his jacket a little more around him. Which had really only put the emphasis on his stomach. "I didn't have time to fix it."
May just had a small laugh as she pressed her hand against the side of Peter's face. Oh, what had the world done to this Peter?
Andrew stepped forward.
"I was there when it happened. I... I'm really sorry, I wish... I wish I could have done something." He said.
"And what dimension are you from?" Asked May, who turned to look at him.
"This one." He replied before holding up the flash drive that the Peter of this universe had given him. "Do you know where Peter made this? We have some new information that we should probably update it with."
May took it with a frown.
"A thingy?" She said, then looked at the three Spider-heroes with a nod. "Follow me." Said she taking them through her house, she opened the back door with a pier=d knock.
"I don't think it's good door maintenance to break down doors like that." Andrew thought, amused by the situation as May led them to the shed in the back corner.
"Oh yeah, I have one too." Declared Peter, recognizing the same shed from his original size. "A small, old shed where I keep my spider equipment."
However, Andrew raised an eyebrow when May pulled a key from her pocket and turned it in the lock, keeping the shed door locked. However, to the surprise of the others, a mechanical whirring sounded and a light in the form of a spider appeared on the door before the doors opened to reveal an elevator.
"Well, this place is pretentious." Peter muttered as they entered.
The four of them were lowered into an underground facility where they saw several platforms containing various things. Like a plane, a motorcycle, a jeep and a training room. Everything was Spider-man themed.
Andrew wondered how Spider-man could afford all this. Including the work to do it all.
The royalties on its merchandising perhaps?
Once they got off the elevator, Andrew and Gwen looked around in awe. While Peter walked over to a table where photos were kept, in particular a photo of Mary Jane Parker. He was on his way to talk to his ex-wife in her dimension, the first time in months, when the portal opened and swallowed him up. Oh, he hoped he could go back in time and...well, save his relationship.
"Peter knew how dangerous the job was." Declared May as she stood in front of a board of murders, and in the center of it was the Kingpin, Wilson Fisk, drawing the attention of the others. "But he figured the only one who could stop this guy was Spider-man."
"The Kingpin will know we're coming." Said Andrew, frowning at the pictures pinned to the board. the Kingpin, Tombstone, the Vulture. "We are going to be outnumbered and outgunned. With stealth no longer an option, how are we going to do that?"
"Don't be so sure." May smiles before pulling out name tags and markers. "You might need them. Do you think you're the only ones who thought to come here?" She then nodded her head upward.
"Hi, company." Said a voice and the three found a... black and white Spider-man with a fedora and... a trench coat looking dragged by the wind? He was hanging above with two others.
"Where is this wind coming from? We're in a basement." Said Peter.
"Wherever I go, the wind follows me." Declared the Spider-Noir dramatically, waving his hand before clenching it into a fist. "And the wind... heralds the storm."
"Hi guys!" Says one of the other Spider-heroes, revealing herself to be a young Asian teenager wearing a school uniform and sitting on a red and blue robot. "Hajimemashite, yoroshiku onegaishimasu!"
At that moment, Andrew's face was close to Jack Sparrow's when Black Pearl was sailing on crabs.
"This can't get any stranger." Muttered Peter.
The latter then stepped forward, revealing a... pig? A walking, talking pig in a Spider-man outfit? Well, the pig stepped forward, completely wet and offering his hand for a handshake.
"This could get weirder! I just washed my hands, that's why they're wet." He said.
Andrew and Gwen blinked as Peter just seemed to quickly adjust.
Everyone in the room, except for May, suddenly frowned before gasping and saying in perfect sync, "You're just like me."
"My name is Peter Parker." Declared the Black Spider. "I was bitten by a radioactive spider and in my universe, it's 1933, and I'm a private detective. I like to drink egg creams and I really enjoy fighting Nazis."
"My name is Peni Parker." Said Peni. "I'm from New York in the year 3145, I was bitten by a radioactive spider that I have a psychic link with that lives inside my father's robot that he designed. And we are best friends, forever!"
"And I'm Peter Porker." Declared the cartoon pig happily. "I was bitten by a radioactive pig and I'm a reporter for the Daily Beagle. When I'm not working, I work like a dog, trying to sniff out the latest story. I frolic and dance and do this with my pants on..."
"Okay, enough with the introductions!" Interrupted Peter as he waved his arms wildly.
Andrew ran his hand over his face, he sighed into his palm as he used his thumb and forefinger to massage his temples a bit.
"So, how did you all get here?" Asked Peter.
"Well, it's kind of a long story." Declared Spider-Noir. "You see..."
In short, they had all been sucked into portals in their home dimensions before being thrown into this one.
"Okay, maybe not that long." Corrected Spider-Noir with a shrug.
"Now we're just trying to find a way home." Declared Peni,
"Wow, so now I have five of you to send before I destroy Fisk's Collider." Said Andrew impassively. This was not how he had originally planned his weekend. Originally, he was going to continue working on the Spider-man statue he and Miles were working on.
"Wait, who are you?" Asked Spider-Noir.
"Hi, I'm Andrew Bateman." Said Andrew impassively. "And I'm going to have to succeed the Spider-Man of this universe."
"Interesting." Muttered Spider-Noir, frowning as he looked at the teenager
"More or less." Andrew shrugged.
Andrew pulled out the two flash drives he had on him. The one that the Spider-man of this universe had given him and the one containing the data of Alchemax.
"We need to analyze the data on one of these keys so that the other has the proper replacement keys so that I can destroy the Kaid's Collider after I send you home." He explained.
"Ooh, you have a gizmo?" Said Peni, her eyes shining at the sight of the two flash drives.
But before anything else could be said, everyone who wasn't from this dimension began to collapse, a victim of glitch. With Gwen close by, Andrew was able to catch her before she fell to the ground, but the others didn't have the same luxury.
"Ugh, I think it's getting worse." Gwen muttered, allowing Andrew to help her up as the moment passed. "Do any of you know the exact reason this is happening to us?"
"Cellular decomposition." Said Peni. "Since we are not native to this dimension and have been drawn to this place by the Collider, it is not safe for us to stay here for long. Our bodies would literally disintegrate."
"Disintegrate?" Spider-Ham gasped.
"Yes." Peni nodded.
"Then we should probably get them scanned as soon as possible." Said Andrew, holding the flash drives again.
"Oh, I'll do it!" Said Peni, volunteering through a grimace as she held her head, following the glitch. "I'm kind of a whiz with technology and stuff like that. Since I'm the one who has to do the maintenance on the SP/dr."
"Let's go." Said Andrew, handing him the USB keys.
Peni excitedly took them, despite the fact that a moment ago she was on the floor, twisted in pain. Jumping into the robot that came with her, she began to do her thing as she gulped down snacks.
"Then I guess we'll just wait." Said Peter, crossing his arms.
Andrew stood next to Gwen.
"Are you okay?" He asked.
"Yeah, I'm fine." She nodded. "It's getting worse, probably because we're in a different dimension longer and longer."
"What about you?" She asked him. "Are you okay? I mean, one interdimensional traveler was already something."
"To be honest, I think it's normal now, I've gotten used to it." He answered with a small smile before he disappeared as his face had a darker expression, his thoughts turning to what Fisk had said in the elevator to Alchemax. "But I..."
Noticing his change in mood, Gwen became concerned.
"What is it, Andrew? Is something wrong?"
Andrew took a deep breath.
"It turns out that shortly after my father left me at my mother's he was killed. It turns out that the Kingpin blew up the plane he was on both because he had backed out of something he wanted, and to serve as retribution for his mother's actions as Taskmaster when she took down an operation he was running." He explained.
Gwen stared at him, he had in her eyes somehow lost his father, but he didn't think he was dead.
"Andrew, I'm so sorry." She said, placing a sympathetic hand on his shoulder.
"I'm going to take the Kingpin down." Swore Andrew. "I have to make him pay for what he did to my father, to Spider-man and to this city. His reign will end."
She frowned.
"Wait, Andrew... you're not planning to kill him, are you?"
"No. Of course not, I'm not a killer. But I will make sure he has nothing left. His influence on this city, his reputation, his financial means. Nothing left." He answered.
"I... I see. But don't forget Andrew, killing him will make you nothing more than a criminal." She said, grabbing his shoulder, gripping it tightly.
"I want to kill him...but I know that won't bring back the people who died because of him?" He said, looking at the ground with a sad look on his face.
Of all the people in the room, Gwen is the one who has known him the longest, she has been by his side for the last three days, she felt bad for him. Between the pressure of having to save reality, even the multiverse, and now knowing that her father had not gone without a trace for years, but died after leaving her with his mother.
She felt sorry for him. But she was also proud because despite what he had gone through in the last few years because of the Kingpin, he didn't want to kill him. At least, he didn't intend to.
Without anyone expecting it, Andrew's phone rang and he answered it without checking the identity of the caller.
"Hello?" He said.
"Is this Andrew Bateman?" Asked the person who had called him.
"Who's asking?" He asked.
"This is Dr. West from New York-Presbyterian in Queens. I'm sorry, but your mother was assaulted and is currently in the emergency room." Answered the doctor.
Under his breath, Andrew dropped his phone.