Viewer discretion is advised: The following story covers a multitude of difficult topics such as murder, sexual assault, justice and abuse.
Chapter one: New New York
"I'm sorry Peter but it seems like I have lost access to every single network."
"Right.." Peter Benjamin Parker is not having the best day. First he gets in a fight with Aunt May about him doing his Spider-Man thing and then some intergalactic baddy teleports him to a different world entirely, wanting to 'rid his world of silly little insects.' He just knows the second he gets home Aunt May is going to hit him with the fastest 'I told you so' in recorded history.
Peter chews his lip, rubbing his hands together as he survey's the streets of New New York below him. He had already figured as much about the networks considering a quick swing around proved that the Avenger's tower has been replaced by something called 'Vought International,' the familiar, unfamiliar city now covered in merchandise and advertisements for a bunch of superheroes Peter has never even heard of before. Yeah, It's kind of obvious to him he's far from home.
"Are there any free networks around Karen? Maybe I can find like, a library or computer café or something nearby so I can learn more about this place..." Yeah, and preferably how to get the heck out of here.
"There are 1,756 free networks within range, Peter. Shall I connect? Without Mr. Stark's inhibitors online you may be susceptible to unwanted ads and pop ups."
"Uh yeah, sure, thanks Karen," Peter replies distractedly, squinting up at a nearby skyscraper as the electronic billboard shifts once more to the smiling blonde superhero with the American flag as his cape. This guy is pretty popular here, his face is plastered on just about every surface available in New New York's Times Square, selling this thing and that. It also looks like he's some sort of movie star?
Peter startles as the screen projector in his mask suddenly blocks his view with a 'ping.' A light blue illuminates his face as a very pretty lady suddenly appears on the screen. Peter blinks as she bends over in front of him with one of those secretive smirks Natasha sometimes used to send him, usually when he said something particularly naïve, or just embarrassed himself, in general, really...
"Want to go hard and fast like A-Train all night long? Herbal-A erectile dysfunc-"
"Okay! I mean no- no!" Peter lets out an embarrassed laugh, cheeks warming as he waves his hands in front of himself as more lewd pop up ads begin to spring up and some very nude images appear right in front of his eyes. "Citizen Starlight is four meters away and dripping wet-"
Peter squeaks, squinting his eyes shut with panic, "D-Disconnect from the networks Karen-!"
"Disconnected from all networks." Peter chances peeking through one eye at the sudden silence before releasing a breath, his view once again the New New York skyline and not some random ladies... parts. "Sorry about that Peter, I must have misunderstood your instructions."
"No, that was on me Karen," Peter laughs a bit nervously, scratching at the back of his neck bashfully as he shakes his head, "I wasn't paying attention to what you were saying... But uh, man, this place sure is different from back home, huh?"
"I can build a firewall against any unwanted marketing if you prefer Peter, but I have to be connected to the individual network in order to do so. It would not take very long to complete."
Peter swallows, smiling crookedly, "Right, okay... Well, let's do that then Karen, thanks."
"Of course Peter." Peter winces as a breathy moan immediately reverberates in his ears as Karen reconnects, face flushed as pulls his mask off, freeing him from... that.
A light breeze blows against the sweat building on his temple as he stares down the lip of the high rise with a sigh, kicking out his swinging foot.
Man, Aunt May is going to be so disappointed in me when I get home...
Dust shakes from the fire escape as Peter drops to his feet on the metal railing, pulling his mask back over his face again. He looks around the pop-up free area with a smile as a path to the closest computer store light's up, blueprinting the world at the blink of an eye, "You are so cool Karen. Seriously."
"Thank you Peter."
"The coolest." He swings to the alley floor, feeling fairly confident he knows where he's going as he pockets his mask again. He purposely waited until it started getting dark to at least try to hide his costume, which given the minute glances he is already receiving, was all for nothing. But with his wallet and clothes still in his backpack in regular New York, he doesn't have much of a choice. He feels wrong about stealing anything, so it's hiding under the veil of night with his fingers crossed for now.
Besides this place has all kinds of superheroes, kind of like back home, it's probably not so strange to have people walking around in spandex. Well, hopefully, and if not- Well, it's not like anyone here would know who he is, anyway.
"Cooler than any cucumber I've ever met."
"Peter, I have been programmed to remind you that flattery will get you nowhere with me."
Peter finally cracks a grin, chuckling a bit as he notices the lit up computer store down the block. "Yeah, you would be. Hey can you like, um, make an escape route? You know, just in case this goes sideways somehow.."
"Knowing your luck, statistically, I believe that is a wise idea. Shall I pull up the blueprints for you now?"
"No, thank you. Just have them ready please." Peter takes a breath before grabbing the door to the store and opening it for the man exiting, giving a sheepish smile as he makes startled eye contact, "Oh, sorry! Go ahead."
He brushes past without a second glance and Peter enters the store behind him, sending the guy behind the counter a limp grin when he glances up as the bell jingles behind him.
"Hey, um, sorry, but you wouldn't happen to have a computer I can use, would you? Just for a second or two, I promise. Maybe three."
Peter wipes his gloved hands on his legs a bit self-consciously as he walks further into the store and the guy scans him from head to toe, raising his eyebrows with a growing smirk. "Uhh, yeah, we do."
Peter glances over his shoulder as his neck tingles, brows furrowed-!
Nothing happens. The store door is closed, nothing looks out of place... So why did I...? "-net. So, are you like a fan of a new supe or something...?"
Peter turns his attention back to the conversation, realizing that the guy is standing now and staring at him expectantly. He blinks, "Huh?"
"Not that there's, anything wrong with that, or anything! Of course. I mean, it's a- a cool costume, looks pretty legit... Too..."
"Oh," Peter looks down at his suit, laughing a bit sheepishly at the unintentional compliment. "Um, yeah, thanks…"
"Right, computer. Sorry, I..." The man shakes his head, gesturing for Peter to follow him to the back of the store, "It's just an old Windows 10, uh, version 22h2 I believe, so if you're looking to play video games or anything like that I hate to say you're out of luck..."
"Uh, no video games no, I just need to do some research for this school project, thing..." Peter waves his hand flippantly, smiling thinly as the guy raises his eyebrows at him again in response, "What can I say? I'm a nerd."
"Hey, why do you think I work here?" The guy gives a little, breathy laugh, tipping his head slightly as he boots up the dusty computer, "It's nerd central over here-"
!
Peter turns just in time to catch the brunt of the flat screen TV thrown in their direction, arms wrapping around the object as he flies back into the wall at the force, shelves and old radios crumpling beneath his back.
"Holy shi-!"
"I'm getting sick of all this nerd boner talk," A new, lower voice bites out like a whip. The cracked flat screen falls to the ground as Peter releases it, stumbling to stand on his feet with a wince as he holds his back. He catches his breath, skin tingling as an invisible force kicks out at a fallen stray radio on the ground in front of them, sending it flying into the other wall and exploding it into bits, cracking the cement from the sheer force, "Now cut the fucking shit, who are you?"
"Peter, I have the blueprints pulled up for when you are ready."
"I could ask you the same thing pal," Peter shakes out his shoulders a bit, narrowing his eyes and attempting to track the apparently invisible man's movements. He crouches a bit as he notices a lone bolt roll suddenly on the ground, calling out. "What's the deal with the TV anyway man? Do you know how expensive those things are?"
As tempting as Karen's escape plan is right now, he's not just going to leave this guy to deal with this invisible, TV throwing jerk on his own. That wouldn't be right. It makes sense to Peter, he supposes, that just like in his own world not everyone here uses their powers wisely.
"Not you, you stupid fucking kid, Jesus, what, think you can play hero now cause you caught one TV?" The invisible man laughs mockingly, sounding further away than before. "Whatever, my problem isn't with you, what I want to know is,"
The computer tech jumps as a small, round black object is suddenly hovering in front of his face, eyes widening at the seemingly empty space behind it, "What the fuck this is... 'Hughie'?"
'Hughie's' name tag starts to float and alarm bells ring in Peter's head furiously. On instinct he extends his arm, shooting out a web, watching it splat and wrap against seemingly thin air. Bingo.
"The fuck?" The invisible man tugs at his arm experimentally, momentarily distracted and seemingly turning towards him with thinly veiled amusement, "What the fuck? Is this sticky fucking cum? What the hell are you supposed to be, Jerk-Off? Jizz-Man?"
"What are you supposed to be? Potty-mouth-man?" Peter pulls on his web, the strength at first yanking the invisible arm out completely in his direction and silencing the man's biting laughter. "Listen, I don't understand what's going on between you two but I'm sure this can be resolved without any violence."
"Well aren't you just fucking adorable?" The invisible arm suddenly starts to curl and pull back, Peter's eyes widening as his feet start to skid on the ground at the unexpected resistance, "Listen, I tried to be nice, kid, I really did, I tried to let you go but you're not really leaving me with any other choice right now."
Peter follows the sudden, forceful jerk of his web and grits his teeth, kicking his foot off the ground to add speed and barreling directly into thin air.
The momentum of him crashing into the invisible man sends them both smashing into the nearby wall, snapping the shelf in their way in two. Peter winces as he quickly scrambles to get away and out of the rubble, dust and debris snowing over the both of them-
!
A fist snaps up and knocks his jaw up before he can retreat far and Peter quickly latches onto the wrist only to be blinded as something hard, probably the invisible guy's forehead, winds back and smashes directly into his face.
Peter's head knocks back and he grunts at the sudden pain, blinking away the stars bursting in his eyes as he's suddenly kicked into the counter, bursting it into shatters of glass and wood.
Peter groans, squeezing his eyes shut and shifting as the glass and broken products crinkle beneath him. Man, this invisible guy can hit pretty freaking hard.
"-you fucking pussy, I followed you all the way from the tower." Glass crunches, flinging out from beneath invisible feet as the man approaches a cowering Hughie, who flinches as an invisible hand suddenly grips a bunch of his shirt and starts to drag him on his back across the floor.
"W- Wait- J- Just wait a minute-!"
"Who was that guy you were with earlier huh? The one in the fucking car, did he put you up to this? Who is he?"
"I- I- Don't know! He- He was just some uber driver!"
"Don't give me that bullshit, uber driver!" The invisible man roughly tosses the panicking man into the window facing the street, a band of red dripping down his transparent face and his front leaving him a thin, walking line of blood and a trailing piece of web, "What, do-do you think I'm a fucking idiot? Uber fucking driver."
Peter wearily gets to his feet, watching that trail of blood smear as the invisible man wipes the crook of his arm on his face, painting his jaw and the limp web still hanging from his forearm red. "You sit the fuck back down kid before I make sure you really regret it this time."
"Yeah, I'm not going to do that," Peter watches as the invisible man yanks one of the remaining flatscreens from off the wall, the electrical cord snapping off and sparking in the air ominously. Peter crouches a bit as he stops in front of Hughie still trying to collect himself on the ground, eyes jumping around.
"I think you missed one big fucking memo skipper," The TV begins to rise in the air, the broken cord bouncing harmlessly off the invisible man as he lifts it high above his head as he mirthlessly chuckles, "I'm fucking Translucent, one of earth's most mightiest, champions of the innocent- Motherfucke-!"
!
Peter jumps up as a car runs through the front of the store right where he had been standing, sticking to the ceiling as the invisible man goes flying through multiple shelves until he finally slams into the back wall, silent.
Hughie is gasping for breath as the car door creaks open, Peter narrowing his eyes as a dark haired man steps out of the vehicle and the lights flicker in the building, ready to jump down and pull the guy to safety-
"Sorry about the mess," Peter jolts as the man suddenly looks directly up at him with a dangerous smirk though he continues to talk to the guy on the floor, "You should fuck off now Hughie."
I guess they know each other?
"You both need to get out of here now," Peter drops to the hood of the car, glancing back towards the heap of debris where the invisible man probably lays, looking for the smear of blood, "I'll-"
!
Peter ducks as the man swings out a crowbar violently, having dropped it down from his coat sleeve apparently. He vaults back, sticking to the opposing wall with a breath as the scent of metal fades from his nose and he stares back with wide eyes. That was a close one.
"I don't need your supe cunt getting in my way." The dark haired man turns in the probable direction of the invisible man with set shoulders, walking over the rubble to reach the crash site, "Hughie, run!"
The man makes a swing at the hole in the wall, only managing to strike the pink cushy stuff behind the drywall. He snaps his head to the side in time to be tackled by seemingly thin air.
Gotcha. Peter shoots out a web, watching it stick onto nothing with satisfaction and then yanking as hard as he can. The invisible man is pulled out of the altercation, sent flying through the open wall of the store, rolling a few times out onto the street as Peter suddenly releases the web.
Peter jumps after, shooting out another web to blotch another patch of invisible skin, only to miss as he quickly jumps out of the store. At least this way he can give the others time to escape-
"Oi, Spider-Boy." Peter turns, eyes widening as he once again leaps out of the way of a heavy crowbar swing. His feet skid a bit as he comes to a stop on the street, couching on the tarmac, head snapping up to face the man's glare head on.
"Dude!" Peter bristles, emotion building in his chest as he jumps to his feet, "I'm just trying to-"
!
"What, did you fucking sense me?" The invisible man muses sharply, barring blood lined transparent teeth momentarily as he holds onto Peter's fist tightly, having caught it the moment he struck out on instinct.
Peter winces as hot breath suddenly fans across the shell of his ear, a finger suddenly poking into the middle of his back roughly. "Oh, you're good kid, it's too bad this is the most you'll make out of life because I'm going to turn you into a fucking cripple."
Feeling his heart lurch, Peter steels his nerves as he rips out of the hold and jumps away. Flicking out his wrist, smacking a wad web onto the man, Peter sticks his feet to the concrete, bracing as he pulls with all his might. Unprepared for the sudden show of strength, the invisible man comes flying at him like a rubber band snap, spitting up his nose bleed as Peter's foot intercepts his stomach halfway, sending him flying back into the store.
Knowing that he needs to end this quickly Peter is haste to follow, flinging out another web and swinging back into the store feet first and landing on the man's chest, notching him further into the crater he had formed and sending fractures up the wall until the cracks brush at the ceiling.
Hands latch onto his ankle, swinging him powerfully to the side but he manages to catch the wall with his hands and stick instead of smashing straight through it, kicking his other foot out with the force of seven tons.
An invisible head snaps back, a fresh burst of blood sprays from his nose as the hands immediately release his ankle, a warbly curse leaving the invisible man as Peter jumps away again.
"Woow, I have to say," Drywall and broken pieces of PVC pipes clatter to the ground as the invisible man slowly moves and stands, a small burst of water spurting from the ceiling. Dust covered, translucent shoulders shake as the man spits out a wad of blood, the sharp contrast bright on his now visible lips as they curl, "I underestimated you. Tell me, what's your name? I want to make sure it's your grave that I'm jacking off on when you're six feet fucking under!"
Peter can feel his nose bleed, tracking the semi-visible man's every movement with raised fists as they start to circle one another. "You have some real bad anger issues, you know that buddy?"
"Oh, Oh- Ho- Hoooo- You haven't seen my fucking ANGER-!"
"Oi." The dark haired man barks strongly, clocking the unsuspecting invisible man right on the back of the head with his crowbar. "Cunt."
Peter stumbles back a step, faintly mortified as electricity sparks and the smell of burning flesh suddenly permeates the air. The invisible man's body twitches violently under the voltage, having fallen directly onto a sparking electrical wire being held up by the guy Peter thought had escaped a long time ago.
Silence settles in the air as the fuse shorts and the bloody invisible man freezes, falling limp to the ground with a heavy thud. For the longest minute Peter can only hear his own heartbeat pumping in his ears, drowning out the motion in front of his eyes as the smell of burning hair fills his nose-
Snap.
Peter jolts, heart in his throat as the crowbar man pulls his snapping hand back away, scowl prominent as he get's into his space with a leer, "You gonna fuckin' help or not, Peter?"
Peter takes an unconscious step back as they make eye contact, his spidey senses tingling haywire, every hair standing on end as his skin buzzes and his brain screams run run run run run- "How do you know my name?"
"I know a lot more about you than that, Spider-Man." The man scoffs cockily, glaring at him fiercely and shoving a finger harshly into his chest like a loaded weapon. "Just like I know the police ain't gonna fuckin' help you. You just helped kill one of the fuckin' Seven, do you really think they'll just let you walk out of something like this alive?"
"Look, kid, I'm going to need you to come with us now- And unless you want to end up like this limp cunt and stick it out in the trunk, I suggest you get a move on."
Peter licks the blood from his lip, tense as the dark haired man pointedly prods the unconscious jerk with the tip of his crow bar, "And if I don't?"
The man grins shark-like as he lifts his crowbar, tapping the end against Peter's chest obviously, "We ain't gotta find out if you just, get in the fuckin' car, right Pete?"
"Butcher." Hughie suddenly blurts, looking between the both of them with a strange expression before focusing on Butcher, uneasy. "What are you doing? He's just a kid and he kind of- Okay he totally just saved our fucking asses okay, so just, like- Whatever the hell this is- Just back off."
"Shut up Hughie, you don't know what you're talking about," Butcher clenches his jaw, unrelenting his gaze from Peter as he jerks his head back towards the car he ran halfway through the store and nearly flattened Peter with, "You're just gonna have to trust me Pete, get in the car."
"Yeahh... I'm not going to do that," Peter sighs as he quickly scans the room before landing back on the man threatening him with a crowbar, "Listen, we can all just walk away now-"
"Pete," Butcher barks out a bitter laugh that sets his hair on end, twirling the bloody crowbar in his grasp contemplatively, "You and I both know that ain't happening. But hey? I tried the diplomatic approach and it didn't work. Oh well-!"
Peter ducks as his spidey senses spazmn, right beneath the swing aimed directly for his head. He's sent sliding back as a boot kicks his stomach, having anticipated the duck, and is sent skidding a foot.
Peter jumps up as the man swings again, sticking to the ceiling and flicking down a web into the man's eyes.
!
Peter dodges the crowbar violently flung up at him, landing on the floor again as the weapon sinks into the ceiling under the force and sticks.
"The- Fuck?!"
"Language mister." Peter shoots another web at the man's hands as he tries to pull the webs from off his face, sticking them also to his face. "Oh, sorry, do you need a hand with that?"
"You- Shit!"
Peter swipes the guy's legs out from under him and shoots two more webs over his legs, attaching them together and sticking to the floor like gum, "You- What the fuck-"
One more web silences the man's cursing and Peter winces as Butcher suddenly starts to struggle ten-fold. He quickly glances up towards Hughie warily but the man only raises his hands, eyes blown wide.
"H- Hey, I'm not going to stop you."
Peter nods, pursing his lips, "I'm sorry but he didn't leave me any choice. Annd I'm sorry about this, too, but I kind of need to keep a low profile right now so I'm just... Gonna... Go now... Before the cops show up... Okay then... Bye!"
It's at this moment, webbed to the floor like a fly, Billy Butcher realizes he might have fucked up big this time.