I wanted to address some of the confusion people experienced while reading the last two chapters. At the beginning of the story, Peter realized he was displaced in another dimension but instead of looking for answers he focused on the essentials, food and shelter. It was why he stayed at the Martha Wayne homeless shelter. He didn't worry about much else. He became complacent. Giving a helping hand at the shelter and being a vigilante from the shadows. Away from the attention of Batman.
He is forced to leave the shelter when Tim comes to talk to him on behalf of Wayne Enterprise. He doesn't need the attention and that's when he starts to worry about someone figuring out he's not from their dimension. The people behind the lab that he didn't bother looking into, for example. That's when he runs into Mila, who happens to remind him of his Aunt May. In time, he starts to meet other people who remind him of those back home. Though none that he's particularly close to, until he meets Hailey who reminds him of Gwen.
Whenever he starts to vacillate with his feelings, about his past and the new life he created, the city experiences a minor change.
Like so…
Chapter 24, excerpt 1
«My heart is being torn in two. My old life. My new life. And then…
I shouldn't be here. But I can't go back. I need to stop evading the truth. I died. I know that I died.
Why am I here?
…
I feel so heavy. Like the Earth itself is pulling me down. My shoulders are tense. My chest is tight. My stomach is in knots.»
Excerpt 2
«Peter felt his spider-sense flare to life. He turned towards the direction he thought the danger was coming from. Other than seeing a mirage that he probably imagined, nothing else was amiss.
Wait. A mirage at night? That's not right. It's not even hot enough for it to have been a heat haze. Peter looked around and saw the ripple in the air again.
"Did anyone else see that?"»
Deadpool showing up and telling him how he arrived in Gotham, sent him into a spiral of emotions so intense it triggered a greater change.
As read in Chapter 32
«Peter was running. He was running and swinging. Peter had to move as fast as he could before the truth caught up to him. He was running out of breath. And his conversation with Deadpool was playing on repeat in his mind.
He didn't know where he was or where he was going. He just had to get away. Far away from his thoughts. From the memory of that conversation.
Spidey had just jumped off a twenty-story building. The floor was coming up fast. He knew he could slow down his fall if he did a flip. As he uncurled from the tuck, he automatically reached out to grab something. He looked around for a ledge when he saw something on the horizon. The sky shimmered. It was like a mirage. Instead of being stagnant, it was moving toward him.
Magic!
A wall obscured his view. Peter was in an alley. He'd forgotten he was falling. He didn't have enough time to change his web cartridges. He did, however, have time for a last-ditch effort. He pulled out an emergency cartridge and threw it to the ground.
The cartridge was designed like an airbag. Upon impact, the webbing would expand to act as a cushion then it would dissolve within a few minutes. Peter sunk into the pillow of webs. But at the velocity he was going, his body sliced through the webs without much resistance. The webbing slowed his momentum some but not enough.
The last thing Peter saw before he'd sunk into the webbing was a flash of light. He cradled his head with his arms and tucked in his knees before he hit the floor and passed out.»
The change was noticed by Peter for the first time in Chapter 33
«"It's been two years since his last escape," Hailey said.
"Two? What?" Peter said with a frown. Not possible. Then he remembered the haze of magic he'd seen when he fell. Was I flung back into the past? "What's the date?"
Hailey looked at him askance, but she showed him the calendar on her phone. Peter rubbed his face in aggravation. Of course. Parker luck strikes again. But why wasn't my memory erased? He felt his hand shake a little. He squeezed his hands into fists. He had to stop the Joker.»
In essence, Peter is affecting Gotham without his knowledge. He came to be within Gotham through a powerful spell. This did not go unnoticed by a person(s) that has not been revealed which is why he was in a lab when he ripped his way out of what he believed was a chrysalis. (A concept that I did not come up with, it was borrowed from the comics and I expanded on it as one does.). Gotham has been encased in a spell since Peter arrived. The entire city was made to relive the events of the night Joker was captured and the memories of what has transpired since then were erased. That is why there are two Peters. Spider-Man brought into being from the past by Magic who traps the Joker just as he did that night and Peter who changed the events of that night and was interrogated by Tim (who was safely tucked away in his web cocoon therefore wasn't touched by the magic that affected everyone else).
Peter is not fully aware of what is happening. He is an unreliable narrator. But I thought I gave enough hints of what was happening, but I couldn't expose too much because the reader is not supposed to know more than Peter. All that I explained here Peter has seen or thought on his own. But he didn't dwell on the issues. He hasn't actually tried to find a way back because subconsciously he knew the truth all along or learned it with time. He was in denial until Deadpool explained it to him. And it sent him on an emotional tailspin.
I hope this explanation clears up people's confusion. I haven't continued the story because I was trying to figure out where I went wrong. There were a handful of comments of people saying they were confused and I didn't think I should continue it without an explanation. I just didn't know how to without revealing more than Peter knew. Not to mention the fact that if people can't follow the narrative I've written, then it must be terrible writing. And if that's the case, there is no point in continuing the story.