Chapter Text
It was 7:00 when Gwen decided to make the jump over to Miles’ dimension. She was dressed in her costume to help a bit with the younger spider’s patrol before their hang out night officially began. She let him know that she was about to hop over. All of the spiders had decided to have their hangout this week at Miles’ Aunt May’s house. All of the spiders held that May close to their hearts. In one way or another, she reminded them of someone close to them, whether it be their own Aunt May or another family member. Aunt May always appreciated the spiders visiting. She would often find herself missing her Peter, and having the spiders around provided her with a sense of familiarity. They helped her to feel like she wasn’t alone.
Gwen had selected Miles’ dimension on her goober, doing one last check to make sure she had everything she needed, including a change of clothes for after their patrol. Once she was sure everything was in order, Gwen pressed the button on her goober and she began her jump to the other dimension. Soon, she was falling through a void like place, the webs of other dimensions standing out against the black background.
Gwen didn’t think she would ever get used to the feeling of jumping from one dimension to another. In this in-between, she felt weightless, while at the same time feeling as though everything was pressing down on her all at once. It was nauseating.
She had almost made it to her destination when something slammed into her, causing her to shift course. It ripped her bag off of her back and sent her spinning. Her limbs flailed about as she tried to steady herself, but without anything to anchor her center of gravity, she was hopelessly spiraling through the multiverse. If she thought she was nauseous before, this didn’t even compare. Her senses were jumbled as time and space seemed to bend around the girl. Her scream came out warped. Soon, Gwen felt herself being pulled with a lot more intensity. The blonde was dragged downward faster and faster, eventually entering the dimension that felt the need to swallow her whole.
She shot out of the sky, moving faster than she had ever gone before. The world around her was a blur, each building melting together. She bounced off of the ground before flying up into the air. As she started to fall again, Gwen shot a web out in an attempt to slow herself down. The first didn’t catch, and neither did the second. This caused the spider to panic a bit. Finally, she had a web catch. Once she felt the webbing become taut, she pulled down, allowing herself to gain control of her movements. Soon enough, she was swinging through the city. When her speed reached a more comfortable level, she landed on the roof of a building.
Once she stopped moving, Gwen immediately looked down at her goober. The device on her wrist looked worse for wear. The face of the device was cracked all over. Gwen found she could still navigate the device, so she opened up the messaging application in hopes of contacting the others. She typed out a quick message.
Guys, I was hit by something while I was in the middle of a jump. I don’t know where I am. I’ll be there as soon as possible.
As soon as she hit send, her stomach did somersaults.
ERROR; MESSAGE FAILED TO SEND
She attempted to send another, then another. Each time she attempted to send a message, the same error popped up. This couldn’t be happening. Gwen tried to think of what to do. She was alone and unable to contact the others. The first thing she did was pull up the diagnostics of the goober, praying that she would be able to make another jump.
SYSTEM DIAGNOSTICS:
TOTAL SYSTEMS ONLINE; 33%
FAILED SYSTEMS:
COMMUNICATIONS
DIMENSIONAL TRANSLOCATOR
STABLE SYSTEMS:
DIMENSIONAL STABILIZER
DIAGNOSTICS COMPLETE
The sinking feeling Gwen felt earlier worsened as she read the results of the test. She couldn’t talk to the others. She couldn’t get home. She was stuck without any way to get help. The only good thing to come out of this was that the goober’s stabilizing feature was working and she wouldn’t be glitching during her stay in this dimension. Gwen took a shaky breath before collecting herself once more, then she got an idea.
Find Spider-Man, find a way home.
Gwen readied herself, then leapt off the building, beginning her search in the one place that was most likely to have a spider. She headed towards Queens, looking for that house that she had become familiar with over the past several weeks. Unfortunately, Gwen didn’t get very far before her spider sense went off. Before she knew it, she was face to face with a helicopter.
“This is NYPD! You-”
Gwen didn’t stay around to listen. She took a quick turn and swung around the helicopter. She didn’t know how well the Spider-Man of this universe was with the police, so she chose to avoid them. She moved as quick as possible trying her best to get away from the helicopter. The machine didn’t seem to like Gwen’s idea, as it followed her every move, chasing her through the city. It made her very uneasy. She disliked that they were so intent on chasing her down. It made her mind wander to darker places, wondering what the Spider-Man of this dimension had done to have the police so adamant on capturing him.
Gwen kept thinking of what to do as the loud beat of the machine’s blades grew closer and closer. She couldn’t attack, that would cause way too many problems. She needed a solution, quick. Luckily for her, she found her opening in the form of a small gap between buildings. With a quick flick of her wrist, Gwen rocketed herself into the gap and away from the loud thumps of the helicopter. She stopped on the side of a building trying to think of a better way out of this situation. She couldn’t stay in the gap forever. Her eyes flicked to the ground down below. Maybe she could hide in plain sight.
Crawling her way down the building, Gwen began to think of her next step to get to the Parker residence. She needed something to cover up with. They had obviously seen her suit, so walking around with that on was off the table. Once she had reached the ground, she felt her spider sense tugging at the back of her head once again. They were back. Gwen moved as fast as she could, hiding behind a dumpster. Once she was safely hidden, a light found its way into the alley, illuminating the dark strip. Gwen ducked down once the light found the dumpster. She held her breath, hoping that they couldn’t see her. Time seemed to pass slower, ticking at only a fraction of its normal rate. Finally, the light disappeared, leaving Gwen in the dark.
Slowly, the teen made her way out from behind the trash receptacle. That was not something she would want to do again. The girl glanced up and down the alley once more before quickly making her way towards the streets. Before stepping out of the alley, she scanned the streets, looking to see if there was anyone watching. When she confirmed that no one was around, she silently made her way down the street, sticking as much to the shadows as possible, as she still didn’t have anything to cover her costume. After making her way down the street, Gwen eventually spotted a church that appeared to have a clothing donation bin. It’s funny how such a simple sight was able to make her feel a bit more hopeful.
She rooted around the bin for a bit before finding a suitable pair of jeans, a slightly baggy red shirt, a pair of very worn work boots, which were nearly a size too big, and a long gray coat that was obviously not her size. Though the clothes were not ideal, they would have to do. It’s not like she had any other options at this point in time. With her new wardrobe on, the girl began her journey once more. The sun had fully set at this point, leaving Gwen to walk to the Parker residence in the dark. She wasn’t too worried, as she was able to care for herself, but she did make sure to keep herself alert at all times. Even as a spider person, the thought of someone trying to attack her didn’t sit well with her.
The walk was taking a lot longer than Gwen had hoped it would. If only she had her bag, then maybe she would be able to take a bus. She would have clothes that fit as well, but of course things couldn’t go her way. She had finally made it to the neighborhood that the Parker’s had lived in in the other dimensions. Just a little bit longer and she would be at the house. By this time, her feet were screaming at her. She may have accelerated healing, but even then it didn’t stop the shoes from making her feet ache.
The relief she felt when her feet landed on the front steps was indescribable. One step closer to getting home. The excitement was building in the young spider. Silently, she rang the doorbell, then stepped back, giving room for the door to open. Gwen didn’t have to wait long before the door opened, revealing an elder man, sporting thick square glasses. She was shocked.
“Oh, um, hi. Sorry to interrupt your evening, but I’m looking for the Parker residence,” Gwen began, hoping the man could be of some help.
He didn’t respond right away, instead choosing to size up the girl standing on his doorstep, his gaze harsh. The silence caused Gwen to become anxious. After a bit, the man spoke, his voice gravelly.
“The Parker's haven’t lived here in years. Moved out after the accident,” The man supplied.
“Oh. I’m sorry to bother you then. Would you happen to know where they moved to?”
The man’s gaze softened slightly. He glanced behind him for a second, then looked at the girl once more.
“I don’t know exactly where they moved to, but I vaguely remember the woman mentioning finding an apartment.”
Gwen took a deep breath. Okay, she could work with this.
“Alright, thank you very much sir. Once again, I’m sorry for interrupting your night,” she gave with a smile.
“That’s alright, miss. Have a good night.”
“You too.”
With that, the door was closed. Gwen sighed and ran her hand through her hair. She thought about what the man had told her. They had moved because of an accident. Could that have been the accident involving Peter’s uncle? Did that mean that this dimension’s Peter was younger than the others? The man did say that it happened years ago, so she couldn’t be sure. With one last sigh, the girl began walking towards the city. She needed to get to the library where she could begin to research.
The walk was long. Part way through, Gwen debated taking her shoes off but decided against it since this was New York. She kept trudging down the sidewalk, earning glances from those who were still out this late at night. After what felt like hours, the girl finally arrived at her destination. The steps seemed to stretch forever as she made her way to the entrance of the library. Once she was at the door, she pulled the handle, only to find that it was locked.
She tried again, hoping that she was only imagining what had happened. The door still didn’t budge. Gwen glanced around her, looking to see if anyone was watching her. Once she confirmed that she was alone she stepped back, then jumped, attaching herself to the wall. She climbed silently to the roof. She needed to get this information as quickly as possible and she wasn’t just going to let a locked door stand in her way.
On the roof sat a large vent. Gwen walked up to the vent and took the metal grate off, placing it just below the entrance she had created. Before jumping into the metal tube, she shed the clothes she had found, leaving her in her suit. She glanced down at the dark tunnel before climbing face first into the vent. She moved quickly and quietly, not wanting to be heard if there happened to be anyone still in the building. Her spider sense helped lead her to another vent grate. She checked the hall before removing the grate and maneuvering onto the ceiling.
The whole place gave an eerie vibe. The lights were dimmed for the night, the only real lighting coming from the moonlight shining in through the windows. There were shelves of books lining the walls and expanding out in rows through much of the building. In the center of the building sat rows of desks containing the oldest looking computers Gwen had ever seen. The girl crawled along the ceiling as long as possible, then jumped silently onto one of the desks. She didn’t dare risk stepping on the ground, for fear of tripping a silent alarm. Gwen sat on the desk, turning the computer to face her. She turned the electronic on and maneuvered the keyboard and mouse over.
The soft glow of the computer lit up the center area more than Gwen would have liked. Her eyes were locked on the screen as she began typing into the search bar. She started out by searching the name ‘Parker’. Gwen thought this would help give her something to go off of, whether it be of where to look next or give her insight about the ‘accident’ the old man had mentioned. The results that came up were not as specific as the girl would have liked, so she went back and changed the search from ‘Parker’ to ‘Benjamin Parker’ in hopes of bringing up an article about an accident the girl knew all too well. This gave better results. The first article she found told of a Ben Parker’s murder. The picture below the headline showed two familiar faces, both twisted in pain from the loss of a loved one. Peter and May were holding each other close, the boy no older than 16. It hurt her a bit to see them both in so much pain.
After finding the article, she went back to the search engine and began searching for the Parker residence. It took a bit of time, but she eventually was able to come up with an address that appeared to belong to that of an apartment building. She memorized the name and numbers before moving to close the browser window. She stopped before hitting the red x, instead moving the mouse back over to the search bar and typing in her own name instead. What she saw made her nauseous. The results were all of articles describing a death, her death. They told how this dimension’s Gwen had been kidnapped and beaten, before being thrown off the top of a skyscraper. She refused to look at the pictures that accompanied the pieces. Gwen took a deep breath, then cleared the search history. She didn’t want to leave any trace of her visit. She had just moved the computer and its accessories back into place when her spider sense went off. Someone was coming.
The girl returned to the ceiling and made her way back to the vent. Once she was safely on the roof of the building, she changed back into the clothes she abandoned before making her way back to the ground. With the Parker’s address, Gwen began her journey to the apartment. She moved as fast as possible, wanting more than anything to finally have somewhere to stay, and hopefully have someone to help her get back home.
She was getting closer to the apartment when a newspaper stand caught her attention. Normally she would walk past the place without a second thought, but the headline stood out and caused her to take a second glance. She slowed her movements until she was stopped in front of the stand. With a slightly shaking hand, she took a newspaper and began to read.
REAL LIFE SPIDER-MAN?
Just hours ago, something strange took place just a few blocks from the Empire State Building. People were enjoying their average New York night, when they spotted something flying through the air. At first, they believed it to be some large bird, but after taking another look, they realized that it was no bird. So what was it? Those who saw the object first hand described it as ‘human-like’, but how could a human be traveling in such a way? Police were quickly called into action, but soon realized they would need something else in order to get into contact with the thing. Their solution; a helicopter. Once the helicopter was in play, the creature seemed to realize that something wasn’t quite right, as it appeared to run from police. The creature was unfortunately able to get away. After the chase, we contacted police and asked them what the creature was. They were just as confused as onlookers. They described the creature as having a human-like shape, moving using some sort of string which it shot out of its wrist. It was this comment that brought up the comparison between a certain web slinging hero and the thing that flew over the New York skyline tonight. This now makes us wonder, is this just someone trying to become the fictional hero Spider-Man, or is something darker happening underneath the streets of New York?
Gwen couldn’t believe what she had just read. She knew there would probably be news about her arrival, but the part that had her shaken to her core was the ending. The fictional hero. Her mind and heart were racing. This couldn’t be real. She set the paper down and took a deep breath. It would be okay, she thought. She just needed to get to the Parker residence. Peter would know what to do, right? He was still smart, even if he wasn’t Spider-Man.
Spider-Man.
Gwen couldn’t shake the horrible feeling she got after reading that article. Never would she have ever imagined she would end up in a world like this. It made sense though. There infinite universes, and it just so happened that Gwen fell into a world where Spider-Man didn’t exist.