Chapter Text
Title: Gotham
New York, Queens - 07/10/2024
Everything had gone down the drain, he didn't know how, but he knew the why, and it was his fault.
It was his excess of confidence, naivety, tolerance, and always wanting to bring out the best in others that led him to this.
To lose everything and consequently end up alone.
His family was dead, and the entire universe didn't remember who he was.
But don't get him wrong, he didn't regret what he did, saving lives. If someone had told him that to save villains from themselves he would have to lose everything, he would do it again no matter how painful it was.
It had only been 6 months since he started living on his own, yet he still couldn't get used to coming home to his new apartment (which was ten times smaller than the one May rented) only to find it so empty and lonely.
The first days had been unbearable (they still were), locking himself in his room for hours, crying and forgetting (ignoring) the fact that he needed to eat to survive. The lack of food wreaked havoc on his metabolism and prevented the healing of the wounds caused during his nighttime patrols, because even though Peter Parker might be in mourning, the city still needed Spider-Man, even if they mostly saw him as a nuisance or even a villain.
School and work were the main reasons for his unbearable migraines. Going to the institution to request his certificate of studies was more difficult than he had thought. Even though his records were still there (which was a relief), the secretary was so lost by the fact that she didn't recognize him. Even his teachers denied having seen him in their classrooms even once. He was aware that "this" would happen, but it hurt because he held onto the tiniest hope that someone would recognize him.
Getting a job was easier than he thought, after all, he was intelligent and capable. However, it was quite challenging to keep it considering his boss forgot him every two days. The same thing happened with his apartment; if it weren't for the fact that he had signed a contract with the landlord, he would have been out on the street.
Loneliness was something he wasn't used to. It was painful and suffocating, a pain that wasn't physical or mental. It was something that seeped into the deepest part of your being, consuming you slowly and painfully. And before you knew it, you were already a part of it, and interacting with other people became such a huge challenge that it seemed impossible. A challenge he was unable to accomplish.
Just like other nights, he put on his suit and went out to defend the innocent from any threats. He took lost children back home (the word "home" hurt too much to say), stopped petty thefts, and helped the elderly with their shopping.
While checking the little technological equipment he had left, he discovered that his AI Karen was still operational. Even though she didn't recognize him in the database, his name was still there, which helped him a lot. Karen told him that even though she didn't remember him, her creator wouldn't have created her for just anyone, so she would help him.
That really helped him to be Spider-Man. At an undefined moment, he found himself fighting Vulture, who had found new alien merchandise combined with magical artifacts, which was very dangerous. Both of those things had led to this moment. Still, Peter ignored the "twinge" that was telling him to get out of there and flee as far as he could. The next thing he knew, some kind of portal-collider appeared, and after that, everything was darkness for a good while.
New Jersey, Gotham - 04/16/2016
Peter woke up disoriented, alone, and confused. He felt like he had no control over his enhanced senses or his emotions. He began to feel like his body was suffocating; it hurt, and the sounds were so loud that they only reached him as painful and irritating buzzing. Tears didn't take long to come along with nausea.
"Karen!! Deactivate the suit, take it off, take it off!"
Peter struggled to stay calm as he shouted at Karen. Fortunately, she was able to react quickly and deactivate the suit, freeing him from that distressing experience. Breathing heavily, Peter sat down, still trying to regain control of his senses. Karen apologized, explaining that the suit was experiencing an unexpected malfunction, and they would investigate the issue. Peter thanked her for her help, though he felt uneasy about what had just happened. He decided to take a break to calm down and reflect on the situation.
Recapping, had he been shot by an alien magical weapon? If that had happened, along with the fact that he was in a place he didn't recognize, because he didn't remember any city with a Gothic appearance in New York? Actually, there wasn't even a city like that in the whole country. The few cities he could think of were outside of the country or even the continent, which was ruled out because he heard people speaking English, quite fluently to be foreigners. But, if he wasn't in a city in New York, where was he? Oh, crap, he's going to have another panic attack. No, he can't allow that. Alright, better count to ten.
Peter closed his eyes and took a deep breath, trying to calm his racing thoughts. He counted to ten slowly while focusing on his breath. When he opened his eyes, he noticed he was surrounded by dark and enigmatic buildings, but none seemed to match the ones he knew in New York. That only reinforced his hypothesis. Okay, he definitely wasn't in New York. He reminded himself to stay calm and find a way to gather more information about his current location. He decided to ask Karen.
"Karen, do you know where we are?"
"I'm afraid not, Peter. My systems are damaged due to the impact of the weapon. However, I'm already repairing myself. As soon as I'm back up and running, I'll connect to the networks and analyze our location."
"Oh... alright, let me know when you're okay."
Well, maybe it was time to make a list of pros and cons about his situation, just like Aunt May taught him.
First the cons:
He didn't know where he was.
He was injured.
He hadn't eaten well in months, and now the bill had come due.
He had at least 3 broken ribs.
He had lost a lot of blood.
His spider-sense was screaming danger everywhere.
Okay, not too many. Now the pros:
Thanks to the nanotechnology suit, he didn't have to remove his civilian clothes, and he still had them.
He had about 70 dollars in cash.
He wasn't dead (yet).
Karen was still operational, which was a relief.
He decided to walk carefully, keeping his senses alert to avoid triggering another uncomfortable situation with the suit. As he moved through the Gothic streets, he realized that passersby were also wearing clothes that didn't seem to belong to his time, at least not the present.
Finally, he found a newspaper kiosk and approached it to get some clues about where he was. To his surprise, he noticed several things in the headlines. They talked about a family and their company, Wayne was prominently displayed in large letters. There was also a big difference in