Chapter 19: A twist in the multiverse
Peter and Gwen's date had gone perfectly without any hero work interrupting them. For once, they got to enjoy themselves like any other couple – catching a movie at the local theater, sharing lunch at their favorite café, and taking silly selfies between stolen kisses.
As evening fell, they found themselves perched atop one of New York's countless skyscrapers, sharing a Coke and watching the sunset paint the city skyline in brilliant oranges and pinks.
Gwen sat comfortably in Peter's lap, his arms loosely wrapped around her waist as they admired the sprawling cityscape, both of them are content in the peaceful moment.
Just as they were thinking about heading home, a familiar portal materialized behind them, both Peter and Gwen turned to see a familiar figure step out.
"Jessica?" Gwen exclaimed and was startled by the sudden appearance.
Jessica Drew smiled and walked toward them. "Hey, Gwen!"
Gwen's face lit up after seeing her and at her unexpected visit. She jumped up to greet her friend with a warm hug. Peter, however narrowed his eyes playfully.
"What are you doing here, Jessica? Don't tell me you're here to hassle me again," he teased.
Jessica broke free from Gwen's hug and pressed a hand to her chest in mock offense. "Can't I just visit my friends? And here I thought we were close."
"Nice try," Peter chuckled, "but let's get to the point."
Jessica's playful demeanor faded as she sighed. "We need your help, Peter."
The couple exchanged concerned looks before Peter suggested, "Let's talk about this at my place. Aunt May's away, so we'll have privacy."
The three swung to Peter's house. Aunt May was still away on her trip and wouldn't return until the next morning, so the timing was perfect.
While they are swinging Peter thought about telling Aunt may everything about his powers. While others might call it foolish, Peter didn't see the point in hiding his identity from her anymore. She might worry, but he believed she deserved to know the truth and he also knows how to convince her.
After arriving at the Parker residence, they settled in the living room. Peter handed Jessica a cold Coke, which she accepted gratefully.
Peter and Gwen sat side by side in the couch while Jessica sat opposite to them in a chair.
"So, how can I help?" Peter asked, though he'd already hacked into the Spider Society network and knew the situation.
Jessica took a deep breath as Gwen leaned forward attentively. "There's been an incident. A spider that was supposed to bite and create a Spider-Man in Earth-10005 somehow ended up in Earth-1610. It's all because of Kingpin's experiment there – he built this massive device called a Super-Collider to try to see his dead family in other universes."
"Kingpin?" Gwen asked while raising an eyebrow.
Jessica explained, "He's one of the villains in that universe. Rich and powerful in the underworld with a bunch of resources to burn."
Gwen groaned."Why in the world would he do something so stupid? If even one thing goes wrong, it could destroy his entire universe. Is he crazy?"
Peter chuckled inwardly, thinking of Wanda Maximoff from the MCU. 'Yeah, tell that to Wanda,' he thought.
He turned to Gwen and said aloud, "Love, Gwen. Love makes people do things—terrible things."
Gwen gave him a curious look, wondering how he knew, But before she could speak, Peter looked back at Jessica. "Go on."
"It gets worse," Jessica went on. "When that universe's Spider-Man tried to stop it, the collider pulled in other Spider-People from across the multiverse."
"Why am I not surprised?" Gwen muttered while rolling her eyes.
"The problem now is that we're monitoring Earth-1610 to ensure stability, but we've realized we also need to keep an eye on Earth-10005. However—"
Peter cut her off, "But you can't because the connection to the Spider-Verse from Earth-10005 is broken."
Jessica and Gwen stared at him in surprise. "How did you—"
Peter smirked. "Come on, Jessica. Did you think I wouldn't dig up information about your adventures while I was there? Knowledge is power, after all."
Jessica sighed in defeat. "Yeah, well, Miguel's devices are only connected to universes with Spider-Men or Spider-Women in them."
"I knew it was too good to be true – having devices that could access any universe at will," Gwen mused.
Peter cleared his throat. "You're forgetting about America Chavez."
"She's different," Gwen replied with a sheepish smile.
Jessica's expression turned serious. "We need someone to check on Earth-10005. Just because it lost its Spider-Man doesn't mean it lost its villains. We're hoping you could use your portal abilities to investigate. If there's no threat, you can return immediately. What do you say?"
"Why don't you guys just take the spider from Earth-1610 and place it in Earth-10005? Problem solved." Gwen asked while trying to find a simple solution.
Jessica sighed, running a hand through her hair. "The spider's already dead. It bit someone else in that universe, creating a new Spider-Man there."
"Damn," Gwen muttered under her breath. "Okay, then why not send the new guy to the other universe?" Gwen suggested. "Surely you can manage that?"
Jessica then rubbed her temples in frustration. "We can't. The original Spider-Man of that universe is dead. The timeline won't stabilize without the new guy."
Gwen opened her mouth to respond, but no words came out. She blinked several times, trying to process the absurdity of the situation.
Peter remained quiet and is lost in thought. 'This is playing out exactly like Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse movie,' he realized. 'They could have ignored that universe since they can't access it, but my presence changes everything. I could go there, become the Spider-Man in that reality and give them access to that world again. Miguel.... you control freak.'
A smile crept across his face. 'This works perfectly for me, though. I've been wanting to explore other universes, and now I can "clean up" the villains there by saying I'm sending them to the void while in truth consuming them and gaining their powers.'
Gwen didn't want Peter to go to a new universe they have no knowledge about as she is very much worried him. She didn't want to lose Peter again.
He knows what she is thinking and placed a reassuring hand on Gwen's shoulder while drawing her attention. "Don't worry. Remember, I'm a symbiote now. I can send an avatar of my physical body to that world while staying here with you."
Both Jessica and Gwen froze, "You can do what now?" They both exclaimed simultaneously with wide eyes.
Peter chuckled after seeing Gwen's reaction and finding it cute he gave her a quick kiss. "I need biomass to create avatars, but I can manage it. We can't leave a world without its Spider-Man to protect it."
He didn't mention that his recent consumption of anomalies in the Spider Society had given him enough bio-mass to create five clones.
Jessica remained silent in deep thought, while Gwen was still processing.
A watch identical to Jessica's materialized on Peter's wrist and he broke the silence by saying, "Send me the coordinates of Earth-10005. I'll go right now."
Jessica nodded and used her own watch to transfer the coordinates.
Gwen looked uncertain, but Peter kissed her forehead reassuringly, "Don't worry. I'll be back before you know it." he said before opening a star-shaped portal and jumping through it.
Gwen stood there staring at the now-empty space and feeling a mix of unease and longing. Suddenly, familiar arms wrapped around her waist from behind.
"Miss me already?" Peter's teasing voice came from behind her. She turned to find Peter hugging her from behind.
Gwen smiled and playfully elbowed him, Jessica who had been watching silently finally smiled, but their moment was interrupted by sudden alarms from Jessica's watch.
"Fuck," Peter and Jessica cursed in unison.
Jessica began to read the holographic data displayed by the watch and is strolling the data provided by the watch.
"What's wrong now?" Gwen asked as she broke free from the hug.
Jessica groaned and frustration is clearly showing on her face. "A guy from the future traveled back in time and changed the entire timeline of Earth-10005."
Gwen's expression turned deadpan. "I don't even know what's normal anymore."
Jessica continued checking her watch. "Because of that time travel, there's no Spider-Man in that world anymore. The entire timeline shifted!"
Peter sighed while pinching the bridge of his nose. "And now, I'm stuck in 1983 in that universe."
Gwen asked confused, "Why can't you just come back."
"It's not that simple, while America can open as many Portals as she can, I have used my own energy to open them and it is very tiring to open portals repeatedly."
He can open 5 to 6 portals in a row based on the energy readings but he wants Jessica and others to think he had limitations of his powers. It is better to create an illusionary weakness than revealing an actual one to them.
While they knew his weakness of sound and heat, it didn't hurt to have them think he had many weakness which in reality he didn't have.
"What?!" Gwen exclaimed.
"I think the timeline shifted at the exact moment I entered the portal," Peter explained, however he didn't seem too upset and also had a small smile played on his lips. "But that universe... it's interesting.... very interesting."
Jessica opened another portal hastily. "I need to report this to Miguel. We'll figure something out."
As she stepped toward the portal, Peter called out, "Don't forget—you guys owe me one now."
Jessica glanced back with a smile. "I'll make sure Miguel knows." With a wave, she disappeared into the portal, which closed behind her.
After the portal closed, Gwen turned to Peter. "What's so interesting about that universe?"
Peter pulled her into a tight embrace and once his smile is hidden from her view, it transformed into something predatory. "There are many interesting people in that world. People I found interesting to meet."
The dangerous gleam in his eyes went unnoticed by Gwen as he held her close.
.
.
.
**Earth-10005, 1983**
A few moments earlier...
The star-shaped portal materialized silently, and Peter stepped through, the faint glow of the dimensional portal began fading behind him.
He found himself in a lush garden with a large tree standing directly in front of him. In the distance, he saw a group of kids around his age laughing and playing games.
"Sage, tap into the spectrum. I need data on this world," he commanded internally.
>Using skill: Electromagnetic spectrum manipulation to identify the signals...
>Identified....
>Decoding the data....
>Completed....
>Transferring the data.....
>Completed...
Peter's eyes widened as he processed the information flooding his mind. Before he could fully absorb it all, a movement caught his attention – a red-haired girl emerging from behind the tree with a book clutched in her hands.
She froze upon seeing him, green eyes widening in shock. "Who are you?" Her hand instinctively rose to her temple. "What... what is this language in your head?"
A knowing smile played across Peter's lips as he recognized her. "Hello there. My name is Peter Parker, and I've come from another reality, Miss..."
"Are you... are you serious?" she stammered and was clearly thrown by both his presence and her inability to read his thoughts clearly.
"It's rather impolite to peek inside people's heads," he chided gently, "though I doubt you can make sense of what you're seeing there."
Peter felt a wave of relief, knowing that Great Sage's encryption of his thoughts – a complex weave of multiple languages – was proving effective against telepathic intrusion. While it might not stop the most powerful psychics, it was clearly enough to deter casual attempts like this young telepath.
"Tell me about this place," he gestured to their surroundings.
She seemed to gather herself, "I'm Jean Grey. You're at Xavier's School for Gifted Youngsters." She rattled off the address and is still watching him warily.
Peter stepped closer, causing Jean to retreat until her back pressed against the tree trunk. He placed one hand beside her head and leaned closer. Jean's breath caught in her throat – no one had ever been so forward with her before. Despite her nervousness, she readied her powers, prepared to defend herself if necessary.
Peter's voice broke through her thoughts, "Can I ask you a favor?"
"What... what is it?" Jean's voice is barely above a whisper.
Peter tilted his head with a small smile, "Can I be inside you?"
"Huh.." Jean froze and her telepathic mind went blank. For the first time in years, she was rendered speechless.
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(A/N: How is the chapter, I think the situation of Peter going to other universe went well, Also have any guesses about the guy who changed the timeline.)
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