Lost in Reality

11

"Do you think he's okay?"  Mj asks.

I feel my body grow on edge. Who died...was it him? No, it couldn't have been. "I'm sure he's fine." I say.

"I just wish we could see him." Ned says.

Suddenly, a spark appears in the air. It lingers for a moment before disappearing.

"Ned, do that again." I instruct.

Ned looks at me. "Uh, okay." He looks back and repeats his words. "I just wish I could see Peter."

Again, a spark appears. This time though, it's larger and sticks around for a moment.

"What are you doing?" Mj asks Ned.

"I don't know." Ned says, looking down at his hands.

"Do it again, but this time, do the hand thingy Strange does to open portals." I say.

Ned nods, putting his hands in position. "I want to see Peter." He says, this time, a portal opens to a dark alley. A dark figure stands in the distance.

"Is that him?" Mj asks. "Peter!" I call. The figure looks at me.

Mj, Ned, and I all begin to call for Peter as he runs towards the portal and jumps through. Ned's grandma screams.

"Hey, hey it's okay!" Peter says. "I'm a good guy!"

His voice sounded oddly different, as well as his suit. He seemed to be taller as well.

"You're not Peter..." I say, taking a step back.

"Who are you?" Mj asks.

The Spider-Man removes his mask and he is indeed, not Peter. He has dark brown hair and eyes like him, but that's where the resemblance stops. He seems a bit older too.

"I'm Peter Parker, in my universe." Spider-Man says.

I shake my head. "There's no way."

"Prove it." Mj says.

"Prove it?" Spider-Man asks.

"Yeah, prove that you're Peter Parker." I say.

"Well I don't carry an ID around, kind've defeats the whole point of the secret identity thing." He says.

I take off my shoe and throw it at him.

"What'd you do that for?" He asks me.

"You don't have the tingle." I state.

"I do have the tingle...just not for shoes." Spider-Man says. He looks at Ned, Mj, and I. "You're a deeply mistrusting person and I respect that."He jumps up, sticking to the ceiling with his fingertips.

I shrug. "Crawl around."

He raises an eyebrow at me. "Crawl around."

"Crawl around." I repeat.

"No." Spider-Man says.

"If you're Peter Parker, crawl around." I say, taking off my other shoe.

"Please don't throw the shoe." He says. I throw the shoe.

"Ow." He says.

Ned's grandma begins speaking to him in Spanish.

"My nana wants to know if you can get that cobweb since you're, uh, up there." Ned says.

"That one?" Spider-Man asks, pointing to a cobweb in the corner.

Ned's grandma nods.

He then crawls up, getting the cobweb down. He jumps down, wiping his hands. "Believe me now?"

"Ned, do that thing again." I say. "Maybe we can get the real Peter."

"I'm right here you know." Peter says.

"Not now offbrand Peter." I say.

"Offbrand?" He questions. "Not gonna lie, that hurt."

"Guys, quiet." Mj says. Ned begins doing his magic and another portal opens. This time, another guy walks through.

"Great, now we've got some random guy." I say, throwing my hands down in defeat.

"Who're you?" Mj asks.

"I'm Peter Parker." The man says.

"No way!" The other Peter says. "I'm Peter Parker too!"

"Looks like a cool youth pastor." I say under my breath.

The first Peter heard me and murmured a small "Good one." beneath a stifled laugh. 

"Ever since I've gotten here, I've had a feeling your friend needs my help." The second Peter says. 

"Ehem." The first Peter says, clearing his throat to get our attention. "Don't you mean our help?" 

"Right, our help." The second Peter says. "Is there any place he normally goes to get his mind off of things?" 

We are all silent, deep in thought. Then it hits me. 

"Yeah, I might know a place." I say. There was always one rooftop Peter and I used to go to as children to just sit and talk. We hadn't been there in years. 

"Lead the way." The first Peter says, motioning for me to take the lead. 

We all exit the house with me at the front. I was silently praying Peter would be there and that he was doing something stupid. I hoped he was okay, for all of our sakes.