"Alright, enough joking around!"
Peter finished the last bite of his burger and wiped his hands. He stood up from the table, his eyes sharp. "We're full, so it's time to get to work."
Gwen followed him, looking a bit nervous. "What's the plan? Should we follow him secretly? He's a Spider-Man, too. His Spider-Sense will pick us up instantly if we try to tail him."
The Spider-Sense was a strange and powerful thing. It wasn't just a warning for danger; it was like a gut feeling that guided the hero. It could tell if someone was watching or if a path was the right one to take. It was almost like seeing a few seconds into the future.
"Track him?" Peter laughed softly. "No. Since he's another version of me, I'm just going to go talk to him."
Peter took Gwen's hand and walked straight toward the corner booth.
The middle-aged Peter Parker (let's call him Peter B.) had just finished his burger and was finishing his extra-large soda.
BURP!
He let out a loud burp and then turned around slowly. He didn't look surprised to see them. He had known they were watching him the whole time. Even with a beer belly and gray hair, his instincts were still those of a hero who had fought villains for over twenty years. He was a "Veteran Spider."
"Thanks for giving me a minute to finish," Peter B. said in a tired but friendly voice. "I haven't had a decent meal since I got sucked into this world."
Peter looked at this older version of himself. It was a strange feeling—like looking into a mirror that showed a possible future.
"I'm Peter Parker," our Peter said, extending a hand. "And this is Gwen Stacy. As you can probably tell, she's the one with the powers in our world. We got caught in the same space-time vortex as you."
Peter B. shook his hand, looking at Gwen with wide eyes. "That is fascinating. So in your world, the spider chose Gwen? I can't even imagine that."
In his own world, Peter B. had been married to Mary Jane, but they had recently divorced. Seeing a version of himself and Gwen Stacy together as a team made his heart ache with a bit of regret. If things had gone differently in his world, maybe he wouldn't be eating burgers alone in a different dimension.
The three of them sat down to talk. Peter B. explained that he had arrived a bit earlier than they had. He had already done some digging into the death of this world's Spider-Man.
"If I'm right," Peter B. whispered, "the Green Goblin, the Prowler, and the Kingpin teamed up to kill him."
Peter nodded. He knew the story. The local Spider-Man had died trying to stop Kingpin's Particle Collider—a giant machine designed to rip holes between universes. If Kingpin kept using it, it would create a black hole that would swallow New York City.
"We need to find the kid," Peter said. "The 'Little Black Spider.' He was with the local Peter when he died. He's the only one who knows where the lab is."
Suddenly, Gwen and Peter B. both stiffened. Their heads snapped up at the same time. Their Spider-Sense was buzzing.
"It's not just the three of us," Peter B. said, looking at the ceiling. "There are more of us in the city."
Peter grinned. "Then let's go find them. This is a Spider-Man family reunion!"
The Rooftop in Brooklyn
On a rooftop overlooking a busy street, a thirteen-year-old boy named Miles Morales stood on the edge. He was wearing a store-bought Spider-Man mask, a sports jacket, and sneakers. He was barely five feet tall, and his hands were shaking.
Miles had just gained his powers, and he was desperate to prove he could be like the hero who had just died. He took a deep breath, mustered all his courage, and leaped off the roof.
He expected to swing gracefully or crawl down the wall. Instead, he slammed face-first into a flagpole, spun around like a ragdoll, and fell onto the roof of a parked taxi.
THUD!
"Ow..." Miles groaned. He wasn't agile yet, but at least his body was tough enough to survive the fall. "How am I supposed to do this? How do I become Spider-Man?"
As he sat on the taxi, feeling like a failure, a hand dropped onto his shoulder.
"Kid," a voice said. "That's not how you jump."
"Who's there?!" Miles shouted, spinning around in a panic.
His body reacted before his brain did. A massive surge of yellow electricity—thousands of volts—shot out of his fingertips and slammed into the person behind him.
The man, Peter B., was blasted backward. He fell to the ground, his body twitching as the electricity surged through him. He looked like he had been hit by a lightning bolt.
While Miles stared at the smoking man in horror, Peter and Gwen landed softly on the sidewalk nearby.
Peter looked at Miles, then at the twitching Peter B. on the ground. A curious smile crossed his face.
"Electric powers?" Peter asked, walking toward the boy. "Was that on purpose, or was it an accident?"
Miles froze, looking at the high-tech armored "Batman" and the girl in the white hood. He realized his secret life was about to get a lot more complicated.