Chapter 3:

Great Reveals

Spider-Man and the Avengers are owned by Marvel and Disney.

"Talking"

"Thoughts/AI"

Line Break

"Oh…my…god," Peter wheezed out, leaning against an AC unit, "And I thought…that whole…thing with Liz's dad…was exhausting".

"Congratulations on reaching this other Spider-Man so fast," Karen proudly stated, "However, you need to build up your endurance. I have devised several training exercises that, if you commit to, should increase your stamina twofold".

Peter tiredly waved an arm, "Later". He took a deep breath, standing straight, "A windowsill with Hydrangeas, right?"

"Correct".

Peter nodded, walking over to the edge of the roof. He hopped down, attaching a webline to the edge of the roof, slowing his descent. He found the apartment easily enough, but he quirked a brow as he noticed the window was open.

He landed on the wall, crawling over and poking his head into the window, "Hello?"

He frowned when the only reply he received was soft laughter, further in the residence.

He slowly climbed in the dark hallway, carefully sneaking forward, following the laughter.

Bzzz….Bzzz…Bzzz

Peter jolted at the sudden vibrations assaulting his head. He pressed a finger to his ear, "What?" he all but shrieked.

"So, we agreed on time travel, right?"

Peter sucked in a breath, sidling up against a wall, "Ned, now is not the time!"

"I mean," Ned continued, "I think that would be the most logical solution".

Despite the circumstances, Peter deadpanned, "Really? Time travel is the most logical solution for our doppelgänger?"

"You did say he's older than you, and he has a Queens accent".

Peter groaned, "I'm beginning to regret answering your call".

"Besides, what else is there? Some other person bit by the same spider that bit you? How convoluted would that be".

"Goodbye, Ned," he forcefully stated as he ended the call.

"BWAHAHAHA!," Peter jumped onto the ceiling at the sudden guffaw, "Oh man, that's really good to know".

Peter crawled along the ceiling, hopping down in front of a door leading to the laughter. He slowly opened the door, lenses narrowing at the change in light.

"Oh, there you are. Took you long enough".

Peter blinked a couple times, before tilting his head at the sight of the older Spider, mask pulled up to his nose, sitting next to an elderly woman with curly gray hair, a plate of cookies on the table between them. The older man picked up a cookie, holding it in front of Peter, "Snickerdoodle?"

Peter stared at the offered cookie, "Umm…"

"No?" the other Spider-Man shrugged, "Your loss," he popped the cookie into his mouth.

"So," Peter turned to the old woman, whose brow was cocked, face set in a stern stare, "do all young people make a habit of entering another's house unannounced?"

Peter gulped, flushing slightly, "Sorry ma'am, but I—er, I mean—hold on"

Suddenly, the woman's face broke into a smile, and she brought a hand to her mouth, chuckling, "Oh, I'm just joking, dear!" She put her hands on her lap, smiling at the other Spider, "My Billy used to act just like your boy".

The man hummed, rubbing his mouth with a napkin, "Good to know, but he's not my son," the man pulled his mask down, now staring at Peter, "We're…cousins".

Peter frowned at the statement, but said nothing.

The woman merely hummed, before letting out a sigh, "Well," she turned to the older Spider, "Thank you for checking in on me in Billy's stead. I'd rather he was here of course," she sighed heavily, "But he takes more after his father than I'd hope".

Peter rubbed his arms, "You know…I could ask Mr. Stark if he could—"

"Out of the question!" Peter jumped at the woman's harsh tone. She simply harrumphed, glaring at her at nothing in particular, "My son still broke the law, and he'll pay for it!"

All three were silent after that. Then, the older Spider-Man clapped his hands, "Well, this has been a lovely little diversion. Mrs. Baker," he nodded at the woman, "Thank you for the snack," she smiled warmly. "Junior," Peter's eye twitched, "Let's wait for the Avengers to pick us up". He pointed to an open window window, "Do you mind?"

Mrs. Baker shook her head, "Knock yourself out," she smiled, "It was nice talking with you".

"And you as well".

The older man gave a quick salute before leaping outside.

Peter ran after him, but not before turning around and offering his own salutations.

Thankfully for Peter's arms, the man had only moved a block away, crouching down on the edge of a building, gazing down on the street below.

Peter landed a few feet behind him.

Suddenly; "Why do you say that anyway?"

Peter stilled, "Huh?"

"'Mr. Stark'," the older man looked over his shoulder, "why the 'Mister'? You call Cap 'Mr. Rogers'? Or Bruce 'Mr. Banner'? or 'Mr. Hulk' as the situation demands?"

Peter blushed, looking down at his feet, "Well, Mr. Stark is my mentor".

Silence.

"…I'm sorry," the man stood up, turning to face Peter, "could you repeat that?"

Peter gulped, but stood tall, "Mr. Stark is my mentor".

The two Spider-Men stared at each other in silence.

Suddenly, the older man threw his head back, laughing uproariously, "HAHAHA!" he mimed wiping a tear from his eye, "Stark?" he asked incredulously, "What, was Banner not neurotic enough for you?"

Peter felt his cheeks heat up, "What's that supposed to mean?!"

Another chuckle, "Tony's smart, no doubt, but he's got issues—not that I can talk—but still, there's more stable idols out there. Like Reed, or McCoy".

Peter crunched up his face, "What?"

The man shrugged, "I know, I know, big blue himself looks like he should have a lot of issues. But aside from the self-loathing that comes standard with our line of work, Hank's a pretty upright guy".

Peter waved his arms in front of him, "Back up, who?"

"You know," he made a gesture, "Hank McCoy. Beast". At Peter's blank stare, he continued with, "one of the founding members of the X-Men".

"X-Men?"

The older man brought a hand to his cheek, "Okay…guess they aren't operating out in the open yet; strange, but not unprecedented, especially given your age. Still, you've got Reed".

Peter made a wild gesture, "Who the hell is Reed?!"

The man leveled Peter a blank stare, "…That's concerning".

He then sucked in a breath, whirling around, staring at the helicopters and VTOLs hovering above the corner where he had appeared.

Peter slowly walked forward, "Hey," he carefully asked, "what's up?"

"…That was 42nd and Madison," he barely whispered.

Peter frowned, "Yeah…what about it?"

He didn't respond, instead bringing a finger to his ear, silently moving his jaw. After a moment, he let out a low sigh, slouching, "Oh god…this is…not ideal".

Peter pursed his lips, "What, exactly, is the problem?"

The man looked over his shoulder, "…You really wanna know?"

Peter nodded.

"…Can you and your little friend keep your mouths shut about certain…personal aspects of what I know?"

Peter paused, but after Karen softly stated she would not say anything without his go-ahead, nodded once more.

The older man let out a low sigh, "The problem, Peter," said young man froze, "Is that a bunch of people I was hoping existed in this dimension don't".

He turned around, humming at the sight of Peter's frozen form, "Ah, now you're probably thinking 'How does he know who I am?!' and 'This dimension?'". He then chuckled, grabbing the edge of his mask, "Well, this should answer those questions…I hope".

He pulled the mask off, and Peter found himself staring wide-eyed at the man's face.

It was…an exact copy of his own. Almost, at any rate. The nose was a bit sharper, and his eyes were a duller shade of hazel, and he had a few scars across his face; but everything else was a dead ringer for Peter's own features.

Slowly, Peter pointed a shaky finger at the unmasked, smirking man, "Y-You're m-m-m-me. An older me!"

The older Peter shrugged, "Well, technically you're a younger me. But," he slipped his mask back on, "I'm glad you got the main point".

Young Peter stared down at his hands, then at Older Peter, and back and forth, "How did—well, the portal obviously—but how did the portal form?"

The older man shrugged, "I don't know".

Peter let out a sharp chuckle, "How can you—"

"There's at least a dozen different ways to travel through space-time, not counting magic".

Peter snorted, "Magic—what am I saying, I'm standing in front of an alternate version of me".

Older Peter clicked his tongue, "Exciting, isn't it?"

Peter opened his mouth to say more, but the other Peter held his hand up, "Hold that thought, our ride's here".

A high-pitched whine soon entered Peter's ears, turning his head to better see the Quinjet heading their way.

Line Break

Peter did his best not to fidget as he and his older alternate dimension counterpart were flown to the Avengers base.

He turned his gaze to the cockpit, staring at the Iron Man drone standing guard.

"Nervous?"

Peter jolted at the sudden voice in his head.

"Calm down," the voice—which he now recognized as the other Peter—said, "I'm speaking through your comms, don't want anyone eavesdropping".

Peter let out a breath, before sucking it back in, "You hacked my suit?!"

A snort, "Karen let me in. Nice girl, by the way". A pause, "I mean, I could've, but that's just rude".

Peter just sighed, placing his head in his hands, "What do you want?"

"To talk," other Peter answered. "For example, what's the home life like?"

Peter wrung his hands, "Well, I live with my, er, our, I mean—"

"Aunt May?"

Peter nodded, "Yeah". He then jerked his head up, "Hey!" he then lowered his voice, "Does your…is…" he tried to think of how best to phrase his next question.

"My Uncle Ben died years ago".

Peter looked down at the floor, "Oh…I see".

"Yup".

"Mine died, uh, last spring".

Other Peter hummed, "Your, what, fifteen?"

"Sixteen".

"How long you been Spider-Manning?"

Peter smiled, "About five months. You?"

"Close to fifteen years".

Peter let out a low whistle, "Long time." He pursed his lips, "Is..Is it worth it?" At the other man's silence, he continued, "I mean…I just got through a really," sighed, "really rough situation with this vulture guy—"

"Toomes?" the other Peter interrupted, "Adrian Toomes?"

Peter nodded slowly, "Yeah". He waved an arm, "Let's touch on that similarity later. Anyway—"

"You'll hit rough patches," the other man interrupted, gently this time, "But it works out".

Peter hummed, "I guess. Plus, with May's help I'm sure—"

"Woah, woah, woah," the other Peter sat up straight, "Back it up. Aunt May knows your Spider-Man?"

Peter frowned, "Yeah. Yours doesn't?"

Other Peter shook his head, "No…rather, she didn't find out until years into my career".

Peter nodded, "I wanted it to be that way too. But," he flushed.

"But what?"

"…She snuck up on me as I was putting on my suit".

"I'm sorry, could you repeat that".

Despite himself, Peter felt a pit develop in his stomach at the older man's tone. "I-I was putting on my suit…and she snuck on me".

The other Peter leaned back in his seat, "That…that shouldn't have happened".

Peter frowned, "Well, I—"

"ATTENTION!" Both Spiders jolted at the drones blaring voice, "WE ARE NOW ARRIVING AT THE AVENGERS BASE. PREPARE TO DISEMBARK".

The alternate Peter stood up, "We'll finish this talk later," and moved to the docking bay doors.

A/N: Next, Peter and Peter meet the Avengers (along with a very special guest). Be sure to leave a review. Later.