Disclaimer: The characters that I am using belong to DC comics and Marvel Comics respectively.

Note: This is the first time I actually try to write a work of fanfiction. And then publish it on a website (although this isn't the first time I submitted a story to the Internet - it's only the second). It's fun, but also quite terrifying - I have no idea how competent a story-teller I am, I just have to assume that I'm not as good as I sometimes think I am. I don't even know if I should be writing this note on this part of the document. Either way, if I botch this up badly, I do hope to get good advice on how not to repeat the same mistakes on future endeavors. Anyway, just to add a bit more information on the story I'm trying to craft here, the Spider-Man in this tale is not the Ultimate one, despite his youthful age. He's closer (in my mind, at least) to the Lee/Ditko Spider-Man, the one I've read from the first volume of the Essentials. From what I've read, that Spider-Man is more powerful than the Ultimate one, although I'm not certain. I've also drawn from other Spider-Man comics that I've read over the years (mostly Brazilian reprints of post-Gwen stories).

1

YOU ARE ALL DOOMED

With a painful scowl that was hidden by his red mask, Spider-Man looked down at the Baxter Building. From up above, whilst swinging across the sky between towering skyscrapers, nothing seemed normal. As of late, quite a crowd of people carrying signs were gathered around the main entrance of the building, protesting and cussing. The teenaged web-slinger hadn't watched the news, so he didn't know precisely what was going on, but it seemed that the Fantastic Four were suspected of participating in racketeering. Either that, or terrorism. What little information there existed was conflicting, and honestly, didn't make a lick of sense.

The violent tug Spider-Man had felt from his trusty spider-sense had nearly knocked him down to the ground below. Something incredible must be somewhere about, threatening not just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, but the city of New York as well.

He looked down at the crowd. The wall-crawler knew only too well that the most insignificant man or woman could do a whole lot of damage, but his spider-sense was getting nothing from the mass of people. Whatever had triggered it did not come from the crowd of protestors. It was coming from within the Baxter Building itself, and that sent shivers down Spider-Man's spine.

God only knew what sort of whacky shenanigans Reed Richards was up to in his many labs. Spider-Man certainly hoped that nothing disgusting had escaped the biology lab. Or that something worse had crossed over from the Negative Zone.

All it took was a slight twist of his body to change the direction of his swing. The web-slinger stretched out his arm and shot out a web. The tip snagged the wall of a nearby building. He swung, and in an instant his feet were touching the rooftop of the Baxter Building.

The observatory was just a few feet away from him. Spider-Man calmly walked towards it. His spider-sense was still buzzing, but there didn't seem to be anything specifically dangerous behind the entrance door.

He grabbed the knob and turned it. The door opened. The fifteen year old superhero sighed. Leaving the door open like this was careless, especially with flying super-villains about who could easily invade. Johnny's idiocy was obviously at work here.

Spider-Man entered the observatory, and from there, he had access to the building. Usually, he didn't have an opportunity to admire the big telescope within the observatory or the beautiful vehicles within the hangar without having to put up with the Flaming Jerk, however, now he had to move, and given how strongly his head was ringing, even the Torch's absence was unsettling.

Quickly, the web-slinger made his way to the stairs that would lead to the fourth floor where the Negative Zone Access was situated. He had a feeling that that was where all of the trouble was.

Before he could make his descent, something popped up from below. Spider-Man recognized it immediately. It was something that no one should fear: a H.E.R.B.I.E robot, one of several mechanical servants made by Reed Richards.

However, even as Spider-Man's spider-sense was alerting him towards the greater danger, it was also forcing his attention on to the hovering robot. The little machine was quick to prove how dangerous it could be; its torso opened, revealing the barrel of a gun.

Spider-man heard the percussive explosion before he saw the flash. The projectiles, meant to stop any fast moving object, almost hit Spider-Man right in the forehead. A quick swerve saved his life.

The wall-crawler swung out his wrist, and tapped his web-shooter with his fingers. Two ball-shaped projectiles, harder than steel, came out. They crashed into the robot. Before the robot could come down with a violent crash, Spider-Man quickly caught it with one hand.

He took one look at the robot. For now, it was disabled. Few people knew, or remembered that his webbing could be used for more things than just sticky ropes. Still, he was surprised that something made by Reed Richards wasn't tougher. Right now, however, the problem was in knowing if H.E.R.B.I.E had or not revealed his presence through whichever telemetric link to whomever was causing his spider-sense to go nuts. He let the robot down on the ground quietly, and descended down into the fourth floor.

Even before reaching the fourth floor, Spider-Man adhered to the ceiling, crawling along it in case he met an intruder.

As stealthily as he could, and following his spider-sense, Spider-Man entered the Negative Zone Access room.

He didn't like at all what he saw.

Mr. Fantastic, Ben Grimm and the Matchstick boy were trapped within semi-invisible force-field bubbles. Try as they might, they couldn't get out. The Thing was constantly pounding on the field, while Johnny Storm's fire blazed the bubble into visibility.

Nearby stood Sue Storm, the Invisible Girl. She stood still as a mannequin. Indeed, her face was like that of a department store dummy as there was a vacant expression on her face. This was obviously the result of the strange, crown-like device on her head.

Without a doubt, this was a mind control device of some sort. Spider-Man wondered how powerful it was.

Further away, close to the Negative Zone Portal and a control console that Spidey didn't remember being there, were three imposing figures, all of which were Dr. Doom. Spider-Man was sure that at least one of them was a Doombot.

The Dr. Doom closest to the strange console, the one in the center, and the one likeliest to be Doom himself (Spidey didn't think that Dr. Doom would allow his Doombots to defeat Mr. Fantastic without him being there) patted the console gingerly.

"I am tired Richards" the possible Doom said with a deep metallic voice "Tired of having my plans foiled by the likes of you or the Avengers. This is a quick solution – a solution I think most appropriate, considering that you yourself invented this device, and discovered the Negative Zone and its horrors. I am fortunate that the most efficient of you accursed superheroes live in this city. It leaves me in the enviable position of being rid of you simply by pressing this red button. Your sweetheart will remain here as the countdown begins. She will not, however, regain her free will until it is all over."

A low growl escaped from Reed Richard's gut.

"You'll never get away with this" he said.

Dr. Doom chuckled.

"Richards, have you been reduced to spouting out tired clichés? I will get away with this"

"You won't. Do you think this country is going to sit down if you throw this city into the Negative Zone? Latveria will feel the full wrath of the United States, and if you escape this wild scheme of yours, your days will still be numbered. The dead can't savor their victories"

Dr. Doom then let out a demonic laugh.

"Richards, you truly are not aware of how well I planned your downfall and that of your allies. Do you think that the problems afflicting you were mere accidents? It was my hand that directed the events against you – the destruction of that space station, the attack on Air Force 1, the explosion in Phoenix, those accounts that those investigators found – it was all me Richards! When I press this red button and when the countdown is over, when this city and the surrounding landscape are sucked into the Negative Zone, you will be the one everyone blames! You will be given the treatment you have deserved for so long yet unjustly eluded. All I regret is that you won't live long enough to see your downfall"

Doom raised his hand. It was quite clear what he was about to do. And Spider-Man had had enough. He raised his arm, and with his web, he snagged the mind control device from Sue's head. The Invisible Girl let out a scream, and then collapsed.

Dr. Doom looked at the ceiling. His eyes met the big lenses over the teenaged superhero's eyes.

"You?" the armored tyrant spat out.

"Yeah me. You thought that I was going to let you throw New York to magic No-No land? I eat hot dogs here!"

Dr. Doom raised his iron hand and a bolt of energy shot out of it, towards the web-slinger on the ceiling. The wall-crawler easily leapt away, landing on his feet on the ground as the bolt shattered the ceiling.

The Latverian growled but he did not raise his fist towards Spider-Man. His hand went down towards the red button. His finger was only an inch from it when another hand swatted it away.

Dr. Doom quickly turned to see Mr. Fantastic smiling at him.

"Didn't I tell you that you'd never get away with this?" Mr. Fantastic said as his fist increased in size, mass, and density. Propelled by his body's elasticity, Mr. Fantastic's cartoonishly large fist rammed right into Doom's armored face.

The Latverian was sent flying across the room, away from the console, only stopping as he violently hit the opposite wall. The Doombots were now confronted by the other remaining members of the Fantastic Four.

Doom looked up and saw that his defeat was once again, imminent. But defeat was something that he could never accept. Especially not to Reed Richards. Behind his mask, he scowled as he saw his enemy snake towards him.

From the depths of his lungs, he let out a horrible sound of dark cadence. The Earth shook, and suddenly, the two Doombots that were about to be destroyed by the Thing and the Torch began to glow and split apart, until there stood before them six Doombots.

"Doom, I always wondered how you made these things, and now I know: evil sex magic!" Spider-Man said as two Doombots approached him. "I don't want it!"

He webbed the head of one Doombot, and swung it against the other.

"See? You two don't need me!"

The Doombots quickly got on their feet; the one that had been webbed tore the webs away from its metallic face.

"Does anyone here know any insurance agents?" Spider-Man said, just before leaping and dodging the Doombot's blast.

The Thing and Torch were having a hard time with their Doombots, with each fighting two. The Thing was strong enough to take his Doombots out in a straight fight, but they weren't getting into a straight fight, choosing instead to blast the orange behemoth. Johnny Storm wasn't having an easier time. He tried his best to roast the Doombots, but they were particularly resistant to his flame.

With his armor on, Dr. Doom was at least as strong as Spider-Man himself. It seemed that these Doombots were no different. If it were not for his spider-sense and his agility, the web-slinger would have been pounded down into submission. However, as Spider-Man dodged the blows coming at him, he gave some of his own. The fact that he was fighting robots allowed him to punch as hard as he wanted. Their armor was tough, but he was leaving some dents in them. The Thing was equally beginning to force his way to the Doombots. Though they showered him with firepower that would obliterate any ordinary man, the orange powerhouse managed to make his way through and grab a Doombot by its leg, slamming it repeatedly against the other. The Human Torch had managed to find a way out of the Negative Zone Access room with his two Doombots hot on his tail, unknowingly doing exactly as the blond flamer wanted. In the meanwhile, Mr. Fantastic was coiling around Dr. Doom himself, who fought tooth and nail against his attacker.

One of the Doombots tried to punch Spider-Man, but the arachnid superhero grabbed his arm and placed him in the way of the other Doombot's blast, leaving a big smoking hole in it.

"You really don't know how to dance the Frug, don't you?"

The teenage marvel then ripped off the Doombot's arm and hurled it, fingers first, into the other Doombot's chest. A torrent of electric sparks came out of the robot's mouth, before it fell down.

"Wait, why am I talking about the Frug? That's one of the stupidest named dances I know. Not worst than the Macarena though"

Spider-Man made a summersault and landed on the head of a Doombot that the Thing had turned his back on because it was so mangled as to not seem to be a threat. With one stomp he crushed it.

"You owe me now" Spider-Man said "I want waffles"

"Oh goody" the curmudgeonly brawler replied.

Mr. Fantastic however, did not fare so well against his adversary. With one blast, Dr. Doom had the smartest man in the world out cold. Richards fell down like a curtain. The Latverian tyrant looked at the man he hated. He didn't say a word. He simply opened his palm towards the fallen hero. And then he felt a wall crash against the entirety of his body. He looked up to see Sue Storm glaring at him.

"I really hate you" she said, trapping Doom in a bubble not dissimilar to the one she had trapped the rest of the Fantastic Four in. she then rushed to check Mr. Fantastic. She held his pliable body in her arms and looked at his face.

The Thing and Spider-Man quickly joined her.

"How is he?" the young superhero asked

"He's breathing. He's tougher than he looks" she said

"What about you Suzie?" Ben Grimm asked.

"I have a headache, and my pride's wounded, but that's all. Help me take Reed to the infirmary."

"You have an infirmary?" Spider-Man asked as he helped pick up Reed Richards' unconscious body.

"What bug brain, you thought we didn't have one?" said Johnny Storm, who had clearly taken care of his Doombots outside. He walked towards Reed and helped Ben with him, replacing Spider-Man. Beneath his mask, Spider-Man raised an eyebrow, but he said nothing.

And then, it hit him, his spider-sense. He turned quickly, but not quick enough. Dr. Doom somehow managed to break the force-field Sue had trapped him in. the Invisible Girl grunted, and Doom let out a blast that hit Spider-Man. If he hadn't hardened his body, he would have been seriously hurt. As it was however, he was shoved violently against the wall, in addition to the blast, leaving him momentarily dazed. Doom aimed again, this time at Richards, but Sue Storm was quick. As the blast left Doom's iron glove, it hit the Invisible Girl's force-field. It bounced back, and hit the console of the Negative Zone Portal. The device began to glow oddly, and the entire room shook.

The Invisible Girl waved her hand and sent another force-field at Dr. Doom. This time, the Latverian tyrant was sent through the portal.

Shaking off the cobwebs in his head, Spider-Man got up and looked at the console, and then at the portal. His spider-sense was acting up again and he didn't have to guess why. He turned to the Invisible Girl.

"Sue, I need you to get Mr. Fantastic and everyone else out of here. I'm getting a very bad feeling about this"

"How bad?" the Invisible Girl asked

As she finished that simple question, the room began to shake. A horrible whine came out of the portal.

"I think it's pretty bad. Worse than the Macarena"

The Invisible Girl began to walk towards the portal, but she was stopped when Spider-Man grabbed her arm.

"Hey lady, where do you think you're going?" he asked, his tone serious.

"I have to…"

"Do nothing!" Spider-Man said, cutting her off "You may be the most powerful member of the Fantastic Four, but can you stop that thing without tearing this city apart?"

"What do you suggest we do?" she asked

Spider-Man looked at Ben, he looked at Johnny, and then he once again looked Sue Storm straight in the eye.

"I can fix it" he said, nervously.

"How?" Johnny asked, horrified by the implication.

"I can do it. I'm a science major!" he said with some pride, amidst his growing fear "I may not be as smart as Reed Richards, but I got the basics" he then pointed a finger at Johnny Storm "I know more about this than he does"

Ben Grimm scowled.

"He's right Suzie. Let the kid do his thing. We'll get Reed patched up in no time to fix this mess" the Thing then looked at Spider-Man "Don't do anything stupid"

Spider-Man nodded. And then, something occurred to him.

"Wait! Before you go, there's an old lady called May Parker. The best lady there ever was. She lives in 738 Winter Garden Drive Forest Hills. Tell her that Peter loves her. And tell her that he's very sorry and that he wished he could do better for her. Will you do that?"

"I give you my word" Ben Grimm said.

"And please take care of her. She's been through too much"

"Don't worry" Johnny said with a sad expression.

"Thanks. You've been a good friend Firebug. All of you. Now please get out of here"

The four left the room and Spider-Man closed the door behind them. The room began to shake again, and once again, the portal began to whine horribly. As quickly as possible, the web-slinger sealed the room with a coat of webbing, exhausting an entire cartridge.

Not wanting to waste any more time, Spider-man didn't bother to reload his web-shooters, instead moving towards the console. The room began to shake harder, and the whine became more horrendous by the minute. It would be hard for any normal man to stand up. However, Spider-Man had the balance of a spider, as well as its strength and agility; along with his ability to adhere to any surface, the web-slinger had a steady footing.

Standing behind the console, Spider-Man saw that it was a mess, but a workable one. There were cracks here and there, and some wiring was exposed, but the information on the screen seemed reliable, and the controls worked.

However, despite Spider-Man's previous boast, the console itself, and its controls, seemed beyond his understanding. It took a few seconds for him to get a hold of his bearings and understand how to work the buttons and the dials in a proper manner.

Once he got the basics, his fingers worked furiously on the console, tapping buttons and turning dials. And as this happened, the room began to shake as if the Earth itself were being torn apart and the whine coming out of the portal turned into a roar. Idle things that had been lying about in the room, knocked over by the terrible fight with the Doombots, and indeed, the Doombots themselves were suddenly sucked into the portal by a strong attractive force.

Spider-Man held on dearly to the console as he figured the situation out. He read the data on the screen. The portal it seemed, no longer opened to the Negative Zone. The readings were too different. It seemed that the portal opened to another world entirely. However, the information was too incomplete. Either way, as things were, the entire city of New York would be sucked in, as Dr. Doom would have wanted.

The teenage wall-crawler could only see one solution and that was to cut off the portal's power and hope it weakened, but it would take time. Guided in part by his own scientific education and in the other part by his spider-sense, he typed in more commands and turned the dials several times. He ripped out a panel and let it fly into the portal and began to tamper with the wires, redirecting electric currents and making sure that everything worked as it should.

And then, things began to come together. The portal's power was fading away. He still felt it tugging at him, but by the time the portal had gained enough strength to drag within it all of New York, it would have no power to do so.

Beneath his mask, Spider-Man allowed himself to smile. He might see Aunt May after all.

Spider-Man's spider-sense hit him like a truck. The portal roared one last time. Spider-Man held tightly to the console, but soon that turned into a vain gesture; the console itself, despite being strongly attached to the building itself, succumbed to the immense pressure it had been subjected to. It was ripped off of the floor, taking Spider-Man with it. Desperately, Spider-Man reached out and aimed for the wall. He tapped his web-shooters. To his dismay, nothing happened, and he flew aimlessly into the black void.

Spider-Man expected death to take him quickly, but it proved to be quite slower than he had imagined. He realized that he was still breathing. The air had a certain stench to it, but he was breathing.

His spider-sense was also active, forcing his eyes open, and up.

As he looked up, he saw a city in the sky, and tracts of land where clouds should be. It took him another second to realize that he wasn't looking up, but down. He was falling, and from a great height.

When he was much younger, he remembered Aunt May reading Charlotte's Web to him, a nice little book about a pig and his friend Charlotte the spider. He remembered a scene in the book in which Charlotte described what spiders were and what they did.

He recalled Charlotte talking about spiders that were balloonists, using their webs to fly in the air like hot-air balloons.

As the city grew larger and larger, that sounded like a good idea. And then the web-slinger remembered that he needed to reload his web-shooters.

Cussing, Spider-Man reached into his belt and pulled out a cartridge. With only the agility and ability he could muster, Spider-Man quickly placed the cartridge within its allotted space within his wrist-band.

Spider-Man twisted his body so that his head was pointing at the sky. He stretched out his arms upwards, and he tapped his web-shooters. The filaments quickly came out. With an unexpected torrent of joy, Spider-Man began to fashion a parachute. Soon, his descent was much slower, and more controlled, until he was no longer in any danger. He had a chance to admire the city he was about to drop into. He didn't recognize it, and it didn't look very nice. In all honesty, from up above, it looked like a more gothic version of New York.

The web-slinger spotted a tall skyscraper and faintly twisted his body in that direction. As soon as he was close enough, he let go of the parachute, and landed on the ceiling of the building.

The parachute itself floated down into the street. Spider-Man winced. He hoped it wouldn't cause any car crash. Luckily, it seemed to have fallen on the sidewalk. The fifteen year old saw a few people – no more than specks – looking upwards. They didn't see him.

Spider-Man began to crawl down along the skyscraper's wall. He walked over a letter. He paused to see what was written.

In big letters, it said:

WAYNE

Outside of American history and the expansion into the mid-west and old time westerns, Spider-Man had no idea what the word Wayne might be referring to. The wall-crawler continued his descent, until he was low enough to shoot out a web at another building. He swung away from the tower and onwards into the city, trying very hard to find out where he was.

It was clear that he was in no alien world. He had, quite fortunately, been transported to another place on Earth.

He wondered if this city was Boston. He heard that people liked him in Boston.

Making sure to stay out of sight, people still spotted him and pointed. Whenever that happened, he waved. No need to antagonize the locals. Especially if this was Boston.

And then he heard a scream for help. It didn't matter if this was a different city, Spider-Man knew his way around buildings, and he knew how to follow a scream.

He found the screamer quickly, a pretty blond woman in a fur coat who seemed out of place in her surroundings, which were quite dark (but then, this entire city was beginning to look quite dark). She was surrounded by ten rather nasty looking men.

They all wore bright purple sweaters and white clown makeup. Spider-Man, for all of his smarts, couldn't figure out why any thug would dress in bright purple. Crooks were stupid, but Spidey still found himself surprised.

Nonetheless, the woman was in serious trouble. The thugs were laughing maniacally. Spider-Man had to intervene.

"Why are you guys harassing that girl? She's clearly not your type" he said, clinging from a wall.

The thugs were baffled; they looked around, ignoring the girl, who tried her best to find a way out. She eventually hid under several nearby crates.

"Who said that?" one of the thugs asked.

"I did" Spider-Man replied.

"Where are you?" asked another thug with a stereotypically brutish voice.

"Up here purple cupcake" Spider-Man said. The thugs eventually looked in his direction. They were surprised to see a slender man of slight proportions sticking to a wall. One of them however, seemed to notice something else.

"Who do you think you are, Superman?" the thug remarked.

"I'm a science major. I don't know anything about German philosophy." Spider-Man replied

"Then why are you wearing blue and red?" asked another thug.

"Because it's better than wearing bright purple like a fancy fruitcake. Don't you agree sweet-cheeks?" Spider-Man sniped.

"He's insulting us! He's insulting the Joker Thug Squad! Let's get him!" the thug that seemed to be the leader growled out.

Spider-Man shrugged his shoulders.

"Sure peachy breeches, let's do this" and Spider-Man leapt off of the wall and in the midst of the thugs.

And the attack began as quickly as Spider-Man had expected. One thug tried to bring a pipe down on his head. Spider-man grabbed it, or rather, the hand that held it, and began hitting the thug with it. At the same time, a few other thugs leapt at him. Spider-Man kicked one and swerved away from the other. Another Thug managed to smash his face against Spider-Man's fist and fall down to the ground. One thug tried to give the web-slinger a bear hug; the teenager broke out of it easily and knocked him out. He then picked him up with one hand and hurled him at the closest thugs. A few seconds of furious movement and punches followed. By the end of it, the members of the Joker Thug Squad were on the ground, knocked out, while Spider-Man stood over them.

"That was pathetic. This is why you should eat your vegetables." the young wall-crawler said. He looked around, and noticed that the girl was still in her hiding place beneath the crates. Slowly, he walked up to her.

"You can come out now" Spider-Man said. There was a moment of silence. Then a hand came out, and then the entire woman. Spider-Man was surprised to see that she was taller than she had at first seemed. She was perhaps in her late teens or early twenties.

"Thanks" she said "I don't know how I got into this situation. I've just returned, and I got lost, and I'm babbling, sorry."

"You were surrounded by a bunch of creeps in bright purple sweaters, with clown maekup. Anyone would be disturbed by this."

"Well, thanks anyway" the woman looked at him "Say, are you new?"

Spider-Man raised an eyebrow behind his mask. He was young, but he had been a superhero long enough to garner considerable attention, no thanks to J. Jonah Jameson.

"Of course not" Spider-Man replied "I'm the Amazing, friendly neighborhood Spider-Man."

The woman gave him a blank stare.

"I rescued J Jonah Jameson's son when he was in that space capsule, only for the old jerk to blame me for it"

The woman now looked more confused than ever.

"I've met Captain America"

"Who?" the woman asked. This question more than anything else the woman said left the young Superhero in shock.

"Captain America! Don't you know who Captain America is?"

The woman shook her head.

"Iron-Man? Thor? The Hulk? Ant-Man? Do you know who Ant-Man is? He's the guy that made the mass murdering robot."

"I'm sorry" the woman said, shrugging her shoulders.

"Where am I?" Spider-Man blurted out.

"Well, at least I can tell you that. This is Gotham" the woman said.

Spider-man looked at her. He knew that name. Unlike Flash Thompson and his ilk, Peter Parker had actually paid attention to what the teacher was saying. Gotham was an obscure nickname for New York, used mostly in the nineteenth century.

"This isn't New York" Spider-Man flatly said.

"I didn't say it was. This is Gotham" the woman replied. She looked around and then walked towards a corner. She picked up a newspaper and held it up. It read GOTHAM GLOBE. She picked up another newspaper that read GOTHAM GAZETTE.

After a moment, Spider-Man said:

"So this is Gotham. Not Kansas"

"No, not Kansas"

"And not Boston either"

"Definitely not Boston"

"Gosh darn it"

Spider-Man looked around. He noticed that he hadn't webbed up the thugs yet, so he did that. After that was done with, he turned to the woman.

"Listen, you've been through a lot this night. Maybe I should take you to the nearest hospital" he said.

The woman gave the web-slinger a warm smile.

"I'll be fine" she said. She handed the young superhero a business card "Here, have this"

Spider-Man took the business card and read it. The woman's name was Bette Kane – great, another Betty. Spidey wondered if this one had a Ned. He looked at the card again, and couldn't figure out what the heck her profession was; the double-talk was thick, although the phone number was clear enough.

"Thank you Ms. Kane" he said "And could you please call the cops for these guys?"

"Don't you want to stick around?"

Spider-man looked at her, not knowing if she was serious or not. He presumed that she was serious, given her expression.

"Absolutely not!" he said as he made a tremendous leap and swung between the buildings in a way Batman and Robin (and Nightwing too) could only dream of doing.

Quickly enough, Spider-Man found himself on a rooftop looking up at the night sky, trying to process what he had just learned. He hoped that it wasn't what he thought it was, but given his luck, it probably was.

He thought of Aunt May, and wondered how she was doing. He quickly shoved those thoughts aside; he couldn't do anything right now, and thinking about Aunt May would put him in a horrible depression.

Spider-Man looked at the sky for quite a while. At least, the stars seemed to be the same. His worst fears might not be true. And then it appeared in the night sky; a searchlight, with a black bat on it.

"Where the hell am I?" he muttered beneath his breath.