THE WRONG UNIVERSE //spider-man//

1

The only thing I could feel was cold. I was sure I was somewhere freezing and dark, so dark I couldn't even tell if my eyes were open or closed. The only thing on my mind was how much I regret going to the sanctum because as soon as I stepped inside, everything went dark. I felt like my mind went blank but at the same time, millions of thoughts were running inside and I was so confused. I could feel the panic spread through my body like poison.

"Are you okay?" Out of nowhere, I heard a voice. I felt like I was drowning, almost out of breath and suddenly I was pulled up to the shore by that voice. I clung to it as if it would save my life, and who knows, maybe it did. Slowly I opened my eyes and realized I can breathe again.

"Sorry?" I cleared my throat. I was sitting on the steps to the sanctum, a blond girl about my age was kneeling in front of me with worry in her eyes. My confusion just grew bigger.

"You just stepped out of that creepy building and collapsed" She gave a quick look to the door behind me and then she went back to scanning me with her eyes. I felt somewhat nervous under her gaze, mainly because I had no idea what was happening and who she was. I looked around and my heart skipped a beat when I realized that I don't see Peter anywhere.

"Where exactly am I?" I swallowed when I realized I didn't really recognize any buildings around us. I may have been sitting on the same steps but the shops across the street were definitely different. "And where's all the snow?" Now there was a clear panic in my voice. I felt my hands start to tremble.

"Because it's..spring?" She said uncertainly and tilted her head to the side. I bet she has no idea what to think of me.

"Spring?" I blurted out, sounding almost angry. "When I went in, it was snowing and it was winter and there was snow everywhere and-and-" My voice was now higher, tears pricked me in my eyes. I felt something was wrong. Extremely wrong.

"Hey, hey, calm down" She interrupted my frantic chatter. "My name is Gwen" She held out her hand with a small comforting smile on her face. She tried to give me some reassurance by that but it didn't have any effect on me.

"I'm Aletta" I said quietly. I would have started crying if I spoke any louder. She pulled me up with her hand and I felt like my legs were made of jelly. "Was I alone when I collapsed? Wasn't there another boy by any chance? Peter Parker?" I asked, hope rising in my chest. I just needed my best friend.

"Peter Parker?" She repeated. "You know Peter?" She frowned in confusion.

"Was he here or not?" I ignored her question. I just needed to find him. When I'll find him, everything will be okay again. He's getting into similar situations all the time because of Avengers, maybe this time I just ended in that mess too by mistake. I just needed to find him and he will have some explanation as always.

"You were here alone but I can take you to school, he's in there," she said, glancing down at the watch at her wrist. "The class is about to start anyway"

"You go to Midtown high?" It didn't make any sense. If Gwen went to the same school as me and knew Peter, I would have known her too. At least by her face or name. But she didn't look familiar to me at all.

"Yeah" Gwen only nodded in agreement and waved for a cab. This whole city looked and felt off. As if we were a few years back in time. We sat in silence for most of the way, Gwen typing something into her phone, which I noticed wasn't even a smartphone, but still with pushbuttons. My mind started working but it all seemed too crazy. 

"We're in Queens, right?" I turned to her, worry in my voice. Gwen didn't even look at me and just nodded. I simply closed my eyes after that and rested my head on the window for a bit. I really needed my best friend right now.

After a few minutes, the taxi stopped and I looked out of the window. When I saw what was in front of me, my heart dropped.

Midtown high was still Midtown high, yes. But it looked like the one I saw on a picture in the school archive. As soon as got out of the car, I searched through my pockets until I found my cellphone. I felt a little bit of relief when I saw the Stark Industries logo on the back but all my anxiety and panic came right back, even stronger than before when my eyes landed on the date on the screen.

May 20, 2008