I swung into the city and began patrolling around Hell's Kitchen. Last I heard, ever since the attack, this part of town had been stirring up trouble. Since Matt hadn't donned the horns just yet, I figured I could keep an eye out over here.
Just then the sound of police sirens went off in the distance. I swung over and found myself at a standstill. There were several officers standing behind their cars with their guns drawn, and another guy ducking behind a car dressed in red and yellow, wearing gloves and a helmet. I blinked. No way.
I looked over his cover as he stretched his hands out, shooting waves of vibrations that sent the cops' car back a few feet. "Beat it, pigs! Or you'll have to face the Shocker!"
I blinked. Huh, I guess there was a version of the Shocker in this world. I swung down. "Heyo!"
"What the—" I swung in with a kick. He didn't have time to react. I sent him flying into a lamp post and quickly tied him up with some webbing. I waited for him to escape and start blasting me, but it never came.
"Wait, what?" I blinked and quickly approached him. I tapped his chin — he was knocked out cold. "Damn...I kind of expected more."
"Thanks, Spidey, we'll take it from here," an officer told me as he grabbed his cuffs.
"Ah, alright, I guess," I said, jumping away and swinging off. I watched from a rooftop as they loaded a still-unconscious Shocker into their cruiser, his weapons taken away from him.
I chuckled. Worst. Super-villain. Ever.
I continued my patrol after that minor incident. As I covered the few blocks of the city, I noticed the clouds growing greyer. And in the distance, just over Central Park, I could see what looked like a clearing of sky — like the eye of a storm. Something was off, and I didn't need my spider senses to tell me that.
I swung over to the Park, and when I arrived I found the cyclone eye had moved a few blocks into the city. Something was definitely off now.
I decided to follow it, swinging towards it. And just as I reached it, hanging over a bunch of buildings off Park Avenue, a flash of light exploded right in the middle of the storm.
"What the fuck?!" I cried out and squinted my eyes just in time to see a rip in space as a green portal big enough to swallow an elephant opened up in the sky. I had only ever seen that once before in my life. Was Loki coming back? That didn't make any sense!
I was just about to call the Avengers when suddenly a man dressed in green armour flew out of the portal, flying away with rocket boots similar to Tony's design. I blinked in utter confusion as I watched him fly away. And just then another figure came flying out of the portal before landing on a building rooftop with the grace of an acrobat.
"Okay, now I've seen everything," I blinked as I watched the portal close up. The flying green man disappeared while the other figure cursed. I swung by to get a better look and perched on top of a building overlooking the roof she was standing on.
She wore a skin-tight blue and red suit with spider webs on it. And yes, it was a she — those curves around her hips and chest couldn't possibly belong to a guy. She smashed her hand onto the roof and sighed. I saw her look around desperately — she seemed...lost.
"Ah, excuse me?" I called out, grabbing her attention, "can I help you, miss?"
She looked at me and gasped. "Woah. Who the hell are you?"
I leaped from the building and landed a few feet away from her. "I could ask you the same thing. Cosplay or superhero?"
"Ah, superhero," she looked at me, "Gerry? Is that you?"
"Ah...no, I'm sorry. Hi, I'm Spider-Man, and you are…?" I looked her over. Now that I was closer I noticed her costume wasn't exactly like the classic Spider-Man suit. In fact, it looked more like Ben Riley's costume from when he was Spider-Man — web shooters on the outside, half-boots and a 'V'-like belt. Oh shit.
"I'm Spider-Girl," the younger woman replied, "and...ah, I don't really think I belong here."
I sighed. "No, you don't. If you're who I think you are, you definitely don't."
"Wait, you know me?"
"I have a guess," I said, looking her over, "tell me, what's the year for you?"
"The year? What do you mean?" she asked, looking around for a way to escape — not that I would let her.
"I'm trying to figure out if you time-traveled or crossed the dimensional barrier," I told her, "now, the date, please."
"It's the 25th of August, 2008," she told me.
I sighed. "Oh thank God, I thought you were from the future."
"I'm sorry, but do you know me?"
I snorted. "Yeah, of course I do. Which father wouldn't be able to recognize his own daughter? In a manner of speaking."
"What?!" she cried out, looking me over. "You — you're —"
I sighed. "Yup. And you are May Parker, the daughter of Spider-Man — me. Meaning..."
"Dad?" she asked in utter surprise.
"Not quite," I told her, holding up my SA to display the time, "the year is 2012, so you didn't time travel. I suspect you hopped dimensions. In this world I wasn't born until 1996, and since I'm still a teenager, there's no way you're my kid."
"So...you aren't my dad?" May asked.
"Strictly speaking? No. But genetically, yes," I grumbled. "How did you come here?"
"I was following a bad guy. He calls himself Spyral — he's super smart, and recently he tried to blow up a city. The FF and I stopped him, but...I think he might have escaped," she admitted.
I sighed. "Let me guess — he wore green armour and could fly?"
"Yup," she nodded, "did you see him?"
I nodded. "He was flying south before I lost sight of him."
"Great, now how am I supposed to get back home?!" May cried out.
"Hey, relax — I'll help you out," I tapped my phone in my helmet and called out, "dial Fury, SHIELD."
The phone rang for a while before he picked up. "This better be important."
"A man with the ability to open space bridges arrived a few minutes ago. He's apparently smart enough to travel through dimensions and crazy enough to blow up a city to get what he wants. He's flying around in a bright green suit — spandex by the looks of it. Think you can track him?"
"And how exactly did you come about this information?" Fury asked.
"It's a long story. I promise I'll tell you over dinner sometime," I chuckled.
"Fine, I'll send any information I get to your phone. Keep in touch if something happens," he said before disconnecting.
I sighed. "Love you too." I turned to Spider-Girl. "I have SHIELD searching for him — we should have his location any moment now."
"Ah, right, sure," May nodded before fidgeting nervously at me. "How exactly...how did you...well, you know..."
"How did I know your name?" I asked her.
"Well, yeah," she nodded.
It was simple — because she was the first superhero I ever looked up to and admired. It was because of her that I even bothered to read Peter Parker's story; it was because of her that I even cared. May Day Parker was my first superhero, so of course I would know about her. Not that I could say that.
"Since you weren't a time traveler, you obviously must be from another dimension," I replied. "And if you were, that meant you were my kid from some alternate reality."
"But how did you know my name?"
I shrugged. "I always told myself that if I ever had a girl, I would name her May after my aunt." Which was true — I always did want to name my daughter May, but not because of Aunt May; because of her.
"Woah," came her slow reply.
I reached up to my helmet and unlatched it. I removed it, showing her my face. I smiled. "Hey, nice to meet you."
In response she took off her mask as well. Her face was sculpted like a model's, her cheekbones high and her hair cut short and brown like mine. Her eyes, however, were green — bright green. "Hi...dad?"
I chuckled. "I'm too young to be a father, kid. Call me Peter," I extended my hand.
She looked at it for a moment before shaking it. "I'm May. But ah, you already knew that."
I chuckled. "Guess you inherited my humor too, huh? So..."
"So..." she repeated. We both looked nervous, not really sure what to do. Just then May's stomach started to growl. She looked down and blushed.
I chuckled. "You hungry?" She nodded. "Great, I know this amazing hot dog place," I put on my helmet and sealed it shut. "You coming?"
May blinked before nodding and putting her mask on too. I stepped up to the edge of the roof and shot out a web line. I turned to May. "You do have web shooters, right?"
May nodded. "Yeah, yours." She spun out a web line as well.
"Great," I replied before jumping off the roof and swinging my way across the city. I looked back and found May keeping up with me without any issue. I smiled — I guess she really was a Spider.
We arrived at the place in no time and I dropped down and walked up to the man. "Hey Sal! How's it going?"
"Oh hey, Spider!" Sal, the owner of the hot dog stand, smiled. "One dog with the works, right?"
"No, make it two." I looked over my shoulder to see May walking behind me. "I got a friend over."
"Who is she, your sister?" he asked as he made the dog.
"Ah, kind of," I shrugged as I paid the man and grabbed the dog. I thanked him and gave May her food before walking up to a wall and climbing it, sitting down on the building's roof.
May did the same as she lifted the bottom half of her mask and looked at the dog. "This is...woah."
"Yeah, I know," I shrugged as I munched on it. "Did your dad ever take you here?"
"No, I don't think so," May admitted.
"Hm, more proof he and I aren't the same guy then," I nodded.
May nodded. "Well, yeah, obviously." She looked down at my costume. "My dad never had something so high tech."
"So wait, he just wore red and blue spandex?" I asked in fake disbelief.
"Yup," she nodded.
"Moron," I scoffed. "He's not stupid or anything, right? He made those web shooters, so he must be clever. What does he do?"
"I...I don't really think I should be telling you all this," May said, rubbing her neck, "won't that, like, change the time stream or something?"
"No, don't worry about it," I waved her concern away, "I told you, different dimension — we aren't the same person."
"Oh, right. Well, Dad kind of worked for the cops as a forensic scientist," May admitted. "He's pretty good. From what Mom told me, he became the lead officer in like five years or something. He's the department's biggest closer."
"Cool," I grinned. "So does he still, you know, swing around now and then? Or did he retire and let you take up the mantle?"
"Ah, he's retired — he has been for some time now, way before I became Spider-Girl," May admitted.
"Why?" I asked, already knowing the answer. Still, I needed to build rapport with my…daughter. Damn comic books!
"His leg," she admitted. "He lost it in a final fight against the Green Goblin."
"Green what?" I asked, keeping up the facade of a Spider-Man who had never met his arch-rival.
"You don't have a Green Goblin here?" May asked, surprised. "Lucky you."
"Why? Is he that bad?"
"Dad once said the one man he wished he had killed was that monster," May admitted. "He said he wouldn't mind going to jail because of it."
I whistled. "Damn, deep. Okay — if I see someone dressed like a green imp, I'll make sure to put him away for life."
May nodded. "Yeah, good luck."
"So….tell me, your mom — who is she?" I asked, munching on my finished dog.
"Ah...she's," May rubbed her neck again, "Mary Jane Watson-Parker."
"Ah, I figured she was your mom," I nodded.
"What? How?!"
"Same eyes," I shrugged.
"Oh...so are you and her…?"
"Dating? Oh no, she's my best friend, but we aren't really dating," I hummed. "Hey May, do me a favour — don't tell anyone about your mom, okay?"
"Why? I thought it wouldn't matter if you knew about my life," May asked, confused.
"It wouldn't, but if MJ found out we could one day have a kid together….well, you can guess what would happen, can't you?" I told her.
"Oh..."
"Yup. Plus, I'm pretty sure my girlfriend wouldn't like the fact that my daughter with another woman suddenly showed up one day."
"Wait, you're dating someone else?! Who?!" May sounded horrified — but then again, if I found out my dad was dating someone who wasn't my mom, I'd freak out too.
"Felicia Hardy," I told her. May's jaw dropped. "I'm guessing you know her?"
"Felicity's mom?" May asked. "The Black Cat?"
I nodded. "Yup. But ah, don't tell her I told you — she's kind of sticky when it comes to secret identities."
"H-how are you dating Felicity's mom?!" May cried out.
"Is Felicity Felicia's daughter where you come from?"
"Yeah," May nodded.
"I'm not her father too, am I?"
"What? No! You would never cheat on Mom!"
I shrugged. "Hey, just asking. You never know with these kinds of things." May looked utterly horrified. I couldn't help but chuckle. "You remind me of your mom. She had the same look on her face when she found out I was Spider-Man. Ah, good times."
May shut her mouth. "So, she knows? About you?"
I nodded. "Yup….anyway, listen — if people ask who you are, this is your cover: you're basically me from a world where I was born a girl, okay? Don't mention that you're my daughter — trust me, that won't go well."
"So...you want me to tell them I'm you from another world?"
I nodded. "Yup — May Parker, daughter of Richard Parker and Mary Parker."
"Wait, your mom's name is Mary too?"
I nodded. "Yeah, why? Didn't your dad ever tell you about her?"
"No, he didn't — he rarely talked about his parents," May admitted. "His Aunt May died before I was born; she's who I'm named after. And his Uncle Ben died long before that. That's why he became Spider-Man. He used to tell me stories about them, but he never mentioned his parents..."
"Huh," I nodded. "Would you like to meet them?"
"Say what now?" May asked, blinking in confusion.
"Come on," I told her, getting to my feet, "I'll introduce you to the family. My Aunt May is still alive and so is Uncle Ben. And my dad came back from the grave too, just recently."
"What?!" May cried out.
"I'll explain later," I told her before asking my helmet to dial home. I told May I would be bringing someone over for dinner and to make extra — the old woman didn't even ask who before agreeing.
I turned to May after the call and looked at her. "Do you happen to have anything else to wear?"
"Ah, no — kind of had to wear this thing and nothing else under it," she said, pointing at the spandex.
I sighed as I shook my head. "Spandex. What was he thinking? I can't believe he would go out like that. Come on — I'll ask Sue if you can borrow some clothes."
I swung off towards the Baxter Building with May following closely. "Wait, did you say Sue? As in Sue Storm?" May asked in amazement. I chuckled — boy was she going to be surprised.
At the Baxter Building:
"Woah," May said as we entered the den through the balcony. She looked around at all the cool tech lying around, her eyes sparkling in wonder through her white lenses, "this is so cool!"
"You have a Baxter Building where you're from?" I asked her as we walked in.
"Ah, yeah, but it's kind of a long story. It's been broken down and rebuilt like a hundred times. But this, this is like the original — totally vintage," May replied.
"Yo! Spider!" Johnny called out as he and Sue walked in, surprised to find me there in costume and even more surprised to find May.
"Spider, who's your friend?" Sue asked, a little nervously, as she eyed May up and down.
"She's a friend," I replied, removing my helmet to show that she knew my secret identity.
"Dude! She's right there!" Johnny pointed out.
I rolled my eyes, "relax, flame butt — she knows."
"You told her?" Sue asked, to which I nodded. "Why?"
"Because she's me," I shrugged.
"I'm sorry, come again?" Johnny asked, looking totally lost. I turned to May and signaled her to speak up. She nodded as she immediately removed her mask and smiled.
"Hey," she said, doing her best to hide her nerves, "I'm May Parker."
"What the hell is going on?" Johnny asked as his jaw unhinged, with Sue matching his surprise.
"She's me from another dimension. Apparently in her world I was born a girl," I shrugged, "hence Peter Parker became May Parker and Spider-Man became..."
"Spider-Woman," Sue completed.
"Actually it's Spider-Girl," May corrected her.
"Why?" Sue asked, looking confused.
"Well, Spider-Woman's already taken," May shrugged.
"Really, who?"
"Jessica Drew," May replied.
"Who is that?" Sue asked.
"Subject D," I replied.
"Wait, you mean that black-haired chick who kept giving you the bedroom eyes?" Johnny asked.
I sighed, "the very same one."
"You and Jessica Drew?!" May asked in shock.
"It's a long story, trust me," I sighed.
"So that's what you would look like if you were a girl, huh?" Johnny asked as he eyed up May, something I found surprisingly irritating. "Dude, you are hot."
"Keep looking at her like that and I'll blast your face off."
"Oh, someone's touchy," Johnny grinned, "what's the matter? Don't like the fact you're hotter as a girl than a guy?"
"No," I shook my head, "I just find it extremely creepy that you're attracted to someone who is basically me with boobs. Some unresolved feelings there, Johnny?"
Johnny blinked as he looked at me and then May before turning slightly green, "I think I'm going to be sick."
Sue snorted at that, "serves you right," she then turned to me, "what do you need, Pete?"
"Clothes," I motioned to May, "the only thing she has to wear is that dreadfully stupid red and blue spandex suit."
"I think it's cool," Johnny said immediately before he realized he was appreciating me in a spandex costume and immediately turned green again.
Sue sighed as she rubbed her temples, "I'll see what I can do."
Soon May came back now wearing a black blouse with full sleeves and a pair of jeans that seemed just a little tighter than she was used to. Luckily I had a spare backpack and slippers she could use — nothing too fancy, though.
May looked down at her clothes and turned to me. "What do you think?"
I shrugged. "As long as it's comfortable for you."
Sue hummed, "I offered her a few other pieces, but she's kind of shy around those."
"I wasn't shy! It's just my type," May replied with a blush.
"Ah, a tomboy," I said, nodding. "Anyway, Sue — is my dad around?"
Sue nodded, "he's in his lab."
"Is he working on something important?"
"No, I don't think so," Sue replied.
"Right," I turned to May, "stay here, May — I'll get my dad and then we can leave."
"Ah, yeah, sure," May nodded nervously. Can't blame her, not with the way Johnny kept looking at her. But I knew Sue would stop him if he did something inappropriate.
I walked up to Richard's lab and knocked before walking in. I saw him poring over a pile of notes, typing away at his computer. He looked up and smiled. "Hey Peter, what are you doing here so soon?"
I smiled, leaning against the door frame. "Aunt May's having a nice big dinner ready for us — I figured you would want to join in, have a little family time. But if you're too busy—"
"—No," Richard smiled, "sounds perfect. I've missed out on a lot of family time; work can wait." He grabbed his coat and followed me to the den, where I found May sitting on the couch with Johnny flirting with her.
"So, do you have a Johnny Storm in your world?" he asked.
"Ah, kind of — he's...older," May stressed.
Johnny blinked. "Really? How much older?"
"You're fifty years old, bald and you suffer from premature ejaculation," I called out, making Sue snort and May chuckle.
"Hey! Shut it!" Johnny sent a fireball at my head, which I easily avoided by ducking.
"Hey, it's true," I told him.
"Wait, seriously?" Johnny turned to May.
The girl smiled. "Yeah, sorry, Uncle Johnny." That's my girl.
"No...no!" Johnny cried out.
"Come on, May — we're leaving. Time for dinner," I told her as we all made our way to the elevator, Richard looking confused by May's presence.
"Peter, I thought you said this was a family night?" he asked.
"She's family," I told him, walking into the lift and pressing the garage button. "She's me from another world where I was born a girl."
"I'm sorry?" Richard blinked in confusion.
When the lift opened to the lobby, Richard was all caught up. I led them outside and we waited as May answered any and all questions Richard had.
"So, Mary and I weren't scientists?" Richard asked her.
May nodded. "Well, you are a forensics scientist and Mom's a fashion designer." To keep things simple, I had just told May to replace her version of Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson with my own parents — keeps things simple. Well, in order to keep the lies straight, anyway; not so much for our personal lives.
"Fascinating," Richard spoke up as he shot me a look. "And you're sure you saw her coming from another world?"
"A giant portal like the one Loki used to summon his army opened up and she came out of it wearing a skin-tight spandex version of my suit with my powers and web shooters. What do you think, Dad?"
Richard looked at May. "HYDRA could have perfected—"
"Cloning me isn't possible. Plus, they would have made her a guy just to ensure the same gene sequence. She's your granddaughter — get used to it," I cut him off. Then slowly I saw my car pull up with MJ in the driver's seat.
"Hey, Tiger," MJ smiled, "came as fast as I could."
I smiled. "Thanks, now get out — I'm driving."
MJ huffed, "meany," she opened the door and for the first time noticed May, who was currently staring at her. "Hey...Peter, who's your friend?"
"Long story," I sighed, "let's just all get in." I got into the driver's seat with Richard sitting next to me, and May and MJ in the back. The girl gave fleeting glances at MJ, her eyes wide with disbelief.
"So ah, is someone going to tell me who the new girl is?" MJ asked, looking at me through the rear-view mirror.
I sighed. I could have lied, but I really didn't want to spend half my time figuring out which lie I'd told to who, so I just decided to keep up the same story. "She's a female version of me from another dimension. Surprise."
MJ blinked. "What?!"
"Yup. Mary Jane, meet May Parker — in her world she's Spider-Girl. Pretty dope, huh?" I chuckled as I pulled into traffic. It was going to be a long ride home.
MJ turned to May. "So….you're a female version of Peter?"
May nodded. "Ah, I guess."
MJ blinked before turning to me. "You're cute as a girl."
I smirked. "She gets it from her mom." May blushed immediately, realizing what I truly meant. I turned to Richard. "I'm helping her find a way back home, so we aren't telling anyone else about her. MJ, do you think you can say May's a friend of yours from before?"
MJ nodded. "Yeah, no problem," she then turned to May and smiled, "so, do you have a male version of me in your world too?"
May shook her head. "Ah, no, not really — you're still a girl."
"Damn, that's too bad. I would have been a hunk," MJ frowned before smiling, "so wait, are you and I friends in that world?"
May blinked. "Ah...I guess, yeah, we are."
MJ smiled as she turned to me. "See, Tiger? Even in another world we're still friends!"
I nodded, "yes MJ, that's pretty cool, right?" For the rest of the trip, May and MJ talked, learning more about each other. It was honestly funny seeing May's reaction when MJ talked about whether or not she had a boyfriend in May's world — the faces that girl could make.
We reached Queens in no time. Richard chose to go in first while May, MJ and I stood outside on the curb.
"So, anything from SHIELD yet?" May asked.
"No," I looked up from my phone with a sigh, "don't worry — someone confident enough to blow up a city will slip up sooner rather than later. We'll catch him."
"Thanks," May smiled.
"So is this Spyral guy really that important?" MJ asked.
May nodded. "Yeah, smart and crazy — worst combination ever. Plus he has horrible taste in music."
"Don't forget his costume," I shivered, "looked like a freaking leprechaun!"
"That's what I said!" May chuckled.
MJ rolled her eyes. "Great, now there are two of you. Just what this world needs."
May scoffed. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"Yeah, MJ — why do you think more versions of me is a bad thing?" I asked, wiggling my eyebrows, "that just means there are more of me too…." I blinked, realizing where that train of thought was heading. May and I looked at each other before a shiver went up our spines and we both turned a little green.
"Don't even go there!" May cried. "Seriously!"
"Sorry, sorry! Don't know what I was thinking," I shivered. "That would practically be incest of the worst kind."
"What do you mean? Is it even considered incest? Since it's the same person, wouldn't it be masturbation?" MJ asked with an evil grin.
"Shut up!" May and I yelled back as one.
MJ laughed. "Ha! You really are the same person! Anyway, see you guys later!" And with that helpful little comment, she skipped off to her home.
May turned to me. "That's my mother?"
I smiled. "Yeah. Why — is she different from your world?"
"Yeah, she's...well, she doesn't act like that," May pointed at the carefree girl before her.
I nodded. "Well, if she's been with me for so many years I'm sure she would have feared for my life more than once. She probably matured over time — happens to certain people. Is your dad different from me? Other than the stupid costume choices, I mean."
May nodded. "Yeah, you….you're nothing like my dad."
I shrugged. "His loss." I opened the door and turned to her. "Coming?" With a smile she quickly walked in.
May looked around, surprised. "Woah, this place is different."
"Wait, MJ and I still live here? In this house?!"
May nodded. "Yeah, I grew up in this place."
I blinked. "Okay, note to self — get a new apartment."
"Hey, it's not so bad," she glared at the floral wallpaper, "could use a huge remodeling though." I snorted. Like father, like daughter — I hated those things.
"Ah, Peter's home," Aunt May walked in from the dining room with a smile on her face. She spotted May instantly. "And who is this?"
I smiled. "Aunt May, this is May — I call her May-Day."
"Oh lovely, another May!" the woman smiled, "it's so nice to meet you, dear!"
"Y-you too, ma'am," May gulped, shaking Aunt May's hand.
"Oh please, I'm far too young to be a ma'am — please, sit down," Aunt May said as she quickly went back to the kitchen.
May and I went to the dining table where Ben and Richard sat, already talking in hushed tones. From what I could hear it was about the mortgage on the house — Richard had been offering to pay it off for some time now, but Aunt May and Ben refused. I guess he decided to try again.
"No, Rich, and that's final," Ben snapped at his younger brother with a glare that had no real malice behind it. He looked up and smiled seeing May and I walk up to the table. "Peter! And who is your guest?"
"Uncle Ben, this is May-Day," I smiled. May looked gobsmacked as Ben smiled at her. She blinked once, twice, three times before she realized Ben had his hand stretched out.
Immediately May grabbed it and started shaking it quickly. "Hello! I'm May!"
Ben chuckled. "Ah, another May — and here I was thinking one would be more than enough to handle."
"Oh, hush you!" Aunt May called out as she brought out a giant container of her famous homemade lasagna. "Now everyone, tuck in!"
May and I sat next to Richard while Aunt May and Uncle Ben sat across from us. I helped May fill up her plate before digging into the meal. As usual, it was amazing.
"This is so good!" May cried out, tasting the delicious cheese and meat masterpiece, "my mom's cooking has got nothing on this!"
Richard chuckled at that, while Aunt May just smiled. "Ah, does your mother cook for you often?"
May nodded. "When she can. If not, my dad does."
"He does?" Richard and I asked in equal surprise.
May nodded. "Yeah, he's not that good, though," she sent me an apologetic smile, to which I just rolled my eyes.
"So May, where exactly are you from?" Ben asked.
"Well, I'm from Queens," May replied before I kicked her shin, making her wince sharply, "I mean, I'm from Canada! I live in Canada now with my parents — MJ's an old friend, though, so I thought I should visit!"
"Oh, I see. And how did you and Peter meet?" Aunt May asked.
"Well..."
"MJ introduced us," I stepped in, seeing May's loss for words. "She said she was a little busy for dinner, and I figured — hey, I already know one May. Let's mix them both together and see what happens!"
"Well, the world hasn't ended yet, so that's good," came Richard's dry wit, earning a chuckle from everyone at the table.
Ben and Aunt May asked my maybe-future daughter everything they could think of — what games she liked to play, whether or not she was dating someone, what her favourite subject was. May was more than happy answering them all.
Richard looked like he wanted to talk to her more but refrained from doing so. He was a quiet man, content to just smile and listen to May talk.
Eventually, though, dinner came to a close. I was about to suggest May and I go out for a walk when my phone began to ring. I unlocked it and found a message from Fury with a location and a picture.
I tapped May's shoulder. The girl looked down and her eyes widened at the picture of a man dressed in green armour. She looked at me and nodded.
"Alright guys, May has to leave now," I said, getting up and grabbing the car keys. "I'll drop her off at the airport and be back soon, okay?"
"Oh, you're leaving so soon?" Aunt May asked, sounding disappointed.
"Yes, I'm sorry — it was nice meeting all of you," May smiled, "I'm glad I got the chance."
Ben and Aunt May wished her a safe journey home. We quickly walked out and May got into the car. I was just about to pull out of the driveway when Richard came out.
I lowered my window and he looked inside. "You found the dimensional traveler?"
"Yeah, we're going to catch him now," I told him.
Richard nodded. "Right, then you'll need this," he reached into his jacket pocket and took out a syringe. "It's called scopolamine — also known as the zombie drug. One hit and the victim will listen to you for the next two hours. If the green guy doesn't want to go back, use this and make him."
"Okay, first of all, thanks," I took the drug and gave it to May. "And second of all, you and I are going to have a very long chat about why you have brainwashing drugs tucked away in your jacket all the time."
"Well, if you must know, I made it during my time with Wyndham — a sort of insurance policy," Richard said with a chuckle. "Stay safe, son. You too, May."
"Don't worry — I'll take care of him," May said with a smile.
"Says the girl in red and blue spandex," I snorted as I said goodbye to Richard and pulled out of the driveway. We drove down the road until we reached a secluded part of the neighbourhood. I then pressed the red button, engaging flight mode, taking off into the air.
"This thing can fly?!" May cried out in awe as she looked down at the shrinking roads.
"Yup," I smiled. "Didn't I tell you?"
"No!"
"Well, it can fly," I chuckled as I punched the location into the nav system.
We quickly reached the location — it was a warehouse in the Hamptons. I parked the car a mile away and quickly changed into costume. Let me just tell you, having to strip to your boxer shorts in front of your daughter was super embarrassing. I guess I should have done the smart thing like May and worn my costume under my civilian clothes.
We web-swung over to the warehouse. I opened the skylight and we carefully snuck in, sticking to the shadows.
We crawled through the shadows for a while before we found him in the middle of the warehouse, his arms bare. He had removed the metal plating from his arm and was repairing it.
"Let's get him," May replied as she jumped off the wall and landed right before him. "It's over, Spyral!"
"Wait!" I hissed before face-palming myself. "Great, just great — she got her mother's need for attention."
"Spider-Girl! How?!" Spyral cried out. "You shouldn't be able to follow me! Not here!"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah — just shut up and come quietly!"
"Never!" He snapped his fingers and immediately his armour sealed back around him. He sent out a blast of green energy which May jumped over before taking him on hand to hand.
I was about to step in before deciding against it. She was doing alright so far. I actually felt a little proud by the way she was moving — not a single move wasted. I smiled as I saw her clock the man across the jaw, sending him flying back into a pile of crates.
"Cool," I smiled.
"No! I will not be defeated again!" he cried out, jumping back to his feet. He threw his arms open and suddenly two machine guns popped up on his shoulders. They began firing at May, sending a wave of bullets at her.
She jumped away, swinging across the warehouse. Spyral held out his right hand and launched a small missile at May. The girl moved quickly, ducking behind a huge mountain of crates, only to have it explode — destroying her cover and sending her flying back into a wall.
"This ends now," Spyral growled as he stepped forward with a ball of plasma in his hands, ready to fry her.
But as he was about to fire I jumped in his way. "That's enough," I puffed out my chest as my unibeam came flying out, hitting him point-blank in the chest and sending the green-clad moron flying away.
"Cool," May whispered as I turned to help her up. "Who made your suit? Tony Stark?"
"No," I chuckled, "actually I stole his designs."
"And he didn't care?" she asked, surprised.
I shrugged. "Tony's cool with it. Now, let's finish this." I turned to Spyral's fallen form before taking out the scopolamine. We walked up to the man and found the front half of his costume ripped off. I injected him with the serum and we waited.
"Spyral?" May asked. "Can you hear me?"
"Yyyy…Yessss," he slurred out.
"Great. Could you be a dear and take us back home?"
"Yeeesss," he replied.
"Good man," I told him, picking him up and dusting him off. "Oh, and ah — sorry about the unibeam to the face."
"Ffff…Iiii…Nne," he muttered before turning to the wall and pressing a few buttons on his belt. I guess that's what he used to travel here.
As he worked, I pulled out a cable from my gauntlets and inserted it into a USB port on his belt. My onboard computer automatically began hacking into his systems, trying to figure out how the device worked. Hopefully I could copy the tech later.
"What are you doing?" May asked, looking over my shoulder.
"I'm hacking into his belt — trying to figure out how his tech works," I told her.
"Why?"
I shrugged. "I just want to know how it works, that's all. Scientific curiosity."
"Oh, right. Never been much of a science person myself," she said nervously.
I chuckled. "Yeah, you're more like your mother in that regard." I flicked her forehead.
"Hey! What's that for?"
"For jumping in front of the enemy like an idiot instead of actually taking him out," I snorted. "I swear — when you get back, make your father teach you his tricks. No daughter of mine is going out there saving the world like a rookie!"
May chuckled. She was about to say something when suddenly a giant green portal materialized before us. We looked at it before turning to each other. May took off her mask and smiled. "I ah...I guess this is it, huh?"
I nodded, removing my own mask. "Yeah….it was great seeing you."
"You too...thanks, Peter." She moved in for a hug, holding me tightly.
I stiffened for a second before relaxing and slowly hugging her back, feeling for the first time that I actually had someone out there who shared my blood. May, Ben, Richard — they all loved Peter; they saw me as Peter. But her? She saw me as Dad.
"Stay safe, kiddo — don't do anything I wouldn't do," I broke the hug, looking into her eyes. "And above all, stop it with the damn spandex! At least wear some armour! Heck, if you want, come back here and I'll hook you up!"
May chuckled. "Yeah, sure. I promise."
I smiled. "Alright, May — take care." I turned to my SA and quickly typed away at it. "I'm programming this thing to self-destruct after reaching your home dimension. He won't be able to use it again, so all you have to do is make sure he's somewhere he can't build another dimensional portal. Hopping dimensions is dangerous business, May — better a madman doesn't have the means."
May nodded as she slipped on her mask. "Right." She webbed up Spyral's hands together and pulled him towards the portal. Before stepping in, she looked at me and smiled. "Bye, Spider-Man."
I waved at her as I slipped on my helmet. "Good luck, Spider-Girl." She jumped in, and in seconds she and the portal were gone.
I couldn't help it — I felt my heart break just a little. My daughter...I need to remember to buy more condoms. I love you, May, but I'm way too young to be a father!
I drove back home and found Richard waiting for me by the patio. He sat there with a book in hand and a pitcher of orange juice by his side. He looked up and smiled at me as I sat down next to him.
He closed the book and turned to me. "May's not my daughter, is she?"
I wanted to lie, but honestly it didn't matter at this point. I poured myself a glass of juice and sipped it. "Nope."
"Who is she?"
"She's my kid from another timeline where I was born in the 1950s instead of the 1990s."
Richard's eyes went wide. "She's...my granddaughter?" I smiled and nodded. "Who's her mother?!" I chuckled but said nothing. He looked agitated, but I didn't care — I never said a damn word. After all, did it really matter?