That day was today.
I got up out of my bed before dawn, woken abruptly by the police radio chatter talking about Fisk on West 54th.
So I slipped into my suit, newly designed by yours truly, and slid open my window facing the fire escape. I climbed out onto the cold metal ladder and shut the window.
New York is always cold, windy and loud from the hours of 18:00 to 06:00. With an AirPod in my ear to dim the noises of the city, I swung four blocks to West 54th Street in my home town of Hell's Kitchen. Fisk and co. were doing their usual heist- although, I'm not sure why. Fisk is rich, so why does he steal?
As I swung in, a flash of red caught my eye. I perched on a streetlamp, watching the cops shoot. From behind them swung in a guy in a red and blue suit somewhat similar to mine. What the fuck? Why is a fanboy helping the police?
The character swung and perched on a streetlamp opposite to me. We made direct eye contact and sort of- well, anything I did, he copied sort of exactly.
I pointed at him. He pointed at me. "Go home! Leave this to your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-" We said in sync, stopped in sync.
"IF YOU HAVE SPIDER POWERS CAN YOU HELP ME TAKE THIS GUY DOWN??" I yelled over the gunshots. He nodded and we each swung from the building opposite and took down two guys outside of the museum that were fighting the cops.
"How-?" he asked. My heart skipped a beat. He sounds just like- No. It's just my mind playing tricks on me, like how I see his face in strangers I pass on the street.
I shrugged and we picked off the smaller guys one by one. He signaled for the cops to come closer, and they looked at me for approval. I nodded. "He's with me." I said to Big John, the captain.
They followed behind us and they cleared the room until the back room of the museum where they kept the most expensive paintings and artworks.
The copycat and I hopped into a vent and crawled over the back room. We carefully opened the vent and hopped out on either side of Fisk.
He looked dumbfounded as we started to attack him.
"What now, Spidergwen? Your boyfriend is in on it too?" He sneered.
"Spider-?" the copycat asked but shook his head and started to web up Fisk. "Nothing about me, Fisk? You don't-" he shook his head again.
"Listen, Wilson, if you really ever want to get away with this, it'd be a good idea to be silent in and out. Not that you'll have much of a future in robbery in RAFT." I said, securing webs around his mouth and hands.
Copy and I dragged him out to the cops where a RAFT van was waiting with his crew. They were already handcuffed.
The cops took him from us and ran him through his rights before tossing him in the van and they all drove away.
Copy turned to me and sighed. "Coffee?" he asked.
I shrugged and we swung away to a little cafe on the corner. "How did you know this place?" I asked. This used to be Peter and I's favorite date night spot- halfway between our houses.
We perched on a bridge and he said, "I used to come here all the time with my girlfriend. But... you know. Shit happens." he sighed.
"Sorry. Anyway, stranger, what's your story? Who are you?" I asked. He turned a masked face to me.
"I was gonna ask you the same thing. But I have some security questions, miss...Gwen, was it?" he asked. I nodded. "Ok, we'll answer on the count of three together. How did you get your powers? Three, two, one-"
"Bitten by a radioactive spider." we both answered.
"Alright, I know what's happened here. I show you my home, you show me yours?" he asked squinting at me.
"Sounds good to me... what was it?"
"Spiderman. You and I are on a hero name basis until further notice." he smirked under his mask.
I laughed at him and followed him about two blocks- we were getting dangerously close to Midtown, where Peter used to live.
With every swing my heart sunk. We are too close to his apartment.
And with the last swing and perch my heart dropped. He lives in Peter's old apartment. "I tried to go in but my key didn't work. It was odd. Can I crash at yours for a bit?" he asked, " We can keep masks on if you want. But since we're both Spider people from different universes-"
"Woah, woah, different- like the multiverse? So it is real!" I shouted.
He put a gloved finger to his lips and said "Shh. I don't need anyone to hear us. Yes, the multiverse is real. And this is the second universe I've been to in 24 hours. I'm not gonna explain further than that for now, though. Let's go to your house and then we will talk." he said authoritatively.
I scoffed and we swung five blocks east to Hell's Kitchen again. Over the short bit of time it took us to travel to my apartment, I think I processed the fact that I would be having a complete stranger (who I feel I've known for years it seems) stay in my home.
We swung onto the fire escape and I opened the window and we both hopped in. "Can we do something? But its ok if you don't, like, wanna-" he started, gripping the back of his mask. "What is it?" I asked.
"Pull off your mask at the count of 3, ok?" he said, gripping tighter. I raised my hand behind my head and tugged at the extra fabric.
"3..2...1!" he shouted, and we pulled off our masks.
And there he was. My perfect Peter Parker.
