Scarlet Spiders:

Chapter 2: The Spiders Jump

Word Count: 1.6k

"Hold up, slow down okay... what did you discover?... and how do you know me?"

"Right... shit" he separated from the man and took off his mask "I'm Degan... Degan King, I don't exist here..."

Bruce looked at him like he just told him the secrets of the universe... Okay technically he kinda did, but only one of the secrets. As Degan began to get more and more anxious at his former mentors' reactions his mind began to come up with a plan of escape in case they decided to do something drastic -maybe a small web to the face and breaking open the door would do it. "Bruce!" he snapped his fingers in front of the man's face "Look I know it sounds crazy -actually it sounds insane, but you have to trust me. Can you do that?"

He gave him the puppy dog eyes that always worked on the man. No matter the disagreement they had as soon as Degan flashed those hazel eyes bruce would fold and give the boy whatever he needed. Sometimes it was a trip in the quinjet that would lead to a lecture from The Captain. Bruce once took him to a concert the night before he was supposed to take the SAT... it was all the way in London, and they made it back in time but MJ had cursed him out for being so irresponsible.

The good doctor took a breath and sat down on the cold metal chair opposite where Degan had been before. "Let's say I do believe you..." he muttered something that Degan couldn't hear. "How would you have gotten here? You'd need something mystical or something so powerful it could power 2 nuclear missiles."

"That's the thing," he scratched the back of his neck and took his previous seat "I didn't do this on purpose... or even was conscious when it happened" at least he didn't think he was. It all happened so fast. He heard a large sigh come from outside the door and perked up at it. "You can come in, I'm not gonna do anything" he stared at the door while bruce looked confused at the boy. Seconds later it opened up and in came Tony with a bag of chips scrunched in his hand.

"Okay, Spider number 2... I don't really believe you," he leaned back against the wall and motioned to the suit that Degan was wearing "Looks like my tech, you steal it?"

Degan rolled his eyes at the remark "no, my Bruce and I made it together... You were away with your kids and Pepper for the holidays" he gave the man a smirk after he noticed the smug look on his face disappear "oh. Are you two not together here? Sorry" he forced a frown though his eyes gave away the grin it was covering up.

"No we are... but like you, my kids don't exist here. -Unless you count the other spider, he's much nicer to me" This made Degan scoff.

"Well, when did your spider appear? I've been doing this since I was 15, I was working with Bruce since I was 12. I was in high school because Bruce talked me out of leaving early, I lived in the tower for 5 years before my Tony kicked me out... so sorry if I don't seem so warm and cuddly towards you." He turned to Bruce and avoided eye contact as the man seemed slightly uncomfortable with the atmosphere in the room. "I think it may have been some kind of dimensional shift. -Like an earthquake, I think the vibrations of each different earth had some kind of sync and I must have just fallen through I guess," he paused for a second after his ramble and looked like he was thinking extra hard "-okay I guess more like a multiversal sink hole." he smiled at Bruce in a way to brush off the seriousness of the situation he was in.

Bruce bit his bottom lip as he anxiously thought over the last half of the conversation. This boy seemed to know a lot, could handle his own against Tony's sarcasm, and was very determined... as seen by his silent protest to meet with him. "Why did you live in the tower if you didn't have powers?" Degan's face slightly sunk at the question.

"I was -um... I was in foster care, my parents split up when I was young. I lived with my dad and he ended up passing away. My mom surrendered me to the state and You discovered me on a tour of the tower," his smile reappeared as he thought back on the memory "-I snuck away to find a lab, I found you instead. We talked for hours before my teacher realized I was missing and found me with you... she was terrified. I didn't care that the Hulk could have come out, I had fun with you."

Tony's eyebrows raised "Sorry to hear that, but it doesn't explain why you lived there."

Degan rolled his eyes at Tony "I told Bruce about a science fair and explained my idea, he liked it and the day of, I saw him walk into the school gym looking like a fish out of water." He looked back to Bruce and smiled a very warm and thankful smile "Got first place, and a new home" He knew that this wasn't his Bruce, but he still felt indebted to him. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'd like to get home. My girlfriend is probably worried sick" He tried to think of his own MJ, worried and terrified of whatever could have happened to him, standing in the cold outside of the theatre. Instead, all he could see was her and that boy kissing, the boy who frankly was wayyy less attractive than him!

—

Yeah! I mean seriously! Without me on this earth did her standards really fall? And I guess Tony is an ass in every universe. At least Steve doesn't appear to be all you know... dead, I wonder if he died and came back like my Steve. Wait. Did my Steve come back? I keep forgetting these things.

—

"Look, Degan... I'm sorry to say this but we currently have no way of getting you home. The only theory right now is to wait for another one of those multiversal sinkholes... to well open up again. I'm sorry" The solemn and guilty face that Bruce held while delivering this news to him only made his stomach twist and turn into different knots. At this point, his intestines felt like the rope from a marina. He held his head in his hands and thought about the millions of possibilities that could happen between them, he could go through another one of those sinkholes and end up on another completely different earth, or he could fall through all of existence and completely disappear. Hell, he could fall right back into his own universe but come back thousands of years into the future. He was not going to pull a Captain America.

Standing up he began to walk to the door but Tony got in his way and held a hand to his chest. "Nope, not going anywhere second spider." Degans face becomes exasperated "I just want some air... please?"

Tony looks towards Bruce with eyebrows raised and only gets a sigh and shrugged shoulders. Moving his arm off the boy decked out in spider gear he takes a step to the side. Degan walks forward and his heart begins to pound. The walls felt suffocating and the doors to the outside was in his sights but they felt miles away. He sped up and eventually, he was sprinting towards the doors. The air hit his face and it felt like he was finally able to tell the difference in the air since he got here. Looking up towards the sky even the stars seemed different. His mind seemed to feel as different as the stars in the sky, as the ground beneath his feet, and the people he once considered his family. He was alone, in a place that was no longer his home. He looked at his hands and his feet that remained in his suit. The suit that seemed to be the only thing he had from his home. The fence. His mind dragged his eyes to it, and within a second he made up his mind. His feet hit the ground over and over again as they propelled his body forward. Taking a leap he seemed to almost be in flight as he soared over the metal and concrete fence that had towered over him.

Hitting the ground running and going in any direction he could. Making his way through trees and bushes, he slipped his mask on as he ducked branches that threatened to take out his head. The night lit up and he was able to see even clearer than before. Running with his navigation off was a challenge but he was able to get the compass up and running, he began to find a way back towards the city.

—

Okay... so, do I still trust Bruce? Absolutely yes. Tony? Hell no, that man has made me trip over myself in battle eight times. I was not going to stay in that room with him. And staying in that building was only making my spidey sense feel more like a stomachache. I do have to say I do reach the city... but I also hate the events that I'm going to tell you next, not because they are embarrassing, or they are more filled with action. It was my first day of school.