Second Crossing

As the car neared Queens, Iron Man pulled Peter over and had him record an "alibi" video with him.

Well, it was mainly to fool Aunt May.

Peter thought about it and figured it made sense, so he recorded one.

Afterward, Iron Man told Peter that Happy would become his dedicated contact.

If they needed Peter to make a move, someone would contact him.

Before Peter got out of the car, Iron Man noticed that he was distracted and more or less guessed what was on his mind. He reminded him, "Remember, don't do what I would do, and don't do what I wouldn't do."

Peter asked doubtfully, "Then do I do nothing?"

"No, no. Between those two areas is a gray zone. That's where you operate." Iron Man did not want to discourage Peter's enthusiasm.

Peter nodded thoughtfully. "Oh~"

Did this mean he had received official permission to act?

From now on, when he operated on the streets, he would no longer be a vigilante, but a trainee Avenger!

As for how big that gray zone was?

Heh, hadn't Iron Man himself said he could not explain it clearly?

Hehehe.

Peter dreamed about his bright future.

Iron Man suddenly turned toward him.

Peter thought he was about to give him a farewell hug, but Iron Man merely opened the car door for him. "I don't want to hug you. We're not that close."

Peter: .

When Peter got home, Aunt May had not returned from work yet.

So he lay on his bed and continued tinkering with the web-shooters.

Actually, if it were not nearly dinner time, he definitely would have gone outside to test them instead of calibrating them at home.

He had to admit, the functions of these new web-shooters were simply too powerful. They fascinated him!

Peter could already imagine how powerful he would become once he mastered every web combination in the web-shooters and thoroughly understood the technology in his suit!

Click!

Just as Peter was enthusiastically studying the web-shooters, the bedroom door was suddenly pushed open and Aunt May walked in.

Peter jumped in fright. His mind spun countless times in an instant, and he hurriedly lowered his right hand, which was wearing the web-shooter, while pretending to cover his eyes with his left.

"Peter, you..." Aunt May came in, originally intending to say that he was back, but she noticed Peter's movements and quickly changed her words. "What happened to you?"

"It's nothing. I just got into a fight with someone." Peter came up with a lie that was not entirely a lie. He really had fought someone, and it had been more than one fight.

"Who? Who hit you?"

"Some guys."

"What do you mean, 'some guys'? What are their names?"

"Uh, Steve, Scott, Sam, something like that. I'm not really sure."

"Steve? The Steve who lives in 12C? The one with buck teeth? I have heard he's quite the troublemaker. Are Scott and Sam his delinquent friends?" Aunt May turned and went to the kitchen to get a towel, wetting it with some water.

"No, no, not them." Peter was startled. He had not expected Aunt May to actually find people who matched those names. He hurriedly patched up his story. "You don't know him. He... he lives in Brooklyn. That's right, Brooklyn."

Aunt May came back and handed Peter the towel. "I hope you gave him some back."

Peter took the towel and quickly pressed it over his face before Aunt May could get a clear look at his injuries.

"Of course! I hit him back several times, really. It's just that his friends were huge. Really, really huge."

Aunt May patted Peter on the head. Seeing how nervous he looked, she gave up on checking his injuries. "What do you want for dinner, my little tough guy?"

"I want salito!" Salito was an Italian dish, somewhat like fried rice, and one of Aunt May's specialties.

"I'll see if we have enough ingredients in the fridge." Aunt May turned and left the room.

"Close the door for me."

Bang.

After dinner, Peter continued studying the web-shooters in his room.

It was not until around ten that he finally found an opportunity to put on his suit and sneak out of his room, intending to fight for justice—and, of course, test out his new suit as well.

However, for some reason, Queens was completely peaceful tonight.

Peter wandered around outside for several hours without encountering anything at all.

Well, nothing happening should have been a good thing.

But for someone eagerly looking to test his "new toy," it really was not the best outcome.

Close to one in the morning, seeing that there was truly nothing to do, Peter returned home, took off his suit, and lay down on his bed.

"Right, let's check that web."

Peter closed his eyes.

Huh?

Beside the dimmed point of light representing Shadow Spider-Man, another glowing point had appeared.

Peter's heart leaped with joy.

This meant he could travel to another Spider-Man's world, experience his life, and gain some of his abilities!

He acted immediately.

Peter checked the time. It was 1:13. As long as he returned before seven, he would be fine.

That meant he had roughly six hours of "other-world experience time."

After silently noting that down, Peter closed his eyes and slowly extended the glowing spider silk in his consciousness toward that glowing point.

Snap!

When the glowing spider silk connected with the glowing point, Peter "fell asleep," just as expected.

But he woke up again very quickly!

When he came to his senses again, he found himself crouching on the edge of a building. He wore a teal hoodie on top, jeans below, and had a backpack slung across his back.

"Uh, what kind of outfit is this? The friendly neighborhood big brother?" Peter complained.

Fragments of memories flowed into his mind at just the right moment.

As expected, the body he was in was also named Peter Parker. Perhaps every Spider-Man was named Peter Parker?

Or perhaps every Peter Parker became Spider-Man?

But why?

Peter felt that perhaps he would find the answer after experiencing more worlds.

He continued receiving the memories.

This world's Peter Parker was surprisingly similar to him. He had only gained his spider abilities not long ago, but like Peter, he had made his own web-shooters and web fluid.

However, this Peter was a year older than him and was already seventeen.

He had a girlfriend named Gwen Stacy.

Tonight, Gwen had invited Peter to her home as a guest. During dinner, Gwen's father—Captain George Stacy—brought up Spider-Man and claimed that Spider-Man was a public menace.

Peter felt targeted and could not help arguing a few words in Spider-Man's defense.

As a result, an otherwise pleasant family gathering was completely ruined.

Still, it was not without its gains.

Faced with his girlfriend Gwen's questioning, Peter chose to reveal his true identity and clear up the misunderstanding between them.

At the same time, something Captain Stacy said during dinner had also awakened Peter.

"That guy wears a mask like some desperado, and all the criminals he catches look like they came from the same mold. It's as if he's settling some personal vendetta!"