Crossing Over! The Classic Spider-Man Universe

The night was peaceful and quiet.

In the woods outside the city, a strange red-and-green figure lay in the bushes without the slightest movement, as if dead.

Li Nian had fallen into a deep coma. He had no idea how long had passed before the first rays of morning sunlight spilled over his body.

Seemingly sensing the warmth, Li Nian slowly opened his eyes.

"Where is this..." The moment Li Nian opened his eyes, the blinding sunlight made him raise a hand to shield them. "What happened?"

Li Nian only remembered the Infinity Stones in the Watcher's hands suddenly going out of control. The vortex created by the explosion had sucked him in, and he had seemed to fall into a bottomless well before instantly losing consciousness.

"Is this... New York?"

"I'm back?"

Li Nian looked around at the unfamiliar surroundings in confusion. Something felt off, but he could not put his finger on it.

"Never mind that for now." Li Nian shook his head. The Mind Stone on his forehead flashed, and he returned to human form—still looking like Paul, of course.

"This city looks kind of... outdated..." Li Nian looked at the skyscrapers that differed greatly from his memories and the hurried pedestrians on the streets. Although he had rarely left the Avengers Compound, he could easily find plenty of pictures online.

A bold thought surfaced in Li Nian's mind—could it be that he had traveled through time and space again?

"Hey, buddy, how much is this newspaper?"

Li Nian walked up to a newsstand and looked at the fierce-looking vendor.

"One dollar." The man did not even raise his eyelids. He took a huge bite out of the greasy hot dog in his hand. Li Nian felt that his beer belly would sooner or later grow to twice the size of Thor's future one.

"Hey! Are you kidding me? Trying to pass fake money off on me?" The vendor grabbed the cash Li Nian had handed him and snarled. "This is what a dollar looks like!" He pulled out a one-dollar bill and viciously urged Li Nian to leave already.

Only then did Li Nian realize that the currencies of the two universes were ultimately different. Since he could not buy the paper, he could only slink away in embarrassment.

"This is..." As Li Nian left, he caught sight of the back page of the newspaper. A black-and-white image of a masked man in a bodysuit entered his view, along with that signature crouching pose.

"Peter... Parker?"

Li Nian rushed forward in shock and uncertainty, snatched up the newspaper in front of him, and examined it closely, ignoring the vendor no matter how loudly he yelled.

"I've come to the universe of the classic Spider-Man!" Li Nian accepted the fact in astonishment. After all, Tobey had come to help in his own universe in Spider-Man: No Way Home, so it did not seem all that strange that he had ended up here because of the Stones' explosion.

"Looks like I need to find this universe's Peter Parker first..." Li Nian's top priority was finding a way home, but he had no one he could trust in this universe. He had no desire to deal with the authorities at all. No matter the universe, the higher-ups in America were disgusting.

"You motherf—" The vendor had finally had enough of this man who was "reading for free." He picked up a broom and swung it toward Li Nian's head.

"Ah!"

"Look over there!"

"Is that a robber?"

Suddenly, the pedestrians on the street stirred and pointed toward the bank building at the corner. Li Nian followed their gaze.

"Doctor Otto..." A man with four octopus-like tentacles was being smashed out through a window. Immediately afterward, a strange figure in a red-and-blue bodysuit leaped out and began fighting him.

"Speak of the devil." Li Nian smiled. He had not expected to be so close to Spider-Man.

Otto was not in a good mood. Something had gone wrong with his nuclear experiment, and Osborn's executives had made him the scapegoat and fired him. He had poured his entire fortune into this experiment—decades of painstaking work, countless sleepless nights, and his wife...

The thought made Otto's heart ache. His wife, who had always supported his work and devoted herself quietly, had also died in the experimental accident not long ago.

He was furious. He only wanted to pursue his dream in peace. What had he done wrong?

Otto looked at the approaching police. Those bastards actually dared to point guns at him! Enraged, he extended the four mechanical tentacles behind him and casually seized an old woman as a hostage.

That old woman was Peter's Aunt May.

"Ah!" Aunt May wildly waved the cane in her hand in terror. At her age, she had no ability to resist and could only let herself be carried away.

Otto crawled slowly up the side of a skyscraper with his hostage when Spider-Man suddenly appeared above him.

"Give her to me!"

Peter shouted.

"No problem." Otto gave him a sinister smile. The moment he let go, Aunt May fell from the skyscraper dozens of meters above the ground, crying desperately for help.

Peter hurriedly fired a web that stuck to Aunt May's body and yanked her back, leaving her hanging from the building's exterior ornamentation before engaging Otto in battle.

"What an irresponsible nephew." Li Nian's body vanished among the skyscrapers as he watched the scene from afar. Seeing Peter's actions, he could not help rubbing his forehead.

"But I can't blame him. He's the only hero here. Peter probably doesn't have the time to handle his own affairs properly."

Li Nian decided to observe quietly for now and step in only if necessary. Maybe he could leave a good impression on Peter, which would make communicating with him much easier later.

By then, the battle had already reached a fever pitch. Spider-Man was caught by Otto's mechanical tentacles, and the two tumbled into a building together before fighting their way back out, locked in a fierce struggle.

Otto sent Peter flying into the building across from them with one tentacle. Seeing Otto holding Aunt May hostage, Peter became even more frantic. He stopped caring about anything else and used his web to swing toward Otto.

What he did not know was that one of Otto's tentacles had extended a sharp spike. The moment Spider-Man rushed in, Otto intended to skewer him straight through.

At the thought, a cold smile appeared on Otto's face, and his eyes darkened. He was ready to deliver Spider-Man a fatal blow at any moment.

"Hey! I'm talking to you!"

"Huh?!" Otto turned his head, searching for the source of the voice, only to see a red-and-green humanoid creature floating in midair and smiling at him.

"What the hell is that?!" Otto was startled, and his shocked expression could no longer be maintained.

"Kidnapping an old lady isn't something an outstanding scientist should do."

Li Nian looked at Aunt May behind Otto and showed him no mercy, punching Otto squarely in the head and nearly knocking him unconscious.

Taking the opportunity, Li Nian quickly snatched Aunt May away and sheltered the old woman in his arms.

"Spider-Man! Your turn!"

Peter flew forward at once and slammed Otto into the wall, sending cracks spreading across it as chunks of rubble large and small rained down. But compared to Sokovia... this was nothing.

Li Nian gently placed Aunt May somewhere safe.

"It's all right. Everything will be fine!" Li Nian softly soothed the old woman. At her age, such a fright could easily cause complications or something similar, which would not be good for her health.

"You really are a good person!" Aunt May calmed down as well. She looked gratefully at the strange figure before her and warmly gave him a kiss in thanks.

"Wow..." Li Nian was dumbfounded and did not know what to say. He could only laugh and cry inwardly. He had never expected that his first kiss after crossing over would come from a woman in her sixties or seventies. He had thought it would at least be Wanda...

Thinking of Wanda only strengthened Li Nian's determination to return home.

Meanwhile, the battle above had entered its final stage. Just as in the original story, Doctor Otto escaped with the money, leaving Spider-Man behind.

Peter could only watch Otto's departing back before anxiously searching for Aunt May.

"Phew... Aunt May is fine." Seeing Aunt May unharmed and smiling like a flower, Peter finally felt the weight lift from his heart. If Aunt May had been hurt because of his negligence, he would never have forgiven himself for the rest of his life!

"But that guy..." Peter's attention finally settled on Li Nian. A red-and-green monster he had never seen before! Was he a mutant like Peter, or an alien?

Li Nian's appearance made it impossible to associate him with any normal person. Peter swore that even during Halloween as a child, he had never seen makeup this outrageous. He looked like he had escaped from a circus.

"But he saved Aunt May... He probably isn't a bad guy!"

Peter gave Li Nian a long look, then swung away on his webs.

Li Nian watched Peter leave and smiled faintly. He knew that he had successfully made a good first impression.