Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

Spider-Man, now sporting a bit of a belly, leaned against the wall, slowly pushing himself up while groaning in pain from his aching back.

Except now, he looked nothing like the masked hero of New York. Instead, he resembled a down-and-out vagrant—draped in an oversized green coat and a pair of loose, uncomfortable-looking sweatpants.

From any angle, he was far from the image of Spider-Man.

Rubbing his forehead, he tried to recall exactly what had happened to him.

A kid had shocked him unconscious with a taser, then dragged him along the back of a New York elevated train, slamming into one object after another.

And to top it all off, they had fallen off in the end.

If not for his enhanced physique, he'd probably be waking up in a hospital right now.

Surveying his unfamiliar surroundings, Spider-Man felt even more disoriented.

Lifting his head, he saw the kid who had put him through all that trouble—along with the first person he had met upon arriving in this universe.

That bat-obsessed fanatic.

"Hey! I knew you'd come looking for me!" Peter grinned, momentarily forgetting about his aching back as he pointed at Wayne, laughing.

"You two know each other?" The kid now felt like he had accidentally stumbled upon the headquarters of some secret organization.

Otherwise, how else could he have run into both of them at the same time?

"No." That was Wayne's response.

"Yes!" That was Spider-Man's response.

Both spoke at the same time—yet their answers were complete opposites.

And it was obvious that Spider-Man was much more emotional about it.

"What do you mean we don't know each other?! I literally saved your ass yesterday, drawing all that fire away from you! And now you're pretending you don't even know me?"

Peter's reaction was intense, clearly unhappy with Wayne's casual dismissal of their connection.

As far as Peter was concerned, the two of them had fought through a literal life-and-death battlefield together.

How could Wayne just brush it off like they were strangers?

The kid, hearing Peter's words, turned his gaze toward Wayne with interest—only for Wayne to shoot him a sharp sideways glance.

The kid instantly averted his eyes, suddenly fascinated by anything else in his surroundings.

For a teenager, Wayne's presence was far more intimidating than Spider-Man's.

"First off, you came looking for me," Wayne stated coldly. "Second, I never forced you to follow me."

Peter couldn't believe how Wayne managed to say such cold, cutting words in such a calm, matter-of-fact tone.

"So, what—you're saying I was just sticking my nose where it didn't belong? That we have no connection whatsoever?" Peter clutched his chest dramatically. "Do you have any idea how much that hurts a fragile little spider's heart?"

Whether or not Peter realized just how odd his words sounded, Wayne's already grim expression darkened even further.

"Woooow~~"

The kid reacted like he had just uncovered some huge juicy gossip.

He first glanced at the disheveled, hobo-dressed Spider-Man, then instinctively turned to—

Oh, wait.

No.

He did not have the guts for that.

Instead, he quickly dropped his gaze, suddenly finding his untied shoelaces extremely interesting.

Wayne gave Spider-Man one last look before silently firing his grappling hook and vanishing from the scene.

What was supposed to be a straightforward situation had somehow spiraled into something ridiculous—thanks to Spider-Man's antics.

And the more he explained, the worse it would get.

"So, you two…?"

The kid's curiosity was clearly piqued by Peter's earlier words.

But Spider-Man didn't care about whatever dumb conclusions the kid was jumping to.

Right now, his priority was catching up to that bat.

That bat might actually know how he ended up in this universe.

"Wait! Don't go yet, I have questions for you."

Seeing that Spider-Man looked like he was about to leave, the kid immediately jumped down from the fire escape.

Now that he was truly face-to-face with the kid, Spider-Man's spider-sense kicked in.

"You're like me." Spider-Man was puzzled. According to the theory of parallel universes, there should only be one Spider-Man per universe—just like in his own world.

And yet, earlier today, he had attended Spider-Man's funeral.

Now, at night, he had already encountered a kid with spider-like abilities.

"Quantum theory is insane…" Spider-Man muttered to himself.

"What are you talking about?" The kid asked curiously.

But before Spider-Man could answer, the kid seemed to interrupt his own thoughts.

Right now, he needed to understand what was happening in this world.

And the man standing before him—the one who seemed to be Spider-Man—was the key to all the answers.

Well, him and that Batman-looking guy straight out of a comic book.

"Why do you look so much like Peter Parker?"

"Because I am Peter Parker." Brushing the dust off his clothes, Spider-Man didn't want to waste any more time on pointless discussions.

If he stuck around any longer, he might completely lose track of that bat.

"Then why aren't you dead? Why does your hair look different? Why are you older? And your body—why do you have a belly?"

The endless stream of questions was starting to give Spider-Man a headache.

When did kids get so hard to deal with? Weren't they easier to fool back in the day?

"I know you're calling me fat, but I'm going to let that slide. Also, rule number one—superheroes never buy their own merch."

With that, Spider-Man was already walking up the side of the building.

"So you are from another timeline. Like a parallel universe—similar but different? You were Spider-Man there, but now you've somehow ended up here, and you don't know why?"

Within moments, the kid had already deduced the situation.

And without realizing it, he had instinctively started climbing up the wall after Peter.

"YES! That's exactly it!"

Spider-Man, now exasperated, turned back to face the kid, speaking with absolute seriousness.

"Right now, I need to find that bat and figure out how I got here. He might be the only person in this universe who knows the answer."

"And you—right now, at this very moment—are about to make me lose him!"

"But what if I know how you got here?" The kid said excitedly.

"...?"

Spider-Man came to an abrupt stop, turning to stare at the kid in the cheap knockoff Spider-Man costume, now very intrigued.

"I was there when our universe's Spider-Man died. I saw what brought you here."

"What's your name, kid?" Spider-Man didn't stop climbing, simply continuing his way up.

"Miles Morales."

"Can you… like Peter said… teach me how to be Spider-Man?"

"We'll talk about that after we find the bat."

As he spoke, Spider-Man finally reached the rooftop.

In the distance, he could still make out the shadow of that bat lurking in the night.

(End of Chapter)

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