Chapter Text
My head hurts..
It feels like someone jumped repeatedly on my head. My brain is thumping against my skull and everytime I try to sit up I feel like I'm going to throw up.
Why does my head hurt so much?
I don't remember hitting it on anything..
Actually, I don’t really remember anything. The last thing I can think of is Dr. Strange's horrified face. I remember him yelling something about the messed up timeline. Then everything went dark. Now my head feels like it's going to explode.
Okay, all I need to do is sit up and find out where I am. The problem is every time I try to open my eyes I get super dizzy. I definitely have a concussion, no doubt about it. Okay Peter, you have had plenty of concussions in the past, this should be a cake walk.
Just get up.
I force my eyes open, the light practically blinds me but I force myself to keep them open. As my eyes adjust I start to make out shapes in front of me.
Trash.
There are piles and piles of trash surrounding me.
Yuck.
Why am I in a pile of trash? Did I fall asleep while dumpster diving? But how did I get from Dr. Strange’s place to a dumpster? Nothing makes sense right now and my aching head isn’t making it any better.
I could go for a Big Mac right now. I’m starving. Okay, not the time to think about food Peter. First I need to find out where I am. Then I need shelter and water, food comes last… but I’m so hungry.
As I sit up my whole body cracks. I must have been laying there for a while. I start to look around at my surroundings. The first thing I notice is that I am in an alley somewhere. It's cold and dark, rats are in every corner and the walls are covered in a thick film of grease and god knows what. It's nighttime, probably well past midnight but it's surprisingly very loud. I can hear sirens and traffic, along with people’s footsteps and meaningless chatter.
My spidey sense has been going off since I woke up. Wherever I am, it's dangerous and I need to get out of this alley as soon as possible. I start walking towards the noise of the street, I hope I can find a street sign to tell me where I am. It doesn't look like I’m still in Queens. Hell, I don’t think I'm even in New York anymore.
The street is straight chaos. Even though it's the dead of night the street is full of road rage drivers. People are walking everywhere and the smell of drugs and garbage is prominent in the air.
A sign across the street catches my attention.
“The Best Coffee in Gotham!"
Gotham? I’ve never heard of this city and I thought I knew all major cities in America. Unless I’m not in America anymore. A man walking by talking on his phone erased my theory.
“I don’t care what it takes! Get the job done before that creepy bat figures us out.” The man spoke with a strong New Jersey accent and he reeked of cigarettes. Okay, so I’m in a city called Gotham, possibly in New Jersey.
My head is still aching but my hunger is the only thing on my mind. I walk down the street looking for a restaurant. There I can get my bearings and figure out a plan to get home. I found what looks like a burger joint named “The Bat Burger”. What a stupid name.
I sit down in a booth on the far side of the diner. There's only two other people in the building. Both are men in their twenties. One is smiling from ear to ear as he looks at the other man. This man has a white streak of hair and he looks about two seconds away from strangling the smiling man.
“Are you ready to order or do you need another minute?” a voice seems to come out of nowhere. I turn and find a young waitress staring at me. I didn’t even sense her coming up, I must be so out of it.
“Sir? Are you ready to order” She asks again.
“Um, I’ll just have water for now thanks.”
She gives me an odd look and I realize I must look like shit. I’m dirty and I probably smell like trash. As she turns around, I think of my options. I can’t stay here for longer than a few hours before I’ll probably get kicked out. I also have no money so I’ll have to dine and dash. I don’t like the idea of stealing but it's not like I have very many options. That's another problem I have. Money.. I will need to either ask someone for a ride to Queens or somehow find money for a bus fair. Both options seem unlikely. I also don’t have my phone with me so I can’t call anyone.
This really sucks.
The waitress comes back with the water and asks if I want anything again. I just shake my head. She seems pissed but I don’t really have enough energy to care. I haven’t had enough energy. I haven’t had enough energy for much these days. Ever since Tony and then Aunt May. Never mind that though. I have much more pressing matters to attend to.
First, I need to find some money.
Second, I need to get a ride home.
It seems fairly simple but I know nothing will go as planned. Nothing ever does. The big problem is the how. I could ask around and see if anyone needs help, that's what I’m best at anyways. But I can sense that that won’t end well in this city. That brings up another thing. I don’t know where I am exactly. For all I know I could be in Oregon but all the people here have New Jersey accents. Now I know that's unlikely but I need to think of every possibility.
A stack of newspapers sitting on the counter caught my attention. I walk over and grab the one sitting on the top. The headliner makes absolutely no sense. It reads:
“THE WAYNE FAMILY MAKES A SENCE AT THE OPENING OF THE GOTHAM INSTITUTE OF ART AND LITERATURE.”
Interesting, I have never heard of the Wayne family before, unless it's just a thing here in Gotham. Another title grabs my attention as well.
“THE BATS DO IT AGAIN! Last night a large human trafficking ring was brought to light after Batman and Robin heroically saved the day.”
Who the hell is Batman, is that like some weird code for the police? This city is super strange. I need to get out of here and fast. I decided that it's time to leave this diner. I haven’t ordered anything, if I did I don’t think my conscience would let me leave without paying. But right before I set down the newspaper something else catches my eye.
Both of these articles were published on August 20th.
August 20th of 2008.
Unless this diner hasn’t gotten new newspapers in almost 16 years then I time traveled.
Oh shit.