The first time Peter met up with his Spider-friends after the Blip, he'd been pulled into a bone-crushing group hug. It was weird to see that everyone had grown older while he was still a teen. Miles was now a whole head taller than him and Gwen had somehow become even more intimidating than before. She'd punched him in the arm for making her go through the loss of another Peter before she pulled him into another hug. Peter B, Noir, and Peter Porker had remained pretty much the same, though Peter did spot a couple of greying strands in Peter B's hair. The one that had changed the most was Peni. She had hit her growth spurt and was almost the same height as Peter, which was incredibly weird because the last time he saw her, she was twelve and tiny. Now she was less tiny and older than him. It was only by two months, really, but Peter was officially the youngest of the group. And thus, he'd been dubbed Peter 'Baby' Parker.

Despite all the weird changes, Peter was glad to have his friends around him. They parkoured through different versions of the same city and threw popcorn at each other at sleepovers. It was good to know that some things never changed. It kept Peter's mind off everything back home.

.

.

.

Peter broke down the first time he saw an Iron-man suit fly by in another universe. He stopped traveling to different worlds after that. He still needed time to process the fact that Tony sacrificed himself for his universe, that there wouldn't be any more afternoons spent tinkering in the lab together or late-night diner trips when Peter woke up from a nightmare. That dinner with the Starks now meant chatting with Pepper and Morgan at the dinner table and turning to talk to Tony but instead be met with an empty chair because he wasn't there. Peter needed time to adjust and he couldn't do it when all the other universes were filled with Tony smiling on bright colored billboards on every corner.

His spider friends were very understanding of the situation. They were all familiar with grief after all. They met up in Peter's universe when it was possible and found ways to allow Peter to join through video calls when it wasn't. Peter was thankful his team came to visit him even when his universe made the others somewhat uncomfortable. It wasn't cartoony like Peter Porker's nor was it bright or ultra-futuristic like Miles and Peni's. It also had the worst luck when it came to villains, if Ultron and Thanos could even be put on the same scale as Doc Oc and Dr. Doom. Even so, Peter tried to give his universe the credits it was due, since there were also good things in his universe like afternoons spent with May and sandwiches from Delmar's and Lego and yes he was setting the standards pretty low but he was going through a tough patch, okay?

So yeah, the Spider-team kept it light and jokingly called him their 'baby', but everyone knew his unofficial nickname was Peter 'Bad luck' Parker.

.

.

.

Nick Fury was a very persistent man. You'd think that someone would take the hint when you blatantly ignore them time and time again. Apparently not. But then again, after the whole incident with Venice, it was probably time to face the music.

Fury led him through the dark alleys of Venice to an underground base, and Peter had to admit that being part of a government agency did have some pretty cool perks. "This", Fury said, leading Peter to the center of the base, "is mister Beck."

Peter recognized the man by this outfit. "You're Mysterio."

"You can call me Quinten", Mysterio said, stepping forward to shake his hand. Peter introduced himself as well. "You did well out there today with the tower. We could use someone like you in my world."

"Your world?" Peter asked.

"Mr. Beck is from earth", Fury said, "just not ours." Peter gasped. He had never met a non-spider interdimensional traveler before.

"There are multiple dimensions", Mysterio told him. "This is earth dimension 616, I'm from earth 8323. We share identical physical constants, level four symmetry." And wow, Peter had no idea what he just said. But then again, the classification system of universes that he used was created by Peni and the Spider-team so it's obvious that there were going to differences.

"So you're really from another universe? That's so cool!" Peter was practically bursting with excitement. "Are you the only one who can travel through universes in your universe? Did you come up with the classification yourself or is there an interdimensional standard? What did you mean with identical physical constant and the symmetry part? How do the differences in the fundaments of your quantum world affect your abilities in our universe? I mean the different laws of physics are interacting with each other but how does that really work?" Peter shooting question after question, but he was so excited to finally get some answers. No one in the Spider-team has so far managed to figure out what the exact effects of interdimensional travel are on a person, and Peter was dying to know how it was possible for Peter Porker to pull a whole-ass hammer and anvil out of the literal void in any given universe.

Mysterio laughed. "Wow, take it easy kid, not all at once."

Peter smiled sheepishly in return.

"You're a special one, you know", Mysterio said. "Most people tend to go wild at the thought of a multiverse, but damn, you're already trying to figure out the details."

"Well, yeah I mean I am quite a nerd and I am really fascinated by this aspect of physics", Peter said. Should he tell them about his own travels through the multiverse? The Spider-team did agree on keeping it a spider-only secret, but Mysterio already knew about it so it was fine, right? SHIELD could be quite a problem though. Peter didn't know what they would do with the information.

"There's nothing wrong with being a nerd", Mysterio said. "I am also considered as a nerd back in my world but look at where it got me. It's only thanks to the knowledge that I've acquired that I was able to escape my world before it was too late."

"Escape?" Peter frowned. "Why did you need to escape?"

"Peter, the monster we fought today was one of the Elementals", Mysterio told him. "I came here to warn you and help you defeat them."

"Wait, did those Elementals come from your world?" Peter asked. "Did those Elementals travel here on their own? Is it possible to travel through universes without a travel goober?"

"I'm sorry, a what?'"

Peter gestured vaguely with his hands. "A goober, gizmo, like the thing that lets you travel through universes. Where's your goober by the way, can I see it?"

"You have an interesting way of saying things", Mysterio laughed. "But to answer your question about the Elementals, I don't know if they have a 'goober'. All I know is that they pass from world to world and destroy everything and everyone in their path. They killed my family, Peter. They destroyed my entire civilization. I will not let it happen to anyone else."

"I'm sorry", Peter said solemnly. "I know what it feels like to lose the people you love."

"Thank you", Mysterio said, stepping closer to put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "But there's nothing we can do about the past. All we can do is move on and do our best to survive the future."

Peter looked up at the man and smiled. 'Yeah.'

Mysterio, Peter decided, was a good man. He had his doubts at first and he didn't want to help. He was on a school-trip for god's sake! But something about Mysterio made Peter change his mind, he genuinely seemed like he wanted to help them defend this world, and who was Peter to say no to another multiverse traveler?

"Well, if you are all done chit-chatting", Fury said, "we need to start planning."

"Yes, of course." Mysterio stepped away walked over to the central table. "So far, we've already encountered the Water and Earth Elemental", he said. "The next one will most likely be the Fire Elemental, and it's not going to be pretty. We've seen the damage the previous ones caused, this one will be much worse."

"Any idea when and where it will show up?" Miss Hill asked. Peter had only met her briefly before, but he remembered her to be the Fury right-hand woman.

"According to my predictions", Mysterio said, "it will show up here-" he pointed on the map of Europe in front of him- "in a couple of days."

"So, Prague", Fury said, looking at the map.

"Yes. I'll tell you everything I know about the Fire Elemental and hopefully, we can defeat it before it causes to much damage."

"Good." Fury said. "We'll need a detailed plan of attack-"

"Wait, wait, wait", Peter interrupted. "In a couple of days?"

"Do you have a problem with that, mister Parker?" Fury asked drily.

"Uhm, several actually", Peter answered. "One, I'm on a school trip. We're going to Paris. I can't just decide to go to Prague on my own! But more importantly, mister Beck can't stay for that long!"

"What are you talking about, Peter?" Mysterio asked. "Why wouldn't I be able to stay? I promised to help, didn't I?"

"Yeah, but you'll glitch!" Peter protested. "You have to go back and rest!"

"Mister Parker," Fury said, his voice laced with irritation, "what are you talking about? Glitching? The man's not a damn television."

"Peter, it's fine", Mysterio said calmly. He seemed truly confused at Peter's reaction. "I don't know why you're so concerned about this 'glitching' but I promise you that it'll be all right."

How could Mysterio stay so calm about it? Everyone who traveled through universes knew about glitching. It was hard not to when your body was literally tasering you with atomic reorganization. Something was off. Mysterio was being way too lax about the whole glitching ordeal. He didn't seem like a first-time traveler and he had all that information about the differences in universes, so it was impossible for him not to know about the number one danger of multiverse travelling.

"How long have you been here, mister Beck?" Peter asked tentatively. "In our world, I mean."

"I arrived shortly after the first Elemental attack", Mysterio answered. "So about two weeks."

Peter almost choked on his own spit. Two weeks?! The glitching starts after the first day, and the Spider-team had always made strict rules about the duration of the travels. Two to three days was about the amount of time someone could spend in another world without much trouble. With four to five days, you would really be pushing it, and if you're going on a week in another universe it was time to call for some serious backup to get you back to your own universe pronto. There's no way Mysterio could've survived two whole weeks without his atoms falling apart. Something was definitely not right.

"Peter, buddy? Are you all right?" Mysterio put a hand on Peter's shoulder and suddenly his Spider-senses went off. Peter didn't know why he didn't feel it before, but it was really giving off a clear signal now. Peter needed to think and he needed some advice, but he couldn't do it while the rest was still staring at him. "Yeah, I'm sorry", Peter said, faking a smile. "I was just worried, you know, because of this one theory that I read about how subatomic particles could react to an unknown environment after prolonged exposure. It was all yet unproven theory anyway, so just forget I said anything, okay?"

"If you say so." Mysterio nodded. "Thanks, though, I really appreciate that you're trying to look out for me, Pete." He flashed Peter a smile that was meant to be reassuring, but now it only made Peter warier of the man.

"No problem", Peter said. He turned to look at Fury and Miss Hill. "Is there by any chance a toilet here in this base? I didn't get the chance to go before we left the hotel."

Peter could feel the two pairs of calculating glares focussed on him and Peter resisted the urge to wring his hands. "Walk down the hall and the first turn at your left you'll find the men's room." Miss Hill told him.

"Nice. Thanks." Peter said. "You guys can just continue planning, I'll catch up when I'm back." It took all his willpower not to rush toward the toilets and he forced himself to walk as normal as possible to not raise any suspicions. Peter dashed the moment he rounded the corner. Once he was a safe distance away from the rest, Peter pulled out his phone. Peni had updated it after the blip so they could all communicate through her version of interdimensional WhatsApp.

SPIDERCHAT

Spider-Baby: Hey guys do any of you know someone named Quinten Beck?

Spider-Baby: Or Mysterio?

Spider-Baby: He says he's from another world, but the things he says aren't adding up?

The good thing about having friends in different universes was that there was always someone awake. He didn't have to wait long until he received a reply.

Noir: I've met the guy in my universe.

Noir: He's a con artist. And a pretty good one too.

Noir: He's a guy to look out for, he can be quite ruthless when someone stands in his way.

A con artist. Of course. Thinking back at the conversation he had with Mysterio, Peter cursed himself for not having seen the obvious signs: Mysterio hadn't answered any of the questions Peter asked, instead he had distracted Peter with his own stories. When Peter asked for his goober, he changed the subject and gained Peter's sympathy by talking about his family. Peter groaned into his palm. He couldn't believe that he'd been played. But there was still one thing that he didn't understand.

Spider-Baby: These huge monsters have been showing up in my world, they've been causing lots of damage

Spider-Baby: Mysterio says that they're from other worlds as well and that he's gonna help us

Spider-Baby: Even if he's a phony, why would he lie about that?

This time, Peter didn't even have to wait until the answer came.

Gwen: Those things aren't actual monsters

Gwen: They're probably drones

Gwen: In my world Beck was an old SI-employee who didn't appreciate being sacked

Gwen: He got a bunch of other Stark haters together and tried to bring the company down by using his own tech against him

Gwen: I wasn't really involved with the whole thing personally, but it was a pretty huge deal in my world

Gwen: Beck and his crew caused a lot of damage before TS managed to take him down

Mysterio was the one behind the attacks? Why would he even do this? Why would he want to discredit someone who- who was already dead? Fuck. Peter was starting to choke up and it wasn't helping the situation. He needed to calm down and think of a plan. He had to find out more information about Mysterio and his team. They could be working toward a different goal than what Gwen described, since the details varied in each universe even though the main events remained the same. Peter texted a quick thanks and pocketed his phone. He took a deep breath and started walking back to the rest.

He just had to remain calm and figure out a way to bring down Mysterio's team before they attacked Prague. Unfortunately, staying calm was easier said than done. The closer Peter got to Mysterio, the stronger his Spidey-senses were going off.

"Peter!" Mysterio called when he approached. "You're back. We've just come up with a plan to counter the Fire Elemental, but we'll need your input. We'll need to know more about each other's fighting style for us to work together. The better we cooperate, the more lives we'll be able to save."

That one comment sent Peter over the edge. He was livid. The more lives they would be able to save? Mysterio was the one who planned on killing innocent people for whatever his 'masterplan' was and here he was, trying to act as if he were the hero. Peter's plan to remain calm flew out of the window. Counting to ten would not settle the rage he felt towards this psychopath, so it was on to Plan B. With a scowl, Peter pulled out his goober and hit The Button before shoving it back in his pocket.

"Peter?" Mysterio asked, taken aback by Peter's change in behavior. "You good, buddy?"

Peter's scowl deepened. Wordlessly, he activated his webshooters and webbed the man to the table. The atmosphere tensed instantly. Every agent in the room immediately had their attention focussed on Peter. Mysterio chuckled nervously. "Hey man, what's gotten into you? Why did you web me to the table?"

"I know that you're a scam, Mysterio", Peter said slowly. "I know that it's you who's behind the attacks."

"What are you talking about?" Mysterio had the audacity to look insulted. "Those Elementals are uncontrollable, they destroyed my world, Peter. I barely escaped myself, I would never wish something like that upon anyone else. I-"

Peter was seething. Mysterio was still trying to play the good guy. Peter's fist was raised before he knew what he was doing and Mysterio flinched back instinctively as Peter stepped forward to punch him. The room fell into as tense silence as Peter's fist hung in mid-air. He closed his eyes and took a shaky breath before letting his fist drop at his side. Mysterio let out an audible breath of relief.

"Cut it out already", Peter growled, grabbing the man by the collar instead. "You don't know the first thing about other worlds, you-" He cut himself off and let out another breath. "Why?" He asked. "Why would you do this? You're hurting innocent people, ruining their lives, for what?"

Mysterio was at a loss of what to say, stumbling through words but not saying anything.

"Those are quite some accusations you have there, mister Parker", Fury said, and Peter turned to look at him, not loosening his hold on Mysterio. "Would you like to enlighten us as to how you managed to get your hands on such information?"

"I have my sources." Peter replied.

Director Fury raised an eyebrow. "And who would that be?"

A low whistle echoed through the room. "The Italian mafia in this world got some nice looking tech." A gruff voice said. Immediately, every single SHIELD agent raised their gun and aimed it at the man standing in the shadows.

"Who the hell are you?" Fury barked out. "How did you get here?"

"I'm back-up." Noir said ominously.

"It's alright", Peter told Fury, letting go of Mysterio. "He's friendly."

"You called him here?" Fury asked, looking over at Peter without lowering his gun. "You know that the base is supposed to be secret, right?"

"You can come out of the shadows, Noir", Peter said, ignoring Fury's comment. "And they're not the mafia, they're SHIELD."

"They're all the same to me", Noir replied, stepping into the light. Several agents gasped when they saw him.

"What the hell." Fury cursed. "he's black-and-white."

"I like to think of it as monochrome." Noir shot back.

"DON'T DO IT!" Half of the agents turned their weapons toward Gwen in an instant, who'd appeared on the other side of the room.

"I didn't do it." Peter told her. "I wanted to, but I didn't."

"You didn't?" Gwen sounded genuinely surprised. She whistled. "Damn, good for you, Parker."

"Can someone tell me what the hell' going on here?" Fury yelled. "Where did you all come from? And why the fuck are you here?"

"Peter pressed the button." Noir stated matter-of-factly.

Fury's head snapped toward Noir. "What button?"

"The 'I'm-about-to-do-something-stupid-and-someone-should-come-stop-me' button." Gwen said. She came closer to stand by Peter's side. "So this is the bad guy of the week?" She asked, taking Mysterio in. "Our multiverse traveler?"

"Yeah", Peter answered.

"So what was it that you were planning on doing? What stopped you?"

"I was just so angry", Peter confessed, looking down at his feet. "I wanted to hurt him for everything he's done, and I couldn't think straight anymore. But I knew that if I threw the first punch then I wouldn't be able to stop and that scared me. That's not how things are supposed to be done. Even when it comes to scum like him."

Gwen smiled. "I'm proud of you, Peter", she said, pulling him into a sideways hug. "You made the right choice."

"Thanks."

Suddenly, Gwen's hand glitched and she winced in pain. Peter could feel the rest of the room (sans Noir) look at her in shock. "I stayed over at Miles' yesterday', Gwen explained. "I went over to Peter B's to babysit this afternoon before coming here. It's date night. Haven't had the time to go back and rest yet."

Peter nodded then turned to Mysterio. "See, that's glitching."

Noir walked over to join them and placed a reassuring hand on Peter's shoulder. "You tried to con the wrong kid", Noir told Mysterio. "Or maybe you should've come up with a better lie."

With the three of them ganging up on Mysterio, Peter could see the man getting nervous. "Who are you?" He asked, tugging again at the webs in an attempt to get free.

"We are Peter's friends.' Gwen answered. Mysterio visibly paled under her glare. "The ones that are actually from another universe."

"And here's what we're going to do, buddy", Noir said, stepping into Mysterio's personal space. "You're going to tell us your masterplan why you thought it was a good idea to do it and then we'll- well, we'll cross that bridge when we get there."

"I-"

"OKAY FUCKERS I'M HERE." The sudden yelling brought everyone back on high alert. Porker landed right on the table in the middle of the room. "I'll take care of those in the back and you guys can take the rest. LET'S GO." He pulled out his hammer and a bundle of dynamite and was ready to jump on the group of poor SHIELD agents when Peter called out, "No, Porker stop! They're the good guys!" Porker paused momentarily in mid-air, before falling back onto the table. He looked from Peter to the SHIELD agents around him to the dynamite in his hands. "Well the dynamite has already been lit so..." He nudged his head toward the agents and made a throwing gesture.

"Porker no." Gwen shook her head exasperatedly while Noir shot a web to pull the explosives towards himself. He extinguished the fuse with his fingers.

"Killjoys." Porker muttered.

"Did that talking pig just threaten to blow up my fucking base?" Fury said, voicing the thoughts of all the agents in the room.

"Okay cyclops, that's rude." Porker said, pointing an accusatory finger at Fury. "I don't walk around calling you a talking human, do I? Show some respect."

"Stop it. Both of you." Gwen chastised. "This guy here was about to start his villain monologue."

"Ooh a monologue!" Porker pulled out a beach chair along with some popcorn and a drink. "I love a good monologue." He slurped his drink loudly.

Gwen nodded at Mysterio. "Continue."

"PETER DON'T DO IT!"

"Oh for fuck's sake. How many more of you are there?!" Fury bellowed.

"You're late, Morales." Gwen said, shooting Miles a look. "You too Pen."

"Yeah sorry, Peni and I got side-tracked on the way here", Miles explained. Peni smiled sheepishly and SP/dr had blush lines on its display. "But we're here now, so what did Peter do?"

"Peter didn't do anything", Gwen told him. "He managed to control himself at the last moment. Something some of us could learn from him."

"Why are you all looking at me?" Miles exclaimed. "I'm great at controlling my urges!"

"You ate a fucking tide-pod, Miles."

"Stop bringing up old stuff to win an argument, Gwen!"

"It literally happened last week."

"OH MY GOD SHUT UP YOU'RE ALL A BUNCH OF FUCKING CHILDREN!" Mysterio yelled suddenly. The bickering stopped and all the eyes fell on the villain stuck to the table. "A bunch of immature, dumbass children!"

"So what?" Peter challenged.

"'So what?!'" Mysterio fumed. "I spent my entire life working on augmented reality tech, only for that son of a bitch to degrade it, calling my lifework BARF and using it to see his fucking parents while it was meant to be so much more! I get thrown out like a piece of garbage the moment they couldn't handle my genius anymore. And then I find out that Stark left the earth's entire defense system to a fucking child?"

"What are you talking about?" Peter asked, confused. "He didn't leave me anything like that."

"Of course" Mysterio mocked. "He handed you the keys to the world and you don't even know it. It took us months to plan these attacks. We've been working non-stop since Janette found out you inherited EDITH. Everything was going to plan, we just needed to get Peter Parker to hand over the controls. We were supposed to become Earth's next heroes. And now you and your freak friends have gone and ruined it all!"

It took a while for Mysterio's words to sink in. "You lured me here as Spider-Man", Peter said slowly. The sinking feeling of dread grew as the realization dawned on him. "You needed Peter Parker to hand over the controls. How did you know who I was?"

Mysterio scoffed. "Tony Stark built a low-life street vigilante a multimillion-dollar suit, a 'hero' whose voice sounds like hasn't even gone through puberty yet and then he leaves the best defense system on the planet to his seventeen-year-old intern? We put two and two together, Pete. It doesn't take a genius to figure that one out."

Oh. Peter could feel the panic rising in his chest. If Mysterio and his team managed to figure out his identity, then who's to say that others haven't done it as well? Oh God what if other bad guys come after him? He's putting everyone at risk. May, Ned, MJ, everyone he knew could be in danger because of him!

"You may have ruined our plans now, Spider-Man', Mysterio sneered. "But we can still ruin everything for you. I'm sure there are a lot of people out there who would just love to get their hands on information about Queen's annoying little wallcrawler. You guys might have gotten me, but if I'm not back to my team on time, they will know what to do. So you can say goodbye to-"

Mysterio was cut off when Gwen punched him in the face, knocking him out cold. He slumped forward and Gwen caught him, only to unceremoniously dump him on the table. "I guess I'm not as nice as you are, Peter", She said, offering him a tense smile. The rest of the Spider team cheered. "That was a nice one, Gwen!" Peni grinned.

Peter couldn't help but feel grateful for Gwen, he would've spiraled if Mysterio had continued talking. "But what are we going to do now?" Peter asked, looking over at Fury. "His team is still capable of launching another 'Elemental' attack, and they know about Spider-Man, about me."

Fury finally lowered his weapons. The rest of the agents followed suit. "We'll be able to handle the situation from now", Fury said, there was an unfamiliar glint in his eye that sent chills down Peter's spine. "We have our ways with extracting information from uncooperative criminals."

"So, I'm done here?" Peter asked tentatively.

"Yes, you can go back to enjoying your trip, mister Parker", Fury said. "And I'll advise you to talk to Mrs. Stark about the leak of information. We'll be in contact later for this whole multidimensional travel business."

"Oh no, you won't." Porker Piped up.

Fury raised an eyebrow. "And why is that?"

"Peter saved your asses with this guy", Miles said. "Now you owe him."

"I don't owe him anything." Fury said coldly.

"Either way, I don't trust you guys with my tech", Peni told him. "You guys are much too gullible. One person pretends to be the hero and you are all willing to share your secrets with him. Imagine what could happen if the bad guys got their hands on dimensional traveling tech. I'd rather not risk it, thank you very much."

"So if that's all, then I guess we'll be going", Gwen said.

"I've never been to Europe before", Noir said. "I'd like to check it out before going back home."

"Seconded!" Peni called. "It'll be a group outing!" SP/dr chirped happily.

Miles let out a whoop. "Yeah let's go!" The Spider-team cheered as they all headed toward the exit.

"We will talk about this, Parker." Fury said as Peter walked by.

"Nope." Peter shrugged. "Sorry, Mister Fury sir, I don't make the rules. Bye!"