Unknown
Unknown
A desert spread out in every direction, an endless expanse of sand beneath a pale morning sky. The sun hung low on the horizon, casting long shadows that spilled across the rolling dunes.
At the base of one of the dunes, a figure lay motionless, half buried by sand.
Without warning, he snapped upright.
Sand scattered as he shot up to his feet. His masked head turned every which way, taking in his surroundings. The red and dark blue of his outfit caught the morning light, standing out vividly against the tan of the desert.
His initially narrow lenses widened as he swept his surroundings, realization dawning as he took in the empty sky and the endless sand. "Toto, I have a feeling we're not in New York anymore."
~
Peter swept his surroundings again, then rubbed at his lenses to make sure he wasn't hallucinating. When everything stayed the same, he pinched himself before letting his hands fall back to his side.
"Well, now that I know it's not a dream or hallucination, I can start panicking." he muttered as panic started to creep in.
He took a deep breath, forcing himself to slow down as his heart and mind began to race. All kinds of possibilities ran through his mind about how he had ended up in the desert: teleportation, kidnapping, magic, aliens, overpowered otherworldly entities. The thing was, none of the possibilities came with any memories to corroborate them.
His last memory was of him chasing after Kite-Man as he tried to rob a jewelry store, only for his glider to malfunction and send him spiraling into a dumpster.
"Classic Kite-Man." Peter chuckled as he remembered that, stopping the unease that had been creeping in.
"Okay." Peter said, getting serious. "Last thing I remember is stopping Kite-Man from robbing a jewelry store, and everything before then is also there. At the very least, I haven't completely lost my memory, just whatever happened that ended up with me in the desert. Speaking of, which desert am I even in?"
Peter looked around at the endless sand, the dunes rolling in every direction, stretching farther than the eye could see; no signs of life, no roads, no buildings, just sand.
"If only I could tell what desert I'm in based on the sand." he sighed, looking at the nearest dune. "Okay, first things first, let me get some high ground. Hopefully, I can spot some sign of life or a building or something."
When he reached the top of the dune, he stopped, hands on his hips, and took in the view: sand, sand, and more sand. As he focused on trying to spot something on the horizon, suddenly, his vision sharpened, zooming in.
"Whoa!" Peter's startlement made his vision return to normal. "That wasn't my mask. What the hell was that?"
Peter tried focusing with his eyes again, and just like before, his vision zoomed in on a distant dune with surprisingly crisp detail. "This is like the telescopic vision Spider-Man 2099 has." he muttered in realization as he relaxed his gaze and his vision returned to normal. "I definitely didn't have this last time I checked. Do I have any other spider-variant powers I don't know about?"
He brought up his arm to check if he had developed organic webbing when he noticed that not only was the arm of his suit very different, but his web-shooters were as well. They weren't the silver gauntlets; they were the chevron-shaped web-shooters he had been slowly working on for weeks.
"These don't look new either, they look like they've been used for months." he said as he inspected the web-shooters, noting slight wear and tear on them before moving on to inspect the suit.
The moment he saw the arms and gloves, he knew what the rest of the suit looked like. The suit's colors were red and dark blue; the mask, chest, outer sides of his boots, and the thumbs, index fingers, and pinky fingers were red, overlaid with a subtle black web pattern, while his arms and legs were dark blue. A large black spider emblem stretched across his chest, its legs reaching over his shoulders and onto his back, where a mirrored spider was.
"Sensational Spider-Man." Peter smiled under his mask as he looked at the big emblem. "Damn, this suit looks good. What I can see, anyway."
Peter ran his hand over the big spider emblem on his chest, tracing the lines of its legs. As he traced over the body, his fingers lightly pressed down on something in the center of it.
Before he could even wonder what its purpose was, his suit transformed.
From the exact point beneath his fingertips, a black wave rippled outward across his chest, swallowing the red and blue. At the same time, sharp red lines appeared from that same center, forming a new spider emblem as the old one vanished. The symbol was more angular and aggressive, its legs jutting out diagonally before pulling back in, nearly forming a diamond shape against the spreading black.
As quickly as the change began, it was completed.
Peter froze, staring down at himself. The suit was pitch black now, broken only by the vivid red spider across his chest.
" ... what the hell?" he mumbled.
He looked at the emblem on his chest and pressed it again. Again, his suit began transforming, but this time, it switched back to the Sensational Spider-Man suit.
"No way." he said, realization dawning on him. "Is this suit made of Unstable Molecules?"
He pressed the emblem a third time, watching the transformation closely.
Once again, the black flowed out from the center, overtaking the colors of the Sensational suit, the transformation ending as the red spider emblem appeared on his chest.
On the surface, nothing appeared to happen, no microscopic panels flipping, no shifting textures, no movement at all. Whatever transformation was occurring was happening on a scale so small that not even his telescopic vision could see it.
He then tugged at the material on his forearm. It felt thin yet strong, but as he increased the force he was using to pull it, he felt it start to tear, and so he stopped. The material snapped back into place, leaving only a tiny, nearly imperceptible wrinkle where he had pulled at it.
"I didn't even use that much strength." he said, thinking it through. "If Unstable Molecules were even possible in this universe and if they had the same properties they're supposed to have, that much strength shouldn't damage it."
He frowned slightly, a conclusion settling in.
"So this probably isn't Unstable Molecules." he continued. "More like a material with similar properties. A poor man's version of the real thing."
With that in mind, gears began clicking into place.
He'd woken up in a place he didn't remember being at, with abilities he hadn't possessed the day before. He had web-shooters that he had been working on but had not yet finished building, which appeared to have been in use for some time. And he was wearing a suit possibly made from a material that he'd only theorized about, and not one he had even come close to actually managing to synthesize.
All of that, plus a healthy dose of his comic-related knowledge, led him to believe one thing.
"I've lost my memory." he realized.
Not everything, just a chunk. However, it had to be a large chunk if he had new gear and had supposedly created a poor man's Unstable Molecules.
Peter exhaled slowly, calming the rising panic as he gazed out at the endless desert. He lifted a hand to the side of his head to rub his temple.
Suddenly, a stylized Spider-Man logo appeared, fading out only to be followed by translucent blue text and symbols flickering to life across his lenses, creating an all-too-familiar HUD.
" ... as cool as this might be, the more new things I discover, the more I'm worried about how much of my memory has been lost." he muttered.
He shook his head to dispel whatever negative thoughts were resurfacing and focused on the HUD.
"Seeing as I most likely created this, I should be able to see when and where I am." he said.
The HUD was styled after the one from the game, which meant it should be linked to every technological expansion built into the mask: the camera, radio, communication systems, web-shooters, and GPS.
Using his eyes like a mouse cursor, he quickly located the GPS module within the interface and opened it.
Bialya
September 4, 2010 07:12 EEST
Seeing the date, Peter couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.
"Six months. I've lost six months of memories." he said, rubbing at his temple. "All things considered, it could be worse." His eyes drifted back to the location. "Though being in a militaristic dictatorship in the Middle East really tips the scales."
He stared at the date for another moment, his thoughts inevitably drifting to his family. The fact that they had no clue that he was running around as Spider-Man was bad enough; disappearing for who knows how long because he ended up in a country halfway across the world without his memories was even worse.
"I definitely broke curfew."
He joked as a way to stave off the regret he was feeling for putting off telling them he was Spider-Man. All those reasons he had come up with for not telling them suddenly felt flimsy.
Just as the temptation to call them to explain everything crept up, a memory flashed across his mind.
"All communications are subject to interception. Maintain radio silence at all times." said Batman, standing next to a transparent screen showing a map of Bialya.
As quickly as the memory came, it went.
" ... at this point, nothing can surprise me anymore." Peter shook his head and focused. "For whatever reason, I have a memory of Batman telling me to maintain radio silence. First of all, that means I've met Batman, which is ... awesome. Second of all, that means I'm in Bialya as part of a Batman-sponsored mission, which is a whole other can of worms but still awesome."
With that new memory, things started to make more sense.
"The suit and HUD make more sense now that I know I've become involved with Batman in some way. The tech and financial limits aren't a problem if he's involved." he realized. "But the big question of why I'm even in Bialya still stands."
Peter let the HUD fade as he stared out over the dunes again. Batman-sponsored mission or not, he was still standing alone in the middle of the desert with six months missing from his head and no immediate idea what his next step was supposed to be.
"Okay, Peter." he muttered, hands settling onto his hips. "If I'm here because of Batman, then there has to be a reason. Considering the need to maintain radio silence, this is probably a recon/infiltration/intel gathering mission, which means I'm not supposed to be here."
Peter glanced down at his Infiltration Costume and grinned under his mask.
"This suit is starting to make way more sense now. But I thought I would have gone with the Black Suit instead of this one. Wonder what changed." he said, shrugging. "Anyway, looks like the only thing to do now is figure out why I'm here."
He looked at the endless desert around him and scratched his head.
"Guess I'll just pick a random direction and start walking. Or better yet, let fate decide for me." he said.
Peter extended an arm and slowly turned in place, finger sweeping across the horizon as he spoke under his breath.
"Eeny, meeny, miny, moe, catch a spider by its toe. If he hollers, let him go, eeny, meeny, mi-"
He came to a stop as a very faint trace of movement caught his eye on the far horizon.
"-ny, moe." he finished.
Peter brought his hand down and focused on the movement, his vision zooming in. Now he could clearly see that what caught his attention was actually a rising plume of dust cutting across the desert in a straight line.
He focused more, pushing his telescopic vision to the limits, and was able to see that the plume of dust was coming from vehicles.
"Okay, fate, you could've sent me toward an oasis or a Sundollars[1]." he muttered. "But I won't lie, I do prefer the military vehicles."
Peter watched them for a while. They never altered course, maintaining the same heading the entire time.
"They're going somewhere. No idea where, but since they're the only thing I've seen out here, I guess that's where I'm headed too." he said as he quickly stretched. "Unfortunately, there are no large buildings or rocks around, so that means I'm grounded. It also means it's time to put the Flash to shame."
Another memory flashed by.
In a kitchen, a Martian girl held a tray of cookies. Across from her stood a boy bearing the Superman S, a girl archer, and Robin.
"Careful, Superboy, they're hot." the Martian warned as Superboy reached for one.
In a blur, Kid Flash appeared, having snatched the cookie from Superboy's hand. "Not as hot as you, babe." he said, scarfing down the cookie.
Superboy shot Wally an annoyed look before reaching for another cookie.
"Thanks, Wally." the Martian said awkwardly. "That's, uh, sweet."
"Mmm. Not as sweet as you, sugar." Wally said, mouth full of cookie.
"Oh, grow up." the archer said, slapping the back of Wally's head.
The Martian held the tray out towards Peter. "Peter?"
"I am watching my figure, but a cookie won't hurt." he said, reaching for one.
"Team, report to the mission room." said Batman over the intercom.
Peter stood still as the memory faded.
" ... I'm on a team." he said softly. Then the second realization landed, heavier than the first. "And I told them my identity."
He swallowed, mind racing as implications stacked on top of each other. But before his thoughts could really spiral down the rabbit hole, his spider-sense buzzed, snapping him to attention. The intensity of it let him know that whatever it was, it was dangerous.
Peter's head turned just as a faint mechanical whine reached his ears.
Two military drones crested the dune behind him, flying relatively low to the ground.
Before he could even think about throwing himself to the ground in hopes of hiding, his spider-sense throbbed, and he knew it was too late.
Peter's body twisted, bending backwards at an impossible angle as the first burst of gunfire tore through the air where his head had been a split second earlier. He sprang sideways, flipping over the ridge of the dune as another burst chewed into the sand behind him.
"So much for a stealth suit." he said mid-motion.
He hit the slope in a sliding skid, boots digging into the sand as he popped back to his feet. The drones adjusted instantly, banking hard to keep him centered in their crosshairs.
Peter's eyes tracked their movement, instantly putting his plan into action.
He fired a webline at the nearest drone, the line snapping onto the drone's body. The sudden resistance yanked Peter forward, but instead of fighting it, he leaned into the pull.
Bullets screamed past him as he swung up and onto the drone, using his wall-crawling to stay anchored.
"Kali ma. Kali ma." he said as he drove his fist straight through the drone's casing and into its avionics. He pulled his arm back and thrust it into the sky, holding something important, as the drone began to sputter and wobble out of control. "Kali ma!"
The drone lurched violently beneath him, its engines shrieking as its avionics threw out sparks. Peter tossed what was in his hands and kicked off hard, flipping backward just as the drone spiraled away, slamming into the sand and exploding into a fireball.
Mid-air, Peter felt his spider-sense throb again and twisted, bullets slicing through the space where his torso had been. He looked at the second drone and fired two lines, hitting the wings, and pulled himself in.
He went over the top and swung in beneath it, slamming into the underside. The camera the drone used for navigation turned to look at him.
"Come on, guys, cameras make me gun-shy." he said, webbing the camera.
The drone jerked as its visual feed went dark while Peter slammed both fists into the drone, tearing a panel open. He stuck his hand in, ripped out whatever was inside, and kicked off in the same motion.
Like the first drone, it screetched and pitched violently as it slammed into the desert moments later, detonating in a plume of fire and sand that washed over the dunes.
Peter spread his arms, using his web-wings to ride the hot updraft, gliding away to clear the blast radius.
"Not bad for my first time fighting two drones." he said. "Unless I've already infiltrated another militaristic country in the six months I don't remember."
As he leveled out, he noticed the three vehicles were no longer heading in the same direction; now they were heading right for him and weren't far off.
"Damn, I was hoping they were texting and driving." Peter said. "Might as well bring the party to them."
Peter angled his body and dove at them.
Soldiers clinging to the sides of the vehicles opened fire the moment they spotted him. Bullets streaked past him as he weaved instinctively, spider-sense guiding every micro-adjustment. A soldier rose from the lead vehicle's top hatch with a rocket launcher, and Peter's eyes went wide.
He spread his arms, letting his web-wings catch the air, and twisted aside just in time for the rocket to roar past him and detonate in the dunes behind him.
"That's definitely a first." he said, flicking a glance at the explosion behind him before refocusing on the vehicles.
He dove toward the vehicles, snapping his web-wings open for a split second before slamming boots-first onto the hood of the lead vehicle.
The metal screamed as both the hood and the engine gave way beneath him, folding inward under the impact. The force from slamming into the vehicle caused a sudden deceleration that sent the rear of the vehicle bucking up, tires lifting off the sand before slamming back down hard.
Peter looked down at the disoriented soldiers staring up at him with wide eyes through the cracked windshield and couldn't help himself.
"Okay, you have to give me props on that." he said, pulling his feet out from the engine bay as it sputtered to a stop. "I didn't even know if that would work. Or if my knees could take it. Well, I had a sense it would, but still, it was a risk."
The vehicle gave one last jolt, then died completely, steam and smoke hissing up around him. Shouts erupted from the other two trucks as they came to a stop, and eight soldiers poured out, fanning to either side, rifles snapping up toward him.
"The Queen wants them all alive!" one of the soldiers shouted. "Flesh wounds only!"
"I don't speak Bialyan, but my ears are burning. Are you guys talking about me?" Peter wagged his fingers at them.
He dropped off the ruined hood with a spin, one hand on the sand for balance as his legs went out in a low, sweeping arc. At the same time, a soldier rushed in and went airborne as Peter's heel took his footing out from under him, and he hit the ground hard.
Peter flowed out of the sweep without stopping, pushing off the sand and rolling up to his feet as another soldier lunged in. The man swung his rifle like a club, but Peter dipped under it, the butt of the gun whistling over his head.
"Kudos to you for choosing to get close after seeing your pal there get his ass handed to him." he said.
He sprang to his feet and jumped, planting a foot on the soldier's shoulders to flip over him. At the same time, he webbed the soldier's gun and yanked hard, snapping it back into the man's face and knocking him out.
Peter landed behind the soldier just as two more rushed him. He webbed the first man's chest and yanked him forward, driving a fist into his face and dropping him cold. The second barely had time to react before Peter threw a kick, sending the fallen man's rifle flying and cracking into the side of his helmet, knocking him out.
A third soldier charged in with a shout.
Peter jumped, wrapped his legs around the man's shoulders, and used the forward momentum to flip him clean over. The soldier slammed into the sand hard enough that it knocked the air out of him. Peter rolled away the instant his feet hit the ground, coming up in a crouch and webbing the man up without looking behind him.
"Please tell me someone got that on camera." he said, looking at the three remaining soldiers as he fired webbing.
He used impact webbing on all three, the force behind the webbing pushing them into the side of their truck and webbing them to it.
Just as he was about to relax and hit them with a final quip, his spider-sense throbbed. He turned to look at the first vehicle and saw a soldier mid pulling the pin out of a grenade. Peter reacted faster, webbing the man's hand before he could finish. He let out a small sigh of relief and webbed the other three soldiers in the truck to their seats before they could do anything else.
Peter straightened, dusted sand off his gloves, and looked around at the mess.
"That was fun."
~~
AN
I mentioned in the previous chapter that he would eventually go back to the classic suit or a variation of one. Technically, the Sensational Spider-Man suit is a variation on the classic, but I don't really consider it to be one since Peter Parker didn't wear it.
The other contenders for the suits were the Superior Spider-Man suit, which is just amazing, but it's too villany for my preference (might appear in the future though if Peter ever loses faith/goes down a darker path), and the Scarlet Spider suit.
For his stealth one, I was initially going to do the Cloth Black Suit, which clears all suits besides the Classic imo, but decided against it for pretty much the same reason as the Superior Spider-Man one. I went with the infiltrator/dark suit because I'm not the biggest fan of the lights on the big time/stealth suit.
And no, it's not Unstable Molecules. He may be a genius, but three days isn't enough. Though stealth-tech is a good jumping-off point for his research.
[1] Starbucks in DC