章 1: Happy 15th Birthday

- 1st POV -

I always hoped the Multiverse Theory was real.

The idea of infinite worlds filled with all the possibilities one could imagine.

It fascinated me.

I also hoped that if the theory was true, out of all the me's that existed in the infinite worlds, I was the only one suffering like I was.

I was born with neuronal ceroid lipofuscinosis, a general term for a rare genetic disorder of a progressive, degenerative neurometabolic disorder. It manifested when I was 12, making it Kufs disease, more specifically Type A.

Kufs affects the nervous system, specifically voluntary movement and intellectual function. To be more specific, Type A causes seizures, myoclonic epilepsy, dementia, ataxia, tremors and tics, dysarthria, confusion, and psychotic behavior.

An all-around horrible disease that no person should ever have to go through.

The past three years my quality of life had dropped like an anvil. It felt like I had become the fish with glass bones and paper skin from SpongeBob.

I could no longer enjoy skating or much of anything physical. I couldn't even go to school anymore because my condition was worsening and my parents were worried I would drop dead in class.

It got to a point where the only thing I could still enjoy was reading comic books.

It was a way to escape the nightmare that was my life, and the hero who got me through it all more than anyone else was Spider-Man.

Like many other kids, I became a fan of Spider-Man when I first saw the movies with Tobey Maguire when I was 4, courtesy of my dad who similarly loved Spider-Man, and that was the catalyst for me consuming anything Spider-Man related whether they were comics, animated shows, or movies.

There was something about the character that pulled me in. His idealism, hope, and drive to be good even at the cost of his own life. The quips he said to keep things light and throw his enemies for a loop, but also as a way to calm his nerves. The way he cared.

It inspired me and filled me with hope.

I even took up photography so I could be more like him.

Unfortunately, it seems my time has run out.

As I lay in my bed, my muscles twitching, I could tell it was time. I didn't know how, but I knew that the next seizure I had was going to be my last, and it was coming soon.

I wanted to make some noise and tell my parents so they could be with me, but I decided not to. I decided it would be best they didn't see my seizing body go still, the life leaving my eyes. I just hoped they would forgive me.

I suppose the only good thing about dying so quickly was that I was finally going to be free of the prison that was my body instead of being trapped in a downward spiral for a potential decade longer, seeing as NCL patients live no longer than 15 years.

The other good thing is that I wouldn't have to read the self-insert character that was Paul from the latest Spider-Man run.

I chuckled a little at that thought, my eyes turning to my wall, where I had collected various Spider-Man memorabilia over the years.

As I looked them over, remembering the memories associated with each item, my mind started to get cloudy and I knew it was time.

'I hope there's one of me out in the multiverse who is Spider-Man.' I thought as my body began to shake violently, my mind clouded, and unconsciousness overtook me.

- 3rd POV -

New York

August 10, 2009 07:00 EDT

Peter Parker lay in a darkened bedroom on the second floor of a brownstone on the Upper West Side. Books on every subject were scattered across the floor, school and martial arts trophies lined a bookshelf, a computer cobbled from mismatched parts sat on his desk alongside a vintage camera, and skateboards hung on the wall next to band posters.

Suddenly, Peter's eyes shot open.

'Haven't had that dream in a while.' he thought as he sat up, rubbing his eyes to get rid of the sleep.

As he sat there thinking about his dream of reliving the final moments of his past life, the door to his room opened. He looked up and saw the blurry outline of his parents, Richard and Mary Parker, standing there, their faces all smiles as his mom held what seemed like a cupcake with a lit candle.

"Happy fifteenth birthday, Peter." she said as she turned on the lights, causing Peter to squint at the sudden brightness.

"Happy birthday, son." said Richard.

"Thanks." he said, a genuine smile on his face as he reached over to the nightstand for his glasses before putting them on, his vision vastly improving.

"Now, make a wish." she said, putting the cupcake in front of his face.

He closed his eyes for a moment and wished for the same wish he had wished for every birthday since he had been reborn. A wish that had come true every year since, and one he would continue to wish for until the day he died.

He opened his eyes and blew the candle out.

"I can't believe you're already fifteen." said Mary, looking at him with a love only a mother could have as she planted a kiss on top of his head, "It feels like just yesterday you were two years old, going around and getting bitten by spiders."

"I was a curious kid." he said, an embarrassed smile on his face.

"A curious kid who almost gave me a heart attack when he was holding a black widow like a kid at a candy store." she said, shaking her head as she remembered that scene.

"I was very curious." he mumbled.

'Can't really tell them I was hoping that getting bitten by a spider would give me superpowers, can I? I'd be seeing my old psychologist by the end of the day.' he thought, remembering how his parents had taken him to a child psychologist after they found out he had been getting purposefully bitten by spiders.

Of course, it went without saying why he was purposefully being bitten by spiders. However, nothing came of it except a few sessions with a psychologist.

"And now you're about to be a freshman in high school, already taller than me, and almost an adult." she said, hugging his head, "I wish you would stop growing up. Just stay my little boy."

"Almost an adult. Guess it's time for him to get a job." Richard joked, causing Peter and him to chuckle while his mom rolled her eyes.

"Maybe not a job, but an internship at Wayne Biotech?" he asked, hopeful that now that he was fifteen his father would agree to let him intern at his place of work.

"He's been asking for years for you to let him, and he is the one who convinced you to leave LexCorp and get a job there. I think he's old enough now. He's certainly more than intelligent enough to hold his own." Mary chimed in, always one to help her little boy.

"Hmm ... fine." said Richard, causing Peter to clench his fist in excitement, "We'll do a tour of the place after breakfast. To see if you want to intern there."

"Yes! Thanks, Dad." said Peter.

"You're welcome. Now, get dressed, breakfast is ready." he said as the two left Peter's room, allowing him to reminisce.

'Fifteen years since I reincarnated as a newborn. Fifteen years since I was given another chance at life, a crazier one at that.' he thought, remembering the day he discovered he was not the son of a fellow Spider-Man fan on his Earth, but rather a child born into the outlandish world of DC, 'Seeing Superman in that news report, and realizing that I wasn't just reborn but reborn into what I once thought was only a fictional world was definitely ... something. Though I would've preferred to have been in the Marvel universe, beggars can't be choosers. I did get the typical Peter Parker intelligence so it balances out.'

Snapping out of his reminiscing, he stood up from his bed and pandiculated, yawning as his bones popped and muscles loosened. After his after-sleep stretch, he picked up his towel before going to the bathroom. Looking in the mirror, he was once again amazed that he looked exactly like Andrew Garfield.

'I look like Andrew Garfield from the Amazing Spider-Man movies and my parents look like they did in that movie. Even after all these years, this is all still a little weird sometimes. Too bad I also got his poor vision.' he thought before quickly flexing, 'Though I am a little more filled out than he was thanks to my years of martial arts. The ripped physique of Tobey meets Andrew. Hell yeah.'

After a little more typical teenage boy flexing, he quickly showered and brushed his teeth before getting ready. His outfit for the day consisted of a black t-shirt, a brown jacket, dark blue jeans, and black skate shoes, though he had his jacket in his hands as he didn't want to wear it indoors.

Changed, he went down the stairs to the kitchen where his parents were already eating at the breakfast nook.

"Finally, your food's almost cold." said Mary, "What took you so long?"

"Leave the poor kid alone, Mary. He's a teenager. He was probably taking care of his urges." said Richard, smiling as he looked up from reading his newspaper.

"Richard!" said Mary while Peter only smiled in amusement.

"What? I was young once, I reme-"

"Lalalalala!" said Peter, his smile dropping as he plugged his ears to stop himself from hearing something that would forever ingrain a picture he never wanted to see in his mind.

"Come on, I'm just yanking your chain." he said, putting his hand up at his wife's exasperated look, "Poor choice of words. Honest."

"Please don't ever mention anything like that again unless you never want to have grandkids." Peter said as he sat down and started putting food onto his plate.

"Don't mention what?" said a sleepy female voice.

Turning around, Peter saw his younger sister Teresa, her brown hair disheveled, her robe sloppily tied, and bunny slippers on her feet. By the state of her, it was clear she had just woken up.

'Teresa Parker, the rumored sister of Peter Parker who debuted in Family Business. A lesser-known/underutilized character in the comics. Now she's my sister who I would die for.'

"Don't you have something to say to your brother?" said Mary.

"Oh, right." she said, ambling over to him before tiredly resting her forehead on the back of his head, "Happy birthday, Peep."

"Thank you, Teri." said Peter, smiling both in appreciation at her well-wishes and at her nickname for him which came around after she failed to say his name when she was much younger and had stuck since then.

"Mm." she said, sitting down as Mary prepared her a plate, "What were you guys talking about?"

At her question, Mary looked at Richard, giving him a look that told him he should keep his mouth shut if he knew what was good for him.

"Stocks. We were talking about stocks." said Richard.

"Oh. Something about sex then." said Teresa before taking a bite of her fried egg.

"Teresa!" said Mary as Peter and Richard both chuckled.

"Mom, I'm 13. I know what sex is." she said, rolling her eyes.

"Alright, that's enough. From here on out, no more of that talk. Understood?"

"Understood." they all said.

"Good. Let's eat breakfast in peace." she said with finality, the breakfast nook falling silent save for the sound of eating for a minute or two.

"Are we doing anything for Peter's birthday?" asked Teresa, breaking the silence as she nibbled on some bacon.

"He didn't want a party so we're going out to dinner. It'll just be us, your Uncle Ben and your Aunt May." answered Mary, "Why?"

"Can Zatanna come?" she asked.

'Zatanna Zatara, DC's closest equivalent of Scarlet Witch and my sister's best friend. Also, our neighbor.' thought Peter before refocusing on the conversation.

"Of course, she can. You don't mind do you, Peter?" said Mary.

"The more the merrier."

"Thanks." said Teresa, "Can she also stay the night?"

"Giovanni going on a trip again?" asked Richard, eyes not moving from the newspaper.

"Yeah. He has a show in Vegas. She said she's fine staying alone, but I don't want her to."

"You're such a good friend, Teri." said Peter, reaching across the table to pinch her cheeks only to have his hand slapped away.

"Poor girl. A mother gone because of an illness, god rest her soul, and a father always busy with his magic." said Mary, doing the sign of the cross in respect for the dead.

'If only they knew his stage magic is child's play to his real magic.'

He realized years ago that even though Zatara did not wear any face covering when doing his heroic activities, it seemed he did have some magical glamor of sorts. At least that's what Peter assumed since his family had never mentioned anything about Zatara being their neighbor even after having seen his exploits on the news.

"You say it like he's always absent. He usually takes her with him when he has a show." said Teresa.

"I know, but still. That kind of life can't be easy on loved ones." said Mary.

"So, Peter." said Richard, putting his newspaper down to look at his son, "You inviting anyone to the dinner? Friends? A girl perhaps? Though if you're anything like your old man, there will be too many girls to invite."

"Mom's already told us that you were a nerd and she was the only girl to talk to you." said Teresa, deflating Richard's ego.

"Mary. I told you not to mention that."

"Hush." Mary said, ignoring her husband's antics, "You should invite that girl from the gym you've mentioned before. What was her name?"

"Yolanda?" said Peter.

"Her. You should invite her."

"Yolanda. Is she pretty?" asked Richard.

"I'd say so." answered Peter.

"She your girlfriend?" asked Teresa, teasingly raising her eyebrows.

"No. Yolanda's a friend. Ted Grant, the owner, is her godfather. She trains there and that's how we met." explained Peter, "But I haven't seen her in a while. She stopped going to the gym."

"How about inviting someone from that other place you go to with ... oh what was his name? Rick Tiger or something like that?" said Mary.

"Richard Dragon." corrected Peter, shaking his head in amusement.

"Rick Tiger, Richard Dragon, same thing."

"That's his real name?" said Teresa with an incredulous look, "Richard Dragon?"

"As far as I know." Peter said to Teresa before turning to look at his mother with suspicion, "What's your game?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean, why are you so insistent on me inviting someone to my birthday dinner?"

"Because she thinks you have no friends." Teresa said bluntly as she took a bite of toast.

"Teresa!" said Mary.

"I have friends." said Peter, a little defensive.

"Name one."

"Yo-"

"Besides Yolanda." interrupted Teresa, "Who you haven't even seen in a while."

"Uh..." said Peter, thinking for a moment before realizing that in his infinite wisdom, he had somehow failed to make friends, "Oh."

"Told you."

"Teresa." admonished Mary before holding Peter's hands in comfort, "Peter, we've known you were different from other kids ever since you were young. When you first showed just how smart you were, your father and I were ecstatic, and when you showed an organic interest in martial arts, we were similarly thrilled. Most kids have to be coerced to even do their homework or join a sport, but not you."

"But we quickly realized you were always looking forward. You were focused on the things you like so much that you forgot to live in the moment. It's not because you're not good with people because you are, but you never thought to make friends. It was as if all your classmates and teammates didn't exist. As if they were inconsequential." said Richard, similarly placing his hand on Peter's shoulder for comfort.

"We thought you would eventually grow out of it, but you haven't. We're just worried about you is all. Life is a lot more fun when you have friends to share the moment with. And now that you're two weeks away from entering high school, we thought it best if we talked with you." said Mary.

"Remember son, whatever you do in this life, it's not legendary unless your friends are there to see it." said Richard, sounding wise beyond his years.

"Wow." said Peter, his mind a little blown, "You came up with that?"

"Yes, I did. Thank you very much." Richard said, proud as a peacock.

"I guess I have always been too focused on my stuff." said Peter, reflecting on his past fifteen years, "I promise I'll try to do a better job living in the now."

"Good. That's all we can ask for." Richard patted Peter on the shoulder before standing up, "Fantastic breakfast as always my love, but it is time for Peter and I to bring home the bacon."

"Dad finally let you intern at his job?"

"A trial run of sorts. See if I like it." answered Peter, snapping out of it as he stood up.

"Biotech doesn't make sense for you. I think Wayne Tech is a better fit considering all that stuff you do in the shed." said Teresa.

"That's where you are wrong, little sister." he said, shaking his finger at her, "For a genius such as I, there is no better fit because everything is a perfect fit."

"Just like Dad." she said, rolling her eyes at his antics.

"I regret it every day that you inherited your father's sense of humor." said Mary, air quoting when saying humor.

"Come on, that's part of the reason you fell in love with me." said Richard, walking over to Mary.

"Don't get it twisted. I fell in love with you despite your humor."

"Either way I am the luckiest man in the world." he said, leaning down to kiss her while Teresa made a disgusted face.

"Yes, you are. Now, go. You don't want to set a bad example to your son by being late." she said, lightly pushing his face away.

"Yes, dear." he said, turning to look at Peter, "All set?"

"Just about. I forgot my cell phone. I'll meet you in the car." said Peter.

He left the kitchen but instead of going back to his room to get his cell phone, which was already in his jacket pocket, he went out the backdoor to the small patio/garden. Typical of New York City, the backyard was small even for such a pricey brownstone, but it had enough space for a shed.

Walking up to the shed, Peter took out a key and inserted it into the padlock while he put his left thumb on the body of the padlock, causing it to glow for a second before unlocking. The padlock was specially created by Peter, having taken inspiration from the Into the Spider-Verse movie. It required both the key and his fingerprint to unlock.

Unfortunately, due to a lack of quality material, he could not make the lock nearly as good as he wanted to, but it was enough to keep any thieves or Teresa out.

He opened the shed, revealing a typical shed with tools and miscellaneous gardening objects. The only thing that was out of place was a hatch on the floor.

'I lucked out with the house having a bomb shelter. Thank you to the extremely cautious previous owners, though can't say I blame them considering the world we live in.' thought Peter as he opened the hatch and made his way down a short ladder.

As his feet touched the ground, the lights turned on revealing a sizeable space filled with all sorts of circuitry, parts, computers, and tools.

The bomb shelter had become Peter's lab/cave where he tinkered with things, putting his new life's intellectual capacity to use by learning and experimenting with mechanics, robotics, and engineering.

As much as he wanted to tinker with his stuff, he had no time so he made his way over to a workbench and picked up a small round device no bigger than a coin. It was a device that would allow him to hack into wherever he placed it, much like the one Tony Stark uses in the first Avengers movie.

'I'm not maliciously hacking into Wayne Biotech servers. I'm just curious is all.' he thought as he put the device into his pocket and went back up to the ground floor, closing the hatch securely and relocking the shed before making his way to the front of the house where his dad was already waiting in the car.

He quickly entered the car and put on his seatbelt.

"Ready?"

"Yeah. I'm ready." said Peter, rubbing his hands in excitement.

"Let's go."

As the car took off, Peter stared out the window, something he loved to do. He loved watching the people living their lives and the buildings go by. Everything and everyone a small piece of a grander tapestry.

'I love this life. I love this city. I want to protect it.' he thought, watching the scenery for a few seconds before realizing something, 'I've been doing a lot of remembering today. Telling myself things I already knew. I wonder why.'

He subtly looked around, not wanting to raise any suspicion from his father before staring out at ... nothing¹.

'Oh, well.'

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author's Note

As I'm sure some people will comment on it, he died as a teen, and a young one at that. He is not thinking of using his newfound intelligence to save the world by inventing something revolutionary, he is thinking of using it to fulfill a dream he thought was impossible and that would also allow him to make the world a better place. That being said, he will grow up, so who knows what will happen then.

I was originally going to make him a Gothamite but decided to keep his New Yorker roots because he wouldn't have to compete with Batman for villains/crime. It also lets me add comic/other characters that haven't been introduced to YJ. Also, people have a fit when a reincarnated character stays in Gotham.

The world will be a Young Justice AU, being a little more extensive than it is, but not nearly as extensive as the comics.

He was mainly a Marvel/Spider-Man fan, so he didn't read much DC, but he does know common things like Bruce Wayne is Batman, Clark Kent is Superman, and things like that. That's why he doesn't know that Ted Grant is Wildcat or Richard Dragon is one of the greatest martial artists in the world.

He will join the team, though it won't be for long.

Non-harem, there will be only one LI, though I have not yet decided who that is. He will also inexplicably attract girls to him like the real Peter Parker, though like I said, no harem.