XIII. DEJA VU
"this will work"

THE THREE PETERS ARE ODD, in fact that might be a little bit of an understatement. The Peter she has known for years was always a little weird which she now attributes to his spider powers, but there being three of them just makes it weirder. It's like she's talking to three of the safe person, sometimes they even talk in unison.

The trio are standing in a circle with the brunette girl leaning on some of the scaffolding not far away. Their location has already been broadcasted and they're simply waiting for their arrival, cures webbed up all over the place.

"You know, Max was like the sweetest guy ever. And well, Isabella wasn't all evil,"

The brunette scowls at him, throwing a small ball of magic in his direction which he only just dodges. The teasing smile that appears on his face moments later makes that scowl fall rather fast. She shakes her head and looks up at the youngest Peter who seems to be looking out at something.

"Liking the view?" Isabella asks him quietly, causing him to look over. Her gaze is inquisitive, as if she's trying to get inside his head which she could probably do.

"Just thinking about what will happen if this doesn't work," He admits sheepishly and a soft smile pulls at her lips.

"It'll work. There's us two and then the other two who– what are you two doing?"

Isabella watches with her hands on her hips as the taller Peter looks like he's squeezing the life out of the other one. He looks over and sees her eyebrows raised.

"Helping him with his back," He responds as if it's the most obvious thing in the world, which she promises it isn't. "There you go,"

"That's better. Wow,"

Isabella rolls her eyes lightly as Peter beams at his alternate versions. "God, this is so cool. I always wanted brothers. So, you could like make your own web fluid in your body?"

The oldest version winces and shakes his head. "I'd rather not talk about it,"

"I don't mean to—"

"Are you teasing me?"

"No, no, no. He's not teasing you. It's just that we can't do that, so naturally we're curious as to how your web situation works. That's all," The youngest version is now having his input, holding that stupid magical box that harbours the spell.

"If it's personal, I don't wanna pry. I just think it's cool,"

"Are we seriously talking about this when the kid's world is at stake? It's like I'm babysitting three children and I'm definitely younger than two of you," Isabella interjects.

"Live a little, Bella," The Peter from her world teases.

"Kind of hard when I'm actually dead,"

"Not at the moment you're not—"

"I will be if you keep talking, my stress is through the roof,"

The other two seem to continue their conversation away from the two that are bickering.

"Whoa. Like, does it just come out of your wrists, or does it come out off anywhere else?" The wonder in the teenager's voice is astounding.

"Only the wrists,"

"You never had to web block? Cause I run out of webs all the time. I had to make my own lab. And it's a hassle,"

"Are we seriously still talking about this?" Isabella narrows her eyes at the three of them. "Can we please please move on now?"

Flinching back slightly when Peter puts his hand over her mouth, the scowl returns almost immediately. "Continue,"

"I did, actually, as you said. I had a web block," the oldest responds to the middle Peter who seems to be considering what to say next. When he throws out a simple 'why?', the other responds again. "Existential crisis stuff,"

Isabella places her hand over Peter's and closes her eyes for a few seconds. She can feel the heat radiating from her palm and within a few seconds, the man pulls away wincing.

"Hey, what are like, some of the craziest villains that you guys have fought?"

Isabella looks over to the youngest of the bunch, before returning her gaze back to the Peter she has known for years.

"I fought an alien made out of black goo once," the oldest comments.

"No way! I fought an alien, too. On Earth and in space,"

Isabella suddenly looks giddy. "You went to space? Do stars look awesome up close? I've always wanted to see stars,"

"I didn't really have much time to look. Was too busy fighting the purple guy,"

"I wanna fight an alien," the man by her side says with what looks like a small pout. "I'm lame. Like, I fought a Russian guy in a rhinoceros machine and well, Bella,"

"I was a pretty cool villain," Isabella interjects, shrugging her shoulder slightly. All three of them look at her incredulously and a sly smile appears on her face. "I was,"

The three of them continue to chat around her, but her attention turns elsewhere.

"You are amazing," she faintly hears, stepping away from the three Peters. A shuttered breath leaves her as she looks over the edge, a frown pulling at her lips. "Will you say it?"

The girl throws her hands up just in time to protect herself from an incoming electric shock, looking back up to see Max levitating above her. The cracks of electricity light up the space around them, ready to lash out at anybody who comes close.

"Don't make me a murderer, Peter," Max says to the group behind her, she assumes he's talking to the one from this world.

The fight starts rather quickly, the sand guy arriving at sometime throughout it all. Isabella manages to dodge several of Max's attacks, her eyes widening when she looks up to see Ned and MJ still in view. The boy is struggling to close the portal up.

"What are you doing?" She calls up to them when she breaks free from the fight. "You need to go!"

"We're trying!" Ned calls back, trying to focus on the magic.

The brunette cringes when she sees the familiar lizard climbing around near her. They'd already met each other in combat recently and whilst she managed to get away, it almost ended pretty badly. The last thing she wants is to go through that again.

"Sad to tell you, Sandman. Nobody's going home!" She hears Max call and looks to see the three Spidermen struggling significantly.

The three of them gather, hidden away from the gaze of the others. Flipping over the railing, she lands behind them, standing to her full height with her hands on her hips.

"We suck. I-I don't know how to work as a team," The middle Peter speaks.

"Me neither," the oldest agrees.

"Well, I do. I have been in a team, okay? I don't wanna brag, but I will. I was in the Avengers,"

"What's that?" Isabella questions curiously, joining the conversation finally.

"That's great! What is that?" The other Peter asks at the same time.

"Wait, you don't have the Avengers?"

Isabella shakes her head at the boy.

"Is that a band? Are you in a band?" Peter's eager voice fills the air, Isabella smiling at him lightly.

"No, I'm not in a band. No, the Avengers are Earth's Mightiest — Look, it's not important. All we gotta do is focus, trust your tingle, and coordinate our attacks, okay?"

"Right. We take them off the board one at a time,"

"Okay, Peter one," the youngest version points to himself.

"Peter two," his finger is now aimed at the oldest.

"Peter three," then to the one Isabella has known for years.

When his gaze lands on her, she narrows her eyes in question. "Hermione?"

Peter three bursts into a fit of laughter at the name and Isabella stomps her foot onto his, causing him to wince.

"You could just use my real name, you know? I am the only Isabella here. I highly doubt I'll get confused," Isabella deadpans with an annoyed look plastered upon her face.

"All right, let's do this," Peter one says.

"No, wait, wait, wait, wait! I love you guys," Peter three says.

Isabella has to stop herself from laughing at the reactions of the other two. Peter one is simply smiles and nods whilst the oldest manages a small 'thank you.' When the man glances at her next, the laughter simmers down and she gives him a genuine smile.

"I love you too, Pete. So let's go fix this shit and go home," Isabella states confidently.

The four of them head away from one another, Isabella deciding that the three of them will work great together. Her current objective is keeping the two teenagers near the top safe, seeing that Ned and MJ still have not managed to get away.

Closing her eyes and focusing, the girl manages to propel herself upwards, landing in front of them. They jump at her appearance.

"You need to figure this out, it's about to get really dangerous out here," Isabella speaks, turning around so she's shielding them in case anybody sees them.

Unfortunately it seems she's taken a little too long, the lizard man slithering towards them. The girl sticks her arm out and throws him backwards, the lizard slamming against the railing. His recovery is quick, rushing towards her in seconds.

"You don't want to do this, Doctor Connors. Your plan isn't going to work," Isabella warns, eyes glowing and dark locks flowing in the wind.

"It will," He hisses.

"You really think Max is going to let you turn him into a lizard? That Norman isn't going to kill you when this is all over? There is no version of this where you walk out the winner,"

She's distracting him the best she can, but the guy has more brains than that. The girl dodges his next attack, rolling out of the way, and swinging her leg just in time so her foot connects with the side of his head.

Isabella's gaze meets that of MJ and she subtlety nods her head away, telling her to move. There is no way that portal is going to be figured out before Connors is cured, or even temporarily taken out. The brunette is still feeling the fatigue from their last fight, but also from when she was struggling to keep it in control earlier.

"Go!" She yells when they don't move. "You need to go!"

Due to her being distracted by the teenagers, Isabella doesn't have time to prepare for when Connors launches himself at her, sinking his 'claws' into her side. A yell falls from her lips, the pain radiating immensely. His other set of claws embed themselves into her other side and he lifts her up. The pain is strong, blood already seeping from the wounds, even as his claws stay stuck in her skin.

"You should've joined the right side," Connors hisses out at her almost viciously.

Isabella tries to kick at him again, but he tosses her to the side. The lizard slithers off in pursue of MJ who still has the magic box. The Stacy girl manages to stumble to her feet, ignoring the blood that is soaking the sides of her shirt.

Peter is around now, yelling out to his girlfriend who throws one of the serums at him — assumedly the one for the lizard. Within seconds, the serum is released as Connors bites into it.

Isabella stumbles over to MJ and places her hands on her shoulders, just after the mysterious Doctor Strange disappears again. She hadn't even seen him come back, she can only assume that Ned managed to use his magic.

"Are you okay?" Isabella asks and the girl nods. "Okay, good,"

MJ goes to speak when an explosion sounds off near them and shakes the foundation. Before they can even comprehend it, the two girls are falling off the side.

It's as if she's in a state of deja vu, falling so fast that it's almost impossible to stop. Screaming loudly, she manages to generate some sort of response, the familiar feeling filling her entire being. She tries to reach out for MJ but the girl is too far away and when Isabella looks up, the girl's boyfriend is being pushed away by Norman.

Isabella is desperate at this point, not wanting this girl to suffer the same fate as her sister. The magic in her body is simmering at the surface, wanting to break free so she lets it. A loud screech leaves her mouth as she thrusts her hands downwards. This creates a dome like shape around her being. Isabella manages to speed up the fall so that she will be on the ground before MJ and she can help her.

It works, to an extent, Isabella landing somewhat safe. However, it's soon pretty evident she wasn't the only one who wanted to stop history from repeating.

Peter three, eyes full of tears, stands just in front of her with MJ in his arms. She's perfectly safe, evidently fearful but safe.

"Are you okay?" Peter asks.

"Are you okay?" MJ replies, clearly noticing his expression.

He lowers her to her feet after nodding before something flashes on his face. Peter looks over at Isabella who is struggling to stand, blood now flowing from her nose and tears leaking from her eyes.

"Bee, are you okay?" He asks.

"Y-yeah, just a little tired," Isabella trails off before falling forward into his arms, clutching him tightly.

Looking up, she sees Doctor Strange using his magic. The lightly coloured tendrils create an amazing sight, one that she's in awe of.

"It's beautiful," she breathes before slumping in his embrace, the exhaustion taking over her body.

NOTES!

Thank you for reading! We're getting so close to the end. I just want to say a huge thank you to you all for the support and I hope to see you next time!