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Chapter Five

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"I can't believe I'm in the Sanctum Sanctorum."

"Neither can I."

One was much happier than the other, and despite the fact that this was an incredibly serious situation that could make or break the multiverse, Stephen's exasperation, Ned's excitement, and MJ's indifference were a hilarious mix.

"So how did you know you're a match for magic? Because my nanna says that we have it in and sometimes I get these tinglings in my hand-"

"You should talk to your physician."

MJ looked around and commented, "I thought this place would be cooler. Or, warmer I guess."

You waved your hand dismissively, "It was a magical issue, it's not like this all the time. We're sorry about dragging you into this MJ."

"You don't have to apologize to me," MJ shook her head, "Or to either of us, really. The two of you were just trying to do the right thing, just... let us know next time? We're a team, and we would have helped you."

Strange clapped his hands together to gain everyone's attention, "As of now, you have detected zero multiversal trespassers, so... get on your phones, scour the internet, and... Scooby-Doo this shit!"

MJ raised a brow, and you just knew that Strange was about to meet the full wrath of your best friend, "You're telling us what to do, even though it was your spell that got screwed up. Meaning that all of this is kind of your mess. You know, I know a couple of magic words myself, starting with the word 'please'."

The two stared each other down, and while Strange was one of the most powerful sorcerers on Earth, you knew he would not be winning this fight. When he sighed in defeat a few seconds later your suspicion was confirmed, "Please, Scooby-Doo this shit."

MJ smirked, Ned was mentally fangirling behind you - you knew that look on his face all too well - and Peter had a look on his face that was practically begging MJ to teach him her ways. Although Peter was a bit too cute and innocent-looking to pull off MJ's glares.

"You can work in the undercroft."

"The undercroft?"

The undercroft was about 50% badass. What could have been an amazing, ancient dungeon area was partially converted into a storage/laundry space. Modern wizards have to deal with modern problems, you supposed. It took some of the mysticism away but you got a good chuckle out of it so it wasn't that bad.

"A torture rack!" Ned exclaimed excitedly, rushing over to what looked like-

"That is a pilates machine," MJ deadpanned, turning to the part of the undercroft that was actually magical, "That is..."

"The crypt."

"Okay, so we get the rest of the guys. You zap them, Doctor Magic will send them back. And when we get into MIT, round of stale donuts, my treat," MJ simplified the plan with a small smile, much more optimistic than you had seen her since Peter's identity had first been revealed.

"Let's catch some multiverse men," Ned encouraged, holding up an unloaded crossbow he must have found lying around.

"Hey! Who the hell are these two?" The man the two of you captured asked.

"These are my friends. This is MJ and this is Ned."

"Hello."

You waved as well, "I'm (Y/n), by the way. I didn't really introduce myself earlier. What was your name again?"

"Dr. Otto Octavius."

The four of you exchanged incredulous looks and couldn't help but giggle a bit. The alliteration and the subtle reference to an octopus? It was too perfect.

"Wait, no seriously, what's your actual name?"

The man raised a brow, and you knew that he wasn't lying.

"Oh, is that a dinosaur?" Ned pointed to the lizard-thing Strange caught. You weren't exactly sure what it was. It hadn't talked yet but that didn't mean it couldn't. It just sort of... brooded.

"I'm going to call May and let her know what's going on," Peter said, pulling out his phone.

"Yeah, I should probably call my parents too. Ned, MJ, are you good to get started? We aren't sure how many slipped through, but we know there's at least one more and it's another version of Norman Osborn."

MJ and Ned winced, nodding. Norman Osborn was a shitshow to deal with the first time and left Harry traumatized and struggling after. If he were to get word of this new Norman Osborn you weren't sure what he would do and you didn't want to know.

Trusting the two of them to get a good start on the search, you retrieved your phone from your pocket and called your dad. The two of them would be at home together at the moment, so if you called one the other would be there.

"I see you've finally remembered that you have parents," your dad answered the call snarkily, "We saw the fight on the news. Who was it?"

"Someone from another dimension."

"... alright that wasn't what we were expecting to hear. Was it just the one or..."

"That would be too easy. There's another one Doctor Strange already captures and at least one more - another version of Norman Osborn. There could be more that we haven't discovered yet, we aren't sure."

"How did this even happen?" Your mom asked.

"It was a botched spell, so now everyone who knows Peter is Spider-Man is being pulled into our universe. Strange stopped it before it could fully happen but clearly, there was enough time for a couple of them to come through. So we're going to be focusing on bringing them in and sending them back to their universe."

"Well, that sounds like a fun start to the weekend. Keep us updated and let us know if you need anything."

"I will, wish us luck. I love you."

"Love you too."

"I got one, I got one, I got one!" Ned cheered as you ended your call, "I mean you can take the guy out of the chair but you can't take the chair out of the guy."

"What did you find?"

"There's a disturbance near a military research facility outside of the city. And witnesses say they saw a monster flying through the air."

"That has to be Norman, right?" A monster flying through the air certainly sounded like him.

"That's impossible," Dr. Octavius called from his cell.

Peter's head tilted, and he asked, "You know him, don't you? On the bridge, you said his name."

"Norman Osborn. Brilliant scientist. Military researcher. But he was greedy. Misguided."

"What happened to him?" You asked. The way Octavius spoke about him... well it sounded like Norman died in the other universe too.

"We tire of your questions!" Octavius yelled.

All of you stepped back and tried to shake off the sudden change in personality. You activated your suit, tapping your modified water release curiously. Some magic touches to your suit would be cool.

"Where are we going?"

"It can't be him," Octavius seemed much calmer again, much sadder.

"Why?"

"Because Norman Osborn died years ago. So either we saw someone else, or you're flying out into the darkness, to fight a ghost."

In every universe, poor Norman Osborn seemed to meet the same fate against Spider-Man.

Disturbed, but with a job to do, you waited for Peter to put on his suit - inside out this time to hide the stain which actually looked pretty cool - before he swung the two of you through the city to the military research site.

"Keep an eye out on those trees, we don't really know where this guy is," MJ warned from where Peter's phone was duct-taped to his chest, "I really don't know how you do this without throwing up."

Peter touched down on the ground, letting go of your waist and surveying the area. Something was definitely off, the air was charged with energy to the point that the water molecules were buzzing.

Something moved out of the corner of your eye, and you turned to see nothing.

"Did you guys see that?" Peter asked.

"Yeah."

"No."

"It's, it's really dark."

The two of you cautiously continued your search. There was something gathering in the air, molecules shifting and vibrating together at a rapid pace. Peter paused, activating his new gauntlet from Doctor Strange.

"What's happening?"

"What is it? Are you getting the tingle thing? Is the tingle thing happening? Is your tingle tingling?"

The two of you spun around to face a being of pure electricity. They seemed to be absorbing it from the power lines.

"Are you guys seeing this?"

"Yeah."

"Is it another version of Osborn?"

"No, he looked the same. This is different."

"You wouldn't happen to be from another universe, would you?" Peter called out and you resisted the urge to roll your eyes. Clearly asking a simple question like that wouldn't get the answers that you needed.

"What's he doing?"

"I don't know. Looks like he's charging."

"I don't like this. Just send him here."

Peter shot out a web at the multi-dimensional being. It went right through them and hit a tree instead. Despite this failure, the beings eyes snapped open and their hands lifted to shoot out lightning toward the two of you. You dived out of the way and ducked into the darkness of the forest while Peter used the trees to swing around.

According to science laws, pure water could stop electricity rather than conduct it, however, pure water didn't exist in nature. If you could create some, however...

"Peter I have an idea," you told him through the com, "I need you to distract them."

"Easier said than done!"

Pulling some already quite pure water molecules from the air, you closed your eyes and focused on the impurities that prevented it from being entirely H2O. It was tedious work, but you successfully purified it and loaded it into your upgraded water dispenser.

When you stepped out of the trees there was another multi-dimensional being that was actually helping Peter against the electricity-based one.

"We're gonna pull the plug on him so you have an easier shot!" Peter yelled before swinging off, the second being who seemed to be made of sand rushed toward the electricity being and surrounded him. Peter swung around and broke off the connectors for the empower lines to limit his access. You lifted your hand and waited for the right moment to shoot.

When all the lines were down the electric being seemed to "power down" and the sand being stopped their attack as a result.

"Different Peter. Weird," the sand being said.

Peter high-fived his hand, only to accidentally smack it off, "Thanks. Sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

You looked to the electric being, only to immediately turn your gaze away and awkwardly clear your throat.

"I got my body back," the man - and yes, it was clear he was at least assigned male at birth at this point - said in astonishment.

"Hey, um... this is gonna sound really crazy, but this isn't your universe."

"Another universe?"

"What?"

"That's what I was feeling. The power. It's different. I like it." The electric being's eyes lit up with excitement.

Spotting a storage shed with repairman's clothes inside, you quickly hurried over to grab a pair for the man, "Alright, sorry but I can't keep pretending like we can't see every part of you right now. Here."

The man took the clothes and slipped them on, thankfully allowing you to focus on the mission at hand.

"Sorry in advance," you shot the magic-infused water at the man before he had the chance to retaliate.

The sandman - you really had to ask for their names - began to panic as soon as he disappeared, "What was that? What did you just do to him?"

"No, no, no. It's okay," Peter tried to soothe him.

The man seemed to puff up aggressively, "Did you kill him?"

"He's not dead. I transported him to where the others are staying so all of you can be sent home."

That seemed to calm the man slightly, and Peter was quick to shoot his solid form with a web to send him away as well.

"That could have gone better," Peter sighed.

"It also could have gone worse," you encouraged, nudging Peter's shoulder with yours, "We're going to figure this out, alright? We've already got four of them, let's assume that Osborn is the last one since there have been no other sightings. Then we can send them all back home and work on that appeal to MIT."

Nodding, Peter pulled you into a tight embrace that he clearly needed, "You're right, thank you."

"Of course, Bug-Boy, anything for you," you allowed yourself to melt into the embrace for a few moments, desiring the comfort as much as Peter, "How about I call MJ while you work on repairing some of this?"

"Sounds like a plan," Peter pressed a kiss against your cheek and swung off.

Pulling out your phone, you called MJ who answered almost immediately, "Oh, (Y/n), thank god. Peter cut off and we had no idea what was going on except that those multiverse villains kept showing up."

"Oh good, they came through then? There should be two."

"Yeah, they're here and locked up."

"Perfect. Peter's working on repairing the power lines and I'm gonna stick around with him for a bit. Text or call me if you need anything, I'll let you know if something comes up."

"Will do."

While you did what you could to help Peter with the powerlines, ultimately water was a conductor at its core, and using your mutation wasn't the best idea. Still, the two of you did your best and the majority of them were completely repaired by the time the sun was rising. You and Peter were taking a few moments to look at the horizon and catch your breath when his phone rang.

"Hey May," he answered and put her on speaker so you could hear.

"Hey, Peter. I'm at work, and Norman Osborn is here, which is strange because I swear I went to his funeral."

Your heart stopped. Norman Osborn - who had attempted to kill your mom and May in the past - was now alone with May at her work.

"I'll be there soon, May. Get out of there!"

Peter wrapped an arm around your waist and swung back into the city as quickly as he could. Luckily the military base wasn't too far out, so by the time the sun was fully up twenty minutes later the two of you had arrived.

Sprinting into the building, Peter yelled, "Where's May?" One of the workers pointed at the back, "Thank you."

Ready for a fight, you burst into the back kitchen, only to be greeted by May and Norman with a smile on each of their faces.