🕷

Chapter Four

🕷

Misty mapped out the fastest route to Peter and you were quick to follow it. He was standing on the side of the highway in front of an Uber in a rumpled suit. You were almost certain he had better ones, but that wasn't the point.

"Hey Peter," you greeted, dropping down next to him, spotting the Vice Chancellor of MIT in the car, "Hello ma'am, it's nice to meet you. I'm Riptide."

"And there's another one," the woman nodded slowly, clearly confused.

"I'm sorry, I know this is weird. I just, I really needed to talk to you, I know you're on your way to the airport... MJ Watson, Ned Leeds, and (Y/n) (L/n) are the three smartest people I've ever met in my entire life, and I'm the dumbest person, because... I let them help me, but if I didn't let them help me, then millions of people would've died, so please don't let MIT be dumb like me."

You resisted the urge to facepalm. You'd have thought that Peter would have thought through what he was going to say.

"MIT is dumb?"

"What he was trying to say, ma'am," you interrupted before Peter could dig a deeper grave, "Is that not letting them in would be a mistake. The same goes for Peter as well. The press latches onto rumors and drama all the time, but I have worked with him for years and saved countless lives. He is a good, intelligent person- as are those associated with him. They deserve a chance. Especially when the people support him but the news doesn't. What is truly more important?"

Looking to your right to see if Peter wanted to add anything else, you were surprised to find him gone. It didn't take long to spot him on top of the car, "Peter?"

"Something is wrong."

Loud crashes sounded from up ahead, and civilians were getting out of their cars to run away from something.

"Why are you running?" Peter tried to ask one of them but they didn't answer.

Up ahead cars were being picked up and thrown and the bridge itself was crumbling due to something that you weren't able to see yet. However just because the threat wasn't in sight didn't mean it wasn't real.

"Oh my god. Ma'am? You should get out of the car!" Peter tapped the hood, "Everybody get off the bridge!"

Arms somewhat similar to Peter's Instant Kill Mode but more... The octopus broke through the concrete and moved several cars out of the way. Through the hole in the bridge came an unfamiliar man in dark clothes and sunglasses.

"Hello, Peter," the man greeted.

Peter's head tilted in confusion and he waved slowly, "Hi? Have we- do I know you? Do I know him?"

You shook your head, "No, we've never faced anyone like him before. He's new."

You didn't expect a new advanced villain to show up so soon, though you couldn't say you were surprised. Now that Peter's identity had been revealed he was an easy target. It was only a matter of time before something like this happened.

"What have you done with my machine?"

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"The power of the sun, in the palm of my hand. It's gone."

Clearly, there was some sort of disconnect here. This guy was acting like you and Peter had already faced him, "If you stop smashing cars and destroying the bridge we can help you track down the machine you're looking for."

That took the man's attention away from Peter and brought it to you, "And who are you?"

"I'm... Riptide." You assumed he would know that. Given how intertwined your and Peter's superhero identities had become.

"Huh. Another little hero then. Fine, if that's how you want things to be then catch!"

You dodged one of the cars thrown and Peter tried to catch the other and got thrown off the bridge instead. Trusting him to handle himself you focused on this new villain instead. Releasing your water stores you swiped up and sliced at one of the robotic arms the next time it went to pick up a car. Some damage was done, but the metal on the arms was incredibly thick and sturdy. Not quite vibranium, but close.

The arm you sliced seemed to have a mind of its own, and it lunged out at you in an attempt to smack you off the side of the bridge. You ducked under then jumped over when it came back. Peter jumped back onto the bridge and got caught by one of the arms.

"You think your fancy new suit's gonna save you?" The villain slammed Peter into the car of the Vice Chancellor - oh shit she was stuck in the car! That was new information that you would have liked to know before you began this fight.

"I should've killed your little girlfriend when I had the chance."

"What did you just say?"

Now you were really confused. Was there an attack against MJ or something? Your suit was pretty androgynous so maybe he was talking about you and assuming you were female even if you tried to remain as gender-neutral as possible to help hide your identity?

Peter, no matter what the situation was, did not appreciate the implications behind it and activated instant kill. Although you were loath to admit it, he was better off during this fight than you were thanks to his suit. You would have to focus on civilian evacuation instead of the actual fight.

"Help!"

Like evacuating the Vice Chancellor, perfect. You sprinted toward the precariously balanced car, diving off the edge of the bridge when it tipped off. A car the villain threw broke through a dozen water barrels, which was perfect.

Throwing out your hand you pulled the water to you and moved it beneath the car. Freezing your own boots to the side of the bridge, you held the car in place with careful concentration. Slowly lifting the car back onto the bridge, when you were sure it was safe you pushed yourself back up as well.

Peter stood calmly on the bridge, with the new villain seemingly stuck in place.

"How did that happen?" You asked, pointing to the villain.

"Bluetooth. He stole some of my suit and I just connected what was left," Peter explained, which accounted for the new hole in his suit that would have to be repaired later, "Oh! Ma'am, are you okay?"

The two of you jogged over to the Vice Chancellor now that the situation had been resolved, checking her over to make sure she hadn't sustained any injuries, "Come on, you can still make your flight."

"Peter. You're a hero," the Vice Chancellor stated in shock.

"No. Well, I'm-"

"I'm gonna talk to admissions about your friends, and I'm gonna talk to them about you."

"No, but, Ma'am, this isn't about me."

"I'm going to talk to them about your friends, and you," the Vice Chancellor insisted, "Okay? And if you keep your noses clean, maybe you'll have a fair shot."

While this certainly wasn't the best-case scenario, all of you getting another chance at MIT was really all you could ask for. Oh, you were sure there would be another news story later about how Spider-Man destroyed this bridge and Riptide was helpless to stop him, but the news didn't matter anymore. All of you had another chance!

When you and Peter approached the new villain he swung out with a punch that was easily dodged now that he couldn't move.

"Hey! Until you stop trying to kill us, I'm in control, buddy. Of this whole tentacle situation you got going on here. Okay? Now, who are you?"

Before the man could answer, a distant clang caught your attention. You couldn't get a good look at the small object but you were pretty sure it was- no. It couldn't be.

Boom!

A terrifyingly familiar laugh rang out, and through the smoke of the explosion came the Green Goblin. A villain, a man, you know to be dead. What the hell was happening?

"Osborn?"

The ghost of Norman Osborn flew toward the three of you, but before he could truly do any damage you were suddenly in a dark and dingy... dungeon? Peter seemed to recognize the place, because he called out, "Doctor-"

Something roared behind you and you yelped, spinning around to face a lizard man thing. Not the strangest thing you'd ever seen but certainly not the tamest. Turning away from him, you instead faced the new villain, who was stuck behind a containment field.

"Be careful what you wish for, Parker."

With one final full-body jump you spun around one last time to face Doctor Strange. He had a large cut on his cheek and was panting as if he had just finished a battle.

"Let me out of here!"

"Can you please explain to me what is going on?" Peter asked a bit desperately.

"That little spell that you botched where you wanted everyone to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, it started pulling in everyone who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man, from every universe."

"Wait, what? Peter, why didn't you tell me about this?"

"I thought I could do it on my own. It's my fault and I wanted to fix it."

"Peter, we do things together- that's how we've always done things! You should have told me you were going to try a spell to make everyone forget your identity!"

Doctor Strange interrupted before you could argue further, "You aren't any better. This spell didn't just fail because of Peter's insistence on everyone in your lives remembering who he was."

"Then why-"

"Because you, (Y/n), are a Lone Being. I suspected, but it wasn't until casting the spell that my suspicion was confirmed."

Your brows furrowed in confusion. You had heard that word before somewhere. Maybe the Professor or Jean had mentioned it? They'd talked about Nexus Beings before, you knew that. This was new.

"What are Lone Beings?"

"There are versions of us across millions of multiverses. There are universes where we don't exist at all, too. But there are still always multiples. But you, you exist here, and here alone."

"But that shouldn't be possible. If the multiverse does exist like you're telling us it does, and there are infinite universes then there should at least be one other version of me! To know I only exist in this universe-"

"Peter asked me to alter the spell several times so those close to him would remember his identity as Spider-Man, but it wasn't until you were added to the spell that it became truly unstable."

It felt like the wind had been knocked out of you. In the endless multiverse, you were alone. It was only you in an infinite number of universes. It was only you. You hadn't even known about the multiverse before, but for some reason, it was causing a bit of a crisis.

Peter took your hand, giving it a gentle squeeze. You squeezed back, realizing he needed just as much comfort as you did at the moment.

"Who are you? Where am I?" The new villain, who you now knew was from another universe, asked in concern.

"I think it's better if we don't engage with him because, frankly, the Multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little."

"I thought you stopped the spell?"

"No, I contained it, but it would appear that a few of them squeaked through. After you left, I detected an otherworldly presence. I pursued it into the sewers, where I found that slimy, green, son of a gun."

The new villain was clearly still listening, " Spell? Is it magic? What is this, a birthday party? Who is this clown? What is this madness?"

"Watch this," Strange ordered, turning to the man, "Do you know a Peter Parker who is Spider-Man?"

"Yes."

"Is that him?"

"No."

"And have you ever seen this one before?"

"No."

"See?" Strange turned back to the two of you after proving his point. "Okay, here's what we gotta do. I don't know how many of these - visitors we got-"

"Another version of Green Goblin is here," you interrupted, eager to tell Strange so the madman could be taken care of, "He was on the bridge, and he clearly knows the other Spider-Man if he's here."

"Why don't you start with him? I need you to capture them and bring them here, while I figure out how to get them back. Before they destroy the fabric of reality, or worse, Wong finds out."

"Uhh, Doctor Strange?"

"What?"

"We just got a second chance at getting into MIT. If the school sees me fighting these crazy monsters-"

"Hey, watch your mouth!"

"Sorry!"

With a roll of his eyes, Strange summoned your right water dispenser and Peter's storage piece for his suit, "You're seriously still talking about college?"

"Hey, what did you just do?"

"This," Strange sent out a web and transported Peter into one of the cells. He turned to you, but you held your hands up in surrender and he backed off before doing anything.

"How did you do that?" The villain asked.

"Lots of birthday parties," Strange responded sarcastically, walking over to a stone and turning it to release Peter from his cell. He then returned your suit pieces to the two of you, "One shot, send it to me and move on. You're welcome. Get to work."

"Sir?"

"Now what?"

"I know this is my mess, and I swear to you that I'll fix it, but I'm gonna need some help."

Doctor Strange warred with himself internally for a few moments before letting out a loud sigh and nodding in agreement. He must have been truly desperate to catch these people and hide it from Wong.

"Not too many people, and get them over here quickly."

All it took was a quick text in the group chat with the address and Ned and MJ confirmed that they were on their way. You let your parents know the bare bones of what was going on and informed them you'd either be home late or wouldn't be home at all.

"Hey, are you okay," Peter pulled you away from the cells so the two of you could talk in private, "I know all of this is crazy. I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I just... needed to do this on my own."

"I know you feel like this is all your fault Peter, but it's not. It's Beck's. We're a team, right? I don't blame you for wanting to do this on your own, but I'd like to at the very least know what you're trying to do. No big secrets, right?"

"No big secrets," Peter leaned down and pressed a firm kiss against your lips, "I'm serious though, are you okay?"

"I don't know," you admitted honestly, "It's weird, knowing there's only one of me. If there are infinite versions of everyone else then why am I so different?"

"I don't know. I'm afraid I'm not an expert in the multiverse. But what I do know is that I'm the luckiest version of Peter Parker out there for having you all to myself in this universe. I wouldn't change anything, not even if there were more of you out there."

Resting your head against Peter's shoulder, you closed your eyes and allowed yourself a few moments to bask in the comfort he was offering. Whether or not you were some weird anomaly didn't matter, because you had Peter there to support you through anything.

And there were more Peters too... you couldn't help but wonder if they got dragged through the multiverse too.