Spider-Man: Homeless

Peter One

This Strange was insane.

Far more psychotic than Peter had even imagined. His decline into mental instability must've happened almost immediately after he'd entered this universe, because right now, he couldn't see how anyone could listen to a man who was so obviously unwell.

Clearly, he wanted Peter Three, and clearly, he didn't care what happened to him. He only wanted to experiment with him in hopes of keeping this Christine tied to his own universe. Peter doubted very much that Strange would bat an eye if whatever universe-transitioning magic Strange wanted to use required a human sacrifice.

Strange was willing to do anything. He also didn't care for a single person but himself- not even Christine. All he wanted was to have her, and he didn't care about the cost. Maybe he had at first, but he certainly didn't anymore.

Peter was sure he also wanted Peter Three simply so that he could destroy him. Spider-Man was probably, in his mind, the only person that had any chance of stopping him. So he was planning on killing two birds with one stone, and magically tying Christine to her own universe while killing Peter Three.

There was no way he was ever going to let that happen.

But even as he analyzed the situation, trying to make some sense of it, his gaze kept shifting to MJ. He knew that were this a normal day, he'd have loved the way she designed the suit, and would have gladly shown her how to use it even more than she already understood.

But he would never have let her take it into combat. Even though he knew that using the webs to swing of her own accord and swinging by holding on to Peter were two different things, she still pretty much hated heights, and she really didn't know how much of the suit functioned.

But he'd had to let her come, because if he hadn't... she would've found him anyway, and would never have forgiven him for locking her away.

He just had to hope that Karen could guide her from the inside of the suit better than he ever could, and he had to hope that the other Peters would be able to help protect her.

Before he could launch anything at Strange, he heard Ned yelling and watched as a portal tore itself open and a massive rinoscerous-looking monster trampled through.

Clearly, it wasn't an accident, and Ned had tried his best to send something that would hurt Strange.

But all Strange did was manipulate the winds to blow the rhino away, probably into a building or a whole herd of people.

But moving the rhino had distracted him, and while MJ used her webs to pull the rhino back and awkwardly- but harmlessly- send him crashing into some trees, Ned was able to slip open a portal that reopened far above them, dropping Strange from the sky.

But he caught himself and slowly floated down towards them, his voice still booming tauntingly. "I'm not sure what you think you've accomplished."

As much as Peter hated to admit it- he was probably right. They had Ned's magic, three Spider-Men, and a Spider... MJ?, but that wasn't enough to fully defeat the magic of a deranged sorcerer by brute force.

The sorcerer couldn't flat-out kill them all, though. They'd be able to get themselves out of that.

Which left them at a stalemate, causing nothing but collateral damage, until they outsmarted Strange.

"Okay, new tactic," Strange muttered, but it carried through the winds all the way to the entire group's ears.

None of them attacked as he opened a portal- but Peter knew all five of them were holding their breaths.

They were expecting some sort of monster, or maybe even another sorcerer.

Something monstrous.

They didn't expect a woman, maybe in her thirties. Her curly blonde hair whipped around her face as Strange closed the portal behind her and picked her up by the neck.

"Perhaps this is an incentive?"