Maya Stark

Chapter 131: Spider necklace

The undercroft was a dark, damp, and overall dodgy-looking basement. Not really a badass lair, more like a place you would be held captive...

'Badass,' Ned said, as he starts exploring immediately and lifts up an old crossbow.

I think about telling him to put it down before he kills someone, but I just start exploring myself. MJ and I walk forward, both of looking around curiously. I turn back to Peter who seemed guilty about the whole thing.

'Guys, listen,' he starts, 'about this whole spell thing—'

'It's totally okay,' I say.

His head snaps to look at me. 'Wait, really?' he takes a few steps closer to me.

'Yeah,' I say. 'I mean, I get it. You were... just trying to fix things... And so... Maybe just run it by us next time, you know? That way, when you're thinking, "Hey, I'm about to do something that could... break the universe", we could like, help you. Workshop something, or... brainstorm ideas. Or just simply tell you how stupid you're being.'

'Yeah, I'm with Maya,' MJ said.

'Deal,' Peter said, nodding. 'Ned?'

'Oh, dude. I don't care,' Ned said. 'And seriously, not a big deal. Oooh...' Ned was looking at a Pilates machine that was in the corner. 'A torture rack?'

'That is a Pilates machine,' I say. Then I point to what looks like a dungeon in front of us. 'That is...?'

'The crypt,' Peter said as MJ, Peter, and I walk up to the cells.

'Okay,' MJ said, 'so we get the rest of the guys. You and Maya zap them, Doctor Magic will send them back. And when we get into MIT, round of stale donuts, my treat.'

'My treat,' I say, smiling slightly.

Ned joins us, armed with the crossbow and looking kind of funny. He always seems to find the strangest item, no matter where we go. It was almost a gift, really. Don't get me started on his banana sticker collection.

'Let's catch some multiverse men,' Ned said.

'Hey!' says some octopus' guy. 'Who the hell are these three?'

'These are my friends,' Peter said. 'This is Maya, that is MJ, and then this is Ned.'

Ned waves. 'Hello.'

'I'm sorry, what was your name again?' Peter asks the guy.

'Dr. Otto Octavius.'

The four of us look around at each other and start laughing. It doesn't last long, but it was enough laughter to boost my mood. It felt right working together as a team. A group. We would get out of this. Peter's hand slipped into mine as we continued to laugh slightly.

'Wait, no, seriously, what's your actual name?' Peter asks.

Ned points at some type of mutant lizard. 'Oh, is that a dinosaur.'

'A dinosaur?' I repeat, looking at Ned, confused. 'Really? That's your first thought?'

'It looks like a dinosaur,' Ned shrugs. 'You don't know. It could be a dinosaur.'

We dispersed. I help Ned set up his equipment, MJ looks around as if she's trying to study the mind of Strange, and Peter tries to clean the green stain off his suit. I'll give him the surprise if he can't get the stain off his suit, because it's not quite perfect yet. Once Ned was all set up, I moved over to where Peter was scrubbing his suit, desperately trying to get the green out.