chasing waterfalls [Peter Parker]

~63~

For a while there, I thought I was dead. I knew that water and electricity didn't mix well, so getting electrocuted was way worse for me than for anyone else.

I slowly opened my eyes to see commotion happening around me. Shaking, I stood up. With the commotion, I could sneak out of there and find my way home. I had to find someone.

As I was limping through the city, my first thought was the box. I had to warn Ned and MJ about Goblin and everyone else. I figured they would be at Ned's, so that's where I went.

I barely made it to Ned's. When I got there, I limped up the stairs to the door, and weakly knocked. I had to prop myself up on the door frame. The door opened, and I saw Ned. He looked worried.

"Oh my god, Nixie." He grabbed me by the waist and brought me inside. I collapsed on one of the chairs. "What happened?" I shook my head.

"It was the Goblin. He attacked Peter, and then that Max guy electrocuted me." I then noticed a sharp pain coming from my back, and I winced. Ned nodded.

"Let me get an ice pack from the freezer." I noticed MJ's sad expression.

"What is it?" She said nothing, and then I heard the tv. I put my hand to my mouth and tears formed in my eyes when I saw the news. May had been killed.

"I'm gonna press it." MJ sighed. Ned looked at her.

"What? No, he..."

"I know he told me to wait, but I'm gonna do it." Ned shook his head, then looked at me.

"Did you see Peter?" I shook my head.

"He was still fighting Goblin when I got electrocuted." Ned sighed.

"I just wish we could see him." All of a sudden, a spark came from nowhere. MJ looked at Ned.

"What was that?" I asked, and MJ straightened up.

"Ned. Do that again." Ned nodded. He started waving his hands in circles.

"I just wish we could see him." The spark turned into a portal like Strange made. I turned to Ned.

"Since when have you been able to do that?" Ned shrugged.

"I just wish we could see Peter." He mimicked the hand movements Strange did, and the portal expanded. It looked like an alleyway, and Spider-Man was standing in it. I perked up, despite the pain. Ned gasped.

"I am magic." I slowly stood up, a tiny bit of energy coming back to me.

"Peter?" Peter looked at us. He held up a hand to his head like he was trying to get a better look. He then started running toward us and jumped through the portal. I tilted my head. His suit was different, and he was taller. Something was off. Ned's Lola started screaming, and Peter waved.

"Hi." His voice sounded different too. Ned's Lola started throwing stuff at him. "No, no, it's okay. It's okay. I'm a nice guy." He took off his mask, and I fell back into my chair. That was not Peter. He looked at us. "Okay." Ned and MJ looked equally confused.

"Who the hell are you?" MJ asked. He sighed.

"I'm Peter Parker. I am Spider-Man. In my world. But then, yesterday, I was..." He shook his head, trying to find words. "I was just here." He looked around. MJ kept a defensive stance. "String theory, multidimensional reality, and matter displacement. All real?" The three of us nodded. He grinned. "I knew it." Ned started whispering to MJ. I stood back up, and joined them.

"This has to be because of the spell." The other Peter looked over at Ned.

"The spell? Like magic spell? Magic's real here too?" Ned stammered.

"Uh..."

"Shut up, Ned." MJ muttered.

"It's not real. There's magicians, but there's no..." He stopped talking. MJ held up her hands defensively.

"Prove it." The other Peter looked at her.

"Prove what?"

"That you're Peter Parker." He shrugged.

"I don't carry an ID with me, you know? It kind of defeats the whole anonymous superhero thing." MJ picked up a piece of bread and threw it at him. I rolled my eyes. He looked at her. "Why did you do that?" She sighed.

"To see if you have the tingle thing." He raised his eyebrows.

"I have the tingle thing, just not for bread." She picked up another piece of bread. "Can you not throw the bread again?" I folded my arms.

"MJ I think he's telling the truth." MJ shook her head. The other Peter sighed.

"You're a deeply mistrusting person, and I get that." He jumped up and stuck to the ceiling. MJ shrugged.

"Crawl around." The other Peter just hung there.

"Crawl around? No." MJ nodded.

"Yes, crawl around." He and MJ kept arguing, and Ned's Lola asked him to get a spiderweb. He sighed, crawling on the ceiling to get the web. He then jumped down.

"We good?" MJ nodded.

"For now." She and Ned started whispering, and then Ned held up his hands again.

"What is he doing?" Other Peter asked, but was shushed by MJ.

"Find Peter Parker." Ned repeated as he did the motions. A portal opened, but Peter was not on the other side. It was some guy. The guy stepped through, looking around. Ned sighed. "Great, it's just some random guy." The guy waved.

"Hello. Um, I hope it's okay. I just came through this..." He turned around, and the portal disappeared. "Oh, it just closed." I folded my arms.

"You're Peter?" He nodded.

"Yeah. Peter Parker. I've seen you three." He then noticed the other Peter. He grew confused. "Wait, he's not your friend." Both Peters shot out webs at each other. They then did flips at the same time. Older Peter shot a web at Taller Peter. Taller Peter chuckled. I sighed.

"This is just too weird." Ned looked at both of them.

"Wait, so you're Spider-Man too? Why didn't you just say that?"

"I generally don't go around advertising it. Kind of defeats the whole anonymous superhero thing." Taller Peter nodded.

"I just said that." I looked between the two. This was very weird. Ned's Lola started talking. Ned translated for her.

"My Lola's asking if you could clean up the webs you just shot." Both Spider-men apologized to her. Once she went to bed, they started cleaning.

"Uh, this might seem kind of weird..." the older Peter started. "but I've been trying to find your friend ever since I got here. I just had this sense that... that he needs my help." The taller one nodded, turning around.

"Our help." I sighed.

"He does." I looked at Ned and MJ.

"We don't know where he is." Ned continued.

"And right now, we're all he really has left." MJ finished the thought. The older Peter looked around.

"Well, uh, is there someplace that he might go that has meaning to him. Like a place where he would go to just..."

"Get away from everything?" The older Peter nodded.

"For me, it was the top of the Chrysler Building."

"Empire State." The taller Peter responded. He looked at the older Peter. "It's a better view." Older Peter smiled.

"That is a sweet view." I tilted my head.

"I think I know exactly where he is."