fiction | Part of the journey is the end

9. Coffee shop

Jameson said it had been a few weeks since the fiasco on the Statue of Liberty, and Spider-Man's cultists continue to contend that the vile vigilante is a hero!

The Avengers and Peter Three scowled.

Peter Two groaned. "Same ol' Jameson. That man doesn't change across the Multiverse."

Peter One sighed. "Back to normal." That's what he wanted in the first place, right? For everything to go back to how it was?

"Well, if he were a hero, he'd unmask himself and tell us who he really is! Because only a coward conceals his identity."

The Peters rolled their eyes.

"That's the same thing he says about Daredevil too," Peter One said.

"I should've known that he has one script to drag both of your names through the mud," said Clint.

Peter walked down the street, but this time, no one recognized him.

"No one remembers Peter is Spider-Man now," Thor noted.

"No one remembers Peter at all!" Tony exclaimed, his heart aching for the kid.

He was reading to himself from a note. "Hi, my name is Peter Parker. You don't know me, but—"

"They'll believe you, kid," Stephen said, encouragingly.

Peter One wrung his hands. "I hope so." Although he planned on involving Ned and MJ a lot less in the Spider-Man side of his life to protect them, Peter Parker needed them.

He stopped outside the doughnut shop, now with Christmas and Hanukkah decorations.

December 2024, Clint thought. He wondered if his other self had met Kate yet.

Peter walked inside to find MJ. She looked up at him and waved. He was taken aback until he realized that she waved at Ned, who entered behind him.

Steve's face crumpled. He knew how painful it was to have someone you love look at you and not recognize you. It was a specific type of pain he didn't want anyone to experience, let alone Peter.

Peter Two and Three's hearts dropped as they saw their younger brother not have anyone in his life. Both of them hadn't had many people in their lives and they still managed to lose them, but Peter One did have people in his life. He was the only one out of the three that had supportive friends and had worked in a team to save the universe, and even though he was the youngest, the two older Peters knew Peter One was the team leader. To see Peter One have people around him and slowly lose all of them was a pain they didn't want to see him go through.

Ned greeted MJ and walked past Peter.

Sadness flitted across Peter's face as he saw Ned walk past him.

"That looks wrong," said Sam. All of them had seen Peter, Ned, and MJ stick together through everything and now they were seeing Ned walk past Peter like he was nothing.

Bucky and Carol swallowed thickly. Both of them had their memories erased, were forced to become weapons, and their loved ones thought they were dead for years. They'd been in the same position as Ned and MJ, who didn't even know who they were missing, just like what they had faced.

"Can I help you?" MJ asked, taking Peter's order.

"Yes, he's your boyfriend!" Scott yelled.

"Hi, um, my name is Peter Parker. And I...would like a coffee, please," he said, losing his nerve.

Everyone groaned in frustration.