Chapter 40
Teenage Peter Parker guided them to the lab of their high school. “So, uh, we need to cure Connors, Marko, Dillon.” He laid the broken devices on one of the tables. “I think I can repair the devices for Dillon and Marko but the others …”
“I got Connors. I’ve already cured him once, so no big deal”, the other Peter said.
Peter and teenage Peter looked at him.
“What? It’s no big deal, okay?”
“Okay, great”, they said in unison.
“I think I can make an antiserum for Norman.” Peter paused. “I’ve been thinking about it for a long time …”
In the past years, Peter spent a lot of nights thinking about what would’ve happened if he found a way to cure Norman. Different what if scenarios crossed his mind but he knew one thing for sure – Harry would still be alive.
Teenage Peter stayed silent.
“We’re gonna cure all of them, right?”, Peter asked.
He nodded. “Right.”
“Uhm, guys? We should give each other some nicknames because when anyone says Peter, we’ll all turn around”, the other Peter said.
“Oh, yeah, right”, teenage Peter agreed. “Well, uhm, then I’m Peter one, you’re Peter 2.” He pointed at Peter. “And you’re Peter 3.”
“All right.”
Peter grabbed some chemicals, some test tubes and safety goggles. Finally, he could start the experiment he had in his mind for so long.
“So, do you have a best friend too?”, Ned asked him.
Peter swallowed. “I did.”
“You did? What do you mean?”
“Both of my best friends died. MJ was killed by Doc Ock and Harry, who became my boyfriend later, died in my arms after he tried to kill me. But he died to save me.” His voice cracked.
“I’m sorry I asked”, Ned said.
“No, it’s okay. It’s just … it was on this day that he died.”
Peter 1 and MJ were sitting on some chairs, their foreheads rested against each other. Peter wished he had someone too. And apparently, Peter 3 thought the same.
“You have someone?”, he asked Peter 3.
He shook his head. “No. I got no time for Peter Parker stuff, you know? Do you?”
“No”, Peter said. “After Harry’s death, I tried but I stopped it before it could get serious. It feels like I’m cheating on him.”
“I understand it, really. I guess it’s just not in the cards for guys like us to be happy. Every time I see a girl with Gwen’s hair colour and statue, for a second, I think it’s her”, Peter 3 explained.
Peter nodded. “Sometimes I feel like Harry is with me. I imagine hearing his voice but then it’s just in my head.”
“Do you have a Gwen in your world?”, Peter 3 asked.
“Yeah. She’s the only one I’ve got left. She takes care of my because I can’t do it myself. Without her, I’d be isolated completely.”
“Take care of her for me, okay?” Peter 3 wiped away his tears.
“I promise. Will you do the same for Harry?”, Peter asked him.
“He died. Like your Harry, he tried to kill me. I’m sorry, Peter.”
“But you still have Aunt May?”
Peter 3 nodded.
“Then look after her for me”, Peter muttered.
“I will.”
“Peter?”, Ned called.
“Yeah? Oh, sorry. You mean-“, they said in unison, pointing at each other.
“Peter-Peter?”
“We’re all called, Peter, Ned”, Peter 1 said.
“Peter Parker?”
“We’re all Peter Parker too”, Peter 3 said.
“I need the computer”, Ned said in desperation.
“I’m finished”, Peter and Peter 1 called.
“Me too”, Peter 3 added. “Now all we gotta do is lure these guys someplace, right? Try to cure them, while they try to kill us and then, send them home.”
“Using a magic box?”, Peter added. He still couldn’t process that wizards existed.
“Well, that’s the plan”, Peter 1 confirmed.
“Are you gonna go into battle dressed as a cool youth pastor or do you got your suit?”, Peter 3 asked Peter.
“Ouch.” Peter raised his shirt to reveal the suit he was always wearing under his civilian clothes.
Ned handed Peter 1 a small box.
“What’s that for?”, Peter asked.
“It’s my web fluid. I need it for my web shooters. Why?”
Peter stretched out his arm and shot a web at a shelf.
“Woah!”, everyone shouted in unison.
“That came out of you?”, Ned asked and eyed Peter as if he was an alien.
“Yeah. You can’t do that, huh?” Peter smiled. At least he was special in some point.
“No”, Peter 1 responded.
“How on earth is that possible?”, Peter 3 asked in amazement.
Peter grinned.
“We’re getting side-tracked”, Peter 1 interrupted them. “This is where we’re gonna do it, okay? It’s isolated so no one should get hurt.” He pointed at a spot on a map. The statue of Liberty. “We draw them there with the box, it’s the one thing they all want. All we have to do is figure out how we’re gonna get there.”
“We can portal there”, Ned suggested.
“What?”, Peter asked in confusion.
“I’m magic now.” Ned grinned proudly.
“He’s right. He can”, MJ added.
“We saw him”, Peter said.
“He is magic”, Peter 3 agreed.
“Wait, really?” Peter 1 couldn’t believe it.
“Dude, I’ve got Doctor Strange magic”, Ned told him.
“Doctor Weird is the wizard who owns this box, right?”, Peter asked. Trying to understand magic was too much for his brain capacity.
“Right”, MJ confirmed.
“And I promise you, Pete, I won’t turn into a supervillain and try to kill you”, Ned said.
Peter 3 pat Ned on the shoulder and nodded approvingly.
Peter and Peter 3 exchanged looks, both remembering how their best friends wanted them dead and how they had to pay with their lives for it.
We won’t let that happen again, right?, Peter interpreted Peter 3’s look and nodded. Peter 1 should have the chance of a happy life.
“Uhm, okaaay, thank you, Ned”, Peter 1 said, eyeing all three of them in total confusion but the two Peters stayed silent. “What’s that thing you always say, MJ? If expect disappointment, you-“
But MJ interrupted him. “We’re gonna kick some ass.”
“Cure”, Peter muttered. “We’re gonna cure some ass.”
The Peters, MJ and Ned put their hands on each other and raised them while screaming “Cure that ass!”