The Imposter Among Us
Peter was shaking his head and looking at Peter 2 in disbelief. “That can’t be possible. I’ve been living with her for a month now. She’s good. She’s like us. She wouldn’t have killed him, couldn’t have.”
“Peter 1, you know as well as I do, that for her to have come through to this reality, she had to have known that Peter Parker was Spider-Man and there’s no way she could have known that if she was the only Spider-Man in her reality.” Peter 2 argued.
Before Peter could form any sort of retort Gwen was there, Peter 3 by her side. Both of their eyes were red, but dry. Gwen’s expression was solemn. She had heard everything, of course she had, with that extraordinary hearing of hers. “You’ve caught me in a lie, I can see that. I had better explain myself.”
“Alright, so you admit it, you were lying about there not being a Peter Parker who was Spider-Man in your reality. Tell us the truth then.” Peter 2 spat, his voice hard as steel.
Peter 3 stepped forward, shifting slightly to put himself between Peter 2 and Gwen. “Hey!” He snapped back. “Watch it!”
Gwen placed a hand on Peter 3’s arm reassuringly. “No, it’s okay. I owe you all the truth.” She slid into the chair on Peter’s left and pulled Peter 3 into the chair on her other side. “After my Peter- Peter 3.5, I guess we’re calling him- died, I couldn’t cope, especially after I had killed Harry. I dreamt of my Peter and those dreams were precious things that I held onto with all of myself. I chased dreams like that, if only so I could see him for a few seconds. Those seconds were the only thing that kept me going, kept me from going off and killing every single person who had ever hurt him in any way.
“I had nightmares about Harry. About his face as I killed him, his laugh as he killed Peter. But those nightmares didn’t stop me from going out and finding the man who had killed Peter’s uncle Ben. I had the witness statements from Peter and some pedestrians who were on the street when it had happened. I had the sketch artist’s drawing and the shop owner’s description of the star tattooed on the shooter’s wrist. I found him and I killed him.
“His daughter wanted into the room just as he died and I swear I can still hear her sobs every time I close my eyes. That was when I realized that I couldn’t keep on living like this. I was a shell of a person, turned from a friendly neighborhood vigilante who walked kids home to keep them safe from bullies to someone who was leaving bodies to decay in the middle of the street. I was nothing but a shell of a person.
“I had figured out that the multiverse existed a while back and I figured that there had to be some reality in which Peter Parker- my Peter Parker- was still alive. I broke into Oscorp and stole boxes upon boxes of technology and research and developed a portal that would take me between realities. Then I created a locator that would take me to any Peter Parker with the exact same genes and prints as my own lost Peter.
“It took me here.” She turned to face Peter 3. “Because when I used it, you were here. But I couldn’t reach you and the news was showing someone else’s face. I didn’t know what to do and then you were gone and it was just him and he needed help and I thought that maybe this was meant to be. Maybe I was meant to help another Spider-Man find their happiness while I never got to reach my own.
“I thought that maybe this was proof that after what I had done, I didn’t deserve happiness at all. But I also thought that this might be the perfect opportunity for me to try and move on from my Peter. I could try to make a life for myself here in this reality. I could have a fresh start.” She met Peter’s gaze and there were tears forming in her eyes. “That part was true, all that stuff was true, I just didn’t want you to think too badly of me.”
“Gwen,” Peter 2 said, and his voice was far gentler than it had been moments ago. “We’ve all been there, every single one of us.” He gestured to Tony, “I’m sure that the same is true for you too. It’s a part of the job description at this point. These powers, they make us targets, and people we love pay the price for it. And even though it seems impossible, we have to choose to avenge their deaths through non-fatal means whenever we can. Trust me, I get it. I killed the Green Goblin in my reality, or rather I allowed him to die when I might have been able to save him. I went after the man who killed my uncle. It’s hard sometimes to resist the urge to use our powers for revenge.”
“When my uncle Ben died, I spent months going after criminals who looked like him, trying to find him. I told myself that it was so once I found him I could turn him in and get justice for my aunt, but in reality it was so I could kill him. I know that if I ever found him during that time, I would have killed him on the spot, no hesitation. He would have been dead in an instant.” Peter 3 said, taking Gwen’s hand in his own and squeezing lightly.
“I discovered the man who had killed my parents had done so under the control of brainwashing so strong he had no hope of overpowering it and yet I still tried to kill him. I was so filled with anger that I was unable to see that he was innocent, he was a pawn who had no control over his actions. And I killed Thanos’s entire army using the infinity stones, they need to channel something in order to work. When I used them they were channeling my rage and anger and desire for revenge because Thanos had killed Peter and I wanted him dead for it.” Tony said, ashamed by his own words. “For the first thirty-five years of my life I built weapons that killed countless people and brought terror to many third world countries. We all have our darkness, our dark pasts, but everyone- including you- deserves a second chance, the opportunity for happiness, and I would say that here is a damned good place to start.”
Gwen sniffed and rubbed her nose with the back of her hand. “Thank you.” She whispered. “But there was something I found while I was out, something that I think might be able to help us to reverse this spell on you.” She looked to Peter and stood from the table, “Peter could you help me grab the books?”
All three Peter’s stood in unison. Tony shook his head and said, “Nope. This whole having three Peter Parkers thing is not going to work. No matter how many numbers you tack on the end.” He pointed to Peter and said, “You’re Peter.” Then to Peter 3, “You’re Parker.” And finally to Peter 2. “And you’re Pete.” He dropped his hand to the tabletop. “Everybody got it?”
All four of them nodded and then Gwen restated her question, “Peter could you help me grab the books?”
Peter nodded and followed Gwen to the third bedroom. He helped her to pick up the books that she had discarded to the floor when she had first seen Peter 3 and she snatched up both of the notebooks they’d been using to jot down their respective research.
When the returned to the kitchen, the last of the pizza had been snatched from the box, with two of the slices having been put on Gwen’s plate and the other two on Peter 3’s. Peter and Gwen returned to each of their seats and Gwen flipped open her notebook to the dog eared page and scanned down it with her finger until she landed on a scribbled page number. She snatched up the largest book and flipped it open, gliding over the pages until she finally stopped three quarters of the way through on a page filled with lines and lines of minuscule text.
“Right here,” She said, tapping a line high on the page with her index finger, “it says that the magic of the Sorcerer Supreme is outmatched only by that of three forces known to man. The Ancient One, those who feed off of the dark dimension and the Scarlet Witch.” She slapped the cover of another book and added, “Now in this book, written in early 2017, apparently the Ancient One is dead. So she can’t help us. Those feeding off of the Dark Dimension are few and far between, since it is severely outlawed in the sorcery community. And most of them are definitely untrustworthy.” This other book said that Doctor Strange was the strongest of all the known sorcerers, so we really can’t undo his work with another sorcerer. A witch on the other hand…” She said, tapping the line about the Scarlet Witch again, “might be able to do the trick.” She flipped through her notes for another moment. “Now I wasn’t able to gather all that much about the Scarlet Witch, but I think she’s still alive and out there somewhere. We just have to figure out who she is and find her.”
“And convince her to help us.” Peter 2 said dully.
Gwen snapped her fingers and pointed at Peter 2, “Yes, and that.”
“We don’t need to figure out who the Scarlet Witch is.” Tony said softly.
Peter 3 looked at him with his eyebrows raised. “Why not.”
“Because I know who she is.” Tony said. “Her name is Wanda Maximoff and it will be nearly impossible to convince her to help us. The year is 2023 here right?”
“2024.” Peter corrected. “January of 2024.”
Tony shook his head. “She has already begun her spiraling descent, which means it is likely already too late.”