Welcome, readers, to a world I have designated as Earth-4129.
A world where man discovered magic, instead of science.
A world where the Industrial Revolution was the Artifice Revolution.
A world in the aftermath of war, where Sorcery has been banned.

This is the story of the Mystic Spider.


"Oh thank the Gods, it's the Heroes Guild!" A police officer exclaimed as he hid behind his airship. A few feet behind the officers' cover, a red portal had opened, seemingly out of place in the chaos of the scene. Out came eight figures, each dressed in unique armor and robes. The first one was Stephen Rogers, the Paladin, clad in blue and white armor and robes, his shield on his back. Once he stepped out of the portal, however, his shield flew onto his arm.

"How bad is it?" He asked one of the officers.

"Ye Gods. We can't move an inch." The officer said. "We've been stuck here for the past hour and a half. These aren't just normal cultists...they have some serious magic muscle behind them. Our database is unable to recognize the spells."

The Paladin rubbed his chin, deep in thought. He turned back to his team.

"Wanda," He said, calling the Hero most known to the public as Baba Yaga. The younger girl came forward, clad in a scarlet and black cloak with red undertones, reddish brown hair down to her shoulders in waves. "Are you able to identify what we're up against?"

"I'll try to identify it." She said calmly. Briefly, her eyes glowed red, her mystic senses extending beyond her being. A very foul, thick energy permeated the compound they were in front of. It was something unlike she'd ever seen before. No, she only read about this: a magic both ancient and sinister in its use. A magic born of beings beyond the stars, beyond the minds and thoughts of man.

"Outer Sorcery…" She choked out, the energy beginning to flood her senses, her lungs. She could barely breathe. The smell of rotting flesh filled her nostrils. "It's...choking me. It's-"

"Wanda." Said a familiar, soothing voice, a hand touching her shoulders. The soothing voice seemed to snap her out of it. Wanda quickly ejected her senses from the horrible place, quickly looking up at her brother.

"We can't let her go into that place." Quicksilver said, looking at Paladin. "If it's affecting her this much from yards away, imagine how badly she'll be incapacitated when she's in there."

The Paladin nodded.

"I can handle myself, Pietro." Wanda insisted. "Let me fight."

"конфетка, I know you're eager to prove yourself, but it simply isn't viable." Said Nataliya, walking to the other side of Wanda. "Not this time...okay?"

Defeated, Wanda simply nodded. Paladin glanced at a large, red-headed figure that stepped forward too, surveying the battlefield as a warrior that has seen combat. His hammer was still holstered at his side, but he seemed ready to use it at any time. To this day, Stephen was surprised that he even wished to associate with the Heroes Guild. It seemed he was busy more often than not with ruling Asgard, what with his father, Odin, recently passing away. He did know one thing: it was better for him to be on their side than not. Stephen remembered the time when Thor thought that he'd killed Odin. Fighting him wasn't fun.

"Your Majesty," Stephen spoke up. "Any way you can obscure their vision?"

"Of course." King Thor had replied, unholstering his hammer and spinning it. He threw it into the air without releasing the leather strap, launching himself into the sky. Shortly after he did that, thunder began to rumble in the sky. A thick fog settled over the field, obscuring nearly everyone's vision to just a few feet ahead.

"Here's the plan, guys." The Paladin began, turning to his team. "Pietro, Nataliya, and Clint, you're coming in with me to infiltrate. Stark, provide air support with King Thor. Wanda, stand by. Support the officers. Everybody with me?"

When everybody confirmed that they were with him, they sprang into action. Paladin shouted, "Heroes, assemble!" And they charged into the battlefield. Although their vision was obscured by the mist, so too were the cultists. Bolts of black energy flew at them in seemingly all directions, some of them being blocked by the Paladin's shield. Clint shot a few fire arrows, managing to hit cultists despite not being able to see, something that amazed Stephen to no end.

"You're coming near the entrance of the building, folks." Lord Stark, the Iron Knight said via the communication runes he'd etched onto all of their costumes. Thanks to the rune, they would be able to hear each other as if they were right next to each other, regardless of the distance. Stark's Iron Knight armor had an enchantment which allowed him to see through the mist, which meant he was perfect for scouting for them.

He could see a cultist rising a staff above his head, lips moving as he chanted in some sort of black speech. Black energy swirled around him, but the Iron Knight shot a beam of energy at him from above, vaporizing him. When Paladin and the rest of the infiltration group came to the door, he kicked it, knocking it off of his hinges and making it fly into the dark mage that was behind it. Bolts of black energy flew as they walked in. Nataliya, the Black Widow, vaulted over Stephen's shoulder and unsheathed her short swords. The blades glowed purple briefly as she seemed to blink out of existence, re-appearing behind one of the cultists and stabbing the sword right through his chest.

Quicksilver was shown as only a streak of white as, in the blink of an eye, several of the cultists were flung through walls and ceilings. Clint stayed by the door hinge, sniping cultists from afar. Paladin pressed on, bashing cultists with his shield, making them fly through windows, and blasting them with beams of hard-light.

"The stairway is going to be to your left." The Iron Knight instructed. "That's where the children are being kept."

"I can sense their suffering…" Wanda added. "Hurry. I think the cultists are starting the ritual."

Quickly, Paladin, Quicksilver, the Black Widow, and Clint rushed downstairs, fighting off and killing any cultist that came their way. However, by the time they reached the lower level, Stephen could tell it was too late. As soon as they reached the strange metallic door that opened as soon as they arrived, Paladin could sense something...wrong. It wasn't evil, per se, but it was a nauseating, foul feeling, like walking into a field of rotting corpses. They stepped into a room about the size of a football field, which should be impossible with how far they went down; the room should logically intersect with the first floor!

The room was made of some sort of strange, green metal with symbols inscribed into it. Strange, crystalline pedestals were at the center of the room, formed into a circle. Two of the pedestals had what could only be described as shifting, non-euclidean shapes floating at the top, which disappeared in a flash of light as soon as the group entered.

"What was that?" Nataliya asked.

"Spirit, not sure…" Paladin muttered. "Whatever it is...let's ignore it. We have to find those kids. Pietro?"

Pietro streaked across the room, a beam of white that zipped all around.

"Found them." He said within seconds. "Uh...Rogers? You should see this."

Steve walks into the room his team mate had gestured to, his eyes widening at the sight before him.

"By the Great Spirit…" He muttered.

The children they were looking for were there, but they were clearly dead. They lay limp on the ground like ragdolls, their bodies piled in between a magic circle with a strange-looking star at the middle. Their bodies were a grayish-color, and their hair had turned stark white, as if their life force had been sucked out of them.

"What are you seeing in there? Talk to me, guys." Lord Stark said.

"They're...dead, Tony." Stephen said. "We were too late."

Stark went silent, and then said, "The Prime Minister is going to be pissed."


"The Heroes Guild identified several children that were killed in a horrific ritual last night." The news reporter said as she looked at the viewers. "According to a statement from Prime Minister Coulson, the Cult has not yet been identified, but seems to be using some strange form of necromancy that they hadn't seen yet. More on this later on tonight. In other news, tensions rise between the Kingdom of Atlantis and the Empire of Wakanda as-"

Peter turned off the TV, sighing to himself. Looking at the news was always depressing, especially when the story is about the few times the Heroes Guild fails. They did good more often than not, but the media seems to love reporting whenever they failed.

"What was on the news?" May asked as she came into the kitchen.

"Nothin' but bad news. You know, world ending and all that." Peter replied. "Morning, mom. How'd you sleep?"

"Good…" May yawned, turning on the fire rune within the toaster and putting two slices of bed in. "Another day, another five gold pieces. You're late, you know."

Peter's eyes widened as he looked down at his watch. Not only was he late, but his first class should be starting in five minutes. He facepalmed and sprang up, stuffing the rest of his toast into his face. May gave him an amused expression as he scrambled to find his backpack.

"Oh, Peter!" May called out to him right before he was out of the door.

"In a hurry, ma! What's up?" Peter asked.

"Listen, son...I know your father is no longer around…" She said, her tone hesitant.

The mention of his father activated a deep ache within his heart, one that was only now beginning to fade. Peter's father, Ben, had died a year ago in a huge airship accident. Peter and his mother were trying to move on, and only recently got to the point where they could talk about it, where they could heal. He may have been adopted, but Peter still saw May and Ben as his actual parents. It hurt him massively when his father died...he didn't know what to do without him, felt lost without his wisdom.

"Yeah…?" Peter said glumly.

"Yeah…" May said. "But...you need to keep your chin up, okay? That's what he'd want you to do...what he'd want us to do."

Peter simply nodded. "I have to go now."

"Have a nice day, sweetie."

Walking through the streets of New York City was a task in and of itself. On the ground, people were packed like sardines, weaving through the crowds that they'd created themselves. Above, those who could afford them floated past on their airships. As Peter rushed through the crowds, he had little time to appreciate his city, the massive crystal spires and buildings that seemed to reach the sky. As he weaved through the crowd, many vendors attempted to sell him various wands and trinkets crafted with bootleg runesmithing, but Peter ignored them. If he wanted a love amulet on the cheap (which may have the side-effect of making everyone of the opposite gender psychotically obsessed with you), then he knew where to go at least.

Rushing down the stairs, Peter made his way to the Lightning Rail station.

"One all day pass? That'll be ten silver." The vendor said.

"Ten silver?!" Peter exclaimed. "No way I'm giving that to you highwaymen."

"Times are tough, kiddo." The vendor said with a scathing tone. "When times are tough, prices go up. That's the way it goes. If you don't like it, then mail the Minister of Transport. Ten silver."

Peter muttered something under his breath and dug into his pocket. He produced ten silver coins and dropped them onto the Vendor's table, who then produced an all day pass for him.

There goes my lunch money. Peter thought.

"Thank you, enjoy your day." The Vendor said. "Next."


"Care to tell us why you're late, Mr. Parker?" Demanded Mr. Westerly, Peter's alchemy teacher.

Peter croaked, every student in the class looking at him when he entered the classroom, in the middle of a test, no less.

"Um…" Peter muttered. "Something about a dog eating my homework…?"

Mr. Westerly sighed. "Because you are late, I am automatically deducting points from your test. Please grab a paper and pencil and begin working."

Peter did exactly that, sitting next to Gwen Stacy, his alchemy partner who was, from the looks of it, very pissed off.

"Where were you?" Gwen hissed.

"Well…" Peter muttered. "I guess I didn't realize how much time I was taking...and I ended up being late. I'm sorry, any way I can make it up to you?"

"You can complete this formula for me." She replied. "I've already done all the work. All you have to do it put it all together."

That wasn't as much of a punishment as it seemed. Peter loved alchemy, it was his strongest subject next to Runecraft and Hermeticism. Gwen and Peter spent the next fifteen minutes in silence as he pieced everything together, as well as making an alchemical diagram for their potion. The goal was to turn the water into golden dust, which Peter had done with flying colors. When it was done, Gwen clapped excitedly.

And boy, when Gwen was happy, she was beautiful. Peter had a crush on her since high school, watching as she went from a thin tomboy to a curvaceous young adult. When she grew her blonde curls out and started dressing more feminine, Peter knew the only reason she wasn't already popular like Felicia Wyatt was because of the fact that she didn't really care about the high school hierarchy. Or any hierarchy for that matter. That's what Peter liked about her: she was always so down to earth, always friendly towards Harry and Peter despite clearly being out of their league now.

"I knew there was a reason I keep you around." Gwen teased. "Nice job."


After class, Gwen and Peter met with their friend Harry at lunch. The lunch yard was outside, on the rooftop of Richards Academy. Peter looked out to the city, airships flying by the building as they ate.

"Guys, you won't believe what happened." Gwen said, grinning ear to ear when she came back from the bathroom.

"You finally found someone that'll listen to your shpiel on Magic Theory?" Harry guessed. Harry was a childhood friend of Peter's: they'd known each other since elementary. They were super close, and when moved into town, the three of them became best buddies. Harry was a little different now, having cut his mop of brown hair short, and getting taller and more muscular since he's in sports. Despite that, however, he's still considered a nerd by virtue of hanging out with Peter and Gwen.

Gwen frowned. "What? No! Lord Antonius Stark messaged me...on his personal Magic Mirror. He's accepted my request to the internship! Starting tomorrow, ya girl is going to be an intern at Stark Industries."

Peter's eyes widened. "Dude, what? I'm so proud of you! That's great."

"Yeah!" Harry said. "Congrats, Gwen."

"Thank you, thank you." Gwen said, bowing. "Now I just have to get this nerd in."

Gwen gestured to Peter.

Harry laughed. "Yeah, right. This guy is too much of an underachiever."

"Hey!" Peter protested.

"It's true, man!" Harry insisted. "On my life, dude: you're as smart as Gwen, but you keep slacking. Not to mention you're late all the time…"

"What are you guys doing? Talking about nerd shit?" A loud voice said in the distance. In came Flash Thompson, the star of the school's War Games team.

Flash was either too old to be in high school, or went through puberty at the age of three, because the guy was built as a tank. A blonde-colored beard had grown on his face to match his blonde hair, and his blue eyes were cruel and deep. He was attractive, but more in a brutish way. Similar to an alpha caveman or some sort of gorilla. He stood an entire five inches above Peter, making him stand at 6'5.

"Oh great." Gwen deadpanned. "The gorilla is here."

"Shut it, Stacy." Flash snapped. "I'm here on important business. It's between Petey and me here; ain't it, Petey? Go fuck off and suck Harry's dick or something."

"It ain't like that, man!" Harry protested.

Flash ignored him, shooting a death glare towards Peter.

"A little birdie told me you called my girlfriend a slut." He growled.

Peter raised an eyebrow. "And you believed them?"

Flash paused. "Y-...Yes!"

"This is public school." Peter said. "I think people play the 'he said, she said' game a lot."

"That ain't the point, Parker! The point is, you called my girlfriend a slut!"

"Dude, does that even sound like something I'd say?"

"Enough talkin'!" Flash grabbed Peter by the collar of his shirt. "I'mma fuckin'-"

"Flash." A voice said behind him.

Flash spun around to see none other than Felicia Wyatt, standing boredly behind him with her arms crossed. Felicia looked like she ought to be on the cover of a magazine rather than high school, with her blonde curls reaching down to her back, and intense gray eyes piercing through the very soul. She had the body of a model, athletic and curvy, and dressed in clothes that were more expensive than the average yearly income in the United American Kingdoms. Flash let go of Peter.

"Babe, I'm beating up the nerd that called you a slut…" He muttered.

"Sweetie, Flash...it's nice that you're defending my honor. Really. Hot too. But I doubt that guy has ever said 'slut' in his entire life."

"Babe- you're not defendin' him, are you? What do you care about some random nerd?"

Felicia's eyes went to Peter for a split second, and Peter froze. Suddenly he felt self-conscious, fighting back the urge to fix his hair and smell his breath.

"Not particularly, no." Felicia said. "But you promised me you'd drive me to get smoothies on my lunch. And what did we say about keeping your promises to me?"

"Babe." Flash said, exasperated.

"Flash. Let's go. Now."

Every ounce of willpower in Flash's body seemed to vanish as he left the lunch grounds with her. Gwen crossed her arms, making an impressed grunting noise.

"Hm. It looks like someone can tame the gorilla. Right guys?"

Harry and Peter were too busy staring at Felicia's ass as she left.

Gwen sighed. "Men…"


After school, Peter and Harry walked out of the doors together. Gwen got to leave earlier since she finished most of her required classes. Peter had always envied her conviction and seeming inability to procrastinate. He'd been working on ideas he had for new machines and runes for about five years now, but with the death of his adopted father, everything seemed to grind to a halt.

"So, have you decided what you'll do after school is over?" Harry asked.

Peter shook his head. "Nope...no idea what to do with my life."

Harry sighed. "Look, man, it's senior year. School is almost over. I just...don't wanna see you flipping burgers at McDonalds, you know?"

Peter waved his hand. "It's hard. I don't have an internship like Gwen. Or an easy ladder into a high paying career like you, Harry."

"I know, I know, just...guess I'm a little concerned, y'know?"

"Hello, gentleman." Said a voice coming from outside Peter's field of view. He turned his gaze in the direction of the person speaking to them.

It was a girl that was shorter than the both of them, but built like an athlete. She had straight black hair that was cut into a bob, pale skin, and almond-shaped brown eyes. She was pretty enough, though not so pretty that Peter would catch himself staring. Or perhaps she would be normally, but her attractiveness is somewhat offset by how intimidating of an aura she gave off.

"C-Cindy?" Peter asked. "Cindy Moon? Uh...what's up?"

"Parker, I want to meet with you in a few hours. Say...at Columbus Circle?" Cindy asked, her tone neutral and businesslike. If he didn't know any better, it'd sound like she was asking him out. However, he was about ninety percent sure that Cindy was a robot.

"Oh, um-" Peter looked at Harry, who shrugged and gave him the thumbs up. It seemed like he thought she was asking him out. "S-Sure?"

Cindy smiled, though there was little to no humor in it. "Great. I'll see you around five then. Come alone, please."

With that, she turned and walked off.

"...Okaaaay, what was that about?" Peter asked.

"She's into you, dude!" Harry said.

"What? No. I dunno if it's like that…"

"Dude, you're totally selling yourself short. Look at you! Just gain a little muscle, stop dressing like a tool, and you'll be a solid 8 or 9."

"Thanks, but I'm not sure everybody sees it that way."

"Whatever. Just go, my guy. Enjoy yourself! Who knows? Maybe you'll be dating Cindy Moon by the time its over."


AN: Hey guys! Sorry for my absence. I believe you're all long overdue for an update. So this is a new story I'll be making, and believe me, I hadn't given up on any of my previous projects except Persona 6 (which I will be redoing with a new setting and characters). For now, this is all I'm really in a mood to write, so there'll be a hiatus on other projects until I can think of other things.

So yeah! I hope you guys enjoy this story. Feedback is much appreciated, as I've been working on building the world for this Alternate Reality for a while. Thanks!