Chapter Two

"You're supposed to be married."

Peter Parker tried in vain to make any sort of sense out of the words which Reed Richards had just spoken.

"Uh, you mind elaborating on that a little bit more, Doc?" the confused webslinger inquired. "Like, is this one of those 'You're secretly the long-lost heir to the ancient Spider Kingdom and you must wed the beautiful Spider-Princess by midnight in order to claim your rightful throne' kind of deals? Or is it like—"

"Peter, I can explain," said Reed.

"Well, I sure hope so," Peter replied, "because I have no idea what kind of weird joke scenario I would've used next if you hadn't intervened. But seriously, Doc…what's going on?"

He could read the expressions of knowing guilt on the faces of each of the four cosmically-enhanced adventurers who sat in front of him. It looked like none of them knew how to tell him whatever it was that they knew, but they all knew that they needed to.

Finally, Susan, the Invisible Woman, spoke up. "It's…hard to explain," she acknowledged. Turning to her husband, she said, "Reed, why don't you just show him?"

Reed nodded. "Yes, that's probably best." He got up and began to walk across his laboratory. "Peter, follow me."

Peter obeyed uncertainly, rising from his chair and moving across the cold, metallic, unfriendly floors. Reed motioned for him to sit down in a chair on a large platform with lots of sensors, controls, and equipment surrounding it. Even with his well-above-average scientific knowledge, Reed's intellect was vastly greater than his own, and Peter couldn't recognize most of the devices he saw throughout the lab. "Are you gonna operate on me, Doc?" Peter asked, sitting down in the chair.

"No," Reed answered. "If you don't mind…please remove your mask."

Peter was hesitant at first, but then he remembered that the Fantastic Four had somehow already learned his true identity, and so he figured he didn't have much left to lose. He pulled up his mask and laid it gently down on the ground beside him.

Reed looked at him and, as if confirming something to himself, said, "Yes, you're certainly the one I saw."

"Saw? What do you mean?" Peter asked, confused. "When did you see me?"

"Again, it will be much easier to let you see for yourself than it would be for me to try to explain it to you," Reed answered cryptically, placing a futuristic-looking visor over Peter's eyes.

"Virtual reality?" he asked flippantly.

"It may seem like that," Reed admitted, "but I assure you, everything you are about to see is real—in an alternate reality, if not in our own."

"Ooookay," said Peter, now quite anxious to see whatever it was that Reed was going to show him. "What does that have to do with me getting married?"

Without answering, Reed stretched his rubbery arm over to another set of controls and pushed a few buttons that, for all Peter knew, could've changed the channel on a television set. "This should bring you back to the exact point at which I began watching," he said. "I've set it so that you'll only be able to observe, but not interfere with anything."

"Kind of like that big bald cosmic guy?" Peter suggested, referring to the Watcher.

"You'll be observing a rift in the time-space continuum that has branched off into at least two distinctly separate realities."

"Same old, same old," said Peter.

"Brace yourself, Peter," said Reed. "This isn't going to be pleasant for you."

"What—"

Reed pressed another button.

Peter's mind went black.

***

Peter saw himself, but how was that possible?

There he was, in the middle of nothingness, total blackness surrounding him, standing in his Spider-Man uniform with his mask off, just as he was standing right now. And he was not alone. Standing next to him, embracing him with tears running down his face, was a beautiful red-haired woman—

Mary Jane?!? Peter thought, surprised and confused, remembering the hurt of their break-up long ago.

And across from himself and Mary Jane was another figure whom Peter didn't recognize, and wasn't sure if he wanted to. It was a gruesome, demonic, figure who carried an aura of pure evil and was looming menacingly over himself and Mary Jane.

Just what the heck was going on?

Reed had said that Peter would be watching a rift in the time-space continuum. Was this himself, but at a different point in time and space? A different reality?

"Hey!" Peter shouted. "Hey, Mary Jane! Hey, uh…me! You two! What's happening over there?" But the figures made no indication that they could see or hear him. Just like Reed had said, he was powerless to interfere, only able to observe.

So observe he did.

He watched as the sinister figure, who he learned was a cosmically-powered being known as Mephisto, seemed to bargain with he and Mary Jane for their marriage in order to save Aunt May's life.

So that's what Reed meant about me being married, Peter thought. He knew from his various heroic adventures that, as crazy as it seemed, the reality in which he lived was only one of infinite realities that existed, each one slightly different from the next. It was quite plausible, then, that he would have been married to Mary Jane in an alternate reality. But if it happened in an alternate reality, then why is it such a big deal to my reality? And what had happened to Aunt May in this reality so that her life needs to be saved, anyway?

He kept watching and listening, and gathered from the conversation that Aunt May had been shot by a sniper hired by the Kingpin after Peter had revealed his identity during the Civil War. But that didn't happen in my reality either, thought Peter. I thought nobody remembered my identity after… Wait a second. Of course his identity wasn't publicly known, because if it was, then Peter Parker wouldn't be able to do anything without the police and the registered heroes hunting him down. But he definitely remembered unmasking on public television. How did everyone suddenly forget my identity? And if they did, then why did Kingpin still come after Aunt May?

This didn't make sense, unless it was still just one of many alternate realities, but considering the urgency with which Reed had spoken, Peter didn't find that likely. His scientific mind was racing through possibilities, trying to find some way to justify the reality of what was unfolding before him. Reed had said something about a rift in the time-space continuum, so perhaps something—something that was happening or would happen in the scene he was watching—had caused that rift, splitting what he now remembered apart from what had originally happened. Was that possible? Was this Mephisto powerful enough to do that?

Peter kept watching with a mixture of fascination and horror. He saw the cosmic demon explain his deal to them and promise to save Aunt May. He saw himself and Mary Jane, who was apparently supposed to be his wife, weigh the pros and cons of the deal he was offering them. He saw Mary Jane whisper something unknown to Mephisto as part of their deal, he watched himself painfully concede to agree, and he felt anger like he had rarely ever known before when he realized that Mephisto had tricked them into unknowingly sacrificing a daughter who they would have had. He observed with deep remorse as Mephisto's magic swirled around them and he, Peter Parker, embraced his wife for what was to be the last time. Her classic greeting to him—"Face it, Tiger, you've just hit the jackpot"—was drowned out and left unfinished by the blackness that was consuming them and tearing them apart. Then they were both gone, and the intangible Peter was left standing there in shock.

Peter screamed.

So this was what had happened. He and Mary Jane had been married—were supposed to be married, just like Reed had said. Aunt May had been fatally injured, and the only one who could save her was Mephisto, who would also conveniently make everyone forget Spider-Man's true identity, but only if Peter and Mary Jane agreed to let him erase the fact of their marriage from time, leaving them with no recollection if it afterward. Grudgingly, they had agreed, and that had created the reality that Peter was in now—the one where he was a loner separated from the woman who should have been the love of his life. It was diabolical.

Mephisto's words echoed hauntingly in Peter's mind. "You will not consciously remember this bargain, or this moment, or the life you lived to this point. But there will be a very small part of your soul that will remember, that will know what you lost. And my joy will be in listening to that part of your soul screaming throughout eternity."

Now Peter remembered.

***

From the indicators on the equipment and the anguished look on Peter's face, Reed could tell that Peter had reached the end of that particular segment of the timestream. He pressed a few buttons that would return Peter's mind to the present and then removed the visor from Peter's head. Peter opened his eyes but sat still for a few seconds, probably his mind's way of adjusting to the sudden changes in time and dimension.

"Peter," Reed said calmly. "Can you hear me?"

Without warning, Peter jumped to his feet and stood facing Reed. "Mephisto!" he shouted angrily. "Mephisto did this! He tricked me and manipulated me and stole the love of my life!"

"Peter, please calm down," said Reed. He had feared that something like this might be Peter's initial reaction, but he couldn't say that he blamed him. "Just sit and—"

"No, I have no intention of calming down!" Peter exclaimed violently, beginning to storm away from Reed. "That monster screwed up reality and ruined my life! I'm going to find Mephisto and kill him with my bare hands! I'm going to—"

Peter's rampage came to an abrupt halt when he noticed the Thing, the Invisible Woman, and the Human Torch—who, true to his name, was currently on fire—standing in front of him, sternly blocking his path.

"Hold on there, pal," said the gruff voice of the Thing. "Ya got plenty o' reason ta be upset, but let's not do something' yer gonna regret later."

"Listen to Reed, Peter," the Invisible Woman said. "Just take a few moments to calm down before you do anything rash."

"Yeah," agreed the Torch, hovering a few feet in the air. "What they said."

Peter's brow was furrowed at them, but he slowly let it go loose, and unclenched his fists, which he hadn't realized had been clenched. Then he dropped his arms to his sides, let his shoulders sag, lowered his head slightly, and began to weep.

"Aw, jeez," said Ben. "I just hate seein' a grown hero cry like that."

"Wouldn't you, if you were going through what he's going through?" asked Johnny, seeing Peter's pain and wanting to stick up for his friendly rival.

"Well, mebbe…" Ben admitted reluctantly.

Sue had her hand on Peter's shoulder in an effort to comfort him, and Reed walked over to help. "Peter," Sue said, "I know this must be impossibly difficult for you. I can't imagine what I would do if this had happened to Reed and I, and if I somehow found out about it. If you need to rest here and think things through for a little while, you're more than welcome to do so."

"Thanks," Peter managed, the tears beginning to clear up. "But…I'll be okay. I've kind of gotten used to losing my loved ones and going through all kinds of crap like this." The statement had an unmistakably bitter tone. Reed wasn't sure how serious Peter was being, and decided not to comment. "I just…I'm not going to let it get the best of me. Instead, I'm going to do something about it."

"Do?" Reed asked curiously. "What are you planning on doing, if I may ask?"

"I…I don't know yet," Peter admitted weakly. "But something. I have to do something, or else this will drive me insane. If I have to, I'll look up Mary Jane, drag her out here, and show her what you just showed me. But I'd much prefer to hunt down Mephisto and make him put reality back the way it was." After a brief pause, he resolutely added, "And make him pay for what he did."

"Not to try to knock ya down or nuthin', webhead," Ben began, "But how's a guy like you gonna fight one o' them big super cosmic guys like Mephisto?"

"And wouldn't it be kind of unfair?" Johnny asked. "From what I understand, you agreed to trade your marriage for your aunt's life. Mephisto kept his end of the bargain, so shouldn't you keep yours too?"

"No," said Peter bitterly. "It wasn't fair. He tricked us. He didn't tell us about our daughter until it was too late, until after we had already agreed. If I had known that Mary Jane and I were supposed to have a daughter…" His voice trailed off. He tried to determine whether or not he would have willingly traded Aunt May's life for that of his own daughter. Come to think of it, he tried to imagine how he had even brought himself to willingly trade off his marriage. The thought of it repulsed him now, but there was no denying from the evidence that he had indeed done it.

"All I'm saying is that if you make a deal with the devil, you're gonna get burned," Johnny pointed out.

"Yeah," said Ben, seeing his point. "I mean, whaddya think wuz gonna happen? Ya don't just make a deal with those big cosmic evil guys an' expect 'em ta play nice."

"What are you saying?" Peter yelled, jumping on their disapproval. "What would you have done? How can someone possibly be expected to choose between the woman they love and the woman who's been like the only real mother they've ever really known? How can you possibly say—"

"Peter," Sue interrupted, hoping to calm him down again. "No one here is judging you for the decision you made. Are they?" She glanced meaningfully at Johnny and Ben.

"Uh, no, Sis," Johnny answered unconvincingly.

"Nope," said Ben. "I wuz just sayin', is all."

"What we're saying," Reed amended, "is that we want to be able to help you in any way possible. You've been a noble hero and a trusted ally of ours for a long time, and if there's anything at all we can do, anything you might need if you do indeed formulate a plan…"

"Thanks again, Doc," said Peter. "But you've done so much already. I mean, I guess I should be thankful to you for showing me the truth, even though that truth wasn't exactly sunshine and butterflies."

"No thanks necessary," Reed said politely.

"I appreciate the offer to help, but in all honesty, I don't have a plan," Peter admitted. "I mean, Ben's right…with Mephisto's level of power, I wouldn't stand a chance against him, and none of you probably would either."

"Actually, I have a theory—" Reed began.

"Unless!" Peter exclaimed vibrantly.

Each member of the Fantastic Four looked at him, waiting for him to continue.

"Unless?" asked Reed.

"Doc, I'm gonna get out of here for now," said Peter, picking up his mask from where he had laid it on the floor and putting it on again. "Again, thanks for all you've done. And, if you don't mind, I may indeed come back to you in the not-so-distant future about helping me out on this."

"As I said, you're more than welcome to," Reed reiterated. "But what are you going to do now?"

"There's someone I've got to go talk to," Peter answered.

***

"You want to know about Mephisto?!?" Doctor Strange asked, incredulous.

"Um, yeah, that'd be good," Peter replied awkwardly. "I mean, I kind of figured you'd be the guy to ask about a magic demon guy like him. What can you tell me about him?" Spider-Man had been unable to locate the Doctor at the New Avengers' apartment this time, so he searched instead at the team's former hideout, Doctor Strange's Sanctum Sanctorum. Sure enough, Strange had departed from the hideout and returned to his own home. The two sat together in Strange's front room with Wong, the magician's assistant, not far away.

Doctor Strange began to explain. "Though Mephisto himself is not the devil, as he has often been mistaken to be, he does serve the devil, and rules over one of many realms of hell. He possesses unfathomable cosmic and spiritual power, is not bound by the laws of the physical world, and has been known to take pleasure in corrupting and condemning the souls of other beings."

"That doesn't sound good," Peter said flippantly.

"What interest have you with that vile fiend?" Strange asked, curious.

"Well, it's kind of a long story," Peter answered.

"The short version?"

Peter hesitated, searching for the most efficient way to relay the series of events, and then spoke. "Well, uh, I kind of found out that Mephisto apparently tricked me into allowing him to alter the time/space continuum and remove something that was very dear to me, and then left me with no memory of what had happened or the way time was supposed to be, and I was wondering if there was anything you could do about it," he explained casually.

"I see," Strange answered skeptically, deciding it best not to press for details at the time. "So what exactly is it that you want from Mephisto?"

"Short of his eternal torment and agony?" Peter asked. "Well, for starters, I'd really like him to put time back the way it was supposed to be. And I was kind of wondering if…" He trailed off, as if afraid to ask what he was about to ask.

"If what?" Strange prompted.

"If you could use your mystic power or magic spells or whatever to threaten him until he agrees to fix things," Peter said.

Strange shook his head in wonder. "You're asking for quite a mighty feat," he said.

"Yeah, I was kind of afraid of that," Peter muttered under his breath.

"I've crossed paths with Mephisto several times in the past, and have done what I can to fight him off," Strange said. "But I have been fortunate in the past. In truth, my level of power is no match for his. If I were to openly challenge Mephisto, it would likely be the last challenge I would ever make on this plane."

"Are you sure there's nothing you can do, Doc?" Peter pleaded. "I know it sounds crazy, but trust me, this is really important to me, and—"

"I have no doubt that it is," Strange answered sincerely. "And I certainly have no love for Mephisto myself. As your friend and teammate, I would gladly fight with you and help you do whatever it is that you need to do against him if I honestly believed that we had the slightest chance of success. But against one such as Mephisto…it would be utter foolishness for mortals such as ourselves to simply confront Mephisto and challenge him."

"But there are people who can, right?" Peter asked desperately. "I mean, us superheroes run into big cosmic entities like him three times a month at least. We've had all kinds of reality-altering adventures and have been able to fix the universe when it's been messed with in the past. There's gotta be someone as powerful as him, hasn't there?"

"Yes, there are those whose power would rival that of Mephisto," Strange answered. "But you would be hard-pressed finding one who would be willing to challenge him merely at your request. Unless there happens to be a cosmic entity who owes you a favor, I'm afraid there's not much you can do."

Peter sat in silence for a moment, thinking long and hard.

After a pause, Doctor Strange added, "I'm truly sorry, Spider-Man. If there was any way I could—"

"Actually, Doc, I think you just did!" Peter exclaimed joyously.

"I'm sorry?" asked the Doctor.

"Something you just said gave me an idea, Doc. It may not be much, but it might be my only hope. I've got to go find someone…but thanks for your help."

"Glad to be of service," Strange answered, though without knowing exactly what it was he had done.

Spider-Man prepared to leave, but suddenly he remembered the Fantastic Four's offer to help, and turned back to Doctor Strange. "Hey Doc," he said. "What if it wasn't just us?"

"What do you mean?" Strange asked quizzically.

"You said that your power alone wouldn't be enough to fight Mephisto," Peter said. "But what if it wasn't just you? What if it was you, and me, and some other heroes, and another big cosmic guy on top of all that? Would you be willing to try to help fight Mephisto then?"

Doctor Strange smiled slightly. "Yes," he answered. "I think I just might."

***

As Peter swung away from the Sanctum Sanctorum and towards his apartment, his thoughts were more complex and numerous than they had been in a long time. Even though he was physically tired, he had postponed his earlier desire to rest at his apartment when he had realized that his marriage had been undone. In his mind, dealing with that problem took priority over a nap. Now his quest did indeed happen to lead him back home, but he doubted he would have much time to rest. Making habitual movements and knowing the layout of New York fairly well, Peter didn't have to focus his mind on his webslinging. He used the time instead to begin to process everything which he had taken in over the past few hours.

I must be dreaming, Peter told himself, knowing that it wasn't true but needing to sort through things in his mind. I must be dreaming, because that's the only explanation for all this. There can't be any realistic way that one person can actually go through all the crap I've gone through in life and still survive, so I know it must not be real.

Peter sighed in frustration. He knew it was real.

So, let's see…does that make this the fortieth or the fiftieth time that some despicably evil maniac has taken it upon himself to seriously ruin my life? Or has it been more times than that, even? I've lost track over the years. I just know that I can now add the cosmically powerful Mephisto to my list of Norman Osborns and Otto Octaviuses (Octavii?) and Eddie Brocks and J. Jonah Jamesons who have decided it was their great joy and delight in life to make the existence of Spider-Man as miserable as it can possibly be.

Peter knew that this type of thinking wasn't really getting him anywhere, but it was his way to vent and cope with the various crises that came into his life on an all-too-regular basis. This particular crisis, however, just happened to be one of the biggest that he had ever faced.

I mean, how is anyone even supposed to deal with this? he wondered silently. This isn't like most of my usual problems, which can be solved by punching the villain of the week over and over until they pass out. This isn't even like my usual emotional problems, which have involved the death of just about every person I ever loved, at least once per person. No, this time, some magical entity who I've never done anything to anger in my life decided to alter reality and take away the one person I love most, who I now conveniently have no memories of ever being married to. He frowned and wished that his conscious memories of the marriage that he and Mary Jane had supposedly shared had been unleashed by what Reed had showed him, but to no avail. He supposed that it was because his marriage technically still hadn't happened, at least not in this reality, and so he couldn't possibly remember it. He would have to either go back and watch it on Reed's machine or somehow make Mephisto put things back the way they were supposed to be.

The latter option appealed to him much more than the former.

Peter arrived at his apartment and was thankful to see that Vin was not home. It would be pretty hard to explain, not to mention compromising to his superhero identity, if his roommate the NYPD officer saw the visitor who Peter hoped to meet come to their apartment. He left his Spider-Man costume on even when he got inside, so that the visitor would be easily able to recognize him when he arrived.

Without turning on the lights, Peter rummaged through the closet that contained all of his old stuff, hoping that he hadn't misplaced or thrown away the item he needed. Then again, it was a fairly conspicuous item, so he would probably remember if he had gotten rid of it. In fact, he remembered Vin once mentioning it in passing when they had first moved in together and Peter was bringing in all his stuff. It should still be here.

Peter sorted his way through an assortment of old textbooks, old comic books, various other books, dirty clothes, his camera, and an outdated chemistry set before he finally located the item he needed. It was a small, golden object shaped like what Peter guessed was an ancient Norse symbol or character of the Norse language. He held it up in front of him.

"Um, hello?" he asked, including the name of the being he was trying to summon. "Do you remember me? I mean, I know it's kind of been a while, but you did say you owed me a favor, and so I was kind of wondering if now would be a good time to collect…"

Peter stopped speaking suddenly when he noticed the object, which he knew to be a rune, beginning to glow. The light started out faint and then got brighter. An even more piercing center of luminescence began to appear in front of him, with the light and air swirling around to create a humanoid figure. When the brilliant light finally faded, the figure was clearly in view. It was similar, though not quite the same, as the one Peter had expected.

It was a female figure with a thin, shapely body and a full head of long black hair. The face, though its features were beautiful, held an unmistakable aura of mischief and wickedness as well. The woman wore a golden headdress with two long horns extending upward, and an emerald suit from some ancient era that contrasted well with the regal golden cloak around her body. The woman's voice thundered mightily as she spoke.

"Who dares summon the presence of Loki?"

***

Mephisto sat on his throne in hell and smiled with great delight. For a few months now he had been able to add to the pleasures of his existence by relishing the silent screams of the souls of the mortals known as Peter Parker and Mary Jane Watson—or, at least, the small part of their souls that was connected to the spiritual realm and was still aware of the pure love which they had lost. As much as he had enjoyed their agony, he was enjoying it even more right now, because the screams of Peter's soul had just gotten much louder. And that could only mean one thing: he knew.

Mephisto wasn't quite sure how, but somehow, Peter's knowledge of what he had lost had risen from the deepest reaches of his soul into the conscious realization of his mind, and so he was in even more despair and agony than he had been before. This made Mephisto very happy, but it also made him curious. What exactly was happening in Peter Parker's life on earth right now?

The demon effortlessly conjured up an image that would show him what was happening, and watched with glee and amusement. He saw Peter meet with the Fantastic Four and go back through the timestream. He saw Spider-Man talking with Mephisto's own sometime nemesis, Doctor Strange. And he saw the mortal return to his home and summon the presence of Loki.

He chuckled wickedly. "So, the mortal knows, and wants his life back, does he?" he said to himself. "He's going to try to fight me—me, with my limitless power?" He caused the image of Spider-Man to disappear and, in the heat of his emotion, conjured up even more and hotter flames than those that were already surrounding him. "Well then, if it's a fight he wants, then I'll have to be sure to give him one."

Mephisto kept laughing.

To be continued…

References:

The scene Peter witnesses between himself, Mary Jane, and Mephisto took place in Sensational Spider-Man #41 and Amazing Spider-Man #545.

Aunt May was shot by the Kingpin's sniper in Amazing Spider-Man #538.

Peter telling Reed that he has no intention of calming down is a reference to the film Spider-Man 3, as the film had Peter say the same line upon learning that his uncle's killer was still on the loose.

Doctor Strange's descriptions of and information about Mephisto are taken from /universe/Mephisto.

Loki met Spider-Man and gave him a rune which could be used to contact him in Amazing Spider-Man #503-504.