"It's only going to be confused for a minute if we're lucky," the girl said, the stick in her hand still pointed at the beast. "We need to get out of here."

Peter blinked. "Sorry, still a little confused here. What exactly did you do to it? And what is that?" he pointed at the stick. Then it hit him. "Whoa, is that a wand? You have an actual wand? That's what it is, isn't it?"

The girl looked over at him. "Yes, it's a wand. And I'm a witch."

Peter blinked again. "Huh. Not quite what I was imagining." Whenever he'd heard the word 'witch' before, he'd have imagined an old, wrinkled woman that cackled a lot while stirring her cauldron with a black bird or a black cat nearby. Or an old, wrinkled woman cackling as she flew on a broomstick. Or MJ when she had dressed up as an old, wrinkled woman for Macbeth. Basically just some sort of old, wrinkled woman doing witchy things. He definitely did not expect to see a girl only a few years younger than him with zero wrinkles on her face. Then again, MJ had made him watch a film called Kiki's Delivery Service about a young witch with no wrinkled on her face, so he guessed he had to reexamine his personal biases on the matter.

"Ok, so if you're a witch, where's your broom? Can't we just ride that thing out of here?"

The girl snorted. "I don't have a broom. I hate flying! I'll stick with keeping my feet on the ground."

Peter looked up at the beast which was getting less and less confused by the second. "Well, then I guess I'm sorry about this."

"About wha- HEY!" the girl suddenly shrieked as Peter grabbed her and hoisted her over his shoulder, shooting out a line of web to the upper canyon and hoisting himself into the air just as the beast regaining its senses and charged at them.

"Sorry buddy, but we're not on the menu," Peter called back to it as it jaws snapped shut behind them. "But if you'd like I'm happy to read the specials."

"What are you talking about?" the girl asked as he deposited her at the top of the canyon.

"Just making a joke," Peter explained.

"Aren't jokes supposed to be funny?"

"Ouch. That hurts," Peter said, although literally everyone else in his life had said that to him, most on multiple occasions. Though he'd seen Miles try it out a few times which made him even more proud.

Then came a scrambling noise and they both looked below to see the beast digging its claws into the canyon walls, beginning to climb its way up.

"Guess it wants to hear the specials after all," Peter commented, prepping himself to leap into the air. "Back in a second."

But before he could move, the girl held him back. "There's an easier way to handle this," she said and pointed her wand down at the beast. "Glisseo!" she said and suddenly, the whole canyon wall became smooth, like a trim wall. The beast lost its footing and slid back down to the ground, snarling in frustration.

Peter gaped. "That is so cool!" he exclaimed. "And freaky at the same time. But mainly cool! Wow. Can I get a wand?"

"Sorry, they're only for witches and wizards," the girl replied. "Not for Muggles."

"Muggles?"

"Non-magic-born," the girl explained.

"Huh. Well that's a little disappointing," he admitted, thinking of all he could do with a wand, though it really came down to playing pranks on criminals. Especially Mysterio. "Ah, it's probably for the best though. I'm a scientist at heart so magic's not really my thing. Still, I would love to see how it all works." He held out his hand. "I'm Spider-Man, by the way."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Spider-Man?" she asked. "That's your real name?"

"Well, no, obviously not," Peter replied. "But it's the name I go by in this costume to keep my identity hidden from the bad guys." Judging from her expression, he guessed he was just confusing her more. "I have a real name," he said. "It's just, for now, I prefer Spider-Man."

"Ok, I guess," she said dubiously, taking his hand. "I'm Hermione Granger."

Peter frowned at that. He had the strange feeling he'd heard that name before. But a second later, that feeling was gone and he blinked. "Nice to meet you," he said. "Though these aren't really great circumstances to meet someone." He glanced down at the beast below, still trying to scramble its way up to them. "Don't suppose you know how you got here?"

She shook her head ruefully. "One minute I'm curling up on the chair with a book, the next I'm in the middle of nowhere. And then that thing just comes up and attacks me." She took a deep breath.

"Yeah, wonder what it is," Peter said, still looking down at the creature which was now glaring back with an ugly expression. "Some experiment gone wrong unless it's more…magical?" he asked, looking back at her.

Hermione looked at it as well now for a moment but shook her head. "I don't know," she said, her voice sounding a little tight. "Magical beasts aren't really my area of expertise. I mean, I studied as well as I could but I never took the class farther than my O.W.L.s and they didn't cover every creature across the world. Hagrid would know."

Peter had to struggle a little as she talked, not understanding everything, but he got the gist of it. "Alright, well it appears we're safe up here for now. I think…" he trailed off, feeling something. His spider-sense had been tingling in the back of his head for a while but not too badly and he had assumed it was just because it sensed the creature down there. But now, it was surging, warning him of imminent danger. He looked around quickly, seeing nothing. Then he looked back at the creature and his eyes widened as he took in its position, its legs tensing in a crouch, glaring right up at him. He'd seen enough alley cats do that to know what it meant. "Look out!" he cried, tackling Hermione just as the creature launched itself up at them. Peter wouldn't have thought it would be able to make it, but what he had mistaken for lizard-like qualities before he now realized were more frog-like in essence, its back legs able to propel it straight at them. Its forelegs landed on the canyon top, its hind legs scrambling along the smooth wall below. It snapped at them, jaws coming awfully close.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled again, her wand firing a burst of red light but apparently the creature was smarter than it looked, ducking away from her spell and then lunging forward, pushing itself fully onto the canyon top. Peter managed to yank her aside before she went down its throat.

"I already told you, buddy, we're not on the menu. But here, have some of this, on the house." Peter threw a web grenade straight down its gullet as it swing towards him, diving out of the way before it got too close. It made a move to attack again when it suddenly froze and began coughing and gurgling uncontrollably, strands of web spilling out of its mouth.

"That'll teach you to watch what you eat," Peter smirked under the mask, watching as the creature twisted its head frantically, claws scrambling at its throat to get the webs out. Then the smile faded away as his spider-sense gave another surge and he instinctively leapt aside just as the creature let out another strange gurgle then turned down and unleashed a flood of green bile all over the ground.

"Yuck!" Peter grimaced, watching as it spewed its guts everywhere, his webs coming out along with a bunch of other nasty things. Then he saw the green bile bubble and froth as it sunk into the ground, dissolving much of the earth as it did so. "Oh, mega yuck! It's got acid vomit? That is so gross." He paused for a minute. "And a little bit cool," he admitted.

"How is that 'cool?'" Hermione asked shrilly behind him.

"Well, from a scientific perspective-" Peter started but he suddenly whipped backwards just in time to avoid a tail-strike coming right for him. He webbed it to the ground and the beast growled in frustration as it tried to free itself. It glared at Peter and he could swear he could see some sort of intelligence in its eyes. It was learning.

As if to prove his point, Hermione shot another spell at it, this one a bluish color, but the creature ducked underneath it. It knew what Hermione had done to it before and was now ready for her. It also managed to avoid Peter's latest shot of web aimed at its eyes. He had to think of something new quickly. It was too fast and dangerous to take lightly anymore.

"Alright, Wolfzilla," he said, readying his web-shooters. "Let's dance."

The creature narrowed its eyes at him, as if accepting the challenge, and ripped its tail free, bringing it down like a spear at Peter who narrowly dodged out of the way. Then, he shot out his spider-drone which instantly flew directly into the creature's face, opening fire with its little lasers. The creature backed away, curling its lips in annoyance, and then lashed out at the device but the drone ducked the claw and kept shooting. Using the distraction, Peter shot a trip mine on a rock nearby and then another next to him and then a third several yards in front of where the creature was standing.

"What are you doing?" Hermione asked him.

"Just watch and learn. I deal with bigger threats than this all the time." As cool as it would be to see Hermione take on the creature with all her different spells, Peter didn't know what they were. But he did know his skills. And he could see how to take this thing down his way. "If you see an opening, feel free to take it. But only if it looks like I'm failing."

"You know, I have fought before," she told him.

"Do you want to tackle this thing?" he asked her.

She took another look at the creature and then backed off. "I'll let you take lead."

Peter nodded. He could tell that while she was a gifted fighter in her own right, she wasn't comfortable fighting too much. While him, he was a natural. At least, he thought so. And he was pretty sure all his many foes agreed with him.

The drone was going to run out of juice in a few seconds so the time to act was now. Peter leapt right underneath the creature and activated his concussive blasts, pointing them directly at the creature's underbelly and firing.

The creature roared out in surprise and shock as it was thrown backwards, landing heavily on its back. Peter nodded, having put the blasts on full power but now they were shorted out for a little while. No matter. They had done their job. He ran forward as the creature got back up, snarling at him. It lashed out with its claw but he ducked under it then set his shooters on rapidfire, sending several rounds of web directly into the beast's face. It made a squealing noise, attempting to duck under the onslaught. Peter grinned when suddenly his spider-sense acted up and he leapt into the air instinctively, just avoiding the tail strike. He sent an impact web at it but the creature whipped the tail away before sending it right back, this time catching Peter in the ribs.

He grunted as he fell through the air, pain spiking in his chest, but he shot a web out and caught himself, landing firmly on the ground again. It would take much more than that to take him down. The creature snapped down at him but he just dodged to the side and then shot a taser web directly into its mouth. The creature instantly thrashed around, its whole mouth sparking.

"Well, someone looks a little shocked," Peter commented. "Ha." He turned to see what Hermione's reaction was but for some reason she was just shaking her head. "Alright, time to wrap this up. Literally." He then measured the physics and winced, not sure if he could pull this off. And if so, not easily.

But then again, he didn't need physics anymore. He had something cooler.

"Hey!" he called out to Hermione. "You got a spell that can levitate me?"

"Yes," she replied.

"Great. Do it…now!" he yelled just as the creature focused back on him. As it launched itself out at him, he felt a tugging all over his body and suddenly found himself floating in the air, flying right past the creature. Part of him was freaking out over floating like this with no logical reasoning. The other part of him was just plain reveling in the fact that he was floating in the air.

"Around it's jaws."

"What?"

"Send me around its jaws," he called out. He could tell Hermione was confused by his instructions but she did them, sending him floating over and around the beast's jaws. He shot out a web and began webbing the jaws shut. The beast instantly began writhing in protest, trying to break away. As its claws came up, Peter webbed them to the ground.

"Faster!" he yelled and felt himself speed up, going round and round. He kept up the web, binding the creature's jaws shut tightly. He was glad he was using to pulling similar stunts as he was starting to feel a little dizzy. Anyone else would probably be throwing up at this point, and that would not be good for the mask.

He then felt the web line give out and released it. "Ok, drop me!" he said and felt the spell release, dropping him to the ground where he landed smoothly in what he hoped was a heroic pose. The creature tried to snarl with its mouth so tightly closed and lifted its claws to try and free itself.

"Uh uh, not happening," Peter muttered and sent another wave of rapidfire webs at the creature, grabbing its attention. "Yep, come to me," he said as it growled softly, its hind legs crouching. Then, it sprang forward…a little farther than he would have liked but still worked. He leapt away as it came down, smiling to himself as he saw where the hind legs had landed.

Right next to the trip mines which instantly activated, shooting out to each legs and webbing them tight, yanking them away from each other. The creature yelped in surprise and fell to the ground, only barely itself on its forelegs. It snarled and struggled against the trap but Percy wasn't done yet.

"Hey, ugly!" he yelled. "If you're still hungry, how about you have a knuckle sandwich!" He then jumped forward and punched the creature across the chin, knocking it aside. He flew forward and landed just next to his last mine, watching the beast carefully. "Though I'm out of bread, so I guess it was just the knuckle part."

The creature didn't seem amused, glaring at him with obvious hatred. It then lunged right for him but he didn't move this time except maybe a few inches to his left. He heard Hermione cry out a warning but he didn't need it. Just before the creature's claw reached him, it passed over the mine and the web shot out and yanked it to the ground where Peter promptly added a bunch more webbing to it. Now the creature was tied down in three places with its jaws still webbed shut.

"Looks like you found yourself in a sticky situation," Peter commented. "Ah, that's corny even for me. Hold on, I'll come up with something better."

The creature, though, didn't seem to feel like waiting and began to struggle mightily against the webs, its muscles straining. Peter could sense that they might snap under the pressure. Time to finish this. He webbed himself forward into the air directly beneath the creature's jaws and shot out webs to its shoulders, yanking himself up as hard as he could. He flew upwards and jerked his legs straight up just as he hit the lower jaw, slamming his full body weight right into it and sending the whole head flying back. He kept going up, sailing right past but he twisted his body around with a loud "alley-oop!" and shot out his webs again, this time striking the ground on either side of the creature's head and pulling them to him hard, yanking his body back down with all his strength. He slammed back into the creature's head at terminal velocity, sending it crashing into the ground with enough force to shake the cliffside. The creature let out a small whimper before lapsing into unconsciousness, its eyes rolling into the back of its head.

"And that is how it's done," Peter smiled, clapping his hands together. "Now, did I get that sports reference right? Ah, who cares it was still awesome."

"That," Hermione said, coming up next to him as she stared at the fallen beast, "was impressive."

"Thank you," he replied, making a small bow. "It's just what I do. Well, actually no, I don't usually fight giant wolf-lizard…frog things. Although I do occasionally fight a giant lizard. But just fighting stuff like this is normal for me."

"Really?" Hermione asked, astonished. "For a Muggle, even."

Peter frowned at that. "Hey, I may not have magic but that's never held me down before. I don't need magic to get the job done."

"What about when you asked me to float you around to tie the jaws up?" she asked, eyebrows raised.

"I would have found another way…if I had been by myself. But your way was faster and easier so I went with it. And also I kind of wanted to know how it felt. Btw, it was awesome."

"Btw?"

"By the way. Shorter way of saying it."

Hermione frowned at that. "No it's not. 'Btw' has five syllables while 'by the way' has three. It's a longer way of saying it."

Peter blinked. "Huh. Yeah, I guess it is. Well, it's shorted via texting so…"

Hermione frowned again. "Texting?"

"You know, with your phone. Sending a message with the keypad." She still looked lost and he tilted his head. "You guys don't have phones."

"No, we do. I mean, I know what a phone is though wizards don't use them. But I don't know what texting is. Phones are just for calling people."

Peter let off a small laugh. "Well, you're clearly out of date. Phones are used for so much more. Here, look." Peter pulled out his phone from his pocket and showed it to her. "I can take pictures with it," he said, showing off a great one of him in front of Avengers Tower, "or play games like Kwazy Cupcakes. I started it the other day and am already up to Sprinkle City. And can text people like my girlfriend or my friend Miles here or…" he paused, seeing Aunt May's number still there and quickly moved past that. "Anyway, that's my phone. Though there's no service here, so I can't reach anybody. Where are we anyway?"

Hermione, however, was just gaping at him. "I-I don't understand," she said. "I keep up to date with most Muggle things. My parents have a phones but nothing like that. And taking pictures…how have Muggles advanced that much?"

Peter was starting to not like that word. The way she said it made him feel like he was supposed to be inferior or something. "Well, when we put our minds to it, us non-magical people can accomplish a lot of great things. I made these webs myself."

Hermione, however, didn't seem to hear him. She was still looking at the phone, her eyes growing astonishingly wide. She suddenly grabbed it out of his hand. "Hey!" he said indignantly but she ignored him, looking closely at something. "You could have just asked," he told her.

"This…this can't be right," she muttered.

"What can't?" he asked, beginning to lose his patience.

"This," she said, jerking the phone back in his face.

He started a little from the move and then focused on what she was showing him. "The date? It's 2019, so what?" Then he realized what she was getting at. "Why? What's the date for you?"

She blinked, her mouth opening and closing for a few seconds before she finally responded. "1997."

They were both silent for a moment until Peter let off a long, "huh."

I hope you all enjoyed Spider-Man cause I had so much fun writing him. And to be clear, this version of him takes place after the Miles Morales game.

Also, this Hermione Granger is the book version.

Til next time, stay healthy out there and happy reading!