Michelle "MJ" Jones

Expect disappointment.

Be careful what you wish for.

DO look a gift horse in the mouth.

The path less traveled is often less traveled for a good reason.

All of that up there is a part of my list of Mottos, Idioms, and Sayings to Live By (trademark pending). The day after Yui and I met with Cartier, I remembered another saying I had on that list.

Time waited for no one.

When I woke up the next morning, I was a bit antsy over what could possibly be the fallout from Yui and me meeting Cartier. The best case scenario, of course, was that Cleary would get off my back due to having to deal with the wrath of a loving father. The absolute worst scenario was that he somehow knows what Yui and I have done and get us both arrested for interfering with a government investigation. There was also the possibility of just Yui getting in trouble. Somehow, I felt that outcome would've made me feel even worse than the worst case scenario. So, I figured I'd spend the rest of the day hoping for the best and preparing for the worst about that situation.

Unfortunately, my situation with Cleary would be the least of my problems.

"Yeah, we have a problem."

I barely stepped into the bathroom and closed the door behind me when Mirror MJ spoke to me. I looked at my mirror, seeing her where my reflection would normally be. She looked serious. I closed my eyes, took in a breath, and sighed. I knew what she had to tell me was going to suck.

"Look, if you are falling in love with me, keep it to yourself," I deadpanned as I opened my eyes. "I'm taken and I don't do relationships that titillate the most depraved of AO3 fanfic readers."

Mirror MJ glared at me. "First of all, gross! Second of all, I'm being serious here."

"I know you are." I sighed. "So what's the issue that you want to talk to me this early in the morning without even so much as saying 'hi'?"

"We really need to talk to Clea as soon as possible. I don't think I can wait much longer to do the whole merge thing."

I glared at her. "…You do remember I told Peter I'd wait, right?"

"See, I understand that and I was willing to go along with that until today…" She looked downward in confusion. "Or last night… I can't tell." She shook her head as she looked back at me. "The point is, things changed."

I narrowed my eyes. "What changed?"

"Recently… something has been going on with the universe I'm in."

I blinked slowly. "…What's happening?"

"Well, I was walking around the city, as per usual. On a whim, I decided to go to Staten Island. I didn't have anything else to do and I was already in Brooklyn. All I had to do was walk across the bridge, right? So, I started crossing the bridge. There was this fog up ahead. I thought it was weird. The weather has been constant. But I kept walking. As soon as I reached the fog, though, it felt like there some kind of barrier. I tried so hard to walk through the fog, but I was unable to. I tried going to other places. The Hudson River is gone. JFK is gone. Even part of Jamaica Bay is gone. It looks like this universe is disappearing little by little and I'm more than a little worried about what this means for me."

I stared at her blankly. I then nodded slowly in understanding. "Yeah, I could definitely why that could be a concern." I said this evenly. Low key, I was freaking out. There was a good chance she was in danger of disappearing permanently. Deciding to keep it calm, I turned towards the door of the bathroom. "I got a phone call to make."

I left the bathroom and went back to my bedroom. I walked over to my phone, picked it up. I went through my contacts and dialed up the number of the one person I knew that could help me get in contact with Clea. After some rings, the person I called picked up.

"Good morning, Ned," I greeted. "I need a huge fa-" I paused for a moment. "Why are you whispering?" I paused once more, letting him answer. I narrowed my eyes. "Okay, I get that. But why are you at Betty's house to begin…?" I trailed off. I then shook my head. My imagination started to fill in the blanks. "You know what? Don't answer that. Anyway, I need a favor. You know how to get in contact with Clea, right? I just really need to talk to her after school. I'll explain later."

The day went by at a rather slow pace. I was also a bit irritable. Every single thing that usually annoyed me was even more annoying to me that day, from my favorite spot in the school library being occupied by another student to one of my teachers going off on a tangent. By the time school was over, I was almost looking forward to meeting with Clea.

Once I met up with Ned, I grabbed him and pulled him into the nearest girl's restroom.

"Dude!" Ned complained.

"We're not going to be here long anyway," I pointed out. "You got the Sling Ring?"

"Yeah, I do." Ned pulled it out of his pocket and put it on. "What's going on exactly?

"You know how Mirror Me is living inside of a mini-universe that exists within me?" Ned nodded. I grimaced. "Well, according to her, pieces of that universe have gone missing, and I believe she's afraid that, eventually, that'll be the end of her."

"…Oh." Ned took in a breath. "Yeah, that might be major."

Ned turned and formed a portal. It opened up on Clea. She was sitting in what looked like a common room near a fireplace. After Ned beckoned me, I walked through. I then looked over my shoulder. "I got it from here," I told him. "I'll see you later."

"Okay," Ned said.

The portal closed. I took in a breath before I looked towards Clea, who was looking at me.

"I was told you really need to talk to me," she said quietly. "Please." She beckoned to the empty chair near her. "Sit." I nodded before I walked over. I took a seat on the chair she beckoned to and looked at the fireplace. "What is troubling you?"

"Well, long story short, I had a talk with Mirror MJ and she told me that pieces of her universe is missing," I explained. "She didn't say it outright, but she believes that her universe is disappearing little by little. And, because of that, she believes that we should do the merge as soon as possible before she ends up… you know."

Clea's eyes widened slightly as she raised her eyebrows. "That… is concerning," she stated.

I frowned. "What do think is going on?"

"…Assuming what Mirror MJ is saying is true, there's a decent chance that this universe within you wasn't meant to exist forever." She looked towards the fireplace. I could see the gears turning in her head. "We may not have long."

"Did you know this was going to happen?"

Clea shook her head. "I didn't. I, along with America, researched the spell as thoroughly as we could, as we've done with any spell we came across in our search."

I raised an eyebrow. "So how did you guys miss that?" I realized a bit too late that that came out sounding a bit hard. I was a bit frustrated, but she didn't deserve that. Clea looked at me. I was afraid that she was going to be a bit angry with me. She kept her expression rather neutral.

"Magic and science have a lot in common," Clea explained. "More often than not, what we know as a fact today is proven false tomorrow, and when we think we know all about something, we discover more about it later on. While those who research and create spells do everything they can to know all of the attributes and limitations of them, details can still fall through the proverbial cracks." She frowned slightly. "Though, considering what the spell was used for, perhaps long term usage of it hasn't been touched upon yet." She stood up. "Are you ready to do the merge now?"

"I…" I trailed off. I was about to say yes, but I remembered, once again, that I told Peter I'd hold off on doing this merge until she was done with Kraven. Did I think he'd be mad at me for changing my mind? Not really. But, I didn't know how the new me would act after it happened. If he came back and saw that I was keeping my distance from him, he'd probably be extremely confused. "Um… you wouldn't happen to have a pen and paper handy, would you?"

Clea blinked once. "I do now."

I raised an eyebrow in confusion. She nodded past me. I turned my head around to see a wooden desk with a chair. I glanced back at Clea. She gave me an encouraging nod. I stood up and walked over to the desk. As I sat down, I saw the pen and paper that was on top of the desk itself. I picked up the pen. After looking over the metallic writing utensil, I tapped the point of it against the paper as I tried to think of the right words to say. After taking a breath, I decided to just let the words flow.

It wasn't an easy letter for me to write. I already knew that there was a huge chance that my relationship with Peter could take a hit. But I thought I had more time to prepare for it until I didn't.

Expect disappointment, right?

I felt like I was in the middle with Peter on one side and the Mirror MJ on the other. I didn't want things to end with Peter. He was in a lot better place than where he was right after The Spell. He was more open with me and understood that what he did was not okay. With that being said, I couldn't fault Mirror MJ if she wanted to end things with Peter. I understood what Peter went through. I understood that he wanted to protect those around him. But at the same time, I couldn't blame Mirror MJ for feeling the way she did. I couldn't imagine what it was like to be in her position, stuck in a city-sized universe, being the only inhabitant of it while someone who is both her and not her lived her life, all because someone she trusted didn't keep their promise.

Ugh, what the fuck?

By the time I was done with the letter, I realized my eyes were watery. I closed them as I set the pend down and leaned back in the chair. I didn't want to cry – not at that moment. So, I took a moment keep myself together. After I was sure I regained my full composure, I stood up and turned around. I was a bit startled to see Clea standing near me.

"Would you like me to deliver that letter for you?" she asked. There was a certain sadness to her tone. I was barely, just barely, able to see the very slight frown on her face. She didn't look happy. I guess she didn't like seeing me in this predicament. Well, that made two of us.

"Can you put it in an envelope, too?" I whispered. I didn't trust my voice.

"It's already done." I looked over my shoulder to see that the desk and chair was gone. I looked back at her glumly.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She smiled briefly. The smile wasn't a happy smile. "…You're doing the right thing, MJ. I hope you know that."

I nodded. "I do." I looked off to the side. "I hate it, though."

"The right thing to do, half the time, doesn't feel good." I looked back at Clea. She blinked once. "Even in my many centuries of life, there are still a lot of things I've done for the greater good, or even just the better, that I still look back on with a sour taste in my mouth."

"Did any of those times involve people you hold dear?" I asked.

"Unfortunately, more times than I care to admit," Clea whispered back. "…I'm sorry, young one."

"Don't be." I took in a breath. I didn't want to wait anymore. There was a huge part of me that didn't want to go through with it, and the more I waited, the stronger the urge to back out became. "Let's… let's just get this over with."

From there, Clea and I travelled the halls of Kamar-Taj. We passed America along the way. She looked excited to see me at first, and looked ready to run up to me and hug me. Fortunately… or unfortunately… she didn't. I guess she read the room and saw the mood that I was in. So, instead, she gave me a wave. I waved back as I continued to walk with Clea.

Eventually, we ended up back in the same room we were in before the first time I was visiting the universe within me. I walked over to the stone slab and took a seat on it. I watched as Clea moved about, waving her hands. I looked around as symbols flashed in the air. I figured she was casting spells, putting up the same safeguards she used the last time. Under different circumstances, I'd probably be gawking, amazed at the sight of it. But at that moment, all I could do was look on sadly. There really was no turning back now.

After a while, Clea turned towards me.

"I'm finished with preparations," Clea declared. "If you're ready, please lie down."

I took in a breath. Slowly I lifted my legs up off of the ground and turned my body. I slowly lied down, grimacing when the back of my head ended up touching stone. I stared up at the ceiling. I heard footsteps, and Clea came into my view. She placed her hand on my chest. I then felt myself being lifted up. My soul was getting pulled out of my body. As Clea let me go, I looked over my shoulder to see my body lying so still that it almost looked lifeless. I then looked back at Clea, just in time to see her cut open a portal with that sword of hers. I watched her as she walked through.

Once again, I had the urge to not go. A small, rather selfish side of me realized that if the universe inside of perished, so would Mirror MJ. I'd be free of it all. There would be no more memory flashes, no more having to deal with someone living inside of me, no more worrying about how my life would be impacted by past memories. All of it sounded logical to me.

So, of course, I floated through the portal. On the other side, Clea was there waiting for me. I looked at her and nodded. We then made our way towards Mirror Midtown.