Michelle "MJ" Jones

It wouldn't be until some months later that Peter told me what he wanted to do while we were in South Florida. I would've been thrilled and happy if he was able to do it. But, in hindsight, it was for the best.

After a while, Ned decided to go and check up on Peter. I wanted to go with him, but I decided against it. Ned was Peter's best friend, after all – basically a brother in all but blood. He had it handled, I was sure. Still, as I sat in the living room with the others, I couldn't help but stew.

"Why do so many people want to fuck with Peter?" I asked no one in particular as I leaned back in my seat.

"There're levels to this game," Craig replied. I looked over at him. He was looking down towards the ground. "When you're a hero or vigilante or the like, people will fight you every way they can. They'll fight you straight up. They'll go after you on the mental level. They'll even go after you in the courtroom if they can." He shook his head as he lifted his face up and looked at me. "It sucks."

"It really does suck," Kitty said in agreement. We all looked at her. "Being a hero can be like playing that Glass Bridge segment from Squid Game. Each step is trying to figure out what lines not to cross or nudge or what rules you can't break or bend. And all during that time, the people we're trying to defeat are all around us with loaded rifles, ready to shoot." She scoffed as she shook her head. "But, if we're lucky, we'll get to have action figures made in our likeness and official ice cream flavors. So I guess that's a fair trade." She said that last part sarcastically.

"I'd settle for a burrito spot," Carmilla muttered.

"Or a donut shop," Joanna added.

"I know I'd like my name attached to an item at a burger place," Craig spoke glumly.

"I know I'll sound super basic, but I'd go with my name on an iced latte," Betty whispered out.

"…Tea shop slash bookstore," I grumbled.

We all went silent after that. This really sucked. It was already bad enough that Peter got kidnapped and had his powers stripped away while Kraven singlehandedly sent the rest of the X-Men (except for Scott, of course) into hiding with their tails between their legs. Kraven taking over Spider-Man's mantle was a kick to the ribs while we were down, or the dick, even. I wanted to take a walk. I really did. I stood up. I was about to tell the others that I was going to step out for some fresh air before a portal suddenly opened up in the living room. We all looked it at as Clea and America stepped out of it.

Quickly, Kitty, Carmilla, and Joanna stood up. Kitty reached behind her back – something told me she had some weapons on her. Just as quickly, Carmilla drew a pistol I didn't know she had and Joanna cracked her knuckles as Betty quickly stood up and moved behind the couch. I remained standing in my spot.

"Easy guys," Craig said as he stood up and brought his hands outward. "They're cool." He looked around until Carmilla lowered her pistol and Joanna and Kitty dropped their hands. Craig huffed out a breath before he looked at Clea and America. "You two sure know how to make an entrance."

Clea actually smiled slightly. "Please forgive my sudden intrusion," she apologized. She looked at me. "I came for Michelle." I raised my eyebrows in surprise.

"MJ?" Craig looked at me. "For what?"

It took me a moment to realize why Clea wanted to see me. "It's something regarding me, her, and Peter." I looked at Clea. "I told Peter."

Clea nodded. "I'm glad you did."

"Did we come at a bad time?" America asked.

"You don't know the half," I replied.

"Okay, what is this about?" Kitty asked.

I turned towards her. "I can't tell you. Not yet anyway. Just know it's something magic related and I'll explain it to everyone once we're done with the Kraven mess."

Kitty frowned. "It's not something life threatening, is it?"

I shook my head. "I promise you it's not." I paused. "…At least I hope it's not."

Kitty glanced at Clea and America. She then looked at Craig. "Are you sure they can be trusted?"

"Trust me, they're solid," Craig assured. "They're Doctor Strange's people. The tall one is Clea and the one in the jean jacket is America."

"Pleased to meet you!" America greeted happily.

Kitty nodded slowly before she looked back at Clea and America. "Okay," she breathed out. "Just do me a favor and have her back by dinner time."

Clea nodded. "I won't take long at all, I assure you." She looked at me. "Shall we?"

I nodded. I turned towards the others. "I'll see you guys soon." With that, I walked with Clea and America through the portal. As the portal closed behind us, I looked around, seeing that we're in a library. It didn't look like any modern library, though. It looked like the kind you'd see in some fantasy movie or show. The light was rather soft and the books I saw looked like they've had a lot of wear and tear. They didn't even look like they're from this decade.

"Where are we?" I asked.

"Kamar-Taj!" America replied. She looked at me and smiled. "This is the base of The Masters of The Mystic Arts. It's where Ned and I are learning."

"Right now you're in the library," Clea said. "Whenever I could make time for your predicament, I've been pouring over the pages of the books here. It took a long while, to the point that I had to employ the assistance of America here, even though I had to keep her in the dark about what it was for." She looked at America. "I'm sorry."

America shrugged. "I understand." She looked at me. "I hope what we found was able to help."

"I appreciate the effort both of you put into this," I said. "But… you guys found something?"

"We did," Clea confirmed. She waved at me to follow as she started to walk. I walked after her with America walking beside me. "As I told you during our talk about The Runes of Kof-Kol, there isn't a single spell that doesn't have a way around it. I think we might have found a counter of sorts."

I raised my eyebrows, but I didn't say anything. I kept on walking, following her through the library until I found what looked like a reading area with a desk. On it was a book that was already open. We walked around the desk and looked down at the book. The book was opened up on a page showing a dark haired woman dressed in a chiton.

"What is this?" I asked.

"I believe this was a spell that Doctor Strange cast on you while he cast the spell that made everyone forget who Peter Parker is," Clea explained. "Specifically, this is Mnemosyne's Protection."

I tilted my head in confusion. "I'm sorry, who's protection?"

"How familiar are you with the religion of Ancient Greece?"

I brought my hand up and made a so-so motion with it. "I know a lot Greek tragedies, but as for the gods and goddesses, I probably know as much as the average person. I was always more interested in the religions in Africa."

Clea nodded in understanding. "I see. Well, Mnemosyne is the Greek Goddess of Memory. She is also the mother of The Muses, who were fathered by Zeus." I fought the urge to roll my eyes. Of course The Muses were fathered by Zeus. Like I said, I wasn't an expert on Greek Mythology. But I knew enough to know that if a major event happened, there was a good chance that it involved Zeus sticking his into someone who was not his wife Hera and impregnating them. "As you can guess, the memory part is the most important. Whether Mnemosyne's Protection was created by Mnemosyne herself or was named after her is unknown. However, it is a spell that can protect someone's memories in case of erasure and alteration."

Clea reached down and turned the page. I looked down at it and saw an illustration. It was a diagram of sorts. First it showed a woman. There was an arrow that pointed to two other women, both identical to the one before, standing side-by-side. There was another arrow, pointing from the woman on the right to a brain. Finally, there was one last arrow pointing from the brain to what looked like a starry sky.

"It basically works like this," America began. "When the spell is cast, it basically makes a copy of all the memories you have up to the time of the casting. Then those memories are planted in a part of your subconscious."

I nodded slowly. "Okay… I get that," I uttered slowly. I looked up from the book and back and forth between Clea and America. "But, wouldn't my memories still be erased?"

"That's where the protection comes in," Clea continued. "The copy of the memories essentially becomes a version of the person the spell was used on. More than that, the part of the subconscious that the memories are stashed away in becomes a small universe of itself, made of up of the copy of the landmarks that are extremely important to that person. Since that personification lives within another universe, essentially, the Runes wouldn't affect them."

I went quiet for a bit. I tried to wrap my head around this new information. I took in a breath.

"Okay," I said slowly. "Let me get this straight. This spell… this Mnemosyne's Protection…"

"Right," America confirmed.

"It was cast by Doctor Strange while he was casting another spell, The Runes of Kof-Kol."

"Indeed," Clea said with a nod."

"This spell basically created another universe within me."

"Yes," America affirmed.

"And within that universe is a version of me that's the embodiment of every pre-Kof-Kol memory I have."

"That is correct," Clea confirmed.

I nodded slowly as I looked off to the side. "So how is she able to communicate with me?"

"From what I can understand, there's a small link between that small universe and you." She raised her eyebrows briefly. "But the link only becomes active rather sporadically, and only a few minutes at most at a time."

I went quiet once more. I started to remember all of the conversations I had with Dark Mirror MJ, along with the memory flashes. What Clea said checked out. They all happened rather sporadically with little rhyme or reason to why they occur when they do. Come to think of it, it had been a while since I last saw her. Then there were the words she said.

i"I'm you."/i

"So that's what she meant," I whispered to myself. I looked at Clea. "Is there a way I can see her face to face? I mean, can we meet without using a mirror or worrying about time limits?"

"I can figure out away," Clea replied. She raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you want to see her?"

I nodded. "We have to talk. I…" I trailed off. "…I don't think I can bear having her be imprisoned within me. It's not fair to her."

Clea made a noncommittal sound. "Well, normally, porting you to another universe would be easy for me. However, given the circumstances, it would be a tad difficult – the universe in question is a part of you. I'll have to figure out a way. Once I do, I'll let you know, okay?"

I smiled. "Okay."

Clea smiled slightly. "I'm glad we were able to help, Michelle."

"MJ."

Clea tilted her head. "I beg your pardon."

"MJ," I repeated. "My friends call me MJ. And I think you two earned that right."

I was ported back to the Pierre household, right in the living room. Peter was there on the couch. He looked at me dumbfounded as the portal closed behind me.

"Hey," he greeted.

"Hey, you," I replied. "…Are you okay?"

"…I'm as okay as anyone in my position would be." He nodded towards me. "Are you okay?"

"I'm…" I trailed off. I took a moment to actually think about the question. I nodded a couple of times. "…I actually feel a little optimistic." Optimism – that feeling was still weird to me, but I like to think I was getting more accustomed to it as time went by. "We have something we need to talk about. And it's Spell-related."

"Oh…" He pressed his lips together. "Okay."

I smiled slightly. I walked up to him, bent over, and placed a kiss on his forehead. "I'll meet you at the pool in a few minutes."

With that, I made my way out of the living room and up the stairs. I walked over to the bathroom, stepped inside, and closed the door. I took in a deep breath, held it for a moment, and let it loose.

"Today was a lot," I whispered to myself. I looked down at the faucet. I turned on the cold water. I bent over, putting my head over the sink, and used my hands to splash the water onto my face. After doing that three times, I turned off the faucet. I took another deep breath before I straightened myself up and looked in the mirror. I raised my eyebrows in mild surprise. I then smiled slightly. "…Hi."

Staring back at me from where my reflection would normally be was Dar… I mean, Mirror MJ. She nodded towards me.

"Hi," she greeted quietly. "…No longer hating me?"

I shrugged. "I don't think I really ever hated you. I was frustrated with you, annoyed by you, but I don't think I ever hated you."

She closed her eyes briefly as she nodded. "I guess I came in a bit too hot."

I raised my eyebrows briefly. "I get it." I took in a breath. "I know what you are now. Clea and I will figure out a solution for all of this, I promise you. But, next chance I get, I want to really talk to you face to face without the need of a mirror and without worrying about there being a time limit. I don't know when that will be, but it will happen." I paused for a moment. "That is, if you're okay with that."

Mirror MJ frowned a bit. "Do I have a choice?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied simply.

She looked off to the side for a moment. After taking a breath, she looked at me and nodded. "Okay."

I smiled at her. She smiled back. After that, she faded away, leaving my reflection to look at. I took in a breath and shook my head.

"Crazed, obsessed hunters, voodoo priestesses, a created universe within me made by a spell that may or may not be from a Greek Titan," I whispered to myself. "I might as well become a superhero. I'm already dealing with some wild ass shit." I paused for a moment. "I probably shouldn't put that out there into the multiverse."

Speaking of superhero stuff, I remembered that I needed to tell Peter what about everything. After taking a breath, I made my way out of the bathroom. On my way downstairs, there was a part of me that gained a new level appreciation for Peter's ability to stay… Peter.