Peter Parker

I waited for MJ by the pool. While I waited, I was a bit anxious about what MJ had to tell me. I wasn't too nervous. She didn't look like she was in a bad mood when she stepped out of the portal. So, she must've had some good news… or at least news that wasn't bad. Then again, she was always better at hiding her emotions than me. Even with my enhanced senses, I couldn't get a read on her half the time. Luckily, MJ never really lied to me – hide stuff, maybe, but never lied. Still, as I paced back and forth near the pool, I was trying to prepare myself for what could be –

"Wow, Peter, don't look too calm."

I stopped in my tracks and turned around. MJ was standing a few feet away, looking at me with a halfhearted glare. I smiled sheepishly – she caught me off guard.

"Were you always this nervous about things?" she asked.

I thought about her question for a moment. "No," I replied. "I mean, I guess I've always been nervous about these kinds of things, but… you know… The Spell and everything made me even more…" I trailed off.

MJ nodded in understanding. "Trauma's a bitch."

I chuckled bitterly. "And one that does not stop coming around."

MJ smiled slightly before she walked over and grabbed my left hand with her right. "Let's sit." She guided me to the pool chairs. We each took a chair to sit on and faced each other. "Okay, so…"

I sat there, listening to MJ as she explained everything to me slowly. I'm glad she took her time. It allowed me to wrap my head around it. When she was done, I looked at her quietly for some moments. After it all sunk in, I took in a breath.

"Okay, so, let me see if I have this all correct," I said slowly. "So, Clea and America took you to Kamar-Taj… which is where Ned and America are learning how to use magic."

"Yes," MJ confirmed.

"And there, they showed you a spell in a book."

"Uh-huh."

"Said spell is what they believe Doctor Strange cast… while he was casting iThe/i Spell."

"That's right."

"And the spell he cast…" I trailed off for a moment. "…Mnemosyne's Protection, right?" MJ nodded. "This spell made a copy of every single last one of your memories that you had up to the point of The Spell."

"Mhm, mhm."

"And this collection of memories is in the form of this personification of pre-Spell you… which lives in a part of your subconscious."

"Right."

"And that part of your subconscious was turned into a miniature universe."

"Yup."

"And because it lives in that universe, it was unaffected by The Spell."

"Exactly."

I sighed. "MJ… I…" I shook my head. "I don't know what to say." I frowned at her. "…I'm sorry."

MJ scoffed. "For what?"

"For not telling you the truth about us earlier – the day after The Spell, I mean."

MJ rolled her eyes. "Peter, I've forgiven you for that a long time ago. We're past that."

"I know but…" I sighed. "But if I had told you earlier, maybe we could have gone to Doctor Strange right after and –"

"You would have had to pull me away after I kick him in the dick," MJ finished. I closed my eyes, smiled, and shook my head before I chuckled. I knew she wasn't joking. "Look, there's nothing we can do about it now."

I nodded. "You're right." I opened my eyes. "So what are you going to do?"

She shrugged. "I don't know yet. I guess I'll talk with Clea once this situation with Kraven is all over. I do want to talk to Mirror Me face to face." She smiled slightly. "Before I came down here, I spoke with her in the bathroom. I guess we kind of reached an understanding."

I raised my eyebrows in surprise. "That's good."

"Yeah, it is." Michelle's smile became a bit wider. "I'm just glad I know what's going on with me now." She paused. "Or… rather, I'm at least 66 percent sure."

I smiled back at her. "So am I."

She nodded. She turned her body and lay on the pool chair before she held her left her hand out towards me. It took me a moment to catch on. Once I did, I turned my body and laid myself out on the pool chair I was seated on. I reached over and took her hand. She gave my hand a soft squeeze before she relaxed her grip. We smiled at each other one last time before we looked up at the sky in silence until dinner time.

Eventually, Friday rolled around.

After we ate breakfast, we all piled into Craig Senior's Honda Pilot, with Craig (Junior) taking the wheel. Carmilla took the front passenger seat. I was in the second row with MJ and Joanna, while Betty was in the last row with Ned and Kitty. My left leg was bouncing up and down on its heel repeatedly. I just wanted to get this over with.

"Now remember son, not a scratch," Craig Senior ordered from outside the front driver's side door.

"I got it, Pops," Craig replied from the driver's seat.

"I'm just sayin', son, you have a history of wrecking vehicles."

"Really, pops? You gonna hold the cars I wrecked on a rather hazardous 'profession' against me?"

"He is a safe driver," Carmilla spoke up in Craig's defense.

At that, Craig Senior scoffed as he looked at Carmilla. "He better be." He looked at his son. "If I find even a small scratch, you're buying me a Lambo truck."

Craig laughed. "You know what? Okay. Now let me go already. I don't want to keep Doctor Drumm waiting for too long."

"Alright, go on then. But come back when it's all over."

"We will. Later, Pops."

"Later, son."

With that, Craig started the car and slowly pulled out of the driveway. He took a moment to wave at his father, who waved back. He then drove off.

The drive was rather long. A lot of it had to do with traffic. It was mostly quiet, too, with the exception of the music playing from the radio and the few times Craig spoke to either complain about why he hates driving in Florida or point out a landmark here and there. I spent the drive looking out of the window, taking in the sights.

After a while, we ended up in Miami. Specifically, we ended up in the community known as Little Haiti.

"It's been a while since I been here," Craig explained as he slowly moved through the neighborhood, following the GPS. "Whenever we visited our cousins down in Miami, and we were craving that good authentic Haitian food, we always take a trip to this area." He chuckled. "A plate of griot, fried plantain, and pikliz with a bottle of Malta does your boy just right."

"I wonder if that's what Scott is eating right now," Joanna grumbled.

"Missing him?" Kitty asked.

"Yeah, in more ways than one." She sighed. "He better make it up to me when he gets back."

Eventually, we pulled into the driveway of a two story house. The house was painted a dull grey. As I stepped out of the car after Craig parked, I saw the chips and cracks in the paint, telling me that the place hasn't been painted in a very long time.

"Are you sure this is the place?" Kitty asked after she stepped out of the building.

"That's what the GPS says," Craig confirmed. After everyone one was outside, and the doors of the SUV was locked, we all walked up to the door of the house.

"This place looks sketchy," Ned commented.

Craig scoffed. "I'm sorry. Were you expecting the Ritz-Carlton?" After that, he knocked on the door. We waited for a few moments before the door opened up.

Standing in the doorway was a black man who looked like he was about six feet tall. He wore blue jeans and a light green button up with rolled up sleeves and pockets on the front. What really stuck out was his hair. His hair was in dreadlocks, which were tied back in a ponytail. But that wasn't what stuck out. No, what stuck out was the fact that the whole middle section of his hair was white while the sides were black. Somehow, I got the feeling that he didn't use hair coloring.

"Craig, it's been a while," the man greeted. He looked at Kitty. "Same with you, Kitty." He then looked at me. "And Peter… I hope all is well, current predicament aside."

"It could be a lot worse," I said with a smile. "It's great to see you face to face, Dr. Drumm."

"Please, Peter, we're not in a session. Jericho will suffice." He stepped aside. "Please, come in. Remove your shoes and leave them by the door and take a seat in the living room." We all walked in. As I took off my shoes, I looked around the place. It was pretty modest. There was a full living room set with a coffee table and a TV, a decent sized kitchen, and a folded chair that was leaned up against the wall. But the walls were white and bare. I had a feeling the place wasn't really used for living. We all gathered in the living room. Kitty took the recliner. I sat on the sofa with MJ, with Joanna taking the last seat. While Ned and Betty took the couch, Craig and Carmilla opted to stand. Jericho walked up to the steel chair and grabbed it. He then brought it over to where we were seated before he unfolded the chair, set it down, and took a seat on it.

"I see some new faces," he said as he looked around. "I take it they know about your extracurricular activities."

"They do," Kitty said. "Um, on the couch are Ned and Betty."

"A pleasure to meet you," Betty said politely as Ned nodded.

"On the sofa with Peter are Michelle, his girlfriend, and Joanna, the newest X-Man and Scott's girlfriend."

"Hello," MJ greeted quietly as Joanna waved.

"And standing with Craig is Carmilla. You may or may not have heard of her."

"I have," Jericho confirmed as he looked her way. He smiled. "I'm happy to put a face to the name."

"Pleased to meet you," Carmilla replied stoically as she shifted her footing. Something was bothering her. Before I could ask, Jericho spoke as he looked at me.

"Craig wasn't exactly detailed when he told me that your powers were stripped away. Would you kindly tell me what happened?"

"I don't know what happened exactly," I replied with a shake of my head. "It's just that… During the whole riot in New York City, I was with the rest of X-Men, except for Scott." I paused for a moment. "He's been out of the country, paying his respects to King T'Challa and reviving his ties with Wakanda."

Jericho nodded. "I see."

"So, we were holding our own until the NYPD was able to move in. While they were doing their thing, a woman got snatched and pulled into a van. I chased them down. I took down the kidnappers and helped this woman out. Then she blew a white powder in my face. I was unable to move. Then she smothered me with a drenched rag. I think it was doused with chloroform or something. Anyway, I was out cold. I woke up in this room, strapped down to a table. With my powers, the restraints used wouldn't have been able to hold me down, but I couldn't get out. That's when the woman who I thought I was saving appeared. Not only is she a voodoo priestess, she's also Kraven's wife."

Jericho grunted as he nodded slowly. "Did she happen to say her name?"

"She said her name is Calypso." Jericho's eyes went wide for a moment. He then laughed bitterly as he leaned back in his seat.

"You know her?" Kitty asked.

"Know her?" Jericho repeated, shaking his head. "Calypso and I learned the ways of the craft under the same oungan, albeit at different times. I've crossed paths with her before. She may seem polite on the surface, and perhaps her politeness is genuine to a degree. But, make no mistake. If Kraven is as depraved as he seems, then they're a match made in hell." He sighed before he looked back at me. "Okay, I'll have to take you upstairs, just you and me."

"Why just you two?" MJ asked. I knew that tone. She was a bit suspicious, which was to be expected. She never met Jericho before.

Jericho looked at MJ. "In certain situations, I prefer to cast my spells while only the target and I are present in a room. While I pride myself in my control and skill level, to strip someone of their powers takes a rather powerful spell. So I have to approach this delicately, unless I want to doom Peter to being powerless permanently." He looked at me. "Perhaps I should explain the spells I'll use. First, I'll have to figure out what kind of spell Calypso used on you. From there, I can determine the best way to counter it. Finally, I'll cast a protection spell on you to give you some resistance in case Calypso tries something like this again. All of that will likely involve the use and consumption of certain herbs and potions. The process will also take a few hours and it'll take some days, even weeks, to fully take effect."

"Which means at least a few more days of hiding," I muttered to myself.

"That'll make smacking up Kraven that much sweeter," Craig encouraged.

"Easy there, All-American," Carmilla warned. "We can't forget that Kraven had you sidelined for a bit."

"And we still need to figure out how he got so strong so fast," Kitty added.

"How much you want to bet that he's on that MGH?" Joanna commented.

"Are you sure about this Peter?" MJ asked.

"I trust him," I said as I looked at her. "He is my therapist after all."

"And I take my job as an oungan and a psychologist extremely seriously," Jericho added. We both looked at him. "Technically, the Hippocratic Oath doesn't cover my fields of expertise, but I believe in doing no harm. That's why I only want to do my thing with just Peter and I – less risk of something going wrong."

I looked at MJ. She looked at me with a frown. I nodded at her. She sighed before she nodded back. I looked back at Jericho. "Let's get this over with."

"Alright," Jericho stood up. I stood up as well. He pulled a cellphone out of his pocket and tossed it towards Kitty, who caught it. "Make yourselves at home. There's food and drinks in the fridge, but feel free to order off my Uber Eats app if you want. Also, there's Netflix and the Hulu bundle on the TV. Let's go Peter."

I followed him as he left the living room and moved upstairs. We ended up in a room with no windows. He turned on a light switch. The room was lit up by four lamps, one for each corner of the room. The sound of a vent fan spinning started. I looked around the room as Jericho closed the door behind me. On one wall was a rack with many jars and a few items like a pestle and mortar, a knife, and some bandages. In the center of the room was a gurney. My stomach churned a bit as memories of my abduction resurfaced. I took in a breath.

"Are you sure about this?" Jericho asked.

"I need my powers back," I replied. "I need to take down Kraven." I left out the part where I wanted to turn him into a stain in the ground for the disrespect. Of course, I wouldn't. I never kill… usually (The Battle for Earth forced my hand). But I wasn't sure breaking every bone in his body was out of the question. "Let's do this."

"Okay…" Jericho nodded. "Take off your shirt lay on the bed."