Michelle "MJ" Jones

"So how does this work?" I asked.

I was back in Kamar-Taj. I was lying on a stone slab with a pillow under the back of my head. I was a bit nervous. I wondered how Mirror MJ felt about this at the very moment.

"It's simple," Clea stated. "I'm going to remove your soul from your body."

I blinked a couple of times. I then sat up and looked over at Clea, who drew her sword. "I'm sorry, what?"

"It won't be permanent. It's just a way for me to get around a certain issue – specifically, the issue of being unable to port you to the universe within you."

I nodded slowly as I looked forward. "Okay."

"Nervous?"

I resisted the urge to glare at her as I lay back down. "Well, it's not like my soul being taken out of my body is an everyday thing. I mean, I've heard of out of body experiences but this is something different." I sighed. "So, do I need to be laying down for this?"

"Technically, no." I heard footsteps. Seconds later, Clea was looking over me. "However, it'd be rather uncouth and potentially harmful if I put your body in a position where it would just fall over to the ground."

"…Okay, but why this stone slab and why this room?"

"I figured you'd want to do this as soon as possible, so I skipped over bringing over a mattress. As for this room, I have certain safeguards in place here just in case. Some wandering souls and spirits do enjoy an empty vessel."

I raised my eyebrows. "…Doesn't Kamar-Taj have safeguards for shit like that?"

"They do. However, I do believe that, in certain cases, you can't have too much protection, especially considering a relatively recent incident." I didn't bother asking about that incident. Something told me that ignorance was best for me in this case. "Anyway, keep still for me."

I swallowed the lump in my throat. "Okay." Clea brought her hand down on my chest. After a few seconds, I felt myself being pulled upward. I felt a lot lighter, like I weighed almost nothing. I felt like I was floating. I quickly looked around then down to see that, yup, I was indeed floating. There was my body, lying completely still. I blinked a couple of times. "You know, this is, easily, the freakiest shit I've ever experienced."

Clea chuckled. "It's certainly quite an experience the first time around." I looked towards her. I saw the small smile on her face. That smile then faded. "Are you ready?"

I shrugged. "Honestly, no. But I don't think I'll ever be ready, so it's better to get it over now rather than later. So, ahall we?"

Clea nodded wordlessly. She then lifted her sword and slashed the air in front of her. A portal opened up. She stepped through it. I took in a deep breath before I tried to move forward. It took me a few tries. I tried running, but I might as well have been on treadmill. I tried jumping, but went nowhere. I then tried swimming. That's when I made progress. I swam through the air and into the portal.

I don't what I was expecting to see on the other side. What I didn't expect was to see a form of New York City. I saw Clea standing on a curb. I swam up to her side and looked around. It was somewhat dark. I looked up at the sky, seeing that it was sunrise. I looked around the city again. There were cars. There were people. But everything was at a standstill.

"So this is the part of my subconscious that was turned into a universe," I commented.

"It is," Clea confirmed.

"Why is everything at a standstill?"

"That I do not know. I've seen and experienced many forms of magic, but this is my first time dealing with such a spell." I frowned, but I didn't say anything. As she walked, I swam forward, moving alongside her. "From what I can see, this is a near duplicate of New York. Do you know where Mirror MJ could be?"

"…I cam think of a couple places."

It wasn't long before we ended up at Midtown. I looked at the front of the school for a moment. I thought about going through the building. But I remembered I could float, so I did just that. I swam upward until I reached the roof. Once I did, I looked around it. There she was. She was looking out towards the city, her back turned towards me. I heard a sound to my right. I turned my head to see Clea stepping out of the portal. We looked at each other. She nodded at me. I nodded back. I then swam up to Mirror MJ, stopping some feet from her.

"You finally made it here," Mirror MJ said.

"I did," I confirmed.

"How long has it been?" She turned around and faced me. "I can't exactly tell time in here."

"It's been about six months, I think."

She nodded at me. "Half a year, huh? It felt like I've been here for years."

I looked out towards the city for a bit before I looked back at her. "Everything's at a standstill. Why?"

"Because of Mnemosyne's Protection, the spell after The Spell," Mirror MJ explained. "All of a sudden, I was here, standing near this universe's Statue of Liberty, with a projection of Doctor Strange explaining to me everything while Ned was next to me, being so still that he might as well have been a mannequin. I thought it wouldn't be a long wait. So I left Liberty Island and explored this universe of mine. I realized I could use the mirrors or reflective surfaces to get glimpses to see what was going on. First thing I saw was Peter flaking out on his promise. I was a bit annoyed, but I figured he'd come back. And every day, I see him come back and buy a coffee and a pastry, interact with you, and then leave." She furrowed up her eyebrows. "It took me a while to figure out that, during certain times, I can send a memory to you, albeit a small piece of it."

"The memory flashes," I said.

"Yup." She popped the P when she said it. "And eventually, I learned how to reach out to you. But, unfortunately, I can only do so for a few moments."

I frowned. "I'm sorry."

Mirror MJ shrugged. "It's not your fault." She sighed. "So, we are here now. What are we supposed to do?"

I shrugged. "I don't know. All I know is that your current situation isn't fair. And honestly… I don't want to damn you here."

She frowned. "So what are you suggesting? Are you suggesting that I take your place?"

I tilted my head as I raised an eyebrow. "Is that what you want?"

"Yes, but no." She beckoned out towards the city. "I've been stuck here, with only mirrors being my only way to see the world I'm from. Everything thing here is frozen in time at the very moment the battle at the Stature of Liberty was over. The sun's not rising any higher and there's no sunset or night time. It's just permanently early morning here. Everybody I care about in this city are practically statues. You're literally the only person I've interacted with in this universe since Doctor Strange. I'm alone here with no friends, family, or even strangers to talk to. I can't pass the time with a movie or TV show. I can barely write. I can't even leave the city because, guess what? This city is my whole universe." She shook her head. "I know that we… I… am not the most religious person, but I'm pretty sure this is a special type of Hell. But, as much as I want out, I don't want to subject you to this."

"May I offer a solution?" Clea spoke up. Mirror MJ and I were both startled. I forgot she was here. I turned around as she approached us. She stopped a few feet short of us and looked at Mirror MJ. "I don't know if you know this, but I'm Clea."

"You may already know this, but I'm Michelle," Mirror MJ responded. I glanced at her for a moment. I guess it made sense that she wouldn't have the trust in Clea that I had. "…Thanks for helping us… me out."

"I'm only trying to do what's right." Clea smiled briefly. Her stoic expression returned. "What I can offer is something that could benefit the both of you. Basically, I'm offering a merge of your personalities."

I tilted my head. "Wait, you can do that?" I asked.

"What's the catch?" Mirror MJ added.

"I can do that," Clea confirmed. "As for the catch… well… you two would essentially become a new Michelle. In a way, you two will live on as composites of a new whole. This new you will have every memory from the both of you."

I was about to open my mouth to say something, but Mirror MJ spoke up first. "You might want to take time to think it over."

I looked at her. "Why?" I asked.

She looked at me. "Look, I'm all for it. But if the new me is getting all of our memories, then they'll be getting all our emotions, too."

I furrowed up my eyebrows. "And that's a problem because…?"

Mirror MJ took in a breath as she closed her eyes. "I told you that I love Peter. And that is true. But I also hold a lot of resentment towards him over my current situation. He means well. I know that. That doesn't mean I can't overlook this. He's so… protective and rash that he's liable to make decisions against other people's wishes, even if he made a promise beforehand. And, honestly, it didn't help that he kept on swinging by Peter Pan every day. What's even the point of distancing yourself from someone for their own good if you're just going to see them every single day? It's low key stalking at this point. I almost wished he'd just make a clean break." She huffed out a frustrated breath. Something told me she had that on her chest for a very long time. "I know he's working on and through things. I know he's going to therapy. But even with that… I'm not sure I can trust or forgive him, let alone be in a relationship with him. So, like I said, you might want to take some time to think about it. Because, if we do this – and, make no mistake, I'm for it – our relationship with Peter is likely going to take a hit."

I stared at her for some seconds. I wanted to retort. I wanted to tell her that Peter and I were past that. The problem was I was in a very paradoxical situation. Mirror MJ was me, but she was also a separate person. My experience and feelings since the Statue of Liberty situation was different from hers. My forgiveness wasn't hers.

I pressed my lips together before I nodded. "I'll come back here when I am decided," I said. What else could I say?

"You'll know where to find me," Mirror MJ replied.

I nodded before I turned towards Clea. "Let's go."

She nodded at me. With a swing of her sword, she opened up a portal. Clea went in first. I followed after her. As I moved, I looked over my shoulder at Mirror MJ. She was looking out towards the city again. I sighed before I left.

A few moments later, I was back in Kamar-Taj. I swam up to my body and stopped in front of it. "So, how does this work?" I asked.

"Just dive in," Clea replied.

I nodded before I did just that. A few seconds later I was back in my own body. I quickly opened my eyes and sat up. I took in a breath and brought my hands in front of my face. I moved my fingers and thumbs. I sighed before I turned my body, putting my feet on the floor. Slowly, I stood up. "…I think I want to go home now."

Shortly after that, I was ported to the roof my building. After saying bye to Clea, I made my way down to my apartment. When I went inside, I didn't see my parents anywhere. I figured they were at work. I went straight to my room. I closed the door behind me. I took off my shoes before I walked over to my bed. I lay on my back and looked up at the ceiling.

I thought about what Mirror MJ told me. I couldn't really blame her for feeling the way she did. After all, there was a reason it took me some days to even talk to Peter after he told me the truth. Even if I did understand on some level, I was still pissed off. She was stuck in my head for a very long time, alone, with nothing but mirrors to show her the outside world. The blame for that ultimately lies with Beck, but Peter understood how badly he handled things when he was exposed. There was also the other part about what she said. What would happen between me and Peter if Clea merged Mirror MJ and me? Would this be yet another roadblock we'd have to deal with? What if this led to the end of us?

"I hate this," I said to myself. I reached into my pocket and pulled out my phone. I unlocked it. After some seconds, I went through my contacts and pulled up Peter's name. I then wrote a text.

"We need to talk, Peter. Meet me at our spot tonight."

I sent the message. I then put the phone off to the side. I didn't even bother to wait for his response. I was just mentally drained. So I stared up at the ceiling. After some seconds, I closed my eyes, deciding to take a nap.