Peter knew he was in a dream as soon as he opened his eyes. Everything felt heavy and his sight wavered. He was in a house, living room to be exact. It felt familiar. Someone sniffled beside him, making his vision suddenly enhance as he turned to see the person.
His mouth went dry and his voice was quiet. "Wanda?"
She stiffened, raising her head from her hands. Her eyes were red and not in the 'using superpowers' kind of way, but the kind of way that tells you someone's been crying a lot.
"Peter," her voice was tight. Wanda stood up and pulled him into an embrace. "I remember. I remember. God how could I forget." She abruptly pulled away, "What- how are you here?! No, scratch that, stay where you are."
Her eyes were near glowing now. A certain twinge of madness shining through.
"Please. There's no one left."
Peter's brows furrowed as he processed the words. What did she mean? He opens his mouth, but his world tilts and suddenly it's gone.
His eyes shoot open. His mouth tastes like blood again and aches. Peter really should be used to it at this point. As he sat up, he noticed the bedside lamp was on. Except he didn't remember leaving it on. Nor did he remember the note beneath it. He snatched it off the table and read the neat scrawl, noticing the cute little cat drawn beside the signature.
"Sorry for kidnapping your cat. It's getting treatment right now and I'll drop it off as soon as I can.
p.s. Red Hood should stop by soon.
-Signal"
Peter's mind struggles to comprehend the words before it clicked. He gasped and threw his blanket aside to find the space where the kitten had been was empty. The pure shock of it all had the brain fog from before quickly dissipating.
"He stole my cat."
He coughs and hacks out bile, not realizing how dry his throat was until then. The movement makes his ribs rattle and empty stomach clench.
"Ow pain," Peter wheezed.
He swings his legs off the side of the bed while catching his breath. Bones and veins were unsettlingly visible beneath too pale skin. Peter huffed, holding his head in his hands, as he felt his eyes burn.
How could he have let it get so bad? God, what would May say?
May's dead.
He let out a shaky breath and wiped away the tears before they stained his cheeks.
A door squeaked open outside his room and he could hear something being dropped to the floor. Peter tensed, waiting for the door to fling open and bullets fly through the air. Instead, there came a gentle knock at the door.
"Peter, you awake?" Red Hood's familiar softly asked.
Peter relaxed and stood up to open the door. Or at least he tried before his foot slid out from underneath him. He yelped, crashing to the ground.
"Peter!?" Hood's voice called out.
The doorknob jingled as Peter scrambled to his feet. The culprit? His own mask. He flung it under the bed along with the rest of his suit and opened the door before the other vigilante could break it down.
Peter held his hands up in a placating manner. "I'm fine. I'm fine."
Red Hood (noticeably helmetless) stepped toward Peter, those white lenses scanning him over. "No you're not."
"Okay," Peter started, "Maybe, you're right. But-"
Hood cut him off, taking him by the bicep and dragging him into the bathroom.
"Woah! Wait, what are you doing?" Peter yelped.
"You're covered in blood and I can see the fleas crawling on you," Red Hood pointed out.
He was seated on the toilet seat as Hood turned on the faucet. Peter expected him to ask about the shattered mirror, but was relieved when it didn't happen. Grabbing a clean towel, Red Hood ran it under the faucet with some soap before scrubbing at Peter's skin. To Red Hood's credit, he was actually quite gentle.
Peter wasn't quite sure what to say and the room delved into an awkward silence. He thumbed the hem of his shirt (which he doesn't remember putting on) with his free hand. A weird stain decorated parts of the bottom half and, curiosity getting the best of him, he brought it up and sniffed it. He suppressed a gag and turned his head away.
"Shirt," Red Hood stated as if expecting Peter to know what he was meaning.
"Yes? I am wearing a shirt."
Hood sighed, "No need for sass."
"Just coping mechanism one of like a thousand," Peter replied.
"That's totally healthy."
"Says you."
Red Hood halted his scrubbing and slowly turned his head to face Peter. "Will you just take your shirt off already?"
"Oh. That's what you meant."
Peter slipped his shirt off and Hood returned to scrubbing at his skin. He let out a low whistle when he got to his back.
"Damn, dickwad really wasn't lying. What's wizard weirdo want with ya anyways?"
"Wizard weirdo?" Peter asks.
"Klarion," Red Hood states and pokes the symbol still carved into Peter's back.
Peter swore he could feel someone else's presence in the room before it suddenly vanished. (And with the whole episode that happened earlier, he wasn't quite sure if it was his mind or it was real). He swatted Hood's prodding hand away.
"I don't know man," Peter grumbled, "I don't even know who you're talking about."
"You have his symbol carved into your back and you don't know who he is?"
Peter nodded, "Yes, that's what I just said."
Hood hummed and Peter could see the cogs turning in his head. He threw the rag in the sink and turned to the door. "Get some clean clothes on and come out. I'll make something to eat."
"Yes sir," Peter replied sarcastically.
Once Red Hood was out of sight, Peter's face fell as his shoulders slumped. He had forgotten how exhausting it was to hide. After so many people had learned who Spider-Man was, he no longer had to mask himself. But now he was back to being unknown and Peter didn't know if he liked it anymore.
He got up and quickly changed into something cleaner before meeting the other vigilante in the kitchen. Peter sat down at the table as Hood set down a plate of bacon and eggs. He immediately dug in.
"So, how long have you been staying here?" Hood asked.
Peter stopped eating long enough to respond. "Gotham or the apartment?"
"Apartment."
He thought about it for a second. "A little over a week now I'd say."
Hood nodded, his white streaked hair bouncing slightly from the movement. It reminded Peter of Jason (along with everything else that pointed to the crime lord's real identity). Peter figited. It couldn't hurt to ask.
"Does your name happen to be Jason?" he asked.
Hood's fork clanked against his plate as he froze and made eye contact with Peter. He sighed, leaning back as he slipped his mask off.
"So we both know each other's identities?" Jason said.
Peter scrunched up his face. "Wait, how do you know mine?"
"Because this is where Spider-Man is also staying."
"... Oh... that's why you asked about the apartment."
"Don't worry kid, only Signal and I know," Jason chuckled while shoving his own food into his mouth.
His comm chirped, catching his attention, and with a grumble he picked it up.
"Joker gas spotted by Robinson Park. Red Robin's on the scene and Orphan and Spoiler are five minutes away. Batman and Robin are busy investigating an energy spike over in the Fashion District."
Peter looked up, egg yolk dripping from his mouth. Jason sighed and got up, grabbing his helmet and keys from the counter. His hand pressed against the comm.
"Thanks, O, on my way."
Peter shoveled the rest of the food into his mouth and jumped up. Jason snagged the back of his collar before he could get far.
"And where do you think you're going?" he questioned.
"Joining you. What else would I be doing?" Peter retorted.
"I think you should sit this one out, Pete," Jason suggested, patting the spider's shoulder.
Peter shook the hand off and glared at Jason. And for a second, he thought he saw Tony staring back. He averted his eyes. It's not like he could just not help.
Jason said, "Look, something really fucking weird going on and Gotham's even more dangerous than before. If ya really that antsy to get out ya can join Batsy with the energy spike."
With that, he put his helmet on and left. Peter bit the inside of his cheek. His body itched to destroy something, to make someone hurt. Something that Peter would prefer to not be himself. He turned to his room, dragging the suit out from under the bed and slipping into it. After sliding the earpiece in, he pushed the window up and leapt to the adjacent building.
Peter felt more familiar with the city now and easily turned towards the direction of Robinson Park. Red Hood was probably going to be pissed that he was going against what he'd just said, but Peter could deal with that later.
After being inside for so long it felt nice to feel the air whipping around him. He made sure to conserve his webs by instead running and launching himself across buildings. It didn't take long for him to notice the rolling green fog sneaking along the deserted streets. Four silhouettes ran along the street, which Peter assumed to be the bats. However, a lone figure stood atop a building and watched the ground below. A shudder ran down his spine when it turned to him.
The figure morphed into the smiling Batman from before. An inkling of fear slithered into his heart, but it was quickly overpowered by the overwhelming frustration he felt towards it. The smile faltered and the figure shifted. Aunt May frowned at him and Peter frowned back.
"Who are you really?" Spider-Man coldly asked.
A grin stretched across its face. "Oh, Peter, I really thought you would have figured it out by now."
Peter looked from the green fog to the constantly shifting being before him. He felt sick as the dawning realization struck him like a bullet train.
The only thing he could muster was, "How?"
It finally dropped the act and Quentin Beck stared back at him.
"I'm usually much more of a tech guy, but you'd be surprised what magic can do. After all, it's what brought you and I here," He vaguely answered, "Although, guessing from the random energy surge, I have a feeling that we won't be alone for long."
Peter didn't like the way Quentin easily danced around his questions or the way he couldn't sense any hidden technology. "Yeah, but you're supposed to be dead."
"So are you." And before Peter could ask what he meant by that, Beck continued. "Not to mention, you were the one to kill me Peter. Now look at you, living your life like you're innocent. But you're not and I'll make sure everyone knows," Quentin threatened, "I've done it once. I can do it again."
Peter's lenses narrowed as he pointed at the villain. "You shot yourself, dumbass. It's not my fault your aim sucks."
Quentin was visibly taken aback by the sudden mood swing. "I really thought you'd have changed by now," he sighed, "Yet you still act like a child." Then his expression hardened and their surroundings warped.
Peter kept his eyes on Quentin while cracking a grin. "Well technically speaking, you aren't really matured until like twenty five. So you'd be right. But then that'd mean you'd be fighting a kid that you've lost to before."
Someone screamed in his ear, making him wince, while other sounds surrounded him.
"I'd recommend you help those little friends of yours."
Peter looked to see the bats, each dealing with their own haunting hallucinations. Jason stood out the most as, unlike the rest who were fending off the imaginary threats fairly well, he had hunkered down and held his head in his hands.
"They were so confident when they got here, thinking that what they were dealing with was from that disgusting clown."
The spider threw his fist at Quentin and connected with a concrete wall. Hissing, he pulled his hand back and shook out the pain.
'Okay, I've done this before.' he thought while letting his eyes close and senses guide him.
He was swift as he chased after Quentin's presence. The voices pierced his ears and part of him wanted to listen. He whacked against a pillar before he realized he'd lost his focus. A strange feeling enveloped him and he could no longer feel the floor beneath him. His eyes shot open and the color red filled his vision.
A boy stood before him. His shirt held a symbol eerily similar to the one carved into his flesh. Klarion, Peter realized, was pissed.
Klarion stuck his finger into Peter's chest and shouted, "You stupid spider, you messed everything up. I didn't want you, I wanted the Scarlet Witch. The. Scarlet. Witch. You hear me!"
Peter just stared down at the tantrum throwing kid in confusion. "... what?"
"Don't 'what' me. And now you've brought along that weirdo doctor here. Argh! You messed it all up with that dimension altering crap you were doing and I got stuck with you instead. I could have gotten what I wanted. But no, I have to deal with a damn bug."
"And what exactly did you want?" Peter hesitantly asked.
Klarion stopped his rant, eyes boring straight through Peter as he grinned near inhumanly.
"Chaos."