Peter bobbed his head, trying to make sense of it. "Ok, so clearly what grabbed us isn't only about distance but time. Which means, unfortunately, that while we still don't know where we are, though I have some guesses, we also have no idea when we are. And that's a bigger problem. The past? The future? Still the present? But it can't be the present for both of us." He shook his head, trying to wrap his mind around all this. Time travel. He was actually dealing with time travel. He didn't know whether to freak out or geek out, so he decided to do neither. As much as he wanted to do both, he needed to keep a cool head to try and figure this out.

"Ok, so we have no idea where we are and now when we are. So, we need to try and find some answers."

"Alright, where?" Hermione asked. She held up her hands and spun in a circle. "Far as I can see the only thing around here other than us is that thing," she gestured to the fallen wolf-lizard beast. "And I don't think it can help us out."

Peter looked around until he spotted it again. "There," he said, pointing out the small dot. "It's not really anything, but it is something different. I was heading there to check out what it was when I heard you and the big bad kaiju here."

Hermione narrowed her eyes, looking at it. She had a dubious expression on her face but shrugged. "You're right. Probably nothing, but worth checking out."

"So glad you agree," Peter said a little dryly and she rolled her eyes at him.

"Look, clearly we've been dropped here for some weird reason. We don't know how or why but until we do, we should probably work together," she said, holding out her hand.

Peter regarded it for a second before nodding and taking it. "Ok, so we could either walk or swing," he said, mentally measuring the distance it would take to cross. "Walking would probably take longer but we can't swing all the way there anyway and I don't know how you feel about riding on my back."

"That would be a no for me," Hermione told him. "Better idea, I just apparate us there."

Peter frowned. "Apparate? What's that?"

"I magically transport us there. It's simple. You just hold onto me and I turn and we're there."

Peter didn't quite know what to make of that but something else caught his attention first. "Hold up. Magically transport. Is that anything like how we got transported here?"

Hermione shook her head. "No, that was different. With apparition, you know you're traveling. You feel like your whole body is being squeeze through a tube."

"That's something to look forward to," Peter muttered.

"When I arrived, I didn't feel anything. It was just, one second I'm sitting on the chair, the next I'm sitting on a rock. It was like the world had shifted around me."

Peter nodded, knowing the feeling. That was what had happened to him. No warning, no signs, just one second New York and the next some random desert. "Ok, so this wasn't your people then."

Hermione shook her head. "Not that I know of. I mean, now that I know it's also time travel, maybe the Department of Mysteries is involved, but…" she shrugged helplessly.

Peter frowned. "You know, you're taking this all well."

Hermione let off a loud laugh at that. "If you say so," she said. "Because I am completely freaking out right now. I am scared and confused and all I really want is to find Ron and Harry and everyone and curl up back on that chair." She sighed, closing her eyes and Peter saw a couple tears leak down her cheeks. "I thought this was all over. We just ended a war several months ago, just managed to get some peace and quiet for once. And then this happens. And…" she trailed off, a small sob breaking out.

Peter walked up to her and offered her a small hug, wrapping an arm around her shoulder which she took gratefully. Then, after about a second's consideration, he removed the mask and her eyes widened a little. "It was getting a little hot under there," he explained.

She smiled. "Right, of course."

Peter smiled back. "I'm Peter. Peter Parker."

"It's nice to meet you Peter Parker." She shook her head. "You're one to talk though because you're clearly dealing with this much better than I am."

"Yeah well, I do have some experience with crazy stuff," Peter said. "I've fought so many different bad guys over the years with really weird powers and gimmicks that it does take a lot to surprise me. I mean, this is surprising but at this point, I just roll with it. You kind of have to when you see a man transform into a giant mound of sand."

Hermione opened her mouth at that and then closed it again, apparently deciding not to comment.

"Yeah, it's about as weird as it sounds. But look, if you want my advice, just take it one step at a time. Are we trapped across space and time in a random desert with horrible monsters and no idea how to get home? It seems that way, yes. So, we focus on the main thing. Right now, get to that dot on the horizon and see what it is. If it's something, we know what the next step is. If it's nothing…then I guess we should probably see about finding some sort of shelter for tonight. Deserts get pretty cold at night from the lack of humidity and the dry atmosphere. Probably looking at-"

"A drop in temperature of minus 4 degrees Celsius," Hermione finished for him. When she saw his surprised look, she just rolled her eyes again. "I may be a witch, but I still know my facts. I read about it in a book."

"Another science nerd, nice," Peter nodded appreciatively.

She smirked at that, then smiled sincerely. "Thanks," she said. "Now let's get to that dot."

"Yep," Peter nodded, and took her hand. As he did, he thought of something else. "Hey, so have you tried apparating away from here?"

She nodded. "First thing I did. Whatever's going on here has an anti-apparition jinx over it."

Peter frowned. "So then how are we apparating to the dot if there's anti-apparition jinx in place."

"The jinx just seems to be there to hold us here. I managed to apparate around the canyon for a few minutes before giving up. Then I ran into that thing," she gestured to the creature next to them. "Stupidly, I put away my wand cause I was looking at something else and then it attacked me. Ugh," she shook her head. "Moody would be so disappointed in me."

"Ok," Peter nodded, having no idea who Moody was. Sounded like a moody kind of guy (mental high-five!). "Let's go then." He pulled his mask down out of instinct and did his best to ready himself for whatever was about to happen.

Hermione held his hand tight and then raised her wand before turning in her step. And then the world flashed around and Peter felt himself collapse, like he was being shoved through a hole too small to ever fit and yet making it, his whole body twisting in ways it never should have before the world righted itself once more and he found himself in an entirely new location.

"Gah!" he said, nearly doubling over as his stomach churned. "Oh, that's not what you want. Hurgh! I'm ok, I'm ok…erugh!" Despite his stomach's efforts, he managed to keep everything down where it should be and got back to his feet. "Huh, that…that was not pleasant. Like at all. I think I'd rather walk next time."

"Yeah, all first apparitions are bad," Hermione nodded sympathetically.

"Could have warned me," Peter said, but he could feel the sensations subsiding. "Alright, now what do we have here." If was then that he noticed the towering mound of stone right in front of him. It looked to be the height of the Oscorp tower and the width of maybe five Grand Central Stations lined up next to each other. Peter could make out several plants and small trees growing along the sides. It looked climbable with plenty of handholds. There were even places where you could lie down. "Oh, so that's what is was. Just a rock. Huh."

Hermione also let off a sigh of disappointment. "So, I guess we try and find a shelter then?" She took a closer look at the mound and shrugged. "Actually, this is a pretty good spot. There are places along the sides where we can rest for the night off the sand and we shouldn't get taken by surprise from another one of those creatures. We could…"

"Wait," Peter said, stopping her. He had kept looking as she talked and spotted something. He pointed at it. "There."

Hermione followed his finger to the small outcropping at the top of the mound. "So what, it's just some boulder."

"No, look closer," Peter said. "There are gaps in it. Either it's one of those weirdly formed rocks or that thing is man-made. It looks like a tower."

Hermione's soft gasp told him she saw it as well now. "So this place is inhabited."

"I don't think so," Peter replied. It was hard to see from this distance but that tower looked derelict. "But let's check it out anyway."

"Right." Hermione lifted up her wand.

"Whoa!" Peter backed away fast. "No thanks, I'll just web my way up there."

Hermione smirked. "Ok. See you up there then." She then turned in place and seemed to disappear into herself, like a vortex. Peter blinked before shaking his head, now knowing what it looked like making him more glad to be doing this his way. He shot out with his webs and pulled himself up before shooting another web and then another and another, constantly pulling himself along. He scrambled up the side of the mound easily. It was different from the skyscrapers he did this to back home since there were all these rocks and cracks but it had no real effect on him. Within seconds, he reached the top and he landed smoothly.

Then he just stopped and stared at the sight in front of him. "Whoa!"

He stood in front of what must have been the gates but they had been destroyed what looked like centuries ago. The walls were lined and cracked with age, falling apart in many areas. And the buildings inside were all in various stages in disrepair from bad to worse to just plain rubble. The watchtower, because that's what it had to be, was the best thing in condition, and it seemed half of it was missing.

Hermione stood several feet away, taking it all in as well. "How old do you think it is?" she asked.

"Centuries at least," Peter said, looking around. "Probably even millennia." This place was clearly weathered by time. "The wear and tear is similar to stuff I saw in Symkaria in terms of age. But that's not all. Look." He pointed to the gates and showed her the splinters of wood spread out along the street behind it. "The gate was blown off," he said. "And look at the walls there and there," he said, again pointing them out where the damage was worst due to the other rock on the other side of the areas. "That didn't happen over time." He nodded. "This was place attacked. We're looking at an old battlefield."

His theory was more than confirmed when they began walking inside and saw the bodies. There weren't many and there wasn't much left. Just a few bones here and there alongside weapons, armor, shields, and such. Peter picked up a shield and frowned. This didn't make any sense. The design was similar to that of Roman or Greek but that couldn't line up with the time zone. It had been about thirty minutes since he'd arrived and the sun was still pretty high in the sky. But when he had been taken from New York, it had been about six-thirty in the evening. The only place in the world that would line up that way was somewhere in the southwest US or Mexico. But there were no sites like this place anywhere in that region as far as he knew. And this was stuff was clearly at least a thousand years old. And as far as he knew, no Aztec or even Mayan weapons looked like this.

He then saw something on the ground and pulled it out, shaking the sand and dust loose. It was a sword, completely caked in rust and looked like it would fall apart after one swing. But the thing was that it was just a simple blade. Nothing like the Aztec weapons he'd read about. So either all the archaeologists had gotten it wrong or something else was happening here.

"What do you think happened here?" Hermione asked after looking inside one of the buildings.

"This must have been some sort of military outpost," Peter said. "There's no residential areas, no town hall or communal buildings. But there are training areas and arenas. It would be one of the first places an invading force would take out. But what doesn't make sense as that none of this lines up with what I know of the area."

Hermione frowned. "What do you mean?"

He explained about the time zones and the archaeology. "It just doesn't add up," he said. "Unless I'm missing something, which must be the case." He let off a frustrated breath. "Let's keep looking. Maybe we'll find something."

It was approximately twenty seconds later that they did, walking into the next street and spotting the enormous skeleton of some dinosaur creature with several spears sticking out of its ribcage. More bones and skulls were scattered around it.

"Ok, we've definitely entered the Twilight Zone," he said, "cause that looks an awful lot like the T-Rex skeleton at the Natural History Museum. And I'm pretty sure those guys were extinct long before humanity came along."

"Not necessarily," Hermione said, taking a closer look at the creature.

Peter whipped his head around so fast he almost got whiplash. "What?"

"Dragons exist. There are plenty of them and a few that can't fly. This could easily be one of them," she nodded at it. "Or some other magical beast."

"Right, yeah, that sort of tracks. This must have something to do with your world then."

Hermione grimaced. "Maybe. But what you said about time zones and the weapons still doesn't make sense."

They kept looking around and found other things. More skeletons of other strange creatures. Some Hermione identified as trolls or cerberi but others she was just as lost, the skeletons containing several heads, multiple limbs, or weirdly deformed spines. There were also some gouge marks on the walls or spots where the stone looked like it had been eaten away.

"I'm starting to think the invading force wasn't made up of men," Peter said after a while. "Or women," he added quickly. "Or, just people in general."

"But…these creatures could never be organized by themselves," Hermione said, confused. "They must have been under the control of some sort of witch or wizard."

Peter didn't know about that. He didn't know about any of this. He was way out of his area of expertise. All he knew was that the mystery of this place was deepening with each passing second. And he would really like to go home now.

The sun had continued to climb in the sky as they looked around and now was beginning to sink again. The night air was starting to cool as well.

"We should probably think of setting up camp soon," Hermione said. "Rummage around for some food."

Peter hadn't noticed it before but his stomach let off an epic gurgle to let him know of its plight. "Ah, yes. Though it's been a thousand years, so I don't think there will be anything edible around here. Can't you just conjure up some food?"

"Wish I could, but no. It's one of the five Principle Exceptions to Gamp's Law of Elemental Transformation."

"I don't know what that means but I get it. No magic food," he sighed. "Ok, well, human bodies can last days without food, weeks even. What we need is water. That's what's going to kill us if we're not careful."

"Now that I can provide," she said, gesturing with her wand. Instantly, several stones transformed into goblets and filled up with water which she took gratefully and downed in several gulps. Peter was about to question it when he decided not to. Magic was more confusing the more he knew about it. He just decided to be grateful and drank his own goblet, reveling in the cool taste of water going down his throat.

"Alright, now we should probably think of where we should sleep." And how, Peter thought to himself, though he assumed they would just sleep in different areas to preserve privacy.

Hermione glanced nervously around them. "I don't really feel comfortable sleeping in what is essentially a mass graveyard."

"Yeah, kind of puts a damper to the idea of a restful sleep," Peter agreed. "Maybe just stick to the cliffs. That way we can also keep a lookout to anything coming our way."

"Good idea. Tomorrow, we should maybe look around some more but then we should-"

Peter froze, his spider-sense tingling. Someone was watching them, hiding among the ruins, but approaching fast. He ignored Hermione for a second, trying to zero in on whoever it was but his sense wasn't exact. All he knew was that the person posed a threat and they were coming in fast. But he couldn't let on that he was aware. That was his advantage.

"Uh huh," he said to whatever Hermione just said and heard her continue to talk. The person was on the roof and Peter's spider-sense was increasing with each second, like a small bell in his ear and an increased shiver down his spine. He readied his webs and tensed up. He could feel the person waiting right above him. Peter briefly contemplated attacking first but he had no idea how skilled this person was. He had made that same mistake years ago in his first battle with Scorpion and had almost had his ribcage shattered. He just had to wait a few more seconds. Or…

"Here," he said, walking forward and leaving his back exposed. Instantly, his spider-sense intensified but he ignored it. "Let's start setting up at the cliffs and then we can-"

The person jumped at him and Peter's senses screamed at him. This time, he responded. He whirled around and kicked out at the person, his foot launching itself into their chest and sending them hurtling into the wall and through it, causing a dust cloud to rise up. Peter raised his shooters and fired a string of web inside but the figure was amazingly fast, dodging them and coming out fast. Now that he was out in the open, Peter could see the person was a man. A tall, buff man wearing nothing but woolen shorts around his waist, his skin looking like it had been chiseled out of rock. The man had flowing black hair and a massive sword in his hands, a murderous expression on his face.

"Ok man, let-" but that's all Peter got before the man charged him. He tried webbing him up but the man just sliced through the webs midair and brought the sword down.

"Stupefy!" Hermione yelled and a bolt of red light shot out. The man, however, ducked to the side even as he fell, barely missing the spell. He landed heavily on the ground but swiftly rolled with the blow and came up kneeling. He charged forwards, sword raised and Peter had to jump aside to avoid getting skewered. He webbed up the blade in an effort to rip out of the man's hands but the man didn't resist. Instead, he went straight for Peter who had been expecting resistance and now lost his footing. The only reason he didn't get impaled was because Hermione cast out another spell. This time, it took as an invisible force yanked the man by his ankles and lifted up in the air upside down.

"Release me!" the man bellowed, shaking his sword and fist wildly in anger.

Peter eyed him warily. This guy was fast and strong. Even suspended like that, he seemed extremely dangerous. "Not unless you promise to not attack us, John Cena."

"I will make no deals with the likes of you!" the man snarled and then threw his sword out. Peter instantly leapt up, dodging the blade. Hermione shrieked and threw herself to the side, also missing the blade but lost her grip on her spell, releasing the man who instantly attacked. Peter moved to fight him but the man just knocked him aside, grabbing hold of his sword and swinging it around experimentally before facing Peter once more. "Now, I will cut you down like the de-"

Before he could finish, Peter shot a suspension matrix at the man's feet, throwing him up in the air and holding him there. "Don't worry," Peter told him. "I won't leave you hanging." He then shot out with his webs and pulled himself right to the man, kicking him at full strength into a stone pillar which was still pretty stable.

The man grunted as he fell to the ground but managed to stay on his feet. "You are a worthy foe," he admitted. "But all enemies fall to my blade."

"Who are you?" Peter asked. He could feel Hermione raise her wand behind him, ready to cast another spell.

"I am Conan of Cimmeria," the man replied, his voice as hard as rock. "And you, demon, are going to explain to me how I came to be in this place."

And the mystery deepens. Trust me when I say that you truly will have no clue as to what is happening here.

To those who don't know, Conan of Cimmeria also goes by the name Conan the Barbarian, a character created by Robert E. Howard in the 1930s. He's a big sword and sorcery hero and I've been reading his comic book series by Roy Thomas in Marvel as he's a major character in the Marvel mythos and I've loved them. So, naturally, I had to bring him in.

Again, send me any character suggestions and I'll see what I can do and please leave a review if you can.