"Dem- oh, the mask!" Peter instantly reached up and removed it, still feeling uncomfortable about doing it in front of strangers. But this strange situation seemed to call for it. Also, it wasn't like they knew who he was. "I'm not a demon. This is just a mask, a costume that I wear."

The man frowned at that. "And what of these webs?" he asked, looking at them closely. "You are clearly in league with some sort of spider-demon, gifted with its dark powers."

Peter frowned. He wasn't sure if this guy was kooky or serious cause he had met both types. "He one of yours?" he asked Hermione.

"The wizarding world is huge you know, it's not like I'd know everyone," she told him. "But no, he doesn't really seem like a wizard."

"Wizard!" Conan spat at that word. "How dare you call me a wizard, child! I do not fight like a coward behind spells and sorcery. That is for the spineless and weak. I will fight, and die if need be, with a blade in hand." He pointed his sword at Peter's chest for emphasis. "Now, explain yourself. How did I come to this weird place? Where have you brought me?"

"We don't know," Peter told him. "We don't. We arrived here as well with no warning, just showed up in the middle of the desert. Had to fight some strange wolf-lizard thing and then we came here to this…outpost. We have no idea who did this to us or why or even where we are."

"You have not brought me to your home dimension to feast on me?" Conan checked.

"What? Eww! No!" Peter gagged a little at that. "First of all, I would never eat you. I don't eat people. So not a cannibal. And second, we're still on Earth. This is still Earth."

Conan stared at him and then let off a bark of laughter, lowering his blade as he did and letting Peter breathe out in relief. It was a pretty big blade and the guy knew how to fight. But he was still laughing loudly.

"What?" Peter asked. "What's so funny?"

"You clearly did not capture me as you clearly are no aware of your surroundings," Conan told him.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We are not on Earth anymore," Conan informed him. "Because the Earth does not have two moons in the sky."

Peter felt his blood go cold and felt like his entire body had frozen. Slowly, almost snail-like, he turned and looked up at the sky. Hermione saw it first and let off a half-gasp, half-sob noise in shock and horror. But there was a chance she saw it wrong. There was a chance she mistook it. There was a chance, as long as he didn't see it yet, that it wouldn't be true.

And then he saw it. And that hope died. Because it was true. Where there was supposed to be one moon in the sky, there were two, just hovering right next to each other as if it was totally normal for there to be two moons in the early evening sky.

"Yeah," Peter nodded. "We're definitely in the Twilight Zone now." He sighed and rubbed his head. "MJ is so going to kill me. How do I explain this one?"

"Ho-how…what?" Hermione muttered, completely shocked.

"Hmmm." Conan moved over. "It appears whatever force brought me here is also interested in you. But for food, for a fight, or for something else, I do not know."

"Yeah, neither do we," Peter mumbled, still trying to comprehend. "Ok, so we're in another dimension. Or another planet, cause that could be true too at this point." Then he stopped and thought about it for a second. "Or, hopefully, this is some sort of sick simulation and that's not even the real sky but a programmed one. Yeah, that could be it. But if so, this is one huge simulation." He looked around the desert. It did seem unlikely that this was a fictional world since it felt so real. It could be he had been captured and was in a virtual world and everything was fabricated. That one…did seem likely honestly. He decided to keep it on the back-burner of his mind and stay focused for any clues to it.

"Alright, since we've all been dragged here against our will, I propose we work together," he said, turning to face Conan. "What do you say?"

"Hmmm, normally I don't consort with the likes of wizards and their followers, but it would be good to have allies," he nodded. "Very well, spider-demon."

"Uh, again, not a demon," Peter reminded him. "This is all just a costume. See." He showed his clothes underneath and his web-shooters that shot the webs. Conan didn't totally look convinced but he agreed to call him Spider-Man instead of demon. Hermione eyed the man worriedly but made no comment. At least until he was out of earshot, exploring the town on his own.

"You sure about this?" she asked. "About him? He doesn't seem altogether…there."

"Maybe, but you saw him with that sword. I'd rather have him with us than against us. And he means no threat now, my spider-sense is off."

"Spider-sense?" she questioned.

"Oh, yeah. It's a sixth sense I have that warns me of danger. He set it off when he first attacked but now, nothing. I think we can trust him."

"Alright," she reluctantly agreed. She took another look at the darkening sky and frowned. "Should probably find some place to sleep now."

"Here," Conan said, returning. He handed over some berries and small strips of meat.

"Whoa, where did you get this?" Peter asked incredulously.

"There are plants alongside the hillside with many such berries. Don't worry, they are safe." As if to prove this, he swallowed a bunch. "And I always carry travel meat with me. Never know when you might find your next hot meal."

Peter raised an eyebrow at Hermione who nodded grudgingly that the man had proven helpful. They ate the berries, which were pretty sweet and sour, and the meat, which was mostly bland and tasteless. But both helped fill their bellies so they didn't complain.

They set up camp along the cliffs as the night sky descended. Something about it felt off to Peter but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. They settled down and looked out over the horizon. Peter hated that it looked so beautiful, the rolling dunes seeming serene in the cool, darkened air. Part of him wished MJ was here to see this, but he honestly wanted her as far away from this place as possible. He wondered how she was doing back home, what she thought when he never turned up. Sadly, it was a common occurrence. But she would start to get worried when he never came. He wasn't worried about the city too much. Miles would protect it, the kid more than ready to handle it. He just wished he had a plan to get back home. Right now, he didn't have the first clue as to what to do. He could be lost in time, lost in space, or in another freaking dimension. There might not even be a way home.

No, he couldn't think like that. There had to be. And he would find it and get back home to MJ. No matter what.

He looked over at Hermione and Conan. Conan seemed unperturbed by everything, merely sharpening his blade with a stone. Peter had noticed many scars dotting his body. The man clearly fought for a living. And the way he had called Peter a demon and seemed unsurprised by the idea that they were in another dimension made it seem like he was used to this life. But Hermione clearly wasn't. She just stared out at the horizon, blinking quickly as her eyes became glassy with tears. Peter didn't know what to say or do to make her feel better. He didn't even know what to do to make himself feel better. He wondered if either of them had people worried for them back in their homes, wondering where they were. People worth going home for.

Peter sighed and lay back. Something was still bothering him, but he couldn't think what it was. Beside the moons (and the wolf-lizard, but he had seen a man-lizard so it wasn't too much of a stretch) this world was a lot like his. But there still seemed like something was missing. Something big that he just wasn't seeing.

Conan finished sharpening his blade and put it away. "I will take first watch," he said. "You should get some rest. Long day tomorrow."

Hermione snorted. "What's happening tomorrow?"

"This place," he gestured to the ruined settlement, "was outpost for something. We want answers, we find what that something is."

"We don't even know what direction to start looking," Hermione replied.

"Yeah we do," Peter said. He pointed at the shattered gates. "The attack came from this direction. Which meant the other settlements have to be that way," he pointed.

"Exactly," Conan nodded. "And that is where we are going."

Hermione glowered for a second and then wilted, collapsing against the ground. "You're right," she agreed. "Better than nothing."

"Better than nothing," Peter nodded. He looked back up at the sky, still frowning in confusement, unable to shake the feeling. He ignored it and just stared, wondering if MJ was looking at the sky in New York as well, wondering where he was. Though hers was probably worse thanks to city smog. You couldn't see any stars…

That's when it hit him. The thing that was missing. There were no stars. None. It was just an empty, black sky. Out here in the desert, far from any civilization, there should be tons lighting up the skyline. But there wasn't a single one. Which meant that wherever they were was out of distance from any stars. Which was a truly terrifying idea.

He was tempted to share this, but then decided against it. Hermione seemed scared enough and Conan didn't seem to care about that. But now he had to wonder. If they were on another planet, they were in an area of space so far removed that no starlight from any other system could reach them. Or they were in another dimension, as Conan suggested.

Or, and this was a much darker theory that reached into Peter's mind, no other stars reached them because there were no other stars. They had all been destroyed. It was crazy but he had recently watched a science fiction show where an alien species destroyed suns in order to protect itself from a certain threat. He looked back at the empty outpost filled with bones and dust and wondered. No, it couldn't be. This planet or whatever had a sun. It must be like Conan said, they were in another dimension. Which wasn't exactly comforting on its own.

Still that theory persisted. At least until he saw a blinking light in the sky.

"Oh thank god," he muttered. There was a star after all. It just took some time to appear. It glimmered in the distance and he smiled, glad for this small thing. Then he frowned as he kept looking at it. Was it getting…bigger?

"Conan, you seeing this?" he asked.

"Hmm?" Conan looked up and followed his gaze. He frowned as well and got to his feet, sword at the ready. "What is that?"

"What is what?" Hermione asked, getting up as well now. Then she saw what they staring at. "What, a star?"

"I don't think stars keep getting brighter like that," Peter said. It had been a dot but now was growing bigger and brighter. Not by much but definitely noticeable. And also it was green. A bright, almost emerald green light.

Then there was another burst of light, a smaller one that looked almost fiery next to the green one. The green light seemed to get bigger for a second before shrinking down. And then it began moving in a new direction.

"That's not a star," Peter realized.

"What is that then?" Hermione asked, narrowing her eyes as the light zipped over the horizon.

"I think…it might be a person. Someone else brought here," Peter said. "Or maybe two. And they're fighting."

"What do we do?" she asked.

"Nothing," Conan grunted. "We do nothing. Let them fight it out. Not our business."

Peter didn't like that phrase. Whenever there was trouble, he felt the urge to get involved. To help however he could. It all came from that moment when he let a burglar go, the moment that completely destroyed his life the way he knew it, the moment he regretted ever since and would continue to do until he died. He didn't know who was fighting who or why. But he knew he wanted to get involved. Because he was worried what might happen if he didn't.

"They might need help," he said.

"Not our problem," Conan replied.

"I could get their attention," Hermione told them. "But, I agree with Conan. I don't think we should. Whatever problem they're dealing with is on them. We have enough problems to deal with."

Peter grimaced. He knew they were right. He did. But he also couldn't help but wonder. If he did nothing and something went wrong. Maybe one of them died. Maybe a good person died and he had done nothing to help them. He just sat back and watched.

"I…" he sighed, not knowing what to say. The green light was still bobbing around, occasional smaller bursts of yellowish light accompanying it, both flying through the air.

That's when it hit him. Flying.

"They're flying," he said out loud.

"What of it?" Conan asked.

"They're flying," Peter repeated.

Hermione gave him a strange look. "Again, so? They're flying."

Peter stared at both of them hard. "They are flying," he said again. "We can't fly." Both just stared back in confusion and he sighed. "We have no idea how far this outpost is from the rest of its…civilization. We could be traveling days or even weeks by foot. Or, we could…" he gestured to the bobbing light.

"Fly," Hermione finished, eyes wide with realization. "We could get there almost instantly."

Conan frowned, not convinced. He grimaced as he looked at the light. "Seems unnatural," he muttered.

"Conan," Peter said. "I know it's a risk. A big one. But it might be worth it. And I don't know about you but I don't want to be trekking across the desert, scavenging for food and relying on Hermione's wand for water. I think it's a risk we have to take."

Conan looked closely at him and then back at the light. Then he nodded. "Very well, let us see if we can convince these flyers to aid us."

"There we go," Peter grinned. "Alright Hermione, do your thing."

She let out a small sigh. "Hope we don't regret this," she said then held out her wand to the night sky and a burst of red sparks erupted from it, flying high up before crackling loudly, becoming a beacon for everything within the area.

I know, shorter chapter than last week, but it's building up to the big chapter coming up. I hope you liked Conan's character, tried to make him as accurate as possible. And I hope you're excited for the green light. I'm sure some of you can guess who that will be. But it'll still be a little while til you find out.

As for the mystery of this place, I know it's a slow build but just bear with me. It will pay off in the end.

Please leave a review if you can, Til next time.