"Anything?"

Peter sighed. "In the two minutes since you asked? No, still nothing."

"Sorry," Hermione said, rubbing her eyes. "God, I sound like Ron right now. But I'm just bored."

"Well, so am I." He held out his hand. "Want to do another thumb war?" Hermione gave him a look and he dropped his hand. "Alright, then we just sit and wait. That's part of the job sometimes."

"Yeah, but how long? We've already been waiting hours and nothing's happened. How long are we going to let the others just get…sacrificed?" she cringed at that word.

Peter winced as well, the thought of Jessica, Conan, or Fett being cut open on some altar entering his mind. He wanted nothing more than to track down the Menshikov guy, beat him up, and free his allies. Or at least the people he had known for a few minutes who seemed like they would make good allies.

But the problem was, Peter could already tell they were seriously outmatched against Menshikov. If they went up against him as they were, he had a feeling they'd join the others. That hadn't stopped him before but this time he was dealing with actual magic. And apparently time travel amongst other things. If they were going up against Menshikov, they were going to need some help.

Which led to their current plan. He glanced over the rocks he was perched behind and saw it. A gleaming, emerald beacon in the sky that could be seen for miles around in the exact shape of Jessica's ring symbol. Hermione had crafted it with her wand after a few tries before apparating them here, leaving a Spider-bot behind where it could keep watch for them in case any unfriendlies poked their heads out to check on the symbol. Hopefully, those other Green Lantern people Jessica had been talking to would be able to see the symbol and find them. And then they could track Menshikov down and save the others.

But here they were, several hours later, and nothing. No sign of anyone. Just a barren landscape.

Peter huffed a little. He knew they couldn't stay here too much longer. The longer they did, the more likely the others were already dead.

"We'll give it another hour, max," he said. "Then we go."

Hermione nodded, settling back in the rock.

"So…" Peter said, tapping his fingers against his knee. He wasn't really comfortable with silences. They'd been filling the time with games of thumb war, tic-tac-toe, chopsticks, and SAG (shield, ammunition, gun) until they were both completely sick of them. Well, Hermione at least. Peter was now ready for a rematch in any of them but evidently she wasn't. So they had to find some other way to pass the time. "Where do you learn magic? There like a school or something?"

Hermione paused, as if considering something, before shrugging. "Yeah. There are several actually, spread out over the world. I went to Hogwarts, arguably the best."

Peter had to keep from snorting. "Seriously, Hogwarts? That's its name? Hogwarts? Sounds like something they'd put on the label of some moisturizer or something, you know? 'Hogwarts? Hogwash!'"

Hermione rolled her eyes, reminding him of MJ a little. "The name is ridiculous," she admitted. "But it is amazing. You start when you're eleven and you take a…" she hesitated here. "Sorry, I just don't know how much I should share. You are…" she grimaced, not finishing.

Peter nodded though. It stung a little, but he got it. He wouldn't share all of his secrets either. "Look, you don't have to tell me everything. I'm just curious. I mean, I've been a scientist my entire life, always trying to unlock the next big mystery. When I'm not beating up criminals and stopping supervillains anyway. So now, seeing actual magic, well it's hard for me not to be curious."

Hermione smiled. "You know, it was kind of the same for me. I loved learning science and history when I was a kid. I read book after book, just couldn't get enough. But something always felt missing. Then, when this actual witch came to my house and explained about magic and how I was a witch too…well, it sort of made everything fit. It meant there was so much out there to learn, so many more mysteries. Fantastical, amazing mysteries."

That's what Peter loved about science. The mystery of it all, the search for answers. It wasn't the discovery, but the drive to actually discover it. When he'd been working with Dr. Octavius, trying to revolutionize prosthetics, he would get lost in the work, connecting each circuit and never really feeling discouraged when it failed. Because science was all about failing until you got it right. And once you did, you just moved on to the next discovery. Otto had been the same…until he'd become lost to it. Peter shoved those thoughts aside, not wanting to dwell on them right now.

"But Hogwarts is more than just learning magic. It's where you make your friends, your family really. It's where I met mine. Harry, Ginny, and Ron." Her cheeks turning a little pink at the last name and Peter could tell that this Ron was a special someone to her. "Hogwarts is where you kind of discover who you are and who you want to be."

"Sounds amazing."

"It is," Hermione smiled, lost in memories. Then her smile faded. "But then the war happened and, well…" she trailed off for a second. "It's all fun until the fighting really starts. And then nothing's ever the same."

Peter knew that feeling. He knew when he first realized that. When he had been kneeling over his uncle's body, killed because of him. The day he truly became Spider-Man.

He opened his mouth to say something, supportive or comforting, or something, when movement caught his eye. The small screen at the bottom of his lenses, the one showing what the Spider-bot was seeing. He was instantly alert and he flicked it to the main screen, breathing out when he saw what was happening.

"We've got movement," he announced.

He could sense Hermione jumping up. "Really? Is it them? Those Green Lantern people?"

"No," he said in disappointment. "It's…some sort of hawkperson. And a girl."

For a second, he had thought it was the Vulture but whoever this character was, they had actual feathers and a hawk-like nose with reddish wings flapping him down to the ground. In his talons was a girl with olive-toned skin and striking black hair. They hit the ground and took a look up at the sky where the signal burned before looking around. Peter quickly hid the Spider-bot behind some rocks, not wanting it to be seen just yet. Not until he knew who these characters were.

"What's happening?" he heard Hermione ask.

"Don't know yet. They just landed and are looking around."

"Are we going over there?"

"We don't know them," Peter replied. "They could be good or bad."

"Could you take off the mask so I can see too?"

"Right, sorry." Peter quickly removed the mask and splayed it out so Hermione could clearly see what was happening through the lenses. She frowned, seeing the hawkperson. "I don't think I've ever heard of a creature like him."

"Well, we're learning a lot of things these days so whatever."

"How do we know if they're friendly or not?"

"I…don't know. The usual way for me is if they try to kill me or not, but it's not really something I actively try to do. Just sort of happens."

Hermione gave him a strange look. "Well, we need to think of something before…never mind," she sighed, watching as the two characters took off again, the hawkman picking the girl up and flying away. "They're gone."

"Well, I don't know if they could have helped us anyway," Peter said, shrugging. "I mean, any support would be helpful but still. At least we're making progress. Let's just hope the next one will be more useful."

"If there is a next one," Hermione muttered.

Two minutes later, Peter saw someone else approaching. This time it was a man, one who could fly which was just so cool and unfair. A very disheveled looking man in faded gray robes with long gray hair and a beard. Just like the other two, he took a swift look around but, having found nothing, flew away.

"Ok, we can't do that every time," Hermione pointed out. "We're going to have to have to introduce ourselves to one of them or else there is no point to this."

Peter nodded. "You're right. Ok, whoever the next one is, we'll introduce ourselves."

They had to wait about fifteen minutes for the next one but all it ended up being was a falcon. It flew low over the ground, close to where the Spider-bot was, but then flapped away. Peter sighed, sitting back against a boulder. "Are those freaking lantern people ever going to come? Should we make an ever bigger symbol in the sky for them to find us?"

Hermione looked over at the symbol. "I could try, but I honestly don't know what difference it would make at this point."

Peter rubbed his eyes. He knew it had been a long shot when he'd suggested it, that it might not work at all. But he had still hoped. Now, with every second slipping away, he seriously questioned whether staying and waiting was the best call.

"Hey, here we go."

Peter instantly looked over, staring at the figure through the Spider-Bot's eyes. It was a man with short brown hair and a dark blue outfit with white triangle across his chest. Around his waist was what looked like a parka, making Peter think the man was snatched out of somewhere cold. At first glance, Peter assumed (or rather hoped) he was some sort of superhero as the outfit seemed more costumeish. In the man's hands though was a gun, purple in color, that put Peter on edge.

"Let's go," Hermione said, standing up.

"Wait," Peter stopped her.

"Peter, we can't wait here forever. Let's at least go and see who he is."

Peter hesitated. He didn't know but there was something about the man he didn't like. Maybe the look in his eyes or the way he held himself or something. Or maybe it was just the gun. He didn't know any superhero who used a gun. Of course, that didn't make the guy automatically bad, but still…Peter didn't like it.

"Just, a second," he said. "There's something about him I just don't…just, let's see for a few seconds. Your travel is instantaneous right? And this guy walked over, not flew. So we don't really have to rush. We can always just apparate over to him."

Hermione looked at him for a second. "Alright, fine," she consented. "But not too long." She sat down again, watching the lenses. "What exactly are we waiting fo-"

The man suddenly looked towards the sky and raised a middle finger, yelling something at the green symbol. Judging from his expression, Peter doubted it was anything nice.

"I don't think he's a friend of these Green Lanterns," Peter commented.

"No, I guess not," Hermione sighed. "I guess we just wait for the next one."

"Oh, that's cool," Peter muttered, watching as the man raised his gun and pulled the trigger, a white mist flowing over him. A relieved smile came over his face. "Pun unintended. Hmm, maybe we should go to him just to get that gun. Wouldn't mind cooling off."

A form suddenly appeared behind the man and Peter opened his mouth to yell a warning, not realizing how useless that would be, but it was unnecessary anyway as the man whirled, his gun firing a spray of white that seemed to freeze the air. When he lowered the weapon, a creature roughly the size of a Labrador with large fangs was frozen solid a few feet from him.

"Oh that's way cooler, pun intended. Now I really do want it."

"I think you should have some more water instead," Hermione told him, conjuring up another cup.

"Yeah, fair enough." Peter took it and drank slowly, savoring every drop as he watched the man walk away in the lenses. As cool as that gun was, the man practically screamed supervillain right now and that was something they should try to avoid for now.

His stomach suddenly rumbled but he did his best to ignore it, even if all he wanted was to fill it with an extra-pepperoni pizza with garlic dust spread.

"Thanks," he told her, finishing the cup. "You think we should give up now? Just try to save the others on our own?"

She paused, thinking it over. "I don't know," she said honestly. "I'm not the best fighter. It's not a brag to say I'm one of the best with spells though." It felt kind of like a brag to Peter but he ignored it. "But I'm not too comfortable fighting. I can do it, I've done it plenty of times before. But you seem to really get into it, much more than me. You really know what you're doing. So I'll trust your judgment on this."

Peter nodded, touched by her praise. "We'll wait just a little longer," he said. "Just in case. Then, if no one shows up, we go back to the outpost. Menshikov appeared there rather quickly so hopefully that means he was holing up there somewhere and we just stumbled into it. Shouldn't be too hard to find it again."

"Alright then," Hermione nodded. "Sounds like a plan." She then glanced back down at the lenses and smiled a little. "But I think we might need to change it."

Peter followed her gaze to the lenses and saw through the Spider-bot's eyes that a large Samoan man had arrived beneath the symbol, looking up at it carefully. He then kneeled down, eyeing the ground, investigating.

"Well, it doesn't look like he'll be leaving as quickly as the others," Peter said. "We can watch him for a minute to decide…" he trailed off as his Spider-Sense started tingling. It wasn't big, just a subtle tingling to let him know something was coming. He focused on it but he couldn't tell from where.

"What is it?" Hermione asked. He'd already told her about his Spider-Sense so now she was looking around as well. "Where is it coming from?"

"Don't know," he said. "It doesn't feel immediate. To us anyway. I don't know, it's hard to explain. It just senses…" he stopped, seeing her expression. But she wasn't looking at him. She was staring down at the lenses. "What?" he asked. "What is it?" He looked down as well but all he saw was the same Samoan man as before. But then he looked behind the man to the horizon and saw it. A dark cloud in the sky, fast approaching. And from the way Hermione looked, she recognized it. "Hermione, what is that?" She didn't answer, her mouth opening and closing a little. "Hermione?"

And then the dark shadow thing landed on the ground behind the Samoan and took the form of a man. A bald man with pure white skin, like all the life had been drained out, scarlet colored eyes and only two slits for a nose. He appeared almost snake-like in appearance and it sent shivers down Peter's spine.

The second Hermione saw him, she squeaked in fright, covering her mouth, eyes wide. From her expression, it was like she was looking at a dead body or a horrifying monster.

"Hermione, who is that?"

"It's not possible," she said, shaking her head as if that would make the figure vanish. "It's just not possible. It can't be him."

"Why not? Who is that?"

"That's Lord Voldemort."

Peter half expected some sort of thunder crack or base drop or dun-dun-dunn sound effect at the name. He also weird felt like he knew that name but couldn't figure out why, though he did have the urge to make a joke about a Volkswagen, but he stifled that. Save it for later, he told himself "Hermione, that means nothing to me but clearly everything to you. So I need you to explain."

"He's…he's a d-dark wizard from my world," she said, stuttering a little, still staring at the figure. "He nearly took it over, killing hundreds of people. But he's supposed to be dead. Harry killed him."

"Well, evidently not," Peter muttered, looking down at the figure who was now talking with the Samoan man, his own wand out. Then a dark thought hit him. "Hermione, we're from different times."

She looked up for the first time since Voldemort appeared. "Yeah, so?"

"So why not him too?"

Hermione gaped. "Oh god," she muttered, clutching at her stomach. "I think I'm going to be sick."

"We have to get over there," Peter said, staring back down at the lenses. "If what you say is true then that man is in trouble and we need to help him."

"But…against him?" Hermione gasped. "Only Harry ever stood a chance. Or Dumbledore."

"I don't know who those people are but I'm not going to let this man die in front of me if I can help it. Apparate us close by, I web Voldy in the face, grab the man, then you apparate us back out. Simple."

"Nothing about this is simple and…LOOK OUT!" she suddenly shrieked and Peter instinctively leaped in the air. But she hadn't been talking to him but the Samoan as Voldemort's wand went up and a bolt of green light shot out of it. The Samoan, however, was much faster than he appeared and managed to duck aside. As he did, he grabbed something from his belt and held it up to his lips, drinking whatever it was. Peter watched, stunned, as his entire body suddenly turned vaporous, like he'd become air itself. Voldemort himself seemed startled by it but raised his wand for a fresh attack.

"Nope, not happening." Peter scooped up the mask and yanked it back over his face, activating the Spider-bot. It rose out of its hiding place and began firing rapidly at Voldemort. He seemed to yell something, holding his hand up in front of his face. "Ok that bought us some time. Now we just…"

He stopped, his Spider-Sense suddenly going off again, louder this time. And he realize that it hadn't been warning him about Voldemort's approach, but something else.

"What is it?" Hermione asked.

"There's someone behind us," he replied.

"That is correct."

Peter and Hermione slowly turned at the voice, looking up behind them. Floating in the air, surrounded by a yellowish aura, was a man. Or at least what looked like a man. He had pinkish-purplish skin and a thin mustache that practically screamed 'supervillain.' More so than the cold gun did for the other guy. The man stared down at them, his eyes cold and merciless. His fingers clenched and Peter saw a yellow ring on his finger, one that looked remarkably similar to what Jessica had worn except the symbol was a little different. And yellow.

"Now, you are going to tell me exactly who you are and why you created that symbol in the sky," he waved his hand and two yellow guns suddenly appeared in the air, pointing right at Peter and Hermione's heads, "or I'm going to blow your brains out."

"Uh…and, just for clarity's sake, who are you?" Peter asked, resisting the urge to fire off some webs.

"I am Thaal Sinestro, leader of the Sinestro Corps," he replied.

Jessica blinked a little, her consciousness slowly returning to her. Her mind felt like jello at the moment, all floppy and shaky and could fall apart at any second, sending her right back into deep sleep. And she wanted to, to just slip back into the darkness and forget it all.

You failed, the voice said. They got you. It was only a matter of time.

She ignored it, pushing her eyes open. She had failed, yes. Let her guard down to a villain and gotten herself caught. But that didn't matter now. What mattered was escaping.

But you'll fail at that too.

Jessica blinked again, wincing as she was briefly blinded by light before her eyes adjusted. It was at this point that she became aware of a few things. The first was that she was tied down on a table, limbs splayed out. The second was that she no longer had her ring, her green uniform gone and replaced with her normal clothes. The third thing was that next to her were two other tables. One held the shirtless, sword carrying guy who she believed was called Conan. The other held Boba Fett, though his armor had been stripped from him, leaving him in plain clothes not too different from Jessica's. Both of them were wide awake.

Jess opened her mouth to ask them if they were alright but nothing came out. She blinked and tried again but nothing. She couldn't speak. Something was blocking her.

She felt her anxiety rushing up but just barely pushed it back down. Ok, so she couldn't talk. That didn't matter. She took stock of her surroundings. They appeared to be in a large cave, several stalagmites around them reaching for the ceiling. There were also dozens of crystals scattered across the stalagmites and the ceiling, each glowing and providing light to the cave. She tried to look for her ring, to call to it and summon it back to her finger but it was like there was a mental block around her, disconnecting her completely. And she couldn't see any sign of it. The panic was continuing to rise in her and with each passing minute it became harder and harder to shove it back down.

As Jess became more and more aware, she also started to hear voices coming towards them from somewhere behind her. She tried to twist her head to see if she could get a look but nothing.

"…and what else is required by you for this task?"

"Oh, just a few more materials and then we can begin." That was Menshikov. Jess remembered that eerie, hoarse voice clearly. She didn't recognize the other guy.

"And you are sure you will be able to ascertain the secrets of this place?"

"With the proper spells and rituals, there is nothing one cannot accomplish. Trust me, I know exactly what I am doing." They were now walking to Jess's left and she tried to follow them but the stalagmites were blocking her view. All she could see were flashes of white clothing here and there.

"Hmmm," the second man said, his tone uncertain. "We shall see."

"Yes we shall." Now they stepped into the main chamber and Jess blinked, it taking a second for her mind to process what she was seeing.

Both Menshikov and the other guy, a tall man with a long white beard and metal staff, were dressed completely in white. Granted, Menshikov was more decked out in white with his pure white suit and sunglasses while the other guy looked like he was wearing his bedsheets around him. But it was almost blinding how white they were.

"And beware, magician," the older guy warned. "If you cross me, you will come to regret it most deeply."

Menshikov turned. "The same to you, Lord Saruman. Now," he returned his gaze to Jess and the other two and clapped his hands, "shall we begin?"

And we're back. Hope you all enjoy this. I know not too much action here but just wait. The next segment will have a true battle royale.

For all the characters introduced there, no spoilers here. They'll all come up at some point or each other. I'm only going to talk about 5 here.

1: Voldemort. Had to bring him in. Duh.

2: Sinestro. One of my top 5 DC villains and favorite supervillains overall. Definitely had to bring him in.

3: The Samoan is called Tanu and is from the fantasy book series Fablehaven. He's a potions master so expect some weird and cool stuff from him.

4: Yes. The man in the parka with the cold gun is Captain Cold. You're welcome. And yes, he will be a major player in the battle royale.

5: Saruman. Yeah, I thought of him and decided he'd make a good partner to Menshikov

I know some people have asked for One Piece. Here are my thoughts on that. I have started watching One Piece and am currently on episode 56. (Also, are the films back then worth watching?) But there are 1000 episodes to get through. Which brings me to this: do you mind if the characters I bring in from One Piece are from the earlier episodes or would you prefer the later versions. You choose.

Also, Arlong. Does he ever come back? Don't worry, you go ahead and spoil it, it's important for I'm planning here.

I'll release the next chapter out in a couple weeks since most people chose for the chapters to be spaced out. However, I will tell you the name of the next chapter: Captain Rogers, Captain Rex