Disclaimer: I own nothing that you recognise (and I'm borrowing a couple of things you may not recognise from sources you simply may not be familiar with); be assured I'll identify anything relevant when it comes up.

Feedback: Always appreciated

AN: As previously discussed, back to Peter-2's world as the hunt continues, and this time I include another sort-of crossover…

Scarlet Witch and the Three Spiders

Sitting on the large rock in Central Park, staring up at the sky on the sunny day, Wanda wasn't even sure what she could do with herself right now. The concept of visiting an alternate universe was interesting in its own way, but she wasn't as interested in the fine details of this idea as someone else might have been. She could guess that Stark or Vision might have found this interesting, but right now, all she wanted was the chance to find a way home and…

When she thought about it, Wanda had to concede that was the real problem; she didn't know what she was going to do with herself next. She could understand the practical concerns that meant she and her other selves should merge back into their original single self at some point, but after everything she'd lost back in her world…

Maybe Tony Stark being dead meant that the person she had the most trouble with was gone (she could acknowledge that he hadn't done anything wrong on purpose and still have trouble with his memory), but with Vision and Natasha dead and Steve now old, she'd lost three of the Avengers she was closest to. Clint had his own life and family to focus on (and he was planning to retire to focus on them now anyway), Sam was more of a casual acquaintance, Rhodey was basically just a work colleague, she hadn't spent enough time with Scott, Bucky, or T'Challa to have any particular views on them, and Peter…

She wasn't sure how to feel about the Peter of her world right now, particularly when she didn't know how she would relate to him when this was all over. If she 'merged' back with her other selves if she returned to her world, would she still remember her meeting with this Peter, or would that just be 'lost' as she returned to her original universe?

Right now, she was just content to take a moment to rest and appreciate the simple peace of Central Park on a relatively quiet day in New York. If she had been back in her world, she would probably have had to deal with people freaking out about the Scarlet Witch being in the city (she wasn't sure if they would have been fans of her time on the team or scared of what she did at Westview), even before she faced what she had done to the sorcerers, but right now nobody had any reason to think of her as anything more than a woman in red taking a break.

Peter was out on patrol, and Mary Jane had offered to go shopping with her later once May had been dropped off at a friend's house, but for the moment Wanda was surprised to find how much she appreciated the current sense of peace. There had been some quiet moments during her first year with the Avengers before the Sokovia Accords became a factor, and she'd even had a few opportunities for peace with the Vision even when they were officially on the run after escaping the Raft, but there'd always been that sense of her being either a 'celebrity' as an Avenger or a fugitive after the Accords were declared. Right now, nobody had any reason to see her as anything more than another woman, and even if she liked to think she was attractive, there was no reason she should attract any particular attention right now…

"Wanda?"

Looking up, Wanda was lost about how to react when she realised that she was being addressed by a stranger. The speaker was a young woman, approximately a few years younger than Wanda's current body, with a round face and clear blue eyes framed by blonde hair.

"Uh… who are you?" she said uncertainly.

"Crystal," the woman said with a slight smile. "Your old sister-in-law?"

"Old sis-?" Wanda began, before her eyes widened in shocked understanding of something she hadn't let herself consider before; if she had a counterpart here, that meant that Pietro had also had a counterpart…

"I… yes, I'm sorry," she shook her head uncertainly. "It's just… it's been a while."

"Yeah, well, that was your brother for you," the woman shrugged with a smile. "I loved him, but he just… he couldn't really commit to anything relationship-wise. I mean, we keep in touch for Luna's sake, but that probably didn't help…"

"Lu- your daughter?" Wanda asked, taking a chance that she had interpreted this woman's words correctly.

"That's her," Crystal smiled. "It's… I know it's been a while, but I was never sure how to get in touch with you and… Simon, right?"

"Yeah…" Wanda said, glad for the assurance that she'd remembered her counterpart's husband's name correctly even as she felt increasingly uncomfortable at the way this conversation was going. "I was just… I came here for a holiday… I wanted to take a few days off…"

"Fair enough," Crystal said with a casual smile before assuming a more serious expression. "Is Simon here with you? I mean, if you're here for a holiday-?"

The sound of an explosion from further in the city drew Wanda's attention away from her current conversation. She didn't know what might have caused that particular explosion, but if it didn't have something to do with Spider-Man then Wanda's understanding of life in this version of New York had more holes than she expected.

"I'm sorry," she said, getting to her feet and looking apologetically at Crystal, "but I have to go."

"Go?" was all the other woman had time to say before Wanda was running in the direction of the now-rising column of smoke that she guessed was part of that explosion. She wasn't sure if she'd arrive before or after Peter, but if anything was doing that kind of damage in New York it might need a couple of Avengers…

And any reason not to continue that conversation.

It was a shameful thought, but Wanda had to acknowledge that she didn't think she could have kept talking to Crystal. The other woman seemed nice enough, but when every word the woman said made it clear that this version of Pietro had lived a life that Wanda's version of him had never experienced… a life that she would know nothing about…

A life that he might even still be living…

Wanda forced that thought aside as she pushed herself into the air, shedding the illusion of standard clothing to don the red and black attire of the Scarlet Witch. Whatever she might have been trying to do under the Darkhold's influence, she knew that she couldn't try to form some kind of relationship with Pietro's counterpart any more than she should have been trying to find other versions of Tommy and Billy in the wider multiverse (and she definitely wasn't interested in learning more about her counterpart's husband right now).

Right now, her priority was to help the Peter of this world deal with whatever had caused that explosion; she could sort out everything else later. Fortunately it only took a couple of minutes for her to fly from the park to the source of the explosion, Peter already trying to help people get away from the fire as she had anticipated.

The thing that she hadn't anticipated was the large man in a dark green dinner suit with a face that put Wanda in mind of a Neanderthal she'd seen during a trip to the Museum of Natural History on a 'team bonding trip' Steve or Natasha had organised in her first couple of months as part of the Avengers. The man was clearly enhanced, given that he had just picked up a car and was holding it in a manner that made it clear he was about to throw it at Peter, but Wanda would question how he had that kind of strength later. Throwing a burst of red energy at the other man, Wanda watched with a grim nod as the man was thrown back and into a nearby building.

"Witch?" Peter said, his costume torn and a few small cuts all over his body even if he looked fairly well. "What are-?"

"There was an explosion and we are Avengers," Wanda said, hoping that this version of Spider-Man would take the comment in the spirit that she had intended. "Who is he?"

"FOOL!" the Neanderthal-esque man yelled as he burst from the wall where Wanda had thrown him, glaring at her and Peter in a rage. "You would come between me and my prey?"

"Prey?" Peter and Wanda said simultaneously.

"Uh… you mean me, right?" Peter looked cautiously at the large man. "Just so we're on the same page here, I mean…"

"Shut up, meat," the man said, actually licking his lips even as he turned to glare at Wanda. "You have no right to be here, witch; this is not your world-"

"You are hunting my friend," Wanda cut the Neanderthal off with a cool glare. "I will make it my business."

"Get out of my way."

"Why?" Wanda countered, spreading her arms to generate red energy, hoping that the subtle 'blur' she had created around her face would avoid any problems for her other self once she got home. "Are you afraid of a fight?"

"Hardly," the man said, his snarl slipping into a smirk as he looked at her. "I'm just not interested in killing an unappetising meal."

"Then maybe you could just move on and forget about both of us?" Peter put in from behind Wanda. "I mean, if we're going to be a bother to you anyway-"

As the Neanderthal-esque man let out a loud roar and charged towards her, Wanda lashed out with another burst of red energy that sent the man flying backwards. He got back to his feet quickly enough, but before Wanda or Peter realised what was happening, another figure dived in from the side and struck the man with such force that he was sent flying off in the opposite direction.

"What the-?" Peter began, before the figure landed on the ground and was revealed to be a young woman in a black bodysuit with knee-length white boots and elbow-length white gloves, as well as a large white spider in the centre of her torso. She had thick blonde hair and wore a black mask that covered the top part of her face, as well as a strap under her chin.

"Hey," the woman said, smiling over at Peter and Wanda. "Cassie sent me; sorry I couldn't get here sooner."

"Cassie?" Peter repeated in confusion.

"Cassandra Webb?" Wanda asked. "She… sent you here?"

"It's one of those things with the great web that I'm not going to pretend to try and understand myself," the woman explained with a shrug. "Cassie's a great person, but she can be a bit fortune-cookie-esque about-"

The sound of an enraged roar from off to the side drew Wanda's attention back to their enemy, as the Neanderthal in the suit got back to his feet and spread his arms as though anticipating grabbing his enemies. As the new arrival fired a strange golden light at the other man, Wanda fired her own burst of energy at their enemy, only for the energy blasts to strike each other, causing a surge of golden energy to surge back towards Wanda-

AN 2: For the record, Crystal can be pictured using the actress from Inhumans, but this version of her has no powers; she was just married to the 'local' Pietro.

For those who want to know, the Neanderthal-esque man is Daemos, who is essentially the 'brother' of Morlun from the last chapter; he's generally considered more powerful than Morlun, but Morlun is regarded as the superior hunter where Daemos is more of a thug.

And yes, the new arrival is another Spider-Woman from Madame Web, this one being Julia Cornwall; I'm sure the pattern is becoming clear, but I'll explain more when the time comes.

On a related note, I'm aware of the reports that Sydney Sweeney will be Black Cat in the next MCU Spider-Man movie, but since that's not coming out for a year or two even if it's an accurate rumour, I'm sticking with the Julia Cornwall we're aware of.