CHAPTER TWO
↳ a cat and spider-man

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Put yourself in Maia's situation for a moment. Imagine being in front of the grave of your dead brother and then suddenly being in a world where he was alive.

God, Maia was mentally fucked.

How would she explain this to both MJ and Gwen?

Maia Parker did not expect to blink and somehow end up in front of a grave that was not Peter and Ben Parker's. She felt almost disoriented for a moment, her mind spinning and she fell back slightly.

What the fuck?

Maia did not expect to see a different world in front of her. The flower she placed in front of Peter and Ben's grave wasn't there, this wasn't her world. Something was up. Maia reached down to her pocket and grabbed onto her phone, holding onto the button to turn it on. It was dead.

MJ was definitely going to kill her. She wasn't going to make it for their date at twelve.

Great.

Sighing heavily, she decided it was best she left the graveyard before something unpredictable happened. She couldn't afford to cause any messes. If she was correct, which she usually was, this was definitely a strand from the multiverse or some place. This wasn't her world. She was surrounded in foreign technology and the revelation that Spider-man's identity had been revealed as Peter Parker.

The boy on the screen wasn't Peter Parker or, well, her Peter Parker.

He was this world's Peter Parker and apparently in this world, MJ ended up with him instead of Maia. That made Maia feel slightly sick, for some odd reason.

Maybe it was the thought of her girlfriend's variant kissing a variant of her dead brother. Maia shrugged it off though.

There were so many things going through her mind at once. It was sort of crazy, though not as crazy as being in a world that's basically a parallel to your own. In this world, Peter Parker was alive. In her world, Peter Parker was dead. In this world, Peter Parker's identity was no secret. In her world, Peter Parker's identity was masked with her own game.

This world just seemed so confusing. It was as though everything had been flipped upside down and Maia was falling. Leaning her head back on the alley wall, she breathed out shakily, a hand reaching up and running through her brown hair. This was all so bloody crazy, so confusing. Maia, however, did understand something.

The multiverse. It's a hypothetical group of multiple universes, defined and shaped by the potential actions and results of what we do. There is a universe where Peter Parker wasn't Spider-man, a potential universe where Maia wasn't taking up his mantle as Spider-man, a world where none of them were Spider-men and they were just normal kids.

Maia wonders whether this world has a Maia May Parker. Is it possible she exists her? She doesn't doubt the potential, she just doubts the outcome. If she did exist here, was she similar or different? Was she taller? Older? Happier? Maia wondered so much. Wondering, however, wasn't going to get Maia any further. Reaching back to the zip, she unzipped her suit and took it off. Luckily, she always wore something underneath her suit, simply for the comfort.

Firstly, she needed a coffee. That was the most important thing. Considering she did patrol, visited Peter and Ben and somehow ended here, Maia definitely deserved a coffee.

She appeared as ordinary as you can appear while disorientated. It seemed as though New York here was practically the same as New York back where home was. Though, it was definitely not home. She was far from home.

Maia entered the café that was the same similar one back home. It was decorated differently and she fumbled nervously for some money, handing five dollars to the woman who was serving her. Even the coffee tasted differently, it was all so odd. In addition to her coffee, Maia took a magazine to pass some time. It was 2024, which was like nearly a decade further than her timeline. Technology was so much more advanced, Maia knew for a fact Peter would be freaking out right now if he was here. He'd be gushing how the phones have more cameras and don't have home buttons. He'd be wondering how on earth people advanced this much.

Hell, Peter would be freaking out because all his geeky moments about time paradoxes and multiverses would have been correct. He'd be so happy.

Maia imagines he'd be unable to stop smiling.

She leaned down on the alley wall again, head tilted upwards. She had slipped back on her suit since it got cold again and it was getting dark. She felt so lonely. She didn't have an MJ, she had no way home.

Maia, while intrigued with everything, was lost in this world and now she wanted to go home.

But she didn't even know how she got here.

Putting a hand on her mouth, she stifled a cry and furiously wiped away tears.

No, she though. Spider-man doesn't cry.

But she wasn't Spider-man.

MJ always tried reminding Maia that she would never be Spider-man. She could wear the suit, fight bad guys, web people up, but in no way would she ever be the same Spider-man. She would be Maia and that's it. But Maia was enough for MJ. MJ didn't care that Maia webbed people up or cried, MJ cared that Maia was her own. MJ loved Maia the way the people loved Spider-man. The only difference was that MJ loved Maia passionately, while the people loved Spider-man obsessively. MJ loved Maia as though she was the moon, whereas the people loved Spider-man as though he was the sun.

MJ loved Maia. The people loved Spider-man.

Maia was about to stand up when she felt something rub against her leg. She looked down, squinting in the dark when she saw something in the dark.

It meowed.

By it, Maia meant a cat.

Yep, this was great.

Immediately going soft, Maia reached forward and gently nuzzled the small cat. Cats were definitely one of her weaknesses.

"Hello." She whispered in a baby voice. God, was she really talking to a cat as though it was a baby? The cat immediately jumped onto Maia's lap and she felt obligated to provide this cat with it's desires. "Oh okay then." The cat meowed again, nuzzling against the suit. "Do you like the suit? I made it with silks so it's really warm and smooth. It's a winter variation, very proud considering I can't sew to save a life."

It had gotten even colder now. Maia reached down for her mask, putting it on and let out a shaky breath.

"God, I wish we had some indoor heating."

The next thing she knew it, there was yelling.

"Peter!" Someone was screaming. It sounded like a girl and a boy, screaming together. Maia turned her head and looked in the direction of where the voices were coming from.

There was staggered shock.

There was a portal! A portal! Maia, keeping hold of the cat, stood up and walked towards the portal. There was a tinge of curiosity haunting the girl, luring her towards the mysterious portal she knew nothing about. She stared carefully, wonder wide and evident behind her mask, glancing at each person, well the two, who were shrieking "Peter" over and over again.

Who were these people? Why were they saying her brother's name?

Her eyes widened even more, not from wonder, but disbelief.

Why was her brother standing in the middle of the room when he was meant to be six feet under?

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Maia and cat content >>>>>>

ALSO

ALSO

IMAGINE ANGST IN THE NEXT CHAPTER

HAVING A FIELD DAY

GONNA TORMENT YOU ALL

tears, heartbreak, everything

no apologies whatsoever

also thanks for 500- literally posted this yesterday so wow