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𝐶𝐻𝐴𝑃𝑇𝐸𝑅 𝐹𝑂𝑅𝑇𝑌 EIGHT
space, necklace, wizard
☀︎︎

Peter's head was tucked firmly into his boyfriend's neck, the lull of the bus almost driving him to sleep, when he sensed it. He'd felt the overwhelming urge to just ignore it- that doom-filled feeling that made him feel sick. But it was too hard to dismiss when the hairs on his arms were standing to attention, his muscles itching and twitching to move. His awareness was dialled to one hundred: the suit stuffed in his bag felt so close and Eddy felt so calm beside him, head leaning against his own thanks to the height difference. It was the type of tranquillity that made Peter want to nestle in closer, hiding from the world and from the wrongness that stirred him.

But Eddy knew him too well to look past the unsettled nature that took over him. His head lifted, side unfurling to lean over him, eyebrows furrowed. Peter's back straightened, eyes zipping to scan the window, his breath leaving his body when they landed on the foreboding shape that pummelled over the horizon, churning a horrid red. Eddy followed his gaze and paled.

With added urgency, Peter turned to glance over the rest of the bus, to the students who were completely oblivious to the oncoming threat and leaned backwards to tap Ned on the side of his face, pulling his headphones clean from his ears.

"Okay, Ned. Time to be the best guy in the chair any super duo has ever had," Eddy said, voice not betraying him of the fear he must have been feeling.

Peter wasn't as smooth. Panic laced his tone. "You're gonna have to create a distraction."

"Holy Shit!" Ned exclaimed as his eyes landed on the alien contraption that sped through the far-off city. He didn't need to think twice about the distraction and Peter did not doubt that his reaction was completely natural. "We're all gonna die!"

"That worked better than it should have," Eddy whispered as they ducked beneath the seats as the rest of the people on the bus rushed to the back windows, screeching like birds.

"Hurry up," Peter said, worry escaping with his words. But he barely had a chance to finish before Eddy's arms were wrapping around his waist, chin landing on his shoulder as he teleported them from the bus in the shadow of attention.

It was always strange, letting Eddy teleport them places, but Peter liked to think he was a seasoned passenger by that point.

Forcing his feet to stay stable, Peter landed beside Eddy in the middle of a random New York street, the churning, alien contraption towering over them from one block over. The area was already cleared of people, their screams growing further away, but the street seemed to be turned over, cars strewn all over, litter scattered across the floor.

It was at the other end, smashing through buildings, destroying the very foundations of great structures, that the huge, snarling beast revealed itself alone. With the thick, shining armour, it seemed more machine than creature, its face and scaled arms the only alien skin bared to the dust-laden air.

"What is that thing?" Peter exclaimed, fearing the answer, for this alien was a far bigger threat than they'd ever had to face before.

But Eddy only shook his head. "You'd have a better guess than me."

The great bulk of an alien was rushing forward, churning weaponry aimed at a red streak that shot through the air, landing lower and lower until it crashed against the park trees. They saw the slinging, hammer-like attack begin before they'd even moved forward. But before Peter could even leap to catch up, Eddy's arms were wrapping around him, readying to attempt a mission aid that shouldn't have worked.

The merging of natural, New York colours into metallic shades wrapped in darkness soon ended and Eddy teleported them to the top of the building opposite to Iron Man, directly in front of the alien. It was as if he'd been able to read his mind, as Peter was able to sling his webs forward, swinging himself around until he landed squarely in front of the hit, blocking the hammer-like weapon from landing a strong hit.

"Hey, man. What's up, Mr Stark?" Spiderman squeaked, smugness seeping into his voice at the thought of him saving Iron Man- with the help of his boyfriend of course.

"Kid, where'd you come from?"

"A field trip to MoMA!" But then a hand was wrapping around his waist, fingers large enough to reach the whole way around, and he was being thrown, the words sliding into a shout.

Beneath his mask, Peter's head was spinning from the collision. He flexed his fingers, feeling the suit respond to the movement, and he had to remind himself who he was for a moment before Spiderman rose again, fists clenched, only to see Split teleporting mid-air above the monster, landing forcefully on the thing's head, sending it reeling.

"You gonna let him throw you like that, Spidey?"

"Eddy. Should have known you'd be here too," Mr Stark shouted, using the alien's moment of destruction to blast him with a firey hit, earning an eruption of a roar from its mouth.

"What's this guy's problem, Mr Stark?" His shout barely reached above the screech of his blaster.

"He's from Space. He came here to steal a necklace from a wizard."

Definitely out of his comfort zone, but Peter was feeling confident. Well, as confident as he could get and that confidence sent him spiralling forward, swinging his webs until he too was ponding against that strange hunk of armour, ignoring the rushing blood in his head.

"Space, alien, wizard. Got it," he said, and the flash of young laughter that came from somewhere across the park only spurred him on swifter.

A flash of red sparks broke his swing and Peter fumbled to catch his rhythm, stumbling backwards as a man emerged from that same swirling mass. A man so sturdy in his stance, fingers flickering with the remnants of portal magic and who also seemed to know his name.

"Peter Parker," said the wizard, inclining his head calmly as if there wasn't a great hulking alien rushing toward him. "Leave this to me."

The alien didn't stop his sprint as the wizard spiralled his arm, producing that same sparking circle from which he'd arrived. This one led to a vast expanse of snow, so pristine that it seemed to border the edge of nowhere. Large feet fell forward, crushing through thick sludge as the alien fell through the portal, turning in enough time for the wizard to close it, leaving only a head behind as evidence the alien had ever been near.

But Peter didn't have time to marvel in awe at this newfound magic (maybe he did, because this was groundbreaking- enough to have him questioning everything). Mr Stark's shout came after a blur of dark red.

"Kids, that's the wizard. Get on it!"

All it took was an order from Tony Stark to get him going again. And then they were together again, Split and Spiderman, just as they were supposed to be, swinging and teleporting in tandem, each guiding the strength of the other.

The wizard was just within reach. Peter could feel the waft of the wind from his cloak.

Eddy must have seen it before Peter could even contemplate what was happening. Arms were around his waist, pushing him from the path of the alien's next obstacle, landing them as close to the wizard as possible, letting Peter swing them to stability. His hand was reaching out then, ready to yank the wizard backwards.

As his web hit the man squarely, ready to guide him back to safety, a great beam of light shot down from the sky. Peter let out a shout, barely holding onto Eddy with the hand that did not grab the web.

"Uh, Mr Stark we're being beamed up!"

"Let go!" Eddy was shouting, and Peter couldn't understand why. "Let go and I can teleport to him and bring him out."

He nodded quickly, and only at the last minute did he let go of the web, letting himself fall backwards, watching as Eddy disappeared in a black mist... only to reappear higher into the streak of blue, too short to land arms around the wizard. He was being dragged up too, so rapidly that Peter almost missed it when he disappeared again, merging his black trails with the blue glow.

With all his effort, one last time, Peter shot his web upwards and let the alien beam pull him upwards as the whirling machine ascended, his partner nowhere in sight. His breath was short- panicked perhaps, or maybe the air was just growing thinner- and his fingers hurt when they finally latched onto the metal shafts of the airship.

"Pete you're gonna have to let go. I'm going to catch you," came Mr Stark's voice.

"But Eddy might be up there," he shouted back, trying not to reveal the heave of his breath. "And you said 'save the wizard!'"

"Eddy can teleport

But something was telling him that Eddy was up there. It was his spider senses, he was sure. His Peter tingle, as Aunt May would like to call it. But he knew, somehow. And he was getting up there, even if it left him close to suffocation.

"I can't breath," the words came out between pants.

The pounding in his head would not stop and even his eyes were becoming blurry. Soon his head was tipping backwards, becoming heavy until his body followed, falling backwards into the atmosphere, the void of space a scary sight ahead. He was fainting, Peter was sure, and even with the looming drop of death threatening to pull him backwards, the only worry he had was of Eddy. Of his ability to teleport so far as between planets, through an oxygen-less space. Who knew what would happen if he were to try? To fail...

As his sight dipped in and out, the feeling of air slashing his face giving him whiplash, something caught his body. He thought at first as he saw a flash of red that Mr Stark had caught him. But then cool metal wrapped his already-suited body, and suddenly he could breathe again, oxygen filling his body in gasping breaths. He was standing now too, hands gripping the inside of the ship, watching as Tony flew past him.

"Mr Stark it smells like a new car in here!"

"Happy trials kid. Friday send him home."

He was falling again before he realised what the man had done, a parachute pulling him backwards. In one last hasty move, Peter swung out his wrist, urging his webs to connect to the spaceship. A swell of relief filled his body as the falling stopped and he was wrenched forward, body colliding with metal. But he clung on for dear life and slowly, one hand at a time, began crawling upwards, beginning for an opening.

Because he was getting inside that ship. Even if the whole universe was against him.