Chapter Text
May Parker was sitting on the ratty couch in her Queens apartment, a tall glass of red wine in one hand and a tv remote in the other, flipping through channels and trying to find any program that wasn’t blasting her nephew on television.
Ever since the mess with Mysterio revealing Peter’s identity a few weeks earlier, the Parker’s had been living through a nightmare. Police interrogations, reporter after reporter - people couldn’t get enough of the story. New York’s most popular vigilante’s identity being revealed, and said identity belonging to that of a teenage boy, was a big deal. Luckily for them, most of the general public was on their side. Rally’s and protests outside of the court house and town hall were mostly people showing their support, praising Peter for his valiant actions at such a young age. And with the Stark’s and Avengers horde of lawyers fighting for them, Mysterio was quickly proven guilty for the events of the London Attack.
That being said, there were still a lot of haters. Specifically the idiot J. Jonah Jameson and his boisterous news show constantly slamming Spider-man’s actions and calling him a menace. The man seemed to have nothing better to do with his life than bully the kid, but then again, Peter had dealt with his fair share of bullies.
As May clicked through another channel with JJJ yelling about something or other, finally landing on a reality tv show, there was a knock at the door. With a frown, she set down her wine glass and the tv remote, not bothering to turn it if, and raised from the couch and towards the front door.
As she made the short journey, she searched her brain for who the person at the door could be. It couldn’t be Peter, the boy left earlier that day, claiming he needed to visit a wizard. While the notion seemed preposterous, a lot crazier things had happened in recent weeks. In recent years really, ever since May caught Peter changing out of his suit oh so long ago. And even if it was Peter, the wild boy would either barge right in, announcing his presence so loud the whole block could hear it, or he’d come crashing through a window. Her next thought was that it could be Ned or MJ, but that seemed unlikely since they would probably be with Peter. Worst case it was a reporter, since they had gotten their fair share of those recently, and May would have to put on a pretty face and kindly turn them away.
She huffed an annoyed breath and brushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, quickly pulling the door open. What she saw instead completely threw her for a loop.
A man she’d never seen before, mid-thirties or so, stood sheepishly. His dark hair was disheveled and he had tinted glasses perched on his nose, a dark green trench coat covering much of his person. Surprisingly, the last thing May noticed was four long metal arms? tentacles? seemingly coming out of the man's back, floating casually behind him. Her grip on the door tightened.
“Are you May Parker?” he asked.
“Uhh…” May didn’t know how to respond. Should she feel threatened? Should she be worried? While the man held himself casually, he showed up randomly at the door and wielded weapons? on his person. “Who’s asking?”
“My apologies, ma’am,” the man shuffled on his feet and stuck a hand out for May to shake. “My name is Dr. Otto Octavious. Peter sent me?” The last sentence came out hesitantly, more of a question than a statement.
May grabbed his hand lightly and shook it, a quizzical look adorning her face. “Peter send you?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Dr. Octavious stood a bit taller. “You see, we had a bit of a scuffle on the bridge, but uh- he set me straight and sent me here. Said this was a safe place to lay low for a while.”
“A scuffle?” May questioned, sounding unimpressed.
“Yes, ma’am. I was quite confused. I’m not exactly from around here.” The man rubbed his hands together and looked away from May’s eyes shyly.
“And where exactly are you from?” May challenged, lifting her chin confidently.
“Another dimension. Earth 96283, to be exact, ma’am.”
“Riiight.” May paused and looked Dr. Octavious up and down, as if studying him. Another dimension? She invertly scolded herself for not being completely thrown by the notion. Then again, that’s just another one of the topics Peter geeks out over and could ramble on and on about. “You’re not going to attack me or anything right? I’ve had to deal with enough chaos recently,” she asked, sounding tired.
“No, no, ma’am, I would never,” He held her gaze and smiled timidly. “I’m only seeking sanctuary.”
May paused and took a deep breath, looking the man over once again. She looked back into her neat apartment and then stuck her head into the hallway, looking back and forth to see if anyone else was milling about. It was empty, besides the tentacled man, of course.
With one final huff and a muttered ‘Peter, you’re going to be the death of me,’ she stepped aside and held a hand up, welcoming the man into her apartment, “Please, come in, Dr. Octavious.”
“Thank you,” he said as he crossed the threshold of the door. “And, please. Call me Otto.”
“Okay, Otto,” she directed him into the kitchen and sat him down at the table. “Would you like a cup of tea?”
***
Not even thirty minutes later, there was another knock at the door. May set down her cup of tea and paused the surprisingly comfortable conversation she was having with Otto. The man proved himself to be a very pleasant and intelligent person, and complemented and praised Peter as if he knew the boy. He made scientific jokes May knew her nephew would appreciate and had great table manners while sipping his tea.
When she opened the door, she was alarmed to see an older man wearing a beaten and battered green armored suit. When he caught sight of her, a frankly creepy grin grew on his face.
“Ah, Ms. Parker. What a pleasant surprise,” the man said in a snobby tone, beatty eyes tracing her form. “You look as young and supple as ever.”
May raised an unimpressed eyebrow and crossed her arms over her chest. “Am I supposed to know who you are?”
“Ah, well…” the man creased his eyebrows in concentration, looking down as if trying to remember something. “No, I guess not.” His expression quickly changed back to a confident one, and he stuck his hand out for May to shake. “Norman Osborn, at your service. Young Peter sent me.”
May shook his hand and rolled her eyes, “Peter sent you, too? What dimension are you from?”
“Earth 96283,” Norman sneered.
“Huh. You, too.” She stood there for a moment, just staring until the other man looked around uncomfortably. Then she stood to the side and held out an inviting arm, “Come inside, Mr. Osborn.”
“Thanks very kind of you, Ms. Parker,” he grinned as he walked past her, stopping just past the doorway and looking around, his eyes roaming the apartment judgingly. “My, my, what a… lovely home you have, Ms. Parker.”
May just shut the door and walked past him towards the kitchen. “Would you like anything to drink? Water? Tea?” She mumbled to herself, “Something stronger?”
Norman began following her, walking as if he owned the place, “Water’s fine, thank you.” As he walked into the kitchen, his eyes landed on the other guest sitting at the table. “Otto Octavious, funny seeing you here,” he cheered.
“Norman Osborn,” the man replied slowly, unbelieving. “I thought you were dead.”
“And I thought there was one spider-pest, and yet here we are,” Norman raised both hands for emphasis.
***
Like clockwork, another thirty minutes passed before there was another knock at the door. May almost felt relieved this time, almost. Otto and Norman seemed to easily fill the time with scientific banter and petty insults to the other's character or work, but May was at a loss for words.
She busied herself with making dinner. A large pot of bubbling spaghetti sauce steaming on the stove filled the room with wonderful aromas, and she had just placed an even larger pot of water next to it, preparing to make pasta. How her relaxing day of channel surfing and wine tasting turned to that of hosting guests, she didn’t know. Though the blame could simply fall into that of a brown-haired teenage boy.
Her wine glass found its way back into her hand as she pulled bread from the cupboard to slice, sipping it with every increasingly loud comment behind her.
“That smells wonderful, Ms. Parker,” Otto spoke up, sounding genuine. He had offered to help her cook, but she easily turned him down, pushing him back towards his seat and refilling his cup of tea.
“Simply delightful,” Norman added, the smile clear in his tone. While he sounded equally genuine, the man had a natural snobbiness to his inflection.
“Thank you, you two,” May put on a smile. “The food should be ready soon enough.”
The knocking pulled her attention away from the activity. She chugged down the last few sips from her wine glass and walked to the door, straightening out her clothes as she did so. Putting on her warmest and most welcoming face, she took a breath and opened the door, preparing herself for the inevitable.
Sure enough, there was an unfamiliar face standing on the other side, a confident facade adorning his nervous looking features. The man had dark skin and was wearing some sort of electrical apparatus across his chest and arms. At closer inspection, he also appeared to be smoking slightly.
The man blinked a few times once he made eye contact with May and cleared his throat before starting, rubbing his hands together nervously, “May Parker? My name is Maxwell Dillion- Max. Peter sent-“
“Sent you?” She cut him off, casually leaning against the doorway, expression aloof.
“Yes, ma’am. He said this would be a safe place to stay until he could help me further?” Max scratched the back of his head and swayed from foot to foot.
“And what dimension are you from?” she questioned.
“Earth 120703,” Max answered after thinking carefully.
“That’s a new one,” May smiled. “Come on in, Max. There’s already a few taking up the kitchen, but make yourself at home. Dinner should be ready in about thirty minutes.”
***
She was unsurprised when she heard another knock at the door, but only twenty minutes later this time. So what if she was counting? If anything, she was mentally preparing herself for the next guest. Wondering what apparent abilities or wacky outfits they would be supporting.
“Goddamnit, Peter,” May cursed under her breath as she opened the door. This boy was going to be the death of her. When she caught sight of the unfamiliar man, she spoke up before he could even speak. “Name?”
He seemed surprised at May’s apparent lack of surprise or serious questioning. “Flint Marko, ma’am.”
“Dimension?”
“Earth 96283.”
“Lucky me, another one! You might spot some familiar faces in here. Now, get inside.” She shooed him in.
***
Thirty minutes later, May was dishing up plates of spaghetti and sauce, along with buttered bread and a spring salad. She was quite proud of her work, and just how much food she made on such short notice. There was another knock at the door. May responded by pulling out another place mat and plate and setting it on the table before striding towards the door.
When she opened it and came face to face with an 8-foot tall lizard monster? lizard man? wearing a lab coat and a leather satchel, she swallowed her fear and smiled, stepping to the side and ushering him inside. He barely fit through the door, but he made it in, only doing slight damage to the door frame.
***
May looked around her apartment in complete disbelief.
Otto and Norman were sitting at the dining room table, sipping their respective drinks, a chess board sat in between the two of them. The game was getting quite competitive, and Norman was getting increasingly aggressive because Otto was clearly winning, if the smirk on his face was anything to go by.
Dinner had been eaten and enjoyed, everyone kindly complimenting May on her cooking. She hid her blush behind the swat of a dish towel as she collected empty plates.
Flint and Max, as kind as they we’re, both offered to help May around the house. Flint was washing and drying the dishes, putting them away as he went, and leaving trails of sand around the kitchen from where he walked. Max was right behind him, sweeping up any sand off the floor and tossing it into the bin. He offered to help with the dishes at first, but was quickly disqualified when he zapped Flint by accident, and nearly put a hole through the wall from where he was punched back.
The lizard monster, now Dr. Curtis Connors after he politely hissed out a greeting, was squeezed into one of the tattered love seats in the living room, ignoring the reality show playing on the television, instead his attention turned to a scientific journal he snagged from one of the bookshelves in the room.
May, on the other hand, stood to the side and observed the rooms around her. Her hair, long since tied up into a messy bun, was falling into her face from where she was nervously playing with it. Her empty wine glass sat abandoned on the kitchen counter, a cup of steaming coffee in her hand instead.
A rhythmical knock at the door had her setting her glass down and taking a steadying breath. Before she could reach the door, one jolly knock turned to two, then three, then incessant pounding, practically shaking the walls of the apartment with its force.
May yanked the door open with effort, quickly cutting the knocker off from annoying her any further. It took her a moment to process what she was seeing. At first, she thought the man on the other side was her nephew, but the stranger's height and bulk promptly stomped that idea. The bright red suit was accented with black, not blue, and a brown belt around the man's waist was decorated with different guns, knives, and… grenades? Yeah, definitely not Peter.
When she met the masked man's white eyes, he squealed with delight, reminding May much of a young school girl. Covered hands pressed into his surprisingly expressive face as he gasped dramatically.
Bouncing on the balls of his feet, he held his arms out wide and exclaimed, “Auntie May!” before sweeping the woman into a warm hug, lifting her off her feet.
May laughed in surprise but pushed the much larger man off of her, who quickly let go, leaving only his hands resting gently on her shoulders.
“Wow, you look stunning! And those glasses are adorkable!” He booped her on the nose, “I'm used to seeing you older… and greyer… Sorry! Sorry! I’m not supposed to mention a woman’s age, but… damn giiiirl! Marisa Tomei looks good on you!”
May swallowed a chuckle and attempted to hide her blush by crossing her arms over her chest and raising an eyebrow, “I’m sorry, am I supposed to know who you are?”
“Oh! My bad!” The man cleared his throat loudly, standing straight and saluting, looking off into the distance, “Wade Winston Wilson, at your service, ma’am!” He relaxed and began listing off of his fingers, “Also known as Deadpool, Merc With A Mouth, The Crimson Comedian, The Regenerating Degenerate, Daddy Dee. Literally call me anything and I’ll come running. But, uh… you usually just call me Wade.” He finished sweetly.
“Alright, Wade,” she smiled at his ramblings. “You seem to know me very well. I’m sorry I can’t say the same for you.”
“Oh, that’s alright Auntie May,” Wade waved a bashful hand. He then leaned forward and cupped a hand to his mouth, stage whispering and winking dramatically. “You know, in some universes I’m your pseudo son-in-law!”
“Is that right?” She smirked and cheerfully played along. “And what universe are you from?”
“Canada!”
“Canada?!”
“Yeah, Saskatchewan. It’s like a whole other world up there…” He trailed off dreamily. “Anyways, I saw the news about all the craziness happening down here and just had to check it out for myself! Something about baddies from different franchises?”
“Universes.” May corrected him.
“Exactly!” Wade agreed, touching his nose with a finger from one hand and pointing to the woman with the other.
“Yes, and you’re not the first one. Come on inside,” she moved to the side and raised an arm in invitation, welcoming him into the apartment.
He strode through the doorway but quickly stopped, turning to May, “Before the others see…” and pulling out an unopened bottle of wine from behind him, seemingly out of nowhere. Wade presented it with enthusiastic jazz hands, “It’s your favoriiite!”
May eyed the bottle and noticed, in fact, it was. She looked up to the man with a softened expression and then back down to the bottle before snatching it out his hands eagerly. “And now, you’re my new favorite.” She grabbed his hand with her empty one and pulled him into the room.
He giggled but stopped with a harsh gasp when he walked into the living room. May thought the giant lizard man on the couch may have spooked him, but instead, Wade turned his attention to the television. “Is that Real Housewives of Atlanta? God, I love this show.” He leapt over the back of the couch with surprising grace and precision and landed with a soft grunt, his attention immediately glued to the show.
May grabbed the wine opener and two clean wine glasses and joined him minutes later.
***
Thirty minutes and a half a bottle of wine later, May and Wade, and recently joined Otto, were sitting on the couch, cracking jokes and throwing popcorn at the tv. They had moved on from the Real Housewives of Atlanta and to reruns of The Bachelor, which May would say was much more entertaining.
“Boo!” Wade exclaimed, throwing another handful of popcorn at the television, “Stacy, baby. You can do so much better than that weasel!”
“Does she not realize that Jakob has already fallen for Heather?” Otto questioned, raising an aggravated hand and sipping his wine.
“How could he not? Heather’s a catch!” May laughed, actually snacking on the popcorn instead of weaponizing it.
Wade gasped dramatically, sloshing his wine dangerously, and turning to May with an exaggerated hurt expression. “How could you? I thought we were rooting for underdog Stacy? Heathers a total skank!”
“Can’t disagree with that…” Otto murmured into his glass.
Before she could respond, there was yet another knock at the door. May set down her glass and excused herself, making an effort to step over the spilled popcorn as she exited the living room.
She could hear someone speaking on the other side of the door. She pulled it open, expecting two people, but was only faced with one. A disheveled man with deep bags under his eyes quickly cut himself off from speaking to apparently no one, and looked May in the eye with a weak smile.
“Uh, May Parker?” the man asked, keeping his hands stuffed in the pockets of his oversized sports coat.
“That’s me,” she smiled warmly. “Who’s asking?”
“Uh, we’re- I! I’m Eddie Brock… seeking, uh… refuge?” the man squeaked out, sounding uncomfortable.
“And what dimension are you from?”
“Uhh…” Eddie looked off into the distance and tilted his head, as if listening to someone, “Earth TRN688.”
May began to respond but the man started mumbling to himself, trying to stay quiet but failing miserably, “No, V. I’m not going to introduce you!”
“Uhm… introduce me to who?” May questioned, confused.
“Uhh, lady, we really don’t want to freak you out. It’s probably not a good idea,” Eddie rushed out, rubbing a large hand down his tired face.
“You’d be surprised,” she consoled, leaning against the doorframe. “I’ve seen my fair share of crazy recently, this day could literally not get any weirder.”
“IT CAN GET WEIRDER!” a deep, gravely voice answered back.
Before her very eyes, an inky black glob grew from the man's shoulder, contorting and twisting until two opal eyes, reminding her much of the eyes on her nephew's mask, and a smiling row of sharp, yellowing teeth appeared. It was honestly terrifying, but Eddie appeared more annoyed than frightened, so it must’ve been a common appearance from him. Plus, May had a lizard monster currently sitting on her couch, so not much could surprise her anymore.
“That’s…” May was searching for something to say, staring at the creature, “definitely weird.”
The man sighed, deep and tired, “This is Venom, they’re my-”
“PARTNER!” Venom cheered, cutting Eddie off.
“Parasite.” Eddie finished coldly, a hint of venom (ha) in his voice.
“HEY!” Venom sounded offended, “YOU TAKE THAT BACK!”
“You quit mooching off of me, and I’ll quit calling it how it is!” Eddie argued, and May watched the interaction with nervous amusement.
The two continued to bicker, Venom growing in size off of Eddie’s shoulder and towing over the man. Before their harsh words turned to shouts, May cut them off.
“Would you like to come inside? There’s leftover spaghetti in the fridge, and coffee or wine to drink?” she suggested, ushering the couple inside.
Eddie answered, “Wine would be great.” At the same time Venom asked, “CHOCOLATE?” tilting their head to the side like a puppy. May dared to call the action cute.
May chuckled and smiled, “I bet I have some extra Halloween candy lying around here somewhere, you two just make yourselves at home.”
“YES!” Venom cheered.
***
It was another hour before anything major happened again.
May, Otto and Wade were tangled up on the couch, the empty bottle of wine lay abandoned on the coffee table. May felt like a teenager again, slightly tipsy, whispering amongst the three of them like school girls talking about their crushes. May was ranting about the past few weeks of her chaotic life but complimenting her nephew all the same. Otto was attempting to explain a scientific something or other that May could only pretend to understand. And Wade was talking about his… movie?
Eddie was seated in a quiet corner of the living room, Venom curled up and asleep on his shoulder as the man whispered sweet nothings into their ear.
Dr. Connors was on his fourth book, dozing in the loveseat that was sure to be damaged.
Norman, Flint, and Max were still seated at the dining room table playing a quiet game of cards and sipping their respective drinks, the kitchen now spotlessly clean thanks to Flint and Max.
While the evening went entirely against what May had planned, she had to admit it had been a good one. She hasn't hosted guests in a long time, the craziness of her life taking up far too much time to enjoy the simpler things like this. And though she would have never thought to invite such a wacky array of characters into her home for such an occasion, the atmosphere was light and May had a permanent smile on her face.
Another knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts and to her feet. She took one last steadying breath and pulled the door open, relieved to find her costume-clad nephew standing on the other side.
Without hesitation, she swept him into a hug and held on tight, the exhaustion of the day finally getting to her.
Before May let go of him, he mumbled into her shoulder, “Aunt May, please don’t freak out.”
She huffed a laugh and replied, “Impossible.”
She pulled away and opened her eyes, now noticing the two other figures standing in the hallway, both also wearing red and blue. She smiled brightly at them, “Peter and Peter, I presume?” They both smiled shyly and waved in response, reminding her much of her own nephew, “Well, come inside. There’s plenty of leftovers, I made enough to feed an army. And I hope you don’t mind sharing space. You’re not the first dimension travelers to stop by tonight.”