Chapter Text
The fight is not over yet, far from it.
Sure, they managed to deal with Doc Ock, Metallo, SandMan, the Lizard, and the green goblin. But, looking at the purple's breaches in the sky, Peter can only believe that the worst is coming. The fact that Peter Parker 1 and a guy with a cape (Dr. Strange, he'll learn) are talking, and looking agitated while doing so, doesn't help either.
So yeah, something's very wrong.
He doesn't have time to think too much about it, though, because Peter Parker 1 and the cape guy come down, he guesses, to explain the situation and concoct a plan.
"It doesn't look too good," He blurts without meaning to before they have a chance to say anything. This earns a small chuckle from Peter 2 and a sigh from the Doctor (who looks like he's about to pass out, not that anyone else looks much better): « We can't close the breaches, so we're going to have to fight, I'm afraid…Anyone who knows Peter Parker is coming..."
"Including villains!" Peter 1 interjects as he tries to regain composure.
"Fantastic," Peter sarcastically thinks. But strangely, as he looks at the breaches again, Peter starts to sense a strange feeling in the back of his mind: hope.
Hope to see his uncle Ben, hope to see Gwen.
Peter knows that he can't hope for something like that. He knows that it is dangerous, and once you go down that path, you can't get out. Peter's also very much aware that they were more important things to do right now, like fighting villains and protecting the city and the world. So, instantly he tries to shut down this thought. Unfortunately, it's too late. Once that hope starts creeping, it never goes away.
He doesn't have too much time to complain about it, because soon, there's an explosion, and screams (from MJ and Ned) are all they can hear.
Peter 1 is the first to react as he flies away towards his best friends to ensure they're safe. The other three are quick to follow him.
« Do we know how many of them we are dealing with? » Peter Parker 2 asks once they join the others, and surprisingly he sounds calm considering everything.
« No, » Dr. Strange sounds tired, « we don't, but we have to be quick if we don't want this to become a bigger mess than it already is. » So, he opens a portal and looks at MJ and Ned « You two... you need to go. » Surprisingly, there're no objections (from them and Peter 1), as if they know that there's no time and that they won't be able to help much here.
Once they leave, he looks at the three Peter Parkers. «I'm afraid that we're gonna have to split up, if we want to deal with all of them. » They all nod before another explosion is heard. «I'll open portals to get you in the city quickly. »
« What do we do if we need help? » It sounds like a fair question, Peter thinks. The answer isn't what he expects, though « well, hopefully, you won't need it. » Great….
As promised, Dr. Strange opens the portals and after sharing quick good lucks, they all go their separate ways. Peter 1, North; Dr. Strange, East; Peter 2, West; and South for himself.
He ends up in front of a familiar face.
Because, of course, he does.
Aleksei Sytsevich, a.k.the rhino is here. He looks pissed, as usual, and Peter gets a flashback of the first time they met. This undesired nostalgia doesn't last long because the rhino doesn't waste one second to launch his first raid. And Peter can only thank his reflex for avoiding a catastrophe.
Peter is doing his best to dodge every single attack and making sure that no one else gets hurt in the process. This proves to be more complicated than anything else. Because this is New York, and there are so many people in the streets running, so many obstacles. It's chaos.
So, he runs, flies and attacks without stopping.
As he fights, Peter wonders how the others are doing. Are they struggling like him, or is it a piece of cake? He wishes he could talk to them to know. That thought distracts Peter long enough to allow the rhino to throw him onto the building.
He stands up with difficulty and knows that he won't last long if it stays like that.
But he keeps going because that's the only right thing to do.
They both take damage, hit after hit, block after block. But Peter feels weaker and more and more tired as time goes by. Sytsevich, on the other hand, seems to be doing just fine. His armor still looks as fresh as new. He doesn't seem to care or be bothered as he shoots and runs through every single car in front of him to get to Peter.
He needs to be quick and intelligent.
He needs to find something.
He avoids another missile and gets an idea.
It's a good one until he stands in front of the rhino with a (very big) missile, coming out his way, and he doesn't move. He takes a deep breath hoping that it'll calm his heart a little bit (Spoiler alert: it doesn't.) and prays that his plan will work.
The missile is fast, sure, but Spider-Man, even tired, is faster. He dodges the missile at the last moment and shoots at it once it passes him. As he thought, the rocket is fast and heavy. So, Peter has to tap into his very last energy resources to not be carried away.
Once it's done, he turns around (with the missile) and throws it back at the Rhino.
The plan works.
Sytsevich, with his heavy armor, doesn't have the time to avoid the rocket.
The impact is big and loud enough to knock Rhino and Peter out.
When Peter wakes up, the street is silent. It’s kinda scary. Peter can hear some explosions, but it's far away from him. It's not his fight yet.
He doesn't know how long he stayed unconscious, but hopefully, it was just for a few seconds.
It takes him a certain amount of time to fully stand up. It hurts everywhere. His head is bleeding, he feels dizzy, and he probably has a few broken ribs. The right idea would be to go to the hospital. But Peter can't. He needs to make sure that Rhino is out of the fight.
He is.
Rhino: 0 Peter Parker/Spider-Man: 2
The battle is again far from over, there are still other villains out there, but as he leans against a car, he allows himself to breathe and recover a little bit for a moment.
He hopes that the two other Peter and Dr. Strange are ok, God, he wishes he had earpieces to check on them.
He thinks it’s funny, though, because as he looks around, even with stores and cars being destroyed, Peter still feels like he belongs, no matter how far from home he is.
New York in a different universe is still New York. There’s something about this place, something special, an energy that you can’t find anywhere else. He loves that city, no matter how much pain and heartbreak it caused him.
As he sighs, and looks around, Peter can’t help but think about Gwen again. He thinks about her favorite spots in the city. Her flawless blond hair, her perfect eyes, her smile. He misses everything about her. He would sometimes wander in the street and hear someone laughs, and he would turn so fast, thinking that it was Gwen.
Peter walks, and he sees her everywhere.
Even now.
Even in a different universe.
He closes his eyes for a minute, trying to stop his tears from falling and trying to ease the pain (the physical and mental ones).
He opens them again as he hears footsteps.
There’s someone in front of him. They’re not facing him, but Peter can feel it again. Hope.
They have the same hair color, and the jacket they’re wearing looks oddly like the one Gwen was wearing when she died.
And so, Peter is thinking again…
He’s thinking about the past and what could’ve been until ...
« Hi, Peter… »