Who: Peter Parker, May Parker, Liz Parker (no relation) What: Peter saves the day in the Upside Down When: Oct 19 Where: Upside Down Rating: low
It had been two days, or that’s the closest that Liz could estimate since there didn’t seem to be an actual time cycle in the weird place she and May woke up in. They had woken up in a strange forest only to find themselves running from strange creatures and ended up in what looked like a cage made of weird, black vines. It felt too deliberate to be an accident, like this place had a mind of its own. The fact she and May were stuck together also felt purposeful and she had to wonder if this was a trap for Peter.
Liz’s stomach growled, but she ignored it and knelt down next to May who was resting against the vine wall of the cage. “Let me check your ankle”
She knelt down to check May’s ankle which was swollen with an ugly bruise. Liz had no idea if it was broken or not, but she knew May needed help.
–
“I’ll be fine, Liz.” May tried to reassure the young woman. It probably didn’t help that her breath was a little laboured, but her ankle hurt like hell and she’d give anything to have some ice. “You should have the last bit of water. – I insist.” She added when she saw Liz about to protest.
They had to find their way out, but May wasn’t sure she could. It might become time, soon, that she suggest Liz find a way out and go without her. It didn’t make sense for both of them to die here, after all. The thought made her think of Peter and she felt a pang of guilt. She didn’t want to leave him. Then her mind went to Sweeney. She didn’t want to leave him either.
Damn this place.
–
Peter had seen Stranger Things. Maybe it gave him a slight advantage when traversing the Upside Down, but it wasn’t nearly enough. All the creatures in this place acted so unexpectedly that even knowing what they could do on TV didn’t prepare him nearly enough. If he was lucky, a cloud of demi-bats might act in tandem together, almost as if they were one creature, but when it came to some of the other creatures and 1:1 fights, you couldn’t expect them all to act and react exactly the same.
That made Peter’s anxiety even worse. Liz and May had been missing for several days now and while both were capable in their own right, some of these creatures were tough – even for him. And with each day it felt like they were getting tougher; he’d been navigating the Upside Down for as long as he could afford to with very little sleep, propelled forward only with fear for the lives of his mother figure and his girlfriend.
But then, Peter heard something. It didn’t sound like the snorting noises the demi-wolves made or the loud screeches the demi-bats made either that you could hear from clear across a canyon. It was muffled and it was quiet, but it might have been human.
Peter hoped it was. “Hello?” he shouted tentatively into the darkness. He drew his flashlight around in an arc, trying to find the source of that sound.
–
Liz was trying to figure out a way using science to get out. The problem was even if she could, she had no materials to help create an acid or an explosion. She had even tried her powers to force her way through the vines of the cage, but they did nothing. Maybe she really did need to practice more.
She thought she heard another person’s voice, but then she reasoned she was just hearing things. Then the beam of light came. It had to be someone human, she figured. Someone from Madison.
“In here!” She shouted. “We’re over here!”
–
May felt a sliver of hope swell in her chest. Did Liz see someone? Hear someone? It took her a second to see the light too. Maybe they’d survive this after all. “In here!” She joined Liz’s voice with her own in an attempt to amplify the sound. Her voice was hoarser than Liz’ but it still helped, or so May hoped anyway.
She attempted to stand, but it was too much effort. She went with ‘sitting up straighter’ as she continued to call for the person behind the light.
–
Where was in here? Peter wasn’t sure, but he did his best to follow the sound of the voice. No, the voices – plural.
When he finally found them, relief swept itself across Peter Parker’s face. They were dirty and injured, but they were okay. “Oh god, May. Liz.” He flung his arms around them both and pulled them tight. He didn’t let go, even when he opened his mouth to speak again.
“How’d you get here? Are you okay?”
–
Liz had no idea how Peter got to them, but she was relieved. Briefly she worried the vines had somehow let him in only to trap him too, but for now the warmth and strength of Peter around her was enough to prevent the constant dread running through her.
"We woke up here. Well, down the street, but it's like this place has been trying to keep us here." And aggressively so. "I'm okay." She had some scraps and bruises, but nothing like May. "But May -"
–
"May is fine." She butted in. "And happy to see you." She hugged Peter, but then pulled away to look Peter over carefully. "Are you alright? Are you injured?" Yes, she was more concerned about her nephew than herself and you couldn't convince her to be otherwise.
–
“Yeah, I’m fine.” He wasn’t without his scrapes and bruises, but those healed so fast with his supernatural healing. It was more Liz and May that he was worried about. Especially May, given what Liz said. The sooner they got out of here, the sooner he could get them both to the hospital.
“Do you think the two of you can walk?”
–
“I think now that you’re here, we can manage.” Liz nodded. Peter was strong, after all. Between the two of them, they could help May.
She glanced back at May, then she had a ‘lightbulb moment’ and looked back to Peter. “Do you have your webbing on you? We could use some of it to stabilize her ankle.” She paused, then added now that she ‘let the cat out of the bag’. “May’s ankle is either sprained or broken.” It was too hard to tell which right now.
–
May really wished she wasn’t the one who would end up burdening the two kids. She looked up from where she sat. She’d need help to get up. “I don’t mind the help, but I want both of you to promise me that if any of those creatures come, you don’t let me be the reason you get hurt.” She looked at them adamantly.
–
“Yeah, I do. If you can keep an eye out, I can try to get something spun out for May.” Pun intended.
Peter looked down at May’s ankle. He wasn’t a doctor, but he didn’t need to be to know that it didn’t look good. The webspray would work for now, but what May really needed was a doctor, an x-ray, and a brace.
“We’re not going to get hurt,” he assured her. “Let me know if this hurts, okay?” He very carefully lifted her foot, giving it as much support as he could manage. Then he got to work.
–
Liz nodded and moved carefully not to touch the vines by their feet. She had learned that while the vines that had previously made their cage seemed to anticipate people trying to get out or… something, that the vines could tell when there was movements and somehow the monsters would know too. She moved so she could see more of their surroundings, but not so far to be unsafe.
–
May winced a little, but she'd had her ankle wrapped a few times in her life so she knew it couldn't be painless. At least she still felt pain.
She watched as Peter wrapped her ankle. "How bad is it? How many people are missing?" She wanted to ask about Sweeney, but she didn't at the same time. There was worry there though.
"Liz and I tried to get out on our own."
–
“A lot.” At least it seemed that way to Peter and he wasn’t about to mince words. May wouldn’t want him to. “Some of them have gotten home already, but some are still missing.” May and Liz were among the still missing.
Peter continued working his webfluid around May’s ankle. “Almost done,” he said. “I know you’re not going to like this, but I’m probably going to come back to look for the others once I get you and Liz back home. There’s other people stuck out here who probably also tried to get out on their own. I really want to help them.”
–
Liz looked back at that, the obvious strained worry on her face, but she didn’t say anything. She remembered how Peter was when they were in the portal with the dinosaurs. She knew wanting to help came naturally to him. “I wonder if I might be able to figure out a chemical to help make the vines retract.” She explained briefly her reasoning about how she thought the vines were organic and she could create something that causes it to have an instinctive response to retract itself.
–
May was more concerned about Peter going back in and her stern expression said as much. But May knew Peter. She knew it would kill him not to help, so instead May closed her eyes briefly, breathed through the panic she felt for her nephew, then opened them up again. “Just try to come back in one piece, okay?”
Somewhere in the distance there was an inhumane cry. May glanced in that direction, then back to Peter. “But first we need to get out before there’s any more heroeing.”
–
“I think Liz has a good idea.” Unfortunately, plants weren’t exactly Peter’s forte, but he did know some things.
“Hot water and vinegar wilts plants, but that’s all I really know about killing them.” Before he could stop himself, he looked over at May expectantly. She was well-practiced in the art of killing plants, albeit unintentionally. She’d gotten a lot better over the years, though.
–
May blinked and took a second to realize why Peter was looking at her. Then it hit her and for a moment she forgot about her ankle and the terribly creepy place. She let out an exhaled huff. “Hey. I’m not that bad.” Okay, maybe she was, but she still felt the need to feign ignorance. Still, Peter had managed to get a smile on her tired face, so she appreciated it.
She held out her hand. “Okay, help me up. I’d like to not be in here anymore.”
–
Liz has no idea why Peter was looking at May until May almost laughed and explained. It brought a smile to her lips too for a moment. It was nice to see none of them had broken spirits. That was usually the most important thing.
“I think it might be clear this way.” She gestured to the left. She thought she saw movement to the right. “Please tell me we need to head that way.”
–
Peter easily helped May up and gripped her firmly at his side so she wouldn’t have to put any weight on the leg furthest from him.. Sure, being Spider-Man could be tough, but at times like these, he was grateful for the abilities that came with it. A few years ago before he got bit by that radioactive spider, he would have struggled with something like this. He used to fit the stereotype of scrawny white nerd kid perfectly.
“Think you can keep a lookout, Liz?”
–
LIz nodded. “I can do that.” Despite being scared, Liz had learned through her time with Max and the others she actually functioned pretty well when things were dangerous. It wasn’t that she liked being in those situations, but she was glad she wasn’t useless when it happened either.
–
May followed Peter’s lead, trying her best not to be a burden to her nephew despite knowing he had super strength. It was still hard to wrap her head around sometimes that she couldn’t always protect him anymore and that the roles were going to be reversed now more than she’d like to admit.
Eventually they found a hole in a wall. Ironically it seemed to be on the same building that was the gaming loft she managed. Of course it was. “I’ve never been so happy to see a hole in a wall in all my life.”
–
“Yeah,” Peter said, and there was a hint of hoarse laughter in his voice. “Me too.” It wasn’t something that he wanted to do again, either. Or ever wanted to do at all. There were times when he watched movies or TV shows or read books or comics and really wished he could live some of those moments. Stranger Things was not one of those shows where he ever felt compelled to be a part of it.
But he’d still go back anyway.
“Hospital or back home?” She probably would be better off in a hospital, but home was a lot closer. A lot. If Sweeney was around, he was pretty sure that he could take care of her from there.
–
“Home for now. Clinic later when we figure out how busy everyone is.” She didn’t want to strain the system if there were others who were worse off than her and she didn’t need to be stuck in an ER room either. She’d live for a few hours or whatever she needed. Plus she wanted to make sure Sweeney was okay and she was okay with being selfish for once.
“I’ll keep her company.” Liz promised.
Once they got back to the house and got May situated on the couch with ice and a pillow elevating her foot.
“You come back, Peter. Understand?” May said, knowing he’d do his best. “I love you.”
Liz followed Peter to the door and embraced him tightly. She then gave him a kiss. “Be safe, okay? And good luck.”