Peter had half a mind to call May before calling Shuri. It was only fair that she and Pepper learn what they were about to do, but something held him back.

May was likely to try and talk him out of it. Pepper would assure him that the Tower had enough security to protect them all. Between the two of them, they'd come up with a myriad of arguments for why he shouldn't go through with it. Shuri, however, would not. She'd do what he asked without arguing and even if she did think he was being stupid, she'd understand.

"I'm not deleting any of the videos I have of you," she said over the phone after he told her the plan, "just so you know. Only the internet ones."

"That's fine," Peter agreed, only to be struck with an immediate idea. "Actually, Shuri, can you send them to me?"

"You want copies of the videos I took specifically to embarrass you?" Shuri asked, a smile in her voice. Peter nodded and although she couldn't see him, she seemed to know. "Sure, spider boy. Incoming."

There was a few seconds of silence before a notification from Karen popped up on his screen:

New: file from Shur-take Mushrooms.

At Michelle's raised brow, Peter rolled his eyes. Fortunately, Shuri was speaking again before Michelle could comment on Peter's chosen name for the princess.

"I expect to be told immediately after," Shuri demanded, unaware of the snickers coming from Ned upon seeing Shuri's contact name. "Unless Strange wants to work out a loophole..."

"No," Strange cut in as she trailed off. "The spell is complicated enough as is. No loopholes."

"Fine," Shuri agreed. "No loopholes. But you better be prepared to answer a lot of questions after this, Parker."

He hadn't expected anything less. The first time they'd met, Shuri had kept him busy in her lab with hours of questions and tests. If he knew anything about her at all, it was that she'd do the same again when he reintroduced himself to her.

"You should also expect the Dora Milaje to be less than welcoming," Shuri added, making Peter grimace, "considering you'll be relatively forgotten."

Turning to Strange, Peter asked, "Are you sure you can't work in any loopholes?"

At the cold look Strange gave him in response, Peter nodded.

"Just thought I'd check."

"Can we just, like, get a rundown on how this all works again?" Ned asked, pulling Strange's attention away from Peter. "Like, we'll still have all our memories, right? Just without Spider-Man?"

Strange sighed again, something he'd done a lot since the moment Peter had stepped through the Sanctum doors, but re-explained the effects of the spell with Shuri listening over the phone.

In all honesty, it wasn't as bad as Peter had first expected. Spider-Man would be wiped from the memory of everyone on earth with the exception of Peter himself. Any events or memories involving Spider-Man would be forgotten, almost like a gap in time if they tried to pick too hard at the affected memory. All memories of Peter as himself, however, would remain.

"But I met Peter as Spider-Man," Shuri interrupted, earning an eye-roll from Strange that she couldn't see. "How does that work?"

"You won't remember meeting him," he replied.

"But I'll remember Peter?"

"Yes."

"How?"

"God," Strange groaned, "I don't know the specifics, alright? You probably won't even think about it."

"This seems unreliable."

Before Strange could grumble further or Shuri could shower them with more questions, Peter cut in. "The point is, you'll still remember me as me."

That in and of itself was the most important. They could work out the details of how they met later, though Peter was willing to bet that her lab had the camera footage saved somewhere deep in the archives. Never wanting to miss out on something worth recording, Shuri had cameras posted at various angles in her lab that were always filming and saving what she deemed important footage to a special file on her server.

"I don't like this plan," Shuri announced, "but when do I ever like your plans?"

"You'll do it though?" Peter asked hopefully.

There was a dramatic groan on the other end, but Shuri didn't say no.

"I will."

"Are you ready, then?" Strange asked, looking at the three of them. "Or do you need permission from someone else now?"

"No, that's it," Peter assured him. He glanced at Ned and Michelle, eyed the Sanctum, and then said, "But could you maybe, like, send Ned and MJ home first?"

Immediately, there was a cry of protest from both Ned and Michelle. Strange merely raised his brow.

"Do not send us away, Peter," Michelle said sharply, reaching for his hand. "Unless you plan on not telling us, you'll let us stay right here."

"You'll freak out, MJ," Peter replied. He squeezed her hand as she scowled. "You won't know Strange and how am I supposed to explain something that, technically, won't exist when he's finished?"

"So, what?" Michelle retorted. "You're gonna swing home just to make your first reappearance?"

Peter pursed his lips and her eyes narrowed.

That was exactly his plan.

"You don't even have your suit," she said, though the way she was eyeing him said she believed otherwise.

"It's nano-tech, Em," Peter said, tugging his sleeves to reveal his web-shooters. "I have it with me at all times."

She huffed and Ned watched him worriedly. Strange waited in silence and although Shuri had fallen silent as well, he doubted that it was in support of his new part of the plan.

"You swear you'll tell us?" Michelle asked quietly. "If we go, you'll still tell us?"

Peter nodded. "I promise. You can even―I don't know―write yourself a note."

"I'm going to," Michelle said immediately. "You won't be able to hide it from me, Parker."

His lips twitched into a small grin. "I never really could anyway, huh?"

She snorted and Ned chuckled.

"Fine." Michelle leaned forward to press a short kiss to his lips then turned to Strange with a slight scowl. "Send us home, wizard."

"Sorcerer," Strange corrected blandly. He was already opening a portal to Ned's home, however, and right beside it, he opened one to Peter and Michelle's apartment.

Peter watched as Ned disappeared first, looking worried and fidgeting, but not complaining. Michelle disappeared after him, giving Peter one last look before Strange closed both the portals and it was just them and Shuri on the phone.

"You better tell them, Parker," Shuri said as the Sanctum went silent. "No more of that "it's safer this way" bullshit that you and Stark like to pull."

Peter laughed softly, but even Strange was giving him a stern look as he agreed with Shuri.

"I'll tell them, I swear," Peter repeated. "Knowing MJ, she'll already be writing it down and I won't get out of it."

"Good," Shuri said. "I'm still petitioning for a loophole―"

"Shuri."

"―but I've already written down everything," Shuri said, ignoring Peter's interruption. "You can't fool us if you try."

He knew that. He'd learned as much after his second encounter with Shuri.

"I know, Shuri," Peter replied. He shared a look with Strange and, sensing his growing impatience, asked, "Where are you on deleting everything?"

The phone line was silent for a moment and then Shuri's voice said, "Finished. Go back to being anonymous, spider boy."

"Thanks, Shur," Peter murmured. "I owe you."

"Don't I know it." Shuri sighed. "Call me tomorrow, okay?"

"Will do," Peter promised. After a muttered "Thanks again", he hung up and turned to Strange. "Alright." He rolled back his shoulders, took a deep breath, and nodded. "I'm ready."

"It's about time," Strange muttered with no real annoyance. "You might want to take a few steps back."

Peter did, giving Strange plenty of room as he closed his eyes and began mouthing the words to a spell that Peter didn't understand.

As he watched, a gold ring encircled Strange, made from what Peter could only assume were runes. The longer Strange murmured, the more appeared in the ring until it was a solid band of runes that stretched a couple of meters in diameter.

Strange's eyes caught his and for a moment, Peter wondered if he was rethinking the spell. He'd been the only one not to voice his disagreement before, but it had been clear that, like the others, Strange was not a fan. He said nothing, though, and with one last nod of acknowledgment, Strange sent the runes in every direction with a sharp flick of his hands.

Peter expected to feel different when the spell was finished, but he didn't.

The runes faded from view, racing in every direction out of the Santum, and for a moment, Peter held his breath. In front of him, Strange's eyes remained closed and his hands outspread, almost making Peter wonder if the spell hadn't actually been completed yet. Perhaps there was another step and the flying ring of runes was just the first.

When Strange opened his eyes, he nodded at Peter and dropped his hands.

"Welcome back to the world of anonymity, Peter," he said, a knowing smile on his face.

Peter frowned. "Wait, did it work? I thought you said that everyone would forget. Even you."

"I know what I said," Strange said evenly, "but the spell can handle one loophole and you, Peter Parker, need someone who still remembers." With a soft voice, Strange put a hand on Peter's shoulder and said, "You shouldn't have to remember it all alone."

Thanos. Titan. Tony's death and everything the Avengers had been through since. The rest of the team wouldn't remember him being there and most of them hadn't lived through the battle before and on Titan with him, but Strange had.

"You didn't have to do that, Strange," Peter murmured. "The spell was dangerous. It could have―"

"I wouldn't have done it if I thought I couldn't handle it," Strange interrupted. Gesturing behind Peter in the direction Ned and Michelle had left in, he said, "Or maybe I did it to ensure you told them again."

He gave Peter a knowing look and it was all Peter could do not to roll his eyes.

"I swear, I'm going to tell them."

He tapped his web-shooters together, feeling the Iron Spider suit form around him.

"Tonight," Peter promised Strange. He stepped toward the front door, shucking off his shirt and pants until he was left in just his suit, swearing to Strange that "I'll be back for that tomorrow!" before swinging out the door.

It had been years since Spider-Man's first appearance and his suit was considerably higher-quality this time around. Nevertheless, when the first robber he stopped asked who and what he was, Peter grinned.

"The name's Spider-Man," he replied, webbing the man to the wall.

He swung away at the sound of sirens, not quite sure if the police would react similarly to Spider-Man's sudden appearance as the first time around, but not wanting to test the waters so soon.

When he stopped his second mugging, a video camera caught him and by the time the sun had set and the city was dark, he could hear news stations humming with reports about―

"A new hero calling himself Spider-Man has been seen swinging―you heard that right: swinging―around New York City since early this afternoon."

Followed by other reports claiming―

"Videos posted on social media show the new hero assisting the elderly with groceries and stopping muggings."

And Peter's personal favorite:

"Some are calling him a hero," J. Jonah Jameson's voice echoed from a TV screen in the building below him, "but would a hero leave webs all over our beloved city? I think not!"

Peter couldn't help but smile to himself before leaping off of his perch as Jameson went on to declare, "Spider-Man? More like Spider-Menace to me!"

"At least he didn't change," Peter mumbled to himself.

When he finally ended his second, first patrol, it was well past midnight and Michelle had already called him twice to ask when he would be getting back from Stark Industries. Karen monitored both calls, filtering out any suspicious sounds as he swung from building to building and blocking all requests for a video call even though Michelle didn't even try.

"I'm on my way home now," Peter told her, this time calling her instead of waiting for her to call him a third time. "Have you been watching the news?"

"It's on."

Peter rolled his eyes. "Yeah, but are you watching it?"

"Not really," Michelle admitted, which was predictable. "I've been practicing questions before my interview with the Times in two days."

"That's still―Nevermind." Peter barely cut himself off from asking if her interview was still happening. With no correlation to Spider-Man, there was no reason for the Times to call off her interview anymore. "Listen, put your questions away and watch the news, okay? I'll be there in, like, five minutes."

"Fine," Michelle agreed. "Is there a reason I should―"

She cut herself off and if Peter wasn't minutes away from their apartment, he would have worried something had happened. Karen didn't show an intruder alert on his hub, though, and Michelle didn't sound like she was in danger.

"MJ?" Peter asked after a few seconds of silence.

"Spider-Man?" She laughed. "Are you watching TV at work again? How'd you know about this before me, the journalist?"

Peter landed on their building, grinning to himself as he crawled along the wall until he reached the window of their apartment.

"Open the window and I'll answer," he told her.

He watched from the wall as she frowned, looked down at her phone, then warily started toward their window as she said, "What the hell is going on with you, Peter?"

"Nothing bad," he promised, pressing himself against the wall as she unlocked and cracked open the window. "You might want to take a few steps back though, alright?"

He tugged off his mask and poked his head around the corner and into the window.

Michelle dropped her phone. She stared at him, mouth agape as he clambered in through the window, mask in hand. As soon as he was inside, he turned around and pulled the window and curtains closed.

"What the hell is this, Peter?" Michelle murmured with a wide-eyed stare.

With a small grin, Peter reached for her hands as he told her, "I'm Spider-Man."

The End