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MISADVENTURES IN PARADISE
ix. SAVIOR COMPLEX

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   RILEY HAD ANOTHER NIGHTMARE that night.

   She was surrounded by reflections. Her reflection. Everywhere she looked, she saw her. Left and right, above and below. A house of mirrors, illuminated by the light cocooning her, iridescent with bouncing light refractions. A quiet hell for someone who probably deserved it.

   It was blindingly bright, though not enough to ward off the shadows that left her face gaunt and hollow. She looked much like Solar in the reflections, with depleted eyes and nails marred red. And yet, she felt level-headed. The calmest she'd felt in a long time. She was buoyant with clarity.

   "No more heroes..." said a voice from the outside, a distant echo across realities. "You think she meant it?"

   "She wiped out half the team in one night. You tell me."

   "Maybe she isn't beyond reason. She was one of us."

   "It doesn't matter." This voice was Dr. Strange's. "We're all safer this way. She can't hurt anyone in the Mirror Dimension, only herself."

   "At least try to talk to her. She's not a monster. She's grieving. She's just a girl."

   A long pause. Then, Dr. Strange entered the Mirror Dimension.

   "You know," Riley greeted, "I never liked being grounded."

   "You aren't a child anymore," Dr. Strange chided. "Stop acting like one."

   "Too old to be a child. Too young to be left alone. What does that make me, Strange?"

   "Misguided. A victim of bad luck."

   "I don't think that would hold up in a court of law."

   Strange's face flashed between vexation and pity. "Killing us won't bring them back."

   "Don't you think I know that?" Riley snapped.

   "If you did, you wouldn't be acting like this, surely."

   "I'm purging, Strange. I've gone my whole life losing everything I could find and actually call mine. Family... Friends... Freedom..." Riley said. "They did this to me. I'm only returning the favor. The fewer heroes that stand, the less likely my history will be repeated on someone else. On another helpless child." Her laugh was dry. "Call that a savior complex."

   "It's your choice," Strange cautioned. "Surrender, or spend the remainder of your days here. Alone."

   "For me, those are no different from each other."

   "You don't have to do this. You can still walk away from this," Strange persisted. "You have a reputation for saving. You challenged the odds time and time again. Don't become the weapon they wanted you to be."

   Riley sighed impatiently. "A weapon, huh? They want a fucking weapon?" The light grew brighter. "Fine."

   When Riley awakened, she couldn't get it out of her head: the portal opening as Dr. Strange turned to leave her, gold and white shards clashing, Dr. Strange's lifeless figure bleeding before her, his Sling Ring slipping onto her fingers, glancing in the mirrors one last time as she bent the light around her to make herself resemble Dr. Strange.

   It happened so fast. So fast, yet it lingered in her conscience for hours upon waking.

   Nightmares were a ritual for her. If she didn't dream of something from her past, she dreamed of what-ifs. Once, she dreamed of losing everyone she loved in the final battle against Thanos, with Natasha dying to retrieve the Soul Stone, Clint blaming Riley for killing Natasha, Tony dying alone as he used the Gauntlet to save everyone, Pietro... Steve...

   Those nightmares left her waking as someone she didn't recognize — a girl who never knew love, only wrath and misery — if only for a minute before remembering none of it was real.

   That morning, Riley pondered whether Solar underwent similar losses in her universe. Losses that jaded her raw, past the point of bleeding. Riley wouldn't admit this to anyone, but if that were the case, perhaps she could understand Solar's motives. Maybe she would even do the same.

   Maybe she would do worse.

   You're not her. You're not her. You're not her. You're not her.

   "Morning, sunshine." Pepper darted through the kitchen. It was early in the day for most, but late for the CEO of Stark Industries. "Sleep alright?"

   Riley hadn't uttered a word, yet Pepper sensed she hadn't slept well. Peter probably knew, too, given they shared a bed, and Roman probably knew because he knew everything about everyone at all times. And if they knew, Tony, Natasha, and Steve definitely knew, too.

   For someone who was usually invisible, they all saw her perfectly.

   At least Morgan was as oblivious as ever.

   "You wouldn't believe the dreams I had." Riley ruffled her younger sister's hair. "Morgan, you were riding on top of a dinosaur."

   Morgan gasped, but Roman asked, "You sure it wasn't just Tony?"

   "Could've been Steve," Natasha said into her cup of coffee.

   "Never gets old," Steve said. Before Riley could say it, he beat her to it, "Just like me, yeah, yeah."

   "I had a weird dream, too," Peter chimed. He was dressed for the day, but his hair was as disheveled as it was when he first woke up. "Riley was with me, but neither of us looked like ourselves. Natasha and Steve were there, too."

   Riley furrowed her eyebrows. She couldn't grasp the thought of that. How could he know if it was them if they looked different?

   "It was them, but they didn't look like themselves? Doesn't make sense," Tony yawned, taking the words out of Riley's mouth.

   "Nothing makes sense to you unless it involves a box of screws and some almonds," Pepper dismissed.

   "From alcoholism to almonds," Natasha mused. "If that isn't a testament of change..."

   "What's alc...alcoholism?" Morgan wondered as she stirred her rainbow cereal.

   Dropping into the chair beside Natasha, Riley said, "It's what I'll get if I don't get a long vacation sometime soon."

   "Oh..." Morgan trailed off. "If Riley wants it, then I want it, too! I want alcoholism!"

   "Riley," Steve warned.

   But Riley shrugged. "Follow your dreams, babe."

   "Riley," Steve repeated, despite how poorly he was fighting a laugh.

   Peter's phone rang. Answering it, he greeted, "Hey, May."

   "Hey, Peter. I'm at work, and, um..." May said. "One of the guys you're looking for just walked in."

   Riley could hardly hear her on the other end, but once the words registered, the young Avengers astral-teleported to F.E.A.S.T.

○ ○ ○

   "MAY? MAY!" Peter hollered as they sprinted into F.E.A.S.T. The facility was full of employees and unhoused people calmly eating breakfast. Peter yanked off his black mask and scoured the facility haphazardly. "May? Where's May?" A man pointed to the back. "Thank you!"

   They bolted through the yellow corridors, only to suddenly stop when they found May, unharmed, sitting with an older man, drinking tea and eating donuts.

   "Ah, hey. Here he is!" May welcomed. "Norman, this is my nephew."

   Peter struggled to catch his breath. "Norman Osborn? I thought that you were—"

   "I saw Spider-Man in an ad for this place, and I thought you could help me," Norman timidly said. He was layered in purple and green. His hands trembled either from the winter air or anxiety. "But you're not him."

   "Wait," Roman said. "You want Spider-Man's help?"

   "You." Norman turned to Riley. "You're that Daily Bugle intern. The one who's friends with Spider-Man. The Spider-Man I know, I mean. Can you tell me where to find him?"

   "I'm not sure if—" Riley started.

   "He just wandered in," May mentioned.

   "I didn't know where else to go. Someone's living in my house. Oscorp doesn't exist. My son..." Norman's voice broke. "Sometimes, I'm not myself. I'm... someone else. And every time he's in control, I can't remember."

   "Who?" May inquired. "Who's in control?"

   "And-and now I'm here—!"

   "Who's in control? Norman, who's in control?"

   "—in this place— I don't know what's going on—"

   "Norman, who is in control?"

   "—in this city, and I don't know— I don't know what's going on with me," Norman stammered. "And I don't— Doesn't make sense—"

   Nodding, May stood to join the trio. "He's lost," she whispered. "And I don't mean just in the cosmos. I mean in his mind."

   "I can sense it," Roman confessed. "I keep trying to read him, but he's... I don't know. It's like he's split in half."

   "Are they all like this?" May wondered.

   "Yeah," Peter said. "I mean, they all have their own mental or physical issues."

   "Well, he needs help. But maybe they all do."

   "What, you don't mean—? No," Peter refused. "May, this isn't my problem."

   May's eyes widened. "Peter, not your problem? Hmm?"

   "You're right, May. They do need help. But not from us," Riley said, cutting a glance toward Norman as he stuffed donuts into his pocket. "You don't understand the severity of what's at stake. Not just for us or them. For everyone. For every world in every universe. We're walking on thin ice just talking to them."

   "How is that fair to them?" May questioned. "They didn't ask to come here, or any of this."

   "Their chance of getting help is way better back where they came from," Peter explained. "Sending them home, that's the best thing we can do for them."

   "For them? Or for yourself?" May ricocheted. "Look around you. This is what we do. We help people."

   "This is what's best for them," Peter softly said. "Trust me."

   "But..." Roman hesitated. "We are the ones that brought them here."

   "We're not the ones that did this to them. It's not our fault they fell into the rabbit hole," Riley disputed. "Whatever happened in their universes needs to play out the way it's meant to. That's how we guarantee the safety of the universes. That's what we did when we borrowed the Infinity Stones from various points in time. We took them, then put them right back where they came from, not a second out of place, and I'm pretty sure nothing bad happened to anyone from it."

   "Pretty sure?"

   "Well, I'd go back and check if that didn't defeat the purpose of our mission. Let's just bring this guy to the Sanctum and go from there."

   "And risk your twin seeing him? He's from her universe."

   "She can't do anything but talk his ear off," Riley said.

   "If those are my only options, I'd rather just die," Roman grumbled.

   Once May cleaned Peter's suit, they decided it would be best if May drove Norman to the Sanctum Sanctorum. If Roman teleported him, he might accidentally scare the poor guy to death. While Peter joined May and Norman for protection, Riley and Roman picked up MJ and Ned and brought them up to speed.

   "You really don't think we should help them?" Ned asked.

   "It's not that I don't want to. It isn't safe. My dad said that if you mess with something long enough, it tends to mess back," Riley clarified. "Besides, there's no cure for Solar."

   "How do you know?" MJ queried. "Have you... tried?"

   Riley faltered. She hadn't. She had never thought to. For all she knew, S.H.I.E.L.D. never bothered curating a cure. Once they noticed her potential, why would they? They needed obedient soldiers, not more useless humans.

   "The sunlight's bound to my DNA. It's impossible," Riley eventually said, which she did believe, but... maybe it wasn't impossible. It was just unthinkable. Who would she be without these powers?

   She wouldn't have found the Avengers. She wouldn't have Tony. She would've been lost in the foster care system. She would've been alone. Powerless and alone.

   But what if she wasn't alone? What if a nice family adopted her, and she was happy? At peace? Unscarred by war? What if...?

   Soon, Peter and Norman joined them.

   "Um, guys, this is Mr. Osborn," Peter introduced.

   "It's Doctor," Norman corrected.

   "Sorry. Um, Dr. Osborn, these are my friends. This is Ned and MJ."

   Norman blinked. "Mary Jane?"

   "It's Michelle Jones, actually," MJ said.

   "Fascinating," Norman whispered to himself before wandering deeper into the Undercroft.

   As Ned mumbled about whether there were any other Ned Leedses in the multiverse (which Roman mumbled in response, Probably, unfortunately), Riley followed Norman closely.

   In a screwed-up way, the Sanctum Sanctorum was becoming a zoo for supervillains.

   Seeing their multiversal visitors in their cells, each sulking or griping about being released, it seemed that way. If someone slapped a sign on the door, lines would wrap around the block for miles. Yes, folks, for just $5, you can meet the multiverse's grumpiest monsters! They'll even insult you for free!

   Solar slapped her gray hand against the magical partition. "I'll be damned. Norman fucking Osborn."

   Riley studied her. "You two know each other, then? Beyond the professional setting?"

   "Not quite. I wrote a few articles on him in my heyday... interviewed him for my first internship," Solar answered. "I never discriminated between the rivals, but Oscorp fascinated me. Still, I can't say this isn't a surprise."

   Norman was distracted by another cell. "Octavius...?"

   Dr. Octavius's metal tentacles whirred as he turned. "Osborn?"

   "What— What happened to you?"

   "What happened to...?" Dr. Octavius scoffed. "You're the walking corpse!"

   "What do you mean?"

   "You died, Norman," Dr. Octavius said. "Years ago."

   Norman chuckled. "You're insane."

   "No, you are," Solar taunted.

   Max grinned. "God, I love it here."

   Peter joined them. "What are you talkin' about? He's standing right there. He's not—"

   "Dead. All three of them died fighting Spider-Man," Sandman interrupted. "It was all over the news. Green Goblin, impaled by the glider you flew around on. And a couple of years later, you, Doc Ock, drowned in the river with your machine alongside the famed journalist, Riley O'Dair."

   "That's nonsense," Dr. Octavius snapped. "Spider-Man was trying to stop my fusion reactor, so I stopped him." He raised his hand, choking the air. "I had him by the throat, and then I..." His face fell. "...And then, I was here."

   "Dr. Octavius's accident didn't kill me," Solar elucidated. "He saved me."

   "That, I have no recollection of," Dr. Octavius said. "Easily one of the biggest mistakes of my life if I did."

   "Because you died before you could see it," Solar mocked. "Riley O'Dair perished in the river that day. Solar rose from the ashes."

   "Overused metaphor," Roman coughed.

   "She just referred to herself in the third person," MJ whispered to Ned. "That was so weird."

   "Time had passed before you died," Sandman said. "I couldn't forget it. You nearly blew New York off the map."

   "Sounds like me," Solar admitted. "I had Bug-Boy exactly where I wanted him. It was the strongest I'd ever felt. I was halfway there, zapping him into hell, when..." She frowned, visibly flustered as she tried to remember. "...when I... I was... I was just..."

   "He found a way to use your powers against you with solar panels and mirrors. Smart kid," Sandman said. "It killed you."

   "Ah, please. Let me tell you something. I was whoopin' Spider-Man's ass. He'll tell ya!" Max exclaimed. "And then he caused an overload. I was stuck in the grid, absorbing data. I was about to turn into pure energy, and then— And then, uh— And then— Oh, shit. I was about to die."

   "Max, do you know?" Dr. Connors asked. "Do I die?"

   Riley wasn't sure which stunned her more: the fact that the lizard could talk, or the fact that the lizard was British.

   "Oh, great." Dr. Strange materialized into the dungeon through a portal. "You caught another one."

   "No, wait!" Peter started. "Strange, he's not dangerous—!"

   A golden portal swallowed Norman, locking him into the final empty cell. Norman emerged with a shocked wail. He pressed his hands against the barricade, trying to claw his way out.

   "It's okay! It's okay," Peter called.

   "He's harmless, Strange," Riley scolded. "The least you could've done was— What's with the Rubix cube?"

   She was distracted by the unusual box in Strange's hand. It was brassy, carved with unusual holes to reveal the golden pentagonal cube stuck inside.

   "It's an ancient relic. The Macchina di Kadavus," Strange articulated. "I trapped your corrupted spell inside, and once I finish the proper ritual, it'll reverse the spell and send these guys back to their universes."

   "And then what?" Dr. Octavius demanded. "We perish?"

   "Nah, no thanks," Max said. "I'll pass on that."

   "Let me out of here!" Norman yelled. "PETER!"

   "You'd knowingly send us to our deaths? Aren't you supposed to be heroes?" Solar asked.

   Peter looked toward her, and his face hardened. "Strange, we can't send them back. Not yet."

   Strange raised an eyebrow. "Why?"

   "Well... Some of these guys are gonna die." Peter sounded almost nervous. He knew what Strange would say. He wasn't interested in another scolding, but his aunt's words were finally sinking in.

   "Parker, it's their fate. Tell him, Riley."

   Riley chewed on the inside of her cheek. "We gave them a few extra hours to live. What if...? What if...?"

   She knew what needed to be done. But wasn't there anything that could be done to help them? To give them a fighting chance?

   Then again, if they all lived, that meant Solar lived, too.

   "And they'll remember you as a saint for it," Strange snarked. "This is what has to be done. They're destined to die. That has nothing to do with us."

   "But it does," Roman argued. "They're supposed to die at the hands of Spider-Man. Their Spider-Man, at least."

   "Exactly. Not our Spider-Man. The one in the universe they belong to," Strange said. "There's nothing we can do."

   Disturbed, Peter said, "Come on, Strange. Have a heart."

   "In the grand calculus of the multiverse, their sacrifice means infinitely more than their lives," Strange declared. Any hint of remorse passed through his face in a blink, easily missed. "I'm sorry. If they die, they die.

   The cube hovered between Strange's hands. It clicked and clinked, the pieces of machinery maneuvering into place. Clink... Clink... Clink...

   No one moved.

   Death was normal in Riley's life. She'd seen it plenty of times before. She'd killed even more times than that. But at least her foes weren't completely helpless. Sure, they were usually evil. Sure, the odds were stacked against them, but there was always the slim probability of their survival. The odds were always slim in Riley's case, but she persevered, and she made her survival worth it. Didn't everyone deserve a chance like that? A chance to make their lives mean something new? Something better?

   Clink... Clink...

   But these people were villains. The world was a better place without evil in it.

   Clink...

   "PETER!" Norman shouted.

   Then again, good can't exist without bad. Riley had encountered people who dictated what was good and what was bad. She even worked under them as a child. She knew how flawed systems like that were.

   Besides, these guys weren't born monsters. They were humans once, too. They still were. Humans with families and friends. Humans with dreams. Fundamentally, how different were they all really? They were all brought into the world the same way as her, kicking and screaming.

   Riley believed in self-defense, even if it meant killing someone. But she also believed that no one had the right to decide someone else's fate. Even a superhero.

   THWIP!

   A web landed on the relic.

   Strange turned to Peter. "Don't."

   With a grunt, Peter yanked the relic toward himself. Then, he fired a glittering web at Strange, transporting him into Sandman's cell.

   "Oh, shit," Roman said. "Okay, we're doing this."

   "DUDE, WHAT ARE YOU DOING!?" Ned screeched.

   "Peter, you gotta go!" MJ blurted. "Go! GO!"

   Riley was stunned as MJ and Ned formed a human barrier to keep anyone from following him.

   Strange grumbled, "This is why I never had kids." He stepped out of the cell with ease. Sandman tried to follow him, only to bonk his head on the partition. "Let's go, Riley."

   "I... think this is the part where I tell you I agree with Peter," Riley said. "Strange, this isn't what we do. We don't send people to their deaths. We save them."

   "YEAH! AND IF YOU WANNA GO THROUGH US, YOU GOTTA GO THROUGH HER FIRST!" Ned shouted.

   "I think you mean—" Roman started.

   "No, I know what I said," Ned replied.

   "And if they can't be saved?" Strange asked. "If they can't be changed for the better?"

   "We have to try until there's no other way. Whatever it takes," Riley reasoned. "Sometimes, I forget I'm a human before I'm a hero. Or a soldier. Or a weapon. We're human, Strange. At least give these guys a chance to turn their lives around! We could cure them, and then send them back, where they're harmless—!"

   "I don't have time for this." Strange vanished through a portal.

   Riley groaned. "I'm going to slap the beard off him, I swear..."

   "It was a good speech for it being so on the spot," Roman promised. He clamped his hand on her shoulder, then teleported them outside.

   By the time they found the Avengers fighting in the street, Peter was dead.

   Well, Peter thought he was, at least.

   Spider-Man's body was suspended mid-air, hand gripping the relic tightly. Meanwhile, Peter's soul had been punched out of his body. He was translucent as he floated behind himself.

   "You're not dead," Strange said. "You've just been separated from your physical form."

   "My physical... What!?" Soul-Peter shrieked.

   "I should try that sometime," Roman noted to himself.

   Strange reached for the box, but Peter's physical arm suddenly moved upward. He tried to grab the relic again, and the arm moved sharply downward.

   "How are you doing that?" Strange tried to seize the relic again and again, but the arm kept extending away from him. "You should not... be able... to do that!"

   "I'm not... sure what we're supposed to be doing," Riley admitted. "Looks like he has it under control, right?"

   "This feels amazing!" Soul-Peter started to swim through the air while Strange was distracted, soon connecting his forms once more.

   Now inside his body again, Peter flipped away from Strange. "That might be one of the coolest things that's ever happened to me," he pointed a finger, "but don't ever do that again."

   Peter took off swinging. He was too fast for Strange alone, but not the Cloak of Levitation. The scarlet cape flapped through the wind, seizing him within a few blocks. The others chased him. Riley tried to hold Strange in a forcefield while Peter fought the cloak in vain. Strange opened another portal, plunging himself and Peter into another dimension.

   Riley only caught a glimpse of it, but she recognized it from her dream.

   Roman spun around. "Wh— Where did they go!?"

   "The Mirror Dimension," Riley recalled. "It's a pocket reality the Mystics use to practice magic safely. Only powerful sorcerers are capable of entering and exiting it at will."

   "Great," Roman said. "So, Peter's fucked. What do we do? Just wait until something happens?"

   "I don't know..." She pinched the bridge of her nose. "I don't want to send those guys to their deaths. I want to help them... but..."

   "But Solar," Roman said knowingly.

   "But Solar," Riley agreed. "And the multiverse."

   "We can probably help the others before the multiverses collide, but you said there's no cure for her. Frankly, I don't think there's one either," Roman said. "None of the stories mention anything like that."

   "You don't think I can just force her to go to therapy until she's normal, do you?"

   "Did therapy work for you? Actually, never mind. I don't even know why I asked."

   Riley sighed. "If we let her out, and we can't cure her, she's going to kill Peter. If we don't let her out and send her home as she is, another Peter's going to kill her." She forced a laugh. "If I had to choose..."

   "You wouldn't... choose to kill yourself, right?" Roman asked.

   "She's insane, Rome," Riley said. "I could hardly sleep just thinking about it... what she's capable of... what we're capable of."

   "Hey." Roman squeezed her shoulders. "You're not her."

   "We're copies of each other. That has to mean something."

   "You have the same tools as her, and you still choose to be a good person. You understand her because you were trained to think outside yourself. You're two sides of the same coin. That doesn't mean you're the exact same," Roman assured. "Did you see her hands? Her skin was... graying. And her veins were all violet. I think something else is wrong with her. She's struggling with something you're not."

   "I noticed that, too. But if we let her out... If she tries something... If she kills me..." Riley hesitated. "I don't know who could beat her other than me."

   "Well," Roman stuffed his hands into his pockets, "then you better live. Or we're all fucked."

   "If someone wrote a book about me, that'd be the title," Riley said. "Between me and Peter, we can help the others. But if it comes down to killing her, I won't hesitate."

   "And if Peter doesn't let you?"

   "Why wouldn't he—?"

   "He's head over heels in love with you, Ri," Roman said. "All of you. Every version of you. The Riley with the bad jokes. The Riley with the existential crises. The Riley that takes movies too seriously. Even the bloodthirsty Riley."

   "If it comes down to protecting Riley or Peter, I'll choose Peter every time. Like I always have." Riley cringed. "I didn't mean to refer to myself in the third person, but it kinda feels like I just did. Flash would be proud. So, what should we do while we wait—?"

   A portal opened.

   "HEY, STRANGE. YOU KNOW WHAT'S COOLER THAN MAGIC?" Peter's voice echoed from inside the Mirror Dimension. "MATH!"

   "Don't tell me he's nerding his way out of a fight," Roman said. "Asteria save us all..."

   As a complex web ensnared Dr. Strange, Peter stole his Sling Ring and jumped through the portal with the relic in hand. Just before it closed, Peter called, "I'm sorry, sir, but... I have to try!"

   Riley rushed to greet him. "What...? You won?"

   Peter stopped in his tracks. "That was not the response I was expecting—"

   "No! No! I mean, I wasn't sure because of the Mirror Dimension part—!"

   "If she doesn't wanna say it, I will. I thought you were fucked." Roman grabbed the couple. "Come on, let's go tell everyone how I was rooting for you the whole time."

   They teleported back to the Undercroft.

   Ned shouted, "DUDE, what happened!?"

   "I just had a fight with Dr. Strange, and I totally won! Look, and I stole his ring thing!" Peter cheered. Ned snatched the Sling Ring and slid it on. "I was swinging through the city, and then I went through this—" He yanked off his mask. "—massive mirror thing, and then I was back—"

   "Where is he?" MJ asked.

   "Uh, he's trapped, but... I'm not sure for how long."

   "Long enough for Riley to think of a plan? Knowing her, she's probably gone through 10 already—"

   "You could've just left us to die," Dr. Octavius said in disbelief. "Why didn't you?"

   MJ turned to him. "Because that's not who our Peter Parker is. Peter, Riley, Roman, they fight to give all of us a chance to live in peace."

   Peter smiled at her, then turned to their multiversal guests. "I think I can help you guys. If I can fix what happened to you, then when you go back, things will be different, and you might not die fighting Spider-Man."

   "What do you mean fix us?" Max interrogated.

   "Look, our technology is advanced—" Peter started.

   "I can help you. You know, I'm something of a scientist myself," Norman offered. "Octavius and even Ms. O'Dair know what I can do."

   "Fix?" Dr. Octavius grimaced. "You mean like a dog? I refuse."

   "I can't promise you guys anything, but at least this way, you actually get to go home and have a chance. A second chance," Peter urged. "Come on, isn't that worth trying?"

   "Trust me, Peter," Dr. Connors said, "when you try to fix people, there are always consequences."

   "Then, he won't try." Riley stepped forward. "He might not be able to promise anything, but I can. In fact, I will. I've experimented with and even invented technology you can only dream of. Time travel, intergalactic exploration, extraterrestrial research, artificial intelligence... No one knows biochemistry and molecular manipulation better than me."

   Peter's face lit up. It never felt better when they were together, knowing they were standing as one.

   "You don't have to come. I also didn't know that you could talk," Peter admitted. "But if you stay here, you're gonna have to deal with the wizard."

   "Ah, so we go along or die," Dr. Connors said. "Not much of a choice, is it?"

   "I just wanna go home," Sandman said.

   "Well, I, myself, don't wanna be killed, especially by a guy dressed like Dungeons & Dragons, so..." Max shrugged. "What's your plan?"

   "Yeah, what is your plan?" Solar wondered. "You have a cure in mind for me, Val? For us?"

   Peter cleared his throat very unconvincingly. "I have it all under control!"

   Peter grabbed Riley's arm and pulled her back to the group. With his free hand, he held up the ruin. "What are we gonna do about this thing?" he whispered.

   "Uh, well, we need to find somewhere safe for it, right?" MJ said.

   "Yeah. Yes. Yes." Ned nodded. "Exactly what I was thinking."

   Riley snapped her fingers. "Got it. MJ, Ned, you two need to take it. If anything goes wrong, we'll text you, you push the magic button, they go home, none of us get hurt, and it's all over. Easy."

   "No! Not easy!" MJ opposed. "No, we're sticking with you! We're not gonna leave you!"

   "Rome, you need to go with them," Riley continued. He tried to argue. "It'll give us peace of mind knowing they're protected. Plus, you can travel the fastest out of us three if there's an emergency. Pete and I will focus on playing Frankenstein in the meantime."

   "And what happens if your twin slips away?" Roman hissed.

   "Then, I'll handle it," Riley said through gritted teeth.

   "You can't come with us. It's too dangerous," Peter said. "You two have done enough just being here and helping me track these guys down."

   "But we're in this together," Ned insisted.

   "I know. I know. But I can't do this if I know you guys are in danger. Okay? Do it for me." Peter held out the ruin. "MJ, Ned, Rome, please, one of you take this."

   Reluctantly, MJ took it. "Fine. But I swear, if I don't hear from you, I'm pressing the button."

   "I'm betting on it," Riley said.

   "Okay. Good." MJ waved the ruin in the air, shouting to the others, "AND I WILL DO IT!"

   "SHE WILL!" Riley supported. For extra emphasis, she wrapped herself in light. "AND IF DOESN'T, I WILL ROAST YOU FROM THE INSIDE OUT!"

   "YEAH!" MJ added.

   "Yeah, we all believe you guys," Max said.

   "No way that's his girlfriend..." Dr. Connors chuckled. "No way."

   Peter and Ned initiated their special handshake to say goodbye, and when it ended with a finger point, gold sparks fizzed from Ned's palm.

   For Riley's sanity, she decided to ignore it.

   "Woah..." Ned gasped. "Okay. Cool."

   Riley pulled MJ into a hug. "I'm counting on you to be the smart one between them."

   "Piece of cake," MJ nervously replied.

   "Be careful," Roman said. "You know what you have to do."

   It sounded like he was talking about curing their guests, but they both knew he was talking about Solar.

   "Don't worry," Riley said. "Whatever it takes."

   With that, they were gone.

   Peter turned to the cells. "So, uh... who's coming with us?"

   As the so-called villains glanced around, Max said, "Well, I'm in. But if this goes sideways, Imma fry you from the inside out."

   "Can I come, too?" Solar called. "My ass has been hurting all night. I could use some sunlight."

   Riley approached her cell. "You've done your research on me. I imagine you're well-versed in my capabilities. I want to find a way to help you, but if you so much as look at Peter or breathe near him in a way that he doesn't like, I will kill you."

   "Charming," Solar purred. "But I know your moves. Half of your powers don't affect me, and vice-versa."

   "True," Riley agreed. "Before I learned how to use my powers, I was taught other ways to finish a job. I can think of more ways to kill you with a goddamn jump rope than my own powers. I can kill you just as easily as I can help you. You have one chance. That's all you get. Understood?"

   Solar held her stare for a beat. "Alright. You're the boss. I'll behave."

   Riley didn't trust her.

   Solar seemed to sense that.

   But there was no going back now.

   The cells opened, releasing the Sinister Six into the world.