The strangely off-colored sky gave off the dark gray stone walls of the castle that stood where Midtown High should have. It seemed as tall as a skyscraper, the top of some towers splitting the clouds they touched. "Dude, what the hell.", Flash retorted, looking towards Peter with annoyance. "What?", Parker defended. "You took us down the wrong direction!" "No, I didn't. I've been walking this path since the first day of freshman year; if we took a wrong turn, I would have realized." 

"And what makes you say that?", the bully questioned, now that the tension between them is quickly rising. "You recognized the Subway and gas station, didn't you? The one white abandoned building that has cracks in the paint from top to bottom?", Peter listed, naming off the details about the buildings around the school that he knew Flash would recognize. "Yeah, but...", Thompson trailed off, obviously seeing the named buildings, but was still in denial. 

"Ok. Well, if this isn't where the school should be, then I guess we're lost?", Peter reasoned, looking back up towards the castle. "Do you have any idea where we are?" "Flash, I think we'd both remember if we had ever seen a castle this size by the school.", Peter dryly retorted, pulling out his phone. No service. Great. 

"So we don't know where we are.", Flash thought aloud, eyes catching sight of the main entrance. "Why not ask?", he suggested, lighting up as if his idea was the best thing in the world. "What do you mean?", Peter asked, not liking where this plan was going. "This castle's too clean to have been abandoned. There's gotta be someone be taking care of it.", his classmate reasoned with a grin and a shrug. "What?! No, you can't just--and there he goes." 

"Think there's a knob or...Helloooo? Anybody home?", Flash called out, giving one hard knock before the door cracked open. "Guess it's open.", he remarked, pushing open the door and running inside, only to be greeted by a few very tall and very menacing masked knights, who did not look generous. "Oh...uh...hey...there...Do you think...uh...you could help us?", Flash asked, suddenly meeker as he realized he was overpowered. Saying nothing, the guards drew their swords and surrounded the two teens. "Guess not?", Flash remarked, nervously laughing as he moved backward.  

Peter felt a chill run up his spine as the masked knights moved closer, with more coming. "Go.", he warned, focusing on getting Flash out of danger before picking a fight if necessary. "What?", the more nervous of the two questioned. "Go. Run! Go go go gogogogogogogogogo--Ack!", Peter shrieked before getting knocked out.

"Wh-what the hell?", the brunette said aloud as he regained consciousness, opening his eyes to see Flash shouting at a cell door, "We just wanted directions! C'mon man!" When said teen turned around, he almost rushed to the corner of the room when he saw Peter awake. Peter was smart, smarter than him by a lot, he could make more sense of this than Thompson could. "You alright?",  the black-haired teen asked. "Yeah. You?", Peter asked after a minute to collect his thoughts. "Head hurts, but I'm not dead.", Flash remarked, successfully lightening the mood a little. 

"So, we're gonna try to break out, right?", Peter established, which his classmate eagerly agreed to. "Yeah. Uh, what can we use?", Flash asked, moving to look at some shards of metal. "Let's see.", Peter thought aloud, finally taking the proper amount of time to assess the situation. Ok, so do I have all of my powers? He stuck his hand to the wall, tried to stick, and took a sigh of relief when he saw that he was, in fact, still sticky. 

And his senses were still prevalent too. He could hear the sound of rushing water, probably powering a mill. He smelt the rot of the dungeon and felt the cold of the old, sanded stone that surrounded them. He could also hear a higher-pitched voice grumbling about escape. If he wasn't with Flash, he probably would have given the poor soul a "Mood."

After inspecting the cell, Peter's eyes landed on the door. Flash saw the look in his eye and warned, "Already tried that." Out of ideas at this point, he charged full speed into the barred door, only to fall to the floor. "Dude, if I can't do it, you can't do it.", Flash remarked, slightly confused as to why Parker would even try. "Worth a shot.", Peter remarked as he made the assessment. It looked like his super strength was out of luck. At least he had full web-shooters. That should let them get out as quietly as possible. 

A faint scream was heard down the hallway. Both of the teen's eyes widened in shock and fear. They looked to each other, before walking away from the door. Someone was being hurt. And Peter couldn't do a thing. 

The metallic clang of armor got louder as six, maybe seven knights from before walked up to the cell door. "Your punishment has been decided upon. The offense is entering without consent. And the charge is death.", one announced, which stunned the two. "I'm...sorry?", Flash remarked with a raised eyebrow.

"Surely, you must be aware of the law. Entering the castle without a proper invite is just as good as me breaking and entering your own home. You can't just run around freely on a queen's property, you know.", a woman's voice emerged from the guards, who split for her like the Red Sea. She was a short, pudgy, pale woman with glowing yellow eyes and black hair, done in what just might be the most elaborate hairstyle Peter's ever seen. 

Her attire was just as elaborate, in a shining golden dress that looked a lot like the Elizabethian-era paintings he's seen in the run-down history textbooks they use in class, including the puffed sleeved, framed skirt and the white ruffled collar that reached just under her head, ending at the shoulders. Her crown was arguably the most simple part of it all, being silver lined with small white pearls and notably lacking in diamonds, rather focusing on the ginormous ruby in the center. Everything about this woman took a minute to process. 

"Lest a couple of petty thieves come and steal from me.", she spoke in a threatening tone. Her voice was deeper, and rounded, but carried with a forced fake British accent. Peter had to physically restrain himself from cringing. "I cannot have that, now can I?", she reasoned with a Cheshire Cat's grin. 

Parker decided he didn't like this queen very much.

"Hm? You look familiar...", the woman noted, before lighting up. "Ah yes, Eugene 'Flash' Thompson, haha." Thompson grew pale at her laughter. Peter safely assumed that he didn't like her much either. "I've heard all about you. What a troublemaker you are. Always being brutish and disruptive. Your rehabilitation will certainly be a benefit to everyone.", the queen thought aloud, tapping her chin in thought. 

"Hey, this isn't funny.", Flash spoke up. "Sneaking onto my property and speaking without permission; is it possible you don't know the position you're in?", she questioned, expression shifting from a thoughtful to disgust. "Nah, Prim and Proper. Enlighten us.", he finally remarked, wearing thin on her attitude. "And talking--it seems this one is out of my control. The punishment for your crimes is death!", she decreed as the most decorated one--definitely the captain--unlocked the metal door. The guards rushed inside, quickly surrounding Flash.

He rushed for the nearest guard, managing to knock him over before moving to take off, Peter evading a larger one that struck Thompson's back with the pommel of his sword. "AAAH!", Flash screamed in pain, quickly falling to the floor. Peter climbed up on the nearest barrel, jumping at the offending knight and not letting go. He threw punches that were able to dent the armor but did little more damage than that, only letting go after a back slam into the nearest wall. 

"Parker, stop, get out of here, man! These guys are serious." The queen scoffed at the sentiment. "Yes, Parker, take the coward's way out, like the heartless friend you are." "He ain't my friend...Just get out of here, man!" Like hell I will, Parker thought as he recovered. He wasn't running away, not when he could do something, but he also knew that he couldn't do much to them. Why couldn't he? 

"So scared, he can't find it in himself to run. The poor, pathetic thing. Hardly worth my time.", she mocked in a demeaning tone, barely sparing Peter a glance before turning back towards Flash, who was being propped up. "Will you respect me now, Mr. Thompson?", her fat*ssness asked, signaling a guard to tower over him in intimidation. "Why should--Aah!", the teen started before the wind was knocked out of him. "Hmph. How about now?", the queen repeated, growing smug. She didn't take his silence as an answer this time, clapping her hands to order another hit. "Maybe now?", she attempted, this time grinning over Flash's bruised figure. 

"You WILL respect me, as a person of higher authority. As your queen.", the b*tch ordered, raising her arms in self-reverence. Flash gathered enough energy to spit in the direction of her. This action made her step away from the teen, now disgusted and pissed. "Ugh. Honestly, brats like you make me impatient. He obviously doesn't want to be helped, so why should I bother? Execute him.", she ordered, turning away to fiddle with her gloves.

"Hell no!", Peter shouted, running to protect Flash, only to get hit with the shield. "Hm? You're still here?", the woman asked with raised eyebrows. "I'm surprised. Do you think you could get away with defying the orders of the queen?" As she spoke, her voice became angrier and angrier, diverting away from the fake accent for a brief moment. After realizing this, she cleared her throat, collected herself, and slowly stepped toward the defiant student. "You're not special, Mr. Parker. After this brute, your conditioning will be next.", she informed, moving back towards Flash with just as much grace. 

"Hold him there.", she stubbornly ordered, which two guards were quick to obey. "God...oh god...oh god oh god oh god.", Flash muttered, slowly turning into a whimper. His face had gone pale and he was nearly sweating bullets. Peter struggled with the knights, only to be physically held down.

His mind was spinning. In the drowning of his thoughts, he started looking around for something, anything to get out of this mess. And in his wild search, he came across the butterfly again. On instinct, his gaze locked upon it, as if it held the very secret to what he was looking for. As it fluttered around the room, close to him, time itself seemed to freeze. And as he saw, he heard her.

"This is truly an unjust game. The chances of you winning are close to none. Yet, if you may hear my plea, there is yet a chance open to you to defy such odds.", a soft, feminine voice echoed throughout his mind. A chance?, Peter thought before deciding. I'll take that. 

That's when his mind was filled with a new voice.