Flash was...kinda freaking out, not gonna lie. This day has thrown him around from the start, and it only seems to get weirder as it goes on. First, he had the weirdest dream last night, then he overslept and nearly missed the last subway before he was guaranteed to be late, which just happened to have Peter Parker, of all people, on it with him. Then, the two got lost and ended up at this castle, and then got locked inside of the castle (ok yeah that one was on him, not gonna lie).

Then all of a sudden Peter started screaming and this crazy wicked demon thing showed up and beat the absolute crap outta the guards in this really weird getup with a web pattern that kinda made him look like Spider-Man. And now they're wandering this prison hall, both in normal clothes for reasons that he hasn't really figured out, with no idea what they're doing. Well, Flash doesn't know what he's doing. Peter's probably got a better idea of what to do.

The whole place seemed off-putting, honestly. It was... massive. There was a stream of flowing water that was moving at a fast pace in the middle of the prison, with the ground broken into two sides. A cell door was on the far end, which Flash made a run for. "It ain't opening!", he shouted in irritation as he both pushed and pulled. Peter followed behind, making sure to stay quiet, and reminding Flash of that as well. "We gotta sneak our way out of here, you got that?", he chided, but Flash was quick to understand and agree. "I gotcha."

With that in understanding, Peter turned towards the broken bridge and jumped, pulling and pushing on the other door. "This one's locked, too." Flash sighed as he jumped across the bridge to Peter. "Well, there's gotta be an exit somewhere.", he reasoned. The two looked around before hearing the clanking of metal again. "Over there!", Thompson suggested, pointing to a stack of crates. The two nearly jumped at it, hiding from the knights on the other side.

"We can't play cat and mouse all day.", Flash muttered as they listened to the quieting of the knights. At the nearest opportunity, they quickly moved again to the nearest wooden door. "An exit?", Peter questioned, trying to sense of any danger. "It's better than staying here and hiding all day.", Flash prompted, pushing open the door. They froze at the sight of more of the river and hanging cells with people in it.

"So that screaming is real.", Flash thought aloud, looking like he'd seen a ghost. "Let's just get out of here man." They started running to the walls again, looking for a trap door or anything that could get them outside. The two had seen the statue and the bridge, but only made a note of it before continuing.

"Hey, Curls! Haircut!", a boy's voice called from the corner. The two teens looked at each other, before silently agreeing to check it out. So they went towards the cell and...

the day just got a little weirder.

What they thought was going to be a young boy was actually a...well...Flash didn't really know a term for whatever he was if there was even one. It looked vaguely similar to a cat, despite the abnormally large head and the fact that he was bipedal, so that's what he decided to stick with. It was a black and white cat with blue eyes and a little yellow bandana that Thompson would later find absolutely adorable. "Did...that cat just talk?", he asked, tilting his head in confusion.

"Alright, I'm only gonna say this once, so you better listen up. I. AM. NOT. A. CAT! You got that?", whatever-it-was argued harshly after a deep sigh. "O...ok.", Flash shyly relented, feeling like he struck a nerve with this guy.

"Can you help me out?", Not-Cat asked, suddenly more meek. "The key's right there. I would pick the lock myself, but I've already torn a claw trying." Peter nodded as he reached for the key, not getting any sort of threat from him. Flash was wary, but didn't say anything. Rather he opted to watch for the guards. "So, uh, can you...help us?", Peter asked as it walked out of the cell. "Of course I can! What kind of question is that?!", it responded cheerfully. "We need to get out of here.", Parker explained, getting a nod in return. "Same here; I'll get us to the exit.", the other planned out. He seemed friendly. "Guys, they're coming back.", Flash warned in a low voice. All three heard the sound of metal growing louder, but looked around frantically. "Yeah, let's get out of here."

The three left towards the bridge, though not seeing controls. Peter went up and inspected the statue closer this time. "The crown. Turn it.", their new company instructed with confidence. Peter raised an eyebrow before doing such, pleasantly surprised by the lowering of the bridge. "Don't act so surprised. I said I needed to get out of here too."

They walked across the bridge, heading to the next set of wooden doors. "So, uh, Not-Cat, do you have a name?", Flash asked with a tilted head. "...I'm Morgana, but call me Mona around places like these.", Mona answered with a grin. " 'Places like these'? There's more?" , Peter responded, stopping to see if he could sense any enemies. "Yup."

" 'Yup'? That's it? You're not going to explain it or anything?" "If we end up meeting again, I'll explain everything.", Morgana explained as he pushed open the door, revealing more guards, waiting to attack them.

"Oh God, there's more!", Thompson shouted, jumping back. Morgana scoffed before jumping forward. "Looks like we're going to have to fight. You ready?", he prompted, looking to Peter as his suit changed back. "Come now, ZURRO!", he called, looking up. His Persona emerged with his sword drawn, ready to fight.  "Oh God, he has one too.", Flash groaned. Man, this really is the strangest day he's had in a while. "Stay back now, amateur.", Mona warned as he prepped for battle.

The shape of the knights changed into those monsters again. "Oh great, interceptive positions.", Morgana groaned. "So, uh, what can you do?", Peter asked as he watched Zurro. "This." With the response was a swing of the sword, invoking a wind attack. It did a substantial amount of damage. "Cool." "What about you? What can you do?", Morgana flipped, now eyeing his outfit with curiosity. "This.", Parker said as he summoned Rhodenbarr, aiming at the other one and firing another ray. It was quick and dark, and took them out. "Oh!", his partner vocalized in surprise. Peter was quick to dodge the magic from their enemy, whereas Morgana was not so lucky. Peter used his web-shooters in a similar way to before, shooting at them before grabbing and pulling, letting gravity slam them into a wall. That finished them off. Now, Flash had clearly seen this attack and paled. Because those were absolutely Spider-Man's web-shooters. Which meant...

Peter collected the rewards as a blue flame danced around him, changing his clothes back. "I guess this is gonna be a regular thing?", he remarked, obviously casual about it. "Not usually. You must be new at this." Peter nodded as they continued walking.

They moved a lot less stealthily now, more secure in the idea that they had two fighters instead of one. They moved quickly, but were able to have general conversation. "Hey, you said to call you Mona around this area. Why?", Peter asked as they moved towards the stairs. "I told you, I'll explain everything if we get caught up in stuff like this again. Don't worry about it, Spider." "Spider?" Peter froze. Did this guy have mind-reading powers or something? "Yeah. I'm not gonna spend the entire time calling you general adjectives. And with the whole web thing you've got going on, I figured it was appropriate."

"Thank you! I was waiting to bring that up, but I didn't know how.", Thompson called from the back, immediately sushing himself after hearing the thump of metal footsteps. Parker physically relaxed at the remarks, though keeping on alert.

Battles ensued, rewards were collected, and many conversation topics were covered as the huge castle was trekked. As they finally made their way around the back of the main entryway, they heard the sound of the queen's voice screaming at something. "She's not someone I'm gonna miss.", Flash grumbled, getting nods in response. "Alright, here's the exit.", Morgana announced, pointing to a hole in the wall. They all seemed to get out easily. "Thanks for helping us, Mona. Who knows how long it would have taken if we were by ourselves.", Peter spoke up. "Yeah, man.", Flash responded, moving to pet him. "Well, Thanks for letting me out. It seems we were both in trouble.", the Not-Cat responded with a grin. Without much else, he took off, disappearing from their line of sight.

"So...how to get back...", Peter muttered, pulling out his phone before his eyes widened. "The..." You are returning to the real world., the phone spoke up as the two felt a chill. A wave overcame them, and when they turned back to the castle...

there was Midtown High, nearly in the middle of their first day of school.

"So, uh, that...was a thing.", Peter remarked, looking down at his phone. "Yes, yes it was.", Flash agreed, finally taking a moment to sigh in relief. "What time is it?", he asked, glancing at his watch. "Dude, we are so late for class." Peter didn't need another indication, grabbing Flash by the arm and bolting towards the inside of the school. "What's your first period?", Peter asked, glancing around for his. "Mr. Galimar. You?", Flash asked, catching the same amount of nervousness that Peter had. If he was that worried, Thompson felt he should be worried too. "Same. Let's go."

"Well well, look who finally decided to join us. Parker, Thompson, have a seat.", an old man with a deep, gravelly voice called towards them. Flash moved to an empty seat in the back, whereas Peter took the seat that Ned had saved for him. Those two are always looking out like each other. "Don't worry, I already let your contacts know." Peter could hear Flash seeth his teeth. He was almost about to do the same. Neither of them were looking forward to going home today.

The day continued to pass, and as they walked towards the cafeteria, Thompson and Parker coincidentally met in the hallway. "We'll...talk about this later, yeah?", Flash suggested in a low voice. "Yeah.", Peter nodded with him before they went on their separate ways.

"Hey, dork.", MJ greeted as Peter took his seat at the table. "Hey guys. Sorry I haven't been talking much. A lot's happened.", Parker greeted shyly. "I bet.", Ned answered. His facial expression was concerned. Of course he would be, Peter hasn't ever been this late to school before. "Missed you this morning, man. We're working on the big project later, right?" Peter picked at his food, before finally noticing the question. "Yeah."

Leeds gave an exasperated sigh. "Peter, what happened?!", Ned asked as he took a bite. "Wha-What do you mean?", the teen stammered. "I MEAN, you've been acting dazed all day!", he explained as his eyes widened in a conclusion. "Did—did Flash say something?", Leeds hypothesized, already getting up to give him a piece of his mind. "No, nonono, it wasn't him.", Peter denied, grabbing his best friend's arm to pull him back down to the table. "But someone said something?" "No, no one said anything." "Then...did something happen?", Ned continued, leaning in with finger quotes. Peter shook his head. Did everything that happened to him have to do with Spider-Man? "No, nothing like that. I just got lost is all.", he excused, turning to look at Flash, sitting amongst some of their other peers. They were all talking, but he wasn't part of the conversation. He seemed kind of lonely, to be honest. Was it always that way for him? "I think we've been looking at Flash the wrong way.", Peter suggested, really thinking about it now.

"Huh?" Ned followed his gaze, before slowly turning back to Peter. He was not following. "Ok, something happened, but now I'm too afraid to find out.", he finally remarked before continuing to eat his lunch.