Dynamic Duo: 1.1
AN: Liked the premise behind Out of Depth for a while but didn’t feel like doing anything about it until I was hit by that Infinity War buzz. I work in spurts of inspiration and I feel like I'll be inspired to run out a full arc before this start to feel like work. But that doesn't really mean I'll be churning out chapters, just that updates might favour this story than the others I'm working on. But this is all rooted in how I feel so it might change with the weather.
Elevator Pitch: Taylor gets transported into the MCU as the twin sister of Peter Parker. Like I said, I really liked the premise of Out of Depth.
“Why?”
“I think the Champion and I share the reason why,” said the Faerie Queen, giving a glance towards Contessa. The woman didn’t move, only looking towards me with an unreadable expression. “We know how hard this path is, worse still how hard it is to survive.”
“Your life will never be normal from this point on,” said Contessa. “You will forever be hated, even if some understand what you did, even if they’re grateful that this came to pass. There will be resentment. There will be attempts on your life. You only have one option.”
“Had,” the Faerie Queen corrected. “I bring another, perhaps a greater option beyond the half-life the Champion would have offered. One, I think, will speak to you quite deeply, Queen Administrator.”
“Even so,” said Contessa. “You have the choice.”
The Faerie Queen nodded.
“With me,” said Contessa, “you would be free of the burden of your powers. You would have a semblance of normality, anonymity on another, more peaceful world.”
“And with me,” said the Faerie Queen. “You would be dropped in a world where you could make a difference, much like our own except now you know your mistakes and you can be better. Above all, you would have family, perhaps friends. You would have your powers.”
I hadn’t even had time to think about it before something of a smile appeared on Contessa.
“I’ve lost,” she said. “I look forward to more, Faerie Queen.”
The woman turned, walking away leaving me with the Faerie Queen.
I was plunged into darkness.
Aunt May groaned and then, as I got into the living room area, she quickly switched into a smile. She wearing an excess of clothes to make up for the November chill. It was really hell that I was forcing then out on a run in winter, but it was either that or not being allowed to.
“Are we ready for this,” she said, putting false cheer into her tone. “Peter, aren’t you excited?”
Peter, who was in the kitchen, gulping down a bowl of cereal only grunted. It was very early in the morning, but there was no other choice if we wanted to get back in time that Peter and I could shower, eat and not miss the school bus.
“You don’t have to fake the excitement, Aunt May,” I said. Her smile dropped a little and I caught that gaze she often directed at me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t normal and though people couldn’t quite pinpoint it, they could tell. Aunt May, who was the one adult that spent the most amount of time with me, felt it more than others.
“I get it,” I said, shrugging. “It’s early, cold and you wanna go back to sleep. Which is why I keep telling you that you should let Petey and me run on our own.”
“Don’t call me Petey,” said Peter. “It makes it sound like you’re older than me.”
“Thirty minutes, Peter,” I said, couldn't help myself. It had been a role at first, but it was easier now to get into the dynamic. Let myself revel in the joke only I knew. “Thirty minutes and you pretend like you’re five years older than me.”
“And that right there is the reason why,” Aunt May, before we could devolve into something of an argument. “You’re fourteen, which means you just running out there alone…”
“I take karate,” I said, though I knew it wouldn’t mean much. It had taken a lot to convince Dad that I could run alone and there had been factors there working in my favour. We’d lived in the suburbs, I’d been older, barely, and Dad had been trying to placate me because of the bullying both of us hadn’t mentioned.
Now I lived in Queens.
Had been living Queens most of my entire life, even knowing my memories of the experience were false. I knew I’d had parents in this reality, that they’d died, that the same was true for Uncle Ben, but…all of it just felt far off. As far as I could figure it, it was part of what the Faerie Queen had done to make sure I could settle in this reality. Warped my body so that I was younger, healed the connection between me and my passenger so I was in control, everything returned to a semblance of what it once was, implanted memories to returned what my passenger had taken, and then altering everyone else so that I was included in on this life.
I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that, about her and the degree of care she would have had to take to put all of this together. But I had no other choice but to be thankful. If I’d been on any of the earths that derived abilities from Scion, I never would have had peace. This place was better, different and new, but still with certain flavours that I was used to.
Aunt May took a breath and then slowly let it out. She frowned. “I don’t want to say your lessons are useless, but—”
“But I’m small and thin, and mass and height count for something,” I said, interrupting her. “I’ve been taught all this, even how to get past them. If Petey and I,” I caught Peter glaring with the corner of his eye, “just run, we’ll be fine. You won’t have to wake up.”
“Or,” said Peter. “We could just stop this entire thing all together. No more waking up in the mornings, then.”
“Not in the cards,” I said. “This was me trying to ease the burden a little. But…” I shrugged.
“Don’t get why my burden isn’t eased a little,” said Peter. “You talk and it’s all about Aunt May, but me? Not matter what happens I have to wake up early.”
“Shouldn’t be much problem with your early night, should it?” I said. Peter’s eyes bulged, but he said nothing. “Anyway, what if I need my big brother to protect me?”
“Ha-ha.” He finished off his cereal and moved his bowl to the sink. He stretched a little, started running on the spot in quick order. “You know, I take gym. I’m sure you take gym. You could get that all out of your system then.”
“I can’t set the pace there,” I said. “And we’ve been over this. Family bonding time.”
Peter shot me an aghast expression. “We can bond over TV,” he said.
“You don’t watch much TV with us,” said Aunt May. “Taylor’s right. This is good,” she said, trying and failing to push in enthusiasm. “This means, holistically, we’re better people. We live longer lives.”
Peter groaned. “Fine. Let’s go then.”
We left as a group. No one on our floor was up yet, which meant we didn’t have to greet anyone. I liked that more than anything, Jeremy Matthews had something of a crush on me and his parents actually encouraged it, which didn’t make interactions any better. But beyond him and his family, there was everyone else: In their eyes, I was a fourteen year old girl, relatively sheltered and innocent. They wanted to protect me and it was grating because I could protect myself better than anything they could ever give.
But I was supposed to just deal with it because it might look odd if I acted too old.
“Okay,” I said as we got out of our building. “We’ll start things slow for Aunt May and slowly up the pace. We’ll start taking laps and as we go on, Peter, you’ll be going faster because I’ve noticed that you’ve been slacking off.”
“That’s been slacking off?” said Aunt May. “I’ve seen you two run. It’s…you guys are a lot more spry than I was at your age.”
“Taylor’s a health nut,” said Peter.
I hummed. “Nothing bad about that,” I said. We started running a little and I noticed how bored Peter was. “Take large leaps. I want your knees to reach your chest. You’ll do this for warm up. A half or maybe a full block, until you get tired.”
Peter gave me a look and then shrugged, going along with it. I smiled a little. He spoke a lot about being older, but when it mattered he went along with me taking lead.
We ran a block and a half before Peter and I started running faster, quickly out pacing Aunt May and then Peter quickly out pacing me. It was part of his powers, mover rating enough to matter, minor brute and a blaster thing he could use to make webs. He was Spider-Man, a name that didn’t fit with how young it was, but it helped when it came to obfuscating his identity. More than anything, he was the local hero in a place that was lacking in something as organised as the Protectorate.
He was a hero and he hid it from Aunt May and me. I knew, because I’d felt it one night. I’d been a lot more paranoid then and I’d had bugs stationed around the apartment. I’d felt him as he’d opened the window and jumped out. I’d almost died in panic before he’d swung, moving between buildings and then being quickly out of my range.
I knew and he didn’t know I knew. But whenever I told him to push himself harder, he acquiesced. I had to wonder how he parsed things from his side of the fence. Did he suspect I knew and was just going along until I confronted him? Did he think I suspected and he was giving me the pieces so that I could put everything together?
I was a quarter of a block in front of Aunt May, and Peter was half a block in front me. I had bugs on him and when I tapped into their senses I didn’t even smell a sliver of sweat. He wasn’t breathing hard, instead he was just going at it at a light jog.
I took a deep breath and pushed myself faster, feeling as my lungs started to burn and legs started to hurt. Peter glanced back and then started to slow down. I shook my head, gesturing for him to push himself faster and he shrugged, going faster and increasing the distance between us.
He stopped when he reached his endpoint, doubling back and reaching me before I could even reach a quarter of the block whose end would mark the finish line. I stopped, breathing hard and doing my level best to control my breathing. I felt as Peter started modulating his breathing, putting on a play at fatigue.
“Little break,” he said, panting between the words. “Give May time to catch up?”
I nodded, swallowing. My arms were on my legs, sweat dripping off of me. “Stop,” I said. “Stop acting.”
I felt as his heart started to beat faster. “Wh—What?”
“Stop…acting,” I said. “I know.”
“You must be tired Taylor, because you’re not making sense,” he said, a quiver in his voice. He’d forgotten to keep panting, forgotten that he was acting at being tired.
I took a gulp of air. Aunt May was still a distance away, though I was sure if I glanced back I would be able to see her. I had bugs out, tracking people and I knew that there wasn’t anyone near.
“I know,” I said. “The whole Spider-Man thing.”
I looked up and there was fear there, his mouth agape. He didn’t say anything.
“A part of me convinced myself that you were giving me the pieces and wanted to figure it out,” I said. “But…your expression right now is telling me different.”
“I…”
“Don’t deny it, Petey,” I said. “I know.”
“How?” he asked.
“I have powers too.”
He frowned. “The spider bit you too?”
“What? What spider?” Peter looked around. “No one’s around. At least no one that can hear us. But that’s not factoring in thinker powers or anything.”
“Think—” He shook his head. He closed his eyes, taking a breath. “There was a spider and it bit me. That’s how I got my powers. How did you get yours.” He got closer, whispering. “Are you an Inhuman? I’ve heard they’ve been popping up on the Internet and like…SHIELD and stuff.” His eyes bulged more. “Are you going to get abducted like that guy?”
“Petey, calm down,” I said. “No one knows. I’ve been quiet. You know that story that keeps popping around the Internet, about the Dweller in the Depths?”
“That bug story,” he said. “Wait. You can turn into bugs?”
“No. Control bugs,” I said. I pointed at an alley and bugs started moving, shifting and forming a mass. I started to make them congeal into a human form that moved forward. Peter took a few steps back, swearing under his breath.
“Hello,” they said.
“Oh, fuck, they speak,” he said. He looked at me. “They speak. You can make them speak. How can you make them speak? How do you control them? Or are they smart on their own and you’re just giving sort of a guide?”
“May’s close enough to hear,” I said, a large grin on me. “Bug sensing.”
Peter grinned, giving me a hug and picking me up. “This is going to be so cool.”
“Yeah,” I said smiling. This was the first step in making this world different, more connections, focusing less on saving the world and letting others deal with that while I focused smaller scale.
I still wanted to be a hero, but this time I wanted to do it right.
“Yeah."
Elevator Pitch: Taylor gets transported into the MCU as the twin sister of Peter Parker. Like I said, I really liked the premise of Out of Depth.
Dynamic Duo
1.1
1.1
“Why?”
“I think the Champion and I share the reason why,” said the Faerie Queen, giving a glance towards Contessa. The woman didn’t move, only looking towards me with an unreadable expression. “We know how hard this path is, worse still how hard it is to survive.”
“Your life will never be normal from this point on,” said Contessa. “You will forever be hated, even if some understand what you did, even if they’re grateful that this came to pass. There will be resentment. There will be attempts on your life. You only have one option.”
“Had,” the Faerie Queen corrected. “I bring another, perhaps a greater option beyond the half-life the Champion would have offered. One, I think, will speak to you quite deeply, Queen Administrator.”
“Even so,” said Contessa. “You have the choice.”
The Faerie Queen nodded.
“With me,” said Contessa, “you would be free of the burden of your powers. You would have a semblance of normality, anonymity on another, more peaceful world.”
“And with me,” said the Faerie Queen. “You would be dropped in a world where you could make a difference, much like our own except now you know your mistakes and you can be better. Above all, you would have family, perhaps friends. You would have your powers.”
I hadn’t even had time to think about it before something of a smile appeared on Contessa.
“I’ve lost,” she said. “I look forward to more, Faerie Queen.”
The woman turned, walking away leaving me with the Faerie Queen.
I was plunged into darkness.
***
Aunt May groaned and then, as I got into the living room area, she quickly switched into a smile. She wearing an excess of clothes to make up for the November chill. It was really hell that I was forcing then out on a run in winter, but it was either that or not being allowed to.
“Are we ready for this,” she said, putting false cheer into her tone. “Peter, aren’t you excited?”
Peter, who was in the kitchen, gulping down a bowl of cereal only grunted. It was very early in the morning, but there was no other choice if we wanted to get back in time that Peter and I could shower, eat and not miss the school bus.
“You don’t have to fake the excitement, Aunt May,” I said. Her smile dropped a little and I caught that gaze she often directed at me when she thought I wasn’t paying attention. I wasn’t normal and though people couldn’t quite pinpoint it, they could tell. Aunt May, who was the one adult that spent the most amount of time with me, felt it more than others.
“I get it,” I said, shrugging. “It’s early, cold and you wanna go back to sleep. Which is why I keep telling you that you should let Petey and me run on our own.”
“Don’t call me Petey,” said Peter. “It makes it sound like you’re older than me.”
“Thirty minutes, Peter,” I said, couldn't help myself. It had been a role at first, but it was easier now to get into the dynamic. Let myself revel in the joke only I knew. “Thirty minutes and you pretend like you’re five years older than me.”
“And that right there is the reason why,” Aunt May, before we could devolve into something of an argument. “You’re fourteen, which means you just running out there alone…”
“I take karate,” I said, though I knew it wouldn’t mean much. It had taken a lot to convince Dad that I could run alone and there had been factors there working in my favour. We’d lived in the suburbs, I’d been older, barely, and Dad had been trying to placate me because of the bullying both of us hadn’t mentioned.
Now I lived in Queens.
Had been living Queens most of my entire life, even knowing my memories of the experience were false. I knew I’d had parents in this reality, that they’d died, that the same was true for Uncle Ben, but…all of it just felt far off. As far as I could figure it, it was part of what the Faerie Queen had done to make sure I could settle in this reality. Warped my body so that I was younger, healed the connection between me and my passenger so I was in control, everything returned to a semblance of what it once was, implanted memories to returned what my passenger had taken, and then altering everyone else so that I was included in on this life.
I wasn’t really sure how to feel about that, about her and the degree of care she would have had to take to put all of this together. But I had no other choice but to be thankful. If I’d been on any of the earths that derived abilities from Scion, I never would have had peace. This place was better, different and new, but still with certain flavours that I was used to.
Aunt May took a breath and then slowly let it out. She frowned. “I don’t want to say your lessons are useless, but—”
“But I’m small and thin, and mass and height count for something,” I said, interrupting her. “I’ve been taught all this, even how to get past them. If Petey and I,” I caught Peter glaring with the corner of his eye, “just run, we’ll be fine. You won’t have to wake up.”
“Or,” said Peter. “We could just stop this entire thing all together. No more waking up in the mornings, then.”
“Not in the cards,” I said. “This was me trying to ease the burden a little. But…” I shrugged.
“Don’t get why my burden isn’t eased a little,” said Peter. “You talk and it’s all about Aunt May, but me? Not matter what happens I have to wake up early.”
“Shouldn’t be much problem with your early night, should it?” I said. Peter’s eyes bulged, but he said nothing. “Anyway, what if I need my big brother to protect me?”
“Ha-ha.” He finished off his cereal and moved his bowl to the sink. He stretched a little, started running on the spot in quick order. “You know, I take gym. I’m sure you take gym. You could get that all out of your system then.”
“I can’t set the pace there,” I said. “And we’ve been over this. Family bonding time.”
Peter shot me an aghast expression. “We can bond over TV,” he said.
“You don’t watch much TV with us,” said Aunt May. “Taylor’s right. This is good,” she said, trying and failing to push in enthusiasm. “This means, holistically, we’re better people. We live longer lives.”
Peter groaned. “Fine. Let’s go then.”
We left as a group. No one on our floor was up yet, which meant we didn’t have to greet anyone. I liked that more than anything, Jeremy Matthews had something of a crush on me and his parents actually encouraged it, which didn’t make interactions any better. But beyond him and his family, there was everyone else: In their eyes, I was a fourteen year old girl, relatively sheltered and innocent. They wanted to protect me and it was grating because I could protect myself better than anything they could ever give.
But I was supposed to just deal with it because it might look odd if I acted too old.
“Okay,” I said as we got out of our building. “We’ll start things slow for Aunt May and slowly up the pace. We’ll start taking laps and as we go on, Peter, you’ll be going faster because I’ve noticed that you’ve been slacking off.”
“That’s been slacking off?” said Aunt May. “I’ve seen you two run. It’s…you guys are a lot more spry than I was at your age.”
“Taylor’s a health nut,” said Peter.
I hummed. “Nothing bad about that,” I said. We started running a little and I noticed how bored Peter was. “Take large leaps. I want your knees to reach your chest. You’ll do this for warm up. A half or maybe a full block, until you get tired.”
Peter gave me a look and then shrugged, going along with it. I smiled a little. He spoke a lot about being older, but when it mattered he went along with me taking lead.
We ran a block and a half before Peter and I started running faster, quickly out pacing Aunt May and then Peter quickly out pacing me. It was part of his powers, mover rating enough to matter, minor brute and a blaster thing he could use to make webs. He was Spider-Man, a name that didn’t fit with how young it was, but it helped when it came to obfuscating his identity. More than anything, he was the local hero in a place that was lacking in something as organised as the Protectorate.
He was a hero and he hid it from Aunt May and me. I knew, because I’d felt it one night. I’d been a lot more paranoid then and I’d had bugs stationed around the apartment. I’d felt him as he’d opened the window and jumped out. I’d almost died in panic before he’d swung, moving between buildings and then being quickly out of my range.
I knew and he didn’t know I knew. But whenever I told him to push himself harder, he acquiesced. I had to wonder how he parsed things from his side of the fence. Did he suspect I knew and was just going along until I confronted him? Did he think I suspected and he was giving me the pieces so that I could put everything together?
I was a quarter of a block in front of Aunt May, and Peter was half a block in front me. I had bugs on him and when I tapped into their senses I didn’t even smell a sliver of sweat. He wasn’t breathing hard, instead he was just going at it at a light jog.
I took a deep breath and pushed myself faster, feeling as my lungs started to burn and legs started to hurt. Peter glanced back and then started to slow down. I shook my head, gesturing for him to push himself faster and he shrugged, going faster and increasing the distance between us.
He stopped when he reached his endpoint, doubling back and reaching me before I could even reach a quarter of the block whose end would mark the finish line. I stopped, breathing hard and doing my level best to control my breathing. I felt as Peter started modulating his breathing, putting on a play at fatigue.
“Little break,” he said, panting between the words. “Give May time to catch up?”
I nodded, swallowing. My arms were on my legs, sweat dripping off of me. “Stop,” I said. “Stop acting.”
I felt as his heart started to beat faster. “Wh—What?”
“Stop…acting,” I said. “I know.”
“You must be tired Taylor, because you’re not making sense,” he said, a quiver in his voice. He’d forgotten to keep panting, forgotten that he was acting at being tired.
I took a gulp of air. Aunt May was still a distance away, though I was sure if I glanced back I would be able to see her. I had bugs out, tracking people and I knew that there wasn’t anyone near.
“I know,” I said. “The whole Spider-Man thing.”
I looked up and there was fear there, his mouth agape. He didn’t say anything.
“A part of me convinced myself that you were giving me the pieces and wanted to figure it out,” I said. “But…your expression right now is telling me different.”
“I…”
“Don’t deny it, Petey,” I said. “I know.”
“How?” he asked.
“I have powers too.”
He frowned. “The spider bit you too?”
“What? What spider?” Peter looked around. “No one’s around. At least no one that can hear us. But that’s not factoring in thinker powers or anything.”
“Think—” He shook his head. He closed his eyes, taking a breath. “There was a spider and it bit me. That’s how I got my powers. How did you get yours.” He got closer, whispering. “Are you an Inhuman? I’ve heard they’ve been popping up on the Internet and like…SHIELD and stuff.” His eyes bulged more. “Are you going to get abducted like that guy?”
“Petey, calm down,” I said. “No one knows. I’ve been quiet. You know that story that keeps popping around the Internet, about the Dweller in the Depths?”
“That bug story,” he said. “Wait. You can turn into bugs?”
“No. Control bugs,” I said. I pointed at an alley and bugs started moving, shifting and forming a mass. I started to make them congeal into a human form that moved forward. Peter took a few steps back, swearing under his breath.
“Hello,” they said.
“Oh, fuck, they speak,” he said. He looked at me. “They speak. You can make them speak. How can you make them speak? How do you control them? Or are they smart on their own and you’re just giving sort of a guide?”
“May’s close enough to hear,” I said, a large grin on me. “Bug sensing.”
Peter grinned, giving me a hug and picking me up. “This is going to be so cool.”
“Yeah,” I said smiling. This was the first step in making this world different, more connections, focusing less on saving the world and letting others deal with that while I focused smaller scale.
I still wanted to be a hero, but this time I wanted to do it right.
“Yeah."
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