It all depends on luck

      Felicia woke up just before dawn and checked the news first thing. The social media was silent about Spider, although the Daily Bugle reported a power line failure, expectantly blaming Spider-Man.       An unexpected thought occurred to Felicia during her morning shower. Coming out of the bathroom, she wasted no time turning on her laptop and Googling May Parker. You don’t have to look up Peter Parker to find Spider-Man. It seems that yesterday, due to stress and fatigue, Felicia just hadn’t thought of that yesterday.       After finding the address of May’s place of employment at the F.E.A.S.T. charity organization, Felicia left the apartment through the fire window.       

***

      Honestly, Felicia didn’t want to commit a carjacking. She was going to go out like a decent person and rent a car. But her cash was running low, and the banks hadn’t seen any of her cards. Who’s fault is it that the situation itself pushes her into petty offenses?       But Felicia was careful — she chose an old and dusty Ford that wouldn’t attract unnecessary attention, and whose owner was unlikely to be quick to notice it was missing.       Upon reaching her destination, Felicia suddenly found what she was looking for — Spider-Man himself! He was wearing a black suit for some reason, though Felicia appreciated the bold change of image.       “MAY!”       Felicia hurried following, down the hallway, to the door to the kitchen, when a woman’s voice was heard from inside:       “Norman, this is my nephew.”       “Norman Osborn?” Peter interjected.       Felicia stopped abruptly. She had made a habit of doing business with the Osborns for years now. Especially not with someone who should have been dead a long time ago.       Felicia fumbled in her jacket pockets for her clawed gloves, just in case. She stealthily opened the door and peered through the crack.       The man behind the desk was not the Norman Osborn she remembered. The face was entirely different. He was younger, and there was not a trace of sickness on his body. Felicia quickly guessed that this was a different Norman Osborn, like a different Peter Parker, a different Adrian Toomes, and, presumably, a different Otto Octavius.       But despite the different face, it was still a Norman Osborn. Felicia has already made it clear to herself: some things in other worlds remain the same. Spider-Man is heroic, Vulture and Octavius try to kill Spider-Man, and Jameson remains scum. There’s a pattern.       From the overheard conversation Felicia realized that this Norman was from another, already third dimension (as well as, presumably, Octavius), but she had already made conclusions for herself. In her universe, Norman Osborn was a greedy and cruel businessman. He managed to be a Goblin even without a suit and glider. This same, different Norman played the lost man, trying to push pity and, unfortunately, he succeeded.       Perhaps Felicia was too radical in her thinking, but she wasn’t used to trusting people unreasonably, especially people so suspicious.       “He’s stealing your donuts while you’re whispering to each other!” Felicia mentally groaned.       Finally Peter said:       “I’ll help you, Norman. Get home.”       Felicia covered her eyes with her hand, feeling that Peter was being very foolish now. But he was a hero, and that, alas, was their moral code. Maybe it was the right thing to do, but that’s why Felicia never wanted to be one of them — “heroes”. They are always limited by silly boundaries.       Felicia stepped aside as Peter, May and Norman came out of the kitchen. She decided to keep Peter in sight, but not to get close while he was dealing with the Osborns.       They decided to feed Norman before moving on, while May went off to clean the Spider suit. It turned out that the suit was only black on the inside. Peter turned it inside out, as the outside was all stained green.       “You’ll regret this, Peter,” Felicia thought as she watched them from the sidelines and even managed to sneak a snack.       If Spider-Man wants to help everyone so badly, then let him. It’s none of her business.Felicia left early and waited for Parker and Osborn in (almost) her car. While Felicia waited for them, the Daily Bugle channel she had turned on her smartphone reminded her of the overnight power line accident they blamed on Spider-Man. This time, however, they found a witness who stated that Spider-Man, acting in conjunction with some “Dirt Man” had defeated the “Power Monster”. Jameson was skeptical of the witness' testimony, but Felicia remembered Max Dillon, who, like Norman Osborn, should have been dead for several years. The unknown “Dirt Man” must have been from their interdimensional company as well.       “This is getting interesting,” Felicia thought not without alarm. “Who’s next? Venom?”       Felicia’s musings were interrupted by the Parkers and Osborn, who got into a F.E.A.S.T. branded truck and headed somewhere in midtown Manhattan.       

***

      The Parkers never noticed the tail behind them. Unlike Felicia. She wasn’t the only one following the truck. A black car with one person inside was also following the Parkers, but it did so more openly. Felicia didn’t really care who it could be: a fan, a journalist, or even a thug. If the latter, she’d just call the cops and run before they got there.       Felicia left the car in the distance from the house on Bleecker Street, where the Parkers parked their truck. At first Felicia thought this was where the Parkers had come to live, but her doubts were quickly dispelled when she saw that only Peter and Norman had entered the house, while May had stayed behind to wait for them in the car.       The other car that followed the truck was parked much closer, just around the corner. When Felicia passed by, she noticed the driver’s journalist’s badge. Felicia wrinkled her nose. He might as well have written on the side of his car, “I’m following Peter Parker!” Felicia remembered the fellow underdogs from her dimension that Norman Osborn had used to spy on the Parkers. For some reason, however, neither this nor the other Peter Parker, despite their remarkably high IQs, could have noticed such obvious surveillance. There was clearly something wrong with this world.       “Yes, Dad. They’re all hopeless,” Felicia thought wistfully.       The house Peter and Norman entered was a stone three-story building with a huge round window in the roof and tall double doors. It could have been a museum, a banquet hall, or even an observatory, so Felicia just googled it to avoid guessing.       It was hard to believe, but the internet said the building was the residence of a magician called Dr. Strange. It seems that not only are aliens visiting this Earth, but there is some real magic present.       Entering an unfamiliar building you’re seeing for the first time is already reckless, and if it’s the home of some local Merlin, the recklessness increases tenfold. Knocking on the front door and asking permission to enter wasn’t an option either. Felicia still didn’t want to run into Norman Osborn, however different. Especially if Dr. Octopus, Electro, and who knows who else might be there. It would be even worse if Harry Osborn from her dimension was there.       Felicia waited again.       

***

      Ten minutes later, Spider-Man ran out of the house with a strange box in his hand. He jumped up, but fell into a sparkling hole that appeared out of nowhere, and then fell out of another nearby.       Felicia had seen all sorts of things, but this was beyond weird.       Following Spider, a man in a red cloak came out of the house. Spider made another attempt to escape upward on the web, but the man swung his arms, and two portals appeared in the air again, causing Spider to accidentally catch the web on his own foot.       Felicia found the sight not only exciting, but ironic. It was the first time she’d ever seen Spider-Man try to steal from someone. “A” for persistence, “C” for efficiency.       While Spidey was dangling from his own web, Merlin threw some gold ribbons at him like a whip and pulled him to himself. Whatever that box was, the mage clearly wanted it back.       Eventually, Peter managed to break free and fly away on the web, but Merlin had no intention of giving up and sent his flying cloak after him and ran after him. As soon as all three of them (the cloak could be considered the third, right?) were around the corner, May came out of the truck and, clutching her head, started to dial her nephew’s number, but changed her mind in time. Good decision, nothing to distract a superhero during a fight with another superhero (?). Eventually he’ll come back on his own. Either Peter or Merlin.       Felicia looked dreamily at that mysterious house. Real magic… Who knows what secrets it might hold?       

***

      A few minutes later, the situation changed again. Two of Peter’s classmates came out of the magic house and quickly fled in the direction of the nearest subway station. The girl was carrying the same box that Peter had tried to steal from the wizard.       A moment later, May started her van and pulled closer to the front porch of the house. Hiding behind parked cars on the opposite side of the street, Felicia stepped closer.       What happened next could safely be called a “freak parade.” Felicia could have sworn she hadn’t seen Peter Parker return to the magic house, but right now he was back on the street to watch five very conspicuous individuals get into the back of a van.       Peter took a roll call, which made it easier for Felicia to identify them. Fortunately, the same Harry Osborn was not among them. The first was Norman Osborn, another Norman Osborn she already knew. Behind him was Octavius, bound by his own tentacles. Now, seeing him up close, Felicia confirmed her hunch that this Dr. Octavius was also from another world. The black-skinned man in construction clothes was named “Dillon” by Peter.       “Electro,” Felicia guessed instantly. When last seen, he was a blue blinged-out man with huge delusions of grandeur.       Felicia was especially surprised by a certain Marco, a man literally made of earth or, rather, sand. But Dr. Curt Connors, aka the Lizard, Felicia recognized without a clue. A large humanoid reptile, much scarier than the raptors from “Jurassic Park” and, unlike them, the most real. Felicia had met Connors a few times when he still worked at Oscorp, but she’d never seen the Lizard in person, only old reports on TV. And here he was dangerously close, literally thirty feet away.       Felicia’s heart sank into her heels when the Lizard stuck out his tongue and looked in her direction for a second, sniffing. But the next moment he silently sat down in the back of the truck with the others.       “I promise I’ll do everything I can to fix you. All of you,” Peter said before he and May closed the van doors.       “Are you sure Strange won’t show up?” May asked.       “He’s stuck in another dimension, so we should have a few hours. He’ll be fine,” Peter assured her.       As soon as Felicia heard that, her priorities changed dramatically. She still wanted to go home, but she had no desire to get involved with the new Sinister Five. Or the Four, if you didn’t count Norman Osborn. Although she doesn’t know the character of earthy Marco either, so it would be unfair to immediately write him off as a villain.       Perhaps it would be better if she found Peter Parker later, especially since she already had experience. Right now Felicia had more urgent matters to attend to. According to Peter’s words, this magical house has just been left without a master, which means that its contents are no longer guarded by anyone. It was unforgivable to miss such an opportunity.       As soon as the van left, Felicia went up to the porch and pushed open the blue door. To her surprise, it wasn’t even locked, and it opened easily.