chapter sixty-two
the formidable doc ock

"HELLO, PETER."

Peter froze on the top of the car, frowning. He shifted uneasily in his suit as he continued to stare at this man in his long trenchcoat and glasses that loomed over him with four metal arms. Everyone in the world knew who Spider-Man was▬that it was Peter Parker underneath the mask. But there was something about the way this stranger said it and that malicious grin, that made it seem like he knew Peter personally. As if something between them was left unfinished, and that made Spider-Man grow hesitant and wary. "Uh ... Hi?" he waved at the man with metal tentacles. "Do we▬? Do I know you?"

The man's top two arms reared back over his head and the pointed edges snapped open to reveal three sharp pincers each. "What have you done with my machine?" He snarled furiously.

Peter had no idea what he was talking about. He tried to think back to the many villains he has fought in the previous years (and the many machines he has destroyed)▬there were so many to count. But never once has he ever seen a guy like this. Peter Parker was sure he'd remember those arms. "Uh ..." he glanced around and noticed some people were still in the cars and he resisted the urge to curse. Spider-Man turned back to the stranger. "Your ... your machine▬I don't know what you're talking about. I don't▬What machine?"

Those metal talons spun with precision, leering over the man's shoulders like the Devil and the Angel▬except he only had two red devils whispering in his ear. "The power of the sun in the palm of my hand..." he muttered, almost wistful. The fires glinted something more than malice in those dark glasses. "It's gone!"

Spider-Man held his hands up, trying to calm him down. His heart was starting to race. This guy obviously thought he was someone else▬and yet, he had said 'Peter'. This stranger knew exactly who he was talking to. "L▬Listen," tried Spider-Man, "if you stop smashing cars, we can work together and I can help you find your machine."

The stranger was not pleased. He scoffed a dubious chuckle and tilted his head▬Peter could see a glimpse of his eyes behind those glasses, and they were manic. The two metal arms hovering over his shoulders seemed to slither forward, menacing, like snakes. "You want to play games?" sneered the villain.

The two top arms circled downwards and pierced through the roofs of two cars. The people still stuck inside them threw themselves out of their doors onto the tarmac just before the cars began to lift. They ran for their lives down the bridge.

Spider-Man grew tense as he watched the cars get higher and higher.

"Catch!" shouted the villain and Peter gasped.

He somersaulted out of the way of the first car and heard it crumple against the side of the bridge▬thrown with such force that it folded in and its windows shattered.

Spider-Man had no time to dodge the next, so he threw his hands up, catching the vehicle by its bonnet. He gritted his teeth as his feet skidded across the tarmac, digging into it as he desperately tried to stop the car before it would hit the car with the assistant vice chancellor inside.

The momentum was too much and his back hit the black car. He yelled out as the vehicle he caught spun over and took Peter with it. His fingers stuck on as he and the car were thrown over the bridge and down the side. He saw the family inside, a mother and father and their screaming daughter▬Spider-Man gritted his teeth and climbed up the bonnet and on top of the car. As it continued to spin around, falling closer and closer to the tracks below, Spider-Man threw up his arm. A long, thick web attached to the bridge above and he latched his fingers around the bumper. He held on for dear life, pulling the car upwards until he could stick the other end of the web onto the bonnet. Breathing heavily, he threw the car doors open and helped the passengers out.

With two adults clinging on and a screaming child, Peter winced and lifted them all up back onto the road. He could hear the thundering metal steps of the strange villain and quickly urged the family to run. "It's okay. You guys are good▬you're safe! Get out of here▬Argh▬!"

Spider-Man yelled in alarm when the talons of one of the man's metal arms latched around his chest and flung him upwards like a ragdoll. He struggled as he was twisted in, closer and closer and the man sneered into his face, holding him up in the air. "You think your fancy new suit's gonna save you?"

Peter clenched his jaw, kicking his legs when he felt the second arm's claws grip around his head. They squeezed with shattering strength. He yelped when he was thrown sideways and cracked the car's window. The assistant vice chancellor to M.I.T. inside cried out in surprise as the force pushed the car up against the stone barrier. It cracked and crumbled away, leaving the car dangling with one wheel over the edge. Below, the express train sped on past.

"Oh, of course, it runs on time today!" grumbled Peter in exasperation with his face pressed up against the backseat car window. "Don't worry, ma'am!" he tried to yell through the cracked window. "Everything's gonna be all▬" his sentence was cut off by his own startled shout as he was flung backwards.

Spider-Man flailed his arms. He grunted with pain as he was chucked right through the scaffold and barreled out to the other side, taking the signage with him.

He landed, painfully, inside an abanded UPS van. Peter groaned as he lied, dazed amongst shattered glass and broken packages. He heard the car alarm go off and groaned, throwing his head back down.

Spider-Man took a deep breath and pushed himself to get back up, shaking the daze from his head when he heard the sound of the stranger following. Each thud, thud, thud, thud of his metal arms▬piercing through concrete and cars; fires exploded from the bonnets and turned the air the bitter taste of burning oil.

Peter glanced out through the shattered windscreen, watching the villain amongst fire and smoke. He stopped right by the van, that vicious smirk back on his face.

"I should've killed your little girlfriend when I had the chance," he seethed with an evil chuckle.

Spider-Man felt his blood boil. Forgetting his pain, strength surged through his body fuelled by his sudden rage. Peter Parker remembered the sight he had seen from Dr. Strange's spell▬heard the cry of Nina's name and white-hot anger swelled in his chest. The golden arms of the Iron Spider sprung forth from his back and shredded through the top of the van. Spider-Man pulled himself out and glowered▬If he had done something to her...

He heaved with clenched hands. "What did you just say?" growled Spider-Man. He was seeing red. "What have you done with her?!"

The man just chuckled, noticing the Iron Spider arms and glanced at his own that leered close to him▬as if they were linked to his very thoughts. "Looks like we got competition," he mused.

Spider-Man launched off the top of the van with a breath of livid fury. He somersaulted and blocked the strike of the first metal arm and raised his fist. He landed a punch against the man's chest before he could react and stumbled backwards. He would have fallen if his metal arms didn't catch him.

Peter Parker didn't stop, fighting with his iron arms and fists. Spider-Man battled the man amongst the cars on the Alexander Hamilton Bridge. It was a blur of metal arms and smoke▬he dodged and he spun and twisted his body with the Iron Spider legs blocking the vicious talons that struck like angry snakes with their fangs dripping with revenge.

With the threat of Nina Hart's life on the line, Spider-Man nearly forgot to pull his punches. But if the villain's arms hadn't dragged him out of the way, the steep dent in the car door would have been his skull instead.

"Where is she?!" Peter Parker shouted furiously as he fought, his fear disguised by his anger.

The villain chuckled at him, keeping himself at a distance as Spider-Man backflipped away from the jabs his metal arms made. Sparks flew up between them as metal and iron scathed. "So you haven't freed her yet. Don't worry, Peter▬" Spider-Man leapt straight up as the man pulled two cars together, narrowly avoiding being crushed between them. "Tell me where my machine is and I'll let you hear her scream one last time▬"

Spider-Man kicked him backwards, hard and somersaulted away from his metal arms.

As the villain followed, Spider-Man used two webs to launch himself back through the sign scaffolding. He darted back and forth between the metal bars, using the tight space to his advantage as the man clawed after him on top. Peter then grabbed the metal bar and swung himself back up, planting his foot square onto his chest.

He flipped away and watched the man's body swing, his metal arms desperately trying to keep him aloft and drag him back.

"PETER!"

Spider-Man spun around and his lenses widened to see the assistant vice chancellor's car tilt dangerously down towards the train tracks below. "HELP▬!" he heard her muffled scream.

Peter crouched and leapt upwards, ready to head over when the man's arms flung out and caught him by his wrists. He was yanked upwards, struggling into the air. Behind him, he heard the sound of that damned Daily Bugle helicopter. It didn't make the move to get away when the man's final metal arm launched upwards and gripped the helicopter's tail. Peter's heart pounded when he heard the sound of its propellers getting closer and closer as it was dragged down.

Spider-Man gritted his teeth and took a sharp breath through his nose. With incredible strength, he started to pull the villain's two arms holding him hostage together.

He saw the stranger's eyes widen with surprise as Spider-Man pulled his metal arms together and directed his wrists downwards. His webs struck the car underneath and he launched it upwards. It shook the scaffolding and the metal arms lost their grip. Peter Parker dropped down and quickly swung underneath the signs, racing to reach the assistant vice chancellor in time.

He heard the stranger hit the tarmac with a mighty clang! Spider-Man felt his hairs stand on end and he glanced back, he gasped and threw his body backwards, skidding across the road as a stone pipe flung over his head. It hit the car beside him and the empty vehicle was thrown over the side of the bridge.

Spider-Man used his webs to skid in and out of the man's metal arms, dodging them in just the blink of an eye. "Don't worry, ma'am!" he shouted as he neared the car. It tilted further and further off the side of the bridge, its nose dipping down towards the railway below. "I'm coming▬!"

He slammed up the side of a car, grunting as his whole body shuddered the moment the concrete cylinder hit him. Spider-Man stumbled, coughing and clutching his side as he did not stop, forcing himself to keep going.

"PETER▬!"

The car was sliding off the bridge. In seconds, it would fall.

Spider-Man gritted his teeth and pushed himself into a run. He didn't even glance back when his senses struck alight▬his feet leapt off the ground without him telling them to and the web-slinger somersaulted, backwards, over the spinning car.

As his body tilted back down, he flung out his arm and pressed his fingers on the trigger. As the car crashed into the barrels and an entire wave of water burst into the sky, Spider-Man's web caught the back of the assistant vice chancellor's car.

It dropped off the side of the bridge and Spider-Man hit the ground. He tugged and he pulled with all his might as he was dragged across the road. At the last minute, he activated the Iron Spider and its arms flung out. They dug into the broken concrete barrier and Spider-Man yelled, tugging his arms upwards in one final pull▬

The train sped past, just a metre below the bonnet of the dangling car.

Peter took a deep breath and sighed it out, his head falling in relief.

Gritting his teeth, he used the Iron Spider legs to pull him backwards. He pressed a different trigger and caged his thread in the burst of a web bomb. Now that the car was secure, Spider-Man attached his legs to another string of web and dropped down to the backseat passenger window.

He saw the assistant vice chancellor still inside. The only thing that had stopped her from falling through the windscreen was her seatbelt (and Peter Parker knew now, more than ever, that seatbelts definitely saved lives). She was flushed, breathing heavily and absolutely terrified, but she was okay.

"Ma'am▬" Peter called to her loudly through the window, "▬just stay calm. Just take a deep breath. Are you okay?"

"NO▬!" she shouted back at him with a glower.

"Fair enough▬whoa▬!" Spider-Man yelled as those vicious talons grabbed him around the waist again. He was flung back and forth, up and down. "I promise▬" he spiralled upwards, "▬I've got this▬" sideways, "▬all under▬", upside down, "▬control▬!"

Concrete cracked and Spider-Man was thrust right through the bottom of the bridge. He cried out, wincing and with no time to comprehend the pain that ached right in his bones before he was pulled all the way back down▬he was flung around in a wide arch until his back hit the metal supports. He grunted, light-headed for a moment as he was held up against the underside of the bridge.

Spider-Man stared down at the formidable supervillain as he clawed his way up to him. The metal arm keeping Peter hostage tightened and he started to find it hard to breathe.

He couldn't do anything as another arm grazed his chest, ripping a great chunk out of his suit like it was nothing. Peter's suit tie dangled down.

"Suit compromised," he heard Karen's garbled voice.

"Yeah?" he wheezed back at her. "No kidding!"

The man with the metal arms stared at the suit, surprised▬almost impressed▬as it started to bond with his metal arms. It wrapped around the talons and crawled its way up, merging the grey steel into accents of bright red and gold. "Nanotechnology," the man recognised. "You've outdone yourself, Peter."

He watched as the pieces of Peter's suit travelled all the way across his arms until all four of them were encased in red and gold armour. The final arm flung out its talons and Spider-Man's breath hitched to see a pointed, narrow blade spring out from its centre. "I underestimated you." The arm reared back. "But now you die."

Peter could not move as the arm shot forward. The blade glinted for a brief, splint-second▬sharp and deadly. He felt his suit react▬his mask dematerialised and crawled down his chest▬

Spider-Man coughed and groaned as he slammed back up against the concrete pillar so hard it cracked. He wheezed, winded as the blade hit his chest with tremendous force▬clang!

He groaned, his head pounding and his chest throbbing. Dazed and confused, the man hovering in front of him wasn't much different. He pulled his arm away and the blade in its centre was bent into two. Peter watched half of his tie dangle from its bent tip, fraying in the slight wind.

But the man was not shocked by Spider-Man's suit. Peter struggled as he was pulled forwards, hanging upside down until he was right in the man's face. The stranger was silent for a long time, staring at him until he snatched off his glasses and Peter Parker saw bewilderment in their dark hues.

At last, he muttered: "You're not Peter Parker."

Peter threw his head back and groaned▬he was in pain, angry and had no idea what was going on. "I am so confused right now!"

The stranger tilted his head, peering at him with no anger at all▬but instead, something Peter could only describe as a breath of fear.

Until his metal arms flinched without control. His eyes widened and he turned his head to the arm closest and its taloned claws curled in, as if confused by what was going on around it. Peter stared, a realisation dawning on him before the stranger could even think.

"What's happening?" he demanded, watching his arms and willing them to move, but they did not.

Peter glanced down at his arm and couldn't help but chuckle softly at his luck. Of all things that still worked in his Iron Spider suit, the nanotech Bluetooth connection was the best thing he could have asked for. He grinned as the holographic image of his suit materialised on his wrist. "New device detected," said Karen.

Spider-Man quickly swiped across the commands on his wrist, rushing to type in the password and bring up the stranger's metal arms. "Pairing new device." Both images link together, changing from red to blue in colour. Peter grinned and turned his head back to the man still struggling to command his arms▬he hadn't even noticed.

Peter Parker held out his hand and the grin did not leave his face when the three arms all turned to each other, and then to their master, as if just as shocked as he. But then they set their beady red light onto Peter and they were now completely under his control.

The man started to realise. "No▬" He shook his head. "No. You don't listen to him. You listen to me!"

Slowly, as Peter began to move his arms, the man's metal ones followed its exact command. Up and down and sideways he could make them go and he chuckled in the back of his throat▬especially at the look of absolute horror on the man's face.

He snapped his fingers together and the claws followed. He snickered and waved▬the arms following his movements. "Hey▬" he joked, grinning at the man in front of him. Peter Parker refrained from making a 'stop hitting yourself' joke.

He pushed his arm towards the assistant vice chancellor's car and the arm followed. Its talons gripped the side of the vehicle and she yelped. Though her fear slowly started to fall away into shock as Peter Parker commanded the villain's own weapon against him, using it to slowly pull her back up to the bridge above them.

The man tried to stop him, but Peter Parker just moved merely inches out of his reach. He couldn't stop his small breaths of laughter as the man became completely powerless. "Hey!" he shouted, struggling as his own arms marched the lot of them out from underneath the bridge and up the side. "Hey! Listen to me▬!"

Peter Parker continued to chuckle, finding all of this hilarious.

"No! Not him!" cried out the supervillain, furious. "Me!"

Spider-Man untangled himself and leapt back onto the road. The car settled down beside him and he tugged open its door with his webs. As the mystery man was forced onto the road, Peter Parker ran to help the woman out from the passenger seat.

"Ma'am! Ma'am▬" he held onto the assistant vice chancellor's shoulder, breath hitched. "Are you okay?" When she met his gaze, startled he nodded to the exit. "Come on, you can still make your flight."

She just stared at him and he frowned. At last, she managed a breathless. "Peter ... You're a hero."

Peter flushed and didn't know how to respond. "Oh, well, uh..." he shrugged. "No. Well, I'm▬No..."

She just pointed a finger up at him. "I'm gonna talk to Admissions about your friends," she told him sternly. "And I'm gonna talk to them about you."

Peter's eyes widened. He watched her grab her handbag with a surprised jolt of his heart. "Wait, what▬?" He shuffled away without thinking as she started to climb out of the car. "B▬but, ma'am, this isn't about me."

She wasn't going to hear it. "I am going to talk to them about your friends and you," she told him again, and there was no room for discussion. "Okay?"

Peter Parker's face lifted into a hesitant smile, almost scared to believe what she said was real. "W▬wait ... Really?"

She nodded but then pointed another stern finger up at him. "And if you keep your noses clean, maybe you'll have a fair shot. Here▬" she shoved her handbag into his arms. He stumbled to hold it, shuffling back as she furiously stepped out of the car. "Get out of my way. Let me get that man▬Hey! You!" She started to storm up to the mystery man, waving her stern figure in fury. "I see you▬Come here!" she snatched her bag off Peter. "That was not okay! Unbelievable!"

She then stormed off and the man watched her go, bewildered.

Peter took a deep breath of his own and marched up to the stranger himself. "Who are▬?!" he quickly ducked the wild swing of his fists. "Hey. Hey, hey, hey▬!" He could not get any closer as Peter Parker clenched his other hand and his metal arms stood rigid in place on the road. "Until you stop trying to kill me, I'm in control, buddy, "he showed him the nanotech buckle on the belt of his jeans, "of this whole tentacle situation you got going on here, okay? Now, who are you? What have you done to Nina and what is going▬?!"

Spider-Man stopped mid-sentence.

He slowly turned, frowning down the length of the bridge into the billowing smoke and haze. The metal arms wrapped around the mystery man tight, keeping him there as Peter Parker took a few steps forward, feeling his heart start to race.

Something wasn't right. But unlike the first time, there was a cold chill on Peter Parker's spine▬it crawled up and wrapped around him, and he felt as if a ghostly hand was gripping tight onto his neck, squeezing and constricting until he had the sudden urge to wheeze and plead for breath.

It was silent. Too silent. There were no screams and no running feet. Even the wind seemed to slow to a standstill.

Something dropped onto the tar. It clanged and bounced upwards, rolling down the road ... like someone had dropped a metal baseball.

Peter yelled out when the bridge exploded into a firestorm a few metres down. He stumbled back and his suit materialised around him, his heart pounding. Another explosion followed. Three explosions▬four. Like a domino effect, each car erupted into a furious flame that shook the bridge and made Peter Parker's knees quiver.

His mask lenses narrowed. There was a shift in the smoke▬a greenish, ghoulish glow. A silhouette flickered as it passed right through. But before Peter Parker saw who it was, he heard its laugh. Its chilling, villainous and nightmarish laugh.

Out of the smoke appeared nothing short of a monster. It hovered above the ground on a pointed glider with the power of green smoke. The ... thing that stood on top of it was like the monster underneath a child's bed, and yet Peter's heart twisted with fear. He could not see who it was, for the person was dressed head-to-toe in green, plated armour. A creature in a large mask with a pointed chin, twisted nose, pointed ears and frozen in a clownish, but horrifying laugh. Glazed, yellow and beetled eyes stared down at Peter Parker and through the vicious bared smile, that laugh echoed out once again. In the monster's hand, it held another ball▬a small, metal explosive.

The man beside Peter Parker looked as though he could not believe the sight. "O▬Osborn?" he breathed.

Spider-Man glanced at him. Before he could ask how he knew who this person was, the creature▬Osborn▬cackled a manic laugh and dived his glider down. Peter's eyes widened and he could not move, for once frozen with fear as the monster charged straight for him and did not slow down.

Just when Peter thought he would be hit, a blinding golden circle of sparks and fire washed over him and he yelped. He was swallowed by darkness.

He glanced down and spun around, seeing the stone floor and pillars▬the room was circular and dark; he could not see a thing. But he knew he was no longer on the bridge. No longer where that ... that thing had been.

Spider-Man took a few deep breaths, trying to see in the dark. His suit folded away from his body, but he was not relaxed. His heart was pounding, his hair was on end▬he was alert and hunched; a spider ready to leap away at even the slightest glimpse of danger.

He took a few steps forward, trying to see in the darkness. He could make out these windows▬because they glowed a dim bluish colour in the dark. He recognised what had brought him here, and Peter Parker whispered out a soft: "Doctor▬?"

The vicious snarl made him scream. He stumbled backwards and swivelled around, the rest of his scream stuck in the back of his throat to see the flash of slimy green scales. The large, dragon-like monster▬a giant lizard slammed into something and flung backwards. It roared, leaping back to the invisible barrier with a writhing tongue and sharp talons, desperate to reach him.

Peter scrambled away, eyes wide and feeling like his heart was going to burst. His feet skidded on loose stone and when he turned around again, he yelped and threw his arms up, stumbling away when the mysterious man with the metal arms charged at him. He was knocked back too by an invisible force, caged inside a small prison. He yelled with fury, his metal arms slamming and pounding away at the barrier.

He felt a hand on his shoulder.

Peter shrieked and flung up his arms, ready to hit whoever touched him▬only to recognise the red cloak and goatee and he slumped, breathless.

Dr. Strange didn't look much better. He had a cut on one cheek and a bruise on his brow. He glowered at Spider-Man. "Be careful what you wish for, Parker."

The man from the bridge slammed his hands against the barrier. "Let me out of here!" he shouted.

Peter took a wheezing breath, clutching at his chest and heart▬double checking that he was still alive. "C▬Can▬" he took another deep breath, "▬can you please explain to me what is going on?"

Dr. Strange chuckled bitterly. "That little spell that you botched where you wanted everyone to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, it started pulling in everyone who knows Peter Parker is Spider-Man from every universe into this one."

Another chill crawled down Peter's spine. "From every universe...?"

"Who are you?!" the man was still shouting, his metal arms flailing wildly in his prison. "Where am I?!"

"I think it's best we don't engage with them," said Dr. Strange, "because, frankly, the multiverse is a concept about which we know frighteningly little."

And just like that, Peter Parker's fear washed away with a shocked breath of excitement. His eyes widened and his mouth fell agape. In a very high-pitched voice, he squeaked: "The multiverse is real?!"

Dr. Strange just sighed. He looked exhausted. "This shouldn't even be possible."

"But I thought you stopped the spell?"

"No, I contained it," he corrected. "But it would appear a few of them squeaked through▬" he gestured to the man from the bridge. "Probably because there is already a fracture in space-time thanks to your little girlfriend▬" Peter stared at him, the excitement leaving him the moment he mentioned Nina, but Dr. Strange moved on far too quickly for Peter to cut him off. "After you left, I detected an otherworldly presence. I pursued it into the sewers, where I found that..." he stopped as he pointed at the creature in the other cell. Peter glanced over and quickly scurried away when he saw the ginormous lizard bare its teeth, "... slimy, green son of a gun."

Spider-Man held his hand up, wanting to backtrack. "Whoa, hold on a second▬what did you say about Nina?" Peter's frown turned very troubled. "What do you mean there's already a fracture? What has any of this got to do with her? Is she all right? Is she hurt▬?"

"She's ... fine."

"You don't sound reassured. That wasn't a reassuring voice▬"

The strange man on the bridge interrupted them. "Spell? As in magic?" He scowled at the two of them. "What is this, a birthday party? Who is this clown? What is this madness?"

Dr. Strange nodded at Peter. "Watch this." He turned to the man with the metal arms. "Do you know a Peter Parker who's Spider-Man?"

"Yes."

The sorcerer pointed to Peter. "Is that him?"

"No."

Peter's brows furrowed, very confused.

Dr. Strange continued. "Do you know a girl by the name of Nina Hart?"

"Yes."

Peter spun to the man, his breath hitched. His heart started to pound at the answer. His mind was buzzing, going too fast for him to even try to catch up. But he managed to rummage for his phone in his pocket and showed the man the picture he had of Nina on his lock screen. "You▬you know her? You know her?"

The man narrowed his eyes at the picture on Peter Parker's phone. Then he glanced up and although he did not seem happy to answer their questions, he said: "That's Nina Hart, yes. Younger, but it looks like her."

Peter's hand trembled. "H▬How...?" he turned back to Dr. Strange, wanting an explanation. "I'm sorry, how does he recognise my girlfriend? What the hell is going on?"

Dr. Strange sighed. He held his hands up to his temples but after another deep breath, he gestured his hands to Peter and explained. "The multiverse is vastly undiscovered. Think of every decision you have ever made▬left or right, yes or no. Everything that could have been and everything that never came to be. There is a world out there, exactly like this one, where that one thing has come to be. A slight difference where..." he tried to think of an example, "... I don't know ... another candidate became President or the Avengers moved to the East Coast▬whatever! The point is, every universe is supposed to be different from the last. They are not connected by anything. That is how it is supposed to be ..."

Peter Parker continued to frown, his stomach twisting with a dreadful feeling. "Okay...? And what's Nina got to do with any of this?"

"Your girlfriend shouldn't be here," Dr. Strange told him, almost sounding furious by the fact. "She should not even exist in this universe▬or any other!"

"What?" He let out, scoffing. "That doesn't▬?"

"Nina Hart should have died," the sorcerer's words were clipped with no sympathy▬not anymore. Peter's confusion dropped from his face as Dr. Strange's words hit his chest like a sledgehammer. "She was supposed to die in her universe because you weren't supposed to catch her." Spider-Man stared at Dr. Strange, his words falling away as he was stuck in a jarring surprise that turned into something sickening in his stomach. He shook his head, not wanting to listen or even believe what he was hearing. There was some part of him that wasn't hearing those words at all▬they were muddled and muffled, and he could not comprehend what all of this meant.

"And yet somehow▬" Dr. Strange flung his hands out, "▬whatever happened in that universe changed things. Nina Hart didn't die and it cracked the fabric of space-time. The only way to fix it was to have there be a Nina Hart in every universe. An anomaly turned into a canon event." Finally, Dr. Strange hesitated when he saw the look of horror on Peter's face. His voice dropped and became soft, not wanting to finish ... but now that he started, he could not stop. Stephen Strange took another breath but continued. "In every universe, there is a Nina Hart. In every universe, she meets Peter Parker. And in every universe ... Nina Hart dies. Nina Hart needs to die."

Peter Parker felt sick to the stomach. He felt worse than sick. Spider-Man shook his head again, slow at first, but then faster▬sure. "No," he managed, his voice sounding distant. "N▬no. You're▬you're wrong▬"

Dr. Strange sighed. "Look, kid▬"

"I'm not a kid!" Peter let out, his heart twisting painfully▬he found it hard to breathe again. "You're wrong. You said▬" he pointed a finger at him, "▬that you know almost nothing about the multiverse! How do you know that Nina is▬that Nina's supposed▬?" Peter Parker choked and he clenched his fists. "You're wrong!" he said again.

"Parker," Dr. Strange tried to calm him down but he stepped away, breathing heavily through his nose.

"How can you say that?" Peter's voice got stuck in the back of his throat. "How can you just▬just say that like she's▬" He shook his head, blinking furiously away at tears that were welling in his eyes. "I don't believe you."

"Look around you, kid," the sorcerer gestured to the man with the metal arms and the giant lizard. "The multiverse is real, they know who your girlfriend is▬It is your girlfriend's fate▬"

"Her name's Nina!" snapped Peter, all of this turning him quite frantic and distressed▬but also livid. "She▬she has a life. And she has the best personality and she has a future! She deserves a future! To▬to achieve her dreams and become the best scientist in the▬She's not going to die. You▬" he pointed at Dr. Strange again, "▬are wrong."

"Look, Parker▬" Strange clasped his hands together, watching Peter take a furious breath through his nose and turn around. "I get that it's hard to take in, but right now, we have to stop these visitors and send them back to where they came from or it won't just be your girlfriend's life at risk, it will be the entire universe. I don't know how many visitors we've got▬"

Peter pursed his lips and muttered. "I saw another one on the bridge." He wasn't happy▬at all. He refused to believe a word Dr. Strange was telling him. He wanted to shout not just at him, but at the universe. But he was right about one thing. They had to stop these guys▬stop that guy on the bridge, before he hurt a lot of people. "He was like a ...flying green elf."

"Well, he sounds jolly," said Dr. Strange sarcastically. "Why don't you start with him? I need you to capture them, bring them here while I figure out how to get them back before they destroy the fabric of reality▬or worse, Wong finds out."

Peter watched him walk away and he gritted his teeth. "Doctor Strange?"

"What?" he grumbled, annoyed. But he turned around.

"My friends and I just got a second chance to get into M.I.T. and if the school sees me fighting these crazy monsters▬"

"Hey!" snapped the guy with the metal arms. "Watch your mouth!"

Peter hunched up. "Hey, I'm sorry, but▬"

"Are you seriously still talking about college?" grumbled Strange before throwing his hand forward.

Spider-Man yelped when a force pushed him at the waist. He glanced down, shocked to see the nanotechnology of his crawl up his body and down his arm to his right web shooter. He struggled but could do nothing as Dr. Strange snatched it off Peter's wrist with a flick of his hand and it flew across the room onto his arm.

He waved his hand over it and in a brilliant shower of light, the web shooter turned into a mystical, deep golden sight▬glowing with the same power and runes of the magic Strange wielded on his fingertips.

Peter frowned. "Hey, what did you just do?"

"This▬" Strange pressed the trigger and instead of his usual webs, a string of glowing bronze sprung out and latched around Peter. He yelped when he felt his whole body boil and just like that, the room disappeared around him.

He gasped when he felt the solid ground again, dazed and confused. "Hey! You can't just▬" He turned and tried to walk only to slam his nose right into the same invisible barrier the others were behind. "Ow!" he exclaimed, clutching his nose as he staggered backwards.

The man with the metal arms narrowed his eyes on Strange. "How did you do that?"

"Lots of birthday parties▬" grumbled the sorcerer before moving over to the pedestal in the centre of the room. He turned it to a precise lock and the barrier keeping Peter trapped dematerialised and he stumbled back out into the room.

When he regained his footing, he set a furious scowl on the wizard. "Hey, what do you think you're▬?"

He just flung out his hand again and Peter's web shooter soared back across the room. He stumbled when it latched back onto his wrist, and the strange new device sat snugly around his arm. Peter stared at it, not sure whether he was scared or amazed.

"One shot, send them here, move on," Dr. Stephen Strange spun on his heel and started towards the exit again. "You're welcome. Get to work."

Peter did not feel welcome at all. In fact, he felt like Dr. Strange had given him the worst birthday gift in the world and then was going to leave like nothing had happened. He had told him that his girlfriend, Nina Hart, was destined to die and there was nothing Spider-Man could do to stop it from happening▬and he was just supposed to accept that? To just forget about it and stop these bad guys as if her life meant nothing?

It made Spider-Man want to test out his new web shooter on Dr. Strange himself. "Sir?"

Dr. Strange let out a long, exasperated sigh and Peter Parker clenched his jaw. "Now what?"

Spider-Man squared his shoulders and lifted his chin, determined. "I know this is my mess," he told Dr. Strange, "and I swear to you that I will fix it, but I'm gonna need help."

And I will prove you wrong, he didn't add but promised to himself.

Spider-Man made a promise not just to himself, nor Dr. Strange▬but to the entire universe:

Nina Hart was not going to die.

Peter Parker will make sure of it.

*ೃ༄

a/n:

the english language: pick one. dr. strange. or doctor strange.
me: ... nah.

i most definitely created plotholes to multiverse of madness but i don't rly care at all about dr. strange (sorry not sorry) and i won't write the movie so yeah, i probably created plot holes but it works for this book and that's all that matters.

peter knows guys. peter knowwwwwssssss.

agh shit things are hitting the fan.

dr strange annoys me lol. especially in this movie. he's a super interesting character, don't get me wrong and i love ben. but he just annoys me.

lol not them talking about nina and peter about to have a breakdown while doc ock just stands there like: 🧍🏻‍♂️

i'm about to go to the dietitian so i don't have the picture of the meme but like it's so iconic that i don't really need to have it lol. i'll post it again next chapter anyway.

Nina: hey, tiger-
*cue the pointing meme from spider-verse 2*. (and i mean the one with ALL of them in it hahahah).

speaking of spider-verse 2, dr. strange and miguel would get along just swell! *rolls eyes*.

also imma just let you guess what universe was the first universe which nina was supposed to die hehe and why she didn't. i'm not revealing it just yet-

sometimes i like my action scenes. other times i'm like ew.

(minimal editing).