Earth-86445, the past.
"I'm not entirely sure if this is right, but... I get the feeling that the origin of Spider-Man in this universe has nothing to do with magic?"
Jessica Drew and Spider-Man 2099, Miguel O'Hara, stood together on the roof of Midtown High School. In a few dozen minutes, this place would be destroyed, making it the perfect time for Jessica to ask about the origin of this universe's Spider-Man.
"That depends on your perspective, Spider-Woman. If you believe this universe's Spider-Man got his powers from that mutated spider, then yes, it really has nothing to do with magic. But the catch is, that very spider is part of a time loop, and the time loop itself was essentially created by Strange. The origin of this universe's Spider-Man is a temporal closed loop caused by magic—at least, that's the view of the Peter Parker from your world."
"What about you? Which side do you think is right?"
Miguel offered no judgment. "I'm just waiting to see if our enemy shows up. That will tell us who's right."
So, the two of them waited. Following her personal habit, Jessica began browsing through the data and records of this world's Midtown High School. Strangely enough, S.H.I.E.L.D. in this universe had collapsed back in 2014 due to the Hydra infiltration, yet her system was still able to run smoothly and hack into the school's database.
"It looks like I don't exist in this universe... at least, there's no record of me at Midtown High, and no Gwen either... I feel like this universe is missing a few limbs, like a lot of people are just gone."
"That's completely normal. Some universes barely have anyone. We've even encountered a universe with only Daredevil and the Punisher, where superpowered individuals don't exist at all." Miguel squatted down as he spoke, doing his best to ensure they wouldn't be spotted, while lowering his voice to warn her, "Our target is here."
Jessica and Miguel crouched low, watching the Peter Parker of this universe walk over from a distance. The timeline here was currently 2016, but this Peter was only fifteen years old, about three years younger than the one back in their world. Having not yet acquired his spider powers, he was nearsighted, wearing glasses as he walked toward the school all by himself.
"Is it just my imagination? I feel like he's a bit short right now."
"He's over a year younger than the Peter Parker from your world, plus he's slouching and hunching his back. In reality, they're about the same height." As Miguel spoke, he began scanning the surrounding area for other people, checking to see if the mastermind behind the scenes had arrived.
As for Jessica, she continued to deliver her sharp commentary.
"He's still wearing glasses at this point... I think he looks pretty cute with glasses, don't you think?"
"Well... once he gets bitten by the spider today, he won't be wearing them anymore. Here they come."
A golden sling ring portal manifested in midair, and a symbiote monster charged out along with Doctor Strange. The two immediately locked into a fierce brawl. Before long, Midtown High School would be reduced to ruins.
Jessica glanced at the battlefield, asking with a hint of hesitation, "Don't we need to go help?"
"We can't help. We must not disrupt the stability of the timeline and create more divergent universes. Our job is to keep an eye out for the enemies of the Spider-Totems. If your conscience is bothering you, I can tell you that according to the data, this incident only caused economic damage. The casualties were zero."
"Oh, uh, alright then..."
Jessica nodded and muttered something under her breath. She then fixed her gaze on the portal. Together with Miguel, she saw a spider falling out of it, and something seemed to be happening on the other side of the gateway.
At the same time, they looked in the other direction. After a few seconds, Miguel, unsure if an enemy was actually present, asked Jessica, "Is your Spider-Sense reacting to anything?"
"I don't have a Spider-Sense."
"You don't have a Spider-Sense?!" Miguel almost shouted in shock. He turned to look at Jessica in disbelief. "The other three Spider-Totems from Earth-616 all have a Spider-Sense! You don't have one?"
"Yeah... probably because we weren't bitten by the same spider. Wait, don't tell me you don't have a Spider-Sense either?"
Jessica's question struck Miguel silent. He indeed did not have a Spider-Sense. With so many Spider-Totems in the Spider-Society and across the multiverse, it just so happened that the two assigned to this mission both lacked a Spider-Sense.
Miguel let out a helpless sigh, while Jessica noticed something. "Wait a minute, someone is approaching Peter Parker!"
A man dressed in a sharp suit ran up to Peter Parker, who was standing frozen in place. The man was about to yell "Watch out!" and tackle him out of the way when Miguel kicked him flying. Before the local Peter Parker could even react, a spider fell along a severed strand of webbing right onto his neck, biting him hard and causing him to cry out in surprise.
Meanwhile, Miguel realized something was wrong. If a normal human took a direct kick from him, they would either pass out on the spot or be completely immobilized. Yet, the man in front of him merely rolled across the ground and quickly stood back up. This made Miguel realize that the person before him was a superhuman.
"As expected... who exactly are you?"
"To think the Spider-Totems would get here even faster than Mother anticipated..." the man muttered to himself instead of answering. He turned and fled immediately. Miguel gave chase right away, but as he rounded a corner, he only saw Jessica, who had run from the other side to cut the man off.
Miguel asked hastily, "Where did that guy go?"
"I don't know, I didn't see him."
"..."
Miguel frowned, then realized what had happened. He activated his watch to perform a scan. "There are traces of spatial distortion. Our enemy possesses cross-dimensional teleportation capabilities, which isn't surprising at all. He must have fled far away by now."
"What do we do then? Should we scan the trail and hunt him down?"
Miguel had intended to say yes, but then he glanced up at the sky. Above them, the local Strange was dragging the symbiote monster back through the portal. A sudden inspiration struck Miguel. "No, we're taking a shortcut. Follow me!"
The local Strange had just returned to the future. Before he could even close the portal, he saw two Spider-Men leap through it. Before he could grasp what was happening, the doors to the laboratory they were currently in were violently kicked open. Over a dozen men in suits burst inside all at once. Then, their skin split open in unison, transforming them into insect-like monsters.
The two Peter Parkers present cried out almost simultaneously: "Kamen Rider?"
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