"I have a small suggestion. If it's just the two of us dealing with this many multiversal villains, we might not be able to keep up. Don't you have any backup or something?"
Since two Doctor Octopuses from different universes had already shown up, Peter did not even dare imagine whether other variants from other universes might appear as well. If it was just the two of them, their efficiency would be way too low.
And what if those villains decided to team up and gang up on them?
Sure, his abilities made him almost impossible to kill, but if he got blasted into dust, there was no way he could revive from that. At that point, he would have no choice but to use his death substitute. That was his last trump card for staying alive. He could not waste it on something like this.
"Sorry, but I can't offer any help with that. I still need to use my magic to keep this world from collapsing. I'm afraid you'll have to come up with a solution yourselves."
Doctor Strange gave him an apologetic look. If the world were not on the verge of collapsing, he could absolutely step in and help. But right now, he had to patch the cracks in reality and stop more people from other universes from slipping through.
Otherwise, the workload would only get worse.
"Do you have any kind of little magical item that can temporarily make people recognized by this world, so they can stay here a bit longer?"
Peter opened his mind and asked.
"What do you need that for?"
"To be honest, I have a small multiversal team that might come in handy. But I can't summon them lightly, because their arrival might also affect this universe. And even if they come, they can only stay in this universe for one hour. So I was wondering if there's an item that could let them stay a little longer."
Peter told the truth. After all, with things having reached this point, the two of them alone could not possibly handle everything. Naturally, the more help they had, the better.
If he could get help from Harry, the Ultimate Green Goblin Norman, and the spider-soul weaver, Elda Valetta, things would be much easier.
"Wait, you have your own team? That's so cool!"
The younger Peter looked at him excitedly. He had always wanted a superhero team of his own, but he was the youngest among these superheroes. He was always the one being managed, never the one managing others.
"All right. At most, I can extend their time by six hours."
As he spoke, Doctor Strange cast another spell, engraving a pattern onto Peter's magic bracelet. That magical pattern could extend the amount of time people from other universes could exist in this one.
As for why the Lizard, Doctor Octopus, and Otto Parker did not have a time limit, it was because they had been pulled here by cracks in the universe itself. In a sense, that made them immune to the restrictions of the multiverse.
"Thanks."
"Uh, Mr. Stephen, I think I can also bring my little team in to help."
The younger Peter spoke weakly.
"How come I didn't know you had friends from other universes?"
"No, they're from this universe."
"You don't mean your girlfriend and that chubby friend of yours, do you?"
Doctor Strange sounded a little surprised, but then he nodded and said, "Fine. As long as they can help, that's not a problem."
The younger Peter's girlfriend, MJ, was smart and brave. When it came to handling certain things, she was actually much more mature than him.
As for his chubby friend Ned, he had used ordinary computer equipment to track enemy locations more than once. Many of Peter's missions had gone smoothly thanks to that good friend of his.
Of course, while Ned was far from perfect, he had still done a pretty good job.
And in this universe, the little three-person team was similar to Peter's antihero dimensional squad. They all seemed to have some strange buff attached to them. Maybe they really would produce an unexpected result.
What the two Peters needed most right now was technical support and logistics. If the two of them just charged in headfirst, it would not be efficient at all.
The younger Peter excitedly said he would be right back, then ran out of the Sorcerer Supreme's Sanctum Sanctorum.
After he left, Doctor Strange also left the room. He now needed to use his magic to maintain the stability of this universe.
The room fell completely silent. Only Peter and the three people trapped inside the containers were left staring at one another.
The Lizard, Connors, could not understand what they had been talking about at all. After all, his beast instincts were currently in control. But since the air was so quiet, he did not want to make any sound either. That was a lizard's unique human-mimicking skill. Of course, since he was currently being displayed inside a container, the attempt at camouflage only looked ridiculous.
As for Otto Parker and Doctor Octopus, they had been eavesdropping on the conversation. After they were discovered, neither of them made a sound. They just stared straight at Peter.
"Don't look at me like that, Otto Parker… fine, that name still feels weird. Earlier, I asked you to join my little team. What do you think?"
"I'm not joining your stupid team! Dream on!"
"What if I told you I could change the fate of your death?"
"Hey! Now you're just talking nonsense! The one who died was Peter Parker! I'm the one who survived!"
Looking at that face, which was identical to the Ultimate Spider-Man from another parallel universe, Peter sighed.
Another guy with the same face as him.
"But your original body is already gone."
"As far as I know, you're probably going to die later too."
"Stop trying to bluff me!"
"Am I?"
Peter smiled faintly, then slowly said, "If I remember correctly, you should be from 2012. You've only just taken over this body, right?"
"But in 2014, you and Spider-Man 2099 were surrounded by robots sent by the Green Goblin. You realized that even though you could have Spider-Man's body, equipment, memories, and even his advanced technology, you still didn't have Spider-Man's will, perseverance, or selfless spirit. So you returned to where it all began. You went back to Parker Industries and deleted your own consciousness, returning the body to Peter Parker so he could save New York."
"Tell me, if that doesn't count as dying, what does?"
"Peter Parker's consciousness has already completely disappeared! Why would I be stupid enough to delete my own consciousness and return the body to him?!"
Otto Parker shouted angrily at Peter. He really did not want to listen to this guy's nonsense.
"You think you know this body better than I do? You probably don't know that even after a consciousness swap, traces of the original consciousness can remain in the body, do you? Haven't you noticed that everything you do is becoming more and more like Spider-Man? Don't flashes of the other me becoming Spider-Man keep appearing in your mind?"
"Your conscience will only grow more and more restless. The truth is, you're becoming another version of me. Otherwise, why would you change your name to Otto Parker and call yourself the Superior Spider-Man?"
Peter's smile and words were like a sharp blade, completely tearing open the barrier in Otto's heart.
How could Otto not know that what Peter said might be true?
Because the hidden consciousness inside this body had indeed been influencing him all this time. He had tried to dig that consciousness out and delete it, but when he actually attempted to do so, he could not find any trace of it at all.
Since this Peter knew his identity, then it was not impossible for him to know his future too.
At that thought, Otto Parker almost had no idea what to say.
"Will I die too?"
Doctor Octopus, who was beside him, asked.
"If I remember correctly, you die even earlier than he does."
At that moment, the smile on Peter's face became even more sinister.
(End of Chapter)
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