Octopus Trouble
The coordinates given by J'onn J'onzz had led Alex to the Alexander Bridge. On her motorbike, she passed between the cars and noticed Peter wearing a crinkled suit. He was trying to locate the taxi driver of the MIT administrator. Traffic jams prevented cars from moving on the bridge. Peter spotted the taxi and tried to plead his friends' case to MIT's assistant vice chancellor.
Alex stopped her motorcycle near Peter, looking around. She didn't notice anything unusual. Cars were caught in traffic congestion. There was nothing out of the ordinary. What would this energy signature be?
"There must be something here!" said Alex puzzled.
Meanwhile, as Peter tried to negotiate college admissions for his friends, his spider senses became agitated indicating an imminent danger. Seeing him, Alex left her motorcycle and started to join him when she noticed people abandoning their vehicles and fleeing the bridge on foot, completely scared.
Peter came to the roof of the MIT administrator's car and activated his Iron-Spider suit which covered him from head to toe.
Stunned, Alex activated her Martian weapon, and immediately found herself wrapped in a black and blue suit. Her Sentinel outfit. With the advanced technology of Mars. Since leaving the DEO, she had made a vigilante outfit and taken the name Sentinel. Her eyes were obscured by coloured paint and she wore a hood hiding her hair.
Spider-Man noticed her.
"Alex, is that you?" he wondered.
"My vigilante outfit." says Alex with pride. "With the Martian technology, you like it? And my name's Sentinel!"
"Awesome!" replied Spider-Man.
"We'll talk about it later." she said, reminding her of the bridge. "Why are all these people running away like this? What's going on?"
"Something is going on, but I don't know what it is." said the Queens' hero.
A shock wave spread under the cars, the road disintegrated slowly. Spider-Man tapped the roof of the MIT administrator's car.
"Uh, ma'am? You should get out of the car." he warned the passenger before addressing the crowd fleeing the bridge, screaming in fear. "Everybody get off the bridge!"
"Get off the bridge!" added Alex, addressing the motorists and their passengers. "Leave your vehicles and go off the bridge! Fast! Run! Run! Get off the bridge!"
The driver of the MIT woman's car runs away, leaving her behind.
"We're locked. Doors... " she pointed out as she tried to leave the car.
She also noticed that her driver was leaving her. She called him, but he was already away.
Cars on the bridge were wobbling, while the road to the bridge was cracking, metal tentacles with claws breaking cars and exploding them and dust and smoke formed.
"What the devil…?" said Alex, puzzled.
Spider-Man and Sentinel watched a middle-aged man emerge from the smoke wearing dark glasses and a trench-coat with metal tentacles attached to a harness around his torso.
"A guy with mechanical arms?" Alex murmured in shock. "That's new!"
The man saw Spider-Man and smiled at him.
"Hello, Peter."
Supergirl's sister looked at both Spider-Man and this man. Apparently this individual with metal tentacles knew him.
Spider-Man waved a clumsy hand. He was totally confused.
"Hi? Have we... Do I know you?"
"Do you know this guy?" asked him Alex puzzled.
"No, I never seen him before." Spider-Man replied before turning his attention to the sinister tentacle-haired individual.
"What have you done with my machine?" asked the man with a fierce look.
"Your mach... I don't know what you're talking about. What machine?" said Spider-Man more and more confused.
"The power of the sun in the palm of my hand. It's gone." said the man with a grim look of madness.
"The power of the sun in his hand? Who the hell is that guy?" said Alex, stunned.
"Listen, sir. If you stop smashing cars, we could work together and I can help you find your machine." said Spider-Man in an attempt to calm the man.
But the latter was content to smile maliciously.
"You wanna play games?"
In his words, one of his tentacles pierced the roof of one of the cars closest to him. The people inside panicked in fear.
"CATCH!" he roars.
He threw the cars to Spider-Man and Alex. The vigilante managed to avoid one by throwing herself flat on the ground, and Spider-Man was hit by the other. Looking through the front window of the car he was pressed against, he saw a frightened family inside. As they flew over the bridge, Spider-Man climbed into the car, grabbed the bumper and threw a canvas. After removing the door from the car, he quickly led the family to the bridge.
The tentacle man threw a new car at Alex, who managed to avoid it. She ran towards him, materializing a weapon.
"Sir. Stay where you are!"
The man gave her a suspicious look.
"Who are you? Parker's new girlfriend?"
"No!" roars Alex, firing an energy discharge from her weapon.
The shock came to immobilize the man in the trench-coat, who could not move. He tried to move, but it was as if an invisible force was trapping him.
"What the hell is... this?" he growled, shaking his body.
"Paralyzing Ray." Alex replied by holding him prisoner with her paralysing weapon.
The man was paralyzed, but not his tentacles which agitated in all directions, like serpents in fury. One of his tentacles grabbed Alex by the hand and lifted her. Its paralyzing effect faded and the dangerous individual found the use of all his limbs. Alex was lifted up by a tentacle that held her hand. The young woman fought, but the other tentacles caught all her limbs, immobilizing her.
"Whoever you are, little lady, you should not have fight to me!" the individual growled with a threatening look.
The metallic tentacles began to crush Alex's arms and legs, making her moan with pain.
Spider-Man, who had just rescued a car crash, rushed to help Supergirl's sister.
"Sentinel! "
He leapt up and landed on the four-armed man, who released his grip on Alex. Spider-Man attacked his enemy with fists, but one of the mechanical appendages caught him and wrapped himself around his chest.
Sentinel took an inspiration and immediately got up to help his young friend. But before she could step towards him, she was again caught by a mechanical arm and sent her straight on the windshield of a car.
Alex moans as he comes out of the broken windshield.
"His metallic tentacles are alive?!" she exclaimed, stunned. "What the hell is this? What the hell is this guy?"
The octopus man held Spider-Man wrapped by one of his mechanical arms.
"You think your fancy new suit's gonna save you?" he replied with a ferocious grunt.
Another tentacular claw grabbed Spider-Man's head and threw it into the GM's assistant's car, forcing the vehicle to pass over the edge of the bridge, with the MIT administrator still stuck inside.
He then threw Spider-Man through a highway sign, landing in a crash on the windshield of a truck.
He advanced, being helped by his tentacular arms that held him in the air. When suddenly, an arrow lands on the ground from nowhere. Intrigued, the man looked at it, then the arrow exploded, causing smoke to appear that blinded and suffocated him.
"What the... ?"
Through the smoke, a green figure appeared from nowhere and gave him a kick, causing him to fall to the ground. While on the ground, he noticed the silhouette of a young woman wearing a green suit with a bow and arrows.
"Stay down, pal!"
But a tentacular arm came to throw her out of him on the road. The man stood up and stared at the archer in amazement.
"Who are you? Miss Robin Hood? Who do you think you are with your bow and arrows?" he grumbled.
The female archer stood up and aimed her enemy with her arrow in her bow.
"I am Green Arrow!"
She shot an arrow at him, but was caught by a metal tentacle that broke it in pieces. Green Arrow was intrigued.
"Okay. That's new! A guy with mechanical arms!" she commented, stunned.
"Kid, I don't have time to have fun!" the individual replied with annoyance. "Put your arrows away and go play somewhere else!"
"I will not leave until I have my answers!" snarled Green Arrow threatening. "Where is William?"
"Who is William?" asked her enemy quite angry.
"Wrong answer!" grunted the archer by shooting a new arrow.
But it was again caught by one of the metallic tentacles that destroyed it.
"Fascinating your arrows, girly!" the malicious man commented with an admiring air. "But you're making a big mistake by attacking me!"
"You made a mistake by attacking this bridge, pal!" Green Arrow always pointed her bow at him. "Now, where the hell's my brother?"
"Kid, I don't know you, and I don't care of you! I want to get back my machine so that the power of the sun can be held in the palm of my hand again!"
Green Arrow tried to shoot an arrow again, but two of the mechanical tentacles grabbed her by both legs, lifted her up and threw her into the car where the MIT administrator was still trapped.
Half groggy, Alex returned to the road, and then saw the archer who had just been thrown on a car.
"A Green Arrow now?" she exclaimed, more and more.
She approached her, and recognized her with astonishment. She had already met her as Mia Queen, Oliver's daughter, who came from the future. She met her during the Crisis on Infinite Earths.
"I know you! You're Mia, Oliver Queen's daughter! What are you doing here?"
The future Green Arrow moans in pain and stares at Alex with amazement.
"What the hell is going? What's…?" she wondered.
Then, remembering that Peter was in trouble, Alex ran to catch up with the sinister metal tentacle man.
"So where was I?" he grumbled as he advanced towards the road where he had projected Spider-Man.
"Peter, you've made new friends, but they can't do anything for you! I should've killed your little girlfriend when I had the chance!"
"His girlfriend?" said Alex stunned by stopping a few feet from him. "He knows Michelle Jones too?"
The four tentacles of the Iron-Spider suit pierced the roof of the van, pulling Spider-Man up. His masked eyes shrink in anger.
"What did you just say?" he says with rage.
"Looks like we got competition." commented the malicious man, addressing his own tentacles at the sight of Spider-Man's mechanical arms.
Spider-Man jumped into the street and used his pliers to fight off the tentacles of his mad enemy. He managed to nail him to a car, but was quickly caught by his tentacles and thrown against the hood of another vehicle, creating a huge bump. Then he deflected two potentially fatal shots, in counterattack again and propelled himself into the air when the evil man approached two cars to crush him. Spider-Man dodged them.
Green Arrow stood up and saw Spider-Man facing his tentacled foe.
"Spider-Man?! In Star City?!" she was stunned. "What the hell is happening? And what is this ultra-sophisticated suit he wears?!"
She ran to the place of battle.
Spider-Man was fighting his opponent with tentacles. Then, Alex came to help by attacking the individual with her Martian weapons. She fired several energy discharges, but the tentacles made the man dodge the young woman's attacks.
"Where do you get these incredible gadgets?" exclaimed the individual stunned.
"It helps to have a friend who's from Mars." replied Alex with a sarcastic look. "And you, where do you get your tentacles, Mr. Octopus? "
"It's Dr. Octopus!" replied the man in a sullen tone.
Alex tried to attack him, but a tentacular arm grabbed her by the hand and threw her away. Then it was the turn of Green Arrow who shot several arrows at him. But the metallic tentacles intercepted the projectiles of the archer and destroyed them.
"Green Arrow?" said Spider-Man.
Green Arrow managed to dodge three tentacles, but the fourth caught his leg and threw it like a bundle on the ground.
Spider-Man and Doctor Octopus headed for a bridge, with a helicopter following them from above. Spider-Man tried to weave his opponent who defended himself with the tentacles, then jumped forward and kicked him back in the chest, landing on the deck like a real superhero.
"PETER! HELP!" shouted MIT's assistant vice chancellor from her car which threatened to fall over the broken railing of the bridge.
Her car was about to fall out the road. Spider-Man tried to get away, but Doc Ock trapped him with his tentacles and tried to crush his head against the rotor of the helicopter. Spider-Man freed himself and went down the street, with Octopus following closely behind. The malicious man dropped a huge concrete tube on the Queens' hero, who avoided him, and then moved away from the claw of Doctor Octopus, which pierced the windshield of a car instead, and slid down as his enemy swept the street with the same tube.
"DON'T WORRY, MA'AM! I'M COMING!" Spider-Man shouted running towards the balancing car of the MIT administrator.
But he was thrown against the side of a car by one of the pipes. He quickly ran back to the MIT's assistant vice chancellor's vehicle, which was beginning to tip over.
"PETER!" she yelled, putting on her seat belt.
Octopus came to grab a Nissan car and threw it at the hero of Queens.
"PETER, WATCH OUT!" Alex yelled at him.
Spider-Man made a back flip, bowing over the roof of the projected vehicle until the car crashed into water-filled impact attenuators.
Then he quickly grabbed the MIT administrator car as it fell. He was dragged behind it, his arms of Iron-Spider opening up to grip the edge of the bridge, as the car plunged towards the railway tracks below.
Green Arrow ran to the rail and came to shoot arrows with a grappling hook that clung to the rear bumpers of the car.
The vehicle stopped just before a freight train passed. Inside the car, the lady trembled in shock as Spider-Man and Green Arrow tightly encased the car in the bridge. Then Spider-Man stooped down to her door.
"Ma'am, just stay calm. " says Spider-Man kindly to the lady stuck in the car hanging in the void. "Just take a deep breath. Are you okay?"
"NO!" cried the administrator terrified in the car held in the void.
Alex grabbed the Green Arrow's grappling hook and went down to the car to help the passenger out, when Doc Ock appeared on the lower side of the bridge and suddenly caught Peter and Alex, throwing them into the air.
"We have got it... all under control!" exclaimed Spider-Man as he was being blown everywhere by Octopus' tentacles in the air.
"WE HAVEN'T ANYTHING UNDER CONTROL!" exclaimed Alex who was also being swung from everywhere in the air. "THESE TENTACLES ARE ALIVE!"
Green Arrow went down to join the car. Once she reached the vehicle, she used one of her arrows to open the door, and joined the MIT administrator who uttered a shock scream at the sight of the archer.
"It's okay, ma'am." assured her Green Arrow. "I'm here to help you! Hold on to me! I'll get you up!"
Meanwhile, Doctor Octopus smashed Spider-Man across the bridge and then plunked him against the lower deck. Alex could do nothing, being imprisoned and abused by a tentacle. A tentacular claw ripped off Spider-Man's nanotechnology torso, revealing his crumpled suit underneath.
"Suit compromised." announced the AI of Peter's suit.
"Nanotechnology." exclaimed Octopus as he watched the chestpiece dissolve itself in shapeless metal goo. "Ah, you've outdone yourself, Peter."
Iron-Spider's nanotech began to meld with the tentacles of Doctor Octopus' tentacles, transforming them into a hybrid of Octopus' AI-tech and Stark's nanotech. Even the tentacle that still held Alex was covered with it.
Unaware of what was happening to his mechanical arms, Octopus turned his attention to Spider-Man still clinging to a wall of the lower deck. A point came out of the tentacle next to Octopus, ready for the final blow.
"I underestimated you. But now, you die."
"PETER!" yelled Alex helpless and still held in the air by a tentacle.
While Doctor Octopus launched a deadly blow, the Iron-Spider technology defensively displaced the nanos to cover Spider-Man's chest, exposing Peter's face. The clamp grabbed Peter by the neck and he gasped, but when Octopus removed the claw, the tip was bent and a piece of Peter's tie hung on it. The man with tentacles suddenly appeared confused. He pulled the helpless Spider-Man closer to him and removed his dark glasses.
"You're not Peter Parker..." he exclaimed, stunned and confused.
"I am so confused right now." Peter grumbled as he struggled.
"Me too." said Alex astonished and confused that Octopus doesn't recognize Spider-Man or Peter Parker.
Suddenly, the tentacles of Octopus stopped moving, as if they were paralysed, to the great surprise of the malicious man.
"What's happening?" he exclaimed.
"New device detected." announced the AI of Peter's suit.
"New device detected? What does that mean?" said Alex intrigued.
Peter noticed that the interface of his suit seemed to connect with the tentacles of Octopus.
"Pairing new device." continued the AI of the Iron-Spider.
Noticing that his mechanical arms did not follow him, Octopus roars with rage.
"Don't listen to him, you listen to me!"
"Peter, your suit controls the tentacles of this guy!" concludes Alex stunned.
Peter, having freed his hand, moved it up and down. One of the tentacles followed his movement. The boy laughs.
"Enough! Listen to me! Not him!" said Octopus with anger.
Peter had his fingers move, which at the same time made the claws of the tentacles move. Which made him even more amusing. He made other gestures with his hand, and the tentacular arms always followed his movements.
"Peter, when you're done playing with your new toys, you could bring us up." Alex says to him annoyingly still held in the void.
"Uh, right... sorry." stammered Peter.
He used his hands to guide the tentacle that held Alex and another one that wrapped around Octopus at his great anger. And finally, he used the other free tentacles to bring them back on deck. Octopus tried to fight or catch Peter with his own hands, but it was useless: he had no control over his mechanical arms.
"Hey. Hey! Listen to me! No, not him! Me!"
Finally, all returned to the safety of the bridge. Peter freed Alex and ran to the MIT administrator who had been pulled from her car by Green Arrow.
Peter disguised his high-tech armor and joined the lady at MIT.
"Ma'am, are you okay? Come on, you can still make your flight."
The MIT administrator stared at the young man with wide eyes.
"Peter... You're a hero." she whispered.
"No. Well, I'm... No, I'm..." babbled on the young man from Queens.
"I'm gonna talk to Admissions about your friends... and I'm gonna talk to them about you." she assured him with sympathy.
"No, but, ma'am, this isn't about me."
"I'm going to talk to them about your friends and you. Okay?" she insisted in a categorical tone.
"Really?" cried Peter, jokingly.
"And if you keep your noses clean, maybe you'll have a fair shot."
Alex joined her in turn.
"Ma'am, you should go. The bridge isn't safe right now. Continue further, you can find a taxi to drive you to the airport."
The MIT administrator thanked Peter and Green Arrow for their rescue and walked away from the bridge.
Then the future's archer stared at Octopus still motionless near the broken railing of the bridge.
"What do we do with him?" she asked with a fierce look.
"It's okay." Alex assured her. "Spider-Man controls his tentacles with his suit."
"Are you really Green Arrow?" said Peter stunned at the sight of the archer. "Mia Queen? Oliver's daughter? I remember you!"
Green Arrow stared at the two heroes with stupor.
"Alex! Peter! What the hell are you doing in 2041? And at Star City?"
The two heroes looked at each other with confusion and stupor.
"Mia, we're not in Star City, neither the future." Alex explained, stunned.
"We are in New York in 2021." added Peter as shocked as she is.
This news caught Green Arrow off guard.
"What? Time travel? The Monitor again? What am I doing here? What the hell? I was supposed to find William..."
"Hold on!" Peter intervened, advancing towards Octopus. "First, we need to know who this guy is!"
The mad scientist, clenching his teeth, struck him two violent blows. Peter easily dodged them.
"Hey! Hey-hey-hey!" Peter said, revealing the holographic image of the mad scientist's tentacles. "I'm in control, buddy... of this whole tentacle situation you got going on here. Okay?"
Alex brandished a Martian weapon that she pointed at Doc Ock, while Green Arrow brandished her bow on him.
"Stay down, Doc Hyde!" Alex drew her gun on him. "Now that we're calm, you'll tell us who you are. And why you attacked the bridge."
Green Arrow added pointing one of her arrows at the sinister individual.
"Tell me where's William? TELL ME, RIGHT NOW!"
"I DON'T KNOW WHO WILLIAM IS!" Octopus roared, angry and exasperated. "I DON'T KNOW ANYTHING ABOUT A WILLIAM! I've no idea who you're talking about, Miss Robin Hood!"
"Who's William?" asked Peter confused. "Why do you think he knows something?"
"My brother William was kidnapped months ago." explained the female archer. "I've been looking for him all this time. I didn't find the slightest clue until I picked up some kind of energy. I followed it and it led me to this bridge. I thought it was from that human octopus!"
Octopus cast a hostile look at the archer.
"But you say I am no longer in 2041?" she was astonished. "Did I travel through time without knowing it?"
"I'm afraid so." Alex explained confused. "But why did you appear at the same time as this dude?"
"There's something wrong." added Peter stunned and confused.
But before he could go deeper into the matter, his spider senses kept him alert. Something dangerous was approaching. Then a metallic clattering sounded on the bridge. Peter, Alex and Green Arrow followed the noise to its source. They saw a metallic orange ball resembling a pumpkin bounce off the ground before beeping.
Suddenly, the ball exploded, destroying nearby cars as Peter, Alex and Green Arrow backed away in shock. Peter made his Iron-Spider costume materialize then he and the two vigilantes saw a silhouette emerge from the smoke at-Above the wreck before turning into a man in green armored suit with a green mask with yellow eyes riding a high-tech glider, in his hand another pumpkin bomb while the man giggled manically.
"Osborn?" exclaimed the man with tentacles, incredulous look and cringed eyes.
"Now what?" exclaimed Alex stunned.
The man in the green suit threw another pumpkin bomb, but Green Arrow fired an arrow that sent it back to the man as it exploded. The explosion stunned the man in green suit as his glider began to drift uncontrollably. Then he managed to regain control of his flight and flew at full speed on them. As the glider flew towards them, a ring of sparks sprang from nowhere and carried away Spider-Man, Alex, Green Arrow and Octopus.
All were taken to what appears to be an underground dungeon. Spider-Man had his Iron-Spider costume dispelled to become Peter again.
"Where are we now?" asked Green Arrow, stunned to have been transported somewhere against her sandstone.
"I think we're back in Strange's basement." Alex said looking around.
"Strange's sanctum?" exclaimed Peter confused. "What the...?"
A beastly roar surprised them. To their great amazement, our heroes discovered what appeared to be a huge roaring lizard-man from inside of what seemed to be some kind of magical barrier.
"What is this thing?" exclaimed Green Arrow, stunned at the sight of the huge green creature.
"It looks like a giant lizard!" says Alex shocked. "Now I'm so confused, right now!"
Peter jumped when he saw Doctor Octopus locked in another cell, knocking the magic barrier to get out. A hand touched Peter's shoulder, causing him to jump and scream in fear. Alex and Green Arrow turned around and found Strange who seemed out of breath.
"Be careful what you wish for, Parker." he says to Peter with an air of reproach.
"LET ME OUT OF HERE!" roared Octopus, tapping on the invisible barrier.
"Strange! What the hell is it?" asked Alex when he joined him.
"Strange? Like Doctor Strange? " said Green Arrow in amazement. "I really am in 2021!"
Peter spoke to Strange.
"Can you please explain to me what is going on?"
The Master of Mystical Arts answered him with fury.
"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."
"Visitors from another Earth." realized Alex who now understood everything. "Interdimensional visitors. That why Peter doesn't know this mad scientist and why the other guy doesn't recognize Peter."
"The Multiverse." added Peter in amazement.
"This shouldn't even be possible." said Strange.
"It does." said Alex. "We know that the Multiverse has been around since the Crisis. Remember when we fought a Mad Superman who wanted to enter our world to kill my sister and impose his Regime."
"But I thought you stopped the spell?" Peter pointed out to Strange.
"No, I contained it." rectified the latter. "But it would appear that a few of them squeaked through. After you two left, I detected an otherworldly presence. I pursued it into the sewers, where I found that..."
He showed them the big, imprisoned lizard.
"Spell?" said Octopus, frowning. "As in magic? What is this, a birthday party? Who is this clown? What is this madness?!"
"Watch this." added Strange before turning to the imprisoned mad scientist. "Do you know a Peter Parker who is Spider-Man?"
"Yes!"
"Is that him?" he said, pointing to Peter.
"No!" replied Octopus.
"So, this crazy man comes from another Earth with a Spider-Man and a different Peter Parker than ours," realized Alex, then she stared at the Lizard in his cell.
"And me, why am I here?" exclaimed Green Arrow stunned.
"And you are... a Green Arrow?" asked Strange noticing her presence.
"Mia Queen." explained Alex. "Oliver Queen's daughter. She's from the future. From 2041. We met her during the Crisis."
"Future? 2041?" repeated Octopus stunned.
"Yeah, yeah, yeah!" the female archer went on. "I come from the future! Someone can explain what happened!"
Strange appeared again sullen and replied:
"Parker screwed up a spell trying to get his friends into college. And after that failed spell, he brought you all here."
"But I have nothing to do with Spider-Man." remarked Green Arrow. "Then why am I here?"
Alex intervened at that time:
"Peter pronounced Green Arrow when everything went sideways. Maybe the spell misinterpreted his request and instead of bringing Oliver, it brought his daughter from the future."
Unfortunately, this revelation made the archer even more furious.
"So, I'm from the future because some idiot missed a spell to get into college? Are you kidding me?"
"He screwed up his spell!" Alex corrected furiously while staring at the Master of Mystical Arts.
"Excuse me...?" said the latter with indignation.
"Peter asked him to help reverse Mysterio's revelation, and our newbie Supreme Sorcerer a had the stupid idea of doing a spell that would brainwash the entire planet! Good job, Doc!"
"I can't believe it..." Mia murmured even angrier.
"It might not have happened if the kid had the initiative to contact his colleges to plead his case, newbie vigilante!" said Strange indignant and outraged.
Alex and Strange looked at each other with furious eyes. Peter was a little overwhelmed and tried to calm both.
"Hey guys, we should try to figure out a way to fix this mess? You say there are multiple?"
Strange managed to calm down and spoke again.
"Okay, here's what we gotta do. I don't know how many of these... visitors we got..."
"We saw another one." says Peter. "On the bridge. He was like a... Like a flying green elf."
"He looked like a crazy man." added Alex remembering the individual in green suit on his glider.
"Well, he sounds jolly." the sorcerer replied sarcastic. "Why don't you start with him? I need you to capture them and bring them here, while I figure out how to get them back before they destroy the fabric of reality... or worse, Wong finds out."
"Awesome!" said Green Arrow still furious. "The sooner we find them, the sooner I can go home!"
Embarrassed, Peter approached the Master of Mystical Arts.
"Uh, Doctor Strange? My friends and I just got a second chance at getting into MIT. If the school sees me fighting these crazy monsters..."
"Hey, watch your mouth!" replied Octopus outraged.
"No way, you're seriously still talking us about college?" exclaimed Mia even more angry.
"Peter, we have other concerns than admissions to MIT." says Alex the only one who is calm.
Strange magically flew one of Peter's web-throwers from his wrist to his hand. And he did the same with Mia's arrow quiver. He sent a whirlwind of magic into it.
"Hey, give me back my arrows!" exclaimed Green Arrow.
"What did you just do?" said Peter.
"This."
He shot a string of canvases on Peter, and a magic arrow on Green Arrow that disappeared at the impact and reappeared in two different cells.
"Hey, you can't just..." cried Peter before banging his head against the magic fence.
Realizing she was locked in, Mia broke the invisible barrier with her fists.
"Hey, let me out of here!"
Stunned, Octopus stared at the two heroes in their cells before turning to Strange.
"How did you do that?"
"Lots of birthday parties." Strange replied sarcastically.
"Strange, what the heck are you doing?" Alex was furious. "Let them out of there!"
The Master of Mystical Arts crossed an antique stone dial and turned it. The barrier of Peter's and Mia's cells fell down and both came out.
"What are you..." carried the female archer away completely furious.
Dr. Strange brought the enchanted web-launcher back to Peter's hand. Then he did the same for the arrow quiver to Mia.
"I just improved your arrows." he explained to her before addressing Peter as well. "One shot, send it to me and move on. You're welcome. Get to work."
"Thanks for the improvements, but don't ever lock me up again! Got it?" exclaimed angry Mia.
"Doctor Strange?" said Peter.
"Now what?" asked the sorcerer again annoyed.
"Sir, Mia, I know this is my mess, and I swear to you that I'll fix it, but I'm a need some help."
"Who? The Avengers?" asked Mia.
"Not quite." replied Peter embarrassed.
Some help turned out to be MJ and Ned. Mia's frustration was great.
"Just great! More kids!" she mumbled annoyed.
"Hi Ned! Hi MJ!" welcome them Alex.
Doctor Strange brought in, despite himself, the two close friends of Peter. They crossed the hall, which was always covered with snow. Ned was joyfully. He beheld the place with wonder.
"I can't believe I'm in the Sanctum Sanctorum."
"Neither can I." muttered Strange with a sullen air.
Ned began to follow the wizard who took the way of the grand staircase.
"So... how did you know you're made of magic? Because my nanna says that we have it in and sometimes I get these tinglings in my hand..."
"You should talk to your physician." says Strange more than annoyed by the presence of the young geek.
"Peter!" exclaimed MJ joining the young man's arms.
"I'm so sorry for dragging you in this." says Peter. "You just gotta help me find these guys..."
"You don't have to apologize." said MJ radiantly. "You got us a second shot at MIT. That's awesome."
Ned joined them. He noticed Green Arrow and appeared ecstatic.
"Hi! I'm Ned Leeds, Spider-Man's best friend! And it is so cool to meet the future Green Arrow."
All playful, he shook the archer's hand with ecstasy. Mia stared at him with embarrassment.
"Hi Ned. So nice to meet you." she groans embarrassed.
"Mia Queen." said Ned more and more ecstatic. "Progeny of Felicity Smoak and Oliver Queen. I know all the stories."
"Not all the stories, apparently." replied the archer.
Then Ned resumed his seriousness and addressed to Peter.
"So, how did the bad guys get here?"
"He screwed up a spell trying to get you into college." replied Strange as he climbed the stairs.
"You are the one who screwed up, newbie Supreme Sorcerer!" replied Alex severely.
As a response, Dr Strange merely gave a growl of annoyance.
"Wait, what?" said MJ, surprised, turning to Peter. "I thought it was a magic laser? You did it with magic?"
"No, that was after." he replied. "Well, let's just focus on the good news, okay?"
"No, let's just focus on the bad news." replied Strange still furious. "As of now, you have detected zero multiversal trespassers, so get on your phones, scour the internet, and... Scooby-Doo this shit!"
"Is he serious?" said Mia astonished.
But MJ seemed amused by the moods of the Master of Mystical Arts.
"You're telling us what to do, even though it was your spell that got screwed up, meaning that all of this is kinda your mess."
"Exactly." approved Alex rejoicing. "Agree."
"You know, I know a couple of magic words myself, starting with the word please." Continued MJ with amusement.
Alex and Mia were impressed by the rebellious yet calm attitude of Spider-Man's girlfriend.
"I like her." Alex said with an admiring tone.
"At least Parker found his lover." replied Mia with the same opinion as Supergirl's sister.
Strange had softened and resumed in a quieter voice.
"Please Scooby-Doo this shit. You can work in the undercroft."
And he walked away.
"The undercroft?" said Ned again ecstatic.
Alex walked away from the youth to get her phone out.
"I have to warn J'onn."
She called the Martian and told him everything that had happened. Strange's failing spell. The arrival of Octopus on the bridge, as well as that of Mia Queen and other interdimensional visitors.
"Then visitors from another Earth?" J'onn was surprised when Alex told him everything. "And visitors related to Spider-Man and who know his real name. So amazing!"
"I don't know the exact number, but apparently there are more than one. We need to find them quickly so that Strange can send them home. The octopus man is quite seriously mad. Others must be as dangerous as him or more. We have to find them and fast!"
"I will restart the satellites of the Tower on New York and its surroundings." assured her J'onn. "I'll ask Nia and Brainy to double their vigilance. I'm also gonna contact Star Labs and ARGUS to see if they can help us find them."
"I have a bad feeling about all this, J'onn." says Alex in a nervous voice. "This is all going to end badly!"
Peter, MJ and Ned entered the basement of the Sanctum. A rather dark, damp and very shady place.
When Ned lit the light, he was amazed.
"Badass."
He explored the room and discovered an old crossbow. Ecstatic, he lifted her up. Then Green Arrow joined him.
"If you have never used this kind of weapon I advise you to put it down." she says.
Alex came and took the crossbow from Ned's hands and put it in its place.
Embarrassed, Peter approached his girlfriend.
"Guys, listen. About this whole spell thing..."
"It's... totally okay." said MJ.
"Wait, really?" said Peter.
"Yeah. I mean, I get it. You were... just trying to fix things... And so... Maybe just run it by us next time, you know? That way, when you're thinking, Hey, I'm about to do something that could... break the universe because of Lex Luthor said about us, we could like, help you. Workshop something, or... brainstorm ideas."
"Deal." declared the hero of Queens rejoiced before turning to his best friend. "Ned?"
The latter stared at him.
"Oh, dude. I don't care. And seriously, not a big deal. We're not gonna let a guy like Luthor intimidate us about our future."
He noticed with amazement a pilates machine in the corner.
"A torture rack!" he exclaimed.
"That is a pilates machine." MJ corrected before pointing the dungeon of the finger. "That is..."
"The crypt." says Peter.
They approached the visitors' cells. Alex and Mia followed them.
MJ summarized the situation.
"Okay, so we get the rest of the guys. Alex, the Green Arrow of Future and you zap them, Doctor Magic will send them back and, when we get into MIT, round of stale donuts, my treat."
"Let's catch some Multiverse men!" declared Ned looking all badass.
Dr. Octopus noticed the newcomers and stared at them with contempt.
"Hey! Who the hell are these two?!"
"These are my friends." said Peter. "This is MJ and this is Ned."
"Hello." say hello to the latter.
"I'm sorry, what was your name again?"
"Dr. Otto Octavius." replied the imprisoned mad scientist.
Green Arrow giggled with amusement, while Peter, MJ, Ned and Alex scoffed at the absurdity of the name of the evil man.
"Otto Octavius? Seriously?" said Green Arrow. "Is that a real name?!"
"Otto Octavius!" added Alex, laughing. "It sounds like an octopus."
"Wait, no seriously, what's your actual name?" asked Peter laughing too.
"Oh, is that a dinosaur?" said Ned stunned when he noticed the greenish creature imprisoned.
As a response, the Lizard cast a dark look on her, looking miserable.
"I think it's a giant lizard." Alex rectified by looking at the creature with round eyes.