Arcanophobia
“I, well, I gotta say I’m grateful, Spider-Man,” an officer was saying as they were assembling a barricade early in the morning. They had dealt with the likes of Rhino and Sandman before, apparently, but they were not really an anti-metahuman army, so they were not always able to handle certain threats, and to that end, he understood Parker better than before. Basically, he was a prize fighter and showed up every day to fight things that effectively no one else could fight, and it was all he could do to stay on top of it; there was never any time to make long-term progress because he had to hold down a job at the same time.
“I’m grateful you’d work with me, sir,” he responded. “I know we haven’t had the best of relationships, and we might disagree here and there, but it’s good that we at least agree about monsters belonging in cages.”
“Ain’t that the truth.”
A matter of hours ago, he had woken up after a day of being Matches and putting out a few fires at Oscorp, after getting out of his talk with Doctor Strange. Basically, he was likely right about switching bodies with Parker transdimensionally, though he was currently trying to predict the arrival of a master of black sorcery, and could not help. It was easy to understand why the mystic had de-prioritized his case. Though Zalmoxis was dangerous in principle, he was likely so old that he was near death, as his plan had not worked so he was still stuck in the world from which he had come, the world where he had been wearing the practical black suit. Though Strange noticed a fair few differences in Spider-Man's behavior, someone else masquerading as him was not a huge problem, because to effectively do so, one had to be a hero, or at least something close.
It was strangely refreshing to be able to think of himself like that. The suit that he had seen on the image of his soul gave him nothing about his character, for all he knew, everyone in the business might have dressed like that, but he had a strange feeling that there were others just like him, perhaps those whom he had trained, or perhaps those from whom he himself learned something. Thuse far he had ignored such feelings because he could not relate them to any evidence, but he was starting to think it was more likely than not to be true.
“Here they come,” he said, getting once more a vague sense of danger. Parker must have accustomed himself to listening to these feelings. With his arachnid early warning system, he has a fair reason to rely on something that is not, explicitly, a rational thought. Going straight up on his glider, he was trying to get a better angle. If they can’t complete the task without Electro, what would they be doing here? The police only set up a barricade to let them know that they expected an attack; it was basically to scare them off.
His vague sense of danger was fulfilled in a way that he could not have consciously expected, but he still kicked himself when it happened. He felt the same spell coming at him that had been used on him the day prior, but he knew it was not Doctor Strange casting it. Moving the glider, he avoided an almost entirely transparent attack from an enemy he could presume to be flying. Concentrate. Listen to the sense.
Avoiding another spell, he sent out a web, though it seemed the enemy avoided that as well. He must know that I can hit things I can’t see. A stray thought told him that perhaps he was being uncharitable with Parker, and it was not that he was relying on irrational feelings, but his early warning system was a genuine extra sense, and once he learned to understand it, responding to it was just like responding to something he heard.
“I am the great trickster Zalmoxis.” The voice came out of nowhere. Spider-Man was on guard for any kind of attack.
“It’s you, then. You’re the sorcerer of black magic that Strange-”
“Yes, the Master of the Mystic Arts has been for me quite the stumbling block.” Another spell came out of nowhere, this time seeming to take the form of a tortured soul screaming past him as he avoided it. “You too, it seems, are quite maneuverable, even in midair.”
“Are you Zalmoxis? The original?”
“Clever, Spider-Man; I had never expected you would solve this mystery.”
“You’ve been staying out of the spotlight. The other version of you, the one who sent me here, was not the original, because he was using a machine that took advantage of the dimensional rift; while you were banking on remembering enough of the original method, which had to predate even the steam engine; there had to be some version of you that relied almost entirely on magic.”
“How did you know, then, that there were other versions?” the voice asked, again from nowhere. He avoided another spell, something that felt like a moving vacuum, though he had no idea how that was supposed to work.
“Over the years, you would have switched bodies when you were about to die, but death is not always so predictable. If you waited until you were simply advanced in age, the man unfortunate enough to switch bodies with you could last several months longer, enough to produce testimony more convincing than the ravings of a hermit, and you would also lose more memories. It is not likely that you could trap yourself in a natural disaster; those can turn deadly at any moment, for anyone involved. The most likely method that you used was poison.”
“Oh?” If the next spell did not indicate that he had touched a nerve, nothing would.
“You tried to stay away from other people. You might not have been known, but you would not have made any enemies. The most likely explanation is that someone saved you. This would have been relatively recent, when you were starting to use technology. The central weakness of your plan is that you keep forgetting how you traveled between dimensions. Over time, due to the accumulation of subtle changes, the dimensions diverged, and you could no longer simply walk around and have memories drummed up by your surroundings. At some point, when global population increased, you could no longer leave clues for yourself without fear that they would be picked up by someone else, so you went for it. You decided to share your dream of immortality rather than risk losing it yourself, so you left a trail in books. In some cases, I would not be surprised if you left the machines running, as soon as you started using them.”
“Yes, and it was a suitable arrangement for a long time. I used to have followers, you know. I hardly thought it a problem if there were another out there, keeping my secrets and doing my work. Someone, surely, would understand my desire to live forever. Most of the men I left in my dying bodies likely resented me, but some of them must have wondered-”
This time the words were not accompanied by an attack, though Spider-Man was staying on guard. I should let him think that he’s distracting me. I might be able to find an opening myself.
”Wherever I was, whatever time or place you tried this, you should have known that I would track you down. You can move me to any body in any dimension-”
“Oh, to be sure, but even now you have no idea how much you knew about the copy of me in the other world. I sense that someone comes to join you, though, so I shall take my leave now.”
It was unfortunate, but as the sense of danger passed, he was moderately relieved. He was not sure how he was going to track down a magic user, but he would have valuable information for Doctor Strange whenever he arrived. I see. So, he can use his cloak to fly.
"It seems I only just missed him,” the sorcerer observed as he floated up. “I had not expected that your problem would be one in the same with mine.”
“You had no reason to know that Zalmoxis just happened to be the black magician,” he said. “The fact that you thought of him as soon as I asked, though, suggested to me that you had speculated that he might be the one on your radar.”
“I see. You must have been something of a detective in your own world.”
“There are some things, though, that I can’t detect,” he said. “I don’t know if you ever heard this, but I have a precognitive-”
“The spider sense, yes. You, or the other you, has brought it up once or twice.”
“He’s too trusting. Be sure to tell him to be more secretive going forward.”
“It was a few years after he first met me. You have only known who I was for, I gather-”
“The circumstances were different,” he dismissed. “My point is that it only works reactively. I can sense people trying to attack me, but I’ll need your help to track down the enemy.”
“I see. While with you, I can maintain my focus on long-distance scrying while you ensure that no noxious spells are coming our way.”
“I think his spells focus on spiritual manipulation, sort of like that one spell you used on me. It’s hard to see them coming, but the glider’s fast enough to move out of the way.”
“Then let us work together, Spider-Man,” Doctor Strange said, dropping onto the glider. He removed his cloak, which arranged itself into a comfortable looking chair; the clasp clicked into a convenient part of the glider. “Feel free to travel as quickly as you please; the cloak will keep up.” It appeared he was only taking such a precaution so that he could close his eyes and focus rather than having to actively fly. “Oh, and the Dark Tome of Terryn states that it would be ideal to look to the east under these circumstances. Let us start over Long Island.”
He wanted to ask precisely what circumstances those were, but there was no point; his exact frustration with the nature of magic was why he would not bother to ask. He was careful to adhere to his early warning system, but so far there was nothing. Looking back, he saw that the sorcerer was pointing down.
“The danger with Zalmoxis is that he gains in expertise with every life that he lives. Most likely, he remembers more every time, and the other one must be gaining an understanding that soon, he will no longer be necessary, and neither will the machines. Even if the sorcerer never goes against him in any way, the mad scientist will no longer be able to count on his help.”
“That’s why I was switched with the real Spider-Man. It was a mistake. He was trying to truly understand the machine from the bottom up so that he could destroy his notes and never worry about finding them again, not in either world. I suspect they have only been traveling back and forth between our two worlds.”
“Yes, I suspect you are right. Though there are many others, they have both been trying to gain from leaving things behind for themselves, or perhaps each other. One is a sorcerer using more of a pure magical approach, and the other is a mad scientist, trying to understand magic from a rationalist perspective, a mind-bending notion. The slightest changes from four thousand years ago would have had staggering effects on the course of history.”
It was clear enough that they had discovered a well-hidden maker of trouble, who had arguably killed countless people by swapping bodies with them, but there was no time to work out all the implications. There were still more questions to answer, but they had enough to take action against the enemy. It was strange, but he could swear he remember the warning sirens of some machine collapsing upon itself, a memory he had dismissed as nothing more than a dream, but perhaps that was what indicated to him that he had been dealing with the student rather than the master.
“Strange- look at this,” he said, coming to a stop and pointing down. Beneath them, there seemed to be a mass confusion. “If Zalmoxis went this way, he probably took the chance to switch several people.”
“It’s worse than I feared,” the sorcerer said. “His mastery of his powers suggests he is close to the end of his life and has probably already started preparing for another transfer. Nevertheless, he is doing this only to distract us. He fears that we are going to prevent him from transferring himself to the other world.”
“Why hasn’t he done it already? We’d lose his trail.”
“He knows the real Spider-Man is on the other side, and he would be at a supreme disadvantage as soon as we found out where he went. Most likely, he still holds out hope that he can kill us, thus the distraction.”
It seemed like a serviceable plan, but he simply was not convinced. He had dodged everything that the enemy had thrown at him all on instinct; there was no need for him to consciously watch out for spells. Even if he were distracted by something going on below him, he would still feel the increasing sense of danger to himself if a spell were to come in his direction. What they saw on the next block clarified things.
“Strange, it’s Rhino and Sandman,” he said, pointing again. “They’re heading in the direction of the crowd-”
“I see. Perhaps they are not the type of enemy that I usually face, but they would be able to do substantial damage to a collection of people who are lost and confused. They may not know to simply run and worry about their true identities later.”
If the response sounded contemplative, he decided to chalk it up to the sorcerer’s personality and way of speaking rather than a lack of concern. Already trying to come up with a strategy to take down the enemy as quickly as possible, he knew that he was being distracted, and he knew that the dark magician would probably take shots at him and Strange while they were trying to rescue the people, but not rescuing them was simply not an option. It was not what Spider-Man would do, certainly.
Firing a pumpkin bomb from the glider, the Rhino shrugged off the explosion, and as his ally was hit by a bolt of lightning called down by some spell, it turned out to be equally ineffective. Part of him was glass, temporarily, but quickly he was flexible again.
“Got yourself a boyfriend, Spider?”
“I thought it’d be more fun to have a double date!” he shouted back. “I already made sure you two wouldn’t be fighting over Electro!” He looked back at Strange. “You don’t know how hard this is for me.”
“Oh, by all means, continue masquerading as Spider-Man with his jokes, I agree that it is probably better that no one knows that you were swapped with him. I have something else to try against that sand golem.”
Floating on his own, Strange used a wind spell, blasting Sandman’s arm off. Of course. It’s not a matter of hitting him with concussive force, it’s taking advantage of the fact that he’s made out of countless separate particles. Hitting their other enemy with both of his web shooters, he pushed the glider as fast as it would go, lifting Rhino off his feet. Climbing before he could get his bearings, he took advantage of the square-cube rule in physics that explained why spiders had incredible strength and continued to lift him in an arc, creating centripetal force.
When the Rhino realized what he was trying to do, he held on to the lengths of web and catapulted himself into the air, intending to land on his flying foe. Spider-Man, however, avoided the downward momentum and hit him again with webs, this time in the feet, yanking on them as soon as they hit. Though the supercriminal was powerful and massive, it was easy for someone with his strength to turn him over in freefall, causing him to hit the ground headfirst. He landed with a frightful thud, but was still moving, so he was going to be fine, as expected, though his armor was cracked in places.
Right as he was thinking that it should be doable for the police to remove his armor, he looked over at Strange and had to push him out of the way of a spell, grateful that he had caught it in time. It seemed Sandman was not pleased about being blown away by conjured gusts of wind, but there were already random people collecting him in random containers, glass bottles and burlap bags; there was even one old man sweeping him up into a dustpan and dumping him in a trashcan.
Even if I’ve never dealt with him before, the average person has seen him terrorize the city multiple times. As long as you know his weakness, then you can take advantage of it if you strike at the right time. The police were taking care of Rhino, though there was noticeable confusion among their numbers as well. Some of the officers might have been switched. He really is prioritizing us... or it’s what he wants us to think.
“Do you have any idea where he is?” he asked.
“No. I had hoped that appearing to fall for his distraction would draw him out, but it seems that he has fled once more, or none of my spells are working.” He sighed. “For as long as man can remember, there has been a Sorcerer Supreme. It stands to reason that the wicked magicians would learn to work around the spells we use to find them.”
It was another thing Spider-Man did not understand, and his frustrations would be mounting, but he was trying to give Doctor Strange a chance, if for no other reason than because Parker trusted him. I was not entirely correct to think that he was too trusting. He wears a mask and takes care to keep his family from ever figuring out who he is.
Rhino was resisting arrest even after they had most of his armor off, and ended up getting shot by the cops a few times, not that it would kill him, before being put in massive handcuffs. The police thanked the civilians for helping against Sandman and waved to the two heroes flying overhead. Is that how things work here? The Bugle lies about me and the average person disregards that?
“This was too easy,” he said. “Even if there were two of us, it was too easy- it went exactly like I predicted and we only had to dodge one spell.”
“I suspect you might be correct,” the sorcerer said. “It’s a pity that it’s too late already-”
It was incorrect to say that Spider-Man figured out everything right then; he still did not in any sense understand magic, but he knew that he was in a trap, and the glider beneath him was likely still real. Accelerating hard, he cut off the enemy while he was in the middle of his dramatized explanation, revealing that he had been using an illusion to replace himself with Doctor Strange.
“Where is he?!” he demanded, looking back to see another spell coming at him.
“He is underneath the same false sense of security where I could find you only a moment ago. You thought your spider sense, as it were, was infallible, and could detect any of my spells, because after I missed with the first two, that was what I led you to believe. I allowed you to see the third one coming so that you would not realize when the fourth arrived.”
It was a clever plan, and one he had not seen coming because of his ignorance about how magic worked. Perhaps I made a mistake, not taking care to study it in the other world. Perhaps I simply forgot. It seemed that the illusion that the enemy had produced was not really sent in his direction in the same way the other spells had been, and so it did not represent the immediate danger he had been anticipating, but rather an uneasy feeling. Did he realize that I was not going to be as familiar with the spider sense as Parker?
He avoided another spell, this one nearly hitting him, though he could not have described its effects. It annoyed him that he had not had a way of guessing that the enemy was capable of illusions, though Doctor strange might have known immediately- it was hardly a wonder that the heroes of this world allowed him to handle all matters of magic, even as powerful and capable as they were. As he avoided another spell, striking back with webbing, he truly wished he knew someone back home who was capable of magic, since he knew that such a thing existed.
“I knew that you were the one that had been switched shortly after I saw you, Spider-Man- if that is your real name in any meaningful sense. I have been waiting for the right moment to make my move, but your apparent competence in battle informed me that striking against you would require greater care. It seems my counterpart was foolish enough to trade one hero for another.” He said it like a curse word. “Millennia ago, the word hero meant something. Heroes were demigods.”
“I’m familiar,” he said. “I never called myself a hero.”
He needed Strange. There was no way he could win against someone with completely different powers, not when he had not even been able to see through the illusion on his own. Even if he could claim to be stronger and faster than the enemy, and even if he could avoid a few spells, he had no means of striking back. As he tried to hit Zalmoxis with web again, the magician simply laughed and the solution passed through him harmlessly.
“Perhaps not, Spider-Man. And yet, you are held to that standard. If you can act as a hero, then are you not one? Can you act as a hero for the Sorcerer Supreme?”
“I’d like a shot at it,” he said. “Are you about to tell me that you sent him to another world?”
“No, nothing so complicated. I merely hid him in an illusion, facing both ways. You do not know where he is, and he does not know he is not with you.” He laughed briefly. “I have no illusions myself. I know that this will not hold him long. However, given an hour or so, I can easily arrange for several people across the dimensions to switch bodies. You will never track me down, even if you do manage to rescue your friend. Of course, you could simply pursue me, and leave him wherever he is-”
Spider-Man was not even listening. As much as he wanted to do things his way, he was capable of recognizing when his ways would not, in any sense, work. As little as he liked to trust people, he could recognize that there were those who deserved it. As much as he understood the sense of guilt that Parker must have felt time and time again, he would have to calm down and think of a solution.