Capítulo 98: Chapter 98
"So what? Why should we pay for the actions of the villains?" Mark shrugged, wearing a puzzled expression. "Moral dilemma? I don't buy that."
Doctor Strange looked at Mark, "Your style doesn't quite match that of a superhero."
"Is that so? If being a superhero means being morally blackmailed, sacrificing the lives of loved ones for some greater good, then I'd rather not be one!" Mark's attitude was very firm.
"Very well," Doctor Strange said, looking deeply at Mark.
In the next moment, Mark smirked and disappeared from his current location.
When he reappeared, he was on the other side of the basement.
There was a table with a peculiar-looking box on it.
Strange: '...?'
"My dear Stephen, are you looking for this?" Mark magically picked up the Machinus De Kadavus from the side.
This was Doctor Strange's return spell. When his magic failed earlier, he had placed the damaged spell into this device, keeping it in the same state as when the magic failed. With the correct ritual, he could reverse the spell and send these visitors from parallel universes back to their respective worlds.
Although it was said to take half an hour, in reality, it would probably only take a few minutes.
Unfortunately, Mark, who had knowledge of the plot and knew the device's purpose, had taken notice of it long ago and picked it up unintentionally.
Now, it was coming in handy!
"Give it to me," Doctor Strange coldly demanded.
"Peter." Mark ignored him and tossed the box to Spider-Tom. "Take this and get out of here."
"I understand!" Spider-Tom grabbed the box and rushed out of the Sanctum Sanctorum.
"Hmph!" Doctor Strange snorted and quickly followed.
However, at this moment, Mark and Max blocked his path, one on the left and one on the right.
"Doctor Strange, this is a dead end for you."
"You bullied my friend. So what should I do with you?" Max added.
Doctor Strange remained silent.
In a flash, he appeared on the other side, bypassing both of them.
However, Mark activated his Quantum Blink and appeared right beside Doctor Strange.
Max transformed into lightning and also appeared there, only a step behind.
Doctor Strange was once again blocked.
"This isn't your universe. If you keep interfering like this, I will capture you!" Doctor Strange's face showed anger.
"That's just perfect. I've been wanting to see your moves!" Mark shot a web at Doctor Strange.
This wasn't a lie; he genuinely wanted to spar with Doctor Strange.
Doctor Strange, however, snapped his fingers, and the sound of shattering glass filled the air.
Mark felt the surrounding space shatter suddenly, and his body felt weightless as he began to fall.
Soon, he realized he was in a strange world.
Around him, it was like a kaleidoscope, reminding him of the scenes he saw while quantum traveling through the space-time tunnel.
But instead of being filled with quantum energies, this space was filled with various buildings.
If they weren't floating in the air, they would hardly be any different from the real world.
"Wow, is this your Mirror Dimension?" Mark curiously surveyed his surroundings, showing no signs of urgency.
The longer Mark delayed here, the farther Spider-Tom ran.
With Spider-Tom taking the Machinus zdr Kadavus, Doctor Strange no longer had any reason to engage with them.
So, this became a purely sparring action.
Of course, this might be Mark's one-sided opinion.
Doctor Strange was genuinely getting annoyed now. Although he didn't intend to harm Mark, he decided to teach him a lesson, to show him who was in charge in this world.
*Whoosh!*
A ring of light flew from Doctor Strange's hand, splitting into countless rings in mid-air.
Using his Spider-Sense, Mark found a gap in these rings and quickly flew out.
He flicked his hand, sending a web towards Doctor Strange. The web exploded in the air, forming a net heading straight for Doctor Strange.
However, Doctor Strange merely waved his hand, creating a portal in front of the net and another behind Mark.
The web that was originally attacking Doctor Strange mysteriously turned to "backstab" Mark.
"Fascinating, so portals can be used this way," Mark's eyes lit up.
He didn't dodge or evade. Instead, he focused his mind, and a quantum fluctuation spread.
In the next moment, the web that had been behind him was instantly transported in front of Doctor Strange.
"What!" Doctor Strange was slightly surprised and immediately used a portal to teleport himself to a distance.
The web missed and fell downward.
Doctor Strange stood on a large rock and asked, "Is this your trick? Do you also know magic? Wait, I didn't sense any magic aura from you."
Doctor Strange was becoming increasingly convinced that this person who called himself the "Time-Space Spider-Man" had a mysterious origin.
No magic aura, yet he could unleash abilities strikingly similar to magic.
"Magic? Perhaps," Mark chuckled.
Quantum magic was still magic, wasn't it?
"Interesting," Doctor Strange chuckled, "but unfortunately, I don't have time to continue tangling with you."
As he spoke, he extended his hands and brought them together in the center.
Suddenly, it felt like the sky was falling!
The entire Mirror Dimension seemed to fold like a book, with both sides folding inward toward the middle where Mark was.
Rocks and boulders fell from the sky, as if it were the end of the world.
"Whoa!" Mark kicked away a boulder the size of four or five people hugging, then shot out a web to fling another massive rock toward Doctor Strange. "Tit for tat, you shouldn't just stand there."
Doctor Strange, however, just shook his head slightly. "Stay put here until the matter is settled. Once I catch Peter, I'll bring him in to keep you company."
With that, an exit appeared behind him, ready to leave this place.
"Doctor Strange, is it really appropriate to leave a guest all alone here?" A voice suddenly sounded from beside him, startling Doctor Strange.
He spun around, but a hand suddenly reached out, grabbing his clothes, and forcefully threw him downward.
"What the...?" Doctor Strange left behind a series of short screams as he was thrown hundreds of meters away in an instant, disappearing from sight.
However, in the next moment, a portal opened in the same spot, and Doctor Strange emerged once more.
"I forgot you have similar abilities," Doctor Strange dusted himself off, "Alright, what do you want?"
From the looks of it, he seemed willing to temporarily call a truce with Mark.
Mark didn't have any intentions to continue the fight either. Even though they had only exchanged a few moves earlier, Mark already had an idea of how formidable Doctor Strange could be.
In simple terms, a sorcerer was a tough opponent.
Unless he exposed a vulnerability, or unless he could beat him with something even more magical, like mathematics as in the original story which was a bit bullshit, or caught him off guard like he did earlier, trying to defeat him, or even just confronting him, would be quite challenging.
Unless necessary, Mark decided not to engage with spellcasters like Doctor Strange anymore; it was just too extreme.
"Doctor Strange, your concerns might not have a basis," Mark said.
"Oh?" Doctor Strange inquired.
Mark continued, "I can offer some insights on the matter of parallel universes."
"Go on," Doctor Strange snapped his fingers, and the mirror-like space stopped rotating and distorting, quickly returning to normal.
Mark and Doctor Strange found themselves sitting on separate rocks.
Mark continued, "I once encountered six Spider-Men from different parallel universes, including myself, in a world with someone named Kingpin."
Then Mark briefly recounted his experiences in the Miles' World.
"I understand your point," Doctor Strange replied after silently listening to Mark's story, "but the situations back then and here are not the same. The Spider-Men who appeared in that world were all well-behaved characters. They wouldn't act like the villains who appeared in this world, causing wanton destruction."
Mark shook his head slightly but didn't immediately challenge Doctor Strange's words. Instead, he recounted his encounter with the Green Goblin, who appeared to be affected by the disappearance of the Ultimate Green Goblin in particle collider in the Miles' world.
"What are you trying to convey?" Doctor Strange asked, puzzled. He thought he had understood Mark's point but seemed to have lost track.
Mark smiled faintly and said, "If you consider each parallel universe as an individual entity, then your point is valid. Things that shouldn't be here suddenly appearing can undoubtedly cause disturbances and unnecessary turbulence."
Doctor Strange nodded in agreement, as this had been his understanding all along.
However, this was precisely where his perspective fell short.
Mark continued, "But what if you look at every parallel universe as part of a whole, as the multiverse?"
"This..." Doctor Strange was taken aback. This was a path he had never considered.
"When your magic failed, and you dragged them into this world, it became a historical inevitability. Even if you send them back now, you can't change the fact that they came from another parallel universe to this one. For the entire multiverse, a character moving from one universe to another, whether it's for a minute, an hour, or a day, has no impact whatsoever. Because they are still within the scope of the multiverse!"
"So, from the very beginning, your concerns were unfounded." Mark fixed his gaze on Doctor Strange and stated firmly.
°°°
Hungry for more chaps? Then check out our pătreon!
Link: Påtreon.com/BaphometFiction
I post 10 advanced chapters of this fanfic there.
Estado de energía semanal
-- Ranking de
Poder 
-- Piedra de
Poder