"Close!" Strange cried out, but not in time, as a single imp managed to make it through the portal. It flew through the air, coming right at me, I moved instantly, claws bursting out, cutting straight through the imp like a knife through hot butter.
The imp exploded into red dust, covering my body with it. I blinked, wiping the dust away, "did that thing just explode onto me?"
"Yes, is this your first time getting imp juice on yourself?," Mordo chuckled as he walked over to a seat and plopped down, "what a rush. We're getting too old for this Strange."
"And why exactly did you think you could take on Mephisto alone?" Strange asked with an amused smile.
"If I was to guess? Arrogance," Mordo grumbled before looking at me, "now then, what to do with the brat? He really does have potential doesn't he?"
"Yes, he does," Strange nodded as he walked to over and smiled, "you did good Peter. Very good. The soul?"
"What? Oh, right," I looked down and passed the soul to Strange. The man took it carefully before slowly levitating into the air and summoning a small red circle through which it passed through, never to be seen again.
"What did you do with it?" I asked.
"It's safe," Mordo waved away my concern, "but what you should be worried about is yourself. After your stunt...Mephisto will be coming for your."
Skit!
"I managed to delimb him once, I'll be fine," I smiled as I held up my claws, which were still covered in the red stains of Mephisto's blood. I narrowed my eyes, "that's strange," pun not intended, "the stain is still there."
"That's the blood of the devil himself, trust me, it'll stay for sometime," Mordo grumbled, "but be warned child, he won't come at you directly, he's weaker in this world, and it's not his style. He'll wait till you want something desperately and then, he'll strake."
"He'll be ready," Strange assured the man, "I'll sure he will."
I nodded, "yeah. I'm aware how tempting he can be, and…I'll be ready for him."
"We'll be ready for him," Strange nodded as he snapped his fingers, summoning a tea set for all three of us, "now then, Mordo, how exactly did you-"
"ARGH!" I cried out.
Dum. Dum.
My heart started to pound in my chest. I grabbed it and held it tight, I heard it beat louder. Like drums from a marching band.
Strange and Mordo immediately moved, they rushed to my side and Strange helped me stand straight, "what's wrong?"
I felt it, my latent magical powers felt the pull of dimensional energies coursing through my body. "I-I think I'm going back," I told him, "I can feel it. The power, the dimensional energies are pulling me back home!"
Strange immediately summoned several magical circles around me and scanned me, "yes, you are correct. When you were exposed to the energy generated by Mephisto's realm the latent dimension energy inside you must have become active."
"I-I," I began to think I had so much to say and do, there wasn't any time. I turned to Strange, "tell May to be safe, tell her to think before she leaps and to never, ever fight for vengeance. Tell Peter that he's my hero, that he was right. I can't give up being who I am...I'll be putting on that damn suit again. Tell those morons calling themselves Avengers that they need to be better heros and the FF and ARGH!"
I felt the power surge before me, I used what little power I had to manipulate the energy to stall for time, I still had things I had to say. I turned to Strange, now looking like a stone wall. I continued, "tell Felicia her daughter will always love her, tell Felicity to realise her mother loves her beyond anything else in the world. Te-tell Franklin his mother would be proud, I know she would. And Master Strange, thank you, for everything."
The man smiled, "you're welcome Pe-"
ZOOM!
It was like an explosion in my head. I found myself pulled back into a green wormhole, like the one from before. My stomach flipped, my body weightless. I came flying around in circles, green everywhere, I think I'm going to be sick. And then it stopped. Gravity returned and I found myself thrown head first out into a very familiar lab.
"He's back!" I looked up and saw Sue running at me, throwing her arms around me, tackling me into the ground.
I looked around, holding Sue tight, Reed was there and so was Johnny and Liz. I blinked, "how long was I gone?"
"Two hours," Reed gulped, "we tried everything….we were just about to give up when...I didn't think it would work."
I couldn't believe it, "two hours? I've only been gone that long?"
Sue immediately broke the hug and looked at me, "Peter, how long has it been for you?"
I looked her in the eyes, "three months, give or take."
"Where did you go?" Johnny asked as he helped me and Sue get back on our feet. He then noticed my red robes and blinked, "and why do you look like a warrior monk?"
I blinked in surprise, I didn't say anything, shock taking over. I couldn't believe it...I was home...really home...
"Peter," Sue's voice broke through, I looked down, meeting her eyes, "are you okay?"
"I...I am now," I looked around, they all looked relieved. My eyes then landed on Reed and they narrowed, "destroy that thing, or I will Reed."
Reed nodded quickly, "right, I'll get right on that," he said as he began typing away at his terminal.
"We need to get you into the med bay Peter," Sue said as she gently squeezed my hand, "we need to make sure nothing happened to you."
I smiled, "I'm fine Sue, really, I am," and just then, my stomach growled. I chuckled, "actually, I'm a little hungry."
Liz blinked, "you just traveled through to another universe, and the first thing you think about is food?"
I sighed, "I told you Liz, different time periods. I had three months to deal with this eventuality. I...I kind of just processed it better."
Sue sighed, smiling, "unbelievable. Come on Peter, let's get you something to eat," Sue said as she Johnny and Liz guided me out of the lab.
They sat me down on the kitchen counter and made me some pizza to eat, all the time Sue kept an eye on me, and Johnny kept sending me a watchful glance. I never realised how much I missed home until I saw my friends worried for my safety.
Soon the smell of pizza filled the air as Johnny took the freshly reheated pizza out of the oven and placed it before me, "there, one meat lover's pizza, perfectly cooked."
"Oh thank god," I slurped as I scarfed it all down, smiling, "I don't care what people say, frozen pizza is awesome!"
Sue blinked, "r-really?"
"Hell yeah!" I winked, "hey Johnny, you up for a video gaming session, it's been so long since we played!"
"A, sure man," the Human Torch nodded, "whatever you want."
"Peter? Are you okay?" Liz asked a little worried, "you seem...different?"
I smiled, "you mean I don't sound depressed anymore?"
"Well..." Sue looked at the other people with her before nodding, "yeah."
I grinned, "well, that's because I finally gained my mojo back. In fact I-" I stopped mid sentence as I looked over at the TV screen in the lounge that was currently showing the picture of a giant concrete facility was displayed with one of it's walls broken apart. It looked like it had been ripped apart.
"The National gaurd has filed a report of six criminals having escaped from a facility in Westchester. They have released the identities of the criminals along with a note left behind by them before their escape."
Six names came up on the screen;
Maxwell "Max" Dillon, AKA Electro.
Aleksei Sytsevich, AKA the Rhino.
Flint Marko, AKA the Sandman.
Adrian Toomes, AKA the Vulture.
Herman Schultz, AKA the Shocker.
Otto Octavius, AKA Doc Ock.
There was an aerial photograph taken at the time of escape. I could see the Rhino battle armour was out and about. Flying above it was Electro with Sandman traveling next to in in the form of a sand storm. Vulture, Shocker and Doc Ock road the Rhino's back.
Suddenly Sandman's storm grew bigger and the image disappeared. It had been taken yesterday.
The NEWS then displayed the note they left behind, 'Norman, We are coming for you.'
I narrowed my eyes, "Sue, I'm going to have to step out for a bit."
.
.
.
Hello everyone. I want to inform you that the novel "Caught in the Web of The Spider" is now available in PDF format in the Store section. It consists of 8 volumes, each with 100 chapters or more, from chapter 1 to 831. If you want to read the entire novel, go to my Ko-Fi and buy it now!…
🙏🏼‼️"Subscribe so you can access more chapters in advance."‼️🙏🏼
🤩ko-fi.com/skyarc/shop🤩