Coastal villa.
In the lab, Doctor Otto Octavius was working on a miniature artificial sun device.
Zzzzt~
The device overheated, causing a circuit failure. Otto quickly shut off the power to avoid bigger trouble.
"Still no good?"
Otto sighed, wiping sweat from his brow, and turned to a poster on the desk.
It was Iron Man's Arc Reactor.
Compared to Tony Stark's compact cold fusion reactor, Otto's hot fusion reactor was far harder to achieve.
Uncontrollable high temperatures and the delicate balance of tritium made miniaturization nearly impossible.
Otto sighed again.
With Spider-Man's perfect data, he'd created an artificial sun.
For the world's top scientists, that data was no secret.
His research felt like a joke.
Yet he still won a Nobel Prize.
Spider-Man publicly credited Otto's original data for the final fusion step.
It was a joint project.
Since Spider-Man wouldn't reveal his identity, Otto, who provided the "original data," took the prize.
Otto always felt uneasy about it.
Given a bit more time, he could've won it himself, not because Spider-Man stepped aside.
But Spider-Man saved Ruth, his wife. Otto had no reason to resent him.
Now, with the miniature sun project stalled, Otto realized his limits.
He decided to adjust his mindset and live a quiet, happy life with Ruth.
Their happiness was hard-earned.
But someone always interrupts at times like this.
Boom~
An engine roared outside, and a flaming war chariot crashed through the window.
Bang!
As glass shards flew, the Ghost Rider atop the chariot hurled a fiery chain.
Clank clank…
A chill hit Otto, and he instinctively activated his Hydra powers.
Buzz!!
Boom!!
Blood-red tendrils lashed out, and with a deafening crash, Ghost Rider and his chariot were sent crashing into a wall.
But the tendrils shriveled under the spreading hellfire. Otto felt searing pain, as if his soul was burning, driving him into a frenzy.
"Damn you!"
With a roar, blood-red mist poured from the villa, forming a massive blood-colored octopus with nine terrifying tendrils, enveloping the entire building.
Boom
Hellfire erupted in the tendrils, and the chariot broke free. Johnny Blaze's hellfire dimmed noticeably.
"What a terrifying guy—completely different from the other two!!"
As the chariot sped into the sky, Johnny's heart raced.
His unstoppable hellfire was extinguished by the purer Hydra power.
Even Spider-Man couldn't do that so easily.
This guy was stronger than Spider-Man!
That damn demon didn't warn me how terrifying a Hydra-powered soul could be.
How do I fight this?
Hydra's power embodied evil and darkness. Spider-Man wouldn't let this guy roam free.
Now Johnny understood.
It wasn't that Spider-Man didn't act—he couldn't win.
An enemy Spider-Man couldn't beat, Johnny couldn't either.
He'd hit a wall.
In a flash, a Hydra shadow loomed in the sky.
Gagaga~~
The alien monster cackled eerily, its nine tendrils, having absorbed the hellfire, began to change.
The blood-red octopus head twisted, its eyes glowing with eerie red light, as if gaining sentience. Ignoring Otto's commands, the nine tendrils spread toward the city.
"No! What is this?"
"Ah~ That octopus is terrifying!"
"Monster! Monster!!"
The tendrils blotted out the sky, and under the blood-red shroud, the city's power flickered, circuits sparking as citizens fled in panic.
"Shit, Godzilla's destroying Earth!"
"Fuck, it's an alien beast!"
"Call S.H.I.E.L.D.!"
At Stark Tower, Tony had just finished a medical checkup.
Seeing the city cloaked in red mist, he frowned.
"Jarvis, what's happening?"
"Sir, I… abnormal magnetic interference—"
Jarvis' voice cut out, then went silent.
"Jarvis?"
Realizing Jarvis crashed, Tony's face darkened.
"Shit, another apocalypse?"
Stark Tower's power system failed.
Blood-red tendrils spread, turning everything red. Sky highways lost their glow, flying cars plummeted with black smoke, and floating islands wobbled.
Boom~~
At S.H.I.E.L.D., the portal in the office trembled.
Charlie, about to step through, felt his Spider-Sense scream.
"It's Hydra's power!"
Carter stared out the window, where a massive tendril climbed the floating island, like a mythical demon god spreading fear and chaos.
Zzzzt~
Power systems failed, alarms blaring.
"Commander, the island's energy system is disrupted by an abnormal magnetic field. In ten minutes, the island will crash!" Agent Hill burst in.
Carter's face changed. "How did this happen?!"
"I think I know."
Charlie's hands glowed with magical energy, stabilizing the portal. The scene on the other side appeared.
At the coastal villa, Otto shielded Ruth, blood-red tendrils linked to a terrifying Hydra shadow.
"Ah!!!"
"No!"
Otto's face twisted in pain. Ruth comforted him, heartbroken.
"It's okay, it'll be okay…"
Red mist poured through the portal. Charlie quickly shut it.
"Doc Ock's lost control."
He frowned, opening another portal.
Buzz~
A flaming chariot roared into the office.
"Where am I?" Johnny Blaze startled.
"What did you do?"
Charlie kicked him off the chariot, demanding, "It was you, right?"
"I—"
Johnny glanced at the spreading red mist, shaking his head.
"No, it wasn't me. It was him…"
He paused, realizing something.
"It's the hell demon! His hellfire woke the Hydra—it's him!!" he shouted.
Charlie's eyes narrowed.
"That guy's goal wasn't so simple."
Carter's face was grim. "What now? This is worse than the artificial sun incident. Wanna try?"
Try and die.
Charlie got her meaning.
He shook his head. "Last time was luck. This time, no guarantee."
A massive tendril crushed island buildings.
Crack crack crack
"Get out of here!"
"Move!!"
Agents fled. Charlie leaped to open ground.
Under horrified gazes, buildings collapsed, and blood-red beams shot out.
"It's the black spines from the lab!!" Carter gasped.
"Is Hydra's power fusing?"
"We can't let it succeed!"
Charlie shot webs, his form arcing into the red mist.
Zzzzt…
Pfft
Sparks dimmed, and multiple Spider-Men leaped through the mist.
"Good Neighbor Invincible Firewheel!"
"Good Neighbor Electro-Dragon Drill…"
Under fierce clone attacks, suction cups on the tendrils opened like abyssal maws, pulling clones in with violent force.
"I'm dead first, see ya!"
"Next is me."
In the red sky, spatial webs snapped, clones swallowed by the suction cups.
"What?"
Carter's face fell. With tech weapons disabled by Hydra's power, she could only watch Spider-Man get consumed.
Buzz~
A portal opened, and Charlie rushed to Carter.
"It ate the spines," he panted.
Recalling the scene, he shuddered.
What kind of power was this?
After consuming the spines, the tendrils retreated from the island toward the villa.
Four red beams shot from the nearby sea, more black spines drawn to the Hydra shadow.
Gagaga~~
With nine black spines united, the Hydra shadow cackled, solidifying.
Space warped, darkness descended, and a demon god from another dimension finally glimpsed Earth.
At the crumbling island's edge, the group stared at the city's Hydra, faces full of despair.
"This is the real apocalypse," Reed said, awestruck.
Fresh from her assessment, Gwen took a deep breath, uneasy from her symbiote's agitation.
"Let's flee Earth. It's targeted by a demon god," Abby's demonic face suggested.
"Demon god?"
Carter's heart raced. "Those are real?"
She looked at Charlie's calm face.
"You seem confident?"
His composure oddly calmed her.
Charlie shrugged. "I've got no confidence."
"Then why—"
"I can't beat it, but others can."
He clapped his hands, giving up.
"A dimensional demon god invasion is beyond Spider-Man's job description."
Carter thought it over.
"The Sorcerer Supreme!!"
She said, "You mentioned the Sorcerer Supreme only acts in dimension invasions."
"Yep."
Charlie grinned. "Hydra's not just up against the Sorcerer Supreme. There's another guy itching to rule the world."
"Rule the world?"
The group was stunned.
Sure enough, golden portals opened across the red city, and Ancient One led Kamar-Taj mages into the fray.
Buzz~~
Golden magic circles bloomed, forming a massive hemispherical array.
Where it spread, red mist was repelled.
At the center, Ancient One held up a blue sky, her magic accelerating the array's spread, stabilizing Brooklyn in seconds.
Buzz
As the golden array enveloped the island, power systems stabilized.
Alarms stopped, and Carter's team breathed easier.
"With the Sorcerer Supreme here, we're fine."
"No, look—what's that?" Johnny shouted.
At the city's other end, a storm raged on the coastline. A tsunami rose thousands of meters, a blue figure standing atop it.
He spread his arms, one controlling the storm, the other a tsunami tornado, thunderclouds brewing above, and a massive shadow circled beneath.
Behind him, Erik, Charles, Wanda, and Pietro flanked the towering figure.
"Apocalypse!"
Charlie's eyes narrowed. "So they were hiding there. Hydra's invasion forced his hand."
If a dimensional demon god succeeded, Apocalypse's dream of world domination would be over.
Before Ancient One appeared, Apocalypse likely wouldn't dare show.
He lacked experience against dimensional gods.
Hydra's terrifying aura might've scared him off.
But with the Sorcerer Supreme's move, he felt bold again.
Apocalypse's appearance barely drew Ancient One's glance for a second.
As an Earth native, he wasn't her concern.
She stared at the towering Hydra shadow, eyes gleaming with anticipation.
This was her chance to retire gracefully!
Pity, though—dimensional gods, while strong, lose most power invading other realms.
If her acting was off, her disciples might suspect.
Before she could act, a dazzling magic spark circle appeared beside her.
Seeing Charlie, Ancient One's heart sank.
This guy's gonna mess things up!
"Master Ancient One, how's it going?" Charlie waved.
Her face stiffened, but Wong behind her lit up.
"Spider-Man, perfect timing! Let's take down Hydra and save the world."
Charlie patted Wong's shoulder. "Of course, the invincible Spider-Man's with you."
His spider totem blazed, merging vibrant magical energy into the golden array, boosting its spread.
Buzz~
The array enveloped the Hydra shadow.
Gagaga~~
The shadow writhed uneasily, its red eyes dimming, wary of Spider-Man's magic.
The mages cheered.
"No wonder he saved the world before—he's a true magic genius!"
"Such powerful magic…"
Under their praise, Charlie grinned.
"Haha, just average. You're all great too."
He was just testing, but the effect was solid.
He didn't know why, but the process didn't matter—only the result.
Ancient One's face darkened.
How was she supposed to act now?