"You look like you're in a bad mood."
"If you realized your destiny and life were likely being manipulated by someone else, you probably wouldn't be in a great mood either. Though, I do know exactly what I need to do now."
Cindy looked at Peter with concern. "That prophecy the woman just spoke of..."
"I don't know how to solve the first part yet, but the second part can be inferred. The 'Master of Time' likely refers to Kang. Remember Korvac? He was a Cosmic Cube project researched by Kang. The Cosmic Cube has the power to rewrite reality. So, I suspect Kang plans to use a Cosmic Cube to erase me for the sake of his plan, and I need to figure out a solution."
The best—and only—viable path Peter could think of was magic. The ceiling for magic in the Marvel Universe was incredibly high. If he learned it well enough, protecting himself shouldn't be an issue. The only question was exactly when Kang intended to strike and whether Peter could sense it coming.
Another option was to seek protection from a powerful entity. The best candidate was Doctor Strange on the mystic side; Strange might have a way. Beyond that, what else? Ask Thor? Odin probably didn't even know who he was. Find Wanda? Did Wanda even know she could rewrite reality yet...
The main issue was that Madame Web had explicitly stated he couldn't use his multiverse-traversing abilities to leave Earth-616 to hide from Kang's erasure. Doing so would cause him to be lost forever. Otherwise, he could have just bolted to the Wasteland Universe, where Kang's reality-warping would be useless.
After mulling it over for a while, Peter shook his head dismissively. "Forget it, there's no point in worrying about it now if there's no solution. Since she said I'll handle everything before Kang acts, I'll just wait. And didn't she also say? I have to die once and then be resurrected before I can embrace this destiny."
Sometimes, knowing a fixed future wasn't necessarily a bad thing. For instance, if you knew exactly when you were going to die, you were essentially invincible until that day arrived.
With that settled, Peter stopped agonizing over it. The European cultural tour still had a long way to go. After Vienna, they were headed to Berlin, then Cologne, Amsterdam, Paris, and finally London before returning home.
"Speaking of which, wasn't there a Sandman in the Elementals?" Peter recalled a seemingly forgotten character. "I wonder if he's still working for Hydra."
Half a month passed in a flash. In that time, even the discussions surrounding Hydra had nearly vanished. Aside from reports of high-ranking officials in various countries being arrested, there was no news related to Hydra. As time went on, almost everyone became convinced of one thing: Hydra was just a stray dog, completely outmatched by the Avengers and crushed into the dirt.
Captain America was very dissatisfied with this kind of news reporting and the resulting public sentiment, but there was nothing he could do. People are free to say what they want, and Cap had no way to stop them.
Fury, on the other hand, was quite pleased. S.H.I.E.L.D. not only welcomed this viewpoint but was even stoking the flames. Was it because of pressure from above to close the case quickly, or were they trying to lull the enemy into a false sense of security? Peter didn't know for sure yet.
But all in all, he truly spent the last two weeks enjoying a pleasant vacation. By the time they reached London, Peter finally made his way to his long-awaited destination: 221B Baker Street, the Sherlock Holmes Museum.
"To put it simply, most people would be very disappointed because it's nothing like what they imagined. But for us, it's exactly the same!"
Jessica said excitedly. The biggest discrepancy between 221B Baker Street and what many people expected was the size. As a Victorian-era apartment building, the interior space was by no means comfortable, leading many to think it was "nothing special."
But for a Holmes fan like Peter, it was different. This apartment captured every detail from the novels and the furnishings from the most classic generations of Sherlock Holmes films and television shows. it was a perfect reconstruction of the 221B Baker Street that every true fan had deduced and envisioned—except for the price of the ticket.
However, after finishing the tour, Peter felt a sense of melancholy. Not because he was dissatisfied, but because he felt as though he had completed a very important life task that he could never experience for the first time again.
"The last time I felt like this was when I played Outer Wilds... wait, it's 2013, Outer Wilds doesn't exist yet."
Peter muttered as he left the museum, listening to Jessica and Felicia chatting away. Just then, his phone rang. He opened it to see a text from Sylvia. This surprised Peter; it had been quite a while, and she was only just contacting him now.
To be honest, since Sandman hadn't appeared in the last half-month, Peter had assumed Sylvia had packed up and gone home. He hadn't expected her to still be here.
He tucked his phone away, glanced at his surroundings, stepped out of the crowd, and jogged to a nearby spot to turn invisible. Swinging on his webs, he arrived at the location Sylvia had specified and deactivated his invisibility. The meeting place was the famous Scotland Yard.
After entering in his uniform, he found not only Sylvia but the rest of Excalibur there as well.
"Alright, Lestrade, I hope you have some clues for us."
Hearing this, Psylocke burst out laughing, leaving Sylvia looking at them with confusion. Psylocke turned to Sylvia with curiosity. "Don't you know? The detective from Sherlock Holmes."
"...I only remember Holmes and Watson."
Sylvia sighed, and Peter got down to business. "So, since everyone is here, is it because you found Sandman?"
"Yes... and no. We found a way to lift Sandman's curse. To be precise, we received help from Merlin. Merlin said that you, Spider-Man, are also a mage, so you'll be able to learn this spell. I'll fill you in on the details in a moment."
Captain Britain said, scratching his head. "Lately, we've fought him every time we've spotted him, but the problem is, he seems to have truly vanished. No matter what we do, we can't find him."
"Could he have run off with Hydra?"
Peter asked curiously, but he received a surprising denial from Captain Britain. "Unlikely. We received a prophecy from Merlin. Sandman is in London, and he is preparing to kill you."
How come Merlin's prophecies are so clear? Madame Web, did you mess up your play this time!
Peter sighed helplessly, then a thought occurred to him. "If... he intends to kill me, there might be one place that would be the best for him to strike."