Chapter 12: Octopuses, Rhinos, and Spiders, Oh My!

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Peter's cell at Arkham was dark, wet, and smelly. He could only imagine who occupied it before him.

There were three barred windows: one on the door, and one on each wall adjacent to the door. The fourth wall was blank, except for the scratches the last inmate had made.
In the cell across from him was Slade Wilson. He never spoke or made any noise. The same couldn't
be said for the people on either side of him.

"Hey buddy," the guy in the cell on his left said. "I think you and I are going to be best friends!" He cackled.

"Wait a minute," Peter said. "I know that laugh."

The Joker's face appeared in the barred window. "Boo."
There was an orange spark in Peter's cell.

"What's that?" The Joker asked as another spark appeared.

Suddenly, an orange portal appeared and Doctor Strange walked through it.

"Peter Parker. I need your help. Come with me, now," He said.

Without hesitation, Peter followed him through the portal into the New York Sanctum.

He was greeted instantly by Ned and MJ.

"Wait here," Strange said. "I'm currently dealing with a multiversal crisis, and I'll need your help." Without another word, Strange disappeared into another portal.

There was a moment of silence between the group of friends.

"So, how was Arkham?" MJ asked.

"Really bad. Really, really bad," Peter said. "My cell was right next to the Joker's."

"That can't have been fun," Ned said.
There was a rumble nearby.

"What was that?" The three of them asked in unison.

Another rumble. Peter slowly walked towards the source of the sound. He found a pair of shaking, shuddering boxes sitting next to each other in Strange's room full of magical artifacts.

He peeked in the first one. Inside, a man with dark sunglasses and a dark green trench coat was struggling to escape. But that wasn't what troubled Peter about him.

He had four robotic arms coming out of his back.

Peter looked in the second one.

A bald man with blue, pulsing skin was inside, also struggling to get out.

"Help us!" The man with the robot arms said suddenly. Peter turned to face him. "We just want what we were promised."

"We were promised a new life," the blue man said. "We were brought from the dead and into this world. She promised us a new life. A better one."

"You were dead?" Peter asked. "Who killed you?"

"Spider-Man," They said in unison.

Peter suddenly felt sorry for the two men. In another universe, another lifetime, he had killed them.

"I was trying to build a fusion reactor," the man with the arms said. "Clean energy for the city. But Spider-Man made me destroy it, and die along with it."

The man with the blue skin spoke up. "Spider-Man forced me to charge my body with electricity. But it was too much. He made me explode."

"What are your names?" Peter asked.

"Electro."

"Otto Octavius."

"Alright," Peter said. "Electro. Octavius. If I let you two out of here, you promise not to hurt anyone?"

"Of course," Octavius said. Electro just nodded.

"Peter, you don't know what you're doing!" MJ suddenly said.

"In another world, I hurt these men," Peter said. "It's only right that I should help them fix themselves."
And with that, he opened the two boxes.

Octavius batted Peter, Ned, and MJ away with one of his robot arms. Electro rushed out the door, Octavius following close behind.

"Oh shit," Ned said.

"What have I done?" Peter asked.

Strange and Loki came through a portal. "You let them go?" Loki asked. "I shouldn't be surprised."

"I've been told that Doc Ock is very good at convincing people to do what he wants," Strange said.

"What, those kids you talked to said that? And you actually believe them?"

"What's happening?" Peter asked.

"I'll tell you once we get Doc Ock and Electro back," Strange said "Come on. They can't have gone far."

"I don't have my suit," Peter said.

Strange waved his hands and a new Spider-suit appeared in his hands. It was similar to the suit Tony gave him, but a major difference was that the spider symbol was gold.

"Now you do," Strange said.

Peter slipped the suit on and rushed out the door, Strange following closely behind.

"There!" Peter shouted to Strange, pointing at the craters left by Doc Ock's rampage. Peter swung along the buildings, following the craters.

He turned a corner and was batted down by a man in a giant mech-like suit, which bore a resemblance to a rhino.
"This is for ruining my operation, you little prick!" The Rhino shouted.

The Rhino was suddenly hit in the face by a web, similar to the ones Peter used. But it didn't come from him.

"You know, I'd be hurt, but that technically isn't me," came a voice from above Peter.

A red blur struck Rhino right in the face. He stumbled once, then fell over.

Peter looked up to see a person in a Spider-Man suit similar to his standing above him.

The second Spider-Man pulled off his mask, revealing a man slightly older than Peter, with bushy brown hair.

The second Spider-Man pulled off his mask, revealing a man slightly older than Peter, with bushy brown hair

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"Hey," the other Spider-Man said.

"Who are you?" Peter asked.

"I'm you." There was a pause. "From another universe."

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