The Sorcerer's Apprentice

A week later:

I groaned, "I freaking hate Mondays."

"Oh, they aren't so bad," MJ smiled as she placed a stack of waffles before me and winked, "after all, Mondays are waffle days."

I grinned, "hell yeah!"

"Language," Peter warned looking up from his newspaper.

I rolled my eyes, "hey, it's not my fault I fight super villains that curse like sailors? I'm an impressionable young man you know?"

Peter smirked, "I'm sure."

Just then May walked downstairs, grumbling as she sat down, "I hate Mondays."

MJ chuckled, "like father like daughter!"

May didn't bother asking what she meant, she just grabbed a plate and began to eat, "I have three tests today! Three! Argh! This is impossible!"

I shrugged, "you just need to know how to revise May, if you want I can help you out."

"Hell no!-"

"-Language-"

"-I don't need more studies! I need some action to distract me! Is it too much for me to ask for some bad guy to come and try and take over the city?!"

Just then my tablet began to ring out loud. I took it out and Sexy's voice spoke up, "Peter, I just got an SOS alert from 177A Bleecker Street on the Avenger's line."

"Yes!" May cheered, "wishes are real!"

I raised an eyebrow, "what's the message about?"

"The message asks for anyone's help, something about extra-dimensional threats."

I raised an eyebrow at that, "sounds like something we should check out," I turned to Peter, "177A Bleecker Street, sound familiar?"

He nodded solemnly, "yes, that is the address of doctor Stephen strange, former Sorcerer Supreme."

My eyes went wide, "holy shit," I can't believe I didn't recognize sooner! Damn it!

"Language!"

"Oh come on!"

Half an hour later:

I swung into Manhattan making my way towards Strange's place with May right behind me. We spotted the creepy looking house almost immediately and knew instantly this is where we were needed.

I swung onto the roof and landed safely, May right behind me. I looked around and found a sky light, "right, do you know anything about this guy?"

May shrugged as she I approached the sky light and looked inside, finding nothing but darkness staring back at us, "not really. I know he used to be a Defender and some kind of magician. I think he was also an Avenger."

I nodded, "makes sense how he would have access to the emergency broadcast lines," I found a padlock and held up my hand, causing my stingers to pop out with a skint. I winced in pain, the newly implanted metal coating stun.

I sighed, "I hate doing that."

"I've been meaning to ask. How do you have claws?" May asked, "can my dad do that?...Can I?"

"No, it's something unique only to me," I told her as I swung at the lock, slicing it open. I picked up the night light as we both slipped down inside, landing with a soft pat, the room covered with shadows.

"I can't see shit," May hissed.

"Luckily for you I have night vision," I tapped my helmet activating night vision allowing me to see into the darkness. Only to have something stare back at me, "holy shit-"

"HEEE!" a piercing roar came out as the shadows around us came alive, creating a giant head with rows of sharp of teeth. It lunged at us, I jumped away, but shouldn't have bothered since it didn't even come close to striking distance.

"What is that thing?!" May cried out as she jumped away from the shadow, jumping onto the wall before leaping to the ceiling.

"STOOOOP!" it cried out.

"I think it's not friendly!" I called out sending out a blast of bioelectricity from my hand, hitting the thing in the head.

"KRA!" it cried out as a chunk of it's skull was sent flying off. It began to scream before suddenly melting away into the walls of the room, letting the light from the skylight bath the room.

I looked at my hand, "huh, wasn't expecting that," I replied as May and I jumped down and walked to the center of the room.

"What did you do to it?" May asked.

I shrugged, "I don't know. I was just a bio-electrical blast, it's strong enough to stun a horse, but...not that."

"Forget about that! Come help me!" came an old man's voice from behind us.

May and I turned to see an old man tied up to a chiar, his head hanging down. He slowly looked up at us, his face covered with age lines, his hair long enough to reach his shoulder and a beard that looked like it would give Dumbledore a run for his money.

The man wore all black, a cloak and robes that shimmered in the darkness, he had a medallion on his chest and a pair of orange gloves. I blinked, "ah, are you Stephen Strange?"

"Of course I am! Who else do you think it was?!," the old man snapped with a growl, "now get here and untie me at once!"

"Ah, sure," May said as she walked up to the man and untied the man, "what was that thing?" May asked suppressing a shiver.

"It's name is Kylokeous the Great, girl," Strange spat, "a great being from the Shadow dimension, you best show it some respect!"

"Okay..." May trialed off, "magic, that's...new."

I shrugged, "trust me, you just kind of accept these things. You'll get used to it."

"Don't just stand there!," Stephen called out as he walked up to the door pushing it open to find the beat gone, and with it the darkness around the hallway. "It needs to be stopped! Come quickly, we must get to the treasure room, follow me bugs!"

I narrowed my eyes,something was wrong. No version of Stephen Strange could act...this crazy! But I kept quite as May and I followed him as he ran to the stairs, climbing downstairs.

"I don't like this guy," May said as she I leaped down the stairs three at a time.

Just then the monster came back, it cried out, "no!" and launched a tentacle at May, who quickly jumped away.

"Bug man! Fire your power at the beats! Destroy it!" Strange called out with a snarl.

"Yeah," I groaned, doing as the man said, firing off a bolt of bio-electricity at the shadow monster. The thing immediately ran away, dodging my blast.

"Good job," Strange spat as he ran towards a door and pulled it's handle, unable to open it.

May and I caught up to him at this point, looking out for the monster in question, "it's locked."

"Not for long," Stephen began to chant, a language I never heard off, and then suddenly a black circle appeared over the lock, spinning around long enough for a loud click to be heard. The door swung open immediately, "come quick bug."

May and I looked inside, there was a long corridor that was creepy as hell and dark. "I have a bad feeling about this," May said as she gulped. I didn't say anything as I followed Strange, who looked like he was smiling about something.

"So, do you remember me Strange?" I asked the man.

The man snapped back towards me and huffed, "should I?"

I groaned, future Peter sounded like he knew the guy, and of course Spider-man and Doctor Strange should have teamed up some time, so how...something's wrong.

But just then the shadow monster returned. "GO AWAY!" it roared as it came charging at us from behind. May and I jumped back, but the monster ignored us, going right after Strange.

"Help me you fools!" Strange cried out as he summoned a black wipe made of shadows, hitting the monster's body harmlessly.

I gathered my powers and was about to fire when I stopped and noticed something. The monster, it looked like it was in pain, but it wasn't hurting me or May, it was focused only on Strange. And Strange's magic, it felt...wrong. He didn't recognize my costume, he kept calling us bugs...something was very off.

"May, something's not right with Strange," I told her.

"Yeah, he's a creepy old man, but we need to help him!" May cried out.

"I don't-"

CRASH!

The monster threw Strange through a door as it came charging inside after him. "Come on!" May called out as we both ran inside only to be shocked to find what looked like a museum wing filled with random storage items displayed in glass cases.

I found weapons, pottery, heck, even a feather. But right now, I was too busy looking at the monster and Strange fight each other.

"You will not stop me!" Strange cried out, "I will destroy the thread!"

I blinked, "okay, that doesn't sound normal."

"Stop!" the monster roared again, "stop!"

I was about to move, when suddenly Strange sent out a blast of orange energy that sent the monster flying away into a wall. Strange floated in the middle of the room with darkness flowing off off him in droves.

"Finally, the fabled treasure room of the Sanctum Sanctorum!" Strange looked around before flying into the room.

I looked at the downed monster and suddenly it hit me, "Strange!" I yelled running to the monster's side.

"What are you doing?" May asked me, "get back before it kills you!"

"It's not going to, are you Stephen?" I asked holding the monster in my arms.

"Stop him," the monster croaked as he tried to get on his tentacles.

"What? How?" May asked.

"The monster probably switched minds with Stephen, it needs his body to get something out of the treasure room," I concluded looking around, "we need to stop him!"

I ran forward with May following close behind, "magic, monster, brain switching, this is the last time I go on a mission with you Peter!"

I chuckled, "come on kiddo! You're breaking my heart!" We saw Strange floating above a dome shaped glass case, inside it a purple velvet pillow on which laid a single glowing thread.

"At last! It will be mine!" Stephen laughed as he reached out to touched the glass case, slowly removing it.

"Stop right there freak!" I yelled tackling him from the back and into the ground. I punched him across the face over and over, "give my friend his body back!"

"Get off me!" the monster possessing Stephen's body yelled out, sending a blast of black energy so strong I flew back, crashing into a glass case with something inside it.

"You won't stop me now bug boy!" the monster cried out as he got back on his feet.

"Hey ugly!" May called out leaping at Stephen, holding what looked to be a mace in her hand. She brought it down over his head, but at the last moment Stephen sent up a black diamond shaped force field, blocking May's attack.

"Foolish girl! You don't even know how to use that do you?!" he smirked blasting her away with magic.

I looked down at the glass display I had shattered. Inside were two metallic gauntlets with spikes along their knuckles. I couldn't use my strongest attack, that was still Strange's body, so this will have to do.

I grabbed them and slipped them on, immediately they began to reshape themselves, squeezing around my hands, modeling themselves to my arm size. I rotated my wrist and found it flexible, good.

I leaped forward, "hey evil shadow!" It turned to me, it's eyes widened in surprise as I brought my gauntlet covered fist down across it's jaw, knocking him away.

I landed and leaped forward, grabbing his by the collar and pulling him up, "how do I reverse the spell?!"

"Y-you can't!" he spat out before sending a blast of shadow magic that sent my flying upwards into the ceiling, hitting the back of my helmet onto the ceiling. Luckily I was actually wearing a helmet.

I landed on the ground gracefully and watched May swing at Stephen's body once again, this time catching him in the gut, knocking him down.

"Take that!" May cried out victoriously.

"Foolish girl!" the monster growled as it summoned a black shadow circle around his arms, sending out a blast of energy that shot out like a spear.

May leaped over it thanks to her advanced agility, but suddenly the spear changed course, turning back around and rushing at her back, just as she landed.

"No!" I cried out, moving my arm, intending to shot out a web line to stop it, but before I even squeezed the trigger of my web shooters, the gauntlet I wore sparked to life, as the tips of my fingers exploded outwards like fire covered web lines.

It circles around the shadow spear and kept it in place. I gaped at the wipe and then at my hand, I jerked it back and suddenly the spear exploded into flames. My extended fire web shrunk back down into my metallic finger tips.

"Woah," I gasped. Just then the monster occupying Stephen boyd began to move, rushing at the piece of glowing string it was after.

"Oh no you don't!" May called out, firing a web line at him, catching him by the stomach before pulling him over her head, right at me.

"Batter up!" I cried out, swinging my metal covered fist, launching him back into a wall.

"Mine!" the shadow monster I now knew was actually Stephen cried out as he grabbed his body and poured into him through the mouth.

May and I gathered around the now stunned body and watched and suddenly it began to jerk around violently. It gapsed in shock and a dark mist exploded out of his mouth, flying through the ir and into the ground.

"Destroy it!" Stephen's body called out.

"How do I know it's really you?" I asked pointing one gauntlet at the man.

"You're real name is Peter Parker, you're my friend," he looked at me, caring blue eyes replaced the madness filled ones I saw a moment before.

I shrugged, "works for me," I turned both hands towards the still recovering shadow monster and sent out two blasts of bio-energy at him.

BOOM!

The moment each blue bolt made contact the monster let out a blood curdling scream. Stephen leaped on his feat, floating a few inches off the ground as he summoned a large golden circle before him, "by my magic, I banish you Kylokeous from this place and this plane! Be gone from whence you came!"

"NOOO!" it cried out as suddenly it collapsed on itself like a black hole, reducing itself into nothing.

Stephen dropped down holding his sides in pain, "you two really need to learn self control. My body feels like it just went eight rounds with the Hulk!"

May snorted, "sorry, we were too busy trying to stay alive."

Stephen chuckled, "that's true May, I must say Peter, you're daughter does take after you."

May gasped, "you know who I am?!"

Strange smiled, "I'm the former soccer supreme, you'll find I'm very perceptive. Plus, I was the one who delivered you, so of course I know you."

May blinked, "you delivered me? Whoah!"

Strange chuckled as he turned to me, "I'm surprised you never told her Peter."

I rubbed my neck, "ah, sorry to break it to you doc, but I'm not Peter, well, not the one you know."

He narrowed his eyes, "you feel like my old friend, but how..." he snapped his fingers and suddenly several magic glowing circles appeared all around me, spinning around me as words began to fly around. Strange's eyes followed them quickly, speed reading, cool.

When he was finished he smile and dismissed the circles with a wave of his hand, "I see, alternate dimensions. Yes that makes sense. I was mistaken, while you feel like a part of this world, that's only on the surface. You are much different. Much...more..."

I blinked, "ah...okay, not creepy at all."

"Yes, your potential for magic truly is great," Stephen stated.

"I'm sorry?" I asked confused, "magic?"

He nodded, "yes, the gauntlets you wear are the Arms of Vava, a brutal item that requires power and a great will to control them, to use them. You are quite powerful in your own right Peter."

I gulped, "what do you mean?"

Stephen hummed, "when I was stuck in that monster's form, you used some kind of electricity on me yes?" I nodded, "please show me."

I nodded nervously, "okay," I held up my fingers and poured electricity into it, creating a bright blue arc of energy between my fingers, "I can send out bioelectricity in bolts of energy. I don't really get why it reacted so badly to it though."

Stephen stroked his beard, "I see, I'm surprised to see you wielding magic Peter, I always thought you were a man of science."

"Magic?!" May cried out.

"Dude, you got the wrong guy!" I stopped the current flow in shock, "I mean, seriously, it's not magic!"

Stephen chuckled, "it is Peter. Yes it may not involve enchantments, magic circles or mystical words, but it's magic in another form. You see magic is just another word of the manipulations of energy, frankly it's just science without all the machines. We channel our energy through us, what you're doing is beginning level magic. In the strictest sense possible."

May and I looked at each other and then at Strange. "But why did it, you, react to my….magic, so badly?" I asked.

Stephen nodded, "you see Kylokeous is a creature of darkness, it's esseantly a leach that sucked on energy. Your power there is light incarnat and pure life energy. When you launch it at the beast, it can't help but try and absorb your power, but when it does, it also absorbed it's hostile lighting property, thereby injuring itself."

I blinked, "huh...neat."

May cleared her throat, gaing back everyone's attention, "so what was, Ky...ah..."

"Kylokeous," Stephen supplied gently.

"Right, what was he doing here?"

"Trying to get his hands on this," Strange looked at the glowing thread the monster was trying to grab. He snapped his fingers and suddenly the glass case overing it was back on, "while in his shadow form he couldn't even touch the glass case, only mortal hands could do so, hence why he took over my body."

"So when we came and found you tied up," May trailed off.

"I was trying to get my body back from him," Stephen sighed, "by the way Peter, you owe me a padlock. You know how expensive those things are?"

I shrugged, "hey, if you didn't want it to break you should have just casted an unbreakable charm on it or something."

Stephen grinned, "yes, but you see most magical things trying to get in here can't fathom a mortal lock such as that. It's actually quite funny, they can destroy worlds, but one lock and they are lost like sheep. Plus I also put a spell that would kill any magical being with ill intent that even touched that lock. So yes, it's weakness, but in actuality it was a trap."

May and I shared a look before she spoke up, "you ah...you're kind of mad huh?"

Strange sighed, "it seems you also inherited your father's mouth."

"Hey don't look at me, I'm not even from this dimension," I put my hands up in defense.

"Yes, I know," Strange scratched his jaw, "which begs the question, just why are you here?"

I scratched my neck, "it's kind of a long story."

We soon found ourselves in Strange's parlour, the good doctor made up all a cup of tea as he sat down and listened to my story. I took off the Arms of Vava and put them aside, fire whips were kind off too much, even for me.

When I was done Strange scratched his beard, "I see...very interesting. It makes sense I suppose."

May and I blinked, she asked, "it does?"

Strange nodded, "you see I was investigating a tear in reality when Kylokeous attacked me. That tear was probably created when you traveled here. The monster obviously was attracted to your power."

I blinked, "so...this is all my fault?"

"Nothing of the sort," Stephen waved my worry off, "that thing would have tried either way, you just gave it a little push. Now then, what exactly are you going to do while you are here?"

I shrugged, "honestly? I don't know. I was just thinking I'd would hang around until I get sent back home."

"I see, well in that case Peter I have a proposition for you," Stephen smiled.

I blinked, "what kind of proposition?"

"Peter, I see in you something I have never seen in this world's Spider-man, the potential for magic, and not just parlour tricks like you can do right now. Real magic."

"Y-you want to train me in magic?!"

He nodded, "yes. Your powers are amazing, Peter Parker's mind has always been brilliant, but I always found it more scientifically included. But you however are more open, I have no doubt you would do well in the arts."

I stammered, "d-dude, doesn't learning magic take like years?!"

Strange nodded, "yes, but you could always go to the me in your world and continue your training under him, should you return before that time."

I blinked, "holy shit you're serious."

Strange smiled, "very. Take your time though, I don't want to rush you. Making this choice isn't a light matter, many have traveled down this road, only a few have succeeded," he turned to May, "I would offer the same training to you May, but I have a feeling magic isn't...your cup of tea."

May shirverd, "you can say that again."

Strange lead us to the front door, he opened the door, "my door is always open to you both, drop by if you need help or simply-"

"-It's open! The door's finally open!" I heard a loud booming voice call out from outside.

May and I walked out and found the 'Avengers' gathered outside Strange's front steps, J2 being the one who cried out in joy like a moron.

I sighed, "oh great, it's you guys."

"Dr. Strange, we came as soon as we heard your distress signal," American Dream walked up before immediately stopping spotting me and May. She narrowed her eyes glaring at me, "you two! Did you cause this?! What did you do now?"

"What they did was save me," Strange stepped up protectively before us, "they already helped me out, you Avengers came far too late to be off any help."

"Hey it's not our fault," said Bluestreak, the female speedster from before, "the door wouldn't open!"

"Did you try the roof?" May asked.

They all looked at her before each other. I sighed as I face palmed, "the world is so fucked if these are its protectors."

"Hey!" American Dream snarled as she climbed the stairs staring me down, "we may not be perfect, but we are the best team out there, period. Don't disrespect us!"

"Being the best you are right now isn't good enough," I snarled back staring her down, "you need to be better, much better if you want to stand a chance at being a hero."

"And what do you know about being a hero?" she asked me.

"I stopped an inter-dimensional shadow monster, and it isn't even traffic hour yet," I shot back, "you can yell and snarl at me all you want Dream, the fact of the matter is this, unless you and your team get your shit together, you won't last a year."

"I'm willing to take that bet," she glared back.

I rolled my eyes, "whatever, Spider-girl, we better get a move on, it's almost 9 o'clock."

May screamed, "what?! Oh shit! I'm so late!" she swung away, not even bothering to say goodbye.

I chuckled, "yup, she totally takes after me," I turned to Strange, "I'll think about your offer. Really, magic is...I'll admit, I always wanted to try it out."

Strange smiled, "understood, until next time," he walked back inside and snapped his fingers, causing the doors to automatically shut behind him.

I sighed as I turned back around, American Dream still standing right there. "What? You want me to kiss you or something?"

"W-what?!" she cried out, immediately moving back.

I scoffed, "honestly, a little flirting and already you're blushing like a red chilly, guess you really are like Cap in certain ways."

I walked past her and shot a web line out, I was ready to swing away when J2 called out, "hey wait a minute!"

I turned to him, "yeah?"

"A-are you really Spider-man? The original one?" he asked.

I shook my head, "I'm not the Spider-man you know, I'm his doppleganger from another world. I came into this world by accident and I'm now trying to find a way back home."

J2 and the others blinked. Bluestreak just snorted, "you know if you don't want to tell us that's fine."

I sighed, "God help me," I swung away , I can't stand to look at those morons anymore.

That day which began so action packed, actually ended up being kind of dull. School got over around 3, and right after that May and I took off web swinging, fighting crime.

We were swinging around Time's Square when May decided to address the elephant in the room.

"You thinking of accepting Strange's offer?" May asked.

I sighed, "kind of.. Doctor Strange is a master of the mystical arts. He's phenomenal in my world, and there he's just a beginner, I can't even imagine what your world's Strange can do" I think, I haven't really seen him so I wouldn't know, "so yeah. The offer is very tempting."

"Right," May nodded, "but I mean come on, magic?"

I shrugged, "there is more on this world than just heaven and Earth May, you need to have a very flexible mind if you want to live in the superhero world."

"So you have experienced this stuff before?"

I glared, "yes, in a way," 'Doom,' "I haven't met my version of Dr. Strange yet, I know off him and his battles, but I haven't meet him. Actually, that's one of the major reasons I don't know if I should accept Strange's offer or not."

"Why is that?"

"If I learn magic I'm opening up myself to a new pantheon of villains. I don't know about you, but I'm happy enough with my bad guys as it is."

"What do you mean Pete? Aren't you just going to learn magic?"

"Yes, but being the apprentice of Stephen Strange is a very prestigious title. It puts a giant target on my back. Like imagine what would happen if knew you were the original Spider-man's kid and not just some copycat like they think you are. All of your dad's old enemies would come out of the woodwork trying to kill you. Same thing with Strange."

"If it's that dangerous maybe you shouldn't go," May said cautiously.

"Yeah...but I mean come on! It's magic! Plus Strange is known to travel between dimensions, maybe he could help me get home faster. Who knows how long I have to wait before going back home? I can't leave my city unprotected, not to mention my aunt and uncle."

May and I talked for a little while more before we went our separate ways. I asked her to inform her parents that I might not be coming home that night any time soon. I had a doctor's appointment.

I swung over to Strange's place and knocked on the door. Almost immediately it opened and I found Strange looking at me with a smile. I sighed, "I accept."

"Good, then let us begin," he moved aside and let me walk in. He closed the door shut and I knew I probably changed the course of my life forever.

Once again, I found myself in his parlour, he poured me a cup and we sat down facing each other. Strang sipped his drink and looked at me, "so...what do you know about magic?"

"Honestly? Nothing," I shrugged, "I understand that it's supposed to be power in various different forms, but nothing more than that."

Strange nodded, "yes, that's alright I suppose. Magic you see, if the manipulation of foreign energies through spells and incantations. If you wish, you may think of them as programing codes that can change the system you live in."

I raised an eyebrow, "so like the Matrix?"

Strange blinked, "huh….well, yes, I suppose that would be the perfect example. Essentially every magician is a version of Neo and can change the code of the world through programing. That is essentially magic."

I groaned, "you mentioned something about power. Where does it come from? Is it from inside me? Like bioelectricity?"

Strange nodded, "certain magical spells does use your own bio energy, yes. Spells such as the ones you used against Kylokeous are in this category. Also when you use your life force to interact with the electrical fields around you, thereby pushing your spiritual form outwards, you may achieve a state of release, obtaining your astral form."

"So magic isn't something arcane and foreign, it's just a form of manipulated science," I narrowed my eyes in thinking.

Strange smiled, "I have been telling the same to the greatest minds in this dimension, I'm glad someone finally understands. Yes Peter, Magic is just another way we can understand the world, albeit a much more complex and indirect way."

I nodded, "I see…." I then grew curious, 'how did Doom become a soccer? How? Did it have something to do with the place where we sent him? How?'

"What is troubling you Peter?" Strange asked.

I looked at him, "I...it's..." I thought of lying to him, but I figured if he's going through all the trouble of teaching me, I could at least be honest with him, "I was just thinking about a villain from my world. Doom, I assume you know him?"

Strange glared, "yes, I know Victor Von Doom."

I sighed, "yeah, well he's the man who almost killed me," Strange's surprised face made me continue, "when Doom tried to destroy my Baxter building Reed and I sent him through a dimensional portal where my version of the Fantastic Four got their powers. There he stayed for over a year, before he escaped, and this time he could somehow use magic."

"How? Are you sure he used magic?"

"He had glowing green circles spinning around his head."

"Could he use it before?"

"If he could he would have used it against us before," I replied.

"Then….then you must have trapped him in a dimension of power, which would explain how your FF got their powers," Strange said stroking his beard.

I blinked, "I'm sorry?"

Strange blinked out of his dazed look, "oh, sorry. Well you see a dimension of power is a world unlike the dimensions you and I are aware off. You see there are very specific conditions for the universe to exists, the exact number of molecules in an atom should be present, the exact spin in a quark, the exact speed of light. Each of these conditions are balanced on the tip of a sword, hundreds and hundreds of swords. And if one fall off, the entire universe will be unable to support life.

"But, they still exist, and the resulting dimensions laws of physics are changed to such a drastic measure it's almost unrecognizable. Like for example gravity could be reversed, where everything is pushed away instead of pulled in."

"Okay, but what does that have to do with magic?" I asked, not that this little tale in quantum mechanics wasn't fascinating, I really wanted him to get to the point.

"These dimensions are unstable, they constantly grind against our own. And if they somehow interact with our own dimension and are subjects to our rules, it can cause different effects," he snapped his finger summoning a magical circle over his fingers, "such as allowing me to do this."

My eye's widened in fascination, "how? How can a human do this?"

"Our minds are quantum machines Peter, meaning they work differently than the rest of our boyd. The nest of electrical signal acts like...like a modem of sorts, allowing us to connect to different dimensions, pulling in that world's energies into our own, and manipulating it. There are thousands upon thousands of worlds out there, each giving a different type of magic. Dark worlds, such as Dormammu, Mephisto's realm, and so many more. As such you need to be careful when using magic, it can quite literally kill you."

I groaned and nodded, "so...Doom was in one of these worlds...and he learnt to control magic, the power of that world,...all by himself?"

Strange nodded, "that man is one of the greatest minds in any dimensions, it is a pity he is almost always a narcissistic megalomaniac."

I smiled, "right….when do I begin Doctor?"

Stephen slide, "if we are to do this, I insist you call me Master Strange, as you are my apprentice."

"Right," I nodded as I finished my tea, "master Strange."

Stephen nodded, "right then Apprentice Parker, follow me," he got up and I followed him out of the room.

"There is just one more thing Master Strange," I called out as we walked down a long corridor.

"And what's that?"

"Why do you want to teach me magic?" I asked. Strange raised an eyebrow as he looked at me over his shoulder, "I'm not an idiot. I know there are limits to professional curiosity. You know I'll eventually return to my own world, so it's of no benefit to your dimension to teach me. So why?"

Strange smiled, "you have a very perceptive mind Peter, that is good, most magical beings are tricksters by nature. You will need to constantly be on your toes."

"Still didn't answer the questions Master Strange," I smiled.

Strange chuckled, "yes, yes….you are correct, I do have a reason to train you. But I cannot reveal it to you."

"Why not?"

"Have you read Harry Potter?"

I blinked, "yeah….why?"

"Well, in the second book Harry had to fight a sixty foot long snake in the dungeons. Do you think if he had know that in the beginning before he even began schooling in Hogwarts, he would even want to go?"

"No, he would be shit scared and would run away," I replied, "but I'm not Harry Potter, I face monsters on a regular basis, so what's my equivalent of a sixt foot long basilisk?"

Strange simply replied, "you will see."

I sighed, "I hope I become as mystical and dodgy as you," Strange said nothing as I followed him around, now I'm really curious, just why was he doing this? Whatever, one problem at a time.

We walked into his library, Strange floated upwards into the rows of books he had put up and used his powers to take out a large number of books. They all began to float downwards and land on a table, slowly forming stacks of books nearly 10 books tall.

"Before learning magic, you need to learn language," Strange explained, as I said, spells are like a program you can use to change reality itself, as such you need to first learn the programing language."

I picked up a text and looked it over, "so...Sanskrit? Hindi? And...Arabic?"

Strange nodded, "you will need to learn them all, their culture, history, myths, everything."

"There must be over a hundred books in here," I looked at the stacks of books.

"Yes, good luck Apprentice Parker," Strange said as he left the library, leaving me alone with the books and a silent room. I sighed and cracked my knuckles, might as well try and learn something.

By two in the morning I was half asleep. I found myself rereading several pages just because I wasn't paying attention when reading them. I sighed as I leaned back and stretched my hands, looking at the ten books I did manage to finish. I wasn't fluent in Sanskrit, but hey, at least now I knew a few words. And a whole lot of Hindu myth, did you know there are over 330 million Gods?

Either way, I was done for the day. I got up and walked out, and suddenly I realised I had no idea how to leave. Strange had taken so many winding paths in the house I lost track, plus my mind was otherwise busy at the time.

I'm so glad Nat's another world away, she would kick my ass if she found out I wasn't paying attention to my surroundings.

So with a sigh I called out, "Strange! Master Strange! A little help please!" I waited but no one came. So with a sigh I decided to risk it, walking out to my right, hoping I would reach somewhere recognizable.

Soon the halls all began to blur together. I swear they didn't make any sense. I passed a painting of a man dancing with a hippo about three times. And every time I did I could have sworn that hippo was with a different man.

And then I reached the end of the corridor. I stood before a door, plain, non threatening looking and I could light coming from below, maybe it was an exit.

I touched the knob and immediately my spidey senses went off. I let go and jumped away, but the door exploded forward and I was sucked in like air into the vacuum of space.

I went flying through purple and yellow skies, finally landing on a staircase that was suspended in the middle of nowhere.

I rubbed my sore head, "what the hell happened?" I looked around and suddenly found myself in a maze of staircases, going every which way. Left to right, top to bottom, and even upside down.

"Hello?!" I cried out, my own voice echoed back at me.

Panic began to settle in but I knew I couldn't let it. I was in enough trouble as it is. I looked around, the door had to be somewhere here. I turned to my left, I came from that direction, stands to reason I need to go that way.

I launched a web line and began swinging over, the vast empty space was really beginning to confuse me.

I shot out a new web line, jumping from the crucido of my last one, when suddenly the staircase I was targeting moved. I freaking moved! What the fuck?!

I screamed as I found myself falling into the abyss below, the vast empty region of purple and yellow all around me.

I turned around and shot out web line after web line, praying one would be long enough to reach another staircase, but they didn't.

"FUUUUUU-" I screamed out, I needed webs, fast! I watched as the vast nothingness below may came up faster and faster. I screamed louder, but I knew no one would come for me.

Slowly I felt my senses go numb. It was like everything about my body began to shut down. There was nothing to smell but me, there was nothing to see but purple and yellow. There was nothing to touch, no air rushing past, no gravity, yet I knew I was falling.

I closed my eyes and prayed, I prayed for something to save me, for something to happen. And suddenly, I felt it. As every other scene turned numb, I turned inwards, and I felt it. A twanging, like the vibrations created on a spider web.

It was as if it always existed inside of me, but only now, after everything else was taken away, only now could I hear it. That sound, that sound that grew louder than my heart beat, that grew louder than everything else in my body, even my thoughts.

Twang.

Twang!

And suddenly my body began to slow down, before being shot back up. I opened my eyes and found a giant golden web shaped like a road right before me. I fell back down, bouncing on it like a trampoline.

Slowly I came to a stop. I got on my feet and looked around. The golden web road extended far beyond everything I could see. It was like it had no end and no beginning. I looked up, the staircases were so far away, I could barely see them. I needed a way to get back up there.

And suddenly, as if it could heard me, the web reacted. It suddenly exploded as each thread in the web shoot up, creating thousand sof more strands, creating a large web wall upto the stairs above.

I gawked, 'what are you?' I waited for an answer, I honestly expected one. But I didn't get any. I didn't know how long this would last, so I acted fast. I used the web wall and climbed back up. My muscles ached from the activity, but I didn't care.

I slumped back on a staircase and painted, my sleepiness gone. I looked down, from this high up I could see so much more of the web.

It extended till the edge of the purple and yellow clouds. And I could see another large road meeting up with it near the very end, like the edges of a spiral meeting an anchor point.

"Oh I'm so fucked," I sighed.

"Indeed you are," came Strange's voice, I turned to see the man sitting with his legs crossed over his thighs, flying down towards me. "Your first day here and you have already gotten into so much trouble."

"In my defence you forgot to tell me how the fuck I'm supposed to navigate your house of horrors!" I sapped back.

Strange just smiled, "well, maybe next time you'll learn to wait."

I grumbled. I looked away from him and back at the web road, "what is this place? What is that?"

"This place?" Strange smiled, "well, you see, this place the place between worlds. It's a pocket dimension that connects to various other parts of this world. A way to travel around much quicker than normal."

"And that?" I asked pointing at the golden web road.

Strange looked down and he gasped. He looked like he was thinking something over before he sighed, "that….is why I decided to train you."

"I'm sorry? How is that a basilisk level threat?" I asked him.

"It's not the danger I was worried about, it's the magnitude," Strange snapped his fingers and suddenly the clouds of purple and yellow began to slowly vanish, revealing a galaxy of stars just behind them, "this dimension connects various other spots in my dimension. But that web line, well, it connects to much more."

Suddenly the world around me began to grow smaller and smaller. I found myself staring at the golden web road slowly being revealing to something bigger.

The sky and ground became clusters of stars, whole galaxies were strung up before Strange and I. It was like looking at an image on the entire universe, but only the universe was a small pixel in the image I was now looking at.

But in that image there was one structure that dominated everything else. It grew to look bigger than whole galaxies, the golden web road I found myself was big enough to house a city block, but it was but a small atomic part of the giant web I found strung around the entire multiverse before me.

"It's called the Web of Life," Strange informed me, "no one knows how it began, it was there since before time itself. Many say it was left behind from the multiverse before ours, I however believe in a different theory."

He turned to me, "in every multiverse there are beings with superhuman powers. And almost always, one of those beings are a totem of the Spider."

My eyes went wide, "a Spider powered hero," it wasn't a question, it was a fact.

Strange nodded, "yes. They are the reason the Web of Life exists. They generate it with every breath they take, with every action they take. It binds the whole of the multiverse together, a source of power of amazing, no sorcerer has been able to channel even a fraction of it. To do so would be like touching the sun itself, only a thousand times more hotter.

"But, there is an exception," he turned to me, "only a Spider may use the full capabilities of the web. Only a Spider, no one else. And in the whole of the multiverse, there has never once been a Spider who has tried. Until you."

I turned to Strange, "you want me to use this power? Are you crazy?! One wrong move and I can kill hundreds!"

"And you can save billions," he shot back, "I'm no fool Peter, I know your capabilities, I understand your powers better than you understand yourself. I know what you are capable off, I can see your potential."

"But why?! Why do I need to do this?! What's out there that I need to wield the power of the freaking multiverse?!"

Strange looked at me and whispered, "the Doom of all life," six bright lights shined over his head, red, blue, green, purple, orange and yellow and together they formed a gauntlet, "Thanos is coming, and he will destroy everything."

I gawked at Strange, "how?"

"I have seen it. As a Spider grows stronger so does their connection to the Web of Life. And your connection is the strongest I have seen for a long time," Strange looked over his shoulder as suddenly one thread point began to glow brighter than everything else, it was so close to the center, I knew if that was to be destroyed, it would bring every other thread down too.

"I-I can destroy the multiverse?" I asked in horror.

"Yes," Strange nodded, "your death at the hands of Thanos with the infinity stones can cause it all to collapse."

"B-but that's not possible! I'm nothing! How can one Spider bring it all down?! How?!"

"It's not just you, the world you come form is also located close to the heart of the Universe," Strange looked over to the web as a notch near the center glowed brightly, "it's perfect."

"This isn't' possible! I'm not even-!" I stopped, I was about to admit my deepest secret, but I stopped myself before.

But then Strange continued, "you're not what? The real Peter Parker?" he didn't look surprised, in fact, he looked relieved, "I know."

"W-hat? What do you mean you know?!"

"I know you are not really Peter Parker," Strange replied, "I know, to you, all our worlds are nothing but stories. But, that changes nothing. The moment you put on that mask and made those web shooters, you became Spider-man. A hero, it doesn't matter if you aren't born to be superhero, you chose that path and have traveled it like any other."

I stared at him, my mouth going dry, "I can't."

"You can, and you will. You may not be Peter Parker, but you understand the price of power and the responsibility it carries. You understand what it means to be Spider-man, more than anyone else. That is why you will become the Sorcerer of the Web, Protector of Life itself. That, is your destiny. It always has been.