4

It didn’t take long for Peter to arrive at his destination: 177A Bleecker Street, in New York City’s West Village. He paused for a moment on the sidewalk as he looked up at the building. It fit in with all the other brownstones in the area, save for one important detail: on the upper floor was a large round window with crisscrossing lines unlike anything else Peter had seen.

Approaching the entrance, Peter was just about to ring the doorbell, when the doors opened by themselves. Inside the building, Peter saw a large entrance hall, with a grand staircase toward the back. He was immediately struck by just how cold it was inside, and then Peter noticed there was snow—snow!—all over the place. Two people were shoveling it into buckets.

Shivering, Peter walked inside, and the snow crunched beneath his feet.

“Um, hi,” he said to one of the people. “Hi, I’m, uh—”

“The most famous person in the world. I know,” a voice answered from the other direction.

Looking over, Peter saw that a magical portal had appeared, made of swirling energy. Stepping out from the portal was a man with dark hair and a mustache, wearing a hooded parka.

As if predicting Peter’s next question, the man introduced himself.

“Wong,” he said, then gestured toward the snow on the floor. “Try not to slip. We don’t have liability insurance.”

“Is all this for a holiday party?” Peter wondered as he took in the snowy scene.

“No,” Wong said. “One of the rotunda gateways connects to Siberia. A blizzard blasted through.”

Then came a whooshing sound from the top of the stairs. Peter and Wong turned their attention to the man wearing a flowing cloak and winter jacket, who hovered just above the steps as he floated down toward them holding a mug of steaming hot cocoa.

Doctor Stephen Strange.

“Because someone,” Doctor Strange said, glaring at Wong, “forgot to cast the monthly maintenance spell to keep the seals tight.”

“That’s right,” Wong responded defensively. “ He did , because he forgot I now have higher duties.”

“Higher duties?!” Doctor Strange shot back.

“The Sorcerer Supreme has higher duties, yes,” Wong said.

Peter was confused. He looked at Doctor Strange and said, “Wait, I thought you were the Sorcerer Supreme.”

“No,” Doctor Strange explained, nodding toward Wong. “He got it on a technicality ’cause I blipped for five years.”

Peter knew all too well about the blip—the mass event caused by Thanos that had made half the living beings in the universe disappear from existence. Peter had been among those who’d blipped. Only the relentless, courageous teamwork of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes, the Avengers, had been unable to undo it.

“Oh,” was Peter’s reply. Then he looked at Wong and said, “Well, congratulations.”

“If I’d been here, then I would have—” Doctor Strange started to say.

“Burned the place down,” Wong said, finishing the sorcerer’s sentence. Then he turned toward the two apprentices in the room. “You two! No one said, ‘Stop shoveling!’ ”

As Wong strode off, Doctor Strange turned his attention to Peter.

“So, Peter. To what do I owe the pleasure?”

“Right, um,” Peter said hesitantly. “I’m really sorry to bother you, sir, but—”

Doctor Strange scoffed. “Please, we saved half the universe together. I think we’re beyond you calling me, ‘sir.’ ”

Noticing that Peter was shivering, the sorcerer then cast a simple spell, igniting a fire in a nearby fireplace.

“Okay, uh ... Stephen,” Peter said uncomfortably.

“That feels weird,” Doctor Strange said. “But I’ll allow it.”

“Uh, when, um ...” Peter began, “When Mysterio revealed my identity, my entire life got screwed up. And, I was wondering ... I mean, I don’t really know if this would actually work, but I was wondering if ... maybe you could go back in time and make it so that he never did?”

The sorcerer couldn’t believe his ears.

“Peter, we tampered with the stability of space-time to resurrect countless lives,” Doctor Strange said. “You want to do it again now just ’cause yours got messy?”

“This isn’t ... It’s not about me,” Peter said. “I mean, this is really hurting a lot of people. My, uh, my Aunt May, Happy, my best friend, my girlfriend ... their futures are ruined. Just because they know me, and they’ve done nothing wrong.”

Doctor Strange’s demeanor softened—he could see that Peter was really hurting.

“I am so sorry,” he said. “But even if I wanted to ... I don’t have the Time Stone anymore.”

“That’s right,” Peter said. The Time Stone was one of the six Infinity Stones used by Thanos to achieve his horrible goal. The Avengers had then used the Stones to undo everything, before returning the Stones to their rightful places in time.

“I’m really sorry if I wasted your time,” Peter apologized.

“No, you didn’t—” Doctor Strange said.

“Forget about it,” Peter continued, feeling like he had done something wrong.

Wong walked by, carrying some suitcases.

“Oh, he will,” Wong said pointedly. “He’s very good at forgetting things.”

Except maybe he wasn’t so good at it. A thoughtful look came over Doctor Strange’s face as he said, “Wong, you’ve actually generated a good idea.”

“What?” Wong asked.

“The Runes of Kof-Kol,” Doctor Strange said.

“The Runes of Kof-Kol?” Peter inquired.

“Oh, it’s just a standard spell of forgetting,” the sorcerer explained. “It won’t turn back time, but at least people will forget that you were ever Spider-Man.”

“Seriously?” Peter asked, stunned. “That would be—”

“No, not seriously,” Wong said, interrupting the conversation. He looked sharply at Doctor Strange. “That spell travels the dark borders between known and unknown reality. It’s too dangerous.”

Doctor Strange wasn’t deterred. “We’ve used it for a lot less. Do you remember the full-moon party at Kamar-Taj?”

“No,” Wong said.

“Exactly,” Doctor Strange replied.

The three stared at each other for a long moment, as Doctor Strange and Peter waited for Wong to cave.

He didn’t.

“Come on,” Doctor Strange said, pleading Peter’s case. “Wong ... hasn’t he been through enough?”

Wong’s resolve seemed to waiver. He wasn’t without sympathy for Peter’s plight. But he was now Earth’s Sorcerer Supreme. He had responsibilities.

As a portal opened behind Wong, he said, “Just leave me out of this.”

“Fine,” Doctor Strange said, as Wong stepped into the portal.

“Fine,” Wong replied, and the portal closed.

Doctor Strange turned to face Peter, and smiled.

As Peter followed Doctor Strange down the stairs, he was shocked by how much the place looked like some kind of crypt or something. The dark stone chamber looked seriously ancient. Doctor Strange stopped next to a stone podium, waving his hands, as he gathered the necessary elements to cast the Runes of Kof-Kol.

“So, what is this place?” Peter asked.

“The Sanctum’s built at the intersection of cosmic energy currents,” Doctor Strange explained as he worked. “We weren’t the first to seek ’em out. Some of these walls are thousands of years old. And they shot an episode of The Equalizer here in the eighties.”

“Well, I um ... really appreciate you doing this for me, sir,” Peter said.

“Don’t mention it. And don’t call me sir.”

“Right, sorry,” Peter said.

At last, Doctor Strange had finished the preparations. He looked at Peter. “You ready?”

“I’m ready,” Peter answered.

“Nice knowing you, Spider-Man,” Doctor Strange said.

As the sorcerer gestured with his hands, beginning the spell, Peter paused. What had Strange meant when he said, “Nice knowing you, Spider-Man?”

“Wait, excuse me?” Peter said.

“The entire world’s about to forget that Peter Parker is Spider-Man, including me.”

“Everyone?” Peter asked, panic rising in his voice. “Uh ... can’t some people still know?”

“That’s not how the spell works,” Doctor Strange said, concentrating intently. “And it’s very difficult and dangerous to change it, mid-casting.”

But Peter’s mind was racing.

“So my girlfriend’s just gonna forget about everything we’ve been through?” Peter asked. “I mean, is she even gonna be my girlfriend?”

“That depends,” Doctor Strange replied, doing his best to focus on the spell. “Was she your girlfriend just ’cause you’re Spider-Man, or—”

“I mean, I don’t know,” Peter worried. “I really hope not!”

“All right, fine,” the sorcerer said. He began to adjust the already in-process spell. “Everyone in the world’s gonna forget that you’re Spider-Man, except your girlfriend.”

A wave of relief crashed over Peter. “Thank you so much, that—oh my God, Ned. Ned!”

Doctor Strange looked confused. “What is a ‘Ned’?”

“He’s my best friend,” Peter said. “So it’s really important to me that Ned knows.”

The sorcerer could tell there was no talking Peter out of it. With a sigh, he began adjusting the spell once again.

“Okay,” Doctor Strange said, trying to focus. “Let’s not change the parameters of this spell any more while I’m casting it.”

“Okay, I’m done,” Peter said. “I’m done. I swear I’m done. I’m done.”

Except Peter was not done.

“Ah!” he exclaimed. “But my Aunt May should really know!”

A look of frustration came over Doctor Strange as he said, “Peter, stop tampering with the spell.”

Gesturing with his hands, Doctor Strange struggled to further adjust the spell. Then rings of runes began to appear in the air, swirling all around the pair.

“When she found out that I was Spider-Man it was really messy, and I don’t think that I can go through with that again,” Peter told him. “So, my Aunt May?”

“Yes!” Doctor Strange said, already trying to accommodate Peter’s request.

“Oh, thank you, thank you,” Peter said, swearing to himself that he really was done this time. Except ... “Happy?”

“No!” Doctor Strange said flatly. “I’m annoyed!”

“No, it’s a nickname,” Peter explained. “Harold ‘Happy’ Hogan. He used to work for Tony Stark, but then he was kind of dating my aunt, and they broke up...”

Peter’s constant revisions and interruptions, and Doctor Strange’s attempts to adjust the spell, were now taking a visible toll on the runes forming around them.

“Would you just stop talking!” Doctor Strange ordered, but by then, it was already too late.

The rings of runes were now out of control, releasing a shock wave that caused Peter and the sorcerer to rise in the air.

In the snow-filled entryway of the Sanctum above, everything began to shake.

Back in the chamber, the rings of runes swirled around, their magic unstable.

“Basically everyone that knew that I was Spider-Man before should still know!” Peter shouted, as Doctor Strange struggled to get the spell under control.

Magic permeated the chamber as it blasted around them, tearing apart walls. Bizarre cracks appeared, as dark shapes moved behind them, and weird, almost groaning sounds could be heard.

Peter watched as Doctor Strange used all his might, slowly shrinking the spell, smaller ... smaller ... and smaller. With a final effort, he contained the spell in a pentagon-like orb.

“Did it work?” Peter asked sheepishly.

“No,” a seething Doctor Strange said. “You changed my spell six times.”

“Five times,” Peter corrected.

“You changed my spell!” the sorcerer exclaimed. “You don’t do that! I told you.” Then Doctor Strange pointed at the orb. “And that is why! That spell was completely out of control. If I hadn’t shut it down, something catastrophic could have happened!”

“Stephen, listen, I am so sorry—”

“Call me sir,” Doctor Strange said coldly.

Peter felt terrible. “Sorry, sir,” was all he could manage.

“You know, after everything we’ve been through together, somehow I always forget you’re ... you’re just a kid,” Doctor Strange said, sorry that he had snapped.

He looked at Peter, and saw the despair on the teenager’s face.

“Look, Parker,” the sorcerer began, “the problem is not Mysterio. It’s you trying to live two different lives, and the longer you do that, the more dangerous it becomes. Believe me.”

Peter heard every word and realized the truth in what Doctor Strange was saying.

“I’m so sorry about you and your friends not getting into college,” Doctor Strange continued. “But if they rejected you, and you tried to convince them to reconsider, there’s nothing else you can do.”

A moment later, Peter said, “When you say, ‘convince them,’ you mean like I could have called them?”

“Yeah.”

“I can do that?” Peter asked earnestly.

Doctor Strange was stunned. “You haven’t called the—”

“Well, I mean, I got their letter, and I assumed that that was—”

Now Doctor Strange was really angry.

“I’m sorry, are you telling me that you didn’t even think to plead your case with them first before you asked me to brainwash the entire worl d ?!”

“Well, I mean, when you put it like that, then ...” Peter said.

But before he could get out another word, Doctor Strange showed Peter to the door of the Sanctum. In an instant, Peter was standing on the street, and the doors shut in his face with a loud slam.

He would find a way to fix things with Doctor Strange later. But right now, Peter had a new mission. Taking out his phone, he dialed a number, and then waited impatiently as it rang.

“Come on, pick up,” he said. “Pick up, pick up, pick up...”

“Dude, what?” came a voice from the other end. “I’m busy.”

“Flash,” Peter said, “where’s the MIT mixer?”

“Why?”

“Because I need to come and talk to someone,” Peter explained. “I’m trying to get Ned and MJ a second chance at getting in.”

“What’s in it for me?” Flash asked over the sound of people talking. “I’m risking a lot just talking to you.”

Peter sighed. “Okay, I will, um ... pick you up and swing you to school for one week?”

“For a month,” Flash countered.

“For a week,” Peter insisted.

“Two weeks,” Flash bargained.

“Flash, please come on, help me!” Peter begged.

“You know what I want,” Flash said, sounding like he wouldn’t budge.

“Okay, I’ll tell everyone that you’re my best friend.”

Peter could practically hear Flash grinning over the phone.

“Flash, please, help me!”

“Cool, cool, cool,” Flash answered. “So there’s this lady. She’s the Assistant Vice Chancellor. You can plead your case with her.”

“Okay, perfect,” Peter said. “Where is she?”

“She left.”

“To go where?”

“To the airport,” Flash said.

Peter hung up, and was on his way. Za7cda4CzuC9YWr+fXXx6ad0Fo5zuYKciHY+M20ykaB71lDnEvJBOvK2SlAgqAIP