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Alex Ray followed Peter Parker through the exhibit hall, passing by his good friend Harry Osborn and Harry's father, Norman Osbornāwho had yet to become the Green Goblin.
Alex felt a twinge of sympathy for this version of Harry. The guy had it roughāhis girlfriend stolen, his father killed, and eventually disfigured by an explosion.
Honestly, Alex didn't understand how a wealthy heir like Harry could be friends with someone like Peter, who, at this point, was a total loser. But then again, this was a movie universe. Things didn't always reflect reality.
Before long, they arrived inside the exhibition hall.
"There are over 32,000 known species of spiders in the world," a scientist explained to the crowd of young students. Peter and the others were listening intently.
"Wow, that's so cool!" Peter exclaimed, snapping pictures while absorbing every detail.
Alex leaned against a corner wall, silently waiting for the plot to kick in.
Beside him, Harry nudged Peter. "Wanna go talk to Mary now?"
Peter shook his head quickly, flustered. "No, no. You go talk to her."
Clearly, Peter didn't have the courage.
With a shrug, Harry walked over to Mary Jane and struck up a conversation.
"How disgusting!" Mary said as she gazed at the spiders in their enclosures. Despite her words, her sparkling eyes betrayed a certain fascination.
"Yeah, disgusting little things," Harry replied, trying to sound suave.
Peter watched them from behind, his discomfort growing. Every bit of trivia Harry was using to impress Mary had come straight from Peter's mouth moments earlier.
Peter could only silently suffer. If only he'd been braver, he could've been the one sharing all that with her.
While the two chatted, Alex noticed something crucial: one spider was missing from the enclosure that was supposed to house fifteen. It had escaped and now clung to the ceiling corner, poised above them.
Right then, a teacher called Harry away, leaving Peter and Mary alone.
Peter hesitated. Alex, watching the awkward scene unfold, decided to intervene.
"How about I take a picture of you two?" Alex suggested, stepping forward. "Then Peter can take one of just you, Mary." He winked at Peter.
"Really?" Peter looked at Alex gratefully, then turned to Mary with hopeful eyes. This was a rare opportunity.
Peter hadn't expected to run into Alex Ray again, much less have him step in like this. He'd always dreamed of getting a picture with Mary Jane.
Mary hesitated, eyeing Alex with the camera. Then she looked at Peter and finally nodded.
Though it was odd for Alex to suddenly pop in and propose a photo, there wasn't any real harm in it.
At Alex's urging, the shutter clicked.
Peter now had a treasured photo with Mary.
"Seize the opportunity," Alex reminded him, handing back the camera before stepping away.
Ding!
"Congratulations, host. Peter Parker (Tobey version) has been successfully added as a friend."
"You have received the item: Punching Bag Glasses."
"You have gained 10 Friendship Points."
Alex stared at the strange glasses in his hand, unimpressed. The item description felt like a joke.
[Punching Bag Glasses: Wearing these glasses increases the hostility of everyone around you by 100%. A must-have prop for playing dumb while staying deadly.]
Classic. Pre-Spider-Man Peter really was a walking disaster.
Peter, now encouraged, asked Mary for a few more pictures. Meanwhile, Alex quietly returned to his corner, waiting for the pivotal spider-bite moment.
As Peter focused his camera on Mary, the rogue spider silently descended from the ceiling, inching toward him.
But before it could bite, Mary's boyfriend suddenly stormed over.
Seeing Peterāa nobodyāflirting and taking pictures of his girl infuriated him.
With one swift punch, Peter hit the ground, and the spiderāthrown off-courseāsank its fangs into the wrong target.
"AAAHHHH!" A scream ripped through the exhibition hall.
Everyone turned in alarm and rushed over.
The spider had bitten Mary's boyfriend.
He immediately began convulsing, foaming at the mouth as he collapsed.
Mary stood frozen in horror.
Peter, dazed from the punch, stared in confusion.
Alex took a sip of coffee, watching calmly from the side. The spider had bitten a background character instead of the protagonist.
Predictably, without protagonist luck, the guy couldn't handle the venom and collapsed near death.
Alex was curious how things would unfoldābut he also needed to keep a close eye on the spider. If necessary, he'd make sure Peter got bitten to reset the timeline.
After its bite, the spider skittered away, clearly realizing it had messed up.
Alex scanned the chaos, trying to locate it again. The crowd grew denser. Security arrived, evacuating people and locking down the spider cages.
Harry and his teacher returned to the scene, shocked by what they saw.
Ignoring Peter on the floor, Harry rushed to Mary and embraced her, trying to comfort her in the most opportunistic way possible.
Peter, watching from behind, felt his anger boil over.
His fists clenched. His eyes burned with fury.
Meanwhile, Alex finally spotted the rogue spider, now crawling toward another oblivious passerby.
He raised a hand and quietly cast chaos magic, freezing the spider mid-motion.
Should he force the spider to bite Peter now? Or abandon this universe entirely and take the spider with him?
The idea of studying the spider and mass-producing Spider-Men was tempting.
But seeing the man about to die from the bite, Alex shook his head.
"This world is insane," he muttered, glancing at Peter on the floor and Harry cradling Mary like some opportunistic white knight.
Then a thought struck him: What if the spider bit Mary instead?
Alex released the chaos magic.
But instead of biting Mary, the spider seemed to receive some invisible commandāand lunged straight at Peter.
Sinking its fangs into his skin.
Alex watched in silence.
"Looks like some things are meant to be," he said softly.
"Which means the mission should be complete... and I can go home."
He reached for his Sling Ring, attempting to open a portal back to his universe.
Nothing happened.
Alex frowned. The timeline's restoredāso what's the holdup? Is the crisis not over yet...?
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Bonus Chapter - 150 Power Stones
2nd Bonus Chapter - 300 Power Stones
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š Enjoying the Story? Get Ahead Now!
Can't wait for the next twist or epic moment?
Join my Patreon and unlock 40+ advanced chaptersāread ahead of everyone else! š„
š https://www.patreon.com/UK21
Your support means the world to meāthank you so much! š
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