Chapter 1282: The Interstellar Grand Stage (Part 6)

The strange youth in front stopped his steps. Night Thrasher and Speedball cautiously closed in. The youth turned around and took off the baseball cap on his face. Night Thrasher, Speedball, and Pietro all froze there together.

"Peter Parker???"

Night Thrasher looked at the youth in front of him, feeling somewhat confused. The genius researcher Peter Parker reported in the newspapers was a household name; everyone knew that the Inter-Sky Train and Flying Shuttle research projects had his contribution, or rather, he was the greatest contributor.

The youth in front of him looked exactly like Peter Parker, yet there were differences. He looked much more mature than Peter, and his temperament didn't seem like a scholar's; instead, he was a bit like a street hero such as Daredevil Matt.

Speedball, however, reacted. He thought of the recording Jarvis had just played, calling this youth Spider-Man. He said somewhat blankly, "Spider-Man is Peter Parker?... He's both a scholar and a warrior?"

"I've already said it, I am not Spider-Man!" The strange youth shook his hand somewhat angrily.

"What exactly is going on? If you are that genius researcher, why are you mixing into the protest crowd and attacking the police?"

"I didn't attack the police!" The youth immediately denied. "On the contrary, I wanted to find the culprit who attacked the police and find a way to solve this chaos. I wanted to help them."

Night Thrasher opened his mouth. He saw that the person opposite him spoke with such righteousness, seemingly not lying. But this youth had suddenly appeared, and had an unclear relationship with Peter Parker and Spider-Man; he seemed to be a dangerous element.

Night Thrasher couldn't make up his mind for a moment. The two sides remained deadlocked on the street. After a while, the youth in the red jacket turned around and said, "If there's nothing else, I'm leaving. I don't have time to waste here with you."

After saying this, he wanted to turn around, but just then, a car drove over from the corner. A group of agents in suits stepped out. The leader walked up to the strange youth, "swished" his ID, and said, "Grant Ward, agent of the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement and Logistics Division. I am now ordered to investigate the super-powered individual sighting incident in the Bronx district. Come with us, Peter Parker."

"I am not Peter Parker!" The youth turned his head away, retreating two steps vigilantly, staring at Grant's face.

Grant, like most agents, had no expression. Seeing the youth refuse to comply, he extended a hand, gently moving his index and middle fingers. Another man, also in a suit, walked out and pulled a small wooden stick from his chest pocket.

Instantly, alarm bells rang in the youth's heart, but it was already too late.

"Prison Lock!"

Magical power surged out, following the spellcasting method planned by the wand, shooting out like a bullet. It first formed a complex pattern under the youth's feet. Accompanied by a faint "buzzing" sound, a circular prison formed by magical power firmly trapped the person inside.

Another female agent walked up, and with a gentle grip of her ring-wearing hand, a "crackle" sound occurred, and a portal opened. The cage floated up, and accompanied by the agents, they walked into the portal.

After the portal disappeared, the three young heroes were still stunned on the spot. The most flamboyant Robert was the first to let out a: "Whoa!"

"That was too cool!" he shouted. "Did you see that? He just pulled out a small wooden stick and cast an extremely flashy spell. How did he do that?"

"Isn't it just magic?" Pietro said somewhat disdainfully. "Haven't you seen my sister use magic? What's the big deal?"

"But your sister is a magician herself; that's her talent. But look at the agent just now—does he look like a magician? It's more like he's a gang thug, yet he can also use magic. Does that mean I can do it too?"

Speedball's brain worked fast. He said, "I heard Dr. Schiller say that any new human invention will first be used by S. H. I. E. L. D. agents. Maybe everyone will be able to use magic in the future!"

"Keep dreaming." Pietro rolled his eyes and ran away at high speed, disappearing in the blink of an eye.

Watching his back, Night Thrasher sighed softly and said, "Perhaps the era of mutants dominating is coming to an end. If every ordinary person can master power as strong as theirs, then they won't pose any threat."

On the other side, the youth who looked exactly like Peter Parker was brought into a S. H. I. E. L. D. interrogation room. He frantically slapped the bars of the magical cage, but this thing couldn't be opened by force; one had to either cast a counter-spell or break the magic array under their feet.

Clearly, this youth had fallen into an extreme emotional state, completely forgetting that his genius brain could think, and instead kept pounding the bars and roaring like a trapped beast.

Suddenly, with a "click," the interrogation room door was opened. A man in a white lab coat wearing glasses walked in, his face full of impatience. He stared at the youth's face and said:

"Which universe's Peter Parker are you? Can you be a bit sensible and not add to my trouble at this critical moment?"

The youth's pounding of the bars paused for a moment, because he heard that the man opposite him sounded annoyed, yet it revealed a sense of everyday closeness, as if a busy, frustrated father was scolding a son who had caused trouble.

"I am not Peter Parker." The youth repeated again.

The doctor in the white coat froze for a moment. He looked the youth up and down and said, "Could you be Ben Parker? The young version of Ben Parker from some universe?... It couldn't be Gwen, could it? Or is there some other Spider-Man in some universe?"

Hearing the name Ben, the youth suddenly went blank for a moment, and Schiller, opposite him, immediately captured this trace of expression. Suddenly, a character he had almost forgotten appeared in his mind: the Scarlet Spider, Ben Reilly.

The story of the Scarlet Spider is simple: he is a clone of Spider-Man, born from the evil ideas of an evil scientist.

The Jackal, Miles Warren, used class experiments to obtain the genes of Peter Parker and Gwen, conducted many experiments, and created the most stable clone.

He was exactly the same as Peter Parker, exactly the same in every sense. Except for his appearance, his abilities were also the same. The evil scientist demanded that the real Peter and the clone Peter compete, and during the battle, both fell unconscious.

The evil scientist injected the Spider-Man he believed to be real with a fake-death drug. After the other Spider-Man woke up, thinking the Spider-Man injected with the drug was dead, he threw him into a chimney.

However, the fake-dead Spider-Man woke up during the fall and returned home a step early. At that moment, he hugged his girlfriend Mary Jane, and the other Spider-Man, seeing this scene, realized he was a clone and quietly left.

The departing Spider-Man was implanted with Peter Parker's memories by the evil scientist. The most painful thing for him was the longing for Uncle Ben and Aunt May, so he named himself Ben Reilly—"Ben" being the name of Peter Parker's uncle, and "Reilly" being Aunt May's maiden name.

Later, the evil scientist's assistant appeared, saying that Ben Reilly was actually the real Peter Parker, and Peter Parker was the clone.

Later still, after a series of events, Ben Reilly died in the arms of the real Peter Parker, and his body began to decompose after death, confirming that he was indeed a clone.

Schiller remembered that the Scarlet Spider he saw in the Spider-Army should have been Kaine, another clone of Spider-Man; he hadn't seen Ben Reilly.

He guessed that the youth in front of him might be an earlier version of the Scarlet Spider, not only not dead yet, but perhaps still in a period of confusion about his and Peter Parker's identity.

"What is your name?" Schiller asked.

The youth in the cage froze for a moment. He seemed not to expect that this doctor would stop obsessing over whether he was Peter Parker so quickly. He had thought he would be tormented by this question for a long time.

After all, if a person looks like Peter, has the same abilities as Peter, and has the same memories as Peter, isn't he Peter?

"Ben Reilly." The youth still said his name, his hand gripping the bars of the magical cage tightening, seemingly feeling both angry and sad.

"The Spider-Man of this world is dead, right?" Ben Reilly looked into Schiller's eyes and said somewhat sadly, "I saw his life story recorded in People magazine. He died in a massive explosion."

"Uh..." Schiller was choked up for a moment and said, "This question is a bit hard to explain, but can you tell me first how you got here?"

"I... I'm not quite sure." Ben Reilly shook his head and said, "I was walking on the streets of Italy when a strange woman in a hood shouted, 'Peter Parker, why are you here?' She said something about letting me cover a shift for a while, then used a strange ring to open a strange portal and threw me here."

"This place is completely different from the New York in my memory." Reilly appeared somewhat lost and helpless. He lowered his head and said, "I don't know what those things flying in the sky are, but people seem to hate them. They have to fight the police for this, and I feel I can help them."

But Reilly saw the doctor in the white coat opposite him take a deep breath and shout, "Grant! Go get Gwen-Spider over here! She's skipping work without permission! Deduct all her wages!"

About 20 minutes later, the female Spider-Man wearing a silver-white uniform, a spider mask, and a hood appeared in the interrogation room. She said dejectedly, "Didn't I just let another Spider-Man cover my shift for a while? I've been working for two months straight; I need a break!"

"Look for yourself, is the person you brought Spider-Man?!" Schiller pointed at Reilly in the cage.

"Of course he is!" Gwen-Spider answered righteously. She also pointed at Reilly's face and said, "Isn't this Peter Parker? Could I recognize him wrong? All Peter Parkers look the same, and besides, he also has the spider-sense response; he must be Spider-Man."

Schiller was just about to refute when, with a "bang," the door was opened, and a swarm of people rushed in, constantly shouting things like "Where is the new Spider-Man?", "Which Spider-Man is he?", "What field does he specialize in?!", "What are his salary requirements?!"...

Reilly stared dumbfounded at this group of scientists in lab coats, who rushed to his side screaming and shouting, staring at him with green-glowing eyes like a pack of wolves.

But at this moment, Reilly saw a face in the crowd that instantly made him burn with anger and hatred.

"Miles Warren... The Jackal! You damn guy!!" Reilly called out his name.

Reilly suddenly became irritable and began to attack the magical cage with massive force, making a harsh sound.

But this action didn't make the scientists in the room feel any fear at all. They rushed forward in a swarm to surround the cage.

And the culprit who caused the tragedy of the Scarlet Spider in another world, Miles Warren, was the first to step forward, pushing everyone else aside, extending a hand and shouting, "God! I have heard God's will! He said this Spider-Man belongs to—Genetics!"

"Come on, child! Laboratory 19 will be your home! Hurry, hurry, hurry, Dr. Schiller, open the cage. This cruel cage is about to hurt the golden hands of my future gold-medal researcher!"

"Shut up, you old jackal! I also heard Satan's call. He clearly said this Spider-Man has quite a biological talent!"

"You're full of it, he's a genius in astronomy!"

"Oh, Mary be above, I feel a holy calling. Yes, yes, this lost lamb should be thrown into... the embrace of mathematics!"

Various old scientists with gray hair in lab coats began to show their magical powers. They squeezed each other; some cursed until saliva flew, some practiced rituals on the spot to channel God, and some foamed at the mouth in divine communion.

At some point, the irritable Reilly had quieted down. He withdrew his hand that was pounding the bars, curled up at his side, his eyes darting around, and he swallowed somewhat stiffly.

"I... I am not Spider..."

With a "slap," a hand covered in a uniform covered his mouth. Gwen-Spider had already moved behind Reilly, reached through the gap in the cage, covered his mouth, and whispered:

"In this universe, you are Spider-Man... even if you aren't, you have to be!"

"Why?!" Reilly felt somewhat aggrieved.

Gwen-Spider widened her eyes, looked around, lowered her voice, and said, "There are at least 50 Nobel Prizes in this room. If you say you aren't, what if you anger a few to death?!"

"But I really..."

"You are!"

"I am not..."

"You are! You are! You must be! You are right now!"

run! spider! run!