Wong: Why Are Both of Them So Much Trouble?

As far as Wong knew, every object was unique. If two identical things appeared, the only explanation was the Multiverse.

The Sling Ring had been in his possession all this time. Even in a parallel universe, there was no way he would have given it away, so it could only have come from the future.

And considering that both of them were Asian and so handsome, could it be?

As for the divine power, as Sorcerer Supreme, he could accept a political marriage or something along those lines to ensure peaceful coexistence between Asgard and Earth!

At that thought, Wong's eyes slowly reddened, and he reached out a hand.

"The future has been hard on you, hasn't it?"

"I never said I came from..." Lin Xu gradually fell silent as he spoke. That sounded awfully familiar!

Wasn't that the conversation between Thor and Frigga?

...Fuck, I treat you like a brother, and you want to be my mom?

"Die!"

"Hey~, hey? Take it easy, not the face~"

An hour later, in front of the Vishanti statue.

Lin Xu sipped his tea at leisure. Sitting opposite him was the great Sorcerer Supreme, Wong, his face black and blue.

"I told you, not the face~"

"Yeah, I saw how handsome you were and got jealous!"

"...Fine!" Wong opened his mouth, but had no rebuttal.

"You just said you made a mistake while using Gungnir to summon the Bifrost and were transported to another universe."

"Right~"

"And then, because Strange used Kof-Carl's Ruins, you were transported to this universe?"

"Oh, is that what it's called?"

"Hmph! I told him long ago that Kof-Carl's Ruins could spread the dark boundary between known and unknown realities! The Multiverse is ever-changing, dangerous and bizarre!"

"Uh, would my situation count as a known reality or an unknown one?"

"...Is that the point?"

"All right, that's not the point. The point is, I'd like to use the library."

"You can!"

"That's great. The medium spell was too long, and the pronunciation was complicated. I'd forgotten it by the second time."

"Wait? What did you say?" Hearing Lin Xu's words, Wong sprang to his feet and shoved his big head, with its two black eyes, right in front of Lin Xu. His voice was filled with disbelief!

"You're saying you used a spatial medium spell to activate a spatial array?? How the fuck did you not die in the turbulent currents!?"

"Oh, so Gungnir wasn't a medium, it was an array!" Lin Xu shrank back, feeling a little guilty.

At that moment, Wong finally began to break down. His fists clenched and unclenched, then clenched again. It was bad enough that this universe had been saddled with a troublemaker like Strange, but how could that troublemaker's mistake summon yet another troublemaker?

Being Sorcerer Supreme is too hard!

"For the next few days, you're not going anywhere. Stay right here in Kamar-Taj and read! Especially A Detailed Guide to Magical Artifacts and the last page of every book!"

"That would be great."

"No reading the forbidden books!"

"Isn't the Kamar-Taj Library supposed to have no restrictions?"

"I'm the Sorcerer Supreme now. What I say goes!"

"Oh~"

Evening~ Hell's Kitchen, New York

Andrew Garfield Spider-Man walked out of an internet café.

"This universe actually has aliens! And so many superheroes, too. Why am I the only one fighting alone in my universe? That's not fair!"

Since he had never experienced Gwen Stacy's death, Andrew Garfield Spider-Man was very calm in his actions. Although he had briefly panicked after arriving here, he had quickly settled down.

In modern society, the internet was undoubtedly the fastest way to learn about the world, and Hell's Kitchen had plenty of illegal internet cafés that didn't require ID!

"Poor Peter Parker. His identity was actually made public!" Andrew Garfield Spider-Man couldn't believe how terrible it would be if the whole world in his universe knew Spider-Man was Peter Parker!

"If you leave out that Blip thing, he seems to be only sixteen. I was seventeen when I became Spider-Man."

Of course, what drew his attention most was a news story he saw on the dark web: a mage in a red cloak had chased a lizard monster into the sewers!

And that lizard monster... he knew him all too well. It was Dr. Connors, whom he had visited in prison before coming here!

And then there was the figure that had appeared for an instant on the Queensboro Bridge!

Green armor, a green Goblin Glider—they looked so similar! They differed from the ones on Harry's corpse only in style.

It didn't matter whether anyone else believed they were unrelated; he certainly didn't.

"There's no trace of those two people on the Queensboro Bridge anywhere online, which means it was their first public appearance. Is it possible... they came from other universes, just like me? Could there be other Peter Parkers, too?"

Having studied law and crime at Columbia University for four years, Andrew Garfield Spider-Man was meticulous to the extreme about details and logic.

Soon, he noticed another detail!

In his universe, the date was December 15, 2024, and it was also December 15, 2024, in this universe. That meant the Spider-Men had come from the same point in time!

But Spider-Man's enemies hadn't. At least, Dr. Connors hadn't!

Although the equipment on the two people on the bridge was advanced, its craftsmanship looked more like something from over twenty years ago.

By the same logic, if the Spider-Man from their universe had come over too, he would be an old geezer at least forty years old.

Although Andrew Garfield Spider-Man didn't know why there was a difference in time, that was how the logic worked!

"Then, if there really is a Spider-Man who's an old geezer in his forties, how would he learn about things?" Andrew Garfield Spider-Man looked back at a building and smiled knowingly.

Half an hour later, Flushing, Queens.

In front of a newsstand, Andrew Garfield Spider-Man and Tobey Spider-Man met each other's gaze~ Their Spider-Sense confirmed it: they'd found the right person!

"Hello, Peter Parker. I am Peter Parker."

Another half hour later, in an illegal internet café.

Andrew Garfield Spider-Man pointed at the pictures on the computer and looked at Tobey Spider-Man. "Recognize them?"

"Norman Osborn, Dr. Octavius... Aren't they dead?" Tobey Spider-Man seemed to be learning for the first time that the two had appeared today, and he was somewhat incredulous!

Andrew Garfield Spider-Man was even more incredulous. "...So what newspapers have you been reading all afternoon?"

Tobey Spider-Man scratched his head, a little embarrassed. "Uh... everyday gossip about Spider-Man and MJ, provided by the Midtown High School student council..."

"...Are you married?"

"Yeah, to my MJ. Although... never mind. What about you?"

"I'm married too, to Gwen Stacy~"

"Gwen Stacy? The police captain's daughter?"

"Does your world have a Gwen Stacy too?"

"Yeah. When MJ and I had a falling-out, I even took Gwen Stacy and danced in front of her..."

Andrew Garfield Spider-Man: ...

"Phew~ It's still early. Want to have a spar?"

"What?"

"I mean, I want to beat you up!!"

P.S.: No Way Home never clearly states the exact date, only that it's in 2024. But the Massachusetts Institute of Technology announces its EA admissions decisions in mid-December, while RD comes later. In the movie, the three of them applied to a lot of schools, so it should have been EA. Let's call it December 15, 2024.