Just as the mysterious freak raised his rapier, seemingly ready to strike at Peter, who was being tormented by a headache, another hand reached out from behind Shadow Spider and helped the young man to his feet.
"As long as I'm here, don't even think about it."
The person behind him held Spider-Man with one arm while raising the other toward the middle-aged man. An energy sphere shot from his palm, accurately blasting the fanged man away.
From the dust kicked up at one side of the stage came an immediate roar:
"You again? I shouldn't have saved you for last!"
"Then congratulations. You've probably learned a new Eastern idiom today: regret comes too late." The stranger in the red-and-blue bodysuit was even cracking jokes to provoke his enemy. Then his masked face turned toward Peter. "Take a deep breath. This might hurt a little."
"Teleportation ready, Doctor."
A ghostly female head emerged from the back of his hand.
"Get us out of here, Anna!"
Morlun burst through the dust and thrust his weapon at the two people onstage. But amid a flash of blue light, his attack once again stabbed nothing but air.
The Spider Totems had fled. Who knew which Single Universe they had run off to?
"Ah! Spider-Man! I'll have your lives!" Morlun roared in fury. That Earth-616 Spider-Man had rescued people from right under his nose several times already—then fled immediately afterward. It was cowardly as hell, enough to drive anyone insane.
It had clearly not been like this during their last fight on Earth-616.
The audience below the stage fell silent for a moment before rising to applaud. They had never seen magic like this before, especially not combined with opera. It was simply perfect.
They gave the artists a round of applause, and some