(One) Dr. Strange was not pleased to hear the Kingpin's offer. "Do you seriously think someone like you can threaten me?"

Alternatives

(Two) "I have not threatened you," the Kingpin politely responded. "I have merely pointed out…"

"Do you know who I am?! I am the Sorcerer Supreme! I have faced Death and Eternity! I have saved this planet, this universe, from certain extinction!" As he said this, his costume revealed itself, showing that his street clothes had just been an illusion.

"You think your schemes and manipulations mean anything to me?! I have faced Gods and Demons! Do you seriously think I can be bullied by a petty pimp like yourself?!"

"Please Doctor. In the sex industry, at most I have been a limited if clever investor…"

"And the whore is dead, and that was in another country?"

"Well obviously it would be this country, and clearly this city. But given how long ago it was…" But just then spirals of eldritch energy flowed from Dr. Strange's hands. The Kingpin did not understand the language Dr. Strange was speaking (a combination of Tibetan and Aramaic), but he was nervous as the spells flowed towards the study's telephone and laptop, into the videoscreens, and then into Wilson Fisk himself.

(Three) "I AM DOCTOR STRANGE AND I WILL NOT BE TRIFLED WITH!" And for an instance Wilson Fisk found himself a couple of feet above the floor.

And then in an instant, it was over. Dr. Strange dropped the Kingpin. Overwhelmed by the experience, Fisk fell to his knees. But he still had the presence of mind to see assorted malevolent cronies also shattered by Dr. Strange's spells and fleeing from the area rather than risk carrying out their orders.

Dr. Strange was about to leave when he considered something. "The Lemurian Tablet of Life." And with a thought the priceless relic flew into the room and hovered in front of him.

Dr. Strange looked at the Tablet. "This should not have resurrected your son. And yet it did. How did it do that? I will have to take it with me." With a snap of his fingers the tablet entered a dimensional pocket, and he started to leave.

"You're taking it with you?" the Kingpin asked.

"Consider it like this, Mayor Fisk. Examining the Tablet is a necessary but not remotely sufficient condition to saving your son. Binge-watching the Criterion Chanel is neither necessary nor sufficient. Consider yourself very grateful that I am curious enough to do the first and not the second."

And with that he left.

(Four) It was nearly but not quite midnight when Ben woke up. He found himself sitting on a comfortable chair and in someone's living room. And that someone turned out to be a man apparently twenty years older than him. His hair was grey, he had a moustache, and he wore clothes that identified him as an academic, with his sweater still having patches around his elbows.

"Good evening, Ben," said Dr. Miles Warren. "Actually, it's well into the night. I'm afraid what with the recent changes, I miscalculated the effect of the sedative I gave you." Ben noticed Warren's wedding ring, as Gwen entered briefly with some roast beef sandwiches and a cup of tea.

Ben warily helped himself to a sandwich. "I thought your face had been transformed into your actual Jackal costume."

"It had been. But I found a cure."

Meanwhile Peter, wearing his Spider-Man costume except for his mask found himself sitting at a table with the mysterious Zuccotti. He found himself facing a lamb dinner, while Zuccotti was about to start on his chicken cordon blue.

"I'm surprised that your assistant, what was his name again, Kaap?"

"Kaas."

"Yeah, I'm surprised that he was able to whip up this meal in your lab."

(Five) "Oh, he didn't. He just asked room service in the hotel where I'm staying to whip up these dishes. And when they arrived at my suite, I simply transported them here."

Zuccotti poured himself some burgundy. "Would you like some?"

"I don't really drink."

"Oh, yes, I think I knew that. Kaas!" Zuccotti's stouter, apparently older colleague appeared. "If you could get this guest some of the generic diet cola."

"How do you even know that I'm Spider-Man?"

"I have access to Miles Warren's records, and he makes your identity clear."

At the same time, Ben was speaking to Warren, while Gwen stood at a distance. "You seem distinctly less genocidal today. I mean just drugging and kidnapping only one person is remarkable for you. At this rate you'll soon be Mother Teresa."

"You certainly never lost your sarcasm. But things are very different now."

And Peter and Ben, at the same moment, replied "Enlighten me."

(Six) Zuccotti spoke to Peter: "You've always known that Warren's clones were unstable. You also know that in the past Warren produced an appallingly toxic virus. You also know that there is a powerful virus that is on the verge of threatening the entire city, and thereby the world. As you probably have guessed, Warren is responsible for that virus."

Warren spoke to Ben: "First off, you need to know Peter is still alive. He did not disintegrate because he was a clone because, first, he was not the clone, you were. And second, he did not disintegrate at all. In fact, he was abducted by a man calling himself Zuccotti. That is not his true name: he is in fact a man of singular malevolence who threatens all life on this planet."

Zuccotti: "To be precise, Warren wanted to find a way to stabilize his clones and tried spreading a genetic 'update.' Not only did that 'update' not work, but it also both started activating the cellular degeneration process that affects all the clones, and accidentally created a virulent new virus, genetically different from his previous carrion virus and decidedly more lethal."

Warren: "You are aware that other people have been involved in cloning technology. Among them was my teacher, Herbert Wyndham, the High Evolutionary. But there are others, and they are far more malevolent than my usually benign Advisor. Zuccotti is either one of their agents, or even worse, one of them in disguise. They know that I am the only person who can complicate their plans. That is why Zuccotti has kidnapped Peter, because if he can convince him, Peter can convince the authorities to stop me and allow their own plans to proceed unhindered.

(Seven) Peter was somewhat skeptical. "You have teleport technology. A couple of weeks ago Norman Osborn was murdered by an assassin who used such technology. Were you responsible?"

"No. I knew Osborn had used Warren in the past, but I also knew he hadn't had any contact with him for years. I wasn't even in New York at the time, only arriving on Boxing Day. And you know whoever had Osborn murdered was in New York taunting him before hand."

Ben was very suspicious. "The clone of Ned Leeds said he was your pawn, and he was trying to kill Peter. Only he killed himself instead. Explain that."

"Gladly. First off, I was responsible for Leeds' cloning. A few months ago, I'd been giving him secret hints to find out information about our mutual enemies. But someone, probably Zuccotti, revealed to him that he was a clone. Poor Leeds must have suspected that, and when he realized that his son and wife were in mortal danger, he had a nervous breakdown. The virus that he gave Peter was actually Zuccotti's and Zuccotti has now taken it back. I'm not sure about the computer program that he also gave Peter."

Peter was still unsure. "You'd be making more progress if you worked with Richards and the Center for Disease Control. Why use me?"

"All the people that Warren has cloned, Gwen Stacy, Ned Leeds, Dr. Octopus, Electro, Sergei Kravinoff and others are dead. I can't use their original bodies as a comparison. But there is one exception, and that exception is you. The first thing I need to do is get some tissue samples from you. They are absolutely necessary for any cure.

Ben stared unsmilingly at Warren. "So what's your next step?"

"I need your assistance. I have a master list of the many people I've cloned and I need help monitoring them. I'm particularly concerned about the clones of Martha and Billy Connors, who carry in their cloned bodies the Lizard's regenerative formula. They may serve as a counterforce or an immunity against Zuccotti's virus."

(Eight) Ben looked at Gwen as she turned to leave the room. "I'll need to review your own research."

"Of course."

The next day started early as the two Spider-Mans got up to assist the two scientists with their work. Much of it was spent looking through microscopes, providing cell samples, and developing cellular cultures.

"What about that computer program you took?" Peter asked.

"It's very complex," replied Zuccotti, "and my computer skills are hardly the best. I was able to find some links Warren had with Kindred, and there are other computer programs linked to that system's complex AI. But there's something else and I haven't been able to decode it yet."

(Nine) Nor were the Spidermans the only people busy working that day. Morbius was still working on his regenerative serum and Dr. Octopus was busy helping him by running another battery of tests on Anna Watson. Sandman and Mary Jane could do little but wait.

Sandman tried to spark a conversation. "I thought I heard someone say that your aunt was a widow. But the two of you share the same name."

Mary Jane did not reply, and did not even look at Sandman. She just sat there, unsmiling.

"And then it occurred to me. Dr. Octopus used to know the ex-Mayor's late stepmother. She had a nephew named Peter. But strictly speaking, he was her later husband's nephew, and she was only his aunt by marriage."

Mary Jane still did not look at Sandman.

"So I was thinking, you're in the same situation. Anna Watson isn't your actual aunt, but your aunt by marriage."

Mary Jane still said nothing, though her glowering clearly increased.

Just then Dr. Octopus spoke up from the equipment he was working on. "To answer your question William, Anna Watson married her first cousin Charles Watson. As they were first cousins, they agreed not to have any children. Charles was a decade older than Anna and he died of a heart attack a few years before your transformation into the Sandman. Philip Watson is Anna's youngest sibling, the baby of the Watsons and Ms. Watson's father."

"Oh." Sandman paused. "Well, umm, that's interesting to know." Mary Jane still said nothing. "I wonder how the others are doing."

(Ten) Just at that moment Dr. Octopus received a phone call. On the other end was Kraven. "You should take this in private," he said.

Dr. Octopus moved into another room. "Are you sure the Lizard can't hear you?"

"I'm aware of his advanced senses. Now where is his woman?'

"I'm not sure."

"How are you not sure?"

"Well right now I'm looking at a large pile of blood and the remains of what could only be a lizard woman. But hey, that could be anybody."

Dr. Octopus frowned. "I recall your father having better taste."

"I am Sergei Kravinoff in every genetic sense."

"Wait a minute. The clones came from Warren. But his clones disintegrate when they die. So how did this happen?"

"You'll have to ask Mysterio, since he's the one looking for the Lizard's brat."

And just then Mysterio entered the room of the building where Billy Connors was staying. "William Connors?'

(Eleven) "Everyone calls him Billy," said a voice from the next room. Mysterio followed the voice and saw by the farthest wall a man who appeared to be a balding Jew in his sixties, sitting in a chair. He was, in fact, not a Jew and not in his sixties. "Hello Quentin," he said.

"Who the devil are you?"

"Things are complicated, Quentin. You, and someone you've never met, are like ships passing in the night. You don't understand the connection that is vital to you, and you never will."

"What are you doing here?"

"Why don't you take off that goldfish bowl?"

"What?"

"Take it off." And to his surprise Mysterio did so.

He then realized his nose was bleeding. "I could tell you why your nose is bleeding. I could even go into considerable detail about your connection with the late Martha Connors. I could even explain who killed the Martha Connors your colleague has just found torn to pieces. But you'd forget everything the moment you left this room. And anyway, you'll find out why your nose is bleeding soon enough."

(Twelve) The man in the chair snapped his fingers. A lizard/teenager entered the room, looking very much like Billy Connors only he had a vacant look in his reptilian eyes. The man in the chair pointed to a box of Kleenex. Billy took a piece and gave it to Mysterio.

"Here is the boy you were looking for. Put your bowl back on and depart."

Meanwhile the two Spidermans were still assisting the two men who claimed to have the cure to the viral danger. "These microscopic readings are fascinating," Ben said, as he looked through a special high-powered microscope.

"Aren't they indeed?" Warren replied. "And look at the genome mappings I've been doing."

He handed Ben several sheets of paper, filled with special amino acid sequences, and special RNA sequences. Ben scanned the sheets. "No, no, you are quite right. This information is invaluable."

Meanwhile Peter was working with Zuccotti in his lab. But then Zuccotti got very angry and threw several test tubes at the wall, smashing them into pieces.

(Thirteen) "DAMN!DAMN!DAMN!DAMN!" he angrily cursed.

"What's the matter?" Peter asked.

"It's the cultures! I can hardly create a proper vaccine if I can't create a culture to produce them!"

Zuccotti stomped around his laboratory, ranting. "We are running out of time! I do not have the option of trying to create a proper culture out of scratch!"

Peter looked at the remains of the test tubes. "Hold on. You need to create a proper culture."

"Of course! But I can't get the right temperature. Too low the culture just turns into gunk. Too high, and key elements boil away."

"Hold on. I remember working on something like this with my old graduate advisor Dr. Morris Sloan…"

"Dr. Sloan, that boring pendant?"

"Look, it's just a culture problem. If I remember properly what we need is some yeast."

"I've already considered that."

"Have you considered soaking the culture in alcohol first?"

"Standard alcohols won't make a difference."

"OK, how about an overrated, and not particularly attractive beer?"

Zuccotti considered the matter. "Kaas," he called. "Find me a can of Coors Light or Busch."

(Fourteen) Ben was sitting in a chair, resting a bit. Just then, Gwen came by. "Would you like some lemonade?"

"Ah yes, actually I would," and she handed him a glass.

"Hopes this doesn't have the kick the last drink you gave me," he said smiling as he drank a gulp.

Gwen knelt on her knees beside him. "I know you don't trust him. But he's not the man you think he is."

"I'm not sure what man he thinks he is." And Ben took another gulp.

"But you do know 'Zuccotti' isn't the man he says he is."

"I understand he has to be stopped. Fortunately, me and Dr. Warren have a plan."

Gwen gave Ben a chaste kiss on the cheek. "It's good to see you again."

(Fifteen) Zuccotti and Peter were looking at the new culture. "I'm genuinely surprised, Peter. This is actually working."

"Hey, who would have thought that a professor from one of the greatest universities in the United States would have something useful to contribute?"

"Quite. There are several further steps. But this culture needs to sit for the next ten minutes."

A thought occurred to Peter. "Wait a minute! I don't know how Betty and Winston Leeds are doing."

"Oh, you mean the baby of the clone of Ned Leeds? He died yesterday."

"WHAT?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"You didn't ask." Zuccotti looked at a glaring Peter and decided to rectify his tone. "I know you are close to Betty Brant. And I assure you that your assistance is the only way to save her.

"Let's have an update." And with that Zuccotti turned on a screen. On it Peter could see Mr. Fantastic having a meeting on Zoom with about a dozen other people. "Wait, how did you get this picture?"

"Nothing special. I'm Swiss, those two people on the bottom left hand corner work for the World Health Organization in Geneva and they're letting me see things."

Peter took a closer look. "I've seen that woman before."

"I imagine you've seen the Invisible Woman many times."

"No, that woman there." And he pointed to a picture in the upper right-hand corner, of Victoria Wargrave, appearing from London.

(Sixteen) "Let's see what they're saying," and Zuccotti turned up the volume.

"So, just to clarify matters," said Mrs. Wargrave, "we not only have to have an effective vaccine in less than four days, but we also must effectively immunize the population of the entire city of New York, also in less than four days. If we don't do this, not only will thousands of people undoubtedly die, but the disease will undoubtedly spread out of control, certainly killing millions and imperiling all humanity."

"Yes," said Reed Richards. "I'm afraid so."

"Find a vaccine? That's impossible!" said a Japanese scientist on Zoom.

"How can it be so difficult?" asked one of Zuccotti's fellow Swiss. "When COVID struck we were able to crack the genome in days."

"That was the type of virus we'd been studying for decades," snapped Wargrave. "This is a radically new virus with unprecedented capacities for mutation."

"We should quarantine New York," said a scientist from Interpol.

"We've already run models on that," said a representative from Homeland Security. "Given the exponential nature of the virus, by the time we convinced New Yorkers of the threat and got them to obey it, it would be too late to quarantine the city. We simply don't have the resources to deal with the resistance and people fleeing the city, leaving aside the massive economic damage it would involve the world's leading financial center."

"If we could return to the possible vaccine models…" Richards said. But then Zuccotti shut off the video screen. "Just a useful reminder where everyone stands."

(Seventeen) It was well into the evening when Morbius shouted "EUREKA!"

Everyone, Mary Jane, her aunt, the five members of the Sinister Six, Dr. Connors and his son all turned to look at the quasi-vampiric scientist. "I've done it! I have successfully resynthesized my regenerative formula! I've also successfully adapted it to Mrs. Watson's particular circumstances. All we need to do now is inject it into her!"

"I think I'll do that," Dr. Octopus said. "Mrs. Watson, if you could roll up your left sleeve."

"Mysterio, Electro, we need to supplement Mrs. Watson's treatment with key adrenalin therapy," Morbius added. "Take those four hypodermics and be ready to assist me when I tell you."

"Wait a minute! How safe is this?" Mary Jane asked.

"Given the heavily improvised nature of the regimen, and your aunt's severe case, there are some risks."

"HOW SAFE IS IT?!"

"I can honestly say there is no more than a one in five chance that the injection kills her."

"One in five?! That's worse than Russian roulette!" Mary Jane rushed over to her aunt. "There is no way in hell, I'm letting you touch her!"

"Ms. Watson, you do realize that it is in our interest as well for this to succeed." Dr. Octopus said.

"That's not good enough. Test it on someone else!"

"We, and by we, I mean myself, Maxwell and Sergei, don't have time for that. Morbius and Dr. Connors have already confirmed we have less than a week before our clone bodies dissolve."

(Eighteen) And with that Mary Jane found herself several feet in the air as one of Dr. Octopus' tentacles bound her arms and another one bound her legs. "William," speaking to Sandman, "please use your powers to cover Ms. Watson's mouth. This will be easier if she's not screaming at the top of her lungs."

Sandman did so, and Dr. Octopus made the first injection. Morbius quickly followed with an adrenalin injection. But then Anna Watson began screaming.

"What the hell?" Sandman said, letting go of Mary Jane's mouth.

"What are you doing, you damn sickos?!" Mary Jane shouted.

"We need adrenalin to more quickly stimulate the reactions," Morbius explained. "We're focusing on the pain centers to more quickly affect her brain. But the process is somewhat painful."

Anna Watson was now screaming in agony. Electro and Mysterio were holding her down. "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW YOU MOTHER…" but Kraven slapped Mary Jane.

She glared at Kraven. Then she spat at him. "I am not panicking."

Just then Anna Watson's body arched alarmingly. Then she collapsed, unconscious.

"Electro, Mysterio, place Mrs. Watson in that bed there," Dr. Octopus ordered.

"Is she dead?" Electro asked.

"No, she's in a deep sleep," Morbius explained. "This is part of the process, except, as I said, there's a one in five chance she'll never awake."

(Nineteen) Wilson Fisk was trying to spend some time late that evening reading. Suddenly the Lemurian Tablet of Life popped into existence right over him and dropped into his lap.

"Here's your artifact back."

The Kingpin looked up and saw an astral projection of Dr. Strange. "You have some good news about my son?"

"I have some news. Where is he?" The Kingpin quickly turned on his videoscreens and Richard Fisk appeared in one, sitting in a chair.

"I must say I was genuinely confused about how the Tablet of Life was supposed to work. It simply does not have the capacity to resurrect the body that one would impute to it.

"Yet clearly the Tablet is of great power, and I spent much of the day analyzing it trying to understand how it might work. But only now have I realized what it does.

"It's very simple. It's a matter of translation. In many Semitic languages 'life' and 'breath' and 'soul' are often indistinguishable. And that's the same principle behind the very separate language of Lemuria. The Tablet of Life didn't restore the body of Richard Fisk. What it did was take his soul after your late wife shot him. Ordinarily, it would have simply preserved that soul, except somebody had taken the trouble to prepare a body for him."

(Twenty) "What?" the Kingpin asked.

"I don't know why this was done, but it appears to have been done by a scientist named Miles Warren. His clones appear to be unstable and…"

"I know who Miles Warren is," the Kingpin snapped. "And I know the government doesn't know how to save Warren's clones. The question now is how do I save my son?"

For an instant Dr. Strange paused. Then he spoke. "I knew you were going to ask that question. And I was strongly tempted to demand you confess to all your crimes, starting with the several dozen murders you either personally committed or which you directly ordered.

"However, I decided against it. The simple fact is that I do not know how to stop the cellular degeneration that will kill your son, and I know of no magical arrangement that will resurrect him after his death. I don't feel in good conscience I could trick you about that, and I have better things to worry about than your vengeance when you realize I lied to you."

The astral projection of Dr. Strange turned to leave. "Wait! There must be a way to save Richard!"

"You want to save your son? Then you shouldn't have let your wife kill him in the first place." And with that the projection vanished.

(Twenty-one) It was late the next morning, and Peter was still helping Zuccotti.

"I'm surprised that you're still wearing your costume."

"Well, this makeshift lab isn't the warmest place I've ever been in…"

"Oh yes, and it's going to get much colder over the next few days."

"…and I also wouldn't like people bursting in and finding out my true identity." He got some more test tubes. "This vaccine is taking some time to form."

"What did you expect? That I would just snap my fingers and instantly produce a miracle cure?"

"And how are we going to vaccinate everyone? It took months to vaccinate everyone after COVID."

"Yes, that would be a problem, especially given your country's idiotic prejudices about vaccines."

"Wait a minute! I just remembered something. What about Stanley Osborn?"

"Who?"

"Stanley Osborn! He's Harry Osborn's son. Well not exactly Harry Osborn."

Zuccotti took out his phone and started searching. "Hold on, I have a file about this somewhere." He started scrolling. And kept scrolling. And kept scrolling.

(Twenty-two) "Are you finished?" Peter asked a bit curtly.

"There's no need to be rude…oh yes, the bastard son of the clone of Harry Osborn." But before Peter could respond to Zuccotti's contempt, a strange noise filled the air.

"That's an odd sound," Peter commented.

"That's because it's not one alarm, but two." And just then Ben Reilly, in full Spider-Man costume, smashed through a window.