Let us wind back the clock to eighteen hours after Doctor Octopus announced his takeover of Manhattan, around 8:00 AM on the morning of June 2nd. As a new dawn arrived, J. Jonah Jameson, having rested for the night, resumed his battle broadcast. He continued his relentless dissemination of resistance reports; no one knew where he had hidden a radio transmitter, but he was indeed still fighting.
He was not the only one.
As dawn broke, a war commenced. The mercenaries of the Wild Pack swarmed out from the sewers, engaging in combat with the NYPD officers bought by Doctor Octopus and his army of Octobots. Although their efforts couldn't secure a major advantage, a group of well-trained resistance fighters was exactly what the people of an oppressed Manhattan yearned to see.
The Wild Pack took up this mantle. Furthermore, they had been empowered by Mister Negative and joined by the Punisher, effectively turning the streets of New York into a localized battlefield.
Surprisingly, the Sinister Six, who had been so ferocious the previous day, did not intervene immediately. Instead, they employed a massive number of thugs and gangs to counter the Wild Pack.
This was because Otto had something far more important to attend to.
Seeing Jessica Drew in a deep sleep, her vital signs stabilizing and her cells beginning to show activity, Otto flashed a satisfied smile. He then convened a meeting at the summit of Avengers Tower.
"It is time to tell you the truth, my friends. You have likely all guessed that there is a reason the man from the future up in space synchronized his timing so perfectly with ours. The truth is, Kang the Conqueror is Mister Griffin of A.I.M."
None of them actually knew who Mister Griffin was.
"So, is this your plan, Otto? Working for some guy from the future who wants to rule the world, just to net yourself the title of Grand Duke of Manhattan?"
Scorpion toyed idly with a deck of cards, trying to recover his detective memories by counting them.
He failed.
"It is far grander than that. Kang generously showed me the future. He came here to save our world, though unfortunately, the Avengers rejected his kindness. But that is not the point."
Otto began to describe to the Sinister Six exactly what he had seen. "Kang possesses a terrifying weapon, an object so powerful it can reshape the entire universe according to the user's will. If he wants a certain Avenger to have never existed, they cease to exist. If he wants the Avengers to be his hounds, they will crawl on the floor, barking the name of Kang the Conqueror."
"And what we stand to gain is tied to this object."
Kang the Conqueror intended to subjugate the entire Earth, not through mere military force or demands for surrender, but by using the Cosmic Cube to reshape reality itself. He planned to rewrite all parameters so that 2013 would definitively become a 'Kang Dynasty,' thereby avoiding the awkward possibility of losing to the Avengers.
"Imagine, Alexei—your wife never had an incurable disease. Or you, Quentin—you become the greatest director and actor, your special effects leaving Hollywood in awe. The greatest power of this object is that it can realize our dreams, even the ones we are now powerless to achieve."
There is no medicine for regret in this world, but with the Cosmic Cube, one could effectively obtain it.
Upon hearing this, almost every member of the Sinister Six was elated. They all had things they desperately craved, some even possessing delusions of grandeur. Electro asked Otto excitedly, "In other words, we can ask him to grant our wishes?"
"More than that. Kang needs others to help him rule the New World. I, however, am not interested in that... I have spoken with Kingpin, and he is willing to become the Mayor of New York in this new world. For collaborators like us, Kang will preserve our memories, allowing us to know what the world was originally like."
Otto calmly sipped his coffee. After a long talk with Kingpin, he truly didn't intend to be a ruler. He felt he had found a better path: becoming the CEO of a high-tech corporation that would completely supplant Oscorp.
As for Norman Osborn, Otto already had a complete plan. Norman would be stripped of all his intellectual advantages and turned into a janitor, sweeping trash every day for the future New Otto-corp.
"However, friends, to achieve this, we must eliminate Spider-Man. This is the only requirement our generous employer has set. As long as we destroy Spider-Man, we can claim our rewards."
Sandman voiced a confused question: "If Kang is so powerful, why doesn't he just use the Cosmic Cube to erase Spider-Man? Why does he need us to step in?"
"The weapon is so powerful that it takes time to stabilize its transfer from the 31st century to the 21st. During this period, he must ensure the safety of the process, and Spider-Man is one of the most dangerous threats to that."
Otto could guess what "danger" Kang was referring to—likely that move Spider-Man used to destroy Nimrod. Otto wasn't sure if that ability was a spell Spider-Man had learned or a power granted by the spider, but since Kang demanded it and Otto felt he could deliver, it didn't matter.
"So that's why you decided to ignore those small fry. You think they're likely a distraction by Spider-Man to split us up so he can pick us off one by one. So, unless Spider-Man makes a move, we don't move either, right?"
Scorpion laughed, and Otto nodded. As it stood, the company of Wild Pack mercenaries deployed in Manhattan could achieve very little. As long as their side remained composed, their sheer numbers of Octobots and thugs would provide an absolute advantage.
After the meeting adjourned, everyone returned to "their" rooms. Quentin, the Mysterio, removed his helmet. He had been using illusions to hide the hole in it—the hole Spider-Man had punched through was still there.
Mysterio's face was actually exposed, but everyone simply assumed it wasn't.
"God, Quentin, what have you done..."
"If you want to, you can still make amends." An unfamiliar girl's voice spoke. Quentin looked to the side and saw a girl about Spider-Man's age appearing in his room. He was a bit flustered. "Oh, you... you're Spider-Man's..."
"You know he really would have taken off his mask, right?"
"I... I didn't believe it at first! Otto told me... and once I covered my face, I would..."
Gwen looked at Quentin's panicked state and sighed. She picked up Mysterio's fishbowl helmet. "Like I said, you still have a chance to fix this. I heard him say it was you who helped him escape, wasn't it?"
"So... how do we use this thing?"
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