Stark Tower.
"Doctor Zola's consciousness is gone. Hydra's servers are defenseless. Your move, Tony," Charlie said, entering Tony's lab.
"Got it."
Tony placed a dragon bone fossil into JARVIS's server, and the supercomputer whirred to life.
"Sir, I've collected all Hydra member data and sent it to military bases worldwide," JARVIS reported.
Tony nodded. "Good work."
He turned to Charlie. "I heard your goal was to help Hydra conquer the world. Doing this will ruin their plan—and yours.
The artificial sun's success means endless energy. They might not trust me, but for that power, they'll eliminate anyone suspicious without hesitation."
Charlie shrugged. "Who said we joined Hydra? It's Ruth who joined Team Spider-Man."
He grinned. "We're just undercover."
From the moment Zola appeared at Kingpin's villa, Charlie knew they were under his surveillance.
But some details still eluded him.
JARVIS added, "The Spider-Man data in Steve's computer was deleted by Doctor Zola."
"Zola?"
Charlie frowned. "Why would he do that?"
"Because of the Richards couple—Spider-Man's parents."
JARVIS continued, "From residual data, I can infer they had a deal with Zola, but I can't access the details unless we find his consciousness. It's all stored with him."
Charlie had no intention of diving into Crocodile Loki's insides for answers.
The result was good; the process didn't matter.
Soon, JARVIS's monitoring showed military bases worldwide purging Hydra's infiltrators. Hydra's plan collapsed entirely.
Charlie didn't even need to lift a finger to dismantle them.
Watching the bloody scenes on the virtual screen, Charlie shut it off.
"Hydra's reach is vast, but compared to official forces, they're still outmatched."
Tony nodded. "Yeah. If they hadn't coveted the artificial sun's infinite energy and stuck to their original plan, no one could've stopped them."
"Greed is the original sin."
Charlie stood, addressing Tony.
"Sorry, next time I might have to keep a lot from you. But I bet you won't mind."
"Next time?"
"Bye~"
…
With the mission confirmed a success, Charlie continued the Resurrection Match.
It wasn't until the forty-first match that he stopped.
Forty retries granted him forty tons of strength.
Beyond that, in later matches, the plot stayed similar, but he hid his identity from Tony, Otto, Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and others.
It was better for everyone.
Cosmic Web.
[You have successfully won this Resurrection Match!]
[Reward: Resurrection Slot x1.]
[Bonus Reward 1: Spider-Man's Friendship.]
[Bonus Reward 2: Spider-Man Exclusive Magic: Clone Technique.]
[Bonus Reward 3: Spider Totem Power +1.]
[Remaining Retries: 4 (carried over to the next Resurrection Match).]
[Spider-Man's Friendship: Summon any Spider-Man regardless of distance. The summoned Spider-Man lasts one hour. Cooldown: 24 hours.]
[Clone Technique: Create physical clones with 100% of your strength. Duration and number of clones depend on Spider Totem count.]
[Current Spider Totems: 7.]
[Clone Duration: 7 seconds.]
[Clone Count: 7.]
"Seven clones that last seven seconds?"
Charlie thought it over. Not bad.
Seven seconds was enough for plenty.
…
Main World.
Forty days had passed since the global artificial sun experiments.
Midnight.
In her room, Gwen's sleeping face twisted, sweat beading on her forehead.
"No… don't…"
She murmured, brow furrowed, then jolted awake.
"No!!"
With a gasp, her confused mind raced with strange images.
Mysterio, Spider-Man, and…
She took a deep breath. Getting up to wash, she stared at her reflection, recalling that moment.
She'd been kidnapped by a strange figure. Spider-Man saved her, no holds barred.
With the artificial sun's success, wars erupted worldwide. An evil group called Hydra was exposed to the public.
Thankfully, they were quickly eradicated.
She knew Spider-Man saved the world.
She didn't see it but heard it.
After her rescue, Spider-Man left her in a strange villa.
There, she saw Harry Osborn and Norman Osborn, who should've been dead.
Norman seemed insane but was cured by a green syringe.
Father and son reunited. Gwen felt she shouldn't intrude.
Finding no one else, with Spider-Man likely gone, she wandered the garden, wondering if she'd see him again.
She couldn't forget that embrace.
She'd felt Spider-Man's warmth… and his heartbeat.
Soon, she saw Spider-Man.
But not the one she imagined.
"Damned bug, I'll kill you!!"
Amid electric blasts, a battered Spider-Man tumbled into the garden.
"Spider-Man?"
Gwen eyed the figure in a tattered suit, puzzled.
Not the nanotech suit. A spider variant?
"Gwen?"
Spider-Man recognized her, excited.
But Electro relentlessly pursued, intent on killing him.
"No, I don't even know you. Stop it."
Under Electro's assault, Spider-Man was no match, repeatedly knocked back.
But a terrifying black Spider-Man ended the "misunderstanding."
Grrraaa
Black webbing spread, a gaping maw swallowing both Spider-Man and Electro.
Burp~
Venom Parker belched, his pale, elongated eyes locking onto Gwen, his grotesque expression freezing.
"Gwen…"
Sensing Peter Parker's inner turmoil, Venom went dormant.
The black liquid receded. Seeing Gwen, Peter's eyes lit up with hope.
His numb gaze came alive.
He reached to hug her, but Gwen stepped back warily.
"What are you?"
"I… I'm Peter Parker, once Spider-Man." Peter's face burned with shame.
"Spider-Man?"
Gwen frowned. "No, you're not Spider-Man."
"I…"
Peter was speechless, unable to explain.
The black liquid formed a demonic face, speaking to him.
"Peter, let's go. She's not your Gwen."
"But…"
Peter clutched his head, eyes bloodshot, lost in painful memories.
"This world has a Spider-Man. Gwen will die. She'll die."
"No, she won't. Trust me."
"What are you doing?"
Peter pleaded, "Don't. She'll lose herself."
"Peter, don't you get it?"
Venom's eyes widened. "Gwen will gain the power to protect herself. She'll become a hero."
Gwen's vision went black.
The memory stopped.
Staring at her reflection, Gwen focused. Black liquid crawled over her, forming a white-and-black spider-suit.
As she donned the mask, foreign memories flooded her mind.
A cave, Tony, Lizard Parker, Green Goblin… Cindy, and Spider-Man!
Charlie Parker!
The image froze on Charlie in his nanotech suit. Gwen snapped back.
"Charlie, is it really you?"
She murmured, glancing at the night outside. She leaped out the window.
Swish~
Webbing shot out, and Gwen swung through the city.
After the artificial sun's success, the world transformed rapidly.
Infinite energy sparked technological breakthroughs. High-tech products flooded daily life.
Buildings grew taller.
Cars became mini-fliers.
Maglev trains, ion highways, artificial moons, AI robots, custom biospheres…
Sci-fi concepts were now on the agenda.
TVs reported global changes daily.
Spider-Man was gradually forgotten.
Only J. Jonah Jameson's Daily Bugle still remembered him.