"Sorcerer Supreme."
At Wong's prompting, Ancient One steadied her mindset.
"Lock it down."
With a shout, the mages formed hand seals, golden chains shooting out to bind the massive demon god shadow.
Gagaga~~
Instantly, Hydra's unease intensified. It thrashed wildly, spreading blood-red distortions through the void, but under the golden array's suppression, its power weakened rapidly.
Seeing this, Ancient One's fingertips glowed, flipping everything within the golden array upside down.
In the dimensional space, mages landed on floating building discs, their golden chains shining brighter, encircling the Hydra shadow.
Buzz!
The next second, Ancient One withdrew her magical energy, raising a magic shield to charge the demon god shadow.
"Wait."
Charlie stopped her. "Mages should use ranged skills. Leave close combat to me!"
Ancient One: "."
Damn Spider-Man, ruining my plans again!
Under her resentful gaze, Charlie turned into an electric arc, rushing toward the demon god shadow.
Buzz~
As the magic circle flared, Carter and the Avengers arrived in the dimensional space.
"I'm gonna eat!!"
Gwen landed on a massive blood-red tendril, her demonic face writhing as it devoured the tentacle.
"Don't you only eat heads?" Charlie asked, passing by curiously.
Abby didn't answer. Gwen shrugged helplessly.
"Don't look at me, I don't know either."
"Alright, keep at it."
Charlie swung past on his webs. Johnny, now a fire-wreathed Ghost Rider, clung to a tendril. His normal flames were useless against the demon god, but to show effort, he kept blasting fire.
Reed and the others were in a similar boat—their powers had no effect on the demon god shadow.
Even with just a fraction of dimensional power, Hydra outclassed the Avengers' abilities by leagues.
But superpowers varied.
Suddenly, an invisible force surged into a molecular vortex, and figures broke through the dimensional space onto the battlefield.
"Hm?"
Charlie's pale blue eyes flickered. This guy had spatial powers too?
The vortex dissipated, and Apocalypse stepped into the dimensional space with his Four Horsemen.
"Heh heh, Spider-Man, care to join me?" His gaze locked on Charlie.
Charlie shrugged. "Sorry, I don't follow."
Apocalypse smiled. "I mean, merge with me!"
Instantly, floating buildings disintegrated into sand, a sudden sandstorm sealing Charlie's escape.
"Motherfucker, we're not done over there!"
Charlie barreled through the sand vortex. Apocalypse raised a hand, conjuring lightning to seize Spider-Man.
Buzz~
Boom!!
Under the thunderous bombardment, Charlie dove into a portal, reappearing beside Ancient One.
"Sorcerer Supreme, I'm reporting someone for popping champagne mid-game."
Ancient One glanced at him, sweat beading on her forehead.
"Sorry, I'm too drained to help. Hydra's too strong," she said, straining.
Charlie: "!!!!"
This woman let Apocalypse in on purpose!
To stop Spider-Man from ruining her retirement plan!
Damn it!
Before he could think, a sandstorm swept in, Apocalypse's figure flickering within.
Charlie dove into a portal without hesitation.
Whoosh~
The sand passed the mages, not affecting the array.
Apocalypse's target was Spider-Man—he wouldn't easily provoke the mysterious, powerful mages.
Seeing Spider-Man chased, Wong hesitated.
"Sorcerer Supreme, Spider-Man's enemy's here," he warned.
Ancient One panted, her golden magic flickering.
"Don't get distracted. Spider-Man will handle it."
Her face paled, as if she'd poured everything into suppressing Hydra.
Wong focused, determined not to fail her.
…
"Spider-Man, I got you!"
In the dimensional space, Harry and his dad charged Apocalypse on hoverboards, only to be stopped by Erik.
"Nice metal boards," Erik grinned eerily.
"What?"
Before they could react, their hoverboards went haywire.
"No!!"
As they fell, Reed's rubber form caught them.
"Senior Harry, who do we fight?" Reed asked, torn between Hydra and Apocalypse's crew.
Harry gritted his teeth. "Those guys, obviously."
He pointed at Apocalypse's team. "Can't touch the demon god, but we can take down mutants."
"Got it, mutants it is."
Johnny turned into a flaming meteor, charging Erik.
Erik calmly waved, shattering buildings into rebar that shot out like a storm.
"I got this!"
Susan raised her hands, forming an energy shield around the metal.
"My turn!!"
Ben grabbed Reed, using his rubber body as a giant slingshot.
"Ready?"
"Ready."
"Go!!"
With Reed's help, Ben launched like a meteor.
"Inspired by Spider-Man, do not try this~~~"
Boom!!
Ben smashed through Erik's metal shield, the force hurling Erik into an upside-down building.
"My go!"
Johnny's fiery meteor hit the rubble, Reed and Susan following.
The Fantastic Four focused on Erik.
Charles, meanwhile, was annoyed by a barrage of arrows.
At least, he acted annoyed.
Seeing Charles falter, Wanda and Pietro exchanged a glance.
"No! Shit, this Electro guy's too fast—he's on me!" Pietro yelled, chased by Max.
Wanda clashed with Carter.
Buzz~
A shield whirred, but under Wanda's scarlet energy, it flew back faster.
Wanda's eyes glowed scarlet, picturing Carter sliced by the shield.
"Crap, too much force!"
She paled, trying to pull back the energy, but it was too late.
Whirr!!
As the shield neared Carter's waist, she spun, dodging and recalling the shield, landing smoothly.
"Don't underestimate me," Carter smirked.
Natasha, passing by, whispered, "Your landing pose is like mine."
She fired her pistol at Charles.
Carter: "."
In the dimensional space, everyone was acting—except the bug getting pummeled.
Boom boom boom!!
Under Apocalypse's control, sand formed a massive pyramid.
"Oh shit, I've seen this somewhere."
Charlie looked up as the pyramid crashed down. He tried to open a portal, but an invisible spatial force warped it.
Buzz~
The circular portal twisted, unusable.
"Cute bug, offer your body to the great mutant god!!" Apocalypse's eyes gleamed with greed.
Charlie shrugged. "Sorry, my body's for my fangirls."
He reached through the warped portal, yanking Apocalypse inside.
"What?"
Apocalypse gasped as the portal closed, slicing his body in half.
Before he could heal, Charlie zipped away as an electric arc. The pyramid crashed down.
Boom!!
Sand filled the dimensional space, the pyramid sinking into an upside-down park forest, burying Apocalypse.
"Whoa, that's how you use a portal?"
From a skyscraper's peak, Charlie clapped. "I learned something!"
Then his body toppled backward off the building.
As winds roared, Charlie shot webs, swinging over the coastal villa.
Through a hole in the ceiling, Otto lay unconscious.
"How's he doing?"
The red-and-blue figure swung to Ruth's side, Charlie asking.
Seeing Spider-Man, Ruth relaxed.
"His spine's burning hot."
She carefully turned Otto, revealing a red-hot back, veins exposed but bloodless.
At the nearly translucent red spine, Charlie's blue eyes glowed, spotting blood-red tendrils trying to link to Otto's nervous system.
As the red deepened, the Hydra shadow grew more terrifying in its struggle.
If this continued, the mages' golden chains wouldn't hold.
That'd let Ancient One retire.
Charlie wouldn't allow it!
"Tricky. Looks like we need to swap in a normal spine."
His face darkened as he asked Ruth, "Where's the spine they removed during his surgery?"
"At the hospital."
"Too late."
The Mark armor landed with a boom. Tony eyed the mechanical arms in the lab's corner.
"Those could work."
Charlie found the arms, badly damaged.
"No good," Tony shook his head.
"No, there's a way."
Charlie tapped his wrist device, four dark gold mechanical arms extending from his back.
"He totally stole those," Tony sneered.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "My trophy."
He detached the mechanical arms with his nano-suit, Tony assisting.
Zzzzt~
The arm's blade popped out, slicing Otto's back.
Hiss~
The blade melted from the heat. Tony blinked.
"Guess not."
"Not 'guess'—definitely not."
Charlie took a deep breath, plunging his hand into the scalding flesh, yanking out the burning spine.
Splurch!!
Hot blood sprayed. Charlie quickly attached the mechanical arm's metal spine to Otto's back.
Beep beep~
Tapping the nano-device, nano-metal spread, barely supporting the spine's ends.
"Did it work?" Ruth asked nervously.
Charlie shook his head. "No way. Otto's alive, but the rough swap wrecked his nervous system. He might be paralyzed."
Ruth's face fell. "So living's worse than dying."
Tony mused, "It's a miracle Otto survived. A normal person would be dead."
"Thanks to his lingering regenerative power."
Charlie glanced at the burning spine, which turned into light and merged with the Hydra shadow.
With all nine spines united, the shadow solidified at a hundredfold speed.
But without a host, the materialized Hydra was slowly consumed by the void under Earth's rejection.
Ancient One, ready for close combat, felt deep disappointment.
Her retirement was slipping away.
She glanced at the shaking pyramid and led her disciples through a portal.
"Sorcerer Supreme, Spider-Man's trouble—" Wong warned again.
Her face was blank. "Trust your idol. He'll be fine."
Wong nodded. "Right, the invincible Spider-Man won't fall."
Kamar-Taj mages left, the dimensional space dissolved, and the pyramid turned to ash.
In the forest park's crater, a blue figure shot up.
"Damn bug, you keep surprising me."
Apocalypse laughed, unleashing an energy wave that exploded nearby buildings.
Tap!
A golden portal opened behind him, a hand knocking his head, a mysterious force dazing him.
A warning!
Apocalypse snapped back, grimly using his powers to restore the buildings he'd destroyed.
In his era, there was no Sorcerer Supreme.
Since awakening, he'd sensed terrifying powers on Earth.
The Sorcerer Supreme was one.
At Kamar-Taj, he felt forces from other universes—powers even a mutant god couldn't match.
Without their tacit approval, he wouldn't have dared enter the dimensional space to grab Spider-Man.
But their warning made it clear.
The Sorcerer Supreme wouldn't interfere with his plans—unless he went too far.
Apocalypse's face darkened.
The scene fell silent.
Erik and Charles exchanged a glance, pretending not to notice.
Wanda and Pietro, battle-savvy, kept fighting enemies without a hitch.
Until the nine spines fell from the sky.
"Grab them!"
Apocalypse roared. Erik and the others sprang into action.
Having seen Hydra's power, they couldn't let such a treasure slip.
Carter shouted, "Stop them!"
Chaos erupted again.
With Tony joining, explosions lit up the battlefield.
Boom~
The flaming chariot roared past, hellfire sweeping through, forcing everyone back.
As Ghost Rider snatched the spines, Apocalypse raged.
"Vile spirit!"
Buzz~
He vanished into the void, reappearing before the chariot.
Terrifying energy built up, chilling Johnny Blaze.
Behind him, magical sparks flared. An electric arc zipped by, and the nine spines landed in Charlie's hands.
As Apocalypse's energy blast fired, Charlie tossed the web-wrapped spines into its path.
Keeping them was a ticking bomb—better let Apocalypse destroy them.
"No!!!"
Apocalypse's eyes widened as the webbed spines were shredded by the energy.
But something worse happened.
Buzz~
As the spines shattered, the void twisted. True dimensional power erupted, cracking space. Apocalypse, closest, turned to ash. Johnny crumbled under the force.
Under Spider-Sense's warning, Charlie's portal collapsed.
Charlie: "."
"Heh, shouldn't have touched it."
Sensing his fate, he smiled at Carter's group, his grinning face splintering into countless fragments as space shattered.
Crack crack~
The shattering came fast but healed in seconds.
As if nothing happened.
Whoosh~
A breeze blew, ash reforming into Apocalypse.
"Spider-Man's dead?" He froze.
Erik approached. "He'll come back stronger."
Apocalypse's face was grim. "Damn bug, died again. Next time, I'll catch him."
"Understood."
Apocalypse and his team left. The shattered bones flared with hellfire, and Johnny Blaze regained consciousness.
"I… I really can't die!" He was thrilled.
He looked around. "Where's Spider-Man?" he asked Carter.
Carter's group stiffened.
"Dead," she said.
"Dead?"
Johnny shook his head. "No way. Spider-Man's immortal. Everyone knows that."
Carter didn't bother explaining.
The group left, chatting.
"How long till he's back?"
"A week."
"No, a month."
"If he's gone six months, that'd be great."
"Hm?"
They eyed Tony oddly.
Tony was serious. "If he's gone six months, I can get his death certificate and use his nano-tech for free."
Carter scoffed, "Bitch."
The group nodded.
"Shameless."
"The richer, the stingier."
"He's just protecting Spider-Man from money's corruption."
"Spider-Man's doomed to be a broke-ass."
"He wants to freeload off my idol. I'll put ash in his eyes!" Max swore.
Harry whispered, "Count me in. My friend can't stay broke forever."
"Tonight, we move."
"Deal."
Main-world Tony felt a surge of malice.
In the cosmic web, Charlie sensed changes in his body.
[Hydra's power is corrupting your body. Strength +5 tons.]
[Hydra's power is corrupting your body. Strength +3 tons.]
[Hydra's power is corrupting your body. You've gained Level 1 self-healing.]
[Hydra's power is corrupting your body. You've gained Level 2 self-healing.]
[Hydra's power is corrupting your body. Strength +4 tons.]
[Hydra's power is corrupting your suit. Venom mode upgrading.]
[Hydra's power is corrupting your suit. Hydra mode activated.]
Notifications kept coming.
Charlie was stunned.
So… I'm really a Hydra now?