"Lend me your Battle Soul Sword," Charlie said, extending his hand.
"Got it."
Takuya Yamashiro, sprawled awkwardly on the ground, didn't hesitate to summon Leopardon.
ROAR!
RUMBLE!!
Before he could complete the action, the symbiote beast went berserk, its tendrils whipping through the surrounding buildings, reducing them to rubble.
"Whoa! What a powerful monster!"
As debris rained down, Takuya yelped and scrambled to dodge, his attempt to summon Leopardon interrupted.
Charlie blinked.
"Wait, Leopardon's summoning can be interrupted? That's not in your character setting, is it?"
He quipped, turning to grapple with the beast's gaping maw.
Takuya scurried to avoid the falling stones, shouting, "I don't know either! Ever since I got to this world, it feels like something's targeting me!"
Mid-sentence, the gravely injured Spider-Man, hurled through the air, crashed into him, knocking him flat.
Buzz~
A leech totem flickered briefly as Rena erupted from the ruins.
"I'll deal with you first, then feast on the main course."
Her face brimmed with greed, clearly referring to Charlie as the main course.
BOOM!!
Before she could close in on Takuya, the symbiote beast, struck by Charlie, crashed to the ground, burying Rena in an instant.
"Wow, she's done for!"
Takuya, cradling the injured Spider-Man, shook him vigorously.
"Even when injured, a Spider-Man fights to live! Wake up, your enemy's down! You've got to hang in there—you can't die!"
Still caught up in his own drama despite the chaos, Takuya ignored the two titans clashing behind him.
Buzz~
Golden Spider-Man rubbed his hands, conjuring golden temporal energy that formed a disc, slashing down and severing the beast's overwhelming tendrils.
Thud!
As the tendrils fell, Charlie shouted back, "For the man who risks his life for his allies, lend me your Battle Soul Sword already!"
Takuya, kneeling, kept clutching the injured Spider-Man, rambling on.
"I know you can pull through. Spider-Man doesn't bow to fate."
Charlie: "…"
ROAR~~
In front, the symbiote beast, its tendrils severed, remained ferocious. Its maw unleashed a blue bolt of lightning. Charlie quickly braced his hands, opening a golden portal.
Buzz
The portal expanded rapidly in his hands, swallowing the surging lightning energy, which reemerged from a portal beside Charlie.
Zzzzt~
RUMBLE!!
The terrifying energy exploded across the beast's surface, the clash of titans unleashing devastating destruction. On distant skyscrapers, onlookers gasped in awe at the spectacle.
Amid the chaos, Takuya's world seemed to snow.
"Listen, buddy, I almost died at the hands of a villain once too. But my obsession with vengeance kept me alive, and I gained Spider-Man's powers. With unwavering resolve, you can live again too."
Takuya's tone was resolute, but behind him, the beast bit through the golden portal and charged, toppling the golden figure.
Bang!
Thud thud~~
Sparks burst from the golden giant's chest. Under the immense force, Charlie stumbled, crashing into a building behind him.
RUMBLE
Golden Spider-Man sank into the building, engulfed in flames and thick smoke.
He glanced at Takuya, exasperated. "He's not dead! Not dead! Snap out of it and give me the Battle Soul Sword!!"
Charlie's voice echoed across the battlefield, exciting the symbiote beast even more.
Takuya sighed softly, speaking to the Spider-Man in his arms. "Alright, I know you're tired. Being Spider-Man comes at a huge cost—I get it. But think of your family, your loved ones.
Speaking of loved ones, I think of her. She's kind, beautiful, the most important person in my life—"
"Not the time for romance talk, hey!!"
Charlie shouted, rolling to dodge the beast's charge. The building behind him was smashed through by the beast's head.
ROAR!!
The symbiote beast yanked its head from the building, roaring skyward in exhilaration.
In this world, it felt unstoppable.
Fate seemed on its side.
After its roar, the beast charged again.
Thud thud thud~~
Crushing the ruins, the ground quaked relentlessly.
Facing the beast's onslaught, Charlie's spider-sense gave no warning.
Not just because of the hallucinogenic gas.
There was also…
A strange aura wafted from the symbiote beast. Charlie stepped back, then dove into a golden portal.
Dodging the beast's attack, he flipped to land behind it, finally noticing something off.
A massive, illusory leech writhed on the beast's spine, a chilling sight.
The Morlun family's leech totem!
Was the Inheritor from earlier still alive—or consumed by the symbiote core?
No time to think, Charlie crouched and slammed a fist beside Takuya.
BOOM!
As the ground shook, Takuya finally snapped out of it.
"What are you doing?"
"Battle Soul Sword."
"Oh, right! For the man who summons for his allies, Spider-Man!"
Immediately, Takuya tapped his wrist device, raising his right hand. "Leopardon!"
Buzz~
A war chariot sped from the distance, and a spaceship's shadow appeared in the sky.
Beep beep~
BOOM
As the spaceship appeared, Takuya flipped into the chariot.
Under his control, the chariot soared into the ship's interior.
"Transform!"
Buzz~ Crack crack~~
Above the city, the massive ship extended a head and limbs.
As Leopardon's giant robot form was about to emerge, the symbiote beast's narrow eyes twisted, firing energy beams to interrupt.
Charlie was ready.
Buzz!
He flung out a golden portal, swallowing the energy beams.
Buzz~
Bang!!
The redirected energy struck the beast's spine, blasting its black wings to smithereens.
As the symbiote healed, Leopardon completed its transformation.
BOOM!!
The colossal robot landed in the city ruins. Takuya, piloting it, slowly drew the Battle Soul Sword.
Hum!
The moment the sword was raised, thunderclouds rolled in the sky, a terrifying aura spreading as lightning crackled.
Against this apocalyptic backdrop, Leopardon held the sword aloft, its dangerous presence sending a chill through Charlie.
"Wait, let me handle it!"
He couldn't let Aunt Four Hundred actually slay the symbiote beast.
That wasn't the outcome he wanted.
Rushing forward, he snatched the Battle Soul Sword, weighed it, and swung it horizontally.
ROAR!
Shwick shwick!!
Sword light swept through, severing the beast's newly grown tendrils. The black liquid at the cuts writhed but struggled to regenerate.
Seeing this, Charlie's eyes gleamed.
This was it!
The Battle Soul Sword, a weapon of certain death.
No matter how strong the regeneration, it was doomed against this blade.
Beside him, Takuya piloted Leopardon forward.
"If it were me, one swing would've obliterated it."
Charlie's heart skipped. "It doesn't only have one swing, does it?"
With this guy's bizarre settings, it wasn't impossible.
Thankfully, Takuya shook his head. "I don't know."
"Then I'll test it."
Gripping the sword with both hands, Charlie slashed, a golden portal blooming.
Buzz~
BOOM!!
A dazzling sword light sliced from the beast's side, tearing its regrown wings apart, its regeneration failing to repair the damage.
ROAR!!
The beast wailed. Charlie exhaled in relief.
Good. Its setting didn't limit it to a single killing blow—just normal attacks.
In thought, he wiped the sword, golden webbing creeping over it, turning it a brilliant gold.
Hum!!
Golden light spread wildly, temporal power infusing the Battle Soul Sword, sparking unpredictable changes.
"Slash!"
A thousand-meter golden sword light descended, engulfing the city's ruined streets in radiant brilliance.
RUMBLE!!
Dust erupted, the street carved into a terrifying chasm by the sword light. The massive beast was split in two.
ROAR
Thud~ thud~
The halved beast stumbled. Before it could collapse, Charlie, sword in hand, charged forward.
Hum~
Shwick shwick shwick
Sword light flashed, severing the beast's scales, tendrils, scorpion tail, claws, beak, red eyes, and fangs.
Onlookers atop skyscrapers watched in horror.
Takuya, however, was delighted.
"Amazing! What incredible swordsmanship!"
The fragments, separated by golden sword light, writhed and formed into different figures.
Penny Parker, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, Norman, Otto, Curt…
Temporal power forcibly separated the symbiote core from its devoured victims, as Charlie expected.
The symbiote mech used the core as a control hub. Under Norman's odd modifications, its devouring ability far outstripped its parasitic one.
If it wasn't parasitic, things were much simpler.
As Penny Parker and the others' bodies reformed, the scattered black liquid coalesced into a mysterious black meteorite.
Perhaps this restricted the symbiote's parasitic ability.
Charlie mused, tossing the Battle Soul Sword back to Takuya.
He formed seals, guiding souls back to their bodies.
Among them, Mary Jane's soul had nowhere to go. Charlie sent it to an "unknown" timeline.
Hmm, sending her to Kamar-Taj—Master Ancient One wouldn't let her die.
Finally, a twisted leech totem remained.
Charlie found no Inheritor soul.
So…
The Inheritor from earlier wasn't dead!
Realizing something, he spun toward the injured Spider-Man in the ruins.
No, a dead Spider now.
The shriveled suit wrapped a skeletal frame.
Unnoticed by Charlie or Takuya, this world's Spider-Man had been consumed.
Compared to the straightforward Karn, this Inheritor was far craftier.
Charlie tapped his wrist device, retracting the Pym particles. Light and shadow shrank, and Golden Spider-Man returned to normal size.
Glancing at the unconscious Penny Parker and others, he split open a time tunnel with a hand chop, sending them back to their universe.
Watching the spatial rift close, Charlie grinned.
"Does this count as a multiversal superhero?"
Nah, too low-tier.
But finding Mary Jane wrapped this up.
Leopardon transformed into spaceship mode. Takuya leaped down to the ruins.
"Huh, what's this?"
Noticing the writhing black liquid meteorite, he approached curiously.
Before he could touch it, Charlie stopped him.
"Wait, it might be dangerous."
He yanked Takuya back.
If Takuya got parasitized, that Battle Soul Sword might come for him.
Charlie wasn't gambling on that.
Disappointed at not touching the meteorite, Takuya sighed. "Yeah, I feel it too. It's dangerous."
With everything settled, Charlie finally asked, "How'd you end up in this world?"
Takuya shrugged. "I heard Spider-Man's voice, so I accidentally came here. They needed my help."
"They?"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "More than one Spider-Man here?"
"Yeah, tons of Spider-Men. They're being hunted by that weird guy. Some got eaten—it's brutal." Takuya shivered.
Charlie pondered. "The Inheritor family. Looks like a big event's kicking off. I arrived just in time."
"So you're joining the fight, right?" Takuya's face lit up.
"Of course."
Charlie eyed the leech totem in the corner, urging his spider totem to consume it.
From Curt's lizard totem to the Inheritor's leech totem, his spider totem had feasted well.
After devouring the leech totem, the spider totem on his chest visibly grew larger.
A stronger totem meant more totem power and longer endurance.
The Inheritors craved Spider-Men, and Spider-Men craved Inheritors.
Charlie surveyed the ruins. "If I'm right, a bunch of Spider-Men love gathering on some rooftop."
"Nope, not at all."
Takuya tapped his wrist device. "We've got Spider-Man's exclusive headquarters."
As a spatial tunnel opened, Charlie hid his golden little spider.
"So multiversal travel devices are just everywhere now, huh?"
Ignoring Charlie's resentful look, Takuya stepped into the tunnel, waving.
"Come on, a bunch of men craving allies and redemption are waiting."
"Wait, I'm bringing this first."
Charlie shot webbing, tightly wrapping the symbiote meteorite before approaching.
Though he didn't dare get close, that didn't mean other Spider-Men—