"Spider-Man?"
Zod glanced at Faora, who sneered dismissively.
"Never heard of him."
Charlie, brimming with confidence, chimed in. "Today you ignore me, but tomorrow you'll be begging to know me! I guarantee, next time we meet, you'll be hopelessly—"
"In love with you?" Old Steve interjected.
Charlie shook his head. "No, worshipping me! Spider-Man never lacks fans!"
With that, he raised his hands. "Come on, tie me up, bind me—I won't resist."
Behind him, Carter's face darkened. "You idiot, what are you playing at?!"
"I'm not playing. I'm competing seriously."
Charlie was dead serious.
He planned to charm the Kryptonians with his charisma. Surely they'd let him go.
Unfortunately, Dark Stephen wasn't about to give him that chance.
"Spider-Man must die. Every second he lives, this match stays unpredictable!"
Dark Stephen struck suddenly, and a deep, shadowy magical array bloomed beneath Charlie's feet.
Endless tendrils bound him as a massive spaceship above unleashed a devastating spatial wormhole.
"No way!"
Looking up, Charlie's face twisted in shock.
He'd thought missiles targeting bugs were absurd enough.
But being targeted by interstellar weaponry? That was next-level.
What shocked him most was how Dark Stephen had learned to counter him so fast.
They'd only clashed in one Resurrection Match!
"Bzzz!"
Before he could think further, a ghostly light descended, and the wormhole engulfed him. His consciousness returned to the cosmic web.
[You have been eliminated. No resurrection slots earned. Reward: Web-Ray (1000°C).]
[59 retries remaining. Restart?]
Restart!
...
Second Resurrection Match.
"Web-Ray? A new web mode?"
Atop the giant seashell structure, Charlie curiously rubbed his wrist, feeling a warm sensation in his glands. He instinctively fired a web.
"Zzz~~"
The web shot out as a straight, high-heat ray, striking the dark-golden rooftop.
"Pfft~"
The 1000°C heat scorched the surface, black smoke rising. The visually impressive Web-Ray only chipped off a bit of wall.
Charlie was pleased. "Nice. Not super useful, but good enough for a barbecue."
Spider-Man wasn't greedy.
This time, he'd secure those two resurrection slots!
Glancing at the dark magic erupting in the distance, he shot a web and trailed behind without hesitation.
"Boom~~"
The dark magic overwhelmed incoming beetle-like ships, finally plunging into the tallest dark-golden building.
Meanwhile, hordes of Kryptonian soldiers rushed toward the council chamber to stop the terrifying intruder.
Among them, on a soldier's shoulder, a tiny red-and-blue "ant" perched in the armor's crevice, watching the live chaos.
"Boom~"
Dark tendrils lashed out, and Dark Stephen was unstoppable, cutting through all opposition.
"Quick, take him down!"
"Don't let him inside!"
Soldiers shouted, firing particle cannons. The barrage of energy rays reflected off a sleek, dark mirror-like surface, instantly clearing the golden hall of soldiers.
Amid the soldiers' wreckage, tiny Charlie marveled at Dark Stephen's terrifying power.
Last time, without using the Knowledge Gem in Symbiote Tony, Dark Stephen would've been unbeatable.
Too bad Thanos wasn't here. Borrowing a Titan artifact might mean Main World Tony had a Knowledge Gem too.
With that thought, Charlie quietly slipped out of the hall.
Dark Stephen didn't notice the tiny bug.
Soon, General Zod arrived with a large force.
Seeing the carnage, he was stunned.
Someone beat him to it?
He eyed the strange figure, frowning.
This guy wasn't Kryptonian.
"Tell me your purpose."
He didn't act rashly, opting to assess the situation.
His goal was to seize Krypton's rule.
If this guy was an enemy of the old guard, they could cooperate.
At the very least, they couldn't be enemies.
Someone who could defeat thousands of elite Kryptonian soldiers single-handedly was unimaginable.
Dark Stephen didn't rush to attack either.
Spider-Man had taught him how to play the Resurrection Match.
"I'm Stephen Strange, from distant Earth. My target is Clark Kent."
He locked eyes with the general, a eerie smile on his face.
From the souls of dead soldiers, he'd learned this was General Zod.
The task of helping Zod seize Krypton's rule meant this guy's status was high.
With his authority, Zod could help with a lot.
He continued, "I can help you achieve your goal—like taking Krypton's rule."
Zod's frown deepened.
Were Earthlings always this blunt?
Both had their own agendas and didn't trust each other, but Zod, wary of Dark Stephen's power, decided to keep him close.
"You need to show sincerity," Zod said.
"Of course."
Dark Stephen waved, conjuring an image of Charlie with magic.
"Find this guy. Watch him covertly."
"Why?"
"He knows things we don't."
"Should I trust you?"
"You'll see my sincerity."
Their tentative alliance began.
Outside the council chamber, Charlie returned to normal size, eavesdropping on their talk before summoning his temporal Spider.
"Bzzz~"
The golden Spider clung to his chest, but its temporal power flickered unstably.
Charlie sighed, disappointed.
As expected, he couldn't open a Marvel multiverse portal.
The Resurrection Match had no bugs.
He tested other Spiders. The magic Spider couldn't borrow power, but the arc Spider, powered by an arc reactor, worked fine.
That was a relief.
"What are you?"
A cold voice came from behind. Charlie turned to see Faora eyeing him curiously. He gave an awkward wave.
"Hey, I told you, next time we meet, you'll worship me. So, you can start now."
He tapped his wrist device, Pym Particles flaring as he shrank and slipped into a wall crevice.
But the expected chase didn't happen.
That old Resurrection Match feeling hit again.
He died sloppily.
Faora fired an ion cannon, blasting the wall—and Charlie—into dust.
She didn't like chasing people.
Tossing the weapon to a soldier behind her, she said, "Probably a bio-monster from the Genesis Chamber. It could talk. Looks like the Codex's genetic data evolved again."
Zod stepped out of the chamber, ready to act. "What did you just do?" he asked Faora.
"Oh, I saw a bug. Red—no, maybe blue. I blasted it."
"Red and blue? A bug?"
Zod showed no emotion, but Dark Stephen's face darkened.
If Spider-Man was dead, how would he find Clark Kent?
Damn it, they both allied with the task target, so why did Spider-Man succeed while he failed?
Dark magic surged uncontrollably from Dark Stephen.
Spider-Man was dead, and he was pissed!