Melbourne, clear skies.
A newly built tech tower pierced the clouds.
Above the skyline, in a lavish, decadent sky garden, White-Armor Tony swirled his wine glass, eyes fixed on a virtual screen.
The screen showed Spider-Man entering a villa, rendezvousing with S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Thunderbolts.
He smirked, took a sip of wine, and turned to the suited man behind him.
"Spider-Man's here. Be careful from now on."
The man, expressionless, said, "The Richards couple were perfect bait. He took the hook."
White-Armor Tony shook his head. "Spider-Man's invincible. Don't say I didn't warn you."
"So what?"
The man sneered. "Across countless multiverses, Spider-Man's nothing special."
"Then what's your plan?"
White-Armor Tony asked with interest, "Your director's already missing, which means the Time Variance Authority isn't the strongest. You're just a district manager—what can you do?"
At that, Mr. Paradox's face darkened.
"I help you with your problems, you help me with mine, Stark. Know your place."
He snorted, "Spider-Man left the Void, but that doesn't mean I can't send others there. If you want to spend your life in that godforsaken place, keep watching the show."
White-Armor Tony's expression hardened, and he stopped taunting the man.
"Fine, you've threatened me successfully. What can I do next?"
"Let Spider-Man find you, then lead him into the trap I've set."
"Sounds easy enough."
"No, that bug's lost his superpowers. He'll be cautious and won't walk into a trap willingly."
"Really?"
White-Armor Tony pointed at the screen, where Charlie was gearing up. "Looks like he's made up his mind to come."
Mr. Paradox: "..."
"His destination might not be here."
Half an hour later, a quinjet landed in Melbourne.
Charlie and his team arrived at the base of the tech tower, entering the elevator without resistance.
Click-click-click~~
The elevator hummed faintly.
In the sky garden, White-Armor Tony shrugged. "See? They're here."
Mr. Paradox: "..."
"He's definitely up to something," he said with conviction.
Inside the elevator, Charlie tucked a golden handgun into his pocket, patting it carefully.
"Hm, my secret weapon."
Watching the elevator's surveillance, White-Armor Tony threw up his hands. "So?" he asked Mr. Paradox.
Mr. Paradox's face grew darker. "That gun's got to be trouble."
As he spoke, Old Steve in the elevator asked Charlie curiously, "What's the deal with that gun?"
Charlie grinned. "Snagged it from a Deadpool. Didn't bring it out last time, but luckily, Lady Deadpool had an identical one, so I borrowed it."
In the sky garden, White-Armor Tony looked back at Mr. Paradox.
"Anything else to say?"
Mr. Paradox took a deep breath. "Just be careful."
He waved a hand, and a group of Time Agents brought in two unconscious figures.
Richard and Mary, Charlie Parker's parents.
He'd gone through piles of data to capture them.
With the Richards in his hands, Spider-Man would have no choice but to surrender.
White-Armor Tony glanced at Mr. Paradox's smug expression and scoffed, "You didn't have to go through all this trouble. Just challenge Spider-Man directly."
Mr. Paradox froze, then fell silent.
"I like complicated situations."
"You're just scared of the Avengers, aren't you?"
White-Armor Tony hit the nail on the head, chuckling. "You're not cut out to be a schemer. You're better at straightforward threats."
"My last threat failed."
"Well, good luck this time."
White-Armor Tony turned to leave, uninterested in the fight.
He only cared about making money—endless amounts of it.
Click~
Just then, the elevator doors opened, and Charlie led the Thunderbolts out.
White-Armor Tony's eyes narrowed, and he took a step back.
Behind him, Mr. Paradox signaled the Time Agents to surround Spider-Man's team, then threatened with Richard in hand, "You filthy bug, your parents are in my grasp. If you don't want them to—"
Pfft!
In an instant, a blur flashed. Mr. Paradox's eyes widened as he looked down at the blood-red tentacle piercing his chest, his face full of disbelief.
"How could you—"
Pfft-pfft-pfft~~~
The next moment, the blood-red tentacle struck again, swiftly taking out all the Time Agents.
As the agents collapsed, convulsing, Charlie shrugged. "Sorry, I just got my superpowers back. You should've stayed hidden longer."
Mr. Paradox: "..."
He fell face-first, dead with eyes wide open.
Charlie's aura quickly subsided. White-Armor Tony stood frozen, not daring to move.
As Charlie walked past, Old Steve kindly handed him a pair of handcuffs.
"Need help, buddy?"
White-Armor Tony's mouth twitched. "Thanks, I'm good."
He cuffed himself, then heard Charlie ask, "How long till they wake up?"
"Uh, about ten minutes," White-Armor Tony replied.
Charlie nodded, standing guard by Richard and Mary.
He thought for a moment, then asked, "Where's Elios?"
White-Armor Tony shook his head. "I don—"
Before he could finish, Old Steve casually ran a finger along his shield's sharp edge, muttering, "My shield's starving."
White-Armor Tony's face stiffened. "Ahem, I heard that guy say Elios got jumped by a group."
"Jumped Elios?"
Charlie mused. "Sounds like it's in bad shape."
He kicked Mr. Paradox's body. "With time and space in chaos, how'd they get here?"
"That, I really don't know."
Fearing Spider-Man's wrath, White-Armor Tony added, "But I have a guess."
"What?"
"Here's the deal."
White-Armor Tony tapped his virtual computer, displaying a string of symbols and equations Charlie couldn't decipher.
Turning into a teacher, he pointed at the virtual blackboard with a ruler, explaining, "Anyone who's studied knows that when an object moves at lightspeed, it compresses surrounding time and space, distorting spacetime. Beyond a certain threshold, there's a chance for spatial jumps. Elios's ability to devour spacetime works similarly. It doesn't exist in any one universe or timeline. It appeared in the Void due to some special force's influence.
Without that force's restriction, Elios reverts to its true form, constantly moving faster than light, twisting this universe's time and space. So, unless your time magic matches Elios's speed, you can't break the time barrier."
"That's my take on Elios. Who's with me, who's against?" White-Armor Tony smirked, hands on hips.
The next second, Old Steve clicked a remote, and the handcuffs zapped with high voltage.
Zzzzt~
"Urgh~"
White-Armor Tony collapsed, foaming at the mouth and twitching rhythmically.
Old Steve sneered, "I don't let anyone show off in front of me."
Charlie: "..."
"Why'd you zap him?" he said, exasperated.
"I'm no scholar. I didn't understand a word, so he's gotta be lying." With that, Old Steve dragged White-Armor Tony away.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Don't kill him. I've got more questions."
"Got it."
As Old Steve left, Felicia crouched to check the Richards' condition.
"He's right. They're fine."
"Good to know."
Charlie waved, and Felicia, getting the hint, dragged Aleksei out.
The bodies were cleared.
Charlie gazed at Richard's whitening beard and Mary's crow's feet, sighing.
He was finally back.
He tapped the spider emblem on his chest, and the nanometal retracted, revealing his young face.
The next second, Richard stirred from his haze.
The moment he opened his eyes, he saw Charlie's face.
"You…"
"I'm Charlie. Charlie Parker."
Richard trembled, his face full of disbelief.
"You… Charlie… our little Charlie…"
As Richard grew emotional, Mary seemed to hear something.
She woke groggily, and what followed was a melodramatic scene of parental love that gave Charlie a headache.
He didn't feel much for the Richards.
So he was a bit awkward.
But soon, he relaxed.
Because he learned that the Richards' favorite wasn't him—it was someone else.
"Peter, where's Peter?"
Mary suddenly cried out, her face filled with fear.
Richard frantically looked around.
"Damn it, what did those guys do to Peter…"
He struggled with his weak body, searching for an exit. Charlie, thoughtful, asked, "Who's Peter?"
He already knew the answer.
Mary instinctively looked down, wrestling internally, unable to speak.
Richard paused, hesitant, before sighing.
"He's our son."
He turned back. "Sorry, we were sent to another world by some mysterious figure. There, we had our second child. His name's Peter. Peter Parker. Your brother."
Charlie: "???"
His mind reeled, a thought flashing through.
If he hadn't intervened, Charlie Parker would've died young, and the Richards' second child would've been the true Spider-Man?
But if Charlie died as a baby, how could he go back to save himself?
A time paradox emerged.
Charlie's head ached.
Creating a time paradox without disrupting the timeline meant this mysterious force transcended time and space.
Or there was another possibility.
Even if Charlie hadn't traveled back to save himself, someone else would've stopped Hydra Cap from killing young Charlie.
That would preserve the universe's timeline.
Charlie wasn't sure what was true, but he was certain his "brother" Peter Parker wasn't ordinary.
Lost in thought, he called Carter and the others to take the Richards to New York.
…
The next day, S.H.I.E.L.D.
Conference room.
"What? Charlie is Spider-Man?!" Barton stared at Charlie in the corner, shocked.
Natasha covered her mouth. "No way, how could he…"
"No, Spider-Man can't be some kid!" Agent Hill wailed, avoiding Charlie's eyes. "He's so great—cough, I mean, exceptional."
"My God, unbelievable."
"Too incredible."
The room buzzed with exclamations.
With the Richards' return, Charlie no longer hid his identity.
Yep, he laid it all bare.
The next moment, Harry stood, slamming the table, glaring at Charlie. "I didn't suspect a thing!"
Charlie: "..."
Too dramatic.
Nick Fury scanned the room, noticing Carter's calm demeanor.
He frowned slightly. "Captain Carter, you knew, didn't you?"
"Me?"
Carter snapped back, shaking her head. "No, I just… wait, why are you in my seat?"
After a jolt, she glared at Nick Fury. "You've got three seconds to get out."
Nick Fury looked confused. "I… what was I saying?"
Carter softened her gaze. "I only suspected, but I didn't know it was true."
"You should've filed a report," Nick Fury said seriously.
Carter nodded. "My mistake."
Charlie watched the odd exchange, rubbing his forehead. "Alright, since I've told you the truth, let's get୍
System: get to business."
He scanned the room, his expression serious. "From what I know, Richard and Mary have another child. My request is to find this guy."
"Richard's kid? Your brother?" Natasha frowned.
Carter furrowed her brow. "Could be another Spider-Man."
"But we haven't found traces of another Spider-Man," Nick Fury said, his eyes locked on Charlie.
"Spider-Man, you're holding back more secrets, aren't you?"
Charlie shook his head.
This guy again.
What a pain.
He quickly texted Carter on his phone.
[I'll take out Fury for you. Promotion, raise, and you're set for life.]
Carter replied discreetly.
[Deal. I'll take care of you after.]
[Done.]
[Tonight, my room. We'll plan it out.]
[Not tonight. Another time.]
As they texted privately, Nick Fury felt an inexplicable chill.
Soon, the meeting ended, and Charlie returned to Bleecker Street.
That night, the family was together.
Well, minus one brother, but no big deal.
Charlie was used to it.
At dinner, Uncle Ben and Aunt May chatted with the Richards about Charlie's growth over the years. Charlie chimed in occasionally.
The conversation gradually shifted to Peter Parker.
"We ended up in a strange world, living quietly for a few years. During that time, we had Peter and continued our genetic experiments," Richard said, his face full of regret. "But an accident happened. A mutant spider escaped and bit Peter."
Charlie: "..."
He didn't need to guess the rest of the story.
This was getting wilder than he'd ever imagined.