"That's…"
Carter was stunned by the sight, murmuring, "He really found that Celestial skull."
"And turned it into his armor," Old Steve added.
Harry, despair etched on his face, groaned, "It's over. Tony's the biggest winner now."
Norman patted his shoulder. "Don't lose hope. If Tony wins, that means Charlie wins. If Charlie wins… apologize tonight, and we'll be fine."
Nearby, Nick Fury carried Carol to a glider, staring at the towering, cloud-piercing titan. His face darkened further.
"He used that thing to beat Carol. No wonder he's Iron Man."
Natasha frowned. "We never should've let him go to space to find that Celestial skull."
Barton shook his head. "If he hadn't, we'd be in an even worse spot."
Just then, Carol stirred awake, weak. Her eyes widened in terror at the sight of the monstrous iron giant.
"Damn it, it's still here!!"
Her eyes rolled back, and she fainted again.
"Carol!"
Nick Fury called out, his heart sinking as he saw her fear of Tony's Godslayer Armor.
In his mind, aside from the invincible Spider-Man, Carol was Earth's strongest.
Or rather, had been before Tony's armor crushed her.
Just how powerful was this thing?
He stared at the twinkling starlight in the Celestial's eyes, dread pooling in his gut.
On Charles's side, his psychic energy was effortlessly repelled by the Celestial's power, unable to probe the Godslayer Armor. He felt uneasy.
Jean, beside him, looked grim. "Professor, it's Celestial power. We're no match."
Charles frowned. "Not even with the Phoenix Force?"
Jean hesitated. "If we combine it with Chaos Magic, we might stand a chance."
Charles closed his eyes, a faint smile forming. "Then we're fine. The master of Chaos Magic has arrived."
"She's here?" Jean frowned. "She's not like us. She won't help."
"That's not certain."
Charles opened his eyes, his gaze piercing through space to a mysterious figure.
"Our target isn't just Spider-Man. It's also…"
Before he could finish, the Godslayer's eyes blazed, shattering the barrier over the lower world. The world's hidden truths were laid bare, and countless humans glimpsed the filth of the underground, beginning to understand.
"My God! Those people are—"
"How could this happen?!"
"Oh my gosh, what's going on?!"
HUM~
The world reeled. The sun in the sky seemed to burn brighter.
Inside the Celestial skull's cockpit, Tony sensed a strange force calling.
"That's… the sun!"
Tony locked onto the solar system's star. The Godslayer's energy system began to surge.
The armor's power source combined a massive arc reactor with Celestial energy derived from the skull's marrow.
Now, under the sun's pull, the Celestial energy went berserk, coalescing into a starry river that streamed from the Godslayer toward the sun.
BEEP BEEP BEEP~
"Warning! Warning! Energy levels critical. Armor shutting down. Please replenish energy immediately~~"
JARVIS's alerts blared as Tony sweated, powerless to stop it.
Soon, the Celestial eyes dimmed, and the massive mechanical frame began retracting into the skull.
BOOM~~
In the clouds, the giant Celestial skull plummeted toward Earth like an asteroid. Carter and the others panicked.
"No, we can't let it destroy our city!"
"Stop it!"
Carter transformed into a meteor, rushing to intercept the falling skull. Old Steve and the others followed, while Charles and the mutants, unwilling to see the city obliterated, joined in.
They used every trick to slow the skull's descent, determined to protect the city.
Charlie watched quietly, unmoving.
They weren't saving anyone—they were just protecting their own assets.
As the skull's fall slowed, Charlie turned to the increasingly radiant sun.
The sun, infused with Celestial power…
He understood!
Charlie's expression shifted. The Celestial seed in this universe wasn't on Earth—it was in the sun! The residual Celestial power in the Godslayer was enough to catalyze it.
But what state the sun's Celestial seed was in, Charlie didn't know.
Maybe it was just sprouting. Maybe it was about to hatch.
Either way, it wasn't his concern right now.
As the Celestial skull gently touched down, Carter yanked Tony out.
In the end, Charlie was alone again.
He hadn't expected Tony's big moment to last just a few minutes.
"Invincible Spider-Man, save me!"
Carter tore Tony's armor apart with ease.
He shouted for Charlie, answered by a surge of crimson energy from the void.
BOOM!!
Chaos Magic—reality warped!
The crimson wave swept through, and Tony in Carter's grip turned into a pair of underwear.
The real Tony appeared beside Charlie.
"Damn it, that's mine!"
Charlie pointed at the underwear, instinctively covering his groin.
Carter casually pocketed it, smirking at Charlie. "I'll hold onto this for you."
"Pervert!" Charlie cursed under his breath.
Crimson energy erupted again, and Wanda, wreathed in Chaos Magic, soared into the sky, ten dark golden rings orbiting her.
"Now!"
Wanda roared, the Ten Rings spinning clockwise in the sky, forming a halo that amplified her Chaos Magic. A terrifying crimson beam engulfed Carter and the others.
"Whoa, she's awesome!" Tony gave Wanda a thumbs-up.
Charlie counted on his fingers. "Hope she can finish this flex… Nah, let's end it quick."
With that, he leaped, his evolved Spider Totem blazing across the sky, channeling dazzling magical energy into the spinning Ten Rings.
BOOM!!
The crimson energy surged, overwhelming Carter and the others with crushing pressure. Their feet slowly turned to stone.
"Noooooo..."
Carter struggled, but the relentless crimson energy filled every corner, leaving no room for resistance.
Old Steve tugged at his petrified leg, then shouted to Charlie, "Little Spider, slow down! Let me strike a cool pose~~"
"We're already posed."
Nearby, Harry and Norman held hands, gazing at a distant sunset.
Charles: "..."
"A bunch of pathetic clowns. Can't rely on them," he muttered coldly, shouting, "Jean!"
"Got it!"
Suppressed by Chaos Magic, Jean gritted her teeth. Her eyes blazed gold, and endless golden flames erupted from her.
SCREECH!
A golden Phoenix flared in the void, its destructive power sweeping away the crimson energy, tinting the Ten Rings a radiant gold.
"What?"
Wanda's face fell, sensing something wrong.
"No, it's not her Phoenix Force—it's the Ten Rings!"
SCREECH!
The Ten Rings spun out of control, orbiting Jean, bathed in Phoenix Force.
BOOM!!
The Phoenix Force overwhelmed the Chaos Magic, swallowing Wanda before she could react.
SCREECH!!
Devouring the Chaos Magic, the golden Phoenix screeched and dove for Charlie.
BOOM~~
The Phoenix annihilated everything in its path, and Charlie felt death's shadow loom.
"No!! I'm dead! But I'll be back~~"
With Charlie's scream, the Phoenix swallowed the invincible Spider-Man. Darkness fell over the battlefield, a vast dark magic array dominating the sky, enveloping everyone.
"It's here!"
Charles's eyes narrowed, but soon widened in horror.
He watched the all-destroying golden Phoenix turn a corrupted dark red, the legendary Phoenix Force returning to Jean's body.
"Jean!"
Charles cried out, only to be flung away by her wave.
BANG!!
Charles crashed into the rubble. The mutants barely reacted before an invisible force pinned them down.
CRACK!
BOOM~~
Dark magic unleashed even greater power, sinking the battlefield an inch. Carter and the others knelt under unimaginable gravity, struggling to hold on.
"What the hell is this?" Old Steve shouted.
Carter, sweating and gasping, looked up at the mysterious figure in the dark magic, unable to see clearly.
But another figure in the darkness she recognized.
"Doctor Banner!" Tony suddenly shouted.
"What?"
"Banner!"
The crowd looked up to see a figure emerge from the darkness.
Honest Bruce Banner still wore his gentle smile.
Beside him, silver armor etched with dark runes caught everyone's eyes.
"Tony!"
"White Tin Tony!"
"How's it you?!"
Tony gaped. "You did all this?"
"No, of course not."
White Tin Tony's smile was eerie as he stepped aside.
The dark magic dissipated, revealing a figure in a green cloak, head bowed, clad in silver armor like Iron Man's, radiating eerie magical runes.
At first sight, everyone's hearts stopped, overwhelmed by indescribable fear.
They didn't know why they were so terrified.
It was as if they were born to submit to him, powerless to resist.
He was a natural leader—and the slyest destroyer.
No one could escape his grasp.
He fused technology and magic perfectly, surpassing even the invincible Spider-Man.
He was Doctor Doom, a being so powerful it inspired despair!
"Rejoice! Known for probing the universe's mysteries, wielding its greatest power, the mightiest ruler in history—Doctor Doom!"
Reed cheered, only to be silenced by Johnny at the last second.
"Shut up, you almost said his name."
"My God, I almost did. I'd be dead," Reed said, shaken.
Clearly, the Fantastic Four were Doom's pawns too.
Doctor Doom ignored Reed's near-mistake.
He scanned the crowd, his gaze landing on the spot where Charlie fell.
"Well done. Thank you for killing Spider-Man. That saves me a lot of trouble."
Beneath his mask, his emotions were unreadable. He snapped his fingers, and dark magic surged, hellish tentacles binding everyone.
No one could resist.
"You bastard, what are you doing?" Tony yelled.
Doom glanced at him.
Before he could speak, White Tin Tony sneered, "Taking this world, obviously. Stark, you didn't think we did all this just to kill Spider-Man, did you?"
Tony gritted his teeth. "If Charlie wasn't your match, you could've done this ages ago. Why wait?"
"Because…"
White Tin Tony started, but Doom tapped his head with a finger.
HUM~
A magical aura spread, freezing White Tin Tony. He shuddered, then collapsed to his knees.
Personality reversed!
"No… what's this…"
He stared at his hands, then at the battlefield's wreckage.
Recalling his evil deeds, he lost it.
"No!! This wasn't me!!"
White Tin Tony glared at Doom. "It was you! You ruined me!"
"Heh."
Doom chuckled calmly. "I wasn't interested in ruining you. You told me about their personality reversal experiments and begged me to start the magic diffusion, turning them all evil."
"You bastard!"
White Tin Tony charged, only to be blasted away.
BANG!
He crashed into the rubble, and Doom clapped, laughing.
"Turning righteous heroes evil, then making evil ones righteous again, forcing them to face their wrongs—what fun."
He met the crowd's defiant glares, spreading his arms. "What's with those looks? You should thank me. I freed you from morality's chains, granting endless wealth and power.
I made you face your true selves, living better lives.
It was me!"
He clasped his hands behind his back, his masked face twisting slightly.
"I remade you, embracing your deepest desires.
Survival of the fittest—that's the rule you craved.
Now, I've arrived, and your wishes are fulfilled.
I am the strongest. Make your choice."
"No, you're not the strongest," Old Steve growled. "Even if I've become what I hated, I'll say it—you're not."
"Exactly," Carter said, struggling to stand, staring defiantly at Doom.
"If you were confident in being the strongest, you wouldn't have pitted us against Spider-Man."
"You only showed up after we took him out. That says it all," Charles said weakly.
Doom felt no burden from their accusations.
"Spider-Man was just a nuisance, not a fear.
Regardless, he's dead. While he's down, I have time to set traps. When he revives, he'll be my prisoner forever.
As for you, evil heroes—submit or die!"
With his final word, a chilling killing intent enveloped the scene.
But it was swiftly dispelled by a sudden Spider Totem.
"What!!" Doom gasped.
"Spider-Man's alive?"
"How's that possible?!"