Iron bars, iron windows, iron handcuffs.
Doctor Doom wasn't the least bit worried about the invincible Spider-Man breaking out.
Inside the cell, Charlie faced his "friends," staring them down.
"Oh my gosh, it's the invincible Spider-Man, and he's actually been locked up. How shocking," Homelander mocked, his voice dripping with sarcasm, restrained by a power-dampening collar.
Charlie shot him a sidelong glance, casually snapping his handcuffs. With a menacing look, he approached Homelander.
Homelander's smirk froze. "Wait, how are you still using your powers? What are you doing? Don't come closer!!!"
Three minutes later.
Homelander, beaten to a pulp, knelt on the ground, sincerely apologizing.
"I'm sorry, please forgive me."
Charlie patted Homelander's head. "Don't do that again."
"Mhm, mhm."
Homelander huddled in a corner, silently weeping. Pharaoh Kang and the others watched quietly, no one saying a word.
Elderly Steve waited until Homelander's beatdown was over before stepping forward.
"Little Spider, you betrayed me, but I'm choosing to forgive you."
Leaning closer, he whispered, "Who did this?"
"Who else could it be?" Carter cut in. "It's gotta be Doctor Doom. No one else."
"Could be Clark too," elderly Steve muttered.
Just as he spoke, the cell door opened. A guard ushered in Clark, clad in his battle suit.
Charlie: "…"
Everyone: "…"
"What are you doing here?" Charlie facepalmed. "I was counting on you to figure out a way to get us out!"
Clark blinked. "You didn't tell me about that."
"Do I need to spell it out for you?"
Charlie shook his head. "My bad. You're the most honest superhero. I should've seen this coming."
Clark thought for a moment. "Actually, I've got some important intel."
"What?" Charlie perked up.
Clark's face grew serious. "Doctor Doom and Neuman are working together."
Charlie: "…"
He was done for.
But thankfully, he had a backup plan.
He looked at the group. "I've got a way to turn this around, but we need a sacrificial lamb to get us out."
Nova scoffed. "You're trying to trick us into breaking the competition rules to let you out. No way that's happening."
Charlie wagged a finger. "No, no. How could breaking out of prison violate the competition rules?"
At that, the group paused, realization dawning.
"He's right! No malicious violence against competitors, but using force to gain freedom? That's fair game!" Elderly Steve clapped, laughing.
Pharaoh Kang and the others' eyes lit up.
"Makes sense. But you damn bug, you're the one who made these dampening collars. You'll have to break them," General Zod said coldly.
Charlie scratched his head, a bit embarrassed. "I didn't make these. Grandmaster gave them to me."
He glanced around, noticing Grandmaster was nowhere to be seen.
"Alright, that guy's betrayed us again."
Charlie shrugged, approaching Zod. He reached to destroy the collar, but as a wave of dark magic spread, his spider-sense blared, and he stopped.
"What's wrong?" Zod asked.
Charlie shook his head. "These aren't Grandmaster's tech. They're Doctor Doom's magical tech."
"That guy shouldn't be able to beat you," Fiora said icily.
Charlie crossed his arms, thinking. "On the surface, yeah. But I can't rule out him playing weak on purpose."
Doctor Doom had used Grandmaster to deliver the collars, designed to suppress their powers.
But they didn't suppress the invincible Spider-Man.
That kind of confidence made Charlie hesitate.
The next moment, he yanked off Zod's collar.
Zzzzt~
The collar hit the ground, sparks flying as the dark magic dissipated.
Nothing else happened.
Charlie's mouth twitched.
He'd scared himself for nothing.
That guy really had a way to mess with his spider-sense.
This was going to be tricky.
Freed from the collar, Zod immediately destroyed Fiora's. Without hesitation, the two smashed through the prison ceiling and vanished into the night.
"Shit, those guys have no loyalty!" elderly Steve cursed.
Carter calmly said, "Don't swear."
As the prison alarms blared, she looked at Charlie. "Even if we escape, we still can't win."
"Little Spider's got a plan," elderly Steve said confidently. "After all, his powers let him sense—"
Pow!
Mid-sentence, Charlie's fist slammed into Steve's nose, blood splattering.
"Ow, why'd you hit me?" The old man clutched his bleeding nose, full of resentment.
"You deserved it!"
Charlie huffed. "Does the righteous Spider-Man need a reason to beat up evil Steve?"
Steve: "…"
"Fine, go on."
Elderly Steve shut up. Charlie turned to the group. "Whoever takes down Doctor Doom, I'll make sure they get a spot in the Resurrection Match when I take first."
"I'll do it!" Clark volunteered without hesitation.
Charlie shot him a look, signaling him to stay quiet.
But Clark misunderstood.
He broke his handcuffs with a clenched fist, vowing, "Leave it to me."
With that, he shot into the sky.
Moments later, a notification appeared before everyone.
[Clark ignored warnings and repeatedly used violence against competitors. Warnings ineffective. Eliminated immediately.]
Everyone: "…"
Charlie facepalmed. "His elimination was worth it."
Repeated warnings led to elimination, meaning malicious competition wasn't outright banned—just not repeatedly.
With this intel, the game was still doomed.
They'd lost the initiative. Time for a restart.
With that, he removed everyone's collars.
Pharaoh Kang and the others didn't hesitate, scattering to continue competing for Resurrection Match spots.
But what Charlie didn't expect…
Ten minutes later, General Zod, Nova, and the others returned to the prison.
Unlike before, they now looked at Charlie with concern and worry.
"Mr. Charlie, are you okay? You're our only hope to defeat the evil Doctor Doom."
"Yeah! That bastard fooled everyone. This world shouldn't be like this."
"We have to let everyone know the truth."
Nova and the others' eyes were impossibly clear.
Radiating pure justice.
Charlie blinked, then finally understood.
"Personality reversal magic?"
He rubbed his chin. This was Doctor Doom's ultimate weapon?
Then, a notification bloomed before everyone.
[All competitors are in place. The popularity contest officially begins!]
[In 24 hours, the popularity rankings will be locked.]
[Popularity Rank #1: Doctor Doom (Hank Pym) – 3,117,834,351]
[Popularity Rank #2: Spider-Man (Charlie Parker) – 123,414,791]
[Popularity Rank #3…]
The true leaderboard appeared. Except for Doctor Doom, everyone's fan counts were plummeting due to public opinion.
Spider-Man, smeared the hardest, was dropping out of nine digits fast.
"I get it!" elderly Steve exclaimed. "The real popularity contest only starts when all competitors have fans!"
Carter frowned. "This Resurrection Match feels off."
Charlie was deep in thought but couldn't pinpoint the key detail.
Something felt…
Could it be?
A spark lit in Charlie's mind.
For the next 24 hours, dark magic re-enveloped the prison. Charlie didn't try to break through the barrier.
In the end, Doctor Doom took first place in the Resurrection Match.
…
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match spot. Reward: Charisma +1]
Restart!
Atop the Empire State Building, Charlie didn't wait for elderly Steve. He headed straight to the underground arcade.
There, he met the late-arriving Grandmaster.
"Wow, it's the invincible Spider-Man. Your powers are impressive—you guessed I'd show up here." Grandmaster smiled, sitting at a gaming machine.
Charlie ignored him, turning to a shadow in the corner. "Come out and talk?"
Buzz~
The shadow solidified, and Doctor Doom stepped toward Charlie.
"Talk about what?"
"Personality reversal magic."
Charlie turned. "Teach me the personality reversal magic, and I'll give you a Resurrection Match spot."
Doctor Doom scoffed. "I can get a spot myself. That's not a fair deal."
"You sure you can get one?"
"Of course I'm sure."
Doctor Doom oozed confidence.
But Charlie's next words shattered it.
"Besides the Resurrection Match spot, don't you want the extra rewards?"
"Extra rewards…"
Doctor Doom froze. "Ahem, I wouldn't say no to that."
"You didn't even know about the extra rewards!"
Charlie stood, grinning. Grandmaster's movements stiffened beside him.
Everything around froze, except Charlie's widening smile.
In that moment, Doctor Doom's eyes glowed red, his tone heavy.
"You finally figured it out. Worthy of you, invincible Spider-Man."
He waved a hand, and everything plunged into darkness.
When the scene cleared, Charlie saw a blacked-out Superman with red eyes, and a dark shadow behind him.
In the ruins, blacked-out Clark's fist hovered inches from Charlie's face.
Charlie's eyes snapped open, his lips curling slightly.
"As expected, there was no restart. This was all just a dying hallucination!"
He stood, dusting off his shoulder, locking eyes with Doctor Doom behind blacked-out Clark.
"Doctor Pym, congrats on uncovering Spider-Man's secret. So, you still confident you can win this Resurrection Match?"
Charlie chuckled. Doctor Doom fell silent.
After a long pause, he took a deep breath. "You're right. Spider-Man's invincible secret is truly despair-inducing. I can't win."
He sighed as blacked-out Clark retreated into the darkness.
"Spider-Man, you're no weak bug, I'll admit. But I'm curious—what power granted you this retry? The Death Goddess? Or some eternal, undying cosmic deity?"
Doctor Doom's eyes burned with curiosity.
He wanted the truth.
He'd trade a Resurrection Match spot for it without hesitation.
But Charlie's answer was simple.
"Guess."
Truth was, he didn't know either.
Even if the retry secret was exposed, it didn't seem like a big deal.
To stop a retry, you'd have to prevent Spider-Man's death.
Plenty of powerful beings had tried that already.
Killing Spider-Man would make his resurrection a catastrophe.
A seemingly unsolvable puzzle, yet someone would eventually crack it.
Charlie knew this and was prepared.
So…
He stepped forward, reaching out to touch Doctor Doom's figure.
Doom didn't resist.
Buzz~
As Doctor Doom's form dissolved into nothingness, Charlie arrived in a new world.
Countless glowing bubbles floated here.
Bubbles of all sizes moved chaotically, without order.
Each bubble was a universe.
In the cosmic rift, a continent-sized puff drifted in the darkness.
An invisible barrier shrouded the land, hiding its contents.
In the cosmic rift, the invincible Spider-Man was as insignificant as an ant.
Suddenly, Charlie looked up.
In that moment, he saw a colossal, formless figure standing in the darkness.
Charlie was awestruck.
A gigantic Doctor Doom cradled the dark continent in his hands, as if guarding a precious treasure—or obsessively studying a new toy.
This was the true Doctor Doom!
The thought flashed in Charlie's mind, and in an instant, he was back in the ruins.
This wasn't the Black Order world—it was the central Marvel Universe.
The place where he'd defeated Doctor Pym.
Around him, Carter and the others were frozen in a time pause.
The Resurrection Match, the popularity contest, Homelander, Clark—all illusions.
He'd never died or entered a Resurrection Match.
It was all an overactive fantasy, guided by Doctor Doom, drawn from his deepest fears of the future.
Talk about a blow to the ego.
This was an enemy with absolute, oppressive presence.
Gwen was right—you couldn't win. Not a chance.
In a flash, Charlie snapped back to reality.
Looking up, that infinitely vast figure reappeared.
"Spider-Man, you're worthy of being my toy."
Doctor Doom's voice echoed across the world as the dead Doctor Pym reformed in an instant.
Pym knelt fanatically, shouting, "Great Destroyer, thank you for granting me new life!"
Before a top-tier Marvel powerhouse, death and resurrection were mere thoughts.
The invincible Spider-Man's ability to enter a Resurrection Match was interesting but not shocking.
If Doctor Doom wanted, he could create a similar competition mechanic anytime.
But in Spider-Man's hallucination, Doom glimpsed other cosmic vistas.
That piqued his interest.
So, the invincible Spider-Man would become his toy.
"Spider-Man, before you become my toy, do you have any wishes to fulfill?" he asked again.
He'd once chased cosmic secrets at all costs, tapping into many great powers of the universe.
As an absolute powerhouse, Spider-Man couldn't refuse him, but Doom was willing to give Charlie a chance to resolve regrets.
A fair exchange, he thought.
Charlie agreed.
With Doctor Doom's power, he could fulfill his heart's desire.
As for becoming a toy?
Charlie wasn't so sure.
Because without help, he'd never have seen through the false Resurrection Match.
Doctor Doom wasn't absolutely invincible.
Your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man's got someone backing him up!