Seeing that Charlie seemed to recognize him, Fin Fang Foom instantly puffed up his chest.
"You've heard of my story?" he asked, narrowing his eyes, his heart brimming with anticipation.
Charlie shook his head. "Nope."
Fin Fang Foom: "."
"Then what's with the 'I've heard of you' nonsense?" he grumbled, crossing his arms.
Charlie shrugged. "Just being polite."
"Alright, you're one courteous Spider-Man."
Fin Fang Foom's eyes dimmed with disappointment, but he quickly perked up.
"I came to ask for your help with something."
"Sweet, sweet, lay it on me," Charlie said, keeping his smile.
Fin Fang Foom blinked in surprise. "You're not gonna ask what it is first?"
Charlie spread his hands. "I'm a god now. I can grant any wish you've got."
Fin Fang Foom's mustache twitched slightly as he muttered under his breath, "Really thinks he's a god, huh."
"What'd you say?" Charlie didn't catch it.
Fin Fang Foom waved his claws dismissively. "Nothing, nothing, just praising the might of the Spider-God."
Charlie nodded. "I can feel your enthusiasm already. How about we take this chat somewhere else?"
"No need for the hassle."
As he spoke, Fin Fang Foom leaped out of the TV screen, and with a surge of eerie totem energy, he instantly merged into Charlie's right hand, forming a green tattoo.
After completing this, the Fin Fang Foom tattoo grinned.
"Anytime, anywhere, Fin Fang Foom and Spider-Man can communicate without barriers."
Charlie: "."
"Can we get to the point now?" he said through gritted teeth.
"Sure thing."
The Fin Fang Foom tattoo lounged lazily on Charlie's hand, then let out a wistful sigh.
"You've probably noticed, even though I've reclaimed some of my power, it's still not enough to get me back to my world. I'm a lonely traveler, a tragic figure like Spider-Man, a poor dragon who's lost everything—"
"Stop!"
Charlie cut him off. "Get to the point."
"Fine, I'll tell you straight!"
The Fin Fang Foom tattoo locked eyes with Charlie, his expression dead serious. "I want to take back everything that belongs to me!" He clenched his tiny claws.
Charlie rolled his eyes. "You already got your powers back. What more do you want?"
"That's not even half of it!"
Fin Fang Foom explained, "I was being hunted by those guys, so I had to split my powers to avoid their tracking. Now that I've reclaimed a chunk, they'll soon figure out where I am. I need a strong ally."
Charlie rolled his eyes again, grabbing a bag of chips from the table.
"Chubs, go get me some juice. Two glasses!" he shouted toward Kingpin's room.
Fin Fang Foom shook his head. "Thanks, but I'm good. I don't do vegan."
Charlie glanced at the tattoo on his hand. "Both glasses are for me."
Fin Fang Foom: "."
"You'll help me, right?" he pleaded, widening his eyes in an attempt to look adorably pathetic.
Unfortunately, in Charlie's eyes, this guy hadn't spoken a single truthful word.
"I'll think about it."
Charlie munched on his chips while yelling toward Kingpin's room again.
"You done yet?"
"Done."
A sulky, chubby Kingpin waddled out, heading to the kitchen to prep the juice.
Soon, two glasses of juice were set on the table. Chubby Kingpin held out his hand. "Eight bucks, please."
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "You could just rob a bank, you know," he said to Kingpin.
Chubby Kingpin huffed. "You think I don't want to? With all these superheroes out there, I'd get pulverized if I went back to my old gigs."
Charlie: "."
So this guy still remembered his old line of work.
Times had changed, though.
Kingpin had learned to adapt.
But eight bucks for two glasses of juice? That's straight-up robbery!
So, Charlie kicked Chubby Kingpin back into his room.
"Go do your homework. No dinner until it's done!"
"My money—"
"What do you mean your money? That's my money."
Bang!
Charlie locked the door, satisfied, and plopped back onto the couch, savoring the sweet-tart juice.
"Mmm, still the same old taste."
He lounged comfortably, flipping on the TV.
On the screen, J. Jonah Jameson was animatedly recounting his first encounter with Spider-Man.
As Spider-Man's number-one fan, Jonah was thrilled that Spider-Man had saved the world again.
Thanks to Spider-Man, his career was enjoying a second wind.
Charlie was quite pleased with Jonah's description of Spider-Man.
In this guy's words, Spider-Man was a young, handsome, charismatic, independent hero with a strong sense of justice, laced with wit and humor.
Charlie loved hearing this kind of truth.
Yup, how old am I this year again?
Charlie forgot.
Young, anyway. That's what mattered.
"Hey, hey, are you even listening to me?" The Fin Fang Foom tattoo rudely interrupted Charlie's chill moment.
"What'd you say?" Charlie asked, snapping back to reality.
Fin Fang Foom's forehead pulsed with irritation. "I said, I need to take back everything that's mine. Those guys will find me eventually, so we've gotta strike first!"
"Oh."
Charlie said calmly, "No need to make it complicated. I'm a god now. If they show up, I'll handle them with one finger."
"Those guys are strong."
"How strong? Stronger than me?"
Charlie closed his eyes, relaxing. "I'm the invincible Spider-Man who crushed the Morlun family with absolute dominance. Who's stronger than me? Who dares to be stronger?"
If someone else was after Fin Fang Foom, Charlie had no plans to get involved.
Why lift a finger when you don't have to? That'd just ruin his vibe.
Drag it out—that was the plan.
But Fin Fang Foom wasn't buying Charlie's strength.
"Spider-Man, the Inheritors were just parasites on me. Their power's nothing," he said darkly.
Charlie's jaw dropped.
"What? Just parasites on you?"
He started pacing anxiously. "Oh no, oh no. If your parasites are that tough, your enemies must be even worse. I'm definitely no match for them. So, Fin Fang Foom, to avoid getting dragged into this, we've gotta part ways."
With that, he summoned his Spider-Totem, ready to forcibly peel this guy off.
Fin Fang Foom panicked.
"Wait, wait, Mr. Spider-Man, that's not what I meant! I exaggerated a bit. The parasites are actually pretty scary. I can't even handle them. If you hadn't beaten the Inheritors, I'd be stuck as their buffet forever. Hey, hey, don't yank me off! That hurts!"
Pfft~
With a burst of golden totem energy, Charlie expelled the tattoo from his hand, grabbed Fin Fang Foom, and slapped him onto the surface of his golden handgun.
Buzz~
In the next moment, Charlie used the totem energy to seal Fin Fang Foom's totem inside the golden handgun, smiling with satisfaction.
"Perfect. Golden Fin Fang Foom handgun. Deadpool's gonna be so jealous."
This initial test confirmed that this guy's power was nearly drained, though Charlie couldn't rule out some hidden trump card.
So, sealing him for now was the move. Let's see what kind of trouble this guy stirs up later.
As long as things didn't go south, he could drag this out for a while.
With that thought, he tucked the handgun into his waistband, still feeling its faint vibrations.
"Charlie Parker, let me out!!"
"You need to chill," Charlie said, sitting back on the couch and downing the rest of his juice.
"Charlie Parker, this is dangerous! Those guys won't let you off!"
"I'm plenty strong, don't worry. If they show up, I'll avenge you and take back everything that's yours."
Yup, take back everything that belongs to Fin Fang Foom.
Charlie promised.
Didn't say he'd give it back, though.
Haha, Spider-Man's just too wicked.
Charlie grinned, and the handgun at his waist soon stopped trembling.
He didn't care, just tapped the device on his wrist, notifying his Spider-Man crew one by one.
"Hey, it's me, the invincible Spider-Man. I'm back. You set up tonight."
"Yeah, yeah, it's me. What? I owe you three hundred bucks? No way, I called the wrong guy. No, no, I'm not Spider-Man, I'm Batman. Someone's yelling at me to move my car, gotta go."
"Yo, Harry, how's it hangin'? You won't believe where I've been or who I met. Yup, another Harry. Harry Potter, magic kid. Oh my god, you actually bought that?"
"Huh, Captain Carter, your voice sounds off. Oh, sorry, Agent Hill. Can you pass a message to Captain—er, Commander Carter?"
"Hey, old man, you hear me? Yeah, it's me. Don't get too excited, I didn't go to some tournament. You know Spider-Man never ditches his cool old man."
After hanging up, Charlie hesitated over a name in his contacts.
In the end, he called her.
…
At night, the city's neon lights still glowed.
Atop the Empire State Building, Charlie sat beneath the antenna, gazing down at the bustling, vibrant city.
After the personality reversal incident, the underground slums had been properly resettled.
This put S.H.I.E.L.D. and its superheroes under intense public scrutiny.
As a result, Carter and the others had shifted to the shadows, rarely appearing in public.
It was a helpless move—after the reversal, their mistakes were undeniable facts. No one cared how many people they'd saved.
Superheroes couldn't afford a single stain.
New, younger heroes had taken their place, patrolling the city's corners.
The most controversial among them was the formerly unreliable Fantastic Four.
Tonight, justice shone again at a coastal factory.
Looking at the flames on the shore, Charlie knew Johnny Storm, Captain Carter's rival, had caused at least a million bucks in damages while fighting crime.
Charlie didn't bother with it. Not his money to pay.
Swish~
Suddenly, under the moonlight, a petite figure swung up to the antenna using webbing.
Click~
On the antenna, a black-suited Spider-Man crouched, her upside-down triangular eyes reflecting Charlie's face.
In that moment of eye contact, they both seemed to see the answers they wanted in each other's gaze.
"You came," Charlie said with a smile.
"Yeah."
Gwen swung down to stand before Charlie. Before he could say more, she shot out a web, pulling him close.
Under the moonlight, she stood on her tiptoes.
Mmff~
The sudden passion left Charlie breathless.
Not literally breathless, just…
Soon, Gwen let go. Charlie tapped the spider emblem on his chest, retracting his nano-mask.
"Come on, can you take the mask off first next time? Kinda kills the vibe—mmff."
This time, Gwen removed her mask.
After a long moment, they parted, her cheeks flushed—not from shyness, but from lack of oxygen.
"Your place or mine?" she asked, catching her breath.
Charlie: "."
He wiped his mouth, looking straight ahead. "I'm a righteous guy, you know. Isn't this moving a bit fast?"
Gwen nodded. "Got it. I'll book a hotel right now."
"Closest one's fine. I'm not picky about stars. Not that kind of materialistic guy," Charlie added.
Gwen rolled her eyes. "Noted."
Soon, two figures leaped off the Empire State Building, vanishing into the neon-lit city.
Meanwhile, at Harry's castle…
Norman checked the time. "It's late. Where's little Charlie?"
Harry thought for a moment. "Probably got held up."
Old Steve glanced at the steak on the table, his stomach growling.
"I can't reach him," he said, sipping water.
Carter frowned. "I've got a bad feeling about this."
She noticed Gwen hadn't shown up either.
"Me too," Mary Jane said through gritted teeth. "I bet they're hooking up."
Felicia smirked at Mary Jane. "There's an old Eastern saying: 'Sour grapes for those who can't have them.'"
Mary Jane glared. Agent Hill quickly tried to smooth things over.
"Come on, it's not like you didn't get a taste—"
"You did get a taste!"
Carter slammed the table, standing up. "You lied to me!" she snapped at Hill.
Hill waved her hands frantically. "You misheard! That's not what I meant!"
"Then what did you mean?"
"I—I've got something to do. Gotta go."
"Nobody leaves!!"
Old Steve stood, slamming the table and snatching a flying steak in his mouth.
"Anyone who leaves disrespects me and disrespects little Spidey!!" he said, quickly chewing the steak to stave off hunger.
But Carter and the others ignored the old man.
The women started bickering, nearly coming to blows.
Harry pulled Norman aside, asking the butler to bring Spider-Man's favorite snacks.
"Dear father, it's been a while since Mom left. We haven't watched women fight like this in ages," Harry said, passing sunflower seeds to Norman, thoroughly enjoying the scene.
Norman clumsily cracked a seed, nodding. "Yeah… wait, why are you saying this? You're not trying to set me up with one of your classmates again, are you?"
"That was our school teacher, not a classmate."
"Oh my god, why didn't you say so? I thought she was your age. She was so young."
"You should've worn your glasses that day."
The scene descended into chaos, and soon everyone left in a huff.
As for Charlie…
"Oh no, Gwen, why, why would you abandon me?! No!!! I wanna join too~~~"
At the hotel room door, a lonely, pitiful Venom was forcibly peeled off and tossed out.
A puddle of black goo sobbed helplessly, listening to its partner's screams but powerless to act.
The night grew colder.