"Spider-Man, we've found you."
Surrounded by a team of agents, Chief Blake stepped forward, his face expressionless. "We'd like your cooperation. You won't refuse, will you?"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "You know me?"
"I told him about you."
Dragon Uncle raised his hand weakly. "You're not mad at me, are you?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "You two are definitely best buds."
"It's not his fault."
Blake explained, "I've been watching you since you first took down the Black Hand. But I couldn't find any records or intel on you. You're a mystery."
Charlie shrugged. "Guess so! Mystery's the best cosmetic for a guy."
"Spider-Man, I don't get what you're saying," Blake said, frowning.
Dragon Uncle whispered, "He's messing with us. Lighten up, don't always look so serious. People might get the wrong idea."
Blake thought for a moment. "Alright, I'll try."
His lips twitched, forcing a faint smile.
"Spider-Man, can we talk?"
"We're already talking."
Charlie found a relatively clean spot to sit, gesturing to Blake. "Let's talk now!"
Blake hesitated. "We could go to District 13. It's the safest place."
Charlie: "…"
"Forget District 13. What do you want with me?" he asked directly.
Blake appreciated Spider-Man's straightforwardness.
He said, "I've long suspected something off about the Black Hand, but I didn't expect a creature that terrifying hiding here. To be precise, a demon. And you, Spider-Man, defeated it. I'd like us to be allies."
Charlie rubbed his temples. "Get to the point."
"Who are you?" Blake's face grew deadly serious. "District 13 has no records on you. That's not normal. Your identity must be extraordinary."
"That's it?" Charlie blinked.
Blake thought for a moment. "And that demon. What's your plan for it? We don't want it showing up again."
Charlie stood, brushing off his pants.
"Got it.
I'm just a passing Spider-Man, no need to remember me.
As for the demon…"
He grinned. "Barring any surprises, they won't show up again."
"They?" Blake started. "There are more demons?"
"Of course."
Charlie walked off, saying, "Don't worry, Spider-Man will save the world again."
With that, he stepped through a portal.
Blake stared at the golden portal, stunned.
"Is this magic? And what did he say? Save the world again?"
His mind reeled.
Dragon Uncle and Jade, meanwhile, curiously inspected the portal.
"Where'd he go?"
"He went inside! Is that magic too?"
"What are you standing there for? Get in, we're going home," Charlie's voice called from the portal, yanking them both inside.
Dragon Uncle shouted, "Wait, Old Man's still downstairs!"
As Dragon Uncle and Jade vanished, Old Man shivered in the cold wind below.
"My gosh, this wind is freezing. I should've worn more layers."
…
The next day, Old Man's antique shop.
The shop was busier than usual.
Old Man eagerly showed off his antiques, but the customers only browsed, never bought, leaving him disappointed.
Dragon Uncle, sweeping the floor, noticed and went upstairs to Charlie.
"It's District 13 agents. They're watching the place."
Charlie, juicing fruit, paused and smirked. "No big deal. Tell Chief Blake his guys should buy something. It'd make their cover less obvious."
Dragon Uncle shrugged. "Got it, I'll tell Blake. By the way, what happened to that demon you beat? I haven't seen it."
"You mean this?"
Charlie pulled out the golden pistol, its gleam nearly blinding Dragon Uncle.
"Whoa, smells like money."
"Nah, smells like demon."
Charlie tapped the pistol, green light flickering as a weakened Shendu, now a tiny eel, flopped into his hand.
"Spider-Man, you can't treat the great Flame Demon like this!" Shendu glared, only to get a flick to the head.
Ouch!
"Pain's a good teacher."
Charlie smiled. "You can sense where your powers are scattered and where the other demons are sealed, right? So, made up your mind? Ready to keep your promise?"
Shendu's eyes glowed red.
Dragon Uncle, meanwhile, started poking at the tiny eel.
"Heh, what a fancy little demon."
Shendu: "…"
He mentally noted this big-nosed man.
As for keeping his promise, Shendu made the smart choice.
"Mr. Spider-Man, as everyone knows, demons always keep their word."
Charlie nodded, pleased. "Good. Now tell me where your powers are."
"Now?" Dragon Uncle blinked. "We haven't even had breakfast!"
"Breakfast? Time to collect talismans!"
Charlie dragged Dragon Uncle out of the room.
"Wait, your juice—"
"Jade, let's go!!"
"Wait for me!"
…
New York Museum.
The trio toured the exhibits, finally spotting the Snake Talisman in a vase adorned with a green serpent pattern.
Dragon Uncle beamed. "A talisman!"
Jade glanced at the crowd, whispering, "Don't act so excited. They'll think we're thieves."
"Thieves?"
Dragon Uncle shrugged. "The great Dragon Uncle doesn't do that."
The next second, the museum's alarms blared, and Dragon Uncle and Jade's faces fell.
"Someone stole something!"
"It's the talisman—it's gone!"
They gasped, only to see Charlie casually pocketing it.
"Keep staring, and they'll catch us."
With that, Charlie pulled them through a portal.
"Snake Talisman acquired. Next, the Ox Talisman."
Mexico, wrestling arena.
Backstage, Charlie found the Ox Talisman with the Ox Warrior.
For Charlie, collecting the Twelve Talismans was child's play.
Everything went smoothly until, in an unremarkable kitchen, he found the Tiger Talisman.
Inside the golden pistol, Shendu and Fin Fang Foom exchanged a glance, their eyes gleaming with triumph.
"It's starting."
"Spider-Man's cautious, but with you here, it'll work."
"Of course."
As they spoke, Charlie levitated the Tiger Talisman toward himself.
The Tiger Talisman balanced yin and yang. In the cartoon, Dragon Uncle accidentally split his good and evil sides into two beings, causing chaos.
Charlie wasn't about to let the talisman's power affect him so easily.
One clone was enough—no need for another.
But as he prepared to wrap the talisman in webbing, the golden pistol erupted. Shendu struggled, a wisp of demonic energy seeping into the talisman. Blinding white light flashed, and Charlie's smile froze.
"Heh, I knew it."
After the light faded, his Spider-Sense screamed. Charlie caught an incoming fist.
Boom!!
The kitchen was obliterated. Dragon Uncle and Jade, waiting outside, paled.
"Trouble!"
They rushed to the ruins.
Before they could process, black webbing spread rapidly, enveloping the entire city.
Shriek!!
A black Spider Totem roared into the sky, its terrifying aura making everyone tremble under its divine power.
At District 13, Blake frowned at the black totem.
"Spider-Man? No, something's wrong. Move out!"
District 13 mobilized, while Dragon Uncle and Jade witnessed a black Spider-Man emerge from the ruins.
"Charlie?"
"He's black now—is this a new form?"
"No, look! Another Spider-Man!"
Jade gasped as golden light pierced the darkness, a radiant Spider Totem roaring in the sky, clashing with the black one, neither yielding.
In the ruins, Golden Spider-Man faced Black Spider-Man, the air suffocating.
"What's going on?" Dragon Uncle's eyes widened.
Jade noticed the half-talismans in their hands and realized.
"It's the talisman's power!"
"The talisman?"
"Heh, not bad for the Tiger Talisman. Pretty interesting."
Black Spider-Man examined his half of the talisman, his blood-red eyes gleaming.
"Even Shendu at full power wasn't our match, but the talisman's scattered power can affect us. Why's that, Charlie?" he asked, smirking.
Charlie eyed his dark side, frowning.
"Dragon Uncle could solo Shendu. Why do you think?"
"Heh, because it defies logic."
Black Spider-Man tucked his half-talisman into his pants, stretching lazily.
"Ugh~ Feels amazing. I've never felt this free. I'm done saving the world."
He looked at Charlie, clenching his fist. "With this power, we can do whatever we want. Forget them. Let's live for ourselves, forever!"
Charlie looked unimpressed. "You sound like a total villain."
"Villain? That's what you've always wanted to be, forgot?"
Black Spider-Man laughed. "Oh, right. Duty, family, friends, Gwen—they hold you back. You can't do it. But you forgot."
He grew excited. "My fate is mine, not the heavens'!
We don't belong here. They're not our friends. We have no family here. We're not Spider-Man.
This world is fake. A traverser should be ruthless, unbound by anything, chasing eternity and power!"
As he spoke, the black Spider Totem unleashed terrifying dark magic, faintly overpowering the golden one.
Charlie glanced at his totem, exasperated.
"Seriously, where'd this dark magic come from?"
He shook his head. "Mr. Traverser, I shouldn't have read so many fantasy novels. Look how twisted you are."
With a wave, he unleashed golden webbing to halt the spreading darkness.
"Last chance. Return to my body and leave this world's people alone."
"Jerk, don't pull that Ultraman crap on me!"
Black Spider-Man scoffed. "Think it's funny? You're not taking me seriously. You'll regret it!"
Charlie shrugged. "You know me too well. It's hard to fight you."
Black Spider-Man sneered. "Same here. So, we fighting or what?"
Charlie shook his head. "Our powers are equal. No one's winning."
"Glad you get it."
Black Spider-Man recalled his totem, and the sky cleared.
"I'm out?"
"Go ahead."
Charlie withdrew his totem. "Good and evil sides duking it out is so cliché."
"Agreed."
"But you're helping me break the other demons' seals. Benefits us both."
"No problem."
With that, Black Spider-Man vanished into the void.
A massive battle fizzled out. The two dragons in the golden pistol were dumbfounded.
"What just happened?"
"He left?"
"He just left?!"
"Damn it, this isn't how it's supposed to go! Why didn't they fight?!"
"What did you think would happen?"
Charlie cut them off, pulling out the pistol with a smirk. "Don't think I didn't know you two were scheming."
Fin Fang Foom lowered his head guiltily.
Shendu, thoughtful, said, "You did this on purpose!" His face darkened.
Charlie shrugged. "Not exactly. Just wanted to see how evil my dark side was.
Too bad! I'm usually pretty illogical, but he's oddly chill. Worthy of being my dark side.
Well… maybe a bit less edgy would be nice."
My fate is mine, not the heavens'? Is that something Spider-Man should say?
Shendu despaired.
"You win, Spider-Man."
Fin Fang Foom couldn't accept it.
He'd finally found an opening, but Spider-Man's dark side was too not evil.
He saw no flaws.
Logically, a Spider-Man who saved the world repeatedly should have a super evil dark side.
But now… He had reason to suspect this Spider-Man wasn't even that good! Only someone not truly good could have a dark side this unevil.
That explained it.
But so what?
His plan failed.
He was exposed.
So Charlie would punish the scheming Fin Fang Foom.
"Fin Fang Bro, anything to say?"
"I…"
The golden pistol flickered, and Fin Fang Foom sighed. "Nothing to say. Just goodbye."
With that, a dragon totem burst from the pistol, its immense power breaking free of the Spider Totem and escaping into the void.
Charlie didn't stop it.
But as a dark aura reappeared, the dragon totem was ensnared by eerie darkness.
"Shit, I've been tricked!!"
Fin Fang Foom roared in terror as the black Spider Totem sealed him.
Black Spider-Man reappeared, gripping the dragon totem with a cold smirk.
"Fin Fang Bro, ya messed up!"
Golden totem power couldn't seal Fin Fang Foom, but dark magic could.
The Tiger Talisman's appearance brought Charlie more surprises than expected.