The Boys' Universe.
New York, Brooklyn Bridge.
Boom!!
A deafening explosion rocked the bridge, severed by a blazing streak of light from the sky. Black liquid evaporated in the searing energy.
Debris rained onto cars at both ends, and terrified citizens couldn't resist complaining.
"How many times this week? When will it end?!"
"The Seven's leader is too reckless."
"Spider-Man's strong, but he's a destruction maniac."
"No kidding. Yesterday, he trashed the Seven's Tower just to take out a demon apostle."
"He wrecked my new car I'm still paying off!"
The citizens grumbled, but the demon apostle crisis kept them from openly opposing Spider-Man's wild actions.
Without him, the apostles would run rampant, and their safety would be at risk.
They couldn't rely on the old Seven. Even the once-mighty Homelander was no match for a demon apostle. Their hopes rested on Spider-Man.
On the broken bridge, Charlie's clone stood panting, legs trembling.
"Damn it! G'iah's lingering power just won't die. How many is this now…"
Below, Clark ascended, black liquid in his hands vaporizing under his heat vision.
"That G'iah guy you mentioned—his power's weird. It latches onto any living thing and multiplies fast," Clark said, exhaustion etched on his face. He hadn't slept well in days, tormented by G'iah's remnants.
He looked at the clone. "No way to flush him out?"
The clone shook his head. "Tough. If he doesn't show, we can't find him."
"What about your friends?" Clark asked. "Like that game-obsessed white-haired old guy."
The clone thought. Besides Grandmaster, he'd taken out all the other contestants.
A bit of regret crept in.
Even if they'd survived, they might not join his team.
If they joined G'iah's side, things would get worse.
The thought made the clone want to give up.
Suddenly, he spotted a lingering blob of black liquid. He lunged, grabbing it, letting it envelop him.
Splash…
"Careful!"
In Clark's alarmed cry, the clone became a black "demon," shouting, "Mr. G'iah, let me join your team! I'm done being Spider-Man—it's exhausting. Let's destroy the world together!!"
"What?"
Clark's face shifted, but he quickly relaxed.
The black liquid receded like a tide, rushing toward Clark as if begging to be destroyed.
Clark: "???"
Clone: "…"
"What's that? Think I'm not good enough?"
Furious, the clone's eyes shot heat rays, vaporizing the liquid.
Afterward, he stomped, roaring skyward.
"What a mess!!"
Might as well let me quit!
He couldn't win, but he couldn't lose either.
With over a hundred retries left, when would it end?
G'iah's clone was trying to drive Spider-Man's clone insane—both Clark and the clone knew it.
Victory required catching G'iah's clone off guard at the start.
But G'iah's lifeform made him nearly impossible to eradicate.
This Resurrection Match felt like a dead end.
Unwinnable. Utterly unwinnable.
Resigned, the clone chose to forfeit.
[You've been eliminated. No resurrection slot earned. Reward: Main Body Encouragement +1]
[Restart?]
In the Cosmic Web, the clone chose [No] without hesitation.
[Ding! You've chosen to restart.]
Buzz~
The void swallowed him, and he reappeared at Spider-Man's designated spawn point.
The Empire State Building's spire, beneath the antenna.
The clone fell silent.
He knew it'd be like this.
The system offered no other options.
"Quack quack quack! Spider-Man, where are you?!"
The sky darkened as G'iah's clone declared war.
The clone rubbed his temples, turning to rally Clark and others to face him.
This time, Grandmaster and others joined the assault on G'iah.
To them, Spider-Man was sure to win a resurrection slot, and his clone should too, so they agreed without hesitation.
Even Zod and Faora, after some hesitation, joined the fight.
Spider-Man had spoken—might as well try.
But in the overwhelming vengeance flames, only Clark survived.
The clone failed again.
In subsequent retries, he tried countless methods but couldn't destroy G'iah's clone.
Joining him didn't work—G'iah rejected him outright.
The clone was out of options.
"Good grief! How did the main body win the Resurrection Match?
It's too hard! I! Can't! Do! It!"
In the Cosmic Web, the clone wailed, clutching his head.
After a while, he sprawled on the web, giving up.
The interface showed he had one retry left.
Yes, he'd burned through all his retries.
The main body would be touched—touched enough to kill this clone.
He lacked the power to save the world.
The web trembled, and for stalling too long, the clone was forced into the final Resurrection Match.
Atop the Empire State Building, he stared at the blood-red swordlight rising over the city, accepting his fate.
"Main body, I tried my best. If this guy escapes, you're on your own!"
Sighing, he didn't seek allies, instead charging alone as a streak of light toward the crimson glow.
Hum!!
Boom!!
Golden webbing erupted, the clash of darkness and totem power illuminating the city.
Boom!
Seconds later, vengeance flames spread. The clone dodged them with practiced ease but couldn't escape the darkness.
Bang!!
A massive force struck, and the golden Spider-Man crashed through buildings, embedding into the Seven's Tower, his body lodged in a cracked wall.
Around the rubble, Homelander and others gaped, unable to fathom someone surviving such a blow.
Before they could react, darkness swept in. G'iah, wielding the Necrosword, descended, its vengeance flames devoid of warmth.
Even glimpsing the flames brought soul-searing pain, forcing Homelander and the others to their knees, roaring in agony.
The vengeance flames warped space, a living hell.
G'iah approached the clone, sneering.
"Bug clone, it's over."
The Necrosword trembled, melting the cracked wall with vengeance flames. The golden Spider-Man ducked the blade, his soul already gone.
Even facing certain defeat, the clone clung to survival.
Missing his strike, G'iah mocked the soulless body.
"Stubborn bug. Without a body, Spider-Man's even weaker."
Before he could burn the body with vengeance flames, Clark dove, knocking G'iah back. Three figures swung in on webbing, landing at the wall's crater.
"Charlie, you okay?" First Peter tapped the rigid Spider-Man's shoulder.
The golden Spider-Man's eyes reignited, the clone's soul returning. He glanced at the three Peters, his face bitter.
"I'm fine now, but not for long."
He looked at G'iah battling Clark, his mood at rock bottom.
First Peter smiled, comforting him. "This isn't like you."
Amazing Peter patted his back. "Yeah! Spider-Man doesn't give up."
"You don't get it. I don't even have the right to give up," the clone muttered, head low.
Third Peter studied him, sensing something off.
The difference between clone and main body?
He frowned. "I don't know what's going on, but we have to fight. If he gets away, more innocents will die."
The clone glanced at Third Peter. "You troublemaker, don't you get it? I can't win. You guys definitely can't." His tone was sharp, ready to quit.
Third Peter didn't take offense.
Having matured, he wouldn't dwell on a single remark like before.
He exchanged looks with the other Peters, unease settling in.
"Spider-Man's powers sense everything."
"Yeah, he might already know the outcome."
"Can't win means can't win."
"This is bad."
First Peter's face darkened.
But he wouldn't give up until the end.
He pulled out Charlie's magic spider totem, his body swelling with magical strength.
He looked at the others.
Amazing Peter nodded, summoning his arc spider totem.
Third Peter called a mechanical spider, armoring up, shocking Homelander and the others in the corner.
"What's that?"
"Such a cool spider."
"Are they a species?"
"I heard them say they're Spider-Men."
"Spider-Men?"
They whispered as the three Peters grew deadly serious.
They looked at the defeated clone, their resolute gazes saying it all.
"We'll always believe in the invincible Spider-Man."
With that, they leaped into battle.
Boom!!
In the darkened sky, Clark's heat vision sliced through, First Peter charged head-on, Amazing Peter darted as a lightning arc, and the massive mechanical spider ignored the darkness, rushing the crimson swordlight.
Vengeance flames spread, shattering both arc and mechanical spiders.
G'iah's laugh pierced the air.
"Hahaha, just you guys? Where's that useless clone? He's scared, I knew it. He's not worthy of being Spider-Man!"
The clone heard the taunts clearly but remained despondent.
He curled up in the corner, covering his ears, ignoring it all.
Useless? Not the first time he'd heard it.
Lizard Bro said it often, and the main body was immune.
But…
The clone's eyes flickered. He wasn't the main body. He couldn't shrug it off.
So what? He couldn't beat this guy.
He'd tried countless times.
This was a clone's fate.
If the main body were here, he might find a way to beat G'iah.
In the Resurrection Match, the invincible Spider-Man never lost.
Every contestant knew it.
This time, the main body wasn't here. Former rivals leaned toward joining Spider-Man's team, knowing he wouldn't lose.
That was the main body's strength.
But this time, they were wrong.
He was just a clone, an ordinary one.
A disposable shadow of Spider-Man.
No one saw him as Spider-Man, the invincible Spider-Man.
He accepted it but still craved the recognition the main body got.
Even a clone deserved a moment to shine.
But the gap between reality and dreams was an uncrossable chasm. A clone could never have his own name.
That was a clone's fate.
That was destiny!
No one remembered a clone, not even himself.
The clone clutched his head, struggling.
Fate… Destiny…
Boom!!
Another explosion rang out as Clark was struck by a massive swordlight, crashing into the rubble.
The clone's head snapped up, his eyes gleaming.
"Right, fate!"
He stood, looking toward the battlefield where the three Peters lay, barely alive.
They hadn't given up, even at the end.
The clone clenched his fists, his suit's webbing glowing golden.
"What's that?"
Sensing the totem's power, Clark, in the rubble, lit up with hope.
"Is it him?"
Cough cough "No."
First Peter, battered, rose, gazing at the golden light shooting from the Seven's Tower, forcing a smile.
"Not him, but he's become him."
Amazing Peter, half-kneeling, locked eyes on the golden Spider-Man descending.
He smiled. "That familiar feeling's back."
"Per superhero tropes, he's about to unleash his inner cosmos," Third Peter said, spitting black blood.
G'iah's clone froze, then grinned expectantly.
"Looks like 'useless' got under your skin. Too bad, under the Symbiote God's power, even the Spider God can't turn this around."
In the rubble, the clone approached G'iah, golden webbing silently slipping into the void.
He said calmly, "True, G'iah's power is a disaster even gods can't resist. But now, I'm not a god, nor a clone."
He stepped forward, golden webbing spreading, linking to the three Peters' bodies.
Third-stage totem power surged into them, pushing their spider totems to evolve higher.
The cost: burning all the clone's lifeforce until his power was drained.
Noticing, G'iah's expression shifted but dismissed it.
"I see. You're boosting their power. Naive. Even burning all your totem power, they can't reach third-stage evolution.
More importantly, spider totem evolution needs a Leech Totem, not more of the same totem power. You forgot," G'iah sneered.
"Yeah, stop!" First Peter gritted his teeth. "This is wrong. Splitting your power won't win."
The three struggled, but their spider totems couldn't reject the influx of totem power.
The clone ignored them, continuing to drain his power.
He stared coldly at G'iah's clone. "Spider totems can't, but I can! Because I'm Spider-Man, and so are they.
Heroes rise with sacrifice. That's Spider-Man's fate.
This time, the sacrifice is me—a forgotten clone, but still Spider-Man!"
With a roar, a brilliant light pierced the darkened sky.
It spread, growing clearer.
G'iah was stunned.
"This is… the Web of Life and Destiny!!"
His eyes widened. "Impossible! The Resurrection Match is a sealed world, not part of any multiverse. How can it appear?!"
Dread gripped him.
He stopped underestimating the clone, unleashing all his vengeance flames to kill Spider-Man before the Web of Life and Destiny could act.
He panicked.
The clone smiled.
With a wave, the Web descended, countless threads falling.
Destiny was everywhere.
Vengeance flames could burn gods but couldn't sway fate.
The threads of destiny trapped the flames.
He accepted his fate, choosing true sacrifice.
Eternal erasure, never to be summoned again.
Destiny accepted him.
He'd won—won against himself, against the main body.
G'iah watched as Spider-Man's clone cracked and shattered under the Web's embrace.
Golden totem power, laced with destiny, surged into the three Spider-Men.
What Spider-Man couldn't do, the clone did.
He smiled.
G'iah cursed.
"Damn you! The Web of Life and Destiny will erase you forever. Spider-Man can't summon you again. Why choose this as a clone? Living's better! I'm a clone too—killing me means nothing!!"
He knew the Web's connection to Spider-Man.
Once destiny's power activated, even the true Symbiote God couldn't resist.
He never imagined this would happen with a clone.
To G'iah's screams, the clone's laughter grew wilder.
His smile twisted as his face cracked.
"Hahaha, I don't care if I live—I just want you dead!!"
"No!!"
…
Marvel Universe, just after crossing the Time Portal, Charlie heard the cry, glancing suspiciously at Corrupted Charlie.
"What's with the random meme?"
Corrupted Charlie: "???"
"I didn't do anything."
"You're still denying it? I heard you."
Corrupted Charlie's forehead twitched. "I said I didn't, so I didn't."
Dragon Uncle rubbed his temples. "So this is what crossing feels like. My head's going duang duang duang. It's rough."
Corrupted Charlie pointed at him. "See? He's the one memeing, not me."
Charlie smirked. "That's his thing. Doesn't count."
Corrupted Charlie: "…"