Eisen Apartments.
With their Bleecker Street home burned down, the family had to make do here.
There weren't enough rooms, so Charlie and Peter slept on the floor.
Late at night, Charlie stepped onto the balcony and leaped off the high-rise.
Whoosh~
The wind roared past as a red-and-blue figure shot webbing, swinging through the city's night.
Soon, he landed on a residential rooftop.
Johnny Blaze, clad in black leather, was already waiting. Behind his motorcycle, a battered, white-haired old man cowered in the corner, his defiance undimmed.
Seeing Spider-Man arrive, Mephisto snorted and turned away.
"Kill one of me, and there are thousands more. As long as I live, I'll make you pay."
Charlie: "…"
He approached Johnny. "What's going on? I haven't even turned on him yet."
Johnny shrugged, releasing a faint wisp of Hellfire.
"You see, my power's super weak now. I can barely transform."
Charlie glanced at Mephisto thoughtfully. "Only one explanation—his power's faded."
Johnny nodded, kicking Mephisto. "You got it. This clone of his can't even beat me now. He's done."
"It's all your fault, cursed Spider-Man!" Mephisto spat, furious.
He glared at Charlie. "If I hadn't given you half my Hell, I wouldn't have been ambushed."
Charlie: "???"
"Blame me?"
He spread his hands innocently. "Spill it. What happened?"
Mephisto clutched his face, sobbing. "A woman ambushed me. Called herself 'Passing [REDACTED].' Her dark power was terrifying, and she had something like Hell's energy. She devoured my remaining half-Hell and even stole your half-domain."
Johnny's eyes turned odd. "You got half a Hell?" he asked Charlie.
Charlie nodded. "That's right."
With a flick of his finger, Hell's power flowed into Johnny. Hellfire consumed his flesh, effortlessly transforming him into the Ghost Rider.
"Whoa! I'm Spider-Man's apostle now, not Mephisto's!" Johnny slapped his head excitedly, flashing Mephisto an insulting gesture.
"Old man, without Hell, your contract can't control me anymore."
Mephisto wailed, "Even you're leaving me, Johnny? I treated you like my own son—ow! Not the face~~"
He screamed as Johnny's fist connected. Johnny pulled back.
"Pfft! You, my dad? You're not worthy. Don't let me see you again!"
He prepared to burn Mephisto's clone with Hellfire.
Charlie stopped him. "Wait. Who did you say ambushed you?"
Mephisto pouted. "Passing [REDACTED]."
"What?" Charlie frowned.
"[REDACTED]. Didn't hear me?" Mephisto snapped.
Charlie turned to Johnny. "You catch that?"
Johnny shook his head. "Nope. Those two words were censored."
Charlie blasted Mephisto's clone to ashes with a surge of energy.
"Must be some dark magic. Mephisto can't even say the name," he said regretfully.
Johnny gave him a look. "Can't say it, but he could've written it."
Charlie: "…"
"Why didn't you say that sooner?"
"I was about to, but you dusted him."
"My fault, huh?"
"Who else?"
Johnny hopped on his motorcycle, revved it, and sped off the rooftop.
"Later. Call me if you need me."
"Bye~"
Watching Johnny leave, Charlie stood, pondering.
Mephisto had lost Hell. His power was negligible, his threats a joke.
Charlie wasn't worried about his revenge. Mephisto could barely survive, let alone cross the multiverse.
The real concern was whoever stole the other half of Hell.
An unknown enemy was the scariest.
With a thought, Charlie's consciousness sank into his half-Hell.
Endless Hell Volcanoes painted the sky. Amid fiery clouds, Charlie's figure appeared.
He surveyed the domain, golden webbing stretching across, trying to connect to the other half of Hell.
But it was sealed by a strange force. He couldn't sense anything beyond the boundary.
Even when Mephisto lost his half, Charlie hadn't noticed. Now, with it in someone else's hands, there'd be no slip-ups.
Charlie shifted to the half-finished divine domain.
Here, Hellfire cloaked half the domain, its power distinct from the other half, neither invading the other.
Through the domain, Charlie found no further clues.
The mysterious figure seemed uninterested in fully claiming Hell or the domain.
Or maybe something was holding them back.
Charlie decided he had to stay cautious.
He activated the twelve talismans, severing the uncontrolled half-domain, keeping only a quarter to prevent the enemy from tracing him.
As for the other half-Hell, he couldn't cut it with his current power, so he'd make do.
It wasn't his to begin with. If the enemy tried anything, he'd only lose that half-Hell's power, not his core strength.
The half-domain wasn't truly his either, so losing it wouldn't hurt much.
If it was his true domain, he'd never trade it so easily.
For now, no big deal.
With that done, Charlie left.
Back in the main world, he remembered unfinished business.
Hank Pym's superhero personality-reversal incident and the Celestial in the sun.
Before it could escalate, Charlie tracked down Pym.
...
Reed's Lab.
Reed was discussing experiment details with Pym.
Spider-Man's sudden arrival through a portal thrilled Reed.
"Oh, Mr. Spider-Man, here to fund my experiment?" he joked, though hopeful.
After all, everyone knew Spider-Man got rich in Wakanda.
And everyone knew Spider-Man never took a loss.
Charlie's response was one word: "Scram!"
He sent Reed through a portal, then smirked at Pym. "You're moving too slow. Speed it up."
Pym was surprisingly calm, shrugging. "How do you know I'm slow?"
Charlie: "???"
"What do you mean?"
"You can guess."
As Pym spoke, dark magic bloomed beneath him.
"Invincible Spider-Man, without you here, what's the point of my experiment?"
Pym laughed as dark magic enveloped the room.
Boom!!
Before the personality-reversal spell could take effect, Hellfire surged.
Boom!
The S.H.I.E.L.D. lab exploded. A Hellfire pillar shot skyward, forming fiery clouds in the night.
Beep beep!
"Warning, warning…"
Alarms blared. Carter and the others rushed to the scene.
Seeing the fiery clouds, they were captivated by the vibrant flames.
"That's…"
"Oh my gosh, a new form!" Harry exclaimed.
The fiery clouds retracted like a tide, pouring into a red-and-blue figure. Hellfire wove into fiery patterns on the suit. A blazing Spider-Man emerged, eyes burning with dazzling Hellfire, soul-piercing.
Spider-Man, Hell Mode!
Boom!!
Hell Spider-Man crashed down like a meteor. Carter and the others scattered.
Darkness erupted from the lab ruins as Pym, in Doctor Doom's armor, charged.
Boom!
Dark magic fused with Hellfire, forming a crimson domain. Space warped, and endless dark tendrils burned to ash in the Hellfire.
Whoosh!
Winds carried ashes skyward. Hell Spider-Man soared, Pym in pursuit.
"Hahaha, pathetic insect! This Hellfire's no match for me. You don't know Doom's power!" Pym laughed.
The sky trembled in darkness. The Dark Dimension descended, inverting the city. Buildings twisted into geometric shapes, bombarding Charlie.
Boom!
Charlie sliced through with Hellfire webbing, melting debris. The Invincible Spider-Man burst through, his fist glowing gold.
Roar!!
A golden spider totem bloomed in the sky, its unimaginable power warping the Dark Dimension, blasting the unprepared Pym into Hell's entrance.
...
Hell Volcano.
Whoosh~ Boom!!
Pym crashed into the volcano, lava erupting. Black smoke cloaked the sky. In Hell, Hell Spider-Man grew, becoming a towering, kilometer-high fiery figure.
"No retries for you this time!!"
Charlie roared, uprooting the volcano. Lava formed a massive fiery pillar.
Boom~~
Boom!
As the fire giant drove the pillar into the lava, Pym screamed, pinned by it.
"No~~"
"Impossible! How are you this strong?!"
In the lava, Pym fought the pillar's suppression.
In Mephisto's eons-old Hell dimension, his dark magic was weakened to its limit. Teleportation failed, and his tech armor sparked, on the verge of collapse.
Hell's immense power bared its fangs, ready to devour Pym, the former low-tier Doctor Doom.
Only now did Charlie realize how strong Mephisto had been.
If Mephisto hadn't been so cautious—fearing ancient gods post-Resurrection Match while coveting Spider-Man's body—Charlie wouldn't have snagged his Hell power.
Mephisto's power, spread across the multiverse, also led to his crushing defeat.
With a thought, Charlie unleashed the twelve talismans, sealing Pym in the lava and merging his power into Hell for future "borrowing."
Crack crack crack~
The volcano cooled rapidly, turning Pym into a stone statue.
Charlie dusted his hands. "Fight's over."
Compared to their last even match, Charlie had crushed Pym this time—a solid improvement.
Next up: the Celestial in the sun.
With prior experience, he borrowed the Eternal Flame from Asgard.
He dragged the sun into Hell, then used Hellfire to activate the Eternal Flame, replacing the solar system's star.
Earth's resulting changes were left to Kamar-Taj's Ancient One.
Yes, she still hadn't retired.
The Ancient One stabilized Earth's gravity, letting Charlie focus on the rioting Celestial in Hell.
Crack crack~
Boom!!
Hell consumed the sun's heat, burning the Celestial's nascent soul, leaving a massive husk in the volcano.
Charlie harvested six Celestial Eyes, the core of its power, for future use.
As expected, the Celestial's disappearance drew the gaze of a mature Celestial.
Crack crack~~
The calmed solar system rippled again. Six shining Celestial Eyes crossed space, a colossal figure breaching the cosmic barrier, peering at tiny Earth.
It raised a hand, the entire solar system in its palm.
Glancing at the Eternal Flame replacing the sun, a chill behind it made it shudder.
"Who~ is~ there~"
The mature Celestial's voice echoed through space, defying physics.
Rules were set by Celestials—and could be broken.
Seeing tiny Spider-Man, its six eyes flickered.
It knew who he was.
A creature made by Celestials, inheriting ancient divine power, and a Spider-Man with godlike strength to rival them.
Never before had it imagined a being could grow to match a Celestial.
Now, it saw.
And it was furious.
No creature could stare at a great Celestial with such eyes!
Not even a Spider-God!