Eisen Apartments.
"What do you want to drink?"
Because of Doctor Doom's arrival, Charlie opened his refrigerator for the first time in days.
But Doctor Doom didn't even turn his head. "Your fridge only has expired juice. Nothing else."
Charlie: "..."
"You actually snooped in my fridge. Rude."
He quipped, casually tossing the expired juice to the other.
"Won't kill you. Make do!"
Doctor Doom caught the juice and took a sip. "Typical Charlie move."
He looked at Charlie. "I have a feeling you know something."
"You could say that."
Charlie sat across from Doctor Doom, reaching into the void to pull out fresh juice.
Doctor Doom: "..."
With a flick of his fingers, the glass in his hand turned to dust.
"No nonsense. I don't know how you know these things, but I can tell you we must join forces against the Beyonders. Their power is beyond our imagination."
Charlie shrugged. "Fine, I'll team up. Tell me what you've found."
"Hm."
Doctor Doom sat across from Charlie, his gaze heavy. "Through my foresight, I learned the Beyonders will soon decide to destroy all multiverses, and the key lies with an unremarkable solar technician."
"Foresight?"
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "So, the Beyonder crisis hasn't started yet?"
"Of course."
Doctor Doom said, "But it will soon."
"Your foresight's pretty accurate." Charlie smirked.
"Your abilities aren't bad either. I hear you can sense… dung." Doctor Doom acknowledged Charlie's powers.
Charlie's mouth twitched. "That's a rumor."
"I know."
Doctor Doom locked eyes with Charlie. "You must have foresight too, or you wouldn't believe me so easily."
Charlie spread his hands. "You're sharp."
He grinned. "So, tell me about this solar technician."
Doctor Doom glanced out the window, toward an artificial sun power plant.
Doctor Octopus's artificial sun incident had provided the world with abundant energy, reducing many wars.
But where there are people, there's conflict.
That aside for now.
Doctor Doom took a deep breath. "Tonight, in ten minutes, a technician named Owen Reece will face a particle collider explosion. This blast will accidentally pierce the mysterious Beyond Realm, and the unknown rays released will grant him the powers of a Transcendent Spider-Man."
He looked at Charlie. "Because of this accident, the Beyonders will discover our multiverse for the first time, leading to their deranged desire for a cosmic destruction experiment."
Charlie mused, "So, if we stop Owen Reece from facing this accident, the Beyonders won't notice the multiverse, and we can save it?" His expression turned odd.
Doctor Doom nodded. "Exactly."
Charlie shook his head. "If it's that simple, you could handle it easily, right?"
"Yes, if it were that simple, I wouldn't need you."
Doctor Doom's eyes narrowed. "But in my foresight, Owen Reece's transformation is inevitable. Prophecies are never wrong, so this explosion will plunge the multiverse into crisis."
"Then why come to me?" Charlie rolled his eyes. "You're contradicting yourself and fearmongering."
Doctor Doom shook his head, staring deeply at Charlie. "But with you, the prophecy faltered. According to its original path, you should be tangled in troubles, unable to easily defeat my subordinate, old Pym, or possess the power you have now."
At this, Charlie's smile widened.
"So, the prophecy's events aren't set in stone."
"Correct, but only if you're involved."
Doctor Doom checked the time. "Seven minutes left. Decided what to do?"
Charlie stood. "What else? To stop an explosion, we need a pro."
With that, he called Doctor Octopus.
"Hey, hey, it's me, the invincible Spider-Man, your young pal, the friendly neighborhood hero keeping the city safe and the world at peace—"
"Charlie Parker!"
Doctor Octopus roared on the other end. "Disturbing me this late? You'd better have a good excuse!"
Ruth's voice came through, soothing the furious Otto.
Charlie could hear Otto's heavy breathing.
"Alright, I need you to help me save the world."
"Hm?"
Otto perked up at those words, his anger instantly fading.
"Save the world?"
"Yup."
"Fine, I'm in." Otto grinned.
After the artificial sun fiasco, he'd been itching to make amends, partly to ease his wife's heart.
But the invincible Spider-Man kept saving the world, leaving no room for him.
Now, the chance was here.
He quickly asked, "What do I do?"
Charlie laughed. "Simple. At the artificial sun plant in your six o'clock direction, an accidental explosion will happen in seven—no, five minutes. I need you to head there now and check the equipment."
"Five minutes?"
Otto's face darkened again. "Five minutes to check what?!"
"Four minutes," Charlie corrected.
"Jerk, give me more notice next time!"
Otto scrambled to get dressed, but before he could pull on his pants, a hand reached out from the void, yanking him through a portal.
...
Artificial Sun Power Plant.
Disheveled Owen Reece was fixing a simple component.
Zzt zzt~
Sparks flickered as he easily welded a loose part, ready to head back to his dorm.
But as he turned, a dazzling magical portal bloomed, stunning him before filling him with joy.
"It's Spider-Man! No mistake, that's Spider-Man's portal!!"
In his excited gaze, Charlie, Doctor Doom, and Doctor Octopus emerged.
"Spider-Man, I'm your fan, can you sign—"
Thrilled, Owen stepped forward for an autograph, but Charlie pushed him aside. "Sorry, more important things right now."
He led Otto toward the site of Doctor Doom's prophesied explosion, leaving a stunned Owen behind.
Spider-Man ignored him.
Disappointed, Owen's lifelong insecurities mixed with shame and anger.
"Hmph! What's so great about you? You just got lucky with powers."
Owen snorted, his admiration for Spider-Man gone.
Spider-Man must look down on him like everyone else.
Superheroes are just packaged lies, not friendly neighbors.
That's what he thought.
Watching Charlie's group vanish, Owen spat and turned away, resuming his component checks.
Meanwhile, Otto inspected the artificial sun system and found nothing amiss.
Doctor Doom, with his superior tech knowledge—having developed an upgraded artificial sun at fifteen or sixteen—also found no instability.
Seeing Doctor Doom inspect, Charlie asked curiously, "You know this stuff?"
Doctor Doom nodded. "Of course."
"Then why didn't you say so?"
Charlie looked exasperated, then crossed his arms. "Nothing's wrong here, so where's your prophesied explosion?"
Doctor Doom checked the time. "One minute."
Charlie rubbed his temples. "Great, you don't seem worried."
"No rush, so I'm not either," Doctor Doom said calmly.
Charlie's mouth twitched. "I'm not rushing because I can't stop this."
Doctor Doom replied, "I'm not rushing because I know you can't stop this."
Charlie: "..."
They locked eyes, then turned toward Owen Reece's direction.
"So, this isn't an accident, is it?" Charlie asked.
Doctor Doom nodded. "Seems not. Owen Reece is fated for this explosion. Someone planned it."
Charlie pondered. "So, the Beyonders' reason for destroying the multiverse isn't this explosion. They already knew about the multiverse."
Doctor Doom sighed. "The prophecy's wrong again. What's going on?"
He rubbed his temples as a sudden BOOM!! echoed nearby.
The explosion was contained to a small area, seemingly harmless to the plant's operations, but the surrounding space warped into a strange loop. Faint, mysterious rays blocked Doctor Doom's mental probes.
Charlie couldn't sense what was happening inside either.
They could only wait.
Owen Reece… Charlie vaguely recalled the character.
Marvel's Molecule Man, a lucky soul altered by Beyond Realm rays, gifted with molecular control, and a villain.
He'd returned to a decade where Spider-Man vanished, during which much happened.
But last time, he'd heard nothing about Molecule Man.
The biggest threat was Pym's Axis event.
Yet Charlie had resolved crises from Pym to the Celestials.
If Molecule Man triggered the Beyonders' interest in the multiverse, was this world the crisis's origin?
That didn't add up.
Charlie thought so.
As Owen Reece was reshaped by the rays, Doctor Doom gave up.
He sighed. "I hid something from you."
Charlie stayed calm. "I know. Every multiverse has a Molecule Man, and their universes become Beyonder targets."
"You knew?" Doctor Doom looked at Charlie, surprised, but quickly understood.
"Of course, your abilities even—"
Ahem. "No need to say it. After all this time, I still can't handle that praise," Charlie coughed.
Doctor Doom hesitated but continued. "Since you know, you must also realize the Beyonders destroy multiverses by detonating all Molecule Men, causing absolute destruction."
Charlie rolled his eyes. "So why the act earlier?"
Doctor Doom lowered his head. "I was testing you."
Charlie's eyes rolled harder. "What's the next clue?"
"Also Molecule Man."
Doctor Doom said, "In the multiverse, one person hasn't become a Molecule Man. I want to stop him, maybe bring new hope."
"Good luck," Charlie said, uninterested. After all, this was "fated," and stopping Owen from becoming Molecule Man wasn't the way to fight the Beyonders.
He was certain.
Doctor Doom was about to urge Charlie to join when he sensed a strange energy surge.
He looked toward the explosion, his face under the mask turning grave.
"He's completed the transformation. Molecule Man is born!"
As he spoke, dense particle energy swirled before them.
"Hahaha, yes, you guessed it! Molecule Man—what a fitting name."
As the particles formed Owen's body, he radiated confidence, raising a hand to dissolve the entire plant into molecular structures.
In the void, those structures reassembled into an opulent hotel room.
Inside, Owen leisurely poured himself red wine, savoring a joy he'd never known.
Sitting on a sofa, he flicked his gaze, levitating Charlie, Doctor Doom, and the barely-noticed Otto.
The three watched Owen's arrogance.
"Invincible Spider-Man, when are you making your move?" Otto asked casually.
In his mind, a guy like Owen would be easily handled by Charlie.
Charlie scratched his head awkwardly. "This… it's tricky."
"Tricky? Then don't bother!"
Owen sneered coldly. "Spider-Man, you'll pay a heavy price for what you did to me!"
Charlie: "???"
"What did I do to you?"
"You looked down on me."
"When did I look down on you?"
"You won't admit it!"
"I really didn't look down on you. I didn't even see you."
That line pierced Owen's heart.
Gritting his teeth, he glared at Charlie, then laughed in rage.
"Fine, invincible Spider-Man. You can't imagine my power now. I'll forgive you… so I'll only kill you once!"
As the last word left his mouth, Owen's face twisted with ferocity.
BOOM
The lavish room shattered. A golden spider totem blazed in the night sky.
Buzz~
Golden webbing stretched across the sky, the third-stage totem power forming an energy barrier around Charlie and the others, preventing their bodies from being broken into molecules.
But Owen wasn't done.
His eyes blazed with blinding white light, roaring as he unleashed his power.
"Die!!"
Crack crack crack~~
Where the white light passed, the golden webbing faded. Through mass-energy conversion, the totem power became Owen's weapon, turning against Spider-Man.
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
Golden streams battered the totem barrier, shaking the night sky.
The quiet city awoke, caught in Spider-Man's crisis.
Inside the barrier, Charlie unhesitatingly unleashed the Twelve Talismans to stabilize it.
He glanced at the idle Doctor Doom. "He's barely adapted to his powers and already this strong. Wait longer, and we won't have a chance to stop him."
Doctor Doom turned away. "He's after you, not me."
Charlie: "..."
"Great. Soon it'll be your problem too." He suddenly grinned wickedly.