In the end, David, unsurprisingly, chose Thanos.
"Mr. Thanos, please teach me how to become a true superhero."
David bowed respectfully, and Thanos gave a pleased smile.
"Good. Starting today, I'll teach you to control your power."
"My power?" David blinked.
Charlie and Doctor Doom exchanged a glance.
"What's he saying?"
"He'll teach David to use the Cosmic Cube."
"He's bluffing."
"I think so too."
"Hmph, if even I can't do it, how could a has-been cosmic overlord?" Doctor Doom scoffed.
Though Charlie hated to admit it, if Doctor Doom couldn't manage it, Thanos likely couldn't either.
Buzz~
As a spacetime wormhole opened, David followed Charlie and the others, leaving the world behind.
He took his small cake with him.
…
Multiverse, Barren Planet.
Sand swirled across the dunes where David, mimicking Thanos, sat cross-legged, letting the biting wind and sand lash his body.
Thanos, eyes half-closed, began his lesson.
"First, calm your heart. Then feel the deepest power within you."
David stayed silent, closing his eyes to sense it.
Two hours later, he rubbed his aching legs, exasperated.
"Mr. Thanos, I still don't get this 'inner calm.' I've tried emptying my mind." He looked at Thanos.
Thanos cracked an eye open. "You don't need to understand—just imagine."
"Imagine what?" David asked, curious.
Thanos exhaled slowly. "Anything. Your parents, your friends, even the Thanos who tormented you. The vast cosmos, the starry sea—any of it."
David frowned. "I'll try."
He closed his eyes again, picturing it.
Nearby, Charlie and Doctor Doom exchanged another glance.
"He's got this?" Charlie doubted.
Doctor Doom sneered. "Utter nonsense."
"A total mess," Charlie shook his head. "How about your plan?" he asked Doom.
Doom thought for a moment. "Magic guidance, scientific experiments."
Charlie: "..."
"Alright, you're clueless too."
He shrugged. "But from before, the Cosmic Cube seems like a willpower-based power. Thanos's haphazard approach might just stumble into something."
"Willpower-based?" Doctor Doom, hearing this interpretation of power for the first time, found it intriguing.
"Indeed, willpower-based. You're onto something."
He began to ponder.
But soon, a familiar yet foreign aura surged onto the planet, catching Doctor Doom's attention.
"It's Owen. They're here." His tone grew grave.
"They?"
Charlie looked at the warping sky, thoughtful. "More than one Molecule Man. How'd they find us?"
Doctor Doom sneered. "We're not the only ones watching David. They're after the Cosmic Cube too."
Charlie grinned. "The Cube's power drew them. A pack of Molecule Men is tricky!" He glanced at Doom.
Doom raised a hand, casting a magic array. Green light enveloped the planet, forming a barrier to block the Molecule Men's invasion.
After this, Doom's expression hardened.
"One Owen's manageable, but my cosmic power can't withstand a swarm of Molecule Men. You?"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "If you can't, how could I?"
He formed seals, and the gates of Mephisto's Hell opened, unleashing endless hellfire. But radiant beams pierced Doom's green barrier, diving into the flames.
BOOM!!
Instantly, the hellfire dissolved into dazzling particles, transformed by the Molecule Men into blinding cosmic energy raining down.
Whoosh~~~
BOOM BOOM BOOM!!
The energy bombarded the planet indiscriminately, melting the desert, magma erupting from below in an apocalyptic scene. Thanos, abandoning his lesson, grabbed David and fled into a portal Charlie had prepared.
After they escaped, the beams exploded, countless Owens floating above, glaring down at Spider-Man and Doctor Doom.
"Hand over the Cosmic Cube."
One Owen's eyes glowed, his presence commanding, joined by others shouting.
"Give us David!"
"Right, Spider-Man, this isn't a negotiation. We're out of time."
"Hand him over now!"
The Owens clamored, and Charlie dug a pinky in his ear.
"Got a leader here?" he asked.
A gold-armored Owen stepped forward. "Spider-Man, our goals align. Give us David. We need his power."
Charlie eyed him, smiling faintly. "Tell me your plan."
Gold Owen's face was stern. "The Beyonders use the Cosmic Cube to detonate Molecule Men. Destroy it, and they can't trigger us. That saves the multiverse—and us."
Doctor Doom's heart stirred.
The Beyonders destroyed the multiverse by detonating Molecule Men.
Destroying the Cosmic Cube could stop them—a critical clue.
But Charlie wasn't convinced it was so simple.
He shrugged. "Honestly, your powers are impressive, but they're a bit short of the Cosmic Cube's. Can you destroy it?"
"Of course."
Gold Owen was confident. "Invincible Spider-Man, we've heard of you. You defeated the Inheritors, rewrote all Spider-Men's fates. We acknowledge your strength.
But so far, Molecule Men are the mightiest heroes, the only ones who can save the multiverse. You must admit that."
Charlie: "?????"
Admit what? Before reversing time, he hadn't seen a single Molecule Man in action.
He suspected that before the 616 and Ultimate Universes merged, the Molecule Men were wiped out.
As for who could do that… Charlie glanced at Doctor Doom, then shook his head.
Doom probably couldn't.
It was likely this "destroy the Cosmic Cube" plan that led to their annihilation.
He could only apologize to the Molecule Men.
"Sorry, you don't have the ability. It's not that I doubt you, but…"
He scanned them, advising kindly, "I suggest you drop the idea of destroying the Cosmic Cube. David's Cube is incomplete. Acting rashly is dangerous."
"No need for your concern."
Before Gold Owen could speak, Main Universe Owen glared at Charlie with resentment.
"Spider-Man, you just want to hoard the Cosmic Cube for yourself. I've seen through you."
Charlie: "..."
"Who're you?" he asked.
Main Universe Owen: "..."
"Jerk! You beat me up and forgot me already? You look down on me!!"
Furious, Owen unleashed his power, the planet trembling and crumbling.
Under other Molecule Men's guidance, he'd mastered his abilities.
Any Molecule Man could destroy a planet; Main Universe Owen was no exception.
Though Gold Owen didn't want this, with their survival at stake, he signaled the others to act, determined to take down Spider-Man quickly.
Spider-Man's powers were too terrifying to give him time to react.
They attacked together, the planet collapsing, the star system dissolving into nothingness.
Facing the onslaught, Charlie didn't dare slack.
Buzz~
Golden totems spanned the cosmos, the Web of Life and Destiny casting countless threads.
These threads pierced universal barriers, linking every Spider-Man.
As Charlie grasped them, every multiversal Spider-Man felt a pull, looking up at the invincible Spider-Man in the stars.
"Damn, the loser's in trouble."
On an island negotiating comic rights, Lizard Parker abandoned the deal, raising his hand and roaring.
"No need to say more—I lend you my power!!"
But the threads shot to New York across the ocean, where Gwen Spider grabbed a dangling thread, her body blazing with light.
Lizard Parker: "..."
Damn it! This loser's ignoring me!!
Fuming, he turned back to his comic deal.
Meanwhile, multiversal Spider-Men received Charlie's call.
"It's Uncle Charlie."
At Mecha School, teen Penny Parker rejected a classmate's confession, grabbing a thread.
"A man who ditches dates for friends!"
On a rooftop, Takuya Yamashiro offered his power without hesitation.
"It's him, our friend Spider-Man!" In a gym, Muscle Peter shoved aside circling rich women, grabbing an invisible thread.
At Kamar-Taj, Supreme Peter taught apprentices while clutching a thread.
In prison, newly bailed Venom Parker seized a thread, but cops saw it as provocation and locked him up again.
In an instant, multiversal Spider-Men linked with Charlie. As totem power fused into him, the spider totem above his head outshone the Molecule Men's cosmic light.
"I'm not fighting alone!"
Charlie shouted, pressing down. The vast golden totem roared, scattering cosmic energy. The Molecule Men couldn't break the destiny-infused totem, screaming as it hurled them into the void, their fates unknown.
"No!!"
"Impossible—"
Crack crack~~
BOOM~~~
The totem storm calmed, the Molecule Men gone.
As the golden totem faded, Doctor Doom snapped out of his awe.
"The power of destiny…"
His expression was stunned, murmuring.
Molecule Men could dissolve anything, but against destiny, they were weak.
A dimensional strike was deadly.
Spider-Man hadn't even used that mysterious beyond-universe power.
Truly the invincible Spider-Man.
Doom began to take Charlie's strength seriously.
A formidable opponent.
He noted inwardly.
But soon, Charlie's face shifted, sensing something.
"Crap, a sneaky one got through!"
He exclaimed, vanishing into a portal.
…
Mephisto's Hell.
Thanos, hiding with David, barely caught his breath when the space around them shifted into another world.
In a green forest, Thanos scanned warily.
Rustle rustle~
A breeze stirred the leaves, insects and birds chirping. Nothing seemed amiss.
But Thanos smelled danger in the air.
Though far outclassed by Spider-Man, his battle-honed instincts rivaled Spider-Sense.
He shielded David, shouting, "Show yourself! I know you're here."
Behind him, "David" spoke.
"Heh, worthy of a cosmic overlord."
"Hm?"
Thanos spun, but the David he'd protected was now held by a sudden Owen, immobile.
Thanos's eyes narrowed. "What do you want?"
Owen shook his head. "To take him."
"You already can."
"No, I'm trapped."
Owen scanned the surroundings, his tone heavy. "Invincible Spider-Man, you've surprised us, but I have David. We've won."
A portal flashed, and Charlie stepped in. "You sure about that?"
The Twelve Talismans circled the sky, a dangerous aura pressing Owen's heart.
He grew uneasy, sweat beading.
Because Doctor Doom arrived too.
Surrounded, Owen took a deep breath. "Sacrificing one for all Molecule Men's happiness. Spider-Man can resurrect—why not us?"
He dissolved himself into light particles, merging into David.
"What?"
The trio was stunned.
"Wait, we haven't negotiated!!"
Charlie shouted as David screamed, his glow overtaken by the Cosmic Cube within.
BOOM!!
In an instant, the world collapsed. Owen's self-destruction erased his universe in its expansion.
Unaware, Charlie and the others saw a palm-sized blue cube in David's light.
David's loss of control was worse than before.
The cube was mostly illusory, only one corner solid.
This meant David's Cosmic Cube was just a fragment, the rest mere shadows.
Yet even this corner's power terrified them.
Doom struggled to turn to Charlie. "Use destiny's power, quick!"
"What~ did~ you~ say~ I~ can't~ hear~"
In the energy storm, Charlie shouted.
Doctor Doom: "..."
"Your earlier power!!" he yelled, gritting his teeth.
Charlie grinned awkwardly.
Big moves have cooldowns, let alone destiny's power.
The Web of Life and Destiny was napping.