This time, Charlie found Cyborg and quickly convinced him to join Spider-Man's Justice League.
Next up was the downfall of the Kang Dynasty.
These guys had somehow rounded up so many Corrupted Supermen, making them the biggest threat at this stage.
But this time, Charlie wasn't in a rush.
He looked at Bruce. "Got any Kryptonite left?"
Bruce glanced nervously at Clark and quickly shook his head. "All used up. Don't worry."
Bruce Wayne thought Charlie was assessing his threat level to Superman.
At that, Clark let out a sigh of relief, but Charlie frowned.
Soon, though, Charlie thought of Doctor Doom.
This guy had studied all sorts of bizarre magic. Finding Kryptonite shouldn't be hard for him.
Right away, Charlie approached Doctor Doom about the stones.
Using magic, Doctor Doom located plenty of Kryptonite in an asteroid belt in outer space.
The whole process took just an hour.
With Kryptonite in hand, Charlie felt a surge of confidence.
"Perfect. Now we invade the Kang Dynasty!"
Using the void powers of Elios within him, Charlie quickly locked onto the Kang variants in their dimensional space.
RUMBLE!!
In the dimensional space, when Charlie led Diana and the others to descend, the Kang variants were utterly shocked.
"How is this possible?!"
"We haven't even made a move. How did Spider-Man find us?"
"Damn it, release the Superman variants now!"
RUMBLE!!
In an instant, streams of light burst from the temporal prisons.
But before the Corrupted Supermen could attack, the Kryptonite in Charlie's and the others' hands glowed faintly, making every Kang variant's face pale.
"Kryptonite!"
"Sh*t, Spider-Man already knew about our secret weapon!"
"No surprise there. He's the guy who can sense sh—"
PUFF~
Mid-sentence, one Kang variant's head was smashed by a furious Charlie.
"You know too much."
He spat at the headless corpse, then waved his hand, scattering heaps of Kryptonite into the void.
HUMM~
In an instant, golden webbing stretched across the dimensional space, dotted with specks of Kryptonite.
Under the Kryptonite's glow, the Corrupted Supermen fell into extreme weakness.
"Kill!"
With Arthur charging forward, trident in hand, the unarmed Corrupted Supermen were quickly slaughtered by the group.
As for the Kang variants, they fled in panic under the aura of Doctor Doom.
But with Doctor Doom's power, none of them could escape.
Soon, the battlefield was littered with the bodies of Corrupted Supermen. Only then did Charlie collect the Kryptonite.
With the Kryptonite radiation gone, Clark dared to step onto the battlefield.
Looking at the dead Supermen, Clark felt a pang of sorrow.
Even a mighty Superman was less than an ordinary man against Kryptonite.
Good thing Spider-Man had it, or it would've been Clark's end.
Charlie ignored Clark's unease, scanning the Corrupted Supermen's bodies with a victorious grin.
The Corrupted Supermen were wiped out. Nothing should stop him now.
As for the purification power… He hadn't even thought about using it.
Purifying them one by one? Way too much hassle.
As he eagerly cleaned up the battlefield, he noticed one Corrupted Superman's body twitch slightly.
WHOOSH~
A chilling breeze passed, sending shivers down Charlie's spine.
He turned to Arthur, whose face was equally stiff. "Did you see that?"
Arthur, pale, stammered, "I-I saw it."
Diana stood ready. "This must be the legendary corpse fraud."
"Trust in science!"
Bruce Wayne said solemnly, "Monsters die when killed. Superman's no exception."
"Well said!"
Charlie quickly tossed a piece of Kryptonite onto the supposedly twitching Corrupted Superman's body.
Sure enough, the corpse stopped moving.
Seeing this, Charlie sighed in relief.
"Probably wasn't fully dead." He patted his chest.
Arthur walked over, kicked the body, and looked at Charlie.
"Father, he's definitely dead now."
PUFF~
The next moment, bloodied fingers pierced through Arthur's chest, freezing his smile.
"This time… I'm definitely dead too."
With his final words, he collapsed.
BANG!
As Arthur fell, the Corrupted Superman slowly rose in his place.
"Arthur!"
Diana and the others' faces changed, and Charlie's grin turned ugly.
Everyone knew Kryptonite only worked on righteous Supermen.
"Attack!"
Charlie roared, and the group charged at the revived Corrupted Superman.
BOOM!!
With a deafening crash, the ground beneath the Corrupted Superman cracked, a terrifying force sweeping outward. Then, flames spewed from his mouth, engulfing the battlefield.
RUMBLE!!
In the sea of fire, Diana and the others were hurled back by the explosion's shockwave. Clark, nearby, was frantic but helpless with the Kryptonite in the Corrupted Superman's hands.
The next second, golden webbing descended, and the invincible Spider-Man, a streak of light, slammed into the Corrupted Superman's position.
RUMBLE!!
In the terrifying quake, dust spread, and a freezing beam shot skyward, only to be overwhelmed by crimson heat vision.
The revived Corrupted Superman's powers had completely changed, opposite to Clark's, making him even trickier.
But strangely, the Corrupted Superman seemed to be in a deep sleep, not resisting Charlie's fists.
Charlie sent a thread of purification power into the Corrupted Superman's body, and the struggling stopped instantly.
As the purification power depleted, a hint of human emotion flickered in the Corrupted Superman's eyes.
Before Charlie could speak, the Corrupted Superman gave a relieved smile, his body turning to ash.
WHOOSH~~
The ashes scattered in the wind. Charlie blinked.
This wasn't the purification he'd imagined.
Well, that guy must've been too far gone.
Nothing to do with Spider-Man.
Yep, that's it.
Done with this, he looked at Clark and the others, innocently saying, "As everyone knows, Spider-Man doesn't kill. Superman's a person too."
Bruce Wayne snapped back to reality, nodding affirmatively at Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man, this isn't your fault."
"Never was."
Charlie stood, clapping his hands. "Since that's settled, let's—"
"Let's what?"
Seeing Charlie pause, Diana and the others looked puzzled.
Charlie's expression became vivid.
He gave a bitter smile, pointing behind them.
"Sorry, looks like you're all dying again."
"What?"
They turned, eyes wide with horror.
One by one, Corrupted Supermen rose, their gazes predatory.
And Charlie's purification power was spent.
So… Charlie shrugged. "Can you not hit my face?" he asked the revived Corrupted Supermen.
Their response was a series of beastly roars.
ROAR!!
"Run!!"
"Got it. Can't escape."
…
Cosmic Web.
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match slot. Reward: Purification +1.]
[Remaining 198 retries. Would you like to restart?]
More purification power? Staring at the prompt, Charlie thought it over and decided to try stacking attributes to deal with all the Corrupted Supermen.
He could afford to keep going.
Let's do it!
And so… [You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match slot. Reward: Purification +1.]
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match slot. Reward: Purification +1.]
[Remaining 181 retries. Would you like to restart?]
Restart!
After a dozen retries, Charlie finally purified all the Corrupted Supermen in the dimensional space.
Watching them turn to ash and vanish, Charlie's heart calmed.
"Finally done."
He stretched, yawning. "Nineteen fights. Should be fine now."
Arthur looked at Charlie with awe.
"Father, you're my idol!!"
Taking down so many Supermen single-handedly—he was practically a god!
Even Clark was convinced.
Sigh—I'm no match for him.
Facing their admiration, Charlie waved it off. "No big deal. Let's head back and prep a victory party."
With all three Mother Boxes under Charlie's control, Apokolips' army couldn't invade Earth.
As long as Darkseid couldn't arrive, the invincible Spider-Man had nothing to fear.
But a week later, the Mother Box on Paradise Island vanished.
"What? Gone again?"
Hearing the news, Charlie shot up from his bed.
He looked at Diana, who'd come to inform him. "It just disappeared out of nowhere again?"
"Again?"
Diana frowned. "Yes, no warning at all."
Charlie slapped his forehead.
"I knew it wouldn't be that easy. Looks like the Kang Dynasty wasn't the mastermind."
"The Inheritors?"
The thought crossed his mind.
He pulled out a special communicator to contact Doctor Doom.
"Hey, hey, it's me, the invincible and charming Spider-Man. Where you at?" he asked.
Doctor Doom's voice came through. "I'm in outer space. I found that mature Celestial."
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "Need my help?"
"No, I've got this."
"Cool, bye~"
Hanging up, Charlie pondered.
Doctor Doom could probably handle the mature Celestial, so Charlie was almost certain the Inheritors were behind this.
With that in mind, he formed hand seals to release his Spider Totem.
After a while, he still couldn't sense the Inheritors' Leech Totem.
"They're hiding deep."
Charlie sat on the bed's edge, rubbing his temples. "If I'm right, the Atlantis Mother Box is gone too. That leaves Cyborg."
Thinking of Cyborg, he left his room and knocked on the door next door.
"Hey, buddy."
Cyborg was right next door.
But no one answered.
Charlie took a deep breath, flexed his arm, and easily broke the lock.
The room was empty.
"Well, the third Mother Box is gone." Charlie shrugged.
Diana's face darkened. "Maybe he went out for breakfast?"
"Robots don't eat breakfast," Charlie said, rolling his eyes.
"Maybe he went to a gas station," Diana suggested.
Charlie shook his head. "His energy comes from the Mother Box."
"He might not be in trouble," Diana said, unwilling to believe it.
Someone vanishing in front of the invincible Spider-Man didn't make sense.
Charlie pointed at a long, cylindrical part on the table. "He'd never leave without putting that little thing away."
Clearly, Cyborg still hadn't installed it in the right spot.
Diana despaired.
"We don't even know who the enemy is. What can we do?" she sighed.
Charlie stroked his chin. "Guess we'll have to do it this way."
"How?" Diana's eyes lit up with hope.
Did Spider-Man have a plan?
…
Half a month later, Bali.
On the golden sandy beach, Charlie lounged in a chair, sipping juice and admiring passing women.
Beside him, Diana stared blankly at the sun, her eyes unaffected by the blazing light.
"This is your plan?" she asked, her patience nearly gone.
Charlie set down his juice. "Yep. I probably won't survive a month. Got about a week left. Should be dead soon."
Diana: "…"
"You want to find out who kills you?" she asked.
Charlie nodded. "Yeah. Anyone who wants to kill the invincible Spider-Man has to show themselves. They can't let me die without knowing who did it. No one's got that kind of power."
As he spoke, a long-legged woman passing by caught his eye.
"Whoa, now that's something."
Charlie glanced over, raising a hand to whistle.
But the next second, a sharp pain stabbed his abdomen.
PUFF!!
Golden blood sprayed, and Charlie froze.
His mouth twitched as he slowly looked down, seeing a strange black blade—Necrosword—piercing his body, golden divine blood flowing uncontrollably.
His spider-sense hadn't reacted at all.
Turning slowly, he saw Diana's eyes filled with cold intent.
"Damn you, Charlie, I'm done with you!"
Gritting her teeth, Diana kicked Charlie down.
The Necrosword severed all the Spider-God's vitality, leaving Charlie no time to react.
Writhing on the ground, he watched as Diana crouched, her face full of hatred, sliding the Necrosword across his throat.
Don't cut my head off!! It hurts so much.
That was Charlie's final thought.
…
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match slot. Reward: Purification +1.]
[Remaining 180 retries. Would you like to restart?]
The invincible Spider-Man had died at a woman's hands once again.
In the Cosmic Web, Charlie fell silent.
Diana was corrupted too? When did that happen? After much thought, Charlie lay in the web, sighing endlessly.
Women. Truly terrifying.
Restart!
Right at the start, Charlie tied up Diana.
"What are you doing?"
Thrown roughly onto the bed, Diana glared at Charlie with a mix of anger and expectation. "I'm glad you're back, but I don't like this. You should court me like in the movies first."
"Dream on!"
Charlie flipped her off, sneering.
"Think you're all that? Stay put this month. You're not going anywhere."
With that, he sealed Diana with golden webbing.
Done, he turned his attention to dealing with the Corrupted Supermen.
He swore this time he wouldn't get inexplicably kidney harvested.