But Batman was already sealed.
By the invincible Spider-Man, no less.
Charlie furrowed his brow, deep in thought, then considered the mysterious disappearance of the three Mother Boxes.
If Diana had been controlled by some unknown force from the start, she wouldn't tell him the truth.
The same went for Arthur and the others.
He must have missed some clue.
Charlie's brow tightened as he tried to connect the dots.
But he couldn't grasp the key piece of information.
The Inheritors? No, it's— Suddenly, a spark of realization hit him. He knew!
CREAK~
At that moment, a shadow flickered outside the window. Diana had just returned home when she saw Charlie turn and vanish into a portal.
"Wait…"
Before she could finish, Charlie was gone.
She froze. "He came back without a word and left that fast? Why?"
…
Meanwhile, in an ocean trench.
No vast seaweed forest had yet formed at the trench's mouth. Charlie stepped onto the soft seabed, silently staring into the darkness ahead.
Back then, his clone had been instantly obliterated upon entering.
Because of the Corrupted Supermen, he'd assumed they were the ones who took out his clone.
They certainly had the power to do so.
But they couldn't have done it instantly without causing a commotion.
There had to be something strange going on! With a flash of thought, a faint magical glow enveloped him. As his figure overlapped, a clone quietly appeared behind him.
"Boss, you finally remembered me," the clone said with a sigh.
Charlie glanced at him. "Your self-awareness seems stronger now."
In essence, he and his clone were one, sharing the same thought patterns.
But this clone was different from before.
He'd noticed it long ago.
The clone shrugged. "You don't get it. A Resurrection Match you can't win is pure torture for Spider-Man."
He didn't answer directly, but Charlie had a hunch.
Only one power could alter Spider-Man: the power of fate! Charlie guessed it but didn't press.
He told the clone, "From now on, you're me."
"I am you."
"You know what I mean."
"I get it."
The clone raised an eyebrow with a grin. "I'll draw everyone's attention. No one will notice you."
Charlie nodded. "I trust you, like I trust Spider-Man."
"Your humor's slipping," the clone said, stepping into a portal. Before leaving, he added, "Don't copy me and wait till the last retry to win. The pressure's too much."
With that, he vanished from Charlie's sight.
Clearly, the clone still remembered the last Resurrection Match.
Charlie watched him go, then turned into a faint glimmer, slipping into the ocean trench.
Inside the trench's ruins, a mechanism on a stone platform lay untouched, covered in years of dust.
Charlie saw no strange sea creatures.
Unlike last time, a thin energy barrier surrounded the mechanism holding the Mother Box.
Seeing this, Charlie formed hand seals. The dark aura of Corrupted Charlie from the Hell Dimension spread, perfectly cloaking him in the ruins.
Time passed—how long, he didn't know.
Another figure appeared in the underwater ruins.
"The Atlantis Mother Box is right here."
The figure murmured, heading straight for the stone platform, clearly prepared.
HUMM~
GURGLE~~
As the figure approached the energy barrier, golden leeches surged silently from the seabed bubbles, absorbing the barrier's energy.
The process didn't alert anyone.
Except Charlie.
From the darkness, Charlie watched the familiar figure, frowning slightly.
Morlun?
How could it be him? This was unexpected.
After all, Morlun's approach hadn't triggered Charlie's Spider Totem at all.
Even stranger, Morlun's Leech Totem didn't sense the Spider Totem either.
It was as if the bond between the two totems had been severed.
Charlie couldn't figure it out.
Did Morlun have an artifact shielding the Spider Totem's senses?
Or had the battle of fate unlocked some shackle, making the totems independent of each other?
He couldn't know the truth.
But Morlun's presence made things even more mysterious.
If Morlun was the mastermind, even the entire Inheritor family couldn't instantly kill his clone.
There had to be someone else behind him!
The best move now was to wait like a hunter.
Well, a different kind of hunter.
Just as Morlun was about to activate the mechanism and take the Mother Box, Charlie moved.
HUMM~
Instantly, golden webbing erupted, bathing the underwater ruins in blinding light.
Under the familiar pulse of totem power, Morlun's face changed.
"Damn it, how did he find this place?"
Cursing under his breath, he grabbed the Mother Box, trying to break through the golden webbing to escape.
But Charlie's strength far exceeded his understanding.
The twelve talismans flared, and sparks erupted across Morlun's body.
BANG BANG BANG!!
"Argh!!"
With a scream, Morlun was hurled into the seabed's stone wall by the force.
CRACK CRACK~~
"Damn, this guy's power…"
Buried under rubble, Morlun's face darkened.
Wiping golden blood from his mouth, he burrowed into the seabed with the aid of his Leech Totem.
Charlie, unfazed, wove the power of the twelve talismans. Dazzling streams of light slammed into the ruins.
RUMBLE!!
The trench quaked, and seabed silt billowed with the shockwave.
With visibility blocked, Charlie's eyes glowed, piercing the silt to spot the fleeing Morlun.
Expressionless, he unleashed the third-stage Spider Totem.
HUMM~~
SCREECH!!
Golden light banished the darkness, and the terrifying Spider Totem lunged. Morlun's third-stage Leech Totem erupted, but under the Spider Totem's dominance, it lost all ferocity, trembling and whimpering.
As Charlie prepared a killing blow, totem powers surged from the darkness behind him.
SCREECH!!
Second-stage Leech Totems swarmed in droves. Charlie didn't turn, throwing a backhand punch that shook the currents.
GURGLE~~
BOOM~~~
In an instant, the totem power from his golden fist obliterated the feeble Leech Totems.
"Ah!!"
"No!"
As the Leech Totems crumbled, their masters turned to ash amid screams.
The current Inheritor family was nothing but clay dogs to Charlie—not even a match.
Witnessing this terrifying scene, Morlun's face twisted in fear.
"How is this possible?!"
His body trembled, and he gritted his teeth, glaring toward the sea's surface.
"Damn it, do something!!"
He cursed at the surface, but the invincible Spider-Man's suffocating totem power engulfed him.
"No!!!"
With an explosion in the trench, the Inheritor family was wiped out.
Done, Charlie looked up at the surface.
He knew the real mastermind had appeared.
Because his clone was there too.
On the surface, the clone dragged golden webbing, twisting the night sky into a trap.
Within the webbing, green magic clashed repeatedly, each strike bursting with intense light and heat.
CRACK CRACK~~
The next moment, portals bloomed in the void, connecting to starry cosmos and vast oceans.
Meteors shot out, and sea creatures wailed as they attacked.
As seaweed surged from the portals, it grew wildly under the green magic's glow.
Doctor Doom tried to obscure his escape, but the portals' exits were sealed by webbing, leaving no way out.
"Damn it, when did you learn this kind of magic?!" Doctor Doom roared, furious.
The clone shrugged. "Only the boss doesn't know. You get it now."
"What?"
Doctor Doom's face fell.
"The boss? You're the clone!!"
He'd been tricked!
"Yep, you fell for it."
Suddenly, a familiar voice sounded behind him. Doctor Doom clenched his fist but froze.
Taking a deep breath, he turned slowly.
Atop the golden Spider Totem, the invincible Spider-Man recalled his clone, looking at Doom with pity.
"Mr. Doom, didn't expect it to be you," Charlie said, shaking his head. "I should've known."
Green light flickered in Doctor Doom's eyes, but his tone was calm.
"I don't know what you're talking about."
"Stop pretending."
Charlie crossed his arms. "You know the invincible Spider-Man has ways to figure out what you've done."
At that, Doctor Doom stopped denying.
"Yeah, your powers can even sense sh—"
Charlie rolled his eyes. "Still cracking jokes at a time like this? You've got some nerve."
Doctor Doom raised a hand, unleashing a vast force. Strange runes, blending magic and technology, glowed on his armor.
A power Charlie hadn't seen before.
Doom had been holding back.
No surprise there.
Charlie smiled faintly. "If I'm not wrong, your mission is different from mine."
Doctor Doom said coldly, "Why would they be the same? If only one can earn a Resurrection Match slot, it's gonna be me. You don't stand a chance!"
Charlie mused, "Got it. Your mission is to take out Spider-Man—personally." He pointed at himself with a grin.
Doctor Doom frowned. He'd guessed it? He'd deliberately given false information.
No wonder he's Spider-Man.
What he didn't know was that Charlie had pieced it together from how decisively Doom had taken out the Kang Dynasty before.
If his mission wasn't to personally kill Spider-Man, Doom wouldn't have bothered helping Charlie.
It was the only logical explanation.
And it was true.
Though Doctor Doom had recruited the Inheritors to steal the Mother Boxes, he hadn't yet developed a weapon to one-shot Spider-Man. So… Wait.
Charlie's mind sparked.
Doom's mission was to kill Spider-Man, and he could later develop a weapon to do it.
But why steal the Mother Boxes?
That was unnecessary.
It didn't make sense.
Unless it was for Darkseid? With that, Charlie connected the dots.
Before he could think further, Doom's silver armor surged with cosmic energy, and he vanished instantly.
Charlie didn't stop him.
Because he couldn't.
The current Doctor Doom, though not yet wielding ultimate cosmic power or the legendary God-Emperor Doom status, was no weaker than Charlie.
Their last fight had proved it.
In the Marvel Universe, Charlie might've used the Web of Life and Destiny to take him out.
But in the DC Universe, neither could overpower the other without external help.
If Charlie was right, Doctor Doom had struck a deal with Darkseid.
After all, he'd gone to Apokolips from the start.
That "barely escaped" story was likely a lie.
But catching Doom red-handed this time meant Charlie just had to stay cautious and survive the month.
Still, sealing was necessary.
Doom had some way of controlling superheroes, leaving Charlie vulnerable.
His allies needed to be "cleaned up."
With that, Charlie stepped through a portal, arriving at Diana's apartment.
"You—"
Before Diana could speak, Charlie pressed a finger to her lips.
"Shh~ Quiet. Just let me seal you."
Diana: "…"
…
Half a month later.
Antarctic glaciers.
The invincible Spider-Man, wrapped in a green parka, trudged through the icy wasteland.
Charlie carried a North Pole catfish over his shoulder.
Don't ask why the Antarctic had a North Pole catfish.
It's just a metaphor.
Point is, it was a fish.
Back in his carefully crafted ice hut, Charlie rubbed his hands, conjuring magical flames to cook the fish.
In the desolate Antarctic, no weirdos could approach him.
No people, no accidents.
He didn't believe Doctor Doom would dare come himself with that strange blade to stab him.
If the Necrosword had no side effects, Doom would've acted already.
Charlie was certain his guess was right.
By his calculations, it was about time for Doom to develop a lethal weapon against Spider-Man.
While roasting the fish with flames from his palm, he peered through the ice hut's low door, watching the outside.
One week left. Seven days to freedom.
Because he'd been eating fish for half a month!
Thankfully, nothing outside changed.
A peaceful day passed.
Late at night, Charlie fell asleep.
In the ice hut's corner, the fish bones slowly turned black.
…
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match slot. Reward: Purification +1.]
[Remaining 178 retries. Would you like to restart?]
In the Cosmic Web, Charlie woke up, completely baffled.
"No way? Even this got me?"
He slapped his forehead. "I was careless. That fish was poisoned."
Doctor Doom's methods were impossible to guard against. Unless Charlie dealt with him directly, he'd never escape that strange power.
A toxin combining totem power and some unknown force… Okay, he wasn't sure if it was a toxin, but it probably wasn't.
Whatever it was, it killed on contact.
Charlie decided to dig deeper.
He had to find out where this stuff came from.
Restart!
Atop the Empire State Building, after battling Doctor Doom, Charlie secretly followed him.
This time, he trailed Doom to Apokolips.
Doom hadn't lied.
He really went to Apokolips.
And he really got beaten up by Darkseid.