My name is Charlie, Charlie Parker.
I'm Spider-Man, and also the big shot of the super-serious global guild, S.H.I.E.L.D.
A highly promising superhero and a real doer.
Not only am I dashingly handsome and incredibly powerful, but I'm also loved by many, saving the world with unparalleled swagger every time.
To resolve the world's crises once and for all and uphold the ideals of love and peace, after my game with the Grandmaster ended, I chose to take over as Earth's ruler in place of that dead jerk, the Grandmaster.
Oh, and I'm ruling Sakaar too, by the way.
But ever since I announced Spider-Man's declaration of rule, everyone thinks Spider-Man is just here to clown around.
What a mess. No one believes Spider-Man is serious about ruling the world.
No worries, though. Under Spider-Man's invincible might, they'll willingly bow to my majestic authority.
Three days after the Grandmaster's death.
Hammer Industries, the campus.
Beep beep beep~
During routine overtime hours, the Sakaar marks on the workers' arms suddenly flashed with light. Piercing sounds echoed through the factory, and one by one, figures vanished via the teleportation function of the Sakaar marks.
In the office, an assistant rushed in hurriedly.
"Justin, I've got some really bad news."
The assistant, panting heavily, interrupted Justin Hammer, who was deep in thought.
Iron Man's spotlight had completely overshadowed Hammer Industries, and Justin was scheming to get Iron Man into some new trouble.
That way, he could seize the chance to cozy up to S.H.I.E.L.D. and snag their contracts.
The assistant's panic darkened his expression.
He set down his wine glass and turned slowly.
"As the chief assistant of Hammer Industries, you should always stay calm."
The assistant swallowed hard. "Got it. I'll be more careful next time. I just wanted to tell you that our workers have been nabbed by Spider-Man. He's using alien teleportation tech to imprison them and only giving them the plainest steak dinners."
"Get to the point," Justin Hammer said, his face grim.
The assistant paused. "Alright. Spider-Man, in the name of Earth's King, issued an ultimatum to Hammer Industries. If we don't follow his orders by tomorrow, he'll detonate the Sakaar marks on our bodies."
"What?"
Justin Hammer let out a shocked yell, then slammed his fist on the desk in rage.
"That damn Spider-Man! We're not the only company defying him. Why's he always targeting me?!" he growled through gritted teeth.
The assistant thought for a moment. "As the chairman of Hammer Industries, you should always stay calm."
"Bullshit!"
Justin Hammer spat, then took a deep breath.
"What about Stark's side?"
The assistant replied, "They've already complied with Spider-Man's demands."
"Iron Man caved?"
Justin Hammer frowned, quickly calming himself.
"That means he's losing a ton of money. Did he give in just because he's friends with Spider-Man?" he mused.
The assistant whispered, "Iron Man never cares about how much he makes. His money's practically endless."
"No need to remind me."
Justin Hammer shot a dark glare at the assistant, then gritted his teeth. "Let's wait. Spider-Man can't be targeting just us. Other companies must've gotten warnings too.
Let's see what they do. If we all resist Spider-Man together, he won't dare touch us."
The assistant nodded. "Right. He wouldn't dare take us all out, would he?"
At that, the two exchanged a glance, sly grins spreading across their faces.
"So, the one who should be nervous isn't us—it's Spider-Man."
"Yeah, he's toast."
Meanwhile, most companies in New York received Spider-Man's warning, but many shared Justin Hammer's mindset.
They were all biding their time, watching and waiting.
Charlie, of course, had anticipated this outcome.
Osborn Corporation, Harry's office.
"Invincible Spider-Man, are you really going to take those guys out?"
In the spacious office, Harry casually swung his golf club, sending a white golf ball gently into the hole.
Lately, he'd been too busy to do much else, so indoor golf was his makeshift escape.
On the couch, Charlie lifted a glass of juice.
"Of course. Spider-Man never jokes around."
Hearing this, Harry shook his head.
"Then good luck to them," he sighed, not bothering to dissuade Charlie from his plan.
Charlie raised an eyebrow.
"This move's costing you a lot of money, isn't it?"
"A bit less profit, sure, but it's boosted employee morale and overall happiness. It's not really a loss," Harry said with a smile.
Charlie gave a thumbs-up. "That's some real insight."
Harry set down his club, grabbed a glass of wine, and sat next to Charlie.
"Actually, this was my father's original idea, but the shareholders and politicians wouldn't agree. It'd cut into their profits too much."
He let out a slow breath.
"When you reach a certain position, you don't always have a choice in what you do. Step out of line, and you'll face the worst consequences," Harry said.
Charlie leaned back on the couch, hands behind his head.
"That's why the Grandmaster's invention was so brilliant. It let me skip a huge step, truly saving the world—well, not entirely."
On Sakaar, the Grandmaster was an unquestioned dictator. No one could defy him.
But Charlie had discovered that the so-called Sakaar marks were actually easy to remove.
Tony had already used an anti-gravity cell device to eliminate his Sakaar mark.
For superheroes, the marks' power was negligible, and their teleportation only moved targets less than thirty kilometers away.
But for regular people, it was more than enough.
For tougher targets, electromagnetic toxins could be used to control them.
The Grandmaster had taken care of a lot of Charlie's problems in one fell swoop.
This time, maintaining world peace was sure to earn him plenty of rewards.
With that thought, he tapped his wrist device, and a virtual interface popped up with Carter's face.
"Great Spider-Man, do you have a moment?" Carter asked, clearly exasperated.
Charlie grinned. "Of course I do."
"Fine, I'll keep it brief. Our agents found someone who seems to be from the Grandmaster's card deck."
"So they didn't return to their own worlds," Charlie said, narrowing his eyes.
He asked, "Who'd you find?"
"Tony Stark."
"White Iron Man?"
"Yeah, he's at Tony's place right now."
"Alright, I'll check it out."
Charlie ended the call and stood, opening a portal.
Buzz~
Stark Tower.
Sparks of magic flared, and as Charlie stepped into the penthouse, he heard a voice.
"Next time, use the door, please."
By the floor-to-ceiling window, Tony swirled his wine glass, exuding a melancholic vibe.
Charlie glanced at the wine glass and muttered, "Drinking wine on the weekend? Red Bull's way better."
After his quip, he stepped forward. "Heard the guy's here."
"Yeah."
"Where is he?"
"Right here."
Tony's words made Charlie pause.
"So which Tony are you?"
White Armor Tony shrugged. "Guess."
"Guess?"
Charlie laughed.
"You probably haven't heard the stories about Spider-Man yet."
He stepped closer, while White Armor Tony maintained his brooding demeanor.
"To me, the invincible Spider-Man is just a man. He does things no one else can, which is why he's become a god. Wait, what are you—argh, you psycho!!"
Thirty seconds later, White Armor Tony sat in the corner of the couch, clutching a bruised eye. Wine stained his clothes, and he looked utterly disheveled, his eyes filled with helplessness and fear as he glanced at Charlie.
"We're all civilized people here. Can't we just talk?"
"Guess," Charlie said, cracking his knuckles.
White Armor Tony shrank back. "No guessing, no guessing!" he said, waving his hands frantically.
Before Charlie could say more, Tony poked his head out from upstairs.
"Hey, you're here."
Tony waved, then added, "Forgot to introduce him. This is, wow, white friend—your face…"
He came downstairs, saw White Armor Tony's pitiful expression, and fell silent.
Looking at him apologetically, Tony said, "Forgot to warn you. Don't mess with the invincible Spider-Man unless you know him well."
White Armor Tony hung his head in shame. "And if I do know him well?" he asked.
Tony replied earnestly, "Then you really don't mess with him."
White Armor Tony: "…"
"Got it."
He got up, sidestepped Charlie, and slunk back to his room.
Tony sighed.
"He's pretty pathetic."
Charlie raised an eyebrow. "How so?"
"He's bankrupt."
Charlie: "…"
That's pathetic?
He shrugged helplessly. "Fine, I'll go easier next time."
Tony chuckled. "Thanks for that."
"So, what's he doing here?" Charlie asked curiously.
Tony sat down, casually pulling a new arc reactor from a desk drawer and swapping it out.
"He's got no place in his universe anymore, so he wants to team up with me to build a new business empire in this world."
Charlie nodded thoughtfully. "Business, huh? What's the deal?"
Tony secured the reactor in his chest and turned. "He says I caught Killian and got samples of the Extremis virus. He plans to use Extremis to create a groundbreaking product for humanity.
According to him, it'll enhance human genes, boost intelligence, perfect appearances—basically make people better. I've got no reason to say no."
Charlie's face darkened as he pieced it together.
"Is he planning to give this stuff away for free to citizens, paired with a phone app to trigger a global genetic evolution?" he asked grimly.
Tony looked stunned. "You guessed it?"
"Yeah, I guessed it."
Charlie rubbed his forehead. Classic White Armor Tony, still scheming to make a fortune.
Using Extremis to make people "perfect"…
Charlie knew better than to take things at face value.
Sure, he'd seen White Armor Tony's wild plans in the comics, but with countless multiversal variants, he couldn't just condemn the guy based on omniscience.
Yup, Spider-Man's a superhero who sees things clearly and fairly.
"Tony, if you've got something this big, you've gotta let me know first. You know Spider-Man's gotta lead by example. If this thing isn't safe, I'll be the one taking the fall, not innocent people."
Charlie's serious tone made Tony's lips twitch, but he nodded halfheartedly. "Sure thing."
He knew exactly what kind of guy the invincible Spider-Man was.
This guy definitely just wanted to be the hottest Spider-Man in history.
With Tony watching, Charlie left Stark Tower.
…
S.H.I.E.L.D., Super Prison.
In a transparent cell, Ophelia lounged lazily on the only pink bed, a python-patterned robe draped carelessly over her. The occasional glimpse of her pale skin exerted a strange allure on the female agents guarding the prison.
If Ophelia wanted, those agents would fall helplessly in love with her under the influence of her neurotoxin.
It was her latest invention.
Inspired by her unrequited—and insufficient—love for Spider-Man.
Suddenly, Ophelia shivered as faint green mist swirled around her. A familiar figure walked through the toxins into her cell, unfazed.
"Thanks for helping me out last time. But that's in the past. I'm here to talk," Charlie said softly.
Ophelia, as if expecting him, lazily rolled over, turning her back to him. "Men. You should learn how to comfort an angry woman."
Charlie: "…"
Who the hell came up with that awful line?!
He cleared his throat, choosing his words.
"Uh, what I'm trying to say is—"
"Hmph, come here."
Before he could finish, Ophelia let out a coy hum and patted the edge of the bed.
Faced with this familiar scene, Charlie instinctively clenched his fists.
The day before his duel with the Grandmaster, this woman had threatened him the same way.
Damn it, the invincible Spider-Man wasn't falling for it this time!!
Resolved, he held his head high.
"I! Won't!"
"What did you say?"
Ophelia spun around, her eyes brimming with menace.
"You sure about that?"
"Absolutely."
Seeing Charlie's defiant stance, Ophelia's lips curled into a slight smile.
"Poor little bug. You don't want that little boy devouring everyone—your friends, family, loved ones, do you?"
Clever as she was, she'd already considered the disasters those lost cards could cause.
Those monstrous spiders were unkillable. As long as one remained, they could multiply rapidly, even giving Charlie a headache.
So, Charlie had no choice but to seek help from this woman who could craft targeted neurotoxins.
Staring at Ophelia's smug expression, Charlie gritted his teeth. "That island's already gone. Your little threats won't scare me."
"Oh, really?"
Ophelia slightly lifted her python robe, speaking with undeniable authority.
"You've got three seconds to decide. Refuse, and when that boy shows up, I won't lift a finger to help."
"Damn it, you win."
Charlie stepped forward. "But I have one condition."
"What?"
"This time, I'm on top."
"No way!!"
At that moment, an agitated Carter appeared on the scene, cutting Charlie off and yanking him back to her side.
"Viper, you're despicable. The invincible Spider-Man won't fall for it," Carter said, her eyes razor-sharp.
Charlie quickly interjected, "Wait, I think I can—"
"Shut up for a second."
Carter ruthlessly shoved Charlie aside, glaring at Ophelia. "You got a problem? Take it up with me."
Charlie raised a hand. "Captain Carter, she's after me."
"I said shut up."
Carter waved, and Agent Hill excitedly dragged Charlie away.
Haha, Commander Carter slipped up, and now I've got my chance!
Thrilled, Agent Hill pulled Charlie out of the prison and whispered in his ear, "Charlie, I've got something important to tell you."
"What?"
"I bought a super sexy swimsuit."
"A what? A swimsuit?"
Charlie, initially uninterested, was suddenly all ears.
But he glanced back at the room, conflicted.
"They're fighting. As a friend, I should probably go break it up."
Agent Hill quickly covered his ears.
"Now what?"
Charlie grinned. "They're not fighting anymore."
"The weather's great today. Wanna take your new fancy flier and head to the beach with me?" she asked.
Agent Hill smiled and nodded. "Sure thing. I also got snacks and two fresh juices. Oh, and I bought you swim trunks."
"How could I let you do all that!"
"No big deal. We're friends."
"But if people find out—"
"We're just going to talk shop."
"Right, right, tons of work to discuss."
"So what are we waiting for?"
"You start the flier. I'll change."
"No problem. Oh, and don't forget your ID," Agent Hill added as a final reminder.
Charlie: "…"