Antarctic Glacier.
A spark of magic flashed, and Charlie stepped through a portal, arriving at the turning point of Clark's destiny.
Here, the spaceship left by Jor-El would reveal Clark's past. The suit his biological father left him would mark the official birth of Superman, enabling Clark to learn to fly and unlock even greater power within his body.
Charlie came to check on Clark's progress.
At this point, Krypton might not yet be destroyed, and General Zod was probably still picking up soap in a cosmic prison.
He had plenty of time…
Wait, Charlie suddenly realized something.
Zod's strength came from gradually adapting to the solar system's stellar energy after arriving on Earth, evolving into a being as powerful as Superman.
If he went to the Kryptonian prison now and took out Zod, the other contestants looking to join Zod's team wouldn't be a threat.
No captain, no team.
At that thought, Charlie clapped and laughed. "As expected of me, this plan's brilliant."
One word: genius!
But his smile quickly faded.
Boom!
Suddenly, the glacier beneath him shook violently, cracks spreading wildly. A terrifying force shattered the ice for miles, and his spider-sense screamed in warning.
"Damn!"
Charlie leaped into the air, but before he could summon his black-and-red spiderling, an invisible pressure enveloped him.
Boom~~
In an instant, the force slammed him down into the icy sea.
This was…
As undercurrents surged in the water, a pale blue light flickered in Charlie's eyes.
Superman's bio-force field?
Before he could draw the Necrosword from the void, the overwhelming force dove into the sea, repelling massive amounts of water and dragging Charlie's body into the underwater glacier.
Boom!
The glacial continent quaked, explosions erupting along the way.
Buried in the icy ruins, Charlie couldn't even see who was attacking him, but their fists were brutally effective, pummeling him relentlessly.
The attacker caught him off guard, leaving him no chance to fight back.
They seemed to know his tricks, not giving him a moment to summon the Necrosword.
Without it, he was just an ordinary Spider-Man.
In the Marvel Universe, an average Spider-Man wasn't top-tier.
So, he got thrashed.
Charlie hadn't faced such an embarrassing situation in ages.
Even his spider-sense couldn't react in time.
Boom!
The next moment, a ferocious fist broke through the ice. In a daze, Charlie raised his hand just in time to block it.
For a split second, the fist's power surged again, and the icy ruins exploded like a small nuke.
Boom!!!
The devastating force tore through Charlie's hand, and Spider-Man's fragile body shattered into countless fragments.
Whoosh~
As the violent shockwave spread across the glacier, Spider-Man's healing factor failed completely.
…
The Cosmic Web.
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match spot. Reward: Heat Vision 100°C.]
[Remaining retries: 101. Restart?]
Charlie staggered to his feet, staring at the prompt, lost in thought.
He had plenty of retries, but the psychological blow left him questioning himself.
The invincible Spider-Man of the Marvel Universe, reduced to a punching bag in the DC Universe?
No!
Impossible, absolutely impossible!
Charlie rubbed his temples, his eyes reddening as heat energy flickered, though the temperature was nowhere near enough to harm an enemy.
He had to keep going.
Restart!
Second Resurrection Match.
This time, Charlie did nothing but keep an eye on Clark, the future Superman.
He suspected Clark was the one who took him out last time.
Other than a fully awakened Clark, no one on Earth should be able to grind him into the dirt like that.
On the suburban highway, Clark was arguing with his father.
"You're not even my real parents! Why should I listen to you?"
The moment Clark blurted out those words, he regretted it.
But Jonathan had no time to dwell on it. He slammed on the brakes, stopping in the middle of the road, staring warily at the figure blocking their path.
"Hey, I'm Charlie, Charlie Parker, a lone traveler. Can you give me a lift?" Charlie smiled, tapping the car window.
Jonathan blinked. "Do you know what just happened?" he asked, a bit annoyed.
Charlie shrugged. "What?"
"I almost ran you over!" Jonathan's voice rose slightly.
Charlie shrugged again. "Okay, that's not important. What matters is, will you give me a lift?"
"Of course—"
Clark started to refuse, but Charlie pulled out a stack of cash from his pocket.
"Dear Dad, we should help him. That's what you taught me," Clark said to Jonathan, dead serious.
Jonathan eyed the cash Charlie offered, thinking it over.
"Clark, thanks for the reminder. You really are my good kid."
He took the money, then got out to open the door for Charlie.
"Great service," Charlie said with a grin, squeezing into the back with Martha.
As the car started moving again, the silence inside was deafening.
Clark forgot about his argument with his father.
Sensing the awkward atmosphere, Jonathan spoke up.
"Sir—"
"I'm Charlie, Charlie Parker."
"Alright, Mr. Charlie, you don't look like a traveler. Your bag's a bit small."
"I'm just an unprofessional traveler, so I ended up alone."
His words left Jonathan speechless.
Seeing his father at a loss, Clark felt it was his duty to step in.
"Mr. Charlie, you look young."
"Yeah, I'm still a minor."
Clark: "…"
Next up was Martha.
She gathered her thoughts and cautiously asked, "Mr. Charlie, I think we should return most of that money. It's too much."
Charlie waved it off casually. "No worries, it's not mine anyway."
"Not yours?"
The family was confused.
Then, in the rearview mirror, they saw Charlie's wicked grin.
"Actually, I'm a—"
Before he could finish, Clark's eyes sharpened. He spun around, grabbing Charlie's throat.
"Dad, call the police!!"
Clark shouted, and Jonathan fumbled for his phone.
Before he could dial, Charlie, face flushed, choked out, "Wait… cough cough, I'm actually a trust fund kid. The money's my dad's. Is that a problem?"
At that, a stunned Clark awkwardly released his grip.
Jonathan and Martha quickly apologized.
Charlie waved it off, saying it was fine, then touched his throat, puzzled.
"Feels off. Could it be…"
The guy who took him out last time had rougher hands.
Well, that wasn't much evidence.
After the fiasco, they continued driving along the highway.
Soon, traffic jammed as a tornado appeared ahead.
The familiar plot unfolded.
Jonathan, to save their dog, bravely returned to the dangerous highway.
After freeing the dog, he got his leg caught in the car door, unable to escape.
In the storm, the father-son exchange was touching.
Their intelligence, equally so.
"Your dad's about to be toast. What are you hesitating for?" Charlie asked.
Clark clung to his mother, face full of grief, ignoring Charlie.
Seeing this, Charlie quietly pulled a mask from his pants and handed it to Clark.
"Buddy, you need this."
Clark: "…"
Staring at the suspiciously scented mask, Clark instantly understood.
He grabbed it and dashed to a secluded corner.
The next moment, a shirtless, burly man charged toward the tornado like a bulldozer, drawing gasps from onlookers.
"My God, what am I seeing? A rated-R movie star?"
"Oh my gosh, his physique is amazing…"
"His mask is hilarious."
Under everyone's gaze, Clark successfully saved his father.
But the invincible Spider-Man still sent him flying through a portal to the Antarctic glacier.
In the icy wilderness, a shirtless Clark didn't feel the cold at all.
The energy in his body filled him with heat.
He scanned his surroundings, brows furrowed.
Why had Spider-Man brought him here?
After much thought, he found no answers.
So, he wandered aimlessly across the ice.
After some time, Clark slipped and fell into a glacial crevice.
Bang bang bang~
In the crevice, his body ricocheted off the ice walls until he plummeted to its depths.
In the darkness, Clark slowly rose from the ice, then saw a strangely designed spaceship.
"Oh my gosh~"
His eyes widened, staring in disbelief at the ship, his heart stirring.
He felt a connection to it.
Before he could approach, the beetle-like ship's hatch opened.
Clark hesitated, then entered.
Everything inside felt both familiar and foreign.
He reached an empty inner chamber and saw a man sleeping in a stasis pod.
Clark stared intently, as if recalling something.
Click~
Suddenly, the man's eyes snapped open, startling Clark.
"You are…"
"Kal-El, we meet again."
The pod opened, and the man calmly approached Clark.
At the same time, nearby pods opened, revealing armored soldiers.
The lead female warrior glanced at a bewildered Clark, then coldly approached the man.
"General, I sense the Codex's presence."
"Hm."
The awakened Zod nodded slightly. "I feel it too. The one who stole the Codex is back. This time, we must seize this chance to revive Kryptonian civilization, stronger and more glorious than ever."
He turned to Clark. "You're Jor-El's son. We're all Kryptonians. You must feel something."
"Krypton?"
"Yes, Krypton, our home. When you were young, your father sent you to Earth to find a planet suitable for our people. Your father was my best friend. We saved Krypton together once…"
Under Zod's persuasion and evidence, Clark came to believe he was Kryptonian and felt a kinship with Zod.
But someone didn't want this to happen.
"Hey, General Zod, you forgot to mention something."
Charlie's voice suddenly echoed, making Zod's face darken.
"Spider-Man!"
He spat the name through gritted teeth, watching the tiny figure leap from Clark's shoulder.
Buzz~
Light flickered, and Charlie returned to normal size.
"You didn't tell this kid you killed his father."
"What?"
Clark was stunned, turning to Zod in disbelief. "Is that true?" He clenched his fists.
Zod cursed inwardly. Before he could deny it, Charlie added fuel to the fire.
"No way, General Zod, you don't even have the guts to tell the truth?
Oh my gosh, what a shame. I never thought you'd be such a coward, scared of this kid…"
Under Charlie's taunting, Zod's face visibly darkened.
"Shut up! I didn't mean to kill him—he forced my hand!"
He roared, and Clark finally understood the truth.
The successive revelations left him frozen.
Charlie, arms crossed, watched the show unfold.
He clicked his tongue twice, stepping forward, only to be stopped by the female warrior, Faora.
"Spider-Man, you're asking for death," Faora said coldly, her killing intent clear.
Charlie eyed her, shaking his head.
"After all these years, your figure's still so…"
Before he could finish, Faora, in her armor, swung a fist.
Boom!
Her steel-like body shook the air, but Charlie blocked her punch.
Bang!!
With a loud crash, Charlie was sent flying, smashing into the chamber wall.
Crack crack…
In the human-shaped metal dent, Charlie groaned, barely pulling himself free.
The familiar feeling returned—his bones nearly dislocated, his legs buckling as he knelt.
Yet, he wasn't alarmed but thrilled.
"Haha, I get it now!"
"Poor bug, surprised?" Zod sneered at the pathetic insect. "We're not the weaklings you toyed with before. Times have changed."
He waved slightly, and Faora advanced on Charlie.
Death's shadow loomed, but Charlie looked up at Faora, forcing a bright smile.
"For the sake of my good looks, can you not hit my face?"
He didn't plan to resist.
Faora smirked. "What do you think?"
She summoned nearby soldiers, and a brutal group beating began.
It reminded Charlie of his early days in the Resurrection Match.
His lost youth.
…
[You have been eliminated and cannot obtain a Resurrection Match spot. Heat Vision +38°C.]
[Remaining retries: 100. Restart?]
Restart!
Third Resurrection Match.
Charlie infiltrated the Antarctic glacier from the start, locating Zod's Kryptonian ship.
Faora's chamber.
Click~
The stasis pod opened, and the icy Faora stepped out.
Her first act upon waking: a shower.
But halfway through, the water stopped.
Charlie's doing.
His goal wasn't anything grand.
He just wanted to mess with her.
From the last two attempts, he was almost certain that Faora, Zod, and the Kryptonian soldiers had been on Earth long enough to adapt to its gravity, gaining Superman-level strength like Clark.
That's why he didn't resist last time.
One Superman was barely manageable.
A whole team of Supermen?
Not resisting meant a more comfortable death.
Since he couldn't win, he'd annoy them first.
This was Spider-Man's cruelest revenge!!
Watching Faora irritably check the faucet, Charlie shed tears of joy.
He'd never felt so helpless.
One Superman versus a team of Supermen…
If he had the chance, he'd love to join Zod's side.
Too hopeless.
Thinking of his so-called connections, Charlie admitted he'd lost the bet.
They were useless, only good for giving him kids.
Wait.
He suddenly remembered.
He had one connection who might help.