WHOOSH!!
Wade let out a sharp scream as the surrounding wasteland disintegrated at a visible rate. Particles converged into terrifying sandstorm tornadoes, soaring into the sky and forming a massive cage that trapped everyone in Spider-Man's team.
Within the violent tornadoes, familiar figures spread their arms, controlling the storm's paths.
In the encirclement, Gwen spotted them, her expression turning grave.
"It's Apocalypse."
"No way! This many?" Wade clutched his head, freaking out. "Is the god of mutants mass-producing now?"
"My turn."
Black mist surged as Mary Jane, in her red suit, stepped forward, waving a hand to release pink gas.
Whoosh~
Wherever the gas spread, Nova's minions dropped, asleep. The remaining gas enveloped the Apocalypses within the tornadoes.
Mary Jane unleashed her dream-entering ability, trying to trap them in her dreamscape.
But in a flicker of afterimages, Nova placed a hand on Mary Jane's shoulder.
Her power activated, instantly copying Mary Jane's DNA.
"What?"
Mary Jane realized too late.
The same nightmare power bound her in place. Nova, eyes closed, savored her new ability.
"Heh, interesting power."
She lifted Mary Jane's chin, her smile loaded with meaning.
"Such a beautiful face. You're mine now."
To Gwen and the others' horror, Nova snapped her fingers, and Mary Jane's body began merging with hers.
Nova's bald head sprouted hair, her face grew refined, and her plain figure turned curvaceous.
"Whoa! She's going full beauty transformation mode!" Wade exclaimed.
Gwen frowned, swinging the Black Death Sword at Nova.
HUM!!
SLASH!!
The sword's light flashed, interrupting Nova's "merge." As the figures separated, Lizard Parker whipped his tail, pulling Mary Jane back to the team.
"You okay?" Gwen asked, sword in hand.
Mary Jane, dazed, shook her head. "Not great. I felt like I was losing everything."
"Her powers are terrifying."
Gwen locked eyes on Nova, now bald again, frowning. "She looks…"
"Like the Sorcerer Supreme," Supreme Peter said grimly. "She absorbed some Ancient One."
"You got it."
Nova, her "absorption" thwarted, strolled lazily toward them with a cruel smile.
"Black Death Sword, nightmare powers, and so many Spider-Men."
She stopped, scanning the group, her tone rising. "Charlie Parker, you sure you want these guys dying in front of you?"
As she spoke, Gwen swung the Black Death Sword, but before it landed, Nova snapped her fingers, slowing everything to a crawl.
In this slow-motion scene, Gwen's face darkened.
The Black Death Sword couldn't resist time's power.
As Charlie had said: blackened, three times stronger; redeemed, seven times weaker.
Since regaining control of the Black Death Sword, her power had plummeted, and now she was completely outmatched.
The Spider-Men watched helplessly, unable to approach Nova.
Whether Supreme Peter, Thunder God Peter, or even Aunt May with her ultimate moves, they were powerless, like a scripted defeat.
They could only watch as Nova copied their powers one by one, becoming a deadly final boss.
BOOM!!
A terrifying shockwave erupted from Nova. Having absorbed everyone's powers, she unleashed a blinding light.
She dispersed the sky's gloom, sunlight bathing her frail body, massive stellar energy coursing through her, making her feel unprecedentedly powerful.
The team's faces grew grimmer.
"How does she…"
"Oh my gosh, she's turning sunlight into her energy," Wade's eyes darted wildly.
Gwen gritted her teeth. "Damn it, where'd they get Charlie's genetic data?"
"I gave it to her, of course."
On the ravaged battlefield, Pharaoh Kang strode forward.
Behind him, more Apocalypses emerged from portals.
They moved swiftly, turning the land into a desert.
The sandstorm grew fiercer, as if the world itself became a desert.
Yet Charlie still didn't appear.
Kang and Nova exchanged a glance, puzzled.
"Invincible Spider-Man, your friends are in our hands."
"Still not showing up?"
What a cowardly bug.
Their words dripped with mockery, their time powers binding Gwen and the others, alert for a sudden Spider-Man.
After a long time, the sandstorm settled. Nova scanned the area, frowning.
"He might've run," she said.
Kang shook his head, certain. "Impossible. That bug's cunning. He's got a plan. Stay sharp."
Nova's patience waned. Just as she prepared to finish Gwen and the others, a massive cosmic web appeared in the sky.
Sensing a terrifying presence, Nova looked up.
"It's Alioth!"
Kang reacted instantly.
"Crap, he sent Alioth back to the Void World to use its power against us!"
Nova sneered. "So what?"
She snatched the Black Death Sword from Gwen, transforming into a blaze of fire and soaring upward.
HUM!
The sword unleashed endless darkness, shattering time-space rifts.
The collapsing rift expanded, a massive abyssal maw swallowing Nova whole.
BOOM!!
Black mist surged, and Alioth, now a giant wolf, appeared in the Void World.
Its maw devoured everything, time and space losing meaning.
ROAR~~
"No!!"
As time powers crumbled, Gwen and the others regained movement. Kang, panicked, stared at the descending maw, screaming.
Alioth ignored everyone but Kang, locking onto him with all its power, rendering him immobile.
Years ago, He Who Remains used Alioth to suppress other Kang variants.
Now, sensing Kang's time power, Alioth targeted him instinctively.
BOOM~~
Black mist engulfed the land, swallowing Kang completely.
After devouring him, Alioth froze eerily.
Gwen and the others, shaken, stared at the massive, rigid monster, slow to react.
"So, where's Charlie?"
…
Inside Alioth, time and space lost all meaning.
A world more void than the Void World.
Shattered Titan, a crumbling Earth, dim galaxies, and broken structures floated in the emptiness.
On a giant clock, Charlie lounged in a web hammock, Void debris drifting by.
Nova and Kang both wielded time powers. Together, without the Black Death Sword, he couldn't win.
If He Who Remains used Alioth to suppress Kang variants, Charlie could too.
Alioth devoured time and space, so it could consume Kang's time power.
He cast a spell, opening a return path on the Web of Life and Destiny.
He didn't expect to face Alioth again so soon.
And because Alioth consumed massive time-space energy from the Web, it had grown larger.
Charlie was pleased.
But it also meant he got swallowed too.
A sad story.
Before finding a way out, he had to deal with the other two.
BANG~
A clocktower drifting overhead clanged. Nova poked out her bald head, glaring at Charlie.
"Ridiculous bug, we finally meet."
Nova stood on a tilted balcony, her gaze icy.
Charlie glanced at her, nonchalant. "You're here."
He sat up on the hammock, shrugging. "Wanna team up to take down that Pharaoh? His gold and jewels are so shiny, I'm jealous. Well, mostly envious and hateful."
"She won't agree."
Before Nova could reply, Kang appeared on a floating starship.
Charlie recognized it—Thanos's Sanctuary I.
They surrounded him, their hostile gazes ready to strike.
But Charlie remained unfazed.
"Alright, the invincible Spider-Man's getting ganged up on. No big deal, I'm great at breakout matches.
But first, a friendly tip."
Charlie crossed his arms, smiling. "Here, Alioth devours all time-space power and any form of energy."
He snapped his fingers, the magical sparks vanishing instantly, proving his point.
Nova and Kang's faces changed.
They tested it, confirming Charlie's words.
Neither Kang's time machine nor Nova's new stellar energy absorption worked here.
But Nova quickly recovered.
Her eyes mocked Charlie. "Bug, you think I'm scared?"
She lunged, her arm stretching thousands of meters like rubber, coiling like a snake to crush him.
Kang moved too.
He dove, his time armor useless for time powers but made of metal strong enough to destroy anything.
Unable to use energy attacks, raw physical force was their strongest weapon.
Charlie wasn't fazed.
Whoosh!
His web-slingshot snapped, launching him past Kang and Nova's rubber arm.
The red-and-blue figure flashed, racing along the arm toward Nova.
"What?"
Nova hadn't expected Charlie's web mastery. Startled, as his fist neared, she didn't retreat but leaned into it.
BOOM!
Her head exploded, but her body turned to rubber, wrapping Charlie.
Webs climbed over him.
Before being swallowed by Alioth, Nova had gained Spider-Man powers.
Click click~
A new head grew. She sneered at the trapped Charlie. "You know nothing of my power."
Charlie, locked tight, rolled his eyes. "Fine, I give up. Your prize is Johnny's video."
"What?"
Nova froze, hearing a familiar voice.
She turned, seeing a phone floating before her.
"Take a look. It's a surprise."
At Charlie's urging, Nova's curiosity won. She grabbed the phone.
The screen showed Human Torch in a dim room, his curses deafening.
Nova's face darkened.
"Piss on my corpse? Nice, Johnny. You'll die horribly."
"No chance," Charlie said suddenly.
Nova sneered. "Tough talk, bug. What've you got—"
Mid-sentence, Kang's scream cut through.
"No!!"
On the floating starship, Kang knelt, clutching his head.
"No! How—my body—"
His voice trembled, staring at his dissolving legs, terror consuming him.
He wasn't kneeling—his legs were vanishing.
Nova, shocked, sensed something wrong.
Looking down, the "rubber" trapping Charlie was corroding.
Despite her body's constant healing, the stronger her immortality, the faster she dissolved.
"No!!"
Nova panicked.
"How?! What's happening?!" Her screams drowned out Kang's.
Charlie tore through the thin rubber, watching Nova's half-dissolved body struggle.
He was unaffected.
Nova clung to his pant leg, desperate.
"Why aren't you changing? How'd you do it? Tell me! I don't wanna die!"
As her hands dissolved, Charlie shook his head.
"Sorry, I'd love to save you. Your death's a hassle for me too. But I can't."
"No~ You can—"
Her jaw dissolved, silencing her.
In her despairing gaze, she noticed something.
Strange Spider Totems glowed faintly on Charlie's chest.
They protected him from Alioth's consumption.
Nova realized too late.
Alioth devoured everything—time, space, energy.
Except totem power.
As Nova vanished, Charlie stretched lazily.
Nice. The invincible Spider-Man won by doing nothing.