Ten Seconds Ago.
Under the overwhelming shroud of crimson magic, Charlie locked eyes with Scarlet Wanda.
At that moment, the widowed sorceress unleashed the universe's most terrifying chaos magic, her conjured blade a mere 0.01 centimeters from my throat.
But in one-third of a second, she'd abandon her pursuit of the noble Spider-Man—because I was about to tell the perfect lie.
Despite the invincible Spider-Man's countless lies, this one was my masterpiece!
Held aloft by chaos magic, Charlie raised both hands. "I know how to gather all six Infinity Stones to bring back your husband and kids."
Scarlet Wanda's crimson pupils contracted, her surging scarlet energy faltering as she instinctively reined in her chaos magic.
At that moment, the magical barrier cracked under a "mysterious force," and figures descended into Westview via parachutes.
"That's the woman! I love pounding on ladies!!" A tattooed man glided toward Wanda, spitting at her relentlessly.
"Pfft pfft pfft"
His spit turned to acid, raining down.
Wanda casually waved, and the tattooed man exploded into gore.
The falling acid was swept back by a gust.
"Splat!!"
"Oh no, argh!!"
A middle-aged man, not yet landed, caught the acid, half his body smoking before dissolving.
"Peter!"
The man named "Peter" rolled once on the ground, then went still. The arriving group wore expressions of grief.
"No, wait, we just met," a man with braids realized, flinging his hair and turning to challenge the evil witch.
"BAM!!"
A runaway truck sped by, reducing him to pulp.
In under thirty seconds, three "elite" mutants were gone.
Charlie's face stiffened.
Before he could intervene, the rubble behind him collapsed, blood spraying from an empty spot.
Clearly, an unlucky invisible mutant.
Charlie: "…"
Then, an afro-haired woman strode confidently toward Wanda, her swagger making even Charlie jealous.
"Wait, what I meant was—"
Before he could finish, the afro girl charged. "Evil witch, you're mine!!"
Wanda frowned, flicking her fingers. Debris shot toward the girl.
She should've been riddled with holes.
But oddly, the afro girl kept charging, the debris missing her entirely.
"Wow, Domino?" Charlie cupped his face, his inverted-triangle eyes widening.
If he recalled correctly, her power was luck.
He hadn't expected it to dodge chaos magic.
No, wait.
Charlie jolted, realizing something.
Domino's luck wasn't random.
The luckier she got, the unluckier others became.
So…
"Splat splat splat~~"
Behind Domino, a red figure erupted in blood. Despite being perforated, she stood tall.
Blood poured from her curvaceous form, pooling on the ground.
But the wounds healed rapidly.
"Click clack click~"
Winds whipped up dust as the red figure strutted, her blonde ponytail swaying, heels clacking against rubble.
Despite her Deadpool-like mask, she wasn't the sleazy Wade.
She was a dazzling supermodel, radiating allure.
"Wade?" Charlie's face twisted.
Not just because of Lady Deadpool, but Domino.
Still in slow-motion sprint, Domino yelled, "Evil witch, you're—"
Before she finished, the red figure passed her.
A slender arm extended, gently pushing Domino's face.
As Domino "accidentally" stumbled, Lady Deadpool paused, hands on hips. "Not Wade, but Wanda—Wanda Wilson!"
She leaned forward, pointing at Charlie. "Call me the wrong name again, kid, and I'll snap every spider leg you've got."
"Crack!"
Before she finished, Scarlet Wanda waved, breaking Lady Deadpool's finger.
"Same name, but not my level."
Scarlet Wanda sneered, tossing her into the rubble.
Charlie: "…"
Cool entrance, same old exit.
If this world's Deadpool was here, others weren't far behind.
He glanced at approaching figures: Charles, Logan, a sunglasses guy, a white-haired woman, and a redhead radiating danger.
Cyclops, Storm, and Phoenix, judging by the lineup.
Unlike Lady Deadpool's ragtag crew, Charles' team was legit.
Scarlet Wanda sensed the stirring power in Jean, her expression turning grave.
Instinctively, her crimson energy surged.
Under chaos magic's provocation, Jean trembled, her skin glowing with golden veins. Agony tore a scream from her.
"AHH!!"
"BOOM!!"
Golden flames erupted, forming a mystical phoenix in the void.
Phoenix Force!
Charles' face fell. He tried to soothe Jean telepathically, but the Phoenix Force was beyond his imagination.
Its destructive, despairing power blasted Charles and the others back. The battlefield's ruinous aura clashed with chaos magic, distorting space. Debris floated, then disintegrated under the forces.
Charlie swung back hundreds of meters. "Hold up, sis."
A hand shot from the rubble, grabbing his ankle. Lady Deadpool flipped onto his back. "Take me with you, and I'll give you a huge surprise."
"Go to hell!" Charlie threw her over his shoulder, swinging away.
Everyone knew Deadpool's surprises were nightmares.
Worse, her scarred face haunted him.
He was a face-con guy!
Then he noticed something odd.
Where were Westview's residents?
Soon, Charlie and the others left Westview's range.
Outside, the sky churned.
Golden and crimson energies split the heavens, clouds torn apart. Westview became their battlefield.
On the grass, residents, regaining awareness, gaped at the town's glowing clash, trembling under the energies' weight.
"Your doing?" Charlie patted Pietro's shoulder, the guy panting like a dog.
"Not bad, kid. Got potential. Wanna join the Avengers?" he grinned.
Pietro swatted his hand, rolling his eyes. "I'm not joining the Thunderbolts. Lame name."
"Agreed," Lady Deadpool popped up, startling Pietro.
"You got surgery?" he gasped.
He'd met Wade a few times—definitely a guy.
But now…
He eyed Lady Deadpool's fiery figure, swallowing hard. "A guy's not that bad…"
"Oooh, you're into me," Lady Deadpool blew a kiss, then slung an arm around Charlie. "Too bad, Deadpool's heart belongs to Spider-Man."
Charlie: "…"
He stepped back. "Spider-Man wants to watch two women fight. Don't bug me."
He locked onto the floating figures. The golden phoenix screeched, crimson energy wove through the void, spiraling into the stars.
The flashy effects were jaw-dropping.
Charlie shook his head. His strength wasn't weak, but compared to the universe's primal forces, he was outclassed.
Without more Resurrection Matches, he couldn't beat these guys.
Recalling Wanda's chase, he knew she'd gone easy.
Charles' crew, battered, found him. "Spider-Man, welcome back. Can Jean win?" Charles asked, eyeing the town worriedly.
Charlie glanced at him. "Win? You kidding?"
Charles' face fell. Cyclops sneered, "Spider-Man, you're a big deal, but times change. Jean's power is beyond you."
Charlie raised a brow, smiling at Summers. "Kid, you're bold!"
"What?"
"You're screwed."
Charlie gave him a mischievous look but had no time for him.
To Charles, he said, "If I'm right, Jean can't control the Phoenix Force. She won't control it.
Wanda, though, wields chaos magic like a pro.
She's not at her peak, but it's enough for Jean."
Charles and the others paled.
"No way to help Jean?" Summers asked urgently.
"There is."
A figure emerged from crimson energy, startling them.
"It's Wanda!"
"It's me."
Young Wanda arrived, eyeing the battlefield, her own chaos magic stirring.
She wasn't as skilled as Scarlet Wanda, but teamed with Jean, they had a shot.
Charlie caught her plan instantly, wagging a finger. "Girls shouldn't always resort to violence. It doesn't solve problems."
His words drew odd looks.
Everyone knew Spider-Man solved violence with violence.
If he suddenly couldn't, there was one reason.
He couldn't win.
Young Wanda smirked, "Then what's your plan?"
Charlie shrugged. "I had a plan before you all started dying.
Your suicide squad's making this tough."
"What?" Lady Deadpool wailed, clutching her head. "My team died for nothing?"
"I… I'm not dead," Domino raised a hand weakly.
The group stared, surprised.
"Your power?" Charles asked curiously.
Before Domino could answer, bloodied Logan cut in. "Luck."
"Luck?"
"Yeah." Logan took a deep breath. "While escaping, everything that could've killed her hit me instead." His eyes dripped resentment.
"What a sad story," Charles said, happy for Logan. "You saved someone innocent."
Logan: "…"
He didn't want to talk about it.
To Charlie, he said, "So, what's your plan?"
Charlie puffed his chest, striding forward. "Witness the miracle.
Marvel's greatest peacemaker, debuting in style!!"
With a shout, light flared. Charlie's form swelled to a kilometer tall.
"Wow, huge!!" Lady Deadpool gawked at the red-blue giant, clutching her face, swallowing hard. "I can't wait!!" she squealed.
Charlie felt a chill crawl up his spine. "Ugh, something gross is eyeing me."
Ignoring it, he summoned a giant golden spider, its radiance flooding the battlefield, drowning out the Phoenix Force and chaos magic.
It looked impressive, but Charlie knew it was all show.
Before the forces could resist, he slammed down a hand, a kilometer-wide golden portal flaring open.
"Buzz~"
"BOOM!!"
The portal engulfed Westview, and both forces vanished.
The destructive aura faded, lifting the weight from everyone's hearts.
"Phew," Charles exhaled. "They're gone."
"Jerk, give me back my Jean!!" Summers roared toward Charlie's exit.
Lady Deadpool pounced. "Ooh, hot stuff, those shades are cool. Let me see—"
"No!!"
Caught off guard, Summers' glasses were yanked off, his eyes unleashing red beams.
"Zzzzt~"
"BOOM!!"
Grass scorched as the team dodged his wild blasts.
"Splat~"
A beam grazed Domino, and Logan, staring at his gut wound, twitched. Damn, another hit for me.
…
Spider-Man Multiverse.
"All those Spider-Men vanished in an instant."
At Stark Tower, Tony and the others gathered, stunned yet curious.
But they mourned their fallen ally.
"Vision's dead. Someone saw Spider-Man kill him."
"Who?"
"Loki."
Silence fell.
Then Happy brought bad news. "Sir, Spider-Man's near Westview."
"What?"
"Spider-Man again?"
They turned to the virtual display. In the quiet town, a kilometer-tall red-blue giant emerged from golden light, only to be shredded by two vibrant forces.
"That's… Wanda!!" Tony gasped.
Peter Parker vibrated with excitement. "I saw her too! Wanda's alive!"
"No, not our Wanda," Rhodey squinted. "Multiversal Wanda!"
Post-Spider-Man events, they knew the multiverse better.
"Who's the other woman?" Natasha noticed the figure in the phoenix shadow.
"Not important. What matters is you owe me those Infinity Stones."
A voice spiked their heartbeats.
"You!"
They turned to see Charlie, suit tattered, hand outstretched. "We had a deal. No backing out."
In later retries, he'd prepped for post-resurrection challenges.
He didn't grab all the Infinity Stones, but the creepy webbing could bring them to Earth.
When contestants left, the other three stones were left behind.
Before leaving, Charlie tasked the Avengers with collecting them.
Now, it was time to flex.
But the Avengers weren't keen on returning the stones.
"Sorry, no deal," Tony said firmly.
Charlie shrugged. "Knew you'd cheat, so I planned ahead."
He sparked a portal, retrieving the Infinity Gauntlet from its hiding spot.
The three stones on it glowed.
"Buzz!!"
The stones resonated, and Charlie vanished through a portal, snatching the other three from Tony's vault.
He wasn't dumb enough to leave all six with the Avengers.
With the creepy webbing gone, grabbing the rest was easy.
Soon, a blue wormhole bloomed over Westview. Charlie, wielding all six Infinity Stones, hit his peak.
Sky, earth, sea, stars—everything cheered for the stones' master. Cosmic energy surged, the stars dazzling.
"BOOM!!"
Raising the Gauntlet, purple light and red particles swept the battlefield. Space and Time Stones spun, restoring Westview visibly.
Under the stones' power, cosmic rules favored Charlie.
The waning Phoenix Force retreated into Jean, and chaos magic stalled, losing its ferocity.
Both women looked up, awed by the stones' blinding light.
Phoenix Force, chaos magic, and Infinity Stones were primal cosmic forces.
But against the complete power of six stones, pre-peak Phoenix and chaos magic stood no chance.
Six-colored energy lightning coursed through Charlie, threatening to tear him apart.
Yet only he knew how potent and mystical this cosmic power was.
If Thanos could handle six stones, so could he.
He smirked at the stunned women. "Fight's over. Ladies, state your wishes!"
Jean: "???"
Spider-Man's a god now?
"I don't want this power torturing me. Can you strip it out?" She touched her forehead and shoulders, closing her eyes in prayer.
Charlie: "…"
What's that move?
"Uh, ahem, sorry. The Phoenix Force isn't from this world. This universe's stones can't help.
Even Jesus couldn't."
"Why?" Jean despaired. "You didn't even try."
"I did."
Charlie scratched his head, snapping his fingers behind his back.
Sparks flew, but nothing happened.
If he could, he'd love to be a Phoenix-shaped Spider-Man.
Scarlet Wanda's face darkened. "You lied!"
She glared. "This universe's stones can't revive my husband and kids, can they?"
She raised her chaos magic, but Charlie waved her off. "If that's your wish, I can make it happen."
He snapped his fingers.
"Click!"
"Buzz~"
Six primal forces aligned, creating a miracle.
Reality Stone formed Vision's body, Soul and Mind Stones rebuilt his memories from Wanda's mind, and Space Stone placed him before her.
"Wanda…"
The "revived" Vision, dazed, then gazed at her lovingly, pulling her into an embrace.
Charlie repeated the process for her two kids.
A family reunited!
Seeing Wanda lost in the happy illusion, Charlie sighed.
Her chaos magic could do this too.
But the Infinity Stones were more deceptive, more stable.
Vision died in the cinematic universe; this universe's stones couldn't affect it or truly revive him.
Her kids? Born from Wanda's "mental illness," their reality didn't matter.
To Wanda, their existence was enough.
Oh, one more.
Charlie "revived" her mental image of Pietro too.
As long as they stayed in this universe, they'd never vanish.
Seeing Wanda's happy smile, Charlie silently apologized, then vanished.
At Stark Tower, Tony and the others, witnessing a god's miracle, were floored.
"Six Infinity Stones really grant any wish."
They exchanged complex looks.
"If only Cap and the others could come back," Peter Parker said softly.
"Hey, Queens kid, miss me?"
A familiar voice lit up the room.
They stood, seeing Steve and others step through a portal.
"Steve!"
"Wanda!"
"Vision, you're all back?"
"Yeah, thanks to that other Queens kid."
"I'm gonna cry."
They laughed, past grievances fading.
"Where'd he go?" Tony asked, guilty. "I owe him thanks—and an apology. I almost cost you your second chance."
Steve thought. "He said he's checking underground."
"Underground?"
They were puzzled.
Peter slapped his forehead. "Got it! He's a bug that needs to hibernate!"
They paused, then chuckled.
"Peter, you're getting funnier."
…
Earth's Core, Molten Cavern.
Magma glowed under the six Infinity Stones' light as Charlie dove deeper.
The deeper he went, the louder his spider-sense screamed.
Finally, an indestructible "wall" blocked him.
No, not a wall.
A "god's" body!
In the magma, Charlie closed his eyes, touching the "wall."
His mind conjured a phantom planet.
Inside, a colossal "god" slept, its body linked to countless surface creatures via neural-like threads.
Every living being fed it endless energy.
Even in death, they were drained dry.
As new life emerged, the threads latched on.
Even across the universe, they'd still fuel the god.
To stop it, only one way existed: use the Infinity Stones to erase these creatures, breaking them into base cosmic matter, halting the god's harvest.
The god's power came from the stones but had evolved beyond them.
For some powerful "gods," the stones were useless.
They were—the Celestials!
A multiversal group of two thousand!
Opening his eyes, Charlie understood.
The stones couldn't erase the Celestial seed in Earth.
Even a seed defied them.
That's why Thanos used drastic means to wipe out half the universe's population.
He knew the stones couldn't remove these planetary parasites.
Charlie abandoned punishing the Celestials.
He couldn't erase half of Earth's population to delay the Celestial's awakening.
Roughly estimating, even if humanity stopped reproducing or the "doomed" vanished, it wouldn't slow the Celestial's birth.
The impact was too small.
Unless he followed Thanos' plan.
After thinking, Charlie decided to talk to Thanos.
He'd taken his stones but spared him.
"Buzz~"
On a desolate planet, a blue wormhole bloomed amid ruins.
Defeated, Thanos knelt, dazed.
He'd lost everything.
Sensing breathing behind him, he trembled.
A bitter smile crossed his face. "Congrats, you've got all the Infinity Stones."
Charlie nodded. "I'll let you borrow them sometime."
Thanos: "…"
He shook his head. "So, here to kill me?"
"Nope."
Charlie sat beside him, gazing at the stars. "I've got a friend."
Thanos glanced over. "Heard that one. Isn't that an Earth joke?"
"I'm serious."
Charlie smiled. "His name's Thanos. Yeah, another universe's Thanos."
Thanos mused, "No wonder you know my moves so well. Without the stones, I'm no match."
His eyes flickered. "You know?"
Charlie nodded. "Yeah, Earth's Celestial is about to emerge."
"What's your choice?" Thanos smiled, curious.
Would the hero become a demon to save half or a weak, pitying god?
Charlie didn't answer.
He looked at Thanos. "Any other way?"
Thanos seemed disappointed. "You've chosen, Spider-Man. Hesitation will doom everyone."
"My question is, any other way?" Charlie pressed.
Thanos fell silent.
After a long pause, he inhaled deeply. "Besides stronger power, only a Celestial's power can counter a Celestial.
They created many races with traces of their power—too weak to matter.
The stones can't affect Celestials or gather those scattered powers.
But, if…" He stared into Charlie's eyes. "If you found the strongest Eternal race they created, you might delay the Celestial's birth."
"Eternals?"
Charlie eyed Thanos. "You're an Eternal, right?"
"Yes, but I lack that power," Thanos admitted.
"In this universe, I'm the last Eternal."
"You sure?"
"Certain."
Thanos was adamant. Charlie scanned for Eternals with the stones.
Nothing suspicious.
Multiversal differences explained the Eternals' absence here.
"Any other way?"
"There is."
"Another?" Charlie grew curious.
Thanos knew too much.
"Ever heard of the Necrosword?"
Before Charlie could answer, Thanos continued, "Normal if you haven't. The Necrosword, forged by the symbiote god, slays Celestials.
Find it, and it's no problem.
But finding it's harder than gathering the stones—near impossible."
Thanos held no hope, but Charlie's expression turned odd.
"Uh, well, I happen to know where the Necrosword is."
"Oh, no big deal—what? You know?"
Thanos jolted, shocked.
Pleasantly shocked.