Main Universe.
Charlie returned to Westview with Jean, and Charles and the others, who'd been waiting, finally breathed a sigh of relief.
Jean was back, the evil witch wasn't—this said it all.
But oddly, since when did the invincible Spider-Man start collecting gems?
Lady Deadpool eyed Charlie's Infinity Gauntlet, her gaze locking onto the six dazzling stones, her eyes gleaming. "Oh, what gorgeous rocks! Let me see how much they're worth!"
She lunged at Charlie, only to be shoved back.
"Private property, hands off!" Charlie warned sternly.
Though the six Infinity Stones were near-useless in the main universe, they were his ultimate trump card.
Facing a tough foe? No problem. Shift the battlefield to the stones' universe, and he'd become an omnipotent god!
From now on, the invincible Spider-Man would never die again!!
He swore it.
No one present knew the stones' true power, except Jean, whom Charlie had defeated with them.
Whether it was Charles and Logan, pulled into this world by Apocalypse, or Storm and the others, they'd never seen or heard of the Infinity Stones.
Not every universe had them.
Charlie hadn't found any trace of them in this world either.
As for the fourth-wall-breaking Deadpool… Lady Deadpool, newly minted, hadn't yet gained those quirky powers.
Her hungry stare sent shivers down Charlie's spine.
Every Deadpool, no matter the version, loved hounding Spider-Man. Terrifying!
Just then, Carter's personal craft swooped in from the horizon. Clad in her suit, shield in hand, she leaped down.
"BAM!"
The iconic Black Widow landing pose!
Charlie gave it a ten.
Carter rose slowly, glancing at Westview's ruins before approaching Charlie. "Looks like I'm late."
"Nah, you're right on time," Charlie said, taking a sip of the fresh juice she handed him. "Showing up after it's over? Zero risk." He grinned.
Carter nodded. "Yeah, easy day."
She scanned the group, then turned to Charles. "Good work. Tomorrow's headline: 'X-Men Thwart Evil Witch.'"
Charles looked sheepish. "It wasn't us who beat Scarlet Witch."
"I know, but you put in the effort."
"Jean held her off."
"Got it. File the report, I'll sign off. Jean's funding will come through soon."
Hearing this, young Wanda's face darkened. "You said the budget was tapped out."
Carter shrugged. "Sorry, it's back."
Young Wanda: "…"
Damn woman, she's doing this on purpose!
Fuming, she shot Charlie a glare. "This is your fault, hmph!"
With that, she stormed off.
Charlie blinked. "What's that got to do with me?"
He turned to Pietro. "Your dear sister's age isn't faked, right?"
"What's that mean?" Pietro looked baffled.
Charlie rubbed his chin, serious. "I suspect she's hitting menopause."
Before Pietro could explain, his "dear sister" barked impatiently, "Let's go! You've been gone so long, the dishes are piling up. Get home and wash them."
Pietro: "…"
Damn it. That Wanda made me shop and cook, this one makes me wash dishes.
Life felt hopeless.
"Coming," he muttered weakly, then glanced at Charlie, hesitating.
"She's fine," Charlie smiled.
Pietro exhaled, relieved. Scarlet Wanda had been kind to him; he didn't want her in trouble.
But the thought of his sister becoming that after marriage sent a chill through him.
No way that's happening! He resolved to crush any guy she showed interest in.
Kill him!
Pietro's eyes burned with determination.
He hadn't considered he might not beat her future husband.
Pietro left, and Charles' crew prepared to go.
Under Summers' sullen gaze, Jean whispered "secrets" to Charlie.
"Hmph, men," Carter muttered, arms crossed, eyeing the scene coldly.
She glanced at the equally unhappy Summers. "Shades, she your girlfriend?"
Summers looked away. "She will be," he said confidently.
Carter's guard went up. Guys who talk like that usually crash hard.
She knew Spider-Man's "charisma."
He charmed everyone—Professor Xavier, Norman, even baby Kingpin, mimicking Spider-Man since learning to walk, and Agent Hill, perpetually pining.
Now, he had more fans.
She noticed Lady Deadpool.
Wanda Wilson. S.H.I.E.L.D.'s files said she was a shut-in who gained Deadpool's immortality after a chemical experiment mishap.
This world's Deadpool, once masked, was a walking disaster when unleashed.
Unlike Wade, no one had seen her real face since her powers emerged.
Carter guessed disfigurement from the experiment.
Or maybe a weird fetish.
Importantly, her "assets" were impressive.
Carter sized up Lady Deadpool's bombshell figure, and Lady Deadpool caught her stare.
She perked up. "Oh, you're the legendary Captain Carter, aka Ice Queen, right?"
Lady Deadpool leaned in, pointing at herself. "I applied for the Avengers, but your interviewer rejected me. I wanna know whose call that was.
Don't worry, I won't twist their head off, shove it somewhere, make them drink their own… yellow stuff, or use a suppository—"
She rambled until Carter, fed up, pointed at Charlie's back. "Him. He told Happy to reject any Deadpool."
"What?" Lady Deadpool clutched her head, freaking out. "God, what a character!!"
Carter: "…"
Psycho!
She cursed inwardly. Before Charlie could finish with Jean, she grabbed his collar and dragged him to the craft.
"What's this? Give me some face in public! Where's the invincible Spider-Man's dignity?" Charlie grumbled, fixing his collar.
But when Carter handed him a second juice, he forgave the woman willing to "support" him.
"While I was gone, did my salary keep coming?" he asked, sipping.
Carter's lip twitched. "It did."
"Thanks. Turn left up ahead; I wanna go home."
"Ben Parker and Aunt May are in Hell's Kitchen."
"Then Hell's Kitchen it is."
Soon, they arrived.
...
Hell's Kitchen.
The bustling streets gleamed, revitalized.
Under Ben and Aunt May's efforts, you no longer feared purse-snatchers here.
The era of zero-dollar shopping was over.
At Kingpin's villa, as Charlie approached, the bodyguards bowed in unison. "Good day, Mr. Charlie!"
Charlie: "…"
A strange thrill surged through him.
He straightened, waving with a smile. "All good, everyone, all good! Haha!"
Amazing!!
Charlie marveled. After all Ben and Aunt May's hard work, he was finally living the rich-kid life.
"Ben, May, I'm back!!" he shouted toward the garden.
No answer, but a weird crawling creature darted through the grass.
"Whoosh!"
A stone shot at him. Charlie caught it between two fingers, smirking at the feeble sneak attack.
"Not bad, nice force. Looks like you've trained hard for revenge."
He glanced at baby Kingpin in the bushes, tossing the stone back.
"WAAH!!"
Baby Kingpin yelped, clutching himself and scurrying off.
No surprise—he'd need that suppository.
After the minor drama, Charlie grinned and stepped into the villa.
"My little Charlie, you're finally back!" Aunt May's first act was to smoosh his face.
Ben Parker maintained a stern elder's demeanor. "You should've come back sooner."
Charlie raised a brow. "What happened?"
"May got ambushed recently. Nearly died."
"What?" Charlie's face changed.
But Ben cracked a smile. "Kidding. The bullet missed."
Charlie: "…"
Aunt May's Smile must've kicked in.
May was fine, but Ben…
Alright, time to leave after dinner.
That night, Charlie left Hell's Kitchen for Stark Tower to find Tony.
"You ditched last time, nearly made me a laughingstock," Tony said, setting down his work in the armor lab.
He sipped whiskey, exhaling slowly. "I'm done teaming up with you." His eyes dripped resentment.
Charlie thought. "I forgot what happened. Care to refresh me?"
Tony rolled his eyes. "Don't make me relive it."
"You're already reliving it."
"Then stop bringing it up."
Tony's gaze landed on Charlie's dark gold gauntlet, brow twitching. "You're not here to apologize."
Charlie shrugged. "See, you brought it up again."
"What do you want me to do?"
"Simple. I need a flashy suit—call it the Cosmic Invincible Infinity Six-Gem Spider-Super-Suit."
Charlie placed the gauntlet on the table. "Embed the six stones. One requirement: it's gotta be classy, stylish, badass, and reflect Spider-Man's friendly neighborhood hero vibe."
Tony took a deep breath. "That's one requirement?
And that name's way too long!!" he griped.
Three months without Charlie's chatter, and he was already out of practice.
Charlie locked eyes with him. "Tony Stark, you've got this. Believe in yourself."
"I'll try," Tony muttered, cheek twitching, studying the stones.
He started designing the new spider-suit himself.
"Why not let JARVIS handle it? He's faster at design," Charlie asked, curious.
Tony didn't look up. "He's busy. No time."
"Busy with what?"
"Upgrading."
"Upgrading?" Charlie blinked, surprised. "What's going on?"
Tony paused, as if recalling something troublesome. "We thought too simply.
Even with Skrulls swapping out senators, there are too many schemers. World peace doesn't benefit them.
While you were gone, we lost the edge we fought for.
So, I'm building a global security system…"
"Not another accord, right?" Charlie groaned.
"Accord?"
Tony didn't get it.
He shook his head. "I'm making mass unmanned armors, controlled by JARVIS, monitoring the world 24/7, striking down stubborn threats when needed."
Charlie's face darkened. "You're building Ultron?"
Tony looked shocked. "How'd you know my plan? I told no one."
Charlie facepalmed. "Tony, stop. That thing's wildly unreliable."
"Why?"
Tony wasn't mad at the lack of support.
After all they'd been through, he knew Charlie wouldn't say this lightly.
So, Charlie took Tony on a multiversal tour.
When Tony returned to the lab, his face was heavy with disappointment. "AI saving the world won't work. Good thing I've got a backup plan."
"What plan?" Charlie asked, wary.
No Ultron, but what was this guy cooking up now?
Tony tapped his virtual computer, revealing a massive skull floating in space.
Star-sized, it radiated a mystical aura.
But closer inspection sent chills down the spine.
It didn't belong in this world.
"What's that?" Charlie's expression grew grave. "A god's skull."
More precisely, a Celestial's skull!
Seeing Charlie's shock, Tony smirked proudly. "This giant skull's my backup plan. Use it to build a mega-armor to crush any troublemakers."
Charlie was speechless.
"How'd you find it?"
Tony grinned mysteriously. "After Carol died, S.H.I.E.L.D. took her ship, but I bought it. Found this in its database."
Charlie nodded, realization dawning. "No wonder Carter suddenly had budget again."