Charlie suddenly stopped in his tracks.
“Lizard Parker?”
So one of the Peter Parkers was an old acquaintance.
Then…
Who was the other Peter Parker?
“It’s me.”
Lizard Parker cracked his knuckles.
A series of sharp pops echoed through his massive reptilian frame as murderous intent filled his eyes.
“I gave you a chance.”
“And you completely wasted your opportunity to come back to life.”
“You’re nothing but trash.”
“I never should’ve entrusted Gwen to you.”
“Die!!”
With a furious roar, Lizard Parker launched himself forward.
His enormous body tore across the desert, whipping up a violent sandstorm as he pounced.
In this universe…
There was no Gwen Stacy.
And Lizard Parker had become even more monstrous because of it.
Facing the charging beast, Charlie knew he couldn’t match him in raw strength.
There was no point trying to fight head-on.
Thwip!
Two strands of web shot straight toward the Lizard’s eyes.
Blinded for a split second, the monster lost sight of his target.
Charlie twisted sideways, narrowly dodging the attack before vaulting onto Lizard Parker’s back.
Using the monster’s momentum, he launched himself into the air.
Thwip!
Another web attached itself to a watchtower inside the valley.
Charlie swung over instantly, crashing into the platform before delivering a clean spinning kick that sent the guard flying off the tower.
“Open fire!”
“Open fire!”
The armed Ten Rings soldiers immediately unleashed a storm of bullets toward the red-and-blue figure darting across the battlefield.
Rat-tat-tat-tat!
Heavy machine guns tracked Charlie relentlessly.
Occasionally…
A bullet struck his suit.
Tiny fragments of nanometal scattered into the air.
The suit’s protection was only effective against smaller-caliber rounds.
Soon…
Bullets began punching through.
Blood seeped through the nanotech armor.
Charlie’s movements gradually slowed.
Then—
BOOM!!
The Green Goblin swooped in atop his glider.
Specialized razor bats sprayed through the air.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Countless green blades flashed toward Charlie.
Already struggling under the overwhelming gunfire, he failed to dodge in time.
The speeding Goblin slammed into him head-on.
BOOM!
Charlie crashed straight through a wooden shack.
The structure collapsed instantly.
Dust filled the air.
Hovering overhead, the Green Goblin looked down at him.
Twin blades extended from his wrists.
“Hehehe…”
“My good boy.”
“We meet again so soon.”
“What a delightful surprise.”
The familiar tone froze Charlie in place.
“…That voice…”
Before he could finish thinking—
A flash of steel crossed his vision.
Then…
Darkness.
[You have been eliminated.]
[Resurrection Slot not awarded.]
[Strength Reward: +0.2 Tons]
[Remaining Restart Attempts: 12]
[Restart?]
Charlie opened his eyes once again atop the cosmic spider web.
He frowned deeply.
He was almost certain now.
The Green Goblin he’d just encountered…
Was the very same Norman Osborn who had died in front of him two days earlier.
Before dying…
Norman had briefly regained his sanity.
But after entering the Resurrection Match…
His Goblin personality had completely taken over.
Even if Harry himself stood before him…
The Goblin probably wouldn’t hesitate.
Whether it was Lizard Parker…
Or the Green Goblin…
Both were incredibly troublesome opponents.
Not to mention…
The third Peter Parker hadn’t even appeared yet.
Anyone assigned to the Villains Team certainly wouldn’t be harmless.
Meanwhile…
Charlie’s own teammates consisted of Black Widow, whose powers were hardly obvious…
And an elderly Captain America who had grown old and physically weak.
No matter how he looked at it…
Their chances of winning were practically zero.
Fortunately…
He still had twelve restart attempts remaining.
There was still hope.
As the additional 0.2 tons of strength flowed into his body, Charlie clenched his fist.
He nodded slightly.
This elimination had rewarded him with double the usual strength increase.
It wasn’t much.
But every little bit counted.
Looking at the prompt before him…
Charlie tapped Restart.
The void swallowed him once more.
[Entering Resurrection Match…]
The blazing desert returned.
Charlie glanced toward his two teammates.
“Natasha.”
“Steve.”
As expected…
The two immediately began catching up with each other.
This time, Charlie didn’t interrupt.
Instead…
He kept his eyes fixed on the distant valley, quietly waiting for the mission to begin.
If his guess was correct…
The enemy had been able to fire the Ten Rings’ missiles almost immediately after the match started.
That meant…
Their spawn point had to be somewhere inside the valley.
As for convincing the Ten Rings leader to cooperate…
That wasn’t difficult for a group of supervillains.
From the very beginning…
The opposing team held every advantage.
Superior teammates.
Superior terrain.
With the Ten Rings serving as their eyes and ears…
Finding Charlie’s team would be effortless.
So…
His first priority was making sure Steve and Natasha didn’t get blown up by missiles.
Having two extra teammates…
Even weak ones…
Was still infinitely better than fighting alone.
There was no chance he could defeat three supervillains by himself.
As he considered his options…
Charlie noticed a desert off-road vehicle parked outside the valley.
A plan immediately formed in his mind.
The three of them stood roughly five hundred meters away.
It should be possible.
Beep!
The mission officially began.
Before Steve and Natasha could continue chatting…
Charlie suddenly backflipped away.
Thwip!
Thwip!
Two webs shot out.
One attached to Steve.
The other wrapped around Natasha.
Their reunion was instantly interrupted.
“What are you doing?!”
Both Avengers were startled.
“I’m helping you take off.”
“Here we go!”
The instant Charlie spoke…
The muscles in both arms bulged.
Planting his feet firmly into the sand, he spun his entire body with explosive force.
Twelve tons of strength erupted.
The powerful swing launched both teammates high into the sky.
The surrounding sand exploded outward.
For a brief moment…
Steve and Natasha looked like riders on an amusement park swing.
WHOOSH!
A violent gust blasted into their faces.
Steve was the first to be hurled hundreds of meters away.
“Holy shit!”
Still airborne, the elderly Captain instinctively reacted.
Years of battlefield experience had become second nature.
He immediately curled behind his shield.
The moment he landed…
The vibranium shield scraped across the sand, allowing him to slide another hundred meters before finally stopping.
Just as he looked up…
He saw Natasha flying toward him.
A strand of web still connected her to Charlie.
“Natasha!”
“Peter!”
Steve shouted.
At that exact moment…
Charlie yanked hard on the web.
Natasha was pulled straight into his arms.
Thud!
The two tumbled together down a sand dune.
An instant later—
BOOM!!!
A deafening explosion shook the entire desert.
Scorching shockwaves mixed with swirling sand engulfed all three of them.
High above…
Norman Osborn hovered on his Goblin Glider.
A puzzled look crossed his face.
“Strange…”
“How did he figure out my plan?”
At the valley entrance…
Lizard Parker charged straight through the sandstorm without slowing down.
He was already itching for another fight.
“Charlie Parker!”
“Where are you hiding, you worthless loser?!”
He searched wildly through the sea of sand.
Meanwhile…
Hidden behind the parked off-road vehicle…
Charlie, Steve, and Natasha lay completely flat against the ground, silently watching as the gigantic reptilian monster drew closer.
Steve finally broke the silence.
“…Charlie.”
“How did you know they were going to use missiles?”
He was still shaken by what had almost happened.
After that explosion…
Neither he nor Natasha had any interest in reminiscing anymore.
Without taking his eyes off Lizard Parker, Charlie answered,
“Spider-Man has Spider-Sense.”
“Didn’t you know that?”
Steve and Natasha exchanged confused glances.
Natasha blinked.
“Peter has that?”
Steve thought for a moment.
“I remember hearing about it.”
“I think Peter only fully developed it after Mysterio beat him half to death.”
“Alright…”
Natasha nodded before glancing back toward the approaching monster.
“So…”
“What do we do about the giant lizard?”
Charlie shook his head.
“We can’t fight him head-on.”
“There are still two more dangerous opponents waiting inside the valley.”
“We’re completely outmatched.”
“We still have almost twenty-four hours before the mission ends.”
“So first…”
“We hide.”
“Then we come up with a real plan.”
Steve suddenly remembered something.
“I know a place.”
He pointed toward the opposite side of the valley.
“Tony told me about it years ago.”
“After escaping, he upgraded the Iron Man suit and came back here for revenge.”
“But…”
“He couldn’t find the Ten Rings anywhere.”
“He searched the surrounding area.”
“Eventually…”
“He discovered an abandoned underground bunker.”
“We can hide there.”
(End of Chapter)