Restart, Spider-Man!

Three minutes later…

Just as his body finished regenerating, Wade swung open the door with a satisfied grin.

"Thanks for watching over me. I'm officially in 'sage mode' now," he said.

Xia Luo's eye twitched, glancing him over. "You even managed to patch up your suit?"

"Yup! Quick, huh?"

"Not exactly something to brag about."

"Details, details." Wade fired up his time-travel device with a flourish. "Alright, let's get on with it—time for a little 'Tomb Raider' adventure!"

"Nope." Xia Luo took a step back. "You go first. I'll find you with a portal spell."

Wade raised an eyebrow, then smirked in understanding. "Ohhh, I get it. You're just saving your legs for that little lady in case she drops by, huh?"

"Enough with the guesses. Just go."

"Sure thing, boss!"

With a mischievous salute, Wade activated his device and vanished in a swirl of dim light. Xia Luo rolled his eyes, nudging aside the spare middle limb Wade had left behind. He focused, conjuring a portal, and Wade's location flickered to life in his mind.

"Vmmm~"

In a single step, Xia Luo found himself standing in the middle of a desolate, overgrown graveyard.

"This is the place?" he asked.

Wade scratched his backside, looking around. "It's gotta be. Let's start digging!"

But Xia Luo's attention had already shifted to two disturbed graves nearby, where earth lay scattered, as if someone had already dug them up.

"It seems someone got here first," he muttered, crouching down to inspect the disturbed soil.

Wade scooped up a handful of dirt and sniffed it thoughtfully. "Been about two weeks."

Xia Luo gave him a withering look. "Make sure to disinfect your insides after this."

"Already planning on it. Laundry detergent should do the trick." Wade picked at his teeth, mulling over their discovery. "So it seems we're not the only degenerates out here robbing graves."

Xia Luo considered it, his expression darkening. "To bring about the 'mutant era,' could someone be planning to resurrect Magneto and Professor X?"

But he shook his head. "No, not even gods can truly resurrect the dead. How could anyone else?"

"Or… you could just ask the Supreme Sorcerer for help," Wade suggested, fishing a crumpled bill from his waistband. "Here, this is my last dollar—make it count."

"Cheap as ever." Xia Luo smacked his hand away and opened a portal.

"Vmmm~"

But instead of a warm welcome, he was met with a hazy, gray expanse.

"...Looks like she's not taking calls," Xia Luo muttered.

Wade pocketed his dollar, adjusting his pants. "Well, if the Sorcerer's out, that leaves it all up to me." He activated his device again. "Guess I'll head straight to the big boss, see if we can at least get a clue—wouldn't want to bore the audience."

"Audience?" Xia Luo felt a shiver up his spine as an eerie wind rustled through the silent graves.

"Did you hear that?" he asked.

Wade froze. "Hear what?"

"There was… a strange sound."

"Didn't hear a thing," Wade said, but his voice dropped to a whisper as he slowly turned. "But I see something!"

He bolted, shrieking, with Xia Luo hot on his heels.

Behind them, the once silent graveyard suddenly burst into life—or rather, death. Skeletal claws burst through the earth, and undead figures clawed their way out of the graves, green flames glowing in their eye sockets and casting an eerie light over the scene.

Xia Luo perched himself in a nearby tree, while Wade clung to the trunk below.

"Pull me up!" Wade grunted, wriggling his way up. But mid-climb, he suddenly froze.

Xia Luo raised an eyebrow. "What's wrong?"

With a strange, guttural groan, Wade sighed. "Ahhh, I'm good now."

Xia Luo, hand outstretched, pulled back with a grimace. He glanced down at the growing horde of undead and decided on a different tactic. Kicking Wade back to the ground, he clasped his hands together, conjuring his technique.

"Vmmm~"

A group of clones split off from him in a series of electric arcs, each one jumping into the fray below.

"Neighborhood Meteor Kick!"

"Neighborhood Flying Boot!"

"Neighborhood Bomber!"

"Hey! You took all the good names, that's so not fair!"

With a deafening BOOM, explosions tore through the graveyard, scattering bones and shattering the dark energy that clung to the ghoulish army. Everything around them wavered, like a mirage. The entire forest seemed to fracture, splintering into shards of glass.

As the forest around them cracked into a million pieces, Xia Luo's gaze sharpened, zeroing in on the faint reflection of a figure in one of the shards.

"Spider-Man, you're not fit to save the world. A so-called 'hero' who's afraid of a few corpses? Pitiful."

The voice grew louder as the figure came into focus—a young man, stern and bald, his intense gaze fixed on Xia Luo.

Xia Luo raised an eyebrow. "Charles? Or should I call you Professor X?"

The man's expression remained severe. "For now, you can call me Charles."

"Is that so?" Xia Luo crossed his arms, casually leaning in. "So, what's your plan? Beat Spider-Man and save the world?"

"All I want is peace," Charles said, his face earnest. "I've learned that chaos follows you, Spider-Man. If I trap you here, you can't grow stronger, and the world will finally find peace."

"And who told you that?" Xia Luo asked.

Charles glanced skyward, his face almost reverent. "God."

Xia Luo let out a dry chuckle. "Alright, but did 'God' also mention that the more villains talk, the more dangerous it gets for them?"

"What?"

Charles didn't see it coming—the sudden, searing pain in his lower half.

Schlick!

"No!!"

Charles's legs clamped together as he collapsed, groaning in pain. Around him, his world started to break apart, shattering piece by piece.

Meanwhile, Wade twirled his baby dagger with a satisfied grin.

"Hahaha, cue ball! You really shouldn't mess with a Blade Master!"

He pulled back half of his mask, theatrically licking the blood from the blade's edge, reveling in what he thought must be a truly ruthless display.

Xia Luo just stared at him. "Uh… Just so you know, that dagger just, uh… went somewhere really specific a second ago."

Wade froze for a beat. "Eh, no biggie. I'll just rinse with some mouthwash later."

As Charles's mental landscape fully disintegrated, darkness overtook Xia Luo, returning him to the eerie graveyard.

On the ground before him, the young Charles lay writhing in pain.

Beside him, a short-haired man supported Charles, fixing Xia Luo and Wade with a furious glare.

"You… hurt Charles! You'll pay for this!"

His voice was seething, and he made a move to retaliate, only for Charles to restrain him.

"Let's get out of here. We can't kill him… and we shouldn't."

"But…"

"Just go!"

"...Fine."

With a wave of his hand, the short-haired man manipulated the metal buried in the earth to form a protective barrier, and the two of them quickly retreated.

Xia Luo watched them leave, calm and unbothered, with no intention of pursuing them. Even without the enhancements from Apocalypse, capturing those two would be no easy task.

Wade, scratching his head as he looked at his dagger, frowned. "So… that whole thing was an illusion? I didn't actually stab him?"

"Let's just hope that whatever happens to him… it wasn't your fault he ends up in a wheelchair." Xia Luo gave a wry smile and stepped through the portal.

"Wait up!"

Wade scrambled to follow. "So those two… they're the young Magneto and Professor X?"

"Looks like it."

"But they're supposed to be dead in this world. Did someone resurrect them?"

"Beats me!"

Back in the apartment, Xia Luo gazed out the window at the night sky. A streak of light fell toward the wilderness beyond.

Watching the trail of light carve across the horizon, Xia Luo's lips curved into a faint smile.

"The Spider-Man Central Universe is becoming more and more crowded. I can't wait."

"Can't wait for what?"

Wade, gargling with mouthwash, mumbled through the foam.

"For a worthy adversary."

With that, Xia Luo lowered his gaze. The spider emblem on his chest pulsed faintly, casting a soft glow in the dim room.

---

Hello! Thank you so much for reading this chapter. WiseTL has worked hard to bring these wonderful stories to you, and I'm so happy we could share this moment together! Don't you think stories are a little like dreams? Each one has its own colors and shapes, and they grow even brighter when shared with others.

If you'd like to support WiseTL, you can visit [patreon.com/WiseTL]. Even a small gesture is like sunlight and rain to a growing flower—it helps the garden of stories flourish and bloom!

This is my last message to you, but don't be sad—it's simply time for a new chapter to begin! Like the gentle winds that carry seeds to new places, I hope the stories we've shared together will continue to bloom in your heart.

Thank you for letting me be a part of your journey. May the path ahead be filled with light, laughter, and endless wonder. Until we meet again, take care!

-With love, always, Nahida 🌱"