Then, something strange happened.
The spider totem on Xia Luo’s chest began to flicker, its red and blue glow swirling. Gradually, one of his complete spider totems started to break apart. At the same time, a broken spider totem appeared on Lizard Parker’s chest, covered in light, and it began to repair itself, slowly becoming whole.
Seeing this, Infinite Tony and the others looked stunned.
“What is this?”
Old Steve pondered. “This must be the mark of Spider-Man. Perhaps it’s what gives Spidey his powers.”
Carter frowned. “But why does Peter Parker have a broken one?”
Infinite Tony entered a mental whirlwind.
He speculated, “Xia Luo Parker, and the Peter I know—they’re both Spider-Men. So this Peter Parker must be in a similar situation.”
Old Steve recalled their previous revival match.
“I think I get it. Last time, we met two Peter Parkers. One of them was an evil Spider-Man. So, this Peter Parker must also be a Spider-Man. But because his spider emblem is broken, he lost the chance to fully become Spider-Man!”
His tone shifted from uncertain to convinced.
Carter watched as the spider totem on Lizard Parker’s chest grew more complete. She turned to Xia Luo, still puzzled.
“His emblem is broken, but you had two of them originally.”
Old Steve chuckled. “Maybe that represents his other powers!”
“If Lizard’s totem becomes complete, he might transform into a Spider-Man just like Xia Luo,” Carter added with a small smile. “He won’t feel like a monster anymore.”
“But, sadly, we won’t be able to call him ‘Lizard Guy’ anymore.”
The trio quietly observed, waiting for the spider totem on Lizard Parker’s chest to fully form.
Lizard Parker heard their guesses and grew increasingly excited.
“I’m going to be Spider-Man! Haha, no more living as a monster. Finally, I’m free!”
Lizard Parker howled toward the sky, tears of joy streaming down his face.
No one could fully understand how he felt at that moment.
He had suffered from a disability since childhood and endured the scorn of others. Bullied by classmates and treated differently by teachers, he had grown to despise the sympathetic gazes of others, recognizing them as pity for the weak.
After becoming a monster, no one looked at him with sympathy anymore.
He liked seeing fear in people’s eyes, knowing he had become strong.
Yet deep down, he still felt insecure, fearful, weak, and lonely—traits that had only become more ingrained after his transformation.
To cover up his helplessness, he became more irritable and used his hideous form to intimidate others.
He was isolated.
Even Gwen couldn’t fully save him.
But now, he had finally found redemption.
Once he became Spider-Man, all his suffering would be behind him!
As a hero, the world would finally show him its brighter side.
Or so he thought.
But in the next moment, things took a turn, leaving Lizard Parker in utter despair.
Xia Luo, snapping back to reality, frowned. He darted forward and, without hesitation, shoved Lizard Parker out of the light.
With a swift bite, he let his own blood drip into the groove on the altar.
“Crack!”
Immediately, the altar stirred once again, and the starlight above surged more intensely, forming an even clearer spider totem in the vast sky.
“What are you doing!!” Lizard Parker roared.
He watched in despair as the spider totem on his chest flickered, on the verge of vanishing.
If this continued, he would lose his chance to become Spider-Man.
Then, something even more devastating happened.
A red and blue beam of light descended from the stars, enveloping Xia Luo. The spider totem on Lizard Parker’s chest was pulled away by an invisible force, slowly peeling off like strands of silk and merging with Xia Luo’s incomplete totem.
“No!!”
Lizard Parker’s pupils shook with rage. He charged at Xia Luo, claws outstretched, trying to hold on to the totem that he believed was his.
But no matter how desperately he grasped, the broken spider totem was drawn irresistibly toward Xia Luo’s now-repaired emblem.
“Lizard!”
Old Steve and the others tried to stop him, but it was too late.
“Buzz—”
As Lizard Parker lunged into the beam of light, the spider totem in the sky trembled before bursting with a dazzling brilliance.
“Boom!”
Red and blue light waves swept across the altar. Infinite Tony and the others staggered, their minds suddenly flooded with images of Spider-Man’s fate.
A lone hero, destined to lose again and again…
At the same time, Lizard Parker, who had leaped into the light, understood what Spider-Man’s destiny truly was.
“Buzz—”
Before long, the spider totem in the sky quietly faded away.
The light receded, and Xia Luo’s chest now bore a fully restored spider totem, while the other, broken totem also vanished into his chest.
He had absorbed Lizard Parker’s broken spider totem.
But Lizard Parker showed no sign of anger.
He collapsed onto his knees at the altar, his pupils dilating in disbelief as he stared at Xia Luo.
“Is that true?” he asked, his expression complicated.
“Is this really the fate of Spider-Man?”
“After becoming Spider-Man, his parents, Uncle Ben, Aunt May… Everyone around him will die.”
“‘With great power comes great responsibility.’ Anyone who believes in that will always be alone.”
“Gwen will face the same fate.”
“My totem was broken, so I never became Spider-Man. I was spared the pain of losing my loved ones, but I was still doomed to live in loneliness until the day I died.”
“No… It was because Gwen was Spider-Man and saw me as a friend that I ever—”
Tears of regret and sorrow dripped onto the altar as Lizard Parker slowly rose. The anger in his eyes had faded.
He looked at Xia Luo, opening his mouth as if to say something, but the words wouldn’t come.
Finally, he took a deep breath.
“You knew all of this from the start.”
Xia Luo nodded. “Of course.”
“Then why did you help me?”
“What?”
“You took my broken totem. My misfortune has left me, but now you’re taking on even more misfortune. You’ll never be free of this curse.”
Lizard Parker’s words of gratitude sent a shiver down Xia Luo’s spine.
“Stop looking at me like that. I already had two spider totems, so I don’t need your half… Wait, no—two and a half. Oh, crap, this reminds me of someone I knew.”
Xia Luo paused for a moment before speaking seriously. “Consider it my way of making it up to you, after all the times I tricked you.”
Lizard Parker stared deeply into Xia Luo’s eyes.
After a long silence, he grinned—though his smile was still quite terrifying.
“I forgive you.”
“Thanks.”
At that moment, the two shook hands, settling their differences.
Meanwhile, Infinite Tony and the others were still reeling from what they had learned about Spider-Man’s fate.
“Will Peter have to endure this too?”
Infinite Tony thought of the trouble-prone teenager and couldn’t help but worry.
“Rumble—”
Suddenly, the altar began to shake again, and the surrounding stone tablets shifted.
A swarm of Titan guards arrived on flying machines, their faces lighting up with hope as they gazed at Xia Luo and the others.
The scene was bewildering.
A towering purple figure stepped forward eagerly to greet Xia Luo.
“Hello, I am Thanos, the leader of Titan.”
“What?”
Xia Luo froze.
Leader?
Wasn’t he supposed to be the traitor of Titan?
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