After understanding the situation, the Spider-Men were both amazed and grateful to Malrick. They surrounded him, their chatter nonstop.
"Oh my God, how did you do it? You killed the Morlun siblings in an instant! They were so powerful; they killed so many of us!"
"Oh! You resurrected the others! That's incredible! Did you fly around the Earth like Superman and reverse time? I've seen that in the movies…"
At the same time, complaints about their leader, Spider-Man 2099, filled the air.
"Miguel is such a jerk! How could he leave us behind?"
"Next time he comes back, I won't vote for him. Did we even vote…?"
Except for avoiding vulgar language, this crowd of Spider-Men resembled a swarm of Deadpools.
Could Malrick tolerate it? Not for a second. He exhaled sharply, and the Spider-Men were sent flying backward out of the Alliance Building, beginning an uncontrolled freefall.
Before the group could find their way back, Malrick turned to Gwen, who had stayed behind.
"I'm going to the Multiverse where Morlun is, to take a look and, while I'm at it, send his entire family to join him. Otherwise, they'll just keep hunting us."
Gwen's smile faltered as she quickly grabbed Malrick's arm.
"Wait, are you going alone? Aren't you taking us? There are a lot of us here. To defeat the Inheritor Family, we should go together."
"No need," Malrick said, preparing to pull away.
Gwen held on tightly, pressing herself against him.
"If you don't take them, they'll find a way to go on their own. And… if you don't take them, can you at least take me?"
Malrick looked at Gwen, weighing the thought. Take a group of Spider-Men into the comic Universe? They would be more of a distraction than help.
Still, Gwen's embrace reminded him of the soft youth of the Spider-Girl. He recalled Old Shazam's words in the DCEU, claiming he wasn't pure enough. Maybe the old man wasn't wrong.
Still, Malrick refused.
"Don't drag me down."
He gently pulled his hand from her grasp, eliciting a sharp gasp, then flicked her forehead with his knuckle.
"Soon, both your Multiverse and mine could face destruction. We both need to prepare ourselves. Don't follow me to Morlun's world. Handle your own matters first."
"Oh, right. You can take those Spider-Men to the TVA."
"Doctor Doom's recent rebellion caused the TVA to shut down temporarily. Take the chatterboxes there, let them use their abilities, and stabilize the Multiverse first."
With that, Malrick stepped forward and left the Spider-Verse.
Gwen rubbed her reddened forehead, hands on her hips, slightly indignant. She looked at the spot where he had stood, then smiled. A slight curve touched her lips as she shot a web to find the other Spider-Men, her spirits lifted for the first time in a year.
…
The Marvel comic Multiverse was vast, far beyond anything Malrick had ever encountered. In his movie world, his mental power could cover nearly half the Universe. Here, even spreading it out, he couldn't reach the edges.
If the movie Universe was a stream, this was a river, or even a sea. Both were infinite, but the comic Universe contained negative and fractional infinities, not just positive.
Malrick observed. Within his sight, no Universe was safe. Worlds collided endlessly.
"It won't be long before these Universes collapse, and the entire Multiverse turns to nothing," he thought.
The collision had reached mid-to-late stages, far worse than in his own Universe. The Infinity Stones here were weaker, their origins different from the singularities before creation.
Once, collecting the Stones granted the power to destroy the Multiverse. After Thanos' devastation, the Life Tribunal limited them. Now, they worked only in their own Universe.
Even when Superheroes tried to use them to save collapsing worlds, the Stones couldn't push other Universes—they might even shatter from the effort. The comic Universe's defenders had no choice but to destroy the other Earths.
Earth-616, the strongest Earth, had gone berserk. The Avengers and Illuminati, except for Captain America, lost their moral compass, descending into killing madness.
Malrick surveyed this grim scene, realizing every world was a tragedy. He sent a wave of Rejedo M-bodies into the endangered worlds and then moved toward a specific Universe.
…
Comic Earth-13.
While the Multiverse collided and heroes destroyed Earths, the Little Spiders had their own battles.
Spider-Men and the Inheritor Family were in full-scale war. Universe 13 belonged to Cosmic Captain Spider-Man, an emissary of Eternity, akin to the herald of the Devourer of Worlds.
Even with cosmic power, the Inheritors came. Sollus, the family patriarch, had devoured countless Spider-Men over unknown eons. Even Cosmic Captain Spider-Man could only fight him to a draw.
Sollus devoured cosmic power like life energy. Planets cracked, the ground shattered, and the Spider-Men could only pray.
When Sollus clamped Cosmic Captain Spider-Man's head and began devouring him, hope seemed lost. Main Universe Peter Parker froze.
Then, Malrick appeared.
"Oh? Seems I've arrived just in time," he said, kicking Sollus away from Cosmic Captain Spider-Man, saving him from certain death.
===
Just finished a Presentation, and I low-keyinely think I flopped it 😭