To be fair, if his opponent hadn't been Captain Marvel, Staro's "Transformation Ray" would have been enough to cause considerable trouble for most heroes.
Especially for someone like "Captain America," who was merely a super soldier who had undergone genetic enhancement. Once he was trapped in a sea of robots, he would be in serious danger.
What was more, if he were hit by the "Transformation Ray," he would become a mechanical life-form and fall under Staro's control.
Staro's "Transformation Ray" originated from the modification of the AllSpark from the Transformers universe.
The value of the AllSpark in the Transformers universe was equivalent to the Six Stones in the Marvel universe.
Both were powers that involved the realm of "rules."
Therefore, once hit by the "Transformation Ray," even Captain Marvel would be transformed into a mechanical life-form.
Of course, hitting Captain Marvel was easier said than done. Besides, the ray could also be countered and canceled out by other energy waves.
So now, even though the entire street was filled with mechanical creations, there wasn't much change in Captain Marvel's expression.
Carol dodged Staro's "Transformation Rays" while weaving back and forth through the streets. The robots that looked quite sturdy fell apart as soon as she crashed into them.
After all, this was a woman who could even crash through and destroy a starship.
Compared with Thanos's starship, Staro's robot army was far too weak.
Staro also realized that throwing more robots at Captain Marvel was meaningless.
Once she cleared out his robot army and turned around to deal with him, he would be in danger.
So this "Homelander" suddenly fired various kinds of interference rounds at Captain Marvel.
They included flashbangs, smoke bombs, and concussion grenades.
Using these interference rounds as cover, he went all out with his propulsion. Dozens of thrusters all over his body activated at once, sending him rapidly into the sky while continuously producing sonic booms.
Supersonic!
He was very fast.
Unfortunately, Captain Marvel was faster.
A woman capable of interstellar travel was so fast that even Homelander felt inferior to her, let alone Staro, who hadn't even reached the "first cosmic velocity."
Naturally, Staro was stopped in an instant.
This "Homelander," whose entire body had undergone extensive modifications, had two electronic eyes that kept flashing.
After a round of precise calculations, he concluded that his probability of escaping Captain Marvel was practically zero.
"At this rate, I won't make it in time to stop the Green Goblin."
"Then there's no choice. I can only bring that thing out."
"I originally planned to use it against my 'brother.'"
"But now I'll have to put it into use early."
"Fortunately, when I first arrived in this universe, I placed it in the parking lot of Happy's apartment."
"Activate!"
"Destroyer!"
As Staro issued this command, the headlights of a car suddenly lit up in the parking lot of Happy's apartment, far away.
Then the car began to transform and reassemble. In the blink of an eye, an iron giant appeared in the parking lot.
This iron giant was actually the guardian of Asgard's treasury, the divine weapon known as the "Destroyer".
The moment the "Destroyer" activated, Homelander, who was currently playing the role of Sandman in Happy's apartment, immediately let out an "Eh?"
He sensed an extraordinary energy, and that energy was right beneath his butt.
He looked down at the floor. In his eyes, the floor, and even the entire apartment, became transparent.
He saw a special machine in the apartment parking lot.
The Destroyer!
Homelander narrowed his eyes and roughly guessed what Staro was planning.
'Planning to use the 'Destroyer' to deal with the Green Goblin and stop him from killing May, thereby preventing Little Spider from falling into darkness?'
'Then why doesn't Staro interfere himself?'
'Hmm! Looks like Captain Marvel has already found him.'
"Serves you right. Who told you to get clever and lure Captain Marvel here?"
"What are you talking about?"
Max sitting beside him asked.
There was now a device on his chest that was absorbing Max's electricity.
According to Peter Parker, once it finished absorbing Max's electricity, he would be able to permanently maintain his current state.
Homelander raised his head and spread his hands, "Nothing. I was just thinking about my daughter."
"How do you feel?"
Homelander pointed at the device on his chest.
Max looked down at it and said quietly, "Actually, I don't really like it."
"But if I don't do this, Spider-Man will kill me when I go back."
"So, yeah."
"Compared with being killed, being an ordinary person might not be so bad."
Homelander smiled and asked, "What did you do before?"
"I worked for Oscorp."
Max said casually, "Because I wasn't among them, I always did more work than everyone else while getting less in return."
"But I always stayed optimistic. Especially after Spider-Man appeared, I really liked him."
"At least I really did like Spider-Man before I became Electro."
"He was the hope for people like us. Whenever I felt that life was too difficult, I would tell myself."
"Hey, look."
"Even a little boy like that has a chance to become a great hero."
"One day, everyone will be looking at you too, Max."
"Then one day, I was asked to work overtime to maintain the electric eel power supply system, and I accidentally fell in."
Homelander shrugged, "I fell into a particle accelerator. Some scientists were conducting an experiment, and nobody knew I had fallen into it."
"And then I became what I am now."
Max smiled, "That's pretty good too. At least you don't have to eat, drink, or go to the bathroom. It saves you a lot of trouble."
Homelander pointed at him, "Same for you."
Then he continued, "So when you go back, Oscorp should compensate you, right?"
Max laughed, "That'll be difficult. It's already pretty good if they don't sue me."
"They're one of the top companies in the world. Their legal team has so many people I can't even count them."
"If they want to, they could even make me pay them compensation."
"Wait! Damn it!"
Homelander asked, despite already knowing the answer, "What's wrong?"
Max covered his face, "Before I came to this universe, I destroyed New York's power system."
"If I go back and become an ordinary person."
"They'll arrest me and sue me."
"If I can't afford the compensation, they'll make me spend the rest of my life in prison."
"Damn it!"
"If I become an ordinary person, I'll be arrested and sent to prison."
"But if I don't return to my original form, Spider-Man will kill me."
"What am I supposed to do?"
At this moment, that voice in his mind sounded again.
["Then become stronger than Spider-Man. Become so powerful that the laws of this world can no longer punish you!"]
Max froze for a moment and subconsciously asked, 'Is that possible?'
The voice in his mind answered, ["You already know the answer, don't you?"]
Max suddenly looked toward the replicator in the room, toward the Arc Reactor.
Homelander withdrew from his mind and deliberately asked, "How are you, brother?"
"You don't look so good."
Max looked at Homelander, "Do you believe him?"
"Believe the Peter Parker of this universe?"
Homelander crossed his arms, "I don't trust anyone."
"Me neither."
Max looked at the device on his chest, "He keeps saying he wants to help us, but he hasn't solved our problems at their root. He only untied the deadlock between us and Spider-Man, while dropping us into other troubles."
"Rather than spend the rest of my life in prison and turn back into that Max everyone looked down on, I'd rather be killed by Spider-Man."
"Or kill Spider-Man!"
Homelander quietly asked, "Can you do it?"
Max stood up, "As long as I become stronger than Spider-Man."
At this moment, the device on his chest began counting down.
The device was about to drain all his electricity, and Max was about to permanently turn back into an ordinary person.
But just before the device could finish its work, Max tore it off.
"Listen, buddy."
"We can't entrust our fate to a child."
"Fate should be firmly held in our own hands."
Homelander stood up, "What do you want to do?"
Max pointed toward the Arc Reactor, "That little thing can make me stronger than anyone."
"Help me, buddy."
"Help me get that little thing."
"I'll help you become stronger too."
"This universe, this world, has more advanced technology. It even has magic."
"So there must be a way to make you stronger."
"I promise, as long as I have that little thing, I'll help you become even stronger than you are now."
After pretending to think for a while, Homelander nodded, "Deal."
The two bumped fists.
Max then said, "Distract them."
Homelander immediately let out a scream, making Doctor Octopus, who had returned to normal and was helping out, Osborn, who was also helping, and most importantly, Peter Parker all turn toward him.
Homelander used his "Reality Distortion" ability to make himself suddenly turn into a sandstorm in everyone's eyes, including Max's.
A small sandstorm.
The apartment was immediately filled with flying sand and stones.
"What's going on?", May was frightened and repeatedly backed away.
Peter Parker quickly put down his work, came in front of May, and shouted toward Homelander, "Mr. Marko, what happened to you?"
Homelander's performance successfully drew Spider-Man and the others' attention.
So no one noticed that Max took advantage of the opportunity to reach the "Replicator," remove the Arc Reactor, and press it against his chest.
He immediately let out a shout.
He could only feel unprecedented energy flooding into his body.
He felt as if every cell and every nerve were filled with power.
"Too powerful!"
"This energy is too powerful!"
"I can feel it. I've become Superman. I've become a god!"
"I can do anything!"
His ecstatic shouting drew Spider-Man and the others' attention.
"What happened this time?"
Peter Parker shouted, "Mr. Max, what are you doing? Take the Arc Reactor off!"
"If you do that, all our work will be wasted!"
Seeing that Max had succeeded, Homelander stopped his performance and lifted the effects of "Reality Distortion."
Now everyone was looking at Max.
Max's eyes lit up. Electric surges constantly erupted from them. His body seemed to contain the electrical power of hundreds of power stations, giving him the feeling that he could do anything and that his strength was inexhaustible.
"All our work will be wasted?"
"No. Quite the opposite."
"This feeling is amazing. It's like I've been given a new life."
"Listen, everyone."
"We were wrong. Everything was wrong!"
"We don't need to be cured at all. What we need is to become stronger."
"Strong enough to fight the Spider-Man from our original universes, and even kill him!"
Max had already transformed into a humanoid figure made of yellow electrical energy, but his voice continued to ring out.
"Think about it, Osborn."
"You've killed countless people. Even if you return to normal, Spider-Man won't kill you when you go back."
"But you'll be prosecuted. You'll go to prison. You'll spend the rest of your life behind bars."
He then pointed at Doctor Octopus, "And you, Otto."
"You think people will forgive you after you go back looking like this?"
"No. They'll see you as a monster."
"Even if Spider-Man doesn't hunt you down, other people will attack you because you're an outsider."
"Yes, we're all outsiders."
"We can never be redeemed!"
"All we can do is use even greater power to destroy every rule in the world."
Max pointed at the floor, "Then, on top of the ruins, establish new rules, rules that belong only to us!"
While Max was "giving his speech," May had already quietly entered the room, taken the medicine used to cure Osborn, and put it in her handbag.
"This is crazy."
Peter Parker shook his head, "This is crazy, Mr. Max."
"This isn't how it's supposed to be."
"This isn't what I intended."
Just then, Spider-Man suddenly got goosebumps.
His Spider-Sense told him that danger was approaching.
He followed his instincts and trusted his intuition.
He suddenly turned around and shot a web at Osborn, who was reaching for May.
The web stuck Osborn's hand to the wall.
Doctor Octopus couldn't help looking at Osborn, "Norman?"
Under the light, Norman Osborn's expression kept changing. Then the corner of his mouth curled into an evil smile, "Norman has gone on vacation."
Peter Parker sucked in a breath, "Green Goblin."
"That's right. It's me."
Osborn looked at Max, "He's right."
"We don't need to be cured."
"We're not sick."
"And these aren't curses!"
He looked at Spider-Man, "You have no right to define our actions. That's too arrogant, kid."
"You're not God."
Little Spider shook his head, "That's not what you really think, Mr. Osborn."
Osborn shook his head and laughed, "I saw you in Norman's cowardice. You desperately wanted to have everything you wanted, but the world forced you to choose."
"And you."
He looked at May, "It was your hypocritical morality that made him choose wrong."
"All the pain he suffers tonight is because of you."
Peter Parker suddenly shouted, "Run, Aunt May!"