Chapter 400: Chapter 400: Phoenix Cool Down
In the Marvel multiverse, many superheroes have different identities across various parallel universes, and each counterpart's situation is uniquely different.
The Spider-Man before Clark was one of the better-off among all Spider-Men. Even now, only Spider-Gwen, whom Clark had taken special care of, could surpass him in strength. None of the other Spider-Men could compare to this Captain Universe Spider-Man.
Yet, this elite Spider-Man appeared somewhat frail now. The vast cosmic energy within him was visibly draining at an alarming rate; with each passing second, his strength diminished.
With a slight frown, Clark looked at the man before him, who resembled a leaking funnel, and spoke resignedly, "I already know what's happening to you."
With a wave of his hand, Captain Universe Spider-Man felt a surge of energy, and the overwhelming fatigue he had been enduring vanished. Although the cosmic energy continued to drain, it seemed not to affect his capabilities as an ordinary person or as Spider-Man any longer.
"Thank you, Mr. Clark!" Having regained his vitality, Captain Universe Spider-Man immediately expressed his gratitude respectfully.
As someone who held the dual roles of universe captain and Spider-Man, his perspective was far beyond that of other parallel universe Spider-Men. He had encountered more than one or two hosts of other-dimensional entities like Wanda or Jean Grey. Yet, unlike the harmonious relationship between Spider-Man and Clark, other hosts did not share such a peaceful bond with their entities.
Looking at how Jean Grey was disastrously affected by the Phoenix Force in the original timeline illustrates this well. For superheroes like him, powers from such entities are a double-edged sword.
They could inflate one's powers to unimaginable levels in moments but also bring unbearable pain.
An entity like Clark, who interacted casually with the Spider-Men and helped them with their problems, was unheard of to him before.
Yet as a universe captain, he understood a principle well:
Divine grace is as vast as the sea, divine might as harsh as prison!
Clark's approachability was no excuse for indiscretion.
Yet, the issue he now faced was too horrifying not to mention. He felt he might become a universal criminal if he remained silent, but could he really pass such a colossal problem onto Clark, who had no connection to it?
As Captain Universe Spider-Man hesitated, Clark continued, "The cosmic energy within you comes from the universe captain, whose power, in turn, derives from Eternity, one of the five creation gods. With Eternity's death, the cosmic energy inside you has become rootless and will swiftly wither away with time—an irreversible process."
"What I can do for you is merely to prevent your body from being harmed when this power vanishes, just as I did just now. As for the rest, it's not your concern or within your jurisdiction... You should go back." With those final words and another casual wave of his hand, Captain Universe Spider-Man felt his body involuntarily pulled back into the spatial vortex behind him, disappearing from the Earth-199999 parallel universe.
After sending Captain Universe Spider-Man off, Clark looked up, his gaze piercing through numerous star cores as he began searching the cosmos. Moments later, when he retracted his gaze from the vast starry river, his expression carried a hint of helplessness.
Indeed, it wasn't just the Eternity of Captain Universe Spider-Man's parallel universe that had vanished; even the Eternity in the Earth-199999 parallel universe and in the extradimensional space had disappeared.
Even the part of the universal laws that Eternity represented was missing!
What did this imply?
It meant that following Tunxing, even Eternity had suffered a mishap!
As the old saying goes, "A storm is coming," with the rapid reduction of celestial beings and the fall of Tunxing and Eternity, the imminent storm was almost upon them.
Clark wondered how much longer his weathered companions could enjoy peace.
Suddenly, Clark's gaze sharpened.
A portal sparking with fire and lightning appeared out of nowhere in front of him, a magic Clark hadn't used in a long while.
Stepping through the portal was none other than Doctor Strange, but today, the legendary figure wasn't wearing his signature levitating cloak. Instead, the cloak hovered beside him, wrapping a woman with fiery red hair all but her head, as if...
She was washed, packaged, and ready to be presented to an emperor?
However, Clark wasn't in the mood for jokes, judging by the stern and somewhat ugly expression on Doctor Strange's face; they were in trouble, and it was a significant problem that even Doctor Strange couldn't handle!
Clark's gaze swept over the...ahem, unconscious Jean and he immediately said, "Her problem isn't severe; I could wake her up right now if I wanted." As he spoke, he waved his hand, and Jean Grey's eyes flew open in surprise, looking around at the simultaneously familiar and strange surroundings.
Familiar, because this was Earth, comforting for Jean who had traveled through time and space for a while.
But strange, because she had never been to Clark's villa before.
Yet, seeing Clark's tall and handsome figure, her heart finally settled, and she quickly said, "Clark, I felt the power inside me vanish suddenly."
"It's not just you," Clark said casually, his thoughts already on Ava resting in the Avengers' base. Indeed, the Phoenix Force within her had also disappeared.
However, Ava's body had become special due to Clark's intervention; even with the Phoenix Force gone, she suffered no harm due to the blessing of the Avenging God's power. She hadn't even felt the disappearance of the Phoenix Force and was sleeping soundly.
"The Phoenix Force inside both you and Ava has vanished simultaneously. It seems not only has Eternity fallen, but the Phoenix has cooled down too!"
Clark's statement made not only Jean widen her eyes in shock, but even Doctor Strange felt a surge of alarm.
The Phoenix was known to them as a being even more terrifying than Tunxing!
Now it was gone too?
Unconcerned with their reactions, Clark instructed them to rest, then vanished into the material plane with a thought.
With the situation worsening, yet the Living Tribunal showed no signs of activity, Clark felt it necessary to have a serious talk with this manager of the multiverse.
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