A week later—
"Are you really planning to go back? This spatial connection point is still a little unstable. Mistakes are bound to happen." Otto and Renzo stood beside a massive device. This was the very place where Renzo had first crossed over last year.
"Yeah. I've stayed here long enough. It's time to go back." Renzo nodded, the images of the Avengers flashing through his mind. "They're my comrades too—the kind you share life and death with. Even though I've spent more time here with you… that place is still my home."
Renzo fell silent for a moment. This world had become a kind of home—but not his original one.
He missed the life he had before entering the Marvel universe. But he also knew that, barring a miracle, he would probably never return to it.
"Things here are settled. It's time for me to leave."
...
After the battle on the Brooklyn Bridge, the structure was nearly destroyed. Flint was arrested on the spot. As he was being escorted into the police car, he turned back to look at Renzo and Otto, regret clear in his eyes.
"I'm sorry… I didn't choose to trust you. I'm sorry."
After apologizing, he got into the car. As he looked out through the window, his expression turned uncertain. He didn't know what kind of punishment awaited him—prison for life, execution… or perhaps being taken somewhere as a test subject.
"Wait!"
Renzo hesitated, then stepped forward and knocked on the car window.
"Huh?" Flint looked at him, confused.
Renzo pulled out his phone and silently played a video.
"Dad!"
"Penny!" The moment Flint heard his daughter's voice, he pressed his face against the glass, eyes wide.
"Two uncles came to our house today. They brought a big, comfortable bed—it was really cold—and let me lie on it."
"Then… I fell asleep because it felt so nice. When I woke up, Mom was holding me and crying. She said my illness was cured and I don't need to take medicine anymore."
"Dad, did you hear me? I'm cured! I can go to school now! I can go out and play with Mom!"
Penny's bright, childish laughter filled the video. Flint's eyes turned red. A man who had endured pain without a word finally broke down, tears streaming down his face.
"Dad, when are you coming back? Mom and I miss you!"
"Penny… Penny…" Flint sobbed, his voice choked and incoherent, but his meaning was clear.
"Thank you… thank you…"
"Flint," Renzo said through the window, his voice steady, "I'll hire a lawyer for you. I'll do my best to get you out alive—but you may have to stay inside for a few years."
Flint didn't respond, but the emotion in his eyes said everything.
Renzo watched as the police car drove away, his thoughts conflicted. But there was nothing he could do.
That was how society worked. Without money, power, or influential connections, a person could easily become expendable—less valued than the pets of the wealthy.
People might say no one should commit crimes, no matter the reason. But in reality, few would care about someone with nothing. There were countless examples of that everywhere—especially in a system driven by capital.
It was easy to judge from the outside.
Renzo turned and walked slowly toward Eddie's shriveled body. The man before him bore no resemblance to the monstrous figure from half an hour ago.
Eddie had been forced into a deep sleep by the Mind Stone. His body had been drained by the symbiote; his organs were failing. Even without intervention, he wouldn't last much longer.
Looking at him, Renzo felt no sympathy. Eddie had brought this fate upon himself.
His attention shifted instead to the ring on Eddie's hand—a strange object emitting a faint black glow.
...
"Why didn't Peter come to see me off? I've even been helping him take care of Aunt May."
"Don't blame him," Otto said with a smile. "Peter's extremely busy right now. Ever since the battle on the Brooklyn Bridge, Spider-Man's gained a surge of devoted fans. Whenever he goes out, he's surrounded. Some have even figured out the areas he frequents and wait there every day. He can barely step outside anymore."
"And Harry—although the misunderstanding has been cleared up, he still holds some resentment toward Peter. He's even stationed people near Peter's house to watch him. They don't do anything—just stare. Peter has to keep his curtains closed all the time."
"Can you imagine it? Two large bodyguards in black suits watching you wherever you go—while you work, go on a date, even buy groceries? That's Peter's life right now."
Renzo couldn't help but laugh. There were very few people who could mess with Peter's mindset like that.
Still, he understood—Harry wasn't crossing the line. If it were Renzo, he'd probably go much further.
"What about the symbiote? What are you planning to do with it?"
"I'll take it back with me," Renzo said firmly. "It's too dangerous to leave here. We need to study it with our technology."
What he didn't say was this: if a symbiote had already reached Earth, then somewhere out there, an entire symbiote species existed—and they might already be spreading across inhabited worlds.
If left unchecked, this one could eventually signal its kind, leading to an invasion.
And in this world, there were no Avengers to stop it.
Renzo glanced at the black ring in his hand. It was another key factor behind Eddie's mutation—along with the lingering effects of dark magic tied to Doctor Strange.
At the time, the disturbance in space-time had severed part of Strange's arm, releasing traces of dark magic. With the instability of this universe's spatial channels, fragments of those runes had leaked into this world—eventually falling into the wrong hands.
"But how did this thing get here? Can the Infinity Stones connect different multiverses? The Wall of Origin isn't something that should be this easy to bypass…"
The ring on Renzo's finger was no ordinary object.
It was the Black Lantern Ring—a relic from another universe, representing death and despair.
It typically bonded with corpses, feeding on life and emotional energy. A deeply malevolent artifact.
Eddie had only been able to wear it because the symbiote had pushed his body into a prolonged state of near death.
Renzo could feel that its power was nearly depleted. The Mind Stone had been warning him ever since he put it on, suppressing its energy. Without the Mind Stone's full cooperation, even Renzo's combat strength had been reduced.
"A broken piece of junk with an attitude…" Renzo muttered. "I'll tear you apart and use you as a paperweight."
"Are you ready?" Otto asked, standing at the console, his voice carrying a trace of reluctance. "Are you sure you don't want to stay?"
Renzo shook his head.
He had stayed in this world longer than anywhere else—but there were still things he had to do.
"I think I and Stark would have gotten along well," Otto said.
Renzo smiled faintly, offering his final farewell.
With a sharp hum of electricity, a vortex of space-time opened behind him.
Renzo took one last look at the world—the familiar sky, clear and unpolluted, birds soaring freely.
"If I ever get the chance… I'd like to retire here."
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