"You killed him?" The Spiders surrounded Deadpool, staring in disbelief.
Gwen crossed her arms. "That guy looked like the highest-ranking one here. So we just… took down the big boss?"
"No, no, no, how could you accuse me of that?" Deadpool gasped dramatically, staggering into Malrick's shoulder for support.
"He clearly just rammed into this fancy vibrator all by himself and took the express elevator to redemption! Honestly, people never give me credit for my counseling skills."
With complete nonchalance, Deadpool placed his hand on Malrick's chest. "I persuaded him, he realized the error of his ways, and boom—atonement by death. My god, these pecs are glorious—"
Bang!
Malrick cut him off by blowing Deadpool's head apart. The blast wasn't gory; his Bio-field ensured the explosion was strangely clean.
Before Deadpool's body even hit the ground, Malrick casually wiped his hands on the mercenary's red suit. "If anything, Deadpool's the one in need of repentance. Hopefully there's a god somewhere patient enough to deal with that soul."
He picked up the Time Trimming Stick that had slipped from Deadpool's hand and began dismantling it piece by piece.
The three Spider-Men and Gwen watched as Deadpool's headless body collapsed, his ruined head already bubbling back into shape.
"Ugh, gross." Gwen wrinkled her nose.
"I second that," Holland-Spiderman muttered. "Dead or alive, he's disgusting."
Garfield-Spiderman squinted. "Didn't he say his powers came after years of torture? Then why does he look like a mutant cockroach that lost a fight with an earthworm?"
Toby-Spiderman grinned. "I think Malrick's punch was awesome."
"Forget that walking dumpster fire," Malrick said firmly. "The TVA isn't just these clowns."
He quickly reassembled the Time Trimming Stick, tested the mechanism, and aimed it at a cluster of TVA employees.
"You. How many timelines has Mr. Paradox destroyed, without reporting it to the higher-ups?"
The man he singled out—a short, plump clerk with a neat haircut—raised his hands in panic. "N-none, sir. Deadpool's universe was the first!"
Malrick tilted his head. "So they haven't started yet. Unlucky Deadpool. Still… with him around, a little bad luck is expected."
He swept his gaze over the group. "And none of you thought to report Mr. Paradox's little side project? Not one of you?"
The plump man's eyes darted nervously, and the silence from the others said it all.
"Not a single innocent one," Malrick concluded. His voice hardened. "Then you all share the same fate."
World Projection flared around him, his inner reality overlaying the chamber and locking down the TVA's defenses. With precise hand movements, Malrick summoned the Form of Ikonn.
The Time Trimming Stick split into dozens of replicas, each one flashing to life as they targeted the TVA employees.
Screams filled the room for a heartbeat, then vanished as quickly as they began. One blink later, the chamber was silent. The staff were gone.
"Malrick, you—" Holland-Spiderman started.
"They were planning to erase an entire universe," Malrick interrupted. "It's only right they got trimmed instead."
He turned back to the console, fingers flying over the controls. "They rerouted the surveillance feed so their bosses wouldn't know what was happening. Typical corruption."
Malrick restored the original feed, re-uploading every piece of footage, including himself breaking through the anti-magic barriers. He wanted the TVA leaders to see. To understand.
If he didn't assert himself now, they might treat him like just another anomaly. And Malrick refused to be dismissed like Loki once was.
"An organization this big, and it's still rotten inside," Gwen muttered. "I thought only the NYPD worked like that."
Holland-Spiderman scratched his head. "So… we've saved Deadpool's universe? That's good, right?"
"More or less," Malrick said with a shrug. "If you want to go home, you can. But Deadpool broke the Time Pad, so you'll have to wait."
Moments later, the door burst open.
A strong, husky voice carried into the room before the figure appeared. "I deeply apologize, Mr. Stark, Ms. Stacy, and all the Peter Parkers."
A squad of fully armed TVA agents marched in, led by a Black woman with a sharp, neutral haircut and the orange uniform of a commander.
Malrick recognized her instantly: Hunter B-15, once a combat captain, now a top-ranking TVA leader after siding with Loki in saving the multiverse.
She strode directly toward Malrick, her hand resting carefully on her own Trimming Stick, though it was little more than scrap compared to what he held.
"I want to apologize on behalf of the Time Variance Authority," she said with a firm but respectful smile. "No one wanted Mr. Paradox's actions. You did us a favor by trimming those traitors. Thank you, Malrick. You've done a service not only for the TVA but for the Multiverse."
Her gaze never left his, and though her tone was steady, her grip on the weapon betrayed her nerves. Everyone in the TVA knew his story.
He was Superman to some, but not the kind Spider-Man was. He had kindness and a moral code—but none of his enemies ever walked away unscathed.
And B-15 knew: right now, she was standing face to face with the only Superman in the multiverse.