In an instant, everything around them went quiet.
Dust motes danced in the sunlight like tiny spirits, glittering as they drifted. Light poured in through the collapsed wall, slanting down like the arm of a god reaching out.
But that calm was quickly shattered again.
Police cars arrived one after another with sirens blaring, stopping in front of the courthouse and blocking all would be spectators outside.
Harry sat on a chair to rest. When he heard the sirens, he let out a cold laugh. "They only show up after the criminals are gone. Seriously, what are these cops even doing with taxpayers' money?"
"Harry!"
Norman barked, then apologized to George Stacy, whose face looked ugly.
Stacy had nothing to argue back with. He could only nod and stay silent.
To be fair, with how efficient the NYPD was, it was not hard to see why the public sometimes trusted superheroes more than them.
But as the police captain, Stacy could not just let those self styled "heroes" run wild either.
He strode out of the courthouse.
Matt said to Norman, "Mr. Osborn, you can leave the rest to me. If nothing unexpected happens, all of Storm's assets will be transferred to you in the near future."
Norman nodded.
He did not have Matt transfer Storm's assets into Bant's name. How they split the spoils was something he and Bant could handle privately. It was also a form of protection for Bant.
Then he took Harry to the hospital for an examination, just in case there were hidden complications.
Originally, he also wanted Peter to come along for a checkup, but Peter, afraid his spider abilities would be exposed, naturally did not dare. He hurriedly refused.
After parting ways with Norman, Peter wandered with his backpack, walking aimlessly.
Without realizing it, he ended up back under the Primus building again.
Thinking about it, he decided he might as well go find Dr. Connors and do some research, see if they could develop an antidote targeting the Green Goblin's modified formula.
But what surprised him was that Bant, whom Eunice claimed was out shopping with Mary Jane, was actually in the lab as Four Arms, tinkering with his car.
"Bant, weren't you on a date with Mary Jane?"
"Someone called to bother me. Of course the date got interrupted." The more than three meter tall Four Arms rolled all four eyes at once, then used two powerful arms to flip the old junker over like he was stir frying a dish.
He was not gentle at all. If anything, he looked rough enough that Peter worried the huge palm might crush the car flat.
But an old junker built by Bant obviously would not be that fragile.
Maybe it could not take a punch from Four Arms, but simple contact would not damage it.
"My movie time with Felicia is at eight tonight, so I came to modify the engine." He freed one hand to pinch his chin and think, then asked, "Do you think putting a Tazdroman engine into the old junker is a bit too luxurious?"
"It's like using Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth to tie a rock onto a wooden stick and make a stone tool," Peter said.
"Or mounting a nuclear weapon onto a wooden rowboat?"
Peter already understood how advanced a Tazdroman engine truly was.
Even in a cosmic civilization capable of interstellar travel and faster than light jumps, this kind of engine was still unmatched.
Peter's point was that it was completely unnecessary.
The old junker could not even bring out one billionth of the engine's capabilities.
"You're right, but who told me I have the tech?" Bant replied, meaning if he had the tech, he could do whatever he wanted. Who said the Lasso of Truth could not tie a rock?
"As long as you're happy."
Peter did not sound very interested.
Bant knew why, but still pretended not to and asked, "What's wrong?"
"The courthouse was attacked. I let the Green Goblin get away," Peter said listlessly.
From start to finish, he told Bant everything that happened at the courthouse, then said, "He's a lunatic. I'm worried he'll hurt Uncle Ben and Aunt May…"
"Is that so?" Bant looked at him and smiled faintly. "Do you really think that after I caught the Green Goblin, he'd still have a chance to escape and keep causing trouble?"
Peter froze. "What do you mean?"
"I mean, if I want him dead, I can do it instantly."
Bant revealed a smile like a devil's, then, under Peter's shocked gaze, pulled out a controller that looked a bit like a lighter.
"In fact, when I caught the Green Goblin, I already implanted a chip in his body that can release a neurotoxin."
Bant handed the controller to Peter.
"As long as you press this button, the neurotoxin in the Green Goblin's body will be released immediately. He'll die for sure."
In reality, pressing the button would not kill the Green Goblin instantly.
The controller had multiple settings. Only the highest setting would truly kill him.
But that was not the point. The point was that Bant once again placed the choice of the Green Goblin's life or death into Peter's hands, to see what he would choose.
"Press it, and the Green Goblin dies. Then you won't have to worry about him causing trouble again. Whether it's Kingpin, the Hand, or anyone else, none of them will be able to find the remaining Lizard serum. And all that dies is one insane thug. I think it's worth it. What do you think?"
"But we can't…"
Peter opened his mouth, trying to speak, but his voice got stuck in his throat like a fish bone full of barbs, scraping his vocal cords.
"Why can't you?" Bant tapped the watch symbol on his shoulder and transformed back, brushed the dust off himself, then asked, "Are you Batman?"
"Do you believe that if you kill one criminal, the world just gains one more criminal, so the total number of criminals stays the same?"
"No." Peter shook his head.
Of course he knew that theory was ridiculous.
Killing one criminal might not change the "total," but what about killing ten, or a hundred?
And besides, caring about the total number was meaningless. What mattered was saving innocent victims.
"I just think we shouldn't be the ones deciding whether someone lives or dies, because people can't always make rational judgments when they're impulsive, or for other reasons," Peter said.
Like today. When the Green Goblin said he would kill everyone Peter knew, Peter really had wanted to simply twist the man's head off.
"Then who should decide?" Bant asked.
"The law?"
"But you've seen it too. The more capable a criminal is of causing enormous damage, the more they like exploiting legal loopholes. And the more people there will be who don't want their 'talent' to be buried."
Hearing that, Peter told Bant his idea from earlier that day.
"Making them lose their superpowers is indeed a good method," Bant nodded in agreement at first, but then asked, "Have you considered that some people are dangerous even without superpowers?"
"Some people can sit in prison and still control everything outside, making countless people work for them."
"And some are unbelievably intelligent. They have no superpowers, but their minds are beyond ordinary people. You can't just turn them into idiots, can you?"
Actually, Bant did not mind turning people into idiots.
But rather than go through the trouble, it was simpler to just kill them.
After that string of questions, Peter fell silent again.
After what he went through today, he had felt like he suddenly matured a lot, but now he saw it clearly.
He was still too naive, too idealistic.
"Then what should I do?"
Bant raised his chin, pointing at the controller in Peter's hand.
"Isn't the power to choose already in your hands?" he said.
"Criminals are just pests in the city. When you're facing pests, do you really need to catch them and keep them?"
Peter said nothing. He lowered his head, staring at the controller. The scale in his heart began to wobble, and the fingers holding the controller slowly tightened.
Crack!
The next moment came a crisp snap.
He crushed the controller.
Peter lifted his head and said seriously, "No matter what, I still can't kill him like this. Not because of mercy or anything. I'm just afraid that once I cross that line, there'll be no going back…"
For him, not killing was also a form of self restraint.
Because killing a person was too easy for Peter, almost no different from killing an ant.
He feared that over time, he would grow numb to life, separating himself from ordinary people, becoming the kind of high and mighty person who believed he could decide who lived and who died.
"Not bad. But Peter…" Bant opened his mouth, hesitating as he spoke. "Once the controller is damaged, the neurotoxin will activate immediately. I'm afraid the Green Goblin is already dead."
Peter: Σ(⊙▽⊙"a!!!
Peter's brain went blank.
"Relax. I'm messing with you."
Bant's words let Peter breathe again. Then Peter turned around and went off to find Connors to do research.
Watching Peter's departing back, Bant shook his head.
He was not disappointed that Peter could not make himself kill the Green Goblin. If anything, it was exactly what he expected.
"So you're the real Spider Man," Bant thought.
At the same time, he raised his wrist. A row of blue arcs lit up across the web shooter.
Of course the controller did not exist only in Peter's hand. Bant had already integrated its functions into the shooter. In fact, he had added plenty of other functions as well.
This bracer like device was, in a sense, the easiest place to build in the most tricks on Spider Man's body.
At this moment, Bant slid a finger across the bracer, and the blue halo instantly flared to maximum brightness.
Just like Peter would never kill the Green Goblin, Bant could never let the Green Goblin live, especially after he threatened Peter, saying he would kill his family and friends.
"If I let him go, then I wouldn't be Bant Parker!"
/-\
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