Alright, time to get out of the scene before anyone noticed him.
Otherwise, if someone got a picture and sent it to the Daily Bugle, J. Jonah Jameson would probably shift his favorite target from Gwen to him instead...
In the blink of an eye, Peter was back on a rooftop.
He had only just gotten his abilities, so he still was not fully skilled with any of them yet. The second his spider-sense had gone off, he had failed to react in time, which was exactly how he had ended up slamming into that giant outdoor LED screen.
Peter decided that from now on, whenever he swung with webbing, he needed to stay completely focused.
He absolutely could not let that kind of tragedy happen again.
Still, jokes aside, this was his first real heroic outing, and swinging through the city like this felt incredible.
The only problem was that his webbing apparently did not dissolve on its own, which was going to make cleanup a real headache...
Whatever.
Stopping criminals and defending the innocent was his job.
As for cleaning up New York, that could be somebody else's problem~
Surely they would not hold a grudge against your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man over something that small.
New York was packed with towering skyscrapers, and every single building could serve as a point of support for him. He could jump freely between the skyline, with the streets of New York rushing beneath his feet and the crowds below looking like little clusters of pixels.
Maybe high places really did have some kind of natural charm.
The higher and faster he swung, the more comfortable Peter became.
At this point, all of New York City felt like his personal playground.
Peter eventually stopped atop the building closest to the scene below, and from this distance, his vision was still sharp enough to clearly make out what was happening on the ground.
Terrified crowds were scattering in all directions. Screams and angry shouts filled the air. Buildings nearby were being blasted apart, while chunks of broken stone crashed down everywhere.
The NYPD had formed a perimeter around the center of the disaster. Armed officers with live weapons were taking cover behind police cars, waiting to unleash suppressing fire the moment the super-criminal inside the smoke showed himself.
And with his enhanced eyesight, Peter spotted someone he knew at a glance.
Gwen's father.
Officer George.
To be honest, the man really was dedicated. If all went well, he would probably make inspector next year. At a time like this, the smartest move should have been to stay steady and play it safe, yet he had chosen to stand right on the front line. Maybe he really was the same kind of person as Uncle Ben, someone who understood that with great power comes great responsibility.
Judging from the current point in time, Sandman had not mutated yet, which meant the terrifying cloud of dust at the scene was not his doing. If it had been Sandman, every police car on site would have already been launched into the sky, and everyone there probably would have been torn to pieces.
As the dust gradually cleared, a massive, muscular man with one blind eye appeared in everyone's view.
Peter knew him.
He called himself Tempest.
He was an elemental manipulator, or more specifically, a mutant, capable of controlling wind and sand. He had been arrested by other superheroes some time ago and locked up in a special prison, but apparently he had escaped and made his way to New York.
Honestly, the guy was only a second-rate villain at best. He was not especially powerful, nor did he have any grand evil master plan or tragic backstory that made him memorable. Peter had never even seen him in the Marvel comics from his previous life.
But this was a real universe and a real world. Peter had seen reports about him on the news, so he definitely was not going to underestimate him.
Well.
Well.
Talk about getting proven wrong immediately.
He had literally said that same day there were not many crimes around, and then this happened at night...
Still, that also made this the perfect chance to test himself.
The electric web cartridges were already loaded, and this setup was perfect for dealing with a weak opponent.
So Peter jumped off the edge of the rooftop.
From above, the streets of New York rushed closer and closer beneath him. Just as the police below noticed him, he fired a strand of webbing that stuck to the glass wall of a nearby skyscraper. His body jerked mid-fall, using the slowed momentum to twist and land cleanly on the ground.
A perfect superhero landing.
He had rehearsed that move in his head countless times, but the actual result turned out even better than expected.
Sure, his knees hurt a little.
But it looked cool.
That was enough.
"Hey, buddy, you should be back in prison eating prison food, not standing here. Got it?!"
Peter spread his hands and spoke to Tempest with complete sincerity.
"Oh, for the love of God. One Spider-Woman was already enough of a headache, and now there's another male spider-person too? Kid, leave this to the police. This is not the place for you to play hero."
Officer George had a specially modified tranquilizer gun aimed at Tempest, but he was glaring at the red-and-black spider-themed vigilante with the skull-like emblem on his back standing in front of him.
"Officer, I think you've misunderstood. I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. You can call me Wraith Spider. I'm not showing off. I'm stopping a criminal. Think of it as volunteer work~"
Maybe every Peter Parker really did inherit that nonstop chatterbox trait.
This Peter was no exception.
Once he got going, he barely gave anyone else room to interrupt.
"Wraith Spider... Don't tell me you and that Ghost-Spider are some kind of couple? You two really are something else. A male and female Spider duo playing city vigilante, huh?!"
George deadpanned the line with obvious disbelief.
Good Lord.
That joke was painfully bad.
Although, Peter had to admit, he kind of wished it were true.
Just not yet...
And if you knew that Spider-Woman was actually your own daughter, old man, you probably would not be saying stuff like that.
Also, Wraith Spider was a name he had worked hard to come up with, so why did it sound so terrible when George said it out loud?
"Hey, Officer George, don't go spreading rumors. I'm still single~"
A white blur flashed by, and another spider-themed figure landed on the ground.
It was Gwen.
Gwen's spider-sense had clearly told her that the red-and-black guy beside her was one of her own kind, but she still could not help curling her lip and saying, "Your suit is really ugly."
"I think it looks great. Looks aren't the most important thing. Practicality is what matters. My aesthetic just isn't like yours, Spider-Woman. You've got a hood on that thing. It gets in the way during a fight and flaps around in the wind."
Hidden behind his mask, Peter could finally roast Gwen without any fear.
If he mocked her bizarre sense of fashion normally, he would probably get pinched half to death. Doing it now, in disguise, was unbelievably satisfying.
"You..."
"Beautiful lady, I'd suggest being a little more professional next time. After dance class, maybe take off your shoes first. White suit, green dance shoes... wow. That's a very advanced sense of fashion~"
Before Gwen could finish, Peter struck directly at the weak point with brutal precision, instantly leaving her embarrassed.
"Oh my God! New York actually has two Spider-Heroes now! This is amazing!"
"I'm absolutely shipping this love-hate duo! I'll bet five cents they end up together!"
"I'm betting a whole bottle of Tabasco!"
"Hey, man, now that's serious! You're really putting Tabasco on the line? Respect!"
Human beings really were strange creatures.
When danger first showed up, they panicked and ran in terror. But the moment the danger felt even slightly less immediate, they turned around and started watching the drama unfold like they were eating popcorn.
The scene was still unstable, and staying nearby could easily lead to pointless casualties. Peter genuinely had no idea what those people were thinking.
Looking at the pair standing before him, one in red and black, the other in white and pink, both masked, Tempest's brain almost failed to process the sight.
Were these two bickering weirdos really New York's superheroes?
"Damn it! Why is it that no matter where I go, pests like you always show up and ruin everything?! Fine. Killing one or two superheroes might actually make this more meaningful!"
Tempest thrust both hands forward at Gwen and Peter. A surge of elemental energy exploded outward, and a storm shockwave rolled across the ground like a tidal wave, splitting the pavement open.
Their spider-senses warned them both in time.
Peter sprang lightly out of the attack's range, closing the distance in just a few bursts of agile movement, while Gwen somehow appeared behind Tempest without him noticing.
"If your control over your power is this sloppy, there's no way you're taking down Spider-Man and Spider-Woman~"
Peter's mouth kept running, but his movements were still incredibly fast.
For the first time, he could unleash his power freely without holding back, and the feeling made him physically and mentally exhilarated. Tempest had basically become the first live punching bag Peter could use to test his strength in actual combat.
Guided by his spider-sense, Peter dodged Tempest's attacks again and again, while Tempest could not lay a finger on the little spider.
Meanwhile, Peter kept landing punch after punch.
At that point, Tempest had basically turned into a one-sided punching bag.
Another straight punch slammed directly into Tempest's face, forcing his head back in pain. Even for someone like him, a ten-ton punch was not easy to shrug off. But mutant physiology was tough, and that alone was not enough to put him down. Instead, it drove him into unleashing even more elemental energy.
Sandstorm winds burst outward around them, blinding everyone nearby. Some unlucky people were even lifted into the air by the forming tornado.
Seeing that he was about to get blown away too, Peter stopped hesitating and immediately switched to the electric webbing built into his suit, firing it straight at the enraged Tempest. As one hundred thousand volts of electricity surged through him, Tempest's power began weakening rapidly.
"Hey, you two look like you're having fun, but it seems like you forgot there's still me!"
"Huh?!"
Snapping back to awareness, Tempest turned his head just in time to see a flying kick in green dance shoes slam right into his face. He was sent hurtling backward, blood spilling from his face as he crashed to the ground.
Residual electricity still coursed through his body, making him twitch uncontrollably where he lay. Peter seized the chance and shot webbing over him, binding him tightly.
"You two masked freaks shouldn't get too smug. One day your heroic careers will end the moment someone rips those ridiculous masks off your faces. Once the masks are gone, you'll be helpless!"
Bound on the ground, Tempest burst into laughter. There was not the slightest trace of regret in him. He thought he had found the weakness of all superheroes, forgetting that he himself was nothing more than a pathetic man waiting to be dealt with.
Peter's voice turned icy.
"Are you threatening me?"
"Call it whatever you want. Intimidation, threats, stating facts, it's all the same! You hide behind masks because you don't want people knowing who you are, right?! And if you made that choice, then that means you have weaknesses. You have family!"
"Pray that one day your identities are exposed. When that happens, your friends, your relatives, your family, your lovers, all of them will pay for your recklessness... Hahahahahaha..."
Peter said nothing.
He slowly raised one hand.
A ring of electronic circuitry on his palm began glowing with a strange light as an electromagnetic pulse device charged up.
The moment the charge completed, Peter aimed it directly at Tempest without another word.
Boom.
A burst of crackling force erupted.
"AAAAHHH!!! You bastard! What did you do?! AAHHH!!!"
The scream that followed made everyone present go cold.
All they saw was the male Spider-Man flick his hand once, and a violent burst of purple energy poured out from his palm, blowing Tempest's left arm to pieces in an instant.
Peter's tone was colder than ice.
What he hated most in this life was people threatening him with his family.
To him, Aunt May and Uncle Ben were almost everything he had in the first half of his life. He would never allow anyone to threaten them.
"If you want to subdue a demon, then sometimes you have to become one too. To ordinary people, I'm your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. But to a vicious criminal like you, I'm Wraith Spider. Wraith Spider does not accept threats. And he does not allow himself to be threatened."
After saying that, he slowly raised his other hand, which had already finished charging, and pointed it at Tempest's remaining arm.
"No! Please! I know I was wrong! You've already beaten me! Superheroes aren't allowed to hurt a defeated criminal! That's the rule!"
Ignoring the blood pouring from his body, Tempest dropped to his knees and pleaded desperately.
"Whose rule?"
"This..."
"Alright, Spider-Man. Right now, what we need to do is hand the criminal over to the police. If he comes back out looking for revenge later, then we can cripple him again."
Looking at the red-and-black spider-themed boy who suddenly seemed like a different person, Gwen felt a strange sense of familiarity, as though she had seen this side of him somewhere before. But she could not place it, so she decided to step in and smooth things over instead.
If superhero violence like this made the news, the impact would absolutely throw all of New York into a panic.
"I... I won't. I swear."
Tempest had completely lost the will to fight.
At this point, all he wanted was for the police to drag him away as fast as possible. He had no healing ability, his left arm had been completely obliterated, and he no longer had either the courage or the desire to think about revenge.
Peter nodded, then turned to look at the still-stunned Officer George.
The crisis was over.
Now it was time for the police to clean up the mess.
"Officer George, I hope you don't let this guy get back out again and cause more useless damage to this city."
Gwen added from the side, "You heard him."
"I'm a cop. I don't need you two teaching me how to do my job. Go. This time, I didn't see anything."
Watching George escort Tempest into the police car, Gwen could not help smiling to herself.
Tsundere dad.
"Even if I'm not a villain, that doesn't mean I'm some superhero either. If I catch you doing evil again, losing one arm won't be the end of it. I'll blow your head off."
Peter's flat voice drifted over, instantly making Tempest feel like he was about to lose control of both his bladder and bowels. He scrambled into the police car as fast as possible.
Gwen was extremely curious about this sudden new member of her kind and had just been about to say something, when she saw him swing upward on a strand of webbing, leap onto a rooftop, then cross several skyscrapers in just a few bounds.
"Hey, Spider-Man, wait for me!"
Gwen fired her own webbing and chased after him.
Under the moonlight, one black figure and one white figure flashed between the skyscrapers, dazzling against the night sky.
(End of Chapter)
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