pdf-ebookys Chapter 17 opens with a bang.
Chapter 17 opens with a bang.
Chapter 17: A Stunning Opening (2)
Peter knew that Thriller was the first supervillain he would encounter. He never thought that he wouldn't encounter supervillains after becoming Spider-Man, but he didn't know if he was ready.
Today is the day to prove yourself!
Spider-Man rose from the inner wall of Midtown Bank and began running rapidly around the circular bank lobby, forcing Horror to fire shockwaves at him. Herman continued firing, breaking through the intricately patterned ceiling, and Spider-Man ran behind a marble pillar, which Horror shattered with a shockwave.
"You know what, Hermann? I quite like that Roman column."
Spider-Man didn't run over; instead, he swung on his webs and charged forward, kicking the horrified man. The horrified man staggered back two steps before Spider-Man pounced on him and delivered a powerful punch to his face.
He swayed for a moment and then stood up straight. Spider-Man looked at his fist with an incredulous expression.
"How could you...?"
"Gold Titanium Alloy, kid." A terrifying punch, fueled by accumulated energy, struck Spider-Man's chin, sending him flying. While airborne, Spider-Man fired webs that stuck to the broken marble pillar, sending it hurtling towards Herman.
He took a deep breath, pulled back his fist, and threw a punch, shattering a three- or four-ton marble pillar. But at that very moment, a spider web landed on his face, obscuring his vision.
"I have a question. If your fists are this powerful, and your armor is this sturdy—"
Spider-Man landed on the horrible man's back, and the webs in his hands stuck to his charged fist, pulling it toward his armored face.
"How about I smash your face with my fist?!"
Just as the powerful punch struck the person in front of him, Spider-Man leaped up, and the heavy shockwave slammed into the person's face. The person was knocked back two steps, then couldn't help but laugh as he saw Spider-Man lying on the ground.
"My armor is strong enough to absorb most of the kinetic energy from the impact, Spider! Whether it's the shockwaves I emit myself or external ones!"
"Awesome!" Spider-Man's webs had already hooked onto the remaining part of the marble pillar, tearing the entire pillar off and smashing it towards Horror. "Does that mean I can hit you however I want without holding back?"
"Or you should think about how to survive!"
The energy indicator on the arm armor turned red instantly, and Terrifying's fists slammed heavily into the ground, shattering all the bank's protective glass and marble debris with a violent shockwave. Then, the yellow figure leaped out of the dust and pounced on Spider-Man. Even with his spider-sense, Peter couldn't dodge this time and was knocked to the ground by Terrifying, watching as he raised his fist high.
"Say goodbye, Spider-Man!"
I usually like to say, "Cheese!"
Peter simultaneously launched webs from both hands, covering the terrifying mask and causing his punch to miss. He then kicked the terrifying mask through the ceiling, before springing to his feet with a somersault, still clutching his throbbing head. "Hermann's burst of speed was too fast. Even with spider-sense, I didn't have time to react. Oh, no."
He immediately jumped up, dodged with a spin, and in a moment of horror, the ceiling, which seemed to be several stories high, crashed down from the sky. He stood up straight, seemingly unharmed.
"You think I'm still that kind of petty thug? I'm just as strong as you now! Spider-Man! No, I'm stronger than you!"
"A question for you, Herman," Peter said as he backed away, taking the opportunity to chat and regain his strength. "I initially thought you were here to rob a bank again because you were short of money. Now it seems you just want to beat me up. Why?"
"I'm really short of money, but with this outfit, it's easy to earn money."
"You can easily make money without this outfit. You're smart, talented, and creative. You can succeed anywhere."
Herman laughed, a genuine laugh for the first time, a laugh born of pure desire—he knew perfectly well that the little bug in front of him was sincerely trying to dissuade him from becoming a criminal. He loosened his fist and waved at Spider-Man: "You're not a Black man under your suit, are you?"
"Forehead……"
“You can afford high school, and even if you take out student loans, you can pay them back in your lifetime. It’s different for me. I might never be able to pay them back, and more importantly, I might never even have the chance to go to school.” Herman didn’t walk towards Peter; instead, he distanced himself. “Think about it, Stark, Osborne, Baxter—would they hire someone who doesn’t even have a high school diploma? Especially a Black person?”
"This has nothing to do with skin color. You can help so many people! You... you can prove right now what a genius you are! Look at your armor, how cool the design is!"
"yes."
Herman nodded again, and just as Peter was about to continue persuading him, Horror clenched his fist.
"There's only one thing!"
"Since thrillers brought me fame and fortune, why should I become Hermann Schultz?"
A straight punch was fired at Spider-Man, who dodged the shot with a spin and stuck to another marble pillar. Herman rushed over and punched the pillar.
"Since nobody wants to know Herman, let them be horrified!"
Spider-Man, who had jumped off the marble, was originally planning to jump behind Herman, but unexpectedly, Thriller also jumped up. Not only that, but his jump height was even higher than his own, and then he punched himself directly into the vault door that had been blown away.
This won't do; we must find something Herman can't break through to launch a counterattack.
He saw the vault door that Herman had smashed open, and then saw Herman charging towards him. He immediately used spider silk to stick the horrifying arm armor on his hands, stretching the silk to the ground to temporarily immobilize him. Then, as he stood up, he fired more spider silk.
After a couple of frightening tugs, they found the spider silk clinging to the ground to be exceptionally strong, so they activated the launcher to shake the web apart.
"You think your little tricks will be enough—"
"This is no small trick, Hermann!"
The whistling sound made Herman subconsciously focus. The huge three-meter-high vault door was being pulled towards him by the spider silk. He planned to raise his fist to knock the vault door away, but there was no time. The vault door smashed directly into him, sending him flying and crashing onto the floor of the hall.
Finally relieved, Spider-Man launched a series of webs, firmly sticking the vault door and Herman, who was trapped underneath, to the ground. Based on his previous Spider-Man games, this method should be enough to resolve the horror.
"You should really reflect on this, Herman. With your talent, you don't need to do this kind of thing," Peter said breathlessly. "You don't need to become famous this way."
"Then what should we do? Hmm? When we first fought, you even thought I bought that gun."
"I just didn't expect..."
"I know." Herman remained motionless, simply looking at Spider-Man. "You're a good guy, unlike those stupid cops who laughed and didn't believe me when they heard I invented a weapon. You're the kind of guy who would help pick up a kid's bicycle if it fell into the subway."
"You did that? That's lame, buddy."
"Want to hear something cool?" Horror turned to look at the ceiling. "The vault door is a good idea; my fists really can't break through it."
"But the floor is different. Thanks to modern urban construction, these buildings all have underground parking lots underneath."
"What?!—"
The violent tremor was like a mini-earthquake; the entire bank lobby began to collapse. Spider-Man was forced to jump onto the already riddled ceiling and watch as the entire first floor of the bank crumbled. Then, the massive vault door flew towards Spider-Man, who instinctively dodged it, then realized something terrible was about to happen.
The door smashed right out of the bank building!
"Spider-Man is still fighting Herman Schultz inside, and the streets near Midtown Bank have been cordoned off..."
George Stacy was listening to his subordinates' report when strange noises emanating from inside the bank building began to worry him. Suddenly, a huge roar erupted, and half of the wall was smashed open by a massive vault door that flew out, followed by Spider-Man, who kept using his webs to hold the vault door shut.
"Stop! Stop! Stop! Everyone, get out of the way!"
A group of police officers quickly took cover as the door opened, but they couldn't prevent it from slicing through a police car and crashing into the wall of the building across the street. Spider-Man could only manage to embed it in the second-floor wall of the building.
"What kind of building is this, Sheriff?"
"...The Roxon Energy office building, I've sent someone to check it out." A still-shaken Sheriff George looked at the gaping vault door. "What's the situation inside?"
"I'm not entirely sure, but the horror should be coming."
"Horror? You mean Herman?"
Spider-Man, crouching on the vault door that was stuck in the wall, squinted at the yellow figure walking out of the bank and took a deep breath.
"yes."
(End of this chapter)