Now, only Shocker remained.
Panicked, he immediately raised his arms and began charging another shockwave. But this time, Spider-Man was faster.
Before his opponent could even unleash the attack, several black webs shot from his wrists and wrapped themselves around both his arms and his equipment.
— "N-No! Not Again!"
The next instant, the charge detonated prematurely. Part of his equipment was blown to pieces by the force of the explosion, tearing away several sections of his costume in the process.
Shocker didn't even have time to realize what had just happened before Spider-Man was already upon him. In the blink of an eye, he grabbed him by the throat and lifted him off the ground without the slightest effort.
Panicking, Shocker immediately struggled. He threw several punches at Spider-Man's face, then tried to push him away by kicking him in the stomach.
It was useless.
Spider-Man didn't even flinch. He remained perfectly still, his eyes fixed on him, while the criminal slowly began to suffocate in his grip.
As for the young hero, nothing else existed around him anymore. No words came to him. No thoughts truly crossed his mind. It was as if he had fallen into a strange trance while the events of the past few days replayed one after another in his memory.
The Terrifying Six's repeated attacks, the chaos they had spread across New York, every ordeal they had put him through... and the recent injection.
That memory abruptly brought him back to reality.
His gaze changed slightly. He had just remembered that he finally had the opportunity to get some answers. He loosened his grip slightly, lowered his arm to bring Shocker closer to his face, and gave him just enough air to speak.
— "At Central Park... the time you injected me with that syringe... what was it for?"
— "W-What...?"
— "Answer me."
The tone of his voice was so cold that Shocker felt a chill run through his entire body. Terrified, he hurried to answer, trying to be as clear as possible despite how difficult it still was for him to breathe.
— "Someone told us to do it."
Hearing that, Peter frowned beneath his mask.
— "What are you talking about?"
— "A man... A man came to Ryker and freed all of us on one condition: that we carried out a mission. Take your blood... and bring it back to him."
— "Why? Why did he ask you to do that?"
As he spoke, his fingers instinctively tightened around Shocker's throat.
Shocker immediately felt the pressure increase, and fear flooded his entire body. For a brief moment, he was convinced that Spider-Man was actually going to snap his neck.
— "I-I DON'T KNOW! He freed us and paid us! We just did the job!"
— "And this person... who was he?"
Shocker remained silent.
His gaze shifted between Spider-Man's eyes and the hand that was still crushing his throat. The longer he looked at his enemy, the more one certainty settled in his mind: he was genuinely afraid for his life.
If he revealed that identity... what guarantee did he have that Spider-Man wouldn't kill him on the spot? For a brief moment, he hesitated, unable to make a decision.
— "WHO WAS IT?! ANSWER ME!"
This time, his grip tightened even more around his throat. Shocker immediately felt the air leaving his lungs. His legs began thrashing uncontrollably, his face gradually turned red, and his eyes started rolling back from the lack of oxygen. Just a few more seconds... and he would lose consciousness... or worse.
— "I… I give up…"
Just as a few more seconds would probably have been enough to take his life, an authoritative voice suddenly rang out behind Spider-Man.
— "SPIDER-MAN! LET HIM GO!"
Captain Yuri Watanabe had just arrived at the scene. The moment she saw the condition the Terrifying Six were in, she immediately drew her weapon and aimed it straight at the black-suited vigilante.
And yet, despite her command, Spider-Man didn't react. He didn't loosen his grip. He didn't even answer.
— "NOW, OR I'LL SHOOT!"
Faced with his silence, Yuri hesitated no longer. She aimed at his shoulder and pulled the trigger.
The gunshot echoed through the entire street. Caught completely off guard, Spider-Man immediately released Shocker, who collapsed heavily onto the pavement.
The criminal was still breathing, but the lack of oxygen had already rendered him unconscious. Peter instinctively took a few steps back, clutching his shoulder, still surprised by what had just happened.
His spider-sense hadn't warned him.
The thought briefly crossed his mind as he slowly raised his head toward Yuri. Their eyes met and, almost at the same instant, the symbiote reacted.
The black substance came alive around the wound, sealing the torn flesh at a staggering speed before ejecting the bullet with a faint metallic sound. The projectile hit the ground and rolled across the pavement.
Yuri froze at the sight. She had never seen anything like it. Despite her shock, she discreetly took a breath to regain her composure and immediately resumed her professional demeanor.
— "Y-You're under arrest for the murder of—"
— ""You're under arrest! You're a murderer! A criminal! You'll see, I'm going to send you to prison!"..."
He repeated her words with deliberate exaggeration, irritated by a situation that seemed to repeat itself endlessly. A brief sarcastic laugh escaped him before abruptly stopping as he began walking toward her.
Caught off guard by his reaction, Yuri was left speechless for a moment before tightening her grip on her weapon.
— "Don't come any closer !"
— "And if I don't listen, what are you going to do? Shoot me? You already did."
Without ever taking his eyes off the captain, Spider-Man continued walking. He simply began circling her slowly, while Yuri pivoted to keep her gun trained on him, ready to react to the slightest suspicious movement.
— "Stop this act, Yuri. Stop lying to yourself and blaming me just so you can feel better after George's death. Do you really think his death didn't affect me?! It's the exact opposite! You have no idea how much George meant to me. He was someone very important."
After completing his circle, he finally stopped once again in front of her. All the anger that had consumed him only moments earlier seemed to have given way to a deep weariness.
It wasn't so much in his words that it showed, but in his attitude: his shoulders slightly slumped, his head lowered toward the ground for a few seconds, and the long sigh that escaped him all betrayed an exhaustion far deeper than simple physical fatigue.
— "I did everything I could to save him... I truly did. But you know the truth perfectly well: Tombstone killed him. Not me. And without me... neither you nor Gwen would still be alive. You'd all be dead!"
Feeling himself getting carried away by his emotions again, Peter stopped for a few moments. He took a deep breath, briefly closed his eyes, then gradually regained his composure.
— "And deep down... you know that very well. You're simply choosing the easy way out."
A heavy silence settled between them.
For several long seconds, Yuri never took her eyes off him. The more she listened to him, the more a dull irritation rose inside her. After hearing Spider-Man justify his actions time and time again, she almost found the situation ironic.
— "And what? You think you're some kind of hero?"
Spider-Man held her gaze without the slightest hesitation.
— "Yeah. I'm a fucking hero."
For several long seconds, neither of them spoke another word. Only the distant sounds of the city continued to exist: a few cars were still driving several blocks away, while civilians' screams and sirens echoed in the distance.
— "You know... I'm really starting to get sick of all this. I spend all my time saving people, fighting, and risking my life... and for what, in the end? For people who aren't even grateful? For men and women who call me a criminal and are afraid of me? To be hunted down and shot at by you, the so-called law enforcement?"
— ""So-called"? What does that mean?"
— "It means you're useless."
The tone of his voice was almost disturbingly calm. He wasn't shouting. He wasn't angry. And yet, that coldness unsettled Yuri far more than any outburst of rage could have.
Just like the Terrifying Six a few minutes earlier, she had the unpleasant feeling that she was no longer dealing with the Spider-Man she knew. Behind her professionalism, her face tensed slightly, betraying a frustration she immediately struggled to suppress.
— "Ever since I became Spider-Man, I've done everything I could to help, over and over again... and what have I gotten in return? Nothing! So stop giving me a hard time and make yourselves useful. Because other than making my life harder... I honestly wonder what purpose you even serve."
Without waiting for any reply, he slowly started walking again. As he passed Yuri, he went right by her without sparing her a single glance, as if her presence no longer mattered.
He then raised his arm and fired a black web toward a camera he had discreetly set up in a corner of the street before the fight had begun. The device immediately flew back into his hand, and without adding another word, Spider-Man took a running start and launched himself into the air, gradually disappearing between the skyscrapers of Manhattan.
Yuri remained alone in the middle of the devastated street, surrounded by the unconscious members of the Terrifying Six and the countless traces left behind by their battle.
Her gun was still in her hand, but she was no longer aiming it at anyone. She stood motionless, her gaze lost in the direction where Spider-Man had just disappeared, unable to sort through the whirlwind of emotions overwhelming her.
Frustration, sadness, and guilt... deep down, she no longer knew what to think.
TO BE CONTINUED.