“Grizzly, ranked 173rd on S.H.I.E.L.D.’s most-wanted list.
His threat level isn’t particularly high.”
Nick Fury rattled off the supervillain’s information with ease.
“Alright, it looks like I’m taking this awesome motorcycle for a spin tonight no matter what.
But now the question is…
how am I supposed to ride it into a Quinjet?”
“A Quinjet?
We don’t need a Quinjet.
Why not take a more direct approach?”
A mischievous grin spread across Nick Fury’s face.
At that moment, Peter felt a faint electric current flicker through his mind.
It was a sign that his Spider-Sense had activated, but the sensation was extremely weak.
It felt less like a warning of mortal danger and more like a subtle reminder.
“Wait…”
Peter had barely raised a hand when the alloy floor beneath his feet burst open with a thunderous crash.
The sudden difference in air pressure created a tremendous suction force.
In an instant, Peter and the Spider-Cycle were yanked outside.
Dr.
Connors poked his head out from behind Nick Fury and shouted at the top of his lungs.
“Spider-Man, check the user manual!
It’s on the Spider-Cycle’s projection screen!”
…
At an altitude of 3,000 meters, Peter struggled for a while before finally stabilizing the Spider-Cycle.
Dr.
Connors’s words reminded him that this was merely an unconventional equipment test, although it was just a tiny bit more dangerous than usual.
As Peter studied the projection screen that had appeared above the Spider-Cycle’s handlebars, he matched the information against the plot details he remembered.
It did not take him long to figure out how to operate the Spider-Cycle.
The Spider-Cycle could not only travel on the ground, but also fire high-strength webbing to construct web-riding tracks between buildings, allowing it to race through the air.
It truly deserved to be called Spider-Man’s signature equipment.
As long as Peter timed it correctly and created a web-riding track during his descent to slow himself down, he could land safely.
And if he wanted to push things to the limit, he could even preserve some of the momentum from the fall and deliver a devastating crash from the sky.
…
In front of the New York City Bank, Grizzly’s claws tore through a police car as though it were a toy.
Behind him lay piles of scattered banknotes.
They huddled behind the wreckage of the police cars, their faces slick with cold sweat and streaked with blood.
Some clutched their pistols and prayed to God, while others screamed into their radios for backup.
A young officer looked up and saw a terrifying steel claw hurtling down toward him.
Its shadow had already swallowed his entire face.
Then he heard something.
The sound came from above.
Something was tearing through the air at an unimaginable speed.
The young officer instinctively raised his head.
A dark shape was plummeting through the night sky, moving so fast that he could only make out a blurred outline…
It was a motorcycle, carrying a man in a red-and-blue suit.
Spider-Man…
Spider-Man was here!
The next instant, the motorcycle’s wheel slammed squarely into Grizzly’s armored back.
BOOM!
A deafening roar erupted like a meteor striking the earth.
The shockwave blasted gravel and dust into the air, while the force of the impact swept across half the street.
When the dust finally settled, the once-rampaging Grizzly lay sprawled across the shattered concrete.
Only the red-and-blue figure remained standing.
…
The sheer force of that strike from above was comparable to a hundred-ton truck dropping on top of him.
It knocked Grizzly unconscious instantly.
Peter jumped off the Spider-Cycle, pried apart the warped armor with brute force, and dragged Grizzly out.
Several strands of webbing then shot from the new Web-Shooter.
In moments, Grizzly had been wrapped into a spherical web cocoon, with only his head exposed.
Peter hoisted him high above the bank’s entrance.
Peter then leaped back onto the Spider-Cycle.
Whoosh!
The Spider-Cycle’s Web-Shooter fired another mass of high-strength webbing, forming a web-riding track.
Peter opened the throttle all the way.
With its engine roaring like distant thunder, the Spider-Cycle raced along the web-riding track between the towering skyscrapers.
The sight was so spectacular that the surrounding onlookers immediately pulled out their phones to record it.
Peter did not even need to guess.
Tomorrow, the loudmouthed Jonah Jameson would undoubtedly use this incident as ammunition for another tirade against Spider-Man.
Peter continued riding the Spider-Cycle until he reached the very top of One World Trade Center, known as the tallest building in New York.
The icy wind at that height cut like a knife, rapidly cooling the scorching engine.
“I never thought the Spider-Cycle would actually be this useful.”
“Tonight, your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man is rolling out in Spider-Cycle mode!”
…
At 1:15 a.m., outside a dilapidated apartment building on 55th Street in Manhattan, New York City.
This was the area with the highest crime rate in New York, and it was better known by another name…
Hell’s Kitchen.
A police car with flashing red-and-blue lights slowly pulled over beside the road.
Two officers stepped out.
One of them was a broad, powerfully built middle-aged sergeant with rugged features.
He spoke into the radio clipped to his shoulder.
“This is George Stacy.
I’ve arrived at the crime scene.
Over.”
Captain George Stacy was none other than Gwen Stacy’s father.
He had received a report while out on patrol and immediately brought another officer with him to investigate.
After ending the call, Captain Stacy and a detective entered the apartment building.
Before long, they reached a unit whose door had been left ajar.
Captain Stacy drew his Glock pistol, and the two split up to search the premises.
When Captain Stacy entered one of the bedrooms, the moonlight spilling through the open window revealed a heap of something in the corner, giving off a powerful stench of decay.
Captain Stacy knew that tonight would probably be another sleepless night.
This was indeed a murder, and not an ordinary one.
“Damn it.
This is already the third killing in this Hell’s Kitchen series.
Even worse, the killer hasn’t left a single trace behind.
There’s barely any evidence from the victim either.”
Although Captain Stacy had been on the force for more than twenty years, he swore he had never encountered such a bizarre string of murders.
“If this thing weren’t here, I’d think this was a missing persons case instead of a murder!”
Captain Stacy stared at the intact human skin curled into a heap in the corner and felt a chill creep up his spine.
It was unmistakably human skin.
What made it so horrifying was that there was not a trace of flesh or bone inside it.
Only loose, sagging skin and dry, brittle hair remained.
Suddenly, Captain Stacy noticed many tiny spiders crawling around the corner.
Following their path, he looked up and saw dense webs covering nearly the entire ceiling.
Within a second, goosebumps rose across both his arms.
Captain Stacy frowned and muttered a curse under his breath.
“Damn it.
Good thing I don’t have trypophobia, or I’d be having a heart attack right now!”
Perhaps it was the presence of the spiders, but an image of Spider-Man suddenly appeared in Captain Stacy’s mind.
Captain Stacy did not like the superpowered urban vigilante who had recently become the center of attention.
In fact, he found him rather irritating.
He was a devoted fan of the Daily Bugle, and his favorite thing to watch was Jonah Jameson’s daily news broadcast.
Jonah Jameson also happened to be New York City’s number one Spider-Man hater.
After listening to him day after day, how could Captain Stacy possibly have grown to like Spider-Man?
Of course, there was another, more important reason that Captain Stacy did not want to admit.
Ever since Spider-Man had appeared, the New York Police Department had found itself in an increasingly awkward and difficult position.
In more than eighty-five percent of crimes involving supervillains, Spider-Man had been the one to apprehend the perpetrators.
If this continued, the mayor of New York might use it as an excuse to make deep cuts to NYPD salaries.
No wonder New York’s police officers had such a love-hate relationship with Spider-Man.
Just as Captain Stacy was staring absently at the webs covering the ceiling, the detective in the other room discovered something new.
“Captain Stacy!
Come take a look!”