Iron Man’s joking around did not last long.
As a veteran Superhero, he immediately shifted into combat mode.
“Fury sent me to help.
The bad guy we’re dealing with this time is definitely a little troublesome.”
“Thanks, Mr.
Stark.”
“You should thank Fury.
How about I take the left half and you take the right?”
“Works for me.
I was just about to suggest the same thing.”
The two Superheroes’ first meeting went surprisingly well.
By the time Carl King realized something was wrong, a searing energy blast was already hurtling toward him from behind.
The blast passed through the gap between the two halves of Carl King’s body and struck the asphalt below.
Boom!
The resulting Shockwave blasted the two halves of Carl King’s body in opposite directions, separating them by a considerable distance.
As a result, both halves began moving noticeably slower.
Carl King was a swarm-conscious lifeform.
Separating his spiders swarm significantly weakened him.
This was also his most fatal weakness.
“Now!”
Peter planted both hands on the Spider-Cycle and pushed off.
Propelled by the tremendous force, he became a red-and-blue blur and shot toward the right half of Carl King.
Carl King had only just staggered back to his feet when Peter’s fist punched straight through him.
Carl King froze for a moment, preparing to laugh mockingly.
Peter spoke first.
“Spider-Man doesn’t use the same useless move twice.”
Since physical attacks were ineffective, it was time to try something else, such as an Electric Shock.
At Peter’s mental command, the blue icon on the Web of Life and Destiny representing Miles Spider-Man’s Bio-Electricity ability suddenly erupted with dazzling blue light.
Peter immediately felt a considerable portion of his previously abundant stamina drain away.
In exchange, blinding electricity began crackling around his fist.
Zzzzt!
Zzzzt!
Zzzzt!
Blue arcs leaped between the little spiders, filling the air with the acrid stench of burning protein.
“No!”
Carl King let out the final scream of his life.
Then every little spider curled into a ball beneath the surging electricity, all signs of life vanishing completely.
Compared to Spider-Man, Iron Man was clearly better suited to dealing with a supervillain capable of freely dispersing and reassembling his body.
A single airburst round was enough to blast any number of Spideys to pieces.
All fear stemmed from insufficient firepower.
That was the combat philosophy Tony Stark believed in.
By the time Peter finished off his half of Carl King, Iron Man was already flying back.
Behind him, only the devastated remains of the explosion site were left.
As the energy thrusters on the back of his iron armor gradually reduced their output, Iron Man slowly descended to the ground.
He then raised his foot and crushed the final spider, which had happened to fall directly in front of him.
Crack!
A faint popping sound rang out.
The spider carrying the last trace of Carl King’s consciousness was now completely dead.
With that, Carl King was truly gone.
Had the spider escaped into the sewers or some other complicated terrain, Carl King would inevitably have regained his strength after enough time to reproduce.
He might even have returned as a more powerful “Thousand” to take revenge on Spider-Man.
Iron Man’s helmet suddenly retracted, revealing the handsome face behind it, complete with its usual irreverent smile.
It was none other than the famous CEO of Stark Industries and a founding member of the Avengers, Tony Stark.
“I like your Spider-Cycle.
It’s a pretty interesting toy.
I heard Fury used quite a bit of Vibranium on it.
I think I’d like it even more with a coat of gold paint.”
Tony Stark glanced appreciatively at the nearby Spider-Cycle.
Vibranium?
Peter’s eyes lit up.
No wonder the Spider-Cycle was so durable.
It had survived plummeting from the sky and knocking out Grizzly without falling apart because it was made with Vibranium.
That explained everything.
Vibranium was a supermetal reputed to absorb one hundred percent of kinetic energy.
Peter was genuinely surprised that Nick Fury had been willing to use such valuable Vibranium on the Spider-Cycle.
It seemed Nick Fury had invested considerable resources into assembling the Spider-Man Support Team.
This was no minor side project.
He was treating it as an important initiative.
Suddenly, a familiar voice came from above, interrupting their conversation.
“Tony, I heard you mention my name.
You weren’t talking about me behind my back, were you?”
Peter and Tony Stark looked up at the same time.
They saw Nick Fury descending from a Quinjet on a cable.
Nick Fury’s sudden arrival was proof of how seriously he regarded The Thousand, this unusual supervillain.
After all, this was the second person in New York City connected to special spider powers.
The first was Spider-Man.
The second was The Thousand.
The vigilant and suspicious Director of S.H.I.E.L.D.
sensed something unusual behind it all.
This would be an extremely valuable research specimen.
It needed to be recovered and preserved immediately, then subjected to an in-depth genetic study.
…
S.H.I.E.L.D.’s investigation soon uncovered the truth behind Carl King’s transformation into The Thousand.
Carl King had displayed an almost pathological obsession with Spider-Man.
One day two weeks earlier, Carl King had broken into the Osborn Radiation Biology Research Center, which had previously hosted a science fair, and devoured all the hundreds of spiders on display.
According to the S.H.I.E.L.D.
agents’ investigation, the Radiation Biology Research Center had recently lost several experimental samples.
The hundreds of spiders Carl King consumed had most likely been contaminated by radiation from those samples, causing his genes to mutate.
Research into Carl King’s mutated genes, however, would require much more time.
According to Dr.
Curt Connors’ preliminary analysis, a consistent pattern of mutation had indeed been discovered within the Spideys’ genetic fragments.
If it could be successfully extracted, it would represent a miracle in the field of modern biology.
…
Peter soon learned the results of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s investigation.
Even he was shocked by Carl King’s madness.
Who could have imagined that someone would devour hundreds of spiders just to obtain spider powers?
Sometimes, what truly created a Villain was not genetic mutation or high-tech equipment, but a twisted mind and will.
Peter then began preparing for his next interdimensional travel.
The seven days passed faster than he had expected.
Aside from Grizzly and The Thousand, no other villains emerged to cause trouble during that time.
As a result, Peter spent a very pleasant seven days.
Both his body and mind had returned to peak condition.
On Monday night, Peter finished dinner and said goodnight to Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
He put on his Spider-Man suit, refilled his Web-Shooters to one hundred percent capacity, and packed several miscellaneous items he might need into his backpack.
Then Peter used his mind to unfurl the Web of Life and Destiny, which only he could see.
“Let’s see what number the next interdimensional travel universe has.
Hopefully, it won’t be somewhere too strange.”
Under Peter’s expectant gaze, another Destiny Node gradually came into focus to the left of Destiny Node 1610B.
A string of numbers appeared at its center.
It was…
96283.
It represented Earth-96283.