The blow she had braced herself for never came.
MJ only felt a rush of wind—
And then a broad back appeared in front of her.
Clark stood there, arms crossed at his waist, chest forward—taking the shockwave head-on without even flinching.
To him, the attack felt like nothing more than a light itch.
After all, this wasn’t the original high-powered gear—it was a heavily downgraded version.
His bio-field effortlessly neutralized the impact.
So he didn’t bother pretending to get knocked back or putting on a show.
He had no interest in acting.
“Clark?!” MJ’s eyes lit up instantly.
She hadn’t expected him to appear—and save her.
The thugs, meanwhile, stared at Clark… then at the weapon in their hands.
One of them smacked the gauntlet a few times.
As if that would fix it.
Clearly, they thought the device had malfunctioned.
There was no way they believed they had just hit someone who didn’t move an inch.
That was too terrifying.
They had tested it before—this thing could slam a person into a wall hard enough to knock them out cold.
Clark walked over, watching them “repair” their gear.
He tapped one of them on the shoulder.
The thug shrugged him off impatiently, focused on fiddling with the gauntlet.
Clark froze for a second.
“…These idiots.”
He covered his face.
And people like this can join gangs?
With weapons like that?
And they’re… fixing it mid-robbery?
Clark wasn’t some gentle farm boy from Kansas.
He didn’t have that level of patience.
So—
He acted.
A single slap across the thug’s head.
No hesitation.
The guy spun around, furious, throwing a punch—
Clark caught it effortlessly and forced his arm down.
“Are you blind?!
Can’t you see I’m fixing this?!” the thug snapped, even while being completely restrained.
“Low IQ,” Clark muttered flatly.
Using his height advantage, he snatched the gauntlet right off them.
The two tried to grab it back—
But Clark pinned them both with one hand, then awkwardly slipped the gauntlet onto himself using his leg.
It was still powered on.
He raised it—
Aimed it directly at them.
“You said this thing’s broken?” Clark tilted his head. Read this novel at novelping.com for the best experience.
Behind him, MJ watched the entire scene unfold—Clark casually suppressing two grown men—and couldn’t help but feel a surge of relief and excitement.
She even jumped a little—
But quickly remembered to call the police.
Who knew if these guys had more weapons?
The two thugs laughed.
Even while being held down.
“Yeah, it’s broken, alright,” one of them sneered.
“What, you think you got hit by that and just… walked it off?”
Clark didn’t bother replying.
He simply activated it.
BOOM.
The shockwave blasted them straight into the alley wall.
Their heads snapped to the side—
And they dropped unconscious.
The entire fight lasted less than two minutes.
By the time MJ finished calling the police—
It was already over.
“…Sorry,” she said into the phone, glancing at the two unconscious thugs on the ground.
“Someone stepped in and handled it.
The robbers are down.
Please send someone to this location to pick them up.”
Clark was genuinely impressed by MJ’s quick thinking.
Sharp, calm under pressure—no wonder she’d become a great reporter someday.
MJ hung up the phone and walked over, letting out a long breath.
“Good thing you showed up… I don’t even want to think about what could’ve happened otherwise.”
She paused, then added with lingering worry,
“If Peter had been here… with that skinny little body of his, if he got hit, he’d be in serious trouble.”
She was still worried about Peter—but also relieved he wasn’t there.
“Clark… promise me something,” she said, looking at him seriously.
“Don’t tell Peter the details about tonight.
With his personality, if he knew I almost got hurt, he’d never take it well.
He might even grab a wrench and go looking for those guys.”
She shook her head.
“I really need to stop going out so late… and Peter too.”
Hearing that, Clark couldn’t help but smile inwardly.
Having someone like MJ constantly looking out for Peter—
That was something he, as an older brother, was more than happy to see.
“Alright, alright,” Clark said easily.
“But next time something like this happens, call me.”
MJ smiled gratefully.
Clark casually removed the gauntlet from his hand and stuffed it into his backpack.
“Why take that?” MJ asked, puzzled.
“Isn’t that evidence?”
“This thing’s not ordinary,” Clark replied.
“And that ‘Shocker Gang’… doesn’t sound like your typical street punks.”
“I’ll let Peter take a look.
You know how much he loves this kind of mechanical and electronic stuff.
They didn’t linger.
Clark walked her all the way home next door.
Peter even greeted them cheerfully, completely unaware of what had just happened.
Late at night, the Parker house was quiet.
Ben and May were already asleep.
Only a faint light leaked from under Peter’s bedroom door on the second floor.
Clark pushed it open—
Just as expected.
Peter was still up, goggles on, holding a soldering iron, working on a radio that had been dismantled into pieces.
“You’re still awake?
Careful or you’ll get called out for dozing off in class tomorrow,” Clark said, closing the door behind him and walking over.
Peter removed his goggles and rubbed his tired eyes, smiling.
“Almost done.
I’m trying to tweak the receiver frequency—maybe I can pick up police channels.”
He glanced at Clark, curious.
“What about you?
Why’d you come back with MJ?
For a second I thought Felicia Hardy dragged you off on a date.”
“Don’t even start,” Clark groaned, rolling his eyes.
Then he pulled the gauntlet out of his bag and set it on the desk.
“Take a look at this.”
Peter’s attention locked onto it instantly.
He set down his screwdriver and leaned in, eyes lighting up.
“Whoa… what is this?
Some kind of exoskeleton device?”
His scientific curiosity ignited immediately as he carefully examined it.
Clark pulled over a chair and sat down, recounting what happened in the alley—after trimming and adjusting the details.
He left out the true power of the shockwave… and his own involvement.
Instead, he simply said the thugs had tried to rob MJ using these devices, and he’d taken them down with a surprise attack using a stick.
“What?!” Peter shot to his feet, fists clenched.
“They attacked MJ?!
No wonder you came back together!”
Anger flashed across his face—along with guilt.
“Is she hurt?
How bad is it?
I should’ve gone to pick her up!
What was I thinking… I knew things weren’t safe lately…”
Clark reached out and patted his shoulder.
“Calm down, Peter.
MJ’s completely fine.
She’s home safe—you saw her yourself.”
He added with a faint smile,
“And she specifically told me to make sure you don’t go playing hero and get yourself hurt.
She’s worried about you too.”