“Don’t engage.”
“It’ll alert Norman.”
Nick Fury’s voice came through the earpiece.
“Understood.”
Clint Barton remained motionless, silently watching the building through his scope.
Meanwhile…
Steve Rogers and Natasha Romanoff jumped from the helicopter, quietly making their way toward Norman’s office.
At the same time…
Charlie swung into Oscorp on a web.
The building was almost completely dark.
Only the steady ticking of the wall clock broke the silence.
Clinging upside down to the hallway ceiling, Charlie crawled forward without making the slightest sound.
Unfortunately…
The tactical team infiltrating the building wasn’t nearly as careful.
Click.
A trap hidden in the stairwell activated.
BOOM!!
The explosion shook the entire floor.
Walls burst apart as flames tore through the corridor.
Concrete fragments flew everywhere.
Dust filled the air.
Inside the office…
Norman poked his head out the window after hearing the blast.
Seeing the police cars gathering below, he burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
“Your saviors are here!”
“Don’t worry.”
“I’m not killing you here.”
“We’re going to enjoy this game together.”
“I can’t wait to see how it ends for all of you.”
With that…
He casually tossed a pumpkin bomb out the window.
BOOM!!
Outside…
Steve was just about to smash through the glass when the explosion engulfed him.
He barely managed to raise his shield before the blast hurled him backward.
Fortunately…
He grabbed a protruding section of the building’s exterior just in time, preventing himself from falling.
“Hahaha!”
“S.H.I.E.L.D.’s little boys…”
“You’ve got a long way to go!”
Laughing arrogantly, Norman flew out the window on his glider—
Only to have Steve’s shield smash directly into his head.
WHAM!
Norman tumbled straight into the hallway below.
“What the hell was that?!”
He shook his dizzy head.
Steve quickly climbed back through the broken window.
The shield flew neatly back into his hand.
“Mr.
Demon…”
Steve took a deep breath.
“Compared to me…”
“You’re the kid.”
“And a very rude one at that.”
He charged forward.
The moment Norman got back to his feet—
Steve’s fist crashed into the Goblin mask.
BOOM!
A relentless barrage followed.
Punches.
Shield strikes.
One after another.
Steve’s airtight close-quarters combat immediately put Norman under tremendous pressure.
A second later…
Steve executed a flawless suplex.
Norman’s head slammed straight through the floor.
The Green Goblin stopped moving.
Looking down at his motionless opponent, Steve exhaled and calmly tapped his earpiece.
“It’s done.”
He had complete confidence in his hand-to-hand combat skills.
Beep…
Beep…
Beep…
Outside the shattered window…
Norman’s glider silently hovered in place.
A dangerous red light blinked repeatedly.
Steve’s instincts immediately screamed.
He raised his shield.
“…Wait.”
“I don’t think it’s over!”
BOOM!!
Another massive explosion erupted.
Steve disappeared inside the fireball.
Walls collapsed.
Chunks of concrete flew everywhere.
Norman calmly stood up inside the rubble, casually rolling his neck.
The Goblin mask looked even more terrifying than before.
“Hahaha…”
“Military fighting techniques from seventy years ago…”
“They’re outdated.”
“This…”
He held up another pumpkin bomb.
“…is what’s popular nowadays.”
Cruel delight filled his eyes as several pumpkin bombs rolled into the debris.
BOOM!
BOOM!
BOOM!!
A chain of explosions blasted through the building’s exterior.
Steve curled behind his shield, using it to absorb as much impact as possible.
Moments later…
His body plummeted dozens of meters before crashing onto the roof of a parked car.
CRASH!
The vehicle instantly crumpled into scrap metal.
Car alarms screamed throughout the street.
Steve slowly climbed off the wreckage, baring his teeth as he picked up his shield.
“…The world’s changed fast.”
He looked toward the burning upper floors while catching his breath.
The crowd watching below was utterly stunned.
“My God!”
“Did that soldier just fall from up there?”
“How is he alive?”
“That’s a pretty cool uniform.”
“It’s…
tight.”
Clint kept his scope trained on the building.
“You shouldn’t have kicked him back inside.”
“I lost my shot.”
“…Wait.”
“I’ve got someone.”
“No…”
“It’s not Norman.”
“I see Spider-Man.”
BOOM!
As more debris crashed from the upper floors…
Norman suddenly realized something.
His glider wasn’t responding.
Someone had sabotaged it.
Then…
He noticed several strands of webbing still attached.
“…What?”
“These webs…”
“Spider-Man?!”
His eyes widened.
Then he burst into laughter.
“Hahahaha!”
“So you’re alive!”
“Wonderful!”
“…No.”
“Wait.”
“Why are you alive?”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
“I clearly saw—”
Halfway through his sentence…
Norman suddenly threw another pumpkin bomb behind him.
The devil was terrifying.
But more importantly…
He was cunning.
“…Using that trick again?”
Charlie, clinging to the ceiling, instantly fired a web.
The pumpkin bomb wrapped itself in webbing before being flung into the next room.
BOOM!!
“AAAAAHHH!!”
Screams echoed through the office.
The remaining Oscorp executives were buried beneath the collapsing wall, their bodies mangled by the explosion.
A notification appeared before Charlie.
You acted as a Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man and punished criminals.
Restart Chance +1
Charlie blinked.
“…Huh?”
So…
The villains were actually the unlucky ones?
Norman, completely misunderstanding what had happened, applauded enthusiastically.
“So it really is you, Charlie.”
“Congratulations on the new suit.”
“But…”
“You just killed people.”
“Can someone like you still call himself a hero?”
His voice dripped with mockery.
Charlie merely shrugged.
“So…”
“You actually think I’m a hero?”
“Uncle Norman…”
“I might have to sue you for slander.”
The moment he finished speaking—
Two webs shot forward.
Using them like a giant slingshot…
Charlie launched himself forward like a cannonball.
Back when he possessed only a single ton of strength…
Fighting the Green Goblin in close combat would’ve been suicide.
But now…
Norman didn’t even have time to throw another pumpkin bomb.
Charlie’s impact blasted him straight through the wall.
Both of them burst into open air outside the building.
“I’ve got him.”
High above…
Clint narrowed his eyes.
Without hesitation…
He released an arrow.
FWIP!
The alloy arrow struck Norman squarely in the chest.
A split second later—
BOOM!!
The explosive arrow detonated.
Fire erupted across the street.
Norman’s body spiraled toward the pavement.
Pedestrians screamed as they fled.
George Stacy immediately led his officers toward the crash site.
Meanwhile…
Charlie hung beneath a nearby billboard by a single webline.
Looking toward the rooftop…
He felt a lingering chill.
That was close.
I almost got caught in the blast too.
Hawkeye…
Very well.
Next time…
I’m blowing your damn eyes out.
Turning back toward Norman…
Charlie watched as the Goblin stole a nearby vehicle and sped away.
Charlie immediately fired another web and disappeared into a nearby alley.
If Norman ended up in S.H.I.E.L.D.’s custody…
There was a good chance Charlie’s own identity would be exposed.
Besides…
Who knew what version of S.H.I.E.L.D.
existed in this universe?
There was every possibility it was secretly Hydra-controlled.
Letting Hydra learn who he was…
Would create another enormous problem.
He had to get to Norman first.
Charlie swung rapidly between the buildings, carefully staying outside Hawkeye’s line of sight.
Those arrows…
Were no joke.
Soon…
Police sirens echoed throughout the city.
A full-scale high-speed pursuit unfolded across New York.
“Hahaha!”
“Go!”
“Go!”
Norman recklessly swerved through traffic, police cruisers racing after him.
Rat-tat-tat!
Above the streets…
The helicopter kept pace.
Hawkeye loosed another arrow.
It struck the speeding vehicle with perfect accuracy.
BOOM!!
The explosion flipped the car.
Norman was launched into the air by the blast.
“Hahaha!”
“Modern agents aren’t bad at all!”
Rolling across the pavement, Norman ignored the bullets flying toward him.
A device on his wrist flashed.
A brand-new Goblin Glider descended from the night sky.
“Farewell…”
“My interesting little friend.”
He leaped onto the glider and disappeared into a nearby residential district.
Clint immediately reached for another specialized arrow.
“Wait.”
Natasha stopped him.
“There are too many civilians.”
Clint frowned.
“You should trust me.”
Natasha placed a hand on his shoulder.
“I do trust you.”
“But Norman won’t hesitate to take his anger out on innocent people nearby.”
After a long pause…
Clint lowered his bow.
“…Alright.”
“I understand.”
Standing beside them…
Steve watched Spider-Man swing into the same neighborhood after the Green Goblin.
Then…
He pulled a ten-dollar bill from his pocket.
“Ten bucks.”
“I bet he catches Mr.
Demon.”
Clint:
“…”
Natasha:
“…”
(End of Chapter)