Shocking Opening (2)

Peter knew Scarecrow was the first supervillain he'd ever encountered. He'd never actually thought he wouldn't meet supervillains after becoming Spider-Man, he just didn't know if he was ready for it yet.

And today was the day to prove himself!

Spider-Man got up from the inner wall of the Central City Bank and began to run quickly around the circular lobby, forcing Scarecrow to chase him and fire his sonic blasts. Herman did indeed keep firing, shattering the intricately patterned ceiling. Spider-Man ducked behind a marble column just as Herman fired another sonic blast, breaking the column.

"You know, Herman? I kind of liked that Roman-style column."

Instead of running over, Spider-Man swung on a web line, accelerating directly into Scarecrow and kicking him. Scarecrow stumbled back two steps, only to be met by Spider-Man's powerful punch to the face as he lunged forward.

Scarecrow wobbled but stood straight. Spider-Man looked at his fist, his face filled with disbelief.

"How did you—"

"Golden titanium alloy, kid." Scarecrow, having stored up energy, punched Spider-Man's chin, sending him flying. In mid-air, Spider-Man shot a web line to grab the broken marble column and hurled it at Herman.

Scarecrow took a deep breath, retracted his fist, and punched. The three-to-four-ton marble column was shattered. But in that instant, a web blast hit his face, obscuring his vision.

"I have a question. If your fists are that strong, and your armor is that tough—"

Spider-Man landed on Scarecrow's back, his web fluid directly sticking to Scarecrow's charging fist and pulling it towards the armored face.

"—what about punching yourself in the face with your own fist?!"

Just before the heavy punch hit Scarecrow's own face, Spider-Man leaped away. The powerful sonic blast struck Scarecrow's own face. Scarecrow staggered back two steps, then couldn't help but laugh as he saw Spider-Man land on the ground.

"My armor can dissipate most of the kinetic energy from impacts, Spider! Whether it's my own sonic blasts or external ones!"

"That's great!" Spider-Man's web line had already hooked onto the remaining part of the marble column, and he ripped the entire column down, smashing it towards Scarecrow. "Does that mean I can punch you as hard as I want without holding back?"

"Or maybe you should think about how you're going to survive!"

The energy indicator on his gauntlet instantly turned red. Scarecrow slammed his fists into the ground, creating a violent tremor that shattered all the bank's protective glass and the falling marble. Then, the yellow figure leaped out of the dust, lunging directly at Spider-Man. Even with his Spider-Sense, Peter couldn't dodge this time. He was tackled to the ground, watching as Scarecrow raised his fist high.

"Say goodbye, Spider-Man!"

"I usually prefer to say, 'Cheese!'"

Peter shot web fluid from both hands simultaneously, covering Scarecrow's faceplate and making him miss his punch. He then kicked his legs, sending Scarecrow crashing through the ceiling. He sprang back to his feet, still instinctively clutching his throbbing head. "Herman's burst of speed was too fast. Even with Spider-Sense, I didn't have time to react. Oh, crap."

He immediately jumped up and dodged with a spin. Scarecrow, along with several layers of ceiling, crashed down from above. He stood up, seemingly unharmed.

"You thought I was still some petty thug? I'm as strong as you now! Spider-Man! No, I'm stronger than you!"

"Quick question, Herman," Peter said, retreating while looking for an opening to chat and recover his strength. "I thought you were robbing the bank because you were broke. Now it looks like you just want to beat me up. Why?"

"I am broke, but with this suit, making money is easy."

"You could make money easily without the suit too. You're smart, you have talent, you're creative. You could succeed anywhere."

Herman laughed, a genuine laugh for the first time, simply because he felt like it. He knew the little bug in front of him sincerely wanted to convince him not to be a criminal. He loosened his fists and waved at Spider-Man. "The guy under the suit isn't black, is he?"

"Uh..."

"You can go to high school. Even with student loans, you can pay them off in your lifetime. It's different for me. I might never pay them off, and more importantly, I might not even have the chance to go to school." Herman didn't walk towards Peter; instead, he increased the distance between them. "Think about it. Stark, Osborn, Baxter. Would they hire someone without a high school diploma? Or someone who's black?"

"It has nothing to do with skin color. You could help so many people! You... you can prove right now what a genius you are! Look at your armor, how cool is the design!"

"Yeah."

Herman nodded again. Just as Peter was about to continue his persuasion, Scarecrow clenched his fist.

"There's only one thing!"

"Since it's Scarecrow who made me famous, why should I be Herman Schultz!"

He launched a straight punch at Spider-Man. Spider-Man dodged with a spin and stuck to another marble column. Herman charged forward and punched the column.

"Since no one wants to know Herman, let them feel the scare!"

Spider-Man, who had been about to leap behind Herman from the marble, didn't expect Scarecrow to jump up as well. Not only that, but his jump height was even greater than Spider-Man's. He then punched Spider-Man directly towards the vault entrance, which had already been blown open.

This won't do. I need to find something Herman can't break to counterattack.

He saw the vault door that Herman had blasted open. Then, looking at Herman charging at him, he used his web fluid to stick to Scarecrow's gauntlets, stretched the web lines to the ground, temporarily pinning him. He then stood up and shot more web fluid.

Scarecrow tugged a couple of times and found the web fluid stuck to the ground to be unusually strong. He activated his launcher, shaking off the webbing.

"You think these little tricks can—"

"These aren't tricks, Herman!"

The whistling sound made Herman instinctively focus. The three-meter-tall vault door was being pulled towards him by web lines. He intended to punch the vault door away, but there wasn't enough time. The vault door slammed into him, sending him flying and crashing onto the lobby floor.

Spider-Man, finally able to breathe a sigh of relief, shot consecutive web lines, firmly sticking the vault door and the trapped Herman to the ground. Based on the old Spider-Man games, this method should be enough to deal with Scarecrow.

"Reflect on yourself, Herman. With your talent, you don't need to do this," Peter said, panting. "You don't have to become famous this way."

"Then what should I do? Huh? The first time we fought, you even thought I bought that gun."

"I just didn't expect..."

"I know." Herman seemed motionless, just looking at Spider-Man. "You're a good person. Unlike those idiots at the police station who heard I invented weapons and just laughed and didn't believe me. You're the type of guy who'd help a kid pick up their bike if it fell into the subway."

"You did that? That's pretty lame, man."

"Want to hear something cool?" Scarecrow turned his head to look at the ceiling. "The vault door was a good idea. My fists really can't break through it."

"But the floor is different. Thanks to modern city construction, these buildings have underground parking."

"What the—?!"

The violent tremor felt like a minor earthquake, and the entire bank lobby began to collapse. Spider-Man had to leap onto the already riddled ceiling, watching the entire first floor of the bank crumble. Then, the massive vault door flew towards Spider-Man. He instinctively dodged it, then realized something was terribly wrong.

The vault door smashed right out of the bank building!

"Spider-Man is still inside fighting Herman Schultz, and the streets near Midtown Bank have been sealed off..."

Sheriff George Stacy was listening to his subordinate's report. The strange noises coming from inside the bank had him incredibly worried. Suddenly, a huge roar erupted, and a large section of the wall was smashed through by the giant vault door that flew out. Spider-Man followed, continuously using his webs to stick to the vault door.

"Stop! Stop! Stop! Everyone get out of the way!"

A group of police officers quickly dodged at the shouts, but they couldn't prevent the vault door from slicing through a police car and smashing into the wall of the building opposite. Spider-Man could only manage to embed it into the second-floor wall of the opposite building.

"What kind of building is this, Sheriff?"

"...It's the Roxxon Energy Corporation office building. I'll send someone to check the situation." Sheriff George, still shaken, looked at the vault door that had flown out. "What's the situation inside?"

"I'm not entirely sure, but Scarecrow should be coming out soon."

"Scarecrow? You mean Herman?"

Spider-Man, perched on the vault door stuck in the wall, narrowed his eyes and looked at the yellow figure emerging from the bank, taking a deep breath.

"Yeah."