Times Square's neon lights surged like waves. Massive electronic screens flashed news headlines in turn, hyping the coming showdown as though it were the battle of the century. The National Guard had already mobilized and sealed off the entirety of Times Square. The interiors and rooftops of several surrounding buildings had also been cleared—at Steve Rogers's request, everything within a one-kilometer radius of Times Square had been designated a security zone to prevent potential explosions.
Yet no matter how tight the lockdown was, it could not contain the enthusiasm of New York City's residents. Beyond the barricades, the crowd swelled like a tide, countless phones and cameras held high in an attempt to capture this ultimate clash between a superhero and a villain. Though they were destined to film only blurry silhouettes, that did nothing to dampen their fervor. Most of them were fans of neither Spider-Man nor Scarecrow, but that did not stop them from treating a battle between a superhero and a villain as entertainment—especially a prearranged fight like this.
Look, amid that noisy crowd, something wonderful was happening. A figure in a cheap Spider-Man cosplay costume stood out conspicuously—Eugene Thompson from Midtown High School was waving a homemade support sign and cheering for Spider-Man, in stark contrast to the other spectators.
Even though Scarecrow was the first to enter the scene.
With a deafening boom, Herman Schultz crashed into the center of Times Square like a cannonball. The ground instantly cracked, and rubble flew everywhere. He slowly straightened up and looked around—every giant screen was pointed at him, every media camera focused on him, and each had given him a dedicated close-up. Everywhere he looked, every screen displayed Scarecrow's figure.
That filled Herman Schultz with immense satisfaction. At that moment, he was the center of the world.
—Unfortunately, that glory lasted less than ten seconds.
A red-and-blue figure dove down from high above. After completing a dazzling midair roll, he landed steadily in a standard superhero pose, then straightened and shrugged.
Peter had just been about to crack a joke about no one cheering for him when an unfamiliar voice came from somewhere. "Go, Spider-Man! Beat the hell out of him!"
I already have fans these days? Peter raised an eyebrow in surprise, then walked toward Herman while extending a hand.
"Good evening, Herman. Happy with the venue I set up for you?"
"Very much so, bug. You really know how to pick the spotlight. Tonight, everyone here will see how Scarecrow beats Spider-Man!"
Before he finished speaking, he slammed both fists into the ground. Terrifying shockwaves spread outward like ripples, shattering the pavement inch by inch and blasting chunks of stone out like bullets. At that moment, he firmly believed Spider-Man could not possibly evade this endless, invisible barrage of shockwaves. Even if he did, the flying rubble would strike him directly. This was how he dealt with Spider-Man. As long as he kept that freak from getting close, he would remain unbeatable.
Yet Spider-Man merely leaped up, then began closing in on Scarecrow step by step. It seemed that every shockwave was evaded by precisely timed jumps or swings, while every piece of rubble launched skyward perfectly avoided Spider-Man's path. He closed the distance as swiftly as if he could see the shockwaves.
By the time Scarecrow realized Spider-Man had gotten close, it was already too late. Silk decisively stuck to the cracked ground, and Spider-Man yanked up an entire section of pavement before smashing it solidly into Scarecrow's head.
"I was planning to shake hands with you before we started, Herman. Maybe we can make up for that now?"
After throwing the slab of pavement, Spider-Man stood before Scarecrow, who had been knocked back several steps, and resumed his hand-extended pose. But Scarecrow merely shouted, "Shut up!" as he staggered and steadied himself.
"If this weren't our first fight, and I hadn't wanted to have a proper chat with you, our first meeting wouldn't have been this close. Uh, I don't really want to say it, but your shockwave attacks are way too predictable. So... how about you just surrender?"
"I haven't lost yet!"
Having perfected his armor's cooling system and brimming with confidence under the media's watchful eyes, Scarecrow immediately returned fire with another shockwave. Spider-Man easily rolled out of the way again. At this point, even the dullest mind understood that Spider-Man could fully sense and evade even invisible shockwaves.
In other words, the shockwaves' invisibility was no obstacle to Spider-Man.
And his opponent had an entirely different fighting style. Times Square's densely packed skyscrapers were the perfect battlefield for Spider-Man. He used Silk to swing and evade again and again, baiting Scarecrow into continuously firing at him. If Scarecrow tried to stop, Spider-Man would rapidly close in—Scarecrow had already understood during their previous battle that aside from his defensive power, he was no match for Spider-Man in close combat.
In that case, preventing Spider-Man from getting close became the obvious solution.
The battle instantly escalated. Herman pushed the shockwave launcher's firing rate to its limit. As Times Square's buildings were struck repeatedly, the billboards and giant screens hanging from them began falling without pause. One after another, Scarecrow blasted them down, yet for some reason, Spider-Man caught every last one with webs and suspended them between the skyscrapers, weaving a massive net above Scarecrow's head laden with countless falling objects.
And amid the tense battle, Scarecrow did not even notice that the shockwaves he was firing now were no longer tearing apart Spider-Man's webbing.
After a nimble roll, Spider-Man landed on the ground, dropped to one knee, and fired Silk from both hands, hooking it onto Scarecrow's launcher after it had fired. Herman clenched his fists and prepared to shatter the webbing stuck to it with vibrations, only to discover that this time the webbing did not disperse in a single burst. He looked at Spider-Man's web-shooters, immediately increased the launcher's output, and finally blew the webbing apart. Scarecrow then launched a new round of attacks.
Spider-Man leaped up once more and swung through the air.
Scarecrow's shockwave arrived right on cue.
The enhanced shockwave shattered the webbing wrapped around the billboards and giant screens. Screen after screen, some still playing and others flickering with static, crashed down at once, slamming heavily into Times Square and kicking up a huge cloud of dust that blocked Scarecrow's vision.
"So that was your plan? You improved your webbing just so these things could fall? You thought that would let you get close to me?"
A powerful shockwave erupted from the dust cloud. Glass across numerous buildings exploded, and in an instant, the dust, massive billboards, and giant screens were all blasted away, widening Scarecrow's field of vision again. Only then did he realize—
Spider-Man had not been waiting for the dust to rise, but for the moment after he activated the Scarecrow launcher.
Against the night sky, a slender figure blocked out the dazzling lights. Then the red-and-blue hero ran across one of the massive screens blown into the air, Silk shooting continuously from his web-shooters and attaching to an enormous billboard. He stepped onto the giant screen and leaped, swinging the enormous billboard around and smashing it down.
All the media helicopters and cameras could see was a gigantic billboard slamming into the ground.
J. Jonah Jameson, bringing you the truth from the Daily Bugle!
Scarecrow, half his body pinned beneath the billboard, was trying to lift the thing. It was indeed heavy, but with his enhanced strength, lifting it should not have been a problem. Unfortunately, Spider-Man would not give him the chance. Silk stuck to his raised hands, then yanked hard, pulling him out from beneath the billboard and dragging him directly before Spider-Man.
"It's over, Herman."
Spider-Man lifted him with one hand and gripped his bracer with the other. "You're under arrest for carrying flammable and explosive materials. Scarecrow's curtain call is over."
May Day has been a little busy, so this update came late. Sorry.
Before you continue