Shocking Finale (Part 1)

The neon lights of Times Square surged like a tide, giant electronic screens flashing news headlines, hyping this upcoming showdown as a battle of the century. The National Guard was ready, having sealed off the entire area. Inside and on the rooftops of surrounding buildings were also cleared out—at Steve Rogers' request, a one-kilometer radius around Times Square was designated a security zone to prevent potential explosions.

However, even the tightest blockade couldn't dampen the enthusiasm of New York's citizens. Beyond the police tape, crowds surged like a tide, countless phones and cameras held high, attempting to capture this ultimate showdown between a superhero and a villain. Though they were destined to only capture blurry silhouettes, this did nothing to dampen their fervor. Most of them weren't fans of Spider-Man or Scarecrow, but that didn't stop them from viewing the battle between superhero and villain as entertainment, especially a pre-arranged one.

Look, amidst the noisy crowd, something wonderful happened. A figure in a cheap Spider-Man cosplay stood out—Midtown High School's Eugene Thompson was waving a homemade support sign, cheering for Spider-Man, a stark contrast to the other onlookers.

Though Scarecrow arrived first.

With a deafening roar, Herman Schultz crashed into the center of Times Square like a cannonball, the ground instantly cracking, debris flying. He slowly straightened up and looked around—every giant screen was aimed at him, every media lens focused on him, with special close-ups. He scanned every screen around him, and each one showed Scarecrow's figure.

This filled Herman Schultz with immense satisfaction. At this moment, he was the center of the world.

—Unfortunately, this glory lasted less than ten seconds.

A red and blue figure swooped down from high above, completing a spectacular barrel roll in mid-air before landing steadily in a classic superhero pose, then straightening up and shrugging.

Just as Peter was about to quip about no one cheering for him, a voice from who-knew-where called out, "Go, Spider-Man! Beat him up!"

I have fans now? Peter raised an eyebrow in surprise, walking towards Herman while making a reaching gesture.

"Good evening, Herman. Satisfied with the venue I arranged for you?"

"Excellent, bug. You know how to pick your spotlight. Tonight, everyone here will witness how Scarecrow defeats Spider-Man!"

Before he finished speaking, he slammed his fists into the ground. A terrifying shockwave rippled outwards, the ground cracking inch by inch, debris shooting out like bullets. At this moment, he firmly believed Spider-Man couldn't dodge the continuous, invisible waves of shockwaves. Even if he dodged them, the flying debris would hit him directly. This was his method for dealing with Spider-Man; as long as he kept the freak from getting close, he would be invincible.

However, Spider-Man simply leaped, then began to approach Scarecrow step by step. It seemed every shockwave was dodged with a perfectly timed jump or swing, and every piece of debris flying upwards perfectly avoided Spider-Man's path. He seemed to be able to perceive the shockwaves and close the distance just as quickly.

By the time Scarecrow realized Spider-Man had gotten close, it was too late. Web fluid decisively stuck to the cracked ground, and a whole section of the pavement was ripped up by Spider-Man, then unceremoniously slammed onto Scarecrow's head.

"I was originally planning to shake your hand before we fought, Herman. Maybe we can do that now?"

After throwing the debris, Spider-Man stood before the stunned Scarecrow, who had stumbled back several steps, resuming his reaching pose. But Scarecrow just yelled, "Shut up!" and wobbled to steady himself.

"If it wasn't our first fight, I would have wanted to have a proper chat. Meeting you for the first time, the fight wouldn't have been so intense. Uh, I don't really want to say it, but your shockwave attack is too one-dimensional. So... why don't you just surrender?"

"I haven't lost yet!"

Scarecrow, whose suit's cooling system had been perfected and who was full of confidence under the media's gaze, immediately retaliated with a shockwave, which the latter easily dodged with a roll. At this point, even the least agile mind understood that even against invisible shockwaves, Spider-Man could perceive and evade them.

In other words, the invisibility of the shockwaves was not an obstacle for Spider-Man.

Furthermore, the opponent had a completely different combat style. The towering skyscrapers of Times Square were an excellent battlefield for Spider-Man's fighting. He used his web fluid to swing and dodge repeatedly, luring Scarecrow into firing at him. If Scarecrow stopped, he would quickly close in—Scarecrow had fully understood from their last fight that in close combat, apart from defense, he was no match for Spider-Man.

Given this, preventing Spider-Man from getting close became the logical solution.

The battle instantly escalated. Herman pushed the frequency of his shockwave emissions to the maximum. As the buildings of Times Square were continuously hit, the billboards and giant screens hanging on them began to fall non-stop. Scarecrow blasted them down one by one, and for some reason, Spider-Man caught them all with his webs, suspending them between the skyscrapers, weaving a giant net above Scarecrow's head, laden with countless falling objects.

During the intense battle, Scarecrow didn't even notice that his shockwaves were no longer destroying Spider-Man's webs.

Spider-Man rolled nimbly and landed on the ground, kneeling on one knee and shooting webs from his hands, hooking onto Scarecrow's completed launcher. Herman clenched his fists, ready to shatter the webs stuck to it, but unexpectedly found that the webs didn't disperse this time. He looked at the web-shooter on Spider-Man's wrist and immediately increased the output of his own launcher. The webs finally blew apart, and Scarecrow began a new round of attacks.

Spider-Man leaped up again, swinging through the air.

Scarecrow's shockwaves arrived as expected.

The reinforced shockwaves shattered the webs used to hold the billboards and giant screens. Screen after screen, still playing or flashing static, fell simultaneously, crashing heavily into Times Square, kicking up massive clouds of dust that obscured Scarecrow's vision.

"So this is your plan? You improved your webs so these things would fall? You think you can get close to me like this?"

A powerful shockwave erupted from the dust cloud, shattering the glass of numerous buildings. The dust, along with the giant billboards and screens, was instantly blown away, widening Scarecrow's field of vision. Only then did he realize—

Spider-Man wasn't waiting for the dust to settle, but for the moment Scarecrow activated his launcher.

In the night sky, a slender figure blocked the dazzling lights. Then, the red and blue hero ran across a giant screen that had been blown away. Web fluid shot out continuously from his wrist-mounted shooter, connecting to a massive billboard. He then stepped onto the screen, leaped, swung the giant billboard, and smashed it down.

Countless media helicopters and cameras could only see a giant billboard crashing to the ground.

[J. Jonah Jameson, The Daily Bugle, reporting the truth!]

Scarecrow, half-pinned by the billboard, was trying to lift it. Although it was indeed heavy, his enhanced strength should have made it manageable. Unfortunately, Spider-Man wouldn't give him the chance. Web fluid stuck to his raised hands, and with a strong pull, he yanked Scarecrow out from under the billboard and dragged him directly in front of Spider-Man.

"It's over, Herman."

Spider-Man held him up with one hand and gripped his arm gauntlet with the other. "You're under arrest for carrying incendiary and explosive devices. Scarecrow's reign is over."

May Day was a bit busy, so the update is late. Apologies.