The Savior and the Saved

He missed twice in a row. The Lizard-Man, still disoriented from his transformation, felt his negative emotions piling up, his eyes beginning to show a growing ferocity.

"Roar!" Suddenly, he let out a low growl, grabbed Nils' car, and flipped it over the side of the bridge!

"Aaaahhh!" Nils screamed in terror.

Even though he was inside the car, falling from such a height to the water below meant only death awaited him!

He still had a bright future ahead of him; he didn't want to die!

"Ohoho~ Guess who? The Spider-Express is arriving at its destination!" A nimble figure descended from the sky.

It was Peter!

He first delivered a swinging kick, knocking the Lizard-Man to the ground. Then, he leaped to the side of the bridge and shot out webbing, pulling Nils' car to a stop.

Of course, he didn't actually know who was inside, nor did he know Nils. He also didn't know that at least half of what was happening before him was Nils' "contribution."

If he had known, well, he probably would have saved him anyway. If he hadn't, he wouldn't be Peter Parker.

However, perhaps after saving him, he would have gathered evidence and taken Nils to court to receive his due punishment.

In fact, since getting onto the bridge, he had already saved seven cars. This was the eighth.

Some cars had people in them, others were empty.

But he couldn't worry about all that right now.

Because he noticed cars were still being flung off ahead.

Moreover, his Spider-Sense was trembling, telling him that there was something dangerous on the bridge.

And that must be the mastermind behind all this!

After making his way forward, he indeed found the Lizard-Man!

Peter wrapped the webbing holding Nils' car around the bridge supports a few times, securing it tightly, and then added several more strands to hold it in place.

Having quickly done this, he turned to face the Lizard-Man.

After being kicked down by Peter, the Lizard-Man seemed to regain his senses.

He stood up, staring blankly at Peter, then at the direction he had come from, where sporadic bursts of fire were still erupting.

He took two steps back, seemingly unable to believe he had done all this.

At that moment, his hand suddenly began to throb with intense pain.

The Lizard-Man looked up and saw his newly grown left hand rapidly dissolving.

He understood; the Lizard Serum's effects were wearing off!

Realizing this, the Lizard-Man didn't dare to delay any longer. He turned and charged towards the edge of the bridge, diving directly into the vast ocean.

Peter blinked in surprise. He had been ready to fight this mini-Godzilla, so why did he just run?

Was he scared off by my awesome Spider-Man might?

Peter thought to himself, quite narcissistically.

"Someone help me! Help! My child is trapped in the car!" From not far away, a father's anxious voice reached Peter's ears.

Peter glanced back in the direction the Lizard-Man had left. His Spider-Sense was weakening, suggesting the Lizard-Man wouldn't be back anytime soon.

Confirming this, Peter quickly rushed towards the father.

Directly below the anxious father was a car that the Lizard-Man had just thrown off the bridge, but which Peter had managed to catch and secure to the bridge.

Peter jumped to the rear of the car, found a weak spot, smashed the rear window with a punch, and then ripped the entire thing open.

"Daddy! Daddy!" Inside the back seat, a little boy was indeed shouting in terror.

"Hey, hey, kid, calm down, calm down!" Peter shouted.

"Go away!" The little boy seemed startled by Peter.

Fine, it's all J. Jonah Jameson's fault in this world. That guy has been slandering Spider-Man constantly, plus Peter's actions in this world have also been quite selfish. With both factors combined, his image is even worse than Shadow Spider-Man's or Peter's original world's.

"I really should have Osborn lock Jonah in a cage, preferably with tigers," Peter muttered under his breath.

After a moment's hesitation, he reached up and removed his Spider-Man mask.

"Hey, kid, look, I'm human too. I'm a big brother!"

The little boy turned to look at him, stopping his pointless shouting.

Peter forced a smile onto his face. "Not so scary, am I?"

The little boy nodded slightly. Peter's sunny disposition had indeed dispelled his fear; he looked much more approachable than when he was wearing the mask.

Peter gestured to the mask in his hand. "Can you hold this for me?"

The child's curiosity overcame his fear at this moment.

The little boy looked curiously at the mask in Peter's hand and nodded again.

Peter then tossed the mask over to him.

"Put it on, Jack," Peter saw the name on the backpack beside him. "I'll get you up."

"Okay." Jack put the spider-themed hood on his head. The hood, modeled after Peter's head, was clearly a bit too big for him.

However, the enclosed nature of the spider-themed hood allowed the little boy to temporarily forget his surroundings, focusing only on Peter.

Seeing that the little boy had calmed down, Peter slowly climbed into the car, unbuckled the safety belt that was restraining him, and then grabbed his hand, leading him back the way they came.

Just then, Peter smelled a pungent odor.

His Spider-Sense tingled again.

"Damn it, it's gasoline!"

Peter realized that the car's fuel tank might have been leaking from the Lizard-Man's previous attack.

If that were the case, the entire car could go up in flames!

He had to speed up!

Buzz!

His Spider-Sense suddenly began to throb wildly!

Without thinking, Peter pulled the little boy into his arms, then quickly climbed upwards with his other hand.

At the same time, the vehicle suddenly erupted in a large fireball.

Under the scorching heat of the flames, the webs that had been pulling the vehicle were directly burned through, and the entire car plummeted down!

"Ahhhhh!" The little boy screamed again.

However, by this time, Peter had already reached the car's rear window.

He put force into his foot, stomped hard, and propelled himself outside the car. He then shot out another web, stopping himself and the little boy in mid-air.

"Hey, kid, you're safe now." Peter chuckled as he looked down.

The little boy stopped screaming and looked up at him.

"Can you put the mask back on for me?" Peter lowered his head further.

The little boy took off the mask and put it on Peter's head. "Thank you, big brother."

"You're welcome, Jack," Peter replied. "And, I'm Spider-Man!"

"Thank you, Spider-Man big brother."

"Hehehe~" Peter couldn't help but laugh.

Whether in another world or this one, this was the first time someone he had helped had thanked him.

Even though it was just a child, it meant a lot to him.

It made him feel like his efforts weren't in vain!

In reality, it was the mutual affirmation between the rescuer and the rescued.

As for who was the rescuer and who was the rescued... who knew?