After grabbing twice and missing both times, the Lizard-Man, whose mind was still a muddle from his recent transformation, began to accumulate negative emotions. Savagery gradually appeared in his eyes.
"Roar!" Suddenly, he let out a low growl, grabbed Niles's sedan, and hurled it over the side of the bridge!
"Aaaahhh!" Niles screamed in terror.
Though he was inside the car, hitting the water from such a high bridge would leave him with only one fate: death!
He still had a bright future ahead of him. He did not want to die!
"Oh-ho-ho~ Guess who? The Spider Express is arriving at its destination!" A nimble figure descended from the sky.
It was Peter!
He first swung in with a flying kick, knocking the Lizard-Man to the ground. Then he leaped to the edge of the bridge and fired webs to catch Niles's sedan.
Of course, he had no idea who was inside. He did not even know Niles, much less that at least half of this whole mess was Niles's "doing."
If he had known... well, he probably still would have saved him. If he did not, then he would not be Peter Parker.
Still, after saving him, Peter might have gathered evidence and sent Niles to court to receive the punishment he deserved.
In fact, ever since getting onto the bridge, he had already saved seven cars along the way. This was the eighth.
Some cars had people inside, while others were empty.
But he could not worry about all that right now.
Because he had noticed that cars were still occasionally flying off ahead.
And his Spider-Sense was trembling in waves, warning him that something dangerous was on the bridge.
That had to be the culprit behind all this!
Sure enough, when he made his way over, he found the Lizard-Man!
Peter wrapped the web holding Niles's sedan around the bridge structure several times, pulled it taut, then added several more strands to secure it.
After quickly finishing that, he turned to look at the Lizard-Man.
After Peter had kicked him down, the Lizard-Man seemed to have regained his senses.
He got to his feet and stared blankly at Peter, then looked toward the direction he had come from, where flames occasionally rose into the air.
He took two steps back, as though he could not believe he had caused all this.
Just then, a sharp pain suddenly shot through his hand.
The Lizard-Man raised his arm and discovered that his newly grown left hand was rapidly dissolving.
He understood. The effects of the Lizard Serum had worn off!
Realizing this, the Lizard-Man did not dare waste any more time. He turned and rushed toward the edge of the bridge, jumping straight into the vast sea below.
Peter froze for a moment. He had already prepared himself to fight this mini Godzilla, so why had he just run away?
Had he been scared off by Spider-Man's mighty presence?
Peter thought narcissistically.
"Someone, please help me! Save me! My child is trapped in the car!" A father's anxious voice reached Peter from nearby.
Peter turned to glance once more in the direction the Lizard-Man had gone. The Spider-Sense in his mind was steadily weakening. He probably would not be back anytime soon.
Once he was sure of that, Peter hurried toward the father.
Directly below the frantic father was a sedan that the Lizard-Man had just thrown off the bridge, only for Peter to catch it in time and leave it hanging from the bridge.
Peter jumped onto the rear of the car, found the right spot, smashed the rear window with one punch, and then tore it open entirely.
"Dad! Dad!" Sure enough, a little boy in the back seat was screaming in terror.
"Hey, hey, kid, calm down, calm down!" Peter shouted.
"Go away!" The little boy seemed frightened by Peter.
Well, it was all J. Jonah Jameson's fault in this world. That guy had constantly smeared Spider-Man, and Peter's actions in this world had indeed been driven by selfish motives before.
Together, those factors had left his image far worse than Shadow Spider-Man's or the Spider-Man from Peter's original world.
"Osborn really ought to lock J. Jonah in a cage, preferably with a tiger," Peter muttered under his breath.
After hesitating for a moment, he reached up and took off his Spider-Man mask.
"Hey, kid, look. I'm human too. I'm just an older brother!"
The little boy turned around to look at him and stopped screaming pointlessly.
Peter forced a smile. "Not so scary, right?"
The little boy nodded slightly. Peter's sunny, cheerful demeanor really did dispel his fear. At least, he looked much friendlier without the mask.
Peter gestured to the Spider-Man mask in his hand. "Can you hold this for me?"
At that moment, the child's curiosity overcame his fear.
The little boy looked curiously at the Spider-Man mask in Peter's hand and nodded again.
Peter tossed the mask over to him.
"Put it on, Jack," Peter said, having noticed the name on the backpack beside him. "I'll bring you up."
"Okay." Jack put the Spider-Man mask on. The mask modeled after Peter's head was obviously much too large for him.
However, the mask's enclosed design allowed the little boy to temporarily forget his surroundings, leaving Peter as the only thing in his sight.
Once Peter saw that the boy had calmed down, he slowly crawled into the car, unbuckled the seat belt restraining him, grabbed his hand, and led him back the way he had come.
Just then, a pungent smell reached Peter's nose.
His Spider-Sense started twitching again.
"Oh no, gasoline!"
Peter realized that the Lizard-Man's earlier attack might have caused the car's fuel tank to leak.
If that was the case, the entire car could catch fire!
He had to move faster!
Buzz!
His Spider-Sense suddenly went wild!
Without a second thought, Peter pulled the little boy into his arms and rapidly climbed upward with his other hand.
At the same time, the car suddenly erupted in flames.
Under the scorching heat, the webs holding the car snapped at once, and the entire vehicle fell!
"Aaaahhh!" The little boy screamed again.
But Peter had already reached the rear window.
He pushed off hard with his feet and sprang outside the car. Then he fired another web, leaving himself and the little boy hanging in midair.
"Hey, kid, you're safe now." Peter looked down and smiled.
The little boy stopped screaming and looked up at him.
"Can you help me put my mask back on?" Peter lowered his head a little farther.
The little boy took off the mask and put it over Peter's head. "Thank you, big brother."
"You're welcome, Jack," Peter replied. "And also, I'm Spider-Man!"
"Thank you, Spider-Man big brother."
"Hehehe~" Peter could not help but laugh.
Whether in another world or this one, it was the first time he had received thanks from someone he had helped.
He was only a child, but it truly meant a great deal to Peter.
Because it made him feel that his efforts had not been for nothing!
In truth, it was mutual affirmation between the savior and the saved.
As for who was the savior and who was saved... who knew?
Before you continue