Spider-Man Appears

The man in the red-and-blue bodysuit stood atop a building, watching everything unfold below. Neither Mordo nor Black Lantern Quicksilver had noticed him. A spider emblem was emblazoned on his suit, and he shot white webbing from his right hand, swinging down the side of the building as he watched Mordo prepare to leave.

This man was Spider-Man.

Spider-Man fired a strand of webbing. He had heard every word of the conversation between Mordo and Black Lantern Quicksilver. Since this man intended to oppose the Avengers, he had to pay the price. Spider-Man's web shot swiftly toward Mordo, but just as it was about to hit him, layers of crimson-gold disc-shaped spells appeared out of thin air. The Boots of Valtorr beneath Mordo's feet stepped lightly through the air, carrying him aloft.

Spider-Man quipped, "My God, what kind of shoes are those? They can make someone fly like that? Oh my God, and those discs too. I have to say, they're seriously lame."

Mordo ignored Spider-Man's jab and threw his full strength into a punch straight at him. A spell was concealed within that fist, faint golden sparks of magic flickering around it. Spider-Man shot a web toward a distant building and pulled himself onto it. His feet stuck tightly to the wall, and he stood there watching Mordo. "Hey, buddy. What you're doing is a little outside the realm of science, you know? I'm telling you, among all the people I know, nobody's as unscientific as you. Or rather, you've completely shattered science. I have to admit, your attack was pretty deadly to me, or my Spider-Sense wouldn't have reacted so fast. Right?"

Mordo's gaze darkened. He knew of Spider-Man and knew about the Civil War. It seemed Spider-Man wanted to join the Avengers, using him as a real combat test in order to earn his way in. Tony had always been unwilling to let Spider-Man join the Avengers, believing he was not qualified yet.

Spider-Man continued, "Buddy, can you say a few more words? How about we talk about why you want to go after the Avengers? Or tell me how Quicksilver came back to life? Better yet, why don't we go to Avengers Tower and have a proper talk?"

"Idiot." Mordo had no time to waste on Spider-Man. He knew that the harm caused by sorcerers had already pushed Earth to the brink, so he had to take responsibility and eliminate every sorcerer, including his own magic. Only then could Earth be safe. As magic became more widespread, Earth could no longer withstand such impacts.

Mordo looked at Spider-Man and opened a portal with his Sling Ring. Just as he was about to step through it, a web stuck directly to his Boots of Valtorr. But if the Boots of Valtorr were really so easy to control, they would not be called magical artifacts. Mordo gave a hard tug, golden light flashing from the boots as he nimbly shifted his body through the air. At the same time, the spell in his hand transformed into a sphere and rushed at Spider-Man. It did not contain much power, but it was enough to knock Spider-Man unconscious.

Mordo was not truly a villain. His understanding had merely gone wrong, and Ancient One's blow to him had pushed him down the path of darkness. And becoming darker did not mean Mordo would kill people at will. He only stripped sorcerers of their magical power because he believed magic disrupted Earth's balance and would lead to its destruction.

He only killed when necessary, and Spider-Man was not such a case right now. Mordo turned and left. He knew the spherical spell would definitely strike Spider-Man because it locked onto its target.

Spider-Man kept fleeing, but the spell continued to follow him. He darted across rooftops in the darkness, dodging again and again, yet he still could not shake it off. He planted his feet as webs appeared from thin air around his body and rapidly wove themselves together. In moments, he had become a cocoon. Thick webbing formed a protective barrier over Spider-Man's body, while other strands anchored themselves to different buildings, gradually forming a web. A cocoon rested securely upon the giant web, as if no attack could possibly move it.

But the magical attack exploded outright, annihilating all the webbing. Spider-Man was blasted away by the enormous force, dizziness flooding his mind.

Even with the protection of his webs, Spider-Man was still hit.

At that moment, he had no strength left in his body. His entire body felt limp and shriveled, and even his muscles could not muster the slightest bit of force. The dangerous part was that he was falling from midair. He would definitely be seriously injured, and although he possessed regenerative abilities, he could not rely on them like this.

Feeling his body go slack, he muttered, "Oh, my God."

Mordo did not even glance at Spider-Man. His body had already completely entered the portal, which then closed.

At that moment, something streaked out from the top of Avengers Tower along a path like a curved laser beam. Golden flames flashed through the air. It was an armored suit, with a spherical blue-white light source embedded in its chest.

When Spider-Man saw this, he finally relaxed and fell asleep. He knew it was Iron Man. Uncle Tony had come to save him.

Tony flew through the air at tremendous speed. After those generals and officers had left, he had seen Mordo and Quicksilver's conversation through the surveillance footage. Naturally, he had also witnessed Spider-Man's battle with Mordo afterward. He had thought Spider-Man could handle Mordo because he trusted Spider-Man's reflexes, but it now seemed that Spider-Man was still not mature enough.

He moved at full speed, his firepower fully engaged. Just as Spider-Man was about to hit the ground, Tony caught him directly and rolled across the ground with him.

The impact from the magical explosion and the acceleration from Spider-Man's fall had both been enormous. It was already impressive that Tony had caught him so precisely. Fortunately, Spider-Man had not been injured. Otherwise, Tony truly would not have dared face Spider-Man's aunt.

Tony had borrowed him from Spider-Man's aunt and arranged for him to study temporarily at Avengers Tower. But if anything happened to him, his aunt would turn into a demon—or at least, that was what Tony thought.

Looking at the sleeping Spider-Man, Tony wondered whether he should let him join the Avengers after all. No matter how he looked at it, though, Spider-Man's abilities seemed to be lacking something, and the kid was too young. Lu Mingyu was different. When Lu Mingyu had been no match for Quicksilver, he had still saved Tony. That had earned Tony considerable trust in both Lu Mingyu's abilities and character.

Lu Mingyu and Spider-Man were roughly the same age, but that did not mean Spider-Man possessed the same level of combat ability. Tony had allowed Spider-Man to participate in the Civil War because the enemies had all been their own people and no one would truly go for the kill.

But after that battle, Spider-Man had become especially confident in his own abilities. Tony did not know how to explain it to him, nor did he want to damage his confidence. Still, he believed that if Spider-Man continued like this, one day he would be punished by Tony. Being so reckless would always delay things, and the consequences could be severe.