Meanwhile, in the sunless Underground Ruins.
The subterranean world of twisted steel and concrete was cramped and piled with rubble.
A red-and-blue shield stood wedged at an angle in the ruins, and a dust-covered figure stirred.
"Ugh..."
Steve groaned, then slowly opened his eyes.
Faint light filtered through the gaps in the rubble and fell before his eyes.
He coughed, barely managed to push the debris off his body, then braced himself and stood up.
He drew a deep breath. The air reeked of filth and decay.
Covered in dust and grime, Steve found his shield.
"Good old friend, thanks for saving me again." He stroked the scorch-covered shield, his face full of emotion.
First had come the dense barrage of Pumpkin Bombs, then the collapsing building.
Having survived all that, Steve figured his luck had to be running out.
Yes, he had been very lucky.
Protected by his shield, he had been swept by the blast into a sheltered corner. By sheer chance, the falling rubble and concrete pillars had missed his body, forming a pocket that kept him safe.
He considered that perfectly scientific.
Even if he wasn't all that well educated.
But how was he supposed to get out?
That was a serious problem.
He rested for a while, then stooped and began feeling around nearby.
He tried to find a weak spot he could escape through.
Crack.
Steve's footsteps echoed clearly through the deathly silence.
Before long, he seemed to hear something.
Then faint, heartrending wails reached his ears.
"Hm?"
Steve's expression shifted. He looked toward a gap in the rubble beside him, then carefully pushed the stones aside.
Rumble...
Rubble tumbled down, and the wailing grew clearer.
"Ah!! Bruce, how are you doing? Don't die! What am I supposed to do if you die?!"
"I went through all that trouble to pull you from the starter pack! I taught you, raised you! We depended on each other! We were like brothers! Can't you just die?!"
In a pocket among the ruins, a red-and-blue figure knelt on the ground, wailing.
His cries were so miserable that anyone who heard them would grieve, and anyone who saw him would weep.
Yet Steve couldn't empathize at all.
Because he knew Bruce didn't exist.
But the girl with half her body buried beneath a massive concrete pillar was real.
"It's a girl."
Steve spotted Gwen Stacy pinned beneath the ruins at once.
Gwen Stacy's Suit had disappeared, so he didn't recognize her.
"What happened to her?" He hurried over to Mark.
Mark glanced at Steve. "Mr. Shi Aimin, you're an Intermediate Demon Hunter. You can bring my Bruce back to life, right?"
He clung tightly to Steve's leg. "Boo-hoo... You have to save Bruce. I'm begging you.
"He was crushed to death by falling rocks because he was trying to save me..."
Last night, although Mark had moved well beyond the explosion's range, there had been no way to avoid the mountain of collapsing debris.
To save him, Bruce had pushed him away at the crucial moment.
That was why Bruce had ended up like this.
Mark was filled with regret.
At the same time, his chest seemed to start hurting again.
Hum...
The Spider-Totem on his chest flashed wildly, and Mark collapsed to the ground. His repeated groans made it clear that he wasn't doing well.
Steve noticed this and frowned deeply.
"What happened?"
"It's a curse."
Splash...
Just then, black liquid flowed out through a gap in the rubble and formed a demonic face.
Venom grinned, revealing a mouthful of sharp teeth. "I finally figured it out."
"Who are you?"
Seeing how bizarre Venom looked, Steve instinctively stepped back, his eyes wary.
"What are you?"
"I'm not a thing. I'm a great symbiote."
"So what did you figure out?"
Since Venom didn't seem hostile, Steve turned his gaze to Gwen Stacy's dead body.
Venom also looked at the cold, lifeless Gwen Stacy. "Keh-heh-heh... I discovered the secret of the curse."
He didn't seem to care about Gwen Stacy's death.
"The curse?" Steve pointed at Mark. "His curse?"
"Of course."
Venom's narrow eyes contracted. "I've been watching Spider-Man all along. The moment I smelled the curse's power, my friend suffered an accident.
"That accident wasn't supposed to happen. That huge stone pillar wasn't supposed to fall along that path, either.
"But the instant the curse's power appeared again, a strange force changed everything."
Venom had finally confirmed it.
"So Spider-Man's curse is... the people around him suffer accidents!"
Hearing that, Steve seemed to understand something.
"So this girl died because of Spider-Man's curse?"
He shook his head. "That would be the power of a god. I don't believe it's possible."
"You're just an ordinary Earthling who's never seen a god. I understand."
Venom glanced at Steve. "Ignorant Earthling, gods really do exist. Maybe someday you'll meet someone you consider a god, too."
Steve still shook his head. "I only believe in science."
"That's your business."
"So, black slime, your friend died, but you don't seem sad."
From what Venom had said, Steve guessed that the dead girl was his friend.
Of course Venom wasn't sad.
He grinned. "Death? Kid, the God of Symbiotes is a being who slaughters gods.
"And as a descendant of the great God of Symbiotes, I naturally possess divine power as well.
"Watch closely, kid."
With that, Venom turned into black liquid and slipped into Gwen Stacy's body.
In an instant, color returned to Gwen Stacy's face at a visible pace.
Her cold corpse rapidly regained its vitality, too.
"Ugh..."
Soon, Gwen Stacy let out a faint moan.
Under Steve's astonished gaze, she opened her eyes.
At the same time, the black liquid formed a Suit over Gwen Stacy's body.
"It's you!"
Steve exclaimed, "You're
"the Spider-Woman from last night!"
And...
That Black Thing really could bring people back from the dead!
What kind of power was this?!
The sight completely overturned Steve's worldview.
Before Gwen Stacy could answer, someone pulled her into his arms.
"Boo-hoo... Thank goodness, Bruce! You're not dead! I couldn't even see your health bar anymore! Boo-hoo..."
Mark bawled, smearing tears and snot all over her face through his mask.
Gwen Stacy was utterly exasperated.
"Hey, buddy, you need to get me out of here first." She patted Mark on the back without showing any disgust.
Hearing that, Mark hurriedly looked at the enormous chunk of concrete pinning Bruce down.
Faced with a mass weighing at least several hundred tons, he sank into despair again.
"Bruce, I'm sorry. I can't do it. I don't have that kind of strength."
"Hey, bug, how do you know unless you try?"
Steve came back to his senses. He tossed down his shield and started moving rubble.
He never gave up easily.
But what actually pinned Gwen Stacy down was a solid reinforced-concrete pillar.
He could only pick up his shield again and use its sharp edge to chip away at the concrete, trying to reduce its size and weight.
Mark was deeply moved by the sight.
"Mr. Shi Aimin, you're right. How can I know I can't do it unless I try?"
He immediately summoned his courage and reached both hands toward the massive concrete pillar.
"For Bruce, I can do this!!"
He roared, every muscle in his body tightening and swelling as he squeezed out every last bit of strength he had.
At last, as his body trembled, a miracle happened.
The Spider-Totem on his chest stopped flashing, too.
"Bruce, I'm going to save you!!"
Crack!
Finally, the entire Underground Ruins trembled slightly. As the several-hundred-ton mass slowly rose, Gwen Stacy felt the weight lift from her body.
Seeing this, Venom immediately used his symbiote powers to heal Gwen Stacy's legs.
He had left Gwen Stacy's body because he couldn't give her enough strength to free herself.
That was why he had made noise to draw Steve over.
Now that Gwen Stacy was free, Venom was very impressed with his own decision-making.
"Keh-heh-heh, what a strong fella. I knew you could do it."
"Quit babbling. He can't understand you."
Gwen Stacy made that dry remark, then took the opportunity to crawl out of the rubble.
Beside her, Steve was already stunned.
He held up his shield, staring blankly at the scene.
"No, you just said you didn't have that kind of strength, and now you..."
He silently lowered his shield.
Hah! Definitely a born performer.
The next second, Mark set down the concrete pillar and excitedly clasped Steve's hand.
"Shi Aimin, thank you for saving my Bruce."
Steve: "..."
I saved him?
Hah! Definitely a born performer.