On the stage of the Apollo Theater, Hamlet was reaching its climax.
The stage lights shifted between light and shadow, and the actors delivered their lines with ringing force. Mary Jane watched with rapt attention, her eyes bright as though filled with starlight. Peter sat beside her, his gaze on the stage, but his thoughts had long since drifted elsewhere.
Hamlet bore the duty of avenging his murdered father, yet he kept hesitating and delaying, ultimately losing everything. Watching the character onstage, Peter inexplicably thought of himself.
He had gained Spider-Man's powers, yet all he wanted was to hide away and live a peaceful life. How was that any different from Hamlet shrinking back?
But whenever he thought of Uncle Ben, Aunt May, and a peaceful life, he couldn't help retreating again. With great power comes great responsibility. It was easy to say, but actually shouldering it was far too heavy.
Just as his thoughts tangled together, an earth-shattering crash came from outside the theater.
Boom-
The entire building shook. The chandeliers overhead swayed violently, and screams instantly erupted from the audience.
"What's happening? An earthquake?"
"What's that noise outside?!"
Peter's expression changed abruptly, and he shot to his feet.
That noise, that direction...
The thing he feared most had happened after all.
"Mary, come with me!" He grabbed Mary's wrist and pulled her toward the exit without another word.
The crowd jammed the doorway in chaos, screams mingling with sobs and cries. Relying on his far-superhuman strength and reflexes, Peter shielded Mary Jane and squeezed out through a side door. They had barely reached the street when the sight before him stunned him.
Not far away, flames soared over Harlem, and thick smoke billowed. The streets were pitted with craters, wrecked cars lay everywhere, and pedestrians fled toward them like mad.
Amid the smoke and dust, a hideous, six-meter-tall monster roared at the sky. Its muscles bulged and twisted, its skin was torn in multiple places, and white bones jutted out of its flesh. It looked utterly terrifying.
Abomination.
Peter's heart sank.
Then the ground shook violently again. The middle of the street collapsed with a crash, and a huge green hand gripped the edge of the crater. Hulk rose from the rubble with a low growl, his body swelling with each breath, his muscles sharply defined.
"Hulk!!"
Abomination roared with excitement and charged forward with heavy strides. The two enormous creatures slammed into each other, and the shock wave swept down the entire street like a typhoon. Every window along the street shattered instantly, and quite a few people who were too slow to escape were knocked straight to the ground.
Mary Jane went deathly pale with fright and clutched Peter's arm, her voice trembling. "W-what are those things? Monsters?"
"That's Hulk... the other one's called Abomination," Peter said gravely, pulling her back. "Let's go. It's too dangerous here."
He pulled Mary Jane into the fleeing crowd and ran away from the battlefield. In the original plot, this battle would destroy half a street and leave heavy casualties, but Hulk would win in the end. As long as he got Mary Jane out safely, everything would be fine.
That was the wisest choice.
But before they had gone far, a pained groan came from beside them.
A fallen streetlight pole pinned a middle-aged man's leg beneath its weight, blood running down his trouser leg. The man's face was deathly pale. He struggled desperately but couldn't move an inch. Everyone around him was too busy fleeing for their lives to stop.
"Help... help me..."
His voice was faint, soon drowned out by the explosions in the distance.
Mary Jane stopped, her eyes reddening with distress. "He's hurt! Peter, let's help him!"
Peter stopped too.
Reason frantically warned him: Don't get involved. Get out of here. Interfering will only bring trouble down on you. You're just an ordinary person-no, you have superpowers now, but this still isn't your business.
But the despair in the man's eyes stabbed at his heart like a needle.
He could easily lift that streetlight pole, dodge the flying rubble, and save this man's life.
If he walked away now, he would never be able to get past it for the rest of his life.
Uncle Ben's words, "With great power comes great responsibility," and Mary Jane's question, "If everyone with power hides away, what are ordinary people supposed to do?" echoed over and over in his mind.
"Help him get over there. Find a corner to hide in, and don't come out." Peter pushed Mary Jane toward the injured man, his tone unusually firm. "I'll lift the streetlight."
"Are you crazy? That pole is so heavy!" Mary Jane grabbed him, her eyes full of worry. "It's too dangerous. Can't we wait for the police?"
"There's no time. If we wait any longer, he'll lose the use of his leg."
Peter said no more. He turned and strode over to the streetlight pole. Taking a deep breath, he gripped the cold metal with both hands, braced his waist and abdomen, and let out a low shout-
He actually heaved the heavy metal pole up.
"Crawl out, now!"
The man froze for a moment, then caught on and dragged himself out with all his strength. Mary Jane rushed over to help, pulling his arm, and together they got him free.
Peter let go, and the pole crashed to the ground with a clang, sending sparks flying.
He shook out his hands, yet his heart was unusually calm.
It turned out that once he had power, reaching out to save someone came so naturally.
But it wasn't over yet.
The battle in the distance grew fiercer. Abomination swung a wrecking ball attached to a chain, smashing it into buildings again and again. Rubble rained down. Cries, explosions, and collapsing buildings blended together, and people were getting hurt every second.
The police and military had yet to establish an effective defensive line. At this rate, the casualties would only keep mounting.
Peter stared at the distant flames and clenched his fists.
How long could he keep hiding?
He could escape with Mary Jane today, but what about next time? And the time after that? Now that he had transmigrated into this world, was he supposed to spend his whole life hiding behind the Avengers, scraping by?
Spider-Man had never been Spider-Man simply because a spider had bitten him.
It was because he would choose to step forward even knowing the danger.
"Mary Jane, take this gentleman somewhere safe. Stay there and don't wander off," Peter suddenly said, his voice calm but leaving no room for argument. "There are still people who need help. I have to go take a look."
"Where are you going?!" Mary Jane grew frantic and reached for him. "There are monsters over there! What good can you do?"
"Someone has to do something."
Peter smiled at her, turned, and plunged into the alley beside them.
There was a clothing store in the alley, its display window already shattered by the tremors. He rushed inside, scanned the place, and grabbed a red hoodie and a pair of dark blue sweatpants. Then he dug out a black ski mask and a pair of gloves and quickly pulled everything on.
Before leaving home, he had casually stuffed the Web-Shooters into his pocket, intending to find a chance to fine-tune them. He hadn't expected them to come in handy now.
He took out the Web-Shooters, fastened them to his wrists, and adjusted their angle.
The mask covered his entire face, leaving only his eyes exposed. Peter looked at his unfamiliar reflection in a shard of glass and took a deep breath.
From today onward, he was Spider-Man.
He raised his hand, aimed at the corner of the rooftop, and pressed the trigger.
Whoosh-
A slender white strand shot out instantly, sticking fast to the masonry.
Peter leaped and swung out on the web. Wind howled past his ears, and the scenery below raced backward. The sensation of weightlessness mixed with the thrill of surging adrenaline, making his scalp tingle.
His first attempt at web-swinging was inevitably awkward. He landed unsteadily on the opposite rooftop and nearly fell off.
Once he steadied himself, he looked down at the street beneath him, then at the two monsters locked in combat in the distance. His heart pounded wildly in his chest.
He was nervous and afraid, yet incredibly exhilarated.
He raced across the rooftops and soon reached the area near the battlefield.
Looking down, he saw that things were worse than he had imagined. Abomination had smashed a military helicopter to the ground. Its fuselage was badly deformed, and a large hole gaped in its fuel tank. Aviation fuel gushed out, right beside sparks from a short circuit.
Hulk wanted to go over and help, but Abomination kept him tied up in combat, leaving him no chance to break away.
In another ten or twenty seconds, the helicopter would explode, and not a single soldier inside would survive.
There was no time to hesitate.
Peter leaped from the rooftop, rolled on landing to absorb the impact, and charged straight toward the helicopter.
"Stay back! It's going to explode!" a woman nearby shouted urgently. It was Betty Ross.
Peter didn't answer. He raised both hands and fired repeatedly at the damaged fuel tank. Strand after strand of webbing wrapped around it in overlapping layers, instantly sealing the leak so tightly that not even half a drop could seep out.
Sparks landed on the webbing without any effect.
The crisis was averted.
He turned toward Hulk and Abomination, still locked in combat, and shouted, "Big guy! Leave this to me. Focus on beating him up!"