The next day, the itinerary was set for the students to continue their sightseeing in Lisbon in the morning, then take a bus to Madrid, Spain, in the afternoon, arriving in the evening. Thanks to Spain having the second-longest motorway network in Europe (Russia is first), the students could reach Madrid that same evening and check into their hotel.
"That's the situation. We simply don't have time to get the photos developed in Lisbon; it'll have to be in Madrid, Flash."
Peter told Flash, who leaned over to ask if the photos could be developed, in a straightforward manner. Flash scratched his head, then sat in the seat behind Peter and chattered about what he saw yesterday: "Did you guys know, Spider-Man came to Europe too? I'm sure I saw Spider-Man yesterday!"
Peter finally understood the significance of Nick Fury's new suit. Although it couldn't fool Hydra, and everyone at S.H.I.E.L.D. knew, it could definitely deceive his classmates! Getting everyone to believe that Spider-Man was not Peter Parker was extremely important.
Fortunately, due to the sandstorm caused by Sandman, virtually no one had seen Peter's actions, so he still had a chance to rectify the situation.
What chance to rectify? Do you have some astonishing wisdom?
Of course, I do, Venom, and it's simpler than you think. You'll see what I mean when the time comes.
While Peter yawned, Harry refuted Flash, showing him a social media video from New York: "Keep up with New York, Thompson. Spider-Man is performing heroic deeds in New York right now."
"Oh, what?"
Thompson looked at the report of Spider-Man appearing in New York, feeling quite disheartened. He thought his idol had come to Lisbon, but apparently not. It seemed he'd just been mistaken.
But if it wasn't Spider-Man, then who was the person who rescued everyone from that human-shaped sandstorm yesterday?
"Speaking of yesterday, someone in Lisbon captured footage of armored soldiers descending from the sky. It seems those soldiers took care of the enemy," Peter interjected at the right moment, offering Flash an explanation. The latter watched the video, but somehow didn't feel these were the people who saved him yesterday. He was quite certain that the character who intervened looked very much like Spider-Man.
But Spider-Man wasn't in Madrid, so where exactly was Spider-Man?
Just as Flash was confused, the bus slammed on the brakes, stopping suddenly and sending the unsecured students lurching. Peter looked out the window and saw swirling sand plumes rushing towards the bus.
Sandman again?
Patting Harry's shoulder, Peter tossed a holographic device onto the seat, then went invisible and climbed out the window. Harry quickly shouted, "Everyone, close the windows," and shut his. Peter got onto the roof of the bus and heard Venom's confused question.
So, what are you planning to do? Turn into the new suit? But the fighting style can't be changed, right? Even changing to a completely unrecognizable suit won't make any difference.
"Who said I was going for a completely unrecognizable new suit?"
Venom: ???
As Sandman gradually enveloped the entire motorcade, he finally condensed into a humanoid form—a giant one, big enough to lift a whole bus with one hand. The enormous Sandman materialized an upper body, staring down at the vehicles, when suddenly, a masked hero appeared on the roof of a bus!
Eugene Thompson saw the hero and shouted his name: "Is that Spider-Man?"
It was Spider-Man! But also, it wasn't!
This Spider-Man's suit was almost identical to the one Thompson knew: a red suit with fine web patterns, but from the waist down, the entire lower half was blue. The transition between the two colors was outlined with white lines forming the pattern of the British flag.
"Sandman, I've been after you for a long time. Accept the judgment of the British Spider!"
Thompson felt his cerebellum shriveling.
"Is that Spider-Man?"
"He's yelling that his name is the British Spider," Amadeus said, trying to suppress a laugh and sounding very serious. "There are quite a few fake or similar heroes popping up these days. Like Russia's Winter Guard has a knock-off Captain America and Iron Man called Red Guardian and Crimson Dynamo. Britain has Captain Britain, so maybe there's a bootleg British Spider too."
Could that be right?
"Don't the Avengers charge them a licensing fee?"
Meanwhile, Sandman paid no mind to Spider-Man's peculiar interests. Whatever he chose to dress up as or call himself was irrelevant to him. As a former mercenary of the French Foreign Legion, Sandman was very clear about his objective.
Kill Spider-Man. There was absolutely no other goal.
He figured he might as well finish off Spider-Man before the Savage Corps could arrive.
"Are you sure? I have quite a few hostages here. If you make any rash moves, their lives might be forfeit."
Peter narrowed his eyes.
"Yes, with you being such a giant Sandman, I might not be able to deal with you bare-handed right away."
Sandman smiled, but then he heard Spider-Man's next sentence.
"But who said I came bare-handed!"
From somewhere behind him, Spider-Man pulled out a PP19 Bizon submachine gun modified by the Savage Corps, loaded with specialized bullets designed to weaken Sandman's condensed form, and unleashed a barrage.
Times have changed, old man!
Under the continuous fire, Sandman instantly let out a howl, and the massive figure immediately collapsed into a mound of scattered sand. Peter quickly jumped to the first bus, knocked on the driver's door, and warned the driver: "Now, start the engine immediately and shake him off!"
The driver, who had been trapped by Sandman, snapped back to reality and immediately started the engine. Peter quickly followed, picked up two specialized grenades provided by the Savage Corps, and threw them at the large mass of sand. He only breathed a sigh of relief after the explosion.
As long as he had the specialized gear, dealing with this guy wasn't too much trouble, but ultimately, he couldn't be killed or eliminated, which was truly vexing.
The thought that there wasn't just one such opponent, but four, gave Peter a massive headache.
So, was there any way to completely eliminate these guys?
In the last bus, Jessica, sitting in the back row, watched the mass of sand receding into the distance and felt a sense of confusion.
Why would Sandman attack them, a group of students?