"I want to know, how long have the Wild Brigade and the Elementals been fighting?"
Peter asked as he half-heartedly put on a white coat over his suit. Sylvia stood by, watching Spider-Man place the samples found by the Wild Brigade into the instrument. She replied, "It's been almost five months. What's the situation like?"
Five months. That meant the Elementals appeared in October last year. What was he doing in October? He thought back—hadn't he just finished fighting the Vulture, Mysterio, Scorpion, and Rhino?
It felt like only yesterday.
"So, the Wild Brigade has been fighting them all this time and has found a way to deal with them, right?"
As Peter asked, he first looked at the magnified image of Sandman's sand displayed on the computer. From what he could see, the sand had nothing special about it, and there were no physical or chemical connections between the particles. Peter then found the bullets the Wild Brigade used against Sandman and, after careful study, figured out the principle behind them.
"High-frequency vibration?"
Sylvia was surprised that Spider-Man could actually discern the principle of these devices. She nodded and confirmed, "Exactly. This is our most effective method for attacking Sandman and Hydro-Man right now. Continuously firing bullets with an intermittent vibrating effect at them can effectively block their control over sand or water."
"Then, theoretically, as long as you can create a large enough vibration field, you should be able to solve the problem, right? Haven't you tried it?"
"We have tried. Once, we thought we had completely eliminated Hydro-Man, but it turned out to be a failure…" Sylvia sighed helplessly. "We trapped Hydro-Man entirely within a body of water and bombarded him with high-frequency vibrations for a full hour. The result showed he was still alive. The moment our equipment stopped, Hydro-Man reappeared."
The Wild Brigade just wanted to stop the machinery to check the effect, but that brief moment was enough for Hydro-Man to launch a full-scale wave attack and escape from who knows where.
Although the Wild Brigade had fought the Elementals for five months and had managed to severely injure them almost every time, they hadn't yet figured out the upper limits of the Elementals' powers. They didn't know how massive a disaster they could cause, how extreme their existence was, or if they could survive and regenerate indefinitely as long as there was a single grain of sand, a drop of water, or even a tiny bit of air.
Peter held the bullet in his hand, looking at the "all normal" data on the computer regarding the samples from Sandman, Hydro-Man, and Molten Man. He fell into thought, then suddenly asked Sylvia a question: "If the Elementals can always get intel about the lab, including what they need and the layout, doesn't that mean they also know I'm here?"
"Yes…" Sylvia reacted mid-sentence. "Are you trying to lure them here?"
"They've already sent Sandman to stop me twice on the road; of course, they'll attempt a third time. And it's not just that you know their abilities; they know everything about you, too. So, if they spot an opportunity and believe they can launch a surprise attack on you, they will definitely send people to try it."
Sylvia was stunned for a moment, then immediately gritted her teeth in frustration.
"You should have told me earlier! I would have had time to prepare."
"If you had prepared early, they might have noticed that the Wild Brigade had a special defense setup. And they clearly have intelligence methods to probe the situation, so the best defense is to keep them guessing about what we're thinking—which means no advance notice."
This little rascal is a copy of Nick Fury! Are all Americans like this?
Sylvia walked out, biting her lip, while Peter glanced at his phone. He had sent predetermined coded messages to Cindy and Felicia that looked like ordinary chat, but the two of them should have set off shortly after he left.
If the Elementals chose to attack the research institute now, Cindy and Felicia should be able to spot them from a distance.
They did indeed see the sight.
"Well, that is quite… spectacular."
Felicia, in her Black Cat suit, used the telescoping function of her goggles to look at the unnatural spectacle unfolding outside the Royal Institute of Madrid in the distance: countless tornadoes reaching into the clouds were rushing towards the institute from all directions. Burning fire tornadoes and swirling water spouts illuminated each other, and the sky-covering frenzy of sand dyed the high-temperature-lit night sky yellow.
Both of their suits were fitted with force field generators, defensive equipment provided by the Wild Brigade for their combat uniforms. As long as they weren't destroyed, the fine particles wouldn't be able to get close, preventing the Elementals from controlling them.
Cindy was silently checking Peter's status. Although the Elementals were menacing, Spider-Man's physical condition hadn't changed, so she relaxed and stood on the back seat of the Jeep, waiting for Felicia to drive the car into the battlefield.
As for Peter, he was walking out while being subjected to Sylvia's anger.
"Do you have any idea how many people are here? How many scientists and materials haven't been moved yet? Not to mention we haven't prepared for battle."
"Shouldn't you have thought of that earlier?"
"I…"
Sylvia was momentarily speechless. It was true; after Spider-Man had encountered the enemy's two attacks, she should have considered this possibility. However, Sylvia had instinctively assumed that Spider-Man and his crew were merely there to help her with her mission, so she hadn't given it much thought.
Wait, did this mean that on the Elementals' side, capturing or dealing with Spider-Man had a higher priority than their long-term robbery attempts?
The two walked out of the lab together and saw the sky filled with red light. Sylvia looked at Spider-Man. Because of the lack of pre-emption, the Wild Brigade might suffer heavy casualties this time.
"Something happened to my friend's father last time, but I could have solved it if I had just learned a little magic. So, I learned my lesson and spent this time diligently studying magic."
Sylvia looked at Spider-Man in disbelief. "Are you planning to use magic to deal with them? Invite them to a show?"
"They are not the same thing," Peter said, then took a deep breath. After forming a complex hand sign, he chanted something and waved his hands out.
"The Winds of Watoomb!"
A whirlwind, seemingly conjured from nowhere, extinguished all the surrounding tornadoes. The yellow glow covering the sky instantly retracted, and from the natural spectacle, four pure elemental humanoids gradually condensed and gathered from the contained storm.