"No, if you put me in front of a tribunal, all you'll see is another freak show!" Green Goblin yelled. "I never want to be a laughingstock again! Never!"
The Green Goblin writhed, trying to find a way to break free.
Perhaps this was also related to the fact that the webs Peter shot earlier hadn't completely bound him.
Peter simply added another web, firmly securing his body to the wall.
"No one will ever cage me again!" Green Goblin was furious, his emotions extremely unstable, the tragic past constantly assailing him, stimulating his nerves.
Peter watched him.
Although he wasn't planning to kill the Green Goblin, he intended to send him to court, let him fight with those people, and then be killed by others, letting him feel the pain before he died.
But now, seeing him struggling on the edge of agony, Peter felt a surge of satisfaction.
No, perhaps that emotion was coming from the Shadow Spider-Man.
Thud!
A sound of something heavy hitting the ground came from not far away.
A figure slowly walked towards the Green Goblin.
It was Kraven the Hunter, his body covered in poisonous spiders!
He stumbled towards the Green Goblin: "Osborn, save me, save me..."
"No, don't come any closer, you hideous, deformed monster!" The Green Goblin shouted in terror.
But his hand was stuck to the wall with spider silk, unable to break free for the moment.
And so, Kraven the Hunter, covered in spiders, crashed into the Green Goblin's arms.
Those poisonous spiders, like a plague, quickly spread from Kraven the Hunter onto the Green Goblin's body, into his mouth, and then completely engulfed him.
"Aaaaah——"
The underground passage was filled with desperate screams.
Peter leaped lightly, landing on the top of the tunnel.
He stuck his hands and feet to the ceiling, turning his head to look at the ground.
These spiders were like the vengeful spirits of a newspaper reporter whose code name in life was "Spider." They had finally found their target for revenge, tearing at the flesh of Kraven the Hunter and the Green Goblin with their mouths.
Soon, they had reduced the two of them to skeletons.
After doing all this, the venomous spiders scattered and disappeared into the underground passage.
Peter stared blankly at this scene, muttering to himself.
"Am I doing the right thing? Just watching him get swallowed by a spider?"
"You're still a kid, aren't you?"
".Yes."
"A few years ago, when I was still a kid, well, about your age, Uncle Ben took me to see Frankenstein. It gave me nightmares. When I woke up, Uncle Ben held me in his arms."
"I wanted Uncle Ben to tell me there were no monsters in the world, but Uncle Ben thought I was old enough to understand the 'monsters' of this world. Uncle Ben told me that all he could do was protect me from them."
"Monsters? Not just monsters, right?"
"Well, sometimes monsters hide in people's hearts, and they might even be more monstrous than monsters themselves. Be careful of people's hearts, Peter."
"Thank you, Peter."
Peter slowly closed his eyes.
After a moment, he opened them again, and his gaze became sharp and gloomy.
He thought for a moment, a smile playing on his lips: "I also want to thank you, Peter, for facing everything with me during my most difficult times."
Then, he took one last look at the two skeletons on the ground and nimbly climbed out of the underground passage.
He had one last thing to do, to put a perfect end to all of this.
New York, Queens.
Peter opened his eyes and sat up abruptly in bed.
He first touched his body, wearing his own pajamas. His body had also reverted to his rather "petite" form.
Hmm, I haven't developed yet. In a few years, I'll be as tall as him.
And even more handsome than him!
Peter steeled himself.
Then, he realized that his body seemed to have undergone some changes.
It seemed... his spider abilities were more readily available?
Was it because he'd experienced it firsthand on the Shadow Spider-Man, whose abilities were basically fully developed?
Or was it due to some deeper reason?
Peter was lost in thought.
He glanced at the time. It was almost six in the morning without him realizing it.
It seemed that when he went to Shadow Spider-Man's world, the time flow of the two worlds was indeed synchronized.
He'd stayed in that world for nearly three hours, and nearly three hours had passed here too!
In a few more hours, the famous Mr. Iron Man would come to visit his home.
Peter thought for a moment and decided not to sleep.
If the person arrived while he was still asleep, that would be impolite and leave a bad impression.
But Mr. Iron Man is also a capitalist, right? Stark Industries isn't small, after all. Does he exploit his employees?
Is Stark Industries a sweatshop? Should he secretly gather some information, just in case...?
Peter shook his head hard, speechless for a moment.
Could this be a side effect of briefly merging with a private investigator, a bitter, resentful Spider-Man? It's a good thing it's only three hours. If it were three days, three months, three years...
However, Peter also realized that, aside from this instinctive aversion to capitalists, his current state should also be one of the benefits of the fusion.
His ability to observe and analyze things had become stronger. In the past, he was just quick-witted, but he hadn't specifically studied this kind of knowledge.
But Shadow Spider-Man, as a private investigator-type newspaper reporter, was well-taught in these abilities by Yurick, so Peter also learned a lot.
For a very simple example...
The same shoe. Someone without the relevant knowledge would only see a shoe, maybe adding details like whether it's a sneaker or a slipper, and the color.
But Peter could now use the shoe's length to estimate the owner's height, the wear patterns to deduce their gait, and even the style and color to guess their profession, interests, and personality.
Finally, by combining all these factors, he could narrow down the owner's identity. Further refinement would lead to finding the true owner!
This ability was undoubtedly a great boost for his aspiration to become a superhero.
He vaguely felt there was more to it, but he hadn't discovered anything else yet. He'd have to wait and see.
Peter closed his eyes and "looked" at the web in his mind. He noticed the glowing point representing Shadow Spider-Man was no longer lit.
Perhaps he could go again when it lit up next time!
And those nodes on the web... Did each one represent a Spider-Man from a different world?
(End of chapter)