Crack!
With the sharp sound of a snapping bone, the robber's neck twisted at an unnatural angle. The man who had been so arrogant moments earlier went limp, his life coming to an abrupt end.
Peter glanced over his shoulder.
The young woman he'd rescued had already disappeared without a trace.
'Well, so much for gratitude. People really have no manners these days.'
After making that complaint to himself, he lowered his gaze toward the dead robber.
He hesitated briefly before slipping unnoticed into the convenience store across the street, where he took two bottles of alcohol from the shelves.
After leaving enough money to pay for them, Peter returned to the alley and poured both bottles over the corpse.
He then searched the robber's pockets, found a lighter, and used it to set the body on fire, destroying the evidence.
After all, this confrontation had been entirely spontaneous. Peter hadn't been wearing a costume or anything else that could conceal his identity, and he'd already left his fingerprints on the criminal's body.
He had no intention of allowing such an oversight to cause trouble for him later.
More importantly, he didn't want Uncle Ben and Aunt May worrying about him because of something like this.
Watching the corpse quickly become engulfed in flames, Peter found himself remarkably calm.
There was none of the nausea, terror, or emotional turmoil he might have expected from taking another person's life for the first time.
What kind of decent person would point a gun at someone and pull the trigger without the slightest hesitation?
As far as Peter was concerned, killing such a criminal was simply delivering the punishment he deserved.
He wasn't one of those other Spider-Men who insisted on never taking a life.
Having spent his previous life in China, Peter was familiar with the old saying that wildfires couldn't destroy grass forever; when spring came, it would grow again. He also understood the warning that showing mercy to a dangerous enemy could amount to cruelty toward oneself.
And from his perspective, the American justice system had far too many flaws to guarantee that dangerous criminals would remain behind bars.
Just look at the stories of the original Spider-Men.
Peter Parker had repeatedly shown mercy to his enemies, but what had that accomplished?
How many of those supervillains had ever genuinely repented?
They were arrested, released on bail by wealthy benefactors, or escaped from prison, only to return and create more trouble for Spider-Man.
Worse still, their actions often brought suffering to the people closest to him, including Aunt May, Gwen, and Mary Jane.
Peter admired Spider-Man's courage and sense of justice.
That didn't mean he had to agree with his refusal to kill.
Rather than becoming a traditional superhero who stood openly in the sunlight, Peter preferred the idea of becoming an antihero like Venom—or even someone as ruthless and unconstrained as Homelander.
As the old saying went, forgiving sinners was God's responsibility.
Peter's job was simply to arrange the meeting.
...
After one final glance at the burning corpse, Peter turned and strode away.
As he walked, he began reviewing the shortcomings exposed by his brief confrontation.
The first problem was his lack of preparation.
If he wanted to protect his ordinary identity, he needed a proper disguise. Neither the police nor the supervillains should be able to identify him easily.
The second problem was his lack of combat experience.
That brief encounter had taught Peter an important lesson.
Possessing extraordinary power and knowing how to use it effectively were two entirely different things.
His physical abilities had surpassed the robber's in every conceivable way, yet he'd still nearly been killed by a single bullet.
If word of that ever got out, he'd become a laughingstock among superheroes!
He needed to improve his combat experience quickly, making sure a similar mistake never happened again.
What he required was a systematic, efficient set of fighting techniques that would allow him to make full use of his body's advantages.
Then there was the issue of equipment.
No matter how skilled a martial artist became, a sufficiently sharp weapon could still kill him.
Although Peter's physique now exceeded ordinary human limits, he was nowhere near immortal or indestructible.
Ordinary bullets might not be enough to kill him, but what about a Barrett sniper rifle?
A mortar?
Or the advanced energy weapons wielded by alien civilizations?
He needed a way to withstand attacks of that caliber.
Captain America's vibranium shield, Wolverine's adamantium skeleton, Thor's hammer Mjolnir, and the advanced suits worn by Black Panther and Iron Man were all excellent examples of the kind of protection he wanted.
Fortunately, none of these problems was impossible to solve.
Peter directed his attention inward, toward the virtual interface visible only to him.
[Current Sacrifice Points: 3,000]
It was time to put those points to good use.
...
Meanwhile, on the rooftop of Midtown High School, a slender figure landed with the silent grace of a white cat.
Gwen lowered her hood, revealing a pretty face filled with confusion and unease.
She looked around.
Under the moonlight, the empty rooftop was eerily quiet. Aside from the wind, there wasn't a sound.
The dreadful sensation that had gripped her heart—the feeling that she was about to lose something precious—had inexplicably disappeared just as she approached the school.
Her Spider-Sense had fallen silent as well.
"How does that make any sense?"
Gwen murmured to herself, feeling as though she'd been played for a fool.
She searched the school grounds, carefully examining every corner.
At one point, she even crouched on the ground to look for the smallest possible clue.
But she found nothing.
There were no signs of a fight, not even an unfamiliar footprint.
She couldn't understand it.
No matter how hard she thought about the situation, nothing made sense.
Discouraged, Gwen sat on the edge of the rooftop with her long legs dangling over the side.
The night breeze stirred her blonde hair, giving her a rather lonely appearance.
She sat there for an unknown length of time.
Eventually, even the security guard patrolling below began yawning.
Gwen finally released a helpless sigh and decided to head home.
'Maybe I'm still too inexperienced with these new abilities, and that's why my Spider-Sense malfunctioned?'
For now, that was the only explanation she could think of.
Still filled with unanswered questions, Gwen pulled her hood back over her head and began leaping between buildings, heading home.
This time, however, without the urgent warning of her Spider-Sense distracting her, Gwen paid more attention to the nighttime scenery of New York City.
At first, she simply wanted to admire the city from a perspective she'd never experienced before.
But when she began observing the streets beneath her, she discovered something very different from the beautiful cityscape she'd imagined.
Crime was everywhere.
During the journey from Midtown High to her house, which took less than ten minutes, Gwen intervened in at least six incidents involving robbery or sexual harassment.
The experience made her think of her father, George Stacy.
In the past, she'd often felt that he didn't spend enough time paying attention to her.
But tonight, she finally began to understand what he faced every day.
He was an ordinary human being, using nothing more than his own flesh and blood to protect the peace of this enormous city.
And now, she possessed strength far beyond anything an ordinary person could achieve.
An idea began taking root in her mind, growing stronger with every passing moment.
'I can do more.'
'I have to do more!'
After swiftly knocking out the criminals she'd encountered, Gwen quietly opened her bedroom window and slipped inside.
She stood in silence for a while before approaching her desk.
Then she switched on the lamp, spread a blank sheet of paper across the surface, and picked up her colored pencils.
Her hand moved quickly.
Before long, several designs depicting an athletic, slender heroine wearing a white hood had appeared on the page.
Beside those costume sketches, Gwen began drawing intricate mechanical diagrams.
Something about tonight's experiences had made her realize that her abilities were still missing an essential element.
After all, if she'd inherited the powers of a spider, shouldn't she be able to produce webs?
With that thought in mind, she began designing a device inspired by spider biology, one capable of launching extremely strong artificial webbing.
The birth of Ghost-Spider was now only a matter of time.
Peter could never have imagined that his successful attempt to save himself from his predetermined fate would nevertheless push Gwen toward the heroic destiny that seemed to have been waiting for her all along.
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