To Peter, Gwen's confession sounded like a divine melody. To Electro, however, it was a discordant shriek that shattered his sanity.
Max's face contorted within the crackling blue energy, his features twisting until he looked less like a man and more like a vengeful wraith.
The arcs of electricity dancing around him surged in intensity, their brilliance multiplying until 7th Avenue was bathed in a light as harsh as high noon.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! You belong to me! I'll kill this nuisance first, then I'll find that pathetic neighbor of yours and tear him apart!"
Before the words even left his lips, Max flung his arms wide. Violent surges of electricity erupted from his core, expanding outward like a supernova.
Zzzzzzt—!
The currents coiled into jagged serpents of white-hot plasma, lunging at Peter until his entire silhouette was swallowed by the blinding glare. Gwen and Felicia felt their hearts leap into their throats, paralyzed by the fear that Peter had been incinerated instantly.
"Is that it?"
A casual, mocking voice drifted out from the heart of the electric storm. The two women let out simultaneous breaths they didn't know they were holding.
They looked toward the sound and saw Peter standing several meters away, his black-and-red suit pristine and untouched. He hadn't just survived; he had never been hit.
"Impossible!" Electro shrieked, his voice reaching a shrill, piercing pitch. "How did you dodge that?! Even Ghost-Spider couldn't!"
"That's the view from the bottom of the well for you," Peter said, giving an incredibly annoying shrug. "Gaining a little power and thinking you're invincible... didn't your daddy ever tell you? At your level, you're nothing but a... little girl."
The taunt hit Max like a physical blow. Having embraced his dark side as an all-powerful god, being called a "little girl" by a masked stranger caused him to instantly lose his composure.
He began to fire wildly. Bolts of lightning rained down like a monsoon, but Peter's body moved with the weightless grace of a leaf in the wind. He danced through the gaps in the assault with insulting ease.
Through this brief exchange, Peter had accurately gauged his opponent. Aside from the elemental transformation, Max was basic.
He was essentially a giant battery—capable of absorbing and discharging massive amounts of energy, but possessing almost zero refined control over its form.
He couldn't shape the lightning into weapons or complex constructs like Thor or Enel. His attacks were straight lines. Fast, yes—but as long as Peter predicted the trajectory at the start, dodging was trivial.
However... he couldn't just keep dodging.
Noticing Electro's face shifting from vibrant blue to a paler hue, Peter realized the villain's energy was dipping. Max was a coward at heart.
If he realized his attacks were useless or if his "tank" ran low, he would turn into a bolt of lightning and vanish. In that form, Peter couldn't catch him yet.
I have to bait him. Make him think he's winning so Felicia can land the finishing blow.
CRACKLE!
Peter intentionally stepped into a stray arc. The current slammed into him, leaving a charred, blackened mark across his chest. Feeling the negligible sting, Peter inwardly scoffed.
That's it? Between the defensive boost of Iron Body, the regenerative power of the Horse Talisman, and the Lizard Serum, Peter was healed before he even processed the sensation of pain.
He had to manually suppress the Talisman from repairing his suit just to keep the "battle damage" visible.
As expected, seeing "The Arbiter" take a hit revitalized Electro. His fear vanished, replaced by a manic, floating arrogance.
"Hahaha! I knew it! I am the invincible Electro! A nobody like you can't touch me!"
Thinking he'd found a weakness, Max transformed into a blur of blue light, circling Peter at high speeds. He fired arcs from every conceivable angle—the back, the kidneys, the back of the knees, the ankles.
Peter played his part perfectly. He raised his arms to protect his head, hunching his shoulders and looking like a man desperately trying to charge out of a "siege" while being battered from all sides.
THWIP!
During the "struggle," Peter seized a split second to fire a Flying Finger Pistol, precisely bursting a nearby fire hydrant.
At the sight of the geyser, Electro's face filled with instinctive dread. He knew what water meant: conductivity, short-circuits, total energy dissipation.
He immediately broke off the attack, flying dozens of meters away to a safe distance.
Once he was sure the spray couldn't reach him, he resumed his trash talk. "Trying to use water against me?" Max laughed, preening in the air. "Idiot! You think I'd fall for such a predictable trap? Everything you do is just a death rattle!"
Electro sneered, waiting for the "Arbiter" to show frustration or panic. Instead, Peter's voice came back light and airy.
"You didn't actually think you hurt me, did you?"
As he spoke, a soft white glow shimmered over Peter's body. Where the glow passed, the scorched skin instantly returned to its original tone—unblemished and smooth.
A second later, the Horse Talisman's power flowed into the suit, knitting the fabric back together until it looked brand new.
Electro's laughter died in his throat. He stared, wondering if he was hallucinating.
"I was only teasing you, stupid," Peter said, his tone bored.
He turned his head toward the distant Felicia and snapped his fingers with an elegant flourish.
Showtime, baby~!
The moment the snap echoed, Felicia Hardy caught the signal. She opened her mouth, and a beautiful, crystalline melody began to flow.
As the song rose, Sandman, Electro, and even Gwen felt their eyes widen. They were witnessing something that defied every law of physics they knew.
Water.
The torrent gushing from the broken fire hydrant didn't spill into the gutters. Instead, as if answering the call of its Queen, the water spiraled into the air, surging toward the singing girl in a magnificent, swirling vortex!
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