"Compound fractures in the fourth and fifth ribs on the right side. Massive internal bleeding in the chest cavity. Ventricular rhythm already dropping below forty beats per minute."
Clark completed the medical assessment in a single second.
If he had arrived even a little later, Eddie might have died right there in that alley without Gargan even needing to finish him off.
Clark extended one hand and began feeding a controlled stream of energy into Eddie's body, just enough to keep him above the minimum threshold of life.
Then he used an extremely low-output heat vision to seal the open wounds. In an instant, the bleeding stopped.
At the very least, he had pulled Eddie back from the edge of death.
The rest would be for the paramedics.
None of that took very long.
Only then did Gargan fully react. He triggered the thrusters and injectors built into the mechanical tail, trying to kill the monster in front of him with poison and superheated force.
"Get out of my way!"
Clark did nothing more than flick his wrist.
The force ran straight through the mechanical tail and into Gargan's body.
Gargan weighed close to two hundred pounds on his own, and the exoskeleton added even more. But he was still flung like trash, thrown more than thirty feet and smashed into the dead end of the alley, where he dropped facedown and lay still.
As if he were dead.
In reality, he was playing possum, trying to find a weakness in Clark and figure out how the hell he could possibly kill something this inhuman.
Clark just stood there, staring at the thug pretending to be down, but he didn't leave yet.
Peter and the others hadn't arrived.
He needed to wait until they were close before stepping away, otherwise this perfect first real opponent would simply run.
A few moments later, Gargan's men came rushing in.
And what they saw made their blood run cold.
Their boss was sprawled in a pile of garbage, maybe dead, maybe not, while a man in a blue bodysuit with a red S on his chest stood in front of the target they'd been hunting.
The goons started calculating fast.
Surrender?
Run?
Maybe both?
Clark noticed them too.
A flash of heat vision crossed the alley.
Their legs vanished instantly.
This was the fate he reserved for men like them. Eddie's injuries were on their heads too.
The thugs, now suddenly missing both legs, dropped screaming into the rain.
"Monster! You're worse than that guy in the red suit!"
Clark ignored them.
Men like this only ever talked about morality after they got hurt, trying to force guilt onto other people. They never once stopped to think about what they had done to others.
Now they could try pain for themselves.
"You're being a little too loud."
Red light flared again in Clark's eyes.
The heat vision followed.
Every trace that those men had ever existed in the world disappeared.
Clark felt no moral burden about killing refuse like that. If Gargan didn't still have a use at the moment, Clark might have erased him too.
He had no "no-kill rule."
Letting monsters like this go only meant more innocent people would suffer later. If he had the chance to solve a problem now and chose not to, that would be its own form of irresponsibility.
If something could be ended now, better not leave it for someone else.
After waiting a little longer, Peter and the others were finally close.
Clark checked Eddie one last time and confirmed his condition had stabilized. Then he jogged off into the rain, leaving the scene behind for the others.
"The rest is yours."
Eddie slowly opened his eyes in the aftermath and saw the wreckage around him. He also caught the last glimpse of that blue figure.
Then it was gone.
Gargan had watched Clark effortlessly kill his men, then stand there as if waiting for something to arrive, and now suddenly leave.
As for Gargan himself, any urge to fight back had died the moment he saw those men erased in an instant.
That wasn't the kind of street hero he knew.
That thing would kill without hesitation.
Gargan dragged himself to his feet.
He no longer had any intention of trying to kill that man.
All he wanted now was to run.
Run immediately.
Maybe even leave New York altogether.
Death was a fear branded into every living soul.
Even a man like Mac Gargan wasn't free of it.
But just as he got up to flee, he caught movement in the sky from the corner of his eye.
Three figures were swinging in.
"What now?!" Gargan's heart lurched. One wave hadn't even passed before the next had already hit.
Peter was close enough now to see Eddie lying there in the rain, and Gargan standing nearby.
Instant rage.
Using the acceleration from his web-line and the full force of his body, Peter hurled himself forward and threw a punch.
That was Eddie.
His best friend.
Gargan's eyes filled with confusion and fury. Who the hell was this now? Why did this lunatic want to fight him?
He'd only almost killed a junkyard mechanic!
Why was everyone suddenly trying to beat him to death? What had he even done?!
"What did you do to him?!" Peter shouted, slamming forward like a wild animal.
But Gargan wasn't a punching bag. He swung the mechanical tail straight into Peter's fist.
BANG!
The clash was not evenly matched.
Peter had the advantage all by himself.
The tail shattered under the punch, though Peter's hand exploded with pain from the impact. He was still too inexperienced.
Gargan was in a state of total agitation and confusion now.
That monster with the S on his chest had appeared from nowhere and vanished just as suddenly, leaving him humiliated and off-balance.
And now three more weirdos in skin-tight costumes had shown up out of nowhere and attacked him on sight.
"You freaks! What the hell is wrong with tonight?!" Gargan roared.
The broken tail wasn't the whole weapon. Only one section had been destroyed.
The rest whipped around and lashed toward Peter.
Then the tail's nozzles ignited.
Flame blasted out and caught Peter off guard in mid-charge.
Luckily, he wasn't alone.
"Peter, watch out!"
Cindy fired a web and yanked Peter out of the way, while Gwen shot webbing onto the tail, pinned it, and used the leverage to slam it hard against the ground.
Then Gwen began springing off the walls, ricocheting through Gargan's blind spots.
Gargan spotted her almost instantly, but his attention was stretched too thin now. He couldn't keep up with all of them at once.
Against Peter alone, maybe he could still go fifty-fifty and land a nasty first-hit kill.
But against three spider-people?
Three of them, angry?
Forget it.
At that point, he almost would have preferred the man with the S just kill him and get it over with.
Peter fired both web-shooters at once, trying to pin Gargan down completely.
But Gargan had survived the streets this long for a reason.
His instincts were razor sharp.
In a split second, he spotted the opening rage had created in Peter's movements, closed the distance, slammed Peter to the ground, and drove a full-force punch into him.
Temporary KO.
Gargan had figured something out.
These kids had real power, good physical ability, and excellent mobility.
But their teamwork was rough, and worse, they were fighting angry.
That was something he could use.