Times Square's neon lights surged like a tide, giant electronic screens flashing through headline after headline and dressing up the coming showdown like the fight of the century. The National Guard had already deployed and locked down the entire area. The insides and rooftops of several nearby buildings had been cleared as well. At Steve's insistence, everything within a one-kilometer radius of Times Square had been turned into a restricted zone, just in case the Shocker's weapon exploded.
And yet, no matter how tight the cordon was, it couldn't stop New Yorkers from showing up.
Beyond the barricades, the crowd rolled like a living sea. Phones and cameras were raised high, all of them trying to capture this showdown between a superhero and a supervillain. Even though most of them were doomed to get nothing better than a blurry silhouette, that did nothing to cool their excitement. Most of them weren't even fans of Spider-Man or the Shocker, but that didn't stop them from treating a battle between a hero and a villain like live entertainment, especially not a fight that had been openly called out in advance.
And look, in the middle of that noisy crowd, something wonderful had happened. One figure in a cheap Spider-Man costume stood out from everyone else. Eugene Thompson from Midtown High was waving a handmade support sign and cheering loudly for Spider-Man, standing in sharp contrast to the rest of the onlookers.
Still, the first one to enter the arena was the Shocker.
With a deafening boom, Herman crashed into the center of Times Square like a shell, splitting the pavement and sending shards of stone flying everywhere. He slowly straightened up and looked around.
Every giant screen was pointed at him.
Every camera from every media outlet was focused on him.
The close-ups were all of him.
He turned his head and looked at one screen after another, and every single one showed the Shocker.
The satisfaction that washed over Herman was overwhelming.
For that moment, he was the center of the world.
Unfortunately, that glory lasted less than ten seconds.
A red-and-blue figure dove out of the sky, spun once in a flashy aerial roll, and landed cleanly in a textbook superhero crouch before rising to his feet with a shrug.
Peter had just opened his mouth to throw out some joke about nobody cheering for him when a voice he didn't recognize suddenly shouted from somewhere in the crowd.
"Go, Spider-Man! Beat the crap out of him!"
I already have fans?
Peter raised an eyebrow in surprise. Then he started walking toward Herman and held out a hand.
"Evening, Herman. Like the stage I set up for you?"
"Very much, bug. You picked a great place for your own close-up. Tonight, everybody's going to watch the Shocker beat Spider-Man."
Before the last word had even faded, he slammed both fists into the ground.
Terrifying shockwaves rippled outward, breaking the pavement apart inch by inch and launching chunks of stone like bullets. At that moment, Herman was convinced Spider-Man couldn't possibly dodge an invisible, continuous stream of shockwaves like that. Even if he somehow avoided the shockwaves themselves, the flying debris would nail him.
That was how he planned to beat Spider-Man.
As long as he never let that freak get close, he couldn't lose.
But Spider-Man simply leaped up and started closing the distance one step at a time. Every wave of force was avoided by a perfectly timed jump or swing, and every chunk of debris flying into the air somehow missed his path exactly. It was almost like he could see the shockwaves.
By the time the Shocker realized Spider-Man had already gotten too close, it was too late.
Webbing snapped onto a cracked section of road, and Spider-Man ripped up an entire slab of pavement and smashed it straight into Herman's head.
"I was actually planning to shake your hand first and then start the fight, Herman. Maybe we can still do that now?"
After throwing the slab, Spider-Man stopped right in front of Herman, who had been knocked back several steps, and once again held out his hand.
The Shocker only shouted, "Shut up!" as he steadied himself.
"You know, if I hadn't wanted to talk to you during our first fight, it never would've dragged out that long in the first place. I really don't want to say it, but your shockwave attack pattern is kind of one-note. So... you want to just surrender?"
"I haven't lost yet!"
Now that he had fixed the armor's cooling system and was pumped up by the media spotlight, the Shocker immediately answered with another shockwave, only for Spider-Man to roll aside again with ease. At that point, even Herman's thick skull understood it.
Invisible shockwaves meant absolutely nothing to Spider-Man.
And Spider-Man had a completely different style of fighting.
The towering buildings all around Times Square made it the perfect battlefield for him. He kept swinging and weaving between them, deliberately baiting the Shocker into firing over and over. And whenever Herman hesitated, Spider-Man would rush him at once. After the last fight, Herman already knew that outside of durability, he had absolutely no advantage over Spider-Man in close combat.
So naturally, keeping Spider-Man away became the only answer.
The fight escalated instantly.
Herman pushed the fire rate of the Shocker launchers to the maximum. As blast after blast slammed into the buildings around Times Square, the billboards and giant screens hanging off them began crashing down one after another. The Shocker blasted panel after panel loose, but for some reason Spider-Man kept catching every single one with webbing, stringing them up between the skyscrapers and weaving a giant net over Herman's head, with all the falling wreckage hanging inside it.
And in the middle of the fight, Herman hadn't even realized that his shockwaves were no longer shredding Spider-Man's webbing.
Spider-Man flipped through the air and landed in a crouch, then fired webs from both hands at the Shocker's gauntlets. Herman immediately tightened his fists to blow the webbing apart, but to his surprise, it didn't scatter instantly this time.
He glanced at the web-shooters on Spider-Man's wrists and immediately increased the output of his launchers. This time, the webbing finally tore apart, and the Shocker launched into another round of attacks.
Spider-Man jumped again and swung upward.
The Shocker's next shockwave went exactly where he expected.
The upgraded blast tore apart the webbing supporting the billboards and giant screens. One after another, enormous screens still playing advertisements or flickering with static crashed down into Times Square, kicking up a massive cloud of dust and cutting off Herman's view.
"So that was your plan? You upgraded your webbing just so all this junk could come crashing down? You think that'll let you get close to me?"
A powerful wave of force exploded outward from inside the dust cloud. Glass shattered across the nearby buildings, and the smoke, along with the giant signs and screens, was blown away in an instant, opening Herman's line of sight again.
And only then did he realize something.
Spider-Man hadn't been waiting for the moment the dust rose.
He'd been waiting for the moment after the Shocker fired again.
Against the night sky, a long, lean shadow blocked out the dazzling city lights.
Then the red-and-blue figure came sprinting across one of the giant flying screens, firing web after web from his wrists and attaching them to an enormous billboard. He planted one foot on the screen, launched himself into the air, and swung the entire billboard around like a club.
Every helicopter and camera from every media outlet could only capture one thing.
A giant billboard slamming into the street.
J. Jonah Jameson, The Daily Bugle Brings You the Truth!
Half of Herman's body was pinned under the sign, and he was struggling to lift it. It was heavy, yes, but with his enhanced strength, lifting it should've been no problem.
Unfortunately for him, Spider-Man wasn't about to give him the chance.
Webbing snapped onto Herman's raised arms and yanked him straight out from under the sign, dragging him right in front of Spider-Man.
"It's over, Herman."
Spider-Man lifted him one-handed while the other hand closed around the Shocker's gauntlet.
"You're under arrest for carrying unstable explosive equipment. The Shocker's run is over."
(End of Chapter)
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