On the side of the Impersonation Contest Stage.
"Betty, what are you doing? Hurry up and bring the chair over!"
"Coming."
Betty struggled to bring over a chair, and the overweight "Spider-Man" unceremoniously plopped down on it.
"Hahaha, the first prize is definitely mine this time."
Jonah Jameson, who had already completed his performance, lifted the lower half of his mask. He took a cigar from Betty, lighting it with a proud smile.
Next to him, Betty rolled her eyes and muttered, "Hmph, I don't know how you got such a high score. There's definitely something shady going on."
"Betty, I heard that."
Jonah glanced at Betty. "Congratulations, you're correct. Those judges are all my friends, which is why I got a score of 39, just one shy of a perfect score."
Betty: "..."
"Boss, you're so despicable. It's unfair," she huffed.
Jonah was completely unbothered, laughing smugly. "You're right, it's very unfair, because I'm in this competition. No one knows Spider-Man better than I do. I'm an expert, which makes this contest unfair to all the other contestants."
Betty rolled her eyes. "I mean you bribed the judges."
"Hahaha, that's not important. The outcome is the same anyway."
Jonah laughed. "Looks like first place is mine—one million dollars, a Spider-Man movie series—all mine. I'm going to be a superstar."
Betty snorted, "Don't get ahead of yourself. The last contestant looked more like Spider-Man than you."
"But he got eliminated."
Jonah boasted, "I said it before—no one knows Spider-Man better than me."
"Why don't you just be a judge, then?"
"Hehe, if I were a judge, how would I win first place in the competition?"
Jonah puffed out a cloud of smoke. "Betty, are you ready to be my agent?"
"Brother-in-law, I don't want to be your agent," Betty flatly refused.
Hearing this, Jonah suddenly shuddered, nearly dropping his cigar.
His eyes darted around as he leaned in and whispered to Betty, "Shit, keep your voice down. Don't let anyone know about that. I'm about to be a star, and I need to keep my marriage history under wraps."
Betty sighed. "Brother-in-law, nobody here knows who you are."
"But they'll know soon enough, because I'll be the first one on stage to receive an award."
"The contest isn't over yet."
"But the outcome is already decided."
"Alright, brother-in-law."
"Shit! I'm docking your pay!"
"I'll go home and tell my sister."
"No, alright, I'm sorry..."
Pressured by the authority of his wife at home, Jonah apologized reluctantly.
Betty was about to say something more when they heard exclamations from outside.
"Oh! It's the metal suit—it's Spider-Man!"
"Oh my god, the real Spider-Man is here!"
"Is he here to compete too?"
"No, I think he's here to be a judge."
"Look, his webs can just stay in midair!"
"Oh god, that's not scientifically possible..."
"Spider-Man, I'm your fan!!"
"This is awesome!"
Amid the waves of cheering, Betty hurriedly pulled the curtain aside to look outside.
"Brother-in-law, it's Spider-Man! Look, he's here too. What a surprise!"
Betty yelled excitedly, and Jonah immediately threw the cigar to the ground.
"Hmph, that guy still loves showing off. Well, it figures—there's no way a vain guy like him would pass up this opportunity."
Jonah feigned indifference, but his actions said otherwise.
He hurried over to Betty's side, and sure enough, above the crowd, the real Spider-Man in his metal suit swung quickly through the air on his webs.
"His webbing..."
Jonah's eyes lit up. "Great, I've got a theme for tomorrow's show—Spider-Man's webbing got upgraded again. This time, I'm gonna make sure to shine."
"No, wait, I already won the competition. I don't have to pay to be on the show—they'll pay me for the appearance."
"Betty, your brother-in-law is going to make money now, hahaha."
Jonah laughed, while Betty responded dully, "You admitted it yourself. It has nothing to do with me."
Jonah: "..."
The next moment, more exclamations rose from the crowd.
"Oh no, what's happening? I'm caught in webbing!"
"It's Spider-Man!"
"Oh god, what is he doing to us?"
"No, don't do this."
After Charlie arrived, he silently started shooting webs, binding every Spider-mutant he saw.
As soon as the small spider jumped on these mutants and started sucking out the mutated cells, panic swept through the crowd.
"Ah!! What is that!!"
"A spider! What a strange spider."
"Shit, I feel like I'm missing something."
"My superpowers—no, I've lost my superpowers!"
"It's that spider—it took away our superpowers."
"Run! Spider-Man is targeting us!"
"No, no way. We're his fans—how could he do this to us?"
"Damn Spider-Man. So those rumors were true—he doesn't allow any other Spider-Men to exist."
"My friend just got out of the hospital and told me this, but I didn't believe him. I regret it so much."
"Run, he's coming."
"No, don't come near!!"
In the chaos, numerous red-and-blue figures scattered, but soon enough, Charlie swung above everyone.
Thwap thwap.
As the webbing burst, the Spider-mutants that were gathered were forcibly dragged to the ground.
Chirp chirp chirp
The small spider excitedly jumped on these individuals, absorbing their mutated cells. The magic energy on its body became even more brilliant.
On stage, the host watched this chaotic scene, not knowing how to proceed.
Instead, he directly started a live broadcast.
"Um, ladies and gentlemen, what we're seeing right now is Spider-Man binding our contestants with his webs, accompanied by a strange giant spider.
Oh, dear lord, he's caught contestant John—I remember his green Spider-suit. He scored 37 points in the competition, so he could have been in third place.
Wow, third place is getting bitten by a spider. Zoom in on him—he can't shoot webs anymore. He's lost his chance for third place.
This is shocking—Spider-Man seems unhappy with this competition. He must think it's infringing on his image rights.
He's at it again—he's not sparing any contestants.
Now I announce—fourth place has also been bitten by a spider. He's lost his fourth-place spot.
Oh, look—he's got the first-place guy. I remember that beer belly..."
Click.
Amid the chaos, flashbulbs went off continuously. In the cameras of all the reporters, Spider-Man was seen attacking the contestants without restraint.
This was a feast for the press.
"Quick, get more shots."
"Yes, just like that."
"This angle is perfect."
"Hahaha, Spider-Man hurting innocent people—this news is gonna rock New York!"
"No, don't come near me!!"
Under the curtain, Jonah, who was wrapped in webbing, stared in horror as the small spider jumped onto his beer belly.
It seemed to find the belly too greasy, so it switched spots before it started to bite.
Jonah looked terrified, struggling as he screamed.
"No, Betty! Betty, help me get rid of it!"
"Boss, it's clearly very cute. There's nothing to be scared of."
Betty squatted beside Jonah, watching with wide eyes as the small spider sank its two fangs into Jonah's chest.
"What a cute little spider!"
"Cute... cute my ass, I'm finished."
"Boss, you're being loud."
Betty covered Jonah's mouth with one hand, stroking the small spider's head with the other.
Chirp chirp chirp
The small spider chirped in annoyance at Betty's petting.
"Wow, it can even make noises! Spiders make noises!"
Chirp chirp chirp
After finishing with Jonah, the small spider gave Betty an annoyed glare before jumping toward its next target.
"Don't leave! Let me pet you!" Betty hurriedly chased after it.
Chirp chirp chirp
Watching the spider leave, Jonah was already in tears.
"I was supposed to be first. I was supposed to be first..."
...
Meanwhile, on the other side of the site...
Charlie moved through the chaotic crowd, capturing another group of fleeing mutants in a short time.
Due to the continuous high-frequency web-slinging, the web-shooters had already started smoking.
After switching to backup web-shooters, Charlie continued.
"Don't let them escape. Leave the rest to Spider-Man."
"Got it."
Around the site, upon Carter's order, Coulson led his team to quickly surround the area, not allowing any mutants to leave.
"Damn it! We were tricked—it's a trap!"
Someone finally realized.
"What?"
Hearing this, the remaining mutants looked grim.
"Damn Spider-Man, he wants to capture us all."
"Screw this—I'm not his fan anymore."
"Selfish Spider-Man. He doesn't let anyone steal his spotlight."
"We can't escape."
"Then let's fight him."
"Yeah, fight him! Spider-Man, I hate you!"
"Take down Spider-Man. We deserve freedom!!"
"Take down Spider-Man!"
In their fury, many mutants ripped off their masks and turned in unison, charging towards Charlie.
"There are so many of us—we can definitely take him down."
"We're gonna make Spider-Man pay for his actions."
"Charge!!"
Whoosh whoosh whoosh
Suddenly, over a hundred Spider-mutants shot webs, launching themselves at Charlie en masse, attempting to overwhelm him with sheer numbers.
Seeing this, Charlie stopped his pursuit and waited for these mutants to come to him.
It was time to give these fake fans a dose of Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man shock.
The next moment, the air at the site seemed to freeze.
The host's face became terrified, as if he had seen something horrific.
Betty, who had been chasing the small spider, also sensed something wrong. She instinctively stopped and turned to look towards Charlie, her eyes widening and her scalp tingling.
"That is..."
At this moment, Jonah, still wallowing in his misery, also stopped his lament.
Watching the awe-inspiring scene, he felt as if time had frozen in that moment.
In the journalists' cameras, a lone figure faced the charge of a hundred Spider-Men.
The stage lights became the backdrop, Spider-Men were everywhere, and that lone figure seemed about to be engulfed at any moment.
He was just one person.
How could one person handle so many mutants?
This was Spider-Man's day of doom.
The cameras perfectly captured the anger, the resentment, the madness on the faces of these mutants—their fierce hatred for Spider-Man.
And they had only one target.
The despicable guy trying to take their powers away.
They didn't care why Spider-Man wanted to take away their powers.
They simply didn't care.
The powers were theirs. Nobody could take them!
But...
Why wasn't that damn Spider-Man running?
Did he really think he could stop us by himself?
What a joke!
We have so many people, we could crush him in an instant.
Spider-Man was too arrogant.
He needed to be put in his place.
Trying to take our powers comes at a price!
"Get him! Crush him!"
"Let him know we're not to be messed with!"
"Hahaha, Spider-Man, there's no turning back now."
All the mutants were mocking.
Charlie ignored it all.
He only slightly bent his knees, his palms held near his waist.
Buzz!
Suddenly, dazzling blue light burst between his hands.
The blue light instantly overpowered the stage lighting, as if the entire night sky was being consumed by its glow.
"What?"
"What is this?"
"No, my eyes..."
The mutants exclaimed in surprise, the bright blue glow blinding them.
"Boom!!"
Suddenly, as Charlie thrust his palms forward, a gust of wind swept across the site. A radiant light shot from his hands, and the night sky was completely painted blue.
"Friendly Neighborhood Kamehameha!!"
Thud thud thud
"Ah!!"
Wherever the blue light passed, the raging gusts swept through everything, sending all the Spider-mutants crashing down, covered in debris carried by the wind.
"What..."
"No, this can't be. We actually..."
"This has to be a dream!"
"My god, this can't be real."
"Why... Why is this happening..."
Soon, amidst the groans of pain, the blue light slowly faded.
The blue-glowing web strands fell like ribbons, filling every corner of the site.
In the sea of blue, the mutants lay struggling on the ground. Wrapped in blue webbing, the strange threads stuck to them like glue, making it impossible for them to break free with their strength. They sat there, raging helplessly.
Whew~
As the breeze passed, Charlie remained where he stood.
He slowly lowered his fists, quite satisfied with the scene before him.
After experimenting with different web modes in the revival match, they finally paid off.
The webs imbued with the blue glow could release all stored web protein instantly, combined with a dazzling flash effect.
The stronger the body, the more protein it could store, and the more webbing it could unleash in that instant.
When Charlie first got this web mode, he thought it was another joke.
He didn't take it seriously then, since it seemed ridiculous.
But now it seemed that those seemingly useless web modes had a lot of potential.
One word summed it up:
Awesome!!
Soon, the host snapped out of his daze.
"Oh, dear lord! What we just witnessed was Spider-Man using abilities he's never shown before! He took down all the evil enemies singlehandedly—he's our hero!!"
The host shouted in excitement, while the stage crew yelled into their headsets.
"Wait, Wade, you're wrong—Spider-Man didn't defeat evil criminals, he defeated innocent people."
"What? Oh, sorry, I got carried away. I'll fix it right—oh no, it's live!!"
A major live stage accident had occurred.
And Spider-Man's story seemed to have only just begun...