Chapter 120: Enemy Phantoms

"Three targets, they might be infected... No, they're more likely to be phantoms based on their body shape," Friday said.

With Friday's help, monitoring was much easier now. Previously, to keep an eye on Chu Cheng, Batman had to be close enough to access and crack the security systems. Now, Friday handled it all with ease.

Thanks to Friday, Chu Cheng didn't need to rely on Batman to hack into surveillance. Whether it was street cameras, company security, or hospital footage, Friday could quickly access and control them all.

If needed, she could even change all the screens to show SpongeBob SquarePants with a snap of her fingers.

After hijacking the surveillance camera outside, Chu Cheng quickly identified the three unexpected guests.

The first one was huge, like a bodybuilder, and covered in fine scales that looked like armor. He had only three fingers on each hand, with tips as sharp as steel, and his massive figure radiated strength.

The second was a woman with most of her skin exposed, only partially covered by black leather. She wore high-speed boots and had a long black tail like a scorpion. With her look, Chu Cheng might have thought she was a costume designer for a superhero movie.

The third person had a more normal build, but his face was dark and unclear. The weird part was the several barbed tentacles protruding from his back, which looked like a spine. If he were waving these tentacles at a nightclub, it would seem like a horror movie set. But standing next to the scorpion-like woman, they looked more like partners in an action film with a lot of drama.

In a tough situation, Chu Cheng knew he needed to act quickly. As soon as he had locked the three enemies in place, he decided on his strategy.

Click.

From the inside, Batman pried open the lock on the hostage room door, creating a gap.

The three shadowy figures outside turned their heads toward the door.

Before anyone could step out, a loud whoosh sounded through the air. A heavy object smashed into the scaly man's forehead, sending him flying and crashing to the ground.

The other two were startled. They turned their heads to see a red and blue blur flying back into the hands of a figure in a tight blue uniform, a white "A" on his blue helmet, and piercing blue eyes.

"I can do this all day," said Captain America, holding his vibranium shield ready for a fight.

Batman kicked open the door. "Go," he told the hostages. They rushed out, covering their heads in fear. At the same time, Batman threw a smoke bomb, and thick smoke began to cover their escape.

"Oh no, you're not going anywhere yet," the scorpion girl shouted, leaping toward the hostages behind the smoke. But just as she took off, a voice called out, "Watch out!"

She looked up to see a red and blue blur swinging toward her with a web. Before she could react, she was met with the red soles of Spider-Man's boots.

Bang.

The scorpion woman took the kick head-on and flew backward in an awkward manner. She crashed into the wall, breaking it apart, and the force of the impact made her chest heave heavily.

After landing a successful kick, Spider-Man did a couple of flips in the air and then stuck to the wall. He called down to the scorpion woman embedded in the wall below: "Sorry, ma'am, I guess my aim was off. Sometimes it happens... Whoa!"

Taking advantage of Spider-Man's distraction, the tentacle man moved in quickly from the shadows. His attack was so fast it seemed like an afterimage, and he was sure it would hit. But Spider-Man, sticking to the wall like a real spider, dodged the attack almost effortlessly.

The tentacle man was shocked.

Known for his speed, his tentacle strikes were almost impossible to see, even for him. Usually, even his own teammates would have trouble avoiding them.

Yet, Spider-Man not only dodged but seemed to do it with ease. While moving along the wall, he kept talking: "Sneak attack? Seriously, that's just lame. By the way, I know someone who looks a lot like you—eight legs, round body, bald on top, and no love life. Are you related?"

The tentacle man was frustrated and fired off two more tentacles, which Spider-Man easily dodged.

"Shut up, you smart aleck," the tentacle man snapped, launching several more tentacles.

Spider-Man gracefully flipped down to the ground, performing a series of acrobatic moves that made dodging the tentacles seem almost effortless. The tentacles barely missed his face, shoulders, arms, and legs.

Not only did his movements look cool, but they were also unbelievably fast, with every dodge coming so close that it seemed like he was barely escaping danger. Each attack almost grazed him, missing by just an inch. If he had moved even a little bit differently, he would have been hit. 

But as the saying goes, even when it looks like someone's barely holding on, they might actually be in complete control. You might think he's dancing on the edge of disaster, but to him, it's effortless and stress-free.

While dodging, he kept taunting: "Since you're clearly smarter than me, why not put your weapons down? Then I can pretend to surrender, and we both save some time and trouble, right?"

"Oh, you're still talking tough. You better hope I don't catch you."

The tentacle guy fired all his tendrils at once, rapid-firing like a machine gun. Though he kept his cool on the outside, inside, he was freaking out.

Something was off.

How could anyone react this fast, move with such agility, and keep their balance like that?

Even if someone was driving at top speed, they couldn't reach this level of skill, right?

And his combat instincts—way too sharp.

What was even scarier was that he wasn't even out of breath. He was talking non-stop while pulling off these crazy high-speed moves like somersaults, flips, and jumps. There wasn't a single pause in his speech, and he was talking as fast and smoothly as if he were just chilling.

If someone closed their eyes and just listened, they'd think he was casually chatting while sitting down, not dodging a machine-gun barrage with ease.

The tentacle guy was getting nervous.

He had run into someone serious.