Restart, Spider-Man! [10]
"So much fun, this is way too fun!"
He steered his glider into a narrow alley, rudely smashing through clotheslines between balconies, sending a flurry of half-dried laundry flying toward Xia Luo.
"Sorry, but I'm not in need of any extra fabric right now."
Xia Luo swung to the rooftop, extending his arms, using the web wings under his arms to glide over the chaotic alley below.
"Gahahaha, got you now!"
In the next moment, the Green Goblin shot out from the alley, his glider's blade aiming directly at Xia Luo's heart.
The cold gleam of the blade flashed in the moonlight, slicing through the air. Although Xia Luo's spider-sense didn't go off, that didn't mean he wasn't prepared for Norman.
Boom!
Xia Luo extended his web wings slightly, suddenly slowing his glide. Norman misjudged the distance, zooming past Xia Luo in an instant, leaving a blast of hot air in his wake.
Just then, from the helicopter, Barton saw the Green Goblin rise into the air and fired an arrow without hesitation.
Boom!
A loud explosion lit up the sky, forcing Norman to dive back into the residential area to evade Hawkeye's aim.
"Kids these days have no manners."
Norman sighed, but the next moment, he felt his glider start to lose control.
"No, damn it!"
He desperately tried to stabilize the glider, only to find it tangled in webs.
Norman turned around and saw Xia Luo, gripping the web that was tethered to the glider with one hand, while shooting more webs directly at Norman's face with the other.
"Ugh, you little brat."
Boom!
With his vision obscured, Norman crashed into a rooftop water tank, severing his connection with the glider. His body was then flung into the alley below.
"No, no, no!"
Crash, crash, crash~
After tumbling through several clotheslines, Norman finally landed headfirst into a stinking trash can.
"Ugh, this is disgusting!"
The trash can shattered, and just as Norman was pulling himself out, Xia Luo descended, landing a solid kick that sent him flying.
Bang!
With full force, the Green Goblin's armored body slammed into a wall. The noise startled the nearby residents, who peeked out of their windows.
"Oh, it's Spider-Man!"
"And the Green Goblin!"
"Oh no, our clothes!"
Cries of surprise echoed from the apartments. Furious, Norman burst out of the wall's rubble.
"I am the most terrifying demon! No one can defeat me!"
Thwip, thwip, thwip~
In an instant, Xia Luo fired webs rapidly, setting up a trap. Norman, struggling to break free, was caught headfirst in the web.
"Tell me, why are you still alive?"
Panting heavily, Norman's evil eyes locked onto Xia Luo. It was as if he had grown tired, his breathing ragged.
Xia Luo shrugged. "Sorry, Norman, you didn't kill me. This is all just a figment of your imagination."
He pointed to his head, indicating that something was wrong with Norman's mind.
"What?"
Norman's pupils contracted, then he shook his head, screaming, "Impossible! I'm not sick, I'm not sick!!"
Xia Luo glanced up at the figure descending from the helicopter and realized he didn't have time to wait for Norman to finish his outburst.
Just as he was about to move in and capture Norman, his unreliable spider-sense suddenly went off, warning him.
"This is…"
In an instant, Xia Luo's eyes flashed blue, and without hesitation, he shot out a web and swung away from Norman.
Boom!!
Xia Luo clung to a nearby wall, narrowly escaping. "So, that's a real pumpkin bomb?"
The last time he encountered one of those, it had blown him to pieces.
Norman, freed from the trap, slowly stepped out of the shadows, his eyes gleaming with increasing malice.
"Not bad, you're more alert than last time," he praised.
If those bombs weren't so difficult to make, and if he didn't have a limited supply, SHIELD agents would have been blown to bits already.
Xia Luo crouched on the wall, hesitant to make any sudden moves.
After some observation, he realized that while Norman's physical strength wasn't too overwhelming—under ten tons—the combination of his glider, terrifying pumpkin bombs, and resilience made him a considerable threat.
Whether it was surviving Hawkeye's arrow strikes or the series of powerful impacts, Norman recovered quickly, and his Green Goblin armor remained relatively intact.
Between his advanced weapons, strong physique, and cunning, Norman was a difficult opponent to defeat without overwhelming force.
"Hey, need a hand?"
At that moment, Steve Rogers leaped down from the stairs, shield in hand, blocking Norman's escape route.
"You're Spider-Man, right? Where are you from?" Steve asked, raising his shield while glancing at Xia Luo.
Xia Luo swung down to the ground. "Uh, Queens. What about you?"
"SHIELD employee housing, one-bedroom, one-bath, with a private bed," Steve answered proudly.
Back in his day, that kind of accommodation was a luxury reserved for officers.
"I think you two can discuss this later," Natasha said, training her gun on Norman from the rooftop.
Meanwhile, Barton, bow drawn, chimed in, "I've got a five-bedroom, two-bath, two-story house."
Xia Luo scratched his head. "I hate this kind of competition."
Norman looked around, his goblin mask even more menacing.
"Have you poor fools ever lived in a castle?"
"No, but if we capture you, we can sell your castle to pay for all the damages," Steve replied, swiftly hurling his shield.
Simultaneously, Barton loosed an arrow, but the cunning Norman wasn't one to give in easily. He tossed several pumpkin bombs in all directions.
Boom, boom, boom!!
Terrifying explosions erupted around them, sending nearby residents screaming and fleeing.
In the midst of the fiery chaos, arrows snapped, the shield embedded itself into the ground, and Norman had vanished.
Cough, cough~
Amid the wreckage, Steve covered his nose and mouth, retrieved his shield, and muttered, "He got away."
Barton scanned the area. "I can't spot him."
"Alright, I guess we failed this mission," Natasha sighed. "It's been a while since we've faced such a slippery opponent. Even three Avengers weren't enough."
"Wait a second, where's our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man?" she asked, suddenly noticing the absence of Xia Luo.
At the same time, sirens wailed through the night sky.
Among the chaotic streets, Norman, now draped in a bed sheet, blended into the fleeing crowd.
"Gahahaha, Nick, are these the Avengers you gathered? They're pathetic, a bunch of fools."
Norman snickered to himself as he hunched over and slipped into a nearby alley.
"Hahaha, this is so much fun!"
As he strolled through the empty alley, Norman took off his helmet, kicking over trash cans with glee.
But soon, his laughter faded as he froze in place, staring at the massive web in front of him, where a red-and-blue figure sat calmly.
"Xia Luo, you clever boy. I absolutely adore you," Norman growled with a twisted grin.
Xia Luo sat cross-legged on the web. "Don't mention the word 'death' to me. I'm allergic."
With that, he tugged on the web next to him, and a web trap fell from above, ensnaring Norman.
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