"Superman's Shadow & The Rising Storm."

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"Wait, is this guy… actually that kindhearted?"

At that moment, when they heard Superman saying they were the real heroes, a lot of people on the scene couldn't help but feel a warmth in their hearts.

Only Nick Fury, calm as ever, had a brief flicker of doubt cross his face.

According to the information he had, Superman wasn't exactly known for being this nice.After all, not a single one of the missing scientists had returned home even now.

BOOM!

Just as everyone was staring at Peter with eyes full of admiration, a deafening boom shattered the calm.

From the rubble of the collapsed building where Thor had been buried, a figure suddenly burst out, shooting straight into the sky.

At the same time, the already dense storm clouds above grew even darker. The sun was completely blocked out—no light could pierce through the thick clouds.

It was like the night was falling early, casting a giant shadow over the whole city.

"Mr. Superman…"

Peter turned to look up at the figure forming within the swirling clouds above—about to fly up toward it—

But Captain America suddenly spoke up from behind him.

"Be careful!"

Peter turned his head slightly at the warning, and Cap looked a little worried too.

"Thanks. Take care of him for me."

Peter nodded slightly, a bit surprised, then turned toward Nick Fury and the others in the distance and said firmly:

"Watch over him."

Then he turned back again, fixing his eyes on the figure gathering thunder in the stormy sky.

"What the hell… is going on up there?"

At that moment, Peter slowly rotated his palm and clenched it into a fist.

A strange energy suddenly surged out from him.

Everyone around him noticed it—tiny stones and dust on the ground started floating up, forming a mini tornado that slowly spun around him.

BOOM!

Another loud explosion rocked the area, blasting away the dust spinning around Peter.

The solid ground beneath him cracked like a spider web, and Peter launched into the air like a cannonball, shooting straight toward the sky.

"You're right. The changes in this world… are way beyond anything I imagined."

Captain America stared up at Peter's figure soaring into the sky and said quietly to Nick Fury, who had just walked up beside him—still trying to calm himself down.

Meanwhile, in a suburban lab on the outskirts of New York…

A crowd of reporters and science enthusiasts stared, completely stunned, at the blazing "star" at the center of the lab—it shone as brightly as the sun.

To them, it looked like something straight out of heaven.

"Haha! I did it! I finally did it!"

Doctor Octopus was ecstatic, his mechanical arms orbiting around the mini-sun to keep it stable as he excitedly declared to everyone present that his experiment was a success.

His joy was infectious. Everyone around him could feel it too.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

Even his wife joined in the applause. Everyone in the lab was clapping for him.

Everyone—except Gwen.

She had already changed into her Spider-Woman suit and stood quietly in a corner where no one could see her. Instead of being happy, she looked even more worried than before.

Because she noticed that the miniature sun, although still stable for now, was releasing bursts of golden solar flames—just like solar storms.

Then, in the middle of all the applause, a sudden shout broke through the noise.

"What? Superman's at Times Square? And there's a guy calling himself the God of Thunder challenging him?! Got it—I'm heading there now!"

A reporter had just hung up his phone and immediately led his crew out of the lab without a second thought.

"What?! Superman vs. Thor? Are you serious? That's massive! I'm heading over right now!"

That one guy leaving was like lighting a fuse. Within a minute, nearly every reporter and media crew got the same news—and all of them turned and rushed out.

In less than sixty seconds, what had been a packed and lively crowd became almost empty.

Only a few people were left behind, still clueless about what was going on.

"Eddie, aren't you going? Anything about Superman is huge right now—guaranteed front-page stuff!"

"And this experiment? Who's gonna care about it tomorrow?"

One of the photographers still had his camera up, filming every second of the experiment, seemingly unaffected by the buzz.

His friend, already halfway out the door, called back to remind him.

"I'll pass. Honestly, I think this experiment is more revolutionary than Superman. If I leave now, I know I'll regret it."

The young reporter shook his head and firmly declined his friend's offer.

"…Alright, suit yourself."

His friend didn't push it and left without another word. If he was late, he'd miss the whole fight.

"No! You can't leave! Why are you all leaving? My experiment is already a success! This is a groundbreaking achievement—it could win me the next Nobel Prize!"

Dr. Octopus looked around in disbelief as almost everyone left in just a few minutes, leaving behind only a few stragglers.

He'd spent over ten years of his life preparing for this very moment, for this experiment to succeed in front of the media and the public.

But now?

This—this was not how it was supposed to go.And he couldn't accept it.

Ssssszzzz…

Suddenly, maybe because he got too excited and lost focus for a second, one of his mechanical tentacles failed to repair a section of the energy shield that had been torn apart by the "solar storm."

In the next moment, a strange gravitational force burst out from the "mini sun," sweeping through the entire area in an instant.

As energy leaked out, the once-indestructible lab suddenly felt like it was being gripped tightly by an invisible giant hand.

Creak… Creak…

The metal around them started to bend.

Crash!

Glass shattered right after.

But the shards weren't falling—they were being pulled by the strong gravity, flying straight toward Dr. Otto's wife.

"Ahhh!"

Caught in panic, she could only scream helplessly.

Then, out of nowhere, a figure in a Spider-suit dropped from the sky, scooping her up and dodging the incoming shards just in time.

"Doctor, it's out of control! The experiment's failed—shut it down now!"

Gwen, who had just saved Otto's wife, shouted anxiously at him.

"No! The experiment hasn't failed. I can control it. I will stabilize it!"

But Otto looked like he'd completely lost it—like he was in some kind of crazed trance.

"No, this experiment was never going to work. That shield you built might stop energy—including gravity—from leaking out, but all that power just keeps building up. If this goes on, the consequences will be even worse!"

"Huh?"

In the skies above Times Square, Peter suddenly felt a massive wave of energy from far away.

And the strangest part? That energy… it felt like it was calling to him—pulling him in.

"Could it be...?"

Looking in that all-too-familiar direction, something clicked in Peter's mind.

"You bastard, how dare you zone out while fighting me?!"

Thor, standing right in front of Peter as his opponent, saw Peter get distracted mid-fight and immediately felt insulted. He couldn't help but roar in anger.

"You're Thor, right? God of Thunder? Cool. Let's wrap this up—I've got stuff to do."

Peter pulled his eyes back and casually glanced at Thor, his tone light, almost impatient.

"Fine! Since you're so eager to get your ass kicked, I'll gladly help you out!"

Thor, full of pride, was even more pissed off after being treated so lightly. He gripped his hammer and charged straight at Peter.

"Wait a sec…"

"What, getting cold feet? You can still surrender, y'know!"

Thor paused, confused, and looked at him.

"Hey, anyone got a speaker? Play me a badass soundtrack, would ya?"

Instead of answering Thor, Peter just shouted down to the crowd on the ground.

"I got this!"

Down below, a pretty girl from S.H.I.E.L.D.'s team answered without hesitation.

She immediately pulled out her laptop and started typing fast.

"Ah~ Ah! Ah~ Ah!"

In less than ten seconds, powerful, epic music started blasting from the giant screens in Times Square.

"She one of ours?"

Nick Fury turned and asked Coulson.

"Yup. That's Daisy. She's a genius hacker."

Up in the sky, Peter's face froze for a second as the music echoed across Times Square.

"Alright then… I'll beat you with your own background music."

Staring at Thor, Peter's eyes lit up with a dazzling red glow!

"..…"