Chapter 19: Escaping with Life?

"Is... is there still... anyone... not evacuated?"

Peter Parker's voice trembled, each word seemingly forced out of his lungs. His arms and back bore an unimaginable weight—an entire section of the elevated bridge, weighing four or five hundred tons, pressed down on him. Even with not all the load-bearing pillars collapsed, he felt as if the entire world was trying to crush him.

Peter had never tested his strength limits, but now, he felt he had reached them. At this point, even a single pigeon landing on the bridge surface could cause him to collapse. Blood roared in his veins, and his eardrums throbbed as if they would burst. His vision blurred, leaving only alternating flashes of blinding light and darkness. He couldn't even hear his own heartbeat, only a dying hum echoing in his skull.

He wasn't sure if anyone hadn't safely evacuated, because he couldn't feel anything anymore, only managing to emit his sole warning.

"IS! THERE! ANY! ONE! WHO! HASN'T! LEFT!"

Someone seemed to answer him, but he heard nothing. The taste of rust in his throat was the only thing he could perceive. No, there was something else: his arms and back felt a violent and rapid vibration. Even having lost his sight and hearing, Peter could feel something—

The subway was entering the station.

A massive sound seemed to erupt in his ears. Spider-Man stood there, barely holding on, looking as if he might collapse at any moment. The crowd gathered outside the elevated bridge, watching Spider-Man struggling, then seemed to see something else, turning their heads.

Peter Parker suddenly felt his vision replaced by a crimson hue, and his hands and back no longer felt any weight. The sudden lightness caused him to lose consciousness, falling into that crimson expanse.

It wasn't blood; it was a giant red hand.

"I caught the kid. Tony, we need your MK38 here."

Seeing the giant Ant-Man, looking like he'd stepped off an Ultraman set, holding the unconscious Spider-Man in one hand and propping up the broken bridge deck with the other. The subway roared past, unharmed. The surrounding crowd erupted in thunderous cheers, celebrating the Avengers once again saving the city.

Immediately afterward, a blue streak of light cut through the dust, and heavy iron armor crashed to the ground. The MK38 armor, "Igor," took Spider-Man's place on the broken section of the support pillar. Its spinal hydraulic jacks extended with a clank, and as Ant-Man slowly lowered his hand, the MK38 steadily supported the bridge.

Ant-Man, shrinking himself along with the unconscious Spider-Man in his palm, rode a flying ant away from the scene. He finally had time to make his next communication.

"I'm taking the kid back to Avengers Tower. Where's Herman, Tony?"

"Uh, Cap and Wasp are pursuing him. I'm providing aerial surveillance."

Dehydration, high temperature, and a failing cooling system—Shocker's condition, as he fled, was terrible. He stumbled and slid through the air, not even noticing how the shield, defying physics, ricocheted at an odd angle, slamming into his back and sending him plummeting to the ground, sparking as he skidded across the pavement.

"It's over, Herman Schultz."

Captain America stopped his motorcycle in front of Herman: "You don't understand how dangerous your actions and weapons are. Now, disarm immediately!"

"Yeah, surrender quietly in front of the Avengers." The Wasp suddenly appeared, her bio-electric sting aiming for his neck—unfortunately, it didn't even spark.

"I don't know...?"

Herman, who had only intended to escape, was now laughing bitterly, his laughter hoarse like sandpaper. He didn't even stand up; he just clenched his fists violently, and powerful shockwaves began to spread outwards in waves. The ground beneath his feet started to collapse inch by inch, the air visibly distorted due to changes in density, traffic lights, utility poles, and fire hydrants began to severely warp, and the Captain and Wasp also started to sway.

Shocker continued to release vibration waves as he stood up, finally letting out a roar.

"I know how strong my invention is!" Herman roared, standing up, "Strong enough to warrant the Avengers' deployment!"

As the Captain seized the opportunity to lunge, the ground collapsed again. The Captain leapt, plunging his shield into the concrete road to prevent himself from falling, while Shocker had already used a vibration wave to jump and escape again.

"Where are you going, Herman? You have nowhere to run!"

The seemingly inconspicuous Wasp actually caught up to Shocker, constantly firing bio-electric stings from not far behind him. They caused little damage, but Herman couldn't escape with a tail. So, after another jump, he turned to face the Wasp, who was hard to see in his blurred vision.

A crimson-gold blur arrived at supersonic speed. Iron Man crashed into him at the waist, sending him back to the street. Iron Man then landed gracefully and pre-armed armor-piercing rounds from his arm gauntlet: "Surrender, Herman. I don't know where you got your gold titanium alloy, but I assure you, your equipment can't withstand my fire."

Herman, battered by successive attacks, began to laugh.

He suddenly realized that besides killing Spider-Man, there was another, more suitable way for him to achieve fame—and that was for even the Avengers to come to arrest him, only to return empty-handed.

He raised his hands, making a gesture of surrender, but as Iron Man approached, he smiled.

"Goodbye, Iron Man."

Armor-piercing rounds fired at the same moment the words were spoken, but the floor beneath Shocker's feet had already collapsed. Shocker, having escaped into the sewers, then vibrated a dozen meters of the road to collapse, burying the entire sewer. This prevented anyone from tracking him. The Captain, who had ridden his motorcycle over, could only watch as Iron Man and the Wasp stared at the collapsed road.

As for Shocker, he now had only one place to go.

Herman, still in his armor, used his last reserves of strength and the kinetic assistance from the fight to reach Otto's hideout. This time, the hideout didn't require his key; the door opened in advance. Before Shocker could even enter, a mechanical claw grabbed him and pulled him inside. Afterward, several tentacled robots slithered out, began to clean up the traces, and then closed the hideout door.

"I saw your performance." An electronically synthesized voice came from the shadows. "You could have killed Spider-Man. Why did you hold back?"

Herman took off his helmet, which was almost filled with his sweat, and accepted a bottle of mineral water handed to him by a mechanical claw.

"I don't know. Perhaps it's just because I've never killed anyone. Perhaps it's because I believed Spider-Man could hold up that bridge, but if I had actively killed people... everything would be different."

Herman, leaning against the wall, rested for a long time before speaking those words. Otto remained silent for a long while, then turned on the hideout's lights, which had never been on before.

As the soft white lights came on, Herman finally saw the mysterious "Otto."

It was a middle-aged man who appeared completely immobile, quadriplegic, encased in a bulky mechanical life support device. He seemed to have difficulty even turning his neck, with certain mechanical devices directly piercing his throat, integrating his vocal cords with an electronic generator. He wore goggles over his eyes, seemingly unable to adapt to bright light, and four agile mechanical tentacles served as his current limbs.

"A little light. Perhaps you'll be more comfortable, my friend."

"I... I really didn't expect you to be like this."

Otto seemed unfazed by this. He simply turned back to his old computers and continued his calculations: "If you have an 'old friend' like Norman Osborn, then being like this is already fortunate."

Herman instinctively felt that Doctor Otto had many things he hadn't told him, but he didn't want to ask further. Instead, after pouring the remaining water over his head, he stated his request.

"Can you help me contact that 'big boss'? I believe he wouldn't refuse someone who can open any lock to work for him."

Otto used a mechanical claw to adjust the glasses on his face.

"Is that what you want to do? Work for someone after becoming famous? Find yourself a good job?"

"The next step is to deal with the Avengers: Iron Man, Captain America, Ant-Man, Wasp..." Herman intelligently avoided mentioning Hulk and Thor: "I want to show them that my equipment, Herman Schultz's equipment, can far surpass Tony Stark's, Hank Pym's, or anyone else's. I am a true genius!"

Herman's fundamental desire was to be famous, and very famous at that. Therefore, the Avengers were his target. To achieve this goal, he needed more money to upgrade his armor, especially to improve its cooling capabilities and avoid dehydration like today.

So, he needed money, a lot of money. He had no reserves left, and directly robbing a bank would easily get him caught by the Avengers before his plan was complete. Thus, Herman thought of Kingpin. Since Kingpin was willing to sponsor him to build his armor, now that he had demonstrated his abilities, Kingpin would surely be willing to have him work for him.

Otto had no intention of refusing his new friend. He also needed a sufficiently capable person to investigate the strength of the Avengers and other superheroes to adjust his weapon manufacturing plans, but he had another question.

"What about Spider-Man? You didn't exactly defeat him completely. Is that how it ends?"

"He'll come looking for me, and once I've upgraded my armor, he won't be my match."