"You wait for me a while; it'll be fine soon."
Just as Spider-Man finished speaking, another bus came crashing down.
Doctor Octopus seemed annoyed—how dare the kid chat while fighting him? Eat this, bus—car!
Unexpectedly, Spider-Man raised his hands again to catch the bus.
This car was several times heavier than the last one. Why did Spider-Man, who looked so weak a moment ago, suddenly go stiff? Was he growing so fast?
"How do I look, Mr. Hunter—am I handsome or not?"
"Oops…"
Spider-Man turned his head to show off to Blaine, and was promptly slapped—an opportunistic sneak attack. "Despicable and shameless. Mr. Hunter, I'll pay you back when I get the chance…"
Blaine just smiled and said nothing. He'd watch the show; if Spider-Man couldn't handle it, he'd embarrass himself.
Sure enough, the next second Spider-Man's body flew to Blaine's feet again.
"Hey, what a coincidence—we meet again."
"Do you need help?"
"Uh… I thought—if you can, could you do me a little favor and hold him down?"
Having seen Blaine's strength—no, the strength of a bounty hunter—Spider-Man still treated the black-robed man with respect.
Blaine thought: Do me a favor? Hold him down? Why not let me send him west instead.
"Watch the mechanical claw on his back—that should be his weak point."
Blaine lounged on the hood of a nearby car and said it casually. That counted as helping.
Spider-Man—ever the quick study—processed the hint immediately. Using his flexibility to exploit Doc Ock's momentary confusion, he leapt with everything he had, nearly three meters, and landed behind Octavius. His web-shooters fired.
The reinforced webbing could withstand hundreds of tons of force. If a bus fell from a ten-story building at free-fall speed, Spider-Man's web could pin it to a wall—provided the wall could hold that much force.
The moment the web shot, Blaine knew the fight was over.
Almost on cue, Doc Ock crashed to the ground. His mechanical appendages were restrained; he couldn't move.
With the outcome decided, Blaine vanished—back to school and sleep. A Doctor Octopus wasn't as impressive as a Chitauri warrior; Blaine had no interest beyond watching. Let Spider-Man and the police handle the rest.
After school that afternoon, Blaine took the school bus home for the first time. He'd wanted to check out a newly built house nearby, but he changed his mind and returned to the villa instead.
On the way, he ran a little experiment: from the Queens house to the villa, sprinting at full output, he covered the distance in 3.45 seconds. Fast—but Blaine wasn't satisfied.
"Ugh, day four without a system—this is brutal."
On such dull days, Blaine could only pass time by sleeping under the covers.
The next morning he rose early and headed to school—until another riot blocked his way.
This time it was Rhino—an armored man smashing through Blaine's route to class. It wasn't a mechanical rhinoceros so much as a man in rhino armor. The attack was only two streets from where Doctor Octopus had made trouble yesterday. Strange.
The whole street had been emptied; shops were smashed, light poles bent. A crowd had gathered across from the Rhino. Several rows of police cars blocked the road while officers weakly brandished small handguns, trying to protect bystanders.
"Ha—Spider-Boy, you were pathetic yesterday. I heard you were coming; I'm not scared of you!" the Rhino taunted through thickened armored glass.
"Since he won't come out, I'll flatten Queens. I don't believe it!"
He flexed heavy, mechanical arms like he was warming up.
"Big guy, don't be arrogant. I'll stop you in the name of Spider-Man!" a childish voice cried out like a bell.
"Oh, my son—Officer, please save my boy!" someone shouted.
Right between the police and the Rhino stood a little boy in his own Spider-Man suit.
"Ha! You're just a brat pretending to be Spider-Man. I'll crush you first…" the Rhino snarled and surged forward.
From a rooftop, Blaine watched. He was already in his Hunter suit, but he didn't intend to intervene.
First, he had no obligation—he wasn't a superhero or some aunt who fixed everything.
Second, nobody had hired him to take the shot. As a bounty hunter, wearing that suit made him a killer without sentiment.
"It looks like Fury's left this district to Spider-Man. In this area, Spider-Man's the only hero—no one else will help when things go south."
"This Queens neighborhood is a disaster zone. Explosions one after another, blocks getting wrecked. Spider-Man's going to be busy from now on."
Blaine activated his reconnaissance—Hawkeye. In an instant, the feed rose to several hundred meters, offering a god's-eye view. Sure enough, a few hundred meters away, Spider-Man was already pacing across high-rises; he should arrive within thirty seconds.
Below, police were still negotiating with the Rhino and begging for more time, waiting for Spider-Man's arrival. Their pleas didn't seem to be working.
The police in this world often played the same role: either clean up after superhero battles or stand around until heroes arrived. Even for small crimes, there were always people with hidden abilities ready to act. The American police often looked like window dressing.
"Watch me crush you…" the Rhino growled.
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