After successfully being rescued, the students from the tower finally made their way down to where their anxious parents were waiting to pick them up. Parker kept his head low, taking extra care not to reveal his true identity amidst the chaos.
When Aunt May rushed over, her face was pale with relief. She threw her arms around him, hugging him tightly enough to knock the breath out of him. She gasped, pulling back to inspect him for injuries. "Peter. Come here, come here, come here"
Parker reassured her, saying he was completely fine and hadn't been hurt at all.
Before long, school reports and city news outlets were talking about nothing else. Many students who had been at the scene gathered in the hallways, animatedly discussing the sheer terror of the event and the awe-inspiring moment Spider-Man swooped in to save them. The school's broadcast system echoed the sentiment: in the end, they owed everything to Spider-Man. The entire campus buzzed with a single name, and Parker unexpectedly became the hero of almost everyone at school.
Walking down the corridors and hearing everyone talk about his alter ego, Parker's mouth curled into a subtle, satisfied smile. It was an undeniably good feeling, even if no one actually recognized who he was behind the mask.
"Dude, dude, dude." Ned suddenly jumped up from behind, his face practically glowing with excitement. "What is it like being famous when nobody knows it's you?"
He looked far more ecstatic than Parker himself.
Parker glanced around nervously and whispered, "Crazy, dude."
"It's crazy." Ned pressed, eager to share the secret. "Should we tell everyone?"
Parker quickly shook his head, shutting the idea down. "No."
Ned repeated, "Should I tell everyone?"
He desperately wanted people to know Parker was Spider-Man, because that meant he was Spider-Man's best friend. That was a brag that could last a lifetime.
Parker shook his head firmly. "No, dude. That's not a good idea."
Seeing Parker's insistence, Ned patted his shoulder. "Okay, come on, we'll be late to class."
Parker stopped. "I'm not going to class."
Ned froze mid-step, rendered speechless. "You're already in trouble for ditching the decathlon!"
Parker leaned in and whispered solemnly, " Dude, listen, I figured it out. The wingsuit guy is stealing from Damage Control. What he takes from Damage Control, that's how he builds the weapons." He looked Ned in the eye, his tone intense and firm. "So all I gotta do is catch him."
Ned blinked, responding dumbly, "But we have a Spanish quiz."
"Ned, I'm probably never gonna come back here," Parker explained. "Mr. Stark is moving the Avengers upstate... so when I bring this guy in..."
Parker pursed his lips, letting the sentence hang. In his mind, capturing this villain was the ultimate Stark test; once he passed, he'd officially join the team.
Ned stared at him, unable to comprehend the logic. "You want to be a high school dropout?"
"I am so far beyond high school right now," Parker insisted.
He turned to head out, only to bump directly into a teacher standing right in front of him. The teacher placed his hands on his hips, giving him a stern look. "Parker, my office."
Parker's shoulders slumped instantly, his grand ambitions crashing down to earth as he quietly followed behind.
Meanwhile, viewers were heavily divided over Parker's decision.
"Is Parker getting a little arrogant?"
"It's not arrogance! He just wants to use his abilities where they're actually needed."
"Yeah, the Vulture's mechanical wings are clearly no joke, and they've got tons of weapons integrated with alien technology."
"Honestly, if it were me, I'd probably have run away."
"I didn't expect Parker to think so deeply at such a young age."
"Maybe it's just a different educational environment."
"God, I just relived my past life, and it feels like I've awakened some abilities too!"
In the outside world at that very moment, countless giants of light continued to hold the line, keeping hope alive in their hearts. Strange had peered into the future over ten million times and found that single path to victory. Would it truly end in total failure? If not, it meant the world still had a fighting chance. After all, the era of Terra hadn't been completely shattered when Thanos snapped his fingers. The wheel of history was still grinding forward.
Because Parker had missed the academic match, his punishment was detention, forced to watch educational videos starring Captain Rogers. But it didn't take long before he couldn't take it anymore. Unable to sit still, he grabbed his backpack and slipped out. The teacher monitoring the room didn't bother stopping him, merely watching him leave with a nonchalant glance. Jones, sitting nearby, quietly watched him go as well, her eyes lingering on him with unusual interest.
Once out in the hallway during active class hours, Parker approached his locker. Reaching out quietly, he applied pressure and effortlessly lifted the entire heavy block of metal cabinets, a structure holding the belongings of dozens of students. He reached underneath the dark, concealed grid at the bottom to retrieve a hidden bottle of web-fluid and his extra gear. It was a spot ordinary people would never think to check, making it his perfect secret stash.
With his equipment secured, he slipped back home and cautiously peeked into the apartment. "May?"
Seeing that Aunt May wasn't home, he let out a sigh of relief. He still hadn't figured out how to break the news to her that he planned on dropping out of school.
Rushing to his room, he pulled on his spider suit, threw a casual jacket over the top, and sat down in his chair to think. "Hey, Karen. What's up?"
Karen's AI voice responded smoothly inside the mask. "Hey, Peter. How was your Spanish quiz?"
Parker ignored the question and asked, "I was wondering if you could help me. I'm trying to figure out who the guys under the bridge were that night... but I can only remember part of a license plate."
A series of video feeds instantly popped up across his mask's display. Karen's voice explained, "I can run facial recognition on the footage of that encounter."
A vast array of recorded files appeared in his field of view, neatly organized by timestamp and content.
Parker gasped in surprise. "Footage?"
"Yes, Peter. I record everything you see."
Parker's jaw dropped. "Everything?"
"Everything."
Still in disbelief, Parker asked, "All the time?"
Karen minimized the current interface and brought up several older clips playing side-by-side, all from weeks ago. "It's called the Baby Monitor Protocol."
Parker silently dropped his pen onto the desk. "Yeah, of course it is. Um..."
He hadn't realized Stark was still tracking his every move like a child. He felt entirely confident in his capabilities, yet Stark clearly still worried about him. He let out a helpless sigh.
Over at the Administration, the Director and his panel of experts watched the broadcast with subtle smiles.
Johan chuckled knowingly. "Parker is just like my grandson, always trying to avoid talking about school, always wanting to prove he's an adult."
Darwin remarked with emotion, "Tony cares deeply about Parker. Implementing that protocol is purely a family instinct."
Meanwhile, military analysts in the room were focused on a completely different detail. Though this spider suit lacked nano-tech, its engineering was breathtaking.
"The integration of software and hardware here is flawless. This suit is exceptionally advanced."
"Indeed. Even without nano-technology, our current military production couldn't replicate this."
"It's practically an Iron Spider setup."
"Tony really spared no effort designing it."
The Director smiled quietly, his gaze drifting out the window as if lost in thought.
Back on screen, Parker stroked his chin. "Yeah, just roll it back to last Friday."
"With pleasure." Karen effortlessly retrieved the footage. The screen showed Parker recording a personal vlog right before attending the Stark internship showcase.
Parker flinched and waved his hands frantically. "No, no, no. This is just me messing around. Go later in the day, later in the day."
The feed jumped forward, displaying Parker holding a replica of Mjolnir, dramatically pretending to be the Son of Odin. "No, no, no. That's definitely... That's definitely not what we wanted to watch."
Karen chimed in pleasantly, "Your impressions are funny."
Scratching his head awkwardly, Parker blurted out, "Fast-forward to the arms deal."
"Okay." The playback skipped straight to the night near the bridge, capturing the three men standing in the dark discussing illegal weapons.
"The two on the right, who are they?" Parker asked, recognizing them as the thugs who had later scouted his school.
"Searching law-enforcement databases." Data streamed across his lens as Karen searched law enforcement databases. However, the system pinged with a negative result. "No records found for two of the individuals."
Parker frowned. "Nothing?"
Karen shifted focus to the young man with the perm who had been trying to purchase the weapons. "One individual identified."
A file expanded on his display: Aaron Davis, age 33. He has a criminal record and an address here in Queens.
Parker's eyes lit up. "Let's pay him a visit."
Karen prompted, "Would you like me to activate the Enhanced Interrogation Protocol"
Parker had no idea what that meant, but it sounded awesome. "Uh, yeah."
The scene shifted to a dimly lit underground parking garage, soft music echoing in the background. The perm-haired man from the video, Aaron Davis, was loading his car.
A tiny mechanical spider landed silently behind him. Just as Aaron opened his trunk, Parker plummeted straight from the ceiling, firing a thick strand of web that pinned Aaron's hand firmly to the trunk door.
When Parker spoke, his voice was altered into a deep, booming voice. "Remember me?"
"Hey..."
The studio audience burst into chatter:
"A voice changer? Enhanced interrogation mode is hilarious!"
"I thought it was going to be some tactical scanning system!"
"Holy crap, that voice actually sounds pretty intimidating!"
"Parker's about to have his badass moment!"
"Haha, this suit is amazing."
"Still, it feels dangerous for him to go alone."
"Relax, Parker proved his strength during the tower rescue!"
With the protocol active, Parker puffed out his chest, trying to project total authority as he glared at Aaron. "I need information. You'll give it to me now."
Aaron flinched at the terrifying voice. "All right, chill."
Parker growled louder, "Come on."
Aaron paused, squinting at the masked figure as he noticed something completely off. "What happened to your voice?"
Parker blinked under the mask. "What do you mean?"
Aaron shook his head, recalling the voice he had heard back at the bridge. "I heard you by the bridge. I know what a girl sound like."
Parker instantly lost his cool. "I'm not a girl. I'm a boy."
Realizing he had just ruined his own cover, he tried to backtrack clumsily. "I mean, I'm a... I'm a man."
The fear on Aaron's face vanished entirely, replaced by unbothered calm. "I don't care what you are, a boy, a girl..."
"I'm not a girl. I'm a man." Parker snapped, completely sidetracked. "Come on, man. Look, who is selling these weapons? I need to know. Give me names or else."
Aaron casually slammed the trunk lid shut. The sudden loud thud made Parker jump and leap backward two full steps, instantly destroying whatever aura of intimidation he had left.
The viewers watching the feed roared with laughter:
"I am dying laughing!"
"Parker really got mistaken for a girl!"
"He has zero experience at this!"
"I can't take it anymore!"
"Parker: 'My voice is deep, okay?!'"
"This criminal guy is so unbothered."
"To be fair, his real voice does sound super young!"
"Parker's interrogation skills need work, lol!"
Aaron stood calmly, watching the kid struggle. "You ain't ever done this before, huh?"
Defeated, Parker muttered to his suit, "Deactivate Interrogation Mode."
His voice instantly reverted to its normal, youthful tone. Hearing the sudden pitch change, Aaron couldn't help but chuckle.
"Look, man," Parker pleaded, his voice tinged with frustration. "These guys are selling weapons that are crazy dangerous. They can't be out on the streets. If one of them can cut Delmar's Bodega in half..."
Aaron raised an eyebrow, interrupting him. "You know Delmar's?"
Parker blinked, immediately distracted. "Yeah, best sandwich in Queens"
Aaron replied casually. "Sub Haven's pretty good."
"Eh, it's too much bread," Parker complained instinctively.
"I like bread." Aaron stayed silent.
"Come on, man, please." Exasperated, Parker groaned to his AI, "Stupid Interrogation Mode. Karen, don't ever do that again."
Aaron was his only lead, and the fancy suit feature had turned his big moment into a complete joke. Just as Parker thought he was going to walk away empty-handed, Aaron spoke up. "The other night, you told that dude, 'If you shoot somebody, shoot me.' It's pretty ballsy."
Parker blinked, caught off guard by the sudden compliment.
Aaron continued, "I don't want those weapons in this neighborhood. I got a nephew who live here."
"Who are these guys?" Parker asked eagerly. "What can you tell me about the guy with the wings?"
Aaron shook his head. "Other than he's a psychopath dressed like a demon, nothing. I don't know who he is or where he is."
Parker leaned against a nearby car, his shoulders slumping in disappointment.
Then, Aaron stroked his chin. "I do know where he's gonna be."
Parker perked up. "Really?"
"Yeah, this crazy dude I used to work with... he's supposed to be doing a deal with him."
Parker nearly jumped for joy right there in the underground lot. "Yes! Yes. Thank..."
He turned to sprint off, but Aaron frowned and called out, "Hey. Hey. Hey. I didn't tell you where. You don't have a location."
Parker scrambled back embarrassed. "Right, of course. Yeah, my bad. Silly. Just... Yeah. Where is it?"
He practically leaned over the hood of the car, looking at Aaron with wide, expectant eyes.
Aaron looked at him quietly for a moment. "Can I give you some advice?"
Parker tilted his head. "Hmm?"
"You gotta get better at this part of the job."
Parker crossed his arms defensively. "I don't understand. I'm intimidating."
Aaron wasn't about to argue. "Staten Island Ferry, 11."
Checking the time, Parker realized he barely had any left. "Oh, that's soon."
He immediately turned to dash away, but noticed his webbing was still pinning Aaron's hand to the trunk. "That's gonna dissolve in two hours."
"No, no, no. Come fix this!" Aaron yelled.
"Two hours. You deserve that." Parker called back over his shoulder.
"I got ice cream in here."
Parker shouted, picking up speed. "You deserve that. You're a criminal. Bye, Mr. Criminal."
Parker vanished into the night, leaving Aaron standing trapped by his own car, utterly speechless.
The interrogation mode had many viewers clutching their sides with laughter.
"Still too young," one observer remarked with a chuckle.
"It makes him far more dangerous," another pointed out, leaning forward. "He goes after the bad guys completely alone."
"No wonder Tony is always trying to help him. Though really, it's not just help; he's looking out for him."
"Parker is hilarious, plain and simple."
"All right, be honest, what were you doing at fourteen? Playing in the sand! Meanwhile, Parker is out here saving lives."
The scene on the screen shifted abruptly to the port.
Parker's web lines clung firmly to the surrounding skyscrapers. With a graceful mid-air spin, he plummeted toward the ground. Checking the time, he saw it was roughly eleven o'clock; he needed to intercept the vessel before it slipped away. Out in the water, the massive, orange-yellow ship had already begun to untether and sail out of the harbor.
Parker leapt directly off a high balcony. In mid-fall, he deployed the web-wings built into his suit, gliding smoothly through the air toward the receding vessel. Just as he was about to splash into the open ocean, he thrust his hands forward, gripping the hull's exterior and sticking firmly to the side.
The sheer adrenaline of the moment forced a deep breath from his chest. "Nice."
Clinging tightly to the steel plating, he crawled stealthily toward a side window. Through the glass, several figures were visible inside.
"Okay, Karen, activate Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode," Parker whispered.
Karen's artificial voice responded instantly: "Sure thing."
A HUD overlay immediately expanded across his vision, zeroing in on the bald man's face while filtering the room's ambient chatter into crisp audio.
Parker frowned. "I hate this guy. It's the guy from the bridge, right? Who's that other guy?"
"There's no record of him in my criminal database," Karen replied.
The bald man stood up from his table and began walking toward the outer deck. Parker tracked him through the glass until the man turned around to check his surroundings.
"Incoming call from May Parker. Should I reroute to your heads-up display?" Karen asked.
Parker panicked slightly. "I can't talk right now. I'll call her back."
The moment the words left his mouth, the mechanical spider emblem on his chest detached, its legs scurrying up to his shoulder.
"Hey, dronie, keep an eye on that guy. We can't let anybody get away this time," Parker instructed.
The spider drone took flight, hovering quietly in the air to monitor the target through the glass from above. Parker, meanwhile, scaled the exterior of the hull toward a higher deck, arriving just in time to peer down at a lower platform.
Parker ordered. The system instantly displayed intelligence profiles for the figures below. "Who's the guy on the left?"
Karen answered, "Mac Gargan. Extensive criminal record, including homicide. Would you like me to activate Instant Kill?"
Karen had calculated a high probability of lethal intent from the threat. Parker quickly vetoed the command. "No, Karen, stop it with the Instant Kill already."
He wanted to apprehend the criminals, not execute them.
On the lower platform, the bald man walked past the buyer with an unreadable expression, dropping a quiet phrase: "White pickup truck."
Neither party made overt eye contact, but the message was delivered. One of the associates immediately turned and walked toward the vehicle bay.
Parker overheard it clearly. "Dronie, scan the ship for a white pickup truck."
The micro-drone disengaged from its surveillance post and swept across the ship. Harnessing advanced sensor technology, its scanners penetrated the outer hull layers, generating a thermal X-ray feed that appeared directly in Parker's eye-lenses. Within seconds, a white pickup truck was highlighted in the lower hold.
Watching the feed unfold, several engineers from the Terra Federation were left utterly speechless. Astor and his team felt a deep sense of inadequacy.
"That tiny aircraft is a marvel of miniaturized engineering," one muttered. "To penetrate structural hull material and deliver real-time internal scans... incredible."
"The ultimate support asset!"
The Director-level engineers stared at the display, shaking their heads in unison. The sheer performance of the small spider drone completely outclassed their own technological capabilities.
The drone drifted into the vehicle hold where the white pickup was parked. The driver was already inside, and several heavy duffel bags were stacked in the back. As the drone attempted to scan the contents of the bags, the driver suddenly stepped out of the cabin, temporarily obstructing the feed.
Another man walked over from the platform. The two opened the rear compartment to inspect the cargo. Because the drone was so compact, neither man noticed its presence.
Through the camera feed, Parker caught sight of the contents: alien-derived energy weaponry. Parker muttered, excitement surging through him. "Oh, this is too perfect. I got the weapons, buyers, and sellers in one place."
Before he could make a move, his HUD flashed with an incoming alert. "Incoming call from Tony Stark."
"No, no, no. Don't answer." Parker lunged to mute the system, but the video connection auto-connected.
Tony's face appeared on the screen. "Mr. Parker. Got a sec?"
Parker flattened himself against the deck, trying to sound nonchalant. "Uh, I'm actually at school."
Karen immediately chimed in: "No, you're not."
Tony ignored the discrepancy, his voice surprisingly warm. "Nice work in D.C. My dad never really gave me a lot of support... and I'm trying to break the cycle of shame"
Parker kept one eye on the arms deal below. "Uh, I'm in the middle of something."
Tony tilted his head, amused. "Don't cut me off when I'm complimenting you. Anyway, great things are about to..."
Suddenly, the ship's heavy horn sounded, the deep blare echoing loudly across the water.
Tony froze. "What is that?"
Parker panicked, scrambling for an excuse. "Uh, I'm at band practice."
Tony's tone turned suspicious. "That's odd. Happy told me you quit band six weeks ago. What's up?"
Realizing the conversation was spiraling out of control, Parker rushed to disconnect. "I gotta go. Uh, end call."
"Hey." Tony didn't get to finish.
Millions of viewers felt a pang of heartache. Tony's words had been entirely genuine. Even if Parker had been too distracted to process the emotion behind them, everyone else could see the deep, paternal care Tony held for the boy.
"Tony literally used his own father as a point of reference. He really views Parker like a son."
"It's heartbreaking... how painful must it have been for him to watch Parker fade away right in his arms?"
"Parker shouldn't have died. A hero like him deserved a long life!"
Tony's rare moment of vulnerability struck a chord with the audience. It highlighted what was perhaps the most endearing bond in the world, only for it to be cruelly severed when Thanos snapped his fingers.
High above Terra, the colossal figure composed of light seemed to bow its head slightly, as if offering a silent tribute to the tragedy.
Back on the ship, the communication line severed just as the bald man pulled out a key card to finalize the exchange.
"I'll take those! Yoink." Parker shouted.
He fired a web-line, snagging the key card right out of the man's hand. Leaping down onto the main deck, he landed between both factions with a wide grin beneath his mask.
"Hey, guys. The illegal-weapons-deal ferry was at 10:30. You missed it." He dangled the key card mockingly.
One of the buyers instantly drew a sidearm and fired. Parker reacted instantly, shooting twin web-nets that swept several men off their feet while simultaneously kicking another assailant across the deck. Taking care not to inflict lethal force, he quickly webbed the group together into a tight bundle.
Buzz! A sharp sensory spike warned him of an attack from behind. Parker ducked instinctively just as a heavy, mechanical fist whistled past his head.
BOOM! The gauntlet struck a steel support beam, showering sparks into the air. Parker casually flicked his wrist, sticking the bald man's arm directly to the beam.
"Spider guy's here." the bald man roared into his comms unit.
The commotion on the deck alerted the remaining smugglers. Parker webbed the surrounding goons together and slammed them hard against the ship's railing.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Not so fast. Are you guys okay? My bad. That was a little hard." Parker asked innocently.
Battered and bruised, the men crumpled to the floor, completely incapacitated.
"I got to say, the other guy was way better with that thing. I'm honestly... I'm... I'm shocked," Parker added, pointing toward the bald man pinned to the railing.
His wrist launchers clicked as he ejected the empty web cartridges and reloaded fresh ones. The micro-drone flew back, reattaching itself neatly to his chest emblem.
A thug came charging out from the lower holding bay, screaming at the top of his lungs. Without even looking back, Parker fired a red web-grenade into the man's path. The moment the thug crossed the threshold, the device detonated into a massive web matrix, pinning him firmly against the bulkhead.
Then, Toombs emerged from the back of the bay. He shoved a buyer aside, his eyes locking onto Spider-Man with a cold, sneering gaze. He had wanted to deal with this pest for a long time; the wall-crawler had ruined his operations too many times already, and he wasn't about to let this deal fall through.
Just as Parker prepared to charge, a harsh voice boomed from the upper catwalks. "Freeze! FBI. Don't move."
Federal agents swarmed the upper level, guns raised and aimed downward. Tactical personnel poured out from the side corridors, weapons drawn. "FBI. Get on the ground."
Since Parker was the only one standing in the open deck, every gun in the area was pointed directly at him. Parker raised his hands in confusion. "What do you mean, FBI?"
"Federal Bureau of Investigation..." Karen quickly provided a breakdown of the agency's jurisdiction in his ear.
Parker whispered back hurriedly. "I know, but what are they doing here?"
Before the agents could secure the deck, a deafening explosion ripped through the rear holding area. A pair of massive, razor-sharp mechanical wings tore through a parked car like paper. With a roar of thrusters, the Vulture armor burst into the open air.
The federal agents immediately opened fire with their sidearms, but Parker knew the devastating power of the alien armor. He gestured wildly at the officers, yelling at the top of his lungs: "Get out of the way. Get out of the way!"
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! No." Unaware of the threat, the agents held their ground. The Vulture accelerated sharply, diving toward the deck and grabbing a sedan with its mechanical talons before hurling it directly into the crowd of officers. "Look out, look out, look out. Move, move, move!"
"Move." Parker dived forward, throwing his body into the officers to push them clear of the crushing impact.
BOOM! The Vulture fired its mounted energy cannon, blowing a crater into the superstructure. Parker managed to deflect the brunt of the explosion, but the shockwave threw him against a car. He scrambled for purchase, narrowly avoiding a drop into the ocean below. Hovering over the deck, the Vulture fired several more high-energy blasts, sending the remaining agents scattering in terror.
"Get to the top deck. We're getting out of here." Toombs barked to his lieutenant.
The bald man broke free and sprinted toward the upper platform. Parker wasn't about to let them escape. He shot a web-line, anchoring the man to the deck, before turning his attention to the sky. Firing a tether-web, the line latched firmly onto the Vulture's claw. Parker planted his feet, trying to pull the flying suit down by main force.
The Vulture flapped its massive wings, surging upward against the resistance. Realizing the boy's strength was surprisingly formidable, Toombs angled his arm cannon downward and fired a high-yield plasma shot.
The blast detonated on the deck, scattering debris and forcing Parker to break his grip. The weapon in the Vulture's hands was clearly a new, upgraded prototype; the destructive yield was immense, easily penetrating the ship's outer plating.
Watching the battle unfold through the screen, the people in the training ground all grew solemn.
Elenora observed, "Toombs' tech integration is remarkably high. Those mechanical wings have definitely been modified. They're far more powerful than before."
Ren Kasey nodded in agreement. Mechanical technology of unknown origin was always tricky to deal with; one could never accurately predict its maximum output. "It's going to be difficult for Parker to fight him alone."
Louis pointed toward the display. "Those wings look sharp enough to slice through his web-lines. If the webs can be cut, Parker loses his biggest advantage."
Louis was right. While Parker's web-fluid was extraordinarily durable, it wasn't indestructible against high-frequency physical blades.
In the air, the Vulture struggled against Parker's relentless tethering. Furious, Toombs aimed his main cannon directly at the boy. Parker's spider-sense blared. He fired a web to his left, using the momentum to yank himself out of the line of fire just as a blast incinerated the deck where he had been standing seconds before.
The Vulture continued to sweep the deck with laser fire, but Parker maneuvered nimbly across the superstructure, firing multiple web lines that bound the mechanical wings from different angles.
For a moment, it looked as though Parker was flying a giant, deadly kite. However, the raw mechanical power of the thrusters was too great. With a heavy surge, the Vulture yanked Parker clean off the deck, dragging him into the sky.
Parker tumbled through the air, but he quickly adjusted his orientation. Firing twin web-lines directly onto the Vulture's frame, he pulled himself forward with immense physical force, slamming his boots back onto the deck to anchor himself once more.
Realizing he couldn't overpower the boy in a tug-of-war, Toombs activated the wing mechanisms. The sharp edges of the wings crossed like a pair of giant shears, instantly severing the web-lines. Free from the tether, Toombs leveled his cannon directly at Parker.
Sensing the surge of energy, Parker fired a massive burst of webbing directly into the cannon's firing port, clogging the mechanism completely. The resulting backlash yanked Parker forward, slamming him hard against a steel pillar.
"Activate Taser web!" Parker yelled.
Electric currents rippled along the web-lines. The sudden shock interference caused the Vulture's mechanical grip to slip, dislodging the weapon from its mount. Parker seized the opportunity, yanking the falling cannon back toward the deck. However, the weapon had already reached critical overload. Unstable energy surged through its housing, causing it to thrash wildly on the ground like a live wire.
Parker desperately threw web-net after web-net over the device, trying to contain the reaction, but the power core was past its breaking point. Diving onto the weapon, he wrapped his arms around the web-covered core in a desperate attempt to suppress it.
In the sky, Toombs glared down at the boy with cold disdain. "You're messing with things you don't understand."
With a turn of his thrusters, the Vulture sped off into the distance.
Parker was about to give chase, but the weapon beneath him suddenly detonated with blinding light. Continuous beams of unstable blue laser energy exploded outward in every direction like a storm of light blades. The radiant beams sliced effortlessly through steel bulkheads, structural beams, and the hull plating of the vessel. The rapid energy burst created a massive, fan-shaped wave of destruction, slicing clean through the entire ship from top to bottom.
BOOM! With a final, violent release of kinetic energy, the displacement wave sent massive swells crashing outward into the bay.
Far above, the Vulture plucked the bald man off the deck and disappeared into the skyline while panic erupted across the vessel. Beneath the passengers' feet, glowing orange cracks ran along the sliced steel deck.
Parker stood frozen amidst the chaos, staring speechlessly at the perfectly clean cut extending through the hold and into the hull. A second later, the structural integrity failed, and seawater came roaring through the breach.