Kapitel 6: Chapter 6: Returning and Harvest
"No, if you put me on trial, all you'll see is just another freak show!" the Green Goblin shouted. "I don't want to be the object of others' amusement for the rest of my life! Never!"
The Green Goblin twisted his body, trying to find a way to break free.
——This might also be related to the fact that the webbing Peter had shot earlier didn't completely restrain him.
However, Peter merely casually reinforced the webbing, firmly securing the Green Goblin to the wall.
"No one can put me in a cage again!" The Green Goblin was furious, his emotions becoming extremely unstable, his miserable past constantly assailing him, stimulating his nerves.
Peter just watched him.
Although he was no longer prepared to kill the Green Goblin and intended to send him to court, letting him fight with those people like dogs, and then be killed by others, letting him feel the pain before his death.
But now, seeing him struggling on the edge of agony, Peter still felt a sense of satisfaction.
No, perhaps that should be the emotion transmitted from the part of the Shadow Spider-Man, right?
Thud!
A sound of something heavy falling came from not far away.
A figure slowly approached the Green Goblin.
It was the hunter Craven, covered in poisonous spiders!
He stumbled towards the Green Goblin: "Osborn, save me, save me..."
"No, don't come near me, you hideous freak!" the Green Goblin cried out in horror.
But his hands were stuck to the wall by the webbing, unable to break free for the time being.
And so, the hunter Craven, covered in spiders, crashed into the Green Goblin's embrace.
Those poisonous spiders spread rapidly from Craven's body to the Green Goblin's body and mouth, eventually engulfing him completely.
"Ahhh——"
The underground passage was filled with desperate screams.
Peter lightly jumped up to the top of the underground passage.
He clung to the ceiling with his hands and feet, turning his head to look at the ground.
These spiders were like the vengeful spirits of a former reporter codenamed "Spider" before his death, finally finding their targets for revenge, and tearing apart the flesh of the hunter Craven and the Green Goblin in large bites.
Soon, they had reduced the two to mere skeletons.
After finishing this, the poisonous spiders scattered and disappeared into the underground passage.
Peter stared at this scene, muttering to himself.
"Was I right to do this? To just watch them being devoured by the spiders?"
"You're still a youngster, aren't you?"
"...Yes."
"A few years ago, when I was about your age, Uncle Ben took me to see 'Frankenstein,' and it gave me nightmares. When I woke up, Uncle Ben held me in his arms."
"I wished Uncle Ben would tell me there were no monsters in the world, but Uncle Ben thought I was old enough to understand the 'monsters' in this world. Uncle Ben told me that all he could do was protect me from being harmed by monsters."
"Monsters? It doesn't just refer to monsters, does it?"
"Yeah, sometimes people have monsters hidden in their hearts, and they might even be more monstrous than actual monsters. Be wary of the human heart, Peter."
"Thank you, Peter."
Peter slowly closed his eyes.
After a while, when he opened them again, his gaze had become sharp and gloomy.
He pondered for a moment, a smile forming on his lips: "I should also thank you, Peter, for facing this with me during my most difficult time."
Then, he took one last look at the two skeletons on the ground and nimbly crawled out of the underground passage.
He had one final thing to do, to put a perfect period at the end of all this.
——
Queens, New York.
Peter opened his eyes and abruptly sat up in bed.
He first felt his body, which was wearing his own pajamas, and his body had returned to his comparatively "petite" form.
Hmm, I haven't fully developed yet. In a few more years, I'll be as tall and imposing as him.
And even more handsome!
Peter encouraged himself.
It was then that he realized his body seemed to have undergone some changes.
It seemed like... his spider abilities were more natural and effortless now?
Was it because of the firsthand experience in the fully developed body of the Shadow Spider-Man?
Or was there a deeper reason?
Peter pondered.
He looked at the time, and it was almost 6 a.m. without him realizing it.
It seemed that when he went to the Shadow Spider-Man's world, the flow of time in the two worlds was indeed synchronized.
He had stayed in that world for nearly three hours, and about three hours had passed here as well!
In a few more hours, the famous Mr. Iron Man would be visiting his home.
Peter thought about it and decided not to go back to sleep.
It would be disrespectful if Mr. Iron Man came while he was still asleep, leaving a bad impression.
But Mr. Iron Man was also a capitalist, wasn't he?
Stark Industries was no small company.
Would he exploit his employees?
Was Stark Industries a sweatshop?
Should he secretly gather some relevant information, just in case...?
Peter shook his head vigorously, speechless.
"Could this be the aftereffect of briefly merging with a private detective Spider-Man with a grim and gritty style? It's a good thing it was only three hours. What if it had been three days, three months, or three years..."
However, Peter also realized that putting aside this conditioned reflex of rejecting capitalists, his current state should also be one of the benefits gained from the merger.
His ability to observe and analyze things had become stronger. In the past, he was just clever-minded but had never formally studied these abilities.
But the Shadow Spider-Man, as a private detective-like journalist, had been well-taught these abilities by Ulrich, and so Peter had also learned quite a bit.
Here's a simple example.
When an ordinary person without relevant knowledge sees a shoe, they only know it's a shoe, at most adding the style like a sports shoe or a slipper, and the color.
But the current Peter could estimate the owner's approximate height from the shoe's length, judge the owner's walking posture from the wear and tear on the inside and outside of the shoe, and even deduce the owner's probable occupation, preferences, personality, and so on from the shoe's style and color.
Finally, by combining all the factors, he could narrow down the range of potential owners, and with further meticulous screening, find the true owner!
This ability would undoubtedly be a great enhancement for his aspiration to become a superhero.
He had a vague feeling that there might be more, but he hadn't discovered any other changes yet. He would wait and see!
Peter closed his eyes again and "looked" at the web in his mind, noticing that the glowing point representing the Shadow Spider-Man was no longer glowing.
Perhaps he could go back there the next time it lit up!
And what about all those nodes on the web? Did each node represent a different world's Spider-Man?
(end of chapter)
Wöchentlicher Energiestatus
-- Power-
Rangliste 
-- Power-
Stein