area51novel Chapter 28: A Shocking Conclusion
Chapter 28: A Shocking Conclusion
Chapter 28 A Shocking End (Part 2)
"The curtain falls? No! The horror never ends!"
Herman's roar was like a sharp dagger, piercing Peter's eardrums. He struggled frantically, trying to clench his fists, his knuckles turning white from the force. Peter had to loosen his grip on the hand that was holding him, and instead gripped the sides of the terrifying arm armor tightly, the metal groaning and twisting under his pressure—but it was too late. With a deafening boom, the shockwave exploded, and Peter was sent flying backward like a kite with a broken string, his back slamming into a pile of scrap metal.
"No! No! No! Hermann!"
Peter sprang to his feet with a swift movement. The reason he shouted so urgently wasn't because he was terrified and planning to run away or anything like that; it was because the gauntlets were going out of control. Sparks flew from the gaps, like the last gasps of a dying beast.
There are three possibilities: First, the trigger launcher itself has reached its limit and is about to explode; second, the trigger launcher was simply broken by Spider-Man and has reached the end of its lifespan; third, the trigger launcher was broken and is about to explode.
The shaky horror, oblivious to this, raised his fist at Spider-Man, but stumbled and punched to the side, causing even more sparks to fly from his arm armor.
"Okay! Let's eliminate the second option immediately!"
Two strands of spider silk stuck directly to the ground behind the Horror, pulling Spider-Man in front of the Horror. Peter immediately began to try to violently dismantle the Horror's launcher. He grabbed the Horror's arm with one hand and started to pull hard with the other, directly tearing off the gold titanium alloy shell of the arm armor and throwing it aside, exposing the internal wiring.
"It works on the same principle as your previous transmitter, right? It's just smaller and tucked inside my arm. Okay, I remember the structure. Let me see."
"Get out of my way!"
A shocking punch, accompanied by a shockwave, swept across Peter's other arm. If Peter hadn't ducked in time, it would have hit him on the head. Peter stared at the shocking figure in shock: "Hey buddy, I'm saving you! Didn't you know your gear was malfunctioning?"
"I……"
Still somewhat dazed from being hit by the GG sign, he stared in horror at his sparking arm armor, regaining his senses, and then headbutted Spider-Man on the head, his titanium helmet making intimate contact with the latter's skull. With a loud thud, Spider-Man saw stars and staggered back several meters.
"I can handle all of this, all I need to do is get you first."
"What?"
Spider-Man was speechless. He simply shrugged and asked, "Dude? You've already lost, it's so obvious, what are you still trying to do?!"
"So many shots... so many screens... I can't lose... I don't want to lose..."
Well, this person is impossible to communicate with.
Peter sighed. He had only thought that the media spotlight could lure Herman out, but he never expected that the spotlight would drive Herman crazy. This guy probably has some kind of exposure syndrome, and there's no saving him.
But the problem is that his transmitter could explode at any moment! And we don't know when it will explode!
"Let me think about it, let me think about it."
While dodging the shockwave that Herman, who was already swaying, was shooting at him with a backflip, Peter began to think. The problem now was that although Herman had won, it would take time to remove his gauntlets. Besides, he didn't know when the gauntlets would explode, only that it would be soon. What if they exploded on the way after being removed?
For the first time, he realized how convenient it was to include an explosion countdown in a movie.
"No, no, wait, I can artificially overload the launcher to detonate it prematurely." With another simple tilt of his head, he dodged a shockwave aimed at his head. Peter began to try and recall the first time he met Herman. He remembered picking up an old-fashioned shock launcher and carefully examining its internal structure. Thinking it over carefully, he should be able to remember…
Herman's initial launcher could slice through an entire building, but subsequent launchers lacked that power, indicating that Herman himself knew he couldn't push the launcher to its maximum power. Furthermore, the older horror launchers had a fatal flaw: the safety system malfunctioned, causing them to malfunction regardless of the launcher's power output. What if these two aspects could be replicated—first, using maximum power to propel oneself high into the air, then disengaging the safety system to overload the launcher?
Does this defect still exist?
"Let me see! Let me see!"
The helicopter crew filming were bewildered as Spider-Man ripped off the outer shell of the other arm armor, and the Horror easily dodged Spider-Man's punches and kicks. Meanwhile, Peter was examining Herman's equipment and searching for the arm armor's safety mechanism based on his memory.
He discovered that Herman controlled the power of the launcher by the degree of his fist clenching, while the safety device was always locked—meaning that Herman had not solved the defect of the safety device at all, but simply tried to control himself in battle to avoid using too high a frequency so as to break the locked safety device.
"Okay, Herman, considering this is the heart of New York City, I'll have to go with the flow."
He located the part of the arm armor that was fixed to the elbow, forcibly removed it, and then ripped Hermann's arm armor off. He then awkwardly installed it onto his own arm.
At this moment, Herman hadn't even reacted yet, still muttering to himself in a daze. Peter had no choice but to tie him up with spider silk and throw him aside, then clenched his fist with all his might.
"I'm going to take off!"
Spider-Man took off. Literally, a massive shockwave created a huge crater in the ground, and Spider-Man was propelled directly into the air by the shockwave, climbing upwards. During the ascent, he removed the safety from his arm armor and made sure his fists were clenched tightly. Facing the ground, he wasn't sure how high he could fly, but he saw the entire island of Manhattan, and then almost the whole of New York City.
He was facing away from the ground, his fists clenched.
The immense impact instantly dissipated the clouds over New York City. Spider-Man was slammed directly into the ground, and because of that powerful force, his arm armor separated from him in mid-air. Instead, the reaction force propelled him higher into the sky, where it emitted a dazzling white light.
"Now there's only one problem."
Spider-Man, who was in freefall, asked him questions.
"Am I a kilometer away from that thing?"
The aftershocks of the explosion accelerated his descent. Peter squinted, watching Manhattan approach. At this height of freefall, even if he used spider silk to hold onto the building, the acceleration would still tear his arm off.
Well, he had already imagined similar scenarios countless times in his mind, using high-altitude fall rescue techniques to perfectly save Gwen—who would have thought that the first time was to save himself?
The web-shooters were in full operation, laying down layer upon layer of webs, piling them between the skyscrapers. Spider-Man crashed into them, using the webs' elasticity to cushion his fall. Layer after layer of webs broke after fulfilling their cushioning function. After dozens of layers, Spider-Man finally stuck himself to one of the webs. He looked at the media rushing into the battlefield after the battle and couldn't help but sigh.
He landed on the ground, panting, and waved to the media surrounding Hermann to make way, finally squeezing his way to Hermann's side.
"So...did you see that? That thing almost turned you into fireworks."
Herman remained silent. He turned to Spider-Man, who was also looking at him. Spider-Man finally understood what he meant, then removed his helmet, revealing Herman Schultz's face to the media. In that instant, all the spotlights flashed on Herman's face. He squinted, a satisfied expression on his face.
"I don't really want to say this, but you're really crazy."
Peter said, patting Herman on the shoulder.
"But regardless, the thriller and shock have come to an end."
It feels a bit rushed... I think it's the worst chapter I've ever written.
(End of this chapter)