Chapter 144: Subdued Again
The dust slowly dissipated, revealing Aleksei still standing where he was. A shield was wedged in the wall in front of him, but Steve was nowhere to be seen.
"You alright, Cap?" Tony asked, holding Steve up.
It turned out that at the critical moment, Tony had fully accelerated, flying next to Steve and grabbing him, saving Steve from certain disaster. Otherwise, it would be debatable whether the shield would be the only thing stuck in the wall.
"What a great toy," Aleksei noted with surprise, realizing the shield hadn't broken. It was truly worthy of his attention.
"Thanks, Stark," Steve said gratefully. If Tony hadn't helped, he really might have been done for this time.
"What, are you running away?" With the annoyance of Iron Man and Captain America gone, Aleksei turned his attention back to the fleeing students.
Mid-air
"This isn't good, Stark," Steve said, wanting to go down, but Tony held him tightly.
Tony's mouth curved slightly. "Trust me, our Green Baby isn't asleep yet."
Aleksei bent his legs, and his entire body leaped up like a grasshopper, jumping toward the school building.
"Hulk!" Bang! The Hulk suddenly jumped out of the school building, kicking the charging Rhino Man in mid-air.
"You're not dead yet!" Aleksei thought the Hulk had been killed by his kick. The Hulk was now holding a fire axe, which he had found inside the school building. Although the axe looked slightly comical in his massive hands, it was better than no weapon at all.
Aleksei tried to kick the Hulk aside, just as he had before, but found that he couldn't move the Hulk at all. Aleksei instantly panicked and yelled, "Get lost, you green thing!"
"No! Yellowish-brown Rhino!" The veins on the Hulk's body bulged. He was filled with an incomparable rage. He had never been so humiliated, not even by Thor.
"It's gray!" Aleksei retorted.
"Yellowish-brown, because you look like a turd." The Hulk punched Aleksei squarely in the forehead. Then he grabbed Aleksei's neck, preparing to throw him towards the school building.
"No! Hulk!" Tony released Steve and flew toward the school building, trying to intercept the Rhino Man.
"Caught a big one!" Another red figure emerged from the school building, a white web line flying out. The web stuck to Aleksei's back. Spider-Man stepped onto the wall and gave a powerful yank, flinging Aleksei to another area.
"Nice work, Pajamas Boy," Tony sighed in relief. He hadn't expected Peter to show up until now. As someone who knew Peter's identity, Tony naturally knew Peter was a student at this high school. He had been wondering why Peter hadn't appeared earlier—was it inconvenient for him to come out? At this crucial moment, Peter finally showed up.
"Please call me Spider-Man, Mr. Stark," Spider-Man said, waving at Tony.
"Alright, Pajamas Boy," Tony replied.
On the ground, Aleksei was just starting to get up when the Hulk rushed over, grabbed Aleksei's foot, and began violently slamming him back and forth.
Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang!
Finally, the Hulk threw the Rhino Man once more, in the direction of the school building.
"No, Hulk!" Tony groaned.
However, Spider-Man had already spun a web. Powerful webbing wrapped tightly around Aleksei's entire body, cocooning him completely, leaving him unable to move. This was not the previous web but the upgraded 2.0 version, twice as strong as the last one.
"Ugh!" Aleksei tried to break free but couldn't tear the webbing.
The Hulk stomped over to the Rhino Man angrily and sat his butt down squarely on Aleksei's side profile. "Hmph!"
"Ugh~ Let me go..." Aleksei glared miserably at the Hulk's posterior, unable to believe he was enduring such great humiliation.
"Good job, Hulk. I'll head back now," Spider-Man said, waving, and left.
"Bug left," the Hulk muttered.
"That's not like the usual Pajamas Boy," Tony felt it was strange. Peter was usually a non-stop talker, but this time he came and left in a hurry.
"The criminal is finally brought to justice," Steve said, sitting on the ground, utterly exhausted. If one were to say who was the most tired today, it wasn't the Hulk; it was Captain America Steve. He was supposed to distract the Rhino Man, but it mostly involved getting beaten. Their strength levels were not equal, and only the Hulk, who was similar in size, could put up a fight.
"Need some water?" Tony asked.
Steve nodded. "Of course."
"Say, if I gave you water, would it turn into a frozen popsicle like you?" Tony teased.
On the Other Side
The person they thought was Spider-Man entered the Shadow Realm the moment he disappeared around a corner. Inside the Shadow Realm, the Spider suit was quickly removed, revealing Little Black underneath, who was wearing a simplified version of the Blacklight battlesuit. It wasn't full coverage, only covering his legs and hands.
Clang~ Little Black placed the Blacklight armor on the experimental bench. To prevent Peter's Spider-Man identity from being exposed, Little Black had to wear the Spider suit and appear as a substitute for Peter. This was part of Silas's plan.
Silas had a feeling that someone was fixating on the school's students and teachers. If Peter had run to the bathroom earlier to secretly change into his Spider suit, he might have been discovered. To be safe, Silas sent Little Black. With the Blacklight armor components for his hands and legs, it was enough to impersonate Spider-Man. Plus, Little Black's physique was similar to Silas Parker's. As long as he didn't linger, he was unlikely to be exposed. Suspicion might arise, but so what? The people hiding in the dark didn't know exactly who Spider-Man was.
"Blacklight 2 testing went well," Little Black remarked. He had been wearing the newly developed Blacklight 2 armor components, specifically for the limbs.
In the Classroom
"Thanks, Silas." Peter saw another Spider-Man appear and knew without asking that Silas was behind it.
"Yeah, we need to be careful now. I have a feeling someone is watching this school nearby," Silas whispered his suspicion.
"What are you two talking about, Silas?" Misty asked, looking up fearfully. The school building had finally stopped shaking, and she felt much safer.
"Nothing. The Rhino Man is taken care of now, so you don't need to be scared," Silas said, gently releasing Misty's grasp on his arms.
Then he pushed away Ned's hand, which was holding his other arm. "Especially you, Ned, why didn't you go to Peter?"
"I feel safer with you," Ned answered honestly.
"Oh, no, Ned, you're breaking my heart," Peter felt let down by Ned. He was Ned's best friend.
"But a guy has to be honest," Ned gave Peter an apologetic look.
"Right. So, is that why your girlfriend is currently hugging Flash Thompson?" Peter tilted his head, pointing at a boy and a girl behind Ned. The girl was Ned's girlfriend, and the boy was Flash Thompson.
"You know, love is so fleeting."
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