"Little tricks," Green Goblin sneered, banking his glider around for another pass. Blades extended from the wings, gleaming with lethal intent.
Mindy didn't panic. She squeezed the triggers on her hilt.
Whoosh!
The gas-powered turbines screamed. Mindy retracted her grapple lines, pulling herself toward the ceiling at breakneck speed. As she reached the apex of her swing, she fired another line, anchoring herself to a support beam.
"If you want to catch me, you'll have to be faster than that!" Mindy laughed, feeling the adrenaline flood her system.
'This 3D Maneuver Gear is incredible,' she thought. 'I feel just like Mikasa!'
Mindy idolized Mikasa Ackerman from Attack on Titan. The character was strong, stoic, and fiercely protective—everything Mindy aspired to be. Finding this gear felt like destiny. She had spent the last few days obsessively practicing the maneuvers she'd seen in the manga, and now, putting them to use in real combat, it felt natural. Like she was born to fly.
"What is this technology?" Goblin muttered, trying to track the girl zipping around the warehouse like a hummingbird. "Where is the propulsion source? Where is the fuel tank?"
Frustrated, the Goblin unleashed a barrage from his glider's micro-machine guns.
Rat-tat-tat-tat-tat!
A hail of bullets chased Mindy across the ceiling. She twisted her body in mid-air, using the gas bursts to change trajectory sharply. Bullets sparked against the steel beams inches from her face.
"Too slow!" Mindy taunted.
She swung between two pillars, her movements erratic and unpredictable. As she passed the Goblin, she threw a small explosive disc—one of her own gadgets—onto the underside of his glider.
Boom!
It wasn't enough to destroy the glider, but the concussive force destabilized its flight path. The Goblin wobbled, cursing.
"Damn brat!" Goblin roared, his voice echoing off the walls. "I just crushed Spider-Man! Do you think a little girl playing dress-up can stop me?"
"I'm not playing!" Mindy yelled back.
Seizing the moment of the Goblin's instability, she fired both grappling hooks into the ceiling directly above him.
Gas Burst!
She swung down like a pendulum, drawing her dual blades.
Clang!
Her blades struck the Goblin's helmet, sending sparks flying. The alloy held, but the kinetic impact was massive. The Goblin was knocked off balance, spiraling out of control. He crashed into a stack of crates, his glider skidding across the floor.
"Oh yeah!" Mindy cheered, landing gracefully on a crate. 'If only there was an audience to applaud. A silent victory feels kinda empty.'
The Goblin groaned, pushing debris off his chest. He coughed, spitting blood inside his helmet. "You... annoying... insect."
He ripped off his damaged helmet, revealing the manic, bloodshot eyes of Norman Osborn.
"Why don't you surrender?" Mindy asked, twirling her blades. "You look tired, grandpa."
"Surrender?" Norman laughed, a dry, rasping sound. "We all die together!"
He pressed a hidden switch on his wrist gauntlet.
Click.
A small, sleek missile deployed from the wreckage of the glider.
"This is a prototype bunker buster," Norman grinned, his teeth stained red. "Blast radius: twenty meters. Core temperature: hot enough to turn this entire building into dust. Goodbye, little girl."
He hit the launch button.
FWOOSH!
The missile shot forward. At this range—less than five meters—there was no time to dodge. Even with the gear, Mindy couldn't outrun the blast radius.
Time seemed to slow down. Mindy watched the missile approach, the tip glowing with impending death. She saw Peter Parker's unconscious form in the corner.
'I messed up,' she thought, fear finally piercing her confidence. 'I'm going to die.'
Just as despair set in, a bored, sweet voice echoed through the warehouse.
"That 3D Maneuver Gear looks fun."
Suddenly, a sphere of swirling purple darkness materialized between Mindy and the missile.
Thwoom.
There was no explosion. No fire. No shockwave.
The missile flew into the purple void and simply... vanished. The energy of the blast was swallowed whole, leaving only a dull, muffled pop like a cork being pulled from a bottle.
"Impossible!" Norman screamed, his eyes bulging. "That was enough yield to level a city block! Where did it go?!"
Mindy trembled, staring at the figure that had stepped out of the shadows.
A little girl in a purple dress stood there, looking utterly unimpressed. She licked frosting off her fingers.
"I am Gali," the girl said. She pointed a sticky finger at Mindy. "Where did you get that gear?"
"I... I..." Mindy stammered, terrified. She had just witnessed a nuke get eaten. "I found it! In a trash bag! I swear!"
"Trash bag?" Gali tilted her head. 'Wait. Trash bag... Light's bag?'
Norman Osborn, seeing his chance while the two girls were distracted, tried to crawl toward the exit. "I will not die here! I am the Goblin! I will return!"
Gali glanced at him. "You're noisy."
She flicked her wrist. A tiny speck of the purple void detached from the main sphere and shot toward Norman.
Zip.
It hit him in the chest.
There was no scream. Norman Osborn didn't explode. He didn't burn. He simply ceased to exist. Matter, energy, soul—all erased from reality in a nanosecond.
Mindy's knees gave out. She slumped to the floor, shaking.
"He's... gone," Mindy whispered.
"Gali!"
Light and Gwen ran into the warehouse. They had heard the fighting and rushed in.
"Gwen, check on Spider-Man!" Light ordered.
Gwen ran to Peter's unconscious body. Light walked over to Gali and the terrified girl in the 3D gear.
"No, Light! I'm making friends!" Gali beamed, putting on her best innocent smile. "We were just... playing."
"Playing?" Light raised an eyebrow, looking at the crater where the Goblin used to be. He looked at Mindy. "Is that true?"
Mindy nodded frantically, terrified that Gali would eat her next. "Yes! Yes! We're best friends! BFFs!"
"Right," Light drawled. "Gali, what is her name?"
"Uh..." Gali stalled. "I just met her today."
Light looked at the gear Mindy was wearing. He recognized it immediately. It was the set he had thrown away.
'Of course,' Light thought. 'I throw away dangerous tech, and a Hit-Girl wannabe finds it. Classic Marvel luck.'
If he admitted it was his, he'd have to explain too much to Gwen.
"Well," Light said loudly, for Gwen's benefit. "It looks like some genius inventor threw away a prototype. Lucky find."
He turned to Mindy. "What's your name, kid?"
"Mindy. Mindy Macready," she squeaked. She recognized Light. He was the guy who had massacred the mobsters at the Frank D'Amico building. The 'One-Punch' guy.
She was trapped between a god-tier monster girl and a superhuman martial artist.
"Light!" Gwen called out. "Spider-Man... it's Peter! He's hurt bad."
Light walked over. Peter looked like hamburger meat. But Light could see the bruises already yellowing. His healing factor was working overtime.
"We can't call an ambulance," Light said. "His identity would be exposed. I'll take him to a safe place. Gwen, you take the girls and get out of here."
Outside the Warehouse
As they walked away from the scene, Gali and Mindy trailed behind Gwen.
"Was that fun?" Gali asked quietly.
"It was... okay," Mindy whispered, still wary.
Gali stopped and held out her hand. "Let's be friends. For real."
Mindy looked at the hand. She was a lonely kid. Her dad trained her to be a killer, not a friend. She didn't have anyone her age.
"My name is Gali. What about you?"
Mindy hesitated, then took Gali's hand. "I'm Mindy."
And just like that, the deadliest playdate in New York history began.
The Next Morning
"Good morning, Lorna."
Light walked into the kitchen, yawning. Lorna was already up, packing a lunch box.
"Good morning, Light," she smiled brightly.
"Where's Gali?" Light asked, looking around. "Is she still sleeping?"
"She came back really late last night," Lorna said. "She said she was 'playing with a new friend.'"
Light sighed. After dropping Peter off on Aunt May's roof (with a note and some first aid), and sending Gwen home in a cab, he had lost track of Gali.
"That girl..." Light rubbed his temples.