The neon lights of Times Square pulsed like a tide, and massive electronic screens flashed alternating news headlines, hyping the impending showdown like a battle of the century. The National Guard was already deployed, completely cordoning off Times Square. The interiors and rooftops of several surrounding buildings had also been cleared—per Steve Rogers's request, a one-kilometer radius around Times Square was designated a restricted area to prevent any potential explosions.
However, even the tightest lockdown couldn't quell the enthusiasm of New Yorkers. Beyond the cordon, crowds surged like a tide, countless phones and cameras raised high, attempting to capture the superhero-versus-villain showdown. Though they were destined to only capture blurry silhouettes, this didn't dampen their fervor. Most weren't fans of Spider-Man or Shocker, but that didn't stop them from treating the battle between a superhero and a villain as pure entertainment, especially an arranged fight like this.
Look! Amidst the noisy crowd, a wonderful thing happened: a figure in a cheap Spider-Man costume stood out—Eugene "Flash" Thompson from Midtown High was waving a homemade cheering sign, loudly supporting Spider-Man, a stark contrast to the other onlookers.
Though it was Shocker who entered the scene first.
With a deafening roar, Herman Schultz slammed into the center of Times Square like a cannonball. The ground instantly cracked, and debris flew. He slowly straightened up, looking around—every large screen was pointed at him, every media camera focused on him, with special close-ups. Every screen he looked at showed the imposing figure of Shocker.
This filled Herman Schultz with immense satisfaction. In this moment, he was the center of the world.
Unfortunately, this glory lasted less than ten seconds.
A red-and-blue figure dove down from high above, performing a graceful barrel roll in mid-air before landing in a perfect superhero pose. He then straightened up and shrugged.
Peter was about to quip about no one cheering for him when an unfamiliar voice called out from somewhere: "Go, Spider-Man! Beat him up!"
Do I have fans already? Peter raised an eyebrow in surprise. He walked towards Herman, extending a hand.
"Good evening, Herman. Do you like the venue I arranged for you?"
"Excellent, bug. You pick your shots well. Tonight, everyone here will witness how Shocker defeats Spider-Man!"
Before his words faded, he violently slammed both fists into the ground. Terrifying vibration waves rippled outwards, causing the ground to crack inch by inch, sending shattered rocks flying like bullets. At this moment, he firmly believed that Spider-Man couldn't possibly evade this continuous, invisible barrage of shockwaves. Even if he did, the flying debris would surely hit him. This was his tactic against Spider-Man: as long as he kept the freak at a distance, he would be invincible.
However, Spider-Man simply leapt, then steadily advanced towards Shocker. Each wave of shock seemed to be perfectly dodged by his precise jumps or swings, and every piece of debris flying into the sky perfectly avoided Spider-Man's trajectory. He seemed able to perceive the rapidly approaching vibration waves.
By the time Shocker realized Spider-Man was close, it was too late. Webs decisively latched onto the cracked ground, and a whole section of the pavement was ripped up by Spider-Man, then slammed squarely onto Shocker's head.
"I was going to shake your hand before we started fighting, Herman. Maybe we can do it now?"
Spider-Man, after throwing the debris, stood before Shocker, who had stumbled back several steps. He resumed his outstretched hand pose, but Shocker just yelled, "Shut up!" and shakily regained his balance.
"If this wasn't our first fight, I would have had a proper chat with you. Our first meeting wouldn't have been so tense. Uh, I don't really want to say it, but your vibration wave attack method is really too singular, so... why don't you just surrender?"
"I haven't lost yet!"
Shocker, whose armor's heat dissipation system was now perfected and who was brimming with confidence under the media's gaze, immediately returned Spider-Man's taunt with a vibration wave, which the latter easily dodged with a roll. Even the slowest mind now understood that even invisible vibration waves could be perfectly sensed and avoided by Spider-Man.
In other words, the invisibility of the vibration waves was not an obstacle for Spider-Man.
Moreover, his opponent also had completely different combat methods. The towering skyscrapers of Times Square were an excellent battlefield for Spider-Man. He used his webs to swing and dodge repeatedly, baiting Shocker into continuously firing at him. If Shocker tried to stop, he would quickly close in—Shocker had already fully understood from their previous battle that, aside from his defense, he was no match for Spider-Man in close combat.
Given this, preventing Spider-Man from getting close became the logical solution.
The battle instantly escalated. Herman ramped up the vibration wave frequency to its maximum. As Times Square's buildings were repeatedly struck, the billboards and large screens hanging from them began to plummet incessantly. They were battered down one after another by Shocker, and for some unknown reason, Spider-Man caught every single one with his webs, suspending them between the skyscrapers. A massive net, laden with countless falling objects, began to weave itself above Shocker's head.
And in the tense battle, Shocker didn't even notice that the vibration waves he was currently firing weren't tearing apart Spider-Man's webs.
Spider-Man deftly rolled and landed on the ground, kneeling on one knee and firing webs from both hands, hooking onto Shocker's gauntlets after he finished firing. Herman clenched his fists, intending to shatter the sticky webs, but surprisingly found that this time, the webs didn't instantly disperse. He looked at Spider-Man's wrist web-shooters, immediately increased the output of his gauntlets, and the webs finally exploded. Shocker then began a new round of attack.
Spider-Man leapt up again, swinging through the air.
Shocker's shockwaves arrived as expected.
The enhanced shockwaves shattered the webs that were holding the billboards and large screens. Screen after screen, still playing or flickering with static, simultaneously crashed down, hitting Times Square with tremendous force, kicking up huge clouds of dust that obscured Shocker's vision.
"So this is your plan? You improved your webs so these things would fall? You think this is how you can get close to me?"
Intense shockwaves burst forth from the dust cloud, directly shattering the glass of numerous buildings. The dust, along with the giant billboards and large screens, flew outwards in an instant, re-expanding Shocker's vision. Only then did he realize—
Spider-Man wasn't waiting for the dust to rise, but for the moment after he fired his Shocker gauntlets.
In the night, a slender figure blocked the dazzling lights. Then, the red and blue hero ran across a massive, overturned screen. Webs continuously shot from his wrist-shooters, connecting to a huge billboard. He then stepped on that large screen and leaped, swinging the massive billboard, and slammed it down.
Countless media helicopters and cameras could only capture a giant billboard crashing to the ground.
[J. Jonah Jameson, reporting the truth for the Daily Bugle!]
Half his body pinned under the billboard, Shocker was trying to lift the thing. Although it was very heavy, it shouldn't be a problem for his enhanced strength to lift. Unfortunately, Spider-Man wouldn't give him the chance. Webs stuck to his raised hands, and with a forceful tug, he was pulled out from under the billboard, directly dragged before Spider-Man.
"It's over, Herman."
Spider-Man lifted him with one hand, and with the other, began to grip his gauntlet: "You're under arrest for carrying flammable and explosive materials. Shocker is done."