Chapter 24: The Rescuer and the Rescued
After two failed attempts in a row, the lizard man's negative emotions, still in chaos after his transformation, began to accumulate. Violence gradually appeared in his eyes.
"Roar!" He suddenly roared, grabbed Nils' car, and flung it off the bridge!
"Ahhhhh!" Nils screamed in horror.
Although he was inside the car, falling from such a high bridge into the water below meant only death awaited him!
He still had a bright future ahead, he didn't want to die!
"Oh ho ho~ Guess who? The Spider Express is pulling into the station!" A powerful figure descended from the sky.
It was Peter!
He first kicked the lizard man to the ground with a swinging kick, then leapt to the edge of the bridge and shot out webbing to catch Nils' car.
Of course, he actually didn't know who was here, and he didn't even recognize Nils. He was unaware that at least half of what was happening was Nils' "doing".
If he knew, well, he would still save him. If not, he wouldn't be Peter Parker.
However, he might collect evidence after the rescue and take Nils to court so he could receive his deserved punishment.
In fact, since getting on the bridge, he had already saved seven cars, and this was the eighth.
Some had people inside, some were empty.
But he couldn't worry about that for now.
Because he noticed cars kept flying out in front of him from time to time.
Moreover, his spider-sense was trembling, warning him of a dangerous presence on the bridge.
And that had to be the one behind all this!
When he arrived, he found the lizard man!
Peter wrapped the webbing dragging Nils' car around the bridge several times, tightening it, and securing it with more webbing.
Quickly finishing this, he turned to face the lizard man.
The lizard man seemed to regain consciousness after being kicked down by Peter.
He stood up and blankly looked at Peter, then at the occasional fires in the direction he had come from.
He took two steps back, as if unable to believe he had done all this.
At that moment, his hand felt severe pain.
The lizard man raised his arm and saw his newly regrown left hand rapidly melting away.
He realized the lizard potion's effects had worn off!
Understanding this, the lizard man didn't dare delay any longer. He turned and rushed to the bridge's edge, jumping directly into the vast sea.
Peter was slightly stunned. He had been ready to fight this mini-Godzilla. Why did he just run away?
Could it be that the mighty and dominant Spider-Man had scared him off?
Peter thought narcissistically.
"Someone help me! Help, my child is trapped in the car!" A father's anxious voice reached Peter's ears from nearby.
Peter glanced again where the lizard man had fled. His spider-sense was weakening, so the lizard man wouldn't be back for a while.
Confirming this, Peter hurried towards the father's voice.
Directly below the frantic father was a car the lizard man had just thrown off the bridge, but Peter had caught it in time, hanging from the bridge.
Peter jumped onto the rear, found the right spot, and punched out the back window glass, clearing it completely.
"Dad! Daddy!" Sure enough, a little boy was in the backseat, shouting in terror.
"Hey, hey, kid, calm down!" Peter yelled.
"Go away!" The little boy seemed frightened of Peter.
Well, it was all the fault of this world's J. Jonah Jameson. That guy had been blackening Spider-Man's name, and this world's Peter had acted selfishly before.
The combination resulted in his image being worse than even the Noir Spider-Man's in Peter's original world.
"Osborn should really put Jonah in a cage, preferably with a tiger," Peter muttered under his breath.
Hesitating a moment, he reached up and removed his Spider-Man mask.
"Hey, kid, look, I'm human too, just a big brother!"
The boy turned to look at him and stopped screaming meaninglessly.
A smile appeared on Peter's face. "Not so scary, right?"
The boy nodded slightly. Peter's sunny and friendly demeanor did dispel his fear - he seemed far more approachable without the mask.
Peter gestured to the mask. "Can you hold this for me?"
The child's curiosity overcame his fear in that moment.
The boy looked at Peter's mask curiously and nodded again.
Peter then tossed the mask over.
"Put it on, Jack," Peter saw the name on a nearby backpack, "I'll get you out of here."
"Okay." Jack put on the oversized mask modeled after Peter's head.
The mask's enclosure helped Jack temporarily forget his surroundings, his eyes focused only on Peter.
Seeing Jack's calm demeanor, Peter slowly climbed into the car, unbuckled the restraining seatbelt, then took Jack's hand and led him back the way he'd come.
At that moment, Peter smelled a pungent odor.
His spider-sense pulsed again.
"Uh oh, gasoline!"
Peter realized the lizard man's attack may have caused the fuel tank to leak.
If so, it could ignite the whole car!
He had to move fast!
Buzz!
His spider-sense went haywire!
Without thinking, Peter scooped the boy into his arms, then quickly climbed out with his other hand.
Simultaneously, the vehicle erupted in flames.
Under the scorching blaze, the webbing originally holding the car burned through, and the entire vehicle fell!
"Ahhhhh!" The boy screamed again.
But by then, Peter had reached the rear window.
With one forceful step, he exited the car, then shot out more webbing, swinging with the boy safely in his grasp.
"Hey kid, it's okay now," Peter smiled down at him.
The boy stopped screaming and looked up.
"Can you help me put the mask back on?" Peter lowered his head a bit more.
The boy took it off and placed it on Peter's head. "Thank you, mister."
"You're welcome," Peter replied, "And, I'm Spider-Man!"
"Thank you, Spider-Man brother."
"Hehehe~" Peter laughed unconsciously.
Whether in another world or this one, this was the first time someone he had helped thanked him directly.
Even though just a kid, it really meant a lot to him.
Because it made him feel his efforts weren't in vain!
In truth, it was a mutual affirmation between the rescuer and the rescued.
As for who was the rescuer and who was rescued? Who knows?
(End of chapter)