Ch.38 Spider-Man Must Die!

Late at night, the group passed through a ruined desert town. The refugees had already left.

"I'm tired," Tony suddenly announced.

Harry, driving the off-road vehicle through the ruins, replied, "I don't think this is the time to rest. The Ten Rings gang doesn't have the ability to chase us, but Yinsen's comrades might." He advised, keeping an eye on their surroundings.

Tony glanced at the ruins around them and pointed at the backseat where Charlie Parker was sound asleep.

"And what about him?" Tony asked.

Harry shrugged. "It's normal for him to be tired."

"I just escaped; I'm tired too," Tony retorted.

"You can sleep in the car."

"My sleep quality isn't great."

Tony checked the time on Harry's watch.

"My people will be here soon. Don't worry about those guys," Tony assured them.

Hearing this, Harry instinctively hit the brakes.

"So soon?" He was surprised. "It takes at least ten hours to get here from New York, and it's only been three."

Tony got out of the car and stretched. "I have friends around here."

Harry finally understood. "Oh, I see. Alright, but are your friends reliable?"

He got out of the car, locked Yinsen inside the cabin, and found a relatively intact step to sit on.

"Want something to eat? I've got some compressed biscuits," Harry offered.

"I usually don't eat this stuff, but since it's you, sure," Tony replied, accepting the biscuit and chewing it.

"It's a bit dry. Got any water?" Tony asked.

"We're out of water."

Tony looked frustrated. "Really?"

"I still have a bit left," Charlie said, tossing Tony half a bottle of water as he woke up.

"Thanks," Tony said, downing the rest of the water in one gulp and then lying back on the ground, feeling more relaxed.

"That feels much better," he said contentedly.

Harry looked curious. "Wait, didn't we run out of water earlier? Where did you get that bottle from?"

Charlie proudly patted his nanotech suit. "This suit is equipped with a urine filtration system."

"What?" Tony froze. "So what I just drank was…?"

Charlie laughed, trying to reassure him. "Don't worry, just think of it as purified water. It's all sanitized; you wouldn't even notice. Hey, why are you throwing up? You're wasting it! Hold on, I'll filter it again through my suit, so nothing goes to waste."

"You're so ungrateful. What kind of look is that? I gave you water, and this is the thanks I get? Alright, alright, my bad. I shouldn't have told you. Want me to knock you out so you forget? You might get lucky and have amnesia. It happens in movies all the time."

Tony turned away silently, unwilling to engage further with Charlie's nonsense.

Suddenly, the sound of helicopter blades filled the air, growing louder as a chopper approached from the night sky.

Spotlights swept over the off-road vehicle, and a strong gust of wind kicked up as a black helicopter slowly descended among the ruins.

"Thud-thud-thud."

The rotors stirred up the sand, and Tony stood up, waving at the cockpit.

"My friends are here," he sighed with relief.

On the roof of the vehicle, Charlie frowned.

"That's a transport helicopter, but there are only a few of us," he observed.

Harry lifted his glider. "Maybe it's an escort unit. After all, we're not out of this hellhole yet. We could use some bodyguards," he guessed.

Just as he finished speaking, Charlie's Spider-Sense flared up intensely, warning him of danger.

"Get down!" Charlie shouted.

He tackled Harry to the ground just as the off-road vehicle exploded behind them.

Boom!

Flames erupted, engulfing the town once more. The violent shockwave hurled Tony through the air, and from the helicopter, a swarm of armed soldiers poured out, advancing toward the three.

"Damn it, they're enemies!" Harry shouted, scrambling up and rushing toward Tony.

"Get out of here!" he urged.

"You're not going anywhere."

The leader of the group, a masked man with a metal arm, chambered a round in his gun and unleashed a hail of bullets at them.

Rat-tat-tat!

Nearby, other soldiers fired rocket launchers, drenching the area in explosions and fire.

Boom!

The masked man scowled as he watched the firestorm.

"They escaped. Spread out and find them!" he ordered.

"Yes, sir!" the soldiers replied, quickly fanning out in search of Charlie and the others.

In the corner of the ruins, Charlie inspected Tony's shoulder wound, caused by flying debris. He shot webbing over the wound to stop the bleeding.

"Mr. Stark, are these your friends?" Charlie asked sarcastically.

Sweating and in pain, Tony didn't have a chance to respond before Harry, still shaken, spoke up, "Now's not the time to talk about that. Yinsen is still in the car."

"He's already dead," Tony said through gritted teeth, his eyes flashing with anger.

Yinsen's tragic end was indirectly Tony's fault. He didn't hate Yinsen and had never intended to kill him. In fact, Tony had wanted to help Yinsen find the will to survive again.

He felt responsible for Yinsen's fate.

But now, it was too late.

Harry peeked around the corner and then ducked back. "They're getting closer," he whispered.

Charlie quickly swapped out his web shooters for new ones. "I'll distract them. You get Tony out of here."

"My glider is out of power. It can only fly for three more minutes," Harry said, frustrated.

"What about the backup battery?"

"I already used it."

"Take mine," Tony said, pointing to the reactor in his chest. "Give me the spare battery, and three minutes will be enough to recharge it."

"Will that thing work?" Harry asked, eyeing the glowing reactor doubtfully.

"Of course it will," Tony assured him.

"Alright, I'll trust you this time," Harry said reluctantly.

While the two were still fumbling with the plan, Charlie had already snuck into the nearby ruins.

"Hey, your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man is here!" he shouted, grabbing the attention of the surrounding soldiers.

Rat-tat-tat!

Gunfire erupted as Charlie dove behind a wall, firing webs in response.

Thwip-thwip.

Switching to his explosive web mode, he fired webs that quickly ensnared the soldiers ahead of him.

"Come on, you!" Charlie shouted, yanking the webbed soldiers toward him with a powerful pull.

At that moment, his Spider-Sense flared again.

"Huh?" Without hesitation, Charlie leaped backward.

Boom!

The soldiers who had been pulled forward swung their fists, smashing the ruins where Charlie had just been standing. The sound of shattered stones echoed through the night.

Looking back, Charlie saw that their sleeves had torn open, revealing identical metal arms.

"You've got to be kidding me. Is this a Winter Soldier factory?" Charlie's eyes widened as he dashed further into the ruins.

Meanwhile, the masked leader glanced at the green flame trail of Harry's glider as it flew overhead but showed no intention of giving chase.

He strode over to the burning wreckage of the off-road vehicle. With a flick of his metal arm, the remaining flames scattered, and the car's wreckage fell apart.

Kicking aside Yinsen's charred corpse, the masked man bent down and retrieved the still-hot briefcase without a second thought.

Opening the case, the black spine inside glowed faintly.

Seeing this, the masked man nodded slightly.

This was what he had been after.

But still…

"Spider-Man must die!" he declared.