Chapter 1281: The Interstellar Grand Stage (Part 5)

In a small alley at the corner of a commercial street in the Bronx, Night Thrasher and Speedball hid behind a wall. With a "swish," a shadow flickered by, and Pietro stopped behind them, saying, "They're almost here. Let's head to the roof."

The two remaining young heroes didn't hesitate. With lightning-fast movements, they leaped onto the roof of a three-story building on the commercial street and lay flat against the edge, looking down at the protesting crowd approaching from the street entrance.

Night Thrasher pulled out two small binoculars and tossed one to his teammate. He took the other to observe the details within the procession. A few seconds later, he lowered the binoculars and said in a firm tone, "Jarvis wasn't wrong. There's something wrong with this group."

"I really didn't expect that mechanical head to have such judgment." Speedball Luo Bote's tone remained somewhat flamboyant—a side effect of participating in television programs, as he was accustomed to using strange metaphors.

Seeing Night Thrasher's disapproving gaze, Luo Bote softened his expression and said, "Alright, I shouldn't have said that, but he is indeed very proficient with computers, isn't he?"

"Jarvis is a brilliant hacker. Our team really needs someone like him. He has provided us with a lot of help—the kind of backup support that those kids in Hell's Kitchen don't have. That's why we can't fall behind them."

Luo Bote picked up the binoculars again and looked toward the procession. This was a very typical violent protest group. The people in front held various signs, while those in the back had their hands in their pockets, with weapons hidden in their pockets or at their waists.

Several loud-mouthed individuals were holding megaphones, constantly shouting slogans, roughly along the lines of "Ban the Flying Shuttles, or they will strike it down," or "The Inter-Sky Trains fly too fast; they should wait for their people."

The police following them kept a great distance. Within the procession, several hip-hop youths covered in tattoos were making various gestures to insult the police, yet the officers didn't draw their guns. This was, in fact, highly abnormal.

"What's going on? Why are these cops acting like softies? Can the Bronx police station not afford bullets?" Luo Bote spoke up again. "They really should let these annoying guys see the Manhattan police. Over there, the situation would be completely reversed!"

"The police are worried; they lack confidence." Luo Bote stood at the edge of the roof, saying with some confusion, "They have guns and bullets in their hands—I saw that earlier. So what are they worried about?"

"Remember what Jarvis said?" Night Thrasher spoke up. "The protests that have broken out over the past few days—the conflicts between the public and the police are a bit off. Someone is deliberately using the pushing and shoving to escalate the conflict, injuring police officers, and then fleeing. They seem to want to attract more police force and escalate this violent activity."

"The question is, how are they injuring the police?"

"Super-powered individuals." Night Thrasher spat out the words. "Some super-powered individuals, different from ordinary people, have mixed into the protest crowd. When they make a move, they incite the civilians to go first, take advantage of the chaos to deliver a fatal blow to the police, and then use their special abilities to escape."

"Civilians get injured and bleed when suppressed by the police, and ordinary officers are no match for super-powered individuals, leading to casualties. The conflict escalates instantly."

"Look there." Luo Bote suddenly spoke up. He lowered his binoculars and pointed at the crowd. "Look at that kid—yes, that white kid walking on the edge of the procession. He's not right."

Pietro picked up the binoculars and looked. Sure enough, there was someone trailing at the very back of the procession who looked highly suspicious.

It was a white youth who looked a bit older than Night Thrasher and Speedball, with more mature features. He was wearing a dark red jacket and a baseball cap that obscured his eyes.

Unlike the others, he lagged at the very back of the procession, very close to the police behind them. Yet, contrary to the other protesters guarding the perimeter of the group, he didn't keep his hands in his pockets or bags, clutching weapons tightly, nervous about a potential violent clash with the police.

Both of his hands were exposed, holding nothing. His palms and forearms were smooth and fair, showing no signs of boxing training, and his build was lean. He didn't look like a fighter, yet he walked beside the police with such ease, completely unbothered.

This was the streets of the Bronx, USA. Even without protesters, there weren't usually this many armed police officers. This relaxed posture was abnormal; the public security here couldn't be considered good.

"He's very confident." Night Thrasher evaluated. "So where does his confidence come from? Stupidity? Or super-powers?"

After saying this, Night Thrasher pressed the button on the earpiece hanging on his ear. Jarvis's voice came through: "What's wrong?"

"We've found a suspicious person. Just like you said, he might be a super-powered individual. Can you help us scan his identity?"

"That would be an infringement on citizen privacy and security," Jarvis replied somewhat mechanically, but then he added, "However, unregistered super-powered individuals have an obligation to register with S. H. I. E. L. D."

"Yes, yes, register—that's the word."

"Scanning... Identity matching..."

"Oh! My God!"

Just as Night Thrasher was listening intently for the result, Speedball suddenly let out a cry of alarm, as a conflict had erupted within the protest procession.

This street was not spacious; many cars were parked haphazardly, and some storefronts had placed cargo boxes outside their doors. As the protest crowd walked through such a narrow space, they became packed shoulder to shoulder, pushing and shoving.

The protesters in front were all on the same side, so they managed to squeeze through. But toward the middle and back of the procession, where police and protesters were packed together, a large black man was pushed over and threw a punch the moment he turned back.

A police officer who was turned away checking the situation took the punch directly. His colleagues rushed up, drawing their stun batons to strike, but the big man dodged, and another punk woman with green hair who had been pushed over was knocked down by the stun baton.

The woman's scream was exceptionally sharp, and the protest procession instantly descended into chaos. Luo Bote watched as the suspicious person rushed directly into the center of the erupting conflict, so without thinking, he shouted, "Stop him!"

Night Thrasher's reaction speed was also fast. He jumped directly from the third floor, hooked his grapple onto the opposite building, swung with force, and landed in the middle of the street. Pushing aside the crowd blocking his way, he rushed forward and grabbed the youth's wrist.

But to Night Thrasher's surprise, a massive force erupted instantly, and he was thrown to the other side of the street. Luo Bote shouted, "Super-powered individual! Stop!"

As it turned out, this suspicious youth had no intention of fleeing. He stood his ground, assuming a defensive stance, waiting for Speedball to attack.

Speedball froze for a moment, then felt a surge of anger welling up in his heart. Gritting his teeth, he said, "You really are here to cause trouble!"

The basis for his judgment was that all the young heroes in New York City knew Daredevil Ma Te. Ma Te had connected them, providing them with necessary help and training.

Although not everyone was Ma Te's student—for instance, Night Thrasher and Speedball intended to work on their own—almost all young superheroes respected Ma Te and had received his help.

And within this circle, one of Ma Te's sayings was held as the golden rule: "If you engage in a massive battle with an enemy in a dense crowd, then you are no different from a terrorist. Think about who you are fighting for."

Night Thrasher and Speedball understood this with particular clarity. The death of the first Spider-Man was still fresh in their minds. If the Nitro explosion hadn't occurred on an isolated island, thousands of people in the residential area would certainly have perished. Every time they woke up in a cold sweat in the middle of the night, they felt nothing but relief.

Night Thrasher, Speedball, and the other members of the New Warriors who had witnessed that tragedy almost told everyone they met about their experience, wishing for everyone to know: never fight in a densely populated area, or you will regret it too late.

Once this atmosphere took hold, most young heroes became much more cautious. Even if they didn't consider civilian casualties, they had to consider their reputation in this circle.

Everyone acted like mature adults, evaluating the situation on the scene. If you were the only hot-headed kid to rush in and fight someone for three hundred rounds in a crowd, how could everyone still play together happily?

Therefore, when this youth assumed a defensive posture in the crowd, Speedball knew he was definitely not a young hero from New York. And if he wasn't a hero, what could he be? Wasn't he just a troublemaker inciting conflict?

"Take him down as quickly as possible!" Night Thrasher flipped up from the ground and shouted.

Speedball and Pietro exchanged a glance. Speedball wiped his nose, and his kinetic control power immediately activated. He leaped up like a marble, charging straight toward the strange youth.

Speedball had the hero codename "Speedball" precisely because he could charge at enemies like a high-speed soccer ball. When humans face something moving at high speed charging directly at them, they instinctively want to dodge, and the strange youth was no exception.

He rolled to the side, but the next second, another extremely fast shadow took advantage of the moment he had no leverage, grabbed his shoulders with both hands, and "whooshed" away, far from the crowd.

The strange youth's reaction speed was also very fast. He tore away Pietro, who was holding him, kicked him, and fled into the distance.

"Chase him!" Night Thrasher shouted.

Speedball and Pietro were both speed-type heroes, but the opponent's speed was surprisingly not slow either. More importantly, he could actually crawl along the surface of buildings to move forward. The more Speedball watched his posture, the more familiar he felt.

"What is up with this guy?!"

Speedball shouted back while chasing.

"I don't know! Jarvis, do you have a result?"

"Found him." Jarvis's voice remained calm, but at this moment, he paused and said with some confusion, "... Peter?"

"What? Which Peter?"

"Turn on the loudspeaker!" Jarvis shouted.

Night Thrasher, chasing behind, widened his eyes, but he didn't hesitate. While running, he pulled off his earpiece, pressed a switch on it, and threw it forward.

Pietro caught the earpiece, but what came out of the loudspeaker wasn't Jarvis's voice, but a recording of S. H. I. E. L. D. Director Nick Fury.

"Spider-Man in front, listen up! You have violated the Multiverse Spider-Man New York Activity Act! Report immediately to the laboratory where your registration number is located! Otherwise, we have the right to deduct all your dispatch compensation and bonuses, and expel you from this universe!"

"Spider-Man in front, listen up!"

"Spider-Man in front..."

"Spider-Man..."

"Enough! I am not Spider-Man!"