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"Sorry, General Ross, this incident is under the New York Police Department's jurisdiction. The military doesn't need to get involved."
"Alright then, I'm on site. Signing off."
From the helicopter, Police Chief George Stacy didn't hesitate to hang up the call from the military.
"Chief, don't you think refusing them outright might…?"
The officer next to him was worried about the chief's career. The police and military might be separate factions, but their relationships were complicated—and Ross was a general. If he decided to play dirty behind the scenes, Chief Stacy's future might be in trouble.
"Hmph. The military's not here to help us catch criminals out of kindness."
"They just want to get samples of those two super-powered people's genes for some horrible genetic experiments—trying to unlock their secrets."
"Everyone knows the military's been trying to recreate a super soldier like Captain America for years."
"I'm starting to suspect that these powerful new guys popping up are all products of some secret military experiments."
"But no matter what, since they disturbed the peace in my jurisdiction, it's our job to arrest them and bring them to justice."
"That's the only way we can face the citizens of this city with any pride."
Chief Stacy looked down at the two Spider-people surrounded by police, his eyes full of determination.
"This is the New York Police Department. You are surrounded. Drop your weapons immediately, stop your criminal actions, raise your hands, lie face down on the ground. If you resist, we have the right to shoot…"
Surrounded by dozens of police cars, several armed helicopters, and hundreds of officers loaded with guns, Gwen and Peter found themselves completely trapped.
A cop with a megaphone started shouting orders.
"Damn, what do we do now?"
Gwen, trapped by the police, was growing desperate inside.
Even though her powers were way beyond normal, she still couldn't stop bullets.
If it was just a few cops with guns, her spider-sense would let her dodge the bullets.
But now? There were nearly a hundred cops around them, plus helicopters providing backup.
Running away was basically impossible.
"This damn guy's the reason for this!"
Knowing escape was unlikely, Gwen slowly raised her hands, ready to surrender, while cursing Peter silently in her mind.
"But if I get caught like this, how am I going to face my dad?"
What scared her most wasn't getting arrested by the cops—it was facing her father, the police chief.
She'd heard him say more than once at the dinner table how much he hated Spider-Woman—aka her.
"Officers, you've got it all wrong. I'm no criminal—I'm a well-known good citizen of Los Santos."
At this moment, besides Gwen, Peter also raised his hands slowly, bending his knees as if about to lie on the ground, speaking casually to the surrounding officers.
"Los Santos? Where's that?"
"Don't know. Probably some small nowhere town."
The cops didn't know where Los Santos was either.
"Once again, to avoid unnecessary casualties, please raise your hands, lie down on the ground, don't resist. Otherwise, we'll open fire immediately."
Seeing both of them apparently ready to surrender, the police sent out several officers to take control.
The officers cautiously approached, keeping their guns raised just in case.
"Heh heh, sorry I forgot to mention, my good citizen here is actually five stars!"
When the cops were just a few meters away, Peter—wearing his black spider suit, crouched low with his face hidden—smiled again and said slowly:
"Bad news, all units—no authorization needed—open fire immediately!"
Up in the helicopter, Chief Stacy watching everything unfold suddenly felt something was wrong, and quickly spoke into his radio, anxious.
"Raise the helicopter higher, now!"
But it was too late.
Bang!
A thunderous explosion suddenly blew up right beneath Peter's feet.
It was like he'd stepped on a massive anti-tank mine.
The enormous force blasted several cops just a few meters away from him flying through the air.
Even the street—built tough enough to hold dozens of tons of trucks—was cracked and shattered by the blast, leaving behind a crater several meters deep.
Around the crater, countless cracks spread out like a spiderweb, racing across the pavement.
A thick cloud of dust rose up, swallowing the whole scene.
Rat-a-tat-tat... bang bang bang... rat-tat-tat...
The cops nearby froze for a moment, shocked by the sudden explosion, but thanks to their sergeant's earlier warning, they quickly snapped to it.
Without hesitation, they opened fire into the dust cloud with pistols, rifles—anything they had.
Tens of thousands of bullets poured out like rain in just a few seconds. Even an elephant would've been shredded to bits.
But from inside the dust, no screams or cries came through. It was like their bullets had hit nothing but air.
Boom!
Just as they were confused and unsure what to do, a sudden explosion echoed from the sky above, instantly grabbing everyone's attention.
"Shit, he's up there!"
Someone spotted it clearly.
"Oh my god, how is that even possible?!"
Everyone there was dumbfounded by the sight.
Several armed helicopters had been hovering overhead. Now, one of them was completely ripped in half, its wreckage tumbling down from the sky.
Even crazier, from one half of the broken chopper, a figure shot out like a missile, heading straight for the nearest other helicopter.
"Is this even something a human can do?"
Watching the helicopter get shredded midair, nearly everyone was too stunned to speak.
"Perfect chance…"
Meanwhile, while all the cops were frozen by shock, Gwen spotted the best moment to make a break for it.
"But…"
Looking at the helicopter wreckage falling to the ground, smashed by that guy called Venom, with survivors screaming inside, Gwen stopped her escape.
Next thing, spider webs shot from her wrists, latching onto the falling debris as she swung up into the sky!
"....."