"Somebody's dead."
Mariah's casual comment hit like a bomb, leaving her mom pale as a ghost and her dad's brows knitted tight.
"How do you know that?" Dan asked, confused.
Mariah calmly flicked on her phone's flashlight and pointed at a human head not far off.
Her mom, Amy, gasped sharply, her eyes rolled back, and she fainted on the spot.
"Amy! Amy!" Dan was freaking out inside but instinctively caught his wife.
"Who the hell did this? It's brutal," Dan said suddenly. "I'm calling the cops right now."
"Honey, help me out here—I need to carry Amy on my back. It's too dangerous to stay. We gotta get out of here, now," Dan instructed Mariah urgently.
A few minutes later, they reached where their car was parked.
Mariah struggled to get her unconscious mom into the car and shut the door. Dan turned the key, but the car wouldn't budge—every tire was slashed to hell.
"Damn it, the tires are toast."
"Let's head to the camp. More people there, safer, and we can wait for help," Dan decided after a moment, aiming for the Greenvale Winter Camp.
Luckily, they made it without any trouble.
Thanks to Barry, of course, watching their backs from the shadows.
At the camp, Mariah and her family realized the rest of that man's body was here—along with a woman's corpse. No wonder there'd been those panicked screams earlier.
After huddling with the other counselors, they agreed they couldn't just sit around. For the kids' safety, they had to get out of this place where a killer might still be lurking.
Good thing the camp had a van—tight fit, but it could hold everyone.
Counselor Paula had already called the cops, reporting that two of their friends were brutally murdered and begging for backup ASAP.
Then she called Curt and Nikki, who were out with the van, telling them to haul ass back.
Thankfully, Curt and Nikki were still alive, unharmed.
Waiting was torture—every minute, every second felt like a nightmare.
A killer could pop up any time, and everyone was on edge, nerves shot.
About ten minutes later, the van rolled in, carrying everyone's hopes with it.
"Hell yeah! The van's here!" the kids cheered.
But seconds later, their cheers turned to screams.
A harpoon shot out from the darkness, nailing the driver's seat with deadly precision.
The windshield shattered like it was made of tofu, and Curt, the driver, slumped onto the steering wheel.
The van veered out of control, crashing into a tree nearby.
BOOM!
A fireball erupted, like some twisted fireworks show.
The van shuddered, engulfed in flames.
"Oh my God!" the two remaining counselors cried out, faces twisted in pain.
Then, a tall man stepped forward, wearing that classic white hockey mask.
Jason. He was back for real!
The local legend, the horror story parents told their kids, had come to life.
Jason coldly yanked the harpoon out of the windshield, pulling Curt—his face shredded by glass—out with it.
The campfire tales were true!
Then, ignoring the flames licking at him, Jason smashed the remaining glass with a brutal fist and grabbed Nikki by the throat from the passenger seat.
With a savage burst of strength, her neck snapped with a sickening crack—crushed by his bare hands!
Jason didn't care about the fire on him. With a flick of his wrist, he hurled Nikki's head—still trailing flames—through the air, landing it dozens of yards away, right in front of the group.
High-pitched screams filled the air as terror infected everyone.
[Barry! Where are you?!]
Mariah, shielding the kids behind her, was shaking, her body consumed by panic.
She instinctively looked for Barry, but the little straw doll she carried was gone.
Oh crap! Did I lose him on the way?
Her mind went blank at the thought.
No, wait—Barry's got arms and legs. He'll come back on his own.
Mariah's heart raced.
Jason stalked forward like the Grim Reaper, slow and steady, like he was savoring the fear of his prey.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rapid gunshots rang out.
Paula, the short-haired counselor, pulled out a handgun and fired wildly at Jason.
Nerves got the better of her—six shots, only three hit: one in his foot, two in his chest.
But Jason didn't even flinch, like it was nothing, still walking forward, now raising his harpoon.
A monster unfazed by fire or bullets? That was unbeatable!
His terrifying presence crushed any thoughts of fighting back. Everyone just wanted to run—far, far away.
"Die, you monster!" Paula screamed, trembling as she emptied her clip.
Jason slowly turned his gaze to her, his hand brushing his waist, then whipping out a dart with a flick of his wrist.
Zing!
The dart sliced through the air, rocketing toward Paula's forehead!
Her eyes widened as the dart grew larger—she couldn't react in time.
Zing!
Out of nowhere, a pale yellow straw web shot out, barely knocking Jason's dart off course!
But Jason, the weapon master, wasn't done.
In the next instant, he hurled a sharp harpoon like a javelin, dead-set on pinning the woman who dared to shoot him.
At the last second, a pale yellow figure swung down from a rooftop, whisking Paula out of harm's way, then swinging off to another spot.
"Jason, that's enough!"
A magnetic voice boomed as the mysterious figure revealed itself.
Who was it?
Moonlight broke through the clouds, and firelight lit up the scene.
A man.
Not bulky, but lean and agile like a cheetah, dressed in a tight suit.
The suit was covered in web-like patterns, with a spider emblem on his chest and another on his back.
A round, iconic headpiece with sharp, hooked eyes—it was none other than New York's friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
"Spider-Man?"
"No way, it's the failure man—Spider-Man! We're saved!"
"Why isn't he in the classic red-and-blue suit?"
"Because this is real life!" "Oh, that makes total sense."
Danger was closing in.
Spider-Man stepped up.
The kids grinned ear to ear.
Barry hadn't answered earlier because he was busy slipping into the woods to transform.
Turning from a cute little straw doll into Spider-Man in front of everyone would've caused a mess for Mariah's family.
Thanks to that intense life-force drain from Jason last time, Barry's body had leveled up, unlocking more transformation tricks.
And Spider-Man? That was his latest experiment.