บท 276: Hit
"Batman!?"
Shock flashed across Aslan's face. How was this possible? He had only just arrived, barely had time to breathe, let alone cause any mayhem, and yet… here Batman stood.
But his amazement quickly faded, replaced by a cruel smile curling at the corners of his mouth. Finally, a challenge worth his while.
"I've been looking for a real opponent, someone with a high enough threat level," Aslan sneered, his tone dripping with menace. "Looks like I just hit the jackpot."
As he taunted, a shadow began to form behind Batman, materializing from the empty air like something conjured from a nightmare. The shadow solidified, moving with silent intent, claws raised and ready to strike.
Destruction—his phantom. It existed solely for annihilation, its sharp claws and deadly aura primed to tear anything apart.
But before it could make a move, a streak of red and gold dropped down from above, trailing webs in graceful arcs. Iron Spider-Man swooped in with a gliding kick that sent the phantom flying backward, its ambush foiled in a split second.
Spider-Man used the momentum to flip back and land with style, throwing a casual salute to the stunned onlookers. "Relax, everyone! Just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, doing a little spring cleaning."
He glanced around at the crowd, who had frozen in shock, then shot out a stream of webbing from his spinneret, pinning Destruction to the wall before it could recover.
Although Thunder City wasn't exactly a hotbed for superhero activity, the citizens recognized them immediately.
"Oh my God, is that really Batman?"
"Batman's got backup! And in Thunder City, of all places!"
"This can't be real, right?"
Their disbelief quickly turned to excitement as they raised their phones, capturing every moment of the fight instead of fleeing for safety. It was as if they couldn't believe their luck at witnessing such a showdown in their own city.
Spider-Man rolled his eyes beneath the mask. "Backup? Really? I mean… actually, you know what? Never mind."
But then something strange happened. Destruction, bound to the wall by the thick webbing, began to shimmer and blur, like an image losing focus. Within seconds, the phantom slipped through the webbing, re-forming as though it had simply walked out of an illusion.
"Well, that's new," Spider-Man muttered, eyes narrowing as his suit's scanner processed the data. The display confirmed what he had just witnessed: Destruction's physical form had momentarily turned intangible, allowing it to escape.
Meanwhile, Batman still had his grip on Aslan's wrist, but even that dissolved as Aslan's arm phased out of his grasp, slipping free as if it weren't even solid.
"Let's see if you're as tough as they say, Batman!" Aslan taunted, twisting his wrist free and lunging forward with a vicious punch aimed straight at Batman's face.
Aslan was a natural fighter, a product of countless street brawls and underground skirmishes. He'd learned to take on multiple opponents at once and knew every trick in the book. But now, with this newfound power, he felt unstoppable. Stronger, faster, and filled with a dark, primal urge to destroy.
He felt like he could punch through a wall—or a man's skull—with ease.
But Batman didn't flinch. Calmly, he blocked the punch with a swift motion of his left arm, then twisted his stance and countered with a punishing blow straight to Aslan's face.
There was a sickening crunch as the punch landed, breaking Aslan's nose instantly. Blood poured down his face, and a sharp, blinding pain shot through his skull. Stars swam in his vision, and he reeled back, barely able to process the speed and precision of Batman's counter.
How had he managed to land that hit? Aslan hadn't even seen it coming. It was as if every move he made had been anticipated before he even thought of it. Despite his enhanced strength and confidence, Batman was simply on another level.
The reality of the skill gap was clear in that instant, and any ordinary fighter might have backed down. But Aslan was no ordinary man; he was a madman. The blood, the pain—it only spurred him on, fueling his rage and excitement. A gleam of madness burned in his eyes as he let out a guttural growl and charged forward again, fists swinging wildly.
Meanwhile, Destruction had rejoined the fight with renewed fury, darting toward Spider-Man with incredible speed in a zigzag pattern, making it hard to predict his movements.
Spider-Man stayed light on his feet, firing his recoil light cannon with his right hand while keeping his left ready with the web-shooter. He shot two high-tech web bombs, strategically aiming them to detonate in Destruction's path.
The web bombs exploded upon impact, releasing thick webs that blanketed the area in an instant. These weren't ordinary webs; they were advanced, designed to immobilize targets instantly, spreading out like a net to snare anything caught within range.
But Destruction moved through the webs as if they weren't there, passing through them like a ghost. It was unsettling to watch. No matter how many webs were thrown in his path, they simply flowed over him, unable to hold him.
But as he closed in, his claws raised for an attack, Spider-Man's sensors blared with a warning. This time, Destruction was solid, and the danger was very real.
"Seems like some kind of phase-shifting ability," Charlie muttered, directing Spider-Man to dodge and analyze Destruction's movements.
"Correct, sir," Friday responded in his earpiece. "The target appears capable of shifting between a solid and intangible state almost instantaneously."
"Works on both him and his phantom… tricky, but not impossible. The spider-sense can still track him."
Charlie's focus sharpened. When controlling certain heroes, he could access a fraction of their abilities, and for Spider-Man, this included the subtle slowdown of time that came with spider-sense alerts, allowing him to react with near-perfect precision.
Destruction lunged again, and as Spider-Man's sensors flared, Charlie acted in an instant, activating a countermeasure.
Spider-Man spread his fingers, intercepting the phantom's punch with his own steel-reinforced palm.
At that moment, the recoil cannon in his palm discharged, sending a blast of arc reactor energy straight through Destruction's arm. The shockwave tore through the phantom's limb, disintegrating it up to the shoulder and leaving only a charred, smoking stump.
"Thanks for the upgrade, Mr. Stark!" Spider-Man quipped, following up with a powerful kick to Destruction's chin. The force lifted the phantom off the ground, sending him crashing down with a satisfying thud.
Across the room, the crowd gasped and cheered, marveling at the spectacle. But Aslan had no time to pay attention. He was struggling to keep up with Batman, who was dismantling his every move with cold, calculated precision.
Years of experience had given Aslan confidence, maybe even arrogance, but against Batman, every instinct, every street-taught trick felt useless. Batman wasn't just matching him in strength and speed; he was far surpassing him.
The only advantage Aslan had left was his new phase-shifting ability, which allowed him to dodge attacks by going intangible for a fraction of a second. It was like holding a trump card that he could use to slip past any incoming blow.
Batman's next punch came in fast. Seeing no way to block or evade, Aslan grinned, ready to activate his power again, allowing the punch to pass harmlessly through him.
Or so he thought.
The punch connected solidly, crashing into his cheek with brutal force.
Aslan's face contorted under the blow, his jaw cracking as his vision exploded in a haze of light and pain. He stumbled back, his mind reeling. How had Batman hit him while he was in his intangible state?
He blinked through the pain, trying to process what had just happened.
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