The night sky in New York, under the shine of a bright moon, gave the entire city a hue of cold light. Under the moonlight glare, a giant bat circled a few times, gliding from the top of a skyscraper.
The wind moved behind its ears as it stirred a backdraft with its wings. As it passed through the neon-lit alleys, the colorful light blurred into a stream within its view. In a fleeting moment, all expressions and actions of the crowd in the alley were frozen in time.
Some people reached out their arms in terror, while others hunched down to evade the attack. When the crowd piled up, it seemed like a war-portrait painting, where the exaggerated expressions and dramatic bodily movements weren't an artistic impression but the true state of beings.
The Nightingale looked up, watching the bat swooping down above his head. "Swish," a stinging sword shimmering with a cold light sprang out from his arm's armor. He picked up the compound bow from his back and drew the arrow.
With a whoosh, the arrow hit its mark accurately. The Nightingale watched as the bat, now descending off-course, plummeted towards the alley's end.
With a wave of his hand, he said, "Follow me. We're going to the Brooklyn Bridge. Those bats must be heading there!"
As he said this, he began to swing his grappling hook, with Fungi Man following behind. As they ran across the rooftops, Nightingale squinted his eyes towards the New York skyline, where a thin black line was closing in towards Brooklyn.
He saw the swarm of bats flapping their wings, even heard the mind-shaking shrieks, but this time, nobody web-slinged across, nobody punched out a shield, standing in front of everyone, nor was any Mecha in an expensive suit providing firepower support.
When the bats flapped their wings and again flew through the streets, creating a howling sound as they passed above, the wind they stirred ruffled the hair of terrified pedestrians making a break for it.
A sequence of soft whistles rang out as a bat let out a mournful wail, spinning and falling like a drifting leaf.
A black fog arose, and the vampire returned to its true form, howling in pain as it clutched its arm and saw smoke coming out from between its fingers, he roared, "Silver bullets... Damn you, Vampire Hunters! I will kill you all!!"
Before he could finish, a cold light flashed past his ear. A high-speed rotating blade cut off half of his hair and, at the same moment, took off one of his ears.
Before the scream could echo, a sword pierced his heart, and instantly, the vampire turned into a pile of black ash, slowly collapsing.
Hidden behind him was Blade Warrior Eric's cold face; re-sheathing his sword, he picked up the ear lying on the ground, saying, "A bit of a retro war booty marker, but still good, right?"
Behind him, another group of people approached, some with pistols loaded with silver bullets, others, like the Blade Warrior, wielding silver-coated cold weapons.
They lacked the Blade Warrior's half-human, half-vampire robust physique, but they were all ordinary humans, each bearing a grudge against vampires, known in folklore as "Vampire Hunters".
"Damn, why are they headed to the Brooklyn Bridge again? The bridge just got repaired not long ago, it seems it's going to get destroyed again." one of them walked up to Eric and said.
Eric looked up at the bright moonlight and asked, "When was the last time you saw such a bright moon?"
"Those damn rats picked a good day!" A female Vampire Hunter hissed, "You'd want your funeral on a sunny day too, wouldn't you?"
"Let's go to the Brooklyn Bridge and see what they're up to."
With a 'bang', gun flare flickered and a bat dropped to the ground. Mr. Matt put his gun away and turned around to say, "Erica, you take them in the car, go to the Brooklyn Bridge, these bats seem to want a rematch..."
"Matt, are you really going to send these kids to the battlefield?" Erica frowned, "I'm not questioning your teaching skills, but some of them are too young, some of them just started college..."
Before Matt could speak, a girl stepped out from the group. Dressed in a blue-and-white uniform with a cape, one hand on her hip, she confidently said, "Thank you for your kindness, Ms. Erica, but we can definitely lend a hand."
"When I passed through Hell's Kitchen, I almost fell under the control of horrifying criminals. If it weren't for Mr. Matt's help, I would have done terrible things." She lowered her eyes to look at her hand and said, "Now, it's time to use my abilities for something good."
"Jessica, I understand, you are the strongest among all of us, but you need to understand that the war against vampires is not a game. In the last battle when vampires invaded New York, there wasn't a lack of superheroes who sacrificed…"
Mr. Matt walked up to Erica and looked into her eyes, "Their presence here proves that they are willing to fight for justice, just like the original Spider-Man."
"And I, all I aspire to do is teach them more skills, enabling them to better implement their resolve."
Jessica rubbed her wrist and said, "Spider-Man is my idol, but I understand that not only is he the sole superhero in the world, nor are there only one or two people protecting New York. This is my home, and I will fight for it."
After she finished speaking, she looked up at the sky, her determined expression standing out even more under the moonlight, she said, "Let's go, let's deal with these bats and see if they can withstand my fists."
With each bat that flew over them and person that looked up to the sky, their eyes fell on the Brooklyn Bridge.
As the crowd scattered against the flow of bats, many people moved against the crowd, following the trail of the bats, rushing towards the place where the dark clouds gathered.
The first to arrive near Brooklyn Bridge was a police car with flashing sirens. George, gripping his pistol, stepped out of the car, looked up at the bat perched at the top of the bridge, took two steps back, and waved at the officers behind him, saying, "Hold off for now, set up a perimeter and evacuate civilians!"
"Load your weapons, ensure you have ample ammo, equip yourselves with those freeze guns we issued earlier. You group, set up the barricades. Another group, ready the net guns. The rest of you, check for explosives...."
The officers, having received their orders, dispersed to make pre-combat preparations. George, however, had a grave expression. At this moment, his cell phone rang.
He picked up and found that it was Gwen calling. George gripped his phone tightly and pressed the answer button. Gwen's somewhat raspy voice came from the other end, "Dad, I'm in the lab now. Remember those bombs we used against the bat last time?"
"A few days ago, I saw one of those shells in Doctor Otto's lab. I'll refit it with an energy source so that it can produce the same explosive effect. Just give me an hour... give me an hour."
"Gwen!" George raised his voice, "You should have rested by now. You've been crying these past nights. You need to rest..."
"No, I'm not tired. I have more work to do." Gwen's tone was steadier and stronger than George had imagined, showing none of her previous grief. "Spider-Man is dead, but he's not the only one who wants to protect this city. We all do!"
"On the first battle with the bat, you were on the front lines, but back then, I was still in high school, trembling with fear at home, depending on others to protect me."
"Back then, we had a lot. Captain America always protecting us, Spider-Man who was equally inexperienced but determined, and the ever-firepower-ready Iron Man..."
"But just because we don't have them now doesn't mean we should give up and wait for our deaths. Otherwise, why are you, once again, going to the front line?"
George, on the other side of the phone, fell silent. "Take care of yourself, Gwen. See you tomorrow morning."
Once the call was ended, Gwen lowered her arm and the phone fell to the floor. It was picked up by another hand dressed in a suit. Spider Gwen handed the phone back to her, asking, "… are you okay?"
Gwen took a deep breath and said, "I'm fine, thank you."
After that, she stood up and approached the lab bench, starting to organize the data, continuing, "Thank you, the other me from another universe. If it wasn't for you, probably, I would still be hiding at home crying."
Spider Gwen stood beside her, turned and looked at her, "Your reaction is quite different from what I expected. You didn't mutate into a spider, don't have super strength, you're just a normal human. You don't have to do this..."
Gwen, with her hands on a huge bombshell on the lab bench, carefully examining the metal plate on it, tear stains still on her face, said, "No, it's precisely because I don't have super strength that I came here."
"If Peter were here, he wouldn't rush to the battlefield either. He would definitely be here as well, looking for a more fundamental solution." Gwen turned her gaze to Spider Gwen.
For a moment, the two of them were like looking in a mirror, seeing a reflection of themselves that was exactly the same, but drastically different.
"The Spider Man who came with you that day is also Peter Parker, isn't he? If so, why haven't you fallen in love with him?" Gwen asked a fatal question that Spider Gwen could not answer.
"In this world, there might be countless Spider Men, but each one is different. In this world, there might be countless versions of me, but each one is also different."
Gwen began recording data from the documents near her, saying, "If you want to rush to the forefront, then go for it. But I will stay here and protect this city in another way."
Just as the heavy silence was crashing over Gwen like a wave, her phone suddenly rang. She picked up, and it was Betty's voice, "Gwen, hurry to Dr. Otto's lab. Remember the bomb? We can reactivate it. I've kept data on the internal structure of the bomb. I'm on my way to the lab now…Oh! My god!"
A wave of noise came from the other end. Gwen furrowed her brow and said, "Betty, are you okay? Hello? Hello??"
"No... I'm okay." Betty's voice was panting, she said: "I'm driving, but just now, a bat almost hit my car. Listen, Gwen, we have to find a way to restore that bomb…"
"Among Dr. Dora's projects, there were similar technologies. But I have to go to her lab to get the materials first, you go to the lab where the bomb shell is stored, and I will send the materials over as soon as possible…"
Gwen spoke up, "I'm in the lab with the bombshell right now. Actually, I already have some ideas. If you can provide data, that would be even better…"
But Betty's voice still sounded grave, "Gwen, during the first bat war, you were young, so you didn't know. Vampires look almost the same as humans. There are also species among them that are not afraid of the sun."
"Last time, they learned their lesson. This time, they wouldn't let us easily create a weapon for mass destruction against them. Our research probably won't go as smoothly as we hope…"
"Alright, I got it, Betty, you be careful too... Hey! Who's that? Who are you?! Why are you breaking into my lab?!"
"Hello??! Gwen??!! Hello?? Hello??!!"