Chapter 13: Helping May Parker During a Robbery
I dropped down immediately. My small leap from the rooftop shattered the silence of the narrow alley. The sound of my shoes hitting the asphalt rang out sharply, echoing between the cramped walls—loud enough to draw the attention of all three of them. Their coarse conversation stopped at once.
“Hey, who the hell are you!” one of the men—the one pinning the woman against the wall—turned and stared straight at me. His gaze was sharp and threatening, yet I caught a flicker of nervousness when he realized a figure had emerged from the darkness.
The woman turned her face toward me. Her expression was uncertain, as if she couldn’t tell whether I was her savior… or a new, even worse threat.
I didn’t answer. That brief silence only seemed to fuel the man’s anger. He released one hand from the woman and strode toward me, his jaw clenched, his entire body radiating malicious intent.
Without a second thought, I moved first. My right fist shot forward and slammed into his face. A dull impact echoed through the alley, followed by his body being hurled sideways before crashing to the ground, completely motionless—knocked out instantly.
The second man, the one holding a knife, froze when he saw his friend go down so easily. His eyes widened, his breath caught in his throat, and raw fear was plainly visible on his face.
I didn’t give him any time to react. I rushed forward and swung a punch into his left cheek. His body staggered before collapsing onto the ground, unconscious.
The alley fell silent once more, leaving only the woman’s uneven breathing and the lingering surge of adrenaline still vibrating through my body.
The knife slipped from the man’s grasp and fell to the ground. The metal object bounced once on the damp asphalt before coming to a stop, producing a faint clink that sounded unnervingly clear in the stillness of the alley.
The sound was brief, yet it was enough to mark the end of the threat. Both men lay sprawled on the ground, limp and powerless, like two broken puppets whose strings had been abruptly cut—devoid of will or strength.
“Thank you…”
That voice made me freeze. There was something about it that felt familiar to my ears.
I turned around, and in the next instant, my eyes widened. The woman I had just saved—the woman still standing there with shallow breaths and a slightly trembling body—was May Parker.
Peter Parker’s aunt.
The woman I had met earlier that morning.
My own neighbor.
The dim glow of the streetlight reflected in May’s tear-filled eyes. The remnants of fear had yet to fully fade, but her expression slowly changed as her gaze traced me from head to toe—the white-and-black costume leaving no room for misunderstanding. Shock, confusion, and something close to disbelief flickered across her face.
My chest tightened.
This was truly unexpected. Did that mean that if I hadn’t arrived in time, May in this universe would have suffered something terrible in this narrow alley? The thought sent my mind spinning, like gears forced to turn far too fast.
This world was chaotic—I knew that—but I never imagined that chaos would appear this close, this blatant. A chill crawled up my spine, making me shudder without realizing it.
If that was true… then it wasn’t something I wanted to dwell on any longer. Not now. Not ever.
“Ah… um, thank you so much again. I…” May paused before continuing in a hesitant tone, “may I know your name?”
Her voice was gentle, but it trembled slightly, as though she was still trying to calm herself. Her hands clenched tightly around the small bag she was carrying, her knuckles turning pale. Her posture remained stiff, as if her body hadn’t fully accepted that the danger had truly passed.
Should I answer?
But… what if my voice is recognized?
The thought flashed through my mind in an instant. If May recognized my voice, everything would become complicated. Far too complicated. I had no desire to explain why her neighbor had suddenly appeared as a costumed vigilante in the middle of the night. There would be too many questions—questions I wasn’t ready to answer. Silence felt like the best choice. Safe. Simple.
So I just stared at May without saying a word.
That silence only seemed to make her more uneasy. She swallowed softly, her eyes darting nervously as she studied me with caution, trying to decipher whether my wordlessness was dangerous… or merely strange.
“If you don’t want to tell me your name, that’s fine,” May finally said, forcing a smile that clearly didn’t reach her eyes. “Once again, thank you so much. I really should head back now. My nephew must be waiting for me at home.”
She paused, then added, “Again, thank you very much for your help. I need to go.”
May then stepped out of the alley.
Her pace was quick, though still slightly unsteady. The sharp click of her heels echoed in tight, rhythmic taps against the damp alley floor, bouncing softly between the narrow walls.
When she reached the end of the alley and stepped into the brighter area illuminated by the main streetlights, May glanced back for a brief moment—just a flicker of a look—as if to make sure I wasn’t another dark shadow that would follow her from behind.
After that, she disappeared around the corner.
The alley fell silent once more.
I turned around and looked at the two unconscious robbers sprawled on the ground in the dark alley.
Their bodies lay in awkward positions—one slumped on his side, the other flat on his back with his arms spread open, as if they had simply collapsed without ever having a chance to fight the fate that struck them.
My chest rose and fell slowly, my breathing still not entirely steady after the tension of the past few minutes.
A dim yellow lamp at the end of the alley cast a faint, flickering light over their bodies, blinking weakly like a life on the verge of fading out.
The light stretched their shadows long beneath their feet, warped and elongated across the cracked asphalt, resembling two stains of darkness melting into the filthy alley floor.
The brick walls around us were covered in dull graffiti and streaks left by rainwater seepage, reinforcing the sense that this was a forgotten corner of the city.
The stench of garbage and damp air drifted lazily through the alley, slipping into my nose without invitation. The foul mix of rot, rusted metal, and gutter water made me frown slightly.
The air felt heavy, clinging to my skin, as if the alley were hoarding every filthy secret that had ever occurred within it—forcing them to linger, to circulate endlessly, never truly fading away.
Hmm… what should I do with these two bastards? Should I break both of their arms? No? That feels too cruel. Maybe just break all their fingers instead, so they’ll never be able to rob anyone—or try to rape women ever again. The thought crossed my mind just like that, swift and vicious, before I could filter it through calm logic.
It surfaced sharply, like a whisper from the darkest corner of my mind. There was a faint stab of guilt, a simmering surge of anger, and a deep resentment toward the fact that they had tried to hurt someone.
All of those emotions blended together, clumping in my chest like a chaotic mass that was impossible to unravel, making my heart feel both heavy and cold at the same time.
I quickly sealed one of their mouths with webbing, the sticky white strands clinging tightly to his face. Without any further hesitation, I began breaking the man’s fingers—one by one.