Chapter 82
[112]
To say that Kasumi Yoshizawa’s first experience riding the public bus wasn’t going well would be a vast understatement.
After a gymnastics meet ended up running long, Kasumi was forced to take the bus back home. Normally, her dad would drive her to and from her meets, but he was looking after Sumire who was at home tonight, claiming she was sick. Kasumi had her doubts though.
The bus ride hadn’t been too bad to begin with, the bus wasn’t too crowded since it was late at night, and the route home took her over Odaiba’s Rainbow Bridge, overall it could’ve been a pleasant experience. If it hadn’t been for the evil scorpion villain attacking them that is.
“SPIDER-MAN!” Scorpion yelled while dangling the bus next to the bridge’s edge. A spotlight from a news helicopter shined directly onto the villain, giving him the attention he wanted. “I KNOW YOU’RE STILL ALIVE! COME ON OUT BUG! LET’S SETTLE THIS, MAN TO MAN!”
Kasumi was frozen in terror, all she could do was desperately cling to the leather of her seat as the bus tilted further and further downwards. As her eyes darted around, she saw the bus’s other passengers in the same position, frightened and incapable of moving. If they tried to reach the door, they would undoubtedly be killed by the villain, if they tried for the emergency exits, a deadly fall into the freezing water below awaited them.
“Man to man?” A voice called from outside. “Don’t you mean Scorpion to Spider?”
“Spider-Man!” One of the passengers cheered.
“We’re saved!” Another cried.
What they didn’t expect however, was for Scorpion to release the bus, allowing it to fall from the bridge.
Things seemed to move in slow motion for Kasumi as she began to fall. ‘Is...Is this it?’ The maroon haired girl thought, tears pooling in her eyes. ‘Am I going to die here?’ Before she knew it, events from her life began to flash through her mind, the most prominent among them involving her twin sister. ‘Sumi...I’m so sorry. I wasn’t the older sister I should’ve been. I...I never realized how much I kept you in my shadow, forcing you to be alone. I’m so so sorry Sumi.’
Back on the bridge, Ren was just as shocked as the passengers when Sho dropped them. The villain smiled as his nemesis arrived, seeing no more reason to distract himself with civilians and thus cutting them loose.
“NO!” Ren yelled as he sprinted towards Sho’s side of the bridge in an attempt to catch the falling vehicle. Just as he reached the edge, he was knocked away by Scorpion’s tail and sent flying back onto the pavement.
Sho laughed at the incapable hero as he picked himself back up. To him, there was nothing more fun than watching the hero fail to save someone and seeing them break mentally. As he watched Spider-Man stand back up to fight him, Sho couldn’t help but note that he hadn’t heard a splash yet. Surely this bridge couldn’t be that high, right?
He looked over the edge, expecting to watch the bus crash into the water, he was instead surprised to find it hanging several feet below the bridge. While at first appearing to defy gravity, Sho looked closer and saw a thin line of webbing connecting the vehicle to the bridge. Somehow, in that instant before he swatted him away, Spider-Man had managed to web the bus without Sho even realizing.
“You crafty son of a-” Sho was unable to finish his sentence as a fist collided with his face, knocking his helmet clean off and into the river below.
While Scorpion recovered from the hit, Ren set to work on pulling the passengers up. He didn’t have long, the web would hold, but not forever. If he hadn’t knocked Scorpion away in that moment, he was sure he would’ve cut the line and let them fall. As he quickly pulled the bus up, Ren heard a voice from his right.
“Y’know, when you’re in a fight to the death, you should really pay ATTENTION!” Sho yelled as his stinger flung forward.
Ren managed to dodge by a hair, but was forced to let go of the bus. The vehicle fell back down, but the webline managed to hold, though not without straining even further. Ren watched as several strands of webbing snapped, leaving the bus hanging by little more than a thread. Seeking to distract Scorpion from cutting the line, Ren decided to use the greatest weapon in his arsenal.
His mouth.
“Where’s your partner Scorpion? Did you two break up?” He asked this partially out of concern for his uncle’s safety, aaand partially out of concern that the same man was currently aiming a sniper rifle at his head.
“I’m more of a solo act. He was a bit too controlling for my taste.” Sho said as he raised his tail once more. “But that doesn’t matter, now it’s just you and me!” As he said that, the villain ran at Ren, prepared to impale him once more.
Not left with any time to interpret whether Minato was alive or not, Ren quickly evaded to the side, rolling to the ground and catching the bus’s webline just as it snapped. As he was being dragged along with it, he tried sticking to the bridge to no avail. Just as he went falling over the edge, Ren managed to grab onto the ledge, leaving him dangling over the side holding up the bus with his other hand.
As he tried to pull himself up, Ren felt a crushing pain in his hand. Standing over him was Scorpion, looking pleased with how the situation had unfolded.
“Y’know,” He began in a mocking voice. “This is usually when the villain starts going into a monologue, but if it’s all the same to you, I’m just going to stab you now.” He said, obviously not realizing the irony of that statement.
Before the stinger could reach Ren, another figure joined the fight, swooping in out of nowhere and kicking Scorpion in the chest. The villain was sent stumbling backwards and the cloaked figure turned to Ren. Much to his surprise, it was The Prowler!
“Save the civilians. I’ll handle Sho.” The former villain said, his voice still masked by a modulator. After he said this, he didn’t wait for a response, instead jumping in to battle the other villain.
Still reeling in shock, Ren complied with his uncle’s orders. He didn’t exactly trust him yet, and he definitely hadn’t forgiven for his crimes, but there wasn’t much of an option if he was going to save these people. He quickly set to work, hoisting himself back up onto the bridge and beginning to pull the bus up. As he did this, he couldn’t help but remember a few months ago when he struggled to hold onto a helicopter as it fell. Ren didn’t know what the weight comparison was between the two objects, but he’d definitely become stronger since then.
When the bus finally arrived back on the bridge, Kasumi Yoshizawa let out a breath she didn’t realize she’d been holding. That had been the most terrifying experience of her life, the constant drops, not knowing whether or not she’d be dead the next moment, it was horrifying. As she looked around at the other passengers, none seemed to be severely injured. A few were bleeding from wounds they’d gotten while tumbling around, but nothing life threatening.
As she regained her composure, she let out a shriek as the door was torn open. Suddenly, the masked figure of Spider-Man stepped onto the bus and turned to the passengers.
“Uh, sorry about the door. But look, it’s dangerous here! We need to leave, now!”
Everyone began hurrying out of the door, filing out with Kasumi exiting last. As the rest of the passengers ran towards the police barricade, the girl turned to her masked savior. If you were to ask her what she thought of superheroes earlier today, she would’ve said that they caused more trouble than they were worth, and things would be safer without them. But right now, she couldn’t help but admire the man who’d risked his life to save her.
“You should hurry up and get to safety ma’am. I need to get back into the fight.” Spider-Man said.
Now that she was right next to him, Kasumi could see that he was breathing heavily and he was covered in gravel. Looking at his hands, she could see that his gloves were torn and his fingers were bleeding.
“You should go too.” She advised. “Just let the cops handle this.”
“I can’t. Police can’t handle those two, it's up to me to catch them...Both of them.” He looked to the two villains duking it out further down the bridge, then back to Kasumi. “I have a job to do. Go.” He nudged her in the direction of safety and walked back towards the fight.
After hesitating for a moment, Kasumi ran back to her hero and planted a kiss on the side of his face. The masked vigilante turned to her, his eye...things widening.
“For luck.” She said before turning away and running to safety, her cheeks burning red.
Ren shook his head, smiling to himself as he began to run in the opposite direction. The girl who hated his guts more than half of his own rogues gallery had just kissed him.
“If only she knew.”