Karl King clumsily mimicked Spider-Man's movements, swinging between buildings with his webs. His actions were awkward yet powerful, and with each leap, he could feel the wind rush through the cheap cosplay suit, the chilling sensation seeping into his skin through the seams.
The transformation brought by his consumption fascinated him—his mother's flesh, the terrified screams of those geeks in the comic book store, all transformed into power flowing through his veins. He could feel his muscles restructuring, his bones stretching, and even the ability to spontaneously decompose into a swarm of spiders or distort into any face he had "digested."
And at this moment, the only thing on his mind was the hateful face of Peter Parker.
That scrawny Peter, ever since he was bitten by a spider, had gotten carried away, daring to defy him, even making him anxious.
"You think a spider bite lets you defy me?" Karl sneered, gripping the web tightly, the cheap costume flapping in the wind. Dad was right, survival of the fittest was the truth—those small guys were born to be stepped on by the strong.
"It's time you knew who the boss is, Parker."
So this clumsy Spider-Man began to wander. He suddenly turned in mid-air, his scarlet lenses reflecting another swinging figure in the distance. Hah, what a conspicuous target.
Found you, Parker!
"We found Spider-Man!"
In a discreet van nearby, Quentin Beck spotted Spider-Man rushing back, but something seemed off: "This Spider-Man looks different; his suit has switched back to the old version."
Feeling uneasy, Quentin was puzzled, but the Chameleon only asked one question.
"Is Spider-Man swinging through the air or running on the ground?"
"Swinging in the air..."
"That's him then; he just changed suits back," the Chameleon said dismissively: "Probably to differentiate between me and him, since we're wearing his current new suit and impersonating him, he needs to create some distinction. But it doesn't matter, soon Spider-Man will plunge into the abyss of death. Set up the projector, Beck, we're ready to go."
The Chameleon said this while grabbing a pistol. This time, he intended to get rid of Spider-Man once and for all.
Karl King landed quickly, then looked at the fake Spider-Man in front of him. At this moment, he hadn't realized that the figure before him wasn't the real Spider-Man. Conversely, the part that was originally just a projection had been supplemented by the Chameleon for interaction, and the Spider-Man appearing now was already the Chameleon in disguise.
"Another imposter?" "Spider-Man" looked at Karl King, exclaiming, then made a gesture of helplessly covering his face: "Oh my god, I mean, hey, buddy, aren't there any other games to play? You know I'm the real Spider-Man."
"You? You're nothing but a complete bastard!"
Karl King clenched his fists and charged at the Chameleon. The Chameleon laughed, instantly pulled out a pistol, and shot Spider-Man directly in the head. The bullet accurately pierced Spider-Man's skull, and then the Chameleon simultaneously deactivated the projector, maintaining Spider-Man's appearance and voice: "Sorry, buddy, it's all over. No need for Kingpin's plan at all."
"Everything is indeed over!"
A sudden roar interrupted the Chameleon. The Chameleon turned his head to see Spider-Man's suit rapidly collapsing, and countless spiders pouring out from within, scrambling quickly towards him. After less than 0.1 seconds of thought, he immediately chose to run, his eyes filled with extreme terror.
Damn it, why did no one tell him that Spider-Man was this kind of thing?!
After chasing for a short while, Karl King realized that the speed of the spiders truly couldn't keep up with a human. So, the swarm of spiders once again filled the cheap costume, reforming into a human shape, and began to swing with webs, pursuing the Chameleon.
"What are you running from, huh? Aren't you Spider-Man? Why are you running? Hahahahaha!"
Karl King, shouting arrogantly, pursued the Chameleon. The Chameleon, quick-witted, immediately ducked into a construction site. There was no one inside, but hundreds of kilograms of explosives were buried there.
"Hey, you damn detective, are your explosives ready?! You have no idea what the hell Spider-Man is!"
The breathless Chameleon, having run to the ambush site, couldn't help but ask. Mac Gargan, however, let out a cold chuckle. He had already said that Spider-Man would come, but the Chameleon hadn't listened. Now, well, that guy was in big trouble, wasn't he?
"It's been ready for ages. You better run quickly, or you'll die right in front of me."
The Chameleon rested for a moment, found his planned escape route, and watched as Spider-Man swung in. For some reason, this spider-monster in front of him gave him a very strange feeling, but it didn't matter.
It had to die here today.
"Why aren't you running, Spider-Man? Do you know you're doomed?"
"What? Doomed?" The Chameleon felt like this was the first time he'd enjoyed playing Spider-Man so much. He leaped backward, deploying his wingsuit for gliding: "That's for you, baby!"
A violent explosion instantly engulfed the entire building. First, the gas pipes in the basement ignited with blue flames, then the support beams fractured in a domino effect. Each floor rapidly exploded, burned, and then collapsed, sending up massive clouds of smoke that swallowed Karl's laughter and obscured almost half the sky. Thirty stories of concrete and thousands of tons of steel crashed down, slamming onto "Spider-Man" and burying it completely. Having accomplished all this, the Chameleon, gliding through the sky, couldn't help but laugh loudly.
"I succeeded! I succeeded—"
A specially made bullet, accompanied by the sound of a gunshot, struck the Chameleon in the sky. The unlucky fellow plummeted to the ground, slamming hard next to the ruins.
Only then did the real Spider-Man belatedly land beside the Punisher. Peter had seen the rising smoke from a distance, not understanding how things had gotten to this point without him being there.
"Uh... what happened? How did it get like this already?"
If he hadn't received a call beforehand, the Punisher would have thought that large group of spiders was actually Spider-Man. He gave the latter a brief, indifferent glance.
"You should go down and see for yourself. Another freak has appeared, imitating you, and this time, it's a whole swarm of spiders."
Completely unable to understand what the Punisher was talking about, Spider-Man once again used the expressive movable eyes on his new mask to show a vivid "What the hell are you talking about?" expression.
Meanwhile, on top of the ruins, the Chameleon, still disguised as Spider-Man, struggled to get up. The shot had luckily gone awry, and his battle suit provided some protection; he had actually survived. He couldn't help but cough up blood, staggering as he tried to leave.
Damn it, I have to find a safe house before Frank Castle finds me...
He heard a rustling sound. The Chameleon turned to look and saw a large swarm of spiders crawling out of the building's ruins, slowly coalescing into a human form.