Marvel’s Shadowed Knight

"You can't stay here. If you do, you'll die. It has to be me who shuts down that machine. I'll wait until you all return before I make my move. I promised him, and I have to keep my word."

Miles spoke with intense conviction.

Everything he said made perfect sense.

But at that moment, Shadow Spider stood up and questioned, "Who even are you? Honestly, I'd rather trust the Bat over there with this task than leave it to you."

His words came fast, almost too fast to follow.

The moment they arrived, Shadow Spider had already noticed Bruce.

He knew exactly who Bruce was—and more importantly, he believed that if Bruce got involved, he'd find a way to get them all back to their respective worlds.

Even Peter Parker remained silent this time.

Deep down, they all knew that if given a choice between Miles and Bruce, most people would choose Bruce over a kid who had only just gained his Spider powers.

Even if Bruce was just a regular human without any superpowers.

Because as Bruce himself had said—

Miles wasn't ready to be Spider-Man.

Still, Peter Parker felt the need to defend him.

"This kid's name is Miles. He helped me steal the mainframe from Alchemax."

"And the kid can turn invisible! Watch—he can go invisible right now." Peter's voice grew excited as he motioned for the others to witness Miles' ability.

But Miles failed him.

At this stage, he still couldn't control his invisibility at will.

He tried hard to make himself disappear—

Then, looking at his still-visible hands, Miles stuffed them into his pockets. "Yeah… I can't just turn invisible on command."

Even so, the way Shadow Spider and the others looked at Miles had changed.

They trusted Peter Parker, knowing he wouldn't lie to them.

But it was clear—the kid wasn't ready.

Gwen pulled Peter aside, gathering the other Spider-People with her.

"You need to stop fooling yourself. He's not ready. This obviously won't work. He's just a kid. I'd rather let the Bat help us than rely on someone who isn't prepared for this mission."

Though she wasn't fond of Bruce, Gwen still voiced her opinion.

"As creepy and terrifying as he looks… I've gotta admit, the guy does seem pretty competent."

"You do realize he can hear everything you're saying, right?"

Bruce stepped forward, and with a swift, effortless motion, he grabbed hold of Miles—who had just attempted to turn invisible and sneak away.

Everyone froze.

Miles' eyes went wide in shock.

The Spider-People were just as stunned.

They had all seen it—Bruce had reached out as if grasping at thin air—and yet he had pulled Miles straight out of his invisibility.

"I refuse to believe you don't have superpowers," Shadow Spider said, eyeing Bruce with newfound caution. He simply couldn't reconcile what he had just witnessed with the idea that Bruce was a normal human.

"You can see me?" Miles asked, even more astonished as Bruce held onto the hood of his jacket.

"I can't see you," Bruce replied matter-of-factly, "but I had a good idea of where you'd be."

With that, he dragged the stunned Miles back toward the group.

"If I hadn't stopped you just now, you would've gone straight to the person you trust most and told them you were on some kind of mission, wouldn't you?"

Bruce set Miles down, making sure he stood properly.

Miles just stared at him, completely dumbfounded.

At this point, he wasn't even sure if this was the Batman from the comics.

Because this—

This was mind reading, right?

How Could Batman Have Superpowers?

"It's not mind-reading—just simple deduction," Bruce replied coldly, watching Miles' astonished expression.

"Sure feels like mind-reading to me."

Bruce ignored Miles' remark.

"Have you ever considered that Wilson Fisk has eyes and ears all over New York? Every move you make could already be under his surveillance."

As Bruce spoke, the other Spider-People began to realize the gravity of the situation.

Still, Peter Parker found it hard to believe it was that easy for Kingpin's men to track them down.

"There's no way this kid would have unknowingly led Fisk's men straight to us."

"My suggestion is that no one leaves this place until we execute our plan," Bruce stated in a calm, almost robotic tone.

By now, the group had largely accepted Bruce's reasoning.

Miles wanted to leave—to find his uncle and explain everything. But after hearing Bruce's explanation, he hesitated… and ultimately abandoned the idea.

"Now, let's make two keys," Bruce said, turning to Peni Parker, who was perched atop her spider-bot.

"Wait a second. We don't have time for that. We can only repair the existing key and make it functional," Gwen quickly interjected. She understood that crafting two keys from scratch in such a short time was nearly impossible.

"One fake, one real. Simple." Bruce's words were light but decisive.

"Can you do it, Peni?"

"No problem." Peni gave Bruce a confident thumbs-up.

"Then let's get to work. Everyone else—stick to your tasks."

With that, Bruce turned away, heading toward the massive computer setup with rows of monitors.

Meanwhile, Peter Parker yanked Miles to his feet. "Come on, kid. Time for some training."

Miles had abilities none of them possessed. Peter wasn't about to let him waste them.

Gwen watched as Peter dragged Miles away for training. Then, shifting her gaze to Bruce, she saw him typing rapidly, focused entirely on the glowing screens.

She walked over and leaned against the desk beside him, quietly observing the others at work.

Well, most of them were working. Some were simply making last-minute battle preparations.

Like Shadow Spider and Spider-Ham, who were busy reconstructing the collider's power cube.

"Do you know something we don't?" Gwen finally asked. Bruce's actions earlier—especially stopping Miles—felt too deliberate to be a mere precaution.

"I'm just considering possibilities," Bruce replied, his eyes never leaving the screen.

His monitor displayed live security footage from various streets across New York.

And all the moving paths had a single destination—

Fisk Tower.

Gwen glanced at the man beside her. His presence, his demeanor, everything about him was so different from the rest of them.

"We are going to succeed, right?"

For the first time, Bruce's fingers paused—just for a fraction of a second.

Gwen thought he might actually say something.

But instead, he simply resumed typing.

"Yeah, I really don't like you."

Leaving him with those words, Gwen turned and walked away—heading toward Aunt May.

(End of Chapter)

Want to read the chapters in Advance? Join my Patreon

https://patreon.com/Glimmer09