Harry's attack was utterly unexpected. He had planned this strike and was so focused that he didn't even maintain his footing. The moment he threw the Pumpkin Bomb; he plummeted backward onto the floor.
But Harry ignored everything, his eyes fixed on Doctor Octopus. Doctor Octopus was genuinely surprised, as he was just an ordinary human. But he didn't need to react. The Mechanical Tentacles: No matter. We will act.
Without even turning his head, a mechanical tentacle automatically engaged, flicking the incoming Pumpkin Bomb back toward Harry. Since Harry was unfamiliar with the bomb and didn't know about its short time-delay fuse, he inadvertently caused this disaster.
SWISH— The Pumpkin Bomb was batted back behind Harry, crashing into an expensive wooden table placed against the wall. A bright flash ignited.
BOOM! The Pumpkin Bomb detonated. Although the bomb looked small, it contained a significant amount of explosive, with a force superior to military-grade high-explosive grenades.
Harry's posture placed his upper body directly in the path of the blast. His upper body was instantly enveloped by the explosion.
"Aaargh—" Harry let out a desperate shriek of pain. Mary Jane gasped in terror but didn't dare approach the explosion site.
Doctor Octopus intervened, using a mechanical tentacle to drag Harry's leg, pulling him away from the immediate blast zone. But Harry had taken the full brunt of the explosion. Most of his meticulously styled hair was burnt off, and the skin on a large part of his face, from his forehead down, was severely scorched, making him look horrifying.
Doctor Octopus lifted him, upside down, by one leg. He merely sneered, while the other mechanical tentacle tossed the Tritium container lightly in the air: "Transaction complete. It was a pleasure doing business." He then casually dropped Harry onto the floor.
"If you want to save him, call an ambulance now!" Doctor Octopus said to Mary Jane before swinging away from the balcony.
Mary Jane, trembling, finally stood up after the demonic presence left and rushed to Harry: "Harry, Harry, are you alright?"
Harry had sustained more than just superficial injuries from the close-range blast. His head was swimming.
"I have always lived in your heart, Harry!""Now, it is your turn to act!""Avenge me, avenge me!""Harry!""..."
The demonic whispers echoed repeatedly in Harry's mind.
"Harry!" Harry managed to open his eyes, his eyelids stinging painfully from the burn. Through the blurry light, he saw Mary Jane kneeling beside him, looking frantic.
"Harry, you're awake! How do you feel?" Mary Jane asked urgently. "Should I call emergency services?"
"No..." Harry tried to speak, finding his throat was raw and burning, just like his eyes. Mary Jane quickly grabbed a glass from the table, emptied the wine, and poured some lukewarm water for Harry. Harry took the glass and drank it down, finding some relief for his throat.
"MJ, go home. I'm fine," Harry croaked.
"Are you sure?" Mary Jane looked extremely worried about Harry's state.
Harry simply shook his head. If Mary Jane hadn't been his former girlfriend and ideal woman, he wouldn't have spent even this long talking. He had only one thing on his mind now!
At Harry's insistence, Mary Jane reluctantly left. Once she was gone, Harry slowly dragged his exhausted body, step by step, back into the secret room. He opened the hidden compartment and took out the tube of shimmering green liquid...
... "Your living quarters are certainly... unique!"
The scene returned to Peter (Earth-616). Peter and Tobey-Spidey climbed down from the train tracks, found a spot to remove their outer layers, and made their way to Tobey-Spidey's apartment. Looking at the small, cluttered room, barely ten square meters in size, Peter struggled to find a polite word.
Tobey-Spidey's face flushed slightly with embarrassment. He hadn't minded his condition until another Spider-Man pointed it out. Now, he felt self-conscious about his poverty.
"Uh, this, that..." Tobey-Spidey stammered, scratching his head.
Peter smiled: "You'd better hurry up and patch your suit. Once you're done, we need to go find Doctor Octopus and rescue your MJ."
"MJ!" At the mention of her name, Tobey-Spidey's shyness vanished. He nodded solemnly and quickly went into the small bathroom to strip off his tattered suit. Moments later, he emerged and sat down on a chair, beginning to repair his costume.
This was the first time Peter had personally witnessed a Spider-Man making a suit by hand, and he was fascinated. Tobey-Spidey, of course, lacked the high-tech equipment of the Peter Parker in Miles's universe. The sight of him repairing his suit was truly "eye-opening" for Peter (Earth-616).
Tobey-Spidey took a glass, held his hand over the rim, and streams of white viscous fluid flowed from his wrist into the glass.
"Is that your webbing?" Peter asked, despite knowing the answer.
Tobey-Spidey nodded. Perhaps spurred by the danger to Mary Jane, he was now entirely focused, his eyes fixed on the white viscous fluid slowly accumulating in the glass. After squeezing out about half a cup, he sighed in relief, wiped the cold sweat from his forehead, and picked up a stirring stick. As he mixed the fluid, he spoke: "This webbing, which we produce internally, has a tensile strength of up to 3.12×1010 Pa. That's 240 times the strength of human bone, 45 times that of high-strength alloy steel. Plus, it has high elasticity, high toughness, high absorbency, and is lightweight—it's the perfect material for a suit." Tobey-Spidey leaned closer to the glass, stirring and observing carefully, checking the state of the fluid. "The only unfortunate thing is that it's biodegradable. The webs and nets we shoot naturally decompose and vanish in the air after a few hours. So, to make it into a suit and extend the degradation time, it needs some 'Peter-Style Processing'!" Tobey-Spidey spoke with immense pride. This was his own innovation! He was convinced that a Spider-Man like Peter (Earth-616), who relied on high-tech suits, wouldn't possess his kind of resourceful, cost-effective, and practical technology! He had finally won a round of one-upmanship, and he savored it!