The space beneath the safe house was massive.
Even bigger than the already-spacious upper-level villa.
Compared to the underground area, the upstairs looked small. It felt more like a bomb shelter had been carved into the earth.
Klaue had clearly gone to great lengths to construct this basement.
Although Alex had subdivided it into multiple rooms, each one remained impressively large.
Take the equipment room, for example—almost the size of a basketball court.
Inside it, Alex trained, getting used to his newfound powers.
The room was filled with obstacles. He sprinted through them, dodging rapidly and reacting instinctively.
His Spider Telepathy kicked in—constantly alerting him to the presence of obstacles, guiding him, warning him.
But he wasn't fully in sync with his powers yet. His reaction time lagged.
Strength that develops too quickly can become hard to control.
At first, even with the foresight to detect obstacles, he couldn't always avoid them.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
The equipment room echoed with the sound of collisions as Alex slammed into barrier after barrier.
He moved fast—so the impacts hurt.
He winced, gritting his teeth through the pain.
On the wall near the entrance, a small Spider-Man-like creature watched with wide, confused eyes.
It tilted its head as it observed Alex's repeated crashes.
It was the enhanced spider Alex had unintentionally created.
When it woke and saw he wasn't in the lab, it broke out of the sealed glass container and crawled into the equipment room.
Now it clung to the wall, watching him train.
Alex noticed the creature and was surprised.
The glass container had been tightly closed—he'd even checked the security footage.
The spider had somehow lifted the heavy lid and escaped.
It shouldn't have been physically capable of that.
Which could mean only one thing—
The spider had developed abilities far beyond that of an ordinary arachnid.
Alex realized he had inadvertently created a truly enhanced spider, something exceptional.
Likely a result of the genetic sequence he had used in the experiment.
And it seemed to like him, deeply.
He didn't have time to engage with it, though—he had to master his own abilities first.
Gradually, through constant trial and error, his control improved.
Ten minutes later, he was a blur, navigating the tight obstacle course effortlessly.
Even in the most confined spaces, he moved cleanly—no collisions, no missteps.
The little spider's eyes widened in astonishment.
It hadn't expected Alex, who had just been crashing into everything, to suddenly move with such grace and precision.
Eventually, Alex came to a halt.
A gleam flashed in his eyes. "Finally got it. Fully adapted to this speed and reaction time."
Next, he began practicing restraint.
He had to learn not to accidentally rip doors off hinges—or crush steering wheels while driving.
Day by day, minute by minute, his control refined further.
Soon, he was in complete control. Nothing broke anymore.
"Now," Alex said to himself, "I need to make this control instinctual."
"It'll take time—but I'll get there."
He cracked his neck. "Now I'm ready."
"All that's left is to clean up."
"And Klaue and the others should be close to New York by now… probably near the canyon."
He walked to the side, grabbed his phone, and checked their latest location.
Once the message came in, he started packing.
He pulled out a multi-functional tactical backpack and loaded it with weapons.
Including several custom-made mini bombs—small but extremely powerful.
He added firearms and a special ninja dagger made from a nearly indestructible alloy.
With a metallic shing, he unsheathed the katana.
It gleamed with cold light—razor sharp.
"Not bad," he murmured. "Maybe I should forge a custom sword for myself too."
He slid the blade back in and secured it on his backpack beneath a shield.
Now fully geared up, Alex turned to the little Spider-Man on the wall.
The spider stared at him, eyes full of trust.
"I'm heading out," Alex said. "Stay home. Get back in the glass box and wait for me."
The spider immediately complied, scurrying out of the equipment room and into the lab.
It nudged open a small gap in the glass lid and crawled back inside.
Then it sat there, waiting, quietly watching Alex.
He nodded. "Good."
With that, he left.
The little spider pressed against the glass, watching Alex disappear.
Outside, Alex climbed into his car and gunned the engine, speeding toward Klaue's location.
He tracked them in real-time using a signal beacon hidden on their phone.
"I'm coming, Liz," he muttered.
The engine roared.
Rain clouds loomed over New York. Winds howled through the trees.
Boom!
Lightning cracked the sky, turning night into day for a split second.
More thunder followed—loud and relentless.
One bolt struck a nearby tree, setting it ablaze.
Rain began to pour. Hard.
Within seconds, it was a full-blown storm.
Visibility dropped. The world blurred with wind and water.
But Alex's eyes stayed locked on the road, colder than the storm.
His car cut through the rain like a blade, driving into the chaos.
Meanwhile…
Inside a HYDRA base, the intelligence room buzzed.
Operatives monitored screens, barking updates.
At the back of the room, Baron Strucker lounged with eyes closed, a hat on his chest.
Suddenly, an officer shouted, "Baron! We've forced Klaue and his daughter into the jungle. They're on foot!"
"They've lost their transport, low on ammo, and nearly out of options."
"We're surrounding them now!"
Strucker opened his eyes and smiled.
"Finally… something worth celebrating."
"Soon, we'll have Klaue."
"And once we do, Alex won't be far behind."
"He'll return to HYDRA. He'll be mine again."
Strucker grinned, his grip tightening on his hat.
Elsewhere…
In a dark alley, Madame Viper slit a man's throat and stepped into the light.
"Strucker, what are you scheming?" she whispered.
She activated her comms. "Track Strucker's forces. I want eyes on everything."
"Yes, madame," came the reply.
And far away…
A robot's eyes lit up in the dark.
Dr. Zola.
He had survived by uploading his consciousness into a machine.
Streams of data flowed through his visual feed.
"Strucker," he said, "you didn't mobilize this much force just for Klaue…"
He activated a secret backdoor and infiltrated HYDRA's communication network.
Meanwhile…
Near the forest edge, Black Widow and Hawkeye stood in the rain.
She launched surveillance drones.
Despite the storm, they flew steadily, transmitting jungle footage.
Treetops swayed wildly. Rain battered the canopy.
Below, the forest was a dim, muddy mess.
Splat. Splat. Splat.
Klaue and his daughter raced through the sludge.
Soaked to the bone. Bloodied. Exhausted.
Elizabeth's face was ghostly pale. Klaue looked half-dead—his wounds bleeding again from the rain.
He staggered but kept going, carrying his daughter.
"Almost there… Big Brother is coming," he whispered. "We'll be safe soon."
Elizabeth nodded weakly. "I'm trying… I won't fall asleep."
Klaue bit his tongue to stay awake.
Suddenly—footsteps behind them.
HYDRA.
Tranquilizer darts whizzed past.
Rubber bullets came next—fast, painful.
Klaue zigzagged between trees, trying to dodge.
Bang! Bang! Bang!
Rubber bullets slammed into him.
He groaned, clutching his daughter tighter.
HYDRA closed in.
A punch knocked him to his knees.
He fought back, smashing one attacker down.
But more swarmed in.
Bang! Bang!
Klaue collapsed, vision dimming.
"Is this… it?"
Just then—
Shing!
A flash of light cut through the darkness.
A blade flew like lightning—cleanly slashing HYDRA agents' throats.
Salvation had arrived.