Chapter 867: Madame Web

Chapter 867: Chapter 867: Madame Web

"Ben, Henry... Is that you? Are you dead too?"

Cathy Webb’s first words after regaining consciousness weren’t exactly pleasant to hear.

The paramedic called Ben, however, breathed a sigh of relief, the smile never leaving his face.

"Cathy, why can’t it be that you’re the one who came back to life?"

"I’m not dead?"

"Everyone dies eventually, and you’ll die someday too. But it definitely won’t be today."

Henry stood up as he spoke, wringing the water out of his long hair and beard as though they were a couple of wet rags.

He didn’t perform any examinations on the woman. After all, the two people before him were legitimate paramedics employed by the New York City Fire Department. There was no need for an unlicensed back-alley doctor like him to intervene.

Ben, meanwhile, gave Cathy a brief examination. After confirming that she had no serious external injuries, he helped her to her feet and began escorting her back to the ambulance on the bridge.

All three of them were soaked from head to toe. Although the weather was warming up in preparation for summer, standing in the river breeze in wet clothes could still give anyone a cold. They needed to find a way to get dry.

Ben also needed access to additional diagnostic equipment to conduct a more thorough medical assessment of Cathy. That meant returning to the ambulance.

Henry said nothing. He simply followed along, carefully observing Cathy Webb as they walked.

Unfortunately, there was no way to tell from her appearance whether her abilities had awakened.

Madame Web’s powers weren’t the kind that allowed someone to fly through the sky or burrow through the earth, making them immediately obvious to everyone. The female paramedic’s condition would have to be monitored over time.

Accompanying Cathy Webb, who had just died and come back to life, the group slowly made their way back onto the bridge. By then, additional ambulances and police reinforcements had arrived at the scene, so neither Ben nor Cathy was in any hurry to resume their duties.

The two paramedics who had just fallen into the river returned to their ambulance and wrapped themselves in blankets to keep warm. Ben immediately attached several monitoring devices to Cathy, including a pulse oximeter. He even intended to put a breathing mask on her, but she pushed it away.

Henry, who was just as bedraggled, returned to his own Cadillac. He didn’t receive the same level of care, of course. But he wasn’t an injured victim, and since he could still jump around as energetically as ever, nobody paid him much attention.

Sky stared at the man returning to the car in utter disbelief.

"I heard that some big, bearded guy jumped into the river, too. I thought I’d misheard. But it really was you!"

Henry found a few clean, old clothes in the trunk. He changed his shirt and used the remaining garments as towels to dry himself off.

"Cathy fell into the river. How could I possibly stand by and do nothing?"

"So the guy Spider-Man was dangling from the bridge earlier was you, too? Tsk, tsk, tsk. How many times has this happened now?"

"Motherfu—bleep bleep bleep!" Henry caught himself before finishing the string of curses.

"Don’t bring that up! We can still have a perfectly civil conversation as long as you don’t mention it. Where the hell did that spider go?"

His temper flared instantly. For some inexplicable reason, he really wanted to take his anger out on the little Spider.

Sky wasn’t intimidated by the angry man. If anything, she seemed unusually emboldened, as though she wanted to make the situation even worse. She pointed toward Manhattan.

"I don’t know what he was thinking. But he stood at the edge of the bridge and stared down into the water for quite a while. In the end, he still didn’t jump in.

"Once he confirmed that there were no more emergencies requiring assistance and that only the injured people needed treatment and bandaging, Spider-Man said he had to help out somewhere else, then ran off in that direction."

"Next time, remind me to punch him first and ask questions later," Henry said viciously.

"But he’s New York’s friendly neighborhood hero! What does a bad neighbor like you want to do, beat up Spider-Man? Aren’t you afraid the people of New York will curse you out and call you every name under the sun?"

"I’m simply taking the side of Commissioner Stacy. Those damn vigilantes need to stop their self-righteous crusades. These things are the police’s job, not theirs."

"You’re just angry because he left you hanging."

"If I were really angry, he would’ve been gone on the spot."

Henry made an exaggerated gesture, as though dealing with the little Spider would be as easy as picking up a toy.

Although Sky had witnessed this man’s abilities firsthand and had also seen Spider-Man fighting crime on the news, the strength of both men was still beyond her imagination. She couldn’t tell whether Henry was just bragging or actually telling the truth...

Just as the older man and the younger girl were preparing to resume their verbal sparring, Cathy Webb approached them with a blanket wrapped around her shoulders.

Sky was the first to step forward and check on her.

"Cathy, are you okay?"

"I’m fine."

Cathy patted the girl’s hand before walking over to Henry, who was still sitting on the edge of the open trunk.

"Thanks. Ben told me you jumped into the water with him and helped save me."

"You’ve helped Mrs. Hepburn quite a bit. This was just a small way of returning the favor."

The two exchanged a friendly handshake.

But the instant their hands touched, Cathy Webb seemed to fall into some kind of abnormal mental state. Although the episode was extremely brief, Henry noticed that the bioelectric activity in her body suddenly became abnormally intense.

The entire episode lasted less than half a second.

Without Henry’s reaction speed and keen observational abilities, he might not even have noticed anything unusual.

However, even after Cathy Webb returned to normal, she couldn’t conceal her astonishment. The words escaped her mouth before she could stop herself.

"What are you?"

It sounded like an insult, but Henry quickly realized that Madame Web’s powers had awakened and were still beyond her control. Somehow, she seemed to have touched upon aspects of him that were not meant to be known.

Unfortunately, he had no idea what she had seen, so he couldn’t respond with any certainty.

Instead, he did what he always did: played dumb, blinking his innocent-looking eyes at her.

"What? Are you talking about me?"

Apparently realizing how rude her behavior had been, Cathy hastily withdrew her hand and lowered her head in apology.

"I’m sorry. I don’t know what came over me. Maybe that accident really did leave me with some kind of problem. I should have listened to Ben and gone to the hospital for an examination. I only wanted to tell you how grateful I am for what you did. Thank you."

Apologizing repeatedly, Cathy backed away. Eventually, she turned and left without looking back. Throughout the entire exchange, she had been unable to meet Henry’s eyes.

Henry was certainly curious about what had caused her sudden change in attitude. But he wasn’t about to run after a woman, grab her by the collar, and demand an explanation.

He had never resorted to killing someone simply because they had discovered something about his abilities. If that were a valid reason for eliminating people, Sky would have been the first to go to heaven, followed by the entire X-Men.

However, if someone coveted his life or threatened his peaceful, stable existence, Henry couldn’t guarantee that he would remain so patient.

And so, the Kryptonian simply watched as Cathy Webb, the future Madame Web, walked away.

"Ah, Henry, are we leaving now?"

Sky pointed toward the bridge.

"Looks like the police have arrived. They’re directing the cars stuck on the bridge to get off and take alternative routes."

Henry looked back at the long line of cars that had been behind them. The queue had thinned considerably, and police officers were directing traffic. Things seemed to be unfolding exactly as Sky had described.

He had no intention of pursuing the female paramedic any further. Instead, he found a dry pair of pants in the trunk.

"I’ll change in the car. Once I’m done, we’ll head home."

"Okay."

Perhaps the two of them had gradually influenced each other.

At first, Henry had regarded the Hepburn residence merely as a dormitory attached to his workplace. He had still considered himself an outsider.

But after taking Sky in, he began using the word home to help her develop a stronger sense of belonging.

Now, both of them had grown accustomed to the word. They even regarded that place as a genuine haven where they could finally feel safe and at peace.

Of course, Grandma Katherine’s care and affection had played a crucial role, too. Without Katherine Hepburn, the older man and the younger girl would never have ended up living together in the first place.

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