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Chapter 23: Heroes Are Mortals (II)

Strange swallowed hard, looking deep into Schiller's gray eyes. He genuinely lacked the courage to refuse, as anyone with common sense could tell that Schiller was far from ordinary.

Although Strange was pulled into the car, he insisted, "You need to understand, I'm a doctor, not a god. If your friend is already dead, no matter how you threaten me, I can't resurrect him."

Driving with a blank expression, Schiller responded, "We're both doctors. I know this better than you. I came to you because I'm certain you can save him."

Strange let out a sigh of relief but retorted, furrowing his brows, "You're just a psychologist. It's best if you don't hastily conclude about neurosurgery."

Before he could finish his words, a ballpoint pen was again pointed at his forehead, hovering in mid-air while Schiller's hands were on the wheel. Taking the hint, Strange mimed zipping his mouth shut, signifying his intent to remain silent.

Elsewhere, the young Spider-Man stood guilt-ridden outside the operating room, determined not to let even a fly inside.

Yet, Matt's ex-girlfriend, Erica, managed to sneak up to the operating room's entrance.

Erica wasn't there to kill Matt. On the contrary, she had known about the attackers' plan even before Peter. She had been looking for a chance to warn Matt, but he left in haste, and she only arrived after the incident.

Her relationship with Matt was complex. They were former classmates and lovers, separated by irreconcilable differences. Despite being hired by King Pin to assassinate Matt, she never intended to harm him. However, in a lapse of attention, Matt fell victim to another assailant, making her incredibly anxious.

Coming from a privileged background, Erica was worldly. She recognized the severity of Matt's injuries. She believed that only some mystic force, perhaps the "Beast's" power, might save him.

Using a ninja stealth technique, Erica approached the operating room. She barely acknowledged Peter, the boy who appeared no older than a high school student. After observing him for days, she dismissed him as an unskilled teenager and planned to bypass him.

Unfortunately for her, Peter's Spider-Sense, especially heightened during his anxious state, sensed her approach. As she drew near, Peter's head whipped towards where he felt her presence and he took a swing at her.

Aware of Peter's superhuman strength, Erica didn't dare block his attack directly. However, Peter's untrained move was full of openings. Capitalizing on his imbalance, Erica grabbed his wrist and yanked, causing him to stumble forward. With a quick trip, she had him on the ground. Yet, perhaps his heightened adrenaline amplified Peter's powers, allowing him to spring up and grip Erica from behind.

Both were fueled by desperation and anger. But Erica, trained by The Hand, reacted swiftly. The moment Peter grabbed her, she brandished a knife and slashed him deeply from his shoulder down to his lower rib, nearly splitting him in half.

Overwhelmed by searing pain, Peter's every latent ability seemed to activate. With a surge of strength, he hurled Erica across the corridor, incapacitating her for a while.

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Collapsing, Peter was overwhelmed with pain. The knife not only sliced through his back but also pierced his lung. Each breath he took filled his throat with blood.

This was an unprecedented pain for Peter, who, until this incident, only knew the pain of a mere beating. Now, with his back almost pierced and a lung injured, each breath was a torment. Tears welled up involuntarily as he realized that even heroes bleed and feel pain. His healing abilities provided some relief, and through blurred vision, he glimpsed the incapacitated Daredevil inside the operating room.

Daredevil, though awake, was paralyzed. Without the healing abilities Peter possessed, he was on the brink of death.

Guilt and self-blame consumed Peter. A regular man, with no superpowers, had risked his life for him, but when Peter overheard the criminals' plot, he selfishly left, resulting in dire consequences for his heroic friend, Daredevil.

Suddenly, everything became intensified for Peter. His Spider-Sense was buzzing, and the world took on a different hue. Although Erica had vanished using her stealth technique, Peter's red-rimmed eyes locked onto her exact location.

In a split second, the previously clumsy boy was gone, replaced by a force that slammed Erica into a wall. Gasping and bleeding, she invoked her stealth technique to escape. When Schiller returned to the hospital, he found Peter seated against a nearly shattered wall, eyes bloodshot.

Strange entered the operating room as night fell completely. Schiller faced Spider-Man and remarked, "Peter. I never imagined our meeting would be under such circumstances."

Peter, still reeling, didn't catch Schiller's implication. Schiller elaborated, squatting to Peter's level, "I apologize for not being there for your check-up. As you can see, I no longer work at this hospital."

Peter's memories jogged, recalling the doctor he'd chatted with online. "It's you," he whispered, "the doctor."

Schiller nodded. "Yes, it's me."

Peter looked down, guilt evident. "I must've disappointed you. I'm not as good as I seemed during our chats. I did a lot of wrong things and almost killed my friends."

Schiller said, "I believe you've come to understand some things."

"Yes, yes," Peter replied hoarsely, "I understand the biggest reason is that getting hurt really hurts."

"It does hurt, but he still chooses to do it," Peter continued in a hushed tone, "he's a Hero, and I'm not. Maybe I'll never become one..."

Schiller's voice remained calm, devoid of any hint of blame. He simply said, "Perhaps you've come to realize that in this world, if capable individuals don't step up to save others, there won't be anyone to save you either."

"Maybe you think life isn't good right now, but even in this kind of life, it's built by people willing to sacrifice for you."

"Even lives as destitute as those of beggars, Daredevil cleans up the streets before they can have them."

"Peter, perhaps I shouldn't be the one to say this, but it seems I'm the only one who can do it now," Schiller remarked.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Spider-Man fell silent, closing his eyes.

In the early hours of the morning, at its darkest, Strange removed his gloves and stepped out of the operating room. He said, "Congratulations, the surgery was a success. There's an eighty percent chance his nerves will fully recover."

Upon hearing these words, Peter finally let out a roar, as if he wanted to release all the pent-up emotions in his chest. He jumped out of the window, scaled the building's walls, and swiftly made his way to the rooftop, where he began leaping across the rooftops of New York City.

At that moment, he saw the golden-red Mech armor, as if it were leading him somewhere, constantly circling around him. Peter followed the Mech armor, and they leaped and sprinted all the way to the top of the New York City television tower.

Both of them stood at the pinnacle of the New York City television tower.

Peter desperately wanted to shout, but he couldn't make a sound. All his emotions were bottled up inside him, and he felt like he was going crazy.

Stark's face mask lifted, and Peter saw his face, saying with some surprise, "You're Stark! Iron Man is Stark!"

"It's not that surprising, child. Besides the owner of Stark Industries, who else could develop such Mech armor?" Stark replied.

"But the news said you were kidnapped and taken to Afghanistan."

"Yes, but do you want to know how I escaped?"

Peter looked at him, and Stark continued, "I created an energy core and implanted it here." Stark pointed to his chest.

"There's still an Arc Reactor here."

"In a cave in Afghanistan, I cut open my own chest and shoved a piece of metal inside. My own blood soaked my pants."

Just imagining that scene made Peter feel a dull pain in his chest. He asked, "That must have been incredibly painful, right?"

"Of course, it was excruciating," Stark said, trying to sound nonchalant, but Peter could hear a hint of trembling in his tone, as if he didn't want to recall that day.

"You have to open your chest with a not-so-sharp bone knife and sew wires into your flesh."

Peter shivered at the thought.

He had never imagined that Stark, who always appeared in the news as a playboy, this seemingly privileged billionaire, had such a painful past. He had shed a lot of blood and endured pains that were nearly unbearable for an ordinary person.

"Although I like to call myself a genius, I am very aware that if a bullet hits me, I will bleed a lot. If shrapnel shreds my heart, I will die. If I lose a leg, I won't be able to walk either."

"But I've done a lot, and there are risks involved. Am I seeking thrills?" Stark asked.

"I'm the richest person in the world, and I have the power that the vast majority of people on this planet don't have. I have absolutely no need to wear my expensive Mech armor and save ordinary people who can't even afford a single screw from me, let alone take on such great risks."

Spider-Man closed his eyes and fell silent for a moment before he said, "With great power comes great responsibility, right?"

Stark didn't answer; he simply pointed to his heart.

And Peter understood his meaning. He felt that his heart had already given him the answer.

Facing the dawn of New York City, Peter and Stark stood at the top of the television tower, watching as a golden light broke through the clouds, casting a radiant glow over all the buildings in New York.

From this day forward, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, understood one thing:

Heroes are just ordinary people. They feel pain, get hurt, bleed, feel lonely, and lost, just like everyone else. The only thing that sets them apart from ordinary people on the ground is their sense of responsibility, and an unwavering determination to uphold justice, even unto death.

No one is born with the ability to withstand such intense pain. As they move forward in the darkness, they forge the painful experiences into a sturdy armor for their bodies. And when the day breaks, they use this armor to save the world.

Spider-Man stood up from the iron scaffolding of the television tower for the first time, not yet wearing his Spider-Man suit, not yet as tall and strong, but his soul stood tall and proud. The surging emotions within him turned into a source of strength that spread throughout his body.

Facing the first rays of sunlight, he thought, "It's a new day."

It was time to save the world.