“Aw, what’s the big deal, Peter?
Judging by your voice, you can’t be that old, right?” Ant-Man pressed on, continuing to fish for details about Peter’s background.
Peter, however, gave him no reply.
Sensing a flicker of disturbance with insights far sharper than an ordinary person’s, he noticed what appeared to be an explosion far off in the distant sky.
A dark speck tumbled obliquely from the clouds, plunging rapidly toward the earth.
There had only been four participants in the aerial battle.
First was the Quinjet piloted by Cap and the Winter Soldier.
Second was Iron Man, third was War Machine, and fourth was Falcon.
Who had been hit?
Falling from that kind of altitude, whoever it was…
Peter stared blankly into the distance.
Ant-Man finished his ramblings, only to realize Peter hadn’t responded at all.
Following Peter’s gaze into the far distance, Scott—lacking gear and possessing only average human eyesight—couldn’t see anywhere near that far.
“What’s wrong, Peter?” Peter muttered, “Someone got shot down.” Ant-Man froze, his expression turning instantly somber.
“That’s real bad…” …
A short while later, Peter received a call from Iron Man.
Over the phone, Stark informed him that Rhodey’s suit had taken a direct hit to its power core, sending him falling from thousands of feet in the air.
They were currently rushing Rhodey to the hospital for emergency surgery.
As for Peter’s arrangements, Stark told him to head back to the hotel and meet up with Happy; once everything wrapped up, he and Happy would escort Peter back to Queens together.
In the meantime, Peter was free to explore Berlin a bit.
Ant-Man, naturally, wasn’t so fortunate.
Classified as a “war criminal,” he and Falcon would both be extradited back to the United States to stand trial.
Peter had developed a bit of a soft spot for this fellow blabbermouth, expressing some concern over his upcoming legal trouble.
Ant-Man, on the other hand, couldn’t care less.
He reasoned that he used to be a criminal anyway—getting to take part in a clash of superheroes and standing trial for this was something he could wear like a badge.
At the very least, the reason behind this arrest sounded far more grand than his past charges.
Well, the guy was an incurable optimist.
…
Returning to the hotel, Peter took a shower, changed into fresh clothes, and checked in with Happy.
Happy then drove him straight over to the hospital where Iron Man and the others were staying.
By the time they arrived, Rhodey had already been wheeled into the emergency operating room.
Peter only caught sight of Iron Man and Black Widow.
The two seemed to have just gotten into a heated argument.
As Black Widow brushed past them, Happy offered a quiet greeting, but Nat only spared him a single glance before walking away without turning back.
“Mr.
Stark, your arm…” Peter walked over to Iron Man’s side, asking softly.
Happy had been sent off by Stark to pick up a few items, clearly leaving the room so Stark could speak with Peter alone.
Iron Man gestured casually.
“It’s fine.
Just a slight sprain—it’ll heal in no time.” “And…
Colonel Rhodey?” Stark glanced at him, forcing a strained, bitter smile onto his exhausted face.
“The doctors say he suffered comminuted fractures across his lumbar and sacral vertebrae, along with a severe spinal cord tear.
There’s a high chance he’ll be paralyzed.” Peter’s face darkened.
“Becoming what people call a superhero…
this is the kind of price you might have to pay.
Are you scared?” Iron Man asked, looking Peter in the eye.
Peter shook his head.
“The world has light, and it has darkness.
If people are going to live under the light, someone has to walk in the dark.” Iron Man blinked in mild shock, his gaze shifting as he looked at the boy in a completely new light.
A moment later, he burst into a laugh, reaching out to mess up Peter’s hair into a messy mop.
“You little kid…
you’re not even that old, where’d you get such a heavy sense of responsibility?” Peter shook his head vigorously, dodging out from under Iron Man’s hand.
“I’m being serious!” “Ha~” Stark pulled his hand back, leaning over the balcony railing as his eyes drifted into the distance.
“It’s good that you think that way, but remember—don’t let the darkness consume you.” Peter nodded silently, keeping his thoughts to himself.
*Beep-beep.* A notification popped up on the smartwatch on Stark’s wrist, displaying a short video clip forwarded directly from the Berlin police department.
With just a brief glance, Stark immediately covered the screen, cutting off Peter’s curious look.
“Mr.
Stark, is there anything you need me to do?” Iron Man shook his head.
“No, you’ve done more than enough.
Go wander around Berlin and see the sights.
Once I finish wrapping things up here, I’ll take you back home.” “Alright…” Peter lowered his head, a slight tinge of disappointment in his voice.
Stark patted his shoulder.
“Go on, head back and get some rest.” As Peter turned and walked away, Stark watched his retreating back, murmuring softly to himself, “With us old guys still around, it’s not your turn to play the dark knight just yet…” With that, he glanced down at the message on his watch once more and called out to Friday, “Get me a helicopter.
I need to make a trip to the Raft.” “Right away, sir.” …
Once Happy returned with the supplies, Peter headed back to the hotel with him.
Rather than going out to tour Berlin as Iron Man suggested, however, Peter spent his time reflecting on the battle, picking apart every detail to absorb the valuable lessons learned.
Though strictly speaking, this hadn’t been a full-blown life-or-death battle—and aside from the tragic accident that sent War Machine crashing, neither side had inflicted any real, lasting harm on the other—it still offered a wealth of combat experience.
Facing off against real superheroes had impacted him immensely.
He had gained an incredible amount from the clash.
Plus, his track record wasn’t bad at all—he had at least proved himself worthy of the insanely expensive suit Iron Man gifted him.
That said, he felt the suit still contained a few areas for improvement…
or rather, features he hadn’t yet discovered.
Earlier, everything had been so rushed that he hadn’t had the chance to inspect it thoroughly.
Now that he had downtime, he was determined to figure it out.
Before long, he found a toggle switch hidden on the suit.
“Hi, Peter.
Are you ready to begin today’s training?” a voice suddenly spoke up inside the mask.
“Ah!” Peter looked around frantically.
“Who’s that?
Who’re you?” “I am the artificial intelligence assistant built into your Spider-Suit.
I do not currently have a name—perhaps you would like to give me one?” the voice replied.
“An AI assistant?!
You mean…
like Mr.
Stark’s Jarvis?” Peter exclaimed in delight.
“You could put it that way,” the AI assistant affirmed.
“Awesome, awesome!
Hmm, if I’m picking a name…
how about Karen?” Peter suggested.
“That works.
You may call me Karen.
Whatever makes you happy,” Karen replied smoothly.
Peter asked, “Hey Karen, what other features does this suit have?” Karen answered, “There is a training protocol embedded in the suit.
You can set up a tailored training regimen, which will help you master all of the suit’s features as soon as possible.” “A training protocol?
Uh, actually, I’m more curious about what ‘all of the suit’s features’ actually means,” Peter admitted.
“You can gradually learn about them throughout the training process,” Karen noted.
“Alright, alright…
then I’d like to learn about the web-shooting combinations first.” “Understood.
Switching to Web-Shooter Combinations.
There are 576 scientific web-shooting combination modes available.
Which one would you like to start with?” “Huh???”