"Hey, what's the big deal, Peter? Judging from your voice, you're still pretty young, right?" Ant-Man kept prying, trying to get Peter to talk.
Peter didn't answer.
His heightened senses caught something far in the sky—a sudden BOOM and a plume of smoke.
A small black dot was falling diagonally toward the ground.
There were only four people up there:
1. Captain America and the Winter Soldier in the Quinjet.
2. Iron Man.
3. War Machine.
4. Falcon.
Who got hit?
From that altitude, a fall like that…
Peter stared, frozen.
Ant-Man finished speaking and finally noticed the silence. He followed Peter's gaze, but without special gear, his normal human eyesight couldn't see that far.
"What is it, Peter?"
"Someone just got hit."
Ant-Man's expression shifted, turning serious. "That's bad."
Moments later, Peter's phone rang—it was Tony.
On the call, Tony told him that Rhodey's suit had been hit in the reactor, and he'd fallen from a kilometer up. They were rushing him to the hospital for emergency treatment.
As for Peter, Tony told him to head back to the hotel and find Happy. Once things were over, he and Happy would take him back to Queens. Until then, he could explore Berlin.
Ant-Man wasn't so lucky. As a "war criminal," he was being extradited back to the U.S. with Falcon to stand trial.
Peter actually liked the guy—he was just as much of a chatterbox as himself—and he couldn't help worrying about him.
Ant-Man, on the other hand, didn't care.
"Eh, I was a criminal before. Now I got to fight alongside superheroes. If I've gotta be judged, I'll take it. At least this time, the charges are way more high-class."
Yep. Born optimist.
---
Peter returned to the hotel, showered, changed clothes, and said hello to Happy.
Happy took him straight to the hospital where Tony was.
By the time they arrived, Rhodey was already in surgery. Peter only saw Tony and Natasha.
It looked like they had just argued.
Natasha passed by without stopping. Happy greeted her, but she only gave him a glance before walking out.
"Mr. Stark, your hand—" Peter began.
Happy was sent off to buy something—apparently, Tony wanted a private word.
Tony waved it off. "Just a sprain. It'll heal."
"And Colonel Rhodes…?"
Tony's face tightened, but he forced a smile. "Doctor says he's got multiple fractures in his lumbar and sacral spine. Severe spinal cord damage. He might never walk again."
Peter's expression darkened.
"Being a so-called superhero sometimes means paying this kind of price. You scared yet?" Tony asked.
Peter shook his head. "This world has light and shadow. People live in the light… because someone's willing to walk in the dark."
Tony blinked, his eyes shifting. Then he laughed, ruffling Peter's hair into a mess.
"You little punk—how can you be this young and still carry that much responsibility?"
Peter shook his head hard to escape. "I'm serious!"
"Ha." Tony leaned on the railing, gazing out the window. "It's good you think that way. But remember—don't let the darkness swallow you."
Peter nodded silently.
Beep-beep.
Tony's smartwatch pinged with a video from the Berlin police.
He glanced at it, then quickly covered the screen before Peter could see.
"Mr. Stark, is there anything you need me to do?"
Tony shook his head. "No. You've done plenty. Walk around Berlin, relax. When I'm done, I'll take you home."
"…Alright." Peter lowered his head, a little disappointed.
Tony patted his shoulder. "Go get some rest."
As Peter walked away, Tony murmured, "As long as us old guys are still around, there's no way I'm letting you become the one who walks in the dark."
He looked at his watch again. "Friday, get me a helicopter. I'm going to the Raft."
"Yes, sir."
---
When Happy returned, Peter went back to the hotel with him.
But instead of sightseeing, he spent the time replaying the fight in his head, analyzing mistakes and lessons.
Strictly speaking, this wasn't a full-scale battle—apart from the accident with War Machine, neither side took heavy damage.
Still, there was plenty to learn.
And fighting superheroes was something else entirely.
He'd gained a lot. And honestly, he hadn't done badly—at least enough to justify the expensive suit Tony gave him.
Still, he had the feeling there were features he hadn't discovered yet.
Now that he had the time, he started exploring the suit. Soon, he found a hidden switch.
"Hi, Peter. Ready to start today's training?" a voice suddenly said.
"Uh—who are you?"
"I'm your suit's AI assistant. I don't have a name yet. Maybe you can give me one?"
"An AI assistant—like Mr. Stark's JARVIS?" Peter asked, excited.
"You could say that."
"Alright, let's see… how about… Karen?"
"Karen works. As long as it makes you happy."
"Hey, Karen—what else can this suit do?"
"There's a training protocol built in. You can follow a custom schedule to master every feature."
"Training protocol? I'm more curious about all the features now."
"You'll learn them during training."
"Okay, fine. Then let's start with web-shooting."
"Switching to web combinations mode. There are 576 scientifically designed web combinations. Which one would you like to learn first?"
"…What?!"
—End of chapter—
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