Heroes Are Also Mortal (Part 2)

Strange swallowed, looking at Schiller's gray eyes. He really didn't have the guts to refuse. After all, anyone who wasn't an idiot could tell that Schiller was no ordinary person.

Strange was pulled into the car, but he still said, "I have to tell you first, I'm a doctor, not God. If your friend is already dead, no matter how you threaten me, I can't revive him."

Schiller drove with a blank expression and said, "We're both doctors. I know that better than you. I came to you because I'm sure you can save him."

Strange breathed a sigh of relief but still frowned, stubbornly saying, "You're just a psychiatrist. You'd better not jump to conclusions about neurosurgery."

Before he could finish speaking, he saw a ballpoint pen placed against his forehead again. Schiller's hands were both on the steering wheel, yet the pen floated there quietly. Strange made a zipping motion across his lips, indicating he would absolutely not speak anymore.

Meanwhile, Spider-Man stood outside the operating room, consumed by immense guilt and self-blame. He didn't even want a fly to get in.

But as fate would have it, Matt's ex-girlfriend, Elektra, had also snuck her way to the operating room door.

Elektra wasn't there to kill Matt. Quite the opposite, she had learned about the group's plan even before Peter. She had been looking for an opportunity to tell Matt, but Matt had left too quickly, and Elektra only arrived after the incident.

Her feelings for Matt were complicated. They had been classmates and lovers, but they broke up due to irreconcilable differences. Elektra had accepted Kingpin's commission to assassinate Matt this time, but she had held back at every turn, never intending to kill Matt. Yet, the result was that Matt had been ambushed by others while she wasn't watching. How could she not be anxious?

Elektra came from a wealthy family and wasn't inexperienced. She knew Matt's injuries were severe and his condition was critical. Without the aid of some mystical power, he likely wouldn't survive. She had to act. Perhaps only the power of "The Beast" could possibly save Matt's life.

Elektra used a ninja's stealth technique to approach the operating room door. She didn't pay any attention to the high schooler-like figure standing there. After a few days of observation, she knew Peter was just a high school student who knew no fighting skills. Elektra planned to bypass him and go straight in.

Coincidentally, Peter possessed spider-like abilities, the most crucial of which was his Spider-Sense. He was highly tense at the moment, and his Spider-Sense was several times more sensitive than usual. As soon as Elektra approached, Peter turned and stared intently at the empty air in the corner. He sensed someone there. He threw a punch, aiming for Elektra.

Elektra knew Peter's strength was unusual and didn't dare to block the attack directly. However, Peter's movements were full of flaws. He hadn't received professional training, leaning too far forward with his upper body when punching and not separating his legs, failing to stabilize his center of gravity. Elektra's arm wrapped around Peter's wrist, pulling him forward. Peter instantly lost his balance and stumbled forward.

Elektra tripped Peter with her foot, and he fell. But perhaps the anxiety in his mind triggered Peter's use of his abilities. The moment he landed, he sprang up, gripping Elektra's lower back tightly with his arm.

Elektra was also very anxious, and both of them were on edge. But Elektra, after all, was a female assassin trained by the Hand. The moment Peter grabbed her, she swung her other hand, holding a short knife, fiercely backward.

The short knife, carrying a blast of energy, slashed from Peter's shoulder down to just below his last rib, nearly slicing off half his body.

In an instant, an overwhelming and unbearable pain consumed Peter, pushing him to his limits. With a surge of strength, Elektra was directly flung away, falling to the other end of the corridor and unable to get up for a long time.

Peter also slumped down, feeling as though he was dying. The short knife had not only cut open half his back, but the energy blast had also penetrated his lung. Now, every breath he took brought blood up his trachea.

Peter had never felt such pain before. The immense agony of his back muscles tearing almost made him pass out.

He was just a high school student. The greatest pain he had experienced in his life was being punched a few times a few days ago. Compared to his current wound, it was like night and day.

His entire back was almost pierced through, and his lung was injured, causing his breath to carry a bloody scent. Every inhale was accompanied by immense pain. Peter's tears flowed involuntarily, and he let out pained groans from his throat.

He suddenly realized that heroes could also get hurt and bleed.

And heroes hurt terribly when injured, and it didn't get any better. It wouldn't be spared just because he had special abilities.

His self-healing ability made him feel slightly better within a few breaths. He glanced hazily at the operating room. Through the frosted glass, he could see Daredevil lying there.

Daredevil had his head tilted, his eyes open. He was conscious but couldn't move.

Peter knew Daredevil didn't have self-healing abilities. He was dying.

He was just a blind man who knew martial arts. Now his entire spine was broken. He must be in terrible pain, more pain than Peter, but he couldn't make a sound.

Peter felt terror and despair, a bitter sadness and anger for the fragile life of a hero. More importantly, immense guilt and self-blame overwhelmed him.

An ordinary person without superpowers had saved him from the underground boxing ring, but when he overheard the criminals' plotting, he had felt it wasn't his business and left, causing his friend, a true hero, to suffer such great pain, even to the point of near death.

Matt was the real hero, and he wasn't.

This intense emotion made his Spider-Sense buzz. In an instant, Peter's spider abilities were amplified to their maximum. That fierce emotion surged within him, and in his eyes, the entire world transformed.

Elektra instantly activated her stealth technique, hiding herself. But Peter's eyes were red, and in an instant, he pinpointed her location.

The clumsy boy from before had almost instantly vanished. Then, a tremendous force slammed Elektra into the wall. She spat out a mouthful of blood and used her last ounce of strength to activate her stealth technique to escape. Meanwhile, Schiller, who had returned to the hospital, saw Peter sitting there, eyes red, beneath a wall on the verge of collapse.

Strange entered the operating room. By now, it was completely dark. Schiller stood opposite Spider-Man.

"Peter. I never expected our meeting would be under these circumstances," Schiller said.

Peter was a bit slow to react now. He didn't understand what Schiller meant. Schiller crouched down and looked into Peter's eyes, saying, "I'm sorry I wasn't with you during that physical examination. As you can see, I no longer work at this hospital."

Peter's mind cleared a bit. He said, "It was you. You're that doctor."

Evidently, he remembered the doctor who had been chatting with him online.

Schiller said, "Yes, it was me."

Peter lowered his head in silence and said, "I must have disappointed you. I'm not as good as I showed when we chatted. I've made so many mistakes and almost got my friend killed."

Schiller said, "I think you've understood some things."

"Yes, yes..." Peter said hoarsely, "I understand the biggest lesson: getting hurt really hurts."

"It hurts so much, yet he still goes and does it," Peter murmured. "He's a hero, and I'm not. Maybe I'll never become a hero..."

Schiller's voice remained calm. Peter couldn't detect any blame in his tone. He simply said peacefully, "Perhaps you've realized that if people with abilities in this world don't save others, then no one will save you."

"Perhaps you think your current life is terrible, but even this terrible life has been built for you by those willing to make sacrifices."

"Even that beggar-like life is only possible after Daredevil cleared the thugs from that street."

"Peter. Perhaps this isn't my place to say, but now, only I can say it for you," Schiller said.

"With great power comes great responsibility."

Spider-Man closed his eyes in silence.

Just before dawn, in the darkest hour, Strange walked out of the operating room, removing his gloves. "Congratulations, the surgery was very successful. There's an eighty percent chance his nerves will fully recover."

After hearing that, Peter finally let out a roar, as if wanting to vent all the emotions pent up in his chest. He jumped directly from the window, crawled down the building's wall at high speed, and then began to rapidly traverse the rooftops of New York City.

At this moment, he saw the golden-red mecha again. It seemed to be luring him somewhere, constantly circling around him. Peter followed the mecha, and together they leaped and raced to the top of the New York TV Tower.

The two stood at the very peak of the New York TV Tower.

Peter desperately wanted to roar, but not a sound came out. All his emotions were bottled up in his chest; he was going mad.

Stark's faceplate lifted, and Peter saw his face. He said with some surprise, "You're Stark! Iron Man is Stark!"

"There's no need to be surprised, kid. Besides the owner of Stark Industries, who else could develop this kind of mecha?" Stark said.

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

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

Peter looked at him, and Stark said, "I built an energy core and installed it here." Stark pointed to his chest.

"There's still an Arc Reactor here now."

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

Just imagining the scene made Peter's chest ache faintly. He said, "That must have felt terrible, right?"

"Of course, it hurt a lot," Stark said, feigning casualness, but Peter could hear a tremor in his voice, as if he also didn't want to recall that day.

"You have to cut open your chest cavity with a bone knife that isn't very sharp, and then sew the wires into your flesh."

Peter felt a chill run down his spine.

He truly hadn't expected that Stark, who always appeared as a playboy in the news, this seemingly incredibly wealthy and carefree magnate, had also experienced such a tragic past. He had also bled a lot and endured pain that ordinary people could hardly resist.

"Although I always like to call myself a genius, I am very clear-headed. I know that if I were hit by a bullet, I would definitely bleed a lot. If shrapnel shredded my heart, I would definitely die. If I lost a leg, I wouldn't be able to walk."

"But I've done a lot of work that carries such risks. Am I doing it for the thrill?" Stark said.

"I am the richest person in this world and possess the power that most people in the world don't have. There is absolutely no reason for me to wear my expensive mecha and save ordinary people whose monthly salary can't even buy a single screw on me, let alone take such great risks."

Spider-Man closed his eyes and, after a moment of silence, said, "...With great power comes great responsibility, right?"

Stark didn't answer. He just pointed to his heart.

Peter already understood his meaning. He thought he had already received his answer in his heart.

Facing the morning sun of New York City, Peter and Stark stood at the very top of the TV tower, watching that golden radiance cut through the clouds, bathing all of New York's buildings in brilliant gold.

From this day forward, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, understood a truth—

So-called heroes are also mortals. They feel pain, get hurt, bleed, feel lonely and lost. The only difference between them and the ordinary people on the ground is that they have a sense of responsibility that ordinary people lack, and a great determination to uphold justice until death.

No one in this world is born able to withstand such intense pain. As they move forward in the darkness, they condense their blood and bones, etched with suffering, into the solid armor on their bodies. And when dawn breaks, they use this tough skeleton to save the world.

For the first time, Spider-Man stood up from the iron frame of the TV tower. He hadn't put on the Spider-Man suit yet; he wasn't as tall or strong. But his soul stood up, becoming straight and tall. The surging emotions in his chest turned into a kind of strength, spreading from his wounds to his entire body.

Facing the first ray of dawn, he thought, dawn has broken—

It's time to save the world.

When I encounter a complete plot, I will update it all at once and won't hold back.