As night fell, Spider-Man squatted on the edge of the building, looking down at the alley below. In the alley, three teenagers in red and black sportswear were beating up a small group of gangsters. Their masks were sewn crookedly Twisted, deliberately imitating the appearance of Spider-Man, with a twisted black Spider painted on his chest with spray paint. Everyone held a hard object in their hands and beat the gangsters until they cried for their fathers and mothers.
Peter knew that he should jump down immediately to stop them. But he relied on the shadow and did not move. There were more and more of these imitators, and they became more and more reckless every day. But the three in front of him seemed to be somewhat real.
He watched quietly as they knocked down the gangsters. The biggest one punched an unlucky guy on the chin, threw the unconscious guy into the arms of his companions, and yelled, "We don't need people like you here! Spread the word - this territory is covered by 'Web Warriors'!"
The gangsters picked up their companions and crawled to the ground to escape. The three teenagers high-fived and cheered, as if they had won the total Champion.
Peter sighed, it seemed it was time to show up.
"What do you think you are doing?" he asked as he climbed down from the outer wall of the building.
"Spider-Man?!" A young man screamed, and the three of them turned to look at him.
"Oh my god, it's really you." The big man in the lead stepped forward with a dreamy look on his face, "Hi - my name is Chad, sir. It's such an honor to meet you."
Peter narrowed his eyes. "Did you just tell me your real name?"
"Uh--yeah, I mean--"
"Shut up." Peter fell lightly from the wall and stood in front of them. The three of them were shocked by the sharp movement, but he only stared at Chad, "Never tell anyone your real name. This is the purpose of wearing a mask."
"Yes, sir." Chad nodded hurriedly.
"Also, don't call me sir." Peter scanned them one by one, "I just saw you guys doing it... it's not bad."
"Yeah!" they cheered.
"That's why I'm giving you a chance, stop playing me and go home." He warned, "You don't want to embark on this road, believe me."
"What do you mean? You clearly said that we performed great!" Chad was unconvinced.
"If you want to fight crime, fine." Peter raised his hand and shot a Silk that stuck to the roof, "But don't do it with my name or my logo. I don't want your blood to be splashed on my hands."
"Why do you--" Chad's voice was full of hurt anger.
"It's very simple, I'm not wearing hockey protective gear." After Peter said that, he jumped up and Silk disappeared into the night, leaving the group of imitators angry and confused.
Peter knew he should have just ordered them not to do this again, but that would have made him a hypocrite. At least a few of them looked like adults - able to make their own choices. He just didn't want them to die trying to imitate him.
He wandered around the city for a while, stopped several robberies, and intercepted a car chase near Harlem. Late at night, he was about to go home when he suddenly saw something flying straight towards him in the night sky.
He recognized the armor at a glance, so he turned over and landed on the roof of a building to wait.
Tony·Stark landed slowly, wearing a brand new, larger and redder armor. When the visor was lifted, his face looked tired. Peter whistled. "Wow Tony, the new clothes are good."
"Thanks, it took me a while." Tony turned off the thruster and sat down next to him. The two of them looked at the brightly lit city together.
"It's pretty quiet tonight." Peter said.
"Can this city be quiet?"
"Yes," Peter nodded, "You've seen it when it's most noisy. On nights like this, it's like nothing happened." He tilted his head to look at Tony, and caught a hint of fear on the tip of his nose - not the fear of being attacked, but something more subtle, like the residue of a memory. He thought for a moment before speaking, "How are you doing lately?"
"What do you mean?"
"I can detect post-traumatic stress disorder at a glance, Tony. You can lie to Pepper, you can fool everyone, but you can't fool me." Peter's tone was a bit direct, but he had to make Tony face the problem.
Tony was silent for a moment and admitted in a low voice. "I... am getting better. I keep coming up with new ideas in my mind, and tinkering with inventions can help me concentrate."
"That's good." Peter nodded, "If you want to talk to someone, I'm always here."
"Shouldn't it be me, an adult, who should say this to you?"
Peter laughed out loud, "Yes, of course."
After chatting for a while, Tony asked about his summer vacation experience.
"It was okay. I had a fight with an alien army, which was pretty cool. Oh, and I also got an old car that my dad left behind. It was a pile of scrap metal, but I still made it move."
Tony raised his eyebrows. "That's right. My father never gave me anything before. Fatherly love is a rare thing."
"You've never received a gift?" Peter was a little surprised.
"It doesn't matter if it's a birthday or anything else." Tony shrugged, "He always said that I have to earn it myself instead of just reaching out and taking it."
"Sounds like a pretty complicated man."
"He's just an asshole."
"I think my dad is more stupid." Peter chuckled.
"How to say?"
Peter looked at Tony. He knew many things about this man, but the most certain thing was that Tony was loyal to the people he cared about. He believed that he was one of them. So he took a deep breath and confessed. "My superpowers are because he experimented on me when I was a baby."
Tony's eyes suddenly turned cold. "What?"
"He is a genius, and his research direction is related to Captain America's Super Soldier Serum. I don't know the details, but he manipulated my blood to make it... more special. I don't know what he did to me, but I am like this because of him."
"Fuck." Tony spat out one word, anger surged on his face, and then turned into deep pity, "Peter, I'm so sorry... such a bad thing happened to you."
Peter shrugged. "Forget it, don't worry about it. It's because of him that I became a superhero. Consider him a good thing."
"He experimented on his own children--"
"--I guessed it," Peter interrupted, "I'm not sure."
Tony looked at him intently, and finally sighed, "Then go and find out."
Peter was startled, then nodded. "Well, I think so too." He owed the original Peter the truth. That guy must want to find out what happened. He took off his hood and revealed his face. "Can you help me?"
Tony looked at him. "What do you need?"
"I checked his information on Baxter Building and Susan, but apart from graduating from college and getting a doctorate, I couldn't find anything he did after graduation. There was no record at all, just blank. I just thought, if you are free--"
"Hack into S.H.I.E.L.D.'s database and use their resources to search for your father without letting Fury or anyone else notice?" Tony grinned, "Of course you can."