21: Chapter 21 Replicas

"He's incredibly smart; sometimes I feel like I can't even keep up with his shadow. He's brave, very loyal, and..." Black Cat paused, her voice softening, "he's a great kisser."

Peter narrowed his eyes beneath his mask. "Since you like him so much, why don't you just ask him out?"

Black Cat looked at him for two seconds, then suddenly laughed. "Maybe I will try."

She turned and leaped toward the roof of another building, vanishing into the night after a few bounds.

Peter stood on the rooftop, watching the direction where the silver hair had disappeared.

For a girl with no superpowers, her parkour skills were quite astonishing.

Collecting his thoughts, Peter descended to the ruins and retrieved all the packaged parts from the sewer. Two Navy drone forearms, a piece of Army drone wreckage, two deactivated Arc Reactors, and a propulsion leg whose model he couldn't identify. There wasn't much, but it was enough.

When he snuck back into the Underground Room, the whole family was fast asleep.

Peter placed the reactor on the workbench. He needed to understand how this thing worked. Two facts were currently known: first, it contained radioactive material—the reactor in Tony Stark's chest was ironclad proof that it was slowly poisoning him; second, it could output an extremely high amount of energy.

The dismantling work continued until four in the morning.

The process of slowly figuring it out was like putting together an extremely complex puzzle.

The core principle was that the decay of radioactive material released charged particles, and magnetic fields constrained these particles, causing them to collide at high speeds within a circular orbit. High-speed particle collisions indicated high energy release, and the magnetic field bending the particles into a circular orbit was equivalent to trapping them in a space to repeatedly collide, ensuring a full reaction.

The collision process released free neutrons and gamma rays. The neutrons re-entered motion within the reactor, changing the magnetic field strength, causing the magnetic field to generate an alternating process within the superconducting coils, ultimately producing a massive AC output.

Peter put down the reactor and rubbed his eyes.

He was exhausted.

He hid his "spoils." The reactor was small, so he stuffed it under a loose floorboard. The drone parts were too big, so they had to be piled into the storage room. Uncle Ben and Aunt May almost never went down to the Underground Room, so it should be safe.

Sunday. Peter didn't crawl out of bed until noon.

He wanted to dive straight back into the Underground Room to continue working, but when he walked into the living room, he found Aunt Anna and Mary Jane sitting there, drinking tea and chatting with Aunt May and Uncle Ben.

"Morning, everyone," he yawned. "Working overtime last night?"

"Oh, the great hero is finally awake," Uncle Ben teased. "What project were you staying up late for this time?"

"Hmm, a new project. I hope to get some results."

Aunt May winked at him. "Peter, take Mary Jane and go have a chat. Anna and the rest of us have things to discuss."

Peter muttered to himself that Aunt May's matchmaking tactics were way too blunt.

But he still obediently took Mary Jane to the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal.

Mary Jane sat beside him, watching him wolf down his food. After a while, she suddenly blurted out, "So, you and Felicia...?"

Peter said vaguely, "It's complicated."

"What do you mean, complicated?"

"She just kissed me," Peter shrugged. "It wasn't part of my plan."

"But you kissed her back!" Mary Jane's voice rose. Aunt May poked her head in from the living room to look, and both of them lowered their heads, pretending to be well-behaved.

Mary Jane lowered her voice and gritted her teeth. "She kisses you, and you just kiss her back?"

"Why not?" Peter said righteously. "It's not like girls are lining up to kiss me every day. Besides, Felicia is pretty cool, don't you think so too?"

"I..." Mary Jane was choked up. "Regardless, you still kissed her."

"Yeah, I kissed her. What, do you want me to kiss you?"

Mary Jane turned her face away, her ears turning red. She said nothing.

Peter sighed and softened his voice. "I'm teasing you, Mary Jane. Sorry."

"It's fine." She shrugged.

His phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Peter, it's Marcus!" The voice on the other end was urgent. "Master Colleen Wing added an extra training session last minute. Are you coming?"

Peter paused. "Today? You didn't say anything beforehand. What time?"

"Can you make it before two?"

"I could, but I..." He glanced at Mary Jane. "Sorry, I have a friend over. Can I make it up next time?"

"Tsk, Master is definitely not going to be happy."

"I know. Tell her I'm sorry."

After hanging up, Mary Jane asked, "Who was that?"

"A friend from the dojo, asking me to train. I turned it down."

"You didn't have to cancel for me."

"It's no big deal," Peter said, washing the bowl. "Want to go upstairs and sit for a while?"

Mary Jane nodded.

After entering the room, she sat on the bed, and Peter pulled up a chair and sat straddling it. After a moment of silence, he asked, "How have things been lately?"

Mary Jane gave a bitter smile. "To be honest, it's been... weird. Friday was so strange. The field trip was going fine, and then suddenly it turned into that scene."

"Do you want to talk about it?"

"What's there to talk about?" She spread her hands. "Robots attacked us, Iron Man flew in to save the day, and you single-handedly ensured that no one on our bus died. That's it."

"I didn't really do anything."

"Peter, you dismantled a drone with your bare hands. If you hadn't called Johnny Storm—and the fact that you even know Johnny Storm—who knows how many people would have died?" Mary Jane stared at him, enunciating every word. "Accept it, Tiger. You're a hero."

Peter laughed. "Thanks, Mary Jane. I'm glad you said that."

"What do you mean, 'I said that'? It's not just me!" Mary Jane became excited. "I was on the phone with Liz Allan all day yesterday. The whole school knows about what you did! Everyone thinks you're a hero! Liz Allan even said half the cheerleading squad is interested in you now!"

Peter blinked. "Interested."

Mary Jane's expression was a bit complex, as if she wanted to say something but swallowed it back.

Seeing this, Peter changed the subject. "Speaking of which, isn't the school play audition on Monday? Are you going?"

Mary Jane was stunned. "You actually remember?"

"Of course I remember. I'm still your friend, right?"

"...Yes, still."

"So? Are you going or not?"

"I'm not sure, Peter. Liz Allan keeps saying it's not a good idea, that rehearsals are long and exhausting."

"Mary Jane, it's exactly because it's long and exhausting that it's worth doing. If it were something that could be finished easily, why would it need to be taken seriously? Is that a reason to give up?"

"But Liz Allan..."

"Liz Allan isn't you. She hasn't even tried, so what right does she have to judge you? Stop bringing up what Liz Allan says. Tell me what you think."

Mary Jane didn't speak for a long while, then finally let out a breath. "You're right."

Peter grinned smugly. "Of course I am."

"Watch it, Tiger. Girls don't think arrogance is a virtue." Mary Jane rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth were already curling up.

"Got it."

Mary Jane's voice lowered again. "Liz Allan says we should focus on the graduation dance, says there isn't much time left to prepare. She and Flash have already decided to go together. I... I'm not sure if I'm going."

Peter raised an eyebrow. "The dance is coming up soon, and you still don't have a date? Didn't Harry Osborn ask you?"

"He did, but..."

"Don't go," Peter said decisively. "Everyone in the Osborn family, every single one of them, is wrong. Harry Osborn might be okay, but his dad is completely crazy."

"How do you know so much?"

"I used to be his best friend. The way Norman Osborn looks at me has always been off, and it's even more obvious now. In his eyes, people are just toys to be collected. I don't want Harry Osborn to look at you with that kind of gaze."

"He wouldn't."

Peter shrugged. "If you say so. How about this: if you end up feeling like Harry Osborn isn't reliable, I'll take you to the dance. How about that?"

"What about Felicia?"

"Her? That woman is complicated. I seriously doubt she likes me at all, let alone going to some dance with me." Peter knew full well that Felicia was interested in him, but that Black Cat was too stubborn to say it outright, so he didn't find it convenient to expose her. "So? Do you want to go with me?"

Mary Jane blinked, the corners of her mouth curling up bit by bit. "How about this: you go talk to Felicia, and I'll go clear things up with Harry Osborn. If neither of us can sort out our own mess, we'll go together. Deal?"

"Deal," Peter laughed. "Also, about the audition, do you need to rehearse lines? What are they performing this year?"

"A Midsummer Night's Dream. I want to play Helena."

Peter thought to himself: From love letters to plays, you're certainly consistent. A woman who falls for a man who has no interest in her. Oh, Mary Jane, your hints are not hints at all.

But out loud, he said, "Sure. I'll download a PDF on my phone and practice with you."

Mary Jane's eyes lit up.

They rehearsed until dark. Aunt Anna didn't seem to be in a rush for Mary Jane to go back, so she stayed for dinner. At the table, Uncle Ben told a few dad jokes, Aunt May cooked a meal that was richer than usual, and Mary Jane sat next to Peter, eating happily.

Peter felt this was the most comfortable day he'd had in a while. It was rare not to have to keep his guard up, rare to be able to talk properly to someone without feeling exhausted.

After night fell, he returned to the Underground Room and continued to gnaw at the Arc Reactor. By the early hours of the morning, he was confident he could replicate one at any time; at least, there were no blind spots in terms of the principles.

Then he got bored.

So, he brought out the propulsion leg of unknown model and began to dismantle the propulsion system.

The structure was so intricate it was astounding. The core of the thruster was concentrated muon particles. A muon is a fundamental particle with properties similar to an electron but with much higher mass density. By adjusting the density, it could be used as a thruster for flight, or the density could be increased to serve as a physical weapon.

This repulsion technology was simply mind-boggling.

The more Peter dismantled it, the more impressed he became. This was clearly a copy of Tony Stark's technology. He had learned so much just from reverse-engineering a replica; imagine if he could dismantle an original.

He put away the propulsion leg and went upstairs to his bedroom, his eyelids fighting to stay open from exhaustion.

As he took off his T-shirt and prepared to lie down, a low whistle came from behind him.

"Looking good, Mr. Parker. You look skinny, but you've actually got quite a build under those clothes."