57: Chapter 57 Urgent Notice

I don't know how much time had passed.

Peter woke up on a hospital bed. His helmet had been removed, and his suit was open, revealing his chest wrapped in bandages.

He groaned as he sat up. How long had he been unconscious?

"Be careful, Peter." He heard someone speak. He turned his head and saw a bruised and battered Natasha sitting between his bed and another bed, where the unconscious Hawkeye lay. Peter blinked. Oh no, how much of the plot had he slept through!

"What happened?" he asked immediately.

Natasha sighed and began to explain.

The plot was basically unchanged, only some minor details were different. Tony was furious about Thor knocking him unconscious; although Thor had apologized, Tony wouldn't listen to a word of it. Then everything went as usual: Loki escaped, S.H.I.E.L.D. suffered heavy losses, and the Avengers fell apart.

Peter sighed. He had intended to prevent some things from happening. He hoped to change something. But now... the Avengers had to be born.

He pulled the tubes from his body and got out of bed. Natasha looked up. "You need to rest."

"Loki is out there preparing to unleash an army," Peter put on his suit, and the glowing black spiderweb patterns lit up. "I don't intend to sit and wait for death."

"You were attacked by a god; you can rest, Peter. Leave the rest to—"

"Don't say 'leave it to My Lord'." Peter growled. "I am not a child who needs to be swaddled, Natasha. I may not be a trained assassin like you, but I am definitely not a coward." He put on his mask and walked out.

"Where are you going?" she asked.

Peter looked back. "There are two heartbroken men right now, and they have the potential to save the World. I'm going to go kick their asses. Take care of your partner."

He walked toward the place where he knew Tony and Steve would be—the giant cell for Hulk, the place where Loki had once tricked Thor into going. It was empty now. He walked in and saw Tony and Steve looking dejected.

"Whoa, are you two hiding in here holding a memorial service?" Peter teased.

Both of them turned their heads immediately, looking at him in surprise.

"Spider-Man! You're awake!"

Steve walked up quickly and looked Peter up and down.

"How do you feel?"

"I won't die." Peter patted his chest, his mouth twitching slightly from the pain. "But that guy Thor really plays dirty."

"He has already apologized," Steve said.

Tony, standing to the side, sneered.

"Can an apology reattach broken ribs?"

Peter followed the sound of his voice.

Tony was leaning against the wall, his face looking frighteningly pale. A few steps away, a large patch of dark red blood remained on the ground.

The smile on Peter's face slowly faded.

"Coulson?"

Tony didn't answer, just turned his head away.

Steve was silent for a moment, then whispered, "Did he have family?"

"Not married," Tony stared at the pool of blood. "But I think he had a girlfriend who played the cello."

"That's a pity," Steve said. "He was a good man."

"He was an idiot."

Tony's voice was low, as if he were scolding Coulson, or perhaps scolding himself.

"He knew he couldn't beat Loki, yet he dared to rush in alone. Couldn't he have waited a few more minutes for us?"

"He had no choice at the time," Steve said.

"No choice?"

Tony looked up sharply.

"We were on this very ship! If he had just held on a little longer—"

"Enough."

Peter interrupted them.

Tony and Steve looked over at the same time.

"Coulson is dead; one of you is blaming him for being reckless, and the other is blaming yourself for not arriving in time."

Peter raised his hand to press the sides of his helmet.

Click.

The faceplate retracted to the sides, revealing an overly young face.

Tony froze.

Steve's expression also changed.

"How old are you?"

"That's not the point."

"Of course it's the point!" Tony stared at him. "You shouldn't be here at your age!"

"Either of you could say that, but you two are the last people who have the right to."

Peter looked at Steve first.

"Before you injected the serum, everyone thought you weren't fit for the battlefield. But did you give up?"

Steve was speechless for a moment.

Peter looked at Tony again.

"And you. Wearing that tin can you built yourself, trying to shoulder everything alone. Now you're starting to complain that I'm too young?"

"That's different."

"How is it different?"

Peter stepped forward and pointed to the bloodstains on the ground.

"Coulson is dead. Loki is still alive."

"If you keep staying here blaming yourselves, he won't stop and wait for you to adjust your moods. He will only kill more people."

The cell fell completely silent.

Peter re-engaged his faceplate, and the voice modulator added a metallic texture to his voice.

"My uncle always told me, with great power comes great responsibility."

"I'm not interested in risking my life to prove how brave I am, nor do I want to be some martyr."

"But there are people out there waiting for us to save them."

"So, you two."

Peter raised his hand and pointed outside the door.

"Either stay here and hold a memorial service for Coulson, or go out there and beat the bastard who killed him to the ground."

Tony stared at Peter for a few seconds, then suddenly chuckled.

"Nice speech."

Steve also slowly straightened his back.

"He's right."

"So the question is," Peter looked at the two, "are we doing this?"

"We are," Steve said without hesitation.

Tony looked down at the bloodstains on the ground.

"Coulson better owe me a favor."

The atmosphere finally came back to life.

Peter struck while the iron was hot. "Loki was captured on purpose, and he used the scepter to provoke everyone's emotions. He never intended to escape from the beginning."

"He wanted to dismantle us from the inside," Steve realized.

Tony's eyes narrowed.

"He doesn't just want to win."

"Exactly," Peter said. "He also wants everyone to watch him win."

Tony paced back and forth, his thoughts becoming clearer.

"The one in Germany was just a rehearsal. He needs a bigger stage, a coronation ceremony that the whole World can see."

"High-profile, conspicuous, and it must be worthy of his status," Steve frowned.

Tony looked up sharply.

"Stark Tower."

"Son of a bitch," Steve understood instantly.

Peter closed his faceplate.

"Since we've found the location, let's not just stand here."

Tony had already turned and started walking out.

"I'm going back to put on my armor first."

"Don't go in alone," Steve warned.

"Don't worry, I'm just going home to grab something."

As he finished speaking, the thrusters at Tony's feet ignited, and he flew straight out through the damaged exit.

Peter looked at Steve.

"Let's go find Natasha and Hawkeye."

"Can Hawkeye still be trusted?"

"We'll know once he wakes up and we ask him."

A few minutes later, the Quinjet shot out of the Helicarrier, heading straight for Manhattan.

Natasha was piloting, Clint was in the co-pilot seat, and Steve was in the rear cabin checking his equipment.

Peter stood by the porthole, watching New York getting closer in the distance.

Millions of people lived here.

Once the portal opened, the first ones to suffer would never be the superheroes, but the ordinary people who didn't even know what was happening.

Peter suddenly pulled out the phone issued by S.H.I.E.L.D.

He opened the account and drafted a message.

[Emergency Notification: A supervillain attack is imminent near Stark Tower in Manhattan. Please evacuate immediately. I repeat, this is not a drill!]

Send.

Approval granted.

Peter sent it a few more times in succession.

Natasha glanced at him in the rearview mirror.

"What are you doing?"

"Saving people."

Peter stared at the constantly refreshing comments.

[Did Spider-Man's account get hacked?]

[Evacuate Manhattan in broad daylight? Do you know how many people are here?]

[What kind of prank video is this again?]

A vein on Peter's forehead throbbed.

He had played too many memes in the past; now that he was telling the truth, nobody believed him.