I'm working on Marvel's Spider-Man in American comics.

Chapter 21 Reasons to Get Up Early

Extensive tendon ruptures, bone fractures, ruptured alveoli, and capillary necrosis—these injuries would have landed a normal person in intensive care, but for Spider-Man, a few nights of deep sleep would be enough to resolve them. Peter Parker wouldn't rest because of this minor injury; Spider-Man would continue protecting the city tomorrow.

But Peter still didn't go on patrol the next morning, not because he didn't catch the bad mood caused by the horror, but because he was caught by Gwen Stacy.

"Good morning, smart boy."

When the blonde girl appeared at the door with her schoolbag on her back, Peter scratched the back of his head subconsciously, and his sleepy black hair swayed like an antenna.

"Um, good morning, Gwen. Up so early?"

"Every morning when I get up you're already out, so I want to know how early I have to get up to catch you."

After Gwen finished speaking, she added, "Of course, it's mainly because my dad was busy until very late last night and asked me to go to bed first without waiting for him to come back."

"Is the police department having trouble? I heard there was a guy jumping around in Manhattan yesterday."

"I don't know. He doesn't seem to want to tell me anything."

Peter, caught by Gwen, naturally couldn't put on his battle suit to go on patrol, so he had to take the subway with Gwen to Midtown Manhattan. The two bought tickets and got on the subway while chatting.

"How's the rock band thing going? Any ideas?"

"Yes, we found a few classmates, MJ, Liz, Betty... Oh, sorry, you don't know any of them except MJ." Gwen smiled and said, "I can make more friends than you, just like I told you."

Peter chuckled dryly. He'd never considered himself introverted, but that was the social norm for American students: muscular idiots like football players were popular, while high-caliber lab researchers couldn't even get an invitation to the dance.

Since no one likes reading, Peter Parker naturally won't be able to find friends.

"How are you going to handle the training thing? I don't think Uncle George will let you take drumsticks home, let alone a drum kit."

"I think so too."

Gwen couldn't help but sigh when the topic came up, but then she said, "We'll talk about it later" and stopped thinking about it. She turned to ask Peter, "You take the subway so early every day, you don't go directly to school and then just stare blankly until class, do you?"

Peter started to think about making up an excuse to justify getting up early, but then an idea struck him.

"Have you ever tried getting off a stop early or late?!"

Gwen, as expected, looked confused.

"what?"

"That is, get off the bus one stop earlier or later, and then walk to school. It's still early now, so you can go to school this way every day."

"..." Gwen's expression was as if she was looking at an alien creature: "Is this why you get up so early every morning?"

"No, it's actually the other way around. I get up too early and have nothing to do, so this is how I kill time."

Peter sighed and smiled helplessly: "Want to come together?"

"I don't have anything to do anyway, so lead the way."

——This is the decision Peter regrets most today.

It’s not because there’s anything wrong with this road, but because as soon as I got out of the subway station, I heard a familiar roar from the giant screen TV on the outer wall of the shopping mall.

"Just yesterday, our beautiful city was horribly damaged by two madmen. Spider-Man was engaged in a relentless battle with a lunatic in a high-tech armor. According to the information we've received from the police, this super criminal who calls himself Shocker is the same criminal that Spider-Man arrested earlier under the pretext of fighting crime."

Jonah Jameson's face flushed so red it nearly burst through the screen.

"Look carefully, New Yorkers, what have these masked vigilantes brought us? More masked criminals! I can guarantee that this so-called Terror is a terrifying creature created by Spider-Man! I can assert that he became a super criminal precisely because he wanted revenge on Spider-Man, who is above the law! Just imagine, if the police or the Avengers arrested this Herman, would he still become a criminal?"

Then Jameson simply stood up and grabbed the camera in the live broadcast room, thrusting his face into the camera and roaring. Only spit was left on the screen:

"No! Because he knows he deserves it! He knows he was arrested by someone qualified! Not some crazy person in a tight-fitting suit wandering around meddling in other people's business! He doesn't think he's unlucky or shouldn't have been arrested!"

"I wish you had said something like this when we first met, little bug."

If only you had said that to Hermann Schultz instead of to Thriller.

Peter recalled what Schultz had said to him yesterday. He felt a headache and rubbed his temple. It seemed he'd heard a different meaning. If Spider-Man had said to Herman during the original bank robbery, "Brother, your weapon is awesome," perhaps the thriller wouldn't have happened. Perhaps because he hadn't said that, a super villain had appeared.

"This is the first time I think what Jameson said makes sense."

Gwen was shocked by Peter's words.

"Seriously? Every time Jameson brings up the topic of Spider-Man, even my dad would say 'that's bullshit' in a nasty way."

"Hahaha." Peter finally couldn't help laughing and shook his head: "Did he really say that?"

"He never says bad words in front of his daughter, but I can tell from his expression that this is what he's thinking. So, where are we going?"

Peter pointed at a random apartment building: "There, on the roof."

A few minutes later, the two of them reached the edge of the roof. Gwen stood on the edge of the rooftop and looked down from above. "This view is really nice, if you don't fall off."

"Do you remember Andrew Derby? We went to the same junior high school."

"I've never met him." Gwen said, then tried to recall the name from her memory. "When we were in the second grade, a freshman committed suicide by jumping off a building. Was it him?"

"It's him, right here."

Gwen, who had been strolling along the edge of the rooftop, quickly returned to the safety of the rooftop. Only Peter remained sitting on the edge, watching the New York street scene that he visited for a minute or two almost every day.

"So... you know him?"

"No. It's just that I saw him two days before his accident. He looked very depressed and had gone through something bad. Sometimes when I pass by here, I wonder if I had gone over and talked to him at that time, would this thing not have happened?"

Gwen was speechless for a long time and didn't know how to respond. After trying hard to organize her words, she spoke.

"If you persuade him and he still chooses to commit suicide, will you start to blame yourself for not having a proper chat? Will you blame yourself for not saying enough, Mr. Saint Peter?"

"but……"

"Don't, don't tell me this." Gwen sat down next to Peter and stopped him from talking: "Wait a minute, give me a few minutes, let me think about it."

"Forehead……"

"Okay, I know what I'm going to say. You're absolutely not suited to working at a suicide hotline, Peter. If you show up on your first day with your saintly ideas, the next day you'll be ready to jump off a building and commit suicide because you didn't save everyone the day before." Gwen gave an example that sounded rude but was apt: "These things, these kinds of things, they're not your responsibility at all. You don't have to be responsible for the affairs of others, especially those who have nothing to do with you."

"Kindness is a good thing, clever boy, but too much kindness can become a curse. And curses are never good."

After Gwen finished speaking, she sat down next to Peter. The two sat side by side and were silent for a long time. Gwen felt that Peter might think that she didn't understand him and couldn't empathize with him.

Maybe it's really hard to empathize with this kind of thing.

She had no choice but to ask again.

"So sometimes you think about things like this, and you come here and sit. Do you feel better?"

"At least I've never jumped from here."

Well, once or twice, but it just swung back up again, and he sought the feeling of free fall a few times, but felt less and less afraid.

"Perhaps you should go to a priest for confession?"

"I don't believe in religion, I believe in science."

"Then you can talk to me, or Uncle Ben, or Aunt May. Don't keep everything to yourself, smart boy."

In response to this, Peter Parker just smiled faintly.

"I will."

Gwen wasn't sure if Peter listened or not, but she knew that there was someone who would definitely listen to her. She would have a good talk with Uncle Ben after school today.

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(End of this chapter)