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

Chapter 61, Eight O'Clock: Under the Mask

Having temporarily lost sight of Spider-Man, Mysterio realized one thing: he must have temporarily hidden in some enclosed space.

But Mysterio doesn't care; he'll surely regroup and come back to challenge him again.

Captain America is powerful, but he can't quickly defeat all his drones, Iron Man is temporarily trapped by anti-aircraft missiles, the other members of the Fantastic Four are doing something unknown, and only the Human Torch is left.

Mysterio is toying with Human Torch for the third time. Undoubtedly, the guy didn't listen to Iron Man's advice and chased after Mysterio or his phantom again under Mysterio's provocation. This time, Human Torch has made some progress. He knows that high temperature can affect the refraction of light and that he should maintain a certain altitude to carry out area attacks, taking down several drones without causing casualties.

Encouraged by his newfound confidence, Thunderbolt began relentlessly pursuing the illusions of the Mysterious One. The Mysterious One evaded him at every turn, and Thunderbolt chased after him relentlessly, until—

"You know, Thunderbolt, the air is very thin at high altitudes."

"Of course I know, but we're still in the dark!"

Human Torch charged upwards, smashing through the darkness. He had just been rescued by Iron Man and knew exactly where his altitude limit was; this was nothing.

But he was wrong. After breaking through the darkness, what he saw was not a clear blue sky, but an atmospheric orbit visible to the naked eye.

“I have to admire you.” Mysterio’s voice rang in his ear. “If only you were willing to believe that you could still burn, even break through your limits… unfortunately, that’s just what I wanted you to see.”

Seeing the Thunderfire barely managing to keep burning, the drone high in the sky revealed its true form and then chose to self-destruct. The violent shockwave exhausted its last bit of strength, and it plummeted from the sky. It felt that it could no longer burn, and the intense weightlessness made it impossible for it to control itself.

In a daze, he saw something falling with him. It wasn't a hallucination, because something really caught him.

“I really did tell Susan on you. You’re not as well-behaved as a high school student.” Tony Stark, who had saved the Human Torch once again, was quite speechless at this brat who was about to graduate from college: “You don’t need to worry about Mysterio. I’ve already sent the best Avengers to handle this.”

"Is he Captain America? You know, a lot of people say I look a lot like him."

It's not Captain America, it's Spider-Man.

Before another system crash, Jarvis provided Peter with enough intelligence that Osborn Technologies had indeed somehow acquired brainwave technology after the X-Men disbanded and developed a "neural transmission device," with the prototype in a laboratory on the 27th floor of the Osborn Building.

Using his familiarity with New York, Peter quickly approached the Osborne Building. Mysterio had already spotted him. Along the way, all sorts of bizarre sights were common. For example, he felt as if he were being sucked into a black hole and twisted. For example, the buildings on both sides collapsed simultaneously, crashing down on him. For example, Mysterio made up the cries for help of ordinary people, making it difficult to distinguish between real and fake cries.

Trust your actions, not your feelings!

Having never been inside the Osborn Building, Peter relied on his memory of swinging around its perimeter and charged straight into the lobby of the Osborn Technologies building. Glass shattered everywhere, and before landing, he launched countless spider webs in all directions, covering almost every corner of the lobby with them, forming a dense spider web. He then landed on it, took out a spare spider web solution from his waist, and put it on.

"Spiders hunt using their webs, and their greatest skill lies in sensing changes in their environment through the vibrations of the silk. Let me find—"

Using the distribution of the spider webs, Peter painstakingly explored the lobby. He sensed some spider silk being broken, and almost simultaneously, he launched an electrified spider web in that direction, directly shooting down the attacking drone. Then, he added a spider web and connected it to the main web, just like a real spider catching a fly.

But what he's trying to do isn't to capture drones.

Having found the elevator, Peter opened the elevator door, crawled into the elevator shaft, and then used spider silk to re-glu the elevator door. When the elevator is not in operation, it is a sealed space. Since Mysterio did not place any drones here beforehand, this place is real.

"The 27th floor—Quentin, you're a true genius!"

He wasn't referring to the floor, but rather that the elevator in the underground parking garage had begun its rapid ascent towards the roof. If left unchecked, Peter would be swept all the way to the top. Glancing around, Peter reacted swiftly. He landed on the ascending elevator, confirmed there were no living people inside, then snapped the elevator cable, sending the thing plummeting. He then ripped open the elevator doors on the 27th floor and stepped inside. It was still pitch black; there was nothing there. Mysterio already knew he was there.

Peter resorted to his old trick, constantly sending out spider webs around him and then tying them to his waist to check the surroundings.

"Spider-Man, your little tricks are pretty good, and you are indeed very clever."

Countless mysterious figures appeared around Peter. They looked at him and involuntarily straightened their backs: "But here, in such a confined space, you are no match for me."

“I’m not here to beat you, Quentin. I’m here to tell you that you’re wrong.”

Under Mysterio's gaze, Spider-Man placed his hand on his mask. Mysterio seemed to realize something: "What are you going to do?!" "You think I wear a mask because I'm afraid," Peter slowly pulled down the mask. "You're wrong. The reason I wear a mask is the same reason I wear this suit—simply to help others, to protect others."

"I don't wear a mask because I'm afraid of what others will think."

"I wore it to protect them."

"Just like now, I'm taking it off to defeat you."

He ripped off his mask, and as Peter slowly tore off his mask, Mysterio used holographic projection to recreate a mask on Peter's face. But this didn't fool Mysterio himself; he immediately shut down all the drone cameras and shouted, in a loud, fearful voice, "No!"

The sound was so clear that even in his hallucination, Peter could hear exactly where it was.

"What are you doing, Quentin Baker?!"

Kingpin, who witnessed everything in the office, stood up and roared, slamming his fist on the table: "Turn on the cameras! Spider-Man exposed himself, and you turned off the signal?!"

"This shouldn't be happening! This shouldn't be happening!" Quentin Baker cried out, trying to remove the device connected to the projector on his head. He heard Spider-Man's footsteps and let out an almost desperate cry.

"You should wear your mask! You should hide your identity! Wear it! Wear it!"

"I'm standing right in front of you, Quentin, look at me! Look at Spider-Man, isn't that what you think!"

Peter ripped the wires off the device and pulled out Mysterio, who was wearing a projector and armor. Mysterio maintained the illusion at a certain distance around him, but raised his arms to cover his eyes.

He created an illusion that no one could see through, but he himself could always see the true reality.

Only he himself couldn't see the fake mask he had created for Spider-Man.

“What’s wrong, Quentin?” Peter looked down at him, his tone shifting from sharp to pitying. “Didn’t you say that once you put on the helmet, you could be fearless and be your true self?”

"Could it be that the real Quentin Baker... is actually just a coward who can't face reality?"

"Put it on, put it on..." Mysterio repeated, trembling, as if reciting a final incantation.

Kingpin, who had been watching from the sidelines, was furious and disappointed.

“Mr. Gagan, I remember you were around here? Put on your goggles and take down Spider-Man. Even if you can’t, tell me who he is!”

McDonald Gagan, who had been monitoring Quentin, realized something was wrong. He quickly put on his special goggles and walked toward Spider-Man. He saw Mysterio lying on the ground, protecting his head with his arms, and the silly Spider-Man who had taken off his mask, revealing a head of short black hair.

At this distance, taking him down would be a piece of cake. Hopefully, Kingpin will give me enough money.

McDonald raised his pistol, ready to fire, but just before he pulled the trigger, Spider-Man, without even looking up, flicked a web that stuck to McDonald's gun and pulled it away, causing the muzzle to twist in another direction. Simultaneously, for some unknown reason, a web from behind stuck to McDonald's back, pulling him aside, and the shifted muzzle was now pointed directly at McDonald himself. In the instant McDonald fell, the bullet that should have hit Spider-Man's head was also fired, piercing Gagan's body.

"what!"

Peter paused for a moment upon hearing the shouts, then smashed Mysterio's fish tank head with a single punch. All the illusions around him vanished instantly. Peter turned around and saw Cindy, dressed in her battle suit, who had appeared behind him at some point.

“I don’t know New York as well as you do… but following you is easy, no need to thank me, it’s nothing.” Cindy finished speaking, then looked at the Mysterio lying on the ground, trembling: “What about him?”

Peter paused for a moment, then put his mask back on, squatted down, and softened his tone.

“It’s alright, Quentin,” he said softly. “Look, I’m wearing it.”

Mysterio trembled as he moved his arm away, saw Spider-Man wearing a mask, and finally broke down, curling up into a ball and sobbing.

(End of this chapter)