"I swear, I just pushed him! I didn't mean to... Okay, I was angry. That jerk dared to insult Gwen!" said Peter, backpack slung over his shoulder, voicing his complaints as he walked.
Stark patted him on the back, saying, "It's okay, you had every right to beat him up. Someone was disrespecting your girlfriend – him getting a punch from you would be putting it lightly."
"I didn't punch him..." Peter helplessly responded.
"Alright, alright, I know. Come on, I hired an Italian chef. We're having pizza tonight." Stark said cheerfully.
The incident had begun that very morning.
Peter had gone to school in high spirits, waiting for Gwen at the school gate early in the morning. They chatted as they walked, parting at the classroom door with considerable reluctance.
American public high schools do not interfere with dating. As long as you aren't too outrageous, teachers would not care.
Therefore, Peter and Gwen had been holding hands as they said goodbye at the classroom door when, unexpectedly, a football player from the neighbouring class walked over and started mocking Peter before proceeding to hurl offensive remarks at Gwen.
Peter was furious. The football player was making obscene gestures at him so, in a fit of anger, Peter pushed him. The result was the football player nearly ending up embedded in the wall.
Peter could almost control that incredible strength, however, he was angry at the time, and had used slightly more force when he pushed that guy. The guy went flying and ended up with a broken rib.
Consequently, the other party's parents brought a case of bullying to the school, who, of course, had to involve Peter's guardians. However, Peter couldn't explain where his extraordinary strength came from to his uncle and aunt, so he could only leave Stark's number.
The school, of course, called Stark Building Headquarters where Jarvis, receiving the call, made sure to pass it on to Stark.
Stark, driving an attention-grabbing sports car, arrived at the school. The opposing parents recognised the world's wealthiest man on the spot and declared it all a misunderstanding while Stark encouraged Peter, saying he should have punched that jerk.
Gwen was comforting him, saying that the jerk deserved it, but Peter was still dejected. As a good student, he had never been asked to bring a parent before. Worse still, Stark bragged about the whole thing. Within days, the incident of Peter getting Stark involved due to trouble at school was well known amongst the superhero community.
Teenagers hate people treating them like children and, after this, being teased by everyone left Peter feeling extremely frustrated.
In the S.H.I.E.L.D. cafeteria, Steve said, "You could have left my number as well, at least I look more fit than that drunkard who pulls all-nighters."
The man sat next to Coulson and said, "At least we'd meet the age requirement."
"And I am technically Stark's uncle."
"However..." Steve cut a piece of steak and said, "you need to learn to control your emotions. I was the same when I first received treatment, losing control of my superhuman strength whenever my emotions fluctuated dramatically."
"So how did you overcome it?"
"Part of it was acknowledging the problem and another was seeking help from professionals to learn how to stabilize my emotions."
"I'm not the type to get angry often." Peter said, seeming quite unhappy, "But there are certain matters I just can't tolerate."
Steve chuckled and said, "Don't worry about it. I was the same. When I was in the military, there were troublemakers who bothered Peggy and insulted her. I beat them all up."
"Of course, when you fight, you must control your strength, otherwise you might end up in unnecessary trouble. As long as you control it, it's just a normal brawl, at worst you get a detention."
Coulson raised an eyebrow, not expecting this side of Captain America. But think about it, that saintly image in propaganda films and movies could hardly exist in real life.
That evening, Peter returned to Dr. Shiller's counselling centre, "Doctor, I think I'll need to use your place to do some homework. My uncle and aunt insisted on renovating my room. The smell of paint is still lingering, I can't stand it."
"Come in. Clean up that desk. Pikachu! Pikachu! Come here! Get your jars and jars of peanut butter out of there, you've been hogging my desk for three days..."
Peter picked up the hopping Pikachu, saying, "Did you gain some weight? Why do I feel like you are heavier?"
"Of course, he's gained weight, if you ate five jars of peanut butter and two pounds of cheese a day, you'd gain weight too."
Pikachu wagged its tail and said, "I'd advise you to mind your own business, kiddo. I'm a mouse, not a bodybuilder. What's wrong with me putting on some weight?"
Peter opened his backpack at the desk, taking out his textbooks while Shiller busied himself in the kitchen, "I heard your teacher called for a parent-teacher meeting and brought in Stark. Did he not drive your teacher mad?"
"I had no choice, how was I supposed to explain to my Uncle how I could launch a 200-pound football player?"
"Oh, right." Turning to Shiller, Peter asked, "Doctor, can you teach me emotion control? I didn't mean to hurt anyone, I was just too angry and lost control of my strength..."
"Why so? Why have you started deliberating on the issue of controlling your emotions and strength?"
"I... I don't want to hurt anyone if I lose control one day."
"But why would you lose control?"
"Because that person swore at Gwen, and they used some really foul language."
"Isn't that their problem? They should be the one learning to control their emotions, not you."
"But..."
"You always over-analyze your own problems, blaming everything on yourself. But the fact is that you exceed the moral standards of ordinary people by far, and this will only cause you more pain."
"You should not always look for reasons within yourself. Haven't you thought that maybe it's not you who's wrong, but the world?"
Peter opened his mouth, somewhat puzzled, and said, "I thought... I thought psychologists were supposed to..."
"That's what you thought."
Shiller came over with a tray, and Peter swallowed, inhaling the fragrance of the fried eggs. Shiller put the tray down and said, "Psychologists are not drill sergeants or school teachers. We are not responsible for telling you who is right or wrong in a given situation. Everything I say and do towards you is from your perspective. Basically, I put myself into your mind and then discover your psychological problems from a different angle..."
"Alright, I know I sometimes overthink, always worrying about things that haven't happened."
"It's a common problem among geniuses. Stark is the same."
"What's wrong with Mr. Stark?"
"The day before yesterday, he had a big argument with Pepper, then he stormed out and started racing his car. Connors saw him. The next morning, Connors ridiculed him a lot and then he ran into Steve outside..."
"Then he called me and asked if he is the world's number one rotten guy, and that's why the world is always against him."
"And then?"
"Of course, I then conducted about two hours of psychotherapy on him, and after that, he made up with them."
Peter said skeptically, "What therapy? It worked so fast?"
"I scolded him a lot. Then he thought the other people's scolding was mild, so of course they made up."
Peter was then filled with sympathy for Stark.
After some time, Peter had finished his homework and dinner. He lay on the sofa in a daze, not playing games with Pikachu as usual.
Shiller was writing a thesis on a desk aside. Peter put his arm over his forehead and said, "Why are there so many strange things in the world? Why do troubles always come one after another? Why do people have so much distress?"
"Because your life is getting better little by little. The better your life, the more you are aware of trivial troubles."
"Why don't you think about what kind of life you lived when you didn't feel so troubled? If these troubles existed back then, would you mind them?"
Peter thought for a while. When his uncle and Aunt May had poor check-up results, they also didn't have money, and Peter couldn't find a way out. If at that time, he quarreled with a classmate at school, he would probably quickly forget about it, because he still had bigger troubles to deal with.
Compared to the pressure of survival, a minor argument is insignificant. If it were in the past, he wouldn't have so much free time to lie here and complain, he'd probably still be running errands to earn money.
Peter said, "Sometimes I always want to grow up quickly, go to college quickly, then buy a house by myself, make Uncle and Auntie live more comfortably, find a decent job, get engaged to Gwen, isn't that what adults do?"
"But sometimes, I hope that this year will never pass, that I can always be a high school student, all I need to do is go to school and listen to lessons every day, come back and do homework, then sleep till dawn."
Shiller just listened quietly, the slight sound of him typing echoed in the somewhat dimly lit room.
"Sometimes I dream. I dream of many stars woven into a net. I dream that I have become a giant spider. Being a spider might be quite nice, right?"
"Sometimes, I dream that I've lost Uncle and Aunt May, that Gwen has disappeared, and that I'm the only one left in the world."
"They all say that dreams reflect the essence of a person's heart. Do you think that's true? Doctor?"
"I long for freedom, yet fear losing it. I want to be a hero, but I don't even know what a hero is like..."
Peter fell asleep without waiting for an answer. Starlight filled the night sky outside the window, the monitor was the only light in the room, and Shiller had already left.
Pikachu hugged a pillow and shoved it under Peter's head, then he threw a blanket over him. Talking to himself, he said, "Humans sure have a lot of problems. Among these people who come and go every day, there isn't a single one who doesn't have troubles."
Then he looked at Peter and said, "You're relatively lucky, kid. Maybe all these people are lucky too. Even mice are the same..."
"Growing up never comes without its troubles, does it?"