The field of vision was plunged into complete darkness. Fleeting fragments of memory constantly flashed before his eyes, striving to regain consciousness and control his limbs, only to discover that he was paralysed from head to toe.
When Bruce opened his eyes, he saw two faces. One of them was very familiar - it was Peter Parker.
The other face belonged to a man older than Peter, more refined, wearing a suit and tie and a pair of silver-rimmed glasses. The only problem was that his gaze seemed unfocused as if he was blind.
Bruce tried to move, but couldn't. Pain surged through his body, the strange numbness made it so he couldn't even open his mouth, he could only lie there, listening to the two men talk.
"Did I hear that right?" Peter asked, "He tried to grab Electro with his bare hands and got electrocuted?"
The other man nodded.
"I have a question." Peter's voice sounded exasperated as he stated, "First off, how on earth did he catch up to Electro?"
The undertone of Peter's words was clear: How on earth was Electro caught by someone trying to grab him with their bare hands?
Was he fighting a fake Electro all these years or did Electro's intelligence degrade once he left the ground, even when his powers were not suppressed?
"Iron Man cut off the electricity on that street," the man in glasses replied, "Also, it seems like he manipulated some sort of power storage device, inducing an electricity shock that forced Electro out of the circuit."
Peter could then envision the subsequent scene. After being forced out of the circuit, Electro would have needed to recalibrate his body state before transforming back into electricity, meaning there was a certain cooldown period for this ability.
Chased by Stark, Electro wouldn't have had the luxury to wait for the cooldown to finish. He had, no doubt, planned his escape route before getting expelled from the circuit. The moment he landed, he would have taken off running.
Right behind Electro, however, was Bruce. Seeing Electro separated from the circuit, he rushed right over without a second thought.
Though Electro's active ability was cool down, he still had passive abilities. Even in human form, he remained electrically charged. Bruce, not wearing any insulation, got a good taste of the aftermath of the web addict's predicament — he was electrocuted on the spot.
Stark flew down looking to cause Bruce trouble but was stopped by the Daredevil. Naturally, Stark wanted to fight back, but the Captain and the SHIELD Agent chasing him weren't pushovers.
The White Can was now being hunted by SHIELD. He was a fugitive. If caught by the Captain, he'd be in big trouble. And then, there was another person trying to take control of the mechas from within the system. Beset with difficulties both within and without, the White Can was forced to make a strategic retreat.
Then, Daredevil Matt brought back Bruce. After conducting a quick check-up, he noticed something off about Bruce and promptly called Peter over.
"….. That would be a brief explanation of what happened," Peter explained his own experiences to Matt as he took a small bottle containing the raw material for the spider silk out of his pocket. Placing it on the desk, he heaved a sigh. "I don't know what to say. I've never seen a Batman like this before."
"What is Batman usually like?" Matt asked curiously. He'd heard Spiderman mention it once but never elaborated in detail.
"Exactly the opposite of him," Peter frowned, massaging his brows before continuing, "Earlier, I felt that Batman's meticulous and well-planned nature, even though thorough, was a bit obsessive. But looking at it now, it seems like a little obsession would have been better."
Matt's perspective was a bit more mature than Peter's. He said, "Peter, I understand that the situation was critical and you had to do it, but have you ever thought that what Bruce Wayne, who acquired Spiderman's powers, lacks, wasn't the power of the engine?"
Peter looked at Matt, and Matt looked back at Bruce.
Now, he only has an engine, but no steering wheel, no wheels, no brakes or gas pedals. He has gained tremendous power, but he doesn't have the corresponding brains, skills, and willpower to match.
Peter also started to get a headache because he knew Matt was right.
It is only today that he realized that his ability to become Spider Man was not completely due to his superpowers. Peter Parker had always considered himself mediocre, but now he realized that he had been extraordinary right from the start.
There were multiple obstacles to overcome after acquiring such great power.
For a weakling who was often bullied to suddenly gain great power, restraining their newfound desire was already a difficult feat, and it was rare to find one who upheld their basic morals out of ten people, let alone continue remaining considerate and kind.
Even if their morals were intact, they could not resist the convenience of power and gradually became reckless. The bigger the muscles, the smaller the brain, and ultimately they would lose most of their sanity and become a beast that relied solely on their brute strength.
Even with morals and sanity intact, a level of wisdom was required to fully harness one's strength to produce the best results in a crisis, as opposed to hesitating and choosing the worst path out of many.
Even if they had enough morality, sanity, and wisdom, they would also need a wealth of knowledge, honed skills, ample experience and even a bit of elusive luck.
Only with all the above can a superhero be born. But given all these elements, how many people would be satisfied with just being Spider Man?
They would only think, 'With all these at my disposal, I can save the world more effectively and perfectly, striving for a one-time-only solution, aiming for the right path from the start, sprinting straight to the finish line to get everything I want.'
The most inherent sin of the human race is arrogance, Peter thought, perhaps from the very beginning, his biggest difference from others was his innate humility.
Bruce woke up, struggling to sit up, Matt helped him up.
Bruce coughed lightly, expelling breath lodged in his throat, yet his chest still felt stuffy.
He turned his head towards the wall, his gaze following, displaying a resistant attitude. It wasn't because he lost face, but because he couldn't understand why he always met with hurdles in doing things others could do effortlessly, never attaining the results he wanted in the end.
Why was it so unfair? All the other Batmen and Spider Men were doing fine, but when he was Batman, he didn't feel like Batman, when he was Spider Man, he didn't feel like Spider Man.
This was not a problem related to Batman or Spider Man, but a problem with himself.
But where exactly was he lacking?
Bruce couldn't comprehend it.
Peter sat down next to him, supporting his upper body. Matt handed a cup of water, Peter fed Bruce some water, the clear, cold liquid moistened his dry lips and left him feeling a bit better.
"Don't rush, Bruce." Peter put down the cup, removed the Spider Silk Launcher from Bruce's wrist and replaced the spider silk materials. "The bigger the dream, the greater the responsibility. But if you want too much, you'll overthink, and this will make you too impulsive, losing your basic judgment."
"What should I want?"
"Don't start by trying to save two cities, kid." Matt opened up, he tapped the wall next to Bruce's leg with his cane and said, "If you set your goals too grand, you'll be like a headless fly, chasing endlessly from one thing to another, not catching up to anything in the end."
"Tell me, Bruce, are you unwilling to dedicate your life to such a grand goal? If you're willing, why rush at the moment? Let's make our goals more realistic."
In between this conversation, Bruce realized he still had at least one advantage: when the other was far superior, he could still listen to advice.
Although disheartened by his repeated failures, like an average person, he has grown accustomed to failure and could find some decent reasons to console himself after failing.
"So what should I be doing now?" Bruce turned to Peter, his question implying - if he was in Peter's place, what would Peter do?
"Stop Captain America." Peter replied, grabbing Bruce's arm, "The failure of your pursuit wasn't because you decided to chase Electro, but because Stark interfered and disrupted your pursuit."
"You have to find Captain America, let him talk to Stark, and S.H.I.E.L.D. too."
"Go tell them their target is Tony Stark. The chaos in the city and the Sinister Six is now on you. You need to drive them apart and keep their distance, so they don't get in each other's way."
Understanding dawned on Bruce.
His previous approach had been to chase criminals when he saw them, hide when danger happened, and capture them as soon as he could.
But in reality, two things were happening in the city - Captain America and S.H.I.E.L.D. were after the fugitive Stark, and Bruce was to stop the Sinister Six from wreaking havoc.
Each task could be managed individually, but mixing them up could lead to frequent accidents. If the White Can hadn't suddenly interfered and forced Electro out for Bruce to fight slowly, Electro who hadn't fully charged up might not necessarily be a match for Bruce now with Spider Man's abilities.
At this thought, Bruce sank into despair again, why hadn't he noticed it before? Why was finding a solution so simple for others, but his mind was in chaos? Added to that, he could predict that the chaos would continue.
"Don't despair, you're not alone anymore." Peter held Bruce's arm, looked him in the eyes and said, "Trust me, this is not that desperate Gotham, we won't let a hero fight alone."
"I'll call Steve and Nick." Matt turned to find his phone and said, "Tell them there's a rookie here who needs adequate space to train."
Then he took a portable communicator out of the drawer and tossed it to Peter. Peter put it on Bruce's wrist, then put the earpiece in his own ear.
"I still have to go help other heroes." Peter stood up and looked at Bruce, "But you can call me anytime if you run into any issues. We're part of the same team now, right?"
Bruce hesitated, but eventually nodded his head.
Just as Peter was about to leave, Bruce stopped him. After a few heavy coughs, he gave Peter a number and said,
"This is the number for Lucius Fox, from Wayne Enterprises' tech department. He has access rights to the lab, you can use Wayne's lab, there's equipment there you can use. But be careful, don't let the shareholders find out."
Peter, standing by the door, gave him a smile, now he thought, this kind of Batman wasn't bad at all.