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The next day, Natasha came again, asking questions Beck didn't know how to answer. The female agent pressed on relentlessly, making Beck feel like he was going crazy.
Then there were more long and tedious psychological treatments, nothing more than filling out forms and inquiries, with Shiller spouting soul-soothing platitudes that could easily be found online, solving none of Beck's problems and wasting a lot of his time.
At the same time, Beck could feel the so-called cure potion working inside his body, his arms and chest didn't hurt as much, but also, the side effects began to emerge gradually, leaving him feeling weak and powerless.
Eating poorly, sleeping poorly, and facing huge psychological pressure, Beck became very weak in just a few days, his face pale, his limbs feeble, and his speech breathless.
But it was the mental strain, more than the physical weakness, that troubled him the most. During the day he faced interrogation by the agents, and at night he found it hard to sleep well as he constantly had nightmares, dreaming of someone chasing him, causing him to repeatedly die and wake up in fear; all these pains translated into irritability and anger, pushing him to the brink of collapse.
Finally, on the fifth day after being rescued, Beck couldn't take it anymore.
After five days of treatment, his injuries had mostly healed, and he could move at least, although he still felt weak and powerless from the side effects of the medication. Getting out of bed, however, was not a problem.
So, during the night of the fifth day, Beck sneaked out of bed, rummaged through the bedside cabinet for his smartphone, powered it on, only to find that his account had been updating his recovery progress all this time, mostly reassuring his online followers that he was doing fine.
Those damn agents, Beck seethed internally, he was not fine at all! However, he knew this was not the time to dwell on that issue. Realizing the signal inside was poor, he went out to the balcony, hoping to catch a signal for his phone.
He was now in the Manhattan Division of the Elders Council Hospital in Upper New York, with the brightly lit New York skyline outside. Beck held his phone, shaking it back and forth, his gaze fixed on the screen, waiting for the moment when the signal bars were full to call Sophia.
Just then, a light flared up on the horizon; he turned his head and saw buildings lighting up one by one, and a huge, hazy figure speeding down the streets.
Beck put down his phone, walked to the railing to have a better look, and saw that the massive storm was actually made of sand, and it was constantly chasing a tiny shadow ahead.
The sand kept changing shape, sometimes turning into a fearsome tornado, sometimes forming two fists to strike at the shadow, while the shadow moved agilely between the buildings, swinging back and forth, occasionally striking back at the sand monster.
Beck desperately wanted to know what was happening, but the damn phone just wouldn't pick up a signal. Suddenly, he heard a noise from inside; Shiller's voice called out from the room, "Beck, Beck, where are you?"
Beck had no choice but to clutch his phone tightly, walked back in from the balcony, and said, "Over here."
"What are you doing running out in the middle of the night?" Shiller asked suspiciously.
"I couldn't sleep, just needed some air," Beck replied as he sat back on the bed, pretending nothing had happened, and threw himself onto the pillow, covering his face with the blanket.
Shiller could only shake his head and say, "This is the 8th floor, you better not think about jumping down, though if you did jump, I'd be relieved."
Beck threw off the blanket abruptly, glared at him with burning eyes, the anger swelling in his chest beyond endurance. He looked coldly at Shiller and said, "Is this how you act as a doctor? Encouraging your patients to commit suicide?"
"I did no such thing," Shiller sighed, "I was just stating a fact. Why would I forego millions of dollars per hour in consultation fees to waste my time with you?"
"Because I'm a patient, and you're a doctor!"
"You're not sick," Shiller turned his head, hands in the pockets of his pajamas, and said: "All the tests show you don't have any psychological disorders. Like I said, I'm just a token of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s humanitarian spirit. I don't expect any praise from you, but you'd better not cause any more trouble."
Beck took a deep breath; he certainly wanted to curse out Shiller, but thinking about what he had to do later, he held back and said: "I won't cause any trouble for you, and you better not cause any for me. We can agree on that, right?"
Shiller lay back on his bed and said, "Exactly, that's the way it should be, good that you've come around."
Beck also lay back on his bed, and there was silence throughout the night.
Early the next morning, taking advantage of Shiller's absence, Beck turned on his phone. He found that the signal had improved. Just as he was about to try calling Sophia, he noticed his app had pushed a news update to him.
"Mystery criminal Sandstorm Monster sighted in Manhattan, New York; first-generation Spider-Man heroically mitigates the disaster. Could he be the next Superhero star?"
Seeing the keyword 'Superhero', Beck immediately clicked on the news report and saw a large poster. In the background was the terrifying Sandstorm Monster, and the small shadow slinging Spider Silk in the foreground, with the Manhattan night sky shining brightly in the background.
Beck took a closer look and noticed that this Spider-Man's suit was different from before, no longer red and blue, but black and red; specifically black but with red and blue reflections, adding an extra layer of coolness and a high-tech feel compared to previous Spider-Man suits.
The subsequent photos also showed that the suit had many features, including retractable supports resembling octopus legs that could extend from the back. The editor speculated that this might be another masterpiece from Stark Industries.
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Everyone knew Spider-Man had close ties with Stark Industries. After all, Spider-Man and Iron Man were good friends, and some of Iron Man's equipment would occasionally appear on Spider-Man.
This time, however, the new Spider-Man was undeniably different in both stature and style, leading to speculations that Spider-Man might always have been a star created by Stark Industries, with his abilities and equipment all stemming from the Stark Group.
Beck also furrowed his brow, agreeing with this speculateion. After all, that's exactly what he had done himself. He knew the economic benefits that a superhero with star appeal could bring. His initial motive behind setting up the Mysterio project was to use Mysterio's fame and societal influence after becoming well-known to pay off his debts.
Beck felt an unprecedented sense of tension.
It is common knowledge that the entertainment industry evolves faster than any other, with the possibility of becoming an overnight sensation or falling into obscurity just as quickly.
In the self-media industry, people can rise to fame for a variety of bizarre reasons, only to be quickly forgotten.
Mysterio had indeed been a phenomenon, becoming a world-class superstar overnight in front of the whole world. Unfortunately, like any star, maintaining popularity required exposure.
Although his brief appearance could prove Mysterio was not after fame and wealth, there was no doubt that his popularity was on a steep decline. Despite having only been five days, he no longer appeared in the headlines or trending searches of major apps.
In his place was the new generation Spider-Man, who was already a famous superhero, with his image known worldwide for starring in superhero documentaries and entering the Disney Hall of Fame.
The change in Spider-Man led people to speculate whether something had happened to the previous one. The prevailing theory was that the former Spider-Man had a fallout with Stark Industries, which then took back his powers and equipment, ready to promote a newcomer.
This type of replacement further suggested that Spider-Man was a star made by Stark Industries, but people didn't care. Many were still eagerly following Spider-Man's trend, camping out in various locations around New York to snap his handsome photos. "Running into Spider-Man" had become a hot search term and had been trending for three days.
This sent Beck's sense of crisis through the roof. He had exerted so much effort to get Mysterio that much exposure, and now, if the buzz died down or if Spider-Man replaced him, wouldn't all his hard work be for nothing?
No, he couldn't wait any longer. He had to contact Sophia right now; they had to take action tonight.
Calculating the time, Shiller should be back in just over an hour. Beck took out his phone and walked to the balcony to make a call.
On the phone, Sophia's voice was filled with worry. She said S.H.I.E.L.D. was almost onto their secret base, but fortunately, she had activated the special effects devices to divert their attention. She then spoke of Spider-Man's burst of popularity, and they decided that Sophia would find a way to get Beck out that night.
However, considering the severity of social death, Beck felt it was best not to confront S.H.I.E.L.D. directly, so they planned to make arrangements and perform at night, returning before morning.
Now, there was only one problem left: how to leave in the evening. After all, he was sharing a room with Shiller, and if Beck ran off, the doctor would surely notice his absence at night and call in the agents.
At this point, Sophia suggested a plan. She could get some sedatives and find a way to give them to Beck. As long as Beck slipped the drug into Shiller's water, he would sleep soundly through the night.
Beck, having no better options, agreed to Sophia's plan. They decided that Sophia would cause a commotion at the hospital entrance that evening, find a way to sneak into the hospital, locate Beck's ward, and deliver the drugs to him.
Everything went smoothly. Sophia seemed to use special effects devices to create the illusion of a monster invasion at the entrance, successfully reaching the building where Beck was and delivering the drugs and equipment to him through a drone.
The next evening, Beck slipped the sleeping pills into Shiller's tea. Sure enough, the doctor went to bed early that night. As soon as it got dark, Beck donned his equipment and rode the drone out the door.
Arriving at the base, he hugged everyone, and Sophia, with tears in her eyes, said, "It's so good to have you back. We were in a panic without you. What do we do next? Continue directing the Elementals' invasion?"
"Not so fast," Beck snapped. "Since Stark wants to promote Spider-Man, we'll challenge him. He's just using my technology to create monsters, so I'll use the stage he's built to perform my own play."
A Chinese scientist handed him two videotapes. After watching the footage, Beck looked at a sandstorm that was almost identical to the Elementals he had created and scoffed dismissively.
"Same old tricks," Beck said with disdain. "It seems the Stark Industries still can't solve the problem of materialization, only able to create these semi-real fluid states."
Sophia nodded and said, "That technological barrier is not easily overcome, but what do you make of the robotic invasion? Those robots had a physical form."
"But they were ridiculously weak," Beck dismissed without a second thought. He added, "I think it was just a mechanical model, much like our techniques. It's also probably an experiment from Stark's team. I always said that without me, Peter and Bolent, those two fools, couldn't come up with anything decent."
"But I heard Tony Stark is the best mechanical engineer in the world." Sophia said somewhat worriedly.
"So what? He's still walking in my footsteps," Beck retorted. "That shows he has no innovative capability. I'll show him what real illusion technology is."
Having said that, Beck flung his cape behind him and walked toward the door, saying, "Prepare the drones. I'm going to give that kid called Spider-Man a taste of what a real superhero is like!"