After hearing what Shiller had to say, there was only one thought in Peter's mind.
Fight Shiller? Miles???
Peter pursed his lips hard, the muscles on his face twitched, but still, he managed to say, "Doctor, I think Miles doesn't really need that much training..."
"What are you thinking?" Shiller's somewhat muffled voice came through, and he said, "I'm not his enemy, it's just training, do you think I won't know how to pull my punches?"
"But this is indeed too... uh." Peter stood still for a moment, glanced at Miles, stood still again, and then took another look at Miles.
"I just thought you were too busy and couldn't find anyone else, so I wanted to help you. If you don't appreciate it, never mind."
After hesitating for a while, Peter said, "Alright, Doctor, but you must promise me, you can only use force, no, no, you can't use force either, I'm not saying you shouldn't use force but something else, it's more like..."
Peter scratched his head for a long time, at a loss for words, then he heard the understanding Doctor on the other end say, "How about this, I won't step in, let Gray mist take my place, we'll use the same rules as Sandman, whoever gets caught loses."
"That won't do either!" Didn't Peter understand Shiller? He said, "You must cut him some slack, I mean, you can't far exceed Sandman in terms of power. Miles just found his groove, you can't knock his confidence."
"Are you the psychologist or am I the psychologist?"
Peter had no reply, his face almost creased into a bun, but after glancing at Miles, who looked dejected in the face of a math problem, he nodded and said, "Okay, Doctor, just this once, but please be gentle..."
"Don't worry, I still have high hopes for Miles."
Finally, it was evening, and after Miles finished that damn math problem, he stretched and, seeing Peter's hesitant expression, asked, "What's wrong? Is there something on my face?"
"Hmm... no." Peter turned away without looking at him, still tinkering with the Battlesuit. Miles, feeling puzzled, thought about warming up by the window when Peter called him back.
Peter handed him the Battlesuit and said, "I've found you a new sparring partner, somewhat like Sandman..."
Miles could tell that Peter had struggled to say 'somewhat,' and at the same time, his Spider-sense was triggered, startling him.
Miles looked around suspiciously but didn't sense anything, so he could only say, "You've got quite a network, but I've mostly figured out how to deal with these intangible monsters."
"Trust me, whatever you've found, it's not a solution," Peter said with implied meaning. "Tonight, you have only one goal."
"To catch him?"
"To survive."
Miles jumped to the rooftop of a building, their usual spot, where most of their chase battles began.
But today, before the sparring partner arrived, a familiar figure showed up first. Miles' Spider-sense tingled, and he darted to the side, rolling to dodge a laser beam.
Turning his head, he saw Mysterio landing on the rooftop.
Isn't that the lunatic from the other day? Miles thought.
It wasn't surprising he was prejudiced—Sandman kept ranting about that crazy guy who incurred a hefty fine, so Miles naturally had a preconceived notion.
Moreover, before training began, Peter had repeatedly emphasized the Young Hero Code, the rules established by the young heroes themselves. The first and most important rule was that fighting crime should not come at the expense of civilians, and if one couldn't manage that, they should seek help, never act rashly, and especially not cause reckless public property damage. Anyone who violated this autonomously would face collective opposition.
Miles was a timid person by nature, tending to avoid trouble, lacking the wild streak many teenagers had, and could even be deemed old-fashioned conservative. Although he longed for recognition, he was always paranoid, feeling that fame would only bring bad luck.
Thus, Miles resented Mysterio's flamboyant demeanor, flaunting in mid-air, and now that he had attacked out of the blue, it made him even more annoyed.
"What are you doing?!" Miles asked indignantly: "Don't you know the New York Superhero Mutual Aid and Supervision Code? All superheroes operating in New York State must absolutely not have any intent to attack each other, not even as a joke. You'll be taken to Superhero Court!"
That was also something Peter had warned Miles about before. Because there were so many superheroes in New York, conflicts were inevitable, leading to fights and even traffic congestion. After such incidents increased, S.H.I.E.L.D. brought everyone together for a meeting to come up with a code.
Simply put, it was forbidden to seek personal vendettas, and unresolved grievances should be addressed through civil litigation in normal society first. If the ordinary courts couldn't resolve them, then they would move to S.H.I.E.L.D.'s Superhero Court, with a jury of New York superheroes to ensure a clear verdict.
Strange and Stark, those two enemies, were constantly in court arguing over mundane disputes, and the superheroes were tired of breaking up their fights, eventually growing so annoyed with these two turkeys that the Luminous Alliance settled their issues privately.
There was one principle the court followed, in any dispute, whoever spoke first was in the wrong, and this was even more true for fighting. If you insisted on fighting in space, at most the initiator would be deemed the loser.
But if you dared to fight within the atmosphere, sorry, even superheroes had to face criminal responsibility, being exiled directly to Andromeda Galaxy's rehabilitation program. The last time Polaris and Wanda fought, they both were sentenced to three months of community service in the Andromeda Galaxy.
So for Miles, Mysterio's brazen act was simply inconceivable. Now, all superheroes in New York had to wear body cameras when they went out to fight crime, and the footage Miles had just shot was enough to charge Mysterio with intentional injury.
"You reacted quickly," Mysterio said, thinking he was praising the kid. In his view, he was much stronger than this fledgling Spider-Man, and the other party must be thrilled to be complimented by him.
But Miles took two steps back, shook his head, and thought it was a good thing Sandman didn't show up tonight. Was this a lunatic who had escaped from an asylum?
Mysterio looked around and asked, "Are you waiting for your old nemesis?"
"He's not coming tonight," Miles replied, while mentally adding, "If I'd known you were coming tonight, I wouldn't have either."
Mysterio, however, narrowed his eyes, somewhat discontent, "Is he scared? Well then, let's go find his lair. Do you know where he's hiding?"
Miles knew that right now, Sandman should be at Stark Group and hadn't left because he had been fined for the public damage he caused on his wind-blown journey from New York to Los Angeles. Now he was working off his debt at Stark Group, often having to work overtime until 11 p.m.
After some thought, Miles decided to maintain the greatest virtue of a sane person, which was not to talk to a lunatic. He shook his head and turned to leave, but at that moment, he saw a fog drifting out from the building across the street.
Wait, he had a new sparring partner today! Miles suddenly remembered that Peter hadn't told him who today's new sparring partner was. Could it be this fog?
Mysterio seemed excited too. It looked like Stark was quite clever. After his dust storm was defeated by Mysterio, coming back out would just mean getting beaten again, so in a rush he whipped up a new "skin" to continue the spectacle of Spider-Man fighting monsters, all to prop up the superhero Spider-Man.
But unfortunately, his special effects technology hadn't improved at all; he could still only come up with gaseous monsters.
And with Mysterio present, the stage they had carefully set up would only end up serving as his performance space, and the protagonist Spider-Man they brought in would inevitably become just a foil to him. After all, he was the truly sought-after superhero.
Mysterio thought this as he slowly rose into the air, surrounded by a storm of flames and thick fog, which made his figure more imposing. The changing lights inside his helmet added to his mystique.
Mysterio saw the fog slowly condense and assumed it was going to form a giant figure like Sandman did, but unexpectedly, after a long buildup, a question mark appeared.
Yes, a question mark, with a hook on top and a dot below, and it was no accident; the question mark formed identically to an emoji expression.
Originally, the scene of a swirling fog of evil fighting a superhero surrounded by countless magic lights should have been quite epic.
But if this alert superhero is facing an emoji expression, then the scene just looks ridiculous no matter how you slice it.
Even Mysterio was struggling to keep it together, knowing that there were reporters from the press watching below. In the photos that would be taken, what would it look like if he was fighting an emoji?
Mysterio raised his arms, and red and green fire lasers raced toward the question mark, but the fog nimbly dispersed and quickly formed another expression—an angry little red face.
While it wasn't red but gray, the shape and details were remarkably life-like, right down to the dynamic flames.
Miles was stunned; this new sparring partner was quite trendy.
Mysterio even saw the group of journalists below, their cameras now fully focused on this newly appeared fog monster, with hardly anyone shooting him.
After all, there were plenty of superheroes with dazzling special effects, but a supervillain who could form emoji expressions—there was only this one so far. No need to mention who the real star was, right?
Seeing his limelight stolen, Mysterio immediately launched both fiery dragons and ice cones, constantly attacking the other with drone-controlled effects.
But since the opponent was gaseous, these attacks could only make ripples at best, not inflicting any real damage.
It appeared that the monster had just realized this and immediately transformed into a "face with tears of joy," and then into "rolling on the floor laughing," silently mocking with expressions.
What followed was a comical situation, with a traditional magic-type superhero fervently chasing a giant laughing emoji face; the former laughing and flying in front while the latter attacking and pursuing from behind.
The pair circled around Manhattan at least ten times. The scene couldn't be called "The Avengers: Civil War"; it was more like "Tom and Jerry."
Meanwhile, Sandman, who was working at the Stark Building, glazed outside the window for a moment and saw the emoji, larger than the moon itself. The wrench in his hand clanged to the floor.
At that moment, Sandman felt like he was opening the door to a new world.
Therefore, Mysterio went from fighting one emoji to fighting two, chasing a "rolling on the floor laughing" ahead and a "smiling face with tongue out" behind, drifting past New Yorkers' heads like a stream of comments.
Standing on the rooftop, Miles was stunned for a moment and then chose to take out his phone.
The next day, TikTok exploded.