Scratching his ear and squinting, Shiller saw Stark pulling his face guard back up again. Steve shook his head, and Natasha huffed coldly, saying, "Are you all out of your minds? My code name is Black Widow because I'm a widow, not a spider."
"Thanks, now we know," Steve heaved a sigh and said, "I thought, maybe initially when the Soviets transformed you, they might have used spider genes, which is why you were given the code name."
"You guys are way off base, right? Peter is excited because he's in a spider's mating period? That's ridiculous!" Natasha leaned back lazily on her chair, lit a cigarette, and said, "And doesn't he have a girlfriend? Why would he need to mate..."
At this point, the female agent paused, then froze for a moment, before suddenly grinning strangely and saying, "Peter and Gwen... haven't they yet...?"
She gave a knowing look and of course, the adults in the room understood her meaning. Stark looked incredulous, exclaiming, "How is that possible? They've been in a relationship for nearly two years, it's not like they haven't yet..."
"Who knows," Shiller remarked, pulling out a chair to sit down, "When I performed an examination on Peter earlier, I discovered that he was quite conservative about these matters, perhaps due to his aunt and uncle's more traditional upbringing."
"I remember, Peter told me that he attended a church middle school. The education there might also be a contributing factor," Steve added.
"And moreover, Gwen's father is the chief of the New York Police Department. Her upbringing must be strict. So, it wouldn't be strange if nothing has happened between them. After all, not everyone can be like you and plan to get to know the other at a deep level after just two hours," Shiller said, looking at Stark.
"I don't believe it. At their age, how could they have no impulse? And, after Peter confessed to Gwen that he is Spider-Man, shouldn't their relationship have taken a step further? Isn't that the case?" Stark asked incredulously.
"Confirmed," Natasha, who was tinkering with her computer, said, "Peter and Gwen probably have not done anything. According to the agent assigned to keep an eye on Peter, he has never spent a night at Gwen's place. They also don't have any record of renting motel or hotel rooms, so..."
The group exchanged glances, and Shiller paused for a moment and said, "Suppose, and I'm just supposing, that things are as we're thinking. Peter could have inherited some spider behaviors and entered a mating period this year, leading to his elevated mood...
At the same time, he hasn't furthered his relationship with his girlfriend. Now the problem arises, what do you think we should do under this situation?"
Stark opened his mouth, but before he could speak, Steve said, "You'd better watch your language. We have a lady present."
Before Steve could finish his sentence, Natasha chimed in, "Why don't we send someone from the CIA to introduce a female agent to them? Peter is young and handsome, definitely not over-indulgent like some people. He could be a good catch for them..."
Stark bristled and was about to retort when Shiller said, "That would be a betrayal to Gwen. Peter will never agree to it. And I also think it's not that simple."
"After all, Peter is still human, and he's very smart. I don't think he would be fully controlled by his animal instincts. From a human perspective, his behavior might indicate insecurity in his current relationship and a desire for a more stable relationship."
"So that means..." Stark started, but stopped when he saw a look from Shiller, closing his mouth and holding his words back.
"Anyway, we need to resolve this problem. It's not just about city appearance. It can be more serious," Steve said, frowning, "Once the spiderwebs cluster together and touch a person, they are difficult to remove. If someone stumbles and gets hurt, that's another problem. Even if it sticks to birds or insects, it could damage the ecosystem."
Just then, Stark received a communication from Jarvis, saying, "Hello? What? The spiderwebs have been cleaned up? Who cleaned them up? Spider-Man?? But didn't he weave those webs? …Alright, I'll be right back..."
When they returned to Stark Building, Peter was at the lab table conducting an experiment. Stark gave him an appraising look and then asked, "Weren't you... I mean, haven't you lost your mind?"
"Why would I lose my mind?" Peter asked, taken aback.
"Then why would you weave so many webs in the sky of New York?" Stark asked again.
"Oh, that. Last time Gwen was curious if I could weave webs, so I tried it out. Unexpectedly, the picture was well received. The photographer who took the picture even won a prize. Then some street art organizations asked me to help weave webs for them to use as a backdrop for events or photography, so I agreed," Peter replied.
"Don't worry, that web is made of special materials. It will decompose completely in about five or six hours. If some of it isn't completely cleaned up, I will take care of it and won't cause trouble for the janitors."
Shiller got near Stark and whispered to him, "From what I see, his mental condition seems pretty normal. Are you sure you all aren't just exaggerating?"
Stark sniffed coldly and snapped his fingers, saying, "Peter, I'm planning to start a new research project…"
With a sudden "whoosh," Peter appeared in front of Stark. Shiller didn't even get a clear look at how he moved. He rushed over like a gust of wind and spoke at an extremely fast pace:
"A new project? Do you mean new work? I think I am completely capable. I have finished more than half of the 14 projects at hand within a week. Of course, the quality is pretty good. Doctor Connors praised me for it. He reminded me to combine work with leisure, but I don't feel tired at all. I can handle 10 more projects, Mr. Stark. If I could handle a research project independently rather than being an assistant, that would be even better. I am a college student now, I think I can undoubtedly…"
"Stop!" Shiller shouted. Peter turned his head and saw Shiller too, then "whoosh," he darted to Shiller's front, saying to him, "Oh, Doctor Schiller, you are back. Long time no see! How was your vacation? I just got back from mine too. Did I tell you about that funny incident at my high school graduation? Thompson's date tripped because she didn't secure her gown properly and brought down Thompson. He instinctively made a dodge move like in football and ended up knocking over that most annoying principal. Gwen and I nearly died laughing…."
"Stop!" Stark shouted again and said, "This is the 18th time you are repeating this story, Peter. Stop talking..."
"Oh, sorry, I can't seem to control myself." Peter held two index fingers crossed over his mouth, shook his head, took a step back indicating he wouldn't speak anymore. But just when Stark wanted to speak again, Peter added, "I haven't said it 18 times; this was the 17th time."
After that, he covered his mouth again. Stark, helpless, took a deep breath, pulled Schiller over, pointed at Peter and said, "I am sure he is ill. Cure him quickly or take him away..."
Looking at Stark's hair standing up, Shiller knew that he had probably reached his limit. If Peter was not brought away immediately, Stark might throw him out of the window of Stark Building. So, Shiller took Peter back to Arkham Sanatorium.
After they arrived at the sanatorium, Shiller arranged a room for Peter. He said, "Stay here for now. If you want to go to school, take the car from the second spot on the right down there. Most importantly, you are not supposed to play games with Pikachu past 10 pm. If you do, I'll throw both your game console and the controller into the sea..."
"Alright, come with me to the office now. I need to test your mental state. It seems like you are overexcited."
Shiller led Peter to the office. After Peter finished a set of basic tests, Shiller questioned him based on the results.
After several rounds of examination, Shiller reached a conclusion. Peter's mental state was entirely normal, healthy, happy, and positive. It was a state that would be misdiagnosed as illness if identified within a mile of a mental hospital.
Sitting behind the office desk, Shiller wore a solemn expression, which Peter misunderstood. He asked with great concern, "What's the matter, Doctor? Is my condition severe?"
"No, you're not ill. You are very healthy. The problem is, you're a bit too healthy. Given that, why are you so excited? Is it due to brain waves? Please wait a moment..."
After that, Shiller picked up the phone and called Professor X. He said, "Professor Charles, terribly sorry to disturb you, but there's something I need your help with regarding Peter..."
"Yes, exactly, I found it quite strange too. The analysis results should not indicate any problem, right? But he is indeed overly excited, talks faster, repeats the same points, lacks focus, looks around intermittently. Could you please check his brain waves?"
"The brain waves do not indicate anything wrong either? They are indeed in an excited state, but nothing was found to be influencing them? Alright, I understand. Thank you, goodbye."
After he hung up, Shiller frowned even harder. The worst-case scenario wasn't that the patient had problems, but it was when no problem could be detected despite thorough examination. In such cases, there could only be two outcomes: either it would end up being a false alarm, or the patient should start thinking about naming this disease after themselves.
Just when Shiller was about to recheck one more time, a portal opened out of the blue in mid-air. Strange walked out of it and Loki followed. Strange flipped through a document as he walked and then said, "Shiller, our bill for this quarter is out. Do you think there's room for any improvement?"
Having said that, he lifted his head to look at Schiller, and thus also saw Peter sitting opposite Shiller. The moment he saw Peter, Strange got blinded. He shook his head, and then exclaimed in shock:
"Peter?! Where did you get this thick Faith Power from?? Are you going to become a god?????"