Strange swallows. Looking into Schiller's gray eyes, he indeed does not have the courage to refuse. Anyone with a normal IQ can see that Schiller is not an ordinary person.
Strange is dragged into the car, but still says, "I have to tell you first, I'm a doctor, not a god. If your friend is already dead, no matter how you threaten me, there's nothing I can do to bring him back to life."
Schiller drives expressionlessly and utters, "We're both doctors, and I understand this even better than you. The reason I came looking for you is that I'm sure you can save him."
Strange breathes a sigh of relief, but still frowns and stubbornly says, "You're just a psychiatrist. You better not jump to conclusions about neurosurgery so definitively."
Before he can finish, he sees a ballpoint pen press against his forehead. Schiller's hands are both on the wheel, but the pen just floats there quietly. Strange makes a zipping motion over his mouth, indicating he will definitely keep silent.
Meanwhile, Spidery stands outside the operating room, enveloped in immense guilt and self-reproach, not wanting to let even a fly in.
But coincidentally, Matt's ex-girlfriend Elektra has also been sneaking to the operating room.
Elektra comes not to kill Matt—quite the opposite. She knows the gang's plan earlier than Peter. She has been wanting to tell Matt, but Matt left in such a hurry, and Elektra only arrived after the incident occurred.
Her feelings for Matt are complex. They were classmates and lovers, but they broke up over some irreconcilable differences. This time Elektra accepted Kingpin's commission to assassinate Matt, but she always held back, never intending to kill him. Yet she let her guard down for a moment, and Matt fell victim to someone's plot, which left her in anguish.
Elektra comes from a wealthy family and isn't a little girl. She knows Matt's injury is severe and the situation is dire. Without the help of some mystical force, he probably will die—she has to intervene. Perhaps only the power of "The Beast" can save Matt's life.
Elektra, using the ninja's evasion skill, approaches the operating room door. The high school-looking boy at the door doesn't hold any attention for her. From days of watching, she knows Peter is just a student who knows no fighting techniques; Elektra plans to bypass him and go straight through.
But,coincidentally, Peter has spider abilities, one of the most important being spider-sense, which is now several times more sensitive due to his highly mental stress. As Elektra approaches, Peter turns his head and stares intently at the empty corner of the wall. Sensing someone there, he swings a punch at Elektra.
Elektra knows Peter has extraordinary strength and doesn't dare to take the punch head-on. But Peter is full of openings due to lack of professional training; when he throws the punch, his upper body leans too far forward, his legs aren't spread to keep a stable center of gravity. Elektra wraps her arm directly around Peter's wrist, yanking him forward. Peter immediately loses his balance and topples forward.
Elektra trips him, and Peter goes down. Perhaps it's the anxiety that triggers better use of his abilities; he bounces up as he lands, grabbing Elektra's lower back with his arms.
Elektra is also in a hurry, both of their tempers flaring. But in fact, Elektra is an assassin trained by the Hand. The moment Peter embraces her, the hand holding her short knife swings viciously backwards.
The knife, with an air blade, slashes from Peter's shoulder down to just below his last rib, nearly severing half his body.
In an instant, a great pain that is impossible to resist engulfs Peter, nearly triggering all his potential. With one forceful move, Elektra is flung away, crashing to the other end of the corridor and unable to stand up for a long while.
Peter also falls seated, feeling nearly dead from the pain. The short knife not only slices open half of his back, but its air blade also cuts into his lungs. Now with every breath, blood surges up along his windpipe.
For the first time, Peter feels such pain—the immense agony of having his back muscles torn apart nearly makes him pass out.
He is just a high school student. The greatest pain he has ever experienced in his life is just being punched a few times a few days ago, and this wound is incomparable to those.
Peter's entire back is nearly pierced through, and his lungs are injured, making breathing bring the taste of blood; every breath is accompanied by immense pain. Tears roll out involuntarily from his eyes, as a pained groan squeezes from his throat.
He suddenly realizes that heroes, can be hurt and bleed as well.
And when heroes are injured, they also suffer immensely, with no relief. Not even their special abilities save them from pain.
His self-healing power allows him to recover somewhat within a few breaths. With blurred peripheral vision, he glances into the operating room, seeing Daredevil through the frosted glass, laying there.
Daredevil turns his head, his eyes open. He is still conscious, but can't move.
Peter clearly understands ,Daredevil lacks the healing ability and is close to death.
He is just a blind man skilled in martial arts. Now that his entire spine is broken, he must be in intense pain, even more so than Peter, yet unable to make a sound.
Peter is filled with fright and despair, sorrowful and angry for the fragile life of a hero like this. Worse still, he is overwhelmed by great guilt and self-reproach.
A mortal without superpower has saved him from an underground boxing ring. But he has walked away upon hearing the criminal plot, leaving his good friend, a true hero, to suffer such immense pain, even close to death.
Matt is the true hero, not him.
This intense emotional turmoil makes his spider-sense buzz. In an instant, Peter's spider abilities are amplified to the maximum; the intense emotions surge within him. To his eyes, the entire world seems different.
Elektra activates her evasion technique immediately, concealing herself. But Peter's eyes are red, and he locks onto her position in a moment.
The boy, who has just been so clumsy a moment ago, disappears almost instantly. Then, with a great force, Elektra is slammed against the wall; she spits out a mouthful of blood and uses her last strength to enact her evasion technique to escape. When Schiller returns to the hospital, he finds Peter sitting under a nearly shattered wall, his eyes brimming with red.
Strange enters the operating room. By then, the sky has completely darkened. Schiller stands opposite Spider-Man.
"Peter. I really don't expect our meet to be under these circumstances," Schiller says.
Peter is reacting a bit slow now; he doesn't understand what Schiller means. Schiller crouches down, looks into Peter's eyes, and says, "I'm sorry that I don't accompany you during that medical examination. As you can see, I no longer work at this hospital."
Peter's senses recover somewhat, and he says, "It's you, you're that doctor."
"Yes, it's me," Schiller agrees.
Peter lowers his head in silence and voice trembles, "I must have disappointed you. I'm not as good as I appear to be when we chat. I've done a lot of wrong things, and I've nearly gotten my friend killed."
Schiller says, "I think you've learned a few things."
"Yes, yes..." Peter's voice is hoarse as he speaks, "The biggest lesson I've learned is that getting hurt really is painful."
"It's so painful, but he still goes through with it." Peter whispers, "He's a hero, and I'm not. Maybe I'll never become a hero..."
Schiller's voice remains calm, and Peter cannot detect any reprimand in his tone. He just says very peacefully, "Perhaps you now understand that if all those capable don't choose to save others, then no one will come to save you."
"Perhaps you think your life now isn't good. But even this not-so-good life is built by some who are willing to make sacrifices for you."
"Even for those living like beggars, it was after Daredevil cleared the streets of thugs that they could have what they have."
"Peter. Perhaps it shouldn't be me saying this, but now it seems only I am in a position to say it," Schiller says.
"With great power comes great responsibility."
Spider-Man closes his eyes in silence.
In the early morning hours, during the darkest moment, Strange, while removing his gloves, walks out of the operating room and says, "Congratulations, the surgery is very successful, there's an eighty percent chance his nerves could fully recover."
After hearing this sentence, Peter finally lets out a loud roar, as if he wants to vent all the emotions accumulated in his chest. He jumps straight out the window, quickly climbs up the building's walls to the roof, and begins to shuttle swiftly.
At this moment, he catches sight of the golden and red armor again, seemingly leading him to follow it somewhere, continuously circling around him. Peter follows the armor as they leap and dash all the way to the top of the New York TV Tower.
The two of them stand at the very top of the New York TV Tower.
Peter struggles to roar out loud but not a sound emerges. All his emotions are bottled up inside his chest, driving him almost mad.
Stark's mask lifts, and Peter, catching a glimpse of his face, says in surprise, "You are Stark! Iron Man is Stark!"
"It's not surprising, kid. Who else but the owner of Stark Industries could develop such an armor?" Stark says.
"But the news reported that you were kidnapped and taken to Afghanistan."
"Yes, but do you want to know how I escaped?"
Peter looks at him, prompting Stark to reveal, "I built an arc reactor and installed it here." Stark points to his chest.
"There is still an arc reactor here."
"In a cave in Afghanistan, I opened up my chest and pushed a metal shrapnel into it; my blood soaked through my pants."
Just imagining the scene makes Peter feel a dull pain in his own chest, and he says, "That must have been unbearable, right?"
"Of course, it was painful," Stark responds nonchalantly, yet Peter detects a tremor in his voice, seemingly he is reluctant to recall that day.
"You have to cut open your ribcage with a not-very-sharp bone saw and then sew electric wires into your flesh."
Peter feels a chill run down his spine.
He never imagined that Stark, who always appears as a playboy in the news, living a seemingly carefree, privileged life, could have gone through such agonizing pain. He, too, has bled and suffered pain that most people could hardly endure.
"Although I often call myself a genius, I'm very aware. I know that if I'm shot by a bullet, I'll bleed a lot; if shrapnel shreds my heart, I will die; if I lose a leg, I won't be able to walk."
"But I've done many things that come with such risks. Am I seeking thrills?" Stark sneers.
"I am the richest man in the world and have power that most people on this planet do not. I have absolutely no reason to put on my expensive armor and save the ordinary whose monthly salary couldn't buy a single screw on my suit, especially with such high risks."
Spider-Man closes his eyes, and after a moment of silence, he says, "...with great power comes great responsibility, right?"
Stark doesn't answer; he simply points to his heart.
Peter understands the meaning: his heart has already given him the answer.
Facing the morning sun over New York City, Peter and Stark stand atop the TV tower, watching as a streak of golden brilliance pierces through the clouds, casting all of New York's buildings in dazzling gold.
From this day forward, Peter Parker, Spider-Man, understands a truth—
So-called heroes are mortals too. They feel pain, get injured, bleed, feel lonely, and are lost. The only thing that sets them apart from the ordinary, is their sense of responsibility and their unwavering determination to uphold justice until death.
No one is born capable of withstanding such intense pain. In darkness, they forge their suffering into the strong armor on their backs. And when daylight comes, they will use their hardened resolve to save the world.
Spider-Man stands up for the first time on the iron frame of the TV tower. He isn't yet wearing Spider-Man's suit, and he isn't tall or strong. But his soul stands tall, becoming upright. The emotions surging in his chest transform into power that spreads from his wounds to his entire body.
Facing the first rays of the sun, he thinks, dawn has broken—
It's time to save the world.