R Batman Incident (16)

"Listen, Peter, relax, take a deep breath… That’s it. Don’t let that emotion control you. You need to calm down…"

Peter’s chest heaved violently as he gulped down air, as though he were trying to suck all the air out of the room.

Only after quite a while did Schiller let Peter sit back down in his chair. Looking into his eyes, Schiller soothed him. "Don’t think back on that image. It was all just your imagination."

"No…" Peter covered his eyes in anguish. "I’ve seen scenes like that through my Spider-Sense. They all came true!"

"But at least it hasn’t happened yet. What you should be thinking about now is how to turn this situation around." Schiller tapped the desk, drawing Peter’s attention back. Then he said, "I imagine you’ve seen yourself in danger more than once through that ability, but every time, you turned things around with your own strength. This time will be no different."

Peter’s Adam’s apple trembled. As if clutching at a lifeline, he hurriedly said, "Really? Right… that’s right! Every danger I sensed before, I avoided! This time will definitely be the same!"

As he spoke, he rose from his chair again and began pacing in place. "It’s fine. As long as I keep an eye on Mr. Stark, keep watching him, or make sure he doesn’t go up any tall buildings, then everything will be fine…"

Schiller reminded him, "Do you remember the method of analysis I taught you? Instead of starting with the result, start with the cause. Why not think about what could bring Stark that kind of danger?"

Peter froze for a moment, then put on a thoughtful expression. "That really is strange. Why would Mr. Stark take off his armor? And in the middle of a fight, too…"

Before Schiller could offer another prompt, Peter continued, "Right, I saw it once before. Mr. Stark seemed to eject from his armor whenever he faced extreme danger."

"But who could pose that kind of danger to him?" Peter asked, utterly confused. "And even if he ejected from one suit, wouldn’t another suit catch him? He has so many armors. One of them should be able to fly over, right?"

"And besides his own armor, we’d be there too. Why wouldn’t we catch him?"

The more Peter thought about it, the more anxious he became. Then he suddenly said as though struck by realization, "It has to be that Bat God! That’s right, it has to be him. I can’t think of any other reason!"

Peter spoke rapidly. "Those crazed bats are dangerous, but they definitely can’t keep everyone too busy to respond. If Mr. Stark really ends up in danger with no one there to rescue him, then it means all of us have been tied down."

"Then only that mysterious Bat God Guardian could possibly do it."

At last, Peter rushed over to the chair, grabbed his backpack, and said to Schiller, "Doctor, sorry, but I don’t have time to continue with the counseling. I need to find a way to deal with that damned Bat God."

With that, he ran out. From a second-floor window of the manor, Schiller watched Peter race out of the building and begin searching the street for Stark.

Stark was currently amid a pile of humanoid armors, making their final adjustments. When he saw Peter run over, Stark greeted him, casually hooked an arm around Peter’s shoulders, and pointed at the armors. "Look, I made adaptive modifications to these fifteen armors. They have wings on their backs to assist with flight too, so they won’t lose balance as easily when attacked from the air…"

Peter said anxiously, "Mr. Stark, my Spider-Sense just told me that you’ll face tremendous danger later!"

Stark paused, glanced at Peter, and said, "Danger? What danger could I be in? I prepared more than a hundred armors. They’re not just here—there are armors all the way from Stark Tower to the Brooklyn Bridge. No matter what danger I encounter, they can support me immediately."

"No!" Peter anxiously explained the principles of his Spider-Sense to Stark and stressed that every image he had seen before had come true. Hearing this, Steve stepped over the sandbags on the ground and walked over from nearby.

"Falling from a tall building? That’s strange. Why would we go up onto some high-rise in the first place? Even if we fight those monsters in the air, there’s no need to stand on top of a building, is there?"

Stark rubbed his forehead. Anyone would feel considerable pressure upon hearing that they might die within the next few hours, but his thoughts remained fairly clear. He told Peter, "I agree with you. If anything in the coming battle threatens my life, it will definitely be that mysterious Bat God."

"Does summoning that thing not require some kind of ritual? Like what we saw last night. Maybe we can sabotage the ritual."

Peter told the two of them what he had heard at the vampire command post. Steve frowned and said, "Then there has to be a location for its arrival, right? We can set up an ambush beforehand."

Peter shook his head. "If there’s no ritual, then maybe it can descend anywhere. It depends entirely on the summoner’s mood."

"I don’t think we should waste too much time on this, Peter. You said it yourself—before, you avoided all those images in all sorts of ways. That means they’re only warnings, not prophecies that must come true. I think when the time comes, I’ll find a way to avoid it too."

Peter wanted to say something more, but Stark’s tone turned heavy. "We all know tonight’s situation doesn’t look good. The number of crazed bats has increased several times over. Once they launch an organized all-out assault, the entire front will become extremely intense."

"If we split our attention now to deal with some possible image of death, then the ground forces will suffer terrible losses."

Stark looked Peter in the eye. Peter saw an unshakable resolve in them as Stark said, "Don’t forget what we came here for. If I wanted to avoid danger, couldn’t I just hide in Stark Tower?"

"You only saw an image of me possibly dying, but in tonight’s battle, anyone could die."

"I have all these armors protecting me, and I have all of you watching out for me. But the police officers in the ground forces only have the guns in their hands. One moment of carelessness could cost them their lives."

"If every one of them worried about whether they would die in the next second and how they might die, the entire Brooklyn District would have fallen long ago."

Peter looked at Stark. He opened his mouth, but in the end, he chose silence.

Stark told him, "Just like I once told you, I could choose not to put on this Iron Man suit at all. I could stay comfortably in my headquarters."

"I have no real reason to charge onto the battlefield or come to the front lines. But since I did, it means I’m prepared to make the same sacrifices as the ordinary people here on the front lines."

Though Stark’s tone sounded relaxed, both Peter and Steve knew how much fear and pressure an accurate prophecy of one’s own death could bring.

Steve tapped his shield. "Now I admit it. You really are a warrior, Iron Man."

Peter pressed his lips together and looked toward the horizon. The last trace of dusk was swallowed by darkness, and night fell completely. He felt as though he had returned to Matt’s cabin, watching these good people get hurt and bleed, watching them suffer terribly while being powerless to do anything.

The bats began flaunting themselves in the deepening darkness. Anger engulfed Peter. The ones who should have been hiding and hesitating were never these heroes. From beginning to end, Peter had firmly believed that good people deserved good outcomes.

If that was the case, then he would make these monsters that belonged in the dark crawl back into their shadowy corners.

Peter silently swore to himself, Bat God, no matter what kind of god you are, no matter whether you possess divine power, I’ll make you regret this. I’ll send you crawling back wherever you came from.

Soon, piercing sirens rang out. Director George fired three shots into the air, then shouted into his radio, "EVERYONE, GET READY!!! THE BATTLE IS ABOUT TO BEGIN!!!!"

Natasha lay behind a barricade atop a building, using binoculars to observe the area near the bridge. She issued orders through her radio. "Clint, hold your position for now and wait for my command. Your current position is pretty good. Focus first on sniping the large bats leading the charge."

"Daisy, get down from that position first. Clint doesn’t need protection for the moment. Go behind the first line of defense on Second Street and use your shockwave ability to set up an ambush…"

Order after order was rapidly relayed. Units at every level stood ready, and the superheroes waited in anticipation.

The Brooklyn Bridge had already been blasted into ruins during the fierce battle the night before. Even the surrounding alleys had been badly damaged.

The streets were littered with broken stones, rubble, and shrapnel left from the previous night. The lighting bulbs cast a faint sheen over the layered defensive fortifications in the dark, while the faint glow in the logistics robots’ eyes reflected off the guns and artillery weapons held by the heavily armed combatants.

With the first bat taking flight, a black tide seemed to rise along the skyline on the other side of the Brooklyn Bridge. Countless bats, their red eyes gleaming, took to the air. In an instant, they blanketed the entire sky, dimming even the moonlight.

Everyone looked up at the terrifying might of the bat army. Steve said, "We still underestimated their madness."

As the two were discussing it, Stark saw a figure swing past on a web and land directly in front of the front line.

Both Stark and Steve were stunned. Steve shouted, "SPIDER-MAN!!! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!! GET BACK HERE!!! THAT’S DANGEROUS!!!!!"

That was even farther out than the first line of defense, with practically no cover or protective measures. The moment he landed there, he would immediately face the frenzied assault of bats at full strength.

But Peter acted as though he had not heard them. Then, something happened that no one expected.