chapter 7
"Peter, Peter, come take a look. Is this outfit okay?"
The Parker house was a bit noisy this morning, with May Parker shouting to Peter.
Peter yawned, somewhat helplessly heading toward Aunt May's room.
In front of the full-length mirror, a curvaceous Italian woman was "striking poses." Her skin was fair, like a ripe peach, as if a gentle pinch could squeeze out water.
Okay, describing his dear aunt with such words might not be appropriate, but that was indeed Peter's first thought upon seeing her.
"Aunt May, I told you, it's just Tony Stark. No need to make such a big deal, right?" Peter said helplessly.
"Just Tony Stark?" Aunt May's voice rose several decibels, looking at Peter in disbelief. "You didn't say that when we got the news yesterday. Your face practically jumped with excitement! And don't think I didn't notice—you were tossing and turning last night, couldn't sleep, right?"
"Uh..." Peter was momentarily speechless.
Indeed, the old him would have been incredibly excited and attached great importance to the fact that Tony Stark, Iron Man, was personally coming to visit him.
That was Tony Stark!
Genius scientist, billionaire, Iron Man, Avenger... countless halos surrounded him, like the protagonist of a novel, shining brightly.
And he, Peter Parker, was just an ordinary kid from a modest family, not particularly popular at school.
A prince visiting a slum to see a poor child—how could the poor child not be thrilled?
But last night's strange fusion with the Shadow Spider-Man not only gave Peter some physical "evolution" and enriched his knowledge but also instilled a subtle aversion to capitalists like Stark deep in his heart.
Moreover, with the Shadow Spider-Man's logical reasoning skills, Peter was now 95% certain that Iron Man was here because he had discovered his abilities!
He even pieced together some of the events' causes and consequences.
A month ago, in the Sokovia incident, the Avengers fought to stop Ultron's world-ending plot.
But online, many "rumors" circulated, claiming Ultron was Iron Man's creation, and Sokovia's fall, the displacement of millions of residents, and countless casualties and property losses were ultimately Iron Man's fault.
Although Stark Industries later generously donated funds, building shelters, organizing medical teams, and even having their pharmaceutical division develop free medicine for the affected, it was all seen as Iron Man atoning for his mistakes.
But atonement doesn't mean innocence; it doesn't erase the fault itself.
In the past, out of admiration for Iron Man, Peter was furious about these attacks and often argued online with detractors.
But now, he thought those attacks might be true.
Of course, the people spreading these claims clearly had ulterior motives.
Either to gain attention and profit from traffic or to... attack Iron Man and his Stark Industries.
Because he also saw calls for Iron Man to make some of Stark Industries' technologies public under the guise of "public safety oversight."
Their intentions were obvious.
Peter was certain that even if Iron Man naively complied, those technologies would only be snatched up by opportunists, hidden away, and used for their own petty schemes.
Of course, Iron Man wasn't some naive fool who would actually do that.
He had the ability and means to protect his legitimate assets.
The second clue: a few weeks ago, in a place called Lagos, a building was destroyed due to the Avengers' actions, causing many casualties.
Although they were fighting a terrorist organization, it undeniably caused public panic.
So, a few days ago, a meeting was held at the LHG building in Vienna to discuss the Sokovia Accords.
The accords aimed to restrict the Avengers' actions, allowing them to act only when a special panel deemed it necessary, rather than acting freely as before.
Unfortunately, on the day the accords were to be signed, the LHG building in Vienna was attacked by terrorists, resulting in the deaths of twelve people, including King T'Chaka of Wakanda, and at least seventy injuries.
This incident caused significant public panic as well.
Although official reports released photos identifying the suspect as the infamous Hydra operative "Winter Soldier" James Buchanan Barnes, conspiracy theorists believed it was "revenge" by former Avengers unwilling to sign the accords.
Some even dug up old stories, confirming that Captain America and the Winter Soldier were once close friends—Captain America's story is well-known; he went from a stage performer to the real Captain America by saving many captured soldiers, including his friend the Winter Soldier, which wasn't hard to find.
And it's widely known that Captain America didn't attend the signing, and though the reason was unclear, he was clearly unwilling to sign the accords.
Although it's hard to believe logically that this long-standing symbol of American heroism could be an opponent, the facts were what they were.
He had a motive.
This speculation was logical and reasonable.
If the above was just speculation, then yesterday's video of Captain America, the Winter Soldier, and a man in black armor fighting on the streets of Germany confirmed these theories.
Captain America had become a criminal!
Now, online, negative comments about the Avengers, especially Captain America, were flooding the internet, turning him from a superhero into a universally despised super-criminal!
In summary, Peter had two guesses about why Iron Man was visiting at this time:
First, he had discovered Peter's true identity and superpowers, so he wanted him to sign the Sokovia Accords to impose restrictions on him.
Second, on top of the first, due to Captain America's rebellion, he was likely to unite with others unwilling to sign the accords to oppose the pro-accords faction led by Iron Man.
Iron Man needed help, so he came to Peter.
Peter pondered silently. If that was the case, what should he do?
"Hey, Peter? Why are you zoning out?" At some point, Aunt May had walked up to Peter.
Peter snapped back, smiling. "Aunt May, you look absolutely radiant."
"Do I? I think so too!"