Chapter 218: An Unbelievable Deal
He was going to fight his childhood hero—Captain America.
What unsettled Peter even more was the strange power inside him, the altered physiology Dr. Lynn referred to as his "spider genes."
And then there was the black creature.
Venom.
The alien symbiote had once bonded with him and attempted to overwhelm his consciousness.
Dr. Lynn had eventually removed it.
Completely.
At least, that was what he had been told.
Peter still couldn't shake the feeling that something remained.
Whenever his emotions became particularly intense, he occasionally experienced a strange surge of aggression.
Not a voice.
Not a separate personality.
Just an ugly, instinctive impulse that didn't feel entirely like him.
He hated that feeling.
The next day after school, Peter didn't go straight home.
He wandered through Queens.
Once.
Twice.
Three times.
Eventually, without entirely understanding why, he found himself standing outside the Miracle Clinic.
The reception desk was empty.
Lynn was sitting in his office, reading an unfamiliar book.
Peter poked his head through the doorway.
"Dr. Lynn?"
"Are you seeing patients?"
Lynn didn't look up.
"If you have a common cold, turn left and go to the community clinic."
"If you're here about residual effects from a symbiote infection, come in."
Peter froze.
"How..."
He swallowed.
"How did you know?"
Lynn closed the book.
He looked up and adjusted his gold-rimmed glasses.
"Peter."
"The last time your symbiote went out of control, it damaged approximately three square meters of my clinic."
"The repair bill is still on your account."
"Did you think I'd forgotten?"
Peter scratched the back of his head.
"Right."
He cautiously entered and sat in the examination chair.
"I don't have Venom this time."
"I promise."
He raised both hands.
"I just wanted to make sure..."
Peter's voice became quieter.
"...that it really isn't still inside me."
"Sometimes I feel like something's wrong."
Lynn gestured toward the examination table.
"Hand."
Peter placed it on the table.
Lynn pressed two fingers against his wrist.
The All-Seeing Eye activated.
[Automatic Diagnosis Initiated—]
[Patient: Peter Parker / Spider-Man]
[Assessment:]
[1. Residual symbiote-derived biochemical and informational traces detected below the threshold required to support independent consciousness. No active symbiote organism or autonomous parasitic behavior is present. Trace effects may produce minor psychological or physiological fluctuations during extreme emotional stress.]
[2. Spider-enhanced physiology remains stable. Muscular density, reaction speed, coordination, balance, and regenerative capacity remain within the subject's enhanced baseline.]
[3. Spider-Sense is structurally intact. Baseline activity remains comparatively low outside immediate danger, but the neurological response mechanism can increase dramatically under genuine threat.]
[Overall Risk: Low.]
Peter watched Lynn's expression.
"Well?"
"Am I going to turn back into that black monster?"
Lynn withdrew his hand.
"No."
Peter relaxed slightly.
"The symbiote has been removed."
"Only residual informational traces remain."
"Think of them as a scar."
"It doesn't have an independent consciousness."
"It isn't going to start talking to you."
"And you're not going to wake up with black tentacles growing out of your back."
Peter visibly relaxed.
"That's good."
"That scared me."
Lynn changed the subject.
"I heard you're participating in a team-building exercise."
Peter immediately sat upright.
"Did Mr. Stark tell you?"
Lynn adjusted his glasses.
"You're wearing recently modified Stark Industries textile."
"The web-shooter housings on both wrists have also been altered."
"Your resting heart rate has been elevated since you entered."
"Your pupils have contracted repeatedly."
"You're anticipating combat."
He paused.
"Would you like me to continue?"
Peter opened his mouth.
Then closed it.
"No."
"You smart people are terrifying."
Lynn opened a drawer and removed a sterile lancet.
"Follow-up examination."
"Fifty dollars."
"Plus one blood sample."
Peter stared.
"Only fifty?"
"I thought your fees were supposed to be enormous."
"Your previous bill included property damage."
"This is a medical examination."
Lynn prepared the lancet.
"The prices are different."
Peter muttered,
"Mr. Stark said your prices were practically bank robbery."
Lynn smiled faintly.
"That merely means Mr. Stark owns a sufficiently large bank."
Peter couldn't argue with that.
Lynn drew a small blood sample and sealed it in a sterile container.
Peter watched him label it.
The curiosity he'd been suppressing finally surfaced.
"Dr. Lynn..."
"Hmm?"
"If..."
Peter hesitated.
"If I really have to fight Captain America..."
"What should I do?"
Lynn looked at him.
"Did Stark instruct you to kill anyone?"
Peter immediately shook his head.
"No!"
"He just wants me to help control the situation."
"Then remember what your role is."
Lynn sealed the sample.
"You're there to restrain."
"Not execute."
"Your webs are more useful for immobilizing people than trying to overpower them."
Peter nodded.
Lynn continued.
"When you encounter something you don't understand, remember two things."
"First, protect the weakest person nearby."
"Second, don't endanger yourself simply because somebody else tells you to."
Peter listened carefully.
Those words stayed with him.
Protect the weakest person.
It sounded obvious.
But hearing it from Lynn somehow made it feel more important.
Lynn put the sample away.
"And one more thing."
Peter looked up.
"Don't automatically believe an adult who tells you that everything will be over soon."
Peter blinked.
"Why?"
"Because conflicts between superheroes rarely end as quickly as the adults predict."
Peter became quiet.
There was something in Lynn's tone that made the statement sound less like advice and more like experience.
He eventually asked:
"Then..."
"Are you going?"
Lynn's expression remained calm.
"If necessary, I'll appear."
Peter frowned.
"That doesn't sound like something a hero would say."
"I'm not a hero."
Lynn discarded the lancet in the medical-waste container.
"I'm a doctor."
Peter left the clinic.
Lynn took the sealed blood sample downstairs and entered the underground laboratory.
The door closed behind him.
Meanwhile, Peter returned home.
For the first time since Tony Stark had recruited him, he felt as though he had acquired a genuine advantage.
He knew a little more about his own body.
He knew the symbiote was gone.
And he had received advice from the one person he knew could see through almost everything.
Peter couldn't help thinking that he had gotten a surprisingly good deal from Dr. Lynn that afternoon.
...
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