RNP Chapter 2: The Fatal Problem
Chapter 2: The Fatal Problem
"What do you mean by 'my misfortune'? I don't quite understand what you mean..."
Peter was somewhat dazed when he heard Oz's answer.
He didn't understand why he had provoked this crow, nor did he understand what the contract the crow was talking about, nor did he understand what misfortune he deserved.
What about Uncle Ben?
Uncle Ben was his misfortune; was it what took him away?!
Peter's little brain suddenly lit up.
As if it could read his mind, the large, jet-black bird blinked its scarlet eyes.
"Don't try to scam me, or I'll tell the animal protection association and take you to court!"
Peter snorted, realizing his thoughts had been read, and began to scrutinize the crow before him.
It has a well-proportioned body, and its jet-black feathers, as black as tar, gleam with a cold, moon-white light in the dim room. Its eyes are not the abyss-black as depicted in textbook maps, but rather a scarlet color.
Even though his appearance was somewhat eerie and terrifying, Peter did not feel uncomfortable at all.
"Come on, kid!" Oz suddenly flapped his wings and pointed out the window. "Put on your spider suit, and we'll go catch the murderer who killed your Uncle Ben."
"...What is a spider suit?"
"..."
Oz looked at the boy's face, which resembled Andrew Garfield's, and felt a headache coming on.
I'm so used to having preconceived notions; I almost forgot that this Spider-Man from the Sony Universe isn't even in his debut period yet.
He was just a teenager who had recently lost a loved one.
So Oz turned his head and said, "Forget it, just find a rag and cover your face. We'll talk about the uniform later."
Peter hesitated upon hearing the crow's words.
He really wanted to catch the murderer who killed Uncle Ben, but he didn't quite trust the crow.
Why should I believe you?
"Because your Uncle Ben just died!"
Peter clenched his fist, and the veins on his forehead throbbed.
Seeing this, Oz stopped making jokes about hell.
There was no way around it; he was used to being a rascal in his previous life, and even after being killed by a dump truck and transmigrating into a crow, he still couldn't shake that habit.
He strongly suspected that being turned into a crow was a punishment from heaven for him.
Perhaps because his tongue was too sharp, fate transformed him into a crow in this life, to absorb the misfortunes of others and bring them "happiness".
The happier the bound object is, the faster its strength recovers.
Of course, the happy life of the person being paired with requires his own efforts.
The so-called "borrowing from the misfortunes of others" means making the suffering that the target should have suffered disappear, and allowing them to grow in another way.
Instead of dying first your parents, then your lover, then your friends, then strangers, and then having nothing left to die from, you can only die in the universe.
So this time, the target is Spider-Man, which fits its needs quite well.
Because this guy is just so unlucky!
Oz folded his wings, raised his head, and looked deep into the distance.
He said, "Regarding trust, I don't expect you to abandon your reason and believe me right now, but I must state one thing: I will not bring you any disaster or pain."
Peter paused for a moment, then asked, "And what about Uncle Ben?"
Oz stared at him for a while, then suddenly tilted his head back and let out a loud, cacophony of laughter.
"Of course, you can also blame me and say that my arrival caused your Uncle Ben's death."
"But what if I told you—his death was indeed related to you?"
Whether it was because the crow's laughter was too jarring, or for some other reason, Peter's suppressed grief erupted once again after it finished speaking.
He couldn't take it anymore, so he clenched his fist and punched the crow.
"Get out of my way! Who needs your help?!"
boom!
The fist slammed onto the desk, but instead of the sensation of touching a bird's flesh as I had imagined, it hit nothing but air, making the desk sting painfully.
Peter stared wide-eyed, tears streaming down his face.
Several jet-black feathers floated in mid-air, converging towards the window and finally coalescing into the shape of a bird.
Immediately afterwards, a bright red light appeared in the pitch-black environment.
Oz, now in his raven form, flapped his wings as if carefully grooming his feathers.
Then it noticed Peter's current appearance, tilted its head, and rotated it at a 180-degree angle.
"Oh, so you're crying already?"
Peter had no interest in paying attention to Oz's sarcastic remarks.
He only understands one thing now.
That means Uncle Ben was indeed "killed" by his own hands.
Oz felt a little embarrassed watching the boy sobbing with his head in his hands.
Oh, my mouth! I just can't control myself!
So it plopped down on the windowsill and quietly enjoyed Spider-Man Peter Parker's crying scene.
In my past memories, Spider-Man was all about his glorious moments. It's rare to see him in such a vulnerable state now.
So pitiful. (Seriously)
Should we add fuel to the fire?
Forget it!
Oz shook his head and decisively abandoned the idea.
He's here to assist Spider-Man, not to put pressure on him.
Once Peter had vented his emotions, Oz slowly got up.
"I feel sorry for your uncle's death."
Oz added, "Really."
Peter simply lifted his head from his arms and looked at Oz with tears in his eyes.
"Can you really help me catch the murderer who killed Uncle Ben?"
Oz nodded. "Of course, but that requires your involvement. You can't expect me to catch it myself, can you? I'm not dead... cough!"
Oz shrank back and glanced cautiously at Peter, afraid that the other would notice what he hadn't finished saying.
Peter seemed not to hear Oz's words; he fell into a brief moment of contemplation.
Oz was in no hurry and waited quietly for Peter to say what he would say next.
After a while, Peter's eyes regained some of their sparkle.
He said, "I really want to catch the killer right now, but Aunt May... she's not asleep yet."
Peter glanced at the wall of the room; beyond the wall was Aunt May's room.
"If I just leave suddenly like this, she'll worry..."
After he finished speaking, Peter noticed a pair of scarlet eyes staring at him, which made him feel uneasy.
He did not trust the raven named Oz.
The words he uttered were merely an attempt to temporarily gloss over the situation; he didn't want to leave with Oz right now.
However, Peter truly wanted to catch the murderer and make him pay the price.
But Aunt Mei's condition was undeniable, and he couldn't just leave like that.
"..."
Peter first saw Oz tilt his head, then raise an eyebrow, as if at that moment it wasn't a crow, but a kitten raising its eyebrow?
This is so weird!
How can a crow have a cat's expression on its face?!
Oz stared at Peter with his bloodshot eyes. "Well, you definitely need to rest in your current condition."
Peter suddenly widened his eyes and looked out the window.
Oz's jet-black body began to transform into feathers, which drifted away like falling flower petals.
Peter asked, puzzled, "What are you doing...?"
Oz's figure hadn't completely disappeared yet. "Get out of here, or do you expect me to sleep with you? That's a bit perverted."
Peter clenched his fist.
He realized something: the crow's beak was more vicious than he had imagined!
But he knew nothing about the killer of Uncle Ben, and he needed to get some information from this strange crow.
So he asked, "So how can I catch Uncle Ben's killer?"
"We'll go and catch him when you think you're ready," Oz replied.
Peter quickly followed up, "Then how can I get in touch with you?"
Oz blinked. "Just wait for me to come find you."
A sudden gust of wind swept through the room, and Oz's feathers, as if they were sentient, drifted towards the window, about to disappear.
Peter got up and walked to the window, asking his last question, which was also the question he would regret the most.
He asked, "Where...where are you going?"
The crow replied, "Go to the dock and get some fries."
Peter: "...?"
—Divider line where crows fly by—
After leaving the forest hill where the Parker family lived, Oz flew slowly over Queens.
Based on his understanding of the original plot of The Amazing Spider-Man 1, the killer who murdered Ben Parker was not given a complete explanation in the film.
Even Oz himself wasn't sure if the Spider-Man of this universe had caught the killer.
It seems that Uncle Ben's death was a foregone conclusion, and everything was to pave the way for Peter to become Spider-Man.
"Can't it be like the bully version!?"
Oz thought angrily.
According to the original plot, Peter would fall into a brief period of depression in the following days, and then play the role of a masked vigilante every night to find the murderer of Uncle Ben, until he unexpectedly saves the citizens in the later Lizard Man incident and realizes what it means to be a hero.
In the Lizard Man incident, the death of Gwen's father at Connors's hands further made Peter realize the loneliness of a hero.
So after all that talk, they still haven't revealed whether Peter caught the murderer or not!
Oz's head was throbbing from thinking, so he simply stopped thinking about it.
He came to this universe for only one thing.
That is to tell Peter that his happiness will be resurrected infinitely by me, Oz!
There will never be another tragedy like the death of the father-in-law, the death of the girlfriend, and finally the death of the universe!
"Since things have come to this, let's go to the dock and get some fries first."
......
"Today, we gather here to mourn the lives lost..."
At the funeral, Peter listened listlessly to the pastor's eulogy.
What happened yesterday felt like a nightmare he could never wake up from.
Not only Uncle Ben's death, but also that strange crow.
He didn't know where the crow had gone, and besides, was there really any fries available at the dock late at night?
Of course, whether there are fries at the dock is not important.
Perhaps it went to find the murderer who killed Uncle Ben on its own, and then came back to tell me after it found him?
Peter shook his head, finding it absurd. He hadn't even spent a single night with Oz, yet he dared to trust him so readily—it was utterly ridiculous!
Aunt May, who was standing next to him, noticed Peter's actions. She patted Peter's shoulder and asked:
"What's wrong?"
Peter remained dejected and whispered, "I miss him."
Aunt Mei then took her nephew's hand, saying, "We all miss him, but I believe he wouldn't want to see us like this..."
Peter hummed in agreement, then looked up at the name on the tombstone.
He said, "I still remember the scene when we argued last night. He was telling me something very important, but I..."
Peter pursed his lips, his eyes filled with deep self-reproach and regret.
"If I hadn't argued with him, if I hadn't forgotten to come pick you up... if I—"
"Peter."
Aunt May interrupted, preventing Peter from continuing to blame himself.
She suddenly smiled and asked, "Do you know what he would say to us if he were here?"
Peter shook his head.
"Lift your head up and keep walking," Aunt May said.
"..."
Peter remained silent for a while, then suddenly looked up and stared intently at Aunt May.
He said, "The murderer who killed Uncle Ben will definitely receive the punishment he deserves."
Peter silently added, "I swear."
Aunt May smiled without saying a word, but simply patted Peter's hand.
The funeral proceedings proceeded as planned, in an orderly manner, until the end.
The passage of time did not diminish Peter's turbulent emotions.
Guilt and self-blame spread rapidly like wild grass in spring, taking over his heart.
He has made up his mind.
Even if it meant making a deal with the devil, he was determined to capture the murderer.
When the devil is mentioned, the image of Oz involuntarily comes to Peter's mind.
Could it be a demon?
After all, Oz had said that he had already made a contract with it.
dong dong——
The window seemed to be being struck by something sharp, and the sound quickly drew Peter's attention.
"Hey, Parker, how's your rest?" Oz waved his wings and greeted him from outside the window.
Peter quickly got out of bed, opened the window, and let the crow in.
After Oz crawled in, Peter immediately said:
"I'm ready. We're going to catch Uncle Ben's killer right now!"
Oz tilted his head back and carefully examined Peter.
This kid practically had "I'm in a hurry" written all over his face.
"No problem, but there's one thing we need to clarify before we take action," Oz said.
"What?" Peter asked.
"What are you going to do with him? Kill him or hand him over to the police?"
"..."