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"Tragedy. What else can I call it? What more need be said? The damage, the destruction, you saw it with your own eyes. When will people wake up and realize that everywhere Spider-Man goes, chaos and calamity ensue? Everything Spider-Man touches comes to ruin. And we, the innocents, are left to pick up the pieces."
-J. Jonah Jameson, Spider-man: No Way Home, 2021.
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vernon didn't know how much more of this he can take.
after seeing hoshi absolutely panic as he woke up, vernon felt nothing but even more guilt crash onto his conscience. he couldn't believe that he did that.
but again he couldn't help but question if he was selfish for thinking this way.
vernon tugged at his hair as he plopped down onto one of the hard as hell hospital chairs in the hallway. he let out a sound that almost sounded like a whimper. "oh g-god. what have i done? i-"
"vernon, calm down."
vernon jumped slightly at the voice. he didn't realize wonwoo followed him out there. "i just- oh my god. i can't b-believe it," vernon looked up at wonwoo, hands shaking as he swallowed dryly, "did you see his face? he was so... scared... and it's all my fault and i-"
"whoa whoa whoa, no," wonwoo sat down in the chair next to him, immediately placing a comforting hand on his back, "vernon, stop. it was never your fault."
vernon shook his head. "...why did i ever think i can become a s-superhero? i'm a fucking failure. i let you guys down and i..."
"vernon."
"...should have never thought that i could..."
"vernon."
"...do this. i mean i'm just a nobody and i really thought i..."
"vernon!"
"could do something like this. what was i even thinking? i should-"
"vernon!"
vernon finally stopped rambling, staring at his friend. "w-what?"
wonwoo let out a sigh before speaking calmly. "just because all of this happened, it doesn't make you a bad superhero, or even a bad person for that matter. accidents happen all the time, but what matters is that you learn from them. nobody is perfect-"
vernon put his feet on the chair, placing his chin on his knees and hugging his legs. he honestly looked like a small child in that moment. "but i needed to be perfect. if i was, maybe you would still have your eye and hoshi would be able to walk and-"
"peter parker wasn't perfect."
vernon stopped, looking over at wonwoo. "huh?"
"peter parker wasn't perfect," wonwoo repeated, "yet you still look up to him."
vernon shrugged. "well, yeah. i do."
wonwoo tilted his head. "why is that?"
"well," vernon put his feet back onto the floor, "he's strong and resilient... and he's extremely smart. he's also someone i can relate to in many different ways like my family situation and... my powers i guess."
"don't you remember what a key part of peter's story was?"
vernon furrowed his eyebrows. "uh, no?"
"tragedy," wonwoo studied his friend's face, "peter parker always experienced tragedy."
"oh, right," vernon let out a small chuckle but it sounded forced, "it's one of the reasons why i admire him so much. he has gone through a lot and still does the right thing."
"well, why don't you see it through his eyes then?," wonwoo replied, "tragedy, while unfortunate, was always what motivated him. the tragedy of uncle ben passing always made peter realize that he needed to be responsible with his powers."
"with great power comes great responsibility," vernon muttered.
"right," wonwoo gave him a reassuring smile, "and it wasn't only that. remember in no way home when peter sacrificed his identity for the world? he lost everyone he loved in that movie, whether they died or forgot him completely. ned, aunt may, happy, mj... he lost them all. but do you know what he did? he still kept being spider-man because it was the right thing to do. he may have lost everything, but he still put on the mask to protect his city because he has a responsibility to it."
vernon let out a small huff, staring at the ground. "right."
wonwoo continued. "i'm just saying maybe you should see it like that. this," he pointed to his missing eye, "can be counted as a tragedy but maybe you should see it as something else. maybe you can see it as something to motivate you to do better in the future. maybe you can see it as something to remind you of the kind of responsibilities you have. i just don't want you to see it as a failure, but rather a roadblock in the way of success. i know you, vernon. you're quite literally one of the strongest and smartest people i've ever met, not to mention funny."
vernon looked at wonwoo, feeling something he hasn't felt in a while. hope? "yeah, i am pretty funny."
wonwoo grinned. "yeah, and my father once told me that the strongest people are the ones who go through the most trials because they are the ones that can conquer more and still be on top."
vernon let out a low chuckle, one that finally sounded free of tension or pain. "that's very wise. maybe you're right, won. maybe i am just looking at all of this in the wrong way and i'll try my best to see it that way."
wonwoo beamed. "that's all we ever wanted for you."
vernon held his arms out. "thank you so much, won."
he returned the hug. "anytime, bro. i love you, man."
"i love you too."
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seungcheol used to think that he could do anything.
he had big dreams when he was younger. he wanted to get a fancy motorcycle. he wanted to learn the guitar and become a famous singer someday. he wanted to adopt a hundred cats when he grew old.
but sometimes things don't get to plan.
he ended up getting a business degree and soon enough became a stadium operations manager. it wasn't something that was part of his plans, but maybe he could do those things later.
but sometimes things go in ways that he could never imagine.
when his brother disappeared and almost certainly died and he ended up having to take care of his nephew, his dreams felt like they would never come true.
but then as he and vernon grew older together his dreams changed.
all he wanted then was to be someone that vernon could look up to.
he wanted to be a good person for vernon.
he wanted to be a good uncle for vernon.
he wanted to be a good father for vernon.
the past few weeks have been hard for seungcheol. he knows vernon has gone through something traumatic. he saw it on the news, all of vernon's friends were involved in a terrible attack at fairfest. he knows vernon has been spending a lot of time at the hospital.
he wishes that vernon felt like he could talk to him about this. he wishes that he and vernon didn't fight earlier.
he knows vernon is hiding something, but maybe he shouldn't have tried so hard to pry answers from him about it. maybe if he didn't, he would still be talking with him.
he messed up.
and he really doesn't know how to fix it.
seungcheol just wishes he could follow his dream and be the best for vernon, and now it looks like that might be another dream he would never be able to fulfill.
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a calm voice.
"hey, hoshi, it's time for your first session of physical therapy."
hoshi looked up from the hospital bed, seeing the kind doctor who has been taking care of him since he woke up.
hoshi responded. pain. "okay."
"come on," the doctor's feet tapped against the hard floors as he walked over. tap, tap, tap, "i'll help you transfer."
one of the first things that hoshi learned how to do when he woke up was how to transfer himself to a wheelchair. he wasn't very good at it on his own, and he had to use a transfer board and usually get help from someone else, but he got into the wheelchair eventually.
numb.
he barely felt anything as he slid himself into the wheelchair with the help of the doctor. he barely heard the wheelchair seatbelt click or the small whooshing noises that the wheels made as he was pushed out the door.
"are you ready for physical therapy?"
that calm voice again, however, it was making hoshi feel things that were anything but calm. "i guess so."
tap, tap, tap. the only thing he focused on now were the sounds of the doctor's shoes tapping against the floor as he pushed him through the halls.
"physical therapy will make you stronger," strong enough to stand again?, "soon you'll be able to function as best you can," but can i walk again?, "it's how you get better."
hoshi felt like a rock. still and emotionless. "cool."
they eventually arrived at a room, one that looked different than the rest, but still felt like the hospital.
a woman came up to him. she smiled. hoshi couldn't smile back. "hello! are you hoshi?"
hoshi didn't like the sound of her voice. "yeah."
"great!," not great, "i'm going to be your physical therapist for the rest of your time here at the hospital."
"okay."
"today we're going to do some stretches, and we are going to also work your leg muscles so they don't atrophy. does that sound fine to you?"
none of this was fine.
hoshi nodded.
"okay, how about we start by transferring you to this mat on the floor."
the whole process made hoshi feel even worse about himself.
he could do this before. he could move his legs and walk around before and now he can't even go anywhere on his own.
he could barely hear the voice of the woman as they went through the stretches. it felt like he was underwater, her words were muffled as he tried so hard to breathe properly.
but he couldn't.
it felt like he was drowning.
hoshi gasped for air, he didn't know what was happening, but his body was just doing this on its own. he couldn't stop it. he couldn't breathe.
"hoshi? hey, it's going to be okay. just breathe with me slowly."
he couldn't.
"it's okay. many people go through this. you're not alone."
if that was true, then why did he feel so alone?
he felt like he was going to pass out.
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"morning, professor wen."
seokmin walked into the lab room, immediately setting his stuff down onto a table and putting on his lab coat.
seokmin knew that he probably wouldn't have many days left here at wencorp. between him using the facilities to make his cure for dino and the fact that he is trying to get that password for spider-man green, he may get caught sooner or later.
seokmin also knows that if he is able to help spider-man green in this, then wencorp will most certainly fall. after that, no more internship.
maybe then he will finally be free.
"morning, seokmin."
seokmin looked up. usually when he comes in, the professor and minghao are both there already working on things, but strangely, the professor was the only one in the room.
he decided to voice his question. "uh... where's minghao?"
"minghao went off to the hospitals to find some potential test subjects," the professor set down whatever he was holding which looked like a couple of vials of some random liquids, "he won't be back until much later."
seokmin's eyes widened slightly. "wait, we're already starting the next trials?"
"that is correct."
seokmin wanted to know more. he needed to know what kinds of things they were going to be doing so he could mentally prepare himself. "wait, really? i didn't know we were starting so soon. how many subjects are we looking for?"
"we don't know yet. it depends on how many minghao can get to agree to the study," the professor turned around to face seokmin, "but for this study we're looking to try out the formula on at least five people of various different backgrounds and disabilities."
"five?," seokmin's jaw dropped a little, "whoa, that's... more than before."
"well, yes," the professor turned back around, beginning to observe the vials again, "joshua was a great subject, however running a trial on a single person again wouldn't help us get further in our studies on the formula. we need to use more subjects in order for us to make the formula the best it could be."
seokmin nodded. "right."
"five is still quite a small sample size," the professor continued, "as we keep going i'm hoping we'll be able to increase our trials to contain more and more subjects. that way we can perfect the formula."
seokmin felt a bit uneasy. "that sounds great, professor."
"it truly is," the professor waved him over, "now come over here and grab your lab notebook."
seokmin complied.
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"happy discharge day, gyu!"
vernon followed wonwoo into mingyu's hospital room, er, technically it won't be his hospital room anymore.
mingyu was finally deemed well and able to function on his own by the doctors, so they decided it was time for him to finally leave.
hip hip hooray!!! :D 🥳
mingyu was standing next to the bed he has been laying in for the past few weeks, finally wearing some non-hospital clothes. his backpack was on the floor next to his shoes, filled with all of the books he has been reading while he was in the hospital. he still had those two identical casts on both of his hands, but they seemed a lot more normal now. he beamed. "hey guys!"
wonwoo gave mingyu a small side hug. "i'm so glad you're out. it's been crazy out here. y'know i would've brought you a cake or something, but i'm broke from buying toblerone."
vernon smiled slightly. "i seriously doubt that, won."
mingyu's smile seemed to grow wider. "vernon? you're smiling again."
"oh," vernon scratched the back of his neck, "well, wonwoo told me something and it made me realize some things. i still... feel bad about all of this, but i realized maybe i should look at all of this in a new way... and maybe soon enough everything will be okay."
mingyu chuckled. "that's great... come on, let's get out of here. i can't wait to see the sun."
the trio walked out the door and now through the halls.
mingyu crossed his casted arms. "so anything new going on out there?"
wonwoo shrugged. "nothing that you haven't heard yet. we've told you a lot when we went to visit you like the funky political shit and that news story about the baby sea turtles."
"those sea turtles were adorable... well," mingyu snorted, "anything new at school?"
wonwoo chuckled. "no, just same old. i mean i haven't been there as much and vernon..."
vernon looked down at his shoes. "...i haven't really been there since the whole... you know."
"oh," mingyu furrowed his eyebrows, "i just realized that i probably have a whole lot of school work to catch up on. that's gonna like actually suck."
vernon hummed. "well, i'm sure you'll get some extra time to do it considering you've been in the hospital. they have to be understanding about that."
"i guess so," mingyu looked at the ceiling, "anything else? have... have you guys heard from joshua yet?"
vernon let out a sigh. "no. it's been a while since i heard from him. i haven't heard from him since fairfest."
"really?"
"it's almost like he disappeared."
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Word Count: 2517
a/n: ngl i am so proud of the first scene of this chapter. like its a perfect scene that conveys the main theme of this act and of the main thematic elements of this book overall simultaneously. i'm so happy with how it turned out.
QOTC: what is your dream car? honestly, i don't really have one, but if i had to choose it would be a purple jeep. i love purple and jeeps are goofy with the whole rubber duck thing so i'd love to have one lol
unedited