Chapter 305: Banner Decides to Leave the Avengers
Avengers Base
"Still haven't decrypted it yet?" Steve asked, standing beside Tony.
"No," Tony replied, shaking his head. In truth, he had actually cracked the audio file the previous night. However, for a specific reason, Tony couldn't bring himself to play it for the team.
Steve looked at the scorched chip plugged into the console. He narrowed his eyes thoughtfully; he had a nagging feeling that something wasn't quite right.
"The Veronica system is nearly perfected. How are the injuries on your face?" Bruce Banner asked, stepping out from the other side of the lab and pointing to his own cheek.
Tony touched the three faint scars on his face. "It's fine, I'm not dead yet. I'll just use Dr. Cho's Cradle for some cellular regeneration later."
"I heard you applied to leave the Avengers?" Steve asked, turning toward Bruce.
"Yeah. The battle is over. I'm planning to head back to Canada and go back to being a doctor. I don't want to cause any more trouble for everyone," Bruce said with a strained smile.
"Why? we need you—specifically, the other guy," Tony said, spreading his arms.
Bruce sighed. "Forget it. Hulk only brings trouble. Besides, the world has you guys now. I don't need to be involved anymore."
"We're a team," Steve frowned. Banner's departure clearly caught them off guard.
"Don't worry, it's just a temporary break. I'm still on Earth; you can reach out whenever you need me," Bruce said. His mind was made up.
Tony and Steve exchanged a glance, but they knew they couldn't force him to stay.
"We'll see each other again one day," Bruce said, patting them both on the shoulder before walking away, hands tucked into his lab coat.
"Did you know he was planning this?" Steve asked.
"How would I know?" Tony replied, turning back to his work.
Outside
"Are you really going?" Natasha asked, walking beside Bruce with a hint of sadness in her eyes. She was the one who had brought him into the fold, and now she was seeing him off. Her heart was a mess of conflicting emotions.
"Yeah. Just think of it as a long vacation," Bruce exhaled. For some reason, he felt a wave of melancholy wash over him. It was his decision, so why did he feel this way?
Natasha escorted Bruce to a jet, and they set off for Canada.
The Party
Silas, of course, was unaware of the drama unfolding with the Avengers. At the Parker household, a different kind of "emergency" was taking place.
"Argh! Peter, please! Help me out!" Ned cried, clinging to Peter's legs on the floor and wiping away imaginary tears.
"Sigh... Ned, I really can't help you with this. I have things to take care of. You and Silas have fun at the party," Peter said. He managed to pull his leg free, tugged on his Spider-Man mask, and leaped out the window.
"Want to play?" Silas asked, holding out a game controller to the dejected Ned.
Tomorrow was the weekend—Harry's birthday party. If Spider-Man didn't show up, Ned was going to lose face in a big way, and he was terrified his girlfriend Betty would break up with him.
"Forget it. I'll just have to face the music tomorrow," Ned said with a look of grim determination. He decided to stop counting on Peter. If he had to be embarrassed, so be it.
The Next Day
Harry's birthday party arrived as scheduled. The entire class showed up—partly for Harry, but mostly to see Spider-Man.
"Hey Ned, where's Spider-Man?" one classmate asked.
"He... he had some business this morning. He'll be here tonight," Ned lied instantly. The party had only just started; he figured if he could delay the truth until the end, he could just slip away before everyone got too upset.
"I hope so," Harry chuckled. He could see right through Ned's nervousness. He'd already planned to make Ned look like a fool as payback for their rivalry at the start of the semester.
"I'm so excited to see him tonight!" Betty said, beaming. Ned could only apologize silently in his head while laughing nervously. "Haha... yeah, me too."
"Sigh... he's a goner," Peter whispered, covering his face.
"You're really not going to help him?" Silas asked, amused.
"No way. If I do it once, I'll have to do it again. Ned needs to learn not to make promises he can't keep," Peter said.
The party was held at a massive villa with a sprawling yard where everyone was grilling steaks. On the left was a pool large enough for the whole class. Harry had even provided new swimwear for anyone who wanted to jump in.
"What are you two doing just sitting here?" Felicia asked, approaching the Parker brothers with Gwen.
"Nothing much. I don't feel like swimming, so I'm just hanging out on this lounge chair," Silas said, holding up his phone.
"You look pretty relaxed, but isn't it boring?" Felicia asked, looking at the other students splashing in the pool.
"Not at all. I'm not really a fan of noisy crowds. Being quiet on my own is nice," Silas said. Being a transmigrator made it hard to connect with the "teen" drama of his classmates. His real friends were people like Tony and Natasha.
"Aren't you going in?" Gwen asked. She wanted to swim, but she wanted Felicia to join her.
Felicia shook her head. "Sorry Gwen, I'm not really in the mood for a swim."
"Alright then," Gwen said, heading off to find a swimsuit she liked.
"Why aren't you going?" Silas asked Felicia.
"Because cats don't really like water~" Felicia teased, her voice smooth and playful. Silas gave her a small smile; he wasn't sure if she had officially become Black Cat yet, but she certainly had the attitude.
Just then, Gwen walked out wearing a bright yellow swimsuit. Peter, who was fiddling with his camera, froze. He instinctively raised the camera and snapped a photo of her profile.
Click!
He forgot to silence the shutter. Gwen turned her head immediately toward him.
Clatter!
Peter was so startled he dropped the camera. As he scrambled to pick it up, Gwen reached it first. She picked it up and looked at him. "Do you like taking pictures?"
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