MARVEL: CARD EXTRACTION SYSTEM

"What... happened? Was there traffic on the way?" I asked Gwen, still struggling to speak.

At least my joking tone served to ease the tension, and Gwen let out a light laugh as she finished trapping Electro with her webs.

"We meet again, Dream Knight," she said.

Of course, she recognized me because I had activated the Sharingan, and worse, this time, nothing covered my face. My identity was revealed, now she knew that Lucas and Dream Knight were the same person.

"Are you following me?" I asked, still in a joking tone.

Gwen put her hands at her sides and shrugged. "It must be fate, who knows?"

"It seems so... Arh..."

Suddenly, the sound of sirens could be heard, and they weren't far away.

"It's the police." Gwen recognized the pattern of the sirens, as if she'd already gotten used to it.

"Then you should go out the back," I said seriously, pointing with my chin to the corridor that led to the toilets and probably to the back of the establishment.

She looked in the direction I had indicated and then looked back at me. "What about you? What will you tell the police if I go out and they find you here with Electro? You'd be the only one here, and they're not usually very tolerant of civilians trying to be heroes."

The truth was that I could barely move after all that energy had gone through my body. I was at the limit of my strength.

"I can't get out... After what Electro did to me, I can barely move. By the time they get here, I'll probably be unconscious and pretend I don't remember anything. There's no power. The cameras are off, so they didn't film what happened here today. In any case, they won't have any evidence of what happened, neither to you nor to me".

Gwen hesitated. I could see it through her mask, but she also knew that she couldn't stay in this place much longer because she was wanted.

"All right. I trust you with him." She said, looking at Electro.

"Thank you for trusting me. If you can, come visit me in the hospital," I replied with a tired smile.

The last thing I heard wasn't Gwen leaving, but the sound of my own thoughts as my mind collapsed.

When I woke up, there was a nostalgic smell in the air. It was the smell of pure alcohol, and I even heard the sound, also nostalgic, of the monitors beeping in a steady rhythm.

I blinked a few times and I have to admit that I was a little startled to be back in this environment, for a few moments I thought it had all been a long dream, but I soon realized that this was a slightly different room than the one I'd been in for months.

The first difference was that this room had a large window. It was night outside.

I sighed, relieved not only that I was alive, but that it was real. I don't know if I would have been able to carry on mentally if everything hadn't happened.

"I was probably saved after the cop went into the bowling alley... Shit, considering the state of my apartment, I don't think I can afford insurance, so... am I going to have to deal with the hospital debt now?"

In the midst of my loud thoughts, the bedroom door opened softly, and a woman walked in. She was a woman in her thirties, with short black hair and a kind smile. I quickly deduced from her green clothing that she was a nurse.

"Good evening," she said as she approached my bed. "I'm Linda Carter, the nurse in charge of you tonight. I'm glad to see you're awake and recovering."

I tried to smile at her, but it seemed that my face was still a little stiff. "Linda... Carter?"

Maybe it was just the confusion in my head, but it seemed like I'd heard that name somewhere before. Unfortunately, I couldn't remember.

"Yes, that's my name. Um... I think your mind is still waking up." She said as she checked the monitors.

"I'm fine. I just need some time to recover."

"I imagine you do. Frankly, kid, it's a miracle you survived all that electricity, considering you're a normal human. So, yes, of course you need a rest. And if you're worried about medical expenses, I have to inform you that they've already been paid for."

"Did you hear me?"

"Of course I did. The doors here are thin so we can hear if the patients call."

"Who paid for my treatment?"

Linda Carter approached the edge of my bed, picked up a folder and opened it. As she mentally read the name, even she was a little surprised.

"The bill was paid by Harry Osborn. Isn't that the billionaire's son?"

Harry Osborn? He paid my bill? Well, that didn't make sense... we hadn't exchanged a word. Why did he do that?

"Anyway, tomorrow morning the police should come and ask you some questions about what happened, since you were Electro's only victim and you were the only other person in the bowling alley. You'd better get as much rest as you can until then."

After that, Linda Carter said goodbye and left the room, which was completely silent. I lay there wondering why Harry Osborn would help me. Did he feel guilty in some way, or was he doing it to impress Mary Jane?

Lost in these thoughts, I almost didn't notice the soft sound coming from the right side of the room. I turned my head slowly, feeling a slight discomfort in my muscles, and saw Gwen opening the window. She was dressed as Spiderwoman, of course. She moved discreetly even as I looked at her, probably so as not to make any noise that would alert the hospital nurses.

Clinging to the ceiling, she closed the window after entering and then let go of the other ceiling elements until she was hanging by the fingertips of only one hand. Then she let herself fall, and as she approached my bed, she said:

"You asked for a visit, so here I am. I think we need to talk a little, don't you?"

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