Hello, checking out. A man wearing a police uniform, carrying two packs of chocolate and a bottle of mineral water, walked up to the gas station shop's counter. Bruce, standing behind the counter, picked up the items to check out. As he looked up at the customer, he froze for a moment.
When the other party saw him, his movements paused as well, but he just cleared his throat and said, "I'm the new officer from Siv City Police Department, Peter Parker. Just call me Parker."
"Alright, Officer Parker, that'll be six dollars."
Peter took out his wallet to pay. He didn't move his head, just glanced around, seemingly casually asking, "Is this gas station yours?"
"Only the shop is mine. My dad passed it down to me."
"Not bad. Also, give me a pack of cigarettes."
Bruce instinctively glanced at his hand but didn't say anything, just turned around to get him a pack of cigarettes. After taking the payment, the other party turned and left, while he stood behind the counter watching his back, his eyes appeared somewhat profound.
After leaving the gas station, Peter returned to his car. On the back seat sat a red-haired woman, with a protruding belly, who was pregnant. Peter then drove her back to the hotel.
Once inside the hotel room, the woman unzipped her jacket and took out a pillow from her belly. The originally bulging belly disappeared in an instant.
Peter turned around, handed her a bar of the newly bought chocolate, and said, "Thanks for your hard work. Once I get the situation at the police station figured out, we'll head to the town."
"It's nothing." The woman brushed her hair back and said, "I'm just a bit worried about my cousin's situation. Auntie said she's getting crazier. We should go back and see her as soon as possible."
"Don't worry too much, Kate. Cousin Linda will be fine. By the way, did you see the shop clerk at the gas station?"
"No, I couldn't see from the car. What's up with him?"
"Nothing, I just thought he was quite handsome. He seemed like a male model from some luxury brand, with blue eyes. Also, I think he looks a bit like you."
The woman called Kate raised her eyebrows slightly and said, "Really? Then I should go take a look. But I only have my aunt as a relative, never heard she had a son. Maybe it's just a coincidence."
After leaving the hotel, Peter returned to the police station. After settling all the entry procedures, the sheriff called him into the office.
"Sending your wife back to her hometown?"
"Yes. We don't want her aunt to wait too long. After all, she's really welcoming us and can't wait to see her niece."
"How long has she been pregnant?"
"Over eight months now. Expected to give birth before Christmas."
"Oh, that's nice. Do you know if it's a boy or a girl?"
"Not yet, we want to keep the surprise until the end."
"Young people are always like that." The sheriff lightly shook his head.
"Oh, by the way." Peter took out the pack of cigarettes he just bought, placed it on the sheriff's desk, and said, "I'm new here and don't understand anything, and taking leave on my first day is really embarrassing. I don't smoke, so I let the gas station shop employee pick a pack for me..."
The sheriff took the cigarettes, looked at them, then said, "It's nothing. It's not like Chicago here, our small city police station isn't busy, take care of your wife first."
Peter nodded, turned to leave. At this moment, the sheriff stopped him and said, "Drive carefully when you head over there. The road doesn't go through the town, there's only a country road which might be very bumpy. Also, try to avoid the water. If your feet slip and fall, it's going to be trouble."
"Thanks for the concern, Sheriff. Once settled, I'll be right back."
"I said it's not busy here, no need to rush. The emotions of a pregnant woman are important, spend a few more days with her."
Peter paused for a moment, but he still nodded, and then walked out of the office. After he left, he could still feel the sheriff's gaze locked on him.
"Big Creek Town..." he murmured to himself softly.
Leaving the police station, he drove back to the hotel to pick up Kate. Peter took out the map and found, as the sheriff said, there's no national highway around this town, only a country path. The path goes through a forest and valley before reaching this small town.
"This place is really remote," Peter said, "and this road is too narrow, impossible for two cars to pass simultaneously. If there's a car coming from the village, we'll have to give way."
"Hopefully, there aren't too many cars." Kate gently rubbed her belly and said, "I can't wait to meet auntie."
On the dark highway, a blue vintage Ford car sped along. The vegetation on both sides of the road became denser, and the air turned damp. Peter watched the raindrops slipping down the sides of the windshield. In a moment of distraction, another car suddenly appeared in front.
The other party wasn't driving fast, eventually slowing down and turning on the hazard lights. Peter had to slow down and stop behind this car. He saw a figure step out of the driver's seat, open the hood, seemingly checking something.
Peter pushed the car door open and stepped out. He squinted his eyes and tightened the muscles around them, looking in that direction, but the hood blocked the man's face, obscuring his view. So he slowly walked over.
"Hey, need some help?" One hand lightly brushed his waist where his gun was, while the other hand reached out to wave.
The man inspecting the car straightened up and saw the face above the hood, causing Peter's hand to suddenly grip the gun holster tightly.
"Are you the police on patrol?" the other asked.
Peter stared intensely into those gray eyes, then said after a moment, "No. I'm just sending my wife home."
"A good husband indeed." The other just said inexplicably before continuing to lean down and check the car.
The atmosphere became heavy. Peter stroked the shell of the gun and then said, "Though I'm not on patrol, I am indeed a police officer, and I am on duty. I'm asking you to stop for inspection now, please cooperate."
"Even better." The person finally stepped out from behind the hood. He was wearing a black shirt, and his complexion was slightly pale. Those eyes were gray without any color inclination, revealing a somewhat frightening emptiness.
At this moment, another figure stepped down from the car. He was wearing a dark brown turtleneck cashmere sweater with a light beige casual suit jacket, his hair neatly combed back, and wearing frameless glasses, his skin tone slightly darker with some sun spots visible. These are very typical features of an old-school wealthy person from Europe and America.
"Hello." The other's English carried a slight British accent, "Officer, is something wrong?"
It wasn't till the other came up close that Peter realized he looked very similar to the man in a black shirt, the features almost identical, but because of the extremely different temperament, it was easy to distinguish.
"That's what I am asking you," Peter said, "Your car suddenly stopped, is something the matter?"
"Ah, our car is a bit broken." He pushed his glasses, "It's quite troublesome. How should I address you?"
"Peter Parker, just call me Parker."
"Alright, Officer Parker. Schiller Rodriguez, this is my brother. Our car might need some antifreeze, do you have any spare?"
Peter shook his head and said, "Not at the moment. But what are you going to do? If it's not urgent, there's a gas station not far from here that might have it."
"We're not really in a hurry, just going for a vacation. Have you heard of Big Creek Town?"
"That's my wife's hometown. We're heading there to recuperate. Are you and your brother going there for vacation?"
"Yes." The other smiled, "I've heard it's a beautiful place, was a famous spot before. We're just traveling here, and want to go and play for a few days. Since we're headed to the same place, why don't you take us there, we'll pay for the ride."
"That's no problem, but what about your car?"
"Do you know someone at the gas station? Or do you have any colleagues, call them and ask them to help me get the car to the hotel, I'll pay them. How about that?"
"Alright, I'll try calling a colleague. You two can get in the car first."
Peter stood outside the car making a call. Kate opened the door and moved to the passenger seat. Schiller and the others sat in the back.
The car moved forward, Schiller kept finding topics to chat, sometimes asking about the child, sometimes talking about the scenery in Siv City. Peter replied intermittently, while Kate remained silent, constantly looking out the window.
The car sped along the road, surrounded by dense trees forming a vast forest. Even though it was winter, the evergreen pine trees continued to be lush dark green, wrapping the road in a cold embrace.
With the deeper entry into the forest, the temperature began to gradually drop. A white fog started to climb onto the windshield. Peter turned the steering wheel, and when entering a curve, he suddenly heard a scream.
"Ahhhhhh!!!"
Whatever Peter saw caused him to brake suddenly, the car spun and flew out, crashing off the road into the forest, knocking everyone inside around before they managed to crawl out of the car.
Suddenly, the sound of a motorcycle engine rang out, a motorcycle stopped by the roadside. Two people came down from it, the leader wearing a black motorcycle jacket, the one behind wore a trench coat and carried a suitcase.
Peter wiped the blood off his forehead and struggled to open his eyes to look in that direction, and then, through blurry vision, he saw the gas station shop owner from that day.
"Are you alright?" The two walked towards the outside of the road. Bruce went over first, helping up the pregnant woman. When he saw her face, his movements paused a bit, and then his sight went to her belly.
Surprisingly, Kate wasn't hurt, didn't even have a bruise from the impact. However, the other three in the car were more or less injured, Peter's forehead had a cut, Schiller had some scratches.
The two helped everyone out of the car, then they worked together to flip the car over. The car wasn't broken, it was still drivable, just delayed them a bit. The forest light began to gradually dim.
"We need to arrive before night," Peter said, "or else Kate's aunt will be very worried."
"We'll lead the way," Bruce said, "You can follow behind us. Drive carefully, countryside roads are hard to traverse, you'd better go slowly."
Thus, the group got back into the car, slowly driving on the country road in the night. Sitting in the back, Schiller saw those blue eyes watching him through the motorcycle's rearview mirror.
"Batman, didn't expect to meet me here, did you?" Schiller's thoughts uploaded to their shared memory bank, then seen by his other self, "Looks like this is the movie's Batman, Ben Affleck? Then this must be the famous Henry Chao. As for Spider Man, aside from Shadow Spider-man, no other Peter Parker would be so serious..."
And this one—Schiller looked at the red-haired woman sitting in the passenger seat, silently thinking—Catherine Kane, Batman's cousin, what an assembly of talents indeed.