Chapter 8
第八章
“Whoa,” was all Peter could utter.
“哇！”彼得惊叫了一声。
He stared at the screen. How in the world had Flash Thompson wound up in this situation? And where had he gotten that cheesy Spidey suit? I mean, mine looks waaay better than that, Peter thought. None of this was making sense. Was it all just a trap? Was Flash in on it?
他盯着屏幕。“闪电·汤普森到底是怎么卷进这件事来的？他是从哪儿弄来那套蹩脚蜘蛛装的？我的意思是，我的那套看起来比他的强太多了。”彼得心想，“这些都说不通。这一切会不会只是一个陷阱？难道闪电也参与其中了？”
Someone knocked on Peter's bedroom door.
有人在敲彼得的卧室门。
“Come in,” Peter said, and Aunt May entered.
“进来。”彼得说。梅姑妈进来了。
“Peter, there was just a report on the TV,” she said, sounding very nervous. “A boy from your school's been kidnapped. A boy named Eugene. They're saying he might be Spider-Man!”
“彼得，电视在报道一桩新闻。”梅姑妈说，她听上去紧张极了，“你们学校有个男孩遭绑架了。是个叫尤金的男孩。人们都在说他可能就是蜘蛛侠！”
“I know, I saw,” Peter said.
“我知道，我看见了。”彼得说。
“Well, please, please be careful, Peter. Shut and lock that window,” she said while shutting and locking it herself. “These Super Heroes can fly, they can blast through walls—sometimes it seems there's nothing they can't do.”
“好吧，彼得，你务必得小心点。把那扇窗户关起来再上锁，”她一面说，一面亲自把它关上锁上。“这些超级英雄能飞，他们能炸穿墙壁——有时候他们简直就是无所不能。”
“In that case I'm not sure how much a locked window's going to do,” Peter chuckled.
“要是那样的话，我不知道锁上的窗户能起到多大作用了。”彼得咯咯地笑着说。
She took his hand. “I couldn't bear if something were to happen to you.”
梅姑妈抓住彼得的手说：“要是你出了什么事，我可受不了。”
Peter kissed her on the cheek.
彼得吻了吻她的脸颊。
“I can take care of myself,” he said. And although Aunt May smiled and nodded, Peter could tell by the look on her face that she didn't believe him.
“我能照顾好自己。”他说。尽管梅姑妈微笑着点了点头，彼得从梅姑妈脸上的表情看出她还是不相信他的话。
“I've got some homework to finish up,” he sighed. “Don't worry about it, Aunt May. We'll be all right. Who's going to come looking for a random lady and her nephew in the middle of Queens? I mean, what would they get out of it? Unless they're looking for your chocolatechip cookies. I can see that, actually. They're worthy of an attack on the house!”
“我有一些作业要完成，”他叹了口气，“别担心，梅姑妈。我们会好好的。谁会随便来皇后区的中心区域找上一位女士和她的侄子？我是说，他们能从中得到什么好处呢？在我看来，除非他们为了来找你的巧克力曲奇饼干，那倒是很值得攻击这座房子！”
This managed to get a chuckle from Aunt May, who closed the door as she left the room, wishing Peter luck in his studies.
这倒引起了梅姑妈的一阵笑声，她离开房间时关上了门，希望彼得在学习上能顺顺利利。
But Peter wasn't laughing at all, and he definitely wasn't thinking about his studies. As soon as he was alone, he started to research more about the story. According to what he read, no one knew where the clip had been filmed. The Daily Bugle site said that the Thing had contacted it saying he and the other fallen Super Heroes wanted the laptop dropped off at Belvedere Castle in Central Park. Police had already roped off and searched that area and found no sign of the Thing, Spider-Man, or anyone else.
但是彼得却一点也笑不出来，而且他根本就没在想他的学业。剩下他一人后，他马上开始再次琢磨起梅姑妈所说的事。根据他所读到的内容，没有人知道这段视频是在哪里拍摄的。《号角日报》网站称，石头人联系过该网站，说他和其他堕落的超级英雄想要那台笔记本电脑被送到中央公园的眺望台城堡。警方已经用警绳把那地方隔离起来搜查了一遍，但没有发现石头人、蜘蛛侠或其他人的踪迹。
Peter paused. It didn't really sound like Flash's life was in danger. The Thing had basically said they were going to turn Flash into their housekeeper. He'd have a miserable life. He'd spend every minute worried that the heroes were waiting around every corner, ready to toss orders at him. He'd be afraid to simply walk down a hall. Basically, he'd feel the same way he made Peter feel every day at school.
彼得踌躇了一下。听起来闪电似乎并没有生命危险。石头人不过是说他们要把闪电变成他们的佣人。他会过上悲惨的生活。他每时每刻都要担心英雄们会在某个角落等着他，冷不丁蹿出来对他发号施令。哪怕只是走在大厅里都会让他担惊受怕。实际上，他的感觉就和彼得每天在学校的感觉是一样的。
Maybe Spider-Man didn't need to get involved in this one. After all, it looked like the cops had it under control.
也许蜘蛛侠不需要参与这件事。毕竟，警察好像已经控制住了局势。
And if they didn't, wouldn't Flash just be getting what he deserved?
而且即使警察没有控制住，那不也正是闪电他应得的下场吗？
Peter turned off his tablet, lay down on his bed, and stared at the ceiling. He was imagining his new, easy life at school without Flash.
彼得关掉了平板电脑，躺在床上，盯着天花板。他正想象着没有闪电后崭新、轻松的学校生活。
He thought about it a lot.
他想了很多。
And after a long while of thinking about it, when Aunt May was asleep and the house was quiet, Peter put on his Spider-Man costume. He leaped from his window and swung toward New York City. As much as Peter disliked Flash Thompson, Spider-Man needed to save the day.
想了好一会儿后，当梅姑妈睡着了，屋子里静悄悄的时候，彼得穿上了蜘蛛侠制服。他从窗口跳了出来，朝纽约市飞荡而去。尽管彼得不喜欢闪电·汤普森，蜘蛛侠还是需要拯救这个世界的。
