Dragons, Superheroes and a Tear in Time

Chapter 20: Chaos in the Lab (Peter)

Previously:

Peter goes on patrol for the morning, doing a lot of good (as always). At one point he is cornered by the media who all want to know about last night in the park, obviously Peter can't tell them so he's all "I can't say anything without a lawyer" before swinging off. He meets May for lunch then heads back towards the tower.

As always,

Refer to the last chapter for Hiccup's recollection of the recent events

Have I mentioned I can write that with the text predictions now? Lol. Enjoy the chapter.

Now:

"Your window is open," Karen informs me as I near it, having climbed up the tower. I slide into the open window, which shuts behind me.

"Welcome back," Friday greets as I take my mask off.

"Thanks Fri, turn my shower on please." I respond, peeling the suit off and grabbing some clothes from the huge collection in the walk-in (Yes, mr Stark went overboard. At least some of them are my style) before grabbing a towel. I hear the shower start as I walk into the adjoined bathroom and immediately step into the shower (Friday knows the settling I use so I don't have to adjust it), grateful to clean off all the sweat and blood. 

I hum a random tune to myself as I shower, tension fading from my body as the warm water runs over my body. "dun na na, dun na na, dun na na-na na na na-na..."
(My best and only attempt at the Spidey theme song lmao 💀)

I finish up in a a few minutes and get dressed, heading out if my room and down to the kitchen, eager to find something to eat as an afternoon snack. I open the fridge to see a plate on sandwiches there, a piece of paper with "Pete" on it. Since it's the penthouse kitchen and not the Avengers, we don't usually have to worry about hiding my identity here as it's only ever Mr Stark, Miss Potts, Happy and I around. Sometimes Rhodey when he's looking for Mr Stark, but Friday always warns us in that case. He seems like a great guy, so I probably wouldn't be risking everything if he did happen to see me mask-less.

I take the plate of sandwiches out and dig in gratefully, though I'm kinda suspicious that Mr Stark managed to make something edible. Maybe he's learning.

"Is Mr Stark still in the meeting?" I ask Friday curiously as I finish up.

"Boss is in his lab with Hiccup, the meeting ended 43 minutes ago."

I wonder what they're doing.

I put the plate in the sink and decide to head down to find out—barely remembering to stop by my room to grab and put on my mask. I step into the elevator. "Mr Stark's lab, please."

There is only one word I can think to describe the scene I step into, and that is chaos.

The first sense to be affected is my hearing. An influx of noise is heard before the doors even open. There's loud beeping, swearing, whirling, metallic screeching, thuds, growls, and smashes.

As I step forward, my spider sense blares and I duck to avoid a flying... whatever; I didn't stop to see. Instead, I try to take in what's happening.

Mr Stark is chasing after a prototype robot that's going a little crazy, the dragon is running around the room crazily knocking things over—he doesn't look scared, just excited, though I'm not exactly a dragon expert— Hiccup is welding in the corner with some sort of metal, Dum-E is driving in circles, and U just smashed a mug off the table.

"Whoa," I exclaim as I continue carefully into the room, "what did I miss?!"

Mr Stark manages to tackle the robot, shutting it off. "Oh my god," he groans in Spanish. "I'm SO going to donate this piece of trash to the nearest city college, I swear to all things real I am not flinging myself around this room for this stupid thing any more."

After a second, he looks up at me. "Oh hey, kid!" He says and stands up, glaring at the robot momentarily. "D'ya eat?"

"Yeah, thanks for the sandwhiches mr Stark. Tip, go easy on the mayo next time."

"Wow, I'm offended, I'm the best cook ever!" He scoffs, lifting over an upturned fable and placing the robot on it.

"Didn't you spend two hours making me an omelette?"

Miss Potts enters the room, barely stops in time for the dragon to run past, and makes her way over. She holds out her clipboard and a pen to Mr Stark, who leans over and signs a few areas she indicates to.

"Yeah, well you're not marrying me for the cooking," he jokes. I wonder if that means they're getting engaged soon? I hope so.

Miss Potts snorts. "God, I'd hope not." She takes the clipboard back and glances around. "Don't get anybody killed in here." She turns and leaves, her heels clicking on the ground.

"So, what's going on in here, anyway?" I ask. Almost immediately, Hiccup cheers from the corner.

"Aha!" He pumps his fist, "I knew that would work!"

"We're just messing around, the man's pretty handy with tools. Got anything to work on?" Mr Stark responds. I glance over at Dum-E, who's still moving in vague circles.

"Yeah, Dum-E is in dire need for maintenance..."

"Watch the fire extinguisher, he won't let it go."

"Got it, mr Stark!" I beam, heading over.

After some time, I manage to calm down Dum-E and give him some maintenance. It took me a good few minutes to pry the fire extinguisher from his tight grasp (I didn't want to break him by using my strength) and from there I was able to tighten some screws, give him so oil, and send him on his way.

After a few minutes of cleaning up some of the mess caused—by the dragon or the robot/s— I look up to see Mr Stark over near Hiccup and the now calmer dragon. Mr Stark is kneeling and holding up the fake tail fin, examining it. The dragon doesn't look impressed, but doesn't move away. Hiccup is standing by, seemingly admiring the shiny new metalwork.

"Not too bad, aye bud?!" He grins, grabbing the dragon's head playfully, "yeahh, we don't always need Gronkle iron!" The interaction reminds me of how one would speak to a dog or a cat. I wonder what a Gronkle is.

The dragon nudges Hiccup playfully, ignoring Mr Stark who is examining the tail fin from all angles. To be fair, it's a cool looking contraption so I don't blame him for being interested. I make my way over towards them.

I know, I know. It's a weird place to leave off, sorry. Ya girl is stressed out 😃 It's near the end of semester, I'm working, and I have to (very very quickly) find a new place to live.

Anyway, as soon as I saw the pic in the media section I knew I had to make it happen in this book. All credit to the artist, of course.
Bye!