Miraculous Spiderman

Chapter four

Marinette made her way home as quick as she could- her parents would be wondering where she was and it was already almost dark.

She entered through the front door of the bakery. Her mum was nowhere in sight- presumably upstairs, while her father seemed to be closing up. He glanced up to see Marinette entering through the door and he rushed forward to hug her.

"You're back!" He exclaimed. "We heard from the school that there was an Akuma attack and you were all sent home. Where have you been?"

"I'm fine." Marinette grinned, "Ladybug and Chat Noir took care of it." She released herself from the hug. "I had to hide in a building because the Dragon was blocking the way home."

She walked up the stairs to the living room. "Hi mum!" She said as her mum sat in front of the TV, presumably watching the news covering the latest Akuma attack.

Her mum turned around in surprise. "Marinette! You're back!" She exclaimed. "Alya dropped by with a boy earlier, but you weren't here."

"Nino?" Marinette asked.

"No, no." Her mum furrowed her brow, trying to remember his name. "What was his name? It started with a 'P' I think-"

"Peter?" Marinette interrupted.

"Ah yes! His name was Peter! He's one of the exchange students right? I think Alya said you met him today in class, right? He dropped of some suitcases because he couldn't leave them at school. He hasn't been to where he is staying yet, so I assume that's why he hasn't left his things there. He should be back soon to get the suitcases."

"Okay!" Marinette smiled, giving her mum a thumbs up. She turned to climb another set of stairs- the stairs that lead to her room. She lifted the trapdoor as she got to the top of the stairs and she entered her room.

Marinette glanced around the room, opening her purse. Tikki flew out and hovered next to her face, following Marinette as she sat down at the desk where her computer was.

"Tikki, what did you think of that Spider-man guy?" She asked her Kwami friend.

"He doesn't seem to be an Akumatised villain pretending to be a superhero, like Volpina was." Tikki offered.

"Agreed." Marinette grinned, booting up her computer and opening Alya's blog. She looked at the most recent posts. However, it seemed Alya hadn't posted anything related to the new Superhero that had appeared.

"Try searching the whole internet for Spider-man." Tikki suggested.

Marinette nodded.

She didn't find anything about who he was, or where he got his powers. In spite of this, Marinette did find a few theories floating around. They were mostly pretty bad theories, the majority of them claiming that a friend of theirs was Spider-man or people claiming that they were Spider-man. (It was nothing different to the theories about Ladybug and Chat Noir.) One theory caught her eye however. It showed how on multiple occasions Spider-man and Iron Man (aka Tony Stark) had been spotted together. The theory then suggested that Spider-man was Iron Man's adopted son, or even his biological son. While Marinette did not believe the theory at all, she found it notable that Spider-man knew Iron Man. That actually makes some sense. Marinette thought. Spider-man's suit looked like it was made of metal. Tony Stark probably made it for him.

She also found out that Spider-man was mostly sighted in New York. Specifically, Queens.

There was a subtle noise as her mum opened the trapdoor behind her.

"Hi Marinette." Her mum said, as Marinette turned around. Tikki flew behind her, hiding from the view of her mum.

"Did you need something?" Marinette asked, "Is Peter here to get his stuff?"

"No, no." Her mum said, waving her hand dismissively. "We just wanted to let you know that we offered to let one of the exchange students stay with us. It was really last minute, so that's why we couldn't tell you earlier. I hope you don't mind."

"Not at all!" Marinette grinned, "It would be cool to have someone staying with us for awhile."

Her mum smiled, "That's good to hear. She'll come here after school tomorrow, and if you don't meet her during school you'll meet her then."

"Cool. Thanks!" Marinette grinned again, turning back to the computer.

Her mum went back down the stairs and the trapdoor closed with a thunk. Tikki flew out from her hiding place and they continued to look for information on the internet. Her mother was gone for a few minutes before coming back up.

"Marinette, your friend is here." She said, opening up the trapdoor slightly before closing it again.

"Okay." Marinette responded as she turned off her computer and Tikki flew into her purse to hide.

Marinette climbed down the stairs to the living room. Her mum handed her one of Peter's suitcases and helped her take the other one down to the bakery entrance where Peter was waiting.

"Hey Peter!" Marinette grinned, handing him his suitcase. "Sorry for not being here earlier."

"Oh, hey... Marinette!" Peter replied. (saying her name slowly to make sure he didn't make a mistake.) "Thanks for letting me keep my things here."

"No problem." Marinette smiled, "Do you still need someone to show you where Chloe lives?"

"Yes, t-thank you," Peter responded, his face reddening slightly. He brushed a strand of hair from his face, but didn't notice how messy all his hair looked. He must have been chasing after the Akuma with Alya. Marinette mused.

"Well, let's go then. Don't want it to get any darker." Marinette said, taking the other suitcase from her mother's hands.

/*\*/*\

They walked in silence for a few minutes. A small degree of awkward tension hung in the air between them.

Marinette finally broke the silence. "So, where are you from, Peter? I mean like, where in America?"

"Oh, uh, I'm from Queens." He responded. "It's in New York."

"Oh, really?!" Marinette glanced sideways at Peter. "So you've heard of that Spider-man guy, right?"

"Yeah, I- I've heard of Spider-man." Peter replied, sounding a bit caught off-guard. "I actually, well, I've actually uh, met him before."

Marinette stoped and turned to face Peter. "You- you've met Spider-man?"

"Y-yeah." Even in the dim light, Marinette noticed Peter's face flush red briefly. "I have this uh, internship thing with Tony Stark. He was there once and I met him. I didn't see who was under the mask or anything, but uh, yeah."

"That's, actually really cool!" Marinette grinned, placing a hand on his shoulder. He flinched slightly at her touch. "I mean, I've met Ladybug and Chat Noir- most of our class has. But they're not big super heroes like Iron Man or Spider-man, and you've met them both!"

"Thanks. Not many people believe me." Peter replied, smiling slightly.

/*\*/*\

They walked up to the entrance of Le Grand Paris, the place where Peter was staying- where Chloe lived.

"Just so you know," Marinette said, turning to Peter. "Chloe might say bad things about people in our class, specifically me. Don't believe any of it. She's just being Chloe."

"Okay, I'll keep mind that." Peter responded. He paused, realising he made a mistake, his face flushed as he rushed to correct himself, "I mean-"

"It's okay Peter, I understood what you meant." Marinette interrupted, smiling slightly in amusement.

Chloe noticed them waiting out side and she rushed to the doors, opening them. "Peter? Right?" She asked, taking his second suitcase from Marinette's hand. She looked at Marinette and frowned slightly.

"Yeah." Peter nodded, "I Think I saw you in class this morning, right?"

"That's right." Chloe said. "Come on in. I'm assuming you haven't eaten yet." She grabbed his arm and pulled him inside. Peter barely had time to turn and thank Marinette before the door closed in her face. Yep. That's Chloe. She mused, turning around and walking back home.