Spider-Man: Unmasked

Chapter Fourteen

Peter woke up late the next morning.  He yawned and sat up, looking around his room.  It looked exactly the same as it had before.  Well, some of the trash he had left laying around before had been taken care of, but other than that, it hadn't changed. 

He stood up and got dressed slowly, still being a bit sore.  He looked at the time and realized he'd be late for school if he didn't hurry up a bit. He headed out to the kitchen, his dads already at the table. They perked up a bit upon seeing Peter.

"Hey Pete," Steve said with a smile. "You sleep okay?"

Peter nodded, yawning. "Yeah. Thanks for bringing me to my room." He grabbed a croissant and sat down, stealing a sip of his dads coffee.

Steve nodded, drinking his own coffee. "No problem."

Tony snatched his coffee back. He shot Peter a playful glare and drank his coffee. "You looked so peaceful, we didn't want to wake you."

Peter smiled and ate his croissant. He talked with his dad and pops for a while before finally looking at the time. "Oh jeez," he laughed. "I lost track of time. I'm late for school."

Steve shook his head. "You start going back tomorrow," he said, standing up. "You sure have missed a lot. Have a lot to catch up on."

Peter groaned. "Don't remind me. Ugh, this is gonna be awful." He stood up as well and headed to the Tv room.

"If it would help," Tony said, standing up and putting dishes away. "I could always... find a way to lessen the schoolwork, if you know what I'm saying." He winked and sat over by Peter.

Peter was about to say something along the lines of sign me up! when Steve quickly cut in, "Nope. Pete's a good student and can manage without us bribing his teachers, can't you, Pete?" He sat beside Tony, shooting him a sharp look.

"Aw, do I have to?" Peter whined, really liking his dad's bribing idea. "It's a lot of work."

"You'll survive somehow, I guess," Tony muttered. "But if all else fails.."

"No, Tony."

"Worth a shot."

He flicked on the Tv and began to flick through the channels. He continued to do so until he got to the news. He was just about to change the channel, when he heard a familiar name on the news.

"Spider-Man has been missing for weeks now, and the crime rate has gone up a considerable amount," the lady on the news said. "He was said to have been last seen fighting Carnage, who, as most of you know, has been properly dealt with.

Peter's eyes widened slightly. He hadn't thought of the Spider-Man situation, strangely enough. With everything that had happened, he hadn't thought of that. He wondered where his suit was...

As he went to focus back on the Tv, he was soon surprised by Tony turning off the Tv. Peter looked at Tony, confused, to which he just coolly replied, "You should go and study. You have a lot of work to catch up on, right?"

Peter was a bit taken aback. "I just- I just thought that- I just got back and-" He didn't know what to say. He had just gotten back and now he was getting sent to his room to study?

Steve looked at Peter after glancing quickly at Tony and said sympathetically, "Can you go to your room real quick? Your dad and I need to talk, and it will only take a minute."

Peter nodded, still confused. What was going on? He stood up and walked to his room with a sigh. He left the door open and flopped onto his bed, immediately regretting it as he felt the pain in his body increase. He winced and sat up. He tried to listen in a little bit as he rubbed the back of his neck.

"Why can't you just tell him?" Steve said, exasperated. "Why can't you just rip off the bandaid?"

"Uh, have you tried telling your son something like this?" Tony retaliated, almost shouting. "No? I didn't think so!"

Peter pulled his knees to his chest and rested his chin on his knees, sighing softly. He hated when they fought. They didn't fight bad too often, but when they did, it wasn't pretty.

"If you don't tell him, he's most definitely going to find out himself! How could he not, Tony?!"

Peter hung his head. What on earth were they talking about? He debated confronting them about it.

"Well guess what? It's kind of hard when you know your son is going to hate you for doing so!" Peter was very confused and worried. What could he hate his dad about?

"Don't you think I know that? He's going to hate me too, you know. He deserves for you to tell him for heaven sake!"

Peter couldn't take it. He stood up and rushed out to the Tv room. Steve and Tony were now standing. "Please!" He shouted, standing between the two. "What is it?"

"Peter, stay out of this!" Tony said through gritted teeth. He tried to calm down for his son, Steve trying to do the same.

"No! I know you're talking about me! What is it? What would I hate you for?" Peter felt tears threaten to spill. "Why won't you tell me what's going on?"

Tony sighed. "Fine. You want to know what's going on?"

Peter nodded. "Yes!" Had he not made that clear?

Tony inhaled deeply, obviously distressed. "Fine. Look. Peter, we're taking your suit away. You can't be Spider-Man anymore."