I Am Karen - Spider-Man / Peter Parker [1]

Chapter Sixteen - Interrogation of Mr Criminal

The end of class couldn't come fast enough. Maria was only praying that Peter was not going to take forever, she was still supposed to be attending class. Finding a quiet area of the library during the crossover of classes, Maria brought up her holographic computer again. She connected with Peter's suit and discovered he was in a parking lot standing in front of Aaron Davis whose hand had been webbed to the boot of his car. The pair were arguing over something like they were siblings. Wasn't he supposed to be a criminal?

"I'm not a girl. I'm a man" Peter said however with the Interrogation Mode on Peter's voice was much deeper and completely out of character. Maria struggled not to laugh at the sound of him. Peter could not pull off that voice, especially when he was trying to argue that he was a 'man'. Why he was arguing that was beyond Maria, she clearly had missed something. "Come on, man. Look, who is selling these weapons? I need to know. Give me names or else." Suddenly, Aaron slammed the boot shut causing not only Peter but also his drone to jump in surprise.

"You ain't ever done this before, huh?" Aaron stated seeing straight through Peter. Maria couldn't help but laugh as Peter tried to be intimidating, it just wasn't his scene - Maria remembered when he saved her at the warehouse, he had been intimidating then but that time he wasn't thinking about being intimidating he just was acting on instinct, here he was trying to be and it just wasn't working.

"Deactivate Interrogation Mode" Peter mumbled knowing 'Karen' was there (having heard her laugh) causing Aaron to laugh and roll his eyes at Peter. Maria quickly did as she was told before she frowned at Aaron's actions, maybe pranking Peter with the Interrogation Mode wasn't a good thing. "Look, man. These guys are selling weapons that are crazy dangerous. They can't just be out on the streets." Peter was trying to apply to Aaron's softer side but Maria wasn't entirely sure the guy was going to be won over that way. "If one of them can cut Delmar's Bodega in half -"

"You know Delmar's?" Aaron interrupted.

"Yeah, best sandwich in Queens" Peter replied with a shrug of his shoulders. Maria wasn't surprised that Aaron knew Delmar's, it used to be amazing despite it being a corner shop.

"Sub Haven's pretty good" Aaron admitted.

"It's too much bread" Peter said back, somehow falling into a conversation with a criminal ... about sandwiches. Only Peter would be able to do that.

"I like bread" Aaron answered. That conversation quickly ended and Peter returned to what was more important.

"Come on, man, please" Peter pleaded but it was pointless. Peter clearly wasn't going to get anything out of Aaron this way but the man seemed on the verge of helping. Maria remembered his reaction under the bridge to all the weapons. He had found them to be too extreme. Also, he wasn't trying to escape Peter, wasn't even pointing his gun at him and Maria knew the guy carried one ... maybe he did want to help but needed a push. Opening up his profile, Maria tried to find something that would give him that little push. And she found it.

"Peter, he has a nephew, Miles Morales. He cares about him. Use him" Maria announced calmly. However, Peter did not understand and she saw it on his face. Rolling her eyes, Maria realised that Peter was going to need a little more help. "Repeat what I say: You have a nephew, Miles Morales, right?" The moment the name left Peter's lips; Aaron's demeanour changed. He became more concerned, more defensive.

"How do you know that?" he asked, shifting his weight on his feet.

"The same way I know you care about him about what happens to him" Maria said with Peter repeating the words perfectly.

"Are you threatening him?" Aaron asked with his eyes narrowing. Maria could understand why it was coming across that way.

"No ... but you are. Those weapons could kill him, do more damage than any normal gun" Maria said. The words gained Aaron's attention. "I can help take those weapons off the street, make the streets safer for your nephew. But I need your help. So, the question is: are you going to help me protect your nephew or not?" Silence reigned as Aaron eyed up Peter. Thankfully, Peter had not threateningly said Maria's words, his soft but pleading tone had seemingly reached Aaron for the man began to talk.

"Look, I know nothing about the psychopath dressed like a demon; I don't know who he is or where he is" Aaron explained. "He's just named the Vulture." That was much more of a better name than Bird Man.

"The guy with the wings?" Peter confirmed, also seeing the improvement in the villain's name. Peter shifted slightly, his head tilting towards Aaron - he had to know more than that.

"Yeah, I do know where he's gonna be" Aaron finally admitted. Peter immediately straightened up. Knowing she couldn't be interrupted now, Maria lifted her head and scanned the library around her, she couldn't afford for a librarian to find her. Luckily there was no librarian about but she knew she was running on borrowed time. They had to wrap this up and fast.

"Really?" Peter asked in surprise.

"Yeah, this crazy dude I used to work with he's supposed to be doing a deal with him" Aaron admitted with a wave of his free hand.

"Yes! Yes" Peter shouted ecstatic about the news, even jumping up on the spot. However, suddenly Maria noticed Peter was walking away from Aaron.

"Where are you going? We don't have a location" Maria asked in a panic, they needed the location. A fact that Aaron also pointed out.

"Right, of course. Yeah, my bad. Silly just - yeah. Where is it?" Peter asked running back to Aaron and leaning on the man's car.

"Can I give you some advice?" Aaron suddenly asked. Peter being Peter of course nodded at the criminal. "You got to get better at this part of the job." Aaron did have a point there. Thankfully, Aaron Davis had a weak spot, had a nephew who he cared enough about that he would help Spider-Man but not all criminals were like that - especially men like the Vulture.

"I don't understand. I'm intimidating" Peter replied as he leaned back against Aaron's car narrowing his eyes (causing his white suit's eyes to narrow too).

"No, you're not Peter" Maria said, voicing the thought that Aaron Davis was thinking.

"Staten Island Ferry, 11" Aaron said, giving them both the vital information they needed. The question was ... what were they going to do with the information?

"Oh, that's soon" Peter mumbled before he began backing away from Aaron. He glimpsed down at Aaron's webbed hand. Maria had forgotten about that detail; she couldn't help but wonder what Peter would do. "That's gonna dissolve in two hours." With that Peter turned and began to jog away through the carpark.

"No, no, no. Come fix this" Aaron shouted after Peter. Maria chuckled lightly at Peter's actions. Of course, he would let the criminal go but not before forcing him to stand attached to his car for two hours first.

"Two hours. You deserve that" Peter said which was true. Aaron was still a criminal after all; a helpful criminal but a criminal all the same.

"I got ice cream in here" Aaron argued back.

"You deserve that" Peter said as he continued to run away waving at the man as he did. "You're a criminal. Bye, Mr. Criminal."  Only Peter would say such a thing. However, as Peter raced out of the carpark Maria started to get a worrying feeling. Clearly, Peter was going to go after the Vulture but Maria knew that her father had to be told.

"Peter are you sure about this? Should you maybe call Mr Stark?" Maria said, the concern clear in her voice.

"What? No" Peter immediately replied.

"What about Happy?" Maria questioned even though she knew the answer that was coming her way.

"No. Look Karen, I can do this" Peter said with confidence. He didn't appreciate Maria's obvious dislike of his actions but Maria just didn't think it was a good idea. The Vulture was very dangerous, perhaps even more than they knew. Sighing, Maria ran her hand through her loose hair, dragging the strands back for a moment. "With your help, everything will be fine." Why did she get the feeling it just wouldn't be?