Spider-Man Season One: Freestyle

4-2: Big Bad World Part 2

Flash grunted as he looked at the building. "Are you sure about this?"

The plant was a fairly simple layout, just a rectangular building. It was about three stories, with the only windows running just under the roof around seemingly the whole perimeter. Sure enough, there were guards stationed on the roof corners, and one standing just inside the fence that surrounded it.

I nodded. "Yeah. It's gonna be fun."

I pulled out my backpack and pretended to rummage through my things. My suit was tucked down safely underneath most of my supplies, and seeing it brought a small smile to my face. I removed a binder and pencil. "The front page is a bunch of questions that are based around the required information for the project. We just talk to someone in charge, and write down what they say. I've got a whole bunch of paper in there to take notes." 

He blinked. "...Okay...so, what are the questions about? Are they weird?"

I shrugged. "It's a project about environmental impact. You're basically just asking how they...you know...impact the environment."

Flash continued to look at the armed guard by the front gate. "Are you sure about this? They don't look very, uh, inviting."

"We'll be fine. You don't need to do that much, just leave the talking to me."

I swallowed my nerves and approached gate. Interestingly, the guy behind it didn't really bother to pay much attention to us. He seemed to observe us out of the corner of his eyes, but just leaned up against the fence. As we approached, I took it upon myself to get this going.

"Hi there!" I said, with as much innocent enthusiasm as I could muster.

The guy didn't reply. He seemed to be intentionally ignoring me.

So obviously I tried again.

"Ahem. Excuse me!"

He sighed, and looked over to me. "Beat it, kid. This is private property."

I rubbed the back of my head, faking sheepishness. "Well, you see, we were actually hoping to take a look around. We're here for a school project; environmental stuff, you know. It's nothing you would need to worry about."

His eyes narrowed. "Uh huh."

I was starting to become genuinely uncomfortable. The prospect of being shot was not necessarily alarming with my powers, but I couldn't let Flash get caught up in it either (no matter how much I really wanted to).

I swallowed and tried to figure out what to say to convince the guy. "We aren't here to cause trouble...we could only look at what you want to show us, that's fine. I know the world of...cargo processing is a very private sector."

What the hell did I just say?

To my surprise, Flash shoved me aside and took over the conversation. "Look, you want to do your job, right? I'm guessing you've dealt with plenty of jackass kids running around."

The guy didn't answer, but Flash's commanding tone coaxed a small nod out of him.

He stuck a hand out at me, almost hitting me in the face. "Now look at this guy. Does he really look like someone who's gonna make trouble? Ever?"

Before I could speak up, the guy rolled his eyes and said, "Gimme a minute," before heading toward the building.

I blinked for a few moments. "...Oh. Thanks...I guess."

Flash tried his best to seem dismissive. "Well you certainly weren't getting in there with that presentation."

"How'd you know what to say to him?"