CALM BEFORE THE STORM | PERCY JACKSON

Chapter Eleven

Junior Year: First Semester

"What did you do?" Peter hissed into his phone. He could hear the AcaDec team from around the corner, still chattering excitedly about their prize for winning the competition.

"I have no idea what you're talking about," Tony drawled from the other side of the phone. "It's not like I have the ability to hack into your school, find the next meet, and offer them a tour prize of the compound."

Peter groaned and ran a hand down his face. "This is why I never invite you to things."

"And this is my revenge," Tony stated, way too cheerful for how horrible of a situation this was. Peter could perfectly imagine the smug smile on his face. "How am I supposed to see how my Spider-Kid is doing if he never invites me to his competitions?"

Peter could feel the heat rising to his cheeks at the implication that he was Tony's kid. He wished... he shook his head to clear his thoughts. "Mr. Stark, the only dad-like thing about you is your unending need to eternally embarrass and torment me."

Tony laughed before there was a small commotion. Peter could make out the sound of something crashing and Tony started to curse, his voice getting softer as he moved away from the phone. He waited impatiently for a minute before the phone was picked up again. "Sorry 'bout that Underoos, DUM-E broke something, again. I swear one of these days I'm going to sell him to a community college. What were we talking about again? Oh right, my brilliant idea for you and your little friends to take a tour of the compound."

"What if they learn I'm Spider-Man? What if we go and someone attacks the compound and one of them dies? What if-"

Tony cut him off before Peter could spiral deeper. "Kid, no one's going to die. And if they find out you're Spider-Man then we will give them so many NDAs they won't be able to say anything."

"NDAs?" Peter scoffed incredulously. "Mr. Stark, no offense, but that's not going to stop a group of teenagers from gossiping."

"If they don't want to work at McDonald's for the rest of their life then they won't. Besides, think of this as the perfect opportunity to mess with your teacher. We'll work out all the details beforehand."

A grin slowly started to spread across his face. It had been a long time since he had pranked someone. And if he could control everything that happened on the field trip then he could minimize the chances of something going wrong. "Okay, Mr. Stark, you've got yourself a deal."

***

Peter got onto the bus with only a small amount of trepidation. He and Pepper had planned this out. He knew everything that was going to happen on the field trip. He had no reason to worry. So why were his palms sweating and his heart racing? He dug his nails into the palm of his hand to ground himself and took a deep breath. He sat down next to Ned towards the middle of the bus. MJ was in the seat in front of them, a book already out. Unfortunately, Flash took the seat across the aisle. He didn't say anything though, just glared at Peter before sitting down and pulling out his phone.

The compound was only an hour away and Peter managed to get through fifty minutes of the ride before Flash finally opened his mouth. "You know what I'm most excited about, Parker?"

"Thankfully, I'm not a mind-reader so I actually don't know what type of things go through your head, Flash," Peter retorted. Ned stifled a snicker and discreetly held out a hand for a fist bump that Peter gladly returned.

Flash's mouth curled into a sneer but he otherwise ignored the insult. "No, I'm excited for your lie to be exposed."

"And what lie is that?" Peter asked, feigning disinterest because he knew it would make Flash mad.