Hang In There// P.P.

Chapter 20: Energy Core.

"Oh, this must be where the ATM robbers got their stuff."

"Yeah, no shit, Sherlock."

Peter jumped as my voice whispered behind him.

"Jesus, Sof."

He placed a hand over his heart as I focused my gaze on the arms deal going on in front of us. The back of the van was packed.

"I need something to stick up somebody. I'm not trying to shoot them back in time."

"I got anti-grav climbers."

"Yo, climbers?"

Suddenly, a yodeling ringtone started playing. The weapon dealers looked around, alarmed, as I shot a glare at Peter.

"Okay, what the hell was that?"

The phone continued to ring. Peter took his phone out to check the caller ID. Ned was making a funny face on the screen. Schultz aimed his gun at Aaron.

"Did you set us up?"

"Hey, hey, man."

Peter flips off the wall and lands on the ground.

"Hey! Hey, come on. You gonna shoot at somebody, shoot at me."

I jumped down beside the blue and red hero, grabbing his arm, a look of disbelief on my face.

"What the fuck are you thinking?!"

Schultz turned the gun on Peter, but Peter shot his web, disarmed Schultz, and charged. Using a high tech gauntlet from his van, Brice punched Peter with a burst of energy causing him to slam into the side of the bridge and land on the ground. Schultz jumped in and started the car as I ran over to Peter. Brice, laughing triumphantly, jumped onto the back of the van as his accomplice drove off.

"Pete, come on, get up. We can't lose these guys again."

Peter shot his web, attaching it to the weapon dealers' open van door. The van dragged in through a neighbourhood, knocking Peter into a trash can as I teleported to the roof of the van.

"What? Ah!"

He shot a second strand of web. Brice readied another high tech weapon. Outside, Peter was holding on with two thin lines of web, trying to maintain balance as I lay on my stomach, reaching down to offer him a hand up. Brice fired another burst of energy, breaking the van door. Peter was still being dragged through the neighbourhood, clinging to the back of the van.

" Oh, my butt! Unh!"

Brice powered more energy blasts at Peter, causing him to lose his grasp on one of the webs. Just as Brice powered up the weapon once more, the van meets a road bump, causing me to bounce off the roof, gripping onto the side as the car wobbled, making Brice accidentally fire a hole in the van. He dropped the weapon and it rolled out of the vehicle. The weapons came to a stop in someone's yard. Schultz made a sharp turn, making Peter slam into the side of a parked car. He then gets dragged through a line of garbage bins. He hit a solid brick pillar and dropped to the ground along with a heap of bricks. Peter's webs broke off. Peter had recovered from the collision and he ran to get a clean shot and extended his hand. The web travels through the air but missed the remaining van door. Peter threw his arms up, exasperated. I let go of the side of the van, skidding along the tarmac as I did so.

"Spider-Man, come on I can teleport us!"
_________________________________

"Surprise!"

We landed on the roof of the van once again. Suddenly, Vulture snatched Peter from behind, flying in the wing suit, and soaree high. Peter screamed, looking down at me standing where he was two seconds previous. Peter wrestled to pull his leg free from Vulture's grasp. Noticing the struggle, Vulture trained his glowing eyes at Peter menacingly and carried him even higher. Suddenly, the spider drawn on the back of Peter's suit started to beep and blink. A parachute unfolded itself from the hidden compartment. The air resistance from it ripped Peter from Vulture's grasp. During his descent, Peter got wrapped up in the fabric. Peter plunged into a lake. It was clear he struggled to free himself from the parachute as he sank deeper and deeper.

"Peter!"

I had a decision to make in that moment: take down the bad guys, or save Spider-Man. It was clear which one I chose as I ran towards the lake, beginning to strip off any unnecessary accessories such as belts and that. As I ran closer a figure dived into the water in an admirably fast speed. Iron Man emerged, carrying Peter. Holding him under his arms. Peter's head hung slumped. The eyes on his mask blinked open. Peter wrung his mask. Water dripped from it. He was sitting on a jungle gym. In front of him, Iron Man was floating in the air.

" And then he just, he just, like, swooped down like a monster and he picked me up and, uh, he took me up, like, a thousand feet and just dropped me. How'd you find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit or something?"

"I put everything in your suit. Including this heater."

"Whoa!"

The suit is dried instantly. Steam rises from it, surrounding Peter.

"Whew, that's better. Thanks."

Peter shivered, his teeth chattering.

"What were you thinking?"

"The guy with the wings is obviously the source of the weapons. I gotta take him down."

"Take him down now, huh? Steady, Crockett, there are people who handle this sort of thing."

"The Avengers?"

"No, no, no. This is a little below their pay grade."

"Anyway, Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come all the way out here. I had that. I was fine."

"Oh, I'm not here."

Iron Man's helmet opened, revealing an empty space where Tony's face should have been.

"Thank God this place has Wi-Fi or you would be toast right now. Thank Ganesh while you're at it."

Tony continued to talk through the empty suit, his helmet still open.

"Look, forget the flying vulture guy, please."

"Why?"

"Why? Because I said so!"

"Stay close to the ground. Build up your game helping little people, like that lady that bought you the churro. Can't you just be a friendly..."

He paused.

" ...neighbourhood Spider-Man?"

" But I'm ready for more than that now."

"No, you are not."

The empty Iron Man suit closed.

"That is not what you thought when I took on Captain America."

" Trust me, kid. If Cap wanted to lay you out, he would've. Listen to me. If you come across these weapons again, call Happy."

"You know, it's never too early to start thinking about college. I got some pull at MIT."

"No, I don't need to go to col- Mr. Stark-"

"Mr. Stark is no longer connected." F. R. I. D. A. Y's voice replced Tony's.

The Iron Man suit flew off. Peter mutters grudgingly.

"That's awesome."

Peter and I approached an empty yard, wearing his mask again and in silence.

"Stay close to the ground? What is he talking about?"

I turned around swfitly, facing the boy.

"I know you're Spider-Man, and I get that you think you're all high and mighty and yeah, I know I'm just your 'sidekick' but just do what he said, Peter, before you get both of us killed."

I continued walking on before stopping , spotting something. Peter entered the yard after and saw a piece of Brice's damaged weapon that had fallen out of the vehicle. He crouched down to tentatively flip it over with his fingertips.

" Whoa."

We found the glowing energy core. His phone rang. Peter answered a call from Ned.

"Hey, man, what's up? I'm on my way back."

Peter could still hear Flash and his friends chanting in the background, sighing.

" I'll see you tomorrow in school."

Peter hung up as I carefully lift the weapon. Metal and wires encased the glowing core. Peter looked up at me, determination clear on his masked face.