Spider-Man Whumptober - 2023

Magical Exhaustion or Injury/Curse

(AN: The Avengers and May know Peter is Spider-Man. He alternates between living at the Tower and in May's house, and he may or may not have a crush on Wanda Maximoff, who is the same age as him. Pietro died in the Ultron incident a year ago. For this one shot, the Avengers left on a mission, and the two teens are alone in the Tower together as the story begins. Enjoy!)

(P.S. I'm sorry in advance *insert nervous laughter*)

"Three... Two... One... Flip!" the two teens shouted in unison as they slammed cards on the soft carpet between them.

"Ha! King beats Jack!" Wanda cried triumphantly, scooping the cards towards her as Peter flopped onto his back with a dramatic groan.

"How are you so good at a game of chance?" he whined playfully.

"It's about time someone put you in your place," Wanda teased back.

"Oh yeah? Then I challenge you to a Mario Kart tournament--we'll see who's laughing then!"

"You're on," Wanda said with a cocky smirk, and the two both swiped their game of War to the side and lunged for the video game cupboard.

"Dibs the blue remote!" Peter yelled. He yanked the door open and reaching for the controller when suddenly he couldn't move. He was surrounded by glowing red magic.

Wanda casually reached around his outstretched fingers and grabbed the blue remote.

"Hey, no fair!" Peter complained as Wanda released her hold on him and floated the pink controller onto his lap. But soon enough they'd both wedged themselves between the piles of pillows and blankets on the soft couches and were happily waiting for the game to load.

Just as the music started to play, Peter's spider-sense kicked in. His head snapped towards the windows along the wall to their right, and he squinted his eyes suspiciously. Suddenly, his whole body seized with adrenaline as his sixth sense screamed at him to move. He yelled at Wanda to get down, already shoving himself towards her. His momentum ended up flipping the couch over, and the two landed hard behind it.

"Peter, what's--" Suddenly, all the windows in the room exploded, cutting Wanda's question short. She screamed and curled into Peter's chest as glass shards flew overtop of the overturned couch. Luckily, it worked as a barrier, and none of the sharp fragments hit either of them.

They waited in tense anticipation, the only noises coming from Friday's alarm, the breeze blowing through apartment, and their own panicked breathing. Finally, Peter peeked his head over the edge of the couch. Seeing nothing, he slowly moved into a crouch and lifted himself a little further over the edge. After a moment he dropped back down again.

"Wanda, run. Get to the safe room and call for help."

"What do you see?"

"Nothing. That's what scares me."

Wanda shook her head. "I'm not going anywhere unless I know you're safe too."

"Wanda, trust me. I'll be fine." Peter peeked out again. "We don't have time to argue. We're still in danger."

"Whoever has the nerve to attack the Tower will not be able to get through both of us. We're stronger together, Peter!"

Peter bit his lip nervously before hanging his head in defeat. "Fine. But stay close. We should get out of such a vulnerable area and call Mr. Stark."

They both crept towards the edge of the couch. Peter leaned around to check one last time, and then pulled back sharply.

"There's someone there!" he hissed.