Little TW for transphobia at the end of the chapter
Official Stark Industries @StarkIndustries
It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce a new opportunity. The Stark Industries Internship test! Designed to look beyond whatever paper you obtained / are obtaining at school, this test allows us to pick out the best and brightest people and offer them an internship
| Official Stark Industries @StarkIndustries
The test is currently mostly focused on science, which is the departments that can currently provide internships main focus. However, don't fear, we are working hard on expanding it to include the more human side of our company such as our legal, PR and our accounting department.
|| Official Stark Industries @StarkIndustries
That being said, this test is not just any test, it is one that will test qualities necessary in our company. It will test determination, problem solving and self-knowledge. It will also include tests in skills and knowledge such as hacking, physics, math and chemistry, to get an accurate estimate towards your knowledge and beliefs.
| Cam @treeboi
Does this mean people in high school can give it a go?
|| Official Stark Industries @StarkIndustries
Absolutely. Regardless of if your capabilities are what we are looking for right now, it will at least profile you within our company and allow us to track your progression as you grow and learn more. So yes, we encourage anyone who has an interest in an internship with us to give it a go.
| Candy @fancyrocks
Well... where can we find the test?
|| Official Stark Industries @StarkIndustries
Ah yes.... while I will be answering more questions our next main tweet will be the first part of the scavenger hunt, which will in the future also be referenced on the Stark Industries website with the information for
Official Stark Industries @StarkIndustries
[Image of equation]
#SIHunt
And within seconds, #SIhunt was trending globally.
---
Peter was going back out on patrol for the first time since... his situation changed. His previous home was temporary, he was barely able to get adjusted before he was once again moved. This one was supposed to be more permanent though. At least for a longer term, he wouldn't say permanent. But it was supposed to be longer than a week, and Spider-man couldn't stay away for too long or...
He didn't know what. It wasn't like he thought people were going to be worried about him. It was more along the lines of the criminals might notice and crime would rise and everything that happened while he was away would be his fault. So he couldn't stay away for too long, or innocent people would get hurt due to his negligence.
He had told his foster family that he was going to Ned's place after school, and they had told him to be back in time for dinner at 6PM. That left him around 3 hours of patrolling, pitstops on the way back not included. Because after all, crime didn't rest just because he had to eat. Or grieve for that matter.
Once he had left the school and changed into his suit, he felt this surge of confidence. The cloud that been hanging over him for the past few days had a small gap in it. That gap was Spider-man. A surge of adrenaline filling him – or was it dopamine? - he called out to Karen. "Karen, could you give me a status report of the time since I was last in the suit?"
"Welcome back Peter. While you were gone crime steadily increased by 8 percent in total. The first real rise was after the fourth day you didn't patrol, slowly increasing until it started increasing more rapidly just after a week of your disappearance." Karen's soft voice responded. "As for the current crime reports, there are none. However, the fire department is caught up examining the remnants of a chemical fire. For the next few hours, they are unable to aid an old lady who can't climb up the ladder to reach her cat who has hidden in the beams of her roof and is not coming down for their medicine."
Peter immediately perked up. That seemed like something perfect for getting back into patrolling. "Lead the way, Karen!" As soon as he said that, the display in his face lit up with guidance towards the old lady.
He jumped down from the building he was standing on, waited until he had picked up as much momentum as possible and then *thwip* he caught himself with a string of web fluid. Swinging through New York, he relished the wind flowing against his body, the background noise of the city bustling during this late afternoon.
He arrived before he would have liked. If it were up to him, he would have swung through the city for hours, however duty calls. Upon arriving, he saw the little old lady he had been looking for staring out of the window. Her expression said everything. That is why he decided to climb up the wall instead of climbing the stairs.
Knocking on the window might have been a bad idea though. He saw the woman actually jump from surprise. But once she saw the mask staring at her through the window, she started grinning and let him in.
As soon as he climbed in, she enveloped him in a hug. "Oh thank goodness you are here. Little Mick was supposed to take his medication half an hour ago, but the fire department didn't think this was high enough of a priority to send people over when they still had so much to do." Peter nodded. "Luckily you are here now. And I mean, who would be better than someone who can climb up walls? He is sitting in the corner over there, in that shadow."
Peter started making his way towards the wall, tested out his grip with one hand, and upon confirmation that the wall didn't give him any troubles, started his climb towards the beams of the roof. "No worries, ma'am. We will be able to give Mick his medicine in no time."
It did not happen in no time. It took him a good ten minutes with help from the lady, who he now knew was called Gwendolyn, to allow Mick to trust him enough to be carried down. During this process, quite a few swipes with claws were made, and if it wasn't for his spider-senses the claws would have drawn blood.
But he managed to get Mick down safe, and after his suggestion of removing the ladder was met with enthusiasm and relief from Gwendolyn, he also lowered the ladder to the floor and put it to the side so it wouldn't be in anyone's way. But as much as he loved chatting with Gwendolyn, it was time for him to go back to patrolling. So, after hugging Gwendolyn again, and promising to come visit sometime, he got back to his patrol.
He hadn't even shot his second web when he heard another voice in his ear. "Spider-man" This wasn't unusual, however it wasn't Karen's voice. It was a voice he recognized, though. "Come in Spider-man" His eyes went comically wide. It was Tony Stark's voice!
He quickly adjusted his swinging route from his usual patrol route to the nearest building. "Uhm hi. Why can I hear you?" The confusion was evident in his voice.
A chuckle could be heard. "Yeah, it surprised me too. But I guess you didn't close the communication channel we set up during the fight." Some rummaging could be heard. "I would say I was surprised that I didn't notice it was open sooner but from what I can see you haven't been out on patrol since we last saw each other."
Peter nodded before realizing Mr Stark couldn't see him. Growing embarrassed he started sputtering out a response. "Oh uhh yeah. I just didn't really get the opportunity until now. I also didn't think I could stay out much longer. Responsibilities and all that. So umm yeah. That is why. I haven't gone out yet, I mean. I'm sorry I am rambling"
Mr Stark laughed. "No worries bambino. I am just glad you were responding. We kind of left on a cliff-hanger, don't you think? Is everything allright?"
Peter chuckled nervously. "Oh yeah I am fine. Nothing to worry about." He lied. He needed to leave this conversation before Mr Stark noticed something was up. "But I need to get back to patrolling. Thank you for checking up on me Mr Stark, I will be sure to close the channel this time."
He just caught a bit of the response from Mr Stark, something about leaving it open. He didn't know and didn't care, all that mattered right now is that he was able to leave that conversation.
With a running start, he jumped from the building and got back to swinging and patrolling.
---
Tony was working on one of his Iron Man suits that had been acting up during a previous mission when he was taken out of his trance by FRIDAY speaking up.
"I'm sorry to interrupt your work, but I would imagine you would like to know that I am picking up sound on our communication channel, specifically coming from Spider-man." This immediately got Tony's attention.
As he started finishing up what he was working on, he responded. "Put it on the speakers, Fri. Let's hear what our spiderling is up to." Friday obeyed his command and started listening to Spider-man talking about 'giving Mick his medication' followed by 10 minutes of muttering and soft cursing and the occasional response to whoever he was talking to.
After a bit he started hearing some goodbyes. That was positive, it meant he could check in on Spider-man. It seemed like he was back to his normal... getting cats out of trees or whatever. But it didn't sit right with him, the last time they spoke he had to be dropped off at the hospital and then did a disappearing act for a bit. Hearing the wind softly through the comm channel, he spoke up. "Spider-man." Silence. "Come in Spider-man."
Some more silence. Until... A noise. "Um hi. Why can I hear you?" Good. He was responding. Allright. He quickly started explaining himself and got a nervous response back.
That is when he asked the question he had been meaning to ask. "Is everything allright?" He could almost hear his arc reactor whirring trying to keep up with his nervous heartbeat. Was the kid allright. The response he got was a reassurance. Whether he should actually be relieved or not was still debatable but he supposed it meant the kids at least wasn't actively in a crisis. He was nervous, yeah. But who wouldn't be if you suddenly found out the person who raced you to the hospital who then didn't hear anything from or about you in around two weeks suddenly asks how you are doing.
Spider-man then started hastily talking about going back to patrol and closing the comm chanel. "If you want you can keep it open, or open it if you need help." But somewhere halfway through his sentence, he heard the sound of disconnection.
Great. Now he had no clue on how to contact Spider-man unless he contacted them first and actually no question answered about what happened except that he was okay. Grumbling, he turned back to his work, but not before telling Friday to keep tabs on Spider-man and his whereabouts.
---
He was late. Too late. Way too late. He already had to hurry because he lost track of time, then he had to stop a mugging because if Spider-man swings past you when you are crying for help, you would probably just lose all hope. When the mugging was stopped, he continued on his way already 15 minutes late. But then the car accident happened and he had to go check on people and all in all he was over an hour late.
He started apologizing as soon as he entered through the door. But he was just met with a simple response. "You are late. There isn't any food left." Peter nodded solemnly. No reprimand, nothing, just consequences for his actions. Couldn't argue with that.
He grabbed his bag from where he put it down and made his way towards his room. This time he got a good look around. There is a security system on the windows, a digital one. They only open in case of fire or through the use of a code in the central security system. Couldn't get out of the windows then.
That meant that for the foreseeable future, patrol was going to have to be an after-school activity. He should probably think of a more convincing lie. Though he could always say he started working more? Oh shit, work. That took away quite a bit of patrol time.
Peter sighed and faceplanted on the bed. Being a teenage superhero was hard. Why wasn't his old tragic backstory not enough? Why did it have to add on more? He couldn't leave his jobs, he had to make sure he was back in time for dinner because his stomach was already rumbling. The combination of patrol and his fast metabolism meant that he needed every meal he could get, especially since meals usually only barely filled him.
But that was a problem for another time. For now he just needed to figure out how he was going to balance everything. Though balance was probably the wrong word. Keep all the balls high was a better way to word it. Balancing was something that he couldn't even remember being able to do.
Exhausted from patrol, but still in an unfamiliar environment and feeling like he should apologize some more for being late, he decided to head downstairs to the living room. As he was at the bottom of the stairs he heard voices.
-- TW: Transphobia (till end) --
"They were home over an hour late. What do you think they were doing?" the wife asked.
An annoyed grumble came from the husband. "She better not be doing drugs or something. If she decides to throw away her life even more aside from thinking she's a boy, I won't hesitate to call that social worker." Alright. A transphobe. Like Peter wasn't anxious enough.
A shocked gasp came from the wife. "Honey, don't talk like that. I might also be struggling with the whole trans thing, but at least I use they."
Peter had heard enough. He was exhausted, dysphoric and wanted the world to stop existing for a bit so he went to bed. Tomorrow was another day and he was already not looking forward to it.