"You will never have this day again so make it count."
"Woah, I didn't mean right now!" Ned insisted as Peter moved to launch out the window. "But Ned, I have so much work to do before I'm ready to beat the Avengers! I have to steal and arc reactor and find a way to adapt it to my web shooters and..."
"Peter, its a school day tomorrow!" Ned cut in and Peter stared at him blankly. "I took notes for you yesterday but..."
"Ned. I have to save all of New York from the bloody evil Avengers!!! School day? Seriously?"
"You think the Avengers would want you to neglect your studies?"
"Let's see, get homework and save the world, or go to school and do nothing and let the city go to sparks. Yeah, I think the choice is obvious."
"Listen, that sounded a lot better in my head." Ned admitted and Peter rolled his eyes good naturedly. "But its not just school, you need to sleep Pete! And when was the last time you ate? You're injured and I know you have a healing factor but nothing can heal if you're depriving yourself of nutrients!"
"Right, ok, calm down!" Peter raised his hands in surrender to silence his friends over-dramatic rant. "I will wait until tomorrow to defeat the Avengers." He relented, his shoulders sagging as he too became aware of his own exhaustion.
"After school!" Ned called after him as he swung out the window. Ned leaned against the wall in disbelief. "Ugh. Parenting is hard."
oOo
Peter barely slept, but he did manage a solid four hours and some sporadic half-asleep minutes, so he decided it would have to be good enough for Ned. After six calls from said guy in the chair, Peter finally agreed to come to school after grabbing the arc reactor on his way.
Aunt May was overjoyed in the morning and he decided to change into his suit in an alleyway later and not ruin her mood.
"You're going to make it to school today?" May asked warily, even though he had only missed one day. "Yup." Peter said around bites of toat. That wasn't a lie; he was determined to make it to school. Eventually.
"And you got to sleep last night? I'm proud of you Pete." May chirped, kissing him on the head. "Would you be proud if I defeated the Avengers?" Peter asked softly, hopefully, knowing the inevitable answer anyways. "What?" She blinked in surprise, not really comprehending the weight of the question. Peter shook his head sadly. "Nevermind." He muttered, ducking out the door.
He knew May was proud of him, he did. But he also knew she would never approve of his 'extra-cirricular' activities.
oOo
Spiderman swung through the streets of New York, heading toward the compound. When he defeated the Vulture he saw a whole box full of arc reactors, so he knew Mr. Stark had a large stash somewhere. He also knew that they were very powerful and probably kept very safe. If only he could find Happy or someone...
Holy spades! Peter nearly fell from his web, just realizing something. What happened to Happy? He hadn't heard word from the man since the incident. Peter landed on a roof and quickly whipped out his phone, dialing Happy.
Happy had learned that missing a spontaneous call from a reckless teenager was never a good idea, and he answered after three rings to Peter Parker panting worriedly.
"Yeah, kid? What did you do this time?" Happy sighed, putting his coconut drink to the side. "It's my week off just so you know so you should really by calling Mr. Stark if you have..."
"Your week off? So you're ok?" Peter asked hurriedly, relief letting him let out a breath. He had grown quite fond of Happy - and vice versa though Happy himself would never admit it - and was glad he was ok.
"Yeah, I'm fine, why? What happened?" Happy decided his vacation in Hawaii was about to be ruined, but it was even more surprising when the kid quickly wrapped it up. "No, no, everything's fine, don't come back! Stay... wherever you are. Safe. There. Not that it isn't safe here because it totally is and you have nothing to worry about. So, uh, yeah, thanks bye have fun!" The kid sputtered hysterically, setting Happy on edge.
"Kid, don't hang up! What is...!" But the telltale beep already rung in driver's ear and he slammed his phone on the beach chair. "Dang it, that kid." He blew out a long frustrated breath. Please let nothing be wrong.
Peter put his phone down and let out a long breath, before noticing the time. It was almost 8, meaning he had only half an hour left. He was so going to be late, and Ned was going to kill him. Peter jumped off the rooftop heading back toward the compound.
To Peter's delight, there was a conveniently broken window around the back which he guessed one of the Avengers used to get in last time. As Peter rolled into the compound, he thought of something that could prove to be very bad. What if one of the Avengers, or all of them, were there? Oh, that would so ruin my day.
Trying to be quiet, Peter did his best to navigate the large building. If I were a lab... where would I be. He thought to himself lacklusteredly. Finally, he found double doors with translucent glass that helpfully read 'lab' in big white letters.
"Yay!" He whispered. "You have reached the lab on floor one." Karen announced through his earpiece and Peter jumped, almost forgetting her constant prescence in the chaos. "Woah, long time no talk, Karen." Peter whispered happily, still giddy over his dscovery. "I thought I would let you focus in the last battle, where you seemed... tested by the Avengers."
"That was not a test." Pete insisted, turning back to the object of getting the doors open. "So, how do I get in there?" Peter asked Karen, and she made a processing humming sound for a minute. "You could try the key code."
"I don't have the key code." Peter blew out a breath as frustration set in again. "And I have to hurry and get the reactor core if I want to make it to school on time. Or at all."
"An arc reactor core? You will not find those in Lab 1. Lab 1 is far to suspicious."
"What?"
"May I suggest the storage room?" The AI said sweetly and Peter groaned. "There's a storage room?" Suddenly a map was pulled up in his vision. "6 floors underground." Karen informed him.
"I am so not going to make it to school on time." He relented, heading towards the underground bunker and opting to take the stairs.
Peter found the bunker sealed by the same type of door as the storage facility he was locked in a month ago. "Hey Karen, think we can bypass this one as well?" He asked his AI as he crawled the wall to the control pannel. "I doubt the combinations will be the same." Karen observed, much to Peter's dismay. "I was hoping you wouldn't say that." He sighed, pulling his calculator out of his backpack.
oOo
After many, many tries, and over an hour, Peter finally got the combination. "Ned's going to kill me!" He sang as he swung into the cavernous room. "Karen, do you know where the arc reactor cores are kept?" Peter asked, pulling open a heavy drawer. "I'm afraid I'm not programmed with that information." Karen said apologetically.
"That's ok, I'll find them." Peter sighed, running to another bin. He only had to check 5 more glowing bins before finding them, and pumping his fist in the air. Grabbing a core he stuffed it in his backpack and closed the drawer. He then rushed out of the room...
To have sirens go off in an endless cacophany.
"Agh, what is that?!" Peter yelled over the painful noise, using all his willpower not to curl up in the fetal position and coddle his senstive senses. "Apparently you stole something." Karen announced and Peter shook his head. "Oh, yeah. I guess Mr. Stark would put in some security measures to prevent that."
"I suggest you get out." Karen told him and Peter bolted for the staircase. The first window his found he crashed through, escaping into the country air and free falling several stories. A solitary tree provided his safety and he swung up into its branches. "Karen, remind me to bring water and plant food for this tree next time I come." Peter panted, hugging the trunk of the sturdy oak.
Finally, readjusting his backpack, Peter swung to school. He stopped in the hallway to change before running in the doors. He stopped at the office with a sigh because, as expected, he was late.
That chapter was loooooooong, right? I just wanted to fit it all in one chapter and get it over with so I could get a build up on the drama that is planned for next chapter.
*cue evil laughter*
~Meow