Welp, here is the next chapter true believers. Remember, I don't own the characters of this story, that belongs to Marvel, and by extension, Disney. Read on.
Mt. Justice
The team was walking back into the cave through the boom tube after completing a mission. "Alright everybody, hit the showers, go home and get some sleep." Peter told everyone, taking off his mask. "And remember, we don't have any missions tomorrow, take some down time and do whatever you want."
"Head home? I am home." Connor joked, as he and the team walked to the showers.
"Ha ha, you're hilarious." Peter mocked, rolling his eyes before the settled on the resident Atlantian of the team. "Hey Kaldur, stick around for a second will ya?"
"Is there something you would like to talk about Peter?" Kaldur asked, wondering why he had been kept behind.
Peter nodded in response to Kaldur's question. "Yeah. Don't worry though, you're not in trouble or anything." He said, "I was just wondering if you were okay, you didn't seem like your head was in the game out there."
Kaldur sighed before answering, "You are correct, as of late, I have been wondering if I truly belong on the surface world." He confided in his leader. "For years it has filled my every thought, but now, my thoughts are all of Atlantis."
Peter nodded, smiling as he recognized the look in Kaldur's eyes. "Atlantis? Or someone you left behind?" He asked his friend, and chuckled as he watched Kaldur's eyes widen in surprise. "Come on lets go have a seat." He said gesturing to the living area in the cave.
"How did you know?" Kaldur asked Peter, as they sat down.
"Because, I've had the same look in my eyes that you do a few times." He told Kaldur. "So what's her name? Or his, I don't judge."
"Her name is Tula." Kaldur said, smiling at the thought of her, "We have known each other for many years, and I have been in love with her for nearly all of that time."
"Well then, get some rest for tonight, and go home to Atlantis tomorrow." Peter told Kaldur. "It'll do you some good to go home. And take my advice... tell her."
"But what if she does not feel the same way?" Kaldur asked, concern laced in his voice.
"That is a possibility, but trust me, either way you'll feel better afterwards." Peter explained.
"Thank you Peter. For talking to me. I will try and do as you say, and confess to Tula." Kaldur said. "And... if I may ask, who is it that you are in love with?"
Peter's eyes widened a little, and he smiled sadly. "Her name was Mary Jane, and she was the love of my life before she was taken from me." He told Kaldur. "She still is really, I don't think I'll ever stop loving her."
"I am sorry for asking, I did not mean to open a wound." Kaldur apologized, bowing his head in respect. "Please forgive my transgression."
"It's okay, you didn't and had no way of knowing what happened." Peter reassured Kaldur.
"Thank you for your forgiveness Peter." Kaldur said.
"No problem Kaldur." Peter said, standing up. "Now go and get some sleep."
Walking away, Peter thought of another question, "One last thing. This Tula, she a redhead?"
Kaldur openly gaped. "How could you possibly have guessed that?"
Peter laughed loudly as he walked away, "In my experience, a redhead is the only type of woman that can distract a guy this much."
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Peter and Kaldur were standing by the boom tube as it was opening to Atlantis. "Good luck Kaldur, and have a good time at home." Peter told Kaldur, sticking his had out for a handshake.
"Thank you Peter, you have a good day as well." Kaldur replied, gripping Peter's forearm in the Atlaintain version of a handshake, it was also a sign of respect, friendship and brotherhood. With that Kaldur walked through boom tube.
Peter looked at the boom tube for a second as it shut down before turning away and heading to kitchen for something to eat. Only to turn back as it turned on again. "Recognized, Batman, 02." The automated voice announced the arrival of the caped crusader.
Peter raised an eyebrow at Batman's arrival. "What's up Spooky?" the off-duty superhero asked. "I thought today was our day off."
"It is." Batman replied cooly, not even batting an eye at Peter's nickname for him. "But I would like you to come with me. I finally have your new documentation ready."
"Alright, thanks Bats, but uh... two things. Where are we going, and why has it taken this long?" Peter wondered, "You told me months ago that it would take a week and a half".
"Well first, we're going to the cave, then to New York where I've taken the liberty of getting you an apartment."
Peter's eyes widened, "Wait, actually? That's... that's, thank you."
"It's not an issue, and second, a week and a half is around the total time it took, I'm just a busy man Mr. Parker. Now go get anything you want to bring with you."
"Alright, I'll be back in a few minutes." Peter said, running off before turning back. "Is it alright if I bring M'gann with me? I mean she does already know you you are and stuff, plus I think it would be good for her to get out of the cave as well."
"It'll be fine." Batman said.
"Thanks Spooky!" Peter yelled, running to get his things and his friend.
Peter found M'gann in the kitchen, Connor was there too, but he was covered in what appeared to be baking ingredients. "Uh... what?" Peter inquired at the odd sight before him.
"Oh Peter!" M'gann exclaimed, before beginning to explain herself, "I was just making some cookies, and was levitating all the ingredients out of the fridge, and well... they ended up on Connor".
"Okay", Peter said slowly. "Anyway, I'm going out today, Batman finally finished my paper work and got me a place in New York, and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to check it out?"
"Peter, that's wonderful!" M'gann said, happy for her friend, "I'd love to come with you."
Peter looked over at Connor. "Do you wanna come to?" He asked, "It would probably be good for you to get out of this cave for a while."
Connor just looked at Peter blankly. "No", he stated, leaving the room, and presumably, hopefully the showers.
"Perhaps I should stay and make sure Connor is okay." M'gann said, sadly watching him leave.
"You can, but I don't think you need to." Peter said, "Connor is the kind of guy who likes be by himself for awhile, besides, even if you did stay, I don't think you'd see a lot of him anyway."
"Yeah, okay." M'gann agreed. "So when are we leaving?" She asked.
"Soon," Peter told her, "You can go wait by the boom tube with Batman, I have to go and pack my stuff, shouldn't take me long."
"Do you want some help?" M'gann asked, "It shouldn't take me more than a few seconds to move everything into a suitcase."
Peter thought about it, and realized it was probably a good idea. "Alright, yeah that sounds better." He said, "But let's get going, we don't want to keep Bats waiting."
M'gann agreed, and the two of them rushed off to pack Peter's stuff.
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About five minutes later the two teens were ready to go. M'gann had telekinetically moved all of Peter's clothes into his suitcase, and Peter moved all the books he had into the suitcase. He also grabbed his extra pair of shoes and put them into his backpack.
Batman started up the boom tube as the two teens approached him. "I assume that you're ready?" the caped crusader asked them.
"Yes sir." Peter said, saluting him with the wrong hand.
Batman nodded and gestured for them to go ahead. Peter and M'gann walked through the tube followed by Batman. With a brief tingling sensation, the three of them came out in an alleyway in Gotham City, the same one they came out of the last time the teens had visited the city, and there before them was the Bat-mobile.
Batman tapped a few buttons on his gauntlet and the top of the car opened up, and hopped up into the drivers seat. He looked over at his two guests, "Are you getting in or not?" He asked.
Peter nodded, getting into back and letting M'gann sit in the front. Once they were both in and had their seatbelts on, the top closed and the car actually began to descend into the ground.
Looking through the top, Peter and M'gann noticed that a piece of pavement slid over to cover up the hole. Noticing their confusion, Batman turned to them and smirked, "What? You think I drive this around in broad daylight?"
"I was wondering". Peter admitted, "But how did you manage to build this?" He asked.
"I didn't build it, I just repurposed some of the city's old subway tunnels". Batman explained, starting the engine and beginning to speed his way down the tracks.
"Smart" Peter commented.
After about ten minutes the Bat-mobile arrived at a dead end, Batman pressed a button on the dash board and the wall opened to more tunnel that was slanting downwards and was curving to the right.
Once they made it through that area, it opened up into the infamous Batcave. As they got out of the vehicle an elderly man in a crisp black suit was waiting for them. He greeted them with an English accent, "Greetings Master Parker, Miss M'orzz. I am Alfred Pennyworth, butler to the Wayne family and caretaker of Wayne Manor", Alfred introduced himself.
"It's nice to meet you." M'gann and Peter chorused.
"And you", Alfred responded, "Now if you'll excuse me, I have my duties to attend to." The butler told them before leaving.
"You two wait here." Batman said, "I have some things to do before we leave." The Dark Knight told them, leaving as well.
While they were waiting, the two teens walked over to what looked like a trophy area of the cave. "Where would someone get or make a penny this big?" Peter questioned, looking at an absolutely massive penny.
"I'm not sure."M'gann told Peter, she then asked her friend a question. "Peter, I haven't gotten the chance to ask you, but did you ever get to ask Mr. Nelson or Dr. Fate about your home?"
Peter sighed, "No, I didn't. Everything happened really fast, and before I knew it, both Nelson and Fate were gone."
"I'm sorry Peter, I know it meant a lot to you to find something out about your home world." M'gann comforted Peter, laying a hand on his shoulder.
"Thanks Bubbles, that means a lot." He smiled at the Martian, putting his hand on hers.
Before their moment could continue Batman, now dressed as Bruce Wayne, came up to them. "Everything is ready to go, if the both of you could come with me, we're going to New York now." He told the two teens.
"Sweet", Peter said before asking Bruce a question, "Could you tell us the story of that giant penny?"
'Bruce' actually chuckled (it creeped Peter out a little), "Sure, but it's kind of a long one, I'll tell you in limo, we're driving to the city."
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New York City
"Are we there yet?" Peter asked for what felt like the millionth time.
Bruce sighed, "Just a few more blocks Peter, and before you say anything else, I have something to tell you." Pointing down an alleyway, Bruce continued, "Down that alley is the phone booth that functions as a boom tube. Think you can remember that?"
"No problem, I know this city like the back of hand." Peter bragged, looking down at his hand. "Hmm, thats new."
"Reassuring." Bruce said, "Anyway here we are." He announced as they pulled up to tall apartment building in downtown Manhattan.
Peter whistled as they got out of the limo, "Schmancy."
Peter repeated the word as doorman opened the front door off the building for them, and M'gann thanked the man, to which he replied with a tip of his hat.
Once in the elevator, Bruce took out his wallet and pulled out two key cards from it, one of which he handed to Peter. "This is the key card for the elevator," Bruce explained inserting it into a slot, which caused a panel next to the slot to open, "And this is a fingerprint scanner, so only you have access to your apartment."
"I've taken the liberty of already adding you print to it, so go ahead and scan it." Bruce told Peter, and the currently teenage hero did just that. Once it was confirmed by the sound of a beep and a green light, the elevator began it's ascent. "You can also add others to it using a system in the office of your apartment."
"So what floor is Peter living on Mr. Wayne?" M'gann asked the billionaire.
"The top". Was all he said, as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened... into the actual apartment itself, although penthouse would be a more accurate description.
Peter's jaw dropped in disbelief and he looked around in the two floor penthouse that was now his place, and he vaguely heard M'gann say wow.
"I... I... I, thank you Bruce." Peter stammered out, still looking around.
"It really isn't a problem Peter." Bruce responded, "And just so you know, the kitchen is currently fully stocked and I left a debit card in there as well under you name, but linked to my account of course. The PIN number is 6284."
Well Peter was trying to form words, Bruce continued talking. "Now you can explore the apartment later, but there is one more thing I need to show before I leave." He said, walking to the back of the room and placing his hand on the wall.
"Handprint accepted." A robotic voice said, before a blue light came out and scanned Bruce up and down, "Skeletal structure: match, vitals: match. Welcome Batman."The voice continued.
The wall opened revealing another elevator, to which Bruce got in. "Are you coming?" He asked the teens. Once Peter and M'gann were in, the wall closed and the elevator began moving down, much faster then the previous one moved.
"Because I own this building, I had this built under the guise of pipe work going on in the building." Bruce explained.
When the elevator opened again into another very larger room, it revealed what looked like an old subway turntable station with eight different tunnels going off in different directions. It had a giant platform in the middle with a large computer set up on it. Along one if the walls it had glass cases with mannequins inside of them, one of them had Peter's Spider-Man costume on it. Looking up Peter saw that there was a mess of pipes going in all different directions, and that it bared resemblance to a giant web.
"The computer is hooked up to the Watchtower computer system as well as my own." Bruce told Peter and M'gann, "I had an extra suit made for you and included some display cases should you make more or get your own sidekick." He joked, "Lastly, two of these tunnels connect to the subway lines, one connects to the sewer system, another connects to a warehouse on the other side of the city, and the other four are dead ends, but good for storage."
Noticing their confusion, Bruce explained, "I have a cave in every major city on the planet. And for now, Peter, this one belongs to you."
"Bruce, thank you, but why are you doing all this for me?" Peter asked.
"Because you remind me of myself, a better version of myself, someone I could have been." Bruce explained.
Peter nodded, getting what his fellow vigilante was saying. "Thank you Bruce."
Bruce nodded as well, "You're welcome Peter. Now if the two of you would excuse me, I have places to be." He said, leaving the two alone once more.
"Peter, this is amazing!" M'gann exclaimed looking around the cave. "What are you going to call it?"
After a few moments Peter decided what he was going to call his hideout, "I think I'm going to call it... The Parlour."
"Why the Parlour?" M'gann asked.
"It's from an old poem called 'The Spider and the Fly', long story short the spider invites the fly into its parlour, the fly listens and becomes lunch." Peter explained.
"That's... uh... nice?" M'gann responded.
"Thanks!" Peter said smiling, "I think so too".
"So should we go explore my new home?" Peter continued.
"Yes, I think that's a good idea." M'gann agreed.
After the elevator ride back up to the penthouse, the two teen began to explore Peter's new place, and as they always did, they started with the kitchen.
Like Bruce had told them, the kitchen (and it was a beautiful kitchen) was fully stocked. After looking in the cupboards and fridge to see what food Peter had, the two left to explore the rest of the penthouse with Peter's new debit card and a package of Oreo cookies.
They found that that the penthouse had an amazing tv and sound system, 2 bathrooms, 5 bedrooms and a balcony with a spectacular view of Central Park.
"This place really is amazing Peter." M'gann told her best friend.
"It really is." Peter agreed, "I can't believe Spooky just gave me this. I never thought I would be living in a place like this." He confessed.
"Why's that?" The martian asked.
"Well, my family has never had a lot of money." Peter explained, "So living somewhere like this was always just a dream to me."
"So I guess that makes this place a dream come true then." M'gann joked, bumping Peter's shoulder wither her own.
Peter laughed, "Yeah, I suppose it is."
Changing the subject, Peter asked M'gann a question, "So, do you wanna see the city?"
M'gann nodded rapidly, "I'd love too!"
"Then get to shape shifting Bubbles." Peter says, opening his buttoned shirt to reveal his suit.
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The Streets of New York...
Spider-Man and Miss Martian we're moving rapidly through the streets of Manhattan above the traffic. "Alright M M, anything you want to see first?" He asked.
"I would love to see Times Square." Miss Martian answered. "I've heard it's quite a sight."
"Well that is true." Spider-Man admitted, "Just be glad we won't be on ground level, because that place is always so very, very crowded."
"Is it really that bad?" the redhead asked.
"Oh yeah." The web-slinger said, " The place is a total tourist trap."
"Anyway, we're actually pretty close." Spider-Man told his friend, "Follow me."
After a few more minutes of web-slinging (and flying) the duo arrived at Times Square. Miss Martian looked around in wonder at all the electronic billboards, different colours and sounds that was Times Square.
"We never had anything like this on Mars." She explained, still looking enamoured with the sights around her.
Spider-Man just smiled until he looked down and saw a man running through the pedestrians after snatching a purse. "Come on double M, duty calls!" He shouted, jumping of the side of the building he was clinging too.
Quickly catching up to the man, Spidey fired off a web-line hitting the purse snatcher on the leg and making him face plant. Spider-Man then, with the web-line attached to the mugger still in hand, flipped over a lamppost and pulled the web so that the man was hanging upside down.
Miss Martian picked up the purse and handed it to the woman who came up to the two heroes for it. The woman proceeded to thank the two of them profusely making the martian smile and Spider-Man a little confused (not used to praise from civilians).
"Just doing our duty!" Miss Martian said brightly.
Hearing sirens in the distance, Spider-Man spoke up. "Come on Miss Martian, the police are on their way, lets get going." Before they left though, Spider-Man left something attached to the mugger. When the police pick him up, they would find a card saying 'Courtesy of your Friendly Neighborhood Spider-Man'.
A/N There it is. I hope you enjoyed readers. I know it's been a while, but school was keeping me down, and now I have a job that keeps working outside all day, so I'm pretty tired when I get home. The next chapter will be out... eventually. Remember to brush your teeth.