Chapter Nineteen
Peter's POV
"Welcome back, kid! We were just talking about you," Tony greeted me as I made my way back into the main room.
I breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be back here where the spotlight wasn't just on me. Well, maybe it was for now, but soon people would move on.
"Uh, that's a lie, we were actually just talking about me." I noticed another new face, sitting on the couch. He was wearing a brilliantly purple jumper and twirling a - was that an arrow? - in his right hand. Tony rolled his eyes slightly at the comment. "Clint Barton. Hawkeye." He held out his hand and I slowly approached him. When I finally went to shake it, he said "Too slow" and instead gave me a high five.
"Uh, Peter Parker. Spider-Man," I said in the same fashion that he had introduced himself.
"Hawk, are you all set up?" Mr. Stark asked.
The new man nodded. "Well, yes. But first I need coffee. Anyone else want any? Pete?"
Tony interjected. "No, he's fine. We're a bad enough influence already. Besides, Peter, I have something I want to show you."
I frowned slightly. I was almost fifteen*, I was perfectly capable of drinking a cup of coffee. As odd as it seemed to say it, Mr. Stark was almost more protective of me than May, though each of them knew only one half of my true identity.
-
There was a knock on the door of my room, and I heard Tony ask, "How does it fit? Can I come in?"
"Yeah, come in!" I shouted from where I stood in front of the mirror, examining my reflection.
I could practically smell the dollar bills on my skin ((he sounds like a hooker oops)), could practically feel the weight of however many of May's pay stubs would've been needed to pay for this, but all that I saw was the form fitting red and blue suit.
It was a complete upgrade from the mismatched sweat suit I had been parading around in before. Scratch that - this was on a whole other level. I held my arms out, admiring the sleek design.
"Mr. Stark... wow. This is amazing, I can't- wow," I breathed, as Tony stood behind me and placed his hands on my shoulders. For once, I didn't flinch at his touch.
In fact, I was too in love with the suit to notice how it revealed all of the miscalculated waves in my figure. Because in that moment, as I pulled the mask down over my face, I wasn't Peter Parker. I was Spider-Man.
"How does it feel?" Tony asked, having to step to the side slightly as his height matched mine so closely that he couldn't easily peer over my head from behind.
"It feels like... like I could be a real hero for once."
He laughed at that. "From what I've seen, kid, you're already a real hero." He squeezed my shoulders and then let go, beginning to walk towards the door. "C'mon, let's give that baby a test run."
As I followed close behind, I was grateful to have the mask covering the grin that broke out on my face.
-
"Welcome to Clint Barton's fun-filled superhero showcase extravaganza, where we push your limits, to... to see what your limits are. Sorry, I'm still working on that title."
Everyone was gathered in this large warehouse-type room, and not only that, but we were all in costume. Tony had warned me earlier that the others wanted to test out my abilities, and my performance anxiety was starting to act up. Normally, I was 100% comfortable as Spider-Man, because even if I messed up, it wasn't Peter Parker. It was the super-guy in the red and blue suit. But here, everyone knew me by name. And these were no ordinary Joe's.
"We can skip past the intro if you want, Barton. Seeing as, y'know, this part isn't really necessary at all," Steve lectured, crossing his arms as he usually did when he was criticizing someone.
Clint waved his arms dramatically, dismissing the statement. "You're ruining all the fun! I'm just a bit rusty, since we don't usually get new super-kids up in here. Maybe it's just me, but I thought that was Charles Xavier's gig. But as always, the show must go on."
"What show?" I muttered quietly to Tony, who was standing next to me.
He laughed in response.
"Is something funny?" Clint barked playfully. His ego had clearly been boosted by the fact that he was now taller than us all, which was a product of his six foot mass being elevated by a couple of dictionaries.
"Sorry, did I accidentally make you super-hearing aids instead of just the regular this time?" Tony remarked, smirking.
Hawkeye rolled his eyes as he continued his spiel. "Today we will be evaluating Peter Parker, who claims to have been bitten by a radioactive spider that gave him superhuman abilities. Mr. Parker, please step forward."
I looked nervously at Tony, who's only condolences were, "He was raised as a show pony, and he's grumpy cos Kate isn't returning his calls. Don't ask."
I gulped as I shuffled toward Clint.
"First up, let's see how you fair with hand-to-hand combat. Natasha?"
I sensed the famous assassin sneaking up on me before I even saw her, and before I knew it I was launching myself onto the ceiling, staring wide-eyed down at the woman in the leather costume.
"Wait a second, you want me to fight Black Widow? Are you crazy?!" I shrieked, though part of me was giddy with childlike glee.
"Well, yes, that was the idea. But now you're on the ceiling," Clint spoke, staring back at me.
"I got this," Natasha said, as she shared a glance with Steve. Before I knew it, he was holding up his shield and she was leaping onto it, torpedoing into the air straight towards me. I let out a yelp as I dropped from my spot, releasing another web and swinging upwards again. Unfortunately, Natasha had latched onto my leg, and gravity dragged us both onto the ground. I slammed down on top of her.
"Sorry! I don't want to hurt you!" I apologized quickly, not at all used to fighting good guys. She only smirked as she took the opportunity to latch her arms around my waist, flipping us over so that she was straddling me.
With my legs free, I created momentum enough to do a back flip off of the ground, which she clearly wasn't expecting. In a swift movement, I webbed her to the ground at her torso.
My spider-sense alerted me of danger behind me, and sure enough, as soon as I turned around I was dodging arrows coming from up above.
"What the heck, man!" I shouted up at Clint. I managed to catch hold of one as it was flying past, an inch from my head. "Hey, these are just Nerf arrows. That's not very superhero of you!"
Clint laughed, climbing over the edge of the loft and dropping down to the ground as he began walking towards me.
I braced myself, taking a defense stance. "Woah there, are we done? Or are we still fighting? Cos I- I won't hesitate to take you down, you know that?" I said, half fibbing.
He laughed. "Just about. I almost forgot one thing!"
"Oh yeah? What's that?"
"Truck!" he called out nonchalantly as he pressed a button on a remote.
"Wha-" I started, before looking up to see nothing other than a large semi falling through the ceiling. You've got to be kidding me.
I took a deep breath and managed to catch it roughly, holding it up in two hands as I steadied myself.
"Really, Barton? A truck? You could've squashed the poor kid!" Tony said, but I could hear the laughter he was fighting down.
The others looked on with awe.
"You're no joke, kid," Steve applauded.
"Thanks," I grunted. "What, uh, what should I do with this?" I asked aimlessly, glancing up at the weight bearing down on me.
"Uh, just set it down over there. I'll take care of that later. Clint didn't exactly tell me he was planning on dropping a !truck! on you. Besides, Clint, how did you even know he would be able to lift that?" Tony muttered
Clint only laughed nervously as he rubbed the back of his neck, earning a glare from Tony. As I was told, I carefully placed the truck down behind me. I yanked the mask off of my head and ran a hand through my hair, adrenaline racing through my veins.
Across the floor, Natasha was still squirming on the ground. "Hey guys? A little help here?"
A/N:
(Fight scene partially inspired by Sky High and Civil War, since action is not my gig.)
*Okay so to clarify the timeline, Peter is turning 15 sometime in the summer. (I can't find his canon birthday anywhere so in this fic its sometime in July/August.) So he came out to May when he was around 12/13, and started testosterone on his 14th birthday. (Yes, that's possible, I have a friend in Florida who started at 14 (with parents consent and hella therapist letters.))
Alright now take this bonus scene that didn't make the cut for this chapter, but its kinda cute:
Peter: "So that's it? Did I pass all of your crazy tests or whatever?"
Tony: "God I hope so. Clint?"
Clint, smirking: "Well I did have one idea. Eating contest?"
Peter: "Yes! I'm good at that one!"
Tony: "I wouldn't be so sure about that. Clint can /eat/."
Steve: "Whatever you do, Wanda isn't allowed to compete. Last time she used her powers to trick herself into not feeling full, and she blacked out."
Wanda: "Yeah, but only after I won!"
Tony: "You know, this one time I watched the Hulk eat an entire deer."
Bruce, covering his ears: "Oh my god, shut up, shut up, that's so gross Tony please stop."