Meeting Flash for the third time had more of an emphasis to it. Maybe it was the saying third time's a charm, but Peter was leaning more towards the fact that something had really happened. Something serious. It didn't just involve random city goers either, he cared about his friends in the school. The fact that they were scared made him ever the more ready to get this over with.
He could hear shuffling on the second floor of the school, and after saying goodbye to Tony, that's where he headed.
"Activate soundproofing?" Karen asked him, startling him a bit. Peter quickly nodded, adding a quiet yes, and he continued on his way towards the boys.
Peter picked up speed when the voices of the boys got louder. He found himself by the second floor boys' bathroom, and he peered inside cautiously. He was surprised that Tony could come up with an entire soundproofing suit ability overnight.
Peter walked into the bathroom, careful to not be seen by any of the boys. Flash seemed to be going through a run through of their plan despite it already being well into action.
Peter spotted Kyle in his blue morph suit costume-like suit which matched Flash's. Peter shot out a web and pulled him towards the other side of the bathroom, tying him up and sticking his hand to his body.
All eyes were on Peter, and the boys sneered at him. "How the hell did you even get up here without being heard?" Flash pointedly looked at Sean while asking the superhero in front of him.
Peter shrugged, looking behind him to Kyle before back to Flash and the other boys. "Guess you guys aren't as good as you thought."
Sean pushed ahead to be in front of Flash, fuming while the others stayed far back from the superhero. "That's not true! I can hear Kyle's breathing from here! You're just doing something with your fancy suit, but you can't fight fairly."
Peter scoffed, shaking his head. "I can fight fairly," he informed them. "Karen, turn off the soundproofing ability please."
Peter's lips curved into a smile as the boys were shocked into silence. He demonstrated the soundproofing legitimacy by tapping his hands along the tile wall and jumping a few times. He bowed as if he had just performed a show stopping performance then pointed to Kyle on the ground.
"Just so you know, your friend over there is draining all of his energy by himself. No Spider-Man tricks or anything like that. On a totally unrelated note, were you guys aware of the fact that a healing type of ability requires a lot of energy from the person's body? So, you can only imagine how it's affecting him with no energy to gain back."
Flash sneered at Peter who crossed his arms with a smile. The others boys looked a mixture of concern and shock, and Peter could tell they were resisting the urge to check up on Kyle.
"Are spiders able to see in the dark?" Quinn questioned with a smirk. With that, he flicked the lights off in the bathroom, the boys running from Peter in all different directions.
It didn't help Peter that the busted light bulbs caused the hallway to be very dark. The clouds that were overcast in the sky aided Flash's plan to make the school as dark as possible.
Tony and Peter had already thought this mess through, though. So, when Quinn ran around the hallways, banging on lockers all around Peter as some way to intimidate him. Peter could see him perfectly.
He let Quinn continue on his joyride for a few minutes, even allowing himself to be pushed over by the boy a few times.
Getting tired of the whole ordeal, Peter swung over Quinn, watching out of the corner of his eye as the boy followed him to the bathroom.
Peter heard scuffs of shoes going up and down stairs, eyeing Flash and Sean as they ran down the staircases, making noise, then running back up the same staircase.
Quinn smiled as he had Peter stuck against a wall. "You just cornered yourself, Spidey. I thought you were smart." He shook his head, laughing at the superhero.
Peter smiled underneath his mask before widened his eyes, a flashlight like beam coming out of his mask's eyes. Quinn groaned in pain, holding his eyes against the night vision filters on his suit, and he backed away from Peter.
As Quinn was blinking hurriedly - more from the shock of intensity of the light then out of pain - Peter cornered him next to his twin. He tied Quinn up next to Kyle, attaching Kyle's hand to Quinn's chest. They would both be drained of energy in no time, and Peter left them in the bathroom.
Sean was the next boy to stop based on Tony and Peter's plan. It was then possible to sneak up on him and around him with the soundproofing technology which Peter found solace in.
Turning the soundproofing feature on, Peter snuck around the school trying to locate any of the three remaining boys in the group. Peter spotted Sean, swinging into him, throwing a metal pellet into an abandoned classroom, and pushing him into it.
Tony and Peter figured that although Sean had enhanced senses, there was nothing to be enhanced considering the odorless has of carbon monoxide. Of course, Peter didn't want to kill anyone, but he did have to make sure Sean wouldn't be able to interfere with the final part of his plan.
For a few minutes he watched the boy get increasingly tired as he laid on the floor, the gas filling up the classroom. When he started to close his eyes, Peter lifted him out of the room and even out of the school. He laid him down outside of the building near the dumpsters, firming locking the door behind him.
As Peter turned around he smacked into Ashton's chest. Peter quickly backed away, into the door that he had just shut and locked, and he saw Flash a little ways down the hallway.
"I think it's our turn to play fair," Ashton told Peter, a wicked smile on his lips.
Peter quickly shot a web towards the ceiling, swinging out of the way of Ashton's heat vision that attacked the door for a few seconds. Peter swung up to the second floor and eventually found himself heading up to the roof of the school.
As the two boys took longer to get up to the roof, Peter looked over the side of the building to see students, teachers, and staff members crowded outside near the entrance of the school. Police officers and firemen raced into the building, speaking into their radios and carrying oxygen tanks.
All Peter could think about was how horrible this could've been if he wasn't able to defend his school. It's better that they're fighting me instead of hurting innocent people, Peter thought to himself. He tried to scan the crowd for any of his friends, but he only heard a collective gasp of the crowd as he turned his head to see the two boys barreling up the staircase.
Peter hurriedly jumped around Flash, shooting out a web to throw Ashton to the other side of the roof before he could activate his power again. The three kept this routine going for a few minutes, Peter trying to avoid both Flash and Ashton, and he could tell the two were draining themselves of the only energy they had.
Peter leapt from the school to a building close to it, narrowly missing Ashton's attempts to burn him. As Peter looked behind him at the boys while he was swinging in the air, he shot webbing, aiming for Ashton's eyes so he couldn't attack anyone else.
Then, he heard a scream of pain.
The next thing he knew, he was falling through the air after crashing into the side of the apartment complex, one web shooter completely busted.
The landing could've been worse, though. He fell next to bags full of office trash, shredded up documents softening his crash down.
Watching the entire thing happen from the ground, Caden held his breath. While everyone raced every which way, trying to get to the roof to help the boys, Caden's mind was solely focused on Peter.
Caden ran towards the maze of buildings where Peter could've landed. His friends widened their eyes at him, Jackie reaching out to grab him back but the fabric of his shirt slipped through her fingers.
"What the hell are you doing?!" Jackie yelled at Caden's back. She immediately started going after him, looking behind her at her group of friends. "We have to make sure this kid doesn't get himself killed!"
The crowd was too thick - full of crying teachers and stressed out law enforcement. Jackie and the group managed to push through some of the people, but they eventually lost sight of Caden, heading towards the area where Spider-Man fell.
When he finally found Peter, Caden was out of breath, but he still raced over to Peter's side. He pulled him into the back of some storage space, away from any immediate stares.
"Peter," he whispered frantically, kneeling next to him. He repeated the boy's name a little louder, maneuvering him so his head was leaning against the wall beside the door. His heart was pounded faster than it ever had been when the two would look at each other with loving eyes; it was different because Peter was seriously hurt.
He peeled back Peter's mask so he had a good view of his face. Peter's suit was singed around some areas, none on his mask specifically but some were close to the area. Peter had smarting bruises along his face which Caden gently rubbed his thumb over, stopping when Peter scrunched his eyes tightly.
"Caden?" Peter croaked without opening his eyes, lifting his hand to touch Caden's that was stroking his cheekbone. "Are you okay?"
Caden couldn't decide whether to gasp or laugh, so he settled on a scoff that melted into a chuckle. "Am I okay?" He shook his head at Peter, his grin growing when Peter opened his eyes with an identical smile. "I'm not the one fighting people through burning buildings!"
"No burning building," Peter corrected, laughing along with Caden. "A few fires, and one gas leak that may or may not have been caused by me."
"Are you seriously okay, though?"
Still chuckling under his breath, Peter nodded, offering Caden a thumbs up. "It'll take a bit for the healing powers to kick in, but it's all good."
The laughing slowly died, and their grins faded. They looked at each other with eyes full of all different emotions. Peter removed Caden's hand from his face, entwining their fingers instead.
Peter took a deep breath, his voice shaky and uneven. "Caden, I am so sorry. About everything. I'm sorry I never told you about me being Spider-Man, and I never meant to manipulate you and Jackie and Reese in that way. I just wanted to keep you out of danger - which you're in right now, by the way. And..."
"And...?" Caden squeezed Peter's hand with a minuscule smile, and it was enough for Peter to continue on with his apology.
"And, I feel this responsibility to apologize to who is actually behind the mask. I know you've idolized Spider-Man for some time, and I thought that by the time I told you, you'd be disappointed that it wasn't someone you thought it was going to be. That it's been just Peter all along."
Caden shook his head quickly, smiling at he looked down at their tangled up fingers. "You've never been just Peter to me."
After a shared smile between the two, Caden spoke up. "I'm sorry that I was so stupid, and it was such a crazy overreaction. As much as I tried to stay mad at you, I understood what you were trying to do, protecting me and our friends and everything. After I said all those things... I didn't know how to take them back if I even could." He paused, his lips upturning into a small grin. "And, I'm not sure how I could ever be disappointed that the guy I really like also happens to be one of the kindest and most compassionate people in the city. I am concerned about you getting hurt more than anything now, but I guess that comes with the job."
"Yeah," Peter blew out a breath he hadn't even realized he was holding until then. He chuckled, scratching the side of his bruised face. "It's not all fun."
They shared a laugh, and as they looked at each other, Peter had to ask Caden about where they stood. "I know where you were coming from, Caden. Are we all forgiven now?"
"You mean, are we still kinda broken up?" he responded to Peter's question with another question, his voice soft and whispery.
Peter nodded only to furrow his brows as he watched a smile take over Caden's face.
"I can't exactly throw away my entire wardrobe over some argument," he told Peter, inching closer to him. "And, I've already forgiven you, so I guess there's your answer, Spidey."
"Please don't start with that," Peter groaned, shaking his head. The wide grin on his face told a different story, though, and he looked to Caden with blush dusted cheeks.
Peter attempted to move closer to Caden, but he was too weak, unable to move much of his body without wincing in pain. Caden quickly intervened, stopping Peter from moving by leaning in and pressing a kiss to his lips.
Peter moved his other hand from the ground to the back of Caden's neck, pulling him as close as they could get without Peter hurting himself more.
The two broke apart with wide eyes after hearing a loud gasp from behind Caden. The older boy turned to see all of his friends standing in another doorway of the storage unit, gaping at him.
"I saw Caden kissing Spider-Man!" Jackie sang, a shocked grin taking over her face.
Caden faced them with a blush creeping onto his entire face and neck, eventually looking down at his hands to avoid the stares. He felt Peter's arm on his as he heard the boy move over so their friends could get a good look at him.
If their friends were shocked that Caden was kissing a superhero, they were dumbfounded at the thought that Peter Parker was actually said superhero.
Peter laughed at their expressions. He smiled at Ned who gave him a thumbs up, and he rolled his eyes upon seeing how unimpressed MJ was to the discovery taking place in front of her.
"Surprise?"