𝙰/𝙽: 𝚒'𝚟𝚎 𝚊𝚍𝚍𝚎𝚍 '𝚕𝚊𝚜𝚝 𝚏𝚒𝚛𝚜𝚝 𝚔𝚒𝚜𝚜' 𝚋𝚢 𝚘𝚗𝚎 𝚍𝚒𝚛𝚎𝚌𝚝𝚒𝚘𝚗; 𝚊𝚝 𝚝𝚑𝚎 𝚝𝚘𝚙 𝚜𝚘 𝚢𝚘𝚞 𝚌𝚊𝚗 𝚕𝚒𝚜𝚝𝚎𝚗 𝚝𝚘 𝚒𝚝 𝚠𝚑𝚒𝚕𝚎 𝚢𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚛𝚎𝚊𝚍𝚒𝚗𝚐:)
Y/N's POV
Academic Decathlon Weekend
"So is everyone here?" Mr Harrington called out. "Wait where's the attendance sheet? Hold on." and then went back inside the bus.
"Hey, it's Peter." Abe exclaimed, everyone turned around and sure enough there was Peter running towards us.
"Guys." Peter puffed.
"Peter?" Liz questioned.
"Hey, buddy." Charles replied.
"Yeah, I was hoping maybe I could rejoin the team." Peter asked.
Flash who was standing behind me, pushed his way towards Peter.
"No, no way. You can't just quit on us, stroll up, and be welcomed back by everyone."
Mr. Harrington walked out from the bus, "Found it." He paused and looked at Peter. "Hey, welcome back, Peter. Flash, you're back to first alternate."
"What?" Flash rasped.
"He's taking your place." Abe chuckled.
"Ugh."
"Excuse me, can we go already? 'Cause I was hoping to get in some light protesting in front of one of the embassies before dinner, so..." Michelle added.
"Protesting is patriotic. Let's get on the bus." Mr Harrington gestured.
Flash shrugged off his jacket and sullenly shoved it into Peter's arms.
Peter looked a bit offended, "Nice to have you back, Peter." I said while we were on the bus.
"Thanks." He smiled.
"Let's hit the road!" Mr Harrington shouted.
After 2 hours,
"Focus up, everyone. Our next topic is Music" Liz announced.
We all had our bells ready to ring if we knew the answer.
"Which of the following geographic regions in Africa tends to prefer monophonic musical textures? a. North Africa, b. East Africa, c. South Africa, d. West Africa, e. Central Africa."
Abe rang his bell, "North Africa."
"Correct. Next question: What term is used to describe the relative density of a musical performance?"
Ned rang his bell, "Texture."
"That's right, Ned. Good job."
...
"Osei Tutu founded what major African kingdom in the 1670s?"
I rang my bell, "Asante."
"Yes that's correct. Now next topic, Mathematics. First question is what is the measure of one interior angle of a regular decagon?"
"150°" Flash replied.
"Flash is wrong." Abe said.
"Okay, guys, let's focus. Next one-"
"Liz, don't overwork them."
"Yes sir. We'll do 5 more since we're nearly there. Next topic, Economics"
"One of the earliest known theorists who discussed the principles of economics was?"
"Aristotle." Betty replied.
"Excellent, If a country has a population of 100 million and that country's GDP is $7 billion per year, what is that country's GDP per capita?"
Peter rang his bell, "Uh 70 dollars"
"Very good, Peter. Glad to have you back."
"Glad to be back." He grinned.
Peter's POV
My phone started vibrating and I checked the caller, it was Happy.
"There is only one point where the supply and demand curves—"
"Sorry Liz. Can I take this real quick? I'll only be a sec." I asked.
"Yeah, fine."
I answered my call and moved towards the back if the bus.
"Hello?"
"Got a blip on my screen here. You left New York?" He asked.
"Tracker." I mumbled so that Happy couldn't hear me.
"Uh, yeah. No, it's just a school trip. It's, uh, it's nothing." I replied.
I sat at the back behind the row that Ned was sitting at. Who was looking at the hologram.
"Look, Happy, I gotta say, you tracking me without my permission is a complete violation of my privacy."
Ned looked at me and pointed at the hologram model.
"That's different." I whispered to him and he nodded.
"What's different?" Happy questioned, suspiciously.
"Nothing. Look, it's just the Academic Decathlon. It's no big deal."
"Hey, hey. I'll decide if it's no big deal." he insisted.
What?
"Sounds like it's no big deal, but remember, I'm watching you." Happy commented.
"Yeah of course. I need to practice now. Bye." I answered and ended the call
~~~
After an hour, we arrived at the hotel we are staying at.
The hotel was huge, I looked up and the hotel floors seemed never ending.
"Everyone stick together." Liz called.
"You kidding me? This place is huge." Charles exclaimed.
"Yeah! It's so big!" Y/N agreed, smiling.
"I've seen bigger." Flash boasted.
I leaned towards Ned, "Hey, you brought your laptop, right?"
"Why?"
"I'll tell you later."
After dinner
"Where's the do not disturb sign?" I asked Ned, looking through the table drawers.
"Found it. I'll hang it up." Ned replied.
I unpack my backpack I brought and shook out all the relevant essentials we needed for the trip like wires, flashlight, the purple weapon core, toothpaste. I connected the wires that were connected to my suit so to Ned's computer can have access.
I looked at Ned's screen and it was all complication lines of coding. "Dude, how do you even read that?" I chuckled then got a tweezer to remove my tracker from my suit.
I placed suit on the bed and carefully looked for the tracker.
"Peter, why are we removing the tracker from your suit?" Ned asked.
"Uh, because I gotta follow these guys to their boss before they move again and I don't really want Mr. Stark to know about it."
"So you're lying to Iron Man now?" He exclaimed, shaking his head.
"No, I'm not lying. He just doesn't really get what I can do yet." I added.
I removed the tracker slowly "Ah... Gotcha." I placed the tracker on the bedside lamp,
"All right, Happy. Enjoy tracking this lamp."
"There's a ton of other subsystems in here..." Ned explained.
"Hmm?"
"...but they're all disabled by the Training Wheels Protocol." he smirked.
"What?" I asked as I hopped up next to Ned and looked at his screen.
"Training Wheels Protocol?" I questioned, Ned chuckled.
"Turn it off." I said
Ned shook his head, "I don't think that's a good idea. I mean, they're probably blocked for a reason."
"Come on, man. I don't need training wheels." I protested. "I'm sick of him treating me like a kid all the time. It's not cool."
"But you are a kid." Ned reasoned.
"Yeah, a kid who can stop a bus with his bare hands." I added.
"Peter, I just don't think this is a great idea. I mean, what if this is illegal?" he commented.
I kneel beside him, "Look, please. This is my chance to prove myself. I can handle it. Ned, come on."
"I really don't think this is a good idea..."
"The guy in the chair..." I whispered.
"Don't do that."
"Come on. Please." I begged.
He sighed and typed something in his computer and seconds later, a blue flash of light briefly pulsed through the suit.
"Thanks. Alright, I'm head on out." I replied while putting on my suit and zipping it up underneath my hoodie. I carefully open the door and peek outside, the corridors were quiet and empty.
"Okay good." I looked at Ned, "Yeah, the glowy thing, it's evidence. Keep it safe."
Ned picked up the glowing core, "Yep I will."
I peeked at the hologram and the red arrow was moving, "They're moving."
"Be careful." Ned worried.
I nodded and slowly walked down the hall but Liz suddenly approached me.
My eyes grew big, "Hey, Liz."
She whispered, "Perfect timing. We're gonna go swimming. Come on, come on, come on."
She waved and soon the other students came sneaking past me.
"What?" I whispered.
"Hey, Peter." Cindy whispered.
"Hi." Betty giggled.
Flash ran past and slapped me by the butt.
"Hey!" I whispered, offended.
I turned to Liz, "I was, uh... I was gonna go study, um, in the business center."
"Peter, you don't need to study. You're, like, the smartest guy I've ever met." Liz replied. "And besides... Um, a rebellious group activity the day before competition is good for morale."
"Hmm?" I asked
"Um, well, I read that in a TED Talk, so, I-I heard it in a TED Talk. And I read a coaching book." She smiled and nodded.
"Wow, you really... This is re-really important to you." I stated.
She nodded, "Yeah. It's our future. I'm not gonna screw it up. Besides, we raided the minibar and these candy bars were, like, eleven dollars. So get your trunks on and come on."
She threw a candy bar at me and smiled.
"Come on, Liz." Y/N whispered and faced me, "We'll see you there Peter." she smiled.
"Come on." Abe called.
"Shh, I'm coming, I'm coming." Liz replied and hurried to where the rest where.
I quickly went the other way and used my webs to go to the top floor pool, except I was on the roof watching the team swimming from the window. Liz was sitting on the edge of the pool, chatting with Y/N.
"Hey Y/N, watch this!" Flash yelled and he did a bomb into the water which splashed everywhere.
"Ugh, thanks for that Flash!" Y/N chuckled and splashed him with water.
I sighed and stepping back from the window while he tightening the straps on my backpack. I put my mask when suddenly a woman's voice called, "Good evening, Peter."
I was startled, "Hello? Hello?"
The voice replied, "Congratulations on completing the rigorous Training Wheels Protocol and gaining access to your suit's full capabilities."
"Ah, thank you." I answered.
"So where would you like to take me tonight?"
" So, I-I put a tracker on someone. He's a bad guy." I stuttered.
"Tracker located." she answered.
The voice showed me a blueprint of the path that leads to the weapon sellers.
"Plotting course to intercept target." She added.
"Okay, well, as long as I make it back in time for Decathlon, it's fine." I replied while swinging from my web and jumped onto a nearby truck.