Hello everyone again!
I just wanted to release this bonus chapter. It has been sitting in my drafts for probably more than a year now... so I figured, I might as well release it, cause why not?
Oh, and by the way, you guys are crazy amazing. I never thought my book would be read by so many people. Thank you sooo much!
I love reading all of your comments; it always makes my day, so I hope I can make yours with this surprise update :)
Hope you enjoy it!
"French fry? More like french die." Ned held up the tip of the french fry with two fingers, wiggling it around. Someone seemed to have forgotten to take the french fries out of the oven because the only thing the french fry could ever relate to was the crispiness of burnt toast. He took a small bite out of it and hummed. "Mmm. Charcoal. Yum. That's exactly how I like my french fries."
I scrunched up my nose, looking at my own portion of burned fries. "I think I'll take a pass."
MJ chuckled, stabbing some lettuce with her fork, "I hate to be the bearer of bad news but the pizza is not much better."
My pizza had some grease pooled on its cheese and pepperoni slices. I grabbed a napkin and started dabbing the grease from the top of the pizza. "School food sucks."
"Yep," MJ agreed, "That's why you go with something that is hard to mess up. Like salad." MJ frowned, reconsidering her statement. "Though, thinking back, I have found a bug before in my salad."
I pouted, giving a huff. "We really set the bar low for food at Midtown high, don't we?"
"Yeah, like floor low," Ned added, giving a disappointed sigh.
I looked down at my pizza after throwing the napkin aside. Its condition had improved as I wiped off most of the grease, so it'll do.
I moved to pick it up, but before I could, a loud sound that reminded me of thunder made me freeze in my chair, accompanied by a blast that shook the ground and caused me to lurch forward and grab onto the table.
An explosion, I identified quickly, as the blast passed over us. In school?
A quick moment of silence followed, and then the screaming, hand-in-hand with chaos, began. A quick glance around the cafeteria told me that some students fell to their fight-or-flight instincts, jumping out of their seats, ditching their belongings, and sprinting out of the room towards the exit on our left. Others ducked under their table in fright.
I turned to MJ and Ned who clambered to their feet. They waited for me to say something, knowing I would probably run towards the danger.
"Get out of here," I told them, pointing to the exit, "Ned, get online as soon as you can!"
"Got it!" Ned said, slinging his backpack on his shoulder rather than leaving it here like everyone else was doing. He needed his computer, among other tech, to connect with me.
MJ grabbed my hand before I could run towards the direction of the explosion. "Don't do anything stupid, Peter," MJ commanded, her brown eyes meeting my own.
She scanned my face for sincerity as I smiled, the side of my lips tugging up. "Stupid isn't even in my vocabulary. I'll see you later, MJ."
"You better!" She pointed a finger at me. "I swear to god if you-"
"Understood! Now get out of here!" I urged, cutting her off mid-sentence. Rolling her eyes, she gave me a nod of assurance and soon ran off with Ned beside her.
Snagging my backpack, I left my lunch uneaten and ran through the cafeteria, stopping every couple of seconds to advise students to make their way to the exit. As soon as I was in a hallway, I spotted the nearest bathroom.
I slammed the door open, pulled out the suit that Tony designed for me, threw off my clothes, and slipped it on. It took me around ten seconds. I practiced changing for times like these, so I wouldn't take too much time.
"Good morning, Peter. How are you doing?" I heard Karen's familiar voice as soon as the mask was pulled on.
I exited the bathroom, tripping over my feet in my haste, and ran down the hallway. "Hey, Karen! There was an explosion in school, so we're gonna need to check that out!"
Karen asked, "Would you like me to engage enhanced combat mode for this mission?"
My eyes widened as I remembered what happened last time. "Oh god no! Please don't!"
There was a pause. "Are you sure you do not want to activate instant kill?"
"Yes, I'm sure!" I spluttered. What was up with my A.I. and instant kill?
"Okay, if you change your mind, do not hesitate to inform me."
"That probably won't happen." I moved my attention back to tracing the source of the explosion. I couldn't follow it via sound anymore, so I was forced to run through the hallways and find where it stemmed from based on the amount of damage the walls and floors took. I could almost hear the government crying over having to use tax dollars to fix all of this damage when passing by the halls. How long would it take to fix this?
I could only be glad that the explosion happened during lunch, and hopefully, everyone was in the cafeteria.
Karen said, interrupting my thought process, "Ned is trying to connect with you. Should I let him through?"
"Yeah, please do."
"Peter! Did you find anything?" I heard Ned say as soon as I approved of the connection.
I shook my head. "Nothing yet. You see what I see?"
"Yeah, that looks terrible. Good thing everyone was at lunch."
Slowing down, I approached an area where the walls were completely blown off. Debris surrounded the classroom. Inside, it was completely demolished. I could see some bits of chairs and desks, but the rest was dust, debris from the blast that shook the room, and pipes that fell from the ceiling.
"Oh shit. You see the rubber ducky, Peter? It's in the middle of the room," Ned told me.
With a sickening feeling, I recognized a half-melted rubber ducky. Oh god. This was a science classroom. Mr. Tate's science classroom. He was our chemistry teacher, and he lined his shelves with these rubber duckies. What the hell happened here? Where is Mr. Tate?
Ned commented, thinking the same thing, "Rip Mr. Tate."
"Ned!"
"I'm kidding. I'm sure he's fine. He was probably in a conference room or something. That's where all teachers go during lunch."
I went back to studying the room. The greatest amount of damage seemed to come from the back of the class, where it had blown through the wall, making the other classroom quite visible from here. I could only feel concerned. I hoped that Mr. Tate or anybody else was not near here when whatever it was blew up.
"Hey Karen?"
"You changed your mind?" She asked quickly, almost sounding excited when referring to the instant kill mode.
"What? No! Can you scan the area and tell me if there are any people near here?" I exited the class and looked to the right and left of the hallway, spotting no one. I knew, though, that Karen could see more than I could.
"I have identified one being. They are around 40 yards away from you. Would you like me to lead you to them?" Karen told me.
I nodded. "Yes, please." I followed her directions before ending up in front of the robotics workshop. Karen said that they were in here, so I pushed the door open lightly. The door let out a loud squeak before stopping short of the wall. I didn't know what I would be encountering, so I entered the room carefully.
I blinked as I took in my surroundings. The ceiling here must have been loose because the entire thing fell down on the right side. A groan sounded through the room, and it sourced from beneath the rubble. Uh oh. Someone was hit.
Climbing over the debris, I neared the source of the groan, telling whoever it is, "Hey, I'm here to help you. Hold still."
I bent down and wrapped my hands around the ceiling panel along with some pipes and other non-recognizable pieces before I threw it off like its nothing.
The person coughed a few times, groaning as he held his awkwardly bent arm to his side. He moved his other arm to rub his eyes with his hand before blinking up dazed at me. "Spider-man?" He asked in disbelief, his eyes widening.
My eyebrows jumped in surprise. "Eugene? Uh, I mean, Flash."
"Flash?!" Ned exclaimed at the same time.
Shit. Did I just say his name out loud- twice?
Flash frowned. "You know my name?"
"Uh, what? No. What are you talking about?" I stumbled over my words, making them deeper than usual and hoping he wouldn't recognize me. Abort mission! Abort mission! Get out of here! But he was hurt, I can't just leave him. Crap crap crap crap crap. Change the subject! I advised myself. "Um, can you stand up?"
"Yeah, I think so," he replied hesitantly, giving me a weird look, "It's just my arm that's hurt. What happened?"
"I don't know yet. Come on. Let's get you out of here." I helped Flash climb to his feet. He shut his eyes in pain as his arm shifted. By his temple, I spotted a trickle of blood dripping down the side of his face. Something must have hit his head hard.
I could only hope he didn't suffer from any brain injury. Though maybe some memory loss wouldn't be the worst thing to happen, I thought guiltily as I remembered my slip up.
I told him as I helped him to the door, "Keep your arm as still as possible. Try not to move it too much."
He grunted in agreement, baring his teeth at the pain. "Now I really regret forgetting my lunch bag in the robotics room."
I shrugged. "It happens. You just got really unlucky." Wrong place, wrong time, kind of thing. If he would've been on the other side of the room, he would've been fine.
He asked, "Is there anyone else here who's injured and needs helps?"
"I don't think so," I said, and he sighed in relief.
We moved together towards the entrance of the school because Ned said that there were ambulances right in front of it. I already spotted some police officers by the entrance, at the end of the hallway, moving towards us.
That would be my cue to skedaddle.
"Hey, I have to go." He noticed the police officers the same time I did, and he let me lean him against a wall. I told him, "Stay safe."
Before I could leave, he grabbed my arm. "Wait. I- I just wanted to say thank you. For being a hero."
I smiled, even though he couldn't see my facial expression behind my mask. "Of course."
He dropped his hand, and I left back the way we came from. Around ten steps away from him, I heard him say with my enhanced hearing, "See you soon."
I froze before pushing myself to continue to walk to avoid a confrontation with the police. Did I hear Flash right? No, it can't be. He doesn't know who Spider-man really is. My hearing must be a bit messed up after that explosion, I decided. I must have heard him wrong.
Shaking my head, I continued moving through the hallway and headed to one of the side exits. I left the school building and swung away for good measure, before agreeing with Ned to meet up at his house.
Before I knew it, I was sprawled on Ned's couch, watching the news with my hand in a bag of chips. Ned and MJ were sitting next to me, glad that no one got badly hurt. There were some injuries, but no deaths, according to the news channel.
The cause of the explosion was also figured out. Apparently, some students in Mr. Tate's classroom mixed some chemicals and left them boiling on a heated pan. During lunch, it went kaboom.
What a big whoopsie. This caused thousands of dollars in damages and some traumatic experiences for the entire student body to share.
"Well, we won't be able to go to school for at least a week, if not longer," MJ commented as we watched some live images from Midtown High.
Ned grinned. "Hell yeah. Surprise vacation."
MJ rolled her eyes. "Yeah, as if they won't just move all classes online."
Ned gaped, horrified, "They wouldn't!"
"They probably would." I shrugged, agreeing with MJ though in my heart, I wanted Ned to be right.
"But I hate onl-" The door slamming open cut off Ned mid-sentence. We jolted at the sound, snapping our heads to the entrance of Ned's house.
"Peter! What did I say to do in cases of an emergency?!" I recognized Tony's voice immediately as he strode into the living room. He wore a pristine black suit that made me feel as if he had to leave an important meeting or press briefing to hunt me down. He put off his sunglasses to level me with a disgruntled look.
No one even questioned how he knew where to find me, or how he just entered the house as if it was his own.
I climbed to my feet immediately and blurted, "Uh, run and hide?"
He glanced up as if the ceiling could give him some sort of semblance of help before looking back at me. "No! To call me. Didn't I give you a phone?"
"Yea-"
"Exactly! And why did I give you a phone?"
I guessed, "Because my old one broke?"
He gestured with his hand to continue. "And?"
"To... call you in case of emergencies." I gave him the answer he wanted.
"That's right! And did you call me today?"
I rubbed the nape of my neck. "Well, I wouldn't qualify this as an emergency."
He tilted his head and looked genuinely confused. "What would you, pray tell, call it then?"
I paused for a moment. "A mild inconvenience."
"A- a mild inconvenience? Your school blew up, Peter! That's not a mild inconvenience!"
Ned tried to back me up, standing up from his place on the couch. "No one got very badly injured or died, so um, technically, you know, it's not a terrible emergency."
Tony settled a glare on Ned, causing Ned to clamp his mouth shut and sit back down before he looked back at me. "Are you hurt?"
"Nope." I beamed, giving him two thumbs up and a wide smile.
He visibly relaxed at my confirmation of being okay, his face softening at my positive attitude. "Good. Come on, let's go home. The whole team's worried about you. You can meet up with your friends tomorrow."
I nodded goodbye to Ned and MJ before following him out of the house. As soon as we stepped outside, he stopped and turned around to face me, pulling me into a hug.
"I'm okay, I promise," I reassured him, though, not minding the hug.
"I was worried," he said quietly. After another moment, he took a deep breath, let me go, and started walking to the car. "Come on, let's not keep the others waiting too long."
With a smile on my lips, I followed him.
As soon as we were driving, he started to speak, "I need to tell you something."
I noticed that the mood had just dropped considerably in the car as anxiety pooled in my stomach. "What is it?"
"May just entered a rehabilitation center early this morning. She's been struggling a bit recently, so she decided that would be the best course of action for her. Considering that, you'll be staying with us all the time again."
I didn't really know how to react. I kept my gaze out of the car window, watching as we passed by building after building as I turned over the news he gave me in my head. We've been doing the 6 days a week by the Avengers, 1 day a week by May thing for a month now, but it's been difficult for me.
We switched apartments, but it's hard to pretend like the abuse never happened. I knew the reason May acted like this was because of the drug, but that doesn't wipe away the memories. And it's obvious that May was still struggling. Too many times I witnessed her squeezing her eyes shut as she clenched her trembling hands into fists.
And me? I struggled to keep the flinch away every time I caught her curling up her hands. Whenever I heard her walking towards my room in the apartment to let me know the food was ready, I froze as my enhanced hearing attempted to determine wherever her footsteps were angry footsteps or not. And for some reason, there's always a fogginess over her eyes.
I realized that perhaps her depression over Uncle Ben never really resolved itself, and now adding the fact that she had broken the bond and trust between her and her last remaining family member, she can't stand herself.
I believed she meant well, but that doesn't mean it's working out well too. I didn't want to disappoint her by calling off our agreement, but every time I'm in her presence, the world felt like it was crushing me. Not to mention how she worsened the frequency of flashbacks. I can't even sleep peacefully under her roof.
At this point, I could only be glad to hear that she will get some much-needed help. And that may be selfish of me, but I believed, for once, that I was allowed to feel that way. I tried my best for her, but this had been draining my energy.
"I talked to her before she departed. She's not sure how long it will take, so she's agreed to give custody of you to me, but I wanted to check how you feel about that before proceeding." Even though he had sunglasses on, I could feel his eyes on me, trying to read my reaction.
I gave a small smile. "That would be good with me, of course." I was blessed that he would even consider that seriously, much less that he'd want to actually go through with it.
The tension I didn't know he had, released from his shoulders, and we pulled up at the Avengers Tower. "Great, I'll settle it with the lawyer. But, Pete, how are you feeling about all of this? I know this is quite a lot."
"You mean about May going to rehab?" I asked, chewing my bottom lip. After a confirming nod, I said quietly, "I think that's for the best at the moment."
"So it wasn't working out?" He asked, even though he knew the answer. Every time I came back, I came back more weary and drained than before.
My mouth felt dry, and my tongue out of place. "No, not really."
We parked in one of the many parking places, though most were occupied by Stark's other cars.
He pulled the car into a park and turned to me. "Let me know if you need anything. And by anything, I mean absolutely anything, Peter. You deserve the world, and I will give it to you."
I laughed, "Thank you, but I don't need the entire world." My stomach grumbled, and I smiled sheepishly. "Though some food would be nice."
The side of his lips turned up. "I guess we can start with food. Come on, the others are waiting, and I know they're all excited for a seven-day sleepover every week."
He opened his door and exited. I smiled one more time before grabbing my backpack and following him.
Well, that didn't sound bad at all.