First Hero Mission
Peter was watching the news about the police officers who had died, feeling a deep sense of guilt, like maybe he could have helped them if he had stayed inside the school.
Only a few hours had passed, but it was already national news. Of course, Aunt May had been worried out of her mind. She came to pick them up immediately and hugged Peter the moment she saw he was safe.
She had also convinced Ned's guardians that maybe it would be best if both boys stayed together for a while, just in case, since they had just survived something horrible.
And to keep an eye on them, Ned's grandmother had also stayed over at Peter and May's house.
Meanwhile, Ned was sitting beside him, building the Death Star with a bandage stuck to his head from the hit the thug had given him earlier. Thankfully, it hadn't been anything serious. Just a small cut on his forehead. Even so, he looked at the television for a moment and couldn't help feeling a little bad too.
"He seemed like a good guy… that police officer," Ned said, letting out a sigh. "Who would've thought those shooters had planted a bomb? They were seriously insane," Ned added.
"I don't think it was them," Peter said. "I saw something… or someone fly out during the explosion. I called V.I.T.A.E., and they said they didn't find the two objects. So maybe that thing took them," Peter said quickly, his expression serious.
"What? Are you sure?" Ned asked.
Peter nodded.
"So what now? Are they sending you on a hero mission?" he asked right away.
Peter looked at him for a moment.
"No. Remember, I'm still just a trainee for now. And Mr. Stark made it very clear that I'm not supposed to get involved. That it's adult work," he said, though he didn't sound happy about it.
"Oh… that sucks," Ned said with slight disappointment.
At the same time, his attention quickly shifted toward Peter's watch, which was connected to several parts of his suit, and he couldn't help setting the Death Star aside for a moment to grab it with interest.
"So your suit was built by Tony Stark. Iron Man," Ned said excitedly, looking at the watch, which seemed like nothing more than a normal wristwatch.
But with the push of a button, it could transform into a wristband filled with cool tech.
"Yeah. Tony handles most of the suits and loads them up with all kinds of tech. With this, I can launch tiny spiders that can record, transmit sound, and even track…"
Peter froze at that.
Then he quickly snatched the device out of Ned's hands and started tapping the screen.
A hologram appeared, showing the city of Brooklyn and, on it, a moving dot.
"He took my backpack. I left one of the spiders in there," Peter said when he saw it, a slight spark of excitement in his voice.
"Then you were right. He wanted the objects," Ned said quickly. "So what now?" he asked, sounding excited again.
"Now… we call the responsible adults," Peter said with a slight grimace.
…
"Kid, what is it now? Did you get into trouble again?" Tony asked while sitting at some absurdly luxurious resort, drinking a piña colada and getting a foot massage.
Pepper was next to him, looking half asleep from the massage.
"Mr. Stark… well, technically, I didn't get into trouble. Those guys came in with guns and…"
"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Just get to the point. I've still got a few vacation days left, and I plan to enjoy every second before Owen sends me back to doing his job again," Tony said lightly.
"Well… you probably already heard what happened. I called V.I.T.A.E. earlier about those alien objects and…"
"Yeah. And they didn't find anything. I already told Kamala a bunch of times that she shouldn't use her privileges to call V.I.T.A.E. members for every little thing. Last time, she found a duck egg and thought it was an alien egg, and the Class A agents mobilized immediately. Same thing happened when she found a swan egg. I know both of you want to be useful, but remember, you're heroes in training. And while I'm responsible for you, if you get into trouble, I get into trouble. V.I.T.A.E. is already halfway to falling apart, so let the agents rest from your little adventures, okay?" Tony said easily.
"And remember, Spider-Man is currently in a maximum-security prison on some unknown island. If you two keep causing disasters, maybe I'll send you there. They say that ever since Hercules got his happiness back, he's been looking for fights with literally everyone. Maybe he'll keep you entertained for a while. There are pools too. You can swim all you want," Tony added quickly.
"But, Mr. Stark…"
"I already said what I had to say, kid. Just be a normal student, at a normal school, with a weirdly normal life. Yeah. And now I'm going to enjoy my very normal vacation. If every weird thing in New York turned out to be an alien invasion, I wouldn't have had a vacation since 2012. V.I.T.A.E. has a specific team for this kind of thing, so leave it to them," Tony added before hanging up.
Pepper, who had looked like she was asleep, slowly opened her eyes and glanced at Tony for a moment.
"Is it really okay to brush them off like that? Could it be important?" she asked seriously.
"It's fine. They're always like that at the base, constantly wanting a mission and trying to prove they're heroes. That's what the adults are for. We don't need kids doing the dangerous work. If one of them got hurt because of something like this, Owen would kill me. It might sound harsh, but it's the best way to handle those rebellious brats," Tony said calmly.
Pepper looked at him for a moment, feeling like Tony's words didn't make all that much sense.
But remembering what his childhood with his father had been like… maybe that was where it came from.
Even so, if Tony said it was fine, maybe she was just worrying too much.
…
Meanwhile, back at Peter's house, he stayed frozen for a moment after Tony had hung up on him without even listening to what he had actually wanted to say.
Ned looked at him for a second.
"What was that stuff about duck and goose eggs? And V.I.T.A.E. shutting down? And that prison island with pools?" he asked.
Peter let out a sigh.
"I'll explain later," he told his friend before looking back at the tracker in his hand.
And for a moment, he was tempted to call Owen.
But he knew Owen was still recovering, being watched over completely by Wanda.
Nicolás was on another continent with Emma.
Pietro… well, Peter had no idea what Pietro was doing, but he was missing as usual.
Meanwhile, Banner was busy looking after the "prison" island, which was actually more like a paradise vacation island for heroes.
Then Peter looked back at the hologram, which was still moving.
"Maybe…" he said, a slight excitement starting to build in his chest. "Maybe I do have a hero mission."