Peter POV
"You see Penis, that's how the world works. The big people stay on top of the little people. And when you have an opportunity to move up, you take it! Like successfully tricking Liz into going to prom with you! And as if that wasn't bad enough, her Dad has been stealing from the Avengers and is in jail forever!" Flash leers down at me, looking slightly demented.
"Well hey, at least Spider-Man used your car to catch him! You're part of the story Flash!" I smile sarcastically at him. I quickly see a flash of embarrassment across his face before he takes a step forward, and I back up into the locker behind me.
"And that's why your life is hell here now. You're paying for your 'buddy's' mistake. My parents grounded me for a week and I can't drive the cars until Christmas! So get used to it Parker!" He snaps before shoving me, snapping my head back into the lockers and causing my visions to split for a brief second before focusing in again.
(Four Hours Later)
"Queens Village" the generic male voice reads out as the next stop, sounding over the screeching of the car and general audio white noise.
That's me.
Pulling my backpack tighter over my shoulder, I slip in between two people and under a woman's elbow as she adjusts her purse before waiting behind the scrum and emerge out on the platform and pull out my phone, only to type out 'Platform' and send the message then slip it back into my pocket.
Looks as normal as ever. No obvious signs of criminal activity or unruliness.
A black sedan drives right thru the crosswalk as the blaring red hands warns pedestrians not to walk.
"Hey Pedro."
I glance up at the streetlight a few feet to my right and count to five before I look forward.
Don't Pete. No. Don't…think about it.
Today it's 46 degrees outside. Cloudy, like it has been the last three days. But there's going to be a break over the weekend, with highs in the high fifties and sunny skies.
No. No Eugene, don't think about that, or her. You have to get home. You're in Queens, webhead. Not on the West Coast.
A stray elbow catches me in the side, bringing me back to reality as the crowd around me is crossing the street. Quickly, I jump in shock, then dart into the safety of the crowd and cross before breaking off towards the building, inside the cool glass doors and hit the lift.
"Hi." I politely nod to Ms. Evans as she and her daughter exit, likely on their way to her gymnastics class before I hit my floor and close my eyes.
Relax. You stayed after for Decathlon practice. Normal day. An old school, normal day. Ned was with me the whole time until I hopped on the train.
The lift chimes, I walk out, fish my keys out of my pocket and unlock the door out of habit.
It's already unlocked, she's home.
I use the key to push open the door with one hand before yanking one headphone out of my ear in time to see May in the kitchen, knife in her hand eying me. "You didn't text me back."
"You texted back?" I pull on my keys while pulling out my other earphone and close the door with my foot.
"Mhmm." May nods, returning to chopping her peppers.
"Sorry." I apologize. "I didn't feel it vibrate."
"That's always what he says, and so it goes. Took you a little long to get home."
'Sounds good. Train run late? You're behind schedule. Ned's already here.'
I tuck my phone back into my pocket and smile. "Yeah, my train was late leaving school. Didn't mean to stress you out."
May's lip quirks up a bit. "You good? You sound distant? How'd Decathlon go?"
"It wasn't bad. Michelle is finally finding her footing as leader of the team."
"Yeah, she's finally letting everyone be normal and it's starting to be really fun." Ned chimes in from my doorway. "Welcome home."
"Thanks." I smile and try not to laugh.
"Well that's good. That whole situation was so wonky and strange with Liz and her father. Then they basically got exiled. You two go on and do whatever it is you do."
Eugene.
I shake my head and nod at May. "Sounds like a plan. Thank you May."
"You're very welcome Ned." May says happily as I walk past him and into my room, tossing my backpack onto my bed.
Now let's see what's up.
Ned cracks the door right behind me, then happily smiles at me. "You could have rode home with me. Mom wouldn't have minded. She likes you."
"Nah." I wave him off. "Didn't want to intrude. I needed some space. How are we doing today?"
"Great! Really good. Found out another web combination. Water webs."
"Water webs?" I ask, glancing at my new workbench that I found on the way to the dump. "The suit's electronic. Did you check it again the master code in the suit?"
"I did, and it's in there. With a lot of code to protect the suit against shorting out. I think it's only possible because your web shooters are a separate mechanism."
"An outside apparatus." I nod, flipping thru Ned's notes.
Special chemical combination sucking the moisture from the air and adding it to my normal webs.
"Sounds good. Keep digging. That's 18 of the possible 576 combinations." I shrug, then plop onto my bed.
"Oh, and I think I figured out a way to access the AI in the suit."
"What?" I snap.
Really?!
"I think?" Ned says cautiously like he does when he's not sure. "I just believe I've found it."
"Can you like, project it out? Like an aux cord or Bluetooth?"
Ned shrugs. "I don't know. I just found a huge dormant program with capabilities of connecting to all sorts of exterior sources."
"That's Karen. See if you can hook it up to my speakers. I'll add the new web to the list." I smile, then reach over and grab the red notebook and flip open the blue tab on the side to the page titled "Web Shooter Combinations".
Web Grenade
Taser Web
Splitter Web
Rapid Fire
Ricochet Web
Single Fire
Double Fire
Triple Fire
Quadruple Fire
Reinforced Web
Foam Web
Web Shield
Web Wings
Web Net
"Delicate" Web
Recoil Web
Web Barrage
Water Web
Some of them are self-explanatory, some aren't. We have no clue what a "delicate" web is, and since May has my web shooters in her safe and I can't crack it and don't want to tear the door off, I can't exactly find out.
There's so much I don't know. Even though I do know that the "Training Wheels Protocol" is hardwired back into the suit so firmly that Ned can't access it. I think it's directly hardwired to Mr. Stark's personal AI that he uses for his suits.
I heard him talking to it back in Germany, but I don't know.
I really don't know.
"How do you think your buddy Stark paid for that tower, or any of his little toys? Those people, Pete, those people up there, the rich and the powerful, they do whatever they want. Guys like us, like you and me... they don't care about us. We build their roads and we fight all their wars and everything. They don't care about us. We have to pick up after them. We have to eat their table scraps. That's how it is. I know you know what I'm talking about, Peter."
There's been nothing from anybody on anything since Germany. Apparently some Sokovian Hit Squad member framed Captain America's friend, the one with the freaking metal arm.
I never asked if his actual arm is under there and it's like armor, or if it's like a prosthetic.
Anyway, he got framed. Cap and Mr. Stark and Black Widow and all of the Avengers fought each other in Germany. The real criminal is sitting in the same metal box they had Barnes in an no other explanation. The man hunt for Barnes has left the news cycle, same for Captain America, all of them. Even though the others are all in some super-secret prison that I overheard while the doctors tested me for a concussion before Mr. Stark threw me back onto his plane and back home.
"Got it. I think." Ned says confidently, before the familiar chime of Karen activating sounds thru my room.
"hello?" Karen asks, sounding…confused?
"Karen! It's me, Peter." I leap off my bed as Ned pumps his fist.
"YES! YES! I did it!"
"Peter? Who is that? Your suit is not active. How are you activating me? Am I at the Avengers new Compound in—"
"No!" I cut Karen off as Ned's eyebrows nearly fly off his head. "No, you're in my room at home. That's Ned, my friend. You know Ned, from school."
Ned looks to me, still looking stunned. "It's a person?"
"No. I'm an AI programmed by Mr. Stark to help Peter use his suit."
"That is SO cool! Your own personal AI! Nobody has that tech yet! Not Zuck, Not Elon Musk, not what's his name in Cupertino or a Chinese genius. You're beyond cutting edge!" Ned rants while pacing around the room.
"It's not mine. It's Mr. Stark's." I frown at Ned.
"No, I'm yours Peter. Your commands can only be overwritten by Mr. Stark. But I am yours." Karen corrects me.
Oh.
"Okay. Uhm, cool. Well we were just trying to figure out how to connect you—"
"To an external set of speakers. Shall I integrate this new location into your settings? Maybe set a preference?"
"Yeah!" I nod. "Set it as 'Home'." before Ned lets out a squeal.
"I don't understand that form of human communication. But 'Home' is now a preference."
Suddenly my door flies open and bangs into the protective doorstop, revealing May holding a bat. "Who in the HELL IS TALKING? I KNOW IT'S SOMEBODY PETER!"
"Whoa!" I leap towards May as Ned cowers near my laundry basket.
"Who is that?" Karen asks.
"Reveal yourself you witch! Where is she? I said no unannounced guests you lying little—."
"It's an AI! Artificial Intelligence." I cut off May and grab the bat by the barrel.
May rolls her eyes at me. "She better be hot."
"It's not a girl. It's not a physical person." I explain, then gently pull on the bat.
"Don't you dare Peter Parker. Let my bat go. I'm stronger than you. And tell me the truth this time."
I frown at Aunt May. "I can stop a bus with my bare hands. And I'm not lying! Karen!"
"Hi. I apologize for startling you. Peter, who is this? Are they friendly?"
"Excuse me?!" May exclaims in fury, taking a couple of strong steps before looking around. "I don't get it, where the hell is it? And I don't want to know how you can stop a bus!"
"It's the suit." Ned says quietly, pointing to how the lighting cable from my Bluetooth adaptor is plugged in.
May cautiously approaches my workbench, then tilts her head. "You're not bullshitting me? It's…what is it?"
"I am a natural-language user interface created by Tony Stark and installed in the Spider-Man Suit, designed to work alongside and aid Peter in his crime-fighting duties provided that he completed the Training Wheels Protocol. Peter has named me Karen." Karen states plainly.
May scrunches her face up, then laughs. "Karen? Who is Karen? Your girlfriend? I thought the girl you took to Homecoming was Liz!"
"Oh yeah, Peter. Did you ever kiss her?" Karen chimes happily.
Oh jeez.
Ned laughs and turns into the notch near my closet as May looks slightly mortified but also on the verge of laughing. "I just came up with the name. And yeah, I took Liz to Homecoming, but it didn't work out."
"Because you ditched her to go crash a plane! May yells, pointing at my suit.
"Plane? One of the planes involved in moving Avengers Tower to the compound in—."
"KAREN!" I yell, causing May to jump and take the bat off her shoulder again.
"Do not raise your voice in this house Peter." May scolds me.
I raise my hands in apology. "Sorry. Karen, this room isn't secure. Don't reveal the location of the compound unless I personally tell you to. Okay?"
"Okay Peter." Karen replies. "I'll make a preference."
"The Avengers have a compound?" Ned asks, ecstatic.
"Yeah, I've been there. It was alright." I shrug.
Very modern and high tech. Happy ushered me everywhere though, didn't get to explore.
"Wait a second, hold on. You said Stark made you…Karen." May says, tentatively saying her name.
"Yes. Who are you?"
"I'm Peter's aunt. Can you call Stark? Peter's been trying to call him from over two weeks and hasn't gotten a hold of him."
"I've been calling Happy, Karen." I correct May.
"Okay Peter's Aunt. And yes, I can call Happy and you can speak with him if you'd like." Karen complies.
"No, I want to talk to Stark personally. And my name's May. Make that a preference, Karen suit lady." May commands her.
"Okay May. I'll set your name as May Parker, along with the contact in Peter's phone. And I'm afraid I have directive that prevent directly contacting Mr. Stark. He can call Peter though!"
"Of course he did. Damn blowhard. So you've been pulling these stunts thru his…assistant?" May turns to me.
"Happy's…I don't know what he is. And most of its on my own."
"That's not…better Peter!" May pulls at her hair.
"You sound stressed May. I assure you Peter's been as safe as possible. His safety probability has only dipped until 30% one time when—." Karen tells her before May lets out a scream.
"CALL HIM!"
"Calling Happy Hogan." Karen reports
I calmly lean around May and look to Ned, who looks sort of scared and hiding in the corner. "See why I was keeping this quiet?"
"Peter, you're lucky I didn't string you up by the balls." May points at me. "Now Stark on the other hand…"
"Hello?"
"Happy!" I leap toward my workbench. "It's Peter."
"This better be good. I'm in Malibu taking care of something for Tony and I can't really be wasting time. By the way, why haven't you been leaving me reports like you promised?" Happy says in his normal, hurried tone.
May gestures at the wall, then spins in a circle as I answer "That's why I'm calling Happy. I need to talk to Mr. Stark."
"He's off the grid, and you haven't been reporting in, so you're not talking to him anyway."
"I'm talking to him! Put him on the phone! May yells angrily.
"Who is yelling at me? I'm not staying on the line to get yelled at."
May takes a physical step back as I reach out to halt her anger. "My aunt, May. She found out. Happy, I have to talk to Mr. Stark. I'm grounded, I can barely leave the house for Decathlon practice."
"Grounded? It's a suit. Put it on and slip out the window kid. I didn't think I'd have to teach you how to sneak out. It's Teen 101." Happy responds.
"I have his wrist…things and the mask. He's not doing shit until I talk to Stark. Actually, I want him in person, he's answering for this shitshow. He's left Peter out to dry for two weeks! Called every day, multiple times! He's not doing that, he won't hang Peter out to dry like he's disposable."
"Oh. Okay. Well…uhm. I'll get ahold of him. He's been safe though Mrs. Parker."
"Oh cut that out. He doesn't even have a direct line to the guy himself! He doesn't value Peter one bit!"
May's retort is met initially by silence. "Okay. Did you just find out just now? Or—?"
"Oh for the love of god, you don't even, get a clue. Karen, end call!" May gestures wildly. "That's your liaison? The clueless bodyguard type?"
"He's not totally clueless." I defend Happy.
May turns to Ned. "Have you met him?"
"No ma'am. Talked to him once at Homecoming. Hung up on me." Ned answers sadly.
"Yeah, I'm done with that guy." May shakes her head before jolting and sprinting out of the room. "CRAP!"
Uh oh.
"Your dinner." Ned looks to me just before May lets out a nasty expletive.
And now it's ruined. Great!
"I've got to go. Mom'll be here soon, and dinner and all that." Ned looks to me sheepishly.
"You can stay Ned!" May calls out. "I'm just worried about Peter and want him to be safe and all that."
"No, I know. That's good. But I do kind of have to go."
I smile and move to start out handshake. "Thanks dude."
"You know it. Glad I got it right the first time." He smiles, then starts for the door.
"Peter? Incoming call from 'Happy Hogan'." Karen tells me.
"DENY!" May yells from the kitchen, before I glance in that direction and see smoke in the air and May disabling the smoke detector before it goes off. "Decline Call Karen!"
"Call ignored."
"Peter? Where do you want to go to dinner? I'm feeling that Italian place down the road on Eighteenth."
That sounds good.
"I'm fine with that!" I answer May before looking to my suit. "Karen, do I need to shut you off or what?"
"I can stay on, I'm not pulling any power I cannot stand to spare. I will need you to charge the suit at regular intervals like normal at some point though."
Alright.
"Cool. And look into Damage Control's finances while we're gone." I ask her.
"NO! That's not your business Peter!"
"Do it." I tell Karen.
"Will do Peter."
"Thanks Karen." I smile, then turn right into May's glare.
"You're not helping yourself young man, Grab your jacket."
I smile widely for her. "On it!"