I promise more Avengers action is coming up! I know there hasn't been much yet, but it is coming! Just read on…
Also I'm incorporating the Black Panther into this chapter, for those of you that know him. (My beta informed me of him, and he's pretty cool.)
· The Black Pantheruses vibranium in a micro weave mesh in his uniform that robs incoming objects of their momentum. He also cannot be stabbed, although the costume and the Black Panther can be cut if the attacker slashes along the uniform's grain. Beyond that he uses vibranium in the soles of his boots that allows him to survive a fall of several stories and, if given enough momentum, the Panther can also scale walls or skim across water. The field can be also used offensively to shatter or weaken objects, such as kicking something with the boots. He also used the other variety Anti-Metal, in retractable claws.
· Aka, the Black Panther is not a villain.
Peter couldn't believe himself lying in bed the night of his graduation. He had had his day planned out so well, but by the end of it, it had all been complete and utter shit. At least most of it had. He did see Harry, stop some hijackers, and graduate. But he had almost missed his graduation. He did miss his former, stress on the former, girlfriend's speech. They had broken off at dinner.
He hadn't told anyone, but Gwen probably had her theories, at least about why Peter had broken up on her. In fact, they weren't theories, because Peter had confirmed them. The guilt of going against Captain Stacy's last words had gnawed away at him, reducing him to a quivering, hallucinating mess. He saw the man everywhere he went, the betrayed, disappointed look on his face. Peter couldn't take it anymore, and besides, the man was right. He was a danger to Gwen; she could be used as bait far too easily.
And as to the fact of why he almost missed his graduation, well that was just his lack of not wanting to disappoint Bruce. Now that he thought about it, it was stupid really, but he hadn't wanted disappoint Bruce by not showing up for work at all. He wanted to slap himself, because if he had just told Bruce it was his graduation, well a lot of problems could have been avoided. But the stress of his hallucinations had got to him, and he wanted to go to the lab for just a few hours before graduation, and then tell Bruce he had to go. At least he'd have shown up.
But then the news story about Harry had come on, and the shock of seeing his lost friend had been too distracting.
Peter didn't notice the migraine until it was acting full blast upon him, but didn't bother to go get any pain relievers. He preferred wallowing in his own misery. He had no girlfriend; his uncle didn't get to see him graduate either. Or his parents, for that matter, although that wasn't as painful. They had died a long, long time ago.
Peter lay awake all night, his thoughts wandering everywhere; from the simplest, to the most important things. By the time his alarm rang, he had nothing left to think about. He rolled over slowly, all the way onto the floor. Now, of course, he felt he could sleep. It was a good thing he didn't have any school for a while, just his internship with Bruce.
What he really needed was to stop at a gas station on the way to work, where he could pick out something extremely awful for you snacks. (Mostly 5-hour energy.)
Peter grabbed some semi decent clothing, not bothering too much. Bruce had chastised him until he wore more casual clothing to the lab. Tony couldn't have cared less.
"Aunt May!" Peter called. "I'm leaving!" he said, while grabbing an apple, his backpack over his shoulder.
"Call me later, Peter!" she replied from her bedroom. She must've been downstairs at one point, because the TV was blaring with the news. Peter tended to avoid the news channel the day after he skipped a night out as Spiderman. He didn't really like to see who he didn't save when he was too exhausted to swing through the city at night like the vigilante he was.
Call it survivor's guilt, even though it technically wasn't his fault. But with great power came great responsibility, and Peter ran himself into the ground fulfilling that motto.
He rode the subway as close as he could get to the Tower, walking the last few blocks. He was slightly miffed when he stepped in a large mud puddle. This had always been his weekend routine. On school days he came straight from school, and if he had the time, he stopped at home, did his HW and left to do his nightly duties when Aunt May went to bed.
He didn't always just work at night, but during his spare time in the day too. He always made sure to set some time aside for Gwen as well, but that wasn't going to be an issue now, he thought bitterly. Shaking his head, he reminded himself he couldn't be selfish, it was for her safety. Nothing was more important to him than Aunt May's and Gwen's safety.
His eyes wandered to the tower that scaled the sky, no less impressed even though he saw it almost every day. It was an architectural wonder, even if it wasn't the prettiest building ever to go up. You didn't have to be a genius to know a genius was behind its construction.
He pulled out his Stark Industries card, getting through security very quickly, though he was fairly sure that the entire first floor work force new him by name.
He needed the card to get to the lab, as the elevator wouldn't allow him to those floors without certain security clearance. The labs where in the basement, due to safety precautions. No one wanted experiments gone wrong flying through all the floors, possibly resulting in fatalities.
Peter quickly stepped out of the elevator when it reached its destination, JARVIS greeting him.
"Hello Mr. Parker. Dr. Banner and Tony are in room 124a," he informed Peter.
"Thanks JARVIS," Peter replied. Room 124a was the main lab and it was where Peter spent most of his time here. The cement walls felt very enclosing to him, but Peter quickly got used to it. His spider sense always tingled in the back of his head when he was down here, probably because all of the experiments and lack of escape routes.
Peter didn't bother knocking as he entered the lab, as he was chastised the few times he had. Apparently politeness was frowned upon in Stark's residence. It wasn't all that surprising, considering who made the rules. Tony Stark was not known for his politeness, or his maturity, and probably never would.
"Hey Bruce," Peter greeted.
"Good morning Peter," was Bruce's reply, versus Tony's, "What's up kid?"
Emphasis on the kid, as Tony always made comments and gripes about Peter's age, for whatever reason. It was just another one of Tony's quirks, one that he had become well accustomed with.
None the less, Peter often noticed a side of Tony that Tony didn't always want people to see, the side that really cared for others' wellbeing.
"So what're we going to do today?" Peter inquired, "are we just going to continue yesterday's project or-"
"Actually," Tony interrupted. "I was thinking about taking out the Vibranium today."
Peter chocked on the coffee he had picked up.
"Vibranium?" he asked, shocked. "You have Vibranium just lying around?"
"Actually no," Tony explained. "I have some Vibranium under heavy lock and key."
Peter sputtered, "Where'd you manage to get Vibranium?"
"Yeah," Bruce interjected. "I was wondering the same thing."
Tony grinned, as if remembering a fond memory. "Well, I'd say that's a story for another time, but I really don't plan on sharing it. Can't tell you all my secrets."
Peter grinned, despite his annoyance. Tony brought out smiles in the worst of times, despite his not so charming persona.
"So where is it?" Peter inquired, watching Tony carefully. Tony grinned, turning on heel. He disappeared into the depths of the lab, returning with a fairly small chunk of medal.
Bruce looked at it curiously, thinking out loud. "That's not its original form, correct?"
"Bingo!" said Tony. "It was melted down; easier to transport and less conspicuous looking."
"That makes sense, I guess," Peter thought. "But what exactly are we going to do with it?"
Tony frowned. "I really don't know. Whatever we want, I suppose. Maybe we can add some embellishments to my suit." He had already shuffled away to his corner of the lab, leaving just Peter and Bruce.
"So Peter," Bruce started. "Did you talk to Harry yesterday?"
"Yeah, we're going to hang later. And I also - um, well I graduated too yesterday."
Bruce's eyes widened. "Why didn't you say anything? I would've given you the day off."
"I don't know," Peter shrugged. "I was just going to tell you in person then I got distracted by Harry." With that, Bruce turned back to his work, sighing under his breath.
"Why don't you get check on Tony, make sure he's not being too dangerous," Bruce suggested. Peter grinned, obliging.
The lights cut out with a grown, quickly followed by the flickering lights of the machinery as well. The lab was dead silent.
"What the hell?" Tony cried from somewhere to Peter's left. "I have as many back-up generators as a hospital!"
"I'll be damned if I knew," Bruce supplied. "Are you okay Peter?"
Peter turned towards the noise, stubbing his toe in the process. He groaned, managing to answer.
"I'll be fine," he groaned again, clutching his foot.
A quick, quiet creek could be heard in the distance, though Peter doubted anyone else could hear it. He stilled, straining to hear further. He shushed Tony as he spoke up again.
"Listen!" he whisper-yelled, hoping he was imagining things. If someone was here; normally Peter would think he had the upper hand in the dark due to his spider-sense. But if they, whoever they were, were behind the power outage they presumably were comfortable in the dark as well.
A screech could be heard again, and much louder, before the lab was covered with silence again. For the most part, at least; their breathing was the only thing heard.
"Hey Tony?" Peter called.
"Yeah?" he replied.
"Now would be a good time to get your suit." The sounds of humming could be heard as Tony tapped away at something on his wrist. Peter thought it was, at least, as Tony had gone into an in depth description of it a few days earlier.
Peter hesitantly thumbed the web shooters on his wrists, not wanting to have to use them. His identity would be revealed just like that; you didn't have to be a genius to put two and two together.
Peter eventually made it over to Tony, who was suited up and waiting. Less than a minute had passed, and more creeks and groans of metal moving could be heard.
Tony's head was moving to and fro, as he couldn't pinpoint the location of the noise. They shifted each time, coming in intervals of a half minute, but they were quickly increasing in tempo.
Peter could just barely make out a shape, and he immediately noticed the size difference between him and himself. That wouldn't be a problem unless the person was superhuman.
Why was he here? Was he after something? There were a plethora of things in the lab, but Peter's eyes flickered towards the hunk of Vibranium on the table. It couldn't be a coincidence; if the person turned off the power in a genius Avenger/billionaire/genius's skyscraper, surely he could have been watching them for this opportune moment.
Not thinking twice, Peter grabbed the metal and hid it in his hoodie pocket. Tony watched him, but didn't stop him. He must've come to a similar conclusion. He nodded his head towards the right, and Peter scurried away.
His palms sweated with anticipation, knowing the inevitable couldn't be put off much longer. He just hoped this was a battle he or Tony could win, and that Bruce was hiding like he should be. Peter would have been hiding too if it weren't for his superpowers.
His spider sense tingled and he jumped up, hands and feet clinging to the ceiling. Below him was a man, judging by his build. He was dressed in all black, a glimmering set of claws adorning his fingers and a gleaming set of knives at his side.
Peter hated knives, really.
The heavy weight was still in his pocket, and he quickly scaled the ceilings, moving anywhere but there. The man sent his spider sense crazy; a constant buzzing and ringing behind his eyes and in his ears.
Peter eventually looked over his shoulder, only to find the man a few feet away, staring at him. Tony was nowhere in sight.
"Who are you?" Peter asked dumbly. His only response was the movement of the guy's arm, a small black box in his fingers. His spider sense flared before going haywire as the man pressed a button on the box, seemingly sending a long, high-pitched frequency to his head.
Peter's hands clawed at his ears, before losing his grip on the ceiling and falling the good, long 12 feet onto his back. His breath left him with a whoosh, yet the noise still remained in his head, increasing in frequency as he kept struggling.
His movements eventually became sporadic, almost seizure like. The man hovered over him, and he wondered where Tony and Bruce where. A clawed hand gently reached inside his pocket and grasped the metal, dragging it out.
A deep, accented voice mixed with the ringing, clouding his other senses too. "I'm the Black Panther."
Peter lay still until Tony found him, followed shortly by Bruce. They apparently had been knocked out by a gas, one that stayed mainly stationary to its release point. On any other given day it would have fascinated Peter.
Not today. His ears had been bleeding, and although those wounds had healed, he still twitched occasionally as the ringing dulled. He was propped on his side and Tony rolled him over, Bruce looming over his shoulder.
"Hey kid, you okay?"
All Peter did was nod, and slowly sit up. Tony held his shoulders for a few seconds before standing and holding his hand out. He was still suited up, but his face mask was retracted.
Peter accepted the hand, coming to a shaky stance. His fingers shook, no matter how hard he tried to still them. His toes tingled too.
"I'm sorry Tony. He got the Vibranium."
"No one blames you Peter," said Bruce. Peter smiled gratefully at him.
"Who cares, anyways? I'll just get more. I have my ways," Tony grinned.
"Do you know who he was?" Bruce asked no one in particular.
"Yeah," Peter said. "He called himself the 'Black Panther'."
"I've heard of him," Tony mused. Peter sighed.
"I think I'm going to go home," Peter said as the power suddenly turned back on. No one objected as he slowly made his way towards the exit. "I'll see you tomorrow."
Tony's eyes followed the faint mud tracks Peter's shoes left behind. He then turned to see if Peter left a trail when he ran away with the Vibranium, but didn't see any. Cocking his eyebrow, he pondered possible situations. Unless if the Black Panther had carried Peter all the way to this point, and that didn't seem likely, there weren't many options. He could see clearly from here that there had been footprints leading all the way to the place where the Vibranium was originally.
Even from there were a few foot prints leading to his current standpoint, but those disappeared too. Tony looked up, not hiding his surprise at all.
"Holy shit."
GUYS. How was this chapter? I kind of liked it, but it was mostly for this very end part and to clear up the last chapter. I made my varsity hockey team as a freshman, and we practice 6/7 days for at minimum 1.5 hours- so sorry for the delay…
