A/N: HELLO LOVLIES its been a long week and its only wednesday smh. My school started this tuesday and in my first class this dude (sitting beside me in the front row) was deadass sNORING and the professor didn't even notice lmaooo. That pretty much sums up my college experience
ANYway, this chapter is kinda funny and there also A NEW CHARACTER introduced in here! I'm sooooo excited for ya'll to meet her cause she's awesomee and I've been waiting so long to release this omg omg
Enjoy the chapter!
"You know I larb you."
STARK TOWER
The Dum-E picked up a china vase.
"No. No, put that down," Happy said to it just as his phone began to ring, "That's worth more than you or me."
He picked up his phone without glancing at the caller ID, "Yeah?"
"Happy, the craziest thing just happened to me!" Peter said as he raced across a rooftop, "These guys were robbing an ATM with these high tech weapons—"
"Hey, take a breath, okay?" he said, "I don't have time for ATM robberies..."
"Yeah, but—"
"...or the thoughtful notes you leave behind. I have moving day to worry about," Happy continued as he signed some legal documents, "Everything's gotta be out of here by next week."
Peter jumped onto another rooftop and then froze in his tracks.
"Wait. Wait! You're moving? Who's moving?" he practically shouted into the phone.
"Yeah, don't you watch the news?" he said, signing a few more documents as he made his way towards the elevator, "Tony sold Avengers Tower. We're relocating to a new facility upstate where, hopefully, the cell service is much worse."
"But what about me?" Peter asked, his shoulders dropping. All the adrenaline from earlier had been fizzled out of him.
It was Happy's turn to be confused.
"What about you?" he said.
"Well, what if Mr. Stark needs me or something—" Peter sighed as he sat atop a lamppost, "—I don't know, something big goes down? Can I please just talk to Mr. Stark?"
"Look," Happy tried reasoning as he walked into the elevator, "just stay away from anything too dangerous. I'm responsible for making sure you're responsible, okay?"
Peter jumped down from the street light into the alley where he had been earlier to grab his backpack.
"I am responsible. I—Oh, crap. My backpack's gone," he said.
Happy frowned, "That doesn't sound responsible."
"I'll call you back," Peter sighed.
"Feel free not to."
Later that night, exhausted, Peter stealthy climbed up his apartment building.
Once he reached his window, he quietly pushed it open just enough. He peeked inside his room before heading in. Aunt May walked past his open door and he ducked beside the window as she passed. Then, when it was clear, he quickly slipped inside.
He stayed on the ceiling to pass over the bunk bed and shut the window with his foot. Then he pulled off his mask and tossed it to the side, letting out a breath. It had been a long day. Silently, he crossed the ceiling to close the door to his room before hopping onto the floor.
When he turned around, he found Ned sitting on his bed, having just seen everything.
His mouth was wide open.
The Death Star in his hands fell to the ground and shattered.
"What was that?" May shouted. His eyes widened.
"Uh, it's nothing. It's nothing!" he shouted back, his eyes not leaving Ned's. It was safe to say that they were both pretty shocked.
"You're the Spider-Man," Ned breathed, frozen, "From YouTube."
"I'm not," Peter said, trying to contain the problem, "I'm not." He might as well have a sign on his forehead that said I'm lying.
He realized he was still in his suit and he quickly pushed the button on his chest, wriggling out of it. He kicked it to the side, out of sight.
"You were on the ceiling," Ned breathed. He began to panic.
"No, I wasn't. Ned, what are you doing in my room?" Peter asked, trying to change the topic.
"May let me in. You said we were gonna finish the Death Star."
"You can't just bust into my room!" Peter argued.
Suddenly, May bust into his room, waving a cloth around and bringing in a wave of smoke.
"The turkey meatloaf recipe is a disaster," she laughed, "Let's go to dinner. Thai? Ned, you want Thai?"
"Yes–"
"No," Peter quickly answered for him, "He's got a thing." Ned glanced at him, quickly catching on.
"A thing to do after..." Ned lied. They both smiled at the woman who looked at them strangely, glancing between the two of them.
"Okay..." she said, waving a finger at Peter, "Maybe put on some clothes."
Peter nodded, blindly reaching for his shirt hanging on the chair beside him. They both stood there silently until May's footsteps faded away. Ned was barely holding his panic inside. And then Peter let out a breath, turning to Ned.
"Oh she doesn't know!" Ned said, beginning to panic again.
"Nobody knows!" Peter lied as he pulled a shirt on, "I mean, Mr. Stark knows because he made my suit, but that's it. N-No one else."
Ned's mouth fell open.
"Tony Stark made you that?" he whispered, "Are you an Avenger?"
Peter hesitated. "Yeah, basically."
"Whoa..." Ned whispered, leaning against the bunk bed for support. He was starting to feel lightheaded. That was a lot of information to take in in two minutes.
"You can't tell anybody about this," Peter begged, standing in front of him, "You gotta keep it a secret."
"A secret? Why?"
"You know what she's like!" Peter said, gesturing to the door, "If she finds out people try and kill me every single night, she's not going to let me do this anymore! Come on, Ned, please."
"Okay," Ned said, steadying himself, "okay, okay, okay, okay, okay. I'll level with you. I don't think I can keep this a secret. This is the greatest thing that's ever happened to me, Peter!"
Ned was getting a slight sense of deja vu but he couldn't remember why.
"Ned," Peter said slowly, "May cannot know. I cannot do that to her right now, you know? I mean, everything that's happened with her, I... Please."
"Okay," Ned nodded.
"Just swear it, okay?"
"I swear."
"Thank you," Peter said, letting out a sigh. He walked away from his best friend, running his hands through his hair.
"I can't believe this is happening right now," he said more to himself than anything else.
"Can I try the suit on?" Ned asked. What was that thing he was trying to remember?
"No," Peter said tiredly. It had been a long night.
"How does it work? Is it magnets? How do you shoot the strings?" he began rambling.
"I'm gonna tell you about this at school tomorrow, okay?"
"Great. Okay," he said and then paused, "Well, wait, then. How do you do this and the Stark internship?"
Peter looked at him.
"This is the Stark internship," he said.
"Oh."
His mind was telling him that the thing he couldn't remember was very important, but he couldn't stop thinking about the fact that his best friend was a superhero–
Oh.
Oh.
Oh no.
Oh no no no no no.
"Oh. My. God," Ned said. If he had another Death Star in his hands, he would have dropped it again. Peter turned around, watching him curiously.
"What?" Peter said. Ned's wide eyes snapped to his.
"I have something to tell you," Ned blurted. Then he backtracked. "But I can't tell you because it's not mine to tell, but I really want to tell you, but I can't tell you but I want to–"
"Ned," Peter said slowly, "You're spiraling."
"Sorry. Sorry!" he breathed.
Ned was freaking out. He was having a meltdown.
Ned Leeds was d.
"What do you want to tell me?" Peter asked with a frown, stepping forward. Ned looked up at him, opening his mouth to tell him. He stopped, shaking his head.
No. No, he couldn't. Adelaide would kill him. She would actually kill him dead.
"I can't," he squeaked. Both of his best friends were superheroes. Spider-Man and Blue Phantom. Blue Phantom and Spider-Man. Superheroes. The freaking AVENGERS!
HE WAS HAVING A MELTDOWN.
The excitement was bubbling inside him, begging to burst. He had to — needed to — tell someone. This was the coolest thing that had ever happened to him in his whole life. It was wild. Insane. It was absolutely insanely insane. And crazy. How crazy was it that both of his best friends were superheroes! He was going to go completely nuts.
Man, did he know how to pick the best best friends or what?
"Why not?" Peter asked. Ned swallowed his secret, trying his very best to not blurt it out right then and there.
"It's not mine—"
"—to tell," Peter sighed, "Yeah, I know that part."
Ned pulled his lips in, staring at Peter like a puppy who wanted to play outside. Peter looked at him and then sighed shaking his head at the ceiling. He didn't have the patience for this right now.
"Just get out of here," Peter sighed, ushering him out the door. He closed the door behind his best friend and let out a huge breath, smacking his forehead at his own stupidity.
That made three.
"What's the matter?" May asked him.
"Thought you loved larb. It's too larby? Not larby enough. How many times do I have to say "larb" before you talk to me? You know I larb you."
Peter looked up at her with a small smile. They had ended up going to eat Thai after all. But after everything that had happened in the past two hours, he couldn't find his appetite and he had been poking his food around in his dish distractedly.
"I'm just stressed," he said honestly, "The internship, and I'm tired. A lot of work."
"The Stark internship," May sighed, shaking her head, "I have to tell you, not a fan of that Tony Stark. Distracted all the time...he's got you in your head."
"The beloved Queens' institution, Delmar's Sandwiches, was destroyed..."
"What does he have you doing?" May continued, oblivious to the news playing on the tv behind her. Peter watched the tv with a grim look on his face.
You're not a hero, Peter, you're just some guy who wants to avenge his uncle.
"...in an explosion..." the news continued.
"You need to use your instincts..." May trailed off, noticing the look on her nephew's face. She followed his gaze to the tv playing behind her.
"...earlier tonight after an ATM robbery was thwarted by Queens' own colorful local crime-stopper, the Spider-Man. As the Spider-Man attempted to foil their heist, a powerful blast was set off, slicing through the bodega across the street. Miraculously, no one was harmed."
And what gives you the right to kill that man?
"If you spot something like that happening, you turn and you run the other way," May said and Peter blinked out of his thoughts, nodding.
"Yeah," he said, "Yeah, yeah, yeah. Of course."
"Six blocks away from us," May said, shaking her head. Peter chewed on his lip, watching his aunt.
"I...uh...I need a new backpack," he said quietly.
"What?" she asked in disbelief. Peter cleared his throat.
"I need a new backpack," he repeated.
"That's five," May said. Before he could defend himself, a waiter stopped at their table with a plate. Peter watched him as he watched May.
"Sticky rice pudding," he said, setting the dish down besides May's.
"Oh, we didn't order that," she said.
"It's on the house," he smiled. He winked at her before leaving. Peter fought a smile.
"Oh! Thanks," she said as he left and then she turned to him, "That's nice of him."
"I think he larbs you," Peter joked and May pointed to herself with her eyebrows raised until they both bursted out into laughter.
As soon as the elevator doors opened to her floor, Adelaide heard a foreign language.
It sounded Asian, but she couldn't put her finger on which one it was. She carefully stepped off of the elevator, peeking down the hall.
To her surprise, instead of spotting Mr. Zimmerman's horrible cat hissing at her, she found a girl about her age carrying a box that was too big for her small arms. Adelaide stood there, watching her with her lips slightly parted.
"您将删除它。我告诉过你不要随身携带，但你从不听我的话," another voice said, coming out of the apartment across from Adelaide's. He looked like a bitter middle-aged man who hated people and life. (You're going to drop that. I told you not to carry it, but you never listen to me.)
"I've got it, dad," she sighed, carrying the box inside.
In her short experience of having a neighbor, Adelaide had decided that she didn't like it. Besides, she had had a long day and she desperately needed to be alone. Not to mention that she smelled like a chimney and was in desperate need of a shower. So while the father-daughter duo were both inside, Adelaide took that moment as a chance to quickly slip inside her apartment unnoticed.
Of course, karma had some disputes to settle with her so as soon as she had slid her key into the keyhole, she heard a small voice behind her.
"Excuse me?"
Adelaide sighed, dropping her head against the door with a soft thunk. Taking a deep breath, she turned around.
The girl was unhealthily skinny. Her thick black hair reached just past her shoulders. She had dark brown eyes that were crinkled into a kind smile and a very slight dimple on her left cheek. Adelaide wondered how she kept her teeth so white.
"Do you live here?" she politely asked in her small voice. Adelaide glanced back at the door behind her where her key was still in the keyhole. Obviously.
"Yeah," she answered.
"Oh!" she smiled, "That's wonderful! We just moved in today!"
"Of course you did," Adelaide mumbled to herself, wanting to get inside her apartment quickly. Her only experience with a neighbor consisted of a dying old man with a possessed cat and a bickering couple. She wasn't too fond of neighbors as it was.
"My name's Vivian Sung," she said, holding out her perfectly manicured hand. Adelaide glanced down at it and then up at her before sighing and shaking it. She couldn't tell if the girl couldn't see or was ignoring the bruises and burns on her face and arms.
"Ella," she said, pulling her hand away.
"Vivian?" her dad called, coming outside. He glanced at Adelaide skeptically. She didn't bother smiling at him. She had a feeling he wouldn't return it.
"Who's this?" he asked his daughter, giving Adelaide a dirty look.
"This is our neighbor, dad. Her name is Ella. This is my dad, Li Sung," she smiled. Adelaide nodded at him and he narrowed his eyes in response.
"我去拿最后一盒," he mumbled to her and marched off towards the elevator. Adelaide waited for the elevator doors to close before turning to Vivian again. (I'll go get the last box.)
"I actually have something for you," Vivian smiled, grabbing a rectangular box by the door. She handed it to her. "It came while you were away, and I didn't want it to get mixed up with the rest of the boxes so I put it aside. I hope you don't mind."
Adelaide read the label.
From Happy Hogan, Stark Tower.
For Adelaide Rivers.
"Well, it was nice to meet you, Ella," Vivian smiled politely. Adelaide looked up, snapping out of it. She wondered if the girl had read the label. Wasn't she curious? It wasn't everyday someone got a package from the Stark Tower. Maybe she had already opened it. "I hope I'll see you around."
Not if I can help it.
"Bye," she mumbled, turning around and opening the door to her apartment. Without looking back, she stepped inside and closed the door behind herself.
Adelaide stood there for a moment, focusing on her breaths as she relaxed. She stared at the spring coming out of the cushion on her couch. And then she stared at Happy's name on the box for a long time.
There should only be so much that was allowed to happen in one day.
A/N: Who loves Vivi already?
There's definitely going to be more of her around and I've got a lot planned for her soon so I'm really excited! Btw, the language they were speaking was mandarin (I think) and I'm obv not fluent in it so if any of you speak that please lmk if there's mistakes!
Question: How's school going for everyone? I know it sucks lol but summer vacation isn't that far away if you think about it! I just can't wait to graduate in 4 months :,)