Before Peter could get close, another group of people walked between them. By the time the area cleared he just caught the back of the man rushing towards a side door. Picking up the pace he grabbed the door as it was closing.
Quickly looking around he saw that the door led to an open side gallery that had been closed off for the event. Between reviewing the schematics and field trips here in high school, he had a pretty good feel for the building. Seeing a figure dart through the room Peter took off after him, activating the Iron Spider as he ran.
The figure reached a door at the far end of the room and pulled it open. By the time Peter got there he could hear him running up the stairs to the second floor. He knew there was a balcony that ran around the top of this gallery and connected to several others so he stepped back into the gallery and climbed up the wall. Whoever he was chasing was fast...faster than he should be unless he was enhanced. He vaulted over the clear glass that made up the balcony's railing and landed as the figure opened the door.
Peter expected him to run the other way. Instead, the man ran towards him. He was prepared for the inevitable kick to his midsection but it still hurt. The man was definitely enhanced. Flicking a wrist, he shot a taser web. The taser landed but the charge didn't seem to have an affect. His Spidey sense triggered and he flipped up and back as the man lashed out again only this time, the kick was followed by a punch. Peter grabbed them man's fist and squeezed before twisting sideways and launching the man into the wall.
Spinning around, Peter was surprised to see the man recover fairly quickly. He narrowly avoided a back kick. Deciding he needed to bring this to an end sooner rather than later, he took advantage of the fact that the man was slightly off balance and shot a web at his foot yanking him to the ground.
The man stared at him for a moment then smiled again. The man raised his hands, Peter saw bits of blue lighting sparking off his fingers. The small sparks rapidly increased in size and surged into Peter's chest. The dampeners dispersed the entire charge and Peter fired another volley of webs, webbing the man's feet to the floor.
Using the electricity he internally generated, the man broke through the webs and sprung to his feet. Before he could get his bearings the Spider landed a kick in his chest driving him backwards again. Preparing another charge, the man raised his hands to fire again. The sparks from the man's fingers turned into full bolts of energy that hit a black figure square in the chest. The Black Panther had landed between him and the Spider, his suit absorbing the energy.
T'Challa discharged the build up from the electrical burst at the man on the floor. The man rolled out of the way and avoided the brunt of the blast, looking up as the Spider flipped over the Black Panther and landed on the other side of him effectively trapping him between the two. Looking at Black Panther and then at Spider-Man, the man smiled again before vaulting over the edge of the railing.
Peter and T'Challa watched him run across the gallery and crash through a window leading outside. T'Challa put a hand on Peter's shoulder. "We should not pursue. This attack doesn't make sense. There is more at play here."
Peter nodded. "Karen, scan video footage around the museum and see if you can trace him." Peter looked over at T'Challa and retracted the mask. "Thanks for the save. Could you tell how much energy he put out?" Peter was already running the numbers in his head. He knew vaguely how vibranium absorbed and transferred energy. The blast the T'Challa produced after absorbing the charge was significantly large.
T'Challa chuckled, "Shuri can pull the data." He retracted the Black Panther suit and waited for Peter to retract the Iron Spider fully. "We should return to the reception."
Peter nodded and grimaced slightly. He was pretty sure the first kick had cracked a rib. He looked over at the stairs and then back over the balcony. He looked up at T'Challa and noticed he was doing the same thing. In unison the both vaulted over the balcony railing and landed smoothly on the floor of the gallery.
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Tony and Pepper walked into the museum. People were used to them showing up after events had been going for a while so they were treated with the normal exuberance. Tony glanced around the room. Not seeing Peter, MJ, or T'Challa he had FRIDAY scan the room.
"Boss, Peter has deployed the Iron Spider. He is currently in the room to the far right. I am also detecting one individual with explosives in the main room."
Tony looked over as a member of the Dora Milaji walked over to Pepper. "Mrs. Stark, Ms. Jones would like you to join her for a moment."
"Go ahead honey, I'll go find Peter and join you." Tony smiled at Pepper and watched to make sure she was secure. "FRIDAY, analyze explosives. Is there a kill switch and will I trigger it if I use a repulsor blast?"
"I am not detecting a kill switch. A high level repulsor blast should disable both the explosives and the carrier. I suggest aiming for his midsection."
"Ok. Paint my target." His glasses functioned as a HUD and his target was illuminated. He walked determinedly towards him, greeting various people as he made his way across the room. "FRIDAY, is Peter ok?"
"I am detecting a vibranium enhanced charge. I believe T'Challa is with him. Peter's vitals are within normal ranges."
Tony neared his target. A low profile gauntlet had formed in his palm. "FRIDAY, let's try not to destroy anything. Pepper won't speak to me for a week if I mess up the event."
"Understood boss."
Tony grinned to himself then plastered on his public appearance facade. Reaching the target in question he smoothly placed the non-gauntlet hand on his arm, looked the man in the eye and then fired the gauntlet at his midsection. He tightened his hand around the man's arm to prevent him from collapsing then dragged him the short distance to the door leading into a side gallery. To any observer not looking too closely, it just looked like the guy had too much to drink and Tony was just escorting him out of the room.
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T'Challa and Peter paused as the door leading to the main room opened. Both of them tensed until they saw Tony dragging a body through the door. "Dad?"
Tony unceremoniously dropped the man on the floor. "Hey kid. Everything ok?"
"Sure. It wouldn't be an event without someone trying to kill me." Peter glanced at the body on the floor then over at T'Challa. "You were right about there being more going on." He glanced back at his dad. "Zeke was here."
Tony set his jaw. "Have Karen send your feeds to Nat. She's working on ID'ing him."
Peter nodded. "I want to go check on MJ." He glanced down at the body on the floor. "What are we doing with him?"
"I will have one of my people take care of it." T'Challa looked at Tony. "I believe that now that you are here we should make our remarks announcing the initiative."
Tony nodded in agreement. As the were walking back out into the main room, Tony turned to Peter. "Did you two do any damage that I need to be aware of?"
"Hole in the wall and a broken window. Overall my destruction rate is way below yours." Peter smirked at his dad as they walked back into the reception as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
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Tony and Pepper returned to the tower after what most would consider an incredibly successful event. Not only was it the kickoff to the initiative, it was also an invitation to a select group of people to contribute. Tony and Pepper were both thrilled that multiple people had come up to them to tell them how impressed they were with Peter and MJ. Even though no announcement had been made, their intention to physically be involved in the initial start up next month had spread quickly throughout the reception and had spurred on not only contributions exceeding Pepper's expectation but had also turned into multiple groups also wanting to also physically be involved. Trips were already being planned to assist in construction the infrastructure needed for the schools. SI and Wakanda were providing the bulk of the support but Pepper was encouraged and thrilled that so many were wanting to contribute not only money but also their time. Pepper leaned over and kissed Tony on the cheek as the elevator rose to the top floor. "Thank you for not blowing anything up tonight."
"I'll have you know that I gave FRIDAY very specific instructions about it not turning into a full battle. I thought we all did a good job." Tony slipped his arm around Pepper. "And Peter didn't destroy anything that isn't fixable."
Pepper laughed as the doors slid open. "Peter is no where near as destructive as you are." The lights in the main area turned on as they existed. Frowning Pepper looked at Tony. "I expected him to be here. They left before us. FRIDAY, where is Peter?"
"Peter is currently asleep downstairs."
Pepper looked at Tony, frowning. "Are we okay with that?" Since they knew the reception would go late, MJ had already planned on spending the night at the tower.
Tony shrugged. "In this case he is actually asleep. I think he cracked a rib during the fight. He'll be out all night." Slipping off his suit jacket he smirked at Pepper. "Besides, he'll be 20 in August. He's not a kid anymore."
Pepper frowned. "I know." She slipped off her heels and scooped them up. "I just always think of him as a kid." She smiled. "They did great tonight."
Tony nodded. "They did." Tony was incredibly proud of both of them. He was glad Peter had agreed to go.
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"What were you thinking! You could have exposed our plan if you had been caught."
Zeke looked at the older man. "Your plan, not mine." The events of tonight had achieved what he intended. He knew the Spider's suit could absorb his energy blasts. He also knew they were evenly matched. Taking him on one on one would not be a wise move. He also thought the Spider could probably take on a fair number of Ross's super soldiers. If Stark was in New York, the Spider would have backup. Which meant if he wanted to take him, it would require a different approach. He looked up at the older man. His tolerance for him was coming to an end.
