Peter spun on Harley as soon as his friends were out of sight. "What are you doing? Go with them. I need to go after birdman."
"And how do you plan on getting onto a plane?" Harley scoffed, tapping at his phone. "Your suit doesn't fly and you don't even have it anyways."
Peter double-checked that the others had gone deeper into the house then pulled off his tie and unbuttoned his shirt.
Harley glanced up at him, turned back to his phone, then looked up completely. "Seriously?"
"I wanted to be prepared, just in case, and I couldn't bring it in my backpack like I usually do."
Harley shook his head and turned back to his phone. "Well get ready, your ride's almost here."
"Ride?" Peter's eyes widened. "You brought Gryphon here?"
"I told you I was going to use it to kick your butt."
"Is it even finished?"
Harley made a sound that started affirmative, then quickly became uncertain. "I mean, it flies, but I haven't, you know, run all the tests. It's probably fine though."
"You sound like Dad does right before he runs into a wall."
"Shut up."
The sound of repulsors met Peter's ears and a moment later an oblong box landed between them which unfolded into an Iron Man-like armor. The differences being a maroon and silver color scheme with a navy, diamond-shaped arc and a more rounded design on the faceplate.
"You coming?"
Peter quickly stripped off his dress suit and put on the spider one he'd had tucked into his shirt as Harley stepped into the armor.
"Master Peter, Master Harley, I have informed Miss Nebula of what's happening. I do not think you should get involved."
"If that guy disables the tracker before someone gets to it then we'll lose an entire boatload of Avengers tech," Harley argued.
"Plane-load," Peter muttered, pulling on his mask.
"We'll keep eyes on it and him until Dad or Vision can get here," Harley finished, ignoring the other boy's comment. He wrapped an arm around Peter and closed his faceplate.
"I -"
He shot into the air.
Peter yelped and grabbed onto the armor with his hands and feet. "You jerk!" he shouted, but his brother didn't respond. "S.I.L.K., connect to Gryphon's frequency."
"Connecting to the Gryphon armor," she responded just before laughter filled the comms.
"Should have called you Iron Dick instead of Iron Lad."
"I'm not Iron Lad either."
"Yep, that's who you are now. S.I.L.K., register Harley's frequency as the Iron Lad armor."
"Registered ."
"S.I.L.K., no, ignore that!"
"I'm sorry, but my protocols give Peter priority over everyone except Mom and Dad."
Peter laughed and Harley twisted in the air. "You know, I could drop you right now."
"But you won't," Peter hummed, climbing around Harley so he was perched on his back, using his stickiness and the notches in the armor to keep a tight hold.
He squinted, focusing on the dark shape of the villain's wings and the nearly unnoticeable distortion that gave away the plane. "It looks like his wings have closed up against the plane. Some sort of high-altitude vacuum seal?"
"Probably. I'll knock him off," Harley said, raising a hand.
"Wait, you might damage the plane on accident," Peter said, grabbing his arm.
"Well then, what do you suggest?"
Suddenly a drone dropped away from the wings, staying in line with the plane until it slowly started to bank.
"What's going on?" Peter asked.
"They're using the drone as a decoy. It's got the plane's signal," Harley said, keeping in line with the plane. "I don't know how though. There's no way he managed to cut into the plane yet."
"It might be Stark tech, but dad didn't program the plane himself. Someone must have managed to hack it wirelessly somehow," Peter said, looking over the plane.
"Then why send the bird guy at all?"
"I don't know, but I've got a plan."
"All ears."
"I need you to drop me on the plane."
Harley was quiet for a moment. "Pete, I know I made that joke, but I'm pretty sure a drop from this height would kill you."
"Drop me on the plane," he repeated. "I can climb around and get him off."
"Are you sure you could even hold on? That thing's going to be smoother than my armor."
"I've held onto glass before."
"Not at this velocity and wind speed."
"It should be okay, and you'll be there to catch me just in case."
"The suit is equipped with a parachute in case of emergencies," S.I.L.K. added.
"See, I'll be fine. Drop me."
"Aunt Pep is going to kill me," Harley sighed, flying up to the plane.
Bwaaaw! Bwaaaw! Bwaaaw!
Adrian looked up with a frown at the alarm and air pressure leak. "Damn it, Mason." He moved to a control panel, expecting to see the wings failing, only to see someone outside the plane working to knock them off.
He growled and slammed his fist against one of the crates. As he marched over to where he'd left his helmet, he muttered to himself, "Four years! Four years and not a word from the feds, nothing from those Halloween-costume-wearing bozos down there in Avengers Mansion, and then, all of a sudden, these spiders show up and think they can tear down everything I've built. Really?" He grabbed his helmet and put it on. "I'm going to kill him."
"What's going on?"
"Spider-Man's here."
"I guess he's done letting his sister do his dirty work," Mason said as Adrian lowered himself into the wings.
"He's going to regret it." He strapped himself in and grabbed the Matter Phase Shifter then hit the release.
Spider-Man's grip slipped when Adrian pulled away from the plane, but unfortunately, he managed to catch himself before he fell.
He moved to cut the hero down, but was knocked off course when a blast of navy light grazed his wing. He cursed when he turned to see Iron Man flying towards him.
"What? What happened?"
"Stark's here."
Tinker cursed as well. "Get out of there!"
"What do you think I'm trying to do?"
Adrian rolled and ducked, but Stark kept on his tail and worked to keep him boxed in near the plane. Thankfully he'd either gone soft or was having an off day because his shots all grazed at best and fell wildly off the mark at worse.
Suddenly he felt himself stall and he turned to see one of Spider-Man's webs attached to his wings, the hero flapping in the air as another web connected him to the top of the plane. He turned, slicing through the web with his wing. Spider-Man shot another web at his waist, but it came loose and the man fell on top of the plane.
Adrian immediately dropped to dodge another blast from Stark. They danced around each other for a few more minutes, but Stark seemed distracted now and Adrian quickly came up with a plan to lose him.
"Chief, I've lost contact with the plane."
"What?" Adrian glanced down at the plane and realized Spider-Man was nowhere to be seen. But how… His eyes widened and his hand dropped to his belt to find that the Matter Phase Shifter was missing. Great, wonderful, as if this mess couldn't get worse!
Adrian spun around, feinting upwards before ducking under the plane, hoping to put it between Stark and himself long enough for him to get away. Stark wouldn't risk getting too far from the plane, after all. Not with the spider still on it.
He realized his mistake almost as soon as he was under the plane and a weight fell onto his back and he turned to see Spider-Man perched right between the propellers, the cube hanging from his waist by a short line of web.
"Hi there," he shouted over the wind. "Sorry to drop in like this, but you're going to jail now."
Adrian reached for his knife, then slammed to a stop as Iron Man appeared in front of him, gauntlet pointed at his face.
"I wouldn't do that," a voice that was distinctly not Stark said, amplified by the suit's speakers so Adrian could hear him. "Land, now, or I'll blast you out of the sky."
"And risk the Spider?" Adrian yelped back.
"He's got a parachute."
Adrian looked between them, then slowly dropped towards the ground.
"Do you have one?" Spider-Man shouted jokingly. "You really should. You never know what kind of trouble could be-fall you."
"Oh my god, are you always like this?" the not-Stark Iron Man groaned.
"Your just jealous you can't be this punny, Iron Lad."
"Iron Lad, huh?"
Adrian turned his head to see another Iron Man flying up alongside Vision.
"Oh, hey Mr. Stark!" Spider-Man laughed awkwardly. "We, uh, caught the villain and saved the plane."
"I've noticed. We're going to have a long talk about this."
"Miss Toomes, Miss Jones, Mr. Leeds, I have received the all-clear. You may now leave the panic room."
The three shared a look and Michelle shrugged, pushing past the others to open the door. They passed through the closet and into the bedroom just as a woman came in.
"There you are."
"Who are you?" Michelle asked, getting into a defensive position.
"Spider-Woman!" Ned answered, pointing to the spider insignia on her chest.
The woman rolled her eyes. "Come on, kids. The bad guy's captured. Time to go."
The girls cautiously followed her out while Ned attached himself to her side, asking question after question about the night's events. None of which were answered.
When they got outside, they saw Peter and Harley talking with Nebula and Tony Stark himself while Vision stood off to the side with a pair of people in FBI jackets.
When the two groups noticed them coming out, one of the FBI agents approached them while Peter met Liz's eyes with an apologetic expression.
I'm so sorry, he mouthed to her, but before she could question it, the FBI agent said, "Which one of you is Elizabeth Toomes?"
"Me?"
The woman gave her a soft smile. "You're going to have to come with me."
"What's going on?" Michelle asked.
"I'm not at liberty to discuss that right now. Miss Toomes, please. Your mother is going to meet us at headquarters."
Liz gave the other two a confused look, but followed the woman and her partner to their car.
Harley froze the moment he was through the door. "H-hey Mom."
"Harley Nathaniel Richards, what were you thinking?"
"He wasn't, obviously," Harley's sister snorted from the couch.
"Stay out of it, Valley," Harley huffed while Mom said, "Valeria, if you think I don't know he couldn't hide this from your nosy butt then you have another thing coming."
Val looked up with wide eyes. "Hold on, what? I had no idea Harley was trying to turn himself into discount Iron Man."
The two gave her matching doubtful expressions.
"Okay, but in my defense, I never thought he'd actually be able to do it."
"Thanks."
She gave him a thumbs up and turned back to her video game.
"Mom, I -"
"Am grounded," she cut in. "One month. No tv, no computer except for school, no workshop, and no Peter."
"No… Peter?"
"No Peter," she repeated with a nod. "Or any of your other little Jr. Avengers crew. Now go get cleaned up. Dinner is in fifteen minutes."
"Yes, ma'am."
Val snickered as he shuffled past her and he shoved her off the couch.
"Hey!"
"Don't think you're off the hook, missy," Mom said.
"Me? I didn't do anything?"
"I rely on you two to sell each other out. You're grounded for a week. No video games, no music, no hanging out with friends outside of school. I hope whatever he bribed you with was worth it."
"… Eh, yeah, it was."
"Hey Vis!"
Vision jumped and turned to see Peter hanging in front of him. "Oh, hello Peter."
"What are you doing? I was going to invite you to spar with me and Spider-Woman, but if you're busy…" he frowned as he caught sight of the screen Vision was using to keep organized and Vision closed it.
"I am just doing a bit of research. I would be happy to spar with you and Agent Drew."
"Vis, are you looking for M-Wanda?"
Vision frowned and opened his mouth to argue.
Peter dropped down onto the couch next to him with a flip. "Vis, it's okay."
"She is… special to me. I know what Mr. Stark said, but I do not want to abandon her."
Peter pressed up against his side. "She abandoned you, not the other way around."
"But -"
"Vis, she threw you through the floor. You have to understand how bad that is. I know you two had been dating or something right?"
"I do not believe we made it that far."
"And you want to find her to restart that, right?"
"I really care for her," Vision agreed with a nod, and Peter gave him a sad expression. "I know you all do not like her."
"We don't, but trust me when I say I'm being objective about this. She's not good for you." He opened his mouth to argue and Peter cut in over him. "She hurt you."
"I was unhurt."
"Maybe not physically. But she attacked you, and you can't say that didn't hurt inside."
Vision thought back on the moment she had turned his powers on him. "It… did. A lot. But she did not mean to hurt me. She just felt trapped."
"And what happens the next time she decides she's feeling trapped. Will she throw you through the floor again? Through a wall? Vis, that's not a good start to a relationship. If you two were dating it'd be domestic abuse."
Vision wanted to argue, but all he could do was stare down at the boy.
"I won't tell you what to do, but be careful, please. We all care about you and we want you to be happy and safe."
"I understand. I need to think about this."
"Okay, Vis. I'll leave you to it." Peter patted him on the shoulder and flipped over the couch.
Shuri bounced along with her music as she looked over the readings from Barnes' latest scans.
"How is it looking?" her brother asked as he poked at one of her newest prototypes.
"It's looking good. We might be able to wake him up soon to start treatment." She slapped his hand away and added, "Though it would be sooner if you weren't in here trying to blow up my lab."
T'Challa stepped back, eyeing the prototype. "You're working with explosives again?"
"Nope. It's just temperamental."
He sighed and took another step back. "Please at least try not to blow anything up this week."
"No promises."
He sighed again and left.
She chuckled and grabbed the prototype, tossing it across the lab where it bounced harmlessly across the counter. "So predictable."
She turned back to her work and frowned when she spotted a small spider climbing across a microscope. "How did you get in here?" she tisked as she grabbed a glass case to catch it in. Whoever was letting bugs into her lab was going to regret it.
She turned back to the spider and froze when she saw it rapidly spinning a web, the strands forming a pattern far too precise to be natural. Her eyes widened as the strands began to form numbers until she was presented with an American phone number. She immediately scooped up the bug and held it up to a magnifying glass. She sucked in a breath as realized it wasn't an actual spider, but a spider-shaped robot. A bug in a completely different sense.
She looked between the bot and the number contemplatively.
She should tell her brother about this immediately, but there were very few who could get inside Wakanda's borders, let alone to Shuri's lab, all whilst undetected.
She gave it a few moment's thought, then brought up a secured line on her Kimoyo Beads and called the number.
"This is a private and secured line. Please identify yourself at once," a female voice answered as soon as the call connected.
"I found your bug," Shuri said instead.
"I'm sorry, that is not adequate identification. Please identify yourself at once or I will be forced to report and end the call."
Before Shuri could say anything - or more likely hang up and go to her brother - the bug gave a few small chirps.
"Oh, hello Ana. Congratulations on a job well done. Apologies, Princess Shuri, I will transfer you to Spider-Man right now."
Spider-Man? Well, that explained the spider design. She recognized the name as one of the people that Stark had brought in to help against the fight against Rogers, but why would he try to contact Shuri? Clearly, that had been his intention if his secretary immediately knew who she was simply by the fact that she had the bug.
"Wait, S.I.L.K., give me a second!"
"Hello?" Shuri asked, surprised by how high pitched the voice was. She knew her brother had said Spider-Man sounded young, but just how young?
"H-hey. Hi, sorry, I wasn't expecting you to get back to us so soon. It's an honor to speak with you, Your Highness. Is that right? Your Highness? Sorry, I've never spoken with royalty before."
Shuri snickered at the spider-boy's flailing. "Just Shuri is fine. And you are the Spider-Man."
"Yeah, that's me."
"Tell me, Spider-Man, why did you send in your spy bug to infiltrate Wakanda."
"Woah, wait, no! First, she's not a spy bug. Anapistula's a delivery bug. No recording of any kind, promise. She was just made to find you and give you my number. I swear. As for infiltrating Wakanda… Okay, yeah, technically that happened, but we knew it would be easier to do that then wait until one of your random trips to Oakland."
"We?"
"Iron Lad and I."
She recognized that name as well. "Do either of you have actual names?"
"Maybe," he hummed.
"You know I could figure it out."
"Yeah, but we're not going to make it easy."
"Why did you contact me then?"
"… How much do you know about the creation of Vision?"
With that, we finally get Iron Lad in action and find out what Anapistula was for. For the record, Ana's AI is very basic, more in line with an animal than a person, similar to Redwing. Harley just needed her to be smart enough to find her way to Shuri from Joe's drop off.