"You have incoming," FRIDAY informed Peter.
"Can you stall them?" Peter asked.
"It's Iron-Man, boss," FRIDAY said. "I can't stall him for long."
"Alright. I'm done anyway."
Peter grabbed the suit and ordered FRIDAY to lift the lockdown.
Iron-Man came crashing in through the ceiling.
"Oh, no you don't. You don't just throw my Hulk off the roof and expect to get away with it.
"Hey, FRIDAY," Peter said, backing away, "self-destruct in fifteen seconds."
"Yes, boss," FRIDAY replied and started counting down. "Fifteen. Fourteen. Thirteen."
"See? Mr. Stark, now you can either save FRIDAY or you can stop me. I gave you plenty of time to stop FRIDAY, but the clock's ticking."
"FRIDAY!" Mr. Stark yelled. "Stop! Don't self-destruct!"
"See, you don't command FRIDAY anymore. She obeys me." Peter waved goodbye to Mr. Stark. "Adios!"
Peter put the new suit on. It fit snugly and looked much better than the hoodie with the ripped sleeves. The colors were all-black with white spiderweb patterns and spider emblem on his chest. A female voice came to life from inside the suit.
"Hello, boss, I am your AI."
"You worked!" Peter exclaimed. "I was scared you wouldn't!"
"I am fully functional, boss," the AI's voice was slightly amused.
"Can you not call me boss? It makes me uncomfortable." Peter adjusted his mask.
"What would you rather have me call you, then?"
"Uh, my name is Peter," he supplied.
"Okay, Peter."
"What do you want me to call you?"
"Anything you'd like, Peter."
"Hmm. How about Karen?"
"If you'd like."
"Karen it is," Peter decided. After a minute of silence, he asked, "What do I do now? I'm all alone. I just-I just broke into Avengers Tower. What the hell am I supposed to do now?"
"Peter, you're not alone," Karen said. "You have me."
"Yeah, but I built you."
"You still have me. And as for your question, I'd recommend you leave Queens. You're still going to be recognized and hunted. Spider-Man is already in the criminal database, as is Peter Parker. Your identity is exposed now, they found your fingerprints on the gun."
Peter shook his head. That was impossible, he never touched the gun. "Then where do I go? Who killed Aunt May?"
"Go somewhere else, Peter. And as for your second question, I don't know."
"Great. Thanks, that helped a lot."
"Peter-"
"Can you help me find May's killer?" Peter asked, cutting off the AI.
"I believe so, Peter."
"Then help me."
"The Avengers will be hunting you, Peter, which makes it an almost impossible feat."
"Karen, I'm dead anyway. I can't go back."
Something in his heart tore open as he confronted the truth. He couldn't go back. He couldn't see Ned again, or MJ, or even Flash. His Stark internship was gone. Peter had to admit, though, he knew that being Spider-Man would cost him everything one day. He knew since his uncle Ben had uttered those last words. With great power, comes great responsibility.
"I can't go back," he repeated. "There's nothing waiting for me."
