They agreed to meet on the roof, once they'd tested their comms (which worked perfectly). Katya disappeared out of the window again as Peter dawned pants and a sweatshirt he could zip over his suit, and grabbed his backpack. "Ned, the Lite Brite is evidence, make sure to keep it safe." He managed out, before slipping out of the hotel room all together.

Jogging towards him, in a strapless one piece bathing suit, was Liz Toomes. Peter froze.

"You're just in time!" She laughed, her voice too loud to be considered a whisper. The rest of the decathlon team was jogging up behind her, clad in bathrobes and armed with pool towels. "We're gonna go swimming!"

Flash ducked low to smack Peter's ass as he jogged by with the rest of the team. Peter whirled around. "Hey!"

Liz was still in front of him, and he felt almost like apologizing for yelling. It wasn't something he did often. "I, er- I was going to go study in the business center."

Liz rolled her eyes. "Peter, you're like the smartest guy I know. You don't need anymore studying. Besides, a rebellious group activity the night before a competition is good for morale. I read that in a TED talk-" she cut herself off. "-I mean, I heard it in a TED talk. And I read it in a coaching book." She finished quickly, tucking her hair behind her ear self-consciously.

Of course Peter knew she was the captain, but had never realized how much work she put into being so. It seemed to just come so naturally to her, the leadership skills. "Wow, you like..really care about this." Stupid, was that all he could really come up with? LIz raised an eyebrow.

"Of course I do. It's our futures. I"m not going to mess that up."

Peter swallowed, and for a second- okay, more than a second- tried to run through the night in his mind if he just didn't check out the lair and went swimming with Liz Toomes instead. If he could just set his backpack down, turn around, put on his swim trunks and be a normal highschooler for a night.

He glanced up at the ceiling, which had a skylight, where Katya's form was visibly watching them from the shadows at the very back corner- he could only tell she was there because he knew to look for her. She waved for him, beckoning.

Could he really just drop all of this and leave the evil lair alone? He didn't know when he'd ever be this close to it again…

And he couldn't just keep letting these guys make these weapons.

"Also, we raided the mini bar-" Liz's voice brought him back to reality, her smooth, dark shoulders glowing in the hotel's mellow nighttime hallway lights. "And these candy bars were like, eleven dollars." She pegged a piece of candy at his chest. "C'mon, get your trunks on!"

Peter didn't manage to come up with anything to say in response before she resumed her trot towards the pool, laughing and giggling with the others along the way. He heaved a sigh,pulling the sweatshirt's zipper up a little higher just in case. He couldn't let this go. Superheroes didn't take vacations. He had some investigating to do.

— –

"Finally." Katya scuffed at the ground with the heel of her boot. "You were talking to her forever."

"No I wasn't." Peter said defensivley, landing on the roof. There'd been a staircase all the way to the top, of course, but after he hit the seventh floor that had an empty common area balcony he figured a bit of slinging wouldn't hurt. "It was like, five seconds."

"FIve seconds where these 'bad guys' could be getting away." Katya had a point, but the mirth in her voice made him want to discount it. He glanced down through the skylight once, where he could see Liz and the others playing around in the pool, before undressing, shoving the extra clothes in the backpack he'd brought and popping on his suit's hood.

"Good Evening, Peter."

A voice that was definitely not Katya's greeted him, as the rest of his suit powered up. He panicked. "Hello? Hello?"

Katya'd grabbed her ear when the voice spoke, too, wincing in pain. "What the hell was that?!"

"Congratulations on completing the rigorous Training Wheels Protocol and gaining access to your suit's full capabilities." As the voice spoke, diagrams and drop down menus swam before Peter's eyes, covering the interface entirely. He was having trouble keeping track of them all.

"Oh-thank you." He thanked the voice.

"So where would you like to take me tonight?" His interface's vision cleared, and he could see the world around him again. Nearby, Katya was fiddling with her earpiece before sticking it back in- based on her previous reaction, maybe it was the volume.

"Er, I put a tracker on someone," Peter told the suit, "He's a bad guy."

Peter wouldn't have even noticed Katya's snickering if he couldn't hear it both in the background and through the comms. What was so wrong with that word?

"Tracker located." His suit's interface became a translucent street view map of the city before him. "Plotting course to intercept target."

"Okay, well, as long as I make it back in time for decathlon, it's fine!" He reasoned. He turned to Katya, who couldn't see his suit's interface. "Follow me."

They leapt down from the roof, Peter slinging on a few balconies to slow his fall as Katya simply sailed by him, landing in a tucked roll on the overhang near where the buses were parked. How she hadn't broken anything was beyond Peter.

They hopped onto the roof of the nearest school bus and luckily, some type of covered van was approaching, going in the direction they needed to. Without thinking, Peter grabbed Katya's waist, pulling her close to him before adhering a web to the truck and pulling them both on it along with it. Katya hadn't even so much as yelped.

While Katya couldn't see Peter's interface, she could hear the suit's comms, so the two of them managed to keep coordinated as they car hopped out of DC, catching rides on tops of trucks, vans, and finally one of those tow trucks that carries multiple cars at once.

"One hundred meters from destination and closing."

Katya and Peter glanced at each other before edging towards the side of the truck.

"Jump now."

They did, Peter using the slight floating ability he had to slow his fall, while Katya landed in another roll , both of them tumbling in the underbrush at the side of the road. The only establishment ahead of them was a gas station, empty but for a van parked in one of the fillup spots, but even the bodega was closed, the lights off.

"Detecting three individuals."

Peter and Katya, both still hidden in the underbrush, peered through the bushes. "Why is their secret lair in a gas station?" Peter asked nobody in particular. "That's so lame."

"I don't think it's their actual layer, pauchok, I think they're waiting for somebody." There was feedback in both their ear pieces as Katya spoke, and they winced in unison. "Okay," she told him, "I go low, you go high."

Peter turned to ask her what she meant by that, but she'd already disappeared. Well, high it was.

Peter swung himself up onto the top of the exoskeleton of what had once been the gas station's sign, empty now save for a few particle boards. "Hey suit lady, what're they doing?"

"Do you want to hear what they're saying?"

"I can hear what they're saying? Er, yeah."

"Activating Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode."

Suddenly Peter could not only hear the voices of the three men inside, but see their heat signatures, too.

"They got the gauntlet from the Lagos clean up, but the rest is all mine." said one of the men.

"Whoa, that's so cool- Katya, can you hear this?"

"Loud and clear, pauchok."

Peter furrowed his brow. "What's pauchok?"

"Your comms name" her voice rang as clear as if she was right next to him, but he couldn't see her anywhere, "I'll be myshka."

"I thought you didn't like myshka." Peter could almost hear her shrug.

"It serves a purpose, for now."

"Okay, but what does mine-" He was cut off by the men continuing to talk.

"I can't believe they're still cleaning up that Triskelion mess."

"I love it. They keep making messes, we keep getting rich."

"Yo, Kat- I mean, myshka, I think they're in the middle of a heist-"

"-I'd gathered as much."

"We could catch them all red-handed!"

In the very corner of his eye, in one of the darkest parts of the parking lot, Peter could've sworn he'd seen something move. Had to be Katya.

"Okay, I"m going to get a little bit closer so I can see what's going on." He told her- or was he talking to his suit? Or both of them. Yeah, both of them.

"Would you like me to engage Enhanced Combat Mode?"

"Er, Enhanced Combat Mode?" He repeated, as if it were a stupid question, "Yeah!"

"Activating Instant Kill."

Peter froze. "No no no no, I don't want to kill anybody-"

"Your suit's going to kick your ass," came Katya's unhelpful voice from the earpiece.

"De-activating instant kill."

Peter shot a web to the overhang of the gas station and leapt after it instinctively-

But the web shot small and fast, too close in range to catch anything, and Peter fell straight down to the asphalt, winding him. He could hear Katya trying to stifle her snickers in his ear.

"What the hell just happened? What was that?"

"You jumped from the sign and landed on your face." Katya said. Peter scanned the area and couldn't find her heat signature. How had she even seen that then? Where was she?

Peter shot another web up at the gas station sign he'd just jumped off of, which flew out and stuck to it in a clump, disconnecting from his wrist. What the hell? "Suit lady, what's wrong with my webshooters?"

"Rapid fire is the default for Enhanced Combat Mode."

"Why would I need rapid fire?!"

"Would you like to see more options?

Before Peter could answer, he glanced down at his hands and the interface displayed spirals of menus around each hand.

"You have 576 possible web combinations."

"Whoa. Mr. Stark really overdid it." He had no clue where to start. But they all had to be useful somehow, right? Mr. Stark wouldn't just put something in his suit for no reason.

…right?"

"That one." He selected one at random, hoping it was something he was used to.

"Great choice!' the voice trilled, "Would you like me to set this as your new default?"

Peter didn't answer, instead trying to web himself back up to the sign, but this time is was accompanied by a spark of electricity, the sign itself fluttering to life momentarily before sparking back out again. Peter yanked himself free from the webbing and sprinted to the closest shelter he could find, the trash cans around the corner from the darkened bodega.

"What was THAT?!"

"Taser webs."

"Taser webs?! I don't want taser webs-"

"Taser webs sound so cool though-" Katya's voice piped up, popping back in to the conversation.

"You seem to be very unfamiliar with your webshooter settings. Would you like to run a refresher course?"

"No, just, you choose." Peter could hear his frustration in his own voice, which was rare, but he wasn't about to admit to the Suit or Katya or himself that Ned – and by extension, Mr. Stark- might have been right.

"Sure thing"

From his vantage point now at the top of the empty bodega, he could just barely see a convoy of three trucks headed in their direction, due to pass the gas station at any minute. Inside of the van he could see the mens' heat signature's moving, but none of them were getting off to his right, he could finally see glimmers of Katya's heat signature, weaving in and out of the underbrush of the other side of the gas station, headed straight for the highway.

"K-Myshka, what're you doing?!"

"They're targeting the trucks!" came her reply, breathless, "Something's gonna-"

And that's when Peter saw it, the winged figure from the lake, swooping in towards the convoy of trucks that were about to pass. He pulled low, and shot some type of anchor from his arms to stabilize him onto the top of the middle truck. Peter barely registered Katya tossing herself towards the back of the convoy, her head signature disappearing as all three trucks were passing by the gas station.

"Myshka, Are you okay?" Peter called as he began slinging himself towards the convoy. He had mere seconds to catch it.

The man in the bird suit deployed something on the top of the truck he'd attached himself to, a portion of the ceiling glowing purple. He detached himself from his now anchored wings and dropped- directly through the roof.

Peter managed to scramble onto the truck itself just as the man's head disappeared through what looked to be a purple window of sorts- he could see the interior or the truck from where he was crouched.

"Myshka, copy." he hissed. He looked around for her wildly, whilst also trying to watch the man in the truck- he seemed to be taking stock of what was inside- but he couldn't see her. HIs pulse, which was already flying with adrenaline, pushed even faster. "Myshka, COPY."

There was a cough on the other end and Peter could physically feel his heart rate slow just a smidge. "Copy, pauchok,I'm in position. You worry about Birdman."

Peter had no clue what position she was referring to, but didn't have time to follow up. The purple section of the truck's roof wavered but was solid, like some sort of matter phase shifter. This would have been SO cool if he wasn't about to have to fight a metal demon with a twenty foot wingspan.

He backed off the edge of it, just as the man jumped back out, a bag filled with things he'd presumably selected from inside. Peter adhered a web to it and brought it to his feet. "Hey BIg BIrd!" he yelled, "This doesn't belong to you!"

The man turned to look his way- or, at least, Peter assumed he was because his gaze met the beady, green, glowing eyes- and leapt upwards, securing himself back into the rest of his wingsuit.

"Oh god."

Birdman rose only high enough so that he could come back and buzz him, which Peter managed to leap over. He turned to shoot a web at him, but it came out in split strands, both of which missed.

"Suit lady, what was that?!" He panicked, as Birdman made to buzz him again.

"You told me to choose."

Birdman's bottom claws were now trying to grab the bag Peter'd taken from him, which Peter only managed to keep hold of by one hand as he struggled not to lose his balance on the moving car. "What? No, just set everything back to normal!"

"Activating all systems."

Peter managed to throw Birdman off the bag but in doing so lost his balance and fell backwards, through the matter phase shifter and into the bed of the truck itself. He hit the ground with a thud, but there wasn't time to assess damage because he had to get back up there-

He leapt again, hitting hard metal this time, and everything went black.