Hi all! Good luck to any who have finals coming up, and congrats to those who are already finished!🎉🎉 Hopefully some Team Spidey can get you through the rest of the semester :) Some fun banter, action, and mayhaps a sad Tony...

No trigger warnings! Just have fun and stay safe! ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜

Chapter Six: Mr. Sandman

As the call's ringing sounds in the background, Peter begins his swinging back to the general area of Queens. Maybe he could get Droney to take some more pictures of him if he got into a fight. Jameson would probably want some action shots as opposed to just Spider-Man swinging.

"Can you get me some information about a criminal named Flint?" Peter asks in hopes of getting a head start on any research they might need.

"I can't do a background search without a last name," Karen informs with a tinge of disappointment. "However, I can cross reference the name 'Flint' with recent news sites as well as articles and search law enforcement databases," she offers instead. Peter flips onto a bus and decides to give his body a moment's rest.

"Sweet, that'd be great. Thanks, Karen." He flops onto his back and places his hands behind his head as the bus continues on.

"Getting lazy, are we?" His head perks up at Karen's teasing.

"Woah, lazy? Me? Never in a million years. Did Mr. Stark put you up to this?" he jokes back, letting himself relax a little. If he were being honest, he hadn't even noticed he was tense. That Daily Bugle thing must've made him more nervous than he thought.

"I'm programmed to say no to any and all accusations involving Tony Stark," Karen counters and Peter swears he can hear the smile in her voice. Just as he's about to continue their banter, another voice pops into the conversation.

"Guy in the Chair and Gal in the Beanbag have entered the chat," Ned greets happily. Peter chuckles and shakes his head.

"You guys sure took your sweet time answering," he jokes. Right off the bat, however, Karen takes her opportunity to critique Ned.

"This is a voice call," she corrects Ned's greeting in an upbeat tone. Karen and Ned might have a bit of a competitive history ever since the patrol where Peter saved Isaac from being mowed down by those joyriders.

"I know that!" Ned quickly defends. "I was just making a cool entrance like they do in the movies."

"I'm not sitting in a beanbag chair. I'm on the floor," MJ chimes in, only making Ned groan.

"Peter, they're ruining my cool vibe! Team Spidey is falling apart!" Ned whines as he starts up his computer.

"I hate to break it to you, but we're not exactly cool, man," Peter counters hesitantly. Ned, on the other hand, gasps loudly and widens his eyes.

"Yeah," MJ agrees without missing a beat, "if anything I'm the coolest one here." She smiles smugly as her curly bangs fall in front of her eyes.

"Dude, you're literally swinging to wherever you're swinging to go be a superhero," Ned emphasizes, trying to get his point across. Rolling her eyes, MJ sits up straighter and pulls out her own laptop. Usually, she and Ned hang out together during patrol so that it's easier for them to stay on the same page, but this is more of an impromptu patrol.

"Speaking of which," she interjects before Peter can get them further off track, "what's with the last minute patrol?"

"And did J. Jonah Jameson take your pictures?!" Ned adds once MJ has finished. If they were next to each other, she'd be sending him a glare. Peter sits up and crosses his legs underneath him as the bus turns a corner.

"Overheard Mr. Jameson and a guy talking about high crime in Queens. Apparently someone named Flint is causing it," he repeats the information before getting a bit more excited. "And he didn't just take the pictures, he bought them!" he exclaims.

"No way!" Ned says just as excitedly. "That's freaking awesome!" He bounces slightly in his chair.

"Right?! And he-"

"Did you get any other information?" MJ questions, trying her best to keep both of them on subject. "You know, relating to Scorpion or Flint?" The line goes silent as Peter thinks.

"Um, no. I think I have to get on Mr. Jameson's good side, first. He didn't tell me anything. And that's all I got on Flint, but Karen said she can't get information without a last name," Peter says as he effortlessly ducks underneath a stoplight.

"I was searching criminal databases prior to this call," Karen states. "I have found every recent article, video, and news site relating to the criminal Flint." As soon as she finishes, MJ is typing on her laptop.

"Got it. Send it to me and I'll go through everything. Oh, by the way Parker, your aunt wants us to go to the boardwalk later today," MJ informs nonchalantly while starting to comb through the information. Peter's lenses narrow with a low, mechanical hum.

"Wait, you want us to go to the boardwalk? When there's an arthropod wannabe and a high crime rate in Queens?" he questions as if there's a clear right and wrong.

"Scorpions are also in the class Arachnida," Karen easily informs. Peter rubs his forehead while taking in all the different information.

"Thank you, Karen…" he says with slight exasperation. "Why exactly do we need to go? And why are you telling me and not May?" Ned awkwardly clears his throat.

"I'm going to search where the most crimes are happening and I'll get back to you with a pattern," he offers, avoiding Peter's questions altogether.

"May doesn't want you getting too stressed with Spider-Man. She wants you to have fun." MJ's words come as somewhat of a shock to Peter. He hasn't considered himself stressed and he certainly wouldn't expect May to reach out to Ned and MJ about it.

"I, I'm not stressed. I'm perfectly fine! It's break so I don't have school and I can focus more on this kinda stuff. I can't just relax when Scorpion's still out there. And, and now this Flint guy is causing trouble right under our noses? C'mon, I have to do something," Peter reasons, nervously stuttering through his words. Because he isn't stressed, right? He doesn't have exams to worry about, Toomes is in jail, Mysterio is gone, and it's winter break. It's not like he has anything better to do than have a not-job and fight Scorpion.

"That's why you need breaks in between," MJ effortlessly argues without taking her attention off the article in front of her.

"I'm taking breaks!" Peter squeaks out in defense.

"When was the last time you did something fun that wasn't Spidey related?" Ned challenges as he skims his search results. Peter scoffs as if it's the easiest question in the world…then comes up empty. There has to be something fun he did recently.

"Oh!" It finally clicks. "When we had that movie night right before we fought Mysterio together! Y'know, MJ, when you finally told us you knew I was Spider-Man? That was-"

"Two months ago," MJ cuts in to forcibly finish for him. Peter mulls over her words.

"Oh…two months?" he repeats. It just doesn't sound right. It can't be that long ago, can it?

"Got it!" Ned suddenly exclaims. His outburst effectively saves Peter from the intervention and he listens intently along with MJ. "Looks like banks are the ones getting robbed the most. It seems like it has to do with Flint using the sewer system and underground tunnels. There's no other ways in." With Ned's newfound information, Peter hops to his feet and rolls his shoulders out to prepare for swinging again.

"Nice job, Ned. Thanks."

"And I've got a last name," MJ updates as well. "Flint Marko." Huh, it's not the kind of last name Peter was expecting, but his initials are P.P. so who is he to judge?

"I dunno about you guys, but, like, that just screams Mob to me," Ned feels the need to add.

"If he was with the Mob, he wouldn't be robbing banks, Ned," Peter is quick to debunk. They're dealing with a super villain, they don't need to deal with a Mob Boss too. "Karen? Think you can work your magic?"

"Anything for you, Peter. Within reason and Tony Stark's set guidelines," Karen confirms. Peter rubs his forehead, trying to not let his frustration show, and nods his head. What would he do without Tony's overbearing protocols?

"Yeah, of course. Run a background check on Flint Marko. Guys, what banks haven't been hit yet?" he asks his team, still considering MJ's proposition. "Do we really need to go to the boardwalk? I have to get more pictures for the Bugle, catch Flint, stop Scorpion. That's, that could take a while." He's well aware that he's just making excuses, but he doesn't want something to happen while he's at the boardwalk. Last time he made an effort to have fun, he was slipped beer and Tony had to fly him to the Medbay.

"Well, if you want to get there today and have time to go to the boardwalk, I suggest picking yourself up and swinging the rest of the way there before New York traffic makes you eat those words," MJ points out as she leans back against the side of her bed and waits for the action to begin.

"I was getting there!" Peter responds with mild opposition, but thwips out a web nonetheless. "I have to get a location first anyways, so it's not like I can ju-"

"Based on Flint's other hits," Ned conveniently cuts in, "I'd put his next robbery at Queens County Savings Bank or New York Community Bank. He tends to rob them around lunch." Peter blinks, hoping beyond hope that he doesn't get cut off again.

"Or I'm gonna go there. That works. Now we just wait for Flint and-"

"No matches found regarding a 'Flint Marko,'" Karen interrupts as soon as her background search comes up empty. Peter's first instinct is to groan in frustration over being interrupted again, but his confusion takes precedence.

"Wait, what?" he asks for clarification, trying to split his attention between swinging and the conversation.

"Are you sure?" Ned double checks with a hint of hesitation.

"Positive." Karen hums in disappointment and even shows the lack of results on Peter's HUD. True to her word, not a single criminal or noncriminal is under the name "Flint Marko."

"Well that was unexpected," Peter notes. "Do you think it's an alias or codename or something?" He tries to think of multiple possibilities, but his guesses are as good as theirs.

"Who knows. Probably," is all MJ provides as an answer. Peter lets out a slow breath as he concentrates on a plan. Technically, he doesn't need to know anything about Flint to stop him from robbing a bank.

"Okay, Karen, map out the two banks and get me there. It's only…" he looks at the time on his HUD, "12:03 so we have some time." As asked, Karen pulls up a map showing the two banks, which are mere blocks apart. Barely ten minutes. Then an idea makes its way into Peter's head.

"Hey, if the banks are, like, ten minutes away from each other…" he starts. Ned is quick to catch on.

"And Flint's using underground tunnels…"

"Then he could rob both in one fell swoop," MJ finishes with her eyes narrowed. Peter huffs. Things just got a bit more complicated, which he wasn't planning on. Then again, most of his plans don't go according to…well, plan.

"Karen, is there any way for you to get blueprints or something of the sewers between the two buildings? Or, or can you scan them when we get there?" He swings from building to building and watches as Forest Park comes into view. Since there are less buildings, he uses stoplights and streetlights to propel himself forward.

"Of course," Karen confirms. "There aren't tunnels that directly connect the banks. However, the sewer system runs between the two allowing for possible escape routes or more under the radar transportation." If Peter weren't convinced before, he certainly is now.

"Okay, now what. We don't know which bank he'll go for first. It's not like I can just wait underground until an alarm goes off," he points out. There doesn't seem to be a better alternative though.

"I don't think you'll have to do much waiting," Ned speaks up in a mildly concerned voice. Peter raises an eyebrow at the tone.

"How come?" MJ prompts when there's no further explanation.

"Well, I was hacking into the banks' security feeds, like the great Guy in the Chair that I am, and when I was pulling up-"

"Ned," MJ and Peter say simultaneously.

"He's kind of already there," Ned finally cuts to the chase. "Queens County Savings Bank silent alarm was just tripped and there's a guy in the back vault." As Ned relays the newfound information, Peter adjusts his course for Queens County Savings Bank.

"Leeds, link me the feed," MJ orders and Ned immediately does so. "Looks like he's just stuffing the bag as much as he can." The same video feed appears on Peter's screen, showing a well-built man frantically emptying drawers and filling a bag.

"He's moving too fast. I'll have to cut him off through the sewers." With that said, Peter flips down to the street in front of a sewer grate. He dreadfully yanks the grate off and involuntarily shudders.

"Well?" MJ urges impatiently. Peter makes a face underneath his mask.

"Ugh, that's gonna stink. Like, a lot." It takes all of his willpower to not gag at the overwhelming smell of rotting sewage.

"Don't be a wimp," Ned adds, somewhat encouraging in his own way.

"C'mon, man! I'm gonna smell like sewers for the next week! You guys forget that I have a super spider sense of smell." Regardless, Peter takes a deep breath, pinches his nose, and pencil dives through the small hole. He lands in a wide stance with a splash in the dim sewers. Slowly, he looks around at the damp, brick walls. "Did Mr. Stark put a million dollar flashlight in the suit?" Droney pops out of his chest and beeps a hello before projecting a bright light. "Oh, that works. Cool. Get some pictures for the Bugle while I'm fighting, too."

"See, we can get this done and be ready for the boardwalk by 1:00," MJ points out matter-of-factly.

"And we can win all those dumb rigged booths!" Ned exclaims with obvious intention to have Peter beat the rigged games.

"Guys? Can we focus? Bank robbery in progress, remember?" Peter reminds, his impatience getting the better of him. He jumps and sticks to the brick ceiling, to not make too much noise in the water, and crawls towards the bank. In an ideal world, he eventually should intercept Flint.

"Killjoy, much?" MJ continues to drive her point in a singsong voice. "Someone's stressed." Peter concentrates on quickly crawling while simultaneously listening. The tunnels should amplify any noise, which is great coupled with his hearing.

"You know what would make you feel better?" Ned doesn't wait for an answer. "Beating all those terrible, money-hungry, selfish vendors who steal money from kids who just want stuffed prizes. And by the way, Flint left the bank." Peter lowers the comms at Ned's update so he can hear his surroundings better.

"Thanks," he says in a hushed voice.

"You can buy those stuffed animals at the dollar store instead of paying five dollars to play an unwinnable game," MJ effortlessly dismisses.

"But imagine the look on their faces when Peter actually beats one!" While the two argue, Peter zeroes in on his hearing. Besides the comms, all he can hear is the trickle of water.

"You're wasting your money."

"It's the principle, MJ," Ned counters, suddenly taking on a wise tonality.

"If it's about principle, then why are sweatshops paying their workers practically nothing when they're selling products for over ten times the production cost," MJ counters without so much as breaking a sweat. Peter's head snaps towards the never ending tunnel in front of him. Echoes. Splashing steps sounding through the air. The vibrations bounce off the walls and reach his ears. They're far, but they're coming.

"We've got company," he whispers. "Karen, run facial recognition as soon as you can." Now, he waits.

"Good luck!" Ned chirps, followed by MJ mumbling,

"Kick ass." The steps get louder and louder until Peter repels from the ceiling upside down, just in time for him to come face-to-face with presumably Flint Marko. The man's eyes widen and his strong, broad jaw clenches.

"I don't think those are yours." Peter nods to the black bags over Flint's shoulders.

"Get outta my way!" Flint demands and drops one of the bags to throw a punch, but Peter easily moves his head to dodge it.

"Woah, is that any way to say hello? Being a punching bag isn't on my to-do list, sorry." Peter spins on his web and kicks Flint away from him before shooting a web to pull the remaining bag of cash away. "Dude, it's winter break. Don't you have something better to do? Get with the program." He webs the bag to the far wall to keep Flint from grabbing it again. As Flint recovers from the kick, Karen speaks up.

"Real name is William Baker. Born in Queens and expelled from high school," she informs. Peter flips to the ground and lands with a small splash. Eyes filled with anger, Flint rushes Peter again only to get a fist the face and a kick to the chest.

"Expelled, huh?" MJ comments with disinterest.

"Sounds like the typical criminal starting point," Ned notes, accompanied by a shoulder shrug.

"The hell do you think you are?!" Flint demands, swinging wildly. Not a single blow hits its mark and, when he starts to get bored dodging, Peter grabs one of the rogue fists.

"I'm Spider-Man, nice to meet you, criminal sir," he greets politely. With a swift pull, he tugs Flint forward into the brick wall. "And you're the bad guy. Didn't anyone tell you that it's against the bad-guy-code to steal during the holidays? I know you guys are desperate, but at least have some standards."

"You think you're funny, huh? A tough guy?" Flint challenges. In a moment of blind rage, he swipes his hand at the floating light and knocks Droney into the water.

"Hey!" Peter yells, but Droney hits the water and they're both plunged into darkness. "Not cool, man," he grumbles.

"Can you hurry up so we can go play some games?" Ned impatiently whines. Peter takes a slow, deep breath and focuses on his senses. Good thing he trained his Spidey Sense like crazy for Mysterio.

"You're losing your edge if this dunce is getting the upper hand," MJ also adds. A light tingling on the back of Peter's neck alerts him to a punch, which he dodges without a thought. As soon as he pinpoints the water rippling outward, he shoots a web to yank Flint into the wall and shoots a Web Grenade to keep him in place.

"Screw you! You're gonna regret this! Ya hear me?! You're a dead man walkin'! A dead man!" Flint yells his threats as he struggles beneath the strong webbing. Peter webs Flint's mouth shut before he holds his breath and searches for Droney in the practically diseased sewage.

"Yeah, yeah, yeah. Tell it to the cops. I'm sending you my dry cleaning bill," he mumbles. Then, his fingers brush over a smooth, metallic surface. "There you are! Sorry, little buddy. How's the situation?"

"Police are one minute and thirty-seven seconds away," Karen answers immediately.

"And I told them where Flint is," Ned informs, a smile in his voice. "Now we get to go have fun?" He's already leaning towards his closet, as far as his headset will allow him, to get his clothes. Droney shakes himself off before his light flickers back on, making Peter smile and his eyes squint.

"Took you long enough. Ready to wrap this up?" MJ inquires, double checking everything on her end to make sure it's all in order. Peter webs the other bag in place and nods.

"Money's secure. Can I get out of here now? It stinks so-" Something catches his eye when Droney's light reflects off the ground in a weird way. He tilts his head as his mechanical lenses narrow in curiosity.

"Peter? You okay?" Ned questions with a hint of hesitation. Peter kneels to inspect the ground and notices a light green sheen beneath the water.

"There's something…" he starts. Carefully, he picks up the broken pieces of…metal? They're plates of metal. Metal armor. He's seen this type of armor before, which is concerting enough, but there's claw marks on it too. "Scorpion was down here."

"What?" MJ demands, instantly sitting up straighter. Ned stops his search for clean clothes and sits back down.

"Uh, why would Scorpion be in the sewers?" he asks slowly as his brow furrows in confusion.

"That's…that's a good question," Peter mutters. The three sit in silence for a few painstakingly long moments as he thinks. Suddenly, sirens sound outside and snap them out of their bewildered silence. Peter briefly turns back to Flint and waves. "That's my cue! Have fun at Ryker's Island!"

Ignoring Flint's protesting, muffled yells, Peter jumps on the wall and crawls out through the same grate he jumped in. As soon as he's out, cop cars are screeching to a halt in front of him.

"Hey, I got the guy all webbed up down there so- woah, woah, woah! Easy!" He throws his hands up as soon as his Spidey Sense spikes. The officers' steely glares bore into him and a few have their hands over the guns on their hips.

"We don't need your help!" one of them yells. Since when do the cops have a vendetta against me?! Peter wonders incredulously.

"What? I just caught that guy for you! He would've gotten away if I hadn't-" Once again, he's cut short.

"Let us do our jobs!" Another shouts in protest. Even though Peter wants to keep defending himself, MJ is the voice of reason, even if she doesn't want to be.

"Don't argue with people who have guns. Let it go," MJ borderline orders, but Peter knows she's right. With a huff of frustration, Peter thwips out a web and pulls himself away from the tense scene.

"What was that all about?" he questions in utter disbelief. There's not a thing he can think of that could possibly make the police mad at him. If anything, he should've been thanked!

"If you'd like, I can search for a possible reason," Karen offers, equally concerned.

"Yeah, that'd be great," Peter confirms as he lands on the top of a roof.

"That was intense," Ned comments with a deep breath, leaning back in his chair with his cheeks puffed out.

"So much for a good public image," MJ mutters. She doesn't show it, but she's just as confused as they are. There hasn't been any bad PR for Spider-Man in a long time and Mysterio didn't manage to turn the city against them.

"It's just another thing to worry about," Peter notes, actively stopping himself from ripping his mask off and rubbing a hand through his hair. "First things first, though. If Scorpion's hiding out in the sewers, then we have to look for him. There's no telling where he could be if he's-"

"Come on," Ned interrupts, "we can worry about him and the police after we go to the boardwalk!" He knows they all need a break, especially Peter.

"Yeah, you dorks have fun with that." MJ's comment immediately grabs both Ned and Peter's attention.

"Wait, you're not coming?" Ned asks, baffled.

"You gave me all that lecturing and you're not even coming?!" Peter complains and throws his head back accompanied by a groan. MJ rolls her eyes at their overdramatization and shakes her head minutely.

"Not all of us have the luxury to go do that kind of thing." Since she can't be seen, she lets her gaze drop to the floor and crosses her arms protectively. Ned and Peter are quick to catch on to the hidden meaning. She can't afford it, Peter mentally realizes. Come to think of it, he's never seen or heard anything about MJ's personal life. No mention of siblings or parents.

"Hey, it's not a problem," Ned speaks up as nonchalantly as possible. "My parents and I can pick you up. I'm sure they wouldn't mind. Plus, I still have birthday money saved up. Not that you, like, need it or anything," he quickly adds. The last thing he wants is MJ to feel like she's being pitied.

"Yeah, and May and I've got food covered no problem," Peter offers without further hesitation. He clears his throat and casually places his hands on his hips, even though he can't be seen. They don't have much money saved either, but they're getting by well enough for a fun day. MJ keeps her eyes cast down.

"Uh, thanks. That'd be…nice." She nods in agreement, but keeps her emotions locked away. Peter, catching onto the tension, changes the subject.

"Okay, we have one day to relax. We'll get it out of our system and then it's sewer patrol from now on. Time to invest in air fresheners, I guess," he grumbles, rubbing his poor nose.

"Yes!" Ned yells as he excitedly throws his arms into the air. "Dude, this is going to be so much fun! I'll get ready! Pick you up soon, MJ!" He devolves into enthusiastic ramblings before his line goes dead.

"At least we know Ned's excited," Peter says with a chuckle. "Hey if we have to go to the boardwalk, do you think Mr. Stark would wanna come too?" he inquires. If Tony's upset, maybe he would want to have a fun day too. MJ hums and gives a noncommittal shrug of her shoulders.

"Only one way to find out." Well, she has a fair point.

"Alright, I'll call and ask. See you soon." Peter hopes the smile can be heard in his voice.

"Later, loser." Then, MJ's line cuts off too. Peter stretches, twists his back, and starts to swing back home.

"Karen, can you text May I'm on the way home to get a change of clothes before we leave, please? And call Mr. Stark," he asks kindly.

"No request is too great for you, Peter." He laughs at her response, then waits for Tony to answer.

"What's up, kid?" Tony greets after a few rings. The first thing Peter notices is the distinct lack of blaring music in the background. He chooses to not mention it.

"Hey, Mr. Stark! We're all heading to the Coney Island Boardwalk, if you wanna come?" he offers hopefully, but something tells him Tony won't take it.

"Thanks for the offer, but I have lots to do. Busy day," Tony turns down, a twinge of guilt and regret in his gut. It's just not good timing considering…

"Oh, that's, that's okay. Are you sure? We could even come up with one of those disguises so no one will recognize you," Peter tries again. Of course he can tell something's wrong, but he doesn't want to push it either. He just wants Tony to know that he's being thought of. A ghost of a smile, something rare these days, appears on Tony's lips.

"As thrilling as that sounds, I'm going to have to pass. Next time. Promise." With a mild sigh of disappointment, he adds, "But you have fun, okay? Loosen those tense, Spidey muscles. Have some fun for once." A hint of his usual snarkiness shows through, causing Peter to chuckle.

"I know how to have fun!" Peter counters indignantly. "You saw me during Monopoly, I'm practically a party animal." Even the words sound wrong in his mouth and his nose scrunches. One of these days, he might learn how to not be awkward. Tony snorts and fondly rolls his eyes.

"Whatever floats your boat and boosts your ego. Have fun," he repeats. In the back of his mind, he wishes he had something more meaningful to say.

"I will. See you later, Mr. Stark!" Peter puts as much enthusiasm into his tone as possible, not missing the way Tony's voice is lacking its wit.

"Bye, kiddo." Tony is quick to hang up and takes a breath of relief. Today just isn't his damn day, but of course the kid just had to call. It's always harder to hide things from him. Tony lowers the phone, chokes back his tears, and continues to barely hold himself and his life together by a breaking thread.

Bet you weren't expecting some TONY angst! Don't worry, there's plenty of time for some Peter whump...which is exactly what we get next chapter! Theories for why Tony's having a rough time?đź‘€

Thank you for reading! ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜

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