FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT! PLUS UNCLE HAPPY AND IRONDAD

TW/ Same trigger warnings from last chapter apply!

Have fun and stay safe ❤️️ 💛💚💙💜

Chapter 8: Until Someone Gets Hurt

With one final, swift tug on his webs, Peter pulls himself between Flash and the bright purple energy. He doesn't consider the consequences, he just knows he can take the hit, but Flash can't. The purple light reflects in his lenses as the charge is fired. His Spidey Sense is thrown into overdrive for a split second, but there isn't enough time for much else. So, he takes the hit to protect Flash.

The sphere of energy collides with his solar plexus, just below his spider emblem, and he's instantly sent flying back into Flash. Both of them flip through the air and, since the pain hasn't hit him yet, Peter shoots a Web Grenade from each wrist to cushion their fall. Just to be safe, he grips Flash midair and throws him into the padded webbing once it expands so that he doesn't skid any farther. Peter, however, hits the other chunk of webbing and bounces off it before he goes tumbling on the asphalt and crashing into a metal trash can. He hits it with a clang, knocking it over in the process and sending all kinds of garbage scattering.

It's then that the rapid pulse of energy seems to surge unimaginably fast throughout his body, causing every single one of his muscles to lock up. At first there's no pain, no heat, no cold, nothing.

"Peter? Peter, can you please respond?" Karen's worried voice is muffled in the haze of his brain. "Your suit has been breached and you appear to have sustained second degree burns." Peter lifts his head enough to see a hole in his suit about the size of a softball and singed around the edges. The skin that's exposed is red and slightly blistered. Well, that sucks, he thinks absentmindedly. That means at least some of the circuits must be fried.

"Ugh," he groans as he tries to get to his feet, "it feels like my heart's doing hopscotch." He doesn't know if time is going faster or slower than it actually is, but it feels like both somehow.

"You're experiencing arrhythmia due to the electric shock," Karen informs. Peter's head begins to buzz and there's a high pitched ringing in his ears.

"Why, why isn't, where's Scorpion?" he questions as he blinks his eyes to get them to work. Flash scrambles to his feet before running towards him.

"He seems to be distracted. By what, I'm not sure," Karen is quick to answer, her voice tight as if she's stressed while trying to manage multiple things. Peter knows there's imminent danger, regardless of the fact that his Spidey Sense is still screaming at him, but his muscles won't do what they're told and he can only manage to push himself onto his elbows and knees. Then, the burning sets in.

It feels like a swarm of wasps are stinging his abdomen, slowly and painfully making their way around his torso. He can't find the air in his lungs otherwise he would be gasping for life. All he's able to focus on in the moment is the burning sensation. Finally, his rigid muscles begin to relax and he hears Flash's annoying, overly loud voice.

"Spider-Man! Are you okay?!" Flash asks him in a panic as he kneels next to the hero. Wasting no time, Peter shakes off his stupor as best as he can and stands.

"Yep. Yep, I'm great. Just feel like I've been barbequed but that's fine," he answers in a gravelly voice and groans as he attempts to move. Then he remembers that Flash would very easily be able to recognize his normal voice. He clears his throat and makes it sound lower, opting to avoid the embarrassing voice of Interrogation Mode. "Get going! Before you get hurt!" After his orders, he sizes up the situation. Scorpion's clutching his head and mumbling to himself. That's rather…out of character.

"I can't!" He whips back around to face Flash, who now has his phone out. "I have to livestream this! My followers would never forgive me if I met you and didn't livestream it," Flash desperately counters. However, Peter knows that whatever is stopping Scorpion from attacking them won't last forever.

"You've gotta be kidding me," he mutters to himself, turning his back on Flash. "I can't focus if I'm worrying about you! Now get out of here!" Without further argument, he sprints back into the fight, ignoring the way his movement pulls at the burns on his abdomen. While he has the advantage of Scorpion being preoccupied, he fires as many webs as he can to try to pin down the tail.

"Hey, buddy! Having an existential crisis? Don't worry, it happens to the best of us!" he quips to get back into a groove. Scorpion blindly swipes in the direction of Peter's voice, but Peter slide's underneath the villain's legs. "'Scuse me, sir. Just passing through." As soon as he's on the other side, he hops to his feet.

"He never said this would happen!" Scorpion screeches, whipping around and tearing his tail free in the process. Peter dodges the flailing arm and instead runs up Scorpion's chest like a wall and uses his face as a platform to jump into the air.

"I have no idea what you're talking about! You have to work with me here!" When Scorpion recovers, his rage filled eyes lock onto Peter, but the hero shoots his webs at the ground and pulls himself closer to gain more momentum for a kick to Scorpion in the cheek. The force of the kick shatters one of Scorpion's orange-tinted lenses and the villain stumbles back slightly. Peter notices Scorpion's instability and doesn't let it go to waste. He gracefully lands and shoots a Splitter Web from each wrist to pull Scorpion further off balance, who starts to teeter. It successfully pulls him off balance, but before Scorpion hits the ground he coils his tail behind him to spring him back up. Okay, Peter thinks, new plan.

Scorpion's tail tugs at the webs, but Peter releases them from his web-shooters, learning his lesson from last time. Peter runs vertically up a lamppost and jumps off at the top, facing the sky. He arches his back through the air so that he can see Scorpion underneath him and leans into a layout backflip. It happens within mere seconds: he takes aim with his webs, wrenches Scorpion into the air, lands, and jumps back up to punch the airborne villain to the ground. For the first time, the attack seems to do some damage. Scorpion's plated armor doesn't dent, but he winces at the impact and writhes in place on the ground.

"Please stay down," Peter borderline pleads as he lands. He's about to make a snarky comment when he catches a closer glimpse of Scorpion's face. The skin is definitely more green than the last time they fought, which certainly isn't normal. Now it looks like the skin is starting to become…scaly? Maybe? It's off putting, to say the least. "Karen, do a full body scan of Scorpion." As soon as he gets out the request, Scorpions squinted eyes snap open, making Peter jump back in surprise.

"On it," Karen confirms, happy to help. Since one of Scorpion's glass lenses broke, Peter can clearly see that his exposed eye is a pale yellow. That's typically not a natural eye color.

"You're working with him, aren't you?! You're both out to get me!" Scorpion accuses with a booming, raspy voice and his tail lunges forward with its blade now out, but Peter's Spidey Sense easily helps him avoid it.

"Any news on that scan?" Peter questions as he dodges another swipe of the tail. He webs himself to the top of a nearly demolished game booth, only for Scorpion to leap after him.

"Scan eighty-six percent complete," Karen patiently provides as Peter catches an incoming punch from Scorpion and flips the villain over his head. Obviously his webs aren't strong enough to contain or even pose much of a threat to Scorpion, but if he can get further into the amusement park he can use the rides to his advantage. Plus, with all the people currently rushing out the gates, there's bound to be less people inside the park. That means less of an injury risk.

"I thought you were supposed to be my 'natural predator,'" he quotes Scorpion's previous insults as he peers down at him smugly. At the moment, antagonization is his best weapon, so he decides to be his quippy self. He jumps onto the Luna Park entrance arches and swings inside, knowing that Scorpion won't be far behind. "Doesn't look like you're living up to the name!" he calls back in a taunting voice. As he swings, the icy air forces its way into his suit through the gaping hole. He doubts the heater can counteract that.

"You're going to regret everything you've done to me!" Scorpion screams back, bounding after Peter with the assistance of his high-powered tail. Meanwhile, Peter surges ahead to make sure everyone's getting out and Scorpion's attention is solely on their chase.

"Wait! I got it!" he exclaims. "You're just jealous 'cause you didn't get stung by a radioactive scorpion, right?! Look, I know it sucks but it's not your fault you can't be as cool as I-" His Spidey Sense cuts him off with just enough time for him to react, leaning to the side as a lightning-fast clawed hand almost grabs him. Holy shit that was close! How'd he catch up so-

Of course even his thought is interrupted when he realizes he forgot about the infamous fifth appendage. The tail is quick to coil around his abdomen, tightening around his burned skin, and whips him to the ground like a rag doll. He's flung down and crashes into an indecipherable contraption, which inevitably breaks and shatters around him. For a moment he's disoriented, but his body moves faster than his brain and he tries to get up. It's then that he notices he's covered in a light, sticky substance. Cotton candy. He landed on a cotton candy machine.

"Oh, c'mon! This is not my day. You're getting my dry cleaning bill, man. Do you know how hard it is to get this suit clean?" he complains as he looks at the mounds of pink fluff now topping his shoulders and most likely his head.

"Scan complete," Karen announces while Peter carefully stands. "Gargan's body is showing signs of mutagenic treatment, resulting in elongated canines, hardened keratin," in the middle of her relaying her findings, Scorpion lands in front of Peter menacingly, cracking the concrete below him in the process, "epidermis is forming chitin deposits similar to that of a chitinous exoskeleton." Peter instantly sobers at her words, his lenses expanding as his eyes widen.

"He's mutating," he says in sudden realization. Scorpion's massive shadow looms over him and he feels that same spike of pure fear and adrenaline he felt when both Toomes and Beck got the upper hand. It's like his body knows he's fighting a losing battle. But since when does he give up?

"Look what he's done!" Scorpion breathes heavily, eyes wide and clenched fists trembling with barely restrained strength. Peter's eyes glance to a roller coaster, the Thunderbolt, that's making it's sharp turns.

"If anything, I think its enhanced your lovely features," Peter banters in a lighthearted tone. His comical nature only further pushes Scorpion's rage over the edge and the villain charges him, but Peter webs the nearby coaster. "Hold that thought," he says as he salutes and then lets the coaster pull him into the air as it races past.

Finally there's more distance between them and he pulls himself up the string of webbing and sticks himself to the outside of the cart. Luckily, there's no one in it, so he doesn't have to worry about that. The wind whips against his exposed skin and he has to massage his hands to keep them warm.

"Karen, can you try boosting the heaters? And scan the park, I wanna know if there's people still here. I don't want anyone getting caught up in this fight." As he lists out his concerns, he holds onto the cart as it does a loop. Though, it doesn't phase him for obvious reasons. "This isn't how I wanted to ride the Thunderbolt." he mutters.

"The heat will keep escaping the damaged suit and I had to diverge power from the heaters to keep the rest of the suit functioning with the lack of circuitry," Karen starts matter-of-factly. "I don't detect many people in the park, except there seems to be a ride that wasn't released following the evacuation." Peter perks up at her information and starts looking around at all the rides with his height advantage.

"They're stuck? Which ride?" The cart suddenly rocks teetering back and forth for a moment, and Peter whips his head around to see Scorpion on the back end. Scorpion's claws dig into and shred the metal as he starts climbing towards Peter. "Sorry! You have to wait in line like the rest of us!" Peter scolds, narrowly moving out of the way of the tail's sudden strike.

"The Brooklyn Flyer," Karen quickly provides. "And Ned is calling." Scorpion pounces and the only thing keeping him from shredding Peter like he did the metal is Peter's firm grip on his wrists. Peter fights to push him back, but he doesn't exactly have an appendage to keep away the tail. This time, it drips with the corrosive acid.

"It might just be me, but I don't feel like having a hole burned through my face," Peter grits out as he looks between Scorpion's face and the stinger. "Personally." He starts inching to the side as Scorpion pushes against him harder. He's aware that Scorpion is stronger, but he isn't smarter. So if he can just discretely move to the side to align the trajectory of Scorpion's tail…

A glob of acid shoots out of the tail as Scorpion grins psychotically, but Peter moves his head swiftly enough that the acid misses him and hits the front wheel of the cart. They're immediately sent careening off the track, Scorpion dropping like a brick whereas Peter manages to flip himself over midair and uses his Web Glider under his arms to stabilize him.

"Peter, everything okay up there?!" Ned's worried voice comes through his suit. "We just saw you on the, the Thunderbolt and then the car did a weird thing and it flew off and Scorpion was gone and then you disappeared and May freaked out 'cause she thought you fell and-"

"Ned! Ned, I'm okay. Built in gliders, remembers?" Peter reminds, and Ned's mood does a one-eighty.

"Oh yeah huh," Ned recalls, more relaxed and the smile evident in his voice. "Yeah, he's okay May. I don't know yet, MJ, he's- Hey!" While Ned rambles to May and MJ, Peter glides as far as he can towards the Brooklyn Flyer until he has to use his webs to close the rest of the distance.

"Parker? I don't have any stats on your suit so don't lie, why was there a black spot on your suit?" MJ demands, voice tight. Peter is very familiar with this tone; she's scared out of her mind for him. It's her way of showing she cares without having to actually show it.

"Uh, well," Peter lands on the side of the ride, "you want the short version or the long version?" The Brooklyn Flyer is a chain swing ride, so some of the riders could slip out between the seat and the metal bar, but others are locked in place. "Hey, everybody. I'm gonna get you all out of here, okay?" he assures as he starts to bend one of the metal bars. Multiple sets of wide, panic-stricken eyes land on him.

"Short," MJ answers curtly. The chains clang together above Peter as he frees the first pair of people then jumps to the next.

"Plasma blast? I think? Some kind of electrical charge," he decides to respond honestly. "Okay, there you go! Run straight out of the park!" he urgently tells the pair before going to free the last two, presumably a mother and her daughter.

"Dammit, Peter," MJ mutters, giving the phone back to Ned as she anxiously stands on her tiptoes to see further into the park. May does the same, covering her mouth and biting her lip as she does so.

"It's not my fault! Blame Flash! He got in the way." Peter argues in a higher voice, then gives the woman and girl his full attention. "Hi, ma'am. I'll get you out super quick and it'll be fine." The woman desperately grips his wrist before he can bend her bar up. His eyes meet her frantic ones.

"Please, get my daughter out first," she pleads. Peter finds himself wordlessly nodding and is quick to bend the little girl's bar out of the way.

"There you go, sweetheart," he says as he sets her down, then turns back to her mother just in time for his Spidey Sense to go off and the entire ride to violently rock. All the metal seats clang together as the towering ride leans to the side. Peter looks up to see Scorpion has completely demolished the top of the ride, metal sticking out in odd directions. The woman screams, desperately trying in vain to pull herself out of the seat as the girl shrieks,

"Mommy!" The situation is too much like the night on top of the Empire State Building…but Peter won't let that happen. Not again. He grips the metal and pulls, but it only partly comes up because Scorpion jumps back into the air, making the ride shift again and lean even further. When Scorpion lands, Peter quickly rips off one of the ride's arms with a chained chair hanging off it and swings it around in a circle above his head.

"Batter up!" he quips through clenched teeth and when they make contact, the chains wrap around Scorpion until the chair slams into his chest. Peter then breaks the chain from the support arm and uses the extended beam as a club to whack Scorpion. "I probably should've said that for this moment, but that's okay." The hit makes Scorpion take a step back, but then in the blink of an eye he breaks the chains and grips the beam to fling Peter off of it. Peter's back collides with the base of the ride, causing it to groan and tilt impossibly farther.

"You'll know what it's like to lose everything like I did! And then that liar is next!" Scorpion intimidates, eyes locked on Peter and completely oblivious to the struggling woman still trapped in the dangling chair.

"Peter, what's going on?! We can't see you! You have to tell us what we can do!" May's overprotective voice rings in his ears, but he has to focus. He can't watch someone die again. Come on, you've had worse. Pull yourself together, Spider-Man. He shoots a single web at Scorpion's exposed face and pulls as hard as he can to pull the villain over into the chains. The double seat immediately cracks under Scorpion's weight and the support beam comes crashing down on top of him as he and the debris all land in a heap. Peter doesn't waste time in leaping to his feet and yanking the metal bar off the woman's seat, freeing her.

"Thank you! Thank you!" she sobs gratefully before sprinting off with her daughter in her arms.

"What?" Scorpion growls, quickly catching Peter's attention again. Peter turns around to see Scorpion has pulled the webbing free from his face, but now he's staring at his clawed hands.

"Peter?!" Ned all but yells.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm fine, but…" Peter carefully eyes Scorpion in a defensive stance. "Karen, what's going on?" He hadn't even noticed how much he's panting until he has a spare moment to think.

"I'm not sure. My readings are coming up the same as before," Karen responds, seeming just as conflicted.

"No, no, no, no!" Scorpion suddenly shrieks, clawing at his suit, but it doesn't seem to do any damage. "You can't do this! It can't happen to me! I'm not a freak! I was supposed to come out on top! You're all nothing! Nothing! Nothing!" And just like that, Scorpion is sprinting away at full speed.

"Woah! Wait! We were kind of in the middle of something, if you couldn't tell!" Peter starts running after him. He can't let all that work running Scorpion down go to waste. They run through the rest of the park, further away from the boardwalk but closer to the city. "Did my breath really smell that bad? I can take a mint!" He runs through the parking lot, but Scorpion is already on the other side of the street.

"What's happening, dweeb?" MJ asks with obvious annoyance, but she smirks at Peter's attempts to keep the situation lighthearted.

"Not a clue, honestly," Peter answers. "He started getting hysterical then bolted. It's like he's going insane." Suddenly, Scorpion stops in the middle of the road and rockets two fists into the asphalt. The road crumbles and then Peter watches as the villain hurls a manhole cover back at him like a frisbee. His Spidey Sense goes off just in time for the manhole to fly into his abdomen, knocking the wind out of him. He skids to a stop, almost tripping over his own two feet, and doubles over as he tries to breathe through wheezes.

"Sweetheart?!" May yells when she hears Peter's gasping. It's a sound a parent never wants to hear, their kid in complete and utter distress.

"I'm fine," Peter gasps out as he struggles to his feet. He can't stop now, but May has other priorities.

"Don't get in over your head, you hear me?! I don't care how much of a superhero you are, you're my responsibility!" Her shouts aren't from anger, they're from fear.

"I got it," Peter reassures with a more steady voice. He runs the rest of the way and drops into the manhole that Scorpion disappeared into, the opening now at least twice as large. However, when Peter lands, the sewers seem to be empty. He closes his eyes and listens for any giveaways, such as rippling water or echoing voices, but hears pure silence. "Ned, where did he go in the sewers? Can you check?"

"Dude, there aren't cameras down there! It's the sewers! I don't have eyes on him! And I'm not on my laptop!" Ned does his best to explain, hating the feeling of uselessness. Peter huffs in frustration and kicks at the sewer water. He could ask Karen for the sewer schematics, but it wouldn't help pinpoint Scorpion. It'd be like wandering through a maze.

"Okay, I'm heading back towards you guys. Man, this sucks." He climbs back out of the manhole and rolls his stiff neck. As he does so, Droney deposits himself back into the emblem of the suit.

"You still did fantastic," May praises, "no one could've asked more of you. Or my poor heart." She takes a deep breath and rubs her forehead. She isn't used to being in the middle of all the action.

"Just happened to trash half the park in the process," MJ notes as she peers at the rides. Peter walks back across the street, mulling over the fight in his head. Something just doesn't…sit right with him. Then it clicks.

"Guys?" The line goes silent. "How did he know I was here? I didn't even wear the suit on the way," he asks warily. There's no way Scorpion should've been able to know he was there. Scorpion even demanded Spider-Man to show himself long before Peter even donned the suit.

"No idea, but that's kind of creepy," Ned says in a reluctant tone.

"Disconcerting to say the least," MJ agrees with a raised eyebrow. May stays silent, mulling the situation over in her head as well.

"At least Team Spidey lives to fight another day. That was insane, dude." Ned does his best to bring up the mood, knowing they'll find a way to figure it out.

"So crazy," Peter tries to match his best friend's enthusiasm. "I'm gonna pick up my backpack on the way, then-"

"Incoming message from Tony Stark," Karen alerts. Huh. That's strange considering Tony told Peter he was going to be busy all day. "He says he is sending Happy to pick you up." Peter's eyes narrow in confusion and he tilts his head.

"Um, okay. Slight change of plans, I guess. Mr. Stark's sending Happy for me," he relays to the team.

"Why?" May asks almost as if she doesn't want to know the answer.

"I don't know, but he's been acting weird today so it might be something important. Is it okay if I go?" Peter asks hopefully. He wants to know if Tony is alright and this is the chance he didn't get earlier. "The park's kinda out of commission so…" May sighs, but understands.

"Yeah, just be safe and let me know if you're spending the night. See if you can figure out what's been going on," she concedes. All in all, Peter is safest in the Tower.

"Thanks, May! See you guys later. I'll keep you posted. Love you!" he says in general. He jogs the rest of the way, making sure to grab his backpack, and waits until he sees that familiar black Audi. When Happy does arrive, he keeps his mask on until he gets in on the passenger side and sees the windows black out.

"Hey, Happy," he greets, taking a deep breath of clean, spandex-free air. "How's it going?" Happy glances to him and looks him up and down.

"Fine," he draws out, eyebrows pulled together. "What the hell happened to you?" Peter reclines his seat and groans at the movement. Now that he isn't in danger of dying every few seconds, the adrenaline is leaving his system and the pain is setting in.

"Oh, y'know, typical supervillain stuff," he answers facetiously.

"Yeah?" Happy challenges. "Is 'typical' having a hole in the middle of your suit?" Peter peeks at Happy, then closes his eyes and drapes an arm over his face to relax.

"It can be fixed. It was a bit of a rough fight, but I handled it." There's a moment of silence as Happy pulls into the street.

"You lost."

"Yep." That about clears the air.

"Well," Happy continues casually, "Boss wants to see you. He seemed pretty…worked up." This peaks Peter's interest and he sits up more.

"Mr. Stark? Worked up? That doesn't sound like him," he points out with his brow furrowed. Why would Mr. Stark be upset? Is he mad? Did I do something wrong? Crap, did he see the fight? Did he see how much of the park we destroyed? He wouldn't take the suit, right? No, he said he wouldn't do that again. And I didn't do anything reckless, I was just doing my job as Spider-Man. He can't be upset. I hope I didn't screw up.

"Nope, but he has his reasons. He'll probably talk to you about it," Happy easily shrugs off Peter's worry. "So much for a day off though." He nods back towards the park disappearing behind them. Peter lets out a breathy chuckle.

"Yeah, not how I thought today was gonna go." But then again, when does anything in his life ever go according to plan?

"I'm sure you'll find time. Give yourself some credit," Happy mildly encourages with a slight smile. Peter has noticed Happy getting more tolerant towards him, not to mention he likes talking to the man. He needs to hang out with Happy more often.

"Thanks, Happy. I appreciate it."

"Tony's going to freak when he sees you." For once, Peter nods in agreement, taking a deep breath.

"That's for sure." The rest of the ride goes by with chatting here and there until they reach the Tower. Peter is sent on his way and heads up the elevator straight to the penthouse floor, where Happy said Tony apparently is. When the doors open, Peter isn't greeted with F.R.I.D.A.Y.'s usual, comforting voice, which immediately tips him off that something's wrong. His Spidey Sense isn't going off, so at least that's good. "Mr. Stark?" he calls into the penthouse, dropping his musty backpacks on the floor.

Instantly, Tony is rushing into the room looking mildly disheveled. His hair isn't combed like it usually is, there are dark bags under his eyes, and he's in a t-shirt and sweats. Peter is rendered speechless, but it's nothing compared to the way Tony's words get caught in his throat. The sight of Peter was more than he was ready to handle. His eyes gravitate towards the hole in the kid's suit which show off the burns that are already starting to heal.

When Tony's jaw sets and his dark eyes bore into the suit, Peter assumes the worst. Based on that reaction, Tony has to be mad at him. He wouldn't look so upset if he weren't. Then, Tony starts marching towards him with an expression of pure determination.

"Mr. Stark, I can expla-" Tight arms wrap around Peter's shoulders and he feels a hand firmly press against the back of his head. A hug. It's a hug. He's shocked at first, but it doesn't take long for him to relax into Tony's hug and close his eyes. He leans his head on Tony's shoulder and lets himself enjoy the way Tony securely holds onto him for dear life. Tony takes a shaky breath and holds onto his kid tighter.

"Glad you're okay."

pHEW wha h! I hope youre ready for next week's hurt/comfort irondad and spiderson and a HUGE surprise!

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