Peter

New York City Suburbs

Ned and I walked up the sidewalk to Liz's house. We could hear music blasting from inside.

"Alright, you've got your Spider-suit?" Ned asked.

I pulled up my sleeve to show the suit underneath.

"Yup."

We knocked on the door and Liz answered.

"Hey, guys." she said with a smile that made me a little dizzy. "Come on in!"

She led us into a foyer where a few people from school were milling around.

Now the music was booming.

I could see more people in the living room and dining area. Furniture had been pushed to the walls and Flash was operating a sound mixer machine.

"We really appreciate you letting us come." I said.

"Oh, it's nothing. We're glad you could come."

Glass shattered from the kitchen, maybe a cup or something.

"Oh, shoot." we could hear someone saying.

Liz's face paled for a quick second.

"I need to go check on that. My parents would kill me if anything was broken."

She eased her way to the kitchen. "Enjoy the party!"

"Go change out of your clothes outside." Ned whispered after Liz was gone. "I'll cover for you."

"What?"

"And when you come back, could you talk to me? It would make both of us seem really cool."

"Ned, Spider-Man is not a party trick. I'm just gonna try to be myself for a little while."

I wanted to get another chance to talk to Liz before I turned into Spider-Man.

Ned looked at me like I was crazy.

"Peter, no one wants that."

"Hey, guys."

Michelle Jones was lurking in a corner with a cup in her hand.

"Can't believe you're at this lame party."

"But….you're here too." Ned said.

She cocked her head.

"Am I?"

"Aaaaaand it's Peter Parker!" Flash said through a mic. He pressed a button on the mixer and an air horn blared through the room.

"That's not Spider-Man." Flash was faking his disappointment. "That's just Ned in a red shirt."

If Spider-Man didn't show, Flash would never let me live this down.

"Okay, fine. I'll be right back." I whispered.

Ned and I did our secret handshake and I snuck back outside.

I sat on the top of the garden wall in Liz's backyard, watching the party go on below me.

I was already in my spider-suit, trying to think of things to say.

"Hey, guys. What's going on? Thanks for inviting me." I said to myself. I knew I needed to change my voice for this one. Usually, I didn't, but these were all people I knew and they would recognize my voice. I tried to sound deeper.

"Sup, Ned. Hey, where's Peter anyway?"

That would make Ned and I cool at the same time. I just hoped he had a good response.

Then I saw Liz down there, mingling with everyone else, talking and laughing.

I sighed. This was just stupid. If I wanted to move up in the superhero ladder, why was I bringing Spider-Man to a high school party?

My eyes wandered to the horizon where the city met the suburbs.

A bright, blue flash lit up. Huh?

I needed to clear my head for a few minutes, so I pulled on my mask and swung off to investigate the flash.

It was closer to the city, so I swung through the suburbs until I reached a treeless golf course.

Great. Now I was gonna have to walk all the way across it. Ned had asked what would happen if I just shot my webs as far as I could.

With all his questions today, I might as well have something new to tell him.

I shot my webs across the course with more yards of webbing than I usually did.

It fell down like water from a raised hose. I sighed and began jogging across the golf course just in time for the sprinklers to turn on and spray my legs.

A few blocks and a highway later, I caught sight of the big, blue flash from underneath an overpass.

There was a white van and a pick up truck parked on gravel.

There were three guys outside. Two of them were wearing thick jackets and hats even though it was barely even autumn yet. The trunk of the van was open and the two guys in jackets were showing the other guy gadgets hidden underneath a tarp.

It looked like they were trying to sell the other man something.

The shorter merchant dude showed a gauntlet that looked just like the tech at the ATM robbery. He pulled it on his hand and with a flick, sparks of electricity flew between the metal spikes.

"This one packs a double punch." the salesman was saying. "It's like a jackhammer and a taser combined. Bash this at the feds and they'll go flying thirty feet away!"

The potential buyer had on a white shirt and one of those golden chain necklaces. He kept looking more and more baffled.

"Alright, cool it, man. I don't want anything that can vaporize people or make a black hole."

"We wanted to start off with the best stuff." the other salesman said.

I crept further away from my hiding spot in the bushes. This was an illegal weapons deal going on.

Suddenly, my phone rang. If the timing wasn't bad enough, it was the cringey yodel that the ringtone was stuck on. I tore my phone from my pocket and silenced it as fast as I could. Ned would have to wait.

But it was too late. The guys had already heard it.

"What was that?" one of the salesmen asked.

The other guy pulled a gun on the buyer.

"You said you came alone."
The buyer had his hands up. "That wasn't me!"

My instincts took over. I leapt from the bushes to the ground. Now the gun was pointed in my direction.

"Hey, if you're gonna shoot at anybody, shoot at me!"

"Who the heck are you?" the thug snapped.

"I'm Spider-Man. And next time you want to do illegal weapons deals, do it online!"

They were already scattering. The sellers stuffed their gear into the van, shut the doors, and drove off.

I swung after them.

In my professional opinion, I think I did a pretty good job. Sure, they started shooting at me with a ray-blaster and the back van door broke off, but I held my ground.

They made a sharp right turn on a neighborhood road and suddenly, I was thrown into a tent in someone's yard and interrupted two seven-year-olds' sleepover.

I also crashed a backyard barbecue and had to run through a garden shed. I took to the rooftops. I couldn't see the van anywhere. Argh! Stupid suburbs. In the city, there wouldn't be so many huge trees.

But a few blocks away, I found them.

I leapt over a few more houses and landed onto a gable, waiting for the right time to strike.

This time I'd get them!

They made a turn onto the street I was standing over.

I belly-flopped right as the van passed.

"Riiiide!"

I was so close to catching them. This close!

But suddenly, a big mechanical vulture swooped in from out of nowhere.

He grabbed me with his metal talons and tore me away from the van.

Nobody told me these guys had backup!

The suburbs got further and further away and everything was spinning.

Next thing I knew, I was over the Hudson river.

I struggled to break free.

"Get off of me!" I shouted.

I felt something on my back vibrate and next thing I knew, a parachute billowed out and dragged me from the vulture's grip.

But I was falling into the parachute, not falling with it. I plunged into the icy river.

But I was tangled up in the parachute. I tried to pull myself to the surface, but the ropes were tying me up. The more I fought, the more tangled I got. I kept sinking deeper and deeper. I could feel my oxygen supply running low. What could I do?

I looked up to the surface for what I thought would be the last time. I hoped somebody would find my body and I wouldn't just go missing without a trace.

Aunt May and the others needed to know what happened.

A bright, red and gold figure dove into the water and pulled me up.

I was out of the river as fast as I was in.

Soon, I was flying. I recognized the gold and metal paint job anywhere. Iron Man. Tony Stark. The guy that brought me into the Avengers.

"Hey, thanks." I said wearily.

I was still dripping when he set me on a jungle gym at a nearby playground.

"So," Mr. Stark said. He still didn't retract his mask. "Wanna tell me why I just fished you out of the Hudson?"

I recapped the whole thing to Mr. Stark. From the weapons deal to the vulture guy.

I wrung out the water from my mask. If I wasn't so excited to see Mr. Stark after six months, I would've noticed the cold seeping through my wet suit.

"How'd you even find me? Did you put a tracker in my suit or something?"

"I put everything into your suit. Including this heater."

Suddenly, a burst of warm steam blew through my suit. My teeth stopped chattering.

"Oh, that feels way better." I sighed.

Suddenly, Mr. Stark snapped.

"What were you thinking?"

"The guy with the wings is obviously the source of the weapon. I've gotta take him down!"

It was difficult to get that kind of airborne tech unless you were with the military or Stark industries. Chances were that birdman and the other guys were in cahoots.

"Take him down, now, huh? Steady, Crockett. There are people who handle this."

"The Avengers?"
Most of the Avengers were underground, but maybe I could join a mission with Mr. Stark, War Machine, and Vision.

"No, no. A little bit below their paygrade."

I decided to change the subject.

"Anyway, Mr. Stark, you didn't have to come all the way out here to get me. I was doing fine."

"Oh, I'm not here, here."

HIs mask flipped open. There was nothing inside.

Suddenly, I heard background chatter coming from his suit. Was that…an elephant? Was he on vacation right now?

"It's a good thing this place has decent Wi-Fi or you would be toast right now. Actually, you and me. Because then Romanoff would hunt me down for not keeping a better eye on you."

I sat up straighter.

"Natasha? How's she doing? Where is she?"

"That's not the point. Look, please just forget the flying vulture guy."
"Why?" I asked.

"Because I said so!" his tone softened. "Sorry. I'm just talking to a teenager."

His arms moved almost like he was waving to someone.

"Look, kid, just like I was saying. Just stay on the ground for a little while. Be the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man. Build your game up. Help the little guy instead. You know, with the old lady and the churros?"

He couldn't have known about that unless he listened to my reports.

"But I'm ready for more than that now!"

I had fought Captain America, Ant-Man, Falcon, and the Winter Soldier.

If I could just talk to Bucky and Natasha, I'm sure they'd take my side and tell Mr. Stark I was ready for bigger things.

"No, you're not."

"That's not what you said in Siberia! Or even back at my apartment!"

"Kid, Siberia was different."

"My parents are freaking assassins! By the time Natasha was my age-"

"By the time she was your age? Kid, you realize she grew up in a military facility, right? Listen to me, if you come across these weapons again, call Happy."

I was about to tell him that Happy almost never responded to my calls. But I heard a car engine revving up in the background.

"Are you driving?" I asked.

A door shut.

"You know, it's never too early to start thinking about college. I've got some pull at MIT. I can call."

"No, Mr. Stark, I don't need to go to college-"

The helmet flipped back on.

"Mr. Stark is no longer connected." said a robotic voice.

The suit blasted off without another word.

I sighed miserably.

"That's just awesome."

Ned called.

I had completely forgotten about the party and the guest appearance I was supposed to make.

"Hey, Ned. I'll be right there!"

"It's too late." he said. "We're still losers. Flash has some kind of annoying call-back thing with the crowd and it's all about you."

Wow. I couldn't take down weapons dealers, I couldn't impress Mr. Stark, I couldn't even show up to a party! I decided just to head home for the night.

When I got to my apartment a few hours later, I went in through the window as usual.

I tore off my mask and leaned against the wall. It had been a long night.

The birthday card from Natasha was lying on my desk.

It was the only thing I had from my biological mother besides my name.

I opened it up even though I'd read it a thousand times.

Happy 15th Birthday, Peter.

I'm not good at these kinds of things, so bear with me.

I'm sure you still have a lot of questions that need answering.

I want to start off by explaining where you come from.

You were born in Kyiv, Ukraine, so technically this makes you Ukrainian even if your first birth certificate says Lithuania. I don't know what papers SHIELD gave you.

When you were three months old, the Red Room stormed our apartment. They took all of us and put you and I in a truck. That was the last I saw of you because when I woke up, they told me you were dead.

Tell May Parker thank you for everything she's done.

I'll try to see you as soon as Ross cools down. I can't say much, but James is in a secure location getting help right now.

I'll take you to him once they figure out how to cure him.

Steve, Clint, Sam Wilson, Wanda, Vision, and Scott Lang all say hi.

Stay safe for me.

Natasha

This card not only reminded me that I had parents, but that there was a whole world out there beyond High School, homework, and driving tests.

There were superheroes out there fighting to save people. I wanted to be a part of it.

Thanks for reading, guys! A Natasha appearance is coming up soon.

Thanks for the new likes and follows. Reviews are appreciated.

Okay, I need to finish my homework. Bye!