Chapter 21: Ready A.I.M. Fire
New York was a mess after the Chitauri invasion. Repair efforts were still in full swing with many New York citizens still displaced after their homes were destroyed. Leviathans and their long dead masters were still being cleaned up, and all their tech gathered for storage and disposal. The department of Damage Control, the clean-up crew created by S.H.I.E.L.D. to clean up superhero battles, was charged with restoring New York to what it was before. With the help of the Avengers, though mostly Stark Industries, the efforts were beginning to bear fruit.
Of course, while there were many who tried to help their fellow man in the aftermath of this crisis, there were those who sought to exploit the chaos.
During one of Damage Control's clean-up efforts with one of the destroyed Leviathans, a shady looking van pulled up a block away from the site. The back door opened, allowing a group of A.I.M agents to burst out and charged towards the workers.
"Remember, take out the workers, but none of the tech is to be harmed," one of the agents instructed.
"Yes sir," another agent replied.
As they approached the site, they opened fire on the men working at the site, killing them all instantly. As one of the agents kept shooting, one of the blasts hit one of the Chitauri chariots, badly damaging it.
"You imbecile!" the leader snapped. "I said don't harm the equipment!"
"Sorry sir," the agent apologized. "I just-"
Before he could finish, the leader blasted him in the chest, killing him.
"A.I.M. has no room for bunglers," he responded. "Pack everything up and let's move out!"
The other agents nodded as they began collecting the weapons and armor.
…
Up above the city, Spider-man was swinging across the skyline, marveling at his new suit.
"This is completely awesome," he declared, making a sharp turn with his webs. "It feels so much sleeker. And the lenses really help focus things up. Haven't felt this much thrill in a new costume since the black suit. Except that one was..."
He just shivered at the memory of his former attire. Feeling his mood soured a bit, Spidey perched on a lamppost to calm down for a bit.
"Get it together, Parker," he chastised himself. "That's over and done with. Stop thinking about it. Besides, life is good. New suit, part of a superhero team, what could poss-"
As he perched there, his Spidey senses began to tingle, pulling him from his reverie. He turned, just as the gunshot rang out.
"I just had to ruin the mood, didn't I?" he asked himself before swinging off.
Not too far away, the A.I.M. had just finished loading up the last of the alien technology into the van as Spider-Man landed on a wall just across the street.
"Ooookay… high tech bee keepers stealing alien technology," Spidey observed. "I gotta say, you gotta try really hard to make the Norse god of thunder look mundane in comparison."
Shooting out a string of web fluid, Spidey jumped off the lamp post, landing on the roof of the car.
"Excuse me, but I'm gonna need to see some identification," He declared, peering down at the A.I.M. cronies.
"It's Spider-Man!" one of the agents called out.
"That's my name," Spidey confirmed. "Though some just call me Spidey. Also, web head, amazing, spectacular. Just don't call me late for dinner."
One of the agents tried blasting at Spidey, but he just jumped off the roof before the blast could hit him. As he landed, he crossed his arms and shot out two web lines, each attached to an A.I.M. agent. He then uncrossed his arms and brought the two agents together, knocking them out.
"Too easy," he declared. "Guess after an alien invasion, normal crooks just don't cut it anymore."
One of the agents aimed his weapon at him, but Spidey just webbed the barrel before whipping it out of his hands.
"Now hasn't your mother warned you about playing with guns?" Spidey asked, sounding like a disapproving father. "You'll shoot your eye out."
Spidey then webbed the agent to the side of the van, completely immobilizing him.
"Now go to your room and think about what you've done."
Getting annoyed by Spider-Man taking out his men, the leader pulled out a concussion grenade and tossed it at the ground. Spidey noticed this and tried to jump back and avoid it, but the blast still knocked him back, allowing the agents to pile into their van and escape. Spider-Man rubbed his head as he sat up, watching the van speed away.
"That… could have gone better," Spidey let out.
…
Spidey stumbled into Avenger's Mansion, still a bit disoriented from the grenade. As he closed the door behind him, JARVIS' voice came over the system.
"Welcome back Spider-Man," he greeted.
"Thank you, JARVIS," Spider-Man greeted. "Does this palace have any Advil or something?"
About that time, Rick walked into the parlor, immediately laying eyes on the swaying spider.
"Dang… what happened to you?" he asked, approaching the web-head. "You look like you took a concussion grenade to the face."
"Hey, what do you know?" Spidey slurred. "That's exactly what happened."
Rick winced, putting an arm around the hero.
"C'mon. I've got a stash of painkillers in my room," he offered. "I keep them on standby, just in case."
"You… are a godsend…. You know that?"
Rick chuckled.
"That's what Bruce keeps telling me."
…
Rick got Spidey up to the room he shared with Hulk. Once there, he fished out some pills, a bottle of water, as well as an ice pack, handing all three to Spidey. He proceeded to down the pills and take a drink from the bottle.
"So, how did your face meet the explosive end of a concussion grenade?" Rick asked.
"Fought off some beekeepers stealing Chitauri leftovers."
"Beekeepers? Seriously?"
"I know, weird. Right?" Spidey replied.
"Yeah, definitely weird… but why would beekeepers want Chitauri tech?"
"I have no idea," Spidey replied, before having an idea. "But we have a super computer down stairs who can find out."
…
Down below in the Assembly Hall, the two boys gathered in front of the super computer, doing a search for evil beekeepers.
"Man, there are a lot of bad guys in S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most wanted list," Spidey remarked. "I've been doing this gig for about a year now and I've only come across half of these guys."
"I've just seen Gamma irradiated villains myself," Rick noted, bringing up a file on The Leader. "Like this guy. Supposedly one of the smartest criminal masterminds in the world. Hulk threw him through two buildings."
"Yikes," Spidey let out, noting another bad guy file. "Oh, this one's high on the arch villain list, Doctor Octopus."
Rick snorted, pulling up the file.
"Doctor Octopus? Seriously? That's his villain name?"
"Yup," Spidey confirmed. "A mad scientist with four metallic arms welded to his body. Kinda your typical 'take over the world evil scientist' but that mind combined with those arms, he's about as dangerous as…"
Spidey's face dropped a bit, thinking on one of his enemies that had tormented him for quite some time.
"As dangerous as whom?" Rick asked, both curious and a bit worried.
Spidey snapped back into the moment.
"No one," he quickly brushed off. "Nothing… let's move on."
"Right..." Rick agreed, albeit reluctantly. "Hey JARVIS, can you find anything on bad guys that dress up as evil beekeepers?"
"I do believe you are searching for A.I.M, Mr. Jones," JARVIS answered.
"A.I.M.?" Both Spidey and Rick asked in unison.
To answer their question, JARVIS brought up the file on A.I.M. for the two to go over.
"Advanced Ideas Mechanics..." Spidey read.
"I've never heard of them," Rick commented. "You?"
"No," Spidey replied before reading off their file. "Apparently they're a tech-based terrorist group who use their genius for profit. Mainly selling high grade weapons to super villains."
"And you said they were making off with a bunch of alien tech," Rick remembered. "Three guesses what they plan on doing with that."
"Make some of the most dangerous toys to hit the market," Peter hypothesized. "We gotta stop them."
"Right," Rick agreed, pulling out his I.D. card. "You gonna do it, or am I?"
"Allow me," Spidey decided as he pulled out his card. "Avengers Assemble!"
…
Meanwhile, the AIM van pulled into a warehouse where several more agents were waiting.
"What kept you?" one of the agents asked as the others got out.
"We were in the middle of a pick up when Spider-Man intercepted us."
"Spider-Man? That means the other Avengers will be onto us before long."
"How shall we proceed?"
The head agent walked over to a nearby table and rolled out a blueprint that was laying on it. The other agents came over and took a look at what was on it.
"What is it?" one agent asked.
"Something AIM's been working on for sometime. And with the technology we've been acquiring since the invasion, we just might be able to make it work. Even if the Avengers do come after us, we'll have quite the surprise waiting for them."
...
Soon, all the members of the Avengers were gathered in the Assembly Hall, where Spidey and Rick were waiting for them.
"If either of you are trying to pull a prank, I will be very unhappy," Tony remarked, lifting his visor.
"Not this time Stark," Spidey, who had since put his mask back on, told him. "Does the group, A.I.M. ring any bells?"
Both Jan and Hank perked up a bit, exchanging glances.
"Bunch of beekeepers with weaponry that seems out of the ordinary?" Jan asked.
"That's them," Spidey confirmed.
"You've dealt with them before?" Cap asked.
"Some of their agents broke into my lab a while back," Hank told them. "They wanted the Pym particle."
"Hank kicked their butts and sent them packing with no sweat though," Jan added with a grin.
"Well, they've moved up to a much bigger game," Rick reported. "Spidey caught them stealing a shipment of Chitauri tech from a clean-up sight."
"And you didn't think to call for backup?" Clint asked.
"I thought I could handle it, ok?" Spidey retorted.
"Kid, you're not a one-man-show anymore," Tony chastised. "We're a team now, and teams need to communicate, especially about something as big as A.I.M."
"Alright, that's enough," Cap interrupted. "We can work on team building later, right now we need to focus on A.I.M. If they struck a Damage Control clean up sight, they'll probably try again for more."
"Right," Tony agreed. "JARVIS, how many clean-up sites are still pulling tech out?"
"Uploading map now sir."
The screen showed several sites scattered across the city, eliciting a large groan from Jan.
"Oh, come on, that many?!" she let out. "There's no way we can cover them all!"
"I don't think we have to," Cap commented, eying the map strategically. "Spider-Man, which of these sites did you see these A.I.M. characters robbing?"
Spidey gestured to one of the smaller sights, one near the edge of town with less destruction to make for easy getaway.
"A.I.M is targeting sites that are easily accessible with a vehicle," Cap declared. "That way they can grab what they need and escape easily without having to deal with road construction. More than that, these smaller sights are usually undermanned, with most of our manpower dealing with the Leviathan corpses in the middle of downtown."
"So, we just have to stake out sights with easy road access," Clint deduced. "Sounds simple enough."
"Except there are still dozens of sights that fit the Cap's description," Tony remarked. "Still a lot of ground to cover, even for us."
"Maybe… we'll need to narrow it down some more," Cap agreed. "You say they specialize in weapons tech, yes?"
"Yeah," Hank confirmed.
"Then we can eliminate the sights not recovering anything that could be seen or used as a weapon," Cap noted. "As well as any clean up sights that are simply reconstruction projects."
JARVIS removed the sights based on the Captains descriptions, leaving about six sights remaining. Cap smirked at the number.
"Think this is a bit more manageable, Wasp?" Cap asked.
"I think we can handle six," Jan allowed.
"Since we'll have multiple targets, it would make sense to split into teams," Natasha determined.
"You can take Hawkeye and man this one," Cap suggested, pointing at a sight surrounded by tall buildings that were not in complete disarray. "The high vantage point will suit Hawkeye's talents, and the alleys will provide you with the element of surprise."
"Sounds like a plan to me," Clint replied, pulling out his bow.
"Ant-Man, you and Wasp take this one near a construction site," Cap continued. "Plenty of small spaces for you to make use of."
"Aye-aye Captain," Wasp saluted as she shrunk down and sprouted her wings.
"Wait up, Jan!" Hank let out, shrinking quickly before hitching a ride on Antony.
"Rick, take the Big Guy and stake out the site on the edge of town," Cap told him. "Less intact buildings for him to worry about."
"Right," Rick replied. "Come on, big guy. I'll grab us some Subway, so we have something to eat while we wait."
"I like the sound of that," Hulk replied as they went out.
"Tony," Cap spoke again. "Take Thor and take this one near the power station. Considering one of you is a 'genius, billionaire, playboy philanthropist' and the other is the God of Thunder, I'm certain you can find a way to make use of your surroundings."
"A wise call, Captain," Thor concurred. "Come Stark, battle awaits!"
Thor spun his hammer and launched himself towards the door. Tony just closed his faceplate and followed.
"Logan, you and I will take this sight," Cap concluded. "There's a barbecue place we can stake out at with an ideal vantage point."
"And beer," Logan added. "Smart."
"Drinking on the job, Wolfie?" Spidey joked. "I was under the impression we had to keep our wits about us."
"Guess that leaves this one to you Spider-Man," Cap told him.
Spidey looked at the sight and immediately became irritated.
"Hey, wait a minute!" he called out. "How come I'm getting saddled with the smallest site?"
"Because you'd be on your own with no one to watch your back," Cap told him.
"I can handle myself," Spidey told him. "Or did you forget when I helped you beat HYDRA and thwart a massive alien invasion?"
"You mean the invasion you got sucker-punched in?" Logan remarked.
"Hey, you wanna go claw boy?" Spidey challenged, causing Wolverine to extend his claws.
"Alright that's enough!" Cap declared, stepping between them. "Listen, we have bigger problems to worry about than this. If A.I.M. gets ahold of any more Chitauri tech, innocent people could be in danger."
Spidey let out a breath before finally calming down.
"Alright," he replied. "Wish me luck."
With that, he went out of the room as Wolverine retracted his claws.
"Kid's got spunk, that's for sure," Logan commented.
"He's young," Cap told him. "Besides, I'm sure we all have our moments of arrogance."
"You?" Logan replied. "When? You're like the most reserved human being on the planet."
"Remember when I saved your ass the first time?" Cap asked. "That was me throwing a fit because I was being used as a dancing monkey rather than a soldier."
"Yeah and look how horribly that turned out," Logan responded sarcastically.
"Let's just go Jimmy," Cap told him as the two went out.
…
At the first sight, Natasha and Clint stationed themselves on top of a rooftop across from the sight. So far, nothing out of the ordinary seemed to be present. Clint was leaning against the edge of the roof, doing a check of his arrows while Natasha kept a constant vigil on the sight.
"Site's still pretty quiet," Natasha reported.
"Guess Spidey's little stunt made them think we were onto them and they decided to lay low," Clint deduced.
"Maybe, but somehow I doubt an organization as resilient as AIM would give up so easily," She replied.
"So, I guess going home early is out of the question," Clint guessed, returning his arrows to his quiver and joining Natasha where she was standing.
"Come on, you'd love to get some action," She retorted. "What could you honestly think of doing if we could just leave now."
Clint paused for a moment before responding.
"Netflix and chill?" he suggested.
Natasha just rolled her eyes in response while smirking.
…
At the salvage op near the construction site, Ant-Man released several ants with cameras on them to monitor the sight and to keep an eye out for AIM agents while he and Wasp were stationed on the construction site.
"Anything yet?" Wasp asked, sitting on an I beam above Ant-Man.
"No," Ant-Man replied. "I've got ants eying the site from every angle and still no sign of any AIM agents."
Jan sighed, perching on the I beam and kicking her legs somewhat.
"So… how about now?"
Hank sighed in response.
"Are you going to do that all day?" He asked.
"Depends," Jan answered.
"On what?"
"On if anything happens," she replied.
"Then you might want to get comfortable," Hank replied, returning to the monitor on his wrist.
Jan let out a groan, flopping down onto the I beam.
…
At the site on the edge of town, Rick and Hulk arrived with a loud crash, Rick carrying a bag of subway sandwiches as he promised.
"Man, Cap really knows how to pick 'em," Rick remarked, glancing around. "Nothing around here but carnage and stuff to throw. A perfect sight for us."
"Now if only there was something to smash," Hulk griped.
"Hey, if those AIM guys are stupid enough to come here, then you'll be up to your big green armpits in people to smash," Rick informed him, fishing into his bag. "Now eat up. I got you a meatball sub. I know it's your favorite."
Hulk smiled as he grabbed the sandwich and scarfed it down. Rick pulled out one of his own, then settled in to wait.
…
At the power station, Thor stood on the edge of the roof overlooking the site as Iron Man stood a bit behind him.
"All seems quiet," Thor noted.
"Yeah," Tony agreed. "Scans are showing zero activity out there. If these AIM geeks are gonna make a move, it's not gonna be anytime soon."
"I must say, the presence of these 'geeks', troubles me," Thor admitted.
"In what way?" Tony asked.
"Well, Jane has shown me how your mortal science can be of benefit to this world," Thor shared. "And yet the more I see of this realm, the more beings I see that use it for such vile purposes."
"Everything has a dark side, Point Break," Tony told him. "Take it from someone who's seen it firsthand."
Thor turned to Tony with a confused look.
"Point Break?" he repeated.
"Eh, it's a movie," Tony told him. "Maybe I'll show you some time. Besides, I think your brother taught us that magic isn't completely peaceful either."
"Fair enough," Thor relented. "I suppose both magic and mortal science can be used for both good and ill."
"And it's up to guys like us to keep the peace between the two," Tony added.
"Aye," Thor agreed.
"Despite how dull that fight can be at times," Tony lamented. "Man, I wish I had brought a drink."
…
At the barbeque place, Cap and Logan sat on the balcony, a plate of short ribs in front of them and a bottle of beer for each of them.
"Site's looking pretty quiet," Cap commented.
"It won't stay that way for long," Logan told him. "Guys like AIM never give up till they get what they want."
"And that'll make 'em sloppy," Cap continued. "And come right to us."
"Right," Logan agreed, taking a sip of his beer. "You sure letting the kid go alone was a good idea?"
"Yes," Cap insisted. "Why do you ask?"
"You know I've worked with the kid before," Logan told him. "And trust me, he can be pretty impulsive. Not to mention pretty annoying at times."
Cap just chuckled in response.
"I'll admit he still has a lot to learn, but he has potential," Cap told him. "With a little more training I feel he could be a real asset to the team."
Logan just let out a sigh smirking.
"I forgot how annoying that relentless optimism could be," Logan remarked.
Cap chuckled in response.
…
At the final site, Spider-Man stationed himself on a building across the street to survey everything. After waiting for quite a while, Spidey was starting to get a little impatient.
"Ugh," he let out. "Wish I had thought to bring some homework."
Spidey then back slipped to the side of the roof and landed on the edge. After shooting some web behind him, he fell backwards and onto the web hammock he had created, with his legs grossed and his arms behind his head.
"This sucks," he lamented. "I can't believe I'm getting benched like this. I've been doing this hero stuff for a year. Now when I'm playing with the big boys, they think I can't cut it?"
As Spider-Man rolled his eyes and crossed his arms in annoyance, he caught something out of the corner of his mask. He looked over to see the van he encountered earlier and several AIM agents piling out.
"Looks like I've got another chance to prove myself," he mused.
Spidey then leapt out of the hammock and swung over to a building right next to the site. He landed on the wall and watched as the AIM agents did their work. Eying the van itself, an idea sprung to his head.
"Why settle for one batch of thugs when I can catch the whole brood," Spidey thought as he reached into his belt, pulling out a spider tracer.
He threw it on top of the van, causing it to stick. With the tracker planted, Spidey quickly dove out of sight and waited. Once the agents grabbed what they came for, they piled into their van and drove off. Spidey then activated a tracking system inside his mask to follow the tracer.
"Thank you, Tony Stark," Spidey let out before swinging off after the van.
…
After a bit of swinging, Spidey finally managed to track down the AIM agents to an abandoned warehouse. From a skylight window, Spidey investigated the warehouse, seeing rows upon rows of stolen tech, Chitauri armor plating, and several AIM scientists dismantling or repairing it all.
"Wow," Spidey commented. "These guys have been busy."
Just then, Spidey's Avengers ID card started going off. He quickly answered it and saw that Cap was calling him.
"Hey Cap, what's up?" Spidey greeted.
"Spider-Man, everyone's regrouping at the mansion to report. Where are you?"
"Following a lead," Spidey answered. "I found the AIM goons in a warehouse in Brooklyn."
"Nice work. Sit tight, backup's on its way."
Before Spidey could reply, the call ended, leaving Spidey feeling more than a bit put off.
"Unbelievable," he complained. "Won't even give me a chance to respond. I can take these jokers down no problem!"
Unfortunately, his outburst drew the attention of one of the outer guards. Sensing the coming danger, Spidey jumped out of the way of an energy blast intended for him and webbed the guard in the face. As he landed next to him, Spidey quickly swept his legs, taking him out. Once he was out of the way, Spider-Man went back to the skylight and jumped through it, startling the AIM agents as he landed on a work table in the room.
"Evening gentlemen," Spidey greeted. "Hope you don't mind me dropping in like this."
"It's that Spider-freak!" One of the AIM agents shouted.
"Freak?" Spidey repeated. "That's a bit harsh, don't you think?"
Rather than reply, the AIM agent grabbed the nearest Chitauri gun, taking aim at the web head. Spidey fired a web at the barrel of the gun, clogging it. Spidey then whipped the gun out of his hands, only to be forced to dodge three more volleys of gunfire from three other agents. Spidey continued to dodge around the blasts before landing behind a table. He picked up the table and threw it at the agents, crushing them under it.
"This is why I'll never have a desk job," Spidey joked.
Just then, an AIM agent came up behind him with an electrical gauntlet, and hit him in the back, causing him to fall to the floor in pain.
"Ok...ow," Spidey let out.
As Spidey tried to get back up on his feet, the agent hit him with the gauntlet again, knocking him back down.
"You're really… Making… a huge mistake…" Spidey tried to warn as he writhed in pain.
"I don't know," the agent replied. "Getting rid of you will make me feel a lot better."
"But it'll make me very cranky," a new voice warned.
Spidey and the agent looked up to see Iron Man flying in the opening with a repulsor aimed right at the agent. He fired at him, knocking him back.
"You know, I distinctly remember Cap telling you to wait for backup," Iron Man commented, firing another blast without taking his eyes off Spidey.
"Things just kinda...escalated," Spidey tried to explain, pulling himself back up.
"We'll discuss this later," Iron Man declared before turning his full focus on the battle. "Avengers, Assemble!"
The other Avengers arrived not long after, engaging the AIM agents head on. Hulk discarded Rick next to Spidey, who shook his head with a wince.
"You know, I never thought I could see anyone angrier than Hulk," Rick remarked. "Then I saw Cap's face."
"You know how you're usually really helpful?" Spidey told him. "This is not one of those times. Like, at all."
Rick shrugged, then grabbed Spidey and yanked him away seconds before a stray blast from Wasp's stingers nearly hit him.
"You were saying?" Rick quipped.
Clint continued firing at one AIM agent after another, not once missing his target. Shock arrows and exploding arrows went off with every hit. He notched another shock arrow, then promptly spun around and stabbed it into the guy with the shock gloves, taking him out before he could complete his sneak attack.
Hank kept jumping from one AIM agent to another at ant size, taking them out rather easily. Backing him up, Jan kept up a constant barrage of stinger fire, making any agent think twice about coming up from behind.
Thor simply spun his hammer fast enough to knock back any agents that came into his path. Cap was doing similarly with his shield, tossing it like a frisbee to knock back several unfortunate agents or simply bashing them in the head with the flat end.
"I told you to wait for backup!" Cap reprimanded.
"I had things under control!" Spidey replied.
"Is that why everyone's shooting at you?" Widow questioned, her pistols up as she returned gunfire with volleys of her own.
"I'm used to people shooting at me!" Spidey retorted.
"Doesn't mean you have things under control, web head," Logan retorted right back, his claws several weapons with one deadly swing.
"What is this, gang up on Spider-Man day?" Spidey asked, feeling rather irritated.
Hulk grabbed an Agent, tossing him hard enough to leave a large dent in one of the walls.
"You messed up, bug," He let out. "Deal with it."
"Oh, like you guys never made a mistake," he responded.
"Never said that, kid," Clint replied, shooting another arrow over his shoulder. "Just that when you make a mistake, you deal with the fallout like a man, not a whiner."
"Hawkeye's got a point," Rick commented, ducking to avoid getting his head blown off.
Spidey just groaned in irritation, punching out another agent as he did so.
"You know I've been dealing with stuff like this for some time now," he told them. "And I never had a team of critics telling me how royally I screwed up or treating me like a kid!"
"Because until now, you haven't been part of a team," Cap informed him, catching his shield before bringing it down on an agent's head. "You're not a lone soldier anymore, Spider-Man, and that means you follow orders."
"Well you know what," Spidey called back. "Maybe I preferred things on my own! I quit!"
With that, Spidey shot out a web and swung towards the ceiling, heading out the skylight and leaving the Avengers behind.
"Sounds like you guys have some issues to deal with," one agent commented.
A repulsor blast struck said agent in the chest, blasting him right into the only unshattered table in the building.
"Well, that went well," Iron Man remarked.
"I'll go talk to him," Cap reassured. "You guys finish up here."
Iron Man nodded as Cap went off. Just then, one of the AIM agents started chuckling, causing the Avengers to turn towards him.
"What's so funny, bub?" Wolverine asked.
"You didn't think we hadn't counted on running into you eventually?" the agent replied. "We were counting on it. Now, we have something we'd like to show you."
The agent then pulled out a remote and pressed a button on it. Just then, a loud noise rang out from behind, causing the Avengers to turn and see a panel on the floor start to open up. From the panel, a massive machine began to rise up into view. It was a black monstrosity that stood on four legs and almost looked like a bulky spider. It seemed to be packed with a massive array of weapons, and with armor that was on par with Iron Man's.
"Anyone else starting to wish they left with Cap…" Hawkeye let out.
…
Spidey meanwhile was swinging through the city, still angry at the Avengers.
"What a waste of time!" Spidey vented. "I've saved this city alone more times than they could count. Why should I have to put up with them? They just keep holding me back, criticizing everything I do-"
As he continued to swing, he saw Cap riding on his motorcycle, attempting to follow him. More than a bit annoyed, Spidey touched down, landing right on a lamp post above Cap.
"What part of 'I quit' didn't you understand?" Spidey snapped. "I'm pretty sure the meaning hasn't changed since the 1940's."
"No, it hasn't," Cap conceded. "But I still thought I'd try and convince you otherwise."
"What, so you and everyone else can keep throwing my failure in my face?" Spidey quipped. "So you can insult and belittle me some more, point out everything I'm apparently doing wrong?"
"So you can be part of something greater than yourself," Cap told him. "Sure, you may have screwed up today, but you're not used to having someone watch your back. You've been forced to rely on your own powers and instincts from day one, and because of that, you don't know how to work well with others."
Spidey tried to respond, but Cap's words rang with truth.
"I know it's something different than what you're used to, take it from me," Cap told him. "But try and work with it, give it a chance, and you might be surprised by the good you can do."
Spidey thought for a moment, then sighed and jumped off the lamp post, landing right in front of Cap.
"I don't suppose my position is still open," he joked.
Cap chuckled a bit in response. Just then, an explosion rang out, causing the two heroes to turn back and see a cloud of smoke emanating from the building they just left.
"What was that?" Spidey asked.
"Don't know, but the other might be in trouble," Cap realized.
"Then let's go!" Spidey declared before swinging off.
…
Back in the warehouse, the Walker continued opening fire on the Avengers, causing them to scatter. Thor easily spun his hammer to deflect the shots, while Iron Man and Wasp flew upward to avoid the barrage.
"Ok. how the hell could AIM come up with something like that this fast?!" Wasp wondered, firing her stingers at the Walker.
"Given how most of that tech looks like mine," Iron Man replied. "I'm guessing they've been cooking this up for a while. And I'd love to turn it into scrap metal."
Iron Man dove down towards the Walker, just as it fired a barrage of missiles at him. He managed to dodge most of them, until they looped around and continued pursuing him. Wasp flew down and fired her stingers at one of them, only for the missile to blow and knock her back. The explosion also set off the other missiles, forcing Tony to rocket out of the way of the blast. He quickly veered up just before reaching the floor and unleashed a series of repulsor blasts at the Walker. The armor of the Walker, however, seemed to be too thick for the repulsors to cut through.
"Damn. JARVIS, talk to me."
"The external armor plating of the creature seems to be that of Leviathan scales. AIM has taken careful care in designing this weapon."
"Terrific."
Iron Man quickly put up his own shields as the Walker opened fire on him, getting beat back more and more. The constant firing caused Tony to drop to the ground, still shielding himself from the Walkers attacks. Just then, Spider-Man and Cap leapt through the opening, with Cap landing in front of Iron Man and blocking the blaster fire with his shield. Spider-Man swung in low and landed on the Walker's cockpit.
"Peek a boo," Spidey let out before leaping off.
This seemed to get the Walker's attention as it turned towards him and opened fire. Fortunately, Spidey's speed and agility managed to allow him to deftly avoid the machine.
"Kid, what are you doing?!" Iron Man shouted.
"Either A. Narrowly avoiding getting blasted to pieces, or B. saving your slightly grouchy life! Personally, I'm hoping for the latter."
The Walker then fired another missile towards Spider-Man, causing the webhead to gulp in response. He leapt onto a nearby pillar and bounced off it before swinging again, the missile maintaining pursuit the entire time. Seconds before it hit though, the Hulk leapt up and punched the missile, taking the brunt of the blast.
"Thanks big guy!" Spidey called out, swinging towards the Walker. "I owe you a sandwich!"
Spider-Man leapt towards the ground and fired two web lines at the Walker's legs. He yanked on them hard, allowing him to zip to the underside of the Walker itself. He then leapt onto the underside, taking a look at the makeup of the machine.
"Alright," Spidey let out. "Let's see what makes you tick."
He wasted no time plunging his hands into the armor, actually prying the armor open. This allowed him to see some of the internal wiring of the Walker, causing him to whistle in astonishment.
"Man,this thing's impressive. Looks like it runs off some kind of ionic power core. Which means…"
Spider-Man then started pulling out select wires and placing them back in different places. Meanwhile, Cap charged at the Walker, throwing his shield at one of the legs to keep it off balance. He used the Walker's momentary distortion to leap up onto the leg and springboard off towards the cockpit. He then used his shield to break through the cockpit glass before grabbing hold of the pilot and throwing him out. Spider-Man leapt out from underneath the Walker and swung out, catching the agent just before he hit the ground. He then tossed the agent onto a nearby box before landing on a wall.
"We'd better get out of here," Spidey suggested as the Walker started sparking.
"Uh… what'd you do?" Cap asked.
"Reversed the ion charge of the power core to cause the Walker to self-destruct. I'd say we've got about five seconds."
"Right. Let's move!" Cap motioned.
The Avengers wasted no time making their way out of the warehouse. Just as the last of them made it outside, the Walker exploded, taking out a good portion of the building in the process. The Avengers watched from an adjacent rooftop as smoke emanated from the building.
"So… not a terrible day two," Spidey remarked.
"So," Wolverine spoke up. "You're sticking around?"
"Hey, you guys would be lost without me."
"You did good," Cap commended. "Nice work… Spider-Man."
Underneath his mask, Spidey couldn't help but smile.
…
Later, all the Avengers were gathered in the Assembly Hall, watching as Spidey stepped into the room.
"Hey guys," he greeted before clearing his throat. "Look, I just wanted to say I'm sorry for storming off. I guess I've just gotten used to doing this job solo for so long, doing things as a team is a new thing for me. I've never really had anyone I could count on to have my back."
"We're sorry too, kid," Tony spoke up. "I guess we all saw how young you were and completely overlooked that you're not a newbie at this. Like you said, you've been doing this for awhile and you know what you're doing. We should have trusted you, treated you as an equal from day one."
"Well, trust does work as a two-way street," Spidey admitted, taking a deep breath, "and if we're really gonna be a team, I need to trust you with everything, so..." he then pulled off his mask, revealing his face to everyone, much to their surprise. "My name is Peter Parker, and I am Spider-Man."
Tony allowed a smile onto his face, walking up to Peter and offering his hand.
"Welcome to the Avengers, Mr. Parker."
"So, Spider-Man… is a Spider-boy," Thor commented in surprise. "I did not see that coming."
"I already knew," Clint commented.
"Ditto," Natasha added.
"You too huh?" Tony replied.
"Way to undermine this touching moment guys," Peter remarked. "Hanging with you is gonna be loads of fun."
"Kid," Tony addressed. "We're just getting started."
…
At a new AIM facility, the defeated agents all cowered as they recited what had transpired to their superior on a tv screen.
"How much did the Avengers destroy?"
"Most of the advanced weaponry, Scientist Supreme," one agent reported. "Fortunately, they didn't learn anything of our greater intentions."
"Excellent," Scientist Supreme responded. "Then we will proceed as planned. Project: MODOK will soon destroy all our enemies. No one, not even the Avengers can stand against the might of AIM."
...
New chapter, new story arc, and some serious growth from our friendly neighborhood Spider-Man.
