STANDARD DISCLAIMER APPLIES

CHAPTER COMPLETED: 11/18/18

CHAPTER START

The last couple of weeks have been some of the most hectic Peter has ever experienced. The press conference he, Johnny, and Tony where they announced their peculiar partnership lead to many questions on how it would work. In particular how Parker Industries, now fully enveloped by The Uncle Ben Foundation, would be a beneficial partner since it was no longer the R&D powerhouse that it was at it's peak. Peter took the brunt of the press' questions and was lined up for many interviews afterwards as "punishment" from Aunt May. Through all this adulting an epiphany came to him, he needed to hire someone who could filter through all the crap and manage the partnership. Helping May with the UBF was time consuming as it is, not even counting the mentoring he was doing on the side. He decided one day to try his luck and try to get the perfect person for the job.

Flashback

"Hey Tiger, why the long face?"

MJ had walked into Peter's office in the Baxter Building. He was so enveloped in his own thoughts and misery that we had not heard the receptionist notifying him of MJ's arrival, nor her entrance.

"Wha, what are you doing here?"

"Don't you remember, you called me yesterday asking if we could talk." MJ says with a raised eyebrow.

"Sorry, um I've been busy. Things have been slipping my mind lately."

"Well, since I'm here maybe that will jog your memory on why you called me."

"It's about the 'Terrific Trio' I joined."

"You mean the Bachelor Club."

"Something like that, but you would be the perfect person to round us out to a nice even four. You said you were thinking about leaving Stark Industries get away from all the crazy, but you were pretty good at keeping Stark in check. I think you'd be great to make sure we stay on point, plus you'd get to stay in New York."

"So I have to take care of 3 Tony's instead of 1."

"Johnny and I are not that bad, together we are like half a Tony."

"With 3 of you it will be 3 times the lawsuits, explosions, and crazy ideas to deal with."

"I know you dislike all the crazy that goes with heroes, but you're one of the few who knows what it's like to live it. You would keep us in check and make sure we stay on the side looking out for the little guy. Plus we get to hang out more often and Teresa doesn't lose a friend."

"Oh now you are guilt tripping me Peter. You sure you don't just want me around." MJ responds with a hand on her hip, goading Peter for a response.

"No, I just don't want my little sister to lose a good friend."

"Riiight, you better have a good compensation package."

"Does Pannucci's sound good?"

Teresa barges into Peter's office and starts yelling, "I GOT THE GOODS!"

"An old school pizza bribe, you know me too well Peter."

Teresa and MJ greeted one another and began to chomp down the pizza.

"You know Teresa, you have good timing unlike another Parker I'm familiar with."

"Don't hate him too much, May and I are teaching a few things about being a responsible adult, being on time is one of those."

"Can't I eat some pizza without being criticized, my office should be my safe space." Peter says while eating with a small frown on his face.

"It's about time someone got through to you, guess it took some tough love to break through your bad habits."

"Oh and why didn't you ever do any of that "tough" love."

"Shhh that's inappropriate your little sister is here." MJ says with a scandalous tone.

"He's only older by like a year, and as far as I'm concerned I have a few decades of punches I owe him so I'm on bully duty for the foreseeable future. If he does something stupid, you better let me know."

With that Teresa gives Peter a light punch, making him drop his slice of pizza.

"That's for flirting in front of me, my young mind can't take that kind of abuse." Teresa says sarcastically.

'I'd rather go on another interdimensional adventure than be bullied by these two. But it seems MJ is willing to stay so I guess it's mission accomplished today.'

End Flashback

One of the many functions the Uncle Ben Foundation now took part in was offering STEM related tutoring and research opportunities for high school and college students. It gave many of the Parker Industries scientists the perfect pool of candidates by throwing students head first into the discoveries and inventions of tomorrow. (It also meant the students didn't have to get paid like regular researchers, 1st world problems :) ). Many of these opportunities were perfect for student's resume's and kept the Foundation in peoples good graces and afloat. All of this was being managed by Peter who under the explicit instructions of Aunt May could not screw this up. And today was one of those days where failure would be disastrous.

A group of students were walking in from two of the most prestigious high schools around, Brooklyn Visions Academy and Coles Academic High School. Unknown to many in the group two heroes were amongst them and were the main reason any of them were scheduled to come today. Miles Morales and Kamala Khan were two of the brightest heroes around and had caught the eye of Peter and Stark. By bring their classmates along Peter could easily pull them aside and not only give them the opportunity to shine in a school, but in the world of heroes.

"Hey Miles, Kamala, you guys ready for an exciting day."

"Are we building super magnets to open a portal to another dimension?" Kamala asks.

"I don't think May gave us permission to do that."

"You've got to let us do something fun sometime man."

"Pro tip, don't go looking for trouble. Let's head up to my lab you can mess around in there and entertain yourselves."

Even though the other students were going off to do "legitimate" scientific discoveries, Peter was taking Kamala and Miles off to his personal lab so they could pursue their own personal endeavors. Kamala was working on a safe sleeping gas for some reason. Peter did not really want to get too personally involved with it especially since he always reminded of her peculiar tastes and occasional awkwardness.

'Hopefully I'm not an accomplice for letting her do this in my lab.'

Miles, thankfully, was just messing around with his Spider gear, occasionally shocking himself or blowing up his webbing cartridges.

'Ah Miles, always keeping to the classics. The only bad thing is he is going through webbing like crazy. Not sure how I'm going to explain the cost of the materials to May.'

The morning went by quickly for the group, lounging around when they hit a roadblock, having small talk every now and then, even a giggle when something unfortunate occurred. This was one of the moments Peter enjoyed the most. He could relax and not be burdened by the all the responsibilities of being a boss and a hero at the same time. He was only a few seconds from getting so comfortable he would end up falling asleep. However, lunch time rolled around interrupting the peace with the need to eat.

"What are we having for lunch?" both teenagers asked.

"Don't know, I wasn't in the meeting for what we were getting for catering."

Once they walked into the cafeteria they were greeted by a classic in catering, "Mexican" food.

They grabbed their plates and once they served themselves sat with Anna and MJ.

"I'm surprised to see you today, I thought you would be somewhere yelling at Stark."

"Lately only his mother has been able to get through to him, I just needed a break before I check on Johnny."

The lunch was calm, with only minor interrogating from MJ who was trying to see if Peter was being responsible. MJ took her job seriously meaning this was just her initial investigation, she would look deeper at a later time. Hopefully she wouldn't be mad at him giving Kamala and Miles free time.

Once lunch was over the little researching adventure for the students was over. The students were going to spend a while in the common room to work on their weekend homework before being picked up by their parents or school. Within 20 minutes, however, Peter had already been ratted out by Kamala and Miles who were more than willing to throw him under the bus, even if they didn't realize it. MJ pulled Peter aside to discuss his decision.

"So a little birdie told me something interesting. Giving students free time when they should be conducting bleeding edge research sounds very irresponsible."

"They are doing research, a special kind of research."

"Maybe, but they were not seen by any of their classmates this whole day and are obviously making excuses for what they were doing. You are not doing them any favors by giving them special treatment. The Baxter Mentorship Program is an opportunity to for them to do something outside of heroing it up, like getting experience before college. They're smart kids you need to let them grow instead of babying them. Also if you kept them with their friends while they are here you would have more free time to, I don't know, help May."

"Sorry." Peter says with a downtrodden face. He understood perfectly what MJ was saying to him. He was bringing his hero time with the teens into their normal lives, forcing them to make compromises they probably did not realize they were making. While babying wasn't really the correct term, he was keeping them from opportunities outside of being a hero. Maybe even keeping them away from having a boyfriend or girlfriend.

"Now Imma give you an opportunity to make up for your lapse in judgement. You're going to be my body guard since Teresa is busy today."

"Really…."

"Come on, let's get some sunshine on your skin."

However the sunshine was not that extensive, MJ and Peter were going to be travelling in one of Tony's experimental self-driving cars he set aside for MJ to juggle all her duties on her time.

"Well, I'm guessing this "car" is from Tony. Only he would think about making an Super Car self-driving."

"Can't say no to a free car."

The self-driving car was beautiful and took the stress out of driving, but it had one giant flaw, it was still on wheels. Being wheel bound meant that the drive to Avengers Mansion was as time consuming as taking a cab. Eventually they did arrive, but it had taken more than a full hour to travel a couple of miles. Speaking of miles, when they arrived and walked through the front door they were surprised to see Miles in his Spider-Suit speaking with Beast.

"Shouldn't you be doing your homework?"

"You two were gone for like an hour, I already finished it all."

"Good to see you Parker and Ms. Watson, I'm guessing you're both here to see Johnny."

"You would be right Doctor, but what brings you to the Mansion?"

"Just some pieces of SHIELD equipment Rogue and the others found. They were not sure what each piece did so Rogue asked if I could examine them. Spider-Man however is saying he has some experience with SHIELD technology so I have enlisted his expertise."

"Maybe I could help. Parker Industries supplied SHIELD with equipment at one point so maybe it's simply left overs."

"That is a possibility, your help would be appreciated if you could find the time."

After Beast's invitation Peter gave MJ a pleading look of "Please let me have fun".

"Technically you're my bodyguard, maybe after we meet with Johnny you can goof off a bit."

MJ drags Peter along, while Beast and Miles smile at Peter amused by his and MJ's exchange. Miles even imitates cracking a whip to further punctuate Peter's suffering.

'That little shit. I'm going to start charging him for all the equipment he's breaking in my lab.'

Peter and MJ walked towards where Johnny had his business-only office, where no shenanigans were allowed. When they knocked on the door, however, Rogue was the one to open the door and let them in.

"Hi yall. I take it ya were expecting Mr. Hotshot."

"Peter and I were wondering how things we're going with the Avengers."

"Things ah fine, Johnny's just out sick. Apparently he has ah fever if ya could believe that."

"Huh, is he sleeping in an ice bath or what?"

"Oh no nothing crazy like dat, just sum heavy medication Hank made to keep him sedated."

"Peter, I guess you can go have fun with Hank and Spider-Man. I can meet up with you later on, so we can head back to foundation."

"Sweet, see ya later ladies."

Peter rushed out of the office with only all the sweet gadgets on his mind. It wasn't every day one would get to work with Hank McCoy, he'd also get to show off a bit to Miles. Maybe he'd find something really cool he could incorporate into his already expansive arsenal. When he arrived at the lab the other two were at, Peter gave .

"You guys ready for some sciencing."

Hours later…..

Unsurprisingly the scientist trio dedicated themselves fully to the task at hand. They had identified many pieces of SHIELD equipment like Icer rounds, even some cloaking technology and portable emergency care equipment.

'Most of this isn't that different from what I could do. Kinda boring so far and we only have one thingy magingy left.'

Hank had walked out to relieve himself in the restroom, they had essentially locked themselves in the lab for a good part of the afternoon. Peter and Miles were looking at the last piece left, a small flat and round object that looked like a small portable purse mirror.

"Miles, you think when we open it up it's going to be a regular old mirror?"

"That would be the lamest thing SHIELD could ever issue to an agent."

Suddenly the lab door opened and in walks in MJ, the one person they weren't expecting.

"Hey boys, how's your little fun time going?"

"Only 1 left, but it seems it's going to be a disappointing one."

"Oh, hey you didn't take the mirror out of my bag did you? That looks awfully like mine."

"We're hoping its not."

MJ walked up to the boys, to get in front of the "mirror" before they opened it and we're either disappointed or amazed beyond belief.

Miles did the honor of opening it up, but something odd happened when they did. As Miles opened it up, they didn't see a mirror. Instead a small digital display lit up. When Miles touched the display the device began to glow blue and displayed a number.

1610

"What the heck is 1610 supposed to mean?"

Suddenly the blue glow became a bubble that began to expand outwards. Miles nor Peter's Spider Sense went off, but both reacted to the possible danger. Miles enveloped the device with his hands, but the blue bubble continued to expand. Peter was still able to get in front of MJ to at least try to protect her, but even she was enveloped by the bubble. Then the bubble burst and they were gone. The only thing left in the room was a shocked Hank who had just walked in.

"Oh my Stars and Garters. This is not going to go over well with Rogue."

Somewhere else….

It was a serene day in a beautiful park. People were enjoying the temperate weather and relaxing in the little piece of paradise. However the peace was broken in an empty section of the park. A big blue bubble suddenly appeared and left three people in it's wake.

"What the heck….."

Peter, Miles and MJ were very confused as to what happened. One moment they are surprised by a mysterious contraption in a lab and the next they were out in the open in a beautiful park.

"Looks like we ended up in Central Park." Peter said. He was not sure how it happened, but at first glance it looked like they were simply teleported to the park from the lab.

"Uh Peter, I don't think we're in Kansas anymore." MJ responds while pointing up to the sky. Across the New York skyline, Helicarriers were roaming everywhere. The fact that so many were in the sky, proved to MJ that they were somewhere familiar, but very different.

"No way." Miles finishes, with awe and confusion.

CHAPTER END

A/N:

Hello everyone, sorry for the delayed update. Another workmate left to focus on school so I've been doing 2 times the work. That's not including the buying out of another company leading to like double the laptop orders and headaches from not knowing how upgrades or anything else is going to work. Thankfully 2 new people were hired so my job should return to normal.

This chapter was tough to write, the lack of motivation to write at or after work led to a lot of writer's block. I also realized my original set up for the arc wouldn't work as well as I thought so I had to replan the plot to avoid OOCness from a character I planned on using. That means the set up is basic AF, but I can still have the fun moments I planned for once things get rolling. I think it's pretty self-explanatory what is going to happen soon.

Since the holiday season is also ramping up I don't know when the next chapter will come out, since I plan to spend a lot of time with my parents and friends whenever the chance comes up. I also plan to get back into console gaming to play with the homies. Even though we have PC's, one of my friend's is crapping out so consoles is just the cheapest way to game with everyone. My current goal is to release before Christmas so there is something for you guys to read during the tail end of the year.

Moving slightly away from this story just wanted to say that it is sad to see Stan Lee pass away. He's one of the people who helped push comics into the mainstream and set the foundation for my favorite hero Spider-Man. His voice itself is so iconic and I'll never forget it from the PS1 era Spider-Man games. He put the ball in motion for many iconic Marvel characters, now it is up to us fans and creators alike to enjoy the work he and others built and keeping their work alive. EXCELSIOR!