Chapter 5 – Secret and Lies
Just one day after Peter got his detention, he decides to pay a visit to one of the dealers known as Aaron Davis who turns to be one of the buyers that he saw with those gangster that sells the alien tech.
"Hey, do you remember me the other day?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Yes, you save my life and thank you" says Aaron Davis. "So, who are those guys that sold you the weapons and their boss?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "I don't know, but he is a demon for sure and I do know that he is making one last deal" says Aaron Davis.
"Thanks, where are they meeting?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Staten Island Ferry, 11:30am" says Aaron Davis. "Thanks man" says Peter Parker/Spiderman. "Hey, can I give some advice?" Aaron Davis asked.
"Sure, what is it?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "You need to be good at this part of the job, be more intimidated" says Aaron Davis. "I don't understand, I'm intimidated" says Peter Parker/Spiderman.
Therefore, Peter Parker immediately head for the Staten Island Ferry and the information was correct. Peter dropped from the top deck with a slow flip and snagged two of the guys with his webbing,
"Hey guys, the illegal weapons ferry was at 2:30," he called loudly and yanked the two guys together, "You missed it!" Peter Parker/Spiderman informed.
They crashed into each other and flopped over like a pair of dead fish while their buddies tried to rush Peter.
The teen quickly sidestepped a wild swing from one, webbing one of the guy's feet to the deck,
"Not bad" says Peter Parker/Spiderman.
The other tried to grab him, but Peter ducked.
"If you wanted a hug, you could've asked."
The guy spun and tried again.
Peter twisted to the side and tripped one of the fishy twins in the same move, "Jeez, you're like an evil teddy bear. I'm going call you Lotso"
Lotso switched gears and tried to punch Peter in the face.
The fighting doesn't take long as most thugs have either fled or jump on the water, Peter then glanced up only to see the retreating dot of Vulture guy flying towards Staten Island. It was only a second.
But it only took a second for everything to go sideways… Sadly, that last statement was somewhat literal.
Purple light filled the air with an almost painful hum and the cannon detonated in a mini explosion that threw Peter off his feet.
The teen's surprised yelp was drowned out by the henchmen's shouts of alarm. The light died. Peter sat up and glared at the dark scorch marks splitting the ferry in half.
The deck groaned and Peter felt his heat jump into his throat.
"Structural integrity compromised," Suit Lady reported urgently, right before something popped deep inside the ferry and water started gushing through the gigantic crack in the craft's hull.
"No, no-no-no-no-no," Peter mumbled in absent terror as he grabbed Punchy and tossed him up to the second level of one half. He webbed him there and quickly repeated the process with Lotso and the fishy twins.
The FBI could cut them out and haul then up if need be.
"Suit Lady," Peter called shooting a line to either side and running them together.
"Yes, Peter?" Karen asked.
He ran further in, webbing every few feet, "I need to know the strongest points in the ferry. Can you check that?"
He almost tripped over another guy just lying between the cars.
"I can do that. Scanning." says Karen.
Peter hoisted Sleeping Beauty over his shoulder and kept going. Hopefully he could buy the ferry crew members enough time to set some rafts down.
The 3D schematic of the ferry popped up on his display right around the time he reached the end of the boat.
"Great," Peter webbed Sleeping Beauty to the second level.
CRACK!
Peter stumbled as the two halves of the ferry split further apart and water shot up like a geyser. Peter swung up between the two halves, tying off as many lines as he could while focusing on the support columns the suit lady had highlighted for him.
"Come on. You can do this," He muttered to himself. He used his momentum to flip midair and swing around a bundle of his own webs so they pulled the boat closer together, "You can do this." He flew towards the end of the ferry, water boiling beneath him.
He perched on one half of the ruined metal and popped out the cartridges on his wrists to swap them out. He was going to run out soon,
"Suit Lady, how we doing?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Your efforts were a 98% success," she replied.
Peter's head shot up, heart skipping a beat, "What?" He croaked. What could she mean by that?
Snap!
The webs were breaking- or, rather the boat paint they'd adhered to was.
Peter leapt back into the heart of the ferry and threw out more lines. He tried to pull the two halves together again.
The passengers screamed. It wasn't working, his shoulders burned and he could feel his arms starting to slip from their sockets.
Thunk!
"Yeah! Iron man!" Someone yelled up on the second deck.
Peter felt a fleeting sense of relief and dread as the two halves were slowly starting to draw together again. The ferry was going to make it.
He was so dead, he'd screwed up. Peter sat, mask in hand, with his legs dangling over the side of the front of some building, several feet from the catwalk that ringed the roof in. He'd swung up there the second the ferry was close enough for him to escape Mr. Stark's cold blistering fury.
The very fury that was talking to the ATF, FBI and police that had been on board.
As much as his ignorance to their presence made Peter cringe, He still felt that his showing up was justified.
The Vulture Guy hadn't shown up until after he'd downed the rest of the dealers which meant he hadn't been there originally.
The whoosh of repulsors jolted the teen from his thoughts as Ironman swung around to hover in front of him,
"What the hell happened out there? I told you to leave this alone."
Peter slid from his perch and hit the catwalk with a dull thud, "I couldn't. I told you: their weapons are dangerous. I can't just ignore that." "You can just instigate a fight that puts hundreds of innocent lives at risk," Mr. Stark said angrily, stepping down out of the suit.
Peter dropped his gaze to the catwalk as dread settled firmly in his stomach.
"Different story, right? cause that's on you," Mr. Stark spat, "I told you not to go after this guy. I told you to leave it alone- that I had people on it." "No," Peter said firmly, irritation curling along his arms like a dangerous snake as he balled his hands into fists, "You said-"
"Don't interrupt me," Tony Stark/Iron Man snapped.
"Then don't ignore me!" Peter yelled, "None of this would've happened if you'd just listened to me!"
"Listen-" Mr. Stark cut himself off to take a bath and pinch at the bridge of his nose like a frustrated parent, "I listened. You really think the ATF and FBI take ferry rides together for kicks?"
Peter's shoulders sagged with guilt. He'd honestly just thought the feds had figured it out themselves.
"What you did was reckless and stupid- and if I'm being honest, downright dangerous. You can't just go running off halfcocked and expect everything to work out fine. You're smarter than that. Why'd you do it?" Tony Stark/Iron Man asked.
Peter opened his mouth to respond and choked on all the things he could have said, I'm not. I just wanted to help. I had to stop him, "I was just trying to be like you." Like the man who chose to stop selling weapons when he'd learned they were reaching the wrong people. Like the man who'd flown a nuke into the sky instead of running because it would kill everyone. Like the man who'd landed next to a stupid little boy who thought he could be a hero and saved his life.
Mr. Stark gritted his teeth and shook his head, "I wanted you to be better"
"I'm going to need the suit back, if your nothing without this suit then you shouldn't have it" says Tony Stark/Iron Man.
"So basically, you want me to better than being Captain America's hacker?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Wait, how did you…you knew I found out that you were the hacker that help Cap back at Ryker's Island" says Tony Stark/Iron Man.
"Educated guess, I guide Cap out of the trap because he is more than just a criminal and he's a war hero. But your right, I'm not ready yet and I'm just a cocky young idiot teenager" says Peter Parker/Spiderman.
Therefore, Peter left Tony Stark speechless and returns to mourn with his Aunt but Aunt May still doesn't know his identity yet. For another 2-3 days, Peter continue his normal life and using only what he has right now also trying to grow up and move on.
Just one week after the Ferry Incident, Peter decides to hack into UN Classified file specifically Secretary Ross's computer but to Peter and he needs evidence that the guy with wings was the one that put Cap's team into the trap.
"Hey Peter, here some fried macaroni and some hot coco" says Aunt May. "Thank you, May" says Peter Parker/Spiderman. "You know, you never tell me why did you screw up" says Aunt May. "Mr. Stark found out that Spiderman was the one that who hacked a super-secret prison facility and help Captain America in the Raft Breakout, he believes I was hiding it from him" Peter Parker/Spiderman explained.
"But Spiderman and I have to do something— "Peter, you're a good boy and I'm sure Mr. Stark can forgive you" says Aunt May as he kisses Peter's head and leave the room.
After Peter's aunt manage to leave the room, Peter managed to get a hold of the classified file about the Winter Soldiers virtually without raising any red flags. Peter look through every single file about the Winter Soldiers, but the only thing doesn't surprise him is that there is no footage of Bucky when Tony Stark's parents were murdered.
"Maybe the files were deleted or were never there" Peter Parker thought.
Peter knows that the government must've stored it somewhere else, but Peter knows that the guy with wings was the one that set up Captain America's team at London so he intends to prove it.
Peter also knows that the burner phone that Cap gave him has a tracker, so Peter decides to replace that tracker to another one of his own tracker and hoping Captain America doesn't aware of it.
Suddenly, Peter did find something interesting in one of the files and it is that Barnes was once sighting in Queens before Peter receive his powers plus Peter knows the date when it happens.
"Why were you in Queens, Winter Soldiers?" Peter Parker/Spiderman wondered.
It turns out that there is a classified area somewhere in Queens, he needs to find out what it is but for now he must focus on School.
Then, Peter went to see Liz to know if she can be his date for the homecoming dance and Liz believe Peter is terrible of keeping secrets.
"Hey Liz, how are you doing?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Been better, still reeling from the incident in D.C." says Liz Toomes. "Listen, I'm really sorry about what happen" says Peter Parker/Spiderman. "I know but you are terrible at keeping secrets" says Liz Toomes. "You've been surprise" says Peter Parker/Spiderman.
"So, have you found a date to Homecoming?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Actually, I've been so busy preparing it and I've never got a chance to ask" says Liz Toomes. "So, you like to come with me?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Sure, I'll see in Saturday night" says Liz Toomes.
Just after school was over, Peter left to get ready and he suddenly receive a call from none other than Black Widow.
[Phone ringing] [Talking on the phone] "Is there a reason you need to call me besides irritate me, Natasha?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "I've heard what happen at the Staten Island Ferry, I'm sorry you lost your suit" says Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. "I'm trying to grow up and move on, what do you want?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked.
"Cap thought that we could help you, Cap is trying to find the person who set up the trap in the London and he believe that you have encounter that person in the Staten Island Ferry" says Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. "Fine, but for starters I'm going to send you a picture that I took when I was in that ferry and I need you to do background check first then texted me" says Peter Parker/Spiderman.
"Okay Spidey, just send me the photo and I'll look into it" says Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow. "So, any reason you have to hack a government database about the Winter Soldiers?" Natasha Romanoff/Black Widow asked.
However, Peter hung up the phone and he doesn't want to give up any unnecessary information just yet. The Homecoming Dance isn't due until weekends, so it will give Peter enough time to investigate the area where the Winter Soldiers was first sighted.
By 3:00pm, Peter needs to follow a lead on the Winter Soldiers files and also figuring out what the guy with wings are planning next, piece of cake. Peter got to the location according to the files, the place is like a baron wasteland but he did find one piece of evidence lying on the ground which the government or police have either miss it or didn't look for it.
The evidence that Peter found is actually a hard drive, hopefully the file is not encrypted and it will be hard for Peter to access the file if the files are encrypted.
By night time, Peter returns home cheerful as if it was another normal day and he needs to look into the files before getting ready for Homecoming Dance.
"Peter, Dinners ready" says May Parker. "Thanks, Aunt May" says Peter Parker/Spiderman. "Oh, Aunt May can help me get ready for homecoming this weekend if you're not too busy?" Peter Parker/Spiderman asked. "Sure honey, tomorrow after school" says May Parker.
Peter Parker finish his dinner before returning to him room, the information will probably take Black Widow some 2 days at least to get background check on the flying wingsuit guy. Peter hope Black Widow could give him the information before homecoming dance, Peter believe this is same gang that try to trap Captain America and his team in London.
All Peter needs is the intention of the guy, Peter will be needing more evidence and hopefully it could get the government off Captain America's back for the time being.
However, Peter immediately take a look at the file on the hard drive that he found and it is after all a detail on every single file which it is not encrypted.
"Whoa, a lot of assassination attempts and one of the attempt was made to Nick Fury" Peter thought.
Peter then found a map location indicating Winter Soldiers movement all these years, but Peter investigate that map later on and for now he must get some sleep.
That's all.
The next chapter will feature Spiderman's greatest hours, Spiderman will soon encounter the identity of the so-called Vulture.