Shout Outs: Thanks to Master Skywalker 121 for reviewing the story. Thanks to MythologyStar for reviewing the story. Thanks to ISBtheepic for favoring and following the story.

Responses:

MythologyStar: Well then…well then…*hashtag no spoiler* XD

Chapter 17: V is for Victory

Peter gasped from the pain and he grunted, collapsing to the ground. He grimaced from the agony that entered through his shoulder, being numb and blood was pouring out. The Wizard cackled, eyes widened with gleaming insanity.

"It's done then!"

Like that, the Wizard let go of Ned who blinked as he was confused. He looked down only to gasp with shock, falling to his knees and as he held the injured vigilante.

"Peter…?" Ned whispered shakily. "Spider Man!" he cried out.

"I…I'm fine…"

"I can't believe I did that," he whispered. "I'm sorry! I didn't mean—"

"Ned…it's alright…I'm fine…" Peter squeezed his eyes tight before he forced himself to get up while trying to ignore the pain.

Ned stared at the ground bitterly. He hated himself for being so easy to be controlled. He hurt the one who was closer to him—his best friend. Remorse and bitterness consumed Ned and no matter what Peter said, he would still blame himself.

"What happened to Iron Man?" Ned asked.

Peter went silent. He didn't know if the explosion killed them both or he used it as a distraction.

"I…I don't know. All I saw was an explosion. I don't know what happened to him or Michelle," he admitted. Ned looked crestfallen at the news.

"They better be alive," Ned muttered.

"What's the matter boys? Outnumbered since Iron daddy isn't here to the rescue?" the Wizard laughed manically.

Peter threw him an annoyed look, glaring. "In case you haven't noticed, wise guy, there's two against two. For a genius, you're aren't very smart."

"Ah, but that's where you're wrong," he gave an impish laugh. "For I have the upper advantage. I can defeat you one by one."

"Then do it then," Peter said sternly. "Instead of saying it, why don't you do it? How come I'm still here when I'm just a kid?"

The Wizard growled, annoyed. "You're really pushing it, small fry," he said deathly. "Fine then! Since you want to die so badly, I'll grant you your wish!" he roared, raising his hands upwards so that they began to produce a large amount of power and he released it. Peter was prepared to move Ned and himself out of the way but something else beat to him first. A large white beam came out of nowhere, striking against the fire beam. The beams subsided and the boys took a step back when they saw the figure landing down in front of them.

"I'm still here," the newcomer spoke with a threatening voice.

The Wizard sighed. "Here I thought I had finally destroyed you…Iron Man…"

Iron Man tilted his head to the side. "Pity…you must be so disappointed."

"…I didn't miss anything, did I?"

The two boys jumped with startle as they looked to the side.

"Michelle!" Ned exclaimed, running to her and hugged her. "You had me worried."

Spider Man smiled as he saw the small reunion but his eyes went back to the battle between the Wizard and Iron Man. Just by staring at the beams, it made Peter give an idea on how to defeat the two birds with one stone.

"I've got an idea on how to defeat both of them. You guys just stay put. I don't want you to be in anymore danger."

"But—"

"Ned, please. Just stay out of harm's way."

Peter grabbed the copper wire and ran towards the building, swinging from one beam to the next until he was leveled with Iron Man.

"Iron Man!" Peter shouted. "I've got an idea how to defeat them! Don't destroy the Wizard!"

As though that was the cue, Iron Man stopped what he was doing and he raised an eyebrow, flying towards Peter.

"I'm sorry…I probably didn't hear you right. Did you just say don't kill off the Wizard?"

"Yes, I did—trust me on this. If we could get the Wizard to fire his beam again, we can use his beam and yours to go straight at the Sandman—he's vulnerable to heat."

"I do believe I understand what young Mr. Parker is suggesting, sir," Jarvis spoke. "Having high temperature of heat can transform the Sandman into amorphous silicate but the heat would need to be 3, 400 degrees Fahrenheit which is 1871.1 in Celsius."

Tony tightened his jaw, instantly wanting to refuse the idea.

"You do realize that there would be a definite chance for the suit to explode from the high heat, right? I might not be able to make it without suffering some nasty burns."

"But we got to try," Peter responded. "It's the only plan I've got. I mean, there's a water but where can we get the water? We can also short-circuit the Wizard as his suit is made out of machine but we still be left with Sandman."

Tony sighed. He knew Peter meant well but sometimes his ideas can get rather…out of hand such as this.

"Alright then…we shall proceed with this plan but someone would have to hold down the Wizard in order to execute this idea."

"I've got. I'll distract him and hopefully I would be able to have him use his fire beam…" Peter replied.

"Right then…I suppose we should get started."

Almost immediately, Peter sensed an attack which made him avoid the blast that went past between them.

"And I guess the Wizard doesn't have the patience to wait any longer," Peter stated.

Iron Man reignited his engines and flew off, heading towards the Wizard. Peter used the copper wire for a substitute for his webs, repeating the process like before. He saw the Sandman taking a swipe at Iron Man who dodged it at the last minute. Having a thought in mind, Peter took aim at the humanoid creature and when the time was right, he released it, having the wire to be tied around his arm. He then swung himself, jumping off the ledge and he twirled around the side so that the rope continued to tie around the large body until Peter reached the ground.

He secured his footing before he mustered his strength and when he did, he started to tug down the Sandman who gave out a roar. Eyes narrowed, the Sandman looked down to see the Spider Man and he used his free hand to create a sand blast which made Peter avoid at the last minute by swinging himself in the air with the wire.

"Hey Wizard!" Peter shouted.

He's got to execute his plan. It's now or never.

"I bet you can't hit a moving target," Peer taunted.

Iron Man turned his attention to Spider Man as he wondered what the boy was doing.

"Spider Man…what are you doing?" Tony called out.

"Doing what I should've done earlier!"

Peter leaped into the air and he made a punch at the Wizard across the face. Wittman spat out blood as he snarled heavily, glaring daggers at the pest.

"I bet that ruined your makeup, didn't it?" Peter grinned.

"You insolent brat!" Wittman roared as he zoomed down at an alarming speed before he created a blow though Peter avoided it by performing a backward flip, allowing the attack to smash at the ground, creating a hole.

Peter smirked. "Too slow," he then widened his eyes as he saw the oncoming fire streak which he narrowly dodged it.

"Hey, now that's uncalled for!" Peter cried out then paused. "Oh wait…I already knew about it."

Peter raced towards him but the Wizard tilted his head to the side, not moving from his spot. As Peter started to deliver his blow, he wondered why the Wizard wasn't moving but nevertheless, he made a punch. Or he thought, at least. Almost unexpectedly, the Wizard suddenly changed his human form to be brick and due to the sudden transformation, it made Peter struck his hand against the hard rocks, causing pain in his hand.

Peter grunted. "That hurt…" he hissed, rubbing his hand. "That was cheating."

"No pain, no gain kid," the Wizard replied gruffly before he used both of his hand in attempt to smash the Spider.

Peter continued to avoid the attacks and he narrowed his eyes. Something in his guts told him that it wouldn't be too soon where the Wizard would release his fire beam and that time would be now.

Peter jumped to the wall, attaching himself. He may lost his webbing but he still has the ability to stick to the wall and to also crawl. Almost swiftly, Peter smoothly avoided the blasts that were performed by the Wizard but at the last minute, one of the attacks came crashing down near his fingertips even though Peter had sensed it.

"Crap," Peter muttered as he lost his balance due to his wrong timing. He grunted, still trying to linger on the walls whenever he could though when he did, he resumed sliding down until he came to a halt.

Peter eyed to the side where he saw Iron Man battling the Sandman. He realized that he still had his copper wire with him.

Now or never…

Having enough, the Wizard began to fire his fire beam which made Peter run across the wall and he released the rope which got tied at the Wizard's arms, forcing him to shoot the beams at Sandman and Peter shouted at Iron Man.

"Iron Man, now!" Peter shouted when he leaped off the wall, doing a small flip in the air and he avoided the Wizard's beams that ran past by him an inch.

Iron Man engaged his repulsors at full maximum while Peter still managed to keep hold off the Wizard.

"NO!" the Wizard howled.

The beams continued to go on to Sandman who gave a roar of agony, indicating that he was vulnerable from the heat.

"Sir, you're being over the limit of the suit's heat…" Jarvis reported.

Iron Man struggled to keep up with the heat and he could already feel the hot temperature burning against his skin; his suit was being lit like the sun as though it looked like it was being on fire. Literally. This plan of Peter's better work or otherwise Tony's going to haunt him in his sleep.

Peter peered down and sure enough, slowly and eventually, glass started to crawl up the Sandman's skin which made him have a roar of agony.

"It's working!" Peter yelled over the loud engines.

"Sir, the suit is overheated. I highly suggest that you deactivate immediately."

"Almost there…" Tony grunted, feeling the high pressure that was rising in his body. He started to feel dizzy and he ignored the burning heat which sizzled his skin. Eventually, the Sandman completely turned to glass, fading out his roar. But before Iron Man could dissolve, he immediately cut off his repulsors and zoomed towards the Wizard, moving him out of the way (though it also knocked Peter off course since he was still holding the Wizard) although both of them crashed at the ground.

"NO! NO! I WILL NOT LOSE!" the Wizard raged even though he was defeated; his suit was obviously in no condition to function properly. He slipped down, falling back to the ground though he raised his hand and started to launch his attack but he widened his eyes when he saw his bare hands.

Iron Man showed the damaged gloves which made the Wizard let out a howl. And then, Tony's suit began to falter which indicated his end. Like that, he collapsed down to the ground, right beside the Wizard, unmoving.

Peter grunted as he staggered up. He turned around to see the Sandman in the form of glass and that earned a weakened grin from Peter.

"Iron Man…we…did…it," Peter said, exhausted.

He swayed to the side; his head feeling dizzy.

"Iron…Man…" Peter trailed his eyes upon the two figures that were laying at the ground and that made Peter's throat go dry. "No…"

He didn't missed it. The red and gold gleamed lifelessly from the light, having Peter's heart skip a beat. He automatically thought the worse and he couldn't bear to lose him.

"No…nonono…" Peter refused as he tried to move towards him but every step shot pain through his body. "Iron…Man…"

And then, his vision went blurry, the world spun around him and then, just like that, he fell down to the ground, out cold.

"Good. You're awake," a voice said.

The patient groaned uncomfortably as the pain still went up his body. He tried to get up but was automatically pushed back down.

"No, you need to rest. You're severely injured; you're muscles aren't even working properly."

"Forget about me," the gruff voice from the patient spoke. "I need to see…how he's doing."

"Sir, for once in your life, sit back down. You need to heal. Your body isn't working as it should be and you had gone under some surgeries."

Tony growled. "I'm fine."

Happy sighed. "Very well then," he muttered as he knew that once Tony made up his mind, he's determined to go with it.

Tony let out a sigh. "How's…the…suit?" he asked even though he knew what the situation is.

"Er…" Happy shifted awkwardly in his spot. "Well, it…it got almost pulverized from whatever high amount of energy that caused it to be in that state. It's in the process of being operational again and it should take weeks to get it back online and working again. What on earth caused that much damage to the suit?"

Tony grunted as he pulled down his shirt. "Let's just say it decided to have a heatstroke."

Tony got up but staggered to the side, losing his balance and he fell back down to the ground.

"Sir, I must warn you. You barely survived," Happy muttered. "You were lucky enough that you were able to live to tell the tale."

"I'm fine…"

Tony let out a breath before he forced himself to get up. It was a few steps before Happy walked towards an object and then he gave it to Tony who looked at it with a faltered look.

"You must…Tony…just until your muscles are completely healed," Happy said quietly.

Grimacing, Tony took the cane and began to walk towards the other med bed. He needed to see if Peter was alright. In all honesty, Tony was surprised that Peter was able to hold it out for that long.

"Peter…" he muttered.

Almost instantly, Peter woke up with a jolt, gasping as his eyes wen wide with shock.

"Peter…Peter!" Tony replied, trying to regain Peter back to normal. "It's alright…it's done. It's over."

Peter breathed and he absent-mindedly had his hand go up his torso only to feel the gauge that got wrapped around. He stared down at the ripped suit; the expressive eyes of the mask looked back at him though that made Peter winced when the flashbacks came into his mind, almost abruptly. He cringed when they were replaying though that only earned him be more worried.

"Ned!" Peter cried out. "Michelle. Where are they?" he tried to get up but Tony pushed him back with force.

"They're alright. Try to relax, Peter. You have wounds that needed to be healed."

The boy now realized that Tony was also injured—more severely. His left arm was burnt; the scorch was reaching up to his elbow, showing his blackened arm. His face also contained some burnt marks as well. He saw that he was holding a cane since he needed the support and Tony followed his gaze only to give him a small smile before it faltered.

"You…"

"Shhh, I'll be fine," Tony replied as he sat beside Peter. "I've got a few broken bones, torn muscles, burnt skin but I'll survive," Tony smiled as he placed his arm around Peter's shoulder only to have Peter hiss which made Tony withdrew his arm.

"Sorry, sorry."

Peter grinned.

It wasn't easy but Peter was finally released from the med bay and about time to. Happy made more of a fuss then he should have since he wouldn't let Peter leave the med until Happy was satisfied. When he was, Peter was released and so Peter found himself roaming the halls until he found the two familiar people that were sitting on the waiting bench.

As though Ned sensed that there was another presence, he looked up and saw Peter who smiled at them.

"Peter!" Ned exclaimed, jumping from his seat and he ran down towards him, tackling him as he gave a hug.

Peter grunted. "Careful…"

"Uh…right…right…"

Michelle came as well but she gave a small smile.

"Parker…"

"You know, you can drop the last name basis, right?" Peter smirked.

Michelle grinned.

"So…how are you?" Peter asked. "Ned?"

"Alright. You?"

"Alright. Michelle?"

Michelle grinned from ear to ear as she answered. "Never better."

Peter chuckled as he wrapped his arm around Ned as Michelle did the same.

"So…you think there will be a chance where we would be in a life threatening situation?" Ned asked.

Peter smirked. "Probably yes."

Michelle laughed as she let go of Ned and ran down the hall.

"Last one out is a rotten egg!"

Peter smirked, chuckling. In all honesty, it felt good to be back. He knew that there would be more challenges up ahead but as long as he had his friends and Tony, then he would be alright.

"I'm going to catch up with Michelle. You coming?" Ned asked.

Peter paused in his tracks. "No…you go ahead…there's something else I need to do," he answered as he stared at the small figure of Michelle that was fading in the distance.

Author's Note: Ahhh can't believe I'm going to be done with this book too! And it's all because of you! THANK YOU! I MEAN IT! THANK YOU! Also, the reason why Iron Man moved the Wizard out of the way was because if the beam struck the glass ta was from Sandman, it would reflect back, killing not only the Wizard but Iron man as well and that was why Iron Man shut off his engines when the glass fully came. And as for Sandman, ehm…clean up duties? Also, I've realized that producing that much heat, it would also kill Iron Man on the spot but I've decided that it's too early for Tony to die—SPOILER ALERT XD Now what's inside Peter's mind? And don't worry; Tony, Peter, Jarvis and Iron Man's suit would all be healed in due time :) and yes, Peter is in his human form—not wearing Spider Man suit. And another thing, the Wizard's gloves can mimic the Fantastic Four's ability—ahh the wondrous of research XD What happens next? Find out! Toodles!