CHAPTER 35

A Very Parker Thanksgiving

You've been keeping an ear out for any big trouble lately, but after catching the Hobgoblin and with Carnage in a jail holding cell without bail awaiting trial as his court date keeps being pushed back, there hasn't been too much. Some odd robberies and the Hobgoblin's equipment gone missing, but nobody's used it.

Yet.

Still, while things are quiet, it's best to get to work on pressing issues. Such as the hard drive your father left behind. The videos are mostly his discussions on the different blueprints he left behind as he talks to you over the video. You've spent many late nights, such as last night, working on it until you collapsed from exhaustion. Still, there are secrets in this thing that are left hidden.

Until this morning.

Blearily opening your eyes on Thanksgiving morning, you quickly blink back the crud from your eyes as you stare at the words on the screen.

DECRYPTION COMPLETE.

Your heart skips a beat as you stare at the words before hitting enter, the screen changing to videos and images- there's a more than a few images your father had of him, you and your mother. Moreover, a decent amount of the thumbnails for your father's videos show him looking rather disheveled. Glancing at the clock, you see that it is nine in the morning.

However, today is Thanksgiving- normally things are pretty quiet- you, Aunt May, Uncle Ben, and Miss Anna Watson. But you've noticed Aunt May buying up lots of food to prepare- much more than usual. She's either making sure there's lots of leftovers or you're having more guests than normal.

You might have an hour or two to do things before you're roped into helping prepare for dinner and guests. You glance in the mirror nearby- your hair's disheveled and your eyes are somewhat bloodshot.

When asked about if she's want to come over for Thanksgiving, All Felicia did was smile impishly at Peter and say, "Sorry, Peter, I already made plans."

While a nap sounds lovely and you'd rather just spend forever with this hard drive, its probably best to pack it away. Spending a few moments, you set the computer back to normal and hide anything that relates to your secret activities.

Yawning, you quickly head upstairs and greet Uncle Ben and Stella- Aunt May is over at the Watsons for the moment. You take a moment to see that Uncle Ben is showing her his Bob Ross VHS again before you head upstairs to freshen up- watching that man is a deathtrap to being awake to you right now. Grabbing a shower and trying to make yourself not look like death warmed over, you succeed in merely looking like you're somewhat tired.

Heading back downstairs in clean clothes, you glance at the clock- it's just past nine-thirty. There's some decorations up here and there, but things haven't been finished- since you normally use the dining table for thanksgiving, it usually isn't bothered with, however as there will (probably) be more guests, you might as well try to help out.

Uncle Ben waves at you over as you sit down. "Good thing you're up, sport. May'd have a cow if you're still sleeping. Anyway, we need to assemble the larger dining table, so we'll have to grab it from the garage."

"Sounds good!"

It takes a little bit of time as you help your uncle dust off and assemble the table in the cleared area of the living room before chairs are placed down- according to your uncle there needs to be twelve chairs in total. When the two of you have finally set up the table, you smile in nostalgia.

This table used to be used every Thanksgiving- you remember your father and Uncle Ben always dragging it out and assembling it as you'd wait around to hang out with Eddie- he was older but he always tolerated you being around considering the holiday. Brushing your hands off, you smile at the table- it's nice to see it used again, it hadn't been used again since your parent's deaths.

Your Uncle has a melancholic expression as he sits back down and stares at the table- Stella's looking at the both of you, a somewhat lost expression on her face. "What's with the table?"

Your uncle ruffles her hair as his normally jolly smile returns. "Well, Stella, this table's an old Parker Family tradition The men would set up everything, the kids would play together, and the women-folk of the Parkers would kick the men out of the kitchen and threaten us with giant spoons if we entered."

The two of you reflect in bittersweet memories before Ben claps his hands to destroy the mood. "Well then, everything's set up, barring silverware, so let's go ahead and watch some television, alright?"

Turning on television in hopes of seeing some thanksgiving programming, your uncle begins to flip channels, settling on the news for a few moments. This one's bugle affiliated as you see discussion of whether or not a Spider-man balloon would show up, considering your minor celebrity status, which leads into discussions of the 'Scarlet Spider' as the Bugle refers to the few, very blurry images of Gwen in costume-

Interestingly enough, there was an interesting division of terms- unlike when you introduced yourself, Gwen had no such luck for an identity. Jameson, alliterative and catchy as his goal, came up with the 'Scarlet Spider,' while their rival insists on 'Spider-girl.' Actually, when you asked her on it, Gwen admitted she's pretty embarrassed by both, but she admitted she'd rather not be referred to as 'girl' when she's almost an adult.

You've been sitting and explaining things about thanksgiving during the news, but it seems like your Aunt has returned in the meantime. Looking over at the table, she seems almost about to cry before wiping at her eyes and heading towards the kitchen.

"The guests will be here starting at around noon, everyone. Anna and Mary Jane will be helping me, but they'll be coming in from out back."

She pauses and stares sternly at you and Uncle Ben. "You two know the rule, so if you enter the kitchen before dinner you're eating out on the porch."

Admonished, the two of you quickly look to see what else is on before you stop your Uncle.

"Wait- the previous channel!"

You freeze as 'Stark Press Conference' is on the news, there's a man in the suit speaking as Tony Stark waits next to him.

"-and now, Mr. Stark has prepared a statement. He will not be taking questions, thank you."

He steps off to the side as Tony Stark walks in front of the microphones on the podium.

"First of all, I'd like to apologize for delaying your thanksgiving, I'm sure the rest of you all have families you'd like to be with. Anyway, Been a while since I was in front of you. I figure I'll stick to the cards this time."

He clears his throat as he taps some note cards before looking down at them before looking back at the reporters.

"There's been speculation that I was involved in the events that occurred on the freeway and the rooftop…"

A female report stands up as attention focuses on her. "I'm sorry, Mr. Stark, but do you
honestly expect us to believe that that was a bodyguard in a suit that conveniently appeared, - despite the fact that you…"

Stark raises a hand to cut her off.

"- I know that it's confusing. It is one thing to question the official story, and another thing entirely to make wild accusations, or insinuate that I'm a superhero."

The report smirks. "I never said that you were a superhero."

Stark looks surprised for a moment before he tries to regain ground. "Didn't? Well, good, because that would be outlandish and… fantastic."

Stark's trying to regain his momentum, but he's stumbling badly.

"I'm just not the hero type. Clearly. With this laundry list of character defects, all the mistakes I've made-largely public…"

The man next to him leans in and whispers to Stark for a moment before moving back as Stark takes a deep breath.

"Yeah, okay. Yeah."

He looks down at his cards, prepared to read them, but you notice his hesitation. There's something that's keeping him from reading them.

"The truth is…"

He grimaces as you lean forward. Stark looks at the card before tossing them over his shoulder.

"I am Iron Man."

You stare at the TV as the press conference is quickly ended as reporters cut back to studio and discuss- images of two robots- one large, imposing and silver against another humanoid one that's red and gold as there's scattered footage of them fighting before one image of Stark Industry's arc reactor blowing sky high.

Even the commentators are still reeling as news updates itself as there's an image of Tony Stark from the conference just now alongside the red and gold robot. Or armor.

Iron Man.

Tony Stark has a robot suit.

To your side, you notice that Uncle Ben let's out an impressed whistle.

You, however, are having a brain crash. Firstly from nerding out. OHMYGODTONYSTARKMADEPOWERARMOR

You might have made some crazy or excited sounds. Hopefully not.

Then you take a moment as the engineer in you takes control. How the hell did that even work? No, seriously, the amount of sustained calculations for flight and other programs has to be insanely complicated. Not to mention for that small and compact of a design, how is it even powered? There's also the fact of how exactly is it flying there?

You don't know.

But goddamn it, you need to.

You find yourself downstairs moments later- the in between lacks relevance due to its lack of science- and look up videos of 'Iron Man' as you try to work out how the fuck he's doing this. There's no obvious areas for a backpack, he's apparently got flight because of emitters in his hands and feet (and chest?) that provide thrusters but you're still not sure how the fuck he powers that thing. Or gets it to work.

You sit down there in the basement, trying to figure this out. There's some sort of noise, drawing you from figuring this puzzle out.

You reluctantly close up the notebook you're writing in and put it into the desk drawer before closing out the internet. You look longingly back at the work you were doing before heading upstairs.

Stupid responsibility.

Heading on up, you close the basement door behind you as you sit down next to Stella, who pokes you cautiously. "You back to normal? Uncle Ben said that you went into 'crazy nerd mode' again."

You pause and look over at your uncle. "What? It's true."

You sigh before shaking your head and trying not to focus on science. There's family stuff to do. Even if you would really, REALLY like to be deciphering the mysteries of power armor. The doorbell rings as you get up to answer it, you see that it's Eddie.

He seems a bit under the weather, but gives you a smile. "Hey, Pete. How are you?"

The two of you sit down and begin making small talk after you introduce Stella. Seems like Eddie's been working hard on investigating Cassidy ever since he was caught, along with any hobgoblin leads. However, while he won't tell you anything on Cassidy, he does inform you one thing about the Hobgoblin.

"Seems like that the suspect was a kid around your age, but the police won't say anything more. The feds are involved too, whatever's going on it completely top secret. Can't tell anything more because that's all I 'know.'"

He looks around for a moment as he lets out nostalgic smile. "I remember Thanksgivings. They were a lot of fun. Before.."

He shakes his head. "Well, regardless, you're about to graduate, right? Where have you looked into?"

"Well, I was thinking of going to ESU, but I've also applied to several others in the area. Norman Osborn did invite me to work as Oscorp though."

Eddie nods his head. "Makes sense. You're damn smart- always were, and Osborn's an old friend of your family."

"Wait. What?"

Eddie Nods. "You might not remember but Norman Osborn and his family used to come over, but stopped when Oscorp began making it big, as they were too busy. Don't know the details myself though."

Uncle Ben leans in, taking a drink of his eggnog. "Well, allow me to explain. Norman Osborn's wife Emily was a friend of your father's through college. Everyone thought they'd hit it off, too. But your father met Mary and well, it was love at first sight. He still kept in contact with her, and eventually she met Norman, who was a nobody at the time as Oscorp had yet to exist."

"They used to always come over for Thankgiving and other Holidays, but as business built up and your fathers refrained from going up with them they saw less and less of each other, until it was eventually only the Brocks and Parkers coming."

Uncle Ben turns back to the television as you and Eddie look a bit surprised. "Well, that's more than I knew."

Your eyes widen as you remember. "Oh, right. So, what's the Bugle's views on Stark's announcements, by the way?"

Eddie grimaces as he pulls out a handkerchief and coughs into it before pocketing it again, his face tired and a bit annoyed. "Please don't bring up work, Peter. Besides, I've been on sick leave for the past few days, so I've been kept out of the office loops. Jonah insisted on it, told me 'Spend the holiday with Family, Brock! If I catch you at work, you won't like the tongue-lashing I give you!'"

He coughs into his handkerchief again. "You alright, Eddie?"

He just waves you off. "Just a cold, Pete. Don't worry."

You distract him with Stella and some small talk before the door rings again. Getting up, you open it to see Captain George Stacy standing there in a semi-formal outfit along with Gwen who is in a sweater and black pants looking somewhat uncomfortable to be there.

You smile and try too look like you know what you're doing as you step aside. Captain Stacy's a friend of your uncle, so not surprising he'd be invited over if they're doing something big. Captain Stacy walk in as you call over to your Uncle.

"Uncle Ben, Captain Stacy is here!"

Faster than you'd expect of him, Uncle Ben has picked up a cooler and wrapped an arm around his shoulders. "Hey, George. Good to see you. Remember that bet you made?"

George Stacy's face pales as he quietly and horrified tries to struggle. "Please no."

But you see Uncle Ben dragging Captain Stacy off into his (still unfinished but it'll be done one day) rec room as you think you see the police captain consider biting off his own arm. He quietly whispers that you and Gwen for you to save him.

You wave sadly as he's dragged out of sight, leaving a baffled Gwen there.

Stella, who you've briefed on Gwen not actually being Carnage is starring impassively at her. Eddie seems to be calling someone on the phone.

You clear your throat uncomfortable as you lead her over to the couches. "Gwen, This is Stella. I think I've mentioned her?"

Stella continues to stare flatly at Gwen, who pulls at the neck of her sweater with one hand and extends another. "Ah. Yes. Nice to meet you, Stella. I'm Gwen."

Your sister figure slowly takes her hand and shakes it tightly with a slow careful movement, never breaking eye contact. "I'm aware."

Gwen takes her hand back, flexing it. There's a tension between the two- even though Stella knows she's not CARNAGE there's a deliberate unfriendliness there, and Gwen's still a bit apprehensive about meeting a half-child of a alien species from a future that no longer exists.

You should step in. Clearing your throat, you get their attention.

"So, Gwen… How about that Iron Man?"

Gwen, seemingly grateful for a break into familiar territory sits down, adjusting her glasses. "Well honestly, its rather interesting. I'm curious on if it involves cybernetics, or not- Stark doesn't seem to be a cyborg, but who knows.

"Still though, I'm really curious as to how he gets it to work- I don't see how such a compact form could do all of that without an internal battery-"

The two of you talk back and forth about different ideas, but Gwen's more biology focused so you sometimes loose her and vice-versa when discussing technology.

When it clock hits about three and everyone's all settled in, the doorbell rings one more time. Getting up to open the door, you see Norman and Harry Osborn standing there. Harry seems a bit displeased to be here.

"Um, hello Mister Osborn, Harry. Nice to see you. Won't you come in?"

Norman gives you a smile as you step to the side to let them in as Harry continues to look disgruntled as he walks in. Norman looks around and lets out a sigh. "Would you like me to get my Uncle, Mister Osborn?"

Norman Osborn pats your shoulder, chuckling cheerfully. "Peter, my boy. No need to be so formal. You're practically an adult, so please, call me Norman."

He glances round. "Where is Ben, anyway?"

You point over at the door to Uncle Ben's Rec Room. "He's in there talking with Captain Stacy Mi-Norman."

He gives you a smile as he heads over to the door. Pausing, he turns back. "Oh, did you hear about Tony Stark, Peter? I'd be interested in hearing your thoughts on his 'Iron Man' sometime."

Waving, he heads into the rec room. You see Eddie step outside for a moment on the phone, closing the door behind him. Leaving you, Gwen, Harry and Stella.

Harry's sitting down looking like he'd rather be anywhere else.

"You alright, man?"

Harry gives you a sarcastic sneer. "Does it look like I'm alright? This is exactly what I don't want- an evening of being shown how my father would rather have you as a son."

Gwen scowls at him. "Hey- whatever problems you have with your father, they aren't Peter's fault. This is Thanksgiving- don't act like that, especially not to your friend."

He looks like he's about to retort, rudely, before he shrugs and leans back into the couch, looking away. "Look…Whatever."

You frown at Harry- ever since Halloween, he's been more and more like this. Still, no reason you shouldn't try to be a friend. "So, do wither of you have college plans? I was thinking ESU myself."

Harry's eyes narrow as he scoffs- Gwen, trying to keep a polite conversation, tries to smile. "I was thinking of ESU, as well. They've got a great science department and a lot of noted scientists in the area went there, like Otto Octavius. I'm pretty sure I'll be accepted."

There's an awkward silence as you see that Stella has actually stopped staring creepily at Gwen- she's scowling at Harry.

"So, Harry, what about that Iron Man- its powered armor, that's pretty cool, right?"

Harry doesn't respond for a moment, when he does his words are cold and bitter. "I don't know. Why don't you talk with my father about it I'm sure he'll be glad to listen to -you.-"

You frown and grab Harry by the arm. "Harry, we're talking upstairs. Privately."

Dragging him to your room, you close the door behind you and turn to him as he scowls at you, arms crossed. "What is it?"

You stare at him and sigh. "Harry, I don't care about your dad- he's a jerk. I just want to be able to talk with my friend, dude."

You try to rest you hand on his shoulder, but he slaps it off and glares at you. "Look- I don't want to fucking be pitied by -you- of all people."

Your brow furrows in confusion as you feel your heart twist at that. "…Harry? What's that supposed to mean?"

He pokes you in the chest. "What do you -think- it's supposed to mean? I mean that I'm Harry Osborn- and yet I can, somehow, never measure up to -you- Puny Peter Parker, who can't fucking talk to girls and gets bullied and is so fucking pathetic that he only has -one- friend. You know why Dad's more interested in you? I let myself coast by and let you be the smart kid while I was the more popular one.

"Hell, Gwen Stacy wouldn't even go out with you and everybody knew she had a thing for you. How -sad- can you be? And yet somehow you're no longer bullied- you're friends with Flash Thompson, the hot new Girl is going out with you because you helped out her pitiful cripple brother. And then you try to pity -me- by setting me up with your creepy freak neighbor."

He breathes deeply again, poking into your chest again. "So, I've realized my mistake. I'm going to brush up on my studying skills and I'm going to show my dad that -you're- the fucking joke."

He pushes you out of the way before looking back. "Hell, maybe I'll ask Gwen out, too."

You fist is clenching and unclenching as Harry scoffs. "Later, dweeb."

You control yourself. His words hurt, especially coming from a long time friend, but he's only mad. He almost certainly doesn't mean that. When he cools down, he'll probably apologize. But he'll have to apologize for having said that first.

He's confusing pity with giving a damn. However, you're not going to keep the flames burning in this argument.

You watch him leave the room before heading down shortly after- he's sitting on the couch and there's probably an hour or two until food is served. Eddie still seems to be outside. Gwen and Stella look concerned and angry.

You head over to Gwen and Stella. They glance at you, then at Harry, then at the door. "What's up? I was going to go see if you two wanted to go downstairs to the basement."

Gwen gives you an uneasy look, the three of you distancing yourselves from Harry. "Pete, what happened up there? Your neighbor, Mary Jane went upstairs right after the both of you did to tell you that dinner would be done in an hour and twenty minutes, but she ran back downstairs and our the door crying. What happened?"

If she was up there, then certainly, she overheard Harry's outburst. Great. You shake your head. "I didn't even know she was there and Harry…"

You shake your head before looking outside.

You shake your head. "I'm going to go look for her. Can you two make sure things don't get out of hand here? Everyone got together for this dinner, I'd rather not see the night ruined for everyone."

Grabbing your coat, you slip on your shoes and head out the door. You see Eddie standing there grimacing at his phone as he looks up, he tries to look more cheerful. "Hey, Pete. What happened with the red haired girl- I was about to go follow because my doctor's office was no the line and had to end the call first."

You see him look down and curse. "Crap, they're calling me back. Better not be trying to reschedule my appointment. Look, I -really- need to take this- she ran down the street that way- She wasn't wearing a coat so she's probably freezing and she wasn't running that fast- you should head after her and get her back inside."

He answers the phone. "Hello? Eddie Brock speaking." He mouths 'go' and gestures for you to hurry. Taking his advice for the moment you head down the street looking for her- she's got a bit of a head start though. Down that was is the playground the two of you used to play in, along with a convenience store. It also leads, eventually to the arcade you took her to.

You head towards the playground the two of you always spent time with as kids. Now that she's a person and not a childhood boogieman, you've remembered some things about her- she was always a pain, but she wasn't always that bad, but that might have had something to do with her father, after all.

It takes you a few minutes as you keep an eye out for any sign of her- she's introverted and doesn't like crowds- she wouldn't go somewhere with people- the convenience store is one of the few places open on thanksgivings in the immediate vicinity. The Arcade is closed, but she might not care.

But the playground was the place she and you used to spend a lot of time at.

Arriving, you feel your Spider-sense hit that static-like sense of worry again as you approach Mary Jane. She's on the ground clutching her arm, seems like she tripped and scraped it. Her eyes are closed as she tries to take deep breaths, muttering almost inaudibly.

"pleasenopleasenopleaseno."

She pauses as she hears you come near. "W-who is it?"

"It's me, Peter."

You Spider-sense's static spikes as she tries to move away from you without opening her eyes. Breathing deeply you see her searching her pockets for bandages or anything else, growing more and more frantic as her breathing grows more frenzied.

Kneeling down, you rest your hand on her shoulder- she flinches as you retract your hand. "Mary Jane, I'm sorry about what Harry said, but you need to calm down. What's the matter?"

Almost hyperventilating, she 'looks' in your direction as her uninjured arm holds her injured one before letting go and grabbing at you, her voice hysterical and frightened.

"Help me…don't want to see the blood again."

END
To Be Continued

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