Note: Well I finally got around to updating this so here you go!

[Peter Parker Quest]

CHAPTER 54

Tony Stark

So, let's talk a bit more.

You know there was a bird once. It was beautiful, its eyes the color of the captivating azure skies that had once covered the world. Upon this bird's head was an azure crest that resembled a flaming crown. The bird had no others of its kind and so it soared through the crimson skies alone.

But, even though it was alone, it was happy. Because someone was there, taking care of it. It was an old man, the years had taken his joyful vitality and recklessness along with his leg, and replaced them with the quiet sorrowful wisdom and kindness of age. He took care of the bird and told it of the skies that had once been the same blue as the bird's eyes.

He tried to teach the bird, but it was rebellious and young. And so, after an argument, the bird flew from the man, angry and frustrated. When it had finally calmed down, it realized what it had done and returned to the man with a speed that would have equaled Hermes.

And when it arrived there, she saw that the lights were on- entering, the bird looked for the man and found him sitting at the table waiting for the bird to return in reconciliation, having made it's favorite meal.

But the food was long cold.

And so was the man.

The bird cried for the man to move. To give one of his sad smiles. To do something, anything.

But the man would never move again. Smile again.

So the bird wandered the world under crimson skies aimlessly. Never tiring. Never stopping. Always searching for a way to undo its mistake.

Pleading for a way to see the man once more.

From the shadows, a skeleton with green eyes and death's black gown offered a corpse's grin as it rose upon a pile of its kin to reach the heights of the bird.

The bird paused as the skeleton called for its attention, its silken voice almost lyrical with an offer.

"In return for your wings, which let you travel this world, you will once again be with the man."

The bird desperately agreed as the skeleton brought forth its wicked clawed hands, tearing the wings from the bird as utter blackness opened up beneath them.

And the bird, no longer with its beautiful wings, fell forever, surrounded only by darkness as the red skies were swallowed up.

Pretty sad story huh? Would you like to know how it ends?

Another time, perhaps.

...

Resuming PPQ

...

Last time!
Having built the prototype bio-rechargeable battery along with assistance from Doctor Spyral, the duo finished just in time for the meeting at Stark Industries. Furthermore, it seems that the Kingpin will be doing some sort of operation in little over a week!

...

OO

...

Meeting at Stark Industries: NOW

Following the woman, you and the other students form into a line and follow her and her bodyguard, who carefully looks back and keeps an eye on you and the others who were invited. You're led through several rooms until you reach a large room with a number of tables and chairs. The far end of the room, there's a large window and what looks like a stage, and in front of that is a large table, covered in a cloth.

The redheaded woman addresses the room, gesturing at the tables. "If you all wouldn't mind having a seat, Mister Stark will be here shortly. Please hold all questions, comments, or concerns until the end."

She walks with the large gentleman as the two quietly converse as everyone slowly mills into the seats as requested, most people making sure to keep whatever they brought close to them.

Gwen's sitting a few tables away, looking a bit nervous.

Quietly, you try to get Gwen's attention. Eventually she breaks out of her thoughts and looks over at you, giving you a nervous grin. Unlike the rest of them, while she's dressed to impress, she doesn't seem to have anything with her.

"Ended up on personal errands a lot, so I was a bit busy to make anything and I figured if I was invited here, it was proof enough and that I shouldn't bring anything- especially if it wasn't something impressive, you know?"

Adjusting her glasses she gives a weak grin at you as you notice several people around you starting to look a bit self-conscious, quietly pulling further away from you and Gwen. You scratch at your chin, slightly chagrined, and try to change the subject.

"So, what errands were you up to?"

Clearing her throat, Gwen breaks eye contact and looks away. "Well, stuff. I was looking into a few things, had to meet some people and do a few errands for my dad. Anyway… I hope Mister Stark shows up here so-"

The both of you cut off as you hear the window begin opening and look towards it as a red and gold figure descents onto the stage and lands with a loud metallic clang. As Iron Man stands up, dozens of small mechanical arms extend from the stage and begin to disassemble the armor, revealing Tony Stark in a pair of black dress pants, a white dress shirt, and a bowtie. Checking something, he then pockets whatever he had and continues.

Stepping down from the stage, he takes a jacket from the larger man and puts it on in one solid motion and seems to say something to the bodyguard and woman.

He then pauses and looks back, as if seeing you and the other guests for the first time. Adjusting something on his neck, he then clears his throat, which you all hear loudly over the speakers. Giving a smile, Tony Stark adjusts his sleeve's collar nonchalantly.

"Sorry about the delay, I just flew in from California."

He pauses. "And no, my arms aren't tired. We're not doing that joke."

Clapping his hands, he steps forward in front of all the desks, right by the covered table.

"Anyway, you all know who I am and I know vaguely who you all are, so let's cut to the chase. I've invitied you, New York's Best and Brightest here for an opportunity. And if you've noticed my staff haven't taken your phones or checked you for recording devices, you should know its because it doesn't matter if you tell people what I say here. Hell, put it on youtube."

Pacing by the table, Tony Stark scans the crowd. "Anyway, the point is- the point is… I'm here to give you all an opportunity. Now, I've noticed you've all probably brought things to impress me You're all supposed to be smart, talented. Well, I'm going to give you the ability to put your money where your mouth is."

A screen- the closed window, in fact- lights up as Tony rips the tarp off the table, revealing a diorama of what looks almost like a fairground. It takes a second as you place it-

"This is the traditional layout design for the Stark expo, and I'm offering to give each and every one of you a chance to show off what you can cook up when it happens. I don't take just anything, this is a chance to be part of a science think tank the world hasn't seen in decades. So, if you want in, I'm going to let you have the chance."

He pauses and looks down at his wrist. "I've still got the time to look talk for a bit, so now that I've got that out of the way- more details will be forwarded to all of you who came here- I think we've still got some time. Pepper? Do we have time?"

Looking at his assistant, Ms. 'Pepper' Potts, the woman clears her throat, looks at her blackberry and then nods. Turning back, Tony Stark claps his hand. "Great. So, here's the rules kiddos. I'm going to walk by your table and you've got the chance to ask me one question and show off whatever you've brought. And, no, I'm not doing autographs."

Starting at the first desk, Tony's obviously turned off his microphone as he, his assistant and her bodyguard talk with the person there. Elsewhere, everyone else's faces run from worried to ashen, shaken, and all but panicking. Gwen's taking a moment to compose herself as Stark seems a bit bored as he, rather quickly seems to be progressing through the guests.

You take deep calming breaths to… well, calm yourself. Hey, you're meeting Tony Stark. This is kind of a big deal. And really, you'd hate to be the guy who freaks out and hyperventilates and vomits on Tony Stark.

That will not be how Tony Stark remembers Peter Parker. No sir.

You clench and unclench your hands and try not to think about anything. Right up until he gets to Gwen- who is only a short distance from you. You see her converse with Tony Stark for a moment and you think Miss Potts might look impressed. From Stark's body language he seems to be just making small talk and then he extends his hand forward- you can't heart what they're talking about, but you notice that Tony whistles- even from here you can hear it.

Unlike with the rest of them, when Tony leaves Gwen's table, it seems like he's been there for a little while- the tables between your and hers are quickly passed over by Stark, who looks more and more unimpressed.

Finally he walks up to your table as you swallow the bile in your throat, you hands feel sweaty and your heart is racing. Looking unimpressed with hands in his pocket, Tony Stark raises an eyebrow at Pepper as you hear her whisper your name.

"Well, let's see what you've got Mister Parker. Hmm, name's a bit familiar but can't place it. Regardless, if you wouldn't mind?"

Swallowing, you nod and pull out the battery- its currently the size of a small golf cart battery, but you pull out design concepts and take a deep breath.

Clearing your throat, you begin with the idea for it- batteries- and you go, without explaining that it was derived from you working on your own arc reactor- on the idea behind it. The math behind the idea. Tony Stark lets lose a quiet thoughtful noise as you continue onto the work on it

And here, for a second you freeze. What if he dismisses you out of hand thanks to you having worked with Doctor Spyral? What if? Oh god. Oh, god.

Closing your eyes and forcing back a wave of nausea, you swallow with your mouth feeling terribly dry as you hesitantly hand over the work journal as you explain how you and Spyral worked, back and forth, on the biology and engineering of it respectively.

Taking a deep breath, you continue more confidently, as you explain the prototype battery which is sitting in front of him is the working prototype. Pepper Potts looks a little dubious, but Stark's looking you in the eye, oddly quiet, thoughtful.

"Mind you, the first prototype is rather large, but that's something that can be worked on."

You finish as you wait for a response. Tony Stark, after a few moments with his arms crossed look at you, an eyebrow quirked.

"So, its pretty impressive, but before I say anything, I'm a bit curious. What's the question you were going to ask me?"

"No, offense meant but I was a bit curious- so if you don't mind me asking Mister Stark- but how do you solve for the pallidium bleed off?"

Whatever he expected you to say- that wasn't it. Pepper Potts looks a bit confused as she looks like she's trying to figure something out while the bodyguard looks completely lost. Tony Stark is staring at you.

He is staring at you and there's no way to tell what he's thinking. Oh god. This is it, isn't it? This is how you die.

Stark turns to the bodyguard and asks for a piece of paper and the guard hands it to him as Stark begins writing a list of things before handing it back. He then turns to you, slightly more seriously and starts- with the rest of the paper writing equations before turning it to you, along with the pen.

"Humor me."

His tone is deadpan, but he looks tense as you look at the equations. And you know them- they stuff you worked on before as you fill them out correctly. You even catch the intentional flaw in the last one and correct for it before handing it back to Tony Stark.

He reads over it as Pepper Potts, slightly worried looks at you. "Mister Parker, what exactly did you mean by 'how did Tony solve for the palladium bleed off?'"

You glance at Tony Stark, who looks very uncomfortable, then back at Pepper Potts as she gives Tony Stark a look as you quietly try to explain. "Well, the reaction of- of an arc reactor- like the big one in California uses palladium to power it. It has only one real flaw, and that's why that one is the size it is- it has some palladium bleed off. Now, the more its used, the higher output, the more it bleeds out. Now, the bleed off is normally benign- so long as there's air is disperses harmlessly- part of the reason for the design, I assume."

You swallow as you glance at the stage. "Therefore, I assumed, if it was anything powering the Iron Man armor, it would be a derivative of that. But, if it was an arc reactor, there'd be no space-"

"-No space for it to bleed out, right? Tony?"

Pepper Pott finishes, looking rather horrified, looking at Stark. Tony Stark closes his eyes and gives a small nod, looking resigned. He looks at you and pops a very tired looking smirk, rubbing at the bridge of his nose. "Well, you're certainly smart, Mister Parker, I didn't expect that. I- I think we should finish up here, Pepper."

She nods as they start to move on as she quickly steps back and slides a piece of paper onto the table, unseen by Stark. Waiting, you pick it up-

"Please remain here after the Meeting, Mister Parker."

She glances at you as Tony Stark continues on, like nothing happened. Gwen's glancing over at you, almost concerned looking.

It doesn't take long before the meeting wraps up- though distracted, Miss Potts finishes the meeting as Stark leaves- the Iron Man armor forming around him as he leaves the building. Gwen glances at you as you give her the sign that you'll talk later.

You stick around- Miss Potts is pacing, on the phone talking with someone and gesturing. Then she's looking at her phone, an arm raised. Hmm, she's probably been hung up upon. The she's dialing another and talking- by the time you're standing there, milling about alone, she finishes her last call.

The bodyguard's talking to her, point at you as she nods and he gestures you to come over.

She's talking on the phone and gesturing for you to wait a minute, but the bodyguard looks a bit nervous and leans in. "I had no idea what's going on, but I suppose it isn't good?"

You nod as the man grimaces before extending a hand. "Hogan. Harold Hogan."

You shake it. "Um. Peter Parker, sir."

The tow of you are standing there, in awkward silence until Miss Potts finishes up and walks over, looking exhausted. She looks at you critically. "Look, Mister Parker, I don't want to be rude but I need you to keep quiet on this, alright? It's important- if the Go-"

She cuts off and swallows her words, before taking a deep breath. As she looks down at your bag. "Wait- wait. You, Mister Parker, that- that battery you said it was a Bio… A bio-rechargeable battery, right? How strong is it?"

Doing the math, you come up with an answer. "At least as powerful as a car's battery. A small one, anyway. It works by tapping into the bio-electric field that humans lightly give off- feeding itself like you'd jump a battery. If you've got it on you, unless what you've got is really power intensive, it should keep running indefinitely."

She's focused on you entirely, obviously thinking things out. "What about an electromagnet? Could it power one indefinitely? One about this big?"

She gestures and you do some more math. "In theory, yes."

She bites her lip as she looks away. You can see her thinking to herself- lips moving without making a word as she turns to you with a more confident businesslike tone.

"Stark Industries will pay you whatever you ask for it if it does indeed work. And, I am willing to offer you a position as an… intern- effective immediately at Stark Industries for the foreseeable future."

There's desperation and determination here.

"Is.. Is there something I should know here?"

You glance at the bodyguard, Hogan, and miss Potts. There's something not adding up here. And considering all of this…

"Like- I get you'd be worried about him if he was always using it with the Iron Man systems or something, but that's an issue of just not using it. But why would an electromagnet about 'this big' factor in?"

Pepper makes a call before pulling out a non-disclosure form. "Sign it and I'll tell you, alright?"

You look back and forth before raising a finger. "Let me contact my partner in this first, alright?"

You see her chewing on her lip before nodding as you step back and call up Doctor Spyral. It takes a few rings, but eventually she answers. "…Hello?"

She sounds exhausted, but you keep an eye on Miss Potts and Mister Hogan as you talk quietly and quickly. "so, about that battery…"

"What about the battery?" Her voice is suddenly at attention, guarded.

"I need you up here at Stark Industries's New York offices, we've got an offer and I want you here and in on it."

There's silence for a good few moments as her voice is quiet- shocked and a bit in awe. "…Seriously?"

You make sure your voice is entirely settled and firm. "Seriously. I need you up here."

"…I'll be there, right away."

The phone goes dead as you pocket it. "My partner's on the way. Shouldn't be too long."

Pepper Potts nods, rather quiet externally- you can almost feel how fast her thoughts are moving though. You also pause and call your Uncle, telling him you'll be late and call him when you're done.

You sit there quietly thinking of something, anything to say. You could ask about the bleed off, but she's already upset enough as is. No reason to bring up Iron Man or Spider-Man. You could crack a joke, but that might make her angry.

And, in this situation, you could bring up what you'd be doing as an intern, but that might be something better to wait on until Spyral got here. You sit there, flipping through thoughts, feeling worse and worse.

Eventually, you ask the question nagging at you. "Miss Potts?"

She glances over at you, curious. "Did- Did I screw up?"

She looks at you-miserable and worried as you are. All you wanted to do was impress Tony Stark. And look what a mess you've made. She begins laughing, a bitter small chuckle. "Mister Parker, If you weren't a minor I'd hit you."

She shakes her head and exhales. "No. You didn't mess up. You just blundered onto what was apparently Tony Stark's best kept secret in front of the people he was keeping it from. If anything, I should thank you."

She grows quiet again as you all wait for Spyral to appear. It doesn't take too long, as she shows up- hair wet and smelling of something fragrant with what looks like the nicest clothes you've seen her in. A wrinkled pantsuit with a clean lab coat onto.

From there, it doesn't take long for you all to get down to business- Spyral, as she's more experienced, is able to help with the sale- licensing, rather, as both you own it, but they're using it. You'll get the fee for licensing, along with royalties and other such things. Legally, its all settled. Spyral looks the most animated she has since you've known her.

Seems like her past experiences with Octavius made her wise up, which is good for you as you absorb this through Osmosis. She also takes a job as an independent contractor with loose terms if you're offered the same deal. Whiel you discuss things with Spyral, she looks a little bemused.

"And you haven't taken your GED and just graduated early why? I'm sure you'd qualify for it."

You pause and think about it. That's an interesting point. Huh.

That said- the 'intern position' at Stark Industries. When its brought up, Pepper Potts looks a bit strained.

"Honestly, while you're a student its he best I can do. That said, I need someone who can tell me if Tony's in trouble because of that suit. You'd have to have nondisclosure agreements and such, but I'd be willing to pay generously. If you weren't a student, I'd just offer you a job as my assistant or in a position like I did to Doctor Spyral just now."

"I'm definitely interested, Miss Potts."

Opening the books, and with Spyral advising you, Pepper Potts offers you four different option plans after negotiations.

The first if that you take your GED with there being some… grease speeding the wheels to get it done fast and you join as her assistant and scientific advisor.

The second would be similar to the first, but you'd be in the same contract type Spyral is- independent contractor with loose terms on who you can work with outside of any contracts you have with Stark Industries- they'd come to you with problems and you'd be under nondisclosure concerning work you've done.

The third is that you finish your schooling and work part time as an 'intern' followed by joining Stark Industries similar to the first offer.

The final and fourth is the same as the third, but as an independent contractor like the second offer.

In the end, you end up taking the Fourth option. You'll finish out the year while interning part time for Stark Industries and when you graduate you'll set up as an independent contractor. The paperwork is finished and ready to go, and if you ever want to move up that schedule, you're free to do so.

As it is, you've received a number and pass for Stark Industries, allowing you access to labs to work on things with Pepper as your direct supervisor. You'll be working along with Doctor Spyral to further refine the Bio-rechargeable battery starting immediately.

And, on certain occasions you might be needed there instead of at school. Otherwise- with the ludicrous amounts of money you received, just now, from the battery's licensing and its eventual royalties and promise of paid work you're set monetarily.

Calling your home, you tell them the good news- about the battery and internship as well as that you'll be home late, they want to keep you around to finish everything up. You've never seen aunt May sound so emotional, not since when she and Uncle Ben came to get you after your parents…

You promise to call them when you're ready to head home, but you've really got to get to work.

And the next hour actually IS taken up by paperwork- following that, Pepper Potts explains the situation to both you and Doctor Spyral. When he went missing, Tony Stark was captured. He has shards of metal in his chest that only don't pierce through to his heart because of the electromagnet powered by the arc reactor.

The thing saving his life is killing him slowly.

Its like a terrible ironic joke by God.

The two of you are shown to a lab as Doctor Spyral begins requesting equipment to be brought here, more serious and in control. You go through and request several things you'll need as well as the two of you begin working on how to miniaturize the bio-rchargeable battery. If it can be made as small as the arc reactor, that's be enough for now.

It takes a while to finish setting everything up, but the two of you get to work- mainly on theory crafting the battery- pepper's there at first, but as the two of you use your new facilities and not improvised ones, there's more room and supplies to work with, and eventually you've noticed she's left- probably to have words with Tony Stark. On the battery, though- you've got an idea on how to make it smaller, but it isn't quite there yet. But you've both made a good leap in progress.

When done for the night, the two of you lock up and head home. Spyral plans to walk home, enjoy the night alone.

You run home, it doesn't take too long but you do find yourself a bit tired by the time you've gotten to your street. After making sure to call that you had a ride home, that is.

The night was pretty quiet. As you ran, cheering, you reflected on how awesome today went.

Getting home, you feel exhausted. And Cold. So, after freshening up, you celebrate a little with your aunt and uncle and call it a night. As you do so, you think on Tony Stark.

Shrapnel in the heart or palladium poisoning, huh?

Terrible ways to go.

Falling asleep, you feel yourself falling through darkness as webs try to catch you.

And you dream. it's familiar and unfamiliar at once.

You're tiny, your hands small to the figure beside you, smiling at you.

Then it all changes.

You dream of fire, burning all around you. You dream of pain, metal crushing you, stabbing you from below. Glass everywhere. Everything stained red and burning as a weight covers you, praying for you.

Everything else becomes a blur except two things.

A metal arm, pulling your protection away, forever, with the sound of an explosion

And a laurel wreath crafted from St. Elmo's fire.

...

Interlude

...

I enter the building. They're here through patterns alone. A question from one of our cities illusive heroes got me looking.

I find the punks and get the answers out of them, only a little persuasion is needed. Time's changed. Its Wednesday now. People are onto them, they're getting paranoid. Good.

I make it to the alley before I can't suppress the spasms anymore and wipe red from my lips. Its fine. Nothing's broken. Besides, its not like it matters.

Prognosis isn't good.

Doctors say, at this point, I've got less than a year left.

Seems like its been that for me all my life. I don't chose what happens to me, the world decides. My family. My health. So what little I can choose, I make sure to go through with my choice. Sometimes I feel it wasn't really any choice though, not really.

What good am I if I'm too ill to do what I love? What I chose to do?

I don't want to just be some corpse, artificially kept alive. Make my girl watch me waste away. I don't want to be remembered like that.

What I've got left- my time, my health. I'll spend it as I've always done. I'm going to break this case open, even if it is the last thing I do.

I'm going to discover the identity of the Kingpin. I'm not going to let innocents suffer unknown in the dark. I won't let the crimes be covered up.

That's the choice I've made.

...

God help anyone who stands in my way.

END
To Be Continued...

New Updates:

Using labs. Labs are wonderful, wonderful things. All Peter really needs is a place to work, but a good quality lab gives you tons of benefits!

The Stark industried lab gives the "well funded" and "materials on request" categories, meaning that from the "Well funded" that the tools are top tier, reducing Dcs by TEN for the high quality materials. The "Materials on Demand" shortens research and development time by a third.

However, when on a time limit, such as working for stark industries the 'removal of rolling' rule is removed- the pressure's on, so your partner merely adds a bonus to your rolls and an extra benefit: for right now, for example: Doctor Spyral gives a +5, and to projects mechanical or biological it increases to a +10- furthermore, she adds one more die to your dice pool o a total of 4d20 plus modifiers! In this case, the goal is to create a total from your rolls equivalent to the DC!