Chapter 14: On Top of the World
Ha! I knew I could get this up within the month! The semester is done, good things are beginning to happen, and I'm listening to the song that I stole the title of for this chapter.
It's a happy day.
Pink Lemonade: In all honesty, you don't have to worry too much. For one, I promised myself long ago that I would never delete any story I posted, no matter how bad I think it is afterwards. And I like to think this is one of my better stories. Also, I like to play at being an evil overlord sort of writer, but I prefer happy endings. So whatever comes, there will likely be a net benefit for most characters by the end. But it's not the end yet ;)
The good thing about the school being attacked on a Friday, as Principal Coulson would tell you, is that it gives ample time to repair things in time for school to start again on Monday. And so Peter was walking to school again on this sunny Fall morning. This time there were no surprise rallies to walk in on. However, he was still a bit wary to see MJ and Harry again.
After he had finished Phoebe's web lesson on Friday, he had noticed the text and voicemail messages Harry and MJ had left apologizing for trying to force him into speaking in front of the massive crowd. They wanted to know if he had made it away unscathed.
It was sweet, but Peter was still annoyed by how massive their antics had gotten. They could have gotten seriously hurt. And his team really had gotten hurt, not that he could tell Harry or MJ. As he text them back, he realized that his opinions as both Peter and Spider-Man were aligned for once. So he did the tough thing and asked them: what on Earth had they been thinking?!
Their responses at that point differed. MJ sent at least a dozen more apologetic messages. Harry had replied with: 'I was doing my civic duty', and left it at that.
It was hard enough to have these sorts of conversations via text. Peter wasn't looking forward to dealing with them in person. But it wasn't like he could just ignore them.
He entered Midtown High, keeping an eye out for those he knew. He spotted Sam chatting to some girls on the swim team. Danny was further down the hall meditating before class in a corner. There wasn't any sign of anyone else yet—
"Peter!" someone practically shrieked behind him.
Peter had to stop himself from jumping up, because chances were he would end up on the ceiling. That was probably a sign of how nervous he was. He began to turn around, but a gentle tingle from his spider sense gave him a heads up that someone was coming into his personal space fast. Slender arms wrapped around him tightly.
"I'm so so so so sorry!" MJ said rather loudly in his ear.
Peter winced and blushed and tensed and relaxed all at the same time. "Um—hey, MJ. You sort of said that like a million times over the weekend."
"I know, but I still can't believe I was so shortsighted!" She pulled away, guiding Peter to the side of the hallway. "The truth is, Harry really got under my skin because he tried to cancel my play. But that was a personal spat. I shouldn't have let him goad me into making it a—a public spectacle! I feel so embarrassed!" She sighed. "Spider-Man must be so upset at me."
"No! I mean, I'm sure he isn't." Gosh, Peter would never get used to talking about his alter ego in third person. "Didn't you say he spoke to you?"
"Yeah, he did."
"So what'd he say?"
"Not a whole lot. He didn't yell at me or anything, but he should have."
"You don't deserve to be yelled at. Getting attacked by Electro was enough of an ordeal."
"It wasn't too bad. Spider-Man and his team did a really great job. They were all really concerned about us. That's probably the only reason why the Daily Bugle isn't using Electro's footage."
Even though it wouldn't have been entirely out of place, Peter tried not to let his smile grow too wide. Not only did he enjoy the unintended compliment, but he knew another reason why the Daily Bugle wasn't using the footage. Shield had identified it as evidence, and Jameson refused to hand it over. After a few weeks in court, the Daily Bugle was going to have a hefty fine to pay and some pretty bad publicity on top of that.
This was turning out to be a really great start to Peter's day.
"I'm glad you were in good hands, MJ."
She nodded, red waves bouncing. "I'm glad you were in good hands too."
"Whose hands was I in?"
"Flash's! He got you inside right before Electro attacked! I need to find him next so I can thank him!"
"Oh, yeah, that's right. He's probably looking for you too. He admitted that was mostly his motive."
"But he did it and I'm grateful. He's the only reason you weren't dragged along into our mess."
Peter had to admit that was true. Not only had Flash spared him from picking sides, but he had also allowed him to run off to become Spider-Man. A win-win, all things considered. "Could Flash actually be changing for the better?"
"I don't know, but I hope so." She looked up at Peter imploringly. "So do you forgive me?"
"Forgive—? Of course I forgive you! You don't even have to ask! We already established that you and Harry got the worst end of this!"
"We put the school in danger too, though. What's that thing your uncle used to say about responsibility?"
The words came to mind effortlessly. "With great power comes great responsibility."
"Well, I may not have literal power, but if I want to become an influencer, I'm going to need to learn some real responsibility." MJ hunched her shoulders. "I thought I was being really mature about everything, but . . ."
"You think you understand responsibility until one bad decision turns into a catastrophe?" Peter said understandingly.
"Exactly! I thought it would be cool to show my support for Spider-Man, but I didn't even stop to wonder if it would attract the wrong sort of attention. I need to make sure the actual play is way better and safer. Ooh," she brightened up immediately, "Speaking of the play, would you be my second student judge in the auditions today?"
Peter's eyebrows shot up. "Me? Why me? I don't know anything about theatre!"
"But you know enough about Spider-Man. Come on, you're my friend and I trust your judgement."
This was an unexpected offer. On one hand, Peter appreciated it. On the other, he was the real Spider-Man. But . . . wasn't that actually a good thing? It meant he was pretty much the best expert on the subject. And most famous people didn't get to choose who portrayed them when movies were made about them. Although Tony Stark had said that he had his entire cast ready for whichever filmmaker was interested. He'd even gone so far as to switch places with Robert Downey Jr. for a day to prove the actor was perfect for the part.
Fury hadn't been happy about that.
"Okay," Peter said. "Sure, I'll do it."
"Great! Come to the stage after school. I'll see you later!"
MJ gave him another quick hug before rushing off down the hall. Peter stood there for a few seconds, savoring the feeling before heading off in search of Harry. If he missed Harry now, they wouldn't be able to meet up until lunch, and then Peter would be worrying about what to say the entire time.
Twas the dilemma of the teenage condition.
The crowd was thinning as students left to their classes. Harry had a tendency to be fashionably late, so Peter hung around the entrance. He searched for the familiar mass of messy ginger hair. A spiky blonde caught his eye instead.
"Yo Parker!" Flash came with a duffel bag under one arm. "Have you seen MJ yet?"
It was strange not to be addressed as 'Pecker'. "Yeah, I saw her just a few minutes ago. Auditions are after school."
"Did she tell you anything about how Spider-Man saved her?"
Right, Flash was a Spider-Man superfan. "A little. She only spoke to him for a few minutes."
"She got to speak to him!?" A huge dopey grin formed on Flash's face. "Wow! What'd he say?"
"Um, I think the usual 'stay out of trouble' spiel. You'll have to ask her or Harry—"
"That's right! Osborn was there too! Is he here today?"
"I don't know. I'm waiting to see if he comes so—"
"Cool, I'll wait with you."
Flash came to stand next to him, adjusting the straps of his backpack and duffel bag. Peter sighed as he returned to scanning the crowd. He really wanted to have a more private conversation with Harry. There had to be something he could say in the next few seconds to get Flash out of the way.
"Look, Flash," he said carefully. "I understand you must be dying to talk about Spider-Man, but I really need to talk to Harry privately for a few minutes. Could you wait just a—?"
"Osborn!" Flash shouted over the ambient noises of the hallway. "Get over here!"
Peter slapped a hand to his forehead as Harry pushed his way towards them. Dressed in jeans and an untucked shirt, he was purposefully casual. As he approached, his dubious expression became visible. "Hey Pete, Flash. You two still getting along?"
"It's not so much 'getting along' as it is—" Peter began, but Flash cut him off yet again.
It seemed like 'getting along' with Flash was worse than being enemies.
"For now, yeah," Flash said dismissively. "But who cares about that? Last week you met Spidey for, what, the fifth time? It's so cool! Have you changed your tune about him yet?"
Harry rolled his eyes. "I'm not convinced by his antics."
Peter frowned. Antics? Okay, sure, he did act silly sometimes, but he usually tried to be more serious when he met Harry 'on duty'.
Flash looked as upset as Peter felt. "The jokes are just an act. Haven't you listened to him speak? He's like, wicked smart. And I heard he kept his cool even when you started dissing him."
"That's only because I'm right and he knows it."
"You're rather confident about that," Peter said dryly before he could stop himself. Harry's hard gaze flicked over to him.
"I thought you were still undecided about him? Isn't that the reason why you left me hanging at the rally?"
"That's a low blow, man," Flash said. "You know Pecker's probably terrified of public speaking."
"It's not a phobia or anything," Peter defended. "But Harry, you really caught me off guard there. How could you expect me to just choose between my two best friends?"
Harry huffed. "Choosing friends? Pete, it isn't about us! It's about the facts! You can either pick the truth, or MJ's lies."
Peter was taken aback by his forwardness. "Setting aside whose side is right; aren't you relieved at all that I wasn't held hostage with the two of you?"
"Well, yeah, sure, but none of us knew that would happen! Why didn't you come to support us?"
"Maybe I didn't think it was something worth supporting."
Harry took a step back, looking surprised. Flash was grinning broadly as he watched the exchange. "Ooh, Pecker, I didn't know you were man enough to stand up to the rich kid!"
"Get lost, Flash," Harry snarled. "Pecker and I need to finish this conversation without your fangirling."
Flash's fists clenched and he straightened up so he towered over both of them. Peter's spider sense started up as a gentle tingle again even as his normal human common sense yelled at him for letting this escalate so quickly. He didn't want this. He didn't want to fight anyone, or, really, to pretend that he didn't know how to fight. Was there something that could prevent this disaster in the next five seconds?
"Boys! Break it up here! I don't need to deal with some pugnacious punks on my first day!"
The tense atmosphere immediately deflated as Stan the janitor stalked towards them.
Thank goodness for small miracles.
But Peter noticed Stan wasn't wearing his usual overalls. He was wearing a suit and tie. There wasn't an important event Peter was forgetting, was there?
"There's no trouble here, sir," Flash replied quickly with the grace of someone who regularly lied to the authorities. "And might I say what a fine suit you are wearing today."
"Save it, kid. I'm your acting principal this week, and I promised Coulson that I'd keep this place in one piece."
Peter frowned. "What happened to Principal Coulson?"
"He's visiting his sick aunt, so I'm stuck as the man in charge for the foreseeable future. And it's the week before the Science Fair! What perfidious planning! Just because I mentioned that I had some experience running a business . . ." Stan's muttering trailed off for a few seconds. He shook his head. "You three weren't about to start a fight on my first day, were you?"
"No, sir." They replied together.
"Good. Get to your classes, then."
The three of them walked off in separate directions. Peter's mind felt a bit frazzled. He had known for a long time that Harry despised the very essence of Spider-Man, but this was the first time he was upset at Peter Parker. Okay, maybe not the first time. Harry had thought that Peter was giving him the cold shoulder back when he began patrolling. Then Peter had learned how to manage his schedule, and they had put it all behind them.
Until now.
Had Harry really expected him to get up on the podium and agree with him? Did he really not care that Peter would have been in danger if he had agreed? Was Harry becoming as much of a fanatic as J. Jonah Jameson?
Peter was going to need to ask for Aunt May's advice on how to address this.
Then there was the fact that Coulson had just ditched the school he obsessed over all the time. It would take something really serious to get him away from number crunching. And Coulson hadn't mentioned any travel plans over the weekend, which all added up to the conclusion that he was actually on a top-secret Shield mission.
And top-secret at Shield usually meant dangerous. Or extra dangerous, if Peter was being honest.
And on top of that, Peter had been agreeing with Flash of all people! And the subject they had agreed on was saying how great Spider-Man, A.K.A. Peter, was!
This morning was all kinds of strange.
But at least MJ had hugged him.
Lunch was . . . as normal as it could be. MJ was busy in the theater setting things up for the auditions later. Harry was nowhere to be found. It wouldn't be the first time he skipped school, but it was the first time Peter suspected he had left because of him. Parker-him, and Spider-Man-him. And also because of what Harry thought Parker-him thought of Spider-Man-him.
It was times like this when life felt superfluously confusing.
So Peter was understandably distracted when he sat down at their usual table. Sure, he had noticed his teammates slowly joining the table, but he had mostly been focused on his personal dilemmas and the three burgers that were his lunch (Connors hadn't been kidding when he said he'd be hungrier). Peter properly acknowledged the others' existence only after he noticed that their conversation was interesting.
"Have you guys seen the janitor walking around in that nice suit?" Luke was saying. "He's acting like he's the boss or something."
"I thought he might just be dressed up for a meeting or something," Ava replied.
"Then why is he ordering people around?" Sam countered.
This was a topic Peter could contribute to. He put down his burger. "I know why. He really is the boss. Coulson's gone off on some trip and Stan is acting principal."
Danny looked up from his plate of off-white goo that might have been tofu or tapioca or some other such unpalatable dish. "Coulson did not mention he had travel plans."
"Exactly," Peter said, dropping his voice to a whisper. "That's why I think he's on a secret mission. Did any of you get to see him over the weekend?"
That was one benefit the others had thanks to their quarters on Shield. They were almost always in the know. Even when they weren't specifically briefed on something, they usually overheard at least a few rumors. But Peter had to wait to hear it from them.
"Ooh, I did," Sam said quietly. "I think it was last night. I passed him near Fury's office and he was going through this huge folder. I assumed it was school stuff at the time, but maybe it was a mission plan?"
Ava looked dubious. "How big was the folder? Mission summaries aren't usually too thick since they're, you know, summaries."
"Well, it looked long enough that I wouldn't even bother reading the whole thing."
Luke shook his head. "Sam, the most info we get is only a few paragraphs."
"I'm willing to read that much. But do you remember the packet we were given when we first fought Taskmaster? It was practically a book!"
"It was about ten pages," Peter deadpanned.
Danny allowed himself a quick snigger before regaining his composure. "Speaking of Taskmaster, we may finally hamper his recruitment plans tonight. I heard Shield obtained a lead on where Cloak and Dagger have been hiding."
"Awesome," Peter said. "I would say I hope they come peacefully, but I don't want to jinx it."
"And speaking of peace," Ava said. "Did you get to talk to Harry and MJ yet?"
Peter sighed. "Sort of. MJ apologized a bunch and offered me the chance to help her choose at the audition tonight, so I'm more than willing to forgive her."
Luke grinned. "Wait, so you're going to be able influence who gets to play Spider-Man?"
"I think I'm qualified for such decision making."
Sam snorted. "What are you talking about? You haven't even met him in person yet." Peter threw a tater tot at him in retaliation.
"What about Harry?" Danny asked.
"I didn't really get to talk to him. Flash interrupted and kind of stole the conversation, so it almost ended up being an argument about Spider-Man. And I tried to remain neutral, but I think I sided with Flash a little too much which was strange. And now I think Harry is avoiding me because he doesn't think I support his views anymore."
"Well, you don't," Ava said. "You can't. You know that."
"Yeah, but I was hoping to break that to Harry slowly and calmly." Peter looked down at his plate, pushing around the bits of lettuce that had fallen out of his burger. "And I've been wondering if I should tell him the truth."
The rest of the team exchanged a series of glances. Luke leaned forward, looking very serious. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Pete?"
"I know it's not the best idea, but he's getting more and more impossible about Spider-Man by the day. It seems a little like a now or never sort of situation, don't you think?"
"I think we shouldn't be having this conversation right now," Ava said firmly. "Not after what happened last time we talked about this stuff during lunch."
"Wait, what happened last time?" Sam asked.
Peter shook his head. "It's a long story, but Ava's right. And I know this sort of decision could affect you guys too, so we'll talk about it tonight after our after-school activities?"
The others nodded, returning to their lunches. Peter had hardly taken another bite when his phone buzzed in his pocket. His eyebrows rose when he saw the caller ID.
"Speak of the devil, Harry's calling. I'll be right back, guys."
Peter hurried out of the cafeteria and into the quieter hallway before accepting the call. "Harry? Where have you been? I haven't seen you since school started."
"Hey, yeah, I remembered MJ's having her auditions today, and I really don't want to deal with that."
Part of Peter was relieved that Harry wasn't just avoiding him.
Harry exhaled, the breath sounding fuzzy on the phone. "Pete, I'm—I'm sorry for sort of blowing up earlier. I really am glad that you weren't hurt like MJ was. Do you want to come over to my place tonight so we can settle everything, and then chill and play video games after?"
Peter almost couldn't believe what he was hearing. "Um, sure, that sounds great! I'll come by around eight?"
"Cool. Pizza and wings?"
"Let me guess, you're getting the super-hot wings?"
"Is there any other way to get wings? I'll see you tonight."
"See you later, Harry."
The call ended, and Peter started to smile. This was a good sign. This was a very good sign. Although Peter would never dream of convincing Harry to become a Spidey superfan, he was willing to talk about the facts. The facts that he was allowed to talk about, at least. And then maybe Harry and MJ could come to their own accord.
Yes, this could turn out for the best after all.
Peter returned to the team's table. "Change of plans. Harry invited me over tonight, so we'll see how that goes before we talk about any extreme reveals."
Luke nodded approvingly. "Awesome. That means he's not too far gone on the J. Jonah Jameson path."
"I don't think he could become that crazy."
"He was screaming in the street, Pete," Sam said. "He's already that crazy."
"Most people in this school are at least a little crazy," Ava said, waving her hand. "Have you heard Amadeus ranting about how amazing his secret science fair project is going to be?"
"Oh, that's right, the Science Fair is coming up." Something clicked in Peter's brain. "Oh my God, the Science Fair is coming!"
Ava gave him a weird look. "What's the big deal about that?"
Slumping, Peter folded his arms on the table. "The big deal is that I've had a table at these fairs every single year, but I've been so busy that I forgot to register this year."
"That is a shame," Danny said. "Are you sure it is too late to register? If the organizers remember you, I am sure they could make some accommodations."
"Nah, even if they did write me in now, I never even put a project together."
"You're always working on something though. All you really need is a presentation, and we could help with that," Ava offered.
Peter glanced over at the small figure of Amadeus Cho sitting on his own in the back of the room. "The trouble is that I've been doing some of my best work at Shield. I can't really present that stuff, and none of my other stuff could hold a candle to what Cho probably did."
"You don't even know what he did," Luke pointed out. "Besides, I thought science fairs weren't really supposed to be about the competition."
"They're not," Peter conceded.
"But winning is so much fun," Ava added with a grin.
Sam slapped the table hard enough that the rest of the team jerked back in surprise. He stood, face alight with an idea. "I've got it! There's something really awesome you made recently that wasn't part of our extracurricular activities! Or—at least not entirely! I'm gonna sign you up right now!"
"Wait!" Peter called after him as Sam ran off out of the cafeteria. "What are you talking about?"
But Sam was gone.
Peter sighed defeatedly. "He's going turn this into a real mess, isn't he?"
Luke grimaced. "At least he's trying to help."
"Thanks so much for helping! Come on, we sit up front."
MJ grabbed Peter's wrist, almost forcing him along into the theater. Almost. Peter was more than capable of resisting if he wanted to.
He didn't want to.
Peter had only been in Midtown's theater a few times, mostly for speeches but also for one or two plays. So he was used to seeing the stage all decked out and the seats full of people. This was not the case today. Only one seat near the front was taken by the Drama professor. The stage itself was bare aside from its curtains. It looked extra huge this way. And its many years-worth of scuff marks were clearly visible without dramatic lighting.
It sort of made him appreciate what the Drama Club had to do to make this place look so good during events.
"Mary Jane!" the Drama professor said with a British accent. "Come, come! I told them to begin in five."
"Mary Jane?" Peter whispered to her with a quirked eyebrow.
"He's an old-fashioned type," MJ whispered back as she continued to lead the way to where he was sitting. "Mr. Webber, this is Peter Parker. He's going to be our third judge for auditions. Peter, this is Mr. Webber. He's the one who helped me put this together."
Mr. Webber was an old, but happy looking man. There was something about him that reminded Peter of Don Knotts or Mr. Rogers. Peter gave him a smile. "Hello, sir."
"Hello, Peter," Mr. Webber replied. He held out his hand. "I assume you are familiar with the characters we will be casting?"
"I am," Peter said vaguely as he shook the offered hand.
"Very good. However, you may not be familiar with the sides of these characters that Mary Jane is trying to focus on. She would like to emphasize the humanity of these heroes. How, regardless of who they are beneath their masks, they are still people like the rest of us." He looked proudly at MJ. "A noble message if I ever heard one."
MJ shrugged humbly. "Well, I was inspired by some of your work."
"But this is your original work. I wish I could watch this grow, but alas, I will be sure to see it after production." He smiled when he noticed Peter's slightly confused look. "I am retiring at the end of the week. Inopportune, I know, but I have my reasons. And there's already an accomplished teacher to take my place."
"Ah, well, congratulations on retirement, then," Peter said.
"Bah, I'm sure retirement is overrated. That's why I insisted on retaining at least one duty. If there is a single thing Mary Jane cannot do, it is music. So I'm writing the score for this play."
"I really appreciate that, Mr. Webber," MJ said. "Have you considered my one suggestion though?"
"Of course, I suppose it is wise to include some mainstream music in this day and age. It will just take some time to persuade the principal to accommodate that in the budget."
"Cool, what songs are you thinking of?" Peter asked. MJ smirked at him.
"That's a secret, Tiger. Now sit. Take these." She handed him a stack of index cards as he sat next to her. "I think this is the easiest way. You write down the person's name and their biggest perks and flaws. Then you can rank them by putting them in order from most to least favorite. And that lets you change the order whenever you want."
Peter thumbed through the cards. "Wow, you really put a lot of thought into this."
"The whole school is going to see this! It needs to be perfect or I'll die!"
"I don't think they'll get that upset."
"I'll get that upset."
"We need to talk about your perfectionist habits."
She punched him in the arm. "I'm joking, Pete!"
"I'm sorry to interrupt your delightful flirtations," Mr. Webber said amusedly. "But the audition is beginning."
Peter felt his cheeks heat up, and MJ's ears turned nearly as red as her hair. "We're not flirting," he corrected. "I'm just looking out for her welfare."
MJ leaned over to whisper in his ear, "How chivalrous of you." Her breath made the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.
He was quite sure that, if his cheeks became any warmer, his skin would be boiling.
The first prospective Spider-Man came onto the stage. Peter didn't recognize him, mostly because he was wearing a replica spider suit. It was obviously homemade, and not very accurate either. The blue was way too light, and the web design was crooked.
Wait a second, no, it was quite accurate. It looked just like the original suit Peter had made himself before he joined Shield.
At this rate, his cheeks weren't going to cool down anytime soon.
"Hi," the kid said, plainly nervous. "So, I'm Paul. Paul Soles. I have some acting experience back from when my old school did a live production of Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. I was that blonde elf who wanted to be a dentist."
Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw MJ and Mr. Webber nodding in appreciation. "Good, good," Mr. Webber said. "Please read the lines given."
Paul cleared his throat. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man," he said without enough vigor. "Stick around, Trapster. You're going to need to write down the license plate of the boot that hit you," he said far too stiffly.
"Do the pose now," Mr. Webber requested.
Paul crouched down, nearly losing his balance as he tried to take Peter's signature pose.
"And now the song verse."
"Spider-Man! Spider-Man! I can do what a spider can!"
Definitely not a singer.
Peter grabbed a pencil from his backpack to jot down a three out of ten on the first index card.
Yes, Peter was being a critic. That was his job, after all. MJ had asked for his input and he would be sure to give it.
Plus the team would die laughing if he let someone this embarrassing portray him.
"Thank you, that will be all," Mr. Webber said. "Please send the next one in."
A Nicholas Hammond was next. He said he had sung in The Sound of Music, and his vocals proved to be impressive. He was also much more graceful. But then he was even worse with the joke part. It was as if the guy was stuck on serious-action-film-star mode. Peter couldn't let the play have a humorless Spider-Man. A two out of ten.
Christopher Daniel Barnes was okay too. Yet there was something about him that told Peter he would make a better villain. He sounded like . . . like Electro. Yes, the voice was perfect. Peter made a note on his index card.
Tobey Maguire was also great. His pose was absolutely perfect. He even adlibbed his own pun. His spider suit was also pretty nice with an almost silvery web design. Peter gave him a nine out of ten.
Drake Bell was next, and Peter was all but ready to cast him as Spider-Man right then and there. Peter circled a ten out of ten.
Miles Morales, Shameik Moore, and Donald Glover were also really good. Donald sang better than the others though. They received a nine, nine, and a ten, respectively.
Ogie Banks wasn't bad either, but he sounded almost exactly like Luke. He didn't quite have the build for Power Man, but then most people didn't. Peter decided to check with MJ to make sure the team would be featured in the play too.
Andrew Garfield was almost perfect. He said the joke well and proved to be pretty flexible. Unfortunately, he was way too dramatic. He acted like he was auditioning for Hamlet instead of Spider-Man. Peter gave him a six out of ten.
And then Sam came in, wearing a spider suit no less, sans mask. He walked onto the stage as if he owned the place.
Was that Peter's real suit? Or at least the spare he kept in his locker.
Nope, this just couldn't be allowed to happen. Peter immediately gave him a one out of ten.
"Hey, I'm Sam Alexander," Sam greeted, smiling while he purposefully avoided Peter's glare. "I'm here to rock this role. All I do is say the stuff on this paper?"
"There is also a singing and posing portion described on the other side," Mr. Webber informed him.
"Cool. Get ready for this." Sam turned his back to them briefly, pulling the mask on. As he faced them again, he gave them a fairly good corny salute. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man." Then he leaned back, holding his hands out and curling his fingers in acceptable web-spinning fashion. "Stick around, Trapster. You'll need to take down the license plate of the boot that hits you." He dropped down into the Spidey crouch.
Sam was actually doing a pretty good impersonation. He must have been watching Peter and practicing this act this for a while.
The audacity!
Fortunately, Sam began singing at that moment, and it was obvious from Mr. Webber's cringe that Sam would not be getting the part. "That will be all, Mr. Alexander."
Peter breathed in relief as Sam pouted towards stage left.
And Peter nearly choked on the air as Flash entered stage right.
Yes, Peter had known that he would be auditioning. The surprising part was that Flash's spider suit was nearly the most accurate yet if you excluded Sam (which Peter did). That must have been what he had in that duffel bag. It had all the right colors and web design. Some stitching was visible on one side though. Had Flash made it himself? Peter briefly entertained a mental image of Flash embroidering 'Parker Stinks' onto a pillow.
Nah, it wasn't possible. Flash must have bought it off of someone. Or bullied it from them.
In any case, Flash walked to center stage, eyeing his judges nervously. He didn't even sneer at Peter. This was an interesting development. Was he just trying to show off how 'nice' he was to MJ, or was he really anxious?
"Hey, I'm Flash Thompson. Um, if it's okay with you, I brought my own short script to read. It's based off of some videos I've seen of Spidey."
Mr. Webber looked to MJ. She shrugged, and he said, "That's fine. Begin when you're ready."
Flash nodded and moved to the left side of the stage. He put a mask on, which looked much cruder than the rest of the suit. But all in all, he looked pretty good. Better than he had any right to look.
Peter had muscles, but he didn't fill out his suit quite like Flash did.
"Wait up, Batroc the Leaper!" Flash ran across the stage, doing a decent flip in the middle. He landed and acted like he was shooting webs into the distance. "Don't you ever remember to look before you leap?" He paused for a moment before facing them in a calmer manner. "I'm just your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man, and I like to help the neighborhood as best as I can. Hey, that rhymes!"
There was a long bout of silence where Flash just stood there, and it became clear that the script was done. Peter was quite aware that he was gawking at this point.
That was . . . that was . . .
"Excellent," Mr. Webber said. "Quite excellent. The song verse now, if you please, and then you're done."
Flash sang as requested. His was not the best voice heard, but it wasn't the worst either. He was certainly better than Sam. And he sang with gusto and emotion.
Was Flash actually in the top three tonight? Peter was honestly shocked and impressed.
"So, uh, what do you think?" Flash asked when he was done.
Mr. Webber exchanged a look with MJ. "We won't make our final decision until we have seen the last few auditions," he said, "but you will definitely be considered."
"Thank you, sir!" Flash pumped his fist in triumph as he left the stage.
"Psst," MJ hissed quietly, leaning closer to Peter. "I knew Flash really wanted this role, but did you know he could act like that?"
"No," Peter whispered back.
"I'm still going to try to be impartial, but at the same time . . . I kind of feel like he deserves it at this point. He put so much effort into it, and he's still being nice to you, right?"
"Yeah, he is."
"Then I think we may have just met our Spider-Man."
The team met on the roof of a low brownstone building in a quieter part of the city. They were warming up before officially starting their mission. If all went well, it would be an easy night. Theoretically, all they had to do was search the recently abandoned apartment building across the street for Cloak and Dagger. The goal was to get them to trust Shield before they were fully swayed by Taskmaster's lies.
In reality, a fight would probably ensue, and it was always best to be prepared for the worst.
"First order of business," Peter said as he stretched his arms. It felt vaguely strange to be wearing his suit after hours spent watching other people wear various versions of it. "I need to call Nova out for his completely reckless and immature actions today."
"What'd he do now?" Luke asked. He was doing his usual fifty pre-mission pushups.
"He auditioned to play Spider-Man. And I'm pretty sure he used one of my real suits to do it."
Sam scoffed as he mimicked Danny's one-legged yoga pose in midair. "In my defense, that was an old model of your suit and I looked way better than you in it."
"In verbal debates, a good defense is not a good offense," Danny said chidingly.
"Iron Fist is right," Ava agreed from where she sat in a split. "Nova didn't turn it into a parody, did he?"
"Well, no, thank goodness for that." Peter hadn't even thought of that horrible possibility, and he was glad he hadn't. "But he did an okay job, which is almost worse."
"How is that worse?" Sam asked incredulously.
"Because MJ was close to picking you for the part, that's why!"
"Wait really?" Sam perked up. "Awesome!"
"No, not awesome!" Peter insisted. "You can't be in the play because you don't have the time because you're a real superhero! And even if you did have the time, you would probably say or do something that would give away our identities!"
"I wouldn't! This is my chance to be a star! If I can't play your character, then I'll just be someone else!"
"Nova," Luke said exasperatedly. "You can't audition to play as yourself."
"But—"
"No!" everyone else said at once.
Sam sulked. "I wasn't planning on actually accepting any roles, but fine. If it'll make you all happy, I won't audition anymore."
Peter nodded satisfactorily. "Good. Now that that's out of the way, we can move on to the topic of our mission. Shield has seen evidence that Cloak and Dagger are currently using this old building as a temporary shelter. When I say old, it really is old, so watch out for broken floorboards and the like. But with a pizzeria right next door, I can't quite disagree that this is a prime location. Anyway, we're hoping to meet them tonight. At best, we convince them to join Shield's protection program. At worst, we'll need to apprehend them."
"Wow, Fury isn't playing around with these guys," Ava noted.
"Nope. He considers Cloak way too dangerous to let Taskmaster get a hold of him. The guy can literally teleport anywhere he wants. Tasky would have a field day with that."
Luke shuddered. "That's a scary thought. So what's the plan?"
That question had intimidated Peter the first one or fifty times he had heard it. But now he knew how to handle the pressure of being the leader. "I'm thinking the classic 'split up and search for clues' scheme works here. Cloak and Dagger are just two kids like us, after all. Sure, that means they're likely to greet us with some distrust, but they're inexperienced. Two or three of us should be able to at least keep them in place long enough for the rest of us to come help. Sound good?" He waited for some nods. "Great, then Nova, White Tiger, and Iron Fist will search the top three floors. Power Man and I will take the bottom three floors. We'll meet up in the middle."
"We'll keep a close eye on Nova," Ava assured him. Sam stuck his tongue out.
"You guys act like I need to be babysat."
"You kind of do."
While Sam grumbled about that, everyone went to their assigned positions. Peter waited until the other three were on the roof before he gave Luke the go-ahead to force open the front door. Empty places like this were always eerie, mostly because the outside sounds of New York didn't allow for complete silence. There were always some noises that you couldn't tell if they were coming from inside or out. And the vibe just screamed horror movie. And it was dark.
Okay, that last one wasn't really a problem for Peter anymore, but the dark still meant that someone might be hiding, thinking they were out of sight, ready to attack. Being able to see in the dark didn't mean that the danger disappeared.
They entered the first hallway. As the door was closed behind him, Peter's lenses switched from tinted to nearly clear. A few seconds later, his eyes adjusted, and he could see everything fine.
It was weird not to see the green tint of night vision lenses anymore.
"Numerical order?" Luke asked quietly.
"Might as well."
They entered the first apartment together, looking for any proof that Cloak and Dagger might be staying here. Peter wasn't too hopeful about this one though. There was no furniture left at all, and a coating of dust was all over the floor. It was as empty as any place could be.
They moved on to the next. This one had a few odd pieces of furniture left. Peter went to search the drawers of a chipped dresser.
Luke cleared his throat. "Spidey?"
Peter glanced back at him. "Yeah?"
"I'm sorry for forcing that awkward conversation on you the other day."
"I thought we established that it was fine? True, it did get awkward, but since when were tough conversation easy? Our lives are strange and our problems are stranger." Peter paused, wondering if he should say what he felt like he needed to say. It was so corny. "And—um—it helps to know that you guys care."
"Of course we care. You put a lot of effort into pulling this team together. Did you know that we actually weren't sure if it would work when Fury first proposed the idea? We all sort of knew each other from training, but you were a newbie. No one thought some untrained vigilante could lead us." Luke snorted. "Man, were we wrong."
More blushing. Peter's face was going to be perpetually flushed if this kept up. "I am vaguely offended but mostly flattered."
"You better be. I mean, if you think about it, the last time Fury assigned an untrained civilian to be on a team was Iron Man, and he's turned out to be pretty great. And he isn't even an official leader of the Avengers. That's more of Captain America's job."
"Oh my God," Peter mumbled as he opened another empty drawer. "Thank goodness you didn't tell me that back when I started. Talk about having something to live up to! I would have collapsed under pressure instantly!"
"No you wouldn't have."
"Yes I would."
"No," Luke said firmly. "And I know that for a fact."
Peter closed the last drawer, not quite slamming it. "How do you know that?"
"You've never caved under pressure. Ever. No matter what we've faced."
That made Peter stop and think. He really had faced a lot of things worse than having to live up to Earth's Mightiest Heroes.
Maybe he didn't officially have the title yet, but he felt pretty ultimate at the moment.
"Okay, I think we should end this conversation now before I start letting this get to my head."
Luke smirked. "Yeah, let's keep you at least a little humble. Next apartment?"
"Next apartment."
The following apartment was as bare as the first. And so was the one after that. It wasn't until they reached the fifth that there was some furniture again. This one looked promising. A mattress was laid out in one corner, and there was a box full of crackers and other food. Someone was staying here. The only question left was if that someone was Cloak or Dagger, or preferably both.
Peter really didn't want to scare some poor random homeless person.
He and Luke fanned out. Luke took the kitchen while Peter went to the bedroom. Another mattress was in there along with a small table. There were things on the table. Feeling like a modern-day Sherlock Holmes, Peter investigated.
Lipstick, mascara, some other cosmetic supplies that he wasn't familiar with, and—aha!—a hairbrush! Peter picked it up. There were some blond hairs tangled in between the bristles. He had seen plenty of pictures of Dagger as well as her normal Tandy self in real life. She had blond hair roughly this shade.
"Power Man, I think this is the place. We should—"
Peter stopped. He had thought he had heard a noise. Something like—there it was again.
Heavy breathing. Nervous breathing.
Could Tandy be here right now?
Luke appeared in the doorway. "Is something wrong?" Peter made a shushing gesture before pointing to his ear. Luke seemed to understand his miming, motioning for him to lead the way.
Listening intently, Peter tried to pinpoint where the sound was coming from. He sort of wished he had remembered to take Ava up on her offer to compare their senses. She probably would have identified the source in a heartbeat. In any case, it didn't take him too long to realize the sound was coming from the closet, which was pretty obvious in hindsight. He approached it silently.
"Hello?" he asked as kindly as he could. "Is someone there?"
The breathing continued. It wouldn't be the first time someone tried to keep hiding even after their cover was blown. Prepared for anything, Peter opened the door.
Empty.
"Huh, that's weird." He could still hear the breathing. "Do you think this place is old enough to have hidden rooms?"
"It could be," Luke said. "I think it dates back to the Prohibition, and that era was all about hidden rooms."
Peter stepped inside to begin tapping and pushing at the walls.
And the floor disappeared from beneath him.
No spider facts this chapter, but there were some guest stars! If anyone was wondering, all of the guys who auditioned for Spider-Man (aside from Sam and Flash) were actors who played Spidey in real life at some point in time. I haven't had the chance to see all of them in action, so their scores were given partially based on the public's opinion of them and how well they match the Ultimate Spider-Man version. Anything mentioned about alternate roles is also true.
Yes, Paul Soles, original voice actor for Spider-Man, played Hermy the Elf who wanted to be a dentist. Who knew?
And Mr. Webber is Andrew Lloyd Webber, because why not have one of the most accomplished Broadway music writers work on MJ's play?
Happy Holidays!
