"Tony Stark's here…"
Peter didn't look up at the excited whisper that he heard from somewhere near the front of the large room that was holding the final round of the competition. It was a lot bigger than normal, since there were more people attending than what was usual for a high school academic competition; coaches, chaperones, parents, officials, and even members of those teams that hadn't qualified. As such, the venue was the largest of the rooms available, and it was filled with chairs.
The entrance at the back of the room was admitting people in singles and pairs – and sometimes groups. They were filling the room but ignoring the seats in the very back row which were taped off to discourage anyone from sitting there. The large man in the double-breasted suit that scowled anytime someone looked that direction was also a deterrent, even though he hadn't actually told anyone to move on.
Peter hadn't noticed it, but he knew that there was going to be a place reserved for Tony, Pepper, and Shuri to sit with Need's mom and watch out of the way – and hopefully without causing any kind of distraction to the competitors. He looked at Ned who was sitting on the edge of the stage that held the tables the two teams were going to be sitting at and nudged his friend with his foot.
"Your mom's here."
Ned grinned.
"I know." She'd arrived early and had been politely ushered to the taped off area and was now chatting, amicably, with one of the SHIELD agents. "This is so cool."
The final were two rounds. Ned and Peter were actually competing in the second round, with MJ and Flash, while their other teammates were taking the first round. With so many parents in attendance, it was only fair to give all of them a chance to put on a show for their folks and have a chance to participate in the final rounds. Peter and Ned were going to head into the small area behind the stage where the teams were gathering, but they'd decided to have a quick look at the final set up, first.
"Right?" He glanced over toward the back of the room, then, not missing the wave of excitement as those in the back noticed the arrival of Tony Stark. Many also recognized Pepper, of course, but Peter knew that very few – if any – knew who Shuri was, or the Wakandan security detail that had followed the small group in and were arranging themselves against the back wall where they could see everything and not draw attention to their charge. When the back door opened, again, he was pretty sure that he saw Natasha walk by, too. It made him smile in anticipation of the get together after the competition was finished. "Think we'll-"
He felt a pang in his stomach so sharp that it almost doubled him over, and Ned frowned at the odd look on Peter's face, suddenly.
"Are you okay?"
Peter recovered pretty quickly, but was looking around, now, trying to determine if the screaming spider senses were telling him something bad was going to happen in the room. It didn't seem to be that, though – and by now he was pretty good at listening to them.
"Yeah…" He looked at Tony, who was greeting Ned's mom with the others and hadn't noticed – not too surprisingly, from that distance. "I need to go…"
"What?" Realization dawned in his friend's expression. "Now?"
"Yeah." He hesitated, though, because he knew the timing was bad. "I'll be back as soon as I can, okay? Cover for me."
"But-"
Those sense were screaming at him. Whatever it was, it was bad. Bad, bad, bad, bad, bad.
"Hurry…"
Alec didn't know what it was, either, of course, but he could feel what Peter felt, and was reacting to it.
"I'll be right back."
"What do I tell the others?" Ned asked, getting to his feet, looking scared and excited, both.
"Tell them I went to the bathroom."
Ned rolled his eyes, but Peter was already hopping, lightly, off the stage.
"Let Tony know."
"I will." Peter avoided the crowded room by simply going out the back, but stayed away from the room that the others were gathering and slipped out a side door. As he found himself in a deserted corridor that the convention center staff used to slip in and out of rooms unobtrusively during events. He tapped his watch. "Tony?"
There was only the slightest pause and he could imagine his adopted father looking from Ned's mom over to the stage where Peter had been only moments before.
"Peter? What's going on?"
"I need to go out," he said, the teleportation rock already landing in his right hand. "It's not something here," he added, quickly, knowing that Tony would be worried, immediately, about the security of the convention center. "I'll let you know when I do."
Another pause, and he knew without being able to see him that Tony wanted to ask more questions but couldn't with the crowd around him.
"Be careful."
"I will."
He dodged into the closest door, which was a closet, and then was gone.
OOOOOOOOO
Peter didn't stop at the safehouse to change into his traditional outfit. He didn't think he had the time. Instead, he 'landed' on a building that was toward the center of the borough, tucked into a spot that he knew wasn't under any kind of electronic surveillance. He used the building all the time in this kind of situation, to figure out where he was needed. It also gave him a chance to activate his vibranium suit with a quick touch of the trigger mechanism.
Safely disguised, now, he hurried to the edge of the building, his webshooters activated and his attention turned inward, trying to determine where to go.
OOOOOOOOOO
The crane was high above the city street and solidly braced to the ceiling of the apartment building that was being remodeled alongside the subway elevated rail. At least it was assumed that it was solidly braced. The constant rumbling of trains passing day in and day out and an unnoticed fault in the bracing bolt had long since caused it to snap, leaving all of the weight of the crane on the remaining bracers. If the work on the building had been completed in time then it still wouldn't have mattered, but the project was months over the estimated repair date, and what had started as a minor issue was now a serious safety concern.
A concern which came to realization when the partner crane on the same roof was accidentally swung into the arm of the damaged one. There was a screeching noise of metal separating from other metal and a handful of cries of alarm as the bottom of the crane separated from the roof and in seemingly slow motion the entire thing toppled over the side of the roof, plummeting toward the subway rail below.
There was a thunderous crash as it tore through the metal, wood, and concrete that formed the rail line and landed underneath in a pile of debris that was almost half a city block wide and many feet deep, but luckily no one had been underneath the rail line at the time of the accident, and even the person running the crane had managed to jump out in time to avoid going over the side with the damaged piece of equipment.
Before anyone could breath a sigh of relief, though, there was a clatter of wheels on rails and a shaking that signified the approach of yet another train. The driver noticed the accident – and the damage – as the train came around the slight curve of the tracks but he was going too fast to be able to stop in time. He tried, though, pulling the emergency brake handle and grabbing the microphone to warn his riders to hold on, even as he instinctively put his hand up to protect his face as the damaged rails loomed large and gaping in front of them.
There were screams of fear behind him that turned to uncertainty as he suddenly felt the train slow, and then stop, and he heard someone in the back shout, "it's the spider-man!'. The driver brought his hand down, finding the train had stopped only ten feet or so from a surely fatal plunge into the pile of ruined crane and rail supports, and turned his head when he saw movement out of the corner of his eye.
Sure enough, a slight figure dressed head to toe in black was swinging away from the train, disappearing without stopping – as he normally did.
With a shake of his head – and the realization that he'd pissed himself – he turned his attention to the cars behind him, knowing that checking on his passengers would have to come before his search for dry trousers.
It didn't make him less relieved, though, that he'd worn black that morning and it would hide the aftermath of his near death experience.
