Hey there! Here is the third chapter and it's all Tony Stark. He might even meet a certain spider ;)
I hope you'll love it.
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Stay safe and enjoy!
Disclaimer: I don't own Marvel. I wish.
It's late at night and Tony Stark is sitting in his living room watching the same videos over and over again. Spiderman stopping a car before it would crash into a train. Spiderman disarming muggers. Spiderman stopping a bank robbery. Spiderman catching a school bus full of kids, as it is about to fall off a bridge. And last but not least, his personal favorite: Spiderman bringing down a cat from a tree and returning it to an elderly lady.
Tony honestly can't remember how many times he has seen the few dozen videos of Spiderman that have gone viral lately. Who is this guy? Where does he come from? Considering his ability to stick to walls defying the laws of physics, he's obviously enhanced but how? Was he born this way or has he escaped from a lab? Is he some kind of secret experiment gone rogue? And most of all: is he a good or a bad guy?
Okay, he rescues people and cats but still. What if it's just a disguise? And he has some kind of evil master plan and the first step is to convince people that he's a good guy. So when he does something bad, no one will suspect it's been him.
"Don't be ridiculous, Tony," Pepper laughed when he told her about his theory. "You just overcomplicate things like always."
"So you can honestly say he's harmless?" he asked back.
"I guess so," Pepper shrugged. "He hasn't done anything bad. But I don't know him."
"Exactly!" Tony called triumphantly. "We don't know him! No one knows him!"
"Does it mean he's dangerous, though?" she mused.
"Could be," Tony frowned.
"I think it just makes you mad that you don't know what's going on with him," Pepper shrugged again. "He's a new superhero in the city, and you don't know anything about him and it drives you crazy. New guy doesn't necessarily equal villain."
And Tony knows she's right. Seeing potential danger around Spiderman has been his way to justify his utter frustration. He feels frustrated because he doesn't know anything about the superhero. Tony knows a lot of things. He hates not knowing something. He hates not to be able to figure out something. Mysteries exist to be solved. And so far, Spiderman has turned out to be a mystery he can't figure out. He already hates the guy.
He and Friday have tried literally everything. They have analyzed every little detail of the videos; Tony has even visited the location of Spiderman's rescue missions and talked to witnesses, people who made the videos. They couldn't give him much: Spiderman was male. Probably. He talks a lot, he has a sense of humor and cracks jokes all the time. Average height. Maybe a bit thin but strong, oh, so strong. If there was anything odd on him? You mean besides the red and blue suit and his webs?
Yeah, Tony could add one more thing: whoever this Spiderman is, he's not a billionaire like himself. If that's the only suit he can afford. That red-blue onesie. And those goggles! Gosh, the guy is in desperate need of an upgrade. On the other hand, Tony could see some kind of device on his wrists. Where the webs come from. So he must be good at making things, inventing devices like that. That or he has a nerd sidekick.
And there's maybe one more thing. Spiderman doesn't use weapons. He doesn't seem to have any. He just uses his strength, speed and webs. And he never kills the criminals he fights; he just incapacitates and wraps them with his web as a kind of gift to the police that never catch up on him.
Tony knows there's a police file on Spiderman, a basically empty file. They don't know anything about him either (although Tony would be surprised if they knew more than him), and they don't like it either. Just like Tony, they hate unknown players on the field, even if they seem to be on their side.
Tony watches the video of the school bus again, admires the brute strength Spiderman uses to maneuver back the bus onto the road and watches as the rescued kids cheer on the vehicle while Spiderman waves at them before swinging away.
"Okay, Friday, have you noticed anything new now?" he tiredly asks his AI already knowing the answer.
"Just like the two thousand six hundred and fifty-three times I analyzed the footage before, nothing, sir," Friday replies dryly.
Tony sighs and runs his hands through his hair. "Okay, I think I need some fresh air. And by fresh air, I mean Iron Man time," he clasps his hands and gets up.
"Of course, boss," Friday agrees.
Tony walks towards the window and with each step his suit builds up around his frame. By the time he reaches the now open window, his face plate moves into place, too and Iron Man is ready for action.
"Showtime," he mutters and shoots up into the sky.
It's not the first time that Tony heads towards Queens. That's where Spiderman operates and he hopes he might finally meet him. The guy usually swings around at night, which means he must have a day job.
Tony spent a few nights in the area before, sometimes as Iron Man and sometimes as Tony Stark hoping he would bump into the superhero. But that never happened. Once or twice he saw him swinging between buildings but that's it. Maybe it wasn't even him. He only saw a blur of red and blue, but it could have been anything. Maybe he just imagined it was Spiderman because he so desperately wanted to find out who the guy was.
Flying to Queens, he considers setting up a trap for Spiderman. He could fake a dangerous situation that requires Spiderman's help. Tony could hire some guys that would pretend to mug him. Or even to kill him. And Spiderman would arrive to save him and Tony could finally meet the guy. But not tonight. Being in his armor, no one would think he needs saving, right?
"Boss, there's a bank robbery about to happen only two blocks from you," Friday suddenly breaks into his thoughts.
Then again, maybe it's a good thing that he's in his suit.
"Let's go, Fri," he replies, immediately forgetting about Spiderman and flies toward the address that appears on his screen. A few seconds later, he is already at the scene.
The area seems deserted except for two guys in front of a building. They carry some kind of big, weird and apparently heavy device to the entrance. It looks like a metal box with colorful wires and switches all over it.
"I can detect another heat signature in the black van parking on the other side of the street," Friday remarks.
"Must be the getaway driver," Tony answers. "Friday, what is that thing they have there?"
"I don't know, boss. There's no match to any known weapon."
"So we are honored to meet some very creative bank robbers. Lucky us. Let's ask them where they found that stuff."
A second later, Tony lands behind the criminals in his trademark Iron Man fashion. "'Evening, gentlemen. Can I join the party?"
The men jump surprised. But one of them – the shorter, older one in glasses – quickly regains his composure and grins. "Be our guest, Iron Man."
He turns a switch on the device and purple lights flare up all over it. Plus, there's a weird buzzing sound and Tony carefully takes a step back trying to prepare for whatever the machine is about to do. It might be a bomb, but then why aren't the bad guys moving? Why are they just standing there grinning at him as if they're waiting for the instrument to have some kind of effect on Tony? But it's not doing anything. Just purple lights and a strange sound.
"Am I supposed to be scared?" Tony probes.
"You should be," the guy in glasses laughs.
But nothing is happening!
"Friday, what am I dealing with here? Just a few delusional idiots, right?" Tony asks.
Then out of sudden, all the lights in the bank and some nearby buildings go off. Even the street lights.
"S'r… don't… ev'ryth'… off… not… g'ng…"
"Friday? What's wrong, girl? Friday?!"
But there's no answer.
The lights and signals on Tony's screen disappear. Everything on his armor is off. No matter what function he tries, no matter how many times he calls Friday again, it's all off. As if someone has pulled the plug. The suit is now just a motionless metal shell. Like a statue. And he's been trapped inside. What just happened?
The men in front of him laugh. They even do a high five.
"It works better than I expected," the short thug smirks and walks confidently toward Tony. "You see, Stark, my little invention is supposed to turn off everything electronic in about a block radius. So now we can practically walk into that bank and take whatever we want. Everything is off now. Locks, alarms, everything. Do the police know anything?" he turns back to his partner (probably the muscle in the team, given he's so big), who has a radio in his hand. The guy listens to the device a bit and shakes his head. The man next to Tony smiles. "By the time they realize what happened, we'll be long gone."
The thug starts walking around Tony, which makes him frustrated. If only he could punch that stupid grin off of his face! If only he could raise his metal arm.
"And I'm happy to see that my innovation has also managed to disable the big Iron Man himself," the man laughs again. "I'm all for the money but what if we have some fun first?"
Tony swallows hard. Can the guy unlock his armor? Can Tony unlock it? Because right now he's helpless trapped inside his not operating suit. He should try to get out of it, even though he's not really sure if that's a good idea because he doesn't have any weapons. If he steps out of the armor, he will be defenseless against the bank robbers. At least, the suit protects him. He decides to give it a try anyway but he just can't open it.
"Hey, guys, I heard you said fun. Can I come, too?"
Great, someone else wants to join the party. Tony and the goons look around to find the source of the new voice and there he is. Spiderman in his lousy red-blue suit, crouching on the top of a truck, looking down and waving at them like an old friend.
Tony rolls his eyes. This is not how he imagined his first encounter with Spiderman. Yes, he might have considered a scenario like this a few minutes ago, but that was supposed to be fake. With hired thugs, not real ones and definitely not with a useless suit.
"Come on, not you, too. What is this, a comic con?" short guy snorts. "This is supposed to be a peaceful bank robbery, no more."
"I'm sorry to disappoint you but I can't allow that," Spiderman claims and gets up putting his hands on his hips and shaking his head. As if he is some kind of annoyed parent scolding misbehaving children. "No robbing banks or hurting Mr. Stark tonight."
Tony rolls his eyes again. Great, it's just great. He is going to be saved by Spiderman. There goes his authority.
"Yeah? And what are you going to do about it, bug?" the goon demands clearly unimpressed.
"Well, I'm glad you asked, Mr. Bank Robber. I'm gonna try this first," Spiderman replies and shoots a web at the electrifying device. Then another one. And another one. He keeps shooting webs at the thing, until it is nearly completely covered with webs and the purple lights are not visible anymore.
The street lights and the lights in the bank start blinking trying to come back to life. Even the Iron Man armor gives some kind of struggling sound.
"Friday, are you back?" Tony whispers but there's no reply. He can't move yet. He groans frustrated because he really doesn't want to wait patiently until the system reboots itself.
In the meantime, Muscle runs toward the truck Spiderman is standing on and reaches for his ankle to yank him off of the vehicle. But Spiderman flips and lands behind the thug on the ground.
"If you wanted me to come down, you should have asked," he says.
Muscle groans and leaps toward Spiderman. A brutal fight ensues. Tony can't believe his own eyes. Muscle is at least twice, no, thrice as big as Spiderman and he's obviously an experienced fighter. But Spiderman can defend himself, thank you very much. He's fast and blocks every hit. Or most of them. And he delivers some ruthless punches himself. He's strong and fast. In spite of the size difference, it seems like an equal fight. Or not really equal. Because Muscle is getting tired, while Spiderman is still in top form.
The other bad guy hurries back to his machine and the motion makes Spiderman turn back to see what's going on. This gives a perfect opportunity to Muscle to hit Spiderman hard. On the head. He staggers back a bit and Muscle grins, waiting for him to collapse. But Spiderman shakes his head and looks up at his opponent.
"Round two?" he asks and the fight continues.
Meanwhile, Tony desperately tries to call Friday back to life. He can see the short thug pulling a knife from his pocket and he is about to cut through the webbing around his device.
"Friday, this would be a really great time for you to wake up from your nap," Tony says through gritted teeth. "Or at least let me out, if you're not any help."
There's a strange sound as the metal pieces of the suit move a bit. And a bit again. With irritating slowness and with a little physical help from Tony, the suit finally opens up and he can step out. He looks to his right. Spiderman and Muscle are still in the middle of their ruthless fight. By now, both of them are slower but they just keep going.
Tony decides to go for the weird inventor guy trying to free his precious instrument.
"I personally prefer it covered with webs," Tony says stepping behind the man. "Never been a fan of purple."
Short guy turns back to him with his knife, but he seems more like a scared kid and not a cruel bad guy who is about to dissect Tony with his sharp weapon. With a malfunctioned device and Tony not trapped in his suit anymore, the thug looks no longer fearless and smug.
"Let's call it a night, shall we?" Tony frowns and with one half-hearted move, he hits the knife out of the man's hand. "Friday, when you're ready to work again, call the police, please?"
"C'rt'nl', b'ss."
Tony smiles hearing the AI's voice again. Even if she's not entirely back yet.
"We should take this piece of shit back to the lab," he says giving the web-covered machine a light kick. "I want to know how it works and how it could knock you out, Friday. Plus, we need to talk about an upgrade, dear. I don't like you being vulnerable to a random mad scientist."
"Yes, s'r," Friday replies.
Okay, everything seems to be alright now, device disarmed, crazy inventor shivering in fear, Muscle is hopefully about to be defeated by Spiderman… But in that very moment, Tony hears gunshots. He counts three. Muscle doesn't have a gun. If he had, he would have used it by now. And the police are not here yet.
"The getaway driver," Tony groans and turns to Spiderman and Muscle.
There's a third man standing behind them and yes, there's a gun in his hand. Spiderman steps back in surprise. But he quickly regains his composure.
"Interrupting a fair fight? Rude, man," he remarks and shoots a web toward the new guy, easily yanking the gun out of his hand. Then he delivers some final punches and knocks Muscle out.
Getaway driver takes just one look at his buddy, who is lying on the ground out cold, then another one at his now empty hands and decides to run. Spiderman shoots another web at him and in the next moment, he's webbed to a lamppost.
Spiderman lets out a big breath and dusts off his hands. "It's been fun, guys, really, thanks for letting me join." Then he turns to Tony giving him a tiny wave. "Are you alright there, Mr. Stark? Suit working again?" And without waiting for a response, he shoots a web to a tall building next to them. "Have a safe trip home, sir," he says and swings away.
Tony just stands there, mouth wide open in awe and then hits his forehead with his fists. How could he let Spiderman get away? How is he supposed to find out who he is now? He's back to square one.
He turns around and hurries back to his suit. It's a long shot, but he has to try. "Friday, let's follow Spiderman."
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