At a location not far from the school; in a secluded and closed bar in Chinatown; the same portal of black and red smoke appears in the middle of the room. From it emerged Hobgoblin and Azazel, who stands up with a peaceful look. The younger villain, meanwhile, turns on the tv.

"There's gotta be news reporting on it by now," he muttered, searching through the channels until he gets to a news station. His gleeful, manic expression quickly turns sour, however, when he read the ticker headline:

IRON MAN STOPS VILLAIN ATTACK AT HERO SCHOOL.

He clenched his fists, leaving his joints almost white. "After all that work, all that planning. And in minutes, it goes down the drain! Even the Sentinel was destroyed!" Hobgoblin whirled around to a pair of screens, displaying silhouettes of figures. He pointed at one.

"And you! You said that Iron Man was weak, you were wrong!!" The villain yelled, throwing the remote against the wall.

"No, I wasn't..." A calm voice said from the monitor. "We were just less prepared than necessary..."

"I agree," said a second voice, also without a picture. "We underestimated them, luckily we were defeated under the name of the weak 'League of Villains', and not our true one. But what about the technological wonder that the Master and I created? Where's the Sentinel?"

"Yes... Why isn't it with you?" The Master asked.

"It was rendered inoperable by a child, and then set to self destruct in order to try and kill Iron Man," said Azazel, the person in charge of transport. "However, it seems even the warhead installed as a last resort wasn't enough to kill him."

"Such a shame," the second voice said. "But, it was only the first version of many. At least now I know where to make improvements."

"Always finding the silver lining, I see," the Master noted to his associate.

"It it wasn't for that kid..." said the Hobgoblin. "He kept me from killing Daredevil and rallied some of his classmates against me. He mocked me, tried to make me look foolish!!"

"Was this the same child who defeated the Sentinel?" Asked the Master.

"Not directly," Hobgoblin replied bitterly. "But I know he had a hand in it!!"

"How very interesting..." added the second voice. "This merits further study, I should think. Do you recall his face?"

Hobgoblin shook his head, "He wore a mask, like me." He removed the pale mask, revealing peach colored skin and a head of curly, brown hair.

"Of course you're upset right now," said the Master. "But this mission was by no means a failure. We've learned quite a lot, both about our foes, and where we can improve." The second figure nods in agreement before the screen turned off.

"Join the elite villains, do it in the time you think is necessary," the Master added. "I must keep myself hidden in the shadows for now, that's why I need you to represent me. Forge your own symbol, and next time, we will complete our plans; Harold Osborn!"

The young man stared at the screen, a look of cold determination on his face.


Back at the school, outside the EDR, several handcuffed criminals were separated on buses to be taken to the penitentiary. The detective in charge counted the students involved, "16, 17, 18 and 19."

The man himself was of African descent, medium height, with a few wrinkles for his age. He wore a white shirt, a blue tie and a beige overcoat, his NYPD badge hanging in the front. The man switched his gaze between the clipboard with the list of students and the ones who were waiting to return to campus.

"Aside from the boy who went to the infirmary with Iron Man, it doesn't seem like anyone else has a serious injury," he said.

"Hey guys, isn't anyone interested in knowing where I was?" Sam asked, turning to his classmates. But everyone was in conversation circles, not paying attention to him.

He turned to Gwen, who was passing by to talk to the detective, and placed his hand on her shoulder, "How about you, baby girl? Are you interested in-"

"Don't know, don't care," she said, brushing off his hand without looking at him. Gwen then addressed the detective, who was talking to another police officer about sending them back to campus, Kei standing next to her.

"Detective, is Daredevil gonna be alright?" Gwen asked.

"Ol' Hornhead's hard to keep down," replied the Detective. "He had shattered arm bones, a broken leg, plus a skull fracture and strained vocal chords. Fortunately, he doesn't appear to have any serious brain damage. But we don't know how he's going to get out of it all, at least that's what the paramedic told me."

"How's Danger?" Asked Kamala.

"She had some damage, but luckily it was all from the cyber part, she will come out of this brand new," he assured the girl. "Iron Man made it out of that explosion without major injuries, he's in the infirmary now to be safe. Night Nurse's powers will hopefully be enough for his situation."

"And what about Peter?" Wanda asked distressed, not having seen the boy during the entire attack.

"Yes, how's Parker?" Added Danny, showing a little more concern than usual. He even had his mask off, revealing his messy hair.

Gwen turned around to give information to the detective. "Medium height, wore a red mask, probably had bloody wrists when you found him..." She said, recalling all he did to help them escape.

"Ah, Parker," he realized. "Yes, Night Nurse is taking care of him too, he'll be fine."

"Oh..." Wanda sighed with relief, and a lighter heart. "Thank God..."

"From what I understand, he faced their leader head on. Probably saved Daredevil's life in the process," the man added.

Wanda's eyes widened at this, turning toward Gwen and Kei. "Is that true?" Danny asked, equally astonished.

"Yeah, we found that goblin guy beating up Mr. M- I mean Daredevil with a big robot," Gwen replied, narrowly avoiding a potential lawsuit. "After we stopped it, Peter pissed him off so he'd chase after him."

"It was crazy," Kei added. "But he gave us enough time for us to grab Daredevil and escape."

"Wow..." Wanda's eyes sparked slightly.

"Now then, we're going to take you back to school," the detective says to the students, who agree and get on the bus. He turned to one of his officers, "Jim, I have some things to do in the infirmary, I'll leave everything in your hands."

"Yes sir!" The young policeman saluted and joined the other officers. Flash was the only one who'd stayed behind, reviewing events as he stared at the EDR. He remembered Peter going up to help Iron Man. And combined with what he learned may have happened beforehand...

"Hey man, come on. We're going back to class!" Amadeus called to Flash.

"Yeah I heard, idiot..." he muttered, following the rest of the class to the bus.

"Sergeant Mahoney!" One of the officers approached the detective before he gets into the vehicle to head towards the infirmary. "We found something that seems to be related to the attack!"

"Oh? What is it?" He asked.

"Some kind of robotic head," said the officer. "It's quite large, but damaged. We're taking it by truck to the laboratory, see if we can turn up any more evidence."

"Hmmm," the detective saw the Principal leaving the EDR with two of the teachers. "Sir! I would like to investigate every corner of the school to ensure safety. We must not allow something like this to happen again."

"Of course, of course," said Principal Lee. "You'll have full access to the campus. I must admit, we need help, we're a little bit in the dark at the moment."

"Thank you," he replied, turning to his officers and proceeding with the investigation.


Back in the main building, the school was empty, since it was already late afternoon. The nineteen students from 1-A headed to their classroom. On the way past the infirmary, Wanda looks a little wistfully at the sign, wishing Peter was really well. Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of the boy, but she tucked that thought away and kept going...

"And worst of all, is that I can't blame you for being here, Stark, since it wasn't your fault," said the nurse to one of her two patients.

They lay in the two beds; the hero had a tube attached to the Arc Reactor with an IV in his arm. And the boy was also hooked to an IV, with his forearms bandaged.

"Always so welcoming, Claire..." the hero said, seeing some analysis of the armor in his glasses. He realized that the worst had happened. "After dealing with that bomb, my armor's limit is gonna be cut down for sure..."

"I'm sorry," said Peter. While he didn't do anything, he wanted to show his condolences to the hero.

"Well, now's not the time to cry over spilled milk," Tony shrugged. "What's done is done, and it definitely beats the alternative."

The hero lays back down, and Peter can see the gray veins coming out of the reactor. Now they had the tips up to his shoulders and the side of his body.

"Excuse me," the investigative detective said, entering the infirmary. "What's up, Stark? Someone finally manage to beat you up?"

"It's not what we're gonna show in the movie, we'll cut that part, so no," Tony said in a cheeky way to the newcomer.

"Mr. Stark, is it okay for him to see you like this?" Asked an alarmed Peter.

"Him? Oh sure!" Tony replied, turning to the boy. This is Brett Mahoney, Sergeant and NYPD detective. He is an old friend of Daredevil's, and the reason the police aren't corrupt in his precinct."

"Wow, thanks for that," said the detective sarcastically.

"Okay, before you ruin the moment with questions, I've gotta know," Stark interrupted. "How're the kids? Hornhead and Tin Lady?"

"Aside from this boy, the maximum amount of injury to the students was a few scratches," Detective Mahoney referred to Peter. "And both of your colleagues are in stable condition, you can rest easy."

"..." Tony said nothing, but the relief he felt with this news was explicit. Peter was also calmer, letting out the air he didn't even realize he was holding.

"They fought hard today to protect those children," the detective continued. "Honestly, they deserve part of the praise too," said the hero, thinking of the class. "Those students risked their lives, and fought even more than we did."

"I don't think there was ever a group of freshmen who experienced a real confrontation so early in their training," Tony went on. "And they not only survived, they learned what it means to be a professional hero. Those villains made a mistake by attacking them. This class is strong, they're filled with courage and determination. Mark my words; one day, they'll become great heroes."

"Wanda Maximoff, Amadeus Cho, Eugene Thompson, Gwendolyn Poole, Daniel Rand, Kei Kawade, Laura Kinney, Pietro Maximoff, Seol Hee, Azari T'challa, Tyrone Johnson, Sam Alexander, Ava Ayala, Kamala Khan, Carl Lucas, Tandy Bowen, Groot, Nico Minoru, Robbie Reyes..."

Tony then looked at the boy in his bed, he smiled and gave a reassuring nod, "Peter Parker." The boy also smiles and nods. This had been the first chapter of an incredible journey.


"Good night! Thanks for the help!" Peter said, back to his standard uniform, outside the infirmary.

"It was nothing, just be careful on the way home," replied Nurse Claire.

"Yes ma'am!" The boy nodded.

Running down corridors lit by the full moon that dominated the night sky, Peter had the day playing like a movie in his head. Now he just wanting to get home and sleep.

- We had no way of knowing, but the League of Villains attack on SPE was just the beginning, an even bigger incident was just on the horizon. -

The boy stopped at the entrance of the building, and is faced with three figures who eagerly awaited his return.

"Peter!" Wanda exclaimed, joyfully hugging her friend when she saw him returning safe and sound. Gwen and Danny also showed smiles of relief when they saw the boy.

The quartet started walking towards the bus stop, each sharing a little bit about the day, and looking forward to what comes next.

- We were happy to be alive, to have proven that we had the potential to become real heroes. But the worst was yet to come... -

At the top of a building, watching the bright and bustling city of New York, a black clad figure with various firearms attached to his body was looking for his next prey. While his silhouette was as dark as his outfit, the one thing that stood out was a white skull on his chest. Stepping back into the shadows, he prepared for action.

.

.

.


"Th-Th-Th-Th- That's all folksl!" Gwen stuttered on purpose and waved at the reader.

"Is she alright?" Peter asked Danny, watching the girl address nothing in particular.

"You get used to it..." the boy replied, apparently tired of giving explanations for her.