Voices were loud and rowdy as the last villain came through the portal with his boss's prize. Peter landed hard on the wooden floor, unconscious and worn out from nonstop fighting. Meanwhile, the members of the Vanguard and the Six were celebrating a job well done.
"Alright, who's got the beer??" Nuke grinned, dusting himself off.
Vengeance dragged the still form of Bulldozer into another room, too busy to answer.
"Are we getting paid for tonight?" Chameleon asked, "I didn't appreciate getting trussed up by that Spider-brat!"
"Yeah, if Azazel there didn't come get us, we might be stuck in a cell by now," added Shocker, pulling off his mask.
"You, perhaps," Rhino grunted, pouring himself a shot of vodka and grinning. "No cage can hold the Rhino!!"
"So you ran into the Spider, eh?" Asked Hobgoblin, intrigued. "How'd that go?
"Just tell me someone managed to kill him..." Vulture seethed, attempting to cut webs off his green jacket.
"What? You guys actually had trouble with a kid??" Nuke smirked, disassembling one of his many weapons for cleaning. "And here I thought you were supposed to be the big guns!"
"Do not mock him, Monsieur Nuke. It's undignified," Batroc chided from the bar. Azazel nodded in agreement.
"In any case, we did get the main target!" Spot replied, demonstrating the body laid out just behind Whirlwind.
"Oh goodie!!" Hobgoblin rubbed his palms together eagerly, "I've been waiting to meet this one!"
"Aw jeez, he's bleedin' all over the floor!" Shocker cringed, "Someone grab a towel or somethin'!"
"No no, let him keep bleeding!" Sinthea put in, a mischievous smile on her face. "Red's a good color on him!"
Kraven suddenly cleared his throat, as if calling for attention. "On the subject of color, we have a problem," he said, as the others turned to look at him. "That child your group was after, he had blond hair, yes?"
"Yeah, why?" Asked Nuke.
"Take a closer look at the one you dragged here," Kraven nodded down at Peter's unconscious body. "Don't you think he looks a bit different?"
"Well a'course he looks different! He's covered in blood, ain't he?" Shocker called over with a shrug.
"Let me see!" Hobgoblin turned the boy over, getting a look at his unconscious face. The villain's jovial facade is momentarily taken aback as he recognized the kind boy he met at the mall a few weeks ago.
He wasn't the only one who recognized Peter, either. Sandman was the sole member of the Six who'd caught a brief glimpse of the boy when he took on Shocker and a few of the others. His eyes narrowed, realizing exactly who he was.
Flint Marko had his reasons for joining up with the League. He'd take on a Pro Hero, sure. But he didn't sign up to kill children. And he knew that if he revealed who the kid was, that's exactly what they'd do.
"Oooh, I know this one!" Sin leaned in, looking closer. "He was that cute boy running around with the Support Course girl in the armor!"
"How do you know she was Support Course?" Asked Vulture.
"Recognized her from the Festival broadcast," Sin replied. "Plus, nobody else was wearing armor like that."
"So if he was hanging out with her, and not the Hero brats," Sandman reasoned. "Then that means-"
Hobgoblin turned angrily toward on his spotted and armored associates, "You idiots grabbed the wrong kid! He's part of the Support Course, not the Heroes Course!!"
"Told you," Kraven muttered to Nuke.
"Hey, I just make the portals!" Spot replied fearfully. "I didn't grab anyone after I went through!!"
At this, Hobgoblin focused his anger in Whirlwind.
"T-They all look the same in the dark without their costumes!" Whirlwind leaned back nervously.
"I gave you one job! Make a little chaos, and grab the blond kid with the Symbiote Quirk!!" The villain seethed, gripping Peter's brown hair and raising his dazed head off the floor. "Does he look blond to you!?"
He dropped the head and glanced at Peter's wrists, they were raw and bloody. "What the hell happened to his hands??" Hobgoblin asked.
"I dunno, something with his Quirk?" Spot shrugged.
"Damn, he looks beaten within an inch of his life..." Added Chameleon, looking over the teen's battered body. "What did this to him?"
"Probably Juggernaut when he charged the headquarters," Vulture sighed. "Where is he, incidentally? I noticed he's not hitting his round head on the ceiling."
"No idea, but he wasn't at the rendezvous point," Spot replied.
"Feh, so much for contracting specialists," Hobgoblin seethed. "All that work to bust him out, and he gets captured the second we let him off the leash!!"
"Electro and Jack're missing too," added Shocker. "Guessin' the Crew got 'em before they could do too much damage."
But as if on cue, the electric user made his presence known. First the lights began to dim, and a power socket began to spark. Finally, the villain materialized first as energy before turning completely solid.
"Never mind," Shocker rolled his eyes at the over the top entrance.
"Sorry I'm late," Electro said, cracking his sore neck. "Keeping all that power under my control was harder than I thought. What'd I miss?"
"Wind-bro grabbed the wrong kid," Rhino grunted from the bar.
"Ugh, seriously?" Electro had a look of disbelief on his face. "This is why I don't work with amateurs."
"Well anyway, what should we do with him?" Asked Chameleon, nudging the unconscious Peter with his foot. "Obviously he's not the guy you wanted."
"We could always just kill him," Vengeance suggested, nonchalantly making green fire in his palm.
"Oooh, let me do it!" Sinthea volunteered eagerly, a knife in hand. "I wanna have some fun before we send him off!"
The Hobgoblin briefly glanced at his more bloodthirsty associates before crouching down to the boy's level. He didn't want to kill Peter, the kid seemed nice enough and was quite insightful. But he also couldn't appear weak in front of his subordinates.
"...No," Hobgoblin replied. "If he was with those kids, then he'll have information about them that'll come in handy. We'll 'extract' it from him, then we'll kill him."
Vengeance nodded, closing his fist to dampen out his flames. Sinthea licked her lips in anticipation as she gazed upon Peter. Azazel looked to his young charge and nodded his approval, "Well reasoned."
"But first thing's first," Hobgoblin stood up. "He's not gonna tell us anything if he bleeds out. Azazel, grab the first aid kit and some rope."
"Javol," he bowed slightly before vanishing in a puff of red and black smoke.
Howard was able to contact emergency services once the villains left. The ambulances arrived just in time to help the students who were severely injured. However, nothing could have saved the kids whom, while physically unharmed, still felt the dread, anger, and overwhelming concern they all felt in their hearts.
This was by far one of the worst events to have befallen M.A and its students.
Of the 41 students present at the camp, sixteen were unconscious and were seriously injured due to lingering effects of the gas attack. Eleven others would be injured fending off the villains that attacked them. Thirteen would come out of the experience unharmed, but they certainly didn't feel very lucky.
Piledriver was in serious condition because of the repeated blows to his hands. Two villains would be recovered and arrested; Juggernaut, and Jack-o-Lantern.
Those students that were unharmed in the attack could only watch as others, namely Kamala, Riri, and Tyrone, were being loaded into ambulances.
Riri suffered from her head injury, Kamala a broken arm, and Tyrone was feeling the effects of gas inhalation before his Darkforce went out of control. All three were in serious condition.
For Loki, who was with the remedial class when the attack occurred, the feeling was much worse as he watched so many of his own classmates being taken away after suffering the same attack. However, they were all likely to make it and survive.
The same could not be said for two people, whom were on the minds of everyone at the camp.
Peter Parker, a student of M.A, and Bulldozer, a Pro-Hero, were declared missing. Both kidnapped by the villains who'd escaped thanks to the one called Spot.
As the door to the ambulance closed and drove off, Roberto looked to his right. He could see the three remaining figures nearby.
Wanda was sobbing uncontrollably, as her brother Pietro tried his best to comfort her. Flash stood off to the side, a sullen, yet conflicted expression on his face
In the blond teen's mind, the League was made up of vicious criminals who wanted nothing more than to have everyone at the camp eliminated. The fact that he was a target meant to be taken alive left him confused and angry. What plans did they have that merited keeping him while killing off everyone else? Did they think they could turn him to their side or something ridiculous like that??
And then there was Parker; his former friend and the victim of his incessant bullying from pre-school up to the present. If there was anyone who should be bitter enough to just let him be taken, it would be that guy. And yet, the Wall-Crawler not only prevented his capture, he did so while enduring life-threatening injuries.
One student had screwed up the villain's plans, only to be taken away in the end, this did not bode well for his prospects. It was a feeling that was shared by everyone.
In short, the winter training camp was nothing less than a complete disaster.
May Parker was despondent over her nephew's kidnapping. The hospital she'd worked at advised her to take some time off, and her neighbor Anna had come by to check on her, but that was several hours ago. With nothing to distract her from the lack of answers, she paced, fretted, and cried all alone in her home.
The phone had been ringing non-stop for an entire day, reporters seeking interviews about the kidnapping and her own thoughts on the matter. After a while, May simply turned off her cellphone and refused to answer the door when they came to see her in person.
Around noon, someone began to bang on the door nonstop. Fed up with the apparent lack of tact, she stormed down the hallway and threw it open.
"Can't you take a hint?!?" May yelled, her face contorted with anger. "I'm not-"
She froze, however, when she noticed the person standing on her stoop was no reporter, but a boy of around 16 years old, with blonde hair and a black coat.
"Oh..." May settled down and recomposed herself. "Eugene... It's you."
"Mrs. Parker," he nodded in greeting. "Can we talk?"
She glanced around, as if making sure there were no reporters hiding in the bushes. "This isn't really a good time..."
"I wouldn't be here if it wasn't important," Flash replied. The older woman was still hesitant, so he took a deep breath and said a word that rarely, if ever, passed his lips. "...Please."
Finally, May nodded and stood back so the teen could enter.
He looked around slightly, taking in the surroundings, "You redecorated since I was here."
"A lot changes over 10 years," she replied. "You want some coffee? Made a fresh pot earlier."
Flash shook his head, "I won't be here long, just came to say my piece."
May gestured to the small kitchen table and the two went sat down. Flash was visibly uncomfortable, being in the same room with the woman whose nephew he'd bullied for years. And it was more than likely that she was well aware of what he'd done.
"Go ahead," she said gently.
Flash sighed, "Parker never should've been taken, he wasn't being targeted by the villains. I was,"
May paused, unsure where he was going with this. "What do you-"
"For some reason, those bastards wanted to take me with them," he interrupted. "They even had me at one point. I was... helpless."
The older woman stared at the boy as he continued to struggle with his words. "Then your nephew... He came in like a bat outta hell, and knocked me away before I got sucked into their escape portal. If it wasn't for him..."
May covered her mouth with one hand, her eyes starting to tear up. Flash sighed and looked down at the floor, "He saved my life... More than once if you count what happened with that Carnage bastard... And all I've done for years was treat him like crap..."
"You've got enough on your plate, but you deserved to know what happened," Flash concluded, looking back up. "If you want to hate me, I get it... It can't be worse than how much I hate myself."
Flash paused, letting everything sink in. The older woman reached over and placed a hand on his shoulder. Somehow, she'd managed to keep from crying and was now doing her best to comfort a young man full of self loathing.
"I don't hate you, Eugene," May said gently. "And neither does Peter. I know the two of you have grown apart, but I think more than anything he misses the days when you two were friends."
Flash looked puzzled, "You're serious? After all I did? There's no way he didn't tell you-"
"Come with me," she replied, cutting him off and leading him toward her nephew's bedroom.
It was messy and unkempt, a typical teenager's room. There was a small bed, some shelves, and a desk with a computer and several books. Posters hung on the wall, mostly of Iron Man. A box filled with discarded tech he'd collected while dumpster diving sat off to the side.
May went over to the shelves and glanced at a pair of framed photos, sitting between them was a camera. She picked up the photo on the right and offered it to Flash, "Do you remember this day?"
The boy's eyes widened, it was a memory he'd nearly forgotten. There was Peter, at roughly around 5 years old, along with a man and woman he hadn't seen in over a decade; the boy's parents. Flash could understand him having a picture of them, but what truly surprised him was the fact that he and his own parents were in the photo as well. He now vividly recalled the day, a play date in the park while the two sets of parents set up a picnic. A moment frozen in time; a simple, happy moment.
"I remember," Flash finally said. "Think he talked my ear off about penguins or something while we tossed a frisbee around. You were there too, you and..." He trailed off, not wanting to bring up the name and risk making the woman feel worse. But she merely smiled knowingly.
"Ben took that picture," May said, briefly touching the camera on the shelf with her fingertips. "He used this very camera to do it. It was the last good memory Peter had as a young boy."
She lowered her hand, looking down at the floor. "A few weeks later, there was that terrible crash... Not long afterwards, the doctors said he was Quirkless. Everything was crumbling around him, and yet he still met each day with a smile, wanting nothing more than to help others. I just wish I could've done more for him..."
Flash turned to May, "They're gonna find him. Hell, Iron Man likes your kid, and there's no way he's gonna let him stay missing."
May looked up at Flash. She smiled again, but this time it was more weary. "I hope so..." The older woman sighed, "I think I need to lay down for a while. Feel free to stay as long as you'd like, but please lock the front door on your way out."
The strain of the last few days was clearly getting to her, and Flash could see that as she left the room. Looking back at the picture, he remembered the close bond he once shared with Peter. One he'd foolishly tossed away once he began to get praise from others. Yet in spite of that, Peter still saved his life, regardless of what may happen to his own.
"Dammit..."
Coming to a decision, Flash retrieved his cellphone. Scrolling through a short list of contacts, he selected the ones labeled 'Cho' and 'Hothead'. Taking a breath, he began to type out a group message.
After some time unconscious, Peter began to wake up Dazed and confused, his body ached all over as he found himself tied to a chair in what looked to be a dark basement. Straining against the ropes, Peter was surprised to find he couldn't break out. A faint buzzing went off in his head as the door atop the stairway opened.
"Well well, look who's finally awake!" A gleeful voice cut throat the darkness. Peter's head shot up in fear as he made out the shape of Hobgoblin in the doorway. Light from the barroom shone through, surrounding the villain and illuminating his features.
Peter struggled against his ropes, trying to free himself as Hobgoblin entered. He pulled the door closed behind him and watched the boy struggle.
"I wouldn't bother," Hobgoblin said, walking down the steps. "You'll just wear yourself out. Plus, there's about a dozen of my buddies on the other side of this door, so even if you somehow got past me, you'd have to deal with all of them."
The boy glared at his captor, but he did have valid a point. Peter was still weak, and in no condition to take on Hobgoblin, let alone a room full of dangerous villains.
Hobgoblin took a folding chair propped next to the wall and set it up in front of the boy. "You're lucky it's me coming in to check on you," he grinned. "Dear Sinthea was hoping to get you all to herself."
"Tempting, but I prefer my redheads to not be bloodthirsty sociopaths," Peter replied.
"Oh well, your loss," the villain shrugged as he stood before the boy. "Anyways, I'm just here to talk, ok? Pinky promise!" He held up the corresponding digit as if to illustrate his point. "So just relax and hear me out. You don't wanna reopen those wounds of yours, do you?"
Seeing there was nothing else he could do, Peter sighed and settled back into his chair, no longer struggling.
"That's the spirit!" The villain said cheerfully, as he plopped down into his chair. He leaned back, making it rock slightly and rested his boots on Peter's bound lap.
"So, rough night?" Hobgoblin grinned at the restrained boy.
"...Something like that," Peter replied bitterly. "Where... Where are we?" He asked, still trying to regain his senses.
"My little home away from home," Hobgoblin grinned, putting his hands behind his head in a relaxed position. "Seriously though, you look like crap. Don't think I've ever met someone who could sleep through 2 entire days!"
I've been stuck here for 2 days!? Peter thought frantically. Oh God, what about the others!? Wanda!? Flash!? He began to feel dizzy as he panicked, as if the boy was about to throw up.
"Easy there," the villain said. "You've lost a lot of blood, so you're probably still feeling it. Well, that and the painkillers we had to force feed you."
"Painkillers?" Asked Peter, looking back at Hobgoblin.
"You needed stitches and we don't keep sedatives handy, unless you count booze," Hobgoblin shrugged. "Not sure you remember, but you were in pretty rough shape. Even ripped your wrists open at some point."
Peter looked down to his wrists, they were wrapped in fresh bandages. A slight reddening had colored the white strips, but the bleeding appeared to have stopped.
"How'd that happen anyway?" Hobgoblin asked curiously. "Did one of my guys get a bit overzealous? Or did you..."
"Quirk backfired," Peter mumbled, a believable excuse. "My reward for 'playing hero,' I guess."
"Yeeeash, well you're definitely not suited for it," the villain teased. "Look, I understand wanting to protect your little schoolmates. Honestly, I kinda respect that. But your interference's thrown off our plans in a big way. And that's seriously bad news for you."
He looked up at the Hobgoblin in confused, "Then why patch me up?"
"Well if you died, your corpse would've stunk this place to high heaven!" Hobgoblin grinned. "Besides, you're not one of the ones I was after, so I've got no beef with you."
Peter was momentarily taken aback, "Who were you looking for then?"
"A couple of the brats from the Heroes Course," replied Hobgoblin. "One's a tall kid, with blond hair and a Symbiote Quirk. He went by the name 'Thompson' during the Sports Festival."
Peter's eyes narrowed, So it's true, they really were after him the whole time!
"I met him. Guy's a real jerk," he said, doing his best to remain civil.
"Perhaps, but I believe we could've benefited from meeting," said Hobgoblin. He sighed and rested his head in his palm, "Eh, better luck next time, as the saying goes!"
"Right... So then," Peter coughed slightly, trying to clear his dry throat. "Who was the other one? You mentioned there were a couple from the Hero Course you wanted to meet, right?"
"Oh yes..." The villain's countenance darkened, "The other is that loathsome fellow who's interfered with my plans on more than one occasion. I hear he's even got a fancy hero name now; 'Spider-Man'."
The villain made quotation signs with his fingers as he said the name. "It's a bit on the nose, but hey, I'm not in a position to judge!" Hobgoblin chuckled, seeming to have gone back to his original mannerisms.
"And yet one of your boys grabbed me," Peter deadpanned.
"Indeed, bit of a mixup on his part," the villain shrugged. "Believe me when I say his punishment for failing me was most severe..."
"I'll... take your word for it," said Peter, cringing slightly. It was his own fault that Whirlwind had sucked in the wrong guy, having shoved Flash out of the way last minute. "So... where does that leave me?" He asked, hesitantly.
"To be honest, this situation is a bit perplexing for me," said Hobgoblin, moving his feet to the floor and leaning forward slightly. He held out hand up, palm facing the ceiling, "On the one hand, you're not who I want and you're clearly no threat to my organization, especially in your condition."
He then held out his other hand in the same manner, "On the other, I can't look soft in front of my crew. Plus if I let you walk, you'll probably scamper off to the nearest heroes and we'll have to move our base."
"...I don't envy your position," Peter replied sarcastically.
"Yes, quite the puzzler," the villain pondered. "But the Hobgoblin has a way where we can both win! Why not simply join us?"
Peter blinked, "Come again?"
"Sure, why not?" Hobgoblin grinned, "You're a pretty smart guy, I mean you'd have to be to get into that school's tech program! The way of the pro hero is on a fast track to derailment, it's my dream to prove it to the world!"
"...By killing a bunch of kids?" Asked Peter, "I think your message is a bit lost in translation."
"Oh, but there is a reason for it!" Hobgoblin drew in dangerously closer, "As much as I hate to agree with the guy, Punisher wasn't that far off about heroes today. They're vain, glorified, ineffective celebrities who get praised for doing the barest of minimums. If the public's faith could be shaken by, say, attacking a school monitored by these paragons of Justice, or kidnapping the kids they're supposed to be protecting, what does that say about their effectiveness?"
Peter was taken slightly aback, he hadn't counted on this kind of reasoning from a guy as random and chaotic as the Hobgoblin. He had a plan, and if the previous night proved anything, he now had the resources and the manpower to make it happen. And while equally twisted, he suddenly revealed a philosophy like that of Frank Castle, a man whose ideals become an overnight rallying cry for hero reform.
Beneath all the crazy, Hobgoblin had a brain.
"I'll give you a day to think it over," Hobgoblin said, leaning back and standing up. "It would be in your best interest to cooperate willingly, believe me. Otherwise I won't be able to restrain my men from doing what they do best!"
He began to walk away before his head turned back slightly, a mischievous glint in his eye, "And what they do isn't very nice..."
The villain chuckled gleefully as he climbed the steps, opening and closing the door to leave Peter alone in the darkness once more.
This guy really thinks I'm gonna join him? He's even more screwed up than I thought! Peter thought to himself, looking around. No windows down here, nothing to get myself free. And even if I did, the only way out is through a room of villains. I'm out outnumbered and outgunned. Wish my cellphone didn't get busted during that fight with Juggernaut. Still, it would've made no difference, those guys would've taken it...
Peter sighed, he was trapped with no way out. All he could do now was try and mentally prepare himself for the possibility of taking on a room full of villains on his own.
Unbeknownst to him, however, buried deep in one of his pockets was salvation. Hidden amongst the loose change and a gum wrapper, a tiny device began to activate...
"When are you going to open the gate?!"
"We can hear your silence!"
"When can we expect an official statement from M.A's administration?!"
"Has anyone been in contact with the families of the children you've allowed to be in danger?!"
When word of the camp attack spread, the media descended upon the school like a swarm of locusts. Unsurprisingly, the school was facing a high amount of scrutiny from news outlets. Only this time, it was far worse. Not only had they allowed an organized group of villains to attack and put their students in critical danger, but one of them was kidnapped.
People were fed up with the villains always being able to get the upper hand. Now everything about the school was called into question in the outbreak of this scandal.
The people of the media continued to yell at the school for someone to come out and answer their questions. However, the gates were sealed and there was no one to hear them.
The halls were devoid of life and the classrooms were neat and tidy, ready for the students to return to class.
The only people within the school were the teachers who'd felt the full weight of their failure. Amongst their number, however, was a guest. He was a skinny man in his mid 40's, with horn rimmed glasses and a head of salt and pepper hair. It was the man in charge of Damage Control; Dr. Bruce Banner. He'd requested to sit in on the gathering as it pertained to events that occurred at his facility.
"That training camp was meant to prepare students to handle villain attacks. The irony is indeed shameful," Principal Lee said.
The old man held a meeting in the Conference Room to go over what had occurred and what they could do. However, the situation had completely stumped them.
"We knew the League would resurface," he went on. "But we lacked the fundamental understanding of their plans. They aim to destroy Hero Society, and they've already started their war with us as their first target."
Professor Frost looked over to the faculty leader, professional as always. "Even if we had understood, could we really have avoided this attack?" She asked, "They're moving pieces we didn't even know they possessed."
"Not to mention after Iron Man put an end to most organized crime, we'd gotten lazy during peacetime without even realizing it," Deadpool replied, being surprisingly introspective. "I guess deep down, we all thought that we'd be living the sweet life for good. But even Zach and Cody had to grow up..."
Frost sighed and then turned to her right to look at the person in the room that was hit the hardest.
Tony Stark was absolutely devastated when he got the news of the attack and Peter's kidnapping, it killed him inside when he learned of it. He thought that the boy would be safe at camp and away from the villains until they could find them. But now his successor was trapped in the jaws of the enemy and the hero feared the worst was still to come.
Racked with guilt, he sat at the table with his hands over his head. "I'll never forgive myself for such a lackadaisical mindset," He said with shame. "While those kids were fighting for their lives, I was just having dinner with Pepper."
"I feel responsible for all of this," sighed Dr. Banner, bowing his head. "I should've had tighter security, more safeguards in place. Hell, maybe if I'd been there..."
"It's not your fault, Bruce," Hawkeye said, placing a hand on the scientist's shoulder. "If anything, we brought this on ourselves."
"We should've never had the Sports Festival right after the EDR attack," added Colossus, clenching his fist in frustration. "We wanted to demonstrate that we were still strong, but all it did was give the villains all the information they needed to know about the students."
"To have a student kidnapped is our greatest failure as teachers," said Howard. "They've taken Parker and society's faith in Heroes away from us."
"And he wasn't even their target," put in Hawkeye. "From what I gathered, they wanted that Thompson kid. Parker just got in the way at the last minute. What I'm wondering is, why were they planning on taking him?"
"I have a theory on young Thompson," Lee responded as he held up a tablet that had an article about the Sports Festival. In it was a picture of Flash as he fought against Wanda, the visual of his face was far from pleasant. "It's likely because the villains recognized his violent tendencies during the Sports Festival broadcast. In their minds, his actions and attitude would best fit within their group."
"If he wound up joining the side of the villains..." Professor Frost began.
"...That would've been the end of M.A as a school," finished Colossus.
A grim silence hung over the room, until the conversation took an unexpected turn when Deadpool spoke up.
"Since we're on the subject of trust, there's something I think has to be voiced now." He addressed the others. "At this point, there's no looking past it; we've got a rat in this school."
His remark stunned the other teachers who looked at him with wide eyes. The Merc with the Mouth saying outlandish things was nothing new, it was part of his personality, for better or worse. Generally, however, it was never to be taken seriously. This time though, his body language and tone of voice indicated he wasn't joking around for a change.
"Think about it, only the teachers and the Wrecking Crew knew where the camp was happening," Deadpool continued, leaning forward intensely. "Don't you think that's a little suspicious? I guess one of the rugrats could've used their phone to text a villain. But if they-"
"Wade, don't even go there!" Frost said sternly.
"What?" Deadpool protested. "Use that Diamond Mind of yours, I can guarantee everyone else is thinking it! I'm just the only one who nutted up and said it out loud!"
"The traitor could be you for all we know," put in Hawkeye. "You got any proof that you're 100% innocent? Can we know that everyone in this room is an ally? Hell, even if Frost used her Quirk to read our minds to see if one of us was an infiltrator, there'd be no way to prove she wasn't lying!"
Losing the argument, Deadpool groaned and sat back into his chair. He glanced at Frost, who stared at him with her icy glare. The Mercenary Hero folded his arms and pouted slightly.
"If we start doubting each other, we'll destroy ourselves from the inside," Professor Foster concluded for his fellow teacher. "Accusing someone of being a traitor isn't something we should take lightly."
Hawkeye nodding approvingly at the head of the Support Course.
"At the very least, I trust everyone sitting at this table," Principal Lee said with confidence. "Still, there's also no way for me to prove to all of you that I'm innocent... But for the moment, what we must do as a school is concentrate on guaranteeing the safety of our student body. This is a good time to implement something I've wanted to put in place for a while. You see, I-"
The principal was interrupted by a loud ringtone starting with a guitar strum. "IllIII AMMMM IIIIRON MANNNN!!!!" A robotic voice declared before another strum went off.
Tony rose from his seat, "Excuse me, I need to take this."
"We're in a meeting, dude," Deadpool said. "Even I set my phone to vibrate..."
The hero sighed as he stepped outside and closed the door, looking at the name on his phone screen. His eyes widened and his breath paused; it said 'P. Parker'.
But that couldn't be possible, there's no way they'd let the kid keep his phone! Tony thought, his pulse racing now. Unless it's a villain calling to gloat...
Cautiously, he pressed the Bluetooth device on his ear, eyes narrowing in anticipation. "Hello," he said curtly.
There was a pause, before a voice spoke up. It was female, and young based on the tone. "I-Is this Iron Man?" She asked.
Tony was taken slightly aback, "Who is this?"
"It's Riri Williams, sir. From the Support Course?" The voice went on nervously, "We... We met in San Francisco."
"Oh... Yeah, I remember you," the hero sighed over the phone, glad it wasn't another, much darker possibility. "Why do you have Mr. Parker's phone?"
"He um, dropped it while I was with him fighting the villains," she explained. "Peter mentioned once that he interned with you over the summer, so I took a chance that your number was still in here-"
"Ok, but why are you calling me?" Tony asked, wanting to get to the point. "As I'm sure you're aware, there's a lot going on after what happened-"
"I might have a way to find Peter!" Riri yelled abruptly, cutting off the hero.
"...Would you mind repeating that, Ms. Williams?" Tony asked, as if in disbelief.
In her hospital bed, Riri Williams held the cellphone to her bandaged head. Off on a side table, one of Peter's damaged web shooters sat crudely reassembled. A blinking red light flashed every few seconds on the wrist clasp.
"Look, I've been working with him on his costume since after the Sports Fest," she began. "We'd talk about gadgets and stuff to add onto it. And last night, he showed me his latest; a tracking device."
There was silence on the other end, so Riri took that as a sign to continue. "I picked up one of his busted up web shooters during the attack. I was worried he'd go and do something reckless, so I slipped the tracker on him before we got separated earlier. I spent the whole day rebuilding the receiver in his web shooter and I think I've got it working, at least going by the light flashing in its place."
The silence continued, and Riri hurriedly powered through everything else she wanted to say. "I don't wanna give out any false hope," she said. "For all I know, it fell out of his pocket and it's laying on the ground in Central Park somewhere. But there's still a chance... right?"
Taking a breath after delivering her mouthful of an explanation, Riri waited for a response. "M-Mr. Stark?" She asked nervously.
Finally, Tony's voice was heard. "Let me put you on hold a minute," he said, before his end went mute. Riri glanced at the phone in confusion, waiting impatiently until there was sound again.
"Ms. Williams?" Tony's voice crackled through, actually sounding excited this time. "I've got you on speaker right now, the rest of the teaching staff is here with me. I need you to repeat in detail exactly what you just said to me..."
Ever since the incident two days ago, the M.A staff thought this time it would be best to grant a week off to the students of Class 1-A and 1-B, considering their experience necessitated some time to recover both physically and mentally. For some, it meant spending time with family and friends. For others, it meant remaining in the hospital to recover.
This was the situation Kamala found herself in.
Wearing casual clothing with her arm covered in bandages, she sat on her hospital bed while looking at the bright day outside through the large window. After the incident, the paramedics rushed her and her friends to the hospital that was nearest to the training camp.
She'd woken up just yesterday, assured that her arm would heal without lasting damage following a brief visit from Claire Temple, the Night Nurse. Still, if one were to look at her right now, and see her miserable expression and red eyes, they'd know that Kamala had been crying.
But it wasn't from the pain of her injury, it was for her missing classmate. The same one who'd taken a moment amongst the chaos of the attack to do what he could to help her. And now he was gone, being put through who knows what by some of the most dangerous people in the city.
There was a light tap on her shoulder, and Kamala looked up to see Tandy, a gentle smile on her face. "You doing alright?" She asked.
Kamala shrugged, "Ok, I guess. I'm surprised you didn't stay over here too."
"My Quirk lets me heal myself, to an extent," Tandy explained. "Cuts and stuff like that. But it leaves me a bit drained, that's why I didn't use it until after the villains left. Speaking of, are they letting you check out?"
Kamala nodded, "Ms. Temple gave me another treatment, I can take the bandages off tomorrow. Just waiting for the last of the paperwork to go through. How's Ty?"
"Still resting," Tandy replied sadly. "He's going to be on a respirator for the next few days as his lungs heal from the gas."
"Still, it could've been worse," Kamala said, standing up off her bed. "And here I was hoping to say goodbye before I left."
"You can always say 'hi' to Riri," Tandy offered. "The rest of us are here to talk to her, actually. There's been some developments..."
Tandy and Kamala walked into the young inventor's room, where several of their classmates were already speaking with her, with a few more stragglers making their way in. The normally introverted girl was a bit nervous with the crowded space, but they respectfully gave her space when she'd asked for it. At the moment, they were engaging in a bit of small talk, as Riri was now getting to know the rest of 1-A.
"Did you hear about what's going on at the school?" Sam asked as they gathered around her bed.
The last person to enter the room was Flash. With his usual sour demeanor, he slammed the door shut and walked over to lean his back against the wall. "Reporters are swarming all over the place," he said. "It's worse than last time."
"Yeah... I heard," Riri said, looking over at a TV hanging down from the ceiling in a corner. It was turned off, but that was only after she decided she didn't want to hear anymore of the news.
"We're so glad to see you're okay." Wanda said, sitting down at the end of the bed. "You took a nasty hit, I was really worried about you."
"I brought a present! Well I mean, it's from all of us," Kei said, holding up a bouquet of flowers in a vase.
"Oh, thank you," replied Riri as she took the vase and placed it on the side table where the web shooter once sat. She admittedly wasn't that into flowers, but Riri was polite enough to accept and appreciate the gesture.
She looked at everyone, "Is everyone from your class here?"
"I'm afraid not," Azari said gravely, a frown on his face. The others wore similar expressions of concern as they thought about those who couldn't be there with them. "Tyrone is still recovering from the gas, and then of course, there's the obvious..."
"So right now, it's only 18 of us," Sam said, rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly.
Riri looked down at her bedsheets and clenched them in her fists on her lap. This wasn't right. None of this was right. They were only teenagers in high school. They weren't even licensed Heroes. Why were they being forced into these situations?
Amadeus walked up to Riri's beside, "Riri, there's something we need from you."
Snapping out her thoughts, the inventor looked at the Asian student with a confused and curious expression. "What is it?" She asked.
"Don't be mad, but I was here a while ago with Flash, and so was Roberto and Danny," he said.
Roberto nodded his head in greeting, while Danny placed his fist in his palm and gave a short bow. Flash just leaned in place with his arms folded, giving no greeting.
"I came because I couldn't just sit at home and do nothing," Reyes began. "Then I met up with Cho and Thompson before we came to see you."
"That's where we saw Danny waiting outside your room," Cho continued. "He told us that he saw Iron Man and that police officer talking to each other."
Danny picked up the explanation from there, "Forgiveness, it was not my intention to eavesdrop. But I overheard how you found the tracker for Peter, and saw you gave them the receiver."
Riri gasped a little, They heard about that? It was something meant to be kept secret for the time being, potentially their only ace in the hole for finding not just Peter, but the villain's lair as well.
Still, it frustrated her that she couldn't do more personally to help, maybe she could've done something to save Peter from being kidnapped.
"I understand the device was built into Peter's web shooter," Danny continued. "Is that correct?"
Riri nodded, "Yeah, the tracer's not all that complex. It's like a mini gps that emits a specific signal, but honed to a basic receiver built into his shooters. I've built a few in my time, so I recognized it immediately."
Roberto's eyes narrowed, "Is it possible for you to make another one? A receiver that'll pick up the exact signal?"
This drew a gasp from everyone, except Cho, Danny, and Flash.
They looked at the chain and fire user with stunned expressions. They weren't prepared to hear that from Reyes, and their shock came more from the implications of the question.
"Wait, what are you saying?" Kamala asked anxiously, almost afraid to know what the answer was.
"Are you extras that dense?" Everyone turned to Flash as he glared at the ground, gritting his teeth in annoyance. "Don't act like you haven't already figured it out."
He then looked up and stared hard at his classmates, "We're gonna save the bug."
.
.
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Barber's Chair
• The title has several meanings, as there's quite a few one on one discussions that take place in this chapter. I'll let you decide which one deserves top billing.
• Things are certainly getting interesting now! Peter's captured, but the villains don't know he's Spider-Man. I equate it similarly to the times in comics (and the 90's animated series), when he's unmasked, but the villains don't think he's actually Spider-Man.
• Seems as though Flash is feeling more than a little guilty over being the target, yet the guy he used to pick on essentially sacrificed himself so he wouldn't be taken. I actually almost didn't put in the scene between him and May, but I thought it would be a good chance to bring her back. In spite of everything going on, she still exudes that maternal compassion and is able to help Flash even when he doesn't realize it. And I think it's this development leads to the decision he and his fellow classmates make toward the end of the chapter.
• I really enjoyed writing the scene where Peter interacts with Hobgoblin. Neither knows who the other is, and they're both trying to suss out what the other is all about.