Chapter Text
Not to say Peter wasn’t excited to go to Stark Tower… but Peter wasn’t excited to go to Stark Tower.
Words he never thought he would associate together “not excited” and “Stark Tower”, suddenly seemed to fit far too well for his situation and it wasn’t that he had grown ungrateful for the opportunities (by that he meant crazy Spider powers) which had granted him the ability to basically show up there whenever he wanted. No, not at all. Rather, it had more to do with the fact his entire academic decathlon team was currently on a bus travelling there right now for a field trip and he could feel the anxiety mounting.
Ned had assured him it was completely unnecessary, after all he had nothing to prove since his internship actually existed, Mr. Stark knew who he was, and technically, he did know Spider-Man. But that’s because he was Spider-Man, he pointed out.
“... Details.” Ned replied.
But that didn’t stop him from worrying due to the great amount of pressure thrust upon him to prove that he wasn’t a liar, Ned’s very kind words be damned. Otherwise, he would just be embarrassing himself further and what’s worse… He’d never hear the end of it from Flash. It wasn’t that Flash was the worst person ever— he wasn’t at all really, more so just annoying in ways he couldn’t even begin to comprehend— in fact, he had begun to ease up a bit more after their European excursion for reasons unknown (though if Peter had to guess, having a near death experience via drone tended to be a turning point for people); but once he got started on something, he wasn’t one to let it go quietly.
Especially since this field trip had been announced as a “fun surprise” for the group for doing so well at State and since it was the beginning of a new school year, why not do something both fun and educational?
“It’s funducational!” Mr. Harrington declared with the excitement only a broken shell of a man could feel. He really, really needed this.
And now Flash wouldn’t shut up about it. Though, to be fair, while the rest of his class was a more socially polite bunch, he could tell they were thinking the same thing. The elephant in the room.
He felt a crumpled up wad of paper hit the back of his head. “Yo Penis Parker! What are you gonna do when your internship turns out to be fake?!”
Peter pursed his lips, sinking down into his seat.
“Well it’s not! Because it’s totally real!” Ned shouted back before leaning towards Peter. “Don’t worry, man. I got your back.”
MJ grabbed Ned’s arm before he could poke his head back up, pulling him back into his seat as Flash let out a laugh. “You’re just making it worse, dude.”
Ned scooted closer to Peter, lowering his voice appropriately, “Why can’t you just call Tony Stark or something and ask him to make an appearance?”
Peter winced at the comment, remembering the sorry state his mentor was in last he left him. He had barely survived the DIY Infinity Gauntlet and had remained in a coma for nearly two weeks before finally returning to the land of the living. But despite barely having any grip on reality, he was still doggedly determined to make this healing process take even longer than it already was due to his refusal to just sit still for five minutes.
Despite Tony’s relatively good nature about it all: only being down to one arm (“So do I get to join a secret club now for people with a metal arm now?”), the scarring, not being able to return to being Iron Man for a Very Long Time (if at all). None of it seemed to bother him as much as it bothered Peter. He couldn’t help but feel intense guilt wash over him at even the mention of Tony Stark as if he could have changed something.
He frowned, “Because-”
“Tony Stark literally hasn’t been seen by the public since the end of The Blip,” MJ snorted, “the only reason we know he isn’t dead is because Pepper Potts made a statement saying so.”
The two boys only stared at her, “... What? I have to keep up with the news, that way I can be prepared when America inevitably spirals into a post-apocalyptic society where money no longer holds value.”
“Alright!” Mr. Harrington exclaimed, standing up from his seat. “Settle down everyone and be prepared to exit the bus! Make sure you have all the stuff you’re going to need, because we’re not coming back on the bus until the end of the tour!”
The group began to mutter amongst themselves, gathering their things as the bus squeaked to a slow stop in front of glistening Stark Industries tower. Peter swallowed thickly, suddenly feeling smaller than he had ever been.
“Peter?” MJ gently shook his shoulder. “Peter?... Peter!”
“Gah! What?!”
“We’re leaving, c’mon.”
Flash looked at him with a positively shit-eating grin. “The sooner we get inside, the sooner we get to see Parker get roasted for being a liar! Woo!”
He sighed, this was going to be the longest field trip of his life.
Aleksei Sytsevich sat with his arms wrapped firmly behind his back, several guards surrounding him from all sides despite being trapped in the back of a moving vehicle. He hung his head, refusing to face the guards, today was the day he was meant to be transported to The Raft, after a year long stint in Ryker’s while they awaited Rhino-proof renovations to be complete.
He grunted at the thought, it was all the Spider’s fault he was in here, Stark’s personal minion. Aleksei knew for a fact, if it wasn’t for him, he would have easily succeeded in the mission of capturing John Jameson and his anger had little to do with the money really. In fact, he had no use for money as a morally upstanding individual. He had wished to prove a point, that Aleksei “The Rhino” Sytesevich could easily strike it out on his own! He didn’t need Russian crime syndicate.
He glared at the guards surrounding him, then out the back window. They were somewhere in the city, he could see that much from the ever stretching skyline that raced by. Spider-Man… he was out there; in cahoots with Stark and laughing at him. He began to growl, at first a dull rumble vibrated and quickly grew into an earth shattering shout. Aleksei sprung from his seat, “No more Spider mocking me!”
The guards jumped into position, going to tackle Rhino to the ground but stood no chance as he tilted his garganution horn towards the men blocking the door and rushed directly for them, causing the doors to fly open and the guards, along with Rhino, to fly out. He got to his feet and with the adrenaline pumping through his veins, was able to easily free himself from his bindings.
“Don’t just stand there!” One of the remaining guards exclaimed. “Take him down!”
The group began to assault Rhino with a spray of bullets, though they did little besides bounce off his armor and increase his fury. He roared, snatching two of the armed guards off the ground, smashing their heads together, and dropping them back to the street like rag dolls.
“Your little bullets are like nothing to me!” He said, continuing this pattern of seizing and tossing guards until he was the last man standing. He breathed heavily, looking towards the great high rise that stood taller than the rest. In fact, it was so large that even he could read the word emblazoned upon it from this distance: Stark.
He laughed under his breath, “There you are, little Spider. Now, I am coming to crush you.”