Ch. 9

The next day at school was almost as bad as the first.  Peter didn't accidentally try and open Steven's locker, so he had that going for him.  However, Ned had a dental appointment during the last two periods of the day and Michelle didn't have those classes with him, so Peter was left alone for both Biology and PE.  Biology wasn't that bad as they just took notes on Mrs. Castrejon's teaching, but PE was awful.  Peter had never been fond of running anyway, so when they were told to run three laps around the track field he wanted to die.  It was his last period of the day and Uncle Bruce was coming over, though, so Peter forced himself to run the three laps.

"Glad you could join us, Parker,"  the coach said once Peter finished his laps.  He had been dead last and was panting hard.  He had never been more upset at the sun for showing up in his life.  Especially when Coach Redding announced they were playing soccer.  Peter groaned and stood in line with the rest of his classmates.  He was chosen second to last which wasn't much better than being last and ended up playing a defender.  It was alright until Flash came running towards him, kicking the ball straight at him.  Peter's eyes widened and he ducked out of the way as the ball sailed over his head.

"You're supposed to stop it, brilliant!"  one of his teammates, Joseph, yelled.  Peter sighed and looked up to see Flash mocking him.  Coach Redding blew his whistle and everyone returned to their sides.  The game began again and Peter tried to stay out of the way.  However, he was sure Flash was trying to embarrass him.  He found himself facing Flash again and this time he didn't duck when Flash kicked the ball.  It hit his forehead right above his left eye and he fell backwards.  The ball bounced off him and the others kept playing, but Peter couldn't see straight.  He sat up on the ground and touched his head.  He could feel a large bump forming on his head and he frowned.  The coach blew his whistle and made his way over to Peter.

"Aw, come on coach,"  Joseph said.  "Peter's fine."  Coach Redding squatted down in front of Peter and asked if he could see straight.

"Kind of,"  Peter said.  His head hurt and he was pretty sure Coach Redding's face shouldn't be as blurry as it was.  "You're a little blurry."

"Alright, go find the nurse,"  Coach Redding said.  He pointed out another student and told her to go with Peter to the nurse.  The girl looked upset but did as was told.  Peter followed her back into the building and down the halls to the nurses station.  As soon as the girl pointed to the door, she turned and ran back inside.  By now, Peter could see straight.  He knocked on the door then walked in.  An older looking woman came out of an office and smiled.

"What's wrong?"  she asked.  Peter told her how he had been hit by a ball and that he'd had a hard time seeing correctly for a while.  She checked his pupils and ran a few more basic tests, but she didn't think he had a concussion.  She found an ice pack and told Peter to lay down with it to his head until school got out.  He did as was told and waited for the bell to ring.  As soon as it did, he thanked the nurse and went to get his stuff from the gym.  He changed out of his gym clothes then walked out to the parking lot and looked around for the suburban.  He didn't see it and frowned.

"Peter!"  a voice called.  He looked around and saw Bruce waving from a small Honda Accord.  Peter grinned and ran over to him.

"Uncle Bruce!"  he exclaimed.  He hurriedly climbed in the passenger seat and buckled in.

"Whoa, what happened to your head?"  Bruce asked, looking at the large goose egg on his forehead.  Peter gingerly touched his head and smiled shyly.

"Soccer,"  he said.  "Apparently when you hit the ball with your head on accident, it hurts."  Bruce laughed and pulled out of the parking lot.

"How are you liking school so far?"  Bruce asked.  Peter shrugged.

"Ned was gone for part of the day so it wasn't great the last two periods,"  Peter said.  He told Bruce all about Biology, knowing how much his uncle loved science.  He never actually answered Bruce's question, but Bruce didn't seem to notice.  "Are you staying for dinner?"  Peter asked as they pulled up to the Tower.

"Yeah,"  Bruce answered.  They climbed out and walked into the Tower.  Peter scanned his key card and they got on the Stark's residence private elevator.  "Apparently I'm also coming back next week with the rest of the team."

"Yeah!"  Peter said.  They got out at the penthouse and Peter set down his backpack before they hurried downstairs to the lab.  Tony was busy welding when they entered and Bruce pulled Peter over to his desk to show him what he had been working on. 

"It's a power source that pulls energy from algae*,"  Bruce said.  He briefly explained how it was supposed to work and how far he had gotten.  "I'm trying to figure out a few things before it will actually work, but once I get that figured out, this should be a strong energy producer."

"That's so cool!"  Peter said, staring at the computer model with wide eyes.  Bruce grinned and walked over to a small replica of the generator he had built.  Peter listened closely as Bruce showed him all the different parts then showed him his small algae farm that he was using to study.  "Have you published anything yet?"  Peter asked.  Bruce shook his head.

"Not in any official report,"  he said.  "I will once I get further, but I want to make a bit more progress."

"Is Bruce showing you his special slime?"  Tony asked, leaving his welding to join Peter and Bruce.  Bruce rolled his eyes but smiled.

"It's so cool, Dad!"  Peter exclaimed.  Bruce grinned as he put his model back.

"Well, while you two were looking at fancy slime, I added wings to my Iron Man suit,"  Tony said.  Peter scrunched up his face in confusion.

"But you can already fly,"  he reminded him.  Tony rolled his eyes.

"It's more for looks than practicality,"  Tony replied.  He turned to go back to his suit and Bruce leaned over towards Peter.

"Isn't everything with him?"  he asked.  Tony didn't even glance back as he flipped Bruce off, causing both Peter and Bruce to burst into laughter.

* So the algae into energy idea is an actually thing Exxon Mobil is looking into.  Here's the link if you're interested:
http://corporate.exxonmobil.com/en/research-and-technology/advanced-biofuels/advanced-biofuels-and-algae-research?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_campaign=XOM+%7C+Corp+%7C+ELH+%7C+Traffic+%7C+Brand+%7C+Innovation+%7C+Algae+%7C+Phrase&utm_content=Brand+%7C+Algae+%7C+Core+%7C+Exxon+Mobil&utm_term=exxon+mobil+algae&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI0vq82e_02wIVTL7ACh1NJgGdEAAYASAAEgIsQ_D_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

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