chapter forty-nine
punch him, he will bleed

    HE HAD messed up. He had messed up bad. Peter didn't think he knew how to describe how bad he had messed up. He clenched his hand, his anger growing at each jab Happy made trying to stitch up the gash on his back. Peter took a deep breath, closing his eyes and pressing his knuckles against his lips. He wanted to cry, and he tried very hard not to. But he couldn't help the lump that was starting to become unbearable in his throat as he thought about everything. He was in terrible pain, his knuckles were bloody and he was sure one of his ribs were broken. He was lost and he was beaten━he had been toyed and played with; lied to and betrayed. Used and thrown out like trash━not cared enough about to even be placed inside a New York dumpster. Peter didn't know who to trust, who and what was real ... he didn't know what to do and he was scared━he was terrified, and he wanted to cry. 

     He hadn't been this terrified since he had been trapped underneath that collapsing building what felt like just two years ago to him, but now had nearly been six. He had been fifteen and he had been desperate━screaming and crying out for help. The person to help him had been Tony; his voice reminding him who he truly was. Now, Tony was gone. He wasn't there to give Peter his determination━to tell him that if he was nothing without his suit, then he should not have it. 

    Tony Stark trusted Peter Parker━so much that he had given him the responsibility of those glasses ... and Peter had thrown all of that away. And now, the world━his friends━were going to suffer because of it. 

    He wondered whether if Mr. Stark was alive right now, he would be disappointed. He would look at Peter and wonder why he had ever believed in him in the first place. And that made Peter want to cry the most. 

    "Okay," Happy was murmuring, looking through the glasses perched at the bottom of his nose. "Okay, hold still ... There we go..."

     Peter winced, his other hand gripping the table tight. They were sitting in one of the booths of the private plane Happy still authorised under Stark Industries. It was small, but it was fancy. The seats were velvet and the tables were a clean polished wood. Down the back led to a on-flight kitchen and restroom. 

     At the next jab of the needle, Peter gritted his teeth, "Ouch━" he let out, doing his best to distract himself. 

     "I thought you had super strength," muttered Happy.

    Peter rolled his eyes, not in the mood. "It still hurts," he grumbled. 

     He was already tense and he knew that made the next stitch hurt like hell━but Peter still snapped, "Happy, come on━"

    "All right," he argued lightly, "relax━Just a few more. There we go━"

    "Oh, my God, Happy━!" Peter slammed his fist down on the table.

    "━Relax━!"

    Peter stormed to his feet at that, livid. "Don't tell me to relax, Happy!" he shouted, not sure whether it was anger that made his voice rise, or desperation. "How can I relax when I messed up so bad?!" He flung out a hand towards the jet window, hiccuping back a sob as he felt his eyes begin to sting with tears. "I trusted Beck. Right? I thought he was my friend so I gave him the only thing that Mr. Stark left behind for me, and now he's gonna kill my friends and half of Europe, so please, do not tell me to relax!"

    He fell into one of the other seats, gripping his hair tight as he refused to break down. Peter rubbed at his tears━even breathing sent spikes of pain up through his chest. He shook his head, sniffling. "I━I'm sorry," he muttered, backtracking in Happy's silence that followed. "I'm sorry, Happy. I'm sorry. I shouldn't━I shouldn't shout..."

     Peter sat back, miserable. He remembered days where everything was so simple, and then he had to get himself bitten by that radioactive spider. Since then, its venom had not made him strong, had not given him special powers━it had taken away his family, his friends, his life. It was slowly killing him, bit by bit.

      He remembered how excited he had been━how happy he was at the thought of being an Avenger. At the thought of being able to save people and do something good━help the little guy; be the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. Instead, these days he wondered: why couldn't he ever just get something for himself? He couldn't be Peter Parker and be Spider-Man. Peter Parker wanted a normal life, Spider-Man wanted to save everyone else's life. And even if Peter Parker wanted to throw his suit into the dumpster and cry out: no more ... at the same time, he did not. 

     He couldn't.

     Peter sighed and let a few tears fall. He hung his head and mumbled to Happy, "I just really miss him."

     Knowing exactly who he was talking about, Happy admitted in the same soft, and sombre tone: "Yeah, I miss him too."

     He grasped his hands tight together━taking a deep breath through the pain. Peter healed faster than the average person, but sometimes he felt like despite that; despite his super strength, he bled more━he felt pain more. "Everywhere I go ... I see his face. A━and the whole world is asking who's gonna be the next Iron Man and I━" Peter choked up. His hand rested over his eyes, forcing himself to swallow the ache in his throat that had risen so high it was almost unbearable. "I don't know if that's me, Happy. I'm not Iron Man."

     Happy sighed, too. He pursed his lips and shook his head. Peter glanced up when he told him: "You're not Iron Man. You're never going to be Iron Man." Spider-Man's brows furrowed, taken aback. "Nobody could live up to Tony. Not even Tony." 

     A sad smile suddenly grew onto Happy's face. "Tony was my best friend," he said. "And he was a mess. He second-guessed everything he did. He was all over the place. The one thing that he did that he didn't second-guess was picking you."

     Peter felt his heart sink━but it was a strange feeling. It was sad; it was so sad that he shed a few more tears and looked down to his hands. And yet, at the same time, he felt this swell━this comforting understanding that despite everything about him: all of his flaws, all of his horrible decisions ... Mr. Stark trusted Peter Parker more than he trusted himself. 

     "I don't think Tony would have done what he did if he didn't know that you were gonna be here after he was gone."

      Happy leaned forward to meet Peter's stare once again. "Not as Iron Man," he continued. "Not as the next leader of some new group of Avengers. As Spider-Man."

      Peter pursed his lips. In the back of his mind, he heard Nina and Tony: Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man. Right now, no matter what anyone said ... the world seemed to make being the Friendly Neighbourhood Spider-Man really hard.

     People like Fury━like the press and those looking out of their skyscraper windows wanted him to be more. People like Beck used that to hurt those who weren't. Right now, those who didn't expect Peter Parker to be anybody else other than himself were in danger. No matter how far from home he was, they didn't have an avenger to save them. They just had Spider-Man. 

     "Now, your friends are in trouble," said Happy, "you're all alone, your tech is missing." He sat back and arched a challenging brow. "What are you gonna do about it?"

     Spider-Man took a determined breath. He clenched his jaw. Realising what he had to do, he stood to his feet and stared down at Happy. Because no matter what━no matter how many times Spider-Man hit the ground, he always got back up. "I'm gonna kick his ass."

     It was a great moment, until Happy winced and muttered, "Well━yeah, but like I mean, right now. Like, specifically, what are we gonna do? Because we've been hovering over a tulip field for the last fifteen minutes..."

     Spider-Man rolled his eyes━he managed to breath a chuckle. "Right, um━" he paced in a circle as he tried to think. "I can't call my friends because he's tracking their phones, but ..." his eyes widened as an idea hit him. He chuckled again━his chuckle turned into an incredulous laugh. Happy stared at him as if he had gone mad. Peter couldn't help it. Out of all the things he has faced so far, he never expected that Flash would be the one to help him get where he needed to be━once again.

     Peter gestured out his palm, urgent. "Give me your phone."

    Happy blinked, "What?"

    "Give me your phone━" Happy fumbled for it and handed it over, startled but not objecting. Peter didn't give him another glance, turning around as he quickly opened it. 

    "What's your password?"

    "Password."

    "No, what is your password?"

    "Password, the━the word, spelled out: 'Password'."

    Peter stared at him. "You━" he had to think for a moment to make sure Happy wasn't joking, but he looked deadly serious. Forgetting the problem at the moment, Spider-Man pointed the phone at his friend and scolded, "You are the head of security and your password is 'Password?'"

     "Y━Yeah, I don't feel good about it either━"

    Spider-Man shook his head, momentarily disappointed before scrolling through Happy's phone. Even the Head of Security was not immune to TikTok. Peter quickly tapped on it and searched Flash's username, his breath hitched in anticipation. 

     His classmate was live, and Peter realised it was even more embarrassing watching it on the screen than seeing it in person. Flash Thompson waved at the camera, "'Ello, gov'nah!'" he was saying and Peter made a face. "'Cup of tea for you? I'm gonna be in London soon..."

    "Terrible accent," muttered Peter under his breath. He turned back to Happy, showing him the video. "They're in London."

     Happy jolted onto his feet, "London, okay━" he marched to the cockpit.

     "Yeah, I need a suit," Peter called after him.

    Happy Hogan glanced back, "Suit?" he said. Peter nodded. A smirk donned Happy's face. He just pointed to him and continued on his way. Spider-Man watched, confused, as the Head of Security reached up and pressed his thumb onto a scanner inside the door. 

    Behind Peter, what was what he thought was the restroom door shuddered and jolted. His eyes widened, amazed to see it turn and spin until it opened up. Plates of metal folded into each other and it revealed a secret workshop. Monitors and tables expanded out from the plane wall━crazy advanced holographic tech that made Peter start to grin, excited. 

    He glanced back at Happy, wanting to be sure. 

    And when he nodded, Peter grinned and ran inside━more than giddy to look at everything, to try out everything. He spun around, having never been surrounded by so much cool tech in his life━and to have the chance to use it. 

     He eyed the centre work table; a sleek cylinder that opened up. Inside, was a holographic map━a Holotable ready to use. Peter slowly reached a hand out and breathed, that bittersweet feeling returning when he watched the blue light wrap around his palm and accept him━recognise him. Peter had never once used this tech before, but Mr. Stark had prepared it for him anyway. 

    "Okay..." He began slowly, trying to force all of the excited thoughts out of his head. He didn't have much time to waste it. "Okay, bring up everything you have on Spider-Man."

     And just like that, many models showed themselves before him. He stared, intrigued by the deigns━there was a suit just like his Iron Spider and yet tweaked and more advanced. It was a nanotech creation of bright scarlet and gold━the lenses were larger, the spider symbol expanded all the way over the shoulders and around the back. There was a suit with a slender spider-design━a red and black with narrow, silver lens eyes. There was a white spider-suit━a classic red and blue design except for the pristine white spider across its chest. Peter noticed one that looked like a complete creation of scaled armour. And finally, his fingers hovered over one that was much like his Stealth Suit, and yet the small symbol glowed a mysterious blue. 

     He had so much to choose from, but instead, Peter Parker realised that he wanted to make his own. He had made his first Spider-Man suit, it felt right, from now on, to keep making his own. 

     Spider-Man slid his hand into one of the suit's web shooters━and it wrapped around him in a holographic print. He caught Happy's gaze and frowned at it, "What?" 

     Happy just smiled and shook his head, "Nothing. You take care of the suit. I'll take care of the music."

    He disappeared back inside the cockpit. Moments later, a loud, pounding beat blared from the plane speakers. Peter's eyes lit up, recognising the rock chords and cried out: "Oh, I love Led Zeppelin!"

    Peter didn't hear the sigh Happy made as his thumb hovered over the AC/DC 'Back in Black' album cover. 

*ೃ༄     

    DURING THE entire trip from Prague to London, Nina was stressed. She constantly kept checking her phone, not listening to anything anybody said to her. She barely took notice of Ned's frantic questions, asking whether she had heard from Peter. She did not hear Flash's loud complaints about the flight seats, or Zoha telling him to shut up. Despite knowing she would not receive any form of text or phone call, Nina still checked, sitting by herself on the flight with her knee bouncing up and down. She checked outside the window, heart racing and chewing at her nails━wishing that somehow, he could give her a sign that he was all right. 

     She checked her phone screen again, not only just hoping for the message from an unknown number from Peter, but also a sign that Felicia had taken her words to heart━that she had followed.

    Nina knew that was hoping for too much. 

     She pursed her lips and scrolled through her photos to try and distract herself from the oncoming doom she knew would happen. She just felt it━deep within her chest, and it made it tighten and she found it harder to breathe. 

     Nina tried to tell herself that he was going to be okay━that everything will be okay. But she was scared. Not for herself, but for him━wherever he was right now in Berlin. She just knew━she just knew━something in the world wasn't quite right; somewhere in this universe ... or in another ... something terrible was about to happen.

    When they dropped down in London, the excitement that they had held when they first stated this trip had completely disappeared. What was left was quiet mumblings and disgruntled tugs of their suitcases and carry-on bags. Mr. Harrington tried to gather up some thrill━holding out his arms and grinning towards the large arch of London Heathrow Airport. When none of them matched his grin, it fell and he sighed, if not a little sheepish with second hand embarrassment at others that sent them sideway glances. 

     From there they stepped into the subway and got a train ride straight into the centre of London. For once, Nina felt this strange breath of home, sitting on a train to travel within a large city. But instead of giving her comfort, all it did was make her miss her own warm bed; miss her parents, her little brother, and the window that Peter always knocked at, grinning at her from behind the glass. This trip had originally supposed to make her forgot about all that had changed when she got back from the Blip, instead, all it made her realise was how scared she was to lose it all over again. How much she loved the change as much as it scared her. 

     They emerged from the train out into a sleek metropolis built from the rigid, red brick of its older foundations. Nina rolled her eyes at Flash's wild spins and terrible attempts at a British accent on his live video. She hugged her Spider Plush to her chest, and strangely, it gave her some comfort. 

     "Okay," Mr. Harrington was saying, lugging a duffle bag at his side, "the company set up a city tour and then we'll grab a bite and head back to the airport."

     There was a collective tired groan as a reply from the students.

     The only one that didn't join them was Brad. He suddenly stopped in their sluggish shuffle towards the subway exit with a deep frown on his face. He watched them continue on without him, none of them caring at all that he was not following until he spoke up: "Is no one else going to acknowledge how crazy this is?"

    Only then, did they stop. MJ slowly turned, not at all impressed. She arched a brow, as if trying to see how hard she could smack her backpack across Brad's jaw. Nina rubbed her eyes. 

    "Oh, yeah, I get it," muttered Mr. Dell, still with his travel pillow around his neck. "There's been nothing scientific about this science tour at all."

     Brad shook his head, "No, no, no, no━" he waved his arm at them, looking a little frantic as he tried to get them to see the insane coincidences of this trip. "I'm not talking about that, I'm talking about Peter."

    Nina, Ned and MJ all shared a quick glance.

   Betty frowned, "What about Peter?"

    Brad flung his hands upwards, "Has like no one noticed how shady he is?!"

    Flash made a face, "Shady? Ha!" he acted as if this was the most hilarious thought he could think of.

    "I'm serious!" went on Brad. "Because I saw him in the back room of a rest stop with some woman in his underwear, and he's always sneaking away, like back at the opera, huh? And now━what?━Now he's suddenly off the trip with his family in Berlin? I━Is no one else interested in the truth?"

     Ned went to defend Peter━so annoyed that his chest inflated outwards like a furious balloon, but MJ merely just held her hand out to stop him with a look that said, I got this.

     She grasped the straps of her backpack and looked Brad down the bridge of her nose, "'The very concept of objective truth is fading out of the world'." She recited. 

    Brad let out a relieved sigh. He gestured to her, "George Orwell. Thank you, MJ."

    "Yeah," went on Michelle. "Well, since Peter's not really here to tell his truth, what about you, Brad? Why do you think it's cool to take pictures of people in the bathroom?"

     And just like that, Brad went pale and still. Nina pursed her lips and hid her want to suddenly laugh━not sure whether Brad was stupid or brave to bring up what had happened after she called him out for it. 

    "Yeah, dude," added Flash, holding up his phone that was filming the entire thing, "what's that about?"

    Brad grew red at the cheeks, "N━no, no, no. I━it wasn't━it wasn't like that. It was━"

    "Why are you so obsessed with Peter, anyway?" then asked Tyler, a little weirded out. 

    "I━I'm not━" he chuckled anxiously, "I am not obsessed━I━I was just trying to take a━"

     "Okay!" let out Mr. Harrington, pushing the conversation along and leaving it to be buried in a very deep and dark hole. "Let's just put all this craziness behind us. And have a nice, peaceful afternoon." He shrugged to himself at their lack of reply. "'Sounds great, Mr. Harrington',' said the class."

     As they slowly shuffled forward to continue on their way, MJ sent a very sarcastic smile over her shoulder to Brad who slumped, incredulous and very much embarrassed. As the moment passed━far too quickly for Ned to be satisfied that Nina was okay, he shuffled in closer to her and nudged her side gently. 

     "You know the drill," he whispered to her reassuringly. She met his gaze, quiet and worried. She hugged the plush very tight. Ned gave her a small smile. "He always comes back."

     Nina nodded. She knew he was right. He did always come back. Even if it took him five years, he came back━just like they did━and one of the first things he did after the fight at the Avengers compound was come to her apartment window. When he didn't find her there, he went to the front door and helped her parents calm down and find her with hem instead. Nina remembered how tight he had hugged her after she and her parents had been reunited. She remembered him crying. 

    By theory, if she waited, somehow, Peter Parker always figured out a way to come back to her━whether he walked, ran or crawled up the side of a brick wall. So by that theory, this time shouldn't be any different. 

    "Yeah," she murmured to Ned. She still held on her miniature Spider-Man tight. "Yeah, I know. It's just ... I guess it's just different, now."

     Ned nodded, understanding. "Yeah," he reached out and placed a hand of wisdom on her shoulder. She frowned at it, confused. "I remember the first time Betty didn't text me goodnight, I got so worried. But I knew she would, and so I waited because I trust her and love her, and she got back to me in the end━turns out," he chuckled as if remembering a wonderful memory from years ago when instead, it had only just been last night, "she got so invested in Heartstopper on Netflix and didn't look at her phone!"

     Betty butted in away from her conversation with Zach to add━thankfully only hearing the end of the conversation: "I love the little doodles! Nick and Charlie are like my main OTP━one true pairing━at the moment."

     "Okay," muttered Nina and while she would love to express how cute Nick and Charlie were, she was glad that they had stepped outside of the station. While her classmates behind her got into a collective conversation about Heartstopper that then moved onto Heartbreak High and Mr. Harrington had to interrupt their loud chorus of 'Naur, Cleoh!'━a reference from a completely different Australian television show━, Nina glanced around the street. 

     They followed the loop road within the bustling centre of London. They passed a little flower shop and cafe's━until they made it to the bus stop where a bright red double decker bus was waiting for them. Tyler pumped his fists, excited and already claiming a seat verbally up at the top. The bus driver was waiting out the front for them with a sign that said: Midtown High. Nina pursed her lips, watching him carefully. She eyed the London Sightsees cursive sign on the bus's side. It seemed like a perfectly normal tourist sight-seeing bus trip, and yet she couldn't shake the cold feeling she had no matter how hard she tried. 

    It was cool despite being summer here in London. The skies were a dull grey colour as if about to rain, and yet while Nina had the distant taste, not one drop fell down from the sky. They hogged up the side the street, and just like New York, there were disgruntled mutters from other tourists and locals that did their best to try and manoeuvre around them. 

     "Wow!" grinned Mr. Harrington. "Look at this, guys."

     "Mr. Harrington," said the bus driver, shaking his hand in greeting. Tyler was already racing forward to secure his seat, "this is your bus."

     Harrington shook his hand vigorously, still grinning at his students. "Hear that? We got a buss all to ourselves!"

     They all slowly made their way to the top of the double decker. Nina surged onwards to the very back edge, grasping the handles and frowning out towards the brick buildings and modern architecture━like every other place she has been, both history and the present mingled together; in the streets, in the buildings, the roads ... She could see the London Eye if she squinted. The Thames was not too far to their right and over the tops of the brick and contemporary facades, the point of the towering Shard came together━its many windows glinted and glared in the sun; the only building that seemed to reach past the dreary day to see what was beyond it. 

    The bus started them down the road━taking them to the main street and turning them down closer to the Thames away from the London Bridge and onwards to the Tower Bridge further down. 

     She held her breath, not able to take a moment to marvel the sights around her. While her friends pointed up and took pictures and muttered words of awe at Big Ben, the long stretch of the Thames and the many famous buildings that they didn't even know the names of (or even the fact that they were historically famous). Flash called out, "Wow! Guys! It's the London Bridge━!" as they turned onto the road that would take them across the Thames and Zoha face-palmed, disappointed as she told him: "Flash! This is the Tower Bridge, you idiot!"

     The Tower Bridge may as well be called the London Bridge━instead of a stretch of concrete across the river, they drove underneath shadows of two large, gothic brick facades. Nina craned her neck to the see the top of the second tower in front of them; eyeing the pointed windows and rounded turrets. MJ mentioned to her the date this was built, but her words disappeared in the back of her head. But even she didn't seem too eager to tell them all everything she knew about the London streets or any landmarks they came across. She, too, stood at the edge of the second floor of the bus, very tense. 

    Nina checked her phone again. 

    Beside her, MJ continued to scowl at the scenery, "I don't like this," she muttered. "Something's definitely up."

     Ned shrugged it off with a relaxed smile. He fixed his sunglasses, "You're an F.O.S. now," he told her. At her confusion, he quickly added in a whisper, "'Friend of Spider-Man'. And you have to remember, just stay calm."

     "Nina isn't calm," she grumbled. "Look at her. She's stressed."

     Nina glanced up, startled from staring at her blank phone screen. "What?"

     Ned waved her off, too, "Nina's always stressed."

     "No, I am not━"

     The loud crash of thunder made them all jump. The three F.O.S's spun around and their eyes grew wide at the swirling storm that had suddenly twisted into the sky above. Nina frowned, that horrible feeling in her stomach knowing exactly what the low, billowing grey storm clouds were. More lighting bettered within the fast growing storm as it stretched further and further; crawling towards them like the large fingers of a monstrous giant. 

     "That doesn't look good," murmured MJ. 

     "I'm starting to think it wasn't a coincidence our flight stopped in London..." added Nina, her heart beginning to race. A horrible thought hit her━if Mysterio was attacking London, and he had lured them right into his trap ... where was Peter? Was he still in Berlin, expecting a battle there? Nina chewed on her bottom lip, growing more and more worried with the grumbling dread of the brewing storm. 

     "But ..." Ned's calm stance started to break, "... but it's fake, right? There's nothing to worry about."

     They hoped he was right, but they knew that was far from the case. Nina shuffled closer to her friends, watching with a helpless hitch of her breath as the storm clouds travelled closer and closer; they spread out low across the river and around the Tower Bridge━soon, they were locked inside; they were trapped in the eye of Mysterio's newest performance, and the lightning strike that sparked off the side of the tower was a magic trick that was very━very much real.      

*ೃ༄ 

     MANHATTAN WAS like a scene from the Purge. Street lights were exploding in showers of sparks, people were screaming and running from the ongoing crash of cars that lost control. Others were pushing and shoving, trying to find their way to the front of the traffic jam where police were desperately trying to call over the chaos. But no matter how much they asked for everyone to stay calm, the darkness crawling around the entire city of New York sent the streets into a frantic terror. 

    Peter swooped he and Nina right into the centre of it. They hit the tarmac at a run, landing in front of the main crowd and rushing forwards to the police barrier that had managed to come together.

     Nina scrambled to keep up with Spider-Man, clutching onto his arm in an attempt to hope that he would drag her legs along faster. Break lights and emergency flares blared in her face; turning her cheeks into the same scarlet red of Peter's suit. 

     "Do not panic!" echoed the voice of a nearby officer; he spoke through a megaphone down towards the growing civilian traffic. "Everyone return to your vehicles! Go to your homes!"

     They were stopped in their run to the centre of the police effort by the flash of blonde hair and a neat blue coat. The pounding of heels rushed towards them and matched their urgent pace. "What the hell?!" cried out Gwen Stacy.

     Peter jumped, "Oh, my God!" he exclaimed. He turned to the freshly new Oxford student and flung around his arms, "What the hell are you doing here?!"

      "How the hell did I scare you?" argued back Gwen Stacy. "You have a spider-sense!"

     "You're supposed to be on a plane to Oxford!"

     She gestured to the chaos around them, "Surprisingly, my flight got cancelled!" said Gwen sarcastically. 

      "It doesn't matter," Nina pulled her along. "We need you to talk to the police."

      She frowned but followed anyway, "Why?"

     "We need jumper cables."

     "Jumper cables?"

     "Just━" Nina ushered her along as they reached the centre, and she relented with a breathless, all right, fine! 

     "Officer!" called out Spider-Man to the nearby policeman with the megaphone. He turned around and held an incredulous frown to see the three of them━perhaps they were the slight estranged trio. 

     "Spider-Man━!" said the officer through the speaker.

    "Whoa━!", "━Hey━!", "━Ouch━!" the three of them all cupped their hands over their ears as the officer's voice blasted close at them. 

     Gwen quickly shook it out of her head and rushed forward, "My father was Captain George Stacy of the Nineteenth Precinct," she blurted out as Peter spun away, smacking his hands against his ears.

     The officer lowered his megaphone, "Yeah. I knew who he was. What can we do for you?"

     Gwen glanced at Nina. She nodded and she winced before asking, "Jumper cables."

     His brows shot up, "Jumper cables?"

     "Yes," added Nina. "And copper wire."

    "AM I TALKING LOUDER THAN I USUALLY TALK RIGHT NOW?" suddenly said Spider-Man into her ear.

     She stared at him, dubious. "Yes," Nina told him. 

     Despite their absurd request, the officer did what they asked. Nina worked on Peter's web shooters as Gwen helped the police officer open up the front of his car and attach the jumper cables. Biting her bottom lip in concentration, she twisted and hooked the copper wire into his inner mechanisms━she needed to be careful, hoping that the jump start would not fry his webbing instead; or worse, himself through the suit. 

     But soon enough, she was done. She sent a thumbs up behind at Gwen who nodded to the officer. He turned the ignition on from inside the police car and Nina carefully hovered the other end of the jumper cables over her copper wire. "Okay," she muttered to Peter as she did. "This should be all right. You shouldn't get hurt━at all. Your suit should ground you ... well, I mean ... when I say should━"

     "All right," Spider-Man cut her off, nodding to her urgently. "It's okay━just do it."

     Nina made a hesitant squeak as she clamped the jumper cable onto the wire. She made another squeak when it sparked. But after the initial shock, the web shooter did not break━and neither did Peter. There was a low hum and he shook out his wrists, but then nodded, "Okay. Okay! Try━try, try, try, try━"

    "Hang on!" she chided him as she rushed into her pocket to grab the magnets.

     "Hurry, hurry, hurry━"

    "━I'm getting there!" she dropped them down onto his wrists and nodded to herself, proud to see them stay on, wrapping around and following the copper attached to his web shooters perfectly. They locked in and she smirked, smug up at him. 

    "Okay," Peter nodded. "Works good."

    "Yep," she nodded, stepping closer to him. "And that is why you were number two at Midtown."

    He scoffed behind his mask. "Okay, okay. Rub it in, okay."

    She chuckled. 

    Above, the hanging sign of MANTAS BUILDERS sparked; it showed down onto the streets and the sign crashed down onto the sidewalk. Gwen decided to shove Peter along, "You need to go," she told him. 

    "Yeah," he decided, "I gotta go━"

    "Wait, wait, wait," Nina started to follow him before he'd swing off. "I'm coming with you."

    He turned to her. She knew he was frowning behind the mask. "What? Nina, no, you're not coming with me."

    She stood her ground, "Yes, I am."

    Peter stared at her, if not a little shocked. "N━Nina, it's too dangerous."

    She shook her head. "No," argued Nina. "I am coming with you. I've seen the grid specs. I know how to reset the entire system."

    "Nina━" 

    As he tried to object, she merely raised her voice. She knew she was right, and she knew Peter needed her. As he tried to persuade her to say, Nina Hart only stated it all again, leaving no room for anybody to stop her. "I'm coming with you━" she began loudly.

    At her loud tone, Peter quickly relented, "━Okay, okay━fine━okay━"

    "━You know that you need me━!"

    "━Okay! Okay━!" Peter clamped a hand over her mouth. She continued to speak through it. Though her next words were very muffled. He copied her and she glared into his suit lenses. "Fine! Fine! You're coming with me!"

    She huffed, satisfied. Nina nodded and crossed her arms as he let her go, stubborn. Peter flicked her nose lightly before pointing to the car bonnet, "Shut the thing."

    Nina did as he said, happy that she was going with him. But as soon as her hand hovered over the edge of it, a web latched around her knuckles to keep it in place. She gaped.

    "Sorry!" cried out Peter, rushing backwards away from her. "Sorry! I love you!" She clenched her other hand, glowering at him. Nina was more angry at herself━she should have seen that coming. "I love you━Don't hate me!" He extended two webs and swung off into the night. 

    Nina tried to pull her hand away. When it would budge, she stamped her foot and snapped, "Peter━!" She smacked her hand to her mouth, horrified at herself.  

    Gwen crossed her arms, arching a disapproving brow. 

    "Shut up," Nina told her and tugged more. "Come on, get a key or a credit card or something so I can get out."

    Gwen hesitated. She hovered on her heels, "Nina, he's right. This is really dangerous."

    "I know," Nina didn't deny it. And deep down, she was scared. She really was━but she also knew that she had to go. If there was one thing that Peter Parker has taught Nina Hart, was that if she knew she had the ability to do something to help, she had a moral responsibility to do it. With great power, came great responsibility. "I know, Gwen, I know." She sighed and met her best friend's gaze. "But he needs my help. I know how to help. I have to get there." When the blonde pursed her lips, Nina whispered, "Please, Gwen..."

     Her friend didn't want to, but she also knew that Nina was right━or maybe she knew that she would end up finding a way out of here herself. And so, with a sigh herself, she snuck into the drivers seat of the police car and snatched the keys right out of the ignition. 

    Coming to Nina's side, she slipped them underneath Peter's webbing and started to saw through. When she cut through, it broke apart with a snap. 

    Nina shook it off and immediately took the keys from her friend, "Thank you."

    "Stay safe," Gwen told her as Nina ducked into the drivers seat of the car. "Please." 

    Nina nodded, "I will," she promised her before closing the police car door. 

   She turned the car on and Gwen rushed backwards. Spinning the wheel, Nina swerved around and before the officer could catch her, she started off at a high speed down the road, heading straight for the power grid. 

*ೃ༄

    a/n: yeah I'm gonna break down probably.

    anyway, suits mentioned in this chapter in order:

    1. the original iron spider suit from the civil war comics.
    2. the superior spider-man suit (which actually influences the far from home suit in its colour).

    3. the white spider suit from the ps4/ps5 game.
    4. spider-armour mk I suit
    5. spider-man secret war suit.

    mainly because I was referencing and I knew the suits they were referencing in the movie but I'm shit at describing stuff sometimes so I might as well just tell you so you can actually look them up. 

     aight, now I gotta listen to a lecture about writing argumentative essays, baiiiiiiiiii. 

     I'm too sad to make any memes I'm sorry. I'm in tasm2 feels.