chapter twenty-five
the guy in the chair

    MEDICS HAD arrived in ambulances. Luckily, there weren't too many people who needed to go to the hospital. Some were taken for a check on concussions, someone had a broken arm. But no one was hurt badly. No, Peter had taken the blows for them all. Parents were arriving, running out of their cars to envelop their kids in hugs and sobbing kisses. Nina glanced around, watching them all with her phone lit up from her texts from her mother saying: We'll be there in a few minutes! Honey, are you okay?! Promise me you're telling the truth! She had already rung two times, and Nina did her best not to sob when she did, overwhelmed and scared━not for herself, but for Peter who wasn't returning her calls, either. 

     Her eyes wandered. There were kids in shock blankets, medics checking their eyes with small lights. Nina's gaze settled on Flash. His parents hadn't arrived either ... she had a feeling he hadn't once picked up his phone with a call from them. 

     Nina checked her phone again, hoping Peter had replied to her texts. He hadn't yet. He's okay, she promised herself. He's okay━she glanced back at the school, feeling her throat and her stomach tighten with worry. 

     She was staring at her phone, pacing in circles when Gwen returned. Her best friend carefully rested a hand on her shoulder and expected Nina to immediately turn towards her, letting herself be pulled into a tight hug. Gwen was still shaking under her blanket, but when Nina wrapped her arms around her, she felt her friend relax. 

     "He'll be okay," said Gwen, chin resting on Nina's shoulder. "I━I mean, he's Spider-Man, of course, he'll be okay?"

     Nina remembered the night just passed where he showed up by her window, bloody and bruised. She held onto her friend a little tighter, "He's not invincible."

     Gwen pulled away. She pursed her lips, her blonde fringe a little astray. "I won't tell anyone," she then promised. Nina let out a breath. "Not my dad, not anyone, I━" she shook her head. "I don't care what he says, Spider-Man's a hero. Peter saved my life."

     They watched a group of heavily armed SWAT team rush past them, armed and muttering━trying very hard not to be terrified of what they might encounter━into the school. Nina had a feeling they won't find the Lizard inside.

      She pursed her lips, and tried Peter again. Gwen hovered by her shoulder, watching the phone ring with bated breath.

     Finally, this time, he answered.

     Nina gasped and brought her phone to her ear, hugging her stomach. But she did her best not to slump with relief at the sound of his quiet, "Hey," like he hadn't just fought a bloodthirsty Lizard that was once her's and Gwen's mentor.

     "Where are you?" she asked. "Are you okay━?"

     "I'm fine," he answered quickly, "I'm okay. I'm down the sewers. I'm tracking him. I gotta stop him before anyone gets hurt." Nina nodded. She glanced at Gwen and mouthed, he's okay. She let out a breath, hands on her hips as she registered her words. "But, Nina, we need an antidote. You know how to run a serum?"

     Nina made a face at the question. "Yeah, of course," she said. "I know how to run one, easy━"

     "Yeah, yeah, yeah," Peter cut her off. He sounded calm, but she could tell he was in a rush. "Great, great, great, okay, l━listen. I━I need you to go to OSCORP. I need you to access the cross-species file, it's a blue serum, file 12389."

     She felt her stomach jolt with nerves, realising what Peter was asking her to do. Nina took a sharp breath through her nose, admittedly excited. But at the same time, she felt weighted━she knew what was riding on this. She knew she had to succeed, and there was a pressure in her heart, thinking of all that could go wrong if she didn't. "Okay," she said, nodding to herself, I can do this, easy. "I can do that. I'm on my way now. Just ... be safe, okay? Promise me you won't give up. Always get back up."

     Nina heard Peter smile through his words. It made her nerves settle, just for a moment. "I promise," he said. "I'll be at your window in now time."

     She eyed the many police cars and ambulences, students, teachers and parents. She won't be getting out of here easy, she knew that. But she will. "Okay," she said. Then, before she hung up the phone, Nina added a quick, "Go get 'em, Tiger."

     Peter chuckled over the other end. "You go get 'em," he replied and Nina managed a small grin. "See you soon, good luck."

    "You too," said Nina and the call ended. 

    Pocketing her phone, she turned to Gwen and said, "I have to get to OSCORP. I need you to distract everyone so I can sneak off. When my parents get here, tell them I'm okay. I just had to do something."

     Gwen made a face. Immediately, she disagreed, shaking her head. "No, I'm coming with you."

    "Gwen━"

     "We're in this together," said her best friend, swiping off the blanket and letting it fall onto the bench beside them. Then, she tightened her ponytail, determined. "And to hell do you think I'm going to let you face this alone, Nina. You're my best friend."

      Nina bit back a sudden need to cry and hug Gwen all over again. She nodded, deep down, desperately relieved. "Okay," she whispered. "Okay, let's do this. But we still need a distraction." She searched the body of students, wondering who might be ready to help Spider-Man. "Someone who ..." her gaze settled on Flash, away from paramedics and sitting alone on the bench, away from the swarm of students and parents. Nina's eyes glinted, "I think I know just the person."

     Gwen realised what she meant, and she let out a chuckle in disbelief. "Oh, no way."

    Nina shrugged, "What, have you not seen Flash's Spider-Man fan page?"

    Gwen shook her head, still unable to believe it, but despite her incredulous chuckles, she surged forward and called out, "Hey, Flash!"

*ೃ༄

     NINA AND NED raced past the gym, taking the hallways behind to keep away from all the chaperones. Ned was still on a high from their take out of the Vulture, arms flying everywhere as he praised Nina on her: "Awesome Spider-Man skills! Oh, wait, sorry, Spider-Woman? Sp━Spider-Nina?" and his: "━Perfect distraction! I was like, Dude! Look at this and you were like Take that, Shocker! and we were like, Oh, my God!"

      She didn't say much to his exuberant recount, instead searching for the computer lab. They needed to be far enough away from the gym that no one would notice, and no one would come searching for them. Teachers only want to chaperone a certain distance━they can't be bothered to cover the entire school. There was the computer lab that students liked to sneak off to make out, so Nina avoided that place━that was prime teacher stake out. No, they would have to go the one on the East Wing. Only problem is, it was super close to the Principal's office. But who student would be so stupid to sneak off to that computer lab? None, which meant no teacher would go looking for them.

     "Unless," Ned had said in response to her plan, "they're thinking two steps ahead and do go looking because they know we know, and it would be the obvious place to look. But then again, perhaps they know we know they know, so it would be the perfect place. But then━"

      "Just come on," Nina had dragged him right past Spanish class and they ducked under the Principal's window. He wasn't in there, of course━he wasn't even at the dance, but they could never be too careful. When they reached the computer lab door, she checked whether it was locked, and blessed the Janitors for forgetting this room and they slipped inside. 

     As Nina checked in case anyone had followed, Ned raced to the computers and set two of them up. Seeing no one, Nina closed the door and followed, landing in a wheeling-chair and took a spin before grabbing one of the headsets. They had headsets for AP Computer Technology, since they often took online classes with an M.I.T lecturer who used to go to this school, and had a soft spot for them. 

     She put it on as Ned quickly signed them both in so he could connect the headsets to Nina's phone to which Peter was going to call. He moved swiftly, knowing these computers back to front━Nina was impressed by how quickly he got set up, ready for when Nina's phone lit up with a contact she was not expecting.

     FLASH!!!!!!! was calling. The only reason why Nina had him on her phone was because of Decathlon, and he was determined to add a photo, contact name and everything. 

     Nina shared an incredulous look with Ned before answering. "Peter?" she asked hesitantly into the microphone part of the headset. 

     "Nina?" Peter answered. "Nina is that you?"

     "Peter?" she replied again. "Yeah, it's me━"

     "Nina, I can't hear you━Ned, are you there?"

     "Nina, you're on mute," Ned quickly said, gesturing to Nina's headset.

     She frowned, confused. "What? No I'm not."

     Peter was rushed. He sounded like he was━was he driving? (He doesn't have a license! How did he even get a car?). "Nina? Take yourself off mute━" she went to say, how, but as if knowing exactly what she'd say, he went on, "━press the microphone button on the headset. It's right by the headphones, it looks like a━"

     Nina realised and quickly pressed it, letting out a loud, "Oh! I got it! Can you hear me now?"

     Ned winced while Peter replied a, "Yep! Yep, you're really loud, just━you don't need to speak so loud!"

     Oh," she flushed, embarassed, lowering her voice. "Sorry. I don't━I don't use headsets."

     "Okay, all right, are we all good?!"

     "We're good," said Ned, pulling his chair closer to his computer opposite Nina. "Were a-go."

      "Are you driving?" Nina decided to ask, incredulous. She heard Peter let out a yell. There was a screech and a car blowing its horn in the distance. "Why are you on Flash's phone━?" she gasped, "━Did you steal Flash's car and phone?"

     "Uh━not the point!" said Peter quickly. "Ned, I need you to track my phone for me, okay?!"

     Ned nodded, and started typing away. Nina glanced back, eyes wide to see a bunch of apps already on his screen. "Yeah, okay, but where is it?" He pressed enter, and on the screen, Nina could see a little icon pop up on the map of New York surroundings; Peter's Phone was heading down Jackson and 48th Avenue.

     "I left it in Liz's Dad's car!" said Peter. He sounded like he barely avoided a fire hydrant. 

     Ned chuckled, impressed. "Genius move! Okay, he just passed the games shop on Jackson Avenue."

     Peter swerved a sharp left over the phone. He realised something, "Wait! Wait! Where are the headlights on this thing?! I'm in Flash's car!"

     Nina gaped, "So you did steal Flash's car?"

     She was impressed, if she was to be honest. She pulled up Google and typed into the search engine: how to turn headlights on in a car. As she did, she said, "I'm searching now."

     "Okay, you're on speaker phone!"

     Ned chuckled again, finding the thought of Flash having his car stolen by Spider-Man in a sweat-suit and camera-lense goggles hilarious. "Dude, you stole Flash's car. Awesome!"

     "Yeah, it's awesome, it's awesome, it's aweso━whoaaaa!" Peter cursed. The engine revved. People swore in the distance, cars and buses blared their horns in objection. "Get out of the way! Get out of the way! Move! Move!"

     "Oh, my god, don't get arrested!" scolded Nina, eyes wide as she read the Wiki How. "Are you okay?!"

      "I've never really driven before!" said Peter, voice loud and distressed━he sounded like he was talking through clenched teeth. "Only with May in parking lots! This is a huge step up━AHHHHH!"

     The phone piked. Nina winced. More horns. She gaped. "Did you just drive through red lights?"

     "Nina, road rules aren't really top priority right now! Have you gotten through to Happy, yet?"

     "Uh ..." she swung her chair around. "Ned?"

     "Yep, yep━" he was typing away on another tab, fingers moving over the keyboard like he was a pianist, and the computer was his instrument, "━yep, I'm working on it, I just gotta backdoor the phone system!" There was a beep, and Nina knew Ned succeeded when he swung around, grinning, "Guy in the chair!"

     "WHOOA━!" tires skidded. "Nina, headlights? Headlights!"

     "Oh! Yes!" she scrolled back up. "Right. You know the blinkers? Yeah, just turn that. Don't push it up or down━turn it towards you twice ... maybe? Um, if you want high-beam, push it away from you. But don't drive on high-beam with other cars!"

     There was a moment. Then Peter said, "Thank you!"

     She grinned, a thought occuring to her, Nina and the Bug Boy. She glanced over to Ned to check whether Happy Hogan had picked up, and her breath hitched to see the screen load for a moment as a tab popped up, showing the face of a man who looked as though he seriously needed a break. "Take off in nine minutes!" He was saying, then turned to his phone. He frowned at the camera, as if he wasn't quite sure how to work his tablet. "Hello? Hello? Who is this?"

     "Oh!" Nina pushed her chair up beside Ned, grinning into the camera. She didn't know whether he could see her or not, but she believed it was important for first good impressions. "Hello, Mr. Happy! I'm Nina!"

     "Who?!" he demanded. For someone named Happy, he did not at all sound like it. 

     "I'm friends with Peter Parker," Nina quickly explained. "And he has something super important━like━life threatening━to tell you━"

     Happy Hogan let out a furious, "You gotta be shitting me!" Then, he hung up. Nina stared, a little dumbstruck as the tab closed, leaving them with silence. 

     "Excuse me?" she rebutted, taken aback. "He hung up! Peter, Happy hung up!"

     Peter didn't sound suprised, just frustrated. "Dammit, Happy!" He sighed, moving on━they'll have to do this without Happy's help. "So, where's my phone now?"

     "Uh ..." she switched the tabs, seraching for the icon of Peter's Phone. "Oh! The Vulture's stopped. He's stopped at an old industrial park in Brooklyn."

      "What?" said Peter. "That makes no sense! I thought he said he was going out of town?"

     "Weird," agreed Ned. "Oh━by the way, don't think Mr. Happy likes you that much. Or at all. It sounded like he was catching a flight. He said something about taking off in nine minutes."

     "What?!"

     "He was surrounded by a bunch of boxes."

     "Boxes?" Then, Peter gasped. "It's moving day," he realised. "Oh, my god━it's moving day! It's moving day! He's gonna rob that plane! I gotta stop him!"

    A few chimes erupted off Nina's phone. She pushed the chair back, eyes fixing on the multiple messages Felicia and MJ had sent. Where are you? They all seemed to say. You just left?! Nina didn't know what to reply with. How does she explain? A few missed calls from Felicia made her chest weigh with guilt━they couldn't know. She couldn't tell them the truth, and to see that cause for them to worry, it made her brows furrow and her lips purse, deep down feeling a sense of shame in her gut━especially when she swiped them up, discarding their messages without a single reply. 

     Slowly, but surely, Peter grew closer to the location. An uneasy air settled, all of them unsure as to why the Vulture would pick this spot over any others━he needed to steal from that plane, but sitting there, in Brooklyn, wasn't going to do it. It made Nina purse her lips, her stomach churning to tell her something her mind couldn't. 

     She watched Flash's phone━which they started to track, as well━turn into the same street, and Ned muttered, "Okay, slow down, you're getting close. It's on your right." Peter's icon wasn't turning. He made a few disgruntled noises over the phone. "Turn right!" Ned told him again. "Turn right!"

     Nina winched at the crash that followed. Tires screeched, Peter yelled, something shredded across the road━Nina had a feeling that was the side of Flash's car. She and Ned waited, startled and horrified, before there was a final thud.

     "Peter?" said Nina, concerned. "What━are you okay?"

    "Yeah," he said, breathless. "Just keep trying to get through the Happy." They heard him jump out of the car, and Nina pressed her fingers against her lips, heart starting to race all over again━and she was sure it won't stop until she knew Peter was back, and he was okay.

     Ned smiled, letting out a breath of his own, "It was a pleasure working with you, Spider-Man."

     He ended the call, and Nina slumped back in the chair.

    Just like that, the lights switched on.

    Both teens jumped, spinning around in their chairs to stare━wide-eyed and red-faced━at Mrs. Warren, who━to which Nina hadn't even considered━was by far the best and most thorough school chaperone at dances. Of course she would check this computer lab. 

    "What are you two doing here?" she demanded, hands on her hips. "There's a dance."

    For a second, both Nina and Ned were speechless.

    "Uh ..." tried Nina, stumbling over her words. "W━well, you see━I guess━I━I mean━"

    "We ... were looking at ..." Ned winced as the words came out, but he made no move to stop it, " ... porn ..."

     Nina spun to him, horrified. 

*ೃ༄

     SHE HEARD wind whisper to her in hear ear━brushing aside her hair like gentle fingers. It was cold, Nina felt herself shiver in her dressing gown. She was confused, wondering why she'd be cold, or why there was wind━did she leave the window open? Until she started to hear sounds like horns, and shouts━alarmed shouts, that made her frown as her eyes fluttered back open, supporting a pounding ache to her temple. 

     It was dark; she was lying against something harsh and cold. Nina's head ached, and swayed, but she pushed through it to press her hands against the surface beneath her. Getting back onto her feet with a wobbly stance, Nina took a shaky breath, seeing lights and hearing many different sounds that blurred all together. 

     She took a step back━

     Nina was more than lucky to not have fallen then and there. She felt the edge of the surface like a spike to her head, startling her awake with a short scream as she grabbed onto the nearest beam to pull herself back up. She glanced behind her and felt ready to throw up, seeing the more than a hundred feet drop below. Her heart rose up into her throat, watching the water of the East River lap at the base of Manhattan Bridge. 

     She stumbled backwards, her bare feet chilled at the touch of the grates. Nina glanced around, wanting to cry. It was night━dark night, and here she was, stranded on the very top of the Manhattan Bridge. She heard people cry and point up to her from the road, stopping in their concern and curiosity. Nina hugged her body, knees quivering. She glanced around for a way down━a maintenance ladder, anything. 

     Laughter pierced the cool night air. Nina gasped and ducked down just in time as a sharp, hovering board swiped past, sparking the tip of the bridge. The laughter followed━horrible, nightmarish laughter she had wished she'd never hear again. Laughter she head almost falling to her death.

     Her eyes searched for the green helmet of a monster, and she found it. Nina's breath hitched back a terrified scream, unable to find her voice. The Green Goblin glanced back at her, and a chill crept down her spine. 

     She didn't know why he had brought her out here, or what he planned on doing. But Nina had the terrifying feeling that no matter what, she'd end up dead. 

*ೃ༄

     a/n: lol the spider-man 2002 one was so short but like i imagined it as a quick shot for a cliffhanger so hehehehe. 

     that scene with ned >>>>>>>>>>>>>>

     all right, goodbye, i have to prepare for my phone call assessment. i have to take notes and plan a schedule for a team meeting, yay...

     i don't have time for memes today, but i think the scene with ned is a meme in itself so ...

     (limited editing)