15-16

Chapter 15

After so much anticipation, the Sports Festival had come to its end. Any and all students who needed it were treated by Recovery Girl before finally being allowed back to their classrooms. Even as Peter took his seat, many of his fellow clssmates were still congratulating him on his victory.

"Seriously out of everyone in the class I wouldn't expect you to be the one to win!" Toru's floating clothes jump into the air in exclamation.

Peter scratches his chin in slight confusion, "Is, is that supposed to be compliment cause you're like the third person to say that to me in some form or fashion."

Tokoyami bumps his shoulder to get his attention, "Take no offense to it. It's a sound statement given how powerful both todoroki and Bakugo's quirks are. Anyone would be hard pressed into thinking they'd be capable of defeating them in battle."

The queens native does have to agree with the point made, "Yea, I gotta count myself lucky that I wasn't cryogenically frozen by Shoto- I mean Todoroki." He shivers involuntarily while casting a glance to the recommended student.

Ever since he had awoken from the final battle, Todoroki had been quiet. Which isn't exactly something new. But growing up as the quiet social outcast, Peter knows very well that there's different levels to quietness. He turns his worried glance to his desk neighbor, Yaoyorozu. Peter noticed a change in her demeanor as well. After her loss she seemed to be alright, but once the festival was over. It seemed like she was slowly curling in on herself. Even as she sits, she seems defeated for lack of a better word. Her shoulders were slouched, a downcast expression in her eyes. And there was a crease in her eyebrows that ruins her otherwise perfect face.

Peter blushes and shakes his head. That's another issue that has come up as well. Ever since their… Almost kiss? Does it even count as an attempt? Did she want to? Oh my god was I forcing her too?! GAHH! Peter clutches his head and groans, alarming his classmates.

"Hey Parker, what's wrong?!" Kirishima asks.

Peter grins sheepishly, "N-Nothing's wrong! Just still got a headache! Yea that's a headache!"

Clearly Kirishima was skeptical and wanted to ask further questions but the sound of the door opening kills whatever attempt he was going to make as he sits with his hands folded, watching as Aizawa tiredly drags a still bound Bakugo and places him in his seat with his scarf.

The mummified teacher addresses the class, "Nice work. As always done, you'll have the next two days of school off to recuperate. I'm sure the pros who watched the festival will wanna recruit some of you. We'll look over the draft forms and update you when you return. Get some rest, you still have a lot of training."

"YES SIR!" The class reply as one.

And so the students begin to make their leave with Peter acting fast and catching Momo before she leaves, "Hey Momo, you doing alright?"

She seems to have snapped out of her trance and smiles tiredly at Peter, "Oh, yes. I'm fine. Just had a… brief conversation with my father."

"Oh yea? What'd he say, I'm sure he still appreciated your effort."

She let's out a small scoff and shake of her head. This gives Peter pause as he pays attention to the change in her body language. Her lips twitched downwards for a split second, her eyes welled up slightly and her shoulders had stiffened. Something tells me that conversation was not the sweet parental support she was hoping for.

"I should go home. Enjoy your time off Parker!" and she leaves as quick as she can, leaving the stammering foreigner with no chance to catch her.

He sighs, unsure of what to do. He feels a presence near him and sees Jiro with the same look of concern as him. "I'm worried too. I heard a little of what her dad said, not meaning to, but… it wasn't pretty."

"Was it abusive?"

"It was definitely towing the line."

"Damn. I wish there was something I-We could do."

She shrugs, "All we can do is what we're already doing, being her friends and being there for her."

"Yea you're right."

She begins to leave and says over her shoulder, "By the way, for what it's worth, you're a pretty good friend."

The Webhead grins as he shoulders his backpack straps, "Likewise Jiro. And don't forget to send me that playlist you were talking about!"

"Oh I definitely won't forget! Someone's gotta fix the tragedy called your music taste."

He scoffs affronted, "There is nothing wrong with my taste in music!"

She scoffs, "Anyone born in this century begs to differ."

He half-heartedly glares at her retreating form and rolls his eyes, "Yea yea whatever."

He will admit, though, Jiro's collection of playlists is most definitely god tier. He exits the classroom, seeing Izuku waiting for him who pats his back and walks with home with him.

"Broken bones aside, you did great Midoriya!"

The freckled teen bashfully rubs his neck with his uninjured hand, "Not-not as good as everyone else."

Peter groans, "Come on man you have to start learning how to take a compliment, I mean seriously you got first place in the obstacle race (ahem, with me of course) by using a strategy that didn't even use your quirk. Honestly I think you probably could of made your dream come true even if you were quirkless!"

Midoriya shushes Peter and frantically checks their surroundings. "You have to keep it down!"

"… You do realize I only found out about your secret because you talked about it with All Might at full volume and in public?"

"… Y-yea you do have a point."

"Besides, I already checked our surroundings, there's barely a soul around us."

"Yea I guess you're right." Then he remembers what Peter just said, "You really think so?"

"About making it as a hero regardless of quirks?"

"Uh huh."

"Yea! You even beat Bakugo without using your quirk until the last minute! You're a genius!"

"I-I wouldn't say genius." Izuku mumbles self consciously.

"Come on Midoriya, as a life long nerd, I know a genius nerd when I see one and that's definitely you!... That... That sounded a lot meaner once I said that out loud."

His freckled friend isn't offended and laughs at his fumble, "Thanks Peter I really mean it."

"Me too. Every word of it! Hey that reminds me, any updates on Iida?"

The mood changes drastically as Izuku pulls out his phone, seeing his plethora of messages sent still being unanswered. "No. I'm really worried. All we know is that his brother is in the hospital. He doesn't answer any calls or texts."

Peter's gut turns icy as he asks the question he's dreading to find the answer to. "Is he alive?"

"Yes."

Peter exhales in relief, "Thank god." He whispers, "That's the important thing. Let's just hope for speedy recovery."

"Yea, oh we're home already." Izuku gets to his door and before he opens it he asks, "We're still training tomorrow?"

Peter furrows his eyebrows in disbelief, "Midoriya, your arm is STILL broken. Let's just play some videogames or something."

As if he forgot, Izuku stares at his casted arm and flushes, "Oh yea, I forgot."

"Y-You forgot about your broken arm?"

"It slipped my mind!"

Peter opens his door as he shakes his head, "I don't even want to know what happened to you that caused your pain tolerance to be so great that you can forget about your arm being brok—ugh!"

He groans as catches himself before he falls as Aunt May tackles him in a tight embrace, "PETER! I'm so proud of you!"

The two share a laugh as he spins her and places her back on the ground, "And to celebrate my wonderful nephews first first place win!—"

"You really didn't need to add that last part there—"

"I ordered us your favorite sushi!"

She gestures to the dining table that's been decked out with all the mouth watering assortment of food. Peter's mouth waters and his stomach growls loudly, only now realizing just how famished he was. "You are the best person in the whole world!"

He leaps towards the table and starts scarfing down anything and everything in sight until a hand smacks him upside the head.

"Hey!"

"Don't hey me! You may have won the festival but that doesn't mean you can forget table manners!"

"Oh right sorry."

He sits on his seat and calmly continues to eat his food. May smiles warmly as she watches the teenager who she had raised as if he were her own. "I know I've said it before but I'll say it again. I'm so proud of you Peter!"

"Thanks Aunt May!"

She looks in disgust as she watches him smile with food still all over his teeth. "You know, I knew you'd excel in anything you put your mind to. But this hero thing, you've taken to it better than I expected. It's like you were born for this."

Peter stops chewing as he thinks on what his Aunt just said, "I'm not sure about that."

"What do you mean?"

He gulps down his food and pushes his plate a little to rest his hands on the table. "Don't get me wrong I've always wanted to help people and I've looked up to heroes. But, I never thought it'd be me."

"Oh Peter, is this about how you felt after the USJ incident?"

"Kinda yea."

"But Peter we talked about this—"

"I know we talked about it but it doesn't make those feelings go away. (sigh) Everyday I go to class with people who've dreamed about this and prepared for this their entire lives. And here I come, the science nerd who normally faceplants the ground whenever he tries to pick up the textbooks he dropped off the floor, getting a one in a billion bite that lands him the first place prize. It just feels like I don't really deserve this and even less because this isn't even something I wanted. Maybe I wasn't supposed to do this. Maybe I'm not supposed to be a hero."

May grasps his hand and squeezes comfortingly. "Peter, regardless of how this all came to be, it doesn't take away from the fact that you did this on your own. You won fair and square and this may not be how you wanted to do it, but I do believe that this is a way to do what you wanted. To help people. You've always had that desire and no bug bite will ever change that. Just adds a few new twists."

She gets up and takes his empty plate as well as her and places them in the sink. She turns and leans on the sink as she levels her gaze with Peter. "I do know one thing. You're wrong."

"Huh?"

"You are meant to be a hero. If you weren't you wouldn't have gone into vigilantism before coming to UA, you wouldn't have fought to save everyone in USJ. Recklessly might I add."

He cringes, "Sorry."

"It's fine. Peter, everyone has a hero inside them. That gives us strength, makes us noble. Your Uncle and I, we saw that in you, that's why we raised you with his motto. Because he knew that if there's anyone who could live by that principle, it'd be you."

Peter smiles warmly and rushes to give his Aunt a tight embrace. Well as tight as he can without hurting her. One she returns with the same fierceness. He sniffles and breaks out of the embrace. "Thanks Aunt May."

She ruffles his hair, "Of course Pete."

The sound of a phone vibrating breaks their moment and Peter fishes out his phone and his eyes widen when he sees the message. "What is it?"

"Mr Stark says he's on the roof to congratulate me in person!"

"He better not land on the roof, no telling how much that suit weighs and if it makes a crack on my ceiling and lets water in I'm gonna tear him a new one!" she grumbles.

Peter smirks, "I really don't doubt that."

She gives him a sideyed glare, "Get up there already."

He cackles and gets to the door but stops. "Hey Aunt May?"

"Yea Pete?"

"You're my hero. I hope you know that."

May can't stop the grin from forming on her face as she watches her nephew go through the door, heart full of motherly love.

Climbing onto the roof Peter looks around but sees nothing but empty space all around him. He checks his phone again to reread the message but it does clearly state that he had said he had already arrived.

"Maybe he came to the wrong house?"

"Nope I got the right address."

Peter yelps and turns around to still see nothing.

"Oh great, I guess Bakugo gave me a concussion or something cause I'm hearing things!"

Suddenly the Armored hero materializes in front of him, causing Peter to let out a less than masculine yell as he stumbles onto his butt. The Armored Avenger chuckles as his helmet retracts into the suit. Peter grumbles as he salvages what his dignity and dusts himself off after standing up and his eyes shine with awe as he sees the sleek jet black and grey armor with orange lights instead of the iconic blue. "Whoa is that a new suit?!"

"Not really I made this stealth suit about a year ago but decided to take it for a spin again so I can remind myself of what I wanted to improve on for the next mark."

"Huh 'stealth suit', never saw it before."

"Yea… it's stealthy."

"Touche."

"Anyway, just wanted to congratulate you again kid, you really shined out there and you're getting a handle on your powers quicker than I anticipated." He gives him an appreciative nod.

Peter internally freaks out at being complimented by his idol once again. "I just experiment and test things out a lot, fail a lot too." He mumbles as he rubs his arm.

Tony steps out of his armor, which remains suspended in the air. He brings Peter to the ledge and sits with their legs dangling on the edge. "That's the sign of a true scientist. You remind me of your father so much. Hell you look a lot like him. But you got your mothers laugh."

He almost touches his eyes, "I do?"

"Yea, you don't remember?"

Peter looks down glumly, "I've seen pictures of them of course, but I can barely remember them."

Tony's heartbreaks at the state of his ward as his eyes water and he turns to Tony, his eyes pleading. "If I can't remember them, does that mean I didn't love them enough?"

"Absolutely not kid. From a scientific standpoint it's natural. The mind and memory is finite so eventually some information does get a little foggy but the ones tied to emotion… those stay. I wondered the same thing after my folks died too. But I long accepted that no matter what happens or how muddy our memories get, they're still there," he points to Peter's head, "And always here." He points to his heart.

"I really hope so."

"Trust me kid, they are. Now." He smacks Peter's back, "Enough of the dreary atmosphere I came here to celebrate you and get you in a better mood of course by gracing you with my presence. How's class? Oh better yet, that girl you were gushing about, what was her name again Moomoo?"

"Momo and I was NOT gushing about her!"

"You definitely were gushing about her."

"Was not."

"Sure kid, well either way you definitely sound sweet on her."

"No I don't!"

"kid I had to schedule an appointment with my dentist cause I ended up with a cavity from how sweet you are on her."

Peter turns away to hide his red face and grumbles, "Who even uses the term 'sweet on her' anyway."

"Some of us older folks."

"How old?"

"Don't push it kid."

Tony sees that Peter is embarrassed and lets out an exasperated sigh, "Come on kid. There's no shame in admitting you got a soft spot for her."

Peter throws his hands up in the air in defeat, "Ok fine! Yes I do think she's pretty… awesome."

"Awesome huh? That's the best you got?"

"(sigh) she's really… cute. Beautiful actually and insanely smart! She's so mature and caring, and kind and so confident—"

He stops, startling Tony since he was about to tease Peter for once again gushing about the girl he clearly has feelings for. "What's wrong?"

"Nothing it's just… she's taken the loss really hard. And she seemed worse after a phone call from her dad."

"Hmm. Is her last name Yaoyorozu?"

"Yea?"

"Ah ok. Yea I've met her dad once or twice. Definitely an elite business man but he's got a bit of a temper, always made worse when things don't go his way. Which when dealing with yours truly, is every time. Yikes! Can't imagine how bad he took her defeat."

Parker's shocked by this, "Is he really that bad?"

"I've seen him cut down employees with that sharp tongue of his like as if it was an art form. He never gets full on abusive, but he does get very close."

"Man. That's the same thing Jiro said."

"Who?"

"Another friend. Wish I could do something to cheer her up."

"Of course you can." Tony comments as he groans while standing back up.

He stretches as he cracks his back and starts walking to his suit. "Wait do you have any ideas?"

"Me? No, I don't know the kid so I wouldn't know what I could do to help. But clearly you know her very well so use that big brain of yours and try to think of something. I'm sure you'll figure it out."

He steps into his suit and it wraps itself around him like a second skin, though his helmet remains retracted. "Also kid. Just wanted to warn you, Osborn been uncharacteristically quiet recently. Not sure if that's good or bad."

"Should we be worried?"

"Nah, I'll keep him at bay, it's the least I can do for you guys and your father."

"Right for saving your life."

Tony hesitates for a second, his eyes not meeting Peter's as he replies, "Y-Yea."

Peter is quick to notice the hesitation but before he can ask Tony quickly asks Jarvis, "Scan the skies for me Jarvis, I'd rather not fly into a flock of birds again."

Peter snorts, "Again?"

Tony rolls his eyes and gets the helmet back on, "See ya round kid!"

And he flies off into the air, his armor turning invisible again. "Hmm. Scanning. I got it!"

4 am the next morning

One tap. Then another. Then another. Then a louder one. The continuous noise rouses the sleepy vice representative from her rest and she tiredly rubs the sleepiness from her eyes. She checks the clock nearby and sees the time.

"Who could possibly be awake at this hour?" She grumbles.

Slowly getting off her bed she hastens her pace to the window as the tapping continues and she opens the window to see a grinning Peter Parker, his finger ready to tap her window again. They stare at each other for a few seconds before Peter finally finds his voice.

"Um. Hey. Fancy seeing you here!"

Momo raises an elegant eyebrow and crosses her arms over her chest. "What're you doing here? At 4 in the morning?"

Taken aback, Peter fishes out his phone and his eyes double in size as he sees that she is in fact correct. "Yeesh I really lost track of time! I had no idea it was this late!"

"You still haven't answered my question. And how did you even know where I live?"

She takes a small step back, her guard up due to his sudden appearance. Something that Peter notices and he scrambles to try and salvage the situation.

"Wait wait wait! No I wasn't stalking you or anything like that! I asked Jiro for your address cause I wanted to give you something!"

She relaxes slightly at his answer but that still raises even more questions for her. "You wanted to give me something? At 4 in the morning? When we'll see each other again in 24 hours?"

"… You know what I'm not even gonna defend that. I really was too dumb to think about acting like a normal person."

His bashful demeanor causes laughter to erupt from Momo's chest and she has to clutch her chest as she continues to giggle at her friends antics. Normally he'd feel even more embarrassed by being laughed at, but after seeing Yaoyorozu so depressed, he'd gladly endure it just to keep her smile on her face. She wipes a tear that dropped from her face, stifling the remaining laughter still threatening to escape.

"That was very much needed Parker thank you."

"Glad to be of service… So you wanna see what I got you?"

"Sure but you really didn't need to give me anything."

He waves her off, "Come on, I wanted to cheer you up, it's what friends are for." He opens his bookbag and pulls out a sleek looking visor, stylized with a thin frame colored a shade of red that matches her hero costume.

Impressed by the design Momo gratefully takes them, "This is a nice pair of sunglasses you gave me."

"Oh it's not sunglasses, well I designed it to be but it's a scanning visor really."

"Scanning?"

"Yea. I know how you normally have to carry around books and what not filled with the molecular composition to create whatever it is you need to create and I thought maybe there's a way to make it easier for you. So I used parts of my mask and the spare lenses I had to fashion a scanner that can breakdown the molecular composition of whatever object you use it on and it stores the info into its memory banks and can be pulled up whenever you want to so you can have a much larger variety of options for your quirk. Worked on it for most of the morning to get it just right."

Momo stares at Peter for an uncomfortable amount of time and he begins to sweat, wondering if he did something wrong. "It-it's ok if you don't like it or anything. It's kinda weird anyway—"

"No Parker-kun. It's, it's very sweet and thoughtful. Thank you. I didn't know you cared so much." She answers with a warm smile that makes Peter want to melt.

He looks down to hide his face as he stammers, "Of course I care. I mean who wouldn't? I just, I really couldn't stand to see you so sad. I-I wanted to help you smile again."

Her heart flutters at his admission and she has a quick intake of air to try and calm it but she can't shake the overwhelming urge to hug him, embrace him. Even to kiss—No stop thinking of that! Pushing away her thoughts, she envelops him in her arms. It's somewhat awkward as Peter is still leaning from outside the window but he is not one to complain in a having a beautiful woman in his arms. Momo feels his warmth envelop her like a blanket and feels so secure as his arms circle her waist, bringing them closer together. They stay like that for a while longer before they pull back but they don't let go.

They stare into each others eyes. Just as they had during the sports festival. Both of their gaze drops to each others lips, both buzzing from the memory of how they almost met. As if they were in a trance, they felt a pull towards each other. They inch closer and closer, feeling each others warm breath dancing upon their skin, just a hairs breath away-

The door slams open and the teens yelp as they fall into the room. Momo's father flips the light on and instantly his rage rises at what he sees before him. Momo laying on her back on the floor with a teen he does not know, laying right on top of her with his face planted in her buxom chest.

"What the hell is going on here?!" he yells.

Peter scrambles back, face flushed and tongue tied as he looks back and forth between Momo and her father, "We-I-Thi-When-! It it isn't what it looks like!"

"It looks to me that someone broke into my house and tired to take advantage of my daughter!" He says as he takes menacing steps toward the hapless teen.

"The-The first part is kinda true I'm not gonna lie but definitely not the second!"

Peter's spider sense tingles loudly in his head as the man grabs him by the collar and slams him into the wall. But Momo is able to appease her father, trying to pull back his arms. "Father it really is not what it seems!"

"Then explain it to me daughter?" His hard glare goes to Momo and she flinches but keeps her eyes trained on his.

Thinking quickly, she comes up with a convincing lie,"Peter is my classmate who also works in support course. He created a scanner for me to use in conjunction with my quirk for more efficient use. I asked him to bring it to me as soon as possible so that I can start filling it's memory banks with as much information as I can before we return to class."

If peter wasn't so scared for his life, he'd be really impressed by how well thought out Momo's story was. Clearly it seemed to have calmed her father down as he drops Peter, who whispers 'ow' as he lands roughly on his butt. Her father glares down at Peter as he jabs a finger in his face, "You keep your hands off of my daughter do you understand?"

"Crystal sir. Crystal."

"Good." He faces Momo, "I hope this device of yours will keep you from disappointing me again."

Having said his piece, he leaves but as he gets to the door he once again addresses Peter. "I'm going to return in a minute, if I see that you're still here I'm going to have security remove you from the premises with extreme prejudice."

Peter gulps as the door is slammed behind him and he looks to Momo, "I should probably go."

"Yes it's for the best."

He gets back to the window but Momo stops him with another hug. "Thanks again, I really love it."

He smiles dumbly. But the loss of concentration causes his hold on the windowsill to falter and he begins to fall back out the window. With incredible agility he twists in the air lands soundly on his feet. He rubs his head sheepishly as he sees an amused Momo looking down at him, "I meant to do that!"

The days of rest had come and gone and the return to UA was here. The day turned out to be a rather rainy one so May offered to give Izuku a ride to school along with Peter to which he gratefully accepted. After bidding their farewell the two scurry in to escape the rain as much as they can. Once inside they see their classmates, the very first being Iida who was completely decked out in rain-boots and a pancho.

As Peter changes his shoes, he listens as Izuku tries to talk to their class rep. "So Iida—"

"If it's about my brother, don't be concerned." He pulls down his hood and gives the pair a smile. A smile Peter notices, that doesn't reach his eyes.

"I'm sorry if I made you worry. Everything'll be fine." He leaves before they can continue their conversation.

The neighbors share a look and know they're both thinking the same thing. Everything is not fine and we're definitely worried. But now isn't the time to broach the subject. Soon enough they find themselves back in class to which everyone is gushing about their experiences.

"It's so weird that people recognize us from TV." Mina grins brightly, "Everyone wanted to talk to me on my way here!"

"Yeah me too!" Kirishima adds in.

Though some weren't exactly fond of their developments as Toru made it known, "People on the street were staring at me! It was kinda embarrassing!"

"Sure but isn't that pretty normal for you?" Ojiro asks.

Well he does have a point, she walks around as basically floating clothes. Still feel kinda bad for her.

"All it took was one Sports Festival and suddenly we're like celebrities!" Kaminari exclaims in excitement.

Kirishima turns to Peter, "What about you Parker-kun? Bet a lot people wouldn't leave you alone for getting the number one spot!"

"Actually I got no one, it was like a normal day."

Tsuyu puts a finger to her chin, "It's probably because you had a mask on so no one knows what you even look like. Ribbit."

Sero finally breaks out into a smile, "There's actually threads online trying to figure out why. My favorite is that they think he has 8 eyes!"

"I do not!" He indignantly replies.

Jiro smirks, "I read that some people thinks he has a furry face and pincers for a mouth!"

"How would that even fit inside my mask!?"

All talking stops once Aizawa enters the room, "Morning."

"Morning Mr Aizawa!"

Tsuyu is the first to say what everyone is thinking, "Ribbit? Mr Aizawa you don't have bandages anymore. That's good news!"

He rubs his tired eyes, "The old lady went a little overboard in her treatment."

"On the plus side that scar looks pretty badass"! Peter comments, earning a deadpan stare from his homeroom teacher.

"… Anyway, we have a big class today on Hero Informatics."

Everyone tenses, panic causing their blood pressure to rise exponentially as they dread for what he says next, all wondering if it's a pop quiz. Peter tenses up, I really hope it doesn't make a huge impact on my grade, I'm still a little bad with translating and I end up making make a few too many mistakes than I'd like!

"You need codenames. Time to pick your hero identities."

The class breaks out into cheers of relief and happiness as they see it's something easy.

"This is gonna be totally Awesome!" they all scream.

But they quickly get back to their seats as Aizawa activates his quirk, giving him a sinister look as his hair floats in the air like snakes and his eyes are flashing red. "This is related to the pro hero draft picks that I mentioned the last time we were in class together. Normally students don't have to worry about the draft yet. Not until their second or third year actually, but your class is different. In fact, by extending offers to first years like you, pros are essentially investing in your potential. Any offers can be rescinded if their interest in you dies down before graduation, though."

Peter shrugs, "Eh. I'm already used to rejection anyway."

Sero gives him a side-eyed glance. That's pretty sad actually.

"So what you're saying is we still have to prove ourselves after we've gotten recruited." Toru surmises.

"Correct. Now, here are the totals for those of you who got offers." He taps a button on the remote he was carrying.

And on the screen shows the list of students, from highest to lowest, with all their offers. Unsurprisingly to everyone but the wallcrawler, Peter was at the top of the list with the number being 5000 offers. Then it was todoroki, Bakugo, Iida and so on.

"Whoa! I didn't think I'd be this popular." Peter says to himself.

Mina leans back, "Is it really that hard to believe you'd be popular?"

"HA! Oh you've got no idea!"

Aizawa clears his throat and they both shut up. "In past years it's been more spread out. But this year there's a pretty big gap."

"Todoroki got ahead of Bakugo?" Jiro asks.

"Yea it's the opposite of how they placed in the Sports Festival." Kirishima notes.

"They probably weren't excited about working with the guy who had to be chained up at the end." Sero comments.

"If I scared a pro, they're just weak!" Bakugo snaps, still angry about the results.

"Playing devils advocate here, the chains was a little too far, it made things look worse for sparky boy." Peter says, which only worsens Bakugo's mood.

"Shut up Gaijin! I don't need you're help."

"Geez I was just trying to be nice." The American teen grumbles.

"Despite these results, you'll all be interning with pros got it? Even those of you who didn't get any offers."

The nervous heap that was Izuku suddenly perks up, "OH so we're all interning?"

"Yes. You already got to experience real combat during the attack on the USJ facility." He turns a glare to Peter and Izuku, "Despite orders otherwise. But it'll still be helpful to see pros at work. Up close and personal, in the field, firsthand."

"And for that we need hero names!" Sato exclaims.

Uraraka grins, "Things are suddenly getting a lot more fun!"

Their homeroom teacher continues, "These codenames will likely be temporary but take them seriously or-"

The door is opened and Midnight saunters in with her hips swaying seductively, "You'll have hell to pay later!"

She takes command of class, each heel click dominating the room, "What you pick today may end up being your codename for life! You better be careful, or you'll be stuck with something utterly indecent."

Peter tries looking anywhere but the teacher as he mumbles, "Is she really talking about something being indecent?"

"Yea she's got a good point. Midnight is going to have final approval over your names. It's not my forte." He pulls out sleeping bag, "The name you give yourself is important. It helps reinforce your image and shows what kind of hero you wanna be in the future. A codename tells people exactly what you represent. Take 'All Might' for example."

White boards were passed to each student as they begin brainstorming ideas for what will be their hero name. Peter takes his and starts listing off whatever came to mind. Hmm, Kid arachnid? Nah I'm not gonna be a kid forever. Weaver? Uh uh seams to broad I could be talking about a seamstress or something. Tarantula? Tch I can already imagine people running away from me instead. How about the Human Spider?... Wow that's terrible even for my standards.

Time passes by as Peter becomes more and more frustrated by the names he thinks up. Hmm what would Mr Stark think of? Wait a minute, his pro hero name is Iron man. Simple yet tells exactly what he's about. Maybe that's what I need to do, keep it simple. And finally the name dawns on him and he writes it down. Perfect!

"Times up! Now students, who among you is ready to share?"

WE'RE PRESENTING THESE?! OH GREAT WHO'S GONNA GO FIRST!?

Aoyama stands up from his desk. Of course.

"~Hold your breath!~" He raises his white board dramatically, "~The shining hero, my name is "I can not stop twinkling! Mon ami, you can't deny my sparkle!~"

"That's a mouthful."

Midnight grabs his white board and makes an adjustment, "It'll be better this way. Take out the 'I' and shorten the 'Cannot' to can't."

"~It's stunning mademoiselle.~"

This gives everyone the confidence to make their announcement and Mina is the second one up, "Okey dokey I'll go next! My code name: Alien Queen!"

"Hey that's pretty cool!" Peter comments.

"Hold on like that horrible monster with the acidic blood?! I don't think so!" Midnight denies her firmly.

"What?! But isn't there a pro hero named Death Arms?" Peter asks but it falls to deaf ears as the next student gets up.

For Tsuyu, Froppy. Kirishima, Red riot. Jiro, earphone Jack. And so on. Finally it came to Peter and he slowly makes his way up to the podium.

"Welp, this is what I got." He raises the white board for the class, "The friendly neighborhood hero: Spider-Man!"

"MMM I like it!" Midnight states with a lick of her lips.

"I do too." Momo says in agreement.

"I don't know, it kinda feels like it's saying 'I have low self esteem and identify with Bugs'." Mineta comments.

Coming from the guy named grape juice?

"Well I say it's perfect, who else?"

Bakugo stomps out his chair and slams his white board onto the podium, "Lord Explosion Murder!"

"That's almost the same as the last one." The teacher informs him.

"HUH?! It's completely different!"

"It's like you aren't even trying."

"Like you can think up something better Bug boy!"

Peter raises a hand and lifts a finger for each name he comes up with, "High Ex, Nitro, Ground Zero, Negasonic Teenage Warhead, and, my favorite; Sparky Sparky Boom man!"

"Like hell your calling me that!"

"You got admit those were some pretty good names!"

"Shut up shitty hair!"

Once the day was over and the internships were chosen, Peter gets his things from his locker as he prepares to go home and relax before his internship with Ironman. Walking out, He notices Izuku staring at the retreating form of Tenya Iida. "What's up Midoriya?"

"It's Iida, I'm really worried about him. He hasn't come to anyone to talk about his brother and I found out he took an offer for his internship in Hosu City."

"Wait isn't that—"

"Where his brother was assaulted." Izuku confirms.

Instantly Peter chases after Iida ignoring Izuku's calls after him. He catches up to the Class rep, stopping him in his tracks. "No running in the halls!"

"Sorry not sorry, I needed to catch you."

"What for if you don't mind me asking."

Peter locks eyes with Iida, "You're going to Hosu city."

He bespeckled teen's eyes harden slightly, "Yes, what of it?"

"I know why."

"Well of course. It's for all the same reasons as the rest of the class, to learn how to be the very best of the next generation—"

"That's not what I meant and you know it." Peter cuts him off.

Iida scoffs humorlessly, his eyes dark. "What exactly do you know Parker-san?"

"I know what that look in your eyes mean. It's the same one I had almost a year ago."

Iida's eyes soften, intrigued by his classmates answer, "Last year my Uncle was killed. And I remember clearly what that felt like. The fever, the rage. The feeling of powerlessness. The need to avenge your loved one."

He takes a step forward with each remark, as the class rep gets tenser and tenser. "I remember just how much I'd give anything to get rid of that feeling, to make that guy pay for what he did."

"… Did you?"

"No. Because I knew, my Uncle, he wouldn't want me to go down that path. (sigh) god knows I have no right to tell you what to do. But please, don't let yourself do something that'll turn you into someone your brother can't be proud of."

Iida is deeply conflicted by what his friend had aid and wordlessly leaves, the pit in his stomach growing more and more with each passing step.

Chapter 16

The day for Class 1A to start their internships has finally arrived! All the students have gathered perfectly on time, thanks to Iida's fussing, and are all following Mr Aizawa who's leading them past the security checkpoint of the train station. The underground hero stops abruptly and digs into his pocket. The class wonder amongst themselves as to what he would pull out. Could it be a speech? Some words of encouragement to his beloved class? Their answer comes in the form of a satisfied grunt as he pulls out... some eye drops.

The class sweat drops as their homeroom teacher moistens his eyes and tiredly asks the class, "Everyone has their costumes, right?"

Some scattered murmurs of acknowledgement gives him his rely and so he continues to inform the class, "Remember you don't have permission to wear them out in public yet, and don't lose them or anything."

Mina happily lifts her suitcase overhead, "Gotcha!"

"Speak properly!" The homeroom teacher reprimands, "It's 'Yes, sir,' Ashido."

Deflating she replies unenthusiastically, "yes, sir."

Repressing an eyeroll he moves on, "Make sure you make a good impression with the other heroes during your internships. Now get to it."

"Yes sir!" They all answer him together.

Peter bids his farewell to Izuku, Uraraka and Jiro as he heads in the opposite direction, needing to take a different train route in order to head into the heart of Tokyo where the new building for Stark Industries is being developed. He's not going to the unfinished building persay but rather the R&D lab that was already established prior to the construction. He joins Mina and Hagakure as they climb into their train seats together. Peter glances out the window and sees Momo about to enter hers with todoroki. She seems to be smiling at something that the protégé had said. A flutter warms his heart at the sight, I don't think I can ever get tired of seeing that. He knows that that's not a thought he should be having with a 'friend'. But he's now shared two almost kisses with said 'friend' so sue him if he feels that looking at her is probably the safest thing that's happened between them. To his embarrassment, the young heiress seems to realize that there are eyes on her. Almost by instinct, her gaze quickly finds and locks onto Peters. He freezes, already caught and unable to think of anything else to do about it except wave like an idiot.

Thankfully Momo doesn't seem that bothered by it and she waves back, gifting him with another smile that makes him feel like he might melt into a puddle of gooey happiness right there. The sound of a throat clearing breaks his moment of revelry though and he slowly turns to the source only to see a mischievously grinning Mina and the floating clothes that is Hagakure shaking at the shoulders, a clear indication of her laughter.

"See anything interesting Parker?" Mina asks with a sly grin.

"N-nothing! I got no idea what you're talking about!"

"Look at him he's as red as a tomato!" Toru points out, her chuckling getting louder as Min joins in.

"You know Peter only gets like that with one person right?"

Playing along Toru says, "Why yes I do believe you're right Mina, but exactly who was it?"

Mina's grin gets wider as Peter does his best to sink into his seat. "Why I think it was Yaomomo! Isn't that right—OW!"

She yelps as Peter, having had enough, squeezes her nose with his fingers. "How about we lay off the teasing huh? Or…" Now he wears a grin of his own, "I'll show Toru a pic I got of you practically drooling over a certain red haired classmate of ours when we went to the beach!"

Mina stops her struggling as her dark eyes suddenly widen with fear. "No!" her voice comes out nasally, "How?!"

"Took a pic as soon as I saw it, something told me it'd be a great deterrent for you in the future!" Peter smirks triumphantly after playing his trump card.

Toru, like a shark that has smelt blood in the water, has now shifted her predatory focus to their pink skinned classmate, invisibly rubbing her hands together like a villain. "Oh ho ho! Well isn't this an interesting development?"

"OK OK PETER YOU WIN!" Mina frantically concedes and he lets go.

She pouts as she rubs her nose, it doesn't hurt, thankfully he was still gentle but it was mostly her pride that was wounded. Deciding to change the topic she starts, "So who're you guys going with for your internships?"

Knowing that this was clearly a weak attempt at staving off the attention, given the fact that the class had already gone over this, Peter decides to have mercy and notifies them, "I was given an offer by Ironman and gonna meet up with him in his R&D lab in Tokyo."

"That's so cool! But really surprising, I heard he and Mirko are the only ones who have never gotten a sidekick or accepted an internship." Toru notes.

Peter gulps, knowing that he got the offer from both of them but deciding that the class doesn't need to know that. "Yea it surprised me too! But it's always been a dream come true for me to study under Tony Stark one way or the other. The inner nerd in me is flipping out."

The pink skinned student snorts, "Inner nerd?"

"Least I got a better name than Pinky!"

"Hey no fair you know I was pushed into a corner!"

"Excuses. That's all I hear miss Ashido." Peter says as he pretends to polish his nails.

She half heartedly glares at him but drops it, "Honestly I'm a bit jealous! Cause he's a billionaire and a genius too! Just imagine what he could buy!" she says with a swoon.

"Or what upgrades he could give to your suit too! Speaking of which did you ever get that repaired?"

He cringes as he opens his bookbag, "Not really, in order to make our costumes the Support course has a budget of which has been slashed slightly since they diverted a lot of funds to upgrade the schools security system. I was able to sow together a costume but it's not as impressive as the last one."

"I wouldn't worry too much, Mr Billionaire playboy will probably give you a new one himself!" Mina assures him, resting back on her hands behind her head.

The excitement bubbles in Peter as he imagines himself in an ironman esque suit flying alongside him and shooting repulsor blasts. "God I hope so!"

Then he turns to Toru, "Speaking of costumes, ever thought of making upgrades to yours?"

"What for?"

He gives her a deadpan look, "Cause they're only a pair of boots and gloves?"

"That's all I need and can use really, haven't gotten any materials that could go invisible with my powers." She answers dejectedly.

Then Mina thinks, "But didn't the Future Foundation sell unstable molecules paraphernalia? I thought it was first made for the fantastic four 50 years ago since it's the only thing that could work with their powers like the Invisible Woman."

"Yea but 1) it's really expensive. And 2) My powers are always activated so there's nothing for it to piggyback off of. It worked with Invisible woman's invisibility since she had complete control over it while mine…" she sighs, twirling her hair, which was an act unseen by the two.

Peter feels bad for Toru. He is similar yet different to her. His powers are always activated, namely his super strength which does present him with dangerous circumstances if he ever loses control or concentration. But it seems infinitely easier than not being able to see yourself or protect your eyes from light since there's nothing to shield them from. It seems worse psychologically and yet Toru seems to take it in stride. But was it always like this? Then another question comes to mind.

"Do you ever get cold?"

The question wakes the invisible hero in training from her apathy and she excitedly explains, "I did but I did a lot of research and found a man named Wim Hof, a Dutchman who created a yoga technique that allowed him to keep his core temperature at 98.6%. He even tested it out by being completely submerged in ice for an hour and 52 minutes without his body temperature ever changing. So after a long time of training, I finally figured it out!"

The two gawk in amazement but the Mina asks, "But then how did you get caught in Todoroki's ice during training?"

"Well for one, it was so quick I barely had time to react. Also, like I said I was able to keep my body temperature at the same level but that doesn't mean I can melt ice that's trapping my body in place." She grumbles, still a little sore at having lost so quickly.

"Still that's really impressive! I wonder what other hidden talents the rest of the class might have." Peter says.

Unable to help herself, Mina comments, "That's what happens when you only focus on Mo—MMPH!"

She struggles to rip off the sudden glob of webbing that was shot over her mouth.

Peter marvels at the technological scenery as he enters the doors leading into the Stark labs. He witnesses all the smartly dressed people walking around in a hurried pace yet never bumping into each other, speaking of complicated matters that his blessed intellect allows him to understand. He can't stop looking up at the incredible architecture as well as the hologram that displays the Stark Industries logo proudly at the center of the room.

"Excuse me? Can I help you?"

Peter snaps his mouth shut and sees that the voice belonged to a receptionist sitting to his left. Slightly embarrassed walks up to her.

"I dunno, uh Mr Stark told me to meet him here for my internship."

She raises an unimpressed eyebrow, "An internship?"

"Uh huh."

"I don't see anything on his schedule that shows any student internships."

He scratches his head, realizing that unlike the rest of the heroes, Tony had not sent him an official letter authorizing his internship or anything of the type that could prove his reason for being there. "It's uh it's for the hero course."

She twists her mouth in a poor attempt to smile placatingly, "I'm sorry but Dr Stark is not known for handing out internships for 'heroes in training'. He's a very busy man that has a multibillion/multimedia enterprise to run. So if you please." She gestures to the door.

His jaw dropped by her rudeness and tries to salvage the situation, "No I-I'm serious. He came to me in person to tell me about this and to tell me to meet him here."

She doesn't even try to hide her disbelief this time as she crosses her arms and glares, "Right and he's also paying for you to go to school as well?"

"… Well not exactly."

"You're not the first person to walk here saying that they were supposed to meet Dr Stark for this or that and you most certainly will not be the last. But it's my hope you can be one of the rare few that does not need to be escorted off the premises with security."

His eyes bug out, "What!? Security?! No wait this is one big misunderstandi—"

"It very well is and I take full responsibility for it."

Peter could've cried in relief as Tony Stark himself strides up next to the teen, throwing an arm over his shoulder with his famed movie star grin. The Receptionist is now the one to drop her jaw and she stammers, realizing that she actually was the one in the wrong and is terrified that she can kiss her job goodbye. "D-Dr Stark! I-I-I I'm so sorry! I didn't realize he truly was here for an internship, I-I-I triple checked your schedule—"

He raises a calming hand as he chuckles, "It's alright. It was a last minute thing that I actually forgot to notify everyone else of. Luckily Jarvis had already freed up my schedule for the rest of this day. Again I'm taking responsibility for this. You only were doing your job and you did it fantastically!" he winks.

She practically faints from relief as Tony now turns his attention back to Peter. "Sorry about that kid but it's great to see you! Walk with me, we have a few things to chit chat about."

Peter wordlessly follows mouthing a quick sorry to the frazzled receptionist as he follows along with his mentors footsteps. They board the elevator and Tony announces the floor that they'll be heading to. Tony smirks at Peter, "She's got a lot of fire to her doesn't she?"

"Yea. I thought she was gonna throw me out herself!"

The billionaire smirks and shakes his head fondly, "She takes a lot after her mother. Reminds me of Pepper everyday."

Say what?

"Pepper? As in Pepper Potts?"

"The one and only." His eyes have a far away look to them and a loving smile paired with them. "She was a real spitfire. And an incredible woman. The best employee I've ever had the pleasure of hiring. And an even better friend." Peter notices the twinge of sadness when he said friend but doesn't comment on it. Instead he asked.

"What happened to her?"

The smile vanishes form Tony's face, replaced by a look of sorrow. "She died during childbirth."

"I'm so sorry."

He nods gratefully, "Promised on her grave that I'd take care of her daughter however I could. I offered her a job earlier but she's as stubborn as her mother. Only recently did she decide to join my company but was adamant of starting at the bottom. Said she didn't want to be treated any different from the rest."

"I can respect that."

"I bet you could kid. Here we are."

The doors to the elevator opens and once again Peter is speechless. He sees the area completely filled with all sorts of technology and inventions. From Nanites to cloaking tech that was incorporated into his suit. It was a science nerds wonderland!

"Kid pick your jaw up from the floor it's just been sterilized."

"Right sorry Mr Stark! I mean Dr Stark!"

"Kid I couldn't care less about formalities, honestly would prefer it if you called me Tony."

"Y-Yes Mr. Stark. I mean Mr Tony. I mean Tony."

Stark sighs, "We'll work on that I guess. So," He spreads his arms out like a showman, "Whatdya think?"

"It's absolutely amazing! I mean look at this!" He points at a tube like contraption.

"Ah the cloudburst. Yea that was created during the biological attack in Madrid. Able to take any cure and shoot it into the sky, turning it into a cloud so that people could be cured en mass." He explains.

"I remember that! I heard a few countries were fighting to get this." Peter remembers the newsreels. it was a topic of conversation for 2 straight months with various countries arguing why they would need such a device. A few times it got a little too ugly for his liking.

Tony's expression turns dark, "Yup. That's why I'm personally gonna destroy it today."

"What why?!"

"Peter this used to be a weapons manufacturing company. I'm experienced enough to know that anything and I mean anything can be weaponized. We used this to cure people… but I know that's some people could very well use it for a biological attack. I'd rather not have that on my conscious." He says as his left arm trembles slightly.

"Enough of that, I got a surprise for you kid. Come on. By the way how's things progressing? With school?"

"Pretty good, though Japanese is still pretty hard. I'm not getting the grades I usually get." He admits in frustration.

"You'll get the hang of it kid, trust me it took a while for me to be able to speak Hindi fluently enough to not cause an international incident… Again."

"Again?"

"How about your powers?" He asks quickly.

"I'm getting there." He mumbles.

"Kid with the way you handled the Sports Festival, getting there is oversimplifying it."

"I mean I guess I did alright." He sheepishly rubs his neck.

"Alright?! Kid you got first place! First place! Plus your competition were killers! You did better than alright."

"I guess."

Tony rolls his eyes, "Alright lesson number 1, we gotta cut out the low self esteem stuff. You're damn good kid and it's about time you start realizing it!"

"Hahaha Alright Mr Stark."

The doors to his private lab opens and they walk into a cylinder like machine that's laying near the center of the room which was filled with any and all tools and materials imaginable. "Alright kid let's see that costume of yours."

Tony leans against the machine expectantly while Peter is less than happy to show him his suit given how bad it came out. He slowly opens his suitcase containing his suit while explaining, "I ran out of time and materials so I kinda had to skip a few things to get the suit ready." He pulls it out and holds it in the air.

The suit holds some similarity to the previous one that he wore during the USJ incident. But this time, there was little to know red along the legs and arms. The gloves seemed to be separate and had the red and webbing pattern but seemed to bunch up towards the wrists. The elbows and knees had some type of protective pad that was a dull grey and definitely stood out and not in a good way. The mask seemed to be the only thing that was good as it looked updated with more pronounced webbing and the lenses were reactive, widening and narrowing with his eyes. Though it too bunched slightly where his neck met his shoulders. And… "Are those sneakers?"

"… Yea."

"… Wow... Hang on I-I need to process this tragedy... Ok so here's the next thing we're gonna do, can you tell me what this is?"

He gestures to the machine he was leaning on, "I'm guessing, (actually hoping) it's something that can help with my suit?"

"You're right about that! ( thank god) it's a fabrication machine. I use it to build my suits, well the main one is in my private lab but this one I had built specifically for when you came here."

"No way! No way! You're making me a suit!?"

"Nope."

"… Oh."

Peter tries to hide his disappointment but Tony could see it plain as day. "As I said. I'm Not gonna build you a suit. Youare gonna build you a suit."

"I am?"

"Don't get me wrong I have some specs drawn out for a suit I'd like to make you but, this internship, it's all about you and finding out what you're made of yourself, kid. And that starts with you making your own suit." He gestures to the screen that's awaiting its user.

Peter takes a few unsure steps toward the machine and taps the screen. Suddenly holographic projections come online. The teen turns questioningly towards his mentor but his answer is simply a gesture encouraging him to speak. Wide eyed he goes, "Ok. Bring up everything you have on Spider-man."

But only 1 projection comes up which is the same one he had gotten in school, the other 3 are blacked out. Peter looks questioningly to Stark who shrugs, "You haven't unlocked those characters yet."

Exhaling sharply Peter turns his attention back to the hologram and tentatively interacts with the specs. They respond to his ministrations and slowly builds a good flow and starts making adjustments to the suit. As he works Tony starts surging with ideas in his mind. He's never done the whole mentor thing so this is all new to him too. All he knows is that he truly wants to help Peter become the best he can be. So he starts asking questions,

"So how you liking UA?"

"Oh it's great! Language barrier aside everything about the school is perfect! Teaching curriculum is top notch, food is leagues better than the grub they served us in Queens. Plus I made a lot of good friends there."

Tony smirks as he remembers Peter talking about Momo. "Oh I'm sure."

"A-Anyway, it's all great really. Though there was this one thing…"

"…Which was?"

"Remember when Hydro Man attacked the beach?"

"How could I forget? I'm still impressed of you thinking up the coagulating agent trick." Tony compliments him.

"Thanks. But we ended up talking about that."

"Something about it bothered you didn't it?"

Peter stops typing and nods. "It was how they handled Hydro man."

"Explain it to me kid."

"I'm not so sure that's a good idea."

Tony raises his hands placatingly, "Hey this is a judgment free zone. Unless you start attacking my choice in music in which case we will have a problem because your opinion on that is wrong. But aside from that, judgment free zone!"

"Ok. Well it started when,"

(Flashback)

Midnight is standing before the class as they discuss the events of the Hydro-man phiasco. "And so thanks to Mirko using the coagulating agent created by Ms Yaoyorozu, Hydro man was defeated. I know some of you were there but it's important to note this event because it was an example of how quirks still affect todays society. Or how the environment for which one finds themselves in can have their quirks affected."

Izuku raises his hand and Midnight grins, "Oh thirsty for knowledge are we?"

Izuku blushes and tentatively lowers his hand, "W-what happened to Hydro man after he was arrested?"

"After a brief trial he was incarcerated in Tartarus."

Curious Peter raises his hand, earning a moan from the Rated R Teacher/hero. "I'm liking the vigorous energy!"

Sweat dropping, Peter decides to ignore that statement in favor of asking his question, "Is he getting treatment?"

"What for?" Asks Sero.

"Ms Mirko had informed us that he had become mentally unstable after being exposed to the experimental chemicals in the water and the trauma of his family's death. I thought that he would be rehabilitated so he won't be so, you know, homicidal."

"Who cares what he smoked, he's a villain! They just need to be taken down and locked up!" Bakugo yells.

"Yea I agree with Bakugo." Kirishima states.

But Momo doesn't and she makes it known, "But it wasn't his choice. The experimentation done in the water was illegal and he and his family were unsuspectingly caught up in the accident. He was quite literally driven insane by outside forces. I agree with Peter, he should be given a second chance."

She nods at Peter who's grateful for her support. This causes the class to begin debating. Some are for, some against, and the rest are neutral. Peter wasn't exactly surprised by this. Society, especially in Japan, had a very black and white perception when it comes to villains. But Peter has seen many times and with many conversations with Uncle Ben, that it's not always the case. Main example being Hydroman. He can't deny that he needed to be stopped. But shouldn't a hero help everyone?

Midnight finally had enough and she snaps her whip, effectively quieting the class. "Now that I have you attention we can continue. Now believe it or not, I happen to agree with Mr Parker, but unfortunately there isn't a lot we can do that can help a person like Hydro man. The only thing Pro heroes have the authority to do is to contain villains."

My father. Could he have helped someone like Hydro man? Could I? His father had created treatments that could prevent peoples quirks from hurting themselves or others.

"But isn't there some type of therapy or treatments that can help?" Peter asks.

Midnight looks deep in thought before answering, "Even after centuries, the means to treat quirks is still an infant field. Not many researchers are there and even less have made any real progress. It's possible that there's some form of treatment but, today's society is not very forgiving to villains and their actions. Once that line is crossed, it's very hard for anyone with authority to have sympathy. Even less from the public."

(Flashback ends)

Peter has stopped typing on the screen as he finishes explaining things to his mentor. Tony is mulling over the information, he seems to have expected it.

Peter then asks, " Was I stupid for thinking that way?"

"Absolutely not. Everyone deserves a second chance. That's a belief your father had and one he taught me when he saved my life. Honestly it's something I'd like to see change in this world but…"

"But what?"

"But not a lot of people are willing to give the formerly drunk and immature billionaire playboy the time of day to talk about society's standards given his history." Tony replies with a humorless chuckle.

The teen is taken aback but then he thinks about it. He's right. Many times he's watched an interview with Mr Stark who no matter the subject; be it clean energy or even donations to charity, his past mistakes are always brought up. Peter always thought that his mentor would always take it in stride but seeing him now, his body language, makes him realize that it affects him a lot more than he lets on. Unsure if whether or not he should talk about it he instead asks, "Do you think society could change?"

Tony shrugs then gives Peter a meaningful look, "Maybe. If the right people stand up."

Why is he looking at me like that? Am i- Am I one of those people he thinks should stand up? Before he can ask him Tony claps loudly and gestures to the machine, "Alright kid show me what you got!"

"Oh uh ok check it out!" the hologram of the changes he made were displayed.

It was his spider suit, but was heavily 'inspired'. The colors were predominantly red and gold with a large gold spider emblem on the back and front with gold also wrapping around the ankles and wrists. The eyes were gold as well and at the center of the chest was glowing blue with the palms having the same light as well.

Tony inwardly sighs, This is not exactly what I meant kid.Peter grins, "What do you think?"

"It's actually really really good kid. But it's… familiar."

"You… you don't like it?"

"Not that no! I do! It's just," He struggles to find the right words. "It doesn't really scream you as much as I hoped."

"Well I, I admire you and you," He looks away and rubs his arm self consciously, "You inspire me."

"I appreciate that kid I do. But, this is supposed to be about you. Try again."

"Alright." He answers glumly but suddenly Tony's phone goes off.

Picking it up he answers it. "Yea… What?! Ok I'm on my way!"

He ends the call and starts heading to a compartment near the wall. "What happened?"

"A convoy carrying my tech was attacked on it's way here in the middle of the Rainbow Bridge by an unknown group using some weird tech. A lot of civilians are caught in the crossfire and we're the closest heroes on the scene."

"We?"

"Yup! Time to shine kid!" the compartment opens and one of his armors is revealed. It opens up and he steps inside allowing it to wrap itself around his body.

"But I've only just started the internship!"

"Sometimes you gotta run before you can walk, get your suit on."

"I haven't finished the specs yet."

Tony sighs, "Guess you'll just have go out in your underoos kid let's go!"