Chapter 90: New York Rumble Part 4

Stark Expo, New York-

-June 2, 2010, 2020h local-

"Come here you little shit!" Blonsky shouted out as he picked up a car and threw it to Naruto.

"All right."

Naruto Hiraishned in front of Blonsky which promptly bashed him to the ground. But the moment Blonsky's fist hit Naruto, he burst into a plume of smoke, leaving Blonsky confused. He didn't have any time to think about what happened as something punched him from behind.

"Raaaaggghhhh! Hulk Smash!" Hulk roared while pounding Blonsky to the ground.

"Ehem..." A voice interrupted Hulk, halting him mid-punch and turning his head up towards the voice. "What're you doing?" Tony asked.

"Grrr." Was the Hulk's only reply and it looks like it's more than enough.

"Ooook..." Tony slowly backed of while raising his hands. "I'll be right there, dealing with my own stuff..." He took another look at the pale hairless ape on the ground, slowly recovering. "If you need help just shout... or roar... whichever is more comfortable for you. And if you finish faster, help out a bit big guy."

Tony flew away to intercept some Hammerdrones. His micro-missiles proved to be a devastating weapon against the AI-controlled drones. They just can't execute a complex maneuver to dodge the agile projectiles.

However, what the Hammedrones lack in complexity they make up for in sheer numbers. Hammer carried in truckloads of the drones in the expo, probably to show them off to the military in some backroom discussion. Well, this just showed them how good Hammer tech was on everything more complicated than an AK.

"Stark. Hey. Is this thing working?" Tony could hear someone familiar through his comms unit.

"Emo girl?" Tony asked, confused as JARVIS should be regulating his comms.

"Stark. I know you know who I am so don't play this game with me."

"All right! Chill out. Why are you calling now? Like I've been saying to everyone, I'm kinda busy right now."

"That's just what I'm calling you about. You're not going to like what I'm about to tell you next."

"I don't care what news networks are saying about the expo right now." Tony drawled out.

"I'm not in our apartment right now, jackass. I'm with Nat. You're ex-secretary. That super spy."

"Oh come on! Am I the only one who doesn't know about that!?... Wait you live with her, of course you know."

"Focus! Nat says you got a Hammerdrone army heading towards you."

"How many?"

"A hundred."

"A hundred? How the hell did Hammer and Vanko make that much?"

"Cause it's like two hundred grand a piece!" Nat's voice could be heard shouting from quite a distance away.

"You're with Natashalie? Why the hell did Naruto send you at Hammer?"

"Long story short, I'm stronger and tougher than I look..." Jess said in the most exasperated tone possible. "Just know the drones are three minutes away while Vanko will arrive in six. FYI he has a suit."

"Of course, he has one. Everybody has one!"

"We'll be there in ten minutes. Nat just copying everything she needs"

"All right. We'll just finish up here before the second wave arrives..." Tony cut off the line before continuing in another. "You heard that right?"

"Yeah. I'll start cleaning up here. You mind if I break a few buildings?"

"I want to say no but it looks like I'll have to break some too."

-Stark Expo, New York-

-June 2, 2010, 2023h local-

Peter Parker's life can be described as luckily unlucky. Born on August 10, 2001, Peter was born to a very loving family.

Richard and Mary Parker. Richard and Mary work as scientists for Oscorp working on another super-soldier program. Both of them also work as undercover agents for SHIELD monitoring Osborn's progress and that's what got them killed.

The Parkers recreated a viable way to recreate the supersoldier program. But seeing as how this technology could be abused both by Osborn and SHIELD, they locked it in a genetic lock and key before trying to disappear. They're just not good enough.

It's a good thing that they left Peter to Richard's brother's family. Ben, 32, and May, 29, were a relatively young couple who found out early on that they can't have children of their own, or even if they did, it would be a dangerous pregnancy. So, even though it was a sad affair when Richard and Mary died when Peter was a little over four, they're more than happy to love and take care of Peter. It's just a little hard to suddenly accommodate a preschooler with a salary from being a construction worker and a nurse. Those jobs were also quite time intensive leaving little time for taking care of Peter.

It's a good thing that Peter himself was a very low-maintenance kid. Aside from the low self-esteem, general aloofness, and lack of general social skills, Peter basically takes care of himself. Peter saved himself from an early grave since he saved himself from May Parker's infamous home cooking.

Peter inherited a lot from his parents, from his brown hair to persistent attitude. However, there's one thing that would immediately stand out if somebody met him and his parents, his intelligence. Peter's very intelligent for his age. As an incoming 4th grader, he already has a basic understanding of biology, computer science, technology, and algebra. All of these he learned without special instruction, but with ordinary library time.

Now, Ben and May were great parental figures for Peter, but they can't remove his melancholy. Losing his parents at a young age had taken a major toll on his mental health. That's why Tony Stark's, Peter's hero ever since he became Ironman, revival of the Stark Expo, which was happening only fifteen blocks away from the Parker apartment, couldn't come at a better time.

The couple took two days off work to allow Peter to explore the expansive Stark Expo grounds. With his meager savings, Peter bought an IronMan helmet and he never stopped smiling since. Ben and May loved it so much that they decided to buy him the gauntlet.

It was late in the night and about to leave when the worst happened. Evil robots started shooting and blowing up the expo. The quick evacuation caused Peter to separate from his guardians. Seeing that he lost his guardians, Peter did a smart dumb thing, getting away from the stampede of the crowd and hiding in one corner.

Peter only left his hidey-hole when it became quieter. He slowly crawled out and took a look around. He walked around while putting his head on a swivel, looking for his guardians or the police.

"Uncle Ben! Aunt May! Uncle Ben! Aunt May! Ben! May! Anyone!" Peter shouted hoping anyone would notice him.

Three people noticed him. Well, technically one person like the last two was a robot and the other was a demigod. A Hammerdrone dropped in front of Peter and stared directly at him. The inferior AI of the drone determined that the IronMan helmet Peter was wearing was enough proof to show that he was indeed Iron Man. Peter's raising of his Iron Man gauntlet didn't help any bit.

The Army-type Hammerdrone brought down its tank turret and aimed it at Peter. His knees were already shaking but in his young mind, he has no other recourse but to stand his ground, no matter the outcome. So it was practically serendipity when Tony dropped behind Peter and shoot down the Hammerdrone himself.

"Good job kid." Tony said before flying away.

That moment would forever be engraved in Peter's mind. Tony Stark flew down, saving him, and praising him before flying away. That would be an integral part of his psyche for years to come.

While Peter remained stunned due to what happened, Naruto decided to make his move. Now, one might ask why he would bother with helping one lost kid. It's not due to the 'kindness' of his heart. It's due to something he saw with his special eyes. Peter was naturally absorbing Nature chakra rather than expelling it to the Earth and he hadn't turned into stone, something more commonly seen on summoned animals.

"Hey, kid..." Naruto asked as he nonchalantly walked to Peter. "You lost?"

Using his dojutsu, Naruto could see Peter's hopeful expression turn into hesitance through the mask.

"Your not an evil robot too, are you?" Peter asked in an admittedly cute way.

"Do I look like a robot?"

"No?"

"Are you asking?"

"No."

"Then come on. I'll take you back to your parents."

"I don't have parents. They're dead." Peter plainly stated.

Normal people would real back and apologize hearing that kind of reply from a kid, but Naruto just smiled wider.

"Cool. I don't have parents, too..." Naruto replied, causing Peter to tilt his head in confusion hearing that reply. "Got girlfriends, though. They make me do stuff I don't want to do. Like cleaning up after myself..." Peter just glossed over the 'girlfriends' part. "So come on. Let's find your guardians." He ended while extending his hand.

"Uncle Ben said don't talk to strangers, but I guess it's a little late for that. Well, Aunt May said don't follow with strangers."

"Good rules. All right..." Naruto extended his hand once again. "I'm Naruto."

Peter hesitated for a moment before shaking Naruto's hand.

"Hi. I'm Peter Parker."

"That's it. Can we go now?"

"Ok."

Peter took Naruto's left hand and followed him with a skip in his step, totally ignoring the explosions and flying robots.

"It would be ridiculously easy to kidnap you."

"Are you kidnapping me?" Peter asked with a small quiver of his lips.

"No. Not now."

"Not now?"

"Nevermind that. Let's just go." Naruto let out before putting on some shades.

It took them ten minutes with occasional small talk before they reach the police line holding the crowd back and defending them from the drones. It's a good thing that the drones have little to no interest in them. Nevertheless, some casualties have already been recorded between the cops and the guests.

"Hey! You guys good?" Naruto greeted the hyper-alert cops causing them to point all their guns at him. They quickly pulled back though when they saw a kid holding onto his arm. "Looking for this kid's guardian. Can you point me to the nearest distressed group?"

"Ahhh. Follow the path. There's a group coordinating missing persons by gate 12." One stunned police answered.

"Thanks. Le' go kid."

Another short walk later and they saw a relatively large group huddled at one side of the gate, talking loudly. Some were even crying. Naruto's sharp ears picked up voices from a couple asking for Peter. Using his eyes, Naruto searched where the voice came from.

"Wait here and don't move no matter what. You'll get swallowed up by that mob." Peter nodded to Naruto's instruction.

Naruto let go of Petet and slowly approached the couple from behind and tapped their shoulder.

"Yes, can we help you?" Ben Parker asked respectfully but clearly in a rush.

"You looking for a kid. Brown hair. Brown eyes. Wearing an Iron man helmet. About yay high."

"Yes! Yes! Yes! That's Peter! Have you seen him?" May implored desperately.

"Well..." Naruto pointed behind him. "He's over there. Come on."

The couple followed him without a second thought. They quickly cleared the crowd and when Peter saw his Uncle and Aunt, he ran at full tilt towards them. The family had an emotional meeting.

"Ah. Before you go full teary-eyed..." Naruto reached inside his jacket and pulled two metal calling cards and gave it to Ben. "Call the red and gold card if Peter is as smart as he looks like. Just say my name. Petey knows it. Call the orange card if he does anything weird. Anything at all..." He explained. "Either way. I'll know if you called."

"Thank you. Thank you. Thank you." May said while hugging Naruto. She eventually let go.

"Really. Thank you." Ben added.

"Didn't do it on the goodness of my heart. Believe me..." Naruto took a step back. "Just call the numbers when I told you to. Tony would love to corrupt more kids than his own. As long as they're not a couple of dum-dum."

Ben and Mary look confused for a moment so they looked into the cards. The orange card only has a phone number engraved into it. The red and gold card though was something special. Both sides have engraved phone numbers. One side has the name Potts while the other has Stark. It's quickly apparent who owns those numbers.

"Oh my god. It's Tony Stark's number. You gave us Tony Stark's number... Just who are... Youuuu..." May cut herself off when they saw Naruto suddenly missing. "Where did he go?"