Bug boy || Peter Parker

Twenty

Peter called Happy not long after the Deli exploded. Tate had hacked Happy's phone months ago and he had the line up and open as soon as it began to ring. On the other computer screen, he watched as Peter's tracker showed that he had stopped on a roof a few blocks away from the scene. According to his suit readings there was no lasting harm to him other than a couple of bruises and they were quickly healing. (God bless super metabolism. Why couldn't he have that?). Tate clicked into Happy's voicemails and leaned back into his chair to listen.

"Hey happy", Peter's voice was high with adrenaline and slightly out of breath as it tumble through the speakers. The boy had obviously been running. "I stumbled upon these people trying to rob the cash machine and they had these crazy new weapons. One picked me up and threw me against the walls, it was so weird! Then one went crazy! It hit the floor and fired at the deli across the street and suddenly it went boom!" Peter made a sound effect with his mouth. "And the whole thing caught fire. But don't worry, I rescued the owner and his cat. They are alright".

Then Peter's voice calmed and took a more serious tone. "Happy. I haven't seen weapons like this before. I'm sure that mr Stark will know what they are, he has such cool tech. Just"- he broke off with a tired sigh, the exhaustion seemingly now hitting him. "I'll call you again if I see them again". Then the call cut off.

Tate kept the tab showing Peter's location open as he leaned forwards and began typing. It didn't take long, mere seconds for him to find and link into the bank's security camera. He pulled up the footage of the night, then brought up a fourth tab with the footage of a street camera outside. He watched, eyes darting between the two, as the fight played out. Peter's comments about the avengers made Tate giggle until the weapons were pointed on him. Spider-Man was thrown around the bank while the various new weapons were waved. There was a blue glow, some sort of energy field, that threw Peter against the ceiling just like he said. Then one of the weapons hit the floor and the laser beam hit broke the glass and hit the deli across the street. Tate gasped as it burst into flames.

He watched a bit longer as Peter rescued the inhabitants and the bank robbers got away. Once the emergency services began pulling up, he paused the feeds and rewound them. Once he had the image he wanted, he zoomed in on the weapons. Tate leaned back in his chair and ran a hand through his hair as he thought. The weapons were obviously volatile. Unstable at the least. He could recognise shoddy welding and basic wiring. Whoever had built them was smart but also unskilled, or lacked the resources to do a better job.

"Friday", he called. "Can you analyse the energy signals of these two objects?" He asked aloud, gesturing to the weapons with his cursor.

"Apologies", Friday's female voice replied. "But it appears that the footage is too basic for me to attempt to pick up any signals. Here is what I managed to pick up". Dozens of little arrows with annotations appeared round the images.

"Thank you", Tate called as he began reading. A lot of what Friday has noted was things he had picked up already. Unknown energy source, probably not from earth due to the blue energy. Basic materials used to create the weapons. Each are powered by some sort unstable energy core. What Friday found that was new, was that these weapons had a recognisable craft style. She had linked the similar builds to a few dozen other weapons described or found in relation to previous crimes. Those that had been taken in, were stolen shortly after or exploded.

"Shit", Tate muttered. "So these weapons have been around for years huh? Who ever has been making them must have been selling out of country to have stayed hidden so long. Just what have you stumbled on Peter?"

He rubbed at his temples. His legs ached and he was suddenly exhausted. "Scoop up all I've found to do with that Bank robbery please Fri", he voiced as he got to his feet. He groaned as his legs gave sharp protests to his weight. "And put them into a folder on my hard drive, not my dad's. I want to search up some more things before I include him in this".

"Alright Mini Boss", Friday replied. "Do you want me for anything else? Maybe call for some painkillers as your legs seemed to be troubling you".

"It's alright Friday", Tate waved the AI off. "I'm going to bed. Black out on please". Around the room there was the slight wiring as the doors and windows all locked and bolted. The blinds all shut and sealed so that no city light could get through. A pale red glow from the fairy lights strung up round the ceiling turned on. Black out mode in effect. No one, including Friday (unless it was a code five emergency or if Tate used a trigger word) would be able to call on him until seven the next morning.

Tate let out a whine as he collapsed on his bed. He was tired and his legs hurt. He wriggled into the covers and wrapped them around him as he fumbled for the pain meds on the bedside table. As he waited for them to work, he closed his eyes and dozed. Whatever Peter had stumbled on seemed big. Bigger than whatever the teen superhero had dealt with before. Tate wondered if he would be able to handle it. He'd give him a chance, he decided as he began to slip off into sleep. He'd give Peter a chance unless his dad interfered himself. He just hoped that it wouldn't all go to shit.

Unedited