"He's ridiculously smart. Sometimes I feel like I can't even keep up with his shadow. He's brave, really loyal, and..." Black Cat paused, her voice softening. "He's a very good kisser."
Peter narrowed his eyes beneath his mask. "If you like him that much, why don't you just ask him out?"
Black Cat looked at him for two seconds, then suddenly smiled. "Maybe I'll give it a try."
She turned and leaped toward another rooftop, disappearing into the night in a few bounds.
Peter stood on the roof, looking in the direction that silver hair had vanished.
For a girl without superpowers, her parkour skills were pretty impressive.
Putting those thoughts aside, Peter descended into the rubble and retrieved all the bundled parts from the sewer. Two Navy drone forearms, a section of Army drone wreckage, two powered-down Arc Reactors, and a propulsion leg whose model he couldn't identify. It wasn't much, but it would do.
The whole family was fast asleep when he slipped back into the basement.
Peter set a reactor on the workbench. He needed to understand how this thing worked. So far, he knew two things: first, it contained radioactive material, with the reactor in Tony's chest slowly poisoning him to death as irrefutable proof; second, it could produce an extremely high energy output.
He kept dismantling it until four in the morning.
Gradually making sense of it was like assembling an incredibly complicated jigsaw puzzle.
The core principle involved radioactive decay releasing charged particles, which a magnetic field confined to a circular track for high-speed collisions. High-speed particle collisions meant high energy release. The magnetic field bent the particles into a circular orbit, effectively trapping them within a space to collide repeatedly and ensure a complete reaction.
The collisions released free neutrons and gamma rays. The neutrons reentered motion inside the reactor, changing the magnetic field's strength and causing alternating changes in the field within superconducting coils, ultimately generating an enormous alternating-current output.
Peter set down the reactor and rubbed his eyes.
So damn sleepy.
He hid his "spoils." The reactors were small enough to tuck beneath a loose floorboard. The drone parts were too big, so he could only pile them in the storeroom. Uncle Ben and Aunt May hardly ever came down to the basement. They should be safe.
Sunday. Peter didn't crawl out of bed until noon.
He wanted to head straight back into the basement and keep working, but when he reached the living room, he found Aunt Anna and Mary Jane sitting there, drinking tea and chatting with Aunt May and Uncle Ben.
"Morning, everyone." He yawned. "Working overtime last night?"
"Oh, the great hero finally wakes up," Uncle Ben teased. "What project kept you up this time?"
"Yeah, a new research topic. Hopefully I'll have something to show for it."
Aunt May winked at him. "Peter, take Mary Jane somewhere to talk. Anna and the rest of us have things to discuss."
Aunt May, your matchmaking is way too obvious, Peter grumbled inwardly.
But he obediently took Mary Jane into the kitchen and poured himself a bowl of cereal.
Mary Jane sat beside him, watching him wolf it down. After a while, she suddenly blurted out, "So, you and Felicia...?"
"Hard to say," Peter mumbled.
"What do you mean, hard to say?"
"She just kissed me." Peter spread his hands. "I didn't plan it."
"But you kissed her back!" Mary Jane's voice rose. Aunt May peered over from the living room, and they both lowered their heads at once, looking innocent.
Mary Jane lowered her voice and ground her teeth. "So if she kisses you, you just kiss her back?"
"Why not?" Peter said, perfectly unashamed. "It's not like girls line up to kiss me every day. Besides, Felicia's pretty great. Don't you think so too?"
"I..." Mary Jane choked. "Whatever, you still kissed her."
"Yes, I did. What, do you want me to kiss you?"
Mary Jane turned her face away, her ears reddening. She said nothing.
Peter sighed, softening his voice. "I'm teasing, Mary Jane. Sorry."
"It's fine." She shrugged.
His phone rang.
"Hello?"
"Peter, it's Marcus!" The voice on the other end sounded urgent. "Master Colleen added an extra training session at the last minute. Are you coming?"
Peter paused. "Today? You didn't tell me beforehand. What time?"
"Can you get here before two?"
"I could, but I..." He glanced at Mary Jane. "Sorry, I have a friend over. Can I make it up next time?"
"Tsk. Master's definitely not going to be happy."
"I know. Tell her I'm sorry."
After he hung up, Mary Jane asked, "Who was that?"
"A friend from the dojo, asking me to come train. I turned him down."
"You didn't have to turn him down for me."
"It's no big deal." Peter washed his bowl. "Want to hang out upstairs?"
Mary Jane nodded.
Once they were in his room, she sat on the bed, while Peter pulled up a chair and straddled it. After a moment of silence, he asked, "How have you been?"
Mary Jane gave a wry smile. "Pretty weird. Friday was so weird. It was supposed to be a perfectly nice fall outing, and suddenly it turned into that."
"Want to talk about it?"
"What's there to talk about?" She spread her hands. "Robots attacked us, Iron Man flew in and saved the day, and you single-handedly made sure nobody on our bus died. That's it."
"I didn't really do much."
"Peter, you tore apart a drone with your bare hands. If you hadn't called Johnny Storm-and you actually know Johnny Storm-God knows how many people would've died." Mary Jane stared at him, enunciating every word. "Accept it, Little Tiger. You're a hero."
Peter smiled. "Thanks, Mary Jane. I'm glad you think so."
"What do you mean, I think so? I'm not the only one!" Mary Jane grew excited. "I spent all day on the phone with Liz yesterday. The whole school knows what you did! Everyone thinks you're a hero! Liz even said half the cheerleading squad is into you now!"
Peter blinked. "Interesting."
Mary Jane's expression grew a little complicated, as though she wanted to say something but swallowed it.
Seeing that, Peter changed the subject. "Speaking of which, aren't auditions for the school play on Monday? Are you going?"
Mary Jane froze. "You actually remembered?"
"Of course I remembered. I'm still your friend, right?"
"...Yes, you are."
"So? Are you going or not?"
"I'm not sure, Peter. Liz keeps saying it's a bad idea, that rehearsals are long and exhausting-"
"Mary Jane, being long and exhausting is exactly what makes it worth doing. If it were something you could finish without any effort, why would you need to take it seriously? Is that a reason to give up?"
"But Liz-"
"Liz isn't you. She hasn't even tried it. What qualifies her to judge for you? Stop telling me what Liz says. Tell me what you think."
Mary Jane said nothing for a long while before finally letting out a breath. "You're right."
Peter grinned smugly. "Of course I am."
"Careful, Little Tiger. Girls don't consider arrogance a virtue." Mary Jane rolled her eyes at him, but the corners of her mouth had already lifted.
"I'll remember that."
Mary Jane's voice grew quiet again. "Liz says we should focus on prom, that there isn't much time left to prepare. She and Flash have already decided to go together. I... I'm still not sure whether I'm going."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Prom's almost here, and nobody's asked you yet? Didn't Harry ask you?"
"He did, but..."
"Don't go," Peter said flatly. "Every last Osborn has something wrong with them. Harry might be all right, but his dad is completely insane."
"How do you know so much?"
"I used to be his best friend. Norman always looked at me strangely, and it's even more obvious now. In his eyes, people are toys he can collect. I don't want Harry looking at you that way too."
"He wouldn't."
Peter shrugged. "If you say he wouldn't, then he wouldn't. How about this? If you decide Harry isn't reliable after all, I'll go to prom with you. What do you think?"
"What about Felicia?"
"Her? That woman's complicated. I seriously doubt she even likes me, let alone wants to go to some prom with me." Peter knew perfectly well that Felicia was interested in him, but that Black Cat was too stubborn to say it outright, so he couldn't very well expose her. "So? Do you want to go with me?"
Mary Jane blinked, her lips slowly curving into a smile. "How about this? You go talk to Felicia, and I'll clear things up with Harry. If neither of us can sort out our own mess, we'll go together. Deal?"
"Deal." Peter smiled. "Also, about the audition-do you need to rehearse your lines? What's this year's play again?"
"'A Midsummer Night's Dream.' I want to play Helena."
From love letters to plays, you certainly stick to a theme: a woman in love with a man who isn't interested in her. Mary Jane, Mary Jane, that hint isn't even a hint anymore, Peter thought.
But aloud, he said, "Sure. I'll download a PDF on my phone and rehearse with you."
Mary Jane's eyes lit up.
They rehearsed until dark. Aunt Anna showed no intention of urging Mary Jane to go home and let her stay for dinner. Uncle Ben told a few corny jokes at the table, Aunt May had cooked a more lavish meal than usual, and Mary Jane sat beside Peter, enjoying her food.
Peter felt this was the most comfortable day he'd had in a while. For once, he didn't have to stay on edge. For once, he could have a proper conversation with someone without feeling tired at all.
After nightfall, he returned to the basement and continued digging into the Arc Reactor. By the early hours, he was confident he could replicate one whenever he wanted. At least as far as the principles went, he had no blind spots left.
Then he got bored.
So he brought out the unidentified propulsion leg and began dismantling its propulsion system.
The structure was astonishingly intricate. The thruster's core consisted of concentrated muons, elementary particles with properties similar to electrons but much greater mass density. By adjusting the density, it could serve as a thruster for flight or, at a higher density, a physical weapon.
This repulsor technology was simply mind-boggling.
The more Peter dismantled, the more impressed he became. This was clearly a replica of Tony Stark's technology. He had learned so much just by reverse-engineering a knockoff. If he could take apart an original...
He put away the propulsion leg and went upstairs to his bedroom. He was so tired his eyelids kept drooping.
As he took off his T-shirt and prepared to lie down, a low voice came from behind him.
"Very nice, Mr. Parker. You look skinny, but you've got quite a bit under those clothes."