~Iron Family~

Le Murder

The new suit felt great.

Peter had access to so many new webshooter combinations, a GPS, a personal AI, and so much more. The only downside about the new suit was that it was a bit less comfortable than the old one. This was just plain Spandex.

He swung on the route his AI had mapped for him, relishing the sensation of the wind cutting sharply around his head without getting caught in a hood or baggy sweatshirt and pants. Mr. Stark flew above him, in full armor yet not firing a single blast at him.

Pretty soon Leonard Saber's mansion came into view, a shiny, expensive property standing out amongst middle class area that surrounded it. No cars except his own were parked in the long driveway.

Peter landed with unusual grace and perched himself atop the security booth outside the fence. Iron Man landed with a clang next to him, watching as the huge S.H.I.E.L.D. and FBI cars busted down the puny fence and crowded the driveway. Two helicopters flew in as well, making the well-manicured green grass ruffle and the flags in the yard whip around frantically.

"S.H.I.E.L.D. and FBI!" someone shouted, running up to the door. Agents began to surround the house, pointing their guns at anything and everything. "You are surrounded! Come out with your hands up, Saber!"

No response. The agents threatened to break the door down, which they did. They slipped inside, Peter and Mr. Stark right on their heels.

The house was dark. Every window Peter saw had blinds pulled over it, sunlight squeezing past the corners and trying desperately to illuminate the dark rooms. The agents activated the flashlights on their guns and they flipped on any lightswitches they saw. Peter activated the fancy-schmancy night vision option his new suit offered, which illuminated everything with a ghostly green glow.

When they finally reached Saber's private study at the back of the house, Peter didn't need his night vision to see the sickening pool of red splattered across the wood-paneled floor.

***

"Excuse us," Mr. Stark groaned, squeezing past an officer.

Leonard Saber's office had been turned into a crime scene. They'd found Saber's body slumped at his desk, over his computer desk with a note typed up on the drive. try to Avenge this, was all it said. The A in avenge was capitalized. Peter didn't have to be a genius code-cracker to know that this was aimed at the Avengers.

The forensic pathologists called to the scene found nothing suspicious about Saber's body, other than the bullet hole in his chest. There was no signs of a scuffle, either--the room was perfectly tidy, not a speck of dust in sight.

Not to mention that the gun was clenched tightly in Saber's dead-cold hand.

"We're ruling this out as suicide," someone had told them. "That much is obvious."

"Obvious?" Peter asked. "Um, I'm not sure about that. Something...something different is at play here."

"Oh, yeah?" the officer raised an eyebrow. "And are you an officer? Scientist? Thought so. Now, step aside and let the professionals do their work."

"This doesn't make any sense," Peter blurted. "He was so close to winning. Why would he...?"

"Kid, just let it go," Mr. Stark grumbled in his ear. He turned to the head detective. "So...who's gonna take over Saberling?"

"Me," a voice called dramatically. Peter turned his head, watching as a man strolled into the room, flinging his coat at a lowly-looking officer who was securing the POLICE LINE: DO NOT CROSS tape.

Peter's brain froze. He recognized this man's voice from somewhere, he just couldn't put his finger on it.

The man had grayish, peppered hair and a stylish goatee. His eyes were hidden behind thick, dark sunglasses. He carried himself with snobbish confidence, hands on his hips and a curling smile as he surveyed the scene.

"And who might you be?" the head detective asked, hand instinctively flying to his holster.

"The name's Guy," the man sighed, pronouncing it like gi. "It's my last name. French. Anywhos, I got the news that my boss threw the towel in. Being his second-in-command, this was bittersweet news for me." He surveyed Saber's body with a frown. "Saber was like a father to me, yet now I will assume control of an entire company. Saberling Technology, to be exact. And don't worry--I'm going to get to the bottom of this whole appliance problem."

Peter wrinkled his nose behind his mask. This man was rubbing him the wrong way--there was something fishy going on here.

Guy answered all the questions he was asked, not seeming suspicious at all. He kept looking in Peter's direction and flashing him a cat-like grin. When his questioning was done, he sashayed over to him and stuck out his hand.

"Guy, new CEO of Saberling," he hissed in his snakelike voice. "Spider-Man, I presume?"

"Yes," Peter grumbled, making sure to narrow his eyes so that the eyes on his suit would match. The man laughed.

"Spunky, this one!"

To Peter's surprise, Mr. Stark snorted. "Yeah, you should've seen him before I gave him the suit."

"You made this? Incredible. May I?" Without waiting for permission, Guy turned Peter's hand over and traced his fingers delicately along the webshooters. Peter pulled his hand away, but not before hearing a snapping noise from the man's glasses. His breath caught.

"Now, my boys are huge fans of yours," Guy explained. "Mind if we take a quick picture?"

"Yes," Peter snapped quickly, before the man could jump ahead of himself again. "I'm not ready for things like that yet. Sorry, but you can just tell your boys that I said hi."

In actuality, he was afraid of what this man would do with a picture of himself and Spider-Man. Probably not something good.

The man's smile was wiped off his face, replaced by a frown.

"Be careful, little spider," he sneered in that awfully-familiar voice. "You don't want to make me an enemy."

He lowered his sunglasses and gave him a wink before strutting out, grabbing his jacket from the puny officer.

"Well, that'll be all," he heard Mr. Stark tell the head detective. "I can see we aren't needed here. Thank you, officer. Best of luck with your investigation."