~Iron Family~

Now That's How You Decorate

When he heard Morgan's scream, Peter swung in from the opposite direction of the bathrooms, hoping that would help lower his suspicion level.

His spidey-sense was tingling--which was never a good sign. Duh--it existed for one purpose. Well, maybe two: telling him when to flip pancakes.

Santa's evil twin had pulled a gun out of his pocket, sending the elves running away screaming and Tony standing in front of the other kids protectively.

"Good morning, Santa!" Peter called cheerfully, using his momentum from the swing to deliver a kick to the head. "Got any presents for me, 'cause I got one for you!"

Little explosions sounded behind him as the guy fired, trying to hit him and missing every time.

"Go hide behind the fountain!" Peter shouted at Mr. Stark. "Keep the kids safe!"

"What about Peter?" Mr. Stark yelled.

Oh, right.

"Um... Don't you worry 'bout him, Iron Man! I've got it covered!" He gave a thumbs-up for good measure, ducking again as the man fired another shot.

"Hold still, you little bug!" the guy yelled. "Quit movin' around!"

"That's kind of the point!" Peter shouted back. "Sorry, but I don't have time to play in the snow--I've just gotta take that little weapon you have there!"

He webbed up the gun and pulled it from the man's grasp, who sure looked vulnerable now.

Peter's eyes widened and he almost dropped it when he saw the side read Saberling.

Something felt very wrong. His spidey-sense was still going off. He stood up, throwing his arms out.

"Everybody, get down!"

Even the evil Santa listened to him.

Suddenly something exploded so loudly Peter was on the ground again, clutching his ears and trying not to scream in frustration. It was louder than anything he'd ever heard before--it clogged up his senses, tore through his brain, making everything turn red. He wanted it to stop.

He realized it was carrying on and on, like an alarm. As he glanced around him, still dazed, he saw that everyone else was getting up and acting like nothing was wrong.

Don't they hear that terrible shrieking?! Oh.

He had super-hearing. Right. They probably didn't--it might've been like a dog whistle or something. Designed just to bug him.

Through the splitting headache the noise was now bringing, he watched with blurry vision as the man ran up, snatched his gun, and started to jog away through a jewelry store.

"He's getting away!" Peter yelled, hoping he was voicing those words right--he couldn't hear himself. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the man blasted down from what looked like an Iron Man blaster.

Good. Now I'm not alone.

The noise slowly quieted down, but Peter's ears were still ringing. He realized he was continuing to clamp his arms over his ears, even when Mr. Stark ran up to him and gave him a shake.

"Hello? Earth to Spidey."

"Sorry," Peter gasped, slowly removing his hands. "But didn't you hear that?"

"All I heard and saw was you letting that guy get away!" he shouted angrily. "I thought I'd been wrong about you being in line with the bad guys!"

Peter bit his lip, trying to steady his shaking legs as he stood. "No--there was a super high-pitched noise...it was so loud, blocking up all my other senses... I couldn't stop him. I tried, but--but--"