Spider-X: A Spider-Man Story

Chapter 9: Robotics Club

The next day after school Peter goes to the robotics club meeting.

The robotics club is made up of a group of nerds, unsurprisingly, but unlike at his Midtown, robotics isn't a fun after school activity kids do to put on their resume. Kids do robotics at this Midtown because they go to a sports high school and need some way to work on projects without the jocks making fun of them.

Peter pushes away the pang in his chest as he meets the other club members and immediately evaluates them on how well they would get along with Ned.

They're all working on automated robotic arms to move things. Like prototypes of the robots Tony used to help build his suits. Peter works on a circuit board for most of the meeting, which pleases Brian, and by the time it's over, all the members shoot Peter a smile as they leave.

Once the room is empty, Peter rummages around piles of loose parts, circuit boards, and tools to find scrap metal for his new web shooters. They won't be as pretty as his old ones, and by the equipment available, they'll be a mismatch of different shades of grey, but Peter thinks there's enough here to make them functional. And that's all he needs.

He gets to work smoothing down some of the metal and isolating some pieces when someone comes in. Peter hurriedly hides his materials in a drawer. "Whoa, h-hey Mr. McCoy!"

The teacher startles, "Oh, sorry, I didn't know anyone was still here." The teacher is in his forties, black hair, and glasses. He's oddly in shape for a high school chemistry teacher. "Peter, right?"

Peter nods. "I'm new. I was here for robotics club and wanted to stick around to explore a bit. See what everyone is building." Peter gestures around. He realizes that's a stupid move and drops his arms awkwardly.

"You're Xavier's new kid also, right? Living at the Institute?"

"Uh..." Peter isn't sure how much is safe to divulge to the teacher.

Mr. McCoy sees his hesitation and smiles, "Professor Xavier and I go way back. I part time at the Institute as a medic, so we'll probably see each other."

"Oh. Cool."

Mr. McCoy crosses to take a look at Peter's circuit board. He studies it intently, looking at the robotic arm it's meant for. "You did this?" Peter nods. "Great work," Mr. McCoy muses. "Really great. Where did you learn how to do this?"

Peter rubs the back of his neck. "My, um, my uncle."

Mr. McCoy sees the slight discomfort in Peter and decides not to press. "You know," he says instead, "lots of kids at the Xavier Institute come from tragedy. It's a good place to find community."

"I'll-yeah. Yeah. Thanks, Mr. McCoy. See you in class tomorrow." Peter grabs his bag and jogs out of the room. He stops abruptly as he finds himself face to face with May- Mrs. Reilly, he means. "Hi." He says, cursing inwardly at how stupid he sounds.

"Hi Peter," she smiles. She peers behind him at the classroom. "Robotics club, huh? You must be pretty smart."

"That's what my aunt used to tell me."

"Then she must be pretty smart."

Mrs. Reilly's smile fades the longer Peter doesn't say anything. He can't. He doesn't know what to say and he will not cry in front of this stranger, no matter how much he wishes she was his aunt. Mrs. Reilly tells him good night and walks in the direction of her classroom. Peter stares after her.

When Peter finally makes it out the building, he takes a deep breath of fresh air. His palms are slightly clammy. Oddly, he sees Jean sitting on the hood of her car, reading. He walks over.