Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

twelve

Peter

With Ned's program now plugged into Doc Ock's system, he would be able to hack into the robotic arms and, hopefully, be able to track them. Ned was typing on his keyboard furiously, Peter could hear his fingers hitting the keys over the com. 

"Anything yet?" Peter asked, sitting on the roof of a nearby building in his Spider-Man suit. His wounds were fully healed, just like Peter had told Alexandra they would be. He was still sore in some spots, but that was the worst of it. He was mostly just glad he hadn't had to tell Mr. Stark about it. 

"Not yet, nope," Ned replied. "I'll let you know the second I do."

"This is completely crazy," Alexandra's voice was a bit softer than Ned's, on account that she didn't have her own com, and was speaking to Peter by basically talking to Ned's ear. "You do realize that, right? He almost killed you the last time you fought him."

"I'll be fine," Peter waved her concern off. "I know what I'm doing. And last time I was kinda preoccupied with getting the program into his system; this time I can put all of my concentration into fighting the guy."

"And taking him down!" Ned added.

"Yes, and taking him down." Peter nodded in agreement. He just heard Alexandra's groan and chuckled slightly.

"I still don't think this is a good idea," She said. "But if you think you can handle it—"

"I don't think I can handle it, I know I can," Peter said. "Besides, Doc Ock doesn't have any idea that I'm coming. I have the element of surprise on my side."

"I guess." She sighed. "But if things start to go bad, we're calling Tony Stark."

Peter suddenly tensed up. "No!" He said. "I mean—no, don't worry, you won't need to. I can handle myself. If Mr. Stark has to come and save me every time I get into a bit of trouble, he'll never trust me to operate on my own."

"Fine." Alexandra gritted out. Peter thought of that as a win and nodded, though neither of his friends could actually see him.

He sat on the top of that building for what felt like hours, waiting for Doc Ock to show himself again. He could tell that his friends were getting bored on the other end of the line, and when he heard Ned groan, he sighed. "This is taking a bit longer than I expected," Peter admitted.

Why wasn't Doc Ock showing himself? Why couldn't Ned track his location... oh.

"A bit longer is being generous," Ned replied. "Dude, I'm sorry I can't track him. The program should be working, I-I don't know what's going on. Maybe he's out of range or something? He could have left the city—"

"I don't think that's it." Peter shook his head. "I think he might be underground, like in the sewers."

"Gross," Alexandra said.

Peter stood up, stretching his arms and legs as he did so. Finally, something to do. "Well, I guess I should start looking around down there."

There was silence on the other end of the line for a moment. "You're not serious, right?" Alexandra asked. "Please tell me you're not serious."

"What's wrong with swinging around the sewers for a little while?" Peter replied. "If it means we might find Doc Ock, then I think it's worth a shot."

"We won't be able to communicate with you down there," Ned said. "If you go underground, the coms won't work. What if you get in serious trouble and we have no idea?"