Hanging by a Thread 🕷 Peter Parker

fifteen

Alexandra

Tony Stark had decided that he was going to be staying in the city until the following week so he would be available to help Peter, Alexandra, and Ned that weekend. They still hadn't figured out why Dr. Octavius had let Peter get away so easily. Tony had taken Peter's suit after they left the hospital Monday evening in order to check it over, make sure nothing was wrong.

Of course, that Friday, when the three friends planned on going to Mr. Stark's penthouse in Manhattan, he called Peter to tell him that he'd found something—unusual in his suit's system. Alexandra, Peter, and Ned took the subway all the way to Manhattan (it was quite the trip) and then walked the rest of the way to the penthouse.

It was located at the top of a rather nice apartment building, far nicer than the ones they all lived in, and there was a private elevator to take them up to the penthouse. Ned and Peter were gawking the whole time, they had never been anywhere this nice before. Alexandra thought it was a bit excessive, but she had to admit, she wouldn't mind living in a place like this.

When the elevator stopped and the doors opened, the friends were met with a grand view of New York City through the large windows that lined the far wall. The main room was a spacious one that housed several white couches and love chairs, a sixty inch plasma tv screen, and even a grand piano. Did Tony Stark even play piano? Alexandra decided not to think too much of it.

Tony didn't seem to be there when the teens stepped into the room, so Peter cleared his throat and called out, "Uh—Mr. Stark?" His voice bounced off the walls of the penthouse, creating an echo. The apartment was huge, yes, but it was also empty. Alexandra had a strange feeling that Tony Stark spent most of his days alone here.

Suddenly, the billionaire emerged from the next room with a grin on his face. "Hey, Peter," He said, "and company." Ned waved lightly, clearly still starstruck by the fact that he was standing in Tony Stark's apartment. "So, I need to show you something on the suit."

"Tony? Who is here?" Suddenly a man with red and silver skin who wore a black leotard with a gold cape appeared—as he floated right through the nearest wall. Ned's jaw dropped and Alexandra couldn't help but stare. Peter seemed mostly unfazed.

"Right, this is Vision." Tony introduced the strange man. "Vision, these are a few friends of mine. Peter's an intern, and his friends are here to visit."

"It is nice to meet you." Vision nodded.

Alexandra wanted to tell him the same thing, but she was too shocked to say anything. Instead, Tony told them to follow him. As they walked down the hall and towards a staircase, Ned bombarded Tony with questions about Vision. "Is he an alien or something? Where is he from? What was that weird yellow thing on his head?"

"No, not an alien, he's from—Earth, technically, and the weird yellow thing on his head is a magic alien stone," Tony replied. The three kids stared at him. "Right, that's a long story—I'll tell it another time."

"I met him in Germany," Peter added. "He's pretty cool—he can shoot lasers from his forehead—"

"Oh, okay—that's totally normal." Ned nodded.

The three kids followed Tony into the next room, up a staircase, and into possibly the nicest laboratory any of them had ever set foot in. Alexandra wasn't really one for science, it had always been her more difficult subjects (thank God for Peter and Ned), but even she had to admit that the lab was nice. It was amazing, actually. They all gazed around in awe while Tony smugly smirked at their reactions.

"Yeah, it's pretty cool, isn't it?" He asked. "'Course, the lab upstate is about three times this size and has nicer equipment, but this is more of a weekend getaway sorta place." He shrugged.