Earth-1996

iv. homework

"Let me get this straight, you can control elements, and you're the spiderling, crime fighting spider, spider boy?" Mr. Stark asked.

"Spider-Man." Peter mumbled as Percy sniggered.

"Who else knows? Anybody?" Mr. Stark asked once more.

"Nobody." Percy replied as Peter shook his head. The room growing even more serious.

"Not even your unusually attractive Aunt?" Tony asked, breaking the ice.

"No, no, no, no no." Peter babbled.

"If she found out, she would freak out." Percy insisted. "When she freaks out-"

"We freak out." Peter finished.

"You know what I think is really cool? This webbing." The hero amused as he threw it from across the room which Peter caught effortlessly. "Tensile strength is off the charts. Who manufactured that?" He continued.

"I did." Peter replied and threw the webbing across the room to it's original hiding place.

"Climbing the walls? How're you doing that? Cohesive gloves?" He started asking again as he observed Spider-Man's suit.

"It's a long story." Peter mumbled.

"You?" Tony turned to Percy with questioning eyes.

"I don't want to talk about it." She replied grimly.

"Okay." He reassured. "How do they work then?" He cautiously asked.

"I can control air, water, land and fire. I can manipulate them into doing anything I want. Like, what I did earlier, I concentrated and made the air pick me up." She explained.

"What about the other elements?"

"I'm working on it." She replied as she sat down on her brother's bed. Tony nodded, turning to Peter this time.

"Why're you doing this?" He asked Peter, who sat beside his sister. "What gets you out of that twin bed in the morning?"

"Because I've been me my whole life, and I've had these powers for six months. I read books, I build computers, and yeah, I would love to play football, but I couldn't then so I shouldn't now."

"Sure, cause you're different." Tony reassured.

"Exactly. But I can't tell anybody that, so I'm not. When you can do the things I can, but you don't... and then the bad things happen, they happen because of you." Peter continued, wholeheartedly answering Mr. Stark.

"So you wanna look out for the little guy. You wanna do your part. Make the world a better place, all that, right?" An all too familiar glint appeared in his eyes as he asked the kid.

"Yeah. Yeah just looking out... for the little guy. That's-That's what it is." Peter murmured. As his sister comfortingly patted his brother's back.

Tony stood up, "I'm gonna sit here, so you move the leg." He told Peter and clapped his hand reassuringly on his shoulder. "You guys have passports?" He asked, turning to Percy.

"No. We don't even have driver's licenses." She chuckled.

"You guys ever been to Germany?"

"No." Peter and Percy said in unison.

"Oh you guys will love it." The billionaire amused.

"We can't go to Germany." Percy insisted.

"Why?"

"We have... homework." Peter blurted as Percy scrunched up her face, cringing at her twin's answer.

"I'm gonna pretend you didn't say that." Mr. Stark rebuked. "You guys are gonna need a little training, especially you, Percy." He insisted, facing her.

"I'm-I'm being serious! We can't just drop out of school!" Peter exclaimed.

"Might be a little dangerous. Better tell Aunt Hottie I'm taking you guys on a field trip." Tony declared, ignoring Peter's words as he headed for the door.

Peter webbed the billionaire's hands before he even had the chance to turn the knob.

"Don't tell Aunt May." He demanded.

"Alright, Spider-Man." Mr. Stark assured the superhero. "Get me out of this."

"I'm sorry. I'll get that." He apologized as his sister giggled at the current situation.