The Amazing Spider-Man 3

Chapter 24

Gwen and her mother were gone for at least half an hour. During that time, Aunt May and I had a discussion of our own.

"You sure are one brave, responsible young man," Aunt May said.

"Thanks," I smiled awkwardly.

"Going up to Gwen's mother like that, saving innocent civilians from such deadly crimes and accidents, still managing to go to college through all of that...I've never been more proud."

"Thank you," I thanked her again.

"I should be thanking you." I blushed a little.

"You're welcome," I laughed. Aunt May smiled and nodded.

After that, we just had small talk until Gwen and her mother returned. They both looked a little shaken, but relaxed and slightly relieved.

"I think I'm going to stay at my own house tonight," Gwen said. "Thank you so much for letting me stay Mrs. Parker...um...Mrs. May."

"No problem. Anytime," Aunt May replied.

I walked up to Gwen, wrapping her up in a big hug. I kissed her forehead, then we broke away. She hoisted her bag, holding her clothes and other belongings, over her shoulder and followed her mother outside to their car. I watched her climb into the passenger seat and give a short wave as they drove away.

---

"Now, I would like to take all of you on a field trip tomorrow, to the Stark Tower at the other end of the city. Hopefully you all know a little about it and Mr. Tony Stark and, if you don't, perhaps we could change that," Mr. Allen was presenting to the class about a field trip that we would be taking the following day to investigate the technology that we would be using and learning about.

I began to think about what I knew about Tony Stark. He was a multi-millionaire, maybe even a billionaire, I didn't know for sure. And, also, he managed to construct a full iron bodysuit that allowed him to fly and use multiple firearms and other weapons. He was very cocky and stuck-up, but also very intelligent.

He had recently restarted Stark Expo, something to do with creating "The City of the Future". I hadn't spent much time over there because it was beyond even my comprehension. I decided that perhaps I would show Gwen sometime.

He was saving people of his own. New York was an extremely difficult city to take care of, even with someone like me. It was pretty nice having an Iron Man to take care of things that I was unable to at the time.

Recently, there had been some kind of alien attack on his side of the city. I had tried to get there, but any time I tried to get close, men in drones claiming to be from some kind of organization called "S.H.I.E.L.D." would not allow me to pass. They wanted me to leave the issue to "The Avengers", who were apparently a bunch of freaks like me. I didn't understand why I wasn't allowed to pass. I still didn't.

Now, Mr. Allen was giving us handouts explaining what we would be doing on our trip. We would not be riding together. Each of us was responsible for our own transportation. I still had no car.

Like that was an issue for me.

---

Lance was absent. I was surprised. Was he sick? Was he skipping class? Did he have class?

I had to stop myself, realizing that I was already planning in my head of how I would return the favor of Lance's reaction when I wasn't there Monday.

No. I didn't want to become more of a target than I already was.

Like that was even possible. Every time I passed people in the hallway, I got stares.

Why should I have cared? I'm Spider-Man.