Malen'kaya Zemlya [2] [P. Parker]

3.19 Save The Day

Before my eyes, webs began to snap.

"No!" Peter shouted as the boat began to fill with water. "No, no, no, no!" he cried jumping forwards and grabbing onto two of them, trying to hold the entire boat together with his arms.

"Jane, am I synced with Marina?" I asked quickly.

"Yes."

"Good," I replied. "Rina, you good down there? It's getting worse!"

"I know!" she shouted back, her voice sounding strained. "Can you do anything?"

"I- I don't know," I said quietly, but raised my arms and focussed on the stone and metal in the boat. I could feel it by then. I pushed my arms together, but nothing happened.

"Miss Valentinez, what if you use the sand?" Jane asked.

I stopped my efforts and refocused on the sand and sludge on the harbour floor.

I felt it move with my arms and I lifted it to the side of the boat, combining with the water Marina was using.

We struggled to push the sides together, but then it got a whole lot easier.

"Hi, Spider-Man. Band practise, was it?" a snarky voice asked as the sides pushed together.

I breathed out in relief as I saw the red and gold of Iron-Man helping us.

"Ashley, Marina, you two can stop now. I've got it from here."

I sighed in relief and dropped my aching arms, leaning against the nearest pillar.

Marina staggered through the boat, her hair sopping wet and her new suit, one that looked almost identical to mine, dripping.

I pushed off the pillar as she got closer and wrapped my arms around her.

We leaned into each other as Iron-Man fixed the boat up, our eyes closing and us both finally relaxing.

I had missed my best friend.

Marina and I sat about ten feet away from Peter on top of a building, our feet hanging off the edge and our suits off.

I kicked my converse against the side of the building as Tony flew over.

"Previously, on Peter Screws the Pooch:" he scolded as he landed, irritation in his voice. "I tell you to stay away from this. Instead, you hacked a multimillion-dollar suit so you could sneak around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do. You even dragged Marina into this."

"Actually, Tony." I cut in. "I called Marina."

He pointed a finger at me. "I'll get to you later."

"Is everyone okay?" Peter asked, his voice quiet and dejected.

"No thanks to you," Tony replied.

"No thanks to me?" Peter repeated, jumping off the ledge and walking over to Tony. "Those weapons were out there, and I tried to tell you about it. But you didn't listen. None of this would've happened if you had just listened to me. If you even cared, you'd actually be here."

I looked over in interest as Tony stepped out of the now open Iron-Man suit.

Peter stepped back in shock.

"I did listen, kid," Tony told him. I could hear the disappointment in his voice. "Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 14-year-old kid."