I don't own anything except any original character and/or any original plot

🕷

Chapter Nine: Ferries

🕷

When the weekend was over, I returned to school as if everything was normal. I listened to the news reports of what happened while walking through the hallways. The school was going crazy over Spider-Man and Riptide.

When I was walking down the stairs Peter and Ned appeared beside me, already talking about what was going on.

"Should I tell everyone?"

"Ned if you tell a single soul I swear that you will find the entire Hudson River in your bedroom when you get home," I growled lowly. It was an empty threat. I couldn't lift an entire pool of water, much less a river. Either way, Ned seemed scared enough.

"We gotta get to class, anyway. Come on," I implored, motioning for the pair to follow me.

"I'm not going to class," Peter stated.

"But we have a Spanish quiz," Ned muttered hopelessly.

"Look, this guy is stealing from damage control to get the parts he needs for his weapons. All I gotta do is catch him. I might not even come back here. Mr. Stark is moving the Avengers upstate. If I bring this guy in..."

"Peter you can't be a high school dropout."

"I am so far beyond high school right now," Peter walked towards the door.

"Peter, the Principal is-"

"Parker, my office."

"Just keep walking Ned," I put a hand on Ned's back, ushering him to go with me to class.

"But Peter-"

"Is screwed. He needs this, trust me."

Six Hours Later- 3:25 PM

I had gone through my day as I normally would. The only difference was that Peter wasn't in first hour and spent the rest of the day being grumpy. He got detention for trying to run off, apparently. That meant I got a day off of patrol.

After getting home and making a snack, I settled on my bed to watch YouTube. I was fully prepared to not move from that position for the next two hours until my parents got home from work.

A half hour into my YouTube binge my phone pinged. Reaching out to grab it from my nightstand, my eyes widened when I saw it was from Peter.

I'm on your roof

Wear your uniform

Letting out a groan I slammed my computer shut. I dug into my closet and pulled out my uniform. I took off the comfy clothes I was wearing and put on my suit, nearly groaning again when I pressed the button that conformed it to my body. I was pulling on my boots while simultaneously pressing on my mask. I sent a text to my parents explaining that I was going out on patrol in case they got home before I got back.

Taking a lipstick out of my belt pocket I applied a layer. Everything finished, I stepped onto the fire escape. Taking the stairs two at a time I met Peter on the roof.

"Thought you had detention," I greeted, wrapping my arms around Peter's neck. I trusted him to take us wherever he had planned for us to go.

"I did, but Spider-Man comes first."

"You are going to be in so much trouble," I smirked, "Where are we going anyway? You sort of kidnapped me."

"One of the guys that was under the bridge has a criminal record. Karen found him on a security cam so we're going to interrogate him. Interrogation mode? Sure. What's different?"

"You sound like a demon," I deadpanned.

The two of us soon arrived at Aaron Davis' location. He was putting grocery bags into the trunk of his car. Peter webbed his hand to the top of his trunk to gain his attention.

"Remember me?" Peter asked in the gravelly, dark tone of Interrogation Mode, "We need information. You're gonna give it to us now."

"What happened to your voice? What happened to his voice?" Aaron turned to me.

"What do you mean?'

"I heard you by the bridge I know what a girl sounds like."

I snorted, moving my hand to cover my mouth so Peter couldn't see how much I was smiling.

"I'm not a girl! I'm a boy. I mean, I'm a- I'm a man."

"I don't care what you are. A boy, a girl-"

"I'm not a girl! I'm a boy- Look, who is selling these weapons? I need to know. Give us names or else."

Aaron slammed the trunk. Peter jumped back. I crossed my arms, raising a brow and staying put.

"You've never done this before, have you?" Aaron asked Peter, passing over me.

"Deactivate interrogation mode," Peter grumbled.

"Look, these people are selling weapons that are insanely dangerous. Lots of people can, and will, be hurt if they keep on selling them on the street."

"The other night, you told that dude, 'if you shoot somebody, shoot me.' It's pretty ballsy. I don't want those weapons in this neighborhood. I got a nephew who lives here."

"Who are these guys? What can you tell me about the guy with the wings?"

"Other than he's a psychopath dressed as a demon, nothing. I don't know who he is or where he is. But I do know where he's gonna be. This crazy dude I used to work with, he's supposed to be doing a deal with him."

"When?"

"Staten Island Ferry, four-thirty."

"Awesome. That's gonna dissolve in two hours," Peter grabbed my hand and pulled me along.

"No, no, no. Come back and fix this."

"You deserve that!" I called out as we ran from the scene.

Peter and I swung to the Staten Island Ferry. When we arrived Peter stuck to the metal side, and I used the water from around us to keep me up.

"Okay, Karen, activate Enhanced Reconnaissance Mode. Okay... The guy from the bridge is up front, man I hate that guy. Who's the other guy he's talking to? No record? Great. May, I can't talk to her right now, put her on voicemail. Okay, dronie, keep an eye on that guy."

We climbed to the top level of the ship. Gripping the railing tightly, we leaned over the side to watch the deal go down.

"Alright, one of the guys has a criminal record. No, what is it with you and instant kill mode? Dronie, scan the ship for a white pickup truck."

I followed the small drone with my eyes as it flew past us and around the ferry to scan for the truck. The two of us waited patiently as the drone did as it was told.

"Oh, this is perfect," Peter whispered excitedly, "They got the buyers, sellers, and weapons all in one place."

"That's what you said the last time, and we blew up a national monument," I reminded Peter.

"No, no, no! Redirect call," Peter ignored my earlier statement, "Uh, I'm actually at school. Extra-curricular. I'm in the middle of something."

The ferry's horn went off.

"I'm at late band practice."

"Peter," I pointed out one of the men holding up the keys to the truck.

"Hey, uh, Mr. Stark I gotta go. End call," Peter held out his hand and yanked the keys from the man's hand, "I'll take those. Yoink!"

Peter and I jumped down to the main level, "Guys the illegal weapons ferry left at four."

I lifted my hands and whipped water towards two of the men. Peter threw one of the men off the side of the boat.

The new Shocker activated his gauntlet, swinging towards us. Peter webbed his arm and swung him over the metal railing so he electrified himself instead of us. Within all the fuss the telltale yelling of a higher authority- the FBI, they announced- cut through our fighting. Still, we continued.

I looked down at the white truck, spotting a man with graying hair smirking at us. Raising my hand to freeze him, I paused in confusion when he disappeared behind the truck. When he reappeared, he was the Vulture.

"Bug-Boy!" I yelled in warning. Vulture reached into the truck and pulled out a weapon.

In unison, we ducked under a shot from the deadly laser. Peter webbed the Vulture's arm, pulling down. He dropped the weapon. Jumping to action I splashed water over the weapon, freezing it. The ice soon shook, and a few lasers broke through. It was overheating.

Both of us swearing, I shoved Peter to the side as one laser moved past us. The power it had stored up in a few short seconds of not being used cut the ferry in half. Water gushed up the lower levels, pushing the two halves of the ship apart even faster.

I shook my head to focus on our villains. They were gone. The Vulture and the new Shocker had disappeared, leaving us to deal with the ferry.

"Spider-Man," was all I needed to say before Peter sprang into action.

"Handle the water," Peter ordered as he swung to a higher point of the ship.

I gulped. Even the water on one level was ten times more than what I had been able to handle before. How would I be able to handle four levels and rising?

Planting my feet, I held my hands out in front of me. As soon as I activated my mutation, I felt the strain. Harsh pulls at my muscles, a pounding in my head. Water was still entering the ship. But I was buying time for Peter. That's all I had to do.

Taking the chance I looked up at Peter, momentarily losing my concentration. I wished we had coms to share. We would have to get on that. From what I could tell he was swinging from both sides of the ship, piecing it back together.

Looking at Peter took away important focus on the water. Without my mutation keeping it at bay, it burst through the floor even more. Forcing myself to focus I grunted, pushing the water back down.

The ship seemed to stabilize for a few seconds. Then, Peter's webs snapped, and the ship's state deteriorated.

"Shit," I hissed. The pulling on my muscles strengthened until they seemed to snap.

The water rose around my legs, reaching my waist. Cars were floating out the ferry around me, sinking into the river. The water was up to my chest when the ship was pushed together again. I looked up at Peter for an explanation, but he was as confused as I was.

Moving my hands around my body I pushed myself up to Peter's level. Dropping next to him I bent the water off of me.

"I tried Peter," I panted, flexing my hands. It hurt like hell, "But there was so much-"

I cut myself off with a harsh cough. An effort to get more air into my lungs.

"Hi Spider-Man, Riptide, band practice, was it?"

I groaned, wiping the rapidly forming sweat from my brow. The ship joined together entirely. The citizens on it cheered.

Peter wrapped an arm around my waist and climbed to the same level Tony was working on, "Mr. Stark, is there anything we can do?"

"I think you've done enough."

Reaching out for Peter's hand, I pulled him off the ship. Free-falling, water leaped up from the surface and caught us before we could hit. Waving my hand in front of me we were brought to the rooftop of a building on the shore.

"Previously on Peter and (Y/n) screw the pooch," Tony stated, hovering in front of us, "I told you two to stay away from this and 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."

"Is everyone okay?" Peter asked, eyes downcast.

"No thanks to you."

I stepped forward, ready to start swinging, "No thanks to us? We warned you that those weapons were out there but you didn't listen to us! You've done nothing but argue with Captain America about whether Scarlet Witch deserves basic human rights. Even now, you're still looking for vindication!"

"If you even cared you'd actually be here," Peter grumbled.

The suit opened, and Tony stepped out, "I did listen, kids. 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 fourteen-year-old kid. Now, everyone thinks I'm insane supporting a girl who opposed the accords. I kept you from getting arrested (Y/n)."

"I would've been fine without your help." I thought of how many connections Professor X had.

"We're fifteen."

"No, this is where you zip it! The adult is talking. What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? 'Cause that's on you. And if one of you died, I feel like that's on me."

"I just... I wanted to be like you."

"And I wanted you to be better. Okay, it's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back. (Y/n), I'm going to have a long talk about Professor Xavier about this."

My blood ran cold. Of course Tony knew about the school, how could he not? I knew the professor wouldn't punish me for my actions, but knowing that Tony held the location of hundreds of young mutants scared me.

"Mr. Stark, I'm nothing without this suit," Peter said tearfully.

"If you're nothing without this suit, then you shouldn't have it. God, I sound like my dad."

"I don't have any other clothes."

"We'll sort that out. Wait here," Tony stepped back towards his suit, "And don't even try to leave Peter because I know where you live. And (Y/n), well I can't exactly control you but your old team can."

"It's more like the other way around." Neither of them heard my blood control reference, but the thought made me even more bitter.

The suit closed around Tony and he flew off to find Peter some clothes. Pinching the bridge of my nose to calm down, I turned to Peter. He was still near tears. Putting a hand on his shoulder, I smiled reassuringly.

"Peter you don't need the suit to be a hero."

"What to you know?" Peter smacked my hand away, "We were surrounded by water, that's your element. And what did you do to help?"

"Peter that much water- I don't know if I'll ever be able to handle that. It felt like my body was being torn apart."

"How do you think I felt holding the ship together? God, I don't know why I worked with you in the first place."

"Bug-Boy-"

"What kind of mutant can't use their mutation?"

Blinking back tears, I took a few steps back. Peter's eyes widened, and he stepped towards me.

"(Y/n), I-"

I turned and leaped off the building. Water formed from the air around me and kept me in the air. The air pressure against my eyes let my tears burst free.

I didn't bother to wipe them away.

~*~

When I crawled through my bedroom window, my parents were on my bed waiting for me.

"We saw the news."

Four simple words and I broke down. Throwing myself at my parents I sobbed. They wrapped their arms around me. Neither said anything.

"I've never felt so useless," I sniffled, pulling my mask off to throw it across the room, "We were surrounded by water and I couldn't do anything to stop it."

"Honey, it was a ferry. You can't control an entire pool of water, much less a ferry full of it. You did your best," Mom cooed soothingly.

"Can I take a mental health day tomorrow?"

"Of course," Dad nodded, "I can call in sick if you want me to. We can hang out and watch movies and cry all day."

"I'll be fine alone. I have a lot to think about. And I'll probably just blast musicals all day."

"If you're sure. Dinner's ready when you are. It's chinese night."

"At least one good thing can come out of tonight."