Chapter 50 - I am Spider Tobey

Arriving there, the chaos had already unfolded. We looked at the arc reactor building and saw a dazzling light show taking place.

“Damn, we're late. Let's get in!” I said, and we quickly ran to the rooftop.

As soon as we got there, our spider senses flared up, and we saw a missile coming straight at us. With superhuman reflexes and agility, we dodged it, avoiding the explosion.

I thought it was an attack, but from what I analyzed, just like in the original universe, Tony had destroyed Obadiah’s targeting system, so that was just a misfired missile.

We were so late that no one even noticed our entrance. We only heard Tony’s scream, “Push it!!” and our spider senses went wild.

I quickly shot a web at Tony, who was hanging from the ceiling above the giant arc reactor, and pulled him up.

We barely had enough time for me, the girls, and Tony to escape the rooftop before a massive energy explosion shot up into the sky.

“Huff… Huff… Huff…” Tony, who was hanging on my back, was panting heavily.

“How was your little date with death?” I asked jokingly.

“Huff… She wasn’t that hot. I faked a bad impression and now I’m hoping she won’t come see me again… Huff…” He was still catching his breath but didn’t forget to joke with a smirk, his signature Stark attitude.

“Hahaha! I think death is actually quite hot; you just saw her in her skull form.” I joked back—or maybe I wasn’t entirely joking.

After all, in Marvel, Death is quite the beauty.

“Hey, Tony. Why didn’t you call us? We could’ve helped.” I stopped joking and asked with a bit of dissatisfaction. Did he not trust us?

“I tried. But you never gave me your number. I even tried tracking you with JARVIS, but he couldn’t locate your phones.” Tony shrugged, pushing all the blame onto me.

Well… I blushed a little. Gwen had modified our phones so they couldn’t be easily tracked.

“Uh… My bad.” I said, apologizing a little.

“Apology accepted.” Tony said shamelessly.

“Hey! I just saved your life!” I said, annoyed.

“If you had given me your number, I wouldn’t have needed saving.” Tony shot back with a smug grin.

“Well, I still would’ve saved your tin can ass from getting beaten up, which means you still owe me one.” I said, grinning mischievously.

Tony and I kept bickering and joking while I carried him on my back, walking down the wall.

When we all reached the ground, we suddenly heard a loud cry.

“TONY! TONY!” A wild Pepper appeared, running toward us with a deeply worried expression.

“Hey, Pep, I told you I’d be fine.” Tony got off my back, putting on a smile as if everything was under control.

But Pepper wasn’t buying it. She ran straight to Tony and started pounding her fists against his metal chest, tears streaming down her face.

“Tony, don’t ever do that again!”

Tony quickly caught her wrists with his now glove-less hands.

“Stop that, you’ll hurt yourself.” He said gently, looking at her with concern. But she ignored him, pulling her hands free and wrapping her arms around him instead.

With tears in her eyes, she poured her heart out, her words filled with pain.

“When I pressed that button, I thought I had killed you, Tony. I beg you, don’t ever make me go through that again. You’re everything to me, Tony. I wouldn’t know what to do if…”

Pepper’s words were cut off as Tony cupped her face and kissed her deeply.

“Ohh, so this is how it ends if Tony didn’t pass out!” Emily whispered, making sure not to interrupt the moment.

“Well, Tony already had his character development in the cave and doesn’t know about the palladium poisoning like in the second movie, so he’s open to expressing his love for her.” I analyzed with a smile, whispering to the girls.

We kept whispering among ourselves, but Tony and Pepper’s brows furrowed more and more during their kiss.

Finally, Tony pulled away and snapped at us.

“Damn it, stop whispering! You’re ruining the moment here!” He shouted angrily.

Seeing us go quiet, our mask’s eye lenses comically widening in an ‘O O’ expression, he smirked in satisfaction, turning back to pick up where he left off. But when he turned, he saw Pepper standing away from him, blushing furiously. All he could do was sigh bitterly.

I then stepped up to Pepper and extended my hand.

“Hey! I’m your friendly neighborhood Spider-Man!” I said enthusiastically.

Pepper shook my hand, looking a bit confused at my sudden and eccentric introduction, but quickly regained her composure and thanked me sincerely.

“Thank you so much for saving Tony. I don’t know what I would have done if I lost him.”

“Well, don’t worry, Tony and I are good friends! He even knows my secret identity. He told me a lot about you and how much he loves you, but he was too scared to admit his feelings and muffled**muffled…”

I started spouting nonsense like the good wingman I am, but it seemed Tony didn’t appreciate my good intentions and promptly covered my mouth with his hand.

“Stop talking nonsense, she’ll believe it!” Tony said, anxious, embarrassed, and angry.

Meanwhile, Pepper was fanning her blushing face with her hand, looking down shyly.

"I lied?" I asked playfully.
 "I didn’t say that!" Tony said through gritted teeth, but then he saw Pepper’s face turning sad. "Cough It's not a lie, but I didn’t say that!" Tony coughed into his fist, his face turning red.
 """""HAHAHA!""""" The girls and I started laughing at Tony.
 "Hahaha!" Pepper ended up joining in, seeing Tony's embarrassment.

The only one not laughing was Tony, his face sour.
 "Alright, stop making fun of me. I need to check on Obadiah's condition," Tony said, cutting off the laughter and turning serious.

We all walked together over the shattered glass toward the center of the building. There, we saw the giant Iron Monger lying on the ground with its cockpit open, where Obadiah Stane lay with his eyes closed.

I walked over to Obadiah and grabbed his wrist. After a few seconds, I raised my head and simply said, "Dead."

"Well, I expected that," Tony said with a mix of regret and relief. Pepper moved closer and held his hand, which cheered him up a little.

Tony approached Obadiah's suit and confirmed that his arc reactor was broken. Then, without looking back, he walked away.

As we were leaving the factory, several black cars stopped in front of us, and men in black suits started getting out.
 Leading them was the famous Agent Coulson.

"Looks like everything has been taken care of here," Coulson said with a small smile, looking at us.
 "Not thanks to you, that’s for sure," Tony said mockingly.
 "Tony, they came to help, don’t be like that!" Pepper scolded him, shaking his arm.
 "Oh yeah, they were the ones who gave you the courage to come and put yourself in danger," Tony said, displeased.
 "And you were the one who made me enter the office and become Obadiah's target," she said in a sharp tone.

"Okay, okay, Jess! Woman, you're going to be the death of me one day," Tony said bitterly, at a loss for words.
 "And you’ll be mine," Pepper said with a smirk.
 """""Adorable!""""" The girls and I said in unison, watching the scene.

"Stop turning my relationship into a TV show," Tony said, frustrated and powerless, which only made us laugh even more.

"You must be the famous Spider-Family. My name is Phil Coulson from the Strategic Homeland Intervention, Enforcement, and Logistics Division. It’s a pleasure to meet New York’s heroes," he said with a smile while offering me a handshake.

I'll switch the P.O.V. to him for a minute.

Phil Coulson’s P.O.V.

As I extended my hand for a handshake, I was observing everything around me.

Tony Stark was in tatters with his armor. The Spider-Family didn’t have a speck of dirt on their clothes, suggesting they arrived late.

Obadiah Stane was nowhere to be seen, and there was no concern or urgency in their expressions or actions. That suggested the probability of Stane being dead was very high, which I had no doubt was connected to the electrical explosion that caused a blackout in New York.

But what surprised me the most was Agent Romanoff.

As a high-ranking S.H.I.E.L.D. agent and Nick Fury’s right-hand, I knew both Natasha and her current mission well. Natasha had always been an excellent agent, but as someone who knows her and her work, I can always pick up on the signs of when she’s working undercover and when she’s being herself.

But what I noticed was that, at this moment, through her body language, voice, and laughter—none of it was fake. There was no hidden guard around her against these women and this man. She seemed as free as when she was with Clint Barton, whom she considered a brother… no, she seemed even more relaxed.

That worried me. I had to report this to the Director.