Exploration of Change
It’s been about two weeks since Peters landed in this shithole- I mean Gotham. Honestly? He’s doing kind of okay. He has a job that pays him decently, which is awesome. Peter can afford some food (snacks from convenience stores) and he also bought a thick blanket recently.
Peter would have preferred a weighted blanket. The lighter ones don’t really work for him. The heaviest he can get is fifty pounds. Sadly, those are around two hundred dollars, and Peter can’t just spend that kind of money right now.
Peter is very careful with his money. He won’t spend a large amount unless he has another large amount to fall back on. Peter works Fridays, Saturdays, Sundays, and Mondays at the library, so he's made a decent amount. But it still doesn't feel like enough to make big purchases with.
So here he is, lying on a dirty, hard floor. Staring up at the ceiling with his new blanket. It's a lot better than his jacket. Peter isn’t the best at thermoregulation. The cold at night felt like it was slowly killing him more and more each night.
So yeah, Peter was never letting go of this blanket. Ever.
Anyway, in these two weeks Peters noticed a pattern. He noticed certain things triggering his senses constantly following him around. It wasn’t always there. When he was at the firehouse or the subway, even the library. Peter notices that whatever it was, stopped following him.
Why?
Peter doesn’t know either. But Peter knows what it is. Who it is.
Peter sighed. He wanted to know why they were following him. But his senses just wouldn’t let him. Normally he would confront people following him. He did that all the time when strangers would follow him when he was Spider-Man.
They weren’t dangerous. Not as dangerous as these people. Not as dangerous as the bats.
Peter, however, could only recognize one of the bats following him. Red Hood. He had met him on his first day here. As far as Peter knew, he hadn't done anything to warrant the bats stalking him.
Peter also met Nightwing on his second day here, but he noticed that Nightwing wasn’t part of the party stalking him. Why? Who knows.
Peter sighed and rolled on his side. Karen was playing soft music in his ear. Peter closed his eyes and tried to relax, but no matter how much he focused on the warmth and music, Peter couldn’t fall asleep.
What should I do? I don’t think I'm going to fall asleep anytime soon.
Peter sits up, keeping the blanket wrapped around him. Man, I really need to get a thicker jacket.
“Hey Karen, what's the temperature right now?”
“It is currently 48 degrees Fahrenheit. Assumed to drop to 40 degrees by midnight.”
Peter groaned, despite it being the Spring, Peter feels like he’s about to go into hibernation. The thought makes Peter pause for a second.
Can I go into hibernation?
Peter is Spider-Man. The name was chosen for obvious reasons. Those reasons being the spider bite and his powers. Peter has the obvious: danger senses, the setules on his hands and feet, webs. Though he had to make those webs himself. He couldn’t make them organically like Peter-two could.
Besides those powers, Peter is also Spider-Man because of his other traits.
He can lift 173 times his own body weight. Peter has de-aged and shrunk. He used to be 132 pounds, so he could lift about eleven tons. Peter isn't sure how much he weighs right now. He’ll need to check that later. Theoretically Peter could lift more, but he hasn’t tested that.
Spiders strongly dislike citrus, peppermint, eucalyptus, and vinegar. Peter's body decided to make those into mild allergies. It's not one of his favorite traits. Peter cant eat peppermint or else he’ll puke.
He can’t eat citrus foods like lemons or oranges, he might also puke from that. He might also start coughing, or whatever part of him touched the food might start to itch. Same goes for the eucalyptus, and vinegar. It's just best if he avoids them all together.
Peter has also noticed that he relies on vibrations, touch, smell, and taste as a way to see. What he can’t see with his eyes he can see with other things. It comes in very handy. Not very recently though because he wasn’t able to see Nightwing behind him when they spoke.
Peter can also ‘purr’ and ‘chirp’ as well. He isn’t sure how he is able to. He looked into it and male wolf spiders purr by rubbing their pedipalps together. Peter does not have those. Spiders also chirp by or hiss by rubbing body parts together in a process called stridulation.
His body decided to accumulate these traits by changing his vocal cords. He sometimes chirps when he’s happy, he hisses when he’s mad (or when another spider is around), and he purrs when he feels safe and content.
The urge to bite when he feels threatened…Though he’s held himself back from doing that, but he’s come very close a few times.
Peter could go on about his spidery habits. Hibernation wasn’t one Peter wanted nor one he wanted to test.
Peter looked around the room for a moment. He eyed the cracks in the ceiling and the broken windows. He could feel a steady breeze coming up the stairs from the first floor. I need to block that off.
Maybe I could get a heater. Peter had about three hundred dollars. He had the money he originally landed here with and the money Barbara paid him. Some heaters were pretty cheap, but if he got a heater he would need to buy a generator to power it, and those were not cheap.
And he can’t just spend money like that, he needs to eat (and buy more blankets).
Could I build a generator? It wasn’t that he wasn’t capable of doing that. Peter could build one, he’s built a few before. But could he find the necessary materials to build one?
Maybe I could find a broken one and fix it up? That would probably be easier than trying to build one from scratch.
Well actually, the simplest generator consists of just a coil of wire and a bar magnet. Those are the easiest for Peter to find materials for. At most they last for a couple of hours, at worst they only last a few minutes. It's fifty-fifty with those ones.
The lifespan depends on the wire thickness and its quality. As well as the magnetic strength.
Peter could just make one in case he needs something small to power. But he needs to power a heater. Something big like that will most likely require a robust generator. Those are the expensive ones.
Peter needs a small heater and a small generator. He’ll collect materials for a magnet generator while looking for a broken one. If he was lucky he could probably find one that still works that was thrown out.
If he can’t do any of the aforementioned ideas, he’ll have to wait a few weeks to save up his money in order to buy one.
All this thinking was stressing Peter out. Peter squeezed his eyes shut and rubbed his forehead.
He could always sneak into the library at night and sleep there…
Peter sighs and plops back down, staring up at the ceiling again. His eyes drift to a corner with less cracks than the others. Maybe I could…
Peter needed to make more webs. Where could he get those materials?
“Hey Karen, where could I get more chemicals for my webs?”
“There are a few locations around Gotham where you could get the materials you need.”
“Which location would be the best one?”
“Wayne Industries.”
_______________________
Peter had managed to make it through the night. He got up early and went to a café in the Diamond District for breakfast. He hasn’t really spent his own money on food like this yet (actual food). Barbara had always gotten them something when he worked. So he always waited till three to four to eat those days he worked.
On the days he didn’t work he only went to convenience stores. He usually got water and some snacks.
Peter decided to spoil himself a bit and eat earlier. The cold made him hungry.
Peter ordered a breakfast bagel and a small coffee. It was a nice spot. There weren’t a lot of people here. It was ten in the morning. Hopefully it’s this quiet every morning. Peter would like to come here again.
This café reminded Peter of the one he and Harry would go to every morning before school. Sometimes MJ and Ned would join them if they had time. Peter sighs, the memories leaving a heavy weight on his chest. He took a sip of his coffee and hurriedly ate his bagel.
Usually Peter would get a bit more food, but Harry always bought it for him.
Man, Peter misses his friends.
Dear Thor, I'm hungry. I can’t wait until three.
Peter felt the hair on the back of his neck stand. His senses humming quietly. Peter placed his cup down on the table he was at and subtly looked around. He couldn’t see anyone in his immediate vision that would be responsible. Peter focused instead on the vibrations around him.
He felt footsteps approach him from behind.
He couldn't hear them.
Peter felt them stop behind him. He felt a tap on his shoulder.
“Hey Peter, remember me?” It was Tim.
“Hey, what's up?” Peter smiled up at him. Tim returned the smile and sat down in front of him. “Nothing much, how are you doing? I haven’t seen you in a while.”
“It's only been two weeks.” Peter chuckled, playfully rolling his eyes.
“Such a long time.” Tim sighed. He took a sip of his coffee and Peter was able to see his order on his cup. “Damn, eight shots of espresso? Are you gonna be okay?”
Tim nodded, “Yeah, I usually only put this much in on occasion.”
“What's the occasion?”
“Just some trouble at work. It's been pretty messy these last two weeks.”
“Yeah, I get that. While working at the library is nice, I couldn’t say as much for my last job.” Peter couldn’t help the shiver that ran down his spine. He hated working for Jameson, but he needed to get money somehow. The Daily Bugle was really the only place willing to hire him because of his attendance issues.
Peter still had nightmares about the Daily Bugle.
“What was your old job like? Must have been tough if you're pulling a face like that.” Tim joked. Peter was not aware he was making any kind of face. He sighed, “I just took some pictures for a newspaper in New York.”
“You’re into photography?” Tim looked excited as he asked this. Is he interested in photography? Dude probably has no one to talk to about this, poor guy…
Peter smiled. “Yeah, I am. I did it pretty often as a hobby before I decided to make some money with it.”
“You pick it up on your own?”
“Not really, my uncle is the one who got me interested.” Tim choked on his coffee. Peter wondered if he was okay.
“Your uncle?” Tim was still choking as he forced the words out. Peter raised a brow. Was it weird that he and his uncle did photography together? “Is there something wrong?” If Tim had a problem with his uncle for whatever reason, Peter wanted to know what it was.
Tim shook his head. “No, no, sorry. Didn’t mean to give you the wrong impression. I was just curious. Didn’t mean anything by it.” He chuckled nervously.
“Hmm…” Peter took a sip of his coffee. “Yeah, my uncle let me use one of his old cameras and would take me to Central Park to practice with it.” Peter couldn’t help but smile as he recalled the memory.
All those times spent trying to get a good shot. They would sometimes go at night too. Peter loved to photograph the stars.
As Peter got older he would take his uncle's camera all around New York as Spider-Man. He loved to take pictures from the top of the Empire State Building. Sometimes the Avengers tower too. The shots of the city he was able to get were amazing.
“Peter?” His eyes shot back up. Tim was staring at him with a worried expression. “Are you okay?” Forgot he was here. I seriously need to stop spacing out and monologuing like a damn anime character.
Peter nodded, “Yeah, I’m okay. Just zoned out a bit.” Tim raised an eyebrow. “If you’re sure Peter.”
Peter shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. He didn’t want to drown in those memories right now. Especially not when someone else was there to see it. Peter listened quietly as Tim began to ramble about some drama at his school.
As he rambled Peter felt a sense of familiarity wash over him. The way Tim spoke and laughed about some random gossip reminded Peter of Mr. Stark a bit. He and Mr. Stark used to talk about drama around the tower all the time. Sometimes the talks included drama about the other Avengers.
Peter smiled slightly at the memory.
“Peter, hello?” Tim waved a hand in front of Peter's face. “Ah- sorry, spaced out again…”
“Peter, are you sure you’re okay?”
“I’m good Tim. But I do need to get going.” I don’t, but I do really want to. Me zoning out has made the conversation kind of awkward.
“Uh, okay, bye Peter. Might see you later at the library.” Tim awkwardly waved as Peter rushed out the door.
___________________
Peter ran through the streets with a clear goal in mind. He had gotten sidetracked earlier with Tim, but he was back on track now. He had a good few hours before he needed to head to the library for work. He needed to make good use of them.
“Alright Karen, where is the Wayne building again?”
“You are currently en route to a, ‘Wayne building.’ Take another right, it will be the building on the left.”
Peter hurried down the path Karen had given him. He looked up and spotted a large building, it looked almost as tall as the Empire State Building. “This it Karen?”
“Yes. You have arrived at Wayne Tower.”
“Wayne Tower? I thought you said Wayne Industries last night?”
“I did.”
“Then why are we at Wayne Tower?”
“You asked for ‘a Wayne building.’ You never specified which one. So I took you to the closest one.”
“...Huh, okay. What is Wayne Tower anyway?”
“Wayne Tower is the headquarters of Wayne Industries. It is often depicted as the tallest building in Gotham.”
“Hmm…” Peter walked up to the back of the building. He looked around, making sure no one was watching. He pulled down his hood and began to climb up the side of the building. “If this is the main headquarters I could probably find something useful here.”
“Perhaps. I will keep an eye out for useful material.”
“Thanks Karen.”
Peter made it to the top of the building. He took a second to look at the city below him. Damn, I really wish I had my camera.
Peter hopped down onto a balcony and walked to the door. He focused his hearing to try and hear anyone inside. No sound, no heartbeats. Peter pulled the door handle but it was locked. Peter looked for a security camera. Not seeing one he pulled the handle harder.
Not hard enough to break the door, but enough to break the lock. He opened the door and stepped inside. “Woah, this place is huge.”
“You are in the building's penthouse. I have hacked into the building security system.”
“Are you looping the footage?”
“Yes. I advise you to hurry. Someone may notice.”
“Alright.”
Peter looked around. It was a two-story foyer. It looked old and gothic. How fitting.
It somewhat reminded Peter of Harry’s place. Except for the aesthetic.
It was still very beautiful here. Nice furniture and all that. Peter quickly took some food from the kitchen. He only took stuff from the cabinets. He wasn’t able to keep food cold, so he had to skip the fridge.
He looked through the bathroom cabinets for a first-aid-kit. He stuffed his findings in his backpack.
What the hell am I even looking for? Maybe I could find a key for Wayne Industries, or a safe or something. I don’t think I’m gonna find a generator in this place.
…hmmm…
A low rumble. A small vibration was in the floor. Peter could feel it up his spine. He looked around but didn’t see anything suspicious. “Karen do you hear that?”
“Hear what Peter?”
“That hum…Where…?”
Peter looked to the floor. He could still feel the vibrations under his feet. He leaned down and placed his head against the floor. “That sounds like…”
Elevator!
Peter heard the ding of an elevator go off behind him. He shot up and hid behind a couch. The doors opened, Peter peaked out from behind the couch. A man came out of the elevator. He had short black hair and blue eyes. He had a business suit on and he was built like ‘The Rock’.
I’ve been seeing a lot of built people recently. Why is that? Who is-?!
Danger..DaNgEr..GetAwAyDangerDaNgeRDAnGer
Peter felt like he was going to puke. The overwhelming sense of danger he felt from this man almost made him gag. His senses screaming at him didn’t help the nausea either.
Thankfully the man didn’t stay long. He grabbed a folder off the kitchen counter and went back down the elevator.
As soon as the doors closed Peter sighed heavily in relief.
“Peter, that elevator isn’t connected with the main building.”
“What do you mean?”
“That elevator isn’t available to the public. It leads somewhere else.”
“Where does it go?”
“I’m not able to get any information.”
Peter smiled and stood up. He walked towards the elevator and pressed the button. “Guess we’ll have to find out.”
____
The elevator doors opened with a soft ding. Peter quietly stepped out of the elevator, doing his best not to make a sound. His eyes widened as he looked around. “Woah.”
Tech, it was everywhere. Shelves of it, it looked pretty advanced. Peter didn’t expect to ever see tech like this in 2014. There was also a motorcycle, who got that down here?
“Karen, where are we?” Peter asked as he looked up and saw a sign. ‘Wayne Terminus.’
“We are currently located under Wayne Tower in the Wayne Terminus.”
“What exactly is this place?”
“Wayne Terminus is a train station that was closed down in the 1980’s for unknown reasons.”
Why was it abandoned? What's with all the tech? Also, what's with the giant computer system?
Peter walked closer to the motorcycle to get a better look at it. When Peter got right next to it something made him pause. “It's warm…” Peter's gaze slid over to the desk that the motorcycle was parked next to.
A folder caught his eye…
PeterParker-File01_
A file…? On him? Why? What
Peter ducked as a few bats flew over his head. He looked up towards the ceiling. “Woah, that's a lot of bats…”
That folder was from earlier, the one Peter saw on the kitchen counter. Peter paused as he started to realize something. “Wait…”
Where is that man from earlier?
…hide…
Peter shot a web towards the ceiling and launched himself upwards. He crawled into one of the corners and hid in the shadows. The man from earlier walked in from a tunnel on the other side of the station. Oohhh shitttt.
Peter wanted to gag again as the man walked in. He needed to find out who this guy was. Was he a villain? A mafia worker? A mercenary? This man simply felt too dangerous to pass off as a normal citizen.
Jason was dangerous, but he was a protector of kids in Park Row. He probably faced some bad people to do that. So he had a reason to be dangerous. Tim and Steph were students who probably took martial arts classes or something. They could be ignored, but this man?
This man was perilous, deadly. He felt lethal. Peter could feel it in his bones. If this man saw him, Peter was as good as dead.
Peter's heart was threatening to beat out of his chest. He felt like he was choking on his heartbeat. He couldn’t breathe quietly enough, he couldn’t breathe at all. He watched the man's every move.
His face was tugging at something in the back of Peter's mind. He had seen this man before, but where?
Where have I…?
Peter's mind stopped completely as the man stopped moving. Peter watched as he began scanning the room. Peters stopped breathing as the man looked towards the ceiling.
One…
Two…
Three…
The man looked away from the ceiling and walked over to the motorcycle. He grabbed the folder from off the desk, hopped on the motorcycle, and drove down the tunnel.
Peter's body sagged in relief. He listened to make sure the man was really gone before hopping down from the ceiling. Peter glanced at the computer again. It was off. Peter looked towards the tunnel the man went down and turned back towards the elevator.
Peter got back on the elevator. “Hey Karen, do you know who that man is?”
“I will run a facial scan now.”
“Hmm…” The elevator came to a stop and the doors opened back up to the penthouse. Peter hurried over to the balcony doors and went outside. He quietly closed the doors behind him and hopped up on the balcony ledge.
Peter looked at the city again and took a moment to think. What the heck was all that? What was that place? ‘Wayne Terminus,’ it’s an abandoned train station right? Why did it look like that? What was the man using it for? Why did he have a folder on me? Why is he gathering information about me?
Peter let out a breath and rubbed his hands together. It was getting colder. He looked around again to make sure no one would see him. He pulled his hood back up and began walking down the building.
Was he also following me this whole time? What does he want from me? Is someone after me? Was I right about him being a mercenary? Who would put a hit on me though? Does someone know about me?
Peter's thoughts began to spiral. He makes it onto the ground and into a back alley.
Is he with the bats?
That thought made Peter pause. Peter knew the bats were tailing him. They have been these past two weeks, Peters seen them. He thought he saw all of them. Was he sure?
Was there someone Peter didn’t notice, didn’t sense? Was that man there too?
Peter's thoughts went back to the terminus. The folder the man had on him.
Is that why they were following me? They were making a file on me? Is that the bats base of operations? If it is, how is that man involved?
Peter shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. Calm down Peter, you don’t know if that place belongs to the bats. It was named Wayne Terminus right? Does it even belong to a person named Wayne? Do I know anyone named Wayne? I feel like I do…
Peter walked down the street with his hood up and his head down. What should I do about this?
“Peter.”
Peter jumped as the sudden voice. “Karen, you scared me!”
“Apologies, I have found a match for the facial scan.”
“Who is it?”
“The results show a match to Bruce Wayne.”
“Bruce Wayne…” Peter's voice grew quiet as he racked his brain, trying to remember who that was. “Wait! Oh my Thor, I’m an idiot!”
Peter remembered now! Bruce Wayne was the billionaire he read about on his first day here. He also happened to own the building Peter was just in, and the one he’s trying to get to.
“But why does Bruce Wayne need all that stuff? An underground hidden lair? All those weapons? A file on me? Why?”
Now that Peter thought about it more, he recognized some of the tech in that place. He only saw it briefly, but it was familiar. The motorcycles, the weapons, the tools, the cycle! That was all bat junk! That place did belong to the bats! And Bruce Wayne had ties to it!
The Wayne Terminus is under Wayne Tower, accessed by a private elevator. Are the bats renting out the space or something? Is Bruce Wayne helping them? I mean, it would make sense considering all the money he has.
But that still leaves one question.
What was in that folder?
“Karen, what time is it?”
“It is currently 2:45pm.”
“It’s already 2pm, how long have I been down there?! I gotta get to work.” Peter begins sprinting towards the library, hoping Barbara has already ordered them some food. He hopes it's Thai this time.
_____
“Hey Peter.” Peter looked up from the desk where he was working on some paperwork. “Yes Ms. Barbara?”
“Just Barbara is fine Pete.”
“Okay Ms. Barbara.”
Barbara sighs, “Anyway, I've noticed that you’ve been kind of tired and sluggish lately when you come in. Is everything okay?”
Peter smiled. He appreciated that Barbara was worried about him. The question led him back to his earlier mission to get a generator. He really needed to get one, and a small heater later. “I’m okay Ms. Barbara, the cold just makes me a little sluggish.”
“Do you not have any heating in your home?”
“It's kind of broken at the moment. I’m going to get a small heater after work, but I need a generator to power it.”
‘Hmm…I have a generator if you want it.”
Peter paused and looked up at Barbara. “You have one?”
“Yep.”
“I can have it?”
“Yep.”
Peter stared at Barbara for a moment. Barbara had a spare generator? I didn’t think it was gonna be this easy…
“Umm, where is it?” Barbara led him to the back room of the library and showed him the generator. “It’s a PREDATOR generator. It has a capacity of 2000 watts. That should be enough to power a small heater.”
“Battery?”
“Fully charged.”
“Could I bring it to the library when I need to charge it? I can’t do it at my place.”
“Of course, come charge it whenever you need.”
That's one thing down…
Peter turned to Barbara, “Thank you Ms. Barbara. I’ll take it after my shift ends.”
“I’ll call someone to help you get it home.” Barbara says, pulling out her phone. Peter saw that she already had a contact pulled up. “No, I’ve got it! No need to call someone else.”
Barbara turned to face him. She gave him a strange look. “Peter, you know that this generator weighs about 50 lbs. Right?”
Peter looked away nervously. Right, the average thirteen year old can’t lift fifty pounds can they?
“I, um, work out? I can lift this thing no problem, don't worry.” Peter’s lying through his teeth. But he hoped Barbara couldn't tell. Peter has been practicing.
She obviously can tell through his lie. She lifts an eyebrow at him. “Ok…” Peter sighs and walks over to the generator. He squats down and picks it up without a struggle.
He turns back towards Barbara. “See, no problem!” He smiles at her nervously. Barbara stares and slowly puts her phone down. She sighs, “I really need a bigger salary.” She mumbled under her breath. Peter pretended like he couldn’t hear it though.
“Alright, put the generator down. We still have work to do.” Peter places the generator back in the ground and follows Barbara back to the front desk.
____________________
After Peter was let off work he immediately took the generator back to the firehouse. It looked a bit weird from an outsider's perspective. A thirteen year old carrying a 50lbs generator down the street? Shocking.
Peter set it up near his blanket. He really hoped he didn’t get robbed. This thing is like 600 dollars.
He also put the food he took earlier out of his backpack. He placed it by his blanket along with the first aid kit.
“Hey Karen, are there any stores open that sell small heaters?” It was only nine o’clock, but Peter still wanted to check. He didn’t want to wander around the streets trying to find a heater when all the stores were closed.
“There are two open near you.”
Peter stands us and heads towards the window. He pulls down his hood and crawls down the window. “Can you lead me to the closest one?”
“Setting coordinates.” Peter heads in the direction Karen points him to. After walking for five minutes Peter makes it to the store. He looks at the shelves for a few minutes before spotting the heaters. He looks before spotting a small black one.
It was a small, 1500 watt fan heater that was only sixteen dollars. Peter buys this one and puts it in his backpack. And that's two things down! What else do I need to do?
Peter walks out of the shop. He rushes back to the fire house and plugs the heater up. “Hmmm.” Peter hummed in content. He sat on the floor in front of the heater and warmed up his hands. I should see if the library has any gloves in the lost and found tomorrow. Gloves sounded amazing right now.
“Maybe they have a thicker coat…” Peter shivered as a cold breeze flew in from up the firehouse stairs. “I really need to cover that sometime…” Peter continued to warn his hands up until they no longer felt like they were going to fall off.
Peter wrapped himself up with his blanket and laid his backpack on the floor. “Haaa…” He sighed as he snuggled further into his blanket.
“Karen, what else did I need to do?”
“You were going to get chemicals to make more of your web fluid.”
Peter groaned. He completely forgot about that. That was the whole reason he went out so early! Dang it.
“Can you remind me in like an hour? I really want to warm up for a bit.”
“Of course Peter.”
Peter hummed and snuggled further into the blanket, enjoying the heat blowing on his face. He started to feel more drowsy as his eyes forced themselves closed.
_______
“Peter.”
Peter jolted awake. “WaHhh!” Peter sprang up and frantically looked around. Not seeing any immediate danger, Peter relaxed. “Peter.”
“Oh, Karen. Hello, what's up?”
“You told me to remind you to get chemicals for your web fluid.”
“Ah, right.” Peter, sadly, had to remove his blanket and stood up. He looked over to his heater. It was still running. It was running for a full hour. Peter powered off the generator. The generator should be able to power the heater for a few more hours before Peter needed to take it to the library and charge it.
He really can’t let this thing run all night. This heater cycles through temperature so the generator will last a little longer, but running it all night might break the generator. Worst case scenario the heater might burn the place down.
Maybe just an hour a night will do…
“Peter.”
“I’m going, I'm going.” Peter grabs his backpack from off the floor and puts it on.
_______
So here Peter is, at one in the morning, digging through dumpsters at Wayne Enterprises. He thought he should try the dumpsters first before attempting to break into the building. No luck so far. Though he should have expected it, who in their right mind would throw out chemicals.
No one was inside, the place was closed. Should he risk it?
“Peter, I have located a lab with the chemicals that you need.”
“...Thank you Karen.” Peter pulled down his hood again and began to climb up the building. Looks like he’s breaking into another building…
Peter makes it to the window outside the lab. Luckily the window was unlocked and Peter was able to get in with no issue. “Now to find those chemicals…” Peter began looking around the lab, opening multiple drawers and cabinets.
Within a few minutes Peter is able to find what he needs. He grabs the salicylic acid, toluene, methanol, carbon tetrachloride, potassium carbonate, and ethyl acetate. He only grabbed some of it, taking all of it would cause someone to investigate. Hopefully the amount he took didn’t arouse suspicion…
He looks up towards the camera in the corner of the ceiling. “Karen?”
“Already taken care of.”
He also took a beaker and a stir rod. He wrapped everything together with his webs and carefully placed everything in his backpack. Peter was walking over to the window when something caught his eye.
He turned and headed to the box where the object was. Once he got closer he could see what it was. A camera?
Peter picked it up and inspected it. It was a Yashica camera. It looked just like Ben's old camera…
Peter looked at the camera a bit more. It looked a bit old and busted up. Everything was still intact. There was still a battery too, and a strap. It seemed to be working just fine. It’s in such good shape. Peter looked at the box where he found it. Why is it in a box labeled junk?
Maybe…I could take this? Whoever put it in that box wasn't using it anyway, no way am I going to let a camera like this go to a junk pile. It also totally didn’t have anything to do with its resemblance to Ben's old camera, not at all.
“Peter, it would be best to leave now. There is someone coming up to this lab.”
Peter made a quick decision. He put the camera in his bag. He walked over to the window and crawled back out. He carefully closed the window behind him. He quickly left after hearing the door to the lab open.
Peter hoped he wasn't heard as he crawled down the side of the building. He crawled down into a back alley and rushed into the streets. Peter walked to the Diamond District.
“Hey Karen, what time is it?”
“It is currently 2:00am.”
“Dang it, we missed the subway. The firehouse is a pretty far walk from here…”
“I have a solution.”
Peter opened his mouth to speak, but Karen cut him off. “Your mask Peter.”
“Oh, duh. Why didn’t I think of that?” Peter carried his suit in his bag at all times. He’s never left the firehouse without it. He places his bag on the ground and digs around for his mask. He grabs it and slips it on. He stands back up.
“You currently have 24% of your web fluid left. I suggest getting there quickly.”
“Okay, get there quick and don’t use too much. Easy.”
Peter began a light sprint before shooting a web at a building next to him. He pulled himself up into the air and started to head towards Park Row.
“WOOHOOO!” Peter cheered as he soared through the late night streets of Gotham. It’s been a while since he’s felt this good swinging.
He makes it to the firehouse in ten minutes. He lands on the roof and takes a look around.. The building wasn’t that high above the streets. But the view was already nice.
Peter looks around and decides to take a quick detour. “Where are you going?”
“To a talker building.”
“Why are you going somewhere else? You are at the firehouse.”
“I know, but I want to take a look at something really quick.”
Peter makes it to a taller building down the street. Peter walks to the edge of the building and takes his mask off. Peter places his backpack down and pulls out his camera.
Peter stepped up onto the edge and looked down to the street. He brought the camera up to his eye and took a picture.
Peter looks at the photo.
Peter looks up towards the sky.
He brings the camera up and takes another picture.
The stars are beautiful tonight…
Peter smiled. The photos from here look amazing. With the sky lit up by stars and the shine of the city light. Peter hoped he would be able to get more like these in the future.
Peter looked back up at the sky. The stars…
Peter looked back down at his photo.
People always said that when we die, we become stars. Peter wondered if his uncle was one of them now.
Was he smiling in any of Peter's pictures?
“The temperature is dropping. I suggest getting back to the firehouse.”
Peter took one last look at the view before stepping down from the building's edge. He puts his mask back on and swings back to the firehouse.
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BATCHAT
Tim: My camera is missing
Dick: Camera? Isn’t it in your room?
Jason is typing
Duke: Which one? You have like five of them
Jason: Loser
Tim: Shut the hell up Jason.
Steph: You have a weird collection of cameras in your room (¬_¬)
Tim: There's only five!
Steph: Five that you spent almost three thousand dollars on!
Tim: So?!
Steph: THREE THOUSAND! EACH!
Tim: Whatever. The camera in my lab at Wayne Industries is missing
Dick: The Yashica camera?
Tim: Yes! It’s new :(
Duke: Wasn't it in your junk box?
Tim: I only put it there because my desk was full
Tim: It’s gone :((
Bruce: Emergency.
Bruce: Two break-ins at Wayne Tower and Wayne Industries
Cass: (⚆ᗝ⚆)
Steph: OMG! Do you know how it was?
Dick: Who are they? What did they take?
Jason: B, I told you to upgrade your security
Tim: I am the security!
Jason: Exactly
Tim: >:O
Damian: Would you stop typing so father can explain the situation
Dick: Right, go ahead B :)
Bruce: Peter was the one who broke into both buildings.
Cass: (◯Δ ◯ ∥)
Dick: HE DID WHAT!?
Tim: Was he the one who stole my camera? :(
Bruce: Yes, he also took some chemicals from your lab before leaving. I assume that was the only thing he was there for.
Tim: My camera :(((
Dick: Are you sure it’s him?
Bruce: Yes. He’s been wearing the same clothes for the past two weeks. His bag is also uniquely decorated.
Jason: He covered it with pins and patches, why would he wear it to a robbery? Basic mistake
Duke: Why was he at Wayne Tower?
Stephanie: I almost forgot! What did he take from there?
Tim: Did he find the terminus?
Dick: Wouldn’t he already know about it?
Bruce: He stole some food and a first aid kit from the bathroom
Damian: He seems quite resourceful
Tim: Wow…
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