Chapter 210: Rescue

Stark, Peter said across the channel, his voice cold, dry, and utterly devoid of patience.

Tony, streaking through the sky, felt every hair on his body stand on end when he heard that voice.

I said shut up and listen. Get out of the populated zones or find another way to stop the drones from following you. You are putting civilian lives in danger. Pepper was among them. If I had not acted when I did, she would be dead.

Tony felt his chest tighten painfully.

The channel went silent for a beat.

Potts—take control of the Expo operations, Peter continued, issuing orders with mechanical efficiency. Stark—handle the drones with Rhodes. Romanoff—contact Fury and get a paramedic squad deployed immediately. There are injured people. If I had not intervened, many of them would have left in body bags.

Were you the one who deployed those people in black suits? Pepper asked.

Correct. They are my soldiers. No more questions. Do as I say.

You heard the boss, Tony said. Get to work.

Since when do you take orders? Natasha asked.

Since he saved someone life and gave me everything that was rightfully mine, Tony replied sharply. What you thieves never did.

Peter cut the channel.

Karen—have the Spider-Bots destroy every remaining drone. I want every last piece obliterated. If any civilian took salvage, mark them. Investigate, locate, and destroy the pieces. None of this technology leaves this site.

Understood.

From his perch atop the Oracle—a towering observation structure at the edge of the Expo grounds—Peter watched every move Tony and Rhodes made.

The fight below was considerably more intense than he had anticipated. Tony’s battle against Vanko had real weight to it this time—Vanko was behaving like an actual killer, not a theatrical lunatic indifferent to collateral damage. He was ruthless, efficient, and genuinely willing to kill Rhodes if it meant completing his revenge.

But Tony’s quick thinking and Rhodes’s combat instincts carried them through.

In the end, it was Rhodes who delivered the killing blow. Tony stripped the arc reactor from Vanko’s suit without explanation or complaint from his partner—a silent understanding between soldiers who had just barely survived.

As Tony stood in the aftermath, catching his breath, the hairs on the back of his neck stood up. The unmistakable sensation of being watched. He looked around—and in a small, shadowed alcove, he saw two pairs of glowing white eyes staring directly at him.

The gaze pierced him to his core.

He blinked once.

The eyes were gone.

"What the hell?" Tony whispered.

Peter arrived back at the cave and immediately swallowed several pills to combat the searing pain in his muscles and the dangerous arrhythmia in his heart. Karen’s diagnostic scans confirmed that the consequences of the lightning-speed technique were analogous to a minor cardiac arrest—but rest would be sufficient for a full recovery.

He changed out of the nanosuit, left the cave, and found Missy waiting for him.

With a heavy sigh, he collapsed onto the bed beside her and spent the next several minutes recounting the events of the night. Once the story was told, he decided to sleep—primarily to avoid having to give the same tedious explanation to the rest of the girls.

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Beep... Beep!

Beep... Beep!

Beep... Beep!

Peter silenced his phone alarm and sighed. He had slept his customary four hours and spent the remaining time in deep meditation—which the girls had interpreted as him sleeping longer than usual. They had left him alone, something he was quietly grateful for.

He picked up his phone and unlocked the screen. Four large letters were flashing across the display.

His eyes went wide.

He launched himself out of bed and sprinted to the bathroom for the fastest shower of his life.

"Come on, come on," he muttered, untying the towel from his waist and stepping toward the closet.

"Father, are you dressed ye—" Karen froze in the doorway of his bedroom, her synthetic body catching a full, unobstructed view. Her eyes involuntarily traveled downward. "Holu shit this is a beast!" she shrieked, then vanished from the room.

Peter sighed in deep annoyance and dressed quickly—a black-and-green Hawaiian shirt, black pants, and brown shoes. He grabbed his regular glasses, pocketed a pair of sunglasses, and stepped out of the bedroom. Karen was waiting beside the door in her synthetic body, staring fixedly at the wall.

"Ready?" he asked.

"Uh... yes," she replied, refusing to make eye contact.

"Good. Let us go."

He gave her outfit a quick once-over—a brown button-up shirt layered over a black tank top, fitted blue shorts, and black sneakers. Black sunglasses perched on top of her head. His gaze lingered for a fraction of a second on one particular detail. Karen immediately—and nervously—buttoned her outer shirt higher. Peter nodded in approval.

They headed downstairs toward the garage.

"Where do you think you are going?" Cortana’s voice rang out.

She stood at the bottom of the stairs with the other girls arrayed behind her, arms crossed, staring the pair down. Only Missy stood apart, offering Peter a knowing smile.

"I was thinking of having a father-daughter day," Peter said innocently.

"And it is essential that you are both dressed like that?" Yuri asked, eyebrow raised.

"I wanted to change my style," Peter offered.

"Peter," May said flatly. "You do not change your style unless there is a reason."

"And why are you using the synthetic body?" Susan pressed, directing the question at Karen. "You said you did not like it. Now suddenly you are using it?"

"I... wanted to try it?" Karen said, her inflection rising unconvincingly.

Cortana’s eyebrow climbed higher as she noticed her daughter’s excuse was almost identical to Peter’s. The girls remained in their barricade formation, arms still crossed.

"You owe us an explanation about last night," May added.

Peter glanced at his watch. The event was about to start. He had only one viable escape strategy.

"Listen—Karen and I are planning a father-daughter outing. No mothers allowed. So I will leave these for you instead."

He produced several tickets and placed them on the hallway table. "These are passes to the finest spa in New York. I reserved it specifically for all of you—as a thank-you for your hard work."

Yuri walked over, examined the tickets, and scooped them up. "I will accept these," she said. "But I want you to know that I am deeply offended." She grabbed Missy and May and began walking toward the door.

"Wait—we were supposed to—" Cortana started.

She never finished. Susan seized her hand and forcibly dragged her after Yuri.

"Let us go," Peter whispered to Karen, "before your mother escapes."

They moved quickly through the garage and climbed into a specific vehicle—something powerful, low-slung, and decidedly not street-legal. Peter ordered Karen to open a Boom Tube in a remote, unpopulated area near their destination.

The engine roared to life.

BRRRRUMM!!!

BRRRRUMM!!!!

"It is beautiful," Peter and Karen said simultaneously.

They looked at each other and laughed.

Peter released the brake, and the car surged forward—straight into the swirling portal.