C96 Spider-Man (Patreon)
Content
“We’ll miss the expo if you don’t hurry up...” Peter reminded MJ, who was sitting in her room in front of a mirror doing her make-up.
“I’m almost done. Be patient.” MJ says as she follows a youtube tutorial to get her make-up just right.
She wasn’t always a fan of intricate make-up, usually going for a more natural look, but that all changed during the past summer. MJ went down a youtube Beauty rabbit hole, which sparked an interest in her. Now she likes to try new techniques and products, which Peter didn’t mind.
After all, it was nice to look at when she was done. Peter only wished that she would do it quicker, but doing her make-up became a time of relaxation for MJ. Not only does she enjoy the result but the time spent putting it all on as well.
Not wanting to bother her, Peter whips out his phone and scrolled through Twitter.
Today is the Stark Expo and Peter decided to go and enjoy the night with MJ. Tony invited him to tag along as Spider-Man, but Peter needed some time away from Tony for a night.
They spent the last week locked in Tony’s workshop, tirelessly working on the Super Soldier Serum. Tony is a good friend but he can be annoying as hell. Especially when you spend every night with the man locked in a room for hours on end.
He would still go to the expo to support his friend. Just not as Spider-Man, which means he would be able to enjoy the night without any responsibilities, hopefully.
The Stark Expo was an event originally started by Howard Stark to display the latest and greatest technology that could potentially create the future. It’s an event where Stark Industries can show off their many prototypes.
Like hover cars and other attractions that would draw in the public.
This years expo is supposed to be very big for Stark Industries, as they have stepped away from their main revenue source, which was arms dealing.
Tony and Pepper want to use this expo to show off the new things Stark Industries would be selling. Though Peter has no idea what that would be.
Probably cell phones and other appliances if Peter had to guess.
The Avengers and Stark Industries may share a building but Peter doesn’t have the time or that high of interest to know what they’ve been working on. Though he would find out today.
“Am I going to meet Tony Stark?” MJ asks as she applies eyeliner.
“No, I’m going as Peter Parker, not Spider-Man. Tony doesn’t know my real identity.” Peter says with a shake of his head. “Why? Do you want to meet Tony?”
“I mean... Yeah.” MJ says with a shrug. “He’s your friend so I want to meet him sooner or later. Also, he’s Tony Stark...”
“I see...” Peter rolled his eyes at her.
Tony was famous even before he became Iron Man. If Peter could compare his fame to someone from his past life, it would have to be something close to Kim Kardashian. Everyone wanted to hear which model or actress Stark bedded or what scandal ensued soon after.
That behavior has calmed down severely since Tony returned from Afghanistan, but the reveal of Iron Man certainly helped keep the people interested.
“We could try to meet Tony while we’re there, but I doubt we’ll get past security. Just don’t tell him I’m Spider-Man.” Peter offers, getting an adventurous smile from MJ.
“Alright, let’s infiltrate the expo and meet Tony Stark! We’ll see how long it takes before we get kicked out.” MJ says with a laugh.
“Well, you better hurry up then. I doubt he’ll be there all night.” Peter says as he checks the time on the watch she gave him for Christmas.
——————————————
“I told you we’d make it on time.” MJ says as she and Peter watch a brightly lit stage from the back of a large crowd.
After waiting another 20 minutes, Peter and MJ took the subway to the expo. The second they joined the crowd, ACDC started playing over the speakers as an image of Iron Man jumping from a plane played for the crowd to see.
Watching and hearing the rock music blasting, Peter couldn’t help but roll his eyes. Tony truly has a boomers taste in music.
Peter couldn’t count the number of times he has been subjected to listening to ACDC on repeat while working with Tony, which is one of his friend's most annoying qualities.
As the image of Iron Man falling continued, the crowd looked up and could see something falling from the sky toward the stage. The crowd put two and two together and begins cheering as Tony does your average superhero landing on the stage.
Fireworks start flying and scantily clad woman dance their way onto the stage, surrounding Tony as his mask opens and he smiles at the cheering sea of people.
“Tony! Tony! Tony! Tony!” Pretty much the entire crowd was chanting by this point.
“It’s good to be back. You missed me?” Tony says as the crowd goes wild.
“Blow something up!” One guy yelled over everyone else.
“I missed you too. Blow something up? I already did that. I’m not saying that the world is enjoying its longest period of uninterrupted peace in years because of me. I’m not saying that from the ashes of captivity, never has a greater phoenix metaphor been personified in human history. I’m not saying that Uncle Sam can kick back on a lawn chair, sipping on an iced tea because I haven’t come across anyone who’s man enough to go toe-to-toe with me on my best day.” Tony starts bragging with a smug look.
‘Man, his ego has gone through the roof...’ Peter thought as he planned to make fun of him for this later. “Do you still want to meet him?”
Seeing Tony in person and hearing Peter's question, MJ couldn’t help but second guess herself.
“He is a bit of a tool, isn’t he?” MJ comments with a small laugh.
“Yup, that's Tony.” Peter nods in agreement. “He’s a good guy at heart though.”
“Whatever, let’s continue the plan.” MJ says as she drags Peter through the crowd. “Put your powers to use and help me find the backstage entrance.”
“Yes, Ma’am.”
———————————————
After pushing through a crowd of mindless Iron Man fans, Peter and MJ managed to find the entrance that lead backstage. It was guarded by a handful of very big and very armed security. They certainly looked serious and definitely wouldn’t just let them pass.
“Come with me.” Peter says as he drags MJ to a line of porta potties, where he dragged her into one and locked the door.
“W-What? Ewww...” MJ says as she covers her nose. “It stinks in here.”
Without another word, Peter waves his hand and a spell circle appears, attaching to both of them before disappearing.
“What's this about?” MJ asks, not used to seeing Peter do magic very often.
“You said you wanted to meet Tony.” Peter says with a shrug as they exit the toilet and walk back to the security. “Just walk by and don’t say a word.”
The two passed by the security with ease. No one seemed to notice their entrance, which brought a smile to MJ’s face.
‘This is so cool...’ She thought as they maneuvered backstage, looking for Tony.
“Hi. And you are?” Tony says flirtatiously.
After searching for a minute they found Tony and his driver/bodyguard Happy Hogan speaking to a woman.
“Marshal.” She replies with a smile and an outstretched Hand.
“Irish. I like it.” Tony comments as he shakes her hand.
“Pleased to meet you, Tony.” She says as their hands separate.
“Where you from?” Tony asks as Peter and MJ sit back and eavesdrop.
“Bedford.” She answers.
“What are you doing here?” Tony asks curiously, as his security would have notified him of her arrival, meaning that she snuck in.
“Looking for you.” She says as she reached into her bag and pulls out some papers.
“Yeah? You found me. What are you up to later?” Tony says with a flirty wink, causing Peter to roll his eyes once again.
Meanwhile, MJ found Tony’s behavior very entertaining.
“Serving subpoenas.” She drops the bomb and hands over the papers.
“Yikes.” Tony comments as he avoids touching the papers at all costs.
“He doesn’t like to be handed things.” Happy says as he takes the papers.
“I see, you’re hereby ordered to appear before the Senate Armed Services Committee tomorrow morning at 9 am.”
A/N: 1453 words.