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*****
"Infuriating! Absolutely infuriating!"
Laura kicked a roadside lamppost with a series of dull, heavy thuds. She didn't seem to care in the slightest whether she injured her leg or not; she attacked the metal pole with a "one of us is going down" intensity that sent a nearby loitering thug scurrying away in terror.
A few seconds later, Laura finally stopped her pointless assault, grimacing as the sting finally reached her brain. She grumbled to herself and plopped down onto the curb.
"She actually ditched me! She ran off with that little wall-crawler brat and didn't even have the decency to say a word to me!"
The more Laura thought about it, the more her blood boiled. She tightened her fists and hissed, "I'm telling Uncle Mike about this! I'm telling him everything!"
She had been trying her absolute hardest to drag Gwen out of the swirling vortex of romance, but the girl had dived in headfirst anyway.
"And the worst part," Laura muttered, "is that she finds something this interesting to do and doesn't share it with me? She goes off with that jumping bean instead?"
"Gaaaah!"
In a fit of pique, Laura ruffled her own hair into a messy nest and leaped up from the curb. She flagged down a passing taxi and, after barking the address Gwen had sent her at the driver, settled into the seat as the car sped off.
This was the first genuinely interesting thing she'd encountered since arriving in this world, and there was no way she was going to miss out.
However...
"Just wait until I see you! I am going to mess your hair up so bad, Gwen!"
Laura let out a low growl, causing the taxi driver's expression to pale. He stared nervously at the rearview mirror, convinced he had picked up a pint-sized lunatic.
"Um... she sounded really angry. Is she... going to be okay?" Peter asked cautiously, glancing at Gwen.
Gwen was propping her head up with one hand while the other idly spun her phone on the table. She watched the device rotate in circles and let out a soft sigh.
"Oh, Laura... at most, she'll just ruin my hair."
Years ago, messing up Gwen's carefully styled hair had been Laura's go-to punishment whenever she was annoyed. It seemed that tradition hadn't changed.
Gwen chuckled inwardly and then turned a bright smile toward Peter. "Hey, let's make a ten-buck bet. How long do you think it'll take Tony to seize control of those dolls?"
She held up a finger playfully. "An hour? Maybe two?"
Peter blinked, then suddenly said, "You can have everything I own."
Gwen's breath hitched. "!"
Her face turned a deep, unmistakable crimson. "Ahem! I'm trying to have a serious bet with you!"
Peter gazed at her with a look of profound sincerity. "And I am being completely serious about how I feel."
He realized that ever since he had confessed his feelings, his affection for Gwen seemed to intensify with every passing second, as if there were no ceiling to how much he could love her.
Gwen was momentarily speechless. This guy is getting way too bold with his words!
Seeing her blush, Peter gave a confident grin and pivoted back to the topic. "Knowing Mr. Stark's abilities, he'll have it handled in less than an hour."
"You have that much faith in him?"
"Absolutely," Peter replied without a hint of hesitation.
Almost as soon as the word left his lips, Gwen's phone began to vibrate and ring.
Gwen checked the screen, her eyes widening in surprise. "That fast?"
Peter just smiled, looking quite pleased with himself.
Gwen answered the call, but before she could get a word out, Tony's voice crackled through the speaker, sounding strangely amused. "I've found the mastermind, and I've already locked down the controls for the toys!"
Gwen froze, glancing at the grinning Peter. "Wait, really? That was incredibly fast."
"Fast? In a situation like this, speed is the only thing that matters," Tony remarked. "I'm sending the coordinates to your phone now. I'm heading there immediately."
"Got it."
Gwen hung up and looked at the message Tony had sent. She paused for a beat, a look of realization dawning on her face, before turning to Peter. "Time to move."
Peter nodded and hurried into the other room to change into his suit. Gwen took a moment to send a quick update to Laura before slipping into her own Spider-Woman attire.
The two met at the door, their masked eyes meeting for a brief second. They slipped out through the window, shut it tight, and leaped into the night air, their webs tracing silver arcs across the sky as they swung toward the target.
High above the city, Tony Stark was a streak of red and gold. Inside the Iron Man helmet, his face wore a peculiar expression—a mix of surprise, bewilderment, and a touch of mocking amusement.
Justin Hammer.
He truly hadn't expected it. He knew the man was a second-rate hack who specialized in "discount" knock-offs and inferior technology, but he hadn't pegged him for having the guts to manufacture something this sinister.
Controlling children? Holding them hostage to extort massive sums of money?
Since when did that coward grow such a pair? Tony wondered.
Thinking about his old "rival," a smirk played across Tony's lips. It had been quite some time since they'd crossed paths; he was looking forward to a very personal reunion.
"Whew."
Tony took a steadying breath and muttered, "Friday, give me some real kick."
"Understood, Boss."
The boots of the armor began to shift and merge, transforming into a single, high-output thruster. A massive plume of blue-white flame erupted, and the Mark suit carved a magnificent arc through the night sky before vanishing toward the horizon.
In no time at all, he arrived at the destination. It was a cluster of buildings he knew all too well.
This was the site of the old Stark Expo from years ago. It had been the center of a massive battle that had left the grounds riddled with scars and debris, but Tony had later refurbished the entire area, turning it into a permanent hall for rotating technology exhibitions.
He found it genuinely disgusting that Justin Hammer had chosen the sub-levels of this specific site for his base of operations. The fact that Hammer had been operating right under his nose all this time made Tony's skin crawl.
Without any pretense of stealth, Tony plummeted from the sky. Guided by Friday, he dove toward an open clearing nestled within a small wooded area. Just as he was about to slam into the grass, the ground split apart, revealing a heavy set of reinforced doors. Tony flew straight through without slowing down.
On the way over, Tony had already dismantled the base's security protocols. Entering this place was now as easy as walking into his own living room.
"This security system is a joke. A ninety-year-old grandmother with a rotary phone could have cracked this," Tony grumbled as he zipped through the interior corridors. "I have no idea where this idiot got the confidence to target children."
Every trap and automated defense—most of which were laughably primitive in Tony's eyes—failed to even activate as he bypassed them. Within seconds, he reached the heart of the facility.
"What the—? There are so many!?" Tony gasped.
He found himself in a massive, hemispherical underground chamber. Thousands upon thousands of dolls were lined up on shelves that spiraled up the walls, encircling the entire space.
Standing in the center of the room, Tony felt a chill run down his spine. It felt as if thousands of tiny, glassy eyes were boring into him. That unease was quickly replaced by a hot, white-hot rage. If Gwen and Peter hadn't stumbled onto this, how many children would have fallen victim to this trap?
"Justin Hammer! You miserable hack! Get out here right now! I know you're lurking somewhere!" Tony's voice boomed, echoing off the metallic walls of the chamber.
"Ha! Well, well... look who decided to drop by."
A snide, overly theatrical voice drifted through the air. A man in a sharp business suit, wearing gold-rimmed glasses and sporting a smug, oily grin, appeared on a descending elevator platform.
It was indeed Justin Hammer.
(End of Chapter)