Trapped
While Peter was unconscious, the truck loaded with objects kept moving forward without stopping. At one point, the entire trailer suddenly shook, as if it had been dropped onto the ground with force. Just in time for Peter to wake up from his unconscious state.
"Ouch… ouch, my head," he muttered as he slowly lifted it, clearly in pain.
"It appears you have a mild concussion," the suit's AI replied instantly. In his vision, an image of his body appeared, highlighting his head in flashing red, as if a built-in scanner was checking his vitals.
Peter stared at it for a brief moment with mild curiosity, but quickly shook his head. With a more serious expression, he realized the place around him was completely silent and still.
The truck had already stopped.
"Uh… Miss Suit… where are we?" he asked, a hint of nervousness in his voice.
"I'm sorry. I'm unable to answer that. The surroundings appear to be blocking my radar and GPS," she responded immediately.
"Oh… no. What if they stole the entire truck and we're in their actual villain hideout?" Peter muttered, imagining the worst. "If that's the case… then I'll have to fight my way out," he added with a sigh, preparing himself.
"Would you like me to activate kill mode?" the AI asked.
"No… but keep it ready. Just in case," Peter replied, staring at the trailer doors as he did a few small jumps to warm up.
"Alright… I was trained. I can take at least a hundred guys. Easy. Unless they're armed… yeah, that might complicate things a bit. But still, I can do it. I can," he told himself, trying to get into the right mindset. "One… two… three."
He counted before sprinting toward the metal doors and slamming into them with his full body. They dented instantly and burst open with a loud crash, the hinges snapping as both doors flew outward, revealing his superhuman strength.
Peter rolled out onto the ground and got up immediately, both hands raised in a guard, ready to fight if he had to.
But he quickly realized there was no one around.
More than that, all he could see were dozens and dozens of identical trailers, likely filled just like the one he had been inside, all marked with the same logo on the side.
"What is this place…?" Peter said, staring at the large logo that read DODC. "Miss?" he asked his suit.
"It appears you are inside a secret facility containing recovered objects managed by the DODC. And according to current agreements, regulations, and protocols… this is illegal. VITAE has full authority over objects classified as dangerous to humanity, and these should have been destroyed immediately," the AI explained quickly.
Each word only made Peter's expression worse, his face going pale beneath the mask.
"Oh no… are you serious? This is even worse than ending up in a villain cave. They're not going to silence me for finding this place, right?" he asked, clearly nervous.
"As a junior member of VITAE who has discovered an illegal facility that should not exist, filled with objects that should have been destroyed… there is a 100% probability that is exactly what will happen," the AI replied coldly.
"I think you mentioned the VITAE member part twice…" Peter pointed out.
"That is because simply being connected to VITAE increases the probability by 99%," the AI clarified.
"Oh, great…" Peter muttered, holding his head.
He immediately went to try and open the massive entrance door. It seemed to be made of thick, solid metal. Even using all his strength, it didn't move an inch. His punches barely left marks, and all he managed to do was hurt his knuckles.
There didn't seem to be any other way in or out. And for a secret facility, that made perfect sense.
After at least half an hour of trying to force it open, Peter gave it one last kick… only to end up hopping on one foot, clutching the other in pain.
"It is possible the door will not open again until morning, when inventory is conducted," the AI said at that moment.
"Yeah… and by then they'll find me here. And when that door opens, it'll probably be full of guns pointed at me. Alien guns…" Peter said, sounding slightly hysterical.
"Assuming they are not already gathering personnel to come for you," the AI added, not helping at all.
"I need a break… maybe I'll think of something later," Peter said as he walked to a corner and sat down, leaning against one of the containers while staring at the massive number of them around him.
"How many are there?" he asked, realizing just how big the place was… and how dangerous it would be if all of that got out.
"157. Some of them show high levels of unknown radiation. Possibly originating from Chitauri vessels," the AI answered instantly.
"Radiation…?" Peter repeated, immediately growing tense again.
"Do not worry. While wearing the suit, you are protected. It is made from radiation-resistant materials, like most suits used by VITAE members. Running into enemies like the Chitauri is considered a realistic possibility. Mister Stark ensured full protection," the AI added, reassuring him.
"That's good… not the part about us facing guys like the Chitauri in the future, obviously," Peter said before letting out a sigh, starting to feel like he might be going a little crazy being stuck there.
"You know… I feel a bit bad calling you 'Miss Suit' and all that… so why don't I give you a name?" Peter said after a moment, like he needed something to distract himself. "How about Liz…?" he added, only to shake his head right after. "No, no, no… okay, that was weird… even for me," he muttered, realizing his own mistake.
He went quiet for a second, thinking.
"What about Karen?" he said after reconsidering.
"You may call me Karen if you prefer," the AI replied, accepting the name without hesitation.
Peter let out another sigh, clearly bored, lightly tapping his foot against the floor, the sound echoing through the empty space.
"Hey, Karen… what else can the suit do?" he asked, just trying to pass the time.
Suddenly, he felt something shift under his arms. He looked down and noticed web-like wings forming there, designed for gliding through the air.
"Ohh… that's awesome. You said there was a refresher course, right?" he said, immediately finding the perfect way to kill time while waiting for his possible death… or escape. Whichever came first.
Moments later, the place was filled with all kinds of webs as Peter practiced every variation he had: bouncing webs, electric webs, dual webs, web grenades, web shrapnel, cutting webs…
Before he even realized it, Peter had already gone through the entire refresher course. Now he was lying back in a web hammock, staring at the ceiling… with absolutely nothing left to do.
"So with all that… a lot of time must've passed, right? How long was that?" he asked right away.
"Forty minutes have passed," Karen replied instantly.
"What!?" Peter shot up, only to lose his balance and fall straight off the hammock. "I can't take this anymore… if they're coming to kill me, they might as well just do it already," he said, giving up on the spot.
Right at that moment, to his surprise, he heard noise coming from outside the massive metal door. Something that shouldn't have been possible given how thick it was. But it sounded like… a welding tool powering up.
As Peter stared at it, confused—
"I recommend keeping your distance," the AI said in immediate alert.
"Why?" Peter asked.
But before he could react, his spider-sense exploded at full force.
He didn't think. He just jumped.
A laser beam pierced through the door, grazing the exact spot where he had been standing a second earlier, burning the ground and leaving a glowing mark behind.
Then another beam appeared. The two moved in sync, slicing through the door, melting it as they carved out a hole in the center.
The metal glowed red-hot, slowly warping…
Until, after what felt like several minutes, the lasers stopped.
And shut off.
Peter stared at the door.
Then suddenly, the melted section collapsed forward with a loud crash.
And before he could even process it—
A group of fully armed men stormed in, moving in perfect coordination, spreading out quickly and taking positions around the area.
Peter immediately recognized the logo on their suits.
And when one of them spotted him, he scanned the surroundings briefly before raising a hand to his ear.
"Operator Alpha here. Area secured. Missing S-class agent located on site. Appears alone and unharmed," he reported.
He made a gesture, and the others lowered their weapons.
Even so, Peter slowly raised his hands… like a kid who just got caught doing something he shouldn't.
"Good to see you're alright, Agent Parker," the man said as he approached, removing the helmet that covered part of his face. The VITAE logo was clearly visible on his chest.
The moment he took it off, Peter seemed to recognize him.
"Oh… wait… you're—" he started.
But before he could finish—
"Haha! See, Ricky? I knew it. Peter would get himself into trouble. I was right to call you this time," a childish voice said, full of pride, as a girl walked in with her chest puffed out.
"Agent Kamala, we told you to wait at the mobile base. This location is not secure… and my name is Richard," the man replied quickly.
"It's fine. There's no one here anyway. And the others already secured the perimeter. I trust you guys," Kamala said with a confident smile, nodding firmly.
Ricky just let out a tired sigh.
"Kam…?" Peter said, staring at her in complete confusion.
The girl, now wearing her blue, gold, and red suit, with a lightning bolt across her chest and a mask covering her face, looked at him with a mix of teasing… and pride for having saved him.
Peter stared at her in silence for a moment.
"…this is humiliating."