Chapter 369: Battling the Vulture Again
"Hello, everyone," Toomes greeted them with a smile.
At the same time, Toomes noticed Peter, whose gaze seemed off.
"Does this young man know me?" Toomes asked, setting down the platter and walking over to Peter.
Peter stared at the man standing inches away from him. He never could have imagined that Liz's father was the Vulture—the very man he had been hunting. During the bar collapse previously, Toomes had removed his mask, allowing Peter to see his true face.
"I just feel like you look familiar, sir. Maybe I've seen you on the street," Peter stammered, quickly coming up with an excuse. He didn't know how to handle the situation.
Toomes gave Peter a meaningful look, then nodded with a light chuckle. "I see. And what is your name?"
"Dad, his name is Peter Parker. Wow, Peter, it's such a coincidence that you've seen my dad on the street!"
Liz, completely unaware of the tension, introduced Peter with a bright smile. Hearing the name "Peter Parker," Toomes's lips curled into a slight smirk. "Hello, Peter."
"Hello, Mr. Toomes," Peter replied, feeling as though Toomes had already figured something out.
Soon, everyone sat down at the dining table. For this birthday party, Liz hadn't invited many people—just Silas and their group of friends.
"Liz, didn't you invite your old friends?" Gwen asked curiously.
"They all live quite far away," Liz explained, taking a bite of cake. "It wasn't convenient for them to come here."
While the others chatted, Toomes kept his eyes fixed on Peter. Feeling the weight of the man's stare, Peter avoided eye contact, looking down at his plate guiltily. This only increased Toomes's suspicion; his daughter's friend clearly recognized him and was acting incredibly nervous.
"Keep eating, Liz. I have some business to take care of," Toomes suddenly said, standing up.
"But Dad, you said you'd spend the day with me. The party is only halfway over," Liz complained.
"I'm sorry, Liz. But I promise! I'll be back before 1:00 PM." Toomes walked over, placing one hand on Liz's shoulder and patting her back.
Liz's expression softened. "You better not be lying."
"Don't worry, I won't!" Toomes smiled. He turned to the group. "You kids enjoy yourselves with Liz. I need to step out for a moment."
Under the gaze of the teenagers, Toomes slowly walked out the door.
"Liz, what does your father do? Is he always this busy?" Gwen asked.
"I'm not entirely sure. Whenever I ask, he says he's hired by big bosses to do security work," Liz shook her head. Toomes had never shared the details with her.
Beside them, Peter's eyes lit up. Toomes was definitely the Vulture! He hadn't misremembered! Why would he rush out so urgently on his daughter's birthday? It had to be a deal!
Bang!
Peter suddenly stood up. If Toomes was heading out for a high-tech weapon trade, things would turn ugly fast.
"What's wrong, Peter?" Gwen looked at him in surprise. Peter's sudden movement had startled everyone except Silas and Felicia, who were busy talking.
"Nothing," Peter laughed awkwardly. He thought fast and blurted out, "Oh, right! I left something at home! I have to go get it right now or it'll be a disaster!"
"Then hurry back," Liz said, puzzled. Peter was acting strange, but she couldn't put her finger on why.
Only Silas knew the truth. Peter was likely about to go and apprehend Toomes. After a quick goodbye, Peter gave Silas a meaningful look and sprinted out the door.
The Alleyway
Toomes sat crouched near a dumpster, holding his phone. The screen displayed the surveillance feed from his house.
"Peter Parker..." Toomes muttered the name. This classmate of his daughter seemed unusual. Toomes didn't immediately jump to the conclusion that Peter was Spider-Man; instead, he wondered if Peter had caught a glimpse of his face by chance during a previous operation.
"Something is wrong," Toomes said, standing up.
The moment he left, Peter had followed. Was the boy going to call the police? But Peter had no evidence. To be safe, Toomes dialed his old associate.
"What is it, Toomes? Ready for another job?" Mason asked on the other end, his voice hopeful. Toomes had stopped all deals with gangs lately to play it safe, which meant they had no income. After getting used to making millions per job, they couldn't stand being broke.
"No, not yet. Spider-Man is watching us like a hawk," Toomes refused. He was cautious; since Spider-Man had seen his face, he had been keeping a low profile, even wearing hats and masks just to buy groceries.
"Then what's the deal?" Mason's enthusiasm plummeted.
"I think I've been recognized." Toomes shared his suspicion.
"Recognized? By who?" Mason snapped back to attention. If Toomes went down, Mason wouldn't be far behind. They were in this together.
"I'm not sure if he knows for certain yet," Toomes said, sounding frustrated. Toomes wasn't a cold-blooded killer; as long as people stayed out of his way, he left them alone.
"Regardless, this potential threat must be dealt with." That was Mason's philosophy. To be safe, anyone who knew Toomes's identity had to die. Even if the person only had a sliver of suspicion, they had to be cleared out.
"...I understand," Toomes hung up, a look of resolve in his eyes.
Toomes drove to an abandoned warehouse on the outskirts of the city and pulled the Vulture suit out of its crate. Staring at the suit he hadn't worn in days, he reached out to touch it, almost feeling as though he might never wear it again.
"Vulture..." a voice suddenly echoed through the warehouse.
Toomes's body jolted. He slowly, stiffly turned his head. Out of the dark corners, a familiar figure emerged—Spider-Man.
"How are you here?" Toomes gasped.
"What do you think?" Peter tapped the spider emblem on his chest. Several micro-spider bots detached from the Vulture suit and flew back to him.
Toomes stared at the robots, finally realizing he had been under constant surveillance.
"Drop it. You're going to the police station," Peter said, though he was feeling hesitant. If he didn't know Toomes's identity, it would be easy. But now he knew this was Liz's father. If he arrested him, what would happen to Liz? Would she be mocked by her classmates?
"The police? Hahaha~" Toomes laughed somewhat manically. "You don't understand anything, Spider-Man."
"I am not going to any police station." Toomes would rather die than be hauled off by Spider-Man. He didn't want his daughter to live with the stigma of being a super-villain's child.
"You don't have a choice, Vulture." Peter couldn't let a criminal go.
"I said! It's not happening!" Toomes suddenly reached for a weapon sitting next to the suit.
Peter, expecting the move, instantly fired a web, sticking the weapon and yanking it into his hand.
Crunch!
Peter smashed the weapon onto the ground, reducing it to scrap metal that hissed with electric sparks. Toomes's face darkened. Reaching behind his back into his pocket, he sent a distress signal to Mason on his phone.
Zip!
Peter leaped over Toomes's head, landing behind him and snatching the phone away.
"Calling for backup?" Peter didn't stop him. The Vulture had a gang, after all; it was better to take them all down at once. Otherwise, if they realized something was wrong and fled, it would be much harder to find them later.
Support me on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/c/MistaQuartz
On Patreon, you can explore Extra Chapters in advance!