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It’s a project that’s been months in the making. The designs, the blueprints, the engineering, and the physics involved.
He’d received no help in his plans. Not because nobody wanted to. Hell, if he asked, he’d probably have a veritable army of scientists, designers, superheroes, and anyone with any sort of expertise or belief that they can even make it slightly easier for him to complete the project. But he didn’t ask. The only being who knows about this is his AI.
Why? Because he’ll need assistance later, but this is something he wanted take the first steps on alone.
Now, he’s finally double, triple, and quadruple checked his work. He’s gone through holographic simulations and done everything possible he could on his own. Everything checks out. Onto the next step.
“Karen,” Peter exhales, blood pumping and voice quivering in excitement. “Contact Shuri.”
***
“Peter,” Shuri’s eyes widen as she scrolls through the designs on the plans Peter sent her. She meets Peter’s eyes through the video chat they’re speaking through. “Do you realize what you’ve just done? This- This is going to cause waves through the entire world.”
“I know,” Peter frowns, the seriousness of the situation already in his mind. “But you and I both know this has to be done. So, are you with me?”
“Pete,” the girl’s features turn serious. “If you hadn’t included me in this, I would’ve killed you.” She keeps scrolling through the designs. “But we’re going to need a lot of resources, and I don’t think my brother will allow us to use them for this project. I’ll provide all of what I’ve been assigned for personal use, but that still won’t even be a tenth of what we need.”
“Don’t worry. You’re just the first person I’ve decided to recruit for this, I’ve still got a few more calls to make.”
***
“Kid,” Tony Stark gapes at what’s on the screen in front of him. “This… Why didn’t you come to me sooner?”
“I wanted to do as much as I could on my own,” Peter pouts. “But now I’ve hit the point where I need some help. Shuri’s already coming over from Wakanda, but we need some more resources to actually build the thing, and T’Challa would say no. Can you help?”
“Kid,” the billionaire pats his protégé on his shoulder. “You better believe I’m helping. So, Shuri’s coming up, and I’m already here, but who else is involved.”
“I’m planning on inviting Ned up this weekend. He’d probably never talk to me again if I didn’t let him help. And I wanted to invite MJ up, too, if that’s alright.”
“It’s your project, Pete,” Tony chuckles. “You’re running point. If you want some attractive moral support to come along, be my guest. Hell, she’s pretty smart, too, and Pepper’s helped me on more than one occasion when it comes to my own projects. Anyway, you’re the boss, so what should we work on before our reinforcements get here?”
The teenage genius smiles at his mentor, before he’s all business.
“Okay,” he swipes through the design on the holoscreen. “First thing we should do is gather the resources. I’ve already gotten a list of what Shuri can bring, but I’d like to have half again as much as we need in case of mistakes when we’re building or in my designs. I’d also like you to go over those designs a bit more.” Peter blushes a bit. “There might have been a few gaps in my thought process or calculative mistakes in my designs.”
“I’ll give it a look over,” Tony assures the kid. “But from just the quick glance I’ve had, there doesn’t seem to be anything wrong with the engineering. And I’ll be the first to admit that you’re as good as me at physics, if not better.” He chuckles a bit as he looks back at the screen. “Damn, kid. Not sure why I never thought of this.”
***
It’s another couple of months of work. The geniuses are pushed to the limits of their abilities, even calling in Rocket for some advice of the extraterrestrial variety. They had their own private hanger in to put everything together, using cranes, forklifts, and Peter’s enhanced strength for the heavier pieces.
He was thinking MJ would be useful, but she helped out a lot more than Mr. Stark expected. Her and Peter’s slim figures and smaller hands were able to slip into some of the tighter spaces to connect wires. She also might not be a scientific genius, but she’s smart enough to know how to connect the wires correctly and her steady hand from her sketching helped out tremendously. Her attention to detail is also good to make sure that the designs are accurate.
Still, finally, the project is complete. They stand, shoulder to shoulder, gazing upon the sight in front of them.
“It’s beautiful,” tears of happiness well up in Peter’s eyes.
There’s a sniffle from Ned, proving that his best friend has similar sentiments.
“Good job, kid,” Tony ruffles the kid’s hair.
***
They’re all suited up, ready for the maiden voyage of their great creation. There’s just one thing left to address.
“Okay,” Ned frowns. “Why do I have to be Chewy again? I mean, I thought we agreed when we were in middle school that I would be Han Solo next time we dressed up as the pair.”
“I would have worn it,” Peter smiles. “But MJ called being Leia, so I am by default Han Solo, her love interest. I also know how to fly an aircraft. Shuri is the only one with an actual working lightsaber, so she got to choose between Luke and Obi, and she chose Luke.”
“And I,” Tony smiles in his Obi-wan Kenobi robe. “Although do not have too much to teach Shuri, am still the mentor figure amongst you kids, so I get the wizened Jedi Master.”
“Besides,” Peter pats his best friend comfortingly. “You’ve always been my copilot. My Guy in the Chair. We’re also going to be changing the outfits every time we go on. You know, new passengers and all that. This is just for the first flight.”
“Now, c’mon,” Tony waves them over to the door. “The ladies are waiting, and we’ve only got a few hours of cleared airspace for our test run.”
***
“Breaking news report! An unidentified craft has just been spotted leaving the airspace of the Avengers Compound. We bring you to Wendy Newgate on the scene.”
“Thank you, Victoria,” the reporter smiles into the camera. “Now behind me, you can see what everyone should recognize as the Avengers Compound. A place where heroes regularly enter and exit through various means. Just a few hours ago, we received multiple reports and pictures of a completely new aircraft taking off from the back of the Compound. Is this a new aircraft from one of the many geniuses frequenting the building, is it the introduction of a new hero into the Avengers, or is a more extraterrestrial visitation the cause of this incident? We’ll keep you updated as the news arrives. Back to you, Vick.”
“Thank you, Wendy,” Victoria smiles. “We have a few photos from some tourists that happened to be in the area, the quality isn’t very clear, but let’s see if we can make something out.”
A few blurry photos appear on the back monitor. John, the anchorman next to Victoria, chuckles slightly.
“You know, Vicky, I’ve always been a fan of science fiction. I don’t want to jump to conclusions or anything, but I gotta say, that kind of looks like Han Solo’s ship from Star Wars: The Millennium Falcon.”