"Can you hear me kid?" Tony asked through the piece of technology he'd been given. It was a small piece of wiring on a clear piece of plastic that was placed inside his ear, resting against his ear canal.

"Crystal" Spider-Man nodded, sliding the hatch he'd moved back into place, using the tip of his fingers to twist the screws into place "This thing works really well"

"Yeah, we're gonna be mass-producing it next year" Stark answered "Haven't come up with a name for it yet though, we're thinking of something cartoony and cheesy, like the Ear-spionage device"

"Run me through how this thing works and I'll see what name I can think of" Spider-Man nodded, grinning under his mask as he already had the name picked out.

"Right, so its a small device that uses top-of-the-line micro-technology to transmit and receive audio signals of multiple programmable frequencies ranging from radio stations to walkie-talkies" Star began "Its big feature is that instead of a speaker its able to directly stimulate the inner bones of your ear without vibrating the air around it, which is what makes the sound. Bear in mind that you still have to speak aloud to get it to read you, but I can talk into your ear all day long without somebody else hearing it"

"Right, yeah, I got a name" Spider-Man said.

"Alright then kid, hit me" Stark responded.

"The Codec" Spider-Man answered, grinning widely under his mask.

"The... Codec?" Stark asked, the sound of him drumming his fingers on his desk being audible to Spider-Man "Why the Codec?"

"No reason, it just works" Spider-Man shrugged, sliding down the wall he stuck too and into the wiring hatch, immediately feeling the heat hit seep through his suit "Christ Stark its hot in here, you sure this cooling under-armour's gonna work?"

"Don't worry about it, its made from the same technology that my Deep-Magma Iron Man suit's made from" Stark said confidently "It'll kick in soon and you'll feel nice and cool"

"Alright, I'll trust you on this one" Spider-Man nodded, sliding further and further down into the ventilation chamber.

True to Stark's word, the under-armour he wore began to feel cool against his body and he stopped perspirating.

"Uhhh, Tony?" Spider-Man asked, a small thought occurring to him.

"Yeah?" Tony asked.

"I know the under-armour'll keep my cool and stop me from burning to a crisp but... won't the heat still fuck up my costume?" he asked.

Tony didn't need to answer that as he felt his suit begin to tighten against his body as it shrivelled up.

"Oh great" Spider-Man sighed, hearing a loud tear as the armpit area of the suit split at the seams from his movement "Fuck"

"What's up?" Tony asked "Your Spidey duds haven't set alight yet, have they?"

"Oh shit" Spider-Man growled "I forgot that could happen"

He halted himself on the wall and breathed a heavy sigh as he tore his beloved suit away from his body and casting it down into the vent. It fell several long metres before it set alight with a loud crackle, the glove of the suit angled upwards, as if it were a hand reaching up to be saved.

"I love you" Peter called down to the burning mass of cloth.

"Oh for fuck's sake kid, its a suit, not a person" Tony growled "Get over it"

"Its not just a suit... it was my baby" Peter said, dragging his finger down his cheek to mimic a tear falling.

"Just be lucky I didn't give you the under-armour that has a clear face, you'll still have your secret identity" Tony commented.

Peter nodded, looking at the all black under-armour he wore with lenses that Stark had redesigned to look like his Spider-Man costume's while still covering his face. He slid further down into the shaft before another thought occurred to him.

"Wait, how did we manage to think of my web-shooters exploding from the heat... and not my suit setting on fire?" Peter asked, patting his backside where a pouch made of the same heat-resistant material as his new suit rested, the web-shooters inside to keep them safe.

"Call it a brain fart?" Tony suggested.

"Fair enough" Peter nodded "You'll make me a new suit, right?"

"No" Tony answered.

"Thanks bud" Peter growled, sliding further down to a panel that was strangely reflective. He looked at himself with a critical eye, seeing the white eye-lenses going quite well with the plain black suit.

"Did I tell you that I considered black as a colour for the suit?" Peter asked, blowing a kiss at himself before dropping several metres "Red and black were the original colours but... I felt they were a bit stu-ish"

"What?" Tony asked "The fuck does that mean?"

"Sorry, internet term, you wouldn't get it" Peter said "Though... if you ever go onto a website called Tumblr and find an anime character creator, don't make it red and black and give it a katana, that really fucks people off"

"Duly noted" Tony said.

"But yeah, I was originally gonna make the suit red and black, then just plain black... then I threw in a little white and boom, I had the first suit I liked" Peter continued.

"Why did you change it?" Tony asked.

"I thought it looked more like a villain's suit, the colours were really sinister and the spider design I'd put together... it was a little too dark and edgy" Peter explained "You know what I mean?"

"I guess... would you make it now?" Tony asked offhandedly.

"What d'you mean?" Peter asked, sliding down to the bottom of the ventilation chamber and dropping into a low crouch.

"Would you wear it now, for a change of pace?" Tony asked "I've done that with my suits a few times, given them a new paint-job when I felt like a change"

"Maybe... if I didn't have any other choice I figure I would, for a while" Peter shrugged.

"What if I made it for you?" Stark queried "And gave it a few upgrades?"

"If you it makes me better at being Spider-Man then fuck what it looks like, I'd keep the son-of-a-bitch for good" Peter nodded before growing serious again "Right, I'm at the bottom of the vent, now what?"

"Alright, there should be a hatch under a few thick wires near you that leads to the information hub of the building, just plug in the virus to the USB port and stand around for a few minutes" Tony instructed.

"And what about the probe you gave me?" Peter asked "Your little 'All Your Data Are Belong To Us' machine you gave me?" Peter asked.

"Obviously you plug it into another port and steal as much company data as you can" Tony answered.

"Yeah, obviously" Peter nodded "Alright then Colonel, Snake out"

"What?" Stark asked before Peter tapped his ear and ended the transmission. Peter carefully spread the cables apart and found the hatch he was looking for.

After prying it open with his fingers he ducked inside and landing next to a large server stack.

"Alright then Parker... find a computer terminal, plug in these little devils and break Oscorp" Peter said aloud "Let's just hope this doesn't put them out of business, cuz Harry will be mad... that and I'd make the stock market to all wiggedy-whack and make crazy things happen, like the saying 'wiggedy-whack' making a comeback" After palming his own forehead for saying such a nineties phrase he made his way through the server stacks until he came to the access terminal.

"Bingo" Peter said before catching himself again "'Bingo' cliche, ding!"

He walked over to the terminal and, after routing around for the hidden USB ports, he plugged the two devices in and took a step back, looking around and waiting for the alarm and/or security bots and/or laser beams and/or all of the above to attack him.

After nothing did he breathed a sigh of relief, the terminal lighting up and a progress bar appeared as it began to display graphics of files being taken and moved into a graphic of the USB stick.

"Who... who coded and sprited this?" Peter asked "I don't know a single OS that has files being stolen as an actually programmed graphic... especially an animated one too"

Casting aside his peculiar question he stood around for several minutes before a file was automatically opened, displaying several projects that were marked as 'Classified'

"Holy shit, whoever programmed this fucking U.I needs to be fired, its giving away company secrets without even asking for a password?" Peter asked, crossing his arms "That's oddly convenient... almost... scripted in a way"

He looked over his shoulder to make sure there was no Wallrider or final boss sneaking up on him, his own paranoia making him nervous, before he turned back to the computer and two files were blinking on screen.

One was labelled the M.G Project and the second was was labelled as the Silvermane Project.

"Gee willickers Batman, I wonder what the second project involves?" Peter said in an ironic tone "You know, just for curiosity's sake, let's access the M.G project and see what Metal gear model they're building"

Peter tapped on the touch screen where the icon for the file was and was surprised to hear that a Siri-esque voice announce the full name of the file.

"Greetings Engineer, opening selected file" the voice said "Metal Gear Zeon"

"What. The. Fuck!?" Peter exclaimed, flicking though several blueprints and artist renditions of an exact copy of Metal Gear Ray, complete with removed Hydro-Cutter and replaced with a plasma cannon "They are actually building a Metal Gear!?"

Peter flicked through several more files on the project, seeing official government signed research grants, building permissions and areas in the Mojave Desert dedicated to testing the machine's weapon capabilities all paid for and signed by... Princess Luna.

He frantically scanned through the blueprints contrasted against the written descriptions of the Metal gear model's capabilities, noticing that the person who had written the description had conveniently left out the Gear's ability to launch nukes, something that was clearly displayed on the blueprints.

"Who builds a Metal Gear!?" Peter demanded in utter bewilderment "And I don't mean steal the idea of one, who literally takes the design and name of a video game super-weapon and creates it!?"

He jabbed a finger into his covered ear, still getting his finger to touch the Codec, causing it to activate and call the only programmed frequency it had.

"What's up?" Stark asked through a mouthful of food.

"Google something right now" peter ordered.

"Hang on, I'm in the middle-" Stark began.

"Stark!" Peter barked "Now!"

"Alright... what d'you want me to look up?" Stark asked.

"Metal gear Ray" Peter answered.

"Why?" Stark questioned.

"Just. Do. It" Peter spat.

"Fine" Stark said, going quiet for a second before his voice came back in "Uh... its a robot from a video game... why is this so important?"

"Because Oscorp are building one" Peter answered.

"Bullshit" Stark said in a disbelieving tone.

"No, I'm not making this up" Peter said "I've got the plans for this thing right in front of me and... hang on"

Peter looked at a piece of information on the first page of information that brought a wave of realization over him.

"What year was the Oscorp Tower commissioned?" Peter asked.

"Well... I think it was first planned in... eighty-six, but after a massive redesign in eighty-seven the tower was postponed for building for the next year, after the new plans were finalized" Stark described "Why is that important?"

"Because on July seventh nineteen-eighty-seven a little game was released on the MSX2 known as Metal Gear... can you remember the date the redesign was started?" Peter asked.

"September that year I think" Stark said "You're not seriously trying to tell me that Alexander Osborn played through that video game and saw this... Metal Gear thing and decided to restructure he entire tower just to build it?" Stark asked "That's insane!"

"Well unless this file comes up as a joke to trick thieves like us, then I've got every sign, light and announcement telling me that the tower was finished in ninety-two and the research phase on their own Metal Gear, officially backed by Princess Luna herself"

"This has to be bullshit, why the fuck would Luna put money behind a video game robot?" Stark asked, still not convinced.

"Because she didn't know it was from a video game, remember that this was when video games weren't a mainstream icon, no high ranking government official would be caught buying, playing or even discussing a SNES or and NES in public" Peter explained "And you're forgetting that this project was pitched a year after the end of the Cold War, where America and Russia had both reduced the amount of nuclear weapons they'd made to secure peace"

"And what you're saying is?"

"I'm saying can you imagine how good it would sound to the leaders of a country that had just lost a considerable amount of their biggest weapons in a deal with their enemy only to have some guy come along and tell you that you can not only restock your nuclear arsenal but you can do it while creating a new series of tanks with nuke launching capabilities from anywhere on the Earth's surface?" Peter asked.

"What!?" Stark exclaimed "It can do that?!"

"The original Metal Gear model was able to stock at least three nuclear missiles, the design I'm looking at for Ray shows him able to carry three sets of fifteen missile launchers, each nuclear and able to switch out on a rotary system installed in his back" Peter described "And since this would be classified as a black project it would go unspoken of to the public so nobody would bring up the fact that Hideo Kojima created the machine and could sue them for copyright... and make their corporate backers realize how dangerous this thing was, seeing as how they didn't say he could launch nukes"

"How many have they built so far?" Tony asked.

"Luckily none" Peter answered.

"Wait, they've been building this thing for nearly thirty years and still haven't finished it?" Tony asked "How the hell does that work?"

"Because the technology they use keeps getting upgraded, the original plans they showed for this thing were from the original Metal gear model in nineteen-eighty-seven, they've upgraded its design to match Metal Gear Ray's and he didn't show up until two-thousand and two in the Metal Gear Solid series" Peter explained "And it says on the file that they'd scheduled this thing to be deployed into Afghanistan to help fight the war over there in twenty-twelve"

"Did they?" Tony asked.

"No, they put it back into production down to a 'Error in the targeting system'" Peter said "Though I think I know why they didn't deploy it"

"Why?" Stark asked.

"What big technological advancement happened a few years earlier?" Peter asked "What changed the field of mobile, human-operated machinery?"

"Two-thousand-and seven" Stark said in horror "The second Iron Man suit I built when I went up against Obediah... the government demanded I hand over the plans to the suit as a military project"

"Which I'm guessing would've been given to Oscorp to help them finalize their super-weapon" Peter nodded.

"And when I said no... they started stealing the suits after they found out they were being produced somewhere else... replicating the technology for their big super-weapon and selling the knock-offs to the criminal underworld as a way to cover costs and hide their tracks" Tony said, the realization hitting both of them.

"And when I bumped into Smythe in the elevator in this building he said that when his work was complete there'd be no need for artificial intelligence... because his work would change the world" Peter said "And we've seen that your newer suits are able to be piloted without anyone inside them"

"And you give that power to a walking nuclear power house that's covered in the same material I use for the suits" Stark began.

"You've got a killing machine that can't be stopped, and if its put into mass production like its planned to be, possibly with hundreds of trained pilots at your command-" Peter continued.

"And if you use the I.D lock software I use on my suits... you've got your own little army of nearly indestructible super-weapons that can turn on their commanders"

"Order sixty-six style" Peter nodded "We can't let them do that"

"But how do we know that's what they're doing?" Stark asked "They could genuinely be doing this to help America, we can't take that risk without knowing more"

Peter browsed through several more files before coming across a list of names, countries and prices. His jaw dropped when he realized what was going on underneath the tower. Not only was Luna's signature present but so were the ones from other countries rulers, Saudi Arabia, Russia, Iran, Iraq, South America, Korea, China, Japan.

"Stark!" Peter yelled in horror.

"What?" Stark demanded "What is it?"

"I've got pitches, meetings and signings from at least thirteen other countries that bought into the idea of Oscorp's Metal Gear production and he's sold them to so many different world leaders its not even funny, and he tricked each one into thinking they're the only ones with access to the new tech" Peter explained.

"Oh shit... this is bad" Stark growled.

"And it gets worse, Smythe's planning to use the machines like I said, Order Sixty-Six style and turn them all against the leaders of the countries that've bought them" Peter carried on "He's... he's planning to take over the world with them"

"So then get the data on that USB and bring it here to me, then maybe we can go to Celestia and show her what's really happening" Stark said.

"And then what?" Peter asked "We obtained this data illegally, Smythe's, hell, Osborn's lawyers could just say that we broke into their private building, stole classified documents not meant for public consumption and then say we created more documents to try and get them arrested"

"Fuck" Stark growled "Fuck!"

"We have to do something... I'll try and talk to Celestia, maybe Luna, to try and make her see reason, see if either of them'll be willing to listen" Peter said quickly.

"Then get your ass back here with that data boy, then upload the Trojan and get the fuck out of there!" Stark said before catching himself "Though something as big as this probably isn't just saved in this one location... damn it all"

"Right, I'll be back soon" Peter said, seeing that the progress bar for both the M.G Project and the Silvermane Project were complete. He removed the USB and accessed the Trojan virus, seeing it infect the files before burying itself away.

He removed the USBs and made his way back to the hatch he'd entered through, moving as fast as possible, as if the world depended on him.

Which it did. Next Chapter: More Bad News Estimated time remaining: 5 Hours, 29 Minutes