Ch.31 Tony Stark Gets Kidnapped Again

"Yes, Spider-Man. From the moment you agreed to help me retrieve my father's body, I considered you a friend. Other than Charlie, you're the second friend I've acknowledged."

Looking at Harry's sincere expression, Charlie Parker felt a sigh of relief.

Thankfully, this guy wasn't entirely outsmarting him.

That was what Charlie was most concerned about.

However, when Harry mentioned "Charlie," worry flashed across his face.

"In fact, I'd like to ask for your help. My good friend, Charlie, has been missing lately. You're always active in the dark corners of the city; you'll definitely be able to find him, right?" Harry pleaded earnestly.

Charlie: "..."

"Uh, your good friend Charlie has gone missing, you say? I should be able to find him... probably."

Charlie cleared his throat. "His family must be very worried about your friend."

"They're not. I told Uncle Ben and Aunt May that Charlie went on a trip," Harry sighed.

Charlie: "???"

A trip... Again with the trips.

Was this world so big that people had to go on trips all the time? Like father, like son.

"Well, you did a great job with that. He'll definitely be grateful to you," Charlie said, giving Harry a thumbs-up before standing up and dusting off his pants.

"Alright, I'll go look for your friend now."

"Wait."

Harry stood up as well and earnestly requested, "If you find Charlie, please don't tell him about my current identity."

"Why not?"

Harry's face was full of bitterness. "If he knew my father was the evil Green Goblin, he would... he would..."

"He would what?"

Charlie patted Harry's shoulder and smiled. "Trust your friend, the same way he trusts you."

"Huh?"

Harry was confused by this statement. Before he could ask more, Charlie had already leapt off the rooftop.

"Wait, where's Tony right now?"

Just after jumping, Charlie shot out his webs, swinging back up to the rooftop. He had almost forgotten about that.

Harry paused. "I think he went to Afghanistan. He's there to negotiate a big deal."

Charlie smacked his forehead. This guy was probably going to get kidnapped again.

"Alright, I'll catch up with you later."

With that, he leapt off the building once more, his web wings spreading as he disappeared into the night.

After Charlie left, Pepper Potts emerged from the room.

"You just let him go like that?" she asked.

Harry turned around. "He's my friend. I won't betray him."

Pepper smiled. "Yes, you won't betray a friend. So, are you planning to be friends with Tony too?"

"I need to make sure he didn't do what they say he did."

"He wouldn't do such a thing," Pepper continued. "The fact that Stark Industries weapons were found at the scene doesn't mean anything. Tony has no interest in Spider-Man, and he wouldn't be dumb enough to use his company's weapons to go after him."

"I think so too, but we still need to find him."

"He'll be back soon."

"I'm back!"

Opening the front door, Charlie walked into the house to find Uncle Ben and Aunt May cuddled on the couch, watching a TV show.

The two barely acknowledged Charlie's arrival.

"Dinner's in the fridge. Heat it up yourself."

"And don't forget to put the gifts in our room," Aunt May added nonchalantly.

Charlie pouted and silently placed the gifts he had bought into their bedroom.

Good thing he had prepared in advance.

However, after being gone for so many days, neither of them seemed to have missed him at all.

Was he really adopted?

"Charlie, did you really go on a trip this time?"

Aunt May suddenly turned, giving Charlie a curious look.

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked, keeping a straight face.

Aunt May glanced at the house next door. "Mary Jane has been asking for you a lot lately. Did you avoid coming home to dodge her?" she asked, her smile filled with motherly satisfaction.

"You're growing up, but remember, you need to control yourself at important times. That girl can be quite clingy," Uncle Ben advised sincerely.

At these words, Aunt May shot him a glare.

"What do you know? Young people are supposed to be like that. It shows our Charlie has charm."

"Yeah, yeah. Since he's been quieter lately, he's a lot more likable. That must be his charm," Uncle Ben muttered sarcastically.

Seeing this exchange, Charlie wisely excused himself.

"I'm tired. I have class tomorrow, so I'll go to bed."

"Goodnight, Charlie."

"Goodnight."

Charlie headed to his room, but not long after turning on the light, a sound came from the window.

"What are you doing?"

Opening the window, Charlie found Mary Jane standing outside, holding a small rock she hadn't yet thrown, looking awkward.

She quickly tossed the rock aside and nervously tucked her wine-red hair behind her ear.

But soon, she regained her composure, leaning on the windowsill with a smile.

"Charlie, where have you been lately? I haven't seen you around."

Charlie leaned against the windowsill too. "I got blown up, then won a resurrection match, so now I'm back." He said it straight-faced.

"Really? When are you taking me along for the next round?" Mary Jane's eyes sparkled with excitement.

Charlie twitched his lips. "I didn't think you'd actually believe me."

Mary Jane reached out, pretending to grab him. "I always believe you, just like I believe you promised to buy me lipstick." She grinned mischievously.

Charlie: "..."

"If I say I didn't promise you any lipstick, would you still believe me?"

"What do you think?"

Mary Jane shot him a sideways glance, annoyed. "Don't tell me you've forgotten why you promised me a gift."

"Why?"

"Because of this!"

Mary Jane pulled out her phone and opened their chat logs, smirking.

"You begged me to go on a date with you, so you promised me a gift. You wouldn't want Uncle Ben and Aunt May to know, would you?"

"What?"

Charlie's face darkened.

Back when Norman used his phone to flirt with all those upperclassmen, Charlie hadn't had the patience to check every chat log. He had completely missed this one.

"I surrender. What color lipstick do you want?" he gritted out.

Seeing Charlie's defeated look, Mary Jane huffed proudly.

"Hmph, I've waited so long for you, one lipstick isn't going to cut it."

"What do you want, then?"

"I want..."

Before she could finish, she suddenly realized her phone was missing from her hand. She turned to see Charlie holding it.

"Give it back!"

"Sure, here you go."

After deleting the chat records, Charlie tossed the phone back, looking completely at ease.

"Friendly advice: don't be fooled by a man playing weak. It'll hurt you later."

"I've already been hurt."

"I'll treat you to dinner tomorrow. Bring Harry."

"Alright!"

The next morning, Charlie headed to school.

He hadn't attended class in eleven days, but fortunately, Harry had already covered for him, so there weren't many issues to deal with.

As time passed, the upperclassmen quickly forgot about the mess Norman had caused while pretending to be Charlie.

As long as they didn't see his face, of course.

Just then, Charlie bumped into a familiar classmate.

"Hey, selfie man! Just in time—Professor Curt was looking for you. Better head to his lab."

"Johnny, I hate that nickname." Charlie grimaced.

Johnny smirked. "Who cares?" With that, he turned to leave.

Suddenly, Johnny felt a draft around his waist.

"Oh, crap! My pants... Who did this?!" Johnny scrambled to pull up his pants.

Charlie retracted his web, snapping a photo of the embarrassing scene with his new phone.

"Who cares?"

With a smirk, he uploaded the photo to the campus network and headed for Curt Connors' lab.

It was the perfect opportunity to use the professor's equipment to synthesize some artificial webs.