Dumb kids and their stupid rituals…does he really need $1 boxes of candy from across town to watch a movie…whatever…

It’s been 2 years since Pete’s “Spider-Boy” persona got exposed to the public. Luckily, the Team managed to use “The Stones” during their time travel mission to bring back Tony…but that didn’t erase what has been done to Pete’s image, even after the two managed to expose Beck’s doctored video around his attack.

Since that day, Tony officially took the 17 year old hero and his Aunt to live in one of his personal penthouses, though “Aunt M” would later move out to live with Happy as the two’s relationship progressed. Despite Pete being a minor, his aunt would give her permission for the boy to live with Tony, knowing how important his hero work was and the fact that the man is the only person she can truly trust to protect the boy. And as a side effect of the two’s constant proximity and already close mentor-mentee relationship, it was somehow completely comfortable the day that Peter accidentally called him dad.

And unfortunately for Tony, accepting that title came with many more responsibilities than he had initially been prepared for…like a monthly movie night that the boy was willing to put his foot down for.

And when his spider-ling insisted on “traditions being met-!” He really never stood a chance…

. . . Tony couldn’t believe he was doing this…he’d gone out of his way to reserve the whole night for his dumb kid, got “The 3mpire $trikes Back” queued up and ready to go with popcorn and soda, only for the kid to go ballistic when recognizing the lack of a bunch of cheap dollar boxes…and now they’re here…

Across town from his lavish and shiny penthouse…skulking through a dirty little convenience store in the shady part of town where he knows they could very likely get mugged. And yet…as the kid scampered down the candy isle looking for the boxes that could very easily be stale, all he could do was sigh in resignation…

Tapping his foot in unconscious anxiety as his eyes traveled from the underpaid looking teenager behind the front counter, to the rattling hum of a dangerous looking AC unit, and finally to his now 19 year old sidekick currently dressed in a ratty pair jeans and faded old red sweater that looked ready to fall apart (both of which the boy refused to throw away despite his newfound access to his sudo-father’s fortune), happily humming to himself with his wired earbuds as he meticulously scoured the racks for his cheap $1 boxes of candy…god, doing all this for a stupid movie…huh.

. .