The air inside Ned's room was tense now. The kind of quiet that builds before a storm—not fearful, just focused. The 3D model still glowed faintly on the screen, casting a low blue light on their faces.
Peter cracked his knuckles and stood up, pacing a little. "We have a window," he said. "From 2:00 a.m. to 4:00 a.m. Hydra changes shifts. That's our shot. Less patrol overlap. Less surveillance noise. If we're going in, it has to be then."
Raj was standing too, arms folded, his golden-red suit still mostly hidden beneath a dark hoodie. He had barely spoken since the layout analysis finished. He nodded. "Agreed. We go in during the change. Less resistance. But we still need to assume it's a trap."
Peter looked over at him. "You think they know we're coming?"
"I think they've been watching us since we made a move," Raj replied. "They let us scout. They let us snoop. That's too clean. Too easy."
"Could just be old Hydra laziness," Ned offered, trying to sound hopeful.
Raj didn't answer. His gaze was sharp. Calculating.
Peter ran a hand through his hair. "Okay. So we go in. No fighting unless necessary. Stealth first. If we trigger an alarm, we improvise."
Raj met his eyes. "If it's Hydra, we can't assume they'll play by the rules. We don't get second chances in their game."
Peter didn't argue. "Then we go in ready."
He checked the time on Ned's desk clock. 10:48 p.m.
Just over three hours to go.
Peter turned to Ned. "You good staying behind? Coordinating?"
Ned gave a thumbs-up, though his eyes betrayed the nerves he tried to mask. "I've got your comms, maps, visual feeds—plus, I'm halfway through writing a hacking algorithm in case I need to crash their backup systems."
"You named it yet?" Peter smirked.
Ned grinned. "Operation: Bug in the Soup."
Raj blinked. "That's… concerning."
"Terrible code names aside," Peter said, "this is it. We make a clean entry, download whatever they're hiding, and get out. If that fails—we go for that unmarked room."
Raj reached into his backpack and pulled out a folded cloth, revealing his suit's reinforced mask. He set it on the table with a soft metallic thud. "We don't leave without proof. Hydra doesn't get to keep breathing in the shadows."
Peter added, "And we don't leave each other behind."
The moment settled like a vow.
They looked at each other—no jokes this time, no masks yet. Just three teenagers who'd decided that waiting for someone else to fix the world wasn't good enough anymore.
Raj checked the straps on his suit beneath the hoodie, tightening one around his shoulder. The fabric shimmered briefly before dulling again.
"Let's stay sharp," he said quietly. "Whatever's inside that base… it's not just files and experiments."
Peter nodded slowly. "It's something they're willing to kill to protect."
Ned glanced at the screen, then back at them. "You guys sure about this?"
Raj gave a small, grim smile. "Too late to turn back."
Peter raised a brow. "But not too late to kick some Hydra butt."
Raj looked out the window into the darkness.
Tonight was the night.
And Hydra wouldn't know what hit them.
Ned swung around in his chair, the wheels squeaking under him as he slid toward the bed, which had been transformed into a staging area. Blankets were pushed aside, and the mattress was covered with an eclectic mix of scavenged tech, snack wrappers, and duct tape. From this chaos, he pulled out two small earpieces and held them up like they were made of gold.
"Tada!" he announced. "Comms version 1.0. Built from a couple of Bluetooth speakers and parts I 'borrowed' from the AV club. They won't survive a lightning strike, but they'll do the job—short-range, encrypted, and surprisingly stylish."
Peter raised an eyebrow. "Did you hot-glue these to gum wrappers?"
"They're shock-insulated, thank you very much," Ned said, mock-offended. "Just… don't let them get wet."
Raj took one and clipped it to his ear, giving a slight nod. "Clear channel?"
Ned turned to his desk and pressed a button on his laptop. A tiny blip echoed through both earpieces. "Mic check. Raj, say something."
"Testing," Raj said.
"Perfect," Ned grinned. "Peter, you're up."
Peter clipped his on, giving Ned a thumbs-up. "We really need a codename system. Just in case."
"I already wrote up a list!" Ned said excitedly, reaching for a folded napkin from his hoodie pocket. "Raj: Solar Sentinel. Peter: Web Knight. Me? Tech Mage."
Raj gave him a deadpan stare. "We're not doing that."
Peter shrugged. "I kind of like Web Knight."
"No one is calling you that," Raj muttered.
Before Ned could start defending "Tech Mage," Peter pointed to another object on the bed. "What's that?"
Ned lifted a round, palm-sized disc with wires sticking out of it like bad hair. "EMP puck. Short-range pulse generator. Should disable small electronics—cameras, sensors—for about fifteen seconds. Just don't stand too close when it goes off."
Peter gave it a once-over. "You built this out of a smoke detector?"
"And a blender motor," Ned said proudly.
Raj took it, tucking it into the utility pouch sewn into the side of his suit. "Could come in handy."
Then came the flash-modified goggles. Raj inspected the black-rimmed lenses with faint green overlays.
"Basic night vision," Ned explained. "Had to sacrifice my Wii's sensor bar, but priorities."
Raj slid them on. "Not bad."
Peter grabbed his backpack from the corner, pulling out his mask and web cartridges. He checked them one by one, loading them into place. "Web shooters locked and loaded."
As they geared up, the room fell into a quiet rhythm. Straps tightened. Masks checked. Flashlights tested.
Raj pulled off his hoodie, revealing the full golden-red suit beneath—tight, functional, reinforced with salvaged panels stitched over the chest and shoulders. The orange sun on his chest seemed to hum faintly in the lamplight. Red stripes flanked his arms like fire trails waiting to spark.
Peter, now fully suited up, pulled his mask halfway over his face and gave Raj a sideways look. "You look like the poster boy for solar-powered revenge."
Raj offered a faint smile. "Let's hope it works."
Ned stood back, observing them both. His fingers twitched nervously, but his voice stayed steady. "You guys are crazy. But if anyone's got a shot at pulling this off…"
He didn't finish the sentence.
Instead, he handed Raj one last item—a simple, rectangular flash drive. "Plug this into their system if you get the chance. It'll copy everything and send a mirror to a server I rigged. Backup plan. Just in case."
Raj nodded solemnly and slipped it into another pouch. "Thanks, Ned."
Peter bumped fists with him. "You're the guy in the chair."
"And you're the idiots breaking into Hydra," Ned replied with a crooked grin. "Let's just all survive this, okay?"
The mission was real now.
And they were ready.