Killer ▹ Peter Parker [2]

8 | you weren't ready

8 | YOU WEREN'T READY

The continued bus ride was quite awkward for Peter. He knew that Val wouldn't be phased by the picture, but he feared that Val wouldn't be the only one Brad would show that picture to. He was afraid he'd show it to the whole class and embarrass him. Peter threw on his Edith glasses and began speaking to her. "Edith, Brad Davis. He has a photo of me." Peter spoke to the AI.

Val knew he'd try to simply erase the picture from Brad's phone, so she didn't worry too much. She continued about her day surfing through the web as Peter mumbled to his AI. Val only broke away from her surfing when he overheard Peter say: "initiating strike?"

Val widened her eyes at Peter. "Initiating what?" She hissed at him.

Peter began to freak out. "Cancel cancel cancel!" He tried to stop the drone from attacking the bus they were in to kill Brad, but it wouldn't stop.

He used his webs to grab the wheel and turn it from where he was sitting, barely dodging the bullet Edith sent down to strike Brad with. But, that wasn't the only strike. Val knew what she had to do. "Look, baby mountain goats!" She distracted the class as Peter jumped up using the emergency door on the roof and shot down the drone tracking Brad with his webs then jumped back down before anyone even noticed.

He plopped himself back into his seat, sighing out in relief, his heart beating rapidly as he had almost accidentally killed his classmate. "Let's try that again." Peter breathed out as he spoke to Edith. This time, he successfully deleted the photo from Brad's phone.

"You're such an idiot." Val shook her head at him, not believing he literally almost slaughtered that boy.

* * *

Five hours later...
They arrived in Prague. There seemed to be a local festival occurring throughout the streets and it looked like much fun. Upon arrival at the unnecessarily fancy hotel, Peter and Val's classmates were admiring their sweet upgrade. It was a way nicer hotel than the one they were forced to stay in Venice. "This is amazing." Val overheard one person whisper.

It would've been a nice treat if Val and Peter knew that is wasn't Nick Fury's doing so that they would be forced to help fight the fire elemental. "Everyone get settled in, rest up. Because tonight is Prague's annual carnaval of lights!" Mr. Harrington announced, speaking excitedly with hand gestures. Suddenly, Peter felt his phone vibrate. He walked away from the group of classmates to answer it. By the look of his face, Val could tell it had something to do with Fury.

The call was short. But it seemed to be informative enough as Peter then subtly gestured for Val to come over. "There's an earpiece with our suits. We put it on tonight and wait for instructions." Peter mumbled to her, trying to be inconspicuous.

* * *

Later on in the evening, Peter and Val were called to meet Fury and Mysterio somewhere secret. As soon as they arrived, Fury and Beck began to lay out the plan for what they were supposed to do and when they were supposed to do it. But, while the men were explaining the important stuff, Peter zoned out and began to stare at the wall behind them. "Parker? Parker! That thing is going to be here in a few hours. Are we boring you?" Fury scoffed.

"He's not bored. He's just thinking about how you kidnapped him." Mysterio spoke up.

"He had obstacles. I removed them." Fury snapped at Mysterio, explaining why he did what he did.

"They still won't evacuate the city." Maria Hill announced as she entered the room. Fury sighed. "Idiots." He whispered to himself.

"So what's the plan, Parker?" Fury raised a brow at him, trying to see if he was even listening at all to their planning. "I will be in the cathedral tower keeping watch for the fire monster, when that shows up, I will radio you guys and then Val, Mr. Beck and I—" Peter began to repeated everything he had heard. But then he was interrupted by Quentin. "My name is Mysterio." He corrected, gladly accepting the name Peter had accidentally called him before.

"That's when Val, Mysterio and I will move in." Peter finished.

"Peter listen to me. The best hope you have, the only hope is to stop it here now. No matter what the costs. Maneuver it away from civilians if you can. But, most importantly, keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it'll be able to draw power from the earth's core. After that, there's no way to stop it." Mysterio spoke with a serious expression spreading across his face. His words marked the importance and dangers of this event that was about to go down.

Peter gulped and wearily looked over at Val. He seemed a bit pale, probably because he was nervous. "Hey man," Peter took a deep breath, "my friends are here and I can't help but think we're putting them in danger..."

"You're worried about us hurting your friends?! You called a drone strike on your own school tour bus!" Fury patronized him, making him feel bad about what he had done.

"How did you—" Peter began, then sharply turned his head to look at Val.

Val sucked in air through her teeth. "Sorry, Pete. It was a funny story." She shrugged.

"Stark gave you a multi billion dollar AR tactical intelligence system and the first thing you do with it? Is try to blow up your friends. It's clear to me that you were not ready for this!" Fury shouted at him like an angry father.