CHILD'S PLAY, quentin beck

III. THE MYSTERY MAN

'You three need to go back to the hotel, right now,' Josephine instructed. She had a rather stern look on her face, letting her students know that she was serious. They were well aware of the fact that she wasn't a strict teacher, so they didn't hesitate to listen right away. Besides, they knew that if they stayed any longer, they might be in danger. 'I'm going to look for Peter,' Josephine said. MJ and Betty were the only two who nodded, and they quickly started running. Ned was the only one who remained.

The boy looked at her, trying to think of something to say. 'Peter is fine,' he said, perhaps a little too fast. 'He, uh, he said that he knew a faster way to the hotel and that he would just meet us there. But the look on his face told Josephine all she needed to know. Ned was lying to her.

Josephine sighed. 'Ned,' she said. 'I need you to be very honest with me right now.' While looking at the boy in front of her and the scenario happening only a short distance away from her, she thought about what Peter was doing right now. 'Are you sure he went back to the hotel or is he still here and about to do something that's possibly very dangerous?'

'What?' Ned gulped. Did he get caught on a lie? 'No, of course not. You know Peter, he always stays away from any kind of danger.' Ned laughed nervously as if he was afraid to accidentally admit to something. And he was. He hated keeping secrets. When he looked back at his teacher's face, he realized what she was talking about. 'Oh my God,' he mumbled. 'You know, don't you?'

'And the penny drops,' she said. 'Yeah, Ned, I know.'

Ned was curious. He thought about every time he possibly could have revealed something on accident. 'How did you figure it out?' He asked. 'No wait, when did you figure it out? Was it in Washington, or before that? Or maybe after that?' Maybe it wasn't him who had accidentally revealed Peter's secret, maybe it was Peter himself. That was unlikely. Peter didn't like telling people about him being Spider-Man, so he definitely hasn't told his history teacher about it. Only those on a need-to-know basis were aware of it. 'Never mind. I need to get back to the hotel now to find his suit, he doesn't have it on him right now.

Josephine nodded. 'Alright, then we get his suit.' She looked around her, trying to figure out which way they needed to go to get back to the hotel. 'Wait,' she said as she looked back at the creature in the canal. 'Look at that,' she pointed at the man and the nearly-defeated monster.

'Is it over?' Ned asked as they both stared at the scenario. 'I think it's over.'

The creature had disappeared and the water in the canal returned to its calm state once again. If it wasn't for the damage it had done, destroying roofs of buildings and even some bridges, you could barely tell anything had happened in the canal.

Josephine soon noticed something in the near distance. A boy dressed in a blue-and-white flannel jumping off the roof of a small building. Josephine recognized the outfit. He was wearing a blue carnival mask on his face, but Josephine could still tell he was looking for something, or someone maybe.

'Peter!' Ned yelled as soon as he realized the boy in front of them was his best friend. He started running towards him, giving his teacher no choice but to follow him.

Peter had taken off his mask and he noticed his friend running towards him. 'Ned?' He asked, his voice sounded confused. 'What are you still doing here?' He didn't notice his teacher standing there, not right away. Perhaps he was still too busy trying to figure out what had just happened. Sure, he may have been a superhero who had dealt with creatures and aliens before, but he had no idea what kind of monster just attacked the city.

Josephine finally reached the two boys and she saw the surprise on Peter's face when he noticed her. He thought she had already gone back to the hotel along with the other teachers and the students. 'So, Peter, you wanna tell me what you were doing just now? Running into danger like that.'

'Eh,' he mumbled, not sure what he should tell her. 'I, eh, saw an elderly lady who needed help?' Peter looked at her, hoping she would believe his lies.

Ned chuckled softly. 'Peter, she knows that you're Spider-Man,' he whispered.

Peter looked at Josephine in shock. 'What? How?' He asked before returning his gaze to his best friend. 'Ned, you didn't tell her, did you?' Peter immediately thought about that one time when he accidentally said her name while dressed in his costume. Had he really exposed himself that one day?

'No, of course not!' Ned answered. He sounded a little offended as if he would really reveal Peter's biggest secret. 'Yeah, Miss Colby, how did you find out?'

Josephine grinned. 'You two should learn to keep your voices down when talking about superhero stuff, anyone could hear it,' she told them. Josephine had heard them talking about the airport fight that Tony Stark had enlisted Peter's help for. 'Something about a fight at an airport?'

Peter groaned. 'Thanks for the tip,' he mumbled.

'You're welcome,' she said. 'I feel like I should tell you that, and while I think it's very cool and brave that you're a superhero, we are currently on a school trip. You may not be at school right now, but I am still your teacher and your safety is my responsibility. The next time something like this happened, and let's hope it won't, let me know, please.' Josephine sighed. She turned around, getting ready to return to the hotel. She motioned for the two boys to follow her.

They did.

'Okay, I will,' he said. 'Please don't tell anyone, though. I'd rather not have the whole world know that I'm Spider-Man.'

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Here's a new, rather short chapter. Anyways, I hope you guys like it and please let me know what you think. Votes are appreciated too :)