Chapter Text
"We come to you now with revelations about last week's attack in London. An anonymous source provided this video. It shows Quentin Beck, aka Mysterio, moments before his death. But warning, you may find this video disturbing."
"I may have sent the Elemental back through the dimensional rift, but I don't think I'm gonna make it off this bridge alive. Spider-Man and Wind Knight attacked me for some reason. Spider-Man has an army of weaponized drones, Stark technology. He's saying he's the only one that's going to be the new Iron Man, no one else. Wind Knight is just standing to the side, letting it all happen."
"Are you sure you want to commence the drone attack? There will be significant casualties."
"Do it. Execute them all."
"Know that if I die and turn into a Heartless, I will only ever fight for the people of this world, against my enemies."
"This shocking video was released earlier today, on the controversial news website, The Daily Bugle dot Net."
"There you have it, folks. Conclusive proof that Spider-Man was responsible for the brutal murder of Mysterio, an inter-dimensional warrior who gave his life to protect our planet, and who will no doubt go down in history as the greatest superhero of all time! And then he and Wind Knight went on to destroy his Heartless, that no doubt would have been as brave and a courageous hero as he was!"
"But that's not all, folks. Here's the real blockbuster. Brace yourselves, you might wanna sit down."
"Spider-Man's real... Spider-Man's real name is P..."
All of a sudden, the video on the gigantic flat screen in the middle of town changed back to Beck looking desperate.
"Spider-Man's name is Peter Parker!" Beck announced.
The screen changed to show a picture of Peter from his class picture, smiling like the nice boy that he was.
Peter and Ventus's eyes widened significantly behind their masks. Ventus was still floating on his Glider in full armor while Peter stood on the street light. In complete shock, Peter reached up and placed his hands on his head to emphasize his shock.
"What the f...!" Peter started to shout.
But then a nearby car horn blaring ended up censoring what else he was going to say, which Ventus felt was unnecessary since he had head Vanitas say the finished phrase about a thousand times.
"This..." Ventus said, shaking his head in worry. "This is very, very not good."
He remembered Peter's words to Fury back in Venice, how if the world knew the truth about Peter Parker being Spider-Man, his life as he knew it would be over. But Beck was in the room, and he had heard that entire declaration. So even in death, Beck got revenge against Peter by doing the thing that would ruin his entire life. The man hated Tony Stark so much that he was willing to do anything to smear Tony's reputation, and was even willing to destroy the life of an innocent teenager along the way.
Once again, Ventus knew that Beck was someone that they should be happy is gone. Unfortunately, at the moment, Beck being gone also screwed with Peter's life in a very big way.
J Jonah Jameson reappeared on the screen.
"That's right, folks, Peter Parker," Jameson continued. "A seventeen year old high school delinquent, harboring a homicidal..."
Peter and Ventus decided to ignore what the crazy man on the TV said. Peter looked down towards MJ, who had a worried expression on her face as the large crowd around her looked up at Peter, some with mistrust, and some in amazement.
Ventus could admittedly understand the amazement. While a good portion of the Avengers were teenagers, most of them were from other worlds. This was a teenager who was from this world, and yet had powers and skills that he used to fight against bad guys.
Unfortunately, there was still the people who looked at them with distrust.
"She knows him!" one guy announced, gesturing to MJ. This man moved through the crowd and looked at MJ with an inquisitive expression on his face. "Are you Spider-Man's girlfriend?"
The guy grabbed MJ by the shoulder to get her to look at him as he asked his questions. The crowd around her was also starting to grow more and more unruly, so the two heroes moved into action.
Peter jumped off of the street light, and Ventus dismissed his armor and Glider, dropping with him down to the ground. They hurried through the crowds to where the guy had grabbed MJ, ignoring the many people around them that had moved in close, looking at Peter in a sea of amazement, surprise, and anger.
"Excuse me, please don't touch her," Peter said, pulling MJ away from the man who had grabbed her.
"You're just a kid?" a man right next to Peter asked.
This man repeated this question as Peter and Ventus found themselves overwhelmed by the crowds.
"You murdered Mysterio?" a woman demanded. She glared and looked between Ventus and MJ, all while people took pictures of Peter. "You helped him murder Mysterio?"
Peter stuttered uncertainly underneath his mask, trying to say something in his defense, but too overwhelmed to actually say something.
"Mysterio was a fraud!" Ventus shouted, finally doing something to help. "Okay? The guy had illusion technology that was good enough to even trick Nick Fury, the former director of SHIELD! He used those drones to destroy parts of Europe and kill anyone in his way, and we were almost two of those "anyones" when we learned the truth about him! He used those drones and got in the way of a bullet it fired! The guy died of his own hubris while trying to trick the world!"
"Yeah, right!" the same woman said, disbelief in her voice. "As if illusion technology is a real thing."
Ventus frowned in confusion, his jaw dropped in disbelief. He then held up his hand and summoned Wayward Wind.
"I can summon a three foot Key that I use to destroy monsters and protect people," Ventus announced. He dismissed his Keyblade. "That same Key can turn into a flying machine that can help me travel between worlds. I'm from a different galaxy and am probably about 4,000 years old. Half of all life vanished and reappeared, and members of the Avengers included a Norse God, a machine that's more human than most people on this planet, and allies from other worlds that include half my friends, a tree, and a raccoon. How is anything outside the realm of possibility?"
The woman just waved a hand at Ventus, passing him off as an idiot (which, he was one, but not that much of one).
The woman then continued to be mean by attempting to reach for Peter's mask.
"Come on, let's see your face," the woman said, a rude tone in her voice.
There was a small debacle as the woman tried grabbing Peter, but he gently pushed her off of him. He then wrapped an arm around MJ's waist and stepped through the crowd with her.
"He hit me!" the woman shouted, gesturing to Peter. "Spider-Man hit me!"
"Jesus, you really are a Karen!" Ventus exclaimed, frowning at the woman.
He had learned what that meant from Harley. *1*
Peter hurried through the crowd with an arm still around MJ's waist, helping guide her out of it. Ventus hurried out with them, sure that the crowd was about to erupt into a civil war between Spider-Man supporters and Mysterio supporters.
Once they had gotten out of the crowd and neared the street, Peter shot up a web and rose into the air while still carrying MJ, all while Ventus re-summoned his Glider and piloted it up into the air to join them.
He frowned at one guy jumping off of a car, trying to grab at them.
While they were making their escape, Jameson was still sprouting his believes on the jumbo-tron.
"All this time, people looked up to this boy and called him a hero," Jameson said on the TV. MJ yelled out in surprise once again as they went through the air, Ventus flying his Glider and Peter swinging by webs. "Well, I'll tell ya what I call him: Public Enemy #1!"
On a nearby big screen TV showing Peter in that school picture, those words then appeared over his face to emphasize what some people thought of him.
MJ frantically breathed in and out, still holding onto Peter as they swung together through the air.
"Oh, I told you I never wanna do this ever again!" MJ shouted, sounding very fearful.
"This really isn't for everyone," Ventus remarked.
MJ hyperventilated a bit, holding onto Peter very tightly. Her hair ended up covering one of his eyes, and she reached up with one hand to hold onto Peter's head to brace herself, unintentionally covering Peter's other eye.
"MJ, I'm so sorry, but I can't see anything with your hand in my..." Peter said.
MJ realized what she was doing and pulled her hand back down.
"Sorry, sorry, sorry; I'm sorry," she frantically said.
They continued going through the air, passing by two large TVs stacked near each other on a skyscraper, both of them showing Peter's face, still from that yearbook photo. Half of his face was covered in the Spider-Man mask, and the words "Public Enemy #1" then appeared over his face in both of them. They went through the air, going past those buildings and towards another one with a large sign advertising "Rogers: The Musical."
"Oh, where are we going to go?" MJ asked as they went through the air.
"I don't know," Peter admitted. "Your house?"
"No, no!" MJ shouted, finally composing herself. "We cannot go to my house. My dad'll kill you."
"What?" Peter asked in surprise. "I thought you said your dad really liked me!"
"Yeah, well, not anymore!" MJ remarked.
"Makes sense!" Ventus admitted. "I mean, everyone has their own opinions of Spider-Man, like you said."
The group went through the air, with Peter doing a final lunge and carrying himself and MY onto a large spoke that was one of the top structure parts of a large bridge. Ventus dismissed his Glider and landed near them, just as fearful as the other two. There was a sky tram close-by, but they decided not to pay too much attention to it.
Peter removed his arm from around MJ, and reached into his pocket, feeling his phone vibrating. He took out his phone and answered a video call from Ned.
"Dude," Peter said, surprise in his voice underneath his mask.
"Dude!" Ned replied.
"Dude!" Peter repeated, a bit more frantically.
"Dude!" Ned repeated, also more frantically.
"DUDE!!!" Peter repeated, significantly more frantic.
"DU-UDE!!!" Ned shouted.
"Dude!" MJ shouted, getting Peter's attention.
Peter looked up and gasped in remembrance. He ended the call with Ned and turned around, hurrying back across the bridge towards MJ.
"I'm so sorry," Peter told her. "Are you okay?"
"No, not really," MJ admitted. She exclaimed in fear as she looked around, not used to being on top of a bridge.
"Just... don't look..." Ventus started to say.
"Don't tell me not to look down!" MJ informed him. "Haven't you seen anything? You tell someone not to look down, the next thing they do is look down!"
"Really, why?" Ventus asked, frowning in confusion. *2*
"Yo, Peter!" a male voice shouted.
All three of them looked towards the sky tram to see it slowly rising further and further up into the air. While MJ once again nervously panted in and out, Peter and Ventus looked over at the sky tram to see people cheering at the two heroes.
Looking around, the trio on top of the bridge quickly noticed that they were attracting more attention.
Some helicopters actually floated in the air with their blades spinning, some of them news outlets that were pointing their cameras at the heroes. At a nearby apartment building, people standing on their balconies were pointing towards the bridge, surprise and amazement on their faces. Looking around, the trio noticed the appearance of another helicopter, this one succeeding in surrounding them.
"We should go," MJ announced. She and Peter looked at each other. "We should go, come on."
"But you said you don't wanna swing," Peter said, shaking his head slightly.
"Swing me," MJ requested. She stood with her arms to the side, ready. "You should just swing me, yeah."
"Okay," Peter agreed, wrapping his arm around MJ again.
"Moments of crisis can change people's minds," Ventus remarked.
"We should take the subway," Peter announced.
"How?" Ventus asked, confused.
Keeping a hold of MJ, Peter leaned forwards and jumped off of the bridge, plummeting down through the air. MJ screamed in surprise and fear as they dropped down through the sky. Ventus shrugged his shoulders and followed after them, jumping off the bridge and plummeting down through the sky with them.
As they dropped through the sky, they ended up moving behind Flash, who was on his phone and had just seen the news that confirmed Peter Parker being Spider-Man. His eyes widened in disbelief and shock.
So, he completely missed as Peter used a web to open up a grate that led into the subway right behind him. Peter, holding MJ, dropped down through the grate to enter the subway tunnels, and Ventus followed behind them. The grate closed behind them, all without Flash knowing.
Ventus re-summoned his Glider underground, and he resumed flight as Peter resumed swinging, with MJ riding on his back like Yoda on Luke. The two of them went further down the subway tunnel, quickly noticing a large subway car moving right towards them. Especially when the light of the subway glared right in their faces.
"Look out!" MJ screamed, closing her eyes.
The two heroes moved down the tunnel, going through the air to the right and going down a different tunnel, while the subway car passed right behind them.
They used the tunnels to enter the sewer, re-entering Queens. Once they were a good enough distance away, they climbed up a ladder, going up onto the road above them.
Peter opened up a manhole cover and pushed it aside, looking around to see an empty street with just a few parked cars. He climbed out first, then held out a hand to MJ.
"That was so much worse," MJ admitted.
She let Peter help her out of the manhole and to her feet. Ventus followed behind them, similarly surprised.
"Are you okay?" Peter asked MJ.
"Yeah, yeah," MJ breathlessly confirmed.
Peter shot out a web, connecting it to the manhole cover. He then swung to the left, moving the cover back over the manhole.
"Oh, this is bad, this is bad, this is bad!" Ventus frantically exclaimed to the couple.
"We know how bad this is!" MJ informed him.
"W-we should head back to my apartment," Peter announced. "That's good, safe ground for us."
"Yeah, good idea," Ventus said, nodding his head in agreement.
Peter then turned to look at MJ and held out his arms.
"Come on, come on, come on," Peter frantically said as MJ jumped into his arms, knowing this would work for the transportation. "Okay. I'm so sorry."
Peter jumped up into the air, sending out a web that connected to a nearby street light. MJ muttered in fear into Peter's shoulder as he swung up into the air. Ventus followed him on his Glider as he swung up into the air, going over one of the bridges and towards the apartment buildings. Peter, Ventus, and MJ all yelled out in surprise and fear as they moved over the city towards Peter's apartment building.
Peter and MJ swung to the side of the building, with Peter sticking onto the wall next to his bedroom window, holding onto MJ to keep her up.
"I'll... I'll enter through the roof access," Ventus frantically said.
"Ven, you don't have to..." Peter said.
But Ventus had already flown up to the apartment roof, needing to move to relieve some of his stress.
Ventus landed on top of the building and dismissed his Glider. The blonde hurried through the apartment, and jumped down the stairs, practically flying as he moved down to the correct floor that he knew was where Peter and May's apartment was. He hurried into the hallway and reached the apartment to see Happy standing outside the door, looking like he was close to tears. MJ was shutting the door, but she opened it up again when she heard something in the apartment.
Happy then walked into the apartment, much to May's surprise. Ventus hurried in after the two.
"Oh, man, oh, man, oh, man!" Ventus exclaimed to the two.
"Ven, what are you doing?" May asked as they walked further into the apartment, towards Peter's room. "Happy, he's always coming in through crazy ways."
"Peter?" Happy still called out to Peter in concern.
They walked down the halls to the door to Peter's room, hearing Peter and MJ voicing their own exclamations of surprise and disbelief from what happened outside. Although, it sounded like something very different to Happy.
Happy opened up the door, showing Peter and MJ to himself, Ventus, and May. Peter had started to take off his suit, and was holding it up with his hands. MJ was standing in front of Peter, her hair frizzled up while she held her hands on the sides of his neck, to try to calm him down. The two of them looked to the door in surprise at the sound of it opening, and Peter dropped his suit, revealing himself to be in his underwear.
While this was nothing to Ventus, this was a very different looking scene to May and Happy.
And to Harley, who had just woken up and was walking out of the room he had slept within. He yawned loudly and covered his mouth with his hand.
"Hey, you guys mind if I order some pizza?" Harley asked.
He looked into the room, and his eyes widened when he saw Peter and MJ standing together, with Peter wearing nothing but his underwear and his web-shooters.
"Somethin' tells me they might want some pizza, too," Harley remarked with a smirk.
"Oh, my God!" Peter said, finally composing himself.
"I didn't see anything," Happy announced, looking away with his eyes closed. "I didn't see anything."
"This isn't what it looks like, Happy," Peter insisted as he stepped out of his suit. "Happy!"
"I'm really sorry!" MJ added, knowing how this looked.
May grabbed the door and started to shut it.
"Practice safe se..." May said at the same time Peter tried insisting again, "This isn't what it looks like, May!"
Of course, May being May, she opened the door up again and smiled in greeting to MJ.
"Oh, hey!" May said, walking into the room. "You must be MJ!"
"Yeah, yeah!" MJ confirmed with an awkward smile, smoothing out her hair while Peter gestured to his girlfriend, forgetting he was still in his underwear.
"Nice to meet you," MJ said, holding out her hand to May in greeting.
"So nice to meet you," May said, taking MJ's hand.
Peter looked from his aunt to Happy and Ventus in the doorway, frowning in confusion when he saw Happy.
"Wait, have you been crying?" Peter asked Happy.
Happy peeked out from the hallway.
"We... broke up," he admitted.
"...Oh," Peter said as May shook her head and mouthed something to Happy. "Oh."
"Hey, Spider-Man!" someone outside shouted up through the open window.
Peter jumped in surprise, and shot out a web, connecting it to the window, then pulling down, shutting the window. MJ then handed Peter a white shirt and smiled awkwardly at May, who was still mouthing something to Happy, which Ventus couldn't understand.
"I didn't know you guys broke up," Peter admitted to his aunt, sliding the shirt on. "I thought you were in love, May."
"No, it was..." May started to say.
Peter reached forwards and grabbed May's shoulder, gently leading her towards the door.
"We can talk about this..." Peter said, at the same time Happy said "I should probably leave, I think," while May finished her sentence by saying, "...I think."
Ventus frantically tapped his foot on the ground as Peter led May out of his room, and MJ followed them out into the hallway.
"I thought... I thought you guys were such a handsome couple," Peter told May as they walked past Ventus and down the hallway.
"You know, it's really about boundaries," May admitted to her nephew.
"Hey, I'm orderin' a Supreme, a Meat Lovers, and some cheesy bread!" Harley announced from the kitchen. "You guys gonna eat some?"
"Sure, I think I'll take some," Ventus said, wanting to do anything in the hopes that it would help him calm down.
The door started buzzing, and Peter frantically led May away from the door and further into the living room.
"Let's... go in here," Peter told his aunt.
"Is that the door?" Happy asked.
Ventus and MJ hurried towards the door as an African American man appeared just outside the doorway.
"Hey, is it true?" the kind man asked.
Ventus was about to say something, but MJ frantically shut the door, announcing, "Not now!"
"I-I was gonna go, but... I'll stick around," Happy admitted.
Ventus and MJ hurried back into the living room, where May was sitting in a chair and Peter was in front of the couch, looking at her.
"You've always been so awkward about sex, Peter," May told her nephew.
"May, this has nothing to do with sex," Peter frantically told her.
"That's the first thing you've ever said that I don't believe," Harley announced with a laugh from the kitchen, holding his phone up to his ear to place his order.
While the door continued to buzz, MJ moved towards a nearby window and pulled the curtains closed to try to keep people from seeing within.
"...We can go over it again," Happy said. He frowned. "What's that sound?"
"Uh..." Peter said, fear in his voice.
He hurried to a nearby window and shot out a web, yanking downwards to pull down the curtain. He moved over to another window.
"Hey, Spider-Man!" a girl shouted to the window from the ground.
"Oh, my God," Peter breathed out.
He pulled down the curtain, then used a web to keep it down.
"I mean, I'm happy to rehash it if you want to," Happy told May, sitting down on the couch as Peter moved to another window.
"No, no, no," May said.
Peter pulled down the curtain of the other window, and tried moving back to join the conversation. The curtain slid back up, and he hurried to pull it back down, all while Happy turned on the TV, which had entered into a "Breaking News" bulletin.
Peter then jumped up to grab the curtain, pulling it down and using a web to restrain it again. Happy and May both took out their phones, surprised that they started ringing. Peter hurried over to his aunt and Happy, and pulled their phones out of their hands.
Ventus's eyes widened when he saw on the TV behind Peter that the TV was showing the apartment building.
"Would you get off your phones for five minutes?" Peter frantically announced, looking at Happy and May. "I just wanna talk to you about your relationship, okay?"
"Peter," MJ said, a bit of fear in her voice.
Peter looked at MJ, who was standing next to Ventus. The two of them fearfully pointed at the TV. Peter followed their pointed fingers, and his eyes widened when he saw that the apartment building was on the TV, part of the news bulletin. There were also helicopters on either side of the building, which could be seen on the camera from the other helicopter.
May and Happy gasped in surprise, while they all also realized that the sound of the blades spinning had seeped into the building.
"Is that..." May started to ask.
"Is that-Is that here?" Happy asked.
"Hey," Harley said, walking in from the kitchen. "Why did the pizza lady just ask if this was the apartment building for Spider-Man?"
He walked into the living room and followed everyone's gazes to the TV. His eyes widened when he saw that the building was on the news.
Peter pointed to the TV.
"Um..." he said. "Uh..."
Out of options, Peter turned and walked down to the window that had the curtain that was too stubborn to close. He pushed upwards, which allowed the curtain to slide up all the way.
Which revealed a helicopter floating in the air just a short distance away.
Happy, May, Harley, Ventus, and MJ walked over to the window and looked outside. Even through the closed window, they could hear the blades turning, and people on the ground cheering in excitement for Peter and his actions.
Wide eyed in surprise, Harley looked out the window, then looked at the others.
"I go to sleep for five minutes, and I miss everything!" the Tennessee native announced.
"I mean, maybe it's not such a big deal," Peter optimistically said, shrugging his shoulders in hope. *3*
It was such a big deal.
Later that night, Peter, May, Harley, and Ventus were the only ones in the apartment since MJ and Happy had left since they had to deal with their own forms of fallout from all this. There were crowds of people outside the apartment building, with half of them showing support of Peter while the other half screamed in anger. There were news vans and cop cars to keep the crowd at bay. Inside the apartment, the group of four sat together on the couch, not in a very good mood.
Peter had tried going out earlier in the day to show that he was still a good person to everyone. He had captured a drug dealer (who, strangely enough, looked a lot like a younger version of himself), and tied the young man up so that he could be apprehended by the proper authorities. Unfortunately, almost immediately after he webbed up the kid, someone had thrown green paint at him, drenching his suit. *4*
That had done nothing to try to help Peter's day, so he came back to the apartment and sighed out in sadness as he looked at his family and his friend.
At the moment, all four of them were sitting together on the couch, with the TV on to try to get some good news.
Unfortunately, the only news they got was bad, particularly in the form of a report from J Jonah Jameson at the Daily Bugle.
The report started with a little collage of picket signs showing their dislike of Peter. Ventus winced at what some of them read, which included, "Lock Peter Up! Bye! Guilty!" and "It was better when you were Blipped!"
"Spider-Menace!" Jameson announced. The image pulled backwards, so that the picket signs were now in the corner of the screen, while Jameson himself was in the center at his desk. "Governments around the world launch investigations into the murderer known as Spider-Man, and his accomplice, Wind Knight."
The image in the corner changed to show a small one of Peter's smiling face, a gravestone with Mysterio's name on it, and a set of handcuffs.
"AKA, Peter Parker and Ventus Thomas," Jameson continued. "AKA, the web-headed war criminal, who for years has been terrorizing the decent citizens of New York, and the intrusive alien that shouldn't even be on this world, and should just go back to his real home."
"Okay, does this guy even pay attention to who you guys are or what you even do?" Harley asked, offended for his adoptive brother and his friend that someone would speak downwards about them like this. "And did the guy really have to talk about Ven like he's ET?"
"What's ET?" Ventus asked.
While Peter and Harley tried not to freak out from the blonde's question, they all looked at the TV again. All four sets of eyes widened when they saw a Daily News article on the screen, reading, "Quartet of Terror." It showed the school pictures of Peter, MJ, Harley, and Ned, all a part of the news trying to speak badly about the little group of friends.
"Well, now this city and the world see him for what they truly are, especially the menace of Spider-Man," Jameson continued, as the news reports shifted to two different ones.
The image changed to a short video of Peter in his Spider-Man, which Peter recognized as what had happened just after he caught the drug dealer.
"Murderer!" a man in the video shouted. Paint flew out from nowhere and covered Peter, surprising him. "Mysterio forever!"
All four of the people sitting on the couch winced and decided to change the channel, hoping for better news.
Unfortunately, they didn't get what they wanted.
The report changed to a female news reporter.
"New details from last week's devastating attack in London have emerged," the woman explained as the video shifted to show a clip of the drones firing into the observation deck of the Tower Bridge. "For more, we go now to joint intelligence headquarters."
The image changed quickly to a large room where the drones were being studied by people within an observation lab.
"Though released just a short while ago, confirms that the deadly drones used in the London attack were designed by Stark Industries," a man with an accent explained over the footage of the lab extending further back, revealing more and more of the drones.
"Jesus Christ, I hate Beck!" Harley announced, anger in his voice. "Even from hell, the bastard managed to screw over Tony, who's already dead and can't be affected by him, and barely even did jack to him. He's smearing the name of a good man just because he called his technology BARF!"
"Don't forget about how Tony fired him because he was deemed 'unstable' and 'clinically insane'," Ventus added. "Honestly, I can understand why after seeing the guy at his craziest."
"It's a good thing Beck's dead," Harley announced. "'Cause otherwise, I'd just shoot him in the head."
"No, you wouldn't, Harley," Peter said, patting his adoptive brother on the shoulder.
"I know," Harley agreed, looking down. "I'm just really pissed."
And things weren't about to improve his mood.
Someone pounded on the door, getting the attentions of the people on the couch.
"Federal agents, open up!" a man demanded from the door.
"Federal agents?" May asked. She jumped to her feet and gestured to the boys. "You stay here."
She went across the apartment to her front door. Opening up the door, May revealed quite a few Federal agents standing in the hallway staring into the room. The man in front was holding up a badge that read DODC, and it also had his name underneath, revealing him to be Agent Cleary.
"Department Of Damage Control," Cleary informed her. "We have a warrant for the arrests of Peter Parker and Ventus Thomas."
"Do you know the 4th Amendment?" May asked.
"Sure," Cleary confirmed.
"Unreasonable search and seizure?" May further pressed.
"Get in here, guys, let's go!" Cleary announced to the others, despite May's further protests.
The half a dozen federal agents entered the apartment despite May's protests. Not only did they apprehend the group, but they also photographed things throughout Peter's room, claiming it would serve as "evidence." They ended up taking pictures of a picture of Ned and MJ from a dance and a picture of Peter and Harley on a shelf, the station where the Iron Spider suit would charge, and the EDITH glasses resting in an open case.
Afterwards, they were all apprehended, with Peter and Ventus being the only ones officially arrested. The others would be "questioned."
They were escorted to a federal holding facility where they would be questioned.
Ventus and Peter were taken together into a small room that had glass walls, with streamers covering some of the walls, but they could still mostly see out of them. The two heroes were handcuffed to the table, since they were the main two that they wanted restrained for this interrogation. Agent Cleary and another agent stood in the room with the two, both of them disbelieving of their story, despite the fact that they were heroes that had helped save the world.
That hurt Ventus's feelings a bit.
"I didn't kill Quentin Beck, the drones did," Peter informed the two agents, the other one crossing his arms.
"The drones that are yours," Cleary remarked, sliding a picture from the London attack closer to Peter.
"Look, Beck was a fraud that wanted any chance to smear Tony Stark's good name, even though the man had saved the whole world," Ventus tried explaining. "He tricked Peter into giving him the controls to the drones, and then used them to make himself look like a hero. The guy was willing to kill anyone who got in his way, and the two of us were almost victims of this. The dude died because of his own insanity."
"Exactly," Peter agreed, gesturing to Ventus. Cleary had his arms crossed as he looked at the two skeptically, then stepped around Peter. "Look, Nick Fury was there the entire time. Just ask him, and he can explain everything."
Cleary smirked triumphantly.
"Nick Fury has been off-planet for the last year," he told the two, his disbelief in their story showing on his face.
Peter and Ventus frowned in confusion and looked at the Agent standing right behind Peter.
"What?" Peter asked, at the same time Ventus asked, "Huh?" *5*
"Peter!" MJ called out.
Peter and Ventus looked towards one of the glass walls of the small room. They were surprised to see federal agents leading May, Harley, MJ, and Ned through the hallways to their own, private interrogation rooms.
"MJ!" Peter said in surprise. He pointed at his friends and family being led through the halls. "Uh, they have nothing to do with this, sir."
"Don't say anything without a lawyer!" May, MJ, and Harley all simultaneously told Peter, pointing at him through the glass wall.
"What's a lawyer?" Ventus asked, confused since he had heard the term a lot from Vanitas.
Cleary started his interrogations with MJ, who immediately informed him that she wanted a lawyer. The agent greeted her by calling her Ms Jones-Watson, but she told him that it was just Jones and she didn't go by Watson. Cleary then started asking her why she wanted a lawyer if she had nothing to hide, unless she was actually guilty of something. MJ finished his questions and informed the agent that she knew of his tactics, and also knew her rights. She then looked at the one-way mirror and smiled and waved to the people on the other side.
(It is nothing short of a tragedy that Tony never met this girl, because he would have approved of his son's girlfriend quickly.)
Cleary then tried the tactic of pretending like he was trying to help, saying that MJ was a smart young woman with a bright future ahead of her, and asked why she would risk it all by getting involved with "a vigilante like Peter Parker."
Once he was done with MJ, Cleary moved on to Ned, acting like he was being nice to the young man. He told Ned that he was sorry to keep him waiting, and suggested that they get him a snack. The other agent agreed and left the room while Cleary apologized to Ned, still acting friendly.
Ned informed Cleary that he wasn't supposed to say anything to him. Cleary agreed and went with the "trick him" tactic, asking Ned how he reacted when MJ told him that Peter was Spider-Man. Ned got offended and clarified that he knew "way before MJ did," saying that he was Spider-Man's "guy in the chair." Cleary acted like he knew what that meant, still pretending to be friendly to Ned and claiming a lot of people in his office were "guys in the chair." Ned then explained that he helped Peter find the Vulture, helped Peter hack his suit once, and "sort of" helped him get to space.
Cleary had the information he needed.
"So, in Spider-Man's illegal vigilante-ism, you were his main accomplice," Cleary said, his face becoming less friendly with each word.
Ned realized what he just said, and after an awkward pause, he said that he would like to have his words stricken from the record.
If Harley had known about this, he would've face-palmed and shouted, "Damn it, Ned!"
Cleary then moved on to Harley, walking into the room with his arms crossed as he looked at the Tennessee native.
"Well, Harley, I'd say this is quite the pickle you've gotten yourself into," Cleary said.
"You're an ass, and I want that on the record," Harley announced.
"Wow, I wouldn't think you'd be so rude," Cleary said, pretending like he was a victim as he sat down in the chair across from Harley.
"Well, I'd be happier if you hadn't just arrested my friend and my brother," Harley remarked.
"You seem to have a pretty good relationship with Peter Parker if you consider him like a brother," Cleary assessed. "How did you get involved with him?"
"We met through Tony Stark," Harley said, knowing that all he could say would be positive, and he could try to use it to paint Peter in a positive light. "Tony approached me during the Mandarin mess all those years ago, and I helped him track the bastard down. Tony kept in contact and helped me harness my skills with building things. He then learned who Peter was and supplied him with his suit, and took Peter under his wing. Peter and I both saw Tony as a father, since he and I haven't had a father in years. And after Tony died, Peter and I got together and processed through our grief together. It doesn't matter whether or not we share blood, he and I are brothers."
"Well, that's a nice sentiment," Cleary said. "So, how do you feel about your brother being a murderer?"
"He didn't kill Quentin Beck," Harley said. "Look, about eight years ago, Tony Stark gave me a warning in a phone call about a man who worked for him named Quentin Beck, who invented illusion technology based on holographic images, so good you'd almost believe that you were having a full conversation with someone that wasn't there. Beck then proved himself to be insane, and Tony let him go, giving me a warning about the man in case I ever ran into someone with the name."
"Your 'brother' and Ventus said the same thing," Cleary said, a chastising tone in his voice. "The three of you must've had quite a bit of time to work on this sob story. Well, I guess it's too bad that Tony Stark isn't here to clear this up, himself."
"Look, just check with Pepper Potts if you really need clarification," Harley said, trying to bite down his anger at this man saying something like that about Tony. "Besides, don't you think you're being a little unfair? Ventus and Peter are Avengers, and they worked as hard as they could last year to help in the fight against Thanos. They helped save the world, and you're not even listening to their side of the story. So I'll repeat: don't you think you're being a little unfair?"
"No, I really don't," Cleary admitted, shaking his head. He then pushed himself to his feet. "It's clear that you're not going to say anything to help me, so I'm just gonna leave you here, and let you process the fact that you could be going to jail for being an accomplice."
The agent turned and left the room, shutting the door behind him.
"What a dick," Harley said with feeling. He frowned and looked to the one-way mirror. "And I want that on record, too!"
Cleary then tried Ventus on his own, thinking that if he separated the blonde and Peter, he would screw up and say something different. To his displeasure, Ventus reaffirmed his story about what happened in London with Beck and the drones, and announced that he wouldn't say anything else without a lawyer. Though he did also admit that he didn't know what that was.
"But I've heard enough from my friends to know that a lawyer is someone helpful for me," Ventus said. "And I know enough to know if you'll be tricking me or not."
"Okay," Cleary said, pretty irritated that Ventus wasn't changing his story. "I wonder how your friends would react to the news that you're an accomplice to a murderer."
"Half my friends have killed people, and all of them were bad," Ventus informed him. "Besides, I know I'm innocent. Beck was the real villain, and the truth will come out in some way."
"Well, if you're so sure," Cleary said in resignation.
He pushed himself to his feet and turned towards the door.
"You know, one of the good things my friends told me about this world is that people have the right of innocent until proven guilty," Ventus informed Cleary. "But you guys seem to believe that we're guilty and won't even listen to anything otherwise. I don't deserve this, and Peter especially doesn't deserve this. All we've ever done is help people, and you're making us out into villains and won't even listen to reason against otherwise."
"I guess that's one way to look at it," Cleary admitted. "But I'm looking at things from all angles, and I follow my gut. And my gut says that you are both trouble."
The man turned and left the room, leaving Ventus frustrated, something that he hadn't felt in a long time.
The blonde looked at the one-way mirror, showing how upset he was to the people on the other side.
"I don't really throw around mean names or insults," Ventus admitted. He pointed at the door that Cleary just left through. "But that guy's a butt-head!" *6*
Cleary then interrogated May, who made it clear (while also saying "with all due respect," then informing the man that she meant it very insincerely) that unless the agent had anything that he had any actual charges to throw at them, legally, he couldn't hold them. Instead of replying to her claim, Cleary decided to show how much of an asshole that he was by telling May that she should lawyer up, citing child endangerment because she "not only allowed Peter to endanger himself, but also encouraged it," even though she was Peter's legal guardian, "essentially his mother."
He asked who did that, and May demanded to see Peter at that very moment, angry with the man for trying to insult her.
It ended up being a long remainder of the summer as things ended up focusing quite a bit on the court case and the hearings.
The day of the actual court hearing, the lawyer that they had gotten, who was very good at his job, called on testimonies from most of the Avengers so they could help show how good of a person Peter really was.
Everyone had been informed about what happened, and they wanted to help in some way they could.
Bucky and Sam even put aside their rivalry with Peter (they were both still bitter about how easily he beat them at the airport in Germany), and talked about how he was a good person who had helped out quite a bit at the battle for Earth last year. Scott and Clint helped out with their own explanations about how good a person Peter is, even though they were technically on opposite sides of the Civil War when they had met him. Shuri, T'Challa, and Rhodey even helped out, emphasizing that Peter couldn't hurt a fly, let alone kill someone.
Shuri even shared the story of how one time Peter accidentally knocked a fly out of the air, and then spent a few minutes making sure it was okay before it flew away. While the story did embarrass Peter, it helped his case a bit.
Vision even announced that he was alive again and helped join the explanations of how good a person Peter was, and was joined by Wanda, Pepper, and even Morgan. This sort of let the news know that Wanda and Vision were also married, but they decided to sacrifice their anonymity about it to try to help out another member of their family.
Roxas, Lea, Xion, Terra, Aqua, and Kairi even made video calls from the worlds they were in at the moment to speak on Ventus's behalf, ensuring that he wouldn't hurt anyone. They did admit that he had killed one person before, but it was only when he was possessed, and it was either hundreds or thousands of years ago.
That had surprised a lot of people.
Pepper had also gotten the right documents from Stark Industries that showed that Quentin Beck really was a former employee that had invented illusion technology, and he had to be let go because he was deemed unstable.
While a lot of people didn't believe all of the evidence (because of course they wouldn't), they still managed to prove Peter and Ventus's innocence to the jury. They were found Not Guilty, and were released a short period of time later. *7*
Unfortunately, while they managed to convince the courts, a lot of the public was still fully committed to seeing Mysterio as a hero and Peter as a villain.
On top of the Department of Damage Control claiming authority over the case and investigating Stark Industries for financing Peter's activities (Morgan even did a televised report voicing her support for Spider-Man, to no avail), there were debates from just about everyone around talking about their own beliefs in Peter's actions. J. Jonah Jameson even did a televised debate with a Spider-Man supporter. While the supporter raised valid points, Jameson used comical strawman arguments against Peter.
"Jesus Christ, the dude's doing the Donald Trump approach," Harley complained when they watched that news report.
Part of the reason Wanda and Vision went public with their marriage was because they had a feeling that it would take some of the heat off of Peter, since they knew that there would be people that would both support of and despise their relationship. And it did work, for... about a day and a half. But then the public went back onto talking about Peter, praising him as the new biggest piece of news.
About a week after the trial, Peter, May, Happy, Ventus, Harley, and Peter's lawyer were in the apartment, with the TV on to play another news report. Peter and Happy sat around the table, while Harley, Ventus, and May stood nearby. Harley and Ventus were standing on both sides of Peter as a form of support, crossing their arms in thought as they all looked at the TV playing the news.
"Stark Industries was caught in the web of the Spider-Man/Mysterio controversy today," a male news reporter announced over a video of DODC trucks driving away from Stark Industries. "When Federal Agents opened an investigation into missing Stark Technology."
The report then changed to show an old picture of Happy, from back when he had long hair. It stated his name, occupation, and his reply of "No comment at this time."
"Agents want to know exactly what was taken..." the news reporter continued as Happy winced.
"At least they used a good picture," Happy rationalized.
"What is happening?" Peter softly asked himself, his hand on his face in despair.
Peter's lawyer, a blind man with dark hair dressed in a suit, placed his walking stick down, and slowly sat down in a chair next to Peter. Matthew Murdock smiled as he held his phone up to his ear, having heard some good news from his contact. May followed his example and sat down in a chair next to the table *8*
"That's great," Matt said. "Thank you."
Resting his walking stick on his shoulder, Matt placed his phone on the table and looked forwards.
"Well, I have some good news, Peter," he announced. "I don't believe that any of the charges against you are going to stick."
Peter's eyes widened in relief, and he looked over at the others (who had similarly relieved expressions) before looking back over at Matt.
"Wait, seriously?" Peter asked in surprise.
Harley pumped his fist in excitement, Happy smiled and pointed at Peter victoriously, Ventus cheered, and May leaned back in her chair in relief.
"Oh, ho-ho, I knew it!" May excitedly exclaimed.
"Oh, my God, Mr. Murdock, that's..." Peter started to say, looking at Matt's smiling face.
"Thank you, Matt," May told the lawyer, gratefulness in her voice.
"That's amazing," Peter said with a big smile.
"Spectacular," Ventus agreed, sighing in relief.
"You're welcome," Matt told them.
"Perfect," Happy said, smiling and pointing at Peter and Ventus victoriously.
While Harley was happy about this, he decided to postpone the full range of his excitement, fully expecting there to be something else that Matt was about to tell them.
"However," Matt said, proving to Harley that there really was a catch. "Mr. Hogan?"
"Yes?" Happy asked, still smiling as he looked at Matt.
Harley was a little surprised, not expecting Happy to be the next subject of Matt's attention.
"The Feds are actively investigating that missing technology," Matt admitted to Happy. This did bring down the mood, and had Happy looking surprised. "I understand your loyalty to Mr. Stark and his legacy, but if you were involved..."
"If I was involved?" Happy asked, gesturing to his chest, shocked at the very idea.
"...I'd advise securing a lawyer," Matt suggested.
"I need a lawyer because I'm under... I'm under inves...?" Happy asked, stuttering a bit. He gestured to Peter, and Peter and Harley frowned in worry. "I thought he was... You said there was no charge... I could, I could say uh, under advisement of counsel... I refuse to answer the question, respectfully, because I-I..." Peter and Harley softly shook their heads, still worried. "The answer could incriminate me because i-it's on... It's in Goodfellas. What we're saying, they said in Goodfellas."
He looked at May, who gestured with a hand to calm him down.
"I know that's what you think, calm down," May instructed to Happy. She gestured to Matt. "Let's see what he has to say."
"Did anyone understand anything Happy just said?" Ventus asked.
"Not a thing," Peter and Harley simultaneously said, shaking their heads in unison.
"Matt?" May asked the lawyer.
"You're gonna need a really good lawyer," Matt informed Happy.
May looked at Happy with a sorry expression and shrugged her shoulders.
"Peter, you and Ven might have dodged your legal troubles, but things'll get much worse," Matt informed the two heroes, getting their attentions. "There is still a court of public opinion."
As if to emphasize his point, a brick shattered through a window on the other side of the living room, flying through the air. While Happy and May ducked to dodge either brick or glass, Ventus and Harley stepped back, all while Peter raised up his hand to catch the brick before it could hit him.
However, before he could, Matt reached up with his free hand, as if he had cat-like reflexes, and caught the brick backhanded right in front of Peter's outstretched hand.
Peter, Ventus, and Harley's all widened in surprise, and they frowned in confusion as they looked at Matt. May and Happy raised their heads up to see again, and watched as Matt turned his hand around, offering the brick to Peter. Peter slowly took the brick in his hand, still pretty shocked from what just happened.
"...How did you just do that?" Peter asked.
"Y-yeah, that was a cool trick," Harley agreed, just as shocked.
"I'm a really good lawyer," was all Matt said in response, giving Peter a small smile.
Harley and Ventus were quickly skeptical, but decided not to think about it too much. They'd tell the others and launch an investigation for this later.
For now, they looked at the brick in Peter's hands, and they sighed out in disappointment.
Tied to the brick with rubber bands was a piece of newspaper, with the words "We Believe Mysterio" written in red marker.
"We're gonna need a safer place to live," May announced.
"Yeah, I plan on staying around longer to help out with this crisis, and I don't really wanna have to wake up to that every morning," Harley agreed.
Ventus would also stay around to try and help things transition back to something that could at least be semi-normal for his friends here. He just hoped that it wouldn't be too hard of a job...