Space Girl [P.Parker]

chapter 23

"Yes, sir." Peter replied.

"That thing is going to be here in a few hours. Are we boring you?" Fury raised his eyebrows.

"He's not bored. He's just thinking about how you kidnapped him." Quentin explained. 

"He had obstacles. I removed them." Fury said sternly.

"Mr. Beck and I would have been fine on our own, I don't see why we needed Peter, who doesn't even want to be here right now." Luna argued, motioning towards Peter who awkwardly stood a few feet away from her. 

"Luna.." Peter began.

"We don't have time for your high school kid fights, you two. Get over it." Fury yelled. Luna and Peter went silent. 

"And they still won't evacuate the city." Maria spoke up.

Fury sighed. "Idiots." He whispered to himself. 

"So what's the plan, Leeds?" Fury asked.

"Peter and I will be in the Cathedral Tower, keeping watch for the fire monster. When that shows up, we will radio you guys, and then Mr. Beck and—"

"My name is Mysterio." Quentin cut in. Luna paused, then glanced at Peter for a moment. 

"Then Mysterio... what?" Luna sighed as she looked to Quentin.

"Listen to me, the best hope you have, the only hope, is to stop it here, now." Mysterio stated. "No matter what the costs. And move 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 will be no way to stop it."

Luna looked to the man questionably.

 "Hey, man, our friends are here, and I can't help but think that we're putting them in danger." Peter began.

"You worry about us hurting your friends? You, who called a drone strike on your own school tour bus." Fury stood up and approached Peter. Luna slowly inched closer to the boy from instinct, as if she felt the need to protect him from the intimidating man.

"Stark gave you a multi-billion dollar AR tactical intelligent 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 yelled.

At this point, Luna reached for Peter hands, intertwining their fingers. Peter sighed, and glanced down at their hands for a moment, before looking back at Fury.

After that, Peter had gone up to the roof for some time alone. Luna chose not to bother him this time, and instead stood on the balcony a floor beneath.

As she stared ahead at the beautiful view of the water and the bright buildings that glowed on the night sky, Mysterio flew over her head. She stared up at the man and squinted her eyes. He was speaking to Peter with his mask on.

"Nick Fury asked me to come up here, see how you're doing. He felt bad about snapping at ya." Beck explained. 

"Really?" Peter asked.

"You guys do have sarcasm on this earth, right?" Mysterio joked. Peter chuckled lightly.

 "How are you feeling?" Quentin inquired.

"Uh... I didn't think I was gonna have to save the world this summer. I know that makes me sound like such a jerk, but.. I had this plan with Luna.. because it hasn't been working out all that much lately, but... now it's ruined, and I'm scared that she's gonna break up with me." Peter admitted. Luna frowned, then hesitated to continue listening. She looked at the doors, but remained put. 

"You're not a jerk for wanting a normal life, kid." Said Mysterio as he sat beside the boy. "It's a hard path. You see things, you do things, you make choices. People look up to you. And then.. even if you win the battle, sometimes they die. I'm sure Luna gets that, she's going through it, too." Beck explained softly. "I like you Peter. You're a good kid. There's a part of me that wants me to tell you to just.. turn around and run away from all of this, and then there's another part of me that.. knows who we're about to fight, what's at stake. I'm glad you're here." The man spoke in assurance. 

"Me, too." Peter replied.

"You're worried about your friends." Quentin continued.

 "Yeah. I just.. always feel like I'm putting them in danger." Peter sighed.

"Look, just, get them inside and keep them in a safe place for just a few hours, and they'll be alright." Assured Beck.

"It's really nice.. to have somebody to talk to about superhero stuff, you know? I mean.. usually, I have Luna, but.. I don't think she wants to talk to me at all these days. I feel like I just screwed everything up." Peter groaned quietly. He tucked in his knees and hid his face in between them.

Luna backed away up against the doors so she wouldn't be seen by neither Peter, nor Mysterio. She sighed to herself. She knew Peter wasn't feeling well, and she cared, she really did, but she was afraid if she spoke to him it would only bring more attention to the problems, considering their situation.

Part of her was still mad about what he had said earlier, but the other part of her wanted to hug him, cry onto his shoulder.

"Anytime. You know, if Luna is being this way, maybe you two shouldn't be so close anymore. At least, not right now. It seems like it's just stressing you out." Beck suggested. 

"No, I can't do that. I love Luna. I don't want to stop being around her. Maybe I'm a little worried about our relationship, but I don't think it's over yet. I'll figure it out." Peter shook his head slowly.

"Alright, kid. And hey, if we survive this, we have all summer to kill Brad." Mysterio joked. Peter stifled a laugh. "See you out there." Peter concluded.

Luna took that as her cue to fly down to the spot where she was supposed to meet Peter. She didn't quite know what it was, but there was something odd to her about Mysterio.

She didn't understand how he had just come out of nowhere, claiming to be from a different earth, and everyone believed him. Besides, what would he have to gain from breaking her and Peter apart? It certainly didn't seem for Peter's own good.

Just then, Peter jumped down. "Oh, Luna. You're.. here already." Peter said with wide eyes.

 "Yeah." Luna nodded. 

"Okay." Peter rummaged through his backpack, and pulled out Stark's glasses. "Edith? Hey! Uh-uh. I need to find a way to keep my friends inside for the next few hours." Peter stammered. "Okay, we're all good." Peter looked to Luna. "We better get back to the hotel now." Added the boy.

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." Luna agreed. As the two began quickly walking back, Luna spoke up.

"Why do you always get the cool stuff from Stark. I just got a ring and I don't even know what it does. Honestly, I don't think it does anything." Luna commented. She stared down at the ring on her index finger.

"I'm sure it does something. Maybe it also has a name." Peter suggested. "Uh.. ring." Peter began, attempting to activate some sort of speaking control. "Moon... ring?" Peter trailed off. He clapped his hands in another attempt.

"Yeah, I have nothing." Peter sighed. 

"Figures. Cause Peter doesn't even like fighting and he gets the high tech glasses that shoot missiles at classmates." Luna mumbled to herself.

By the time they neared the hotel, Luna spoke once more. "You know, Peter.. I don't really trust Mysterio." She stated. She had been thinking about what happened earlier for the entire walk.

"Why not? He's great." Peter didn't wait for a response, and instead went inside, not giving Luna the opportunity to explain. Luna sighed, then followed him.