Reconcile › P. Parker [2]

020. post credit

"Totally wasn't gonna say that." Raleigh watched Peter, and the eyes on the Spider-Man mask closed as he threw his head up. His hands waved in front of him. "Okay, maybe I was gonna say something like that."

Raleigh snorted. "It doesn't matter, anyway, because we should probably head back home. I'm sure Trystan and May need help prepping for that dinner-lunch... thing."

Even though he couldn't see Peter's face beneath the mask, he was sure it was pulled into a grimace. It was their first shared family meal since both Peter and Raleigh came out to their respected guardians as dating one another. And while nothing had really changed between the adults and teens, both Peter and Raleigh were could already predict that the meal would still be somewhat awkward.

"This is breaking news." A robotic voice echoed through the chaotic streets, and both Peter and Raleigh faced the noise. Their eyes latched onto the giant screens plastered onto the side of Madison Square Garden. The image on the screens flickered from the words BREAKING NEWS to a male news anchor sitting behind a clean desk. The image zoomed in on the reporter's face as he began talking. "We come to you 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. A warning, you may find this video disturbing."

Raleigh shared a confused and panicked glance with Peter, turning back to the screens. He had no idea what was happening or what they were about to be shown because as far as he knew, there shouldn't have been any cameras on the bridge that Peter didn't eventually reclaim with E.D.I.T.H.'s help.

The feed swaps from the clear crisp image of the news anchor, and onto a fuzzy and glitchy recording of Quentin Beck. The man's face was scrapped and cut up, and instead of the mo-cap suit he had actually been wearing that afternoon, he was in his Mysterio costume. He appeared panicked.

"I managed to send the Elemental through the rift, but I don't think I'm gonna make it. Spider-Man and Aureate attacked me for some reason. They have an army of weaponized drones, Stark technology. Spider-Man is saying he's the only one who's gonna be the new Iron Man, no one else."

Raleigh couldn't tear his eyes off the screen, even when he felt people's eyes boring into him and see the shine from their phones directed at him and Peter from the corner of his eyes.

The feed changes again, this time to a video taken from the left side of Quentin. Where his illusioned self struggled to remain propped up against the wall as he squired in apparent pain—Raleigh knew (at that exact moment) the real Quentin hid, preparing to shoot Peter in the side of his head. Spider-Man and Aureate were just in the frame of the camera, their uniformed legs being the only thing revealing that they were even there.

"Are you sure you want to commence the drone attack?" E.D.I.T.H.'s robotic voice asked over the video feed. "There will be significant casualties."

"...End this." Raleigh's voice crackled through the video and Peter shuffled on his feet.

"Do it," Peter said. "Execute them all."

The sound of gunfire and explosions struck through the screens speakers, supposedly happening somewhere off-screen from what the video frame was showing. This time Raleigh unwittingly took a single step back. The pain that had been in his shoulder had somehow traveled up to his head, pounding against his skull.

None of what he was seeing was right. E.D.I.T.H. had never said anything about a drone attack, nor anything about casualties.

None of this is right. Peter would have never agreed to E.D.I.T.H. if she claimed she was commencing a drone attack or that people would be casualties. And Raleigh wouldn't have been telling Peter to end it. This entire video was a lie, but it made them sound like they wanted to end people and execute them when they had been doing the complete opposite. They did everything to save them.

The video returned to the reporter in the news studio. He continued. "This shocking video was released earlier today on the controversial news website TheDailyBugle.net."

The head of The Daily Bugle news website, J. Jonah Jameson, flashed on the screen. He was an older man, with a heavy mustache perfectly trimmed above his lip, and deep wrinkles across his face showcasing the amount of stress and anger he has dealt with throughout his years. Papers were scattered out in front of him on his desk and under his microphone, while The Daily Bugle logo popped up beside his head and his name over the messy desk.

"There you have it, folks, conclusive proof that Spider-Man and Aureate were responsible for the murder of Mysterio, an interdimensional 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," Jameson emphasized his words with his hands.

Raleigh felt sick. Murder... Them responsible? He didn't—They didn't kill Beck—that was all his own doing. This isn't right. This really isn't right. The sense of panic that hadn't been with Raleigh for a few days swept over him. None of this is right. They didn't do anything wrong—They didn't—And Quentin was a coward and a liar. He wasn't a hero.

"But that's not all, folks," Jameson continued. "Here's the real blockbuster. Brace yourselves."

The video feed switches back to Quentin, who was now appearing more frantic by looking out the Tower Bridge windows. "Spider-Man and Aureate's real—Spider-Man and Aureate's real names are P—"

The video cuts off, going black as pixels glitched over the top of it. Raleigh's chest was tight, and his head pounding turned into waves of vertigo as he stared at the blank screen. He couldn't tear his eyes from it—he couldn't do anything except stare and hope that the feed broke and that Video-Quentin couldn't reveal the one secret Peter and Raleigh have tried desperately to keep hidden. The one secret that gave them the ability to have that normality that they needed. It was the only thing they wanted.

The video crackled in its return, and Quentin stared into the camera, straight at them. "Spider-Man and Aureate's names are Peter Parker and Raleigh Ridley!"

Both of their yearbook pictures appeared on the screen, side by side, their faces everywhere for the whole world to see.

Raleigh's rigid stance gives out as his hands fly to cover his nose and mouth, while sharp, hot needles prickle into every inch of his body. And behind him, Peter's palms pound into his head temples as he blurted the only thing he could at that moment:

"What the fu—"

Just like that... In a blink of an eye... All that they knew and had, crumbled in front of them as people took in the words of Quentin Beck. As people came to the conclusion that Spider-Man and Aureate were murderers... No, no, that's not right... As people came to the conclusion that Peter Parker and Raleigh Ridley murdered innocent civilians (and they killed the one person who sought to stop them.) They weren't heroes. There was no way they could be heroes... Peter and Raleigh were now, to the world, everything they fought against—they were villains.