Nothing Without You - Peter Parker [2]

5: mysterio

Peter let out an astonished gasp, and he looked at Beck with wide eyes. "I'm sorry, you're saying there's a multiverse? Cause I thought that was just theoretical." he rambled in shock. "I mean, that completely changes how we understand the initial singularity. We're talking about an eternal inflation system. And how does that even work with all of the quantum-?"

Kassidy placed an hand on Peters arm, an amused yet impressed expression on her face. Peter turned to look at her with a smile, but when he noticed the silence, stopped rambling.

"S-sorry. It's just really cool." he apologized.

Kassidy smiled at the boy and rubbed his arm before dropping her hand back down to her side. Peter turned back to look at Beck, his cheeks flushed slightly red.

"Don't ever apologize for being the smartest one in the room." Beck told the boy.

Peters eyes lit up, and he nodded at Beck with admiration. Fury, however, let out a slight scoff.

"Anyway..." Maria called out.

A hologram appeared on the table in the middle of the room, and Kassidy moved towards it curiously. A black hole formed from the hologram, and Beck looked up at it grimly.

"They were born in stable orbits within black holes. Creatures formed from the primary elements. Air, water, fire, earth." he began to explain as the hologram changed, showing multiple monsters that looked similar to the one they had seen earlier that day. "The Science Division had a technical name... We just called them Elementals."

Each of the Elementals had their separate characteristics, but one thing that Kassidy thought they had in common was their intimidating size and looks.

"Versions of them exist across our mythologies." Maria said, glancing at the teens.

"Turns out, the myths are real." Beck confirmed.

"Like Thor." Peter added. "Thor was a myth, now we study him in physics class."

"These myths are threats." Fury spoke, his voice harsh as per usual.

"They first materialized on my Earth many years ago. We mobilized and fought them, but with each battle, they grew, got stronger." Beck explained, looking up at the hologram of Earth. "I was part of the last battalion left trying to stop them... All we did was delay the inevitable."

"The Elementals are here now, attacking the same coordinates." Maria spoke. "Our satellites confirmed it."

"How many have been taken down?" Kassidy interjected, glancing through the hologram towards Beck.

"Three." Fury answered. "You can thank Mr. Beck for destroying them. There's only one left: Fire."

"The strongest of them all. The one that destroyed my Earth." Beck confirmed. "It's the one that took my family."

The hologram of Earth slowly disintegrated, and Kassidy looked over Beck with pity. She noticed the wedding band on his finger, which he happened to be fiddling with absentmindedly.

"I'm sorry." Peter muttered.

"And it will be in Prague in approximately 48 hours." Maria commented, scratching her chin.

Peter and Kassidy glanced at each other. How were they supposed to get to Prague when their entire class was headed to Paris the next morning?