CHAPTER XLIX
man of mystery
VENICE, ITALY — 2024
LATER ON THAT NIGHT, the group of classmates had found themselves hanging around in the lobby of the hotel.
They were all watching the news about the unexpected event, which had surprisingly been solved by a flying green guy.
This guy had green magic and wore a fishbowl helmet, his face obviously not being revealed yet. But, he did a favour for Venice at least. He stopped the water monster from hurting everyone.
Everybody was currently researching about this guy on their phones and computers. But, all they found was nothing.
"It's aliens." Ned assumed. "It has to be."
"BuzzFeed says there's a sailor named Morris Bench," Flash told, "who was exposed to an experimental underwater generator and got hydro powers."
"Yeah, you should definitely believe everything you see on the internet." Noah snickered.
As he spoke, he leaned back, currently sitting on the staircase. He wasn't exactly researching the situation like all of the others were. He was just watching the entire scene as he sat back and relaxed.
"Spider-Man could take him." Flash commented.
Honestly, Noah had to agree. He had no clue who this fishbowl-helmet guy even was. He didn't particularly have a good feeling about this guy either. He was hesitant.
"What do you think it is?" Mr. Harrington questioned Mr. Dell.
"You know, being a man of science, witches."
Noah felt like he had to agree on that one, too. After meeting Fiona, Stephen and Wong, he couldn't exactly deny that witches and wizards were a thing.
He was feeling slightly irritated, though. He didn't just want to talk about this guy all night. He would very much rather talk about something else.
To end his slight boredom, he heard Peter mumbling away on the other side of the hotel lobby. He glanced over, only to see that the spiderling was calling somebody on the phone.
Then, all of a sudden, the television screen began to display some footage of the fishbowl guy fighting the water-being from earlier.
"Who is that guy?" Betty asked.
"He's like Iron-Man and Thor rolled into one." Brad commented.
"He's alright." Flash scoffed. "He's no Spider-Man."
Honestly, Noah was glad to know that he wasn't the only person in the room who was an intense Spider-Man fangirl. He was also an intense Peter Parker fangirl too, if that wasn't obvious enough already.
He was feeling slightly confused, though. He knew that only a small amount of people knew that Peter was Spider-Man. But, he was puzzled as to why Flash hated Peter but loved Spider-Man.
He glared over at Flash, an eyebrow raised upwards. He just smirked ever so slightly, allowing a few concerned chuckles to slip from his lips as he spoke.
"What is it with you and Spider-Man?" He laughed.
Flash seemed to be extremely offended after hearing such a question. He immediately glared over at Noah, his eyebrows slightly furrowed.
"What? He's just awesome, okay? He protects the neighbourhood and," he explained, "you know, he's inspiring. He inspires me to be a better man."
Before Noah could even respond, Peter had already finished the call that he had stepped aside for. He approached his classmates and teachers, specifically halting right beside the staircase.
Flash instantly noticed Peter walking on in. His mood immediately changed. He glared over at Peter in slight irritation, giving him a firm nod.
"What's up, dickwad?"
Noah was about to burst out with hysterical laughter. But, he held it in. He was still so confused, finding it funny that Flash loved Spider-Man but hated Peter.
He then looked up at Peter, the corners of his lips curled upwards, his lips now tugged into a cheeky smile.
Peter, on the other hand, smiled as well. He also found it quite funny. He crossed his arms over his chest, not even thinking about responding to Flash's comment.
"Thought you drowned." Flash said.
Seeing that Peter wasn't going to say anything, Flash focused on the television screen once again.
As the screen continued to project even more videos of the fishbowl-helmet guy, the news reporter began to describe the unidentified man altogether.
"Sounds like his name's Mysterio." Brad told.
"'L'uomo del misterio' is Italian for man of mystery." Michelle informed. "They don't actually know who he is."
"Mysterio." Betty and Ned shuddered at the same exact time. "Cool name."
They both glanced over at each other with bright smiles upon their faces once they had realised they had just said the same exact thing at the same exact time.
"Babe!"
As the rest of the class continued to watch the news, both Noah and Peter continuously glanced between each other, until they had decided to actually speak to each other.
Making sudden eye contact with Noah, Peter glanced to the side for a few moments. He pressed his lips into a thin line, exhaling underneath his breath awkwardly.
Noah looked away, as well. He slightly fidgeted with his fingers, still sat on the staircase, chewing onto his bottom lip awkwardly.
"So, how much of that did you actually see?" Peter cleared his throat.
"I was kinda running away." Noah replied. "But, I did get a free churro on the way."
That was true, surprisingly enough. Whilst running away from the scene altogether, he had found himself at a small marketplace full of people who hadn't even acknowledged the frightening monster yet.
"Uh, right. Me too." Peter murmured. "I was also running away."
Obviously, he didn't want to speak about fighting the monster with Mysterio around his other classmates. He didn't mind telling Noah and Ned about it. But, when it came around people who didn't know about his secret identity, he definitely didn't want to talk about it.
Suddenly, an awkward silence had clashed between the duo, both of them not really knowing what to say next.
"So, Paris tomorrow." Peter finally broke the silence. "Go to the Eiffel Tower. Should be great."
"Yeah." Noah agreed. "Hopefully I can get another free churro there."
That comment made the two teenagers burst out with quiet laughter, both of them no longer realising that they were surrounded by tons of other people.
They were just both so-in-love, too afraid to even admit it.