CHAPTER 11
Back In Berlin
"YOU WHAT?"
Peter had just informed Kassidy that he had given Beck EDITH, along with complete access to the AI. To restrain herself from strangling the boy, she pulled at her hair.
"This is exactly why I can't leave you to your own devices!" she exclaimed, pacing back and forth while Peter pulled the blinds closed. "Seriously, Peter!"
"You had access to killer drones?" MJ asked, standing in the middle of the room with wide eyes.
"Yeah, I didn't really want them, especially after I almost killed Brad." Peter replied, bending over his laptop.
"You almost killed Brad?"
"Yet another example!" Kassidy exclaimed.
"We need to call Mr. Fury and tell him that Beck's a fraud, but I think he tapped our phones." Peter explained, his chest heaving.
"Okay, so what're you gonna do?" MJ asked.
Peter jumped to the corner of the room and grabbed ahold of his backpack. He began to slip off his sweater while unzipping the bag.
"Kassie, grab your suit." he told the girl, tearing off his shirt. "We're gonna have to go to Berlin."
Kassidy, without saying a word, sprinted from the room, MJ hot on her heels. She ignored the few people that roamed the hallways and bolted right into her room and to the bathroom. She gathered the black suit she had on hours before and threw it in her backpack. With MJ behind her, she re-entered Peter's room.
"Turn." she told the already-dressed boy.
Like it was a common procedure, because it was, Peter turned to face the wall while Kassidy tore off her shirt. She was halfway into her suit when the sound of the door creaking open caused her head to snap up.
Ned was standing in the doorway, looking between the three people in shock. It took a few moments before he registered Kassidy had no shirt on, and he immediately slapped a hand over his eyes. The girl immediately zipped up the remainder of her suit, leaving her face completely covered again.
"I'm good, Ned."
Ned cautiously peeled his hand away from his eyes, seemingly scared to look towards Kassidy again. At the sound of his name, Peter also turned to see Ned at the doorway.
"Oh, Ned, perfect." he sighed.
"The costumes look great... for the costume party... at the princes castle." Ned stammered, attempting to cover for his friends.
"She knows, Ned." Kassidy sighed, gesturing towards MJ. "We told her."
"They didn't tell me. I figured it out." MJ argued, a sly smile across her face.
"Oh." Ned nodded his head. "That's cool."
"Like a long time ago." MJ added.
"Oh, bullshit-!" Kassidy began, turning to glare at her friend.
"Look, Mysterio is a fraud." Peter began to explain.
"But... he saved the whole city." Ned replied, tilting his head in confusion.
"No. Also bullshit." Kassidy told the boy. "He's been faking everything this whole time with some kind of illusion tech."
"Yeah, he's using these, like, hologram projectors." Peter added.
"Whoa. That's crazy." Ned commented.
"Yeah."
"So, what, you three have been working the case together, or..?" Ned asked, looking at MJ.
"Mostly me." MJ shrugged.
Kassidy elbowed her friend in the ribs, while the taller girl stomped on her foot.
"Ned, call May, get her to call Mr. Harrington, say that she wanted me to stay with family in Berlin." Peter began, looking at his friend with wide eyes. "And Pepper. Pepper Potts. Get them both to lie to Mr. Harrington."
MJ furrowed her eyebrows at this and looked towards Kassidy questioningly.
"That's my mom." Kassidy shrugged.
"What-?"
"Got it. Easy." Ned agreed to Peters request.
"Hang on, back up." MJ demanded, her hands out in front of her in confusion. "Pepper Potts?"
"Another time, MJ." Kassidy promised, a hand landing on her arm as she walked off. "We need to go, Peter."
"Wait, wait, the projector." MJ called, grabbing the small object from the bed. "You're gonna need this."
She tossed it through the air, and Peter, having the obvious better reflexes of the pair, caught it.
"Don't tell anyone about this, okay?" he told MJ. "Anyone who knows is in danger."
"Hey, she's good." Kassidy told the boy, her hand on his arm. "I would trust her with my life."
Peter hesitated a moment longer before nodding his head and jumping from the window. Kassidy watched for a moment before saluting MJ and Ned and letting herself tip off the edge, backwards.
*
By the time the duo had finally ended up in Berlin, the sun had risen over the horizon and it was midday. Kassidy had attempted to get directions from a woman at the train station, but was only met with screams as she ran off in fear.
"Damn it." she muttered, turning and walking the other direction.
She watched as Peter narrowly avoided being hit by a car, and was surprised to see Nick Fury behind the wheel. He rolled down the window, eyeing the two teens.
"Get in."
Without being told twice, both teens scrambled into the car, Peter in the front. "Mr. Fury-!" he began.
"You two have got a lot of explaining to do." Fury demanded, an unimpressed expression on his face.
Kassidy buckled herself into the backseat and leaned forward to look between the two front ones.
"No, no, no, listen!" Peter exclaimed, tearing his mask off.
"Wait until we're secure." Fury told the boy, holding up a finger.
Peter agreed and leaned back into his seat, his chest heaving. The car began to ding, signalling that Peter's seatbelt wasn't buckled. Fury raised an eyebrow at the boy and cleared his throat, immediately sending Peter into action. The boy tugged on the seatbelt a little too hard, obviously forgetting his strength. It completely ripped from its spot on the wall, and Peter looked at Fury with wide eyes.
A short but awkward car ride later, the trio finally pulled up to headquarters. It was a large, mostly glass building with a lot of stairs. Fury led the two teens through the building, and soon they ended up in a room with Maria Hill.
"So is there anything you want to tell us about your girlfriend?" Fury asked, circling around to the other side of the table.
Peter glanced at Kassidy a moment, and the girl furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. She shook her head and turned to look at the two adults at the other end of the table.
"He's talking about EDITH." Hill clarified.
"Look, I know I made a mistake and I'm sorry, but he is not who you think he is." Peter explained, flipping open his goggles. "Beck is a liar. Mysterio, the Elementals, it's all fake."
"He's got some sort of illusion technology, and that's how he tricked you guys and tricked Peter into giving him EDITH." Kassidy added, glancing at the boy beside her.
"It's a projector." Peter pulled the projector from a pocket on his suit and slid it across the table. "I pulled it off the fire monster in Prague."
"So all that death and destruction we witnessed was created by this?" Fury questioned, gesturing to the projector.
"No, not just this." Kassidy replied. "We think he's using drones. I blasted one down during the fight in Prague."
Hills eyebrows furrowed and she stepped away from the table in thought.
"Well, if this is true, the Beck's very dangerous and we need to be smart." Fury decided, glancing at Hill. "Who else did you two tell about this?"
"Just-,"
Kassidy had begun to speak, but Peters hand had landed on her arm, cutting off her speech. She looked up at him in concern, and saw his tense posture. His eyes were wide and they glanced over his shoulder in paranoia. Fury called his name several times, but to no avail.
"Peter?" she asked, stepping in front of him. "What's wrong?"
"It's Beck. He's here." Peter decided, looking up at Fury.
He flicked his goggles back down, and Kassidy watched in horror as the room around them began to dissipate into thin air. Maria Hill completely dissolved, and Fury's eye widened in confusion. The entire building changed, and Kassidy was shocked to discover they had been led into an unfinished building.
Fury pulled out his gun, pointing it at something behind the two teens. Peter had tried to yell out a warning, but before he could get a word out, a blast had gone off straight into Fury.
"Fury!" Peter exclaimed.
Kassidy turned to see the drone now pointed straight at Peter. Before she could even think about warning him, it had shot him straight in the chest, sending him pummelling into the abyss below.
*
Ahhhh!
As sadistic as this may sound, I can't wait to write the illusions scene.