“We come to you now with revelations from 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 might find this video disturbing.”
“I managed to send the Elemental back to the dimensional reef but I don’t think I’m going to make it off this bridge alive. Spider-Man attacked me for some reason. He has an army of weaponized drones, Stark technology. And he’s saying he’s the only one who’s going to be the new Iron Man, no one else.” “Are you sure you want to commence the drone attack? There will be significant casualties.”
“Just do it! Execute them all!”
“The shocking video was released earlier today on the controversial news website ‘thedailybugle.net.’” “There you have it, folks! Conclusive proof that Spider-Man was responsible for the brutal murder of Mysterio; an inter-dimensional 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. But that’s not all, folks. Here’s the real blockbuster. Brace yourselves, you might want to sit down.”
“Spider-Man’s real—Spider-Man’s real name is—”
“Spider-Man’s name is Peter Parker!”
The rest of the news played in the background. The entirety of New York has been in shambles since the start of this chaos; and it would obviously bleed into Hell’s Kitchen, as all things do. It’s also bled through the rest of the United States and the rest of the world, split into two categories: Mysterio defenders and Spider-Man defenders. Some of the calamity has even caused physical and verbal fights to break out over who the real victim or monster is in this situation. Everybody is searching for a clear answer in the fog, and some are getting real desperate. But Spider-Man—well, Peter Parker—is getting the end of the stick here.
Foggy downed another shot of Scotch and slammed the glass on the table. He made a face, feeling the burn of the alcohol tickling his throat as it went down. He pointed in the direction of the TV. “You listening to this bullshit? They used a high school picture of the Spider-Man kid. That kid’s a kid! A high school student! Why would they do him like that?”
Matt nodded, pressing his lips together and putting his glass down with a tink! “Yeah, you’re right. I heard he’s being investigated right now, along with some of his high school friends. Accomplices to the murder, I presume. If he was murdered in the first place.”
Foggy mouthed thank you to Josie as she refilled his glass. “That kid’s going to need a lawyer. We’re going to be his only hope at a second chance. Has he even graduated high school yet? There’s no way he’s responsible of such a murder like Quentin’s.”
“I mean,” Matt downed a shot and pressed his lips together. He let the liquid go down his throat before talking again. “Peter’s just… A kid. I doubt he would’ve said something about him being the only new Iron Man or whatever bullshit he said.”
“Iron Man died in his arms,” Karen mumbled, holding her glass with both of her hands, tapping on it with her nails in small waves. Foggy frowned at her mockingly. “And they had a close relationship, I heard. And he’s an orphan.”
“Wait,” Foggy blurted out laughing, slamming his hand on the table. “What does him being an orphan have to do with anything?”
“I don’t know, extra pity points?”
Matt smiled warmly. “I’m sure Peter having no parents has nothing to do with this. thedailybugle.net is not a credible source. Those videos could be easily fabricated. And as Mr. News Reporter said, it is a controversial news website. How much trust can we put in this?”
“Not much, probably,” Foggy chuckled to himself as he reached for the bottle. Karen snatched it away before he could get ahold of it, leaving Foggy to look absolutely destroyed and Karen with an unforgiving grin on her face.
“Well, we’ll do what we can when the time comes,” Matt rubbed his chin with his index finger, smiling at Karen and Foggy practically fighting for the bottle of alcohol with their faces. “For now, we deal with what we have to deal with at the moment.” Foggy throws his hand at the bottle in Karen’s hand, but she flinches back and laughs at his face of defeat. She places the bottle back on the table, and Foggy side eyes her as he takes it, refilling his glass.
“And after we do, and Karen learns how to respect her superiors, we will take a vacation and get out of this shithole.”
“Hey!” Karen slaps Foggy’s shoulder playfully. “We are a three man team!”
“We’re about to not be.”
“Guys, please.” Matt laughed, shrugging his shoulders and putting his elbows on the table. “Have we ever thought about where we’re going to go when we go on vacation? Is that something we’ve discussed?”
Foggy pointed at Matt, as if he could see him do that. “No, we haven’t. I think we should go somewhere cold—like Alaska! For the Christmas time.”
Karen giggled, shaking her head and sliding the bottle away from Foggy again. “Why in the hell would we go to Alaska for Christmas? It is literally nothing but insufferable there!”
“It might be nice, you don’t know! Unlimited snowmen! No more sweating! Right?”
“No.” Matt sipped at his glass. “We could just… leave Hell’s Kitchen and go to Manhattan or something. See—or you guys can—the big Christmas tree, if Mysterio versus Spider-Man hasn’t taken it down by then.”
Karen grabbed the bottle and placed it on the table behind them. Foggy made eye contact with the blonde with his mouth agape. Sadness and disappointment filled his eyes. Karen laughed in response. “I would love to see the big Christmas tree. I’ve never seen it in the time I’ve lived here. I wonder how big it is.”
“I don’t know, I’ve never seen it before,” Matt continued sipping on his drink.
Foggy leaned back in his seat, his wide mouth turning into a sly grin. “I bet a lot of women ask that last question when they see Matthew.”
“Foggy, what the fuck?” Karen laughed, sliding away from Foggy until she was pressed up against the wall.
Matt chuckled before putting his glass down and clearing his throat. “I mean, he’s not wrong.”
Karen made a face of disgust, fake gagging and shaking her head rapidly. “You’re all horrible!”
Foggy moved toward Karen slowly, wrapping his arms around her shoulders and pulling her in for a warm, tight, bear hug. Karen clawed at his arms to escape from his killer grasp. “You know you love us.”
“I don’t!”
“Hey, even if you didn’t,” Matt gulped down what was left of his drink. “You’re stuck with us until you die. Or resign.”
“And in the next life, you’ll end up with us again. You are stuck in our eternal hell.”
“Great, I’m glad.” Karen giggled, pulling away from Foggy. “But first we have to kick some Spider-Man ass. And non-Spider-Man ass.”
“I believe we’re not kicking Spider-Man ass and actually defending Spider-Man ass,” Matt revoked with a chuckle, leaning against the cushioned backrest. Karen rolled her eyes.
“Yeah!” Foggy put his arm up in a fist. Karen did the same. “Let’s defend some Spider-Man ass!”