The Press Conference
Peter Parker did not like attention. Or rather: he didn't care for it. Attention was something that happened to other people when they were doing great at something or when they were pretty or smart. The only kind of attention he really knew was the kind he got when he was being nerdy, or tripping over his own feet – or when Flash was making fun of him.
So he didn't really see why some people were craving for attention like their life depended on it. Perhaps this would have been different if he'd been popular, but that definitely wasn't the case.
Therefore, the thought of having to step into his classroom and have twenty people staring at him in a mix of fascination, curiosity and a hint of fear, made his legs go all wobbly and his hands sweaty. And to top it all, he was also running late. He'd planned on slipping into the classroom before most of the others would arrive, so he could avoid that moment of all those heads turning to stare at him, but now exactly that was going to happen.
He opened the door and stepped inside. Immediately everyone stared at him, probably wondering whether he was late because of Spiderman. To Peter's relief, nobody said anything, so he quickly walked over to his place next to Ned and tried to hide in his chair.
“Dude, you will not believe what happened this morning!” Ned excitedly exclaimed in a whisper.
“I'm sure I'll find out in a second,” the teen unhappily replied.
“Before Ms. Smith came in, the entire class was talking about you – obviously – but then Flash told the others to shut up for a second and then he said that we shouldn't make it obvious that there's something different about you in front of the teachers except for Mr. Brown since they don't know it yet.”
“... Flash said that?”
“Yeah I mean you do have to admit that he's Spiderman's greatest fan.” Ned grinned.
“Oh god, please don't say that. That would mean that he's now my biggest fan and I don't think my world-picture could survive that.”
He frowned slightly at Peter. “I think you're thinking too much about this whole revealing-thing. You should just enjoy that you don't have to hide who you are any more. Just think about PE: now you can show off for once.”
“That wouldn't be fair though,” Peter snorted. “Besides, I'd rather stay with you and lay around on the floor.”
“Oh I'm sorry, is my lesson boring you?” Ms. Smith then said and effectively shut up the two teens. “That's what I thought. Now, who can tell me the Spanish word for 'breathing'?”
Peter sighed.
To Peter's surprise, his classmates left him mostly alone in the following days. Apart from a few curious questions or some glances accompanied by hushed whispers, nobody really bothered him. Flash remained silent, Ned was nearly bursting with pride and Mj kept drawing people in crisis. All in all, the teen supposed it could be worse.
Unfortunately, two weeks aren't a very long time and sooner than he was ready for it, it was only one day left until the press-conference. Although he wasn't alone: his entire class was buzzing with excitement; however theirs was rather positive, while Peter felt sick with fear.
Being the center of attention in a group of twenty-something students was something far more harmless than being the center of attention of the whole of New York; of the world even.
Ned kept shooting him slightly worried looks, hoping his friend would be okay. Before Peter left school that day, he hugged Ned tightly and smiled at him, because tomorrow, everything would be different and everybody knew it.
“Mr. Stark?” Peter entered Tony's lab with a knock. “Can I come in?”
“Sure.” The mechanic turned around in his chair with a smile. “What's up?”
“Uh … nothing.” He looked at his feet in embarrassment. He shouldn't be this scared of a simple press-conference. Except that it wasn't simple at all. “It's just that tomorrow everybody will know and I-I'm not sure if I'm ready for it.”
“You're not. And I'm sorry that it's all so sudden and that you didn't get a say in it. It should be your secret to tell, yet we had to take that from you.” He waved the teen closer and put a hand on his shoulder. “But it won't all be terrible. You'll soon find out that it can be a lot of fun to have your identity revealed.”
“That's not it.” Peter sighed. “I mean yeah it is, but not all of it. I'm just scared of the questions and how people will react when they find out that I'm just … that I'm nothing but a child. Nobody will take me seriously anymore.” He angrily wiped away the few tears that threatened to spill over. As he continued, his voice shook slightly. “I relied on people thinking that I'm a man, you know. That I'm grown up and all. But I'm not. And people will protest and say that it's irresponisble from you to let me do this and they'll say that I can't make a change anyway because I'm nothing but a kid. And … and I don't want to face that shame.”
Tony's eyes were dark with a warm sadness when he got up and pulled his kid into his arms. He pressed his head against his chest, rubbing his back softly. “Some people will say that, you're right. But you won't lose your status as a hero, just because you aren't eighteen yet. It doesn't matter what people will say or think. The only thing that matters is that you don't give up. For as long as you go out there and be the hero this world deserves, you are that hero. Nothing will change that.” He held Peter away from him so he could lock eyes with him. Again he smiled. “You are a hero, Peter.” His expressions turned into a grin. “Oh, also you're gonna tell the world yourself.” Without another word, Tony got up and walked out of his own lab, leaving behind a very confused Peter.
“Wh- what?? No! Mr. Stark!! C'mon.” He sighed. “Damn it.”
“I suppose you all are wondering why we are today,” Tony began, his eyes sparkling. “Well, let me tell you. We are here, because this young man” he pointed at Peter, who was currently trying to remember how to breath “has something important to tell you.” The mechanic smiled encouragingly at the teen.
Peter inhaled shakily. He swallowed. Then he slowly sat up straight and even slower, he brought his mouth closer to the microphone. He cleared his throat. Twice. Finally, he started speaking with a thin voice: “Hi. Um.” He looked at Tony for a hint of what he was supposed to say. The older man nodded at the sheet of paper laying in front of Peter. When he looked down, it only read three words. A smile spread across his face as his heart filled with a sweet warmth of pride, for he knew this strangely careless, yet neat handwriting. And suddenly he knew what to say.
“As you probably all know, there has been a new Superhero in town for a while now, but nobody has ever seen his face. His name is Spiderman and he's doing the best he can to protect this city and the ones he loves. Now there are some people who don't like him and that are trying to ruing his reputation by publishing a video which shows him doing some truly awful things, even though Spiderman has nothing to do with them.” For a brief moment he paused, looked at all the slightly unsettled reporters in front of him and finally shot a smirk at Tony. “My name is Peter Parker. And the truth is … I am Spiderman.”
“Spiderman's identity revealed – full interview” “How young is too young to be a Superhero?” “Is it really healthy for a boy of barely 17 years to be fighting criminals? Read our interview with a psychologist now!” “Will Spiderman still be able to fight crime as effectively as before the whole world knew he was nothing but a boy?” “'Do not touch Peter Parker or I will end you' – how close is Tony Stark to Peter Parker?” “Peter Parker – the new heir of Tony Stark?” “Will Spiderman be affected by the Sokovia accords, now that his identity is known?” “Does Peter Parker know the true identity of the vigilante 'Daredevil'?” “Finally it makes sense that a Superhero would save cats from trees”
“Will Peter Parker still be allowed to fight crime as Spiderman every night?”
The whole internet and every newspaper was filled with headlines like these and many more, many speculating about how this identity reveal would affect Peter's life, who had been wondering the same thing. But he shouldn't have been worried, since Tony made sure that everything stayed mostly the same. He was still able to go outside, however it was sometimes a little humiliating to plant himself in front of a thug, hands on hips and everything, only for them to be all like 'boohoo you're just a kid and can't do shit'. It usually ended with them webbed to the nearest wall with one of those beautiful confused and slightly shocked faces.
It was only now that he realised how great it was, to have his class on his side. They were shiedling him from curious reporters in front of his school and also from other students, who suddenly wanted to be best friends with him – or wanted him to do cool tricks. It was just nice to know that in class he wouldn't be attacked for only being 17.
And after all, even though he got a lot of comments regarding his age, after a while it mostly died down. Especially after that one incident where he got kidnapped and went missing for two days, only to pop up one morning with his four kidnappers dutifully walking behind him on leashes made of web. It didn't take long until that story went viral.
The best thing, however, was when Peter watched a video of the press-conference. The entire time he was speaking, Tony was smiling at him, glowing with pride and love. He took a screenshot and made it his background picture on his phone.
Another great thing that resolved from the reveal, was that Flash got his confidence back. Only that now he wasn't bullying Peter any more, but he kept saying how great Spiderman was and how much he loved him and that he'd always known it was Peter and had only picked on him to keep him from getting too arrogant. Then Mj threatened to hit him with 'People in Crisis' book if he didn't shut up immediately and Ned nearly fell off his chair from laughing too hard.
After all, this identity reveal hadn't nearly been as bad as Peter had feared it would be. Quite the opposite, actually. Now he didn't have to lie anymore and that felt quite … freeing.
His name was Peter Parker. And he truly was Spiderman.