Chapter Text
“Spider-man’s name is Peter Parker!” Beck’s voice fills New York City. And for the first time ever, New York City is quiet. Until it’s not.
“What the fuck?” I swear, unable to grasp the fact that the world not only knows my name but hates me and thinks I’m a murderer. Everyone starts screaming and I look down at MJ. She’s barely managing to stop people from climbing the light poll I’m perched on. “MJ!” I shout down at her.
“I love you Peter, but you need to go!” Her words set me off and I swing up to a rooftop and start running. Shit. Gunshots. Why are there gunshots? Of course. They’re trying to kill me. That’s not ideal. I jump over the gap between two rooftops and trip but quickly catch myself. I keep running and jumping, the pattern becoming so familiar I start to zone out. Where am I going to go? There is nowhere I can go. I can’t go home. I can’t go to Ned or MJ’s apartments.
“Parker!” The familiar voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I stop running and look down to see Flash Thompson leaning out a window. “Parker, if you don’t want to be killed, I suggest you get your ass in here!” Right. I swing down and jump through his window right as he dodges away. He shuts the window and locks it. “How the hell are you Spider-man?” He asks.
“I know you got a lot of questions,” I tug off my mask and wipe off some sweat. “But we gotta go. People have seen me crawl into your window and now they probably wanna kill you, too.” He stares at me in shock. 5 seconds. 10 seconds. 15 seconds. I guess I have to talk.
“I need some spare clothes.”
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After Flash gave me some clothes and I’m kind of blending in, we run out of his house. We manage to escape. (the chaos really helps)
“Where did you get your powers? Did you really know Tony Stark? Why didn’t you-”
“Flash!” I turn sharply at him, stopping his stream if questions. “Do you want people to realize who I am? Somebody might overhear you!” I hiss at him. He nods and we continue weaving through the crowd.
“Penis!” Flash grabs my shoulder. I’m his fucking hero and he’s still giving me that nickname.
“What do you want? Don’t call me that!” He pulls me into an alleyway.
“There is somebody following us. He looked at you and started running. I called you Penis because if I said Peter or Parker he would’ve known!” He starts whisper-shouting. We’re both going to die!
“That way!” A deep voice shouts in the distance and then a bunch of footsteps start running.
“We gotta go! They’re coming!” I grab his arm.
“How do you know?” He quizzes.
“Super hearing! Now let’s-” I freeze as a group of about 15 people round the corner. I turn around to face the other exit but another group of people are blocking that.
“I don’t wanna hurt any of you.” I put my hands up and Flash follows suit.
“But you did hurt Mysterio! You killed him and tried to kill half of Europe!” A woman shouts. The hair on my neck springs up, notifying me that they’re going to attack. Another woman runs at me and gets ready to blow a punch but I flip in the air and dodge it. I can’t hurt them.
“Hang on!” I shout and grab Flash’s arm again. I stick my arm and legs on the wall of an apartment building and start to climb it.
“Oh my God!” Flash screams. “A gun!” I look down and hear a loud bang followed by a pain in my shoulder. I’ve gotten shot before. I can handle it. But I wasn’t scaling a wall holding a teenager. I grip onto the edge and pull us on the roof just in time.
“Stay down!” I hiss at Flash. He squats and stares at my arm. “I’m fine. ‘M perfectly fine. I’ve gotten shot loads of times.” I try to reassure him.
“Parker!” Flash screams again and something blows into my side. I force my eyes open and see a human. A familiar human. A man who was at the bar that night with Beck. He smiles, watching me piece it all together.
“You remember me?” His voice is deep and light at the same time.
“I don’t know what you're talking about.” I lie and stand up. He lets out a dry chuckle and charges for Flash. No! I rush over and throw him out of the way just as the man slams me into a concrete block. A groan escapes my lips and I let my eyes close for a second. Opening them back up, I see Flash trying to attack Beck’s teammate but he has his hand around Flash’s throat.
“Come with me, and he lives. Pretty simple, Peter.” His voice no longer holds any lightness in it. “Fine!” I gasp out and pull myself off of the ground. The man walks forward and I swing my fist back to punch him, but he hits me first.
Ow.