Spider-Man: Far From Home [5]

7

Panting, Astra landed at their location and took her bandana off. "Sorry, Director Fury, I'm here-" She halted in her tracks as Fury, Hill, Beck, a few other agents, and one particular person stared at her.

"Astra?!" Peter whispered. "What - how-"

Astra got over her shock first. "Nice to meet you face-to-face, Spider-Man."

Peter blinked, looking as if he couldn't see what he thought he was seeing. "Do you work with S.H.I.E.L.D.?!"

"I think the correct phrase is for S.H.I.E.L.D.," Astra told him. "I'm sort of, like, their protégé or apprentice or whatever you want to call it. Kind of like you and Tony."

"You know Mr. Stark? Wait - how long have you been working here? Are you an Avenger?" Peter continued to ramble on. "Did you know about this before?"

"Peter, I promise I'll explain everything to you when this is all over," Astra interrupted him. "But right now I think we need to focus." She pointed to Fury, who had an annoyed look on his face.

"That thing is going to be here in a few hours. Are we boring you both?" Fury asked irritably.

"They're not bored. They're probably just thinking about how you kidnapped them," said Beck.

Astra wanted to open her mouth and add something, but the stern look on Fury's face told her otherwise.

"The boy, in particular, had obstacles. I removed them," he said sternly.

"They still won't evacuate the city," Hill reported.

"Idiots," Fury muttered.

"Probably because they don't believe a fire monster can be any such thing," Astra suggested.

"So what's the plan, Parker?" Fury drilled Peter.

"I will be in the cathedral tower, keeping watch for the fire monster," Peter began. "When that shows up, I will radio you guys, and then Mr. Beck, Astra, and I will-"

"My name is Mysterio," Beck interrupted.

"And I'm the Indigo Fairy," Astra added. "Please don't give away our identities."

Peter's mouth moved in the beginning of a smile. "That's when Mysterio, the Indigo Fairy, and I will move in."

"Astra, Peter, listen to me," said Beck. "The best hope you have, the only hope, is to stop it here now, no matter what the cost. Maneuver it away from civilians if you can, but most importantly, keep it away from metal. If it gets too big, it'll draw power from the Earth's core. After that, there's no way to stop it."

There was a pause.

"Hey, my friends are here," said Peter, beginning to get angry. "I can't help but think we're putting them in danger."

"You're worried about us hurting your friends?" Fury demanded. "You, who called a drone strike on your own school tour bus?"

Peter looked at the ground, clearly ashamed.

"Stark gave you a multi-billion-dollar A.R. tactical intelligence system and the first thing you do with it is try and blow up your friends," Fury continued. "It's clear to me that you were not ready for this."

"Then why did you drag him here, then, when he clearly refused to help?" Astra demanded, stepping up next to Peter. "You told me twice that you wouldn't drag us here if we refused. What happened, huh? This isn't about Peter not being ready for this. Why did you have to put all our friends in danger just because one kid didn't do what you asked?!"