Gone // Spider-Man: Far From Home [Book 4]

eleven {Third Person POV}

The news report of today's events continued, and Brad commented, "Sounds like his name is Mysterio." 

"'Luamo del mysterio' is Italian for 'man of mystery'. They don't actually know his name," MJ corrected him. 

"Mysterio," Ned said, trying out the name. "Cool name," he and Betty said simultaneously. They turned to each other, amazed. "Babe!" 

Arya laughed and rolled her eyes before looking up at Peter. "Feeling better?" 

"Yeah, I'm okay. Thanks," Peter smiled and she instantly felt relief wash over her. He released a breath. "So, Paris tomorrow."

"Yeah, we'll go to the Champs Elysées and the Eiffel Tower." 

"I read somewhere that the Eiffel Tower was secretly built as a mind control antenna to create an army of the insane," MJ added from her spot on the stairs. "Which is why it's my favourite destination on the whole trip." 

"Okay," Arya said slowly. "I'll keep that in mind when we get to the top." 

"You're gonna go to the top?" Skye asked, coming up to the three. 

"Yeah, it's the number one thing on my bucket list," Arya answered. 

"Count me out. I'm horribly afraid of heights." When Arya didn't look, Skye sent Peter a wink and he smiled. He had told her about his plan shortly after he had told Ned about it, and she agreed on helping him out as much as she could without causing suspicion. 

"Alright, everyone. It's well past your bedtime. We're going to Paris tomorrow so get yourselves to bed!" Mr Dell announced as he entered the room. As if on cue, a yawn escaped Arya's mouth, making Peter laugh. 

The group slowly started to head upstairs, and Arya promised to come by Peter and Ned's room later to say goodnight.

Peter and Ned travelled to their room at the end of the hallway. Both of them had already changed into their pyjamas and Peter was holding his toothbrush. "What are you gonna do about the water monster?" Ned asked his friend.

"Nothing. It's dead." Peter shrugged, saying it more to convince himself than Ned. "Besides, that Mysterio-guy is all over it. Look, I just wanna spend some time with Arya. We were talking about Paris and she's really excited." The two entered their room. 

"That's nice. Reminds me of when Betty and I first fell in love. I had just finished my fruit cobbler, right-" Ned's sentence was cut short as a tranquillizer dart landed in his neck. His eyes rolled to the back of his head and he crashed onto the couch in their room. 

With his toothbrush still in his mouth, Peter whipped around, staring at his friend with wide eyes. 

"You're a very difficult person to contact, Spider-Man," a deep voice said, and in the corner of the room sat Nick Fury, holding a dart pistol.

Peter stared at him, his jaw dropped and eyes wide, before taking his toothbrush from his mouth. "You're Nick Fury," he muttered monotonously. "And you just shot Ned!" 

"It's just a mild tranquillizer. He'll be alright," Fury said calmly. "So good to finally meet you. I saw you at the funeral but I didn't think that was a good time to exchange numbers." 

"No, that would've been really inappropriate," Peter said, still not believing Nick Fury was actually sitting in his hotel room. 

"That's what I just said," Fury shot back.

"Right," Peter muttered.

"The important thing is," Fury continued. "You're here. I tried to bring you here, but you avoided me and now... you're here. What a coincidence."