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

sixteen {Third Person POV}

Arya let out a long sigh as the group strolled through the streets of Prague on their way to the opera theatre. Her hand was in Peter's, although she felt as if he was a million light-years away. He was looking around and in his eyes, she could see his mind was preoccupied. 

"You okay, Pete?" she asked softly, snapping him out of his trance. 

"Y-Yeah, I'm fine. Are you?" he replied. 

"I'm okay, it really sucks that we're going to an opera instead of the Carnival, but we'll live, right?" she joked, unknowingly hitting a nerve. Peter chuckled nervously as he heard Maria Hill's voice in his ear. 

"Comm check, one, two," she said but he couldn't respond.

"Yeah, we'll live," he replied, swallowing thickly. Arya narrowed her eyes at him but decided not to say anything.

Mr Dell and Mr Harrington led the group into an old theatre and Arya looked around. "You should go ahead, save me a seat," Peter told her. 

"Why? Where are you going?" she asked him. 

"Nowhere, I just have to talk to Ned about something," he answered, nervously rubbing his shaking hands against one another. 

"Peter, you're being weird. What's going on?" she asked.

"Nothing, it's fine. Please, just... go sit down, I'll be there," he said.

She detected fear in his eyes so she lowered her voice. "Okay, now you're scaring me. What's wrong?"

Peter sighed frustratedly, refusing to look at her. He closed his eyes for a second before opening them again and grabbing the sides of Arya's face, pulling her close and kissing her deeply. She let out a soft yelp before leaning into the kiss. 

He drew back before turning around and sprinting out of the theatre. "Peter!" Arya shouted before moving to go after him, but Mr Harrington stepped in front of her. 

"Whoa, no way, you're not leaving just before the opera starts. Go sit yourself down, young lady," he told her. 

"But-" 

"No buts. I think Brad saved you a seat," he said sternly, pointing at the group. 

Arya sighed angrily before whipping around and plopping down in the seat between Brad and Skye. She folded her arms and bit her tongue to hold back tears. "Hey, Arya, you okay?" Skye asked, placing a hand on her arm. 

"No, I'm not. And I don't want to talk about it," Arya snapped rather harshly before realising her words and letting out a breath. "Sorry, that was mean," she muttered before quietly explaining the situation to Skye.

The curtain rose up and the opera started, but all Arya could think of was her boyfriend acting as if the world was going to end. Why wouldn't he just tell her what was going on? Why wouldn't he let her help?

A few seats to the right, MJ looked over her shoulder after noticing Peter's absence. She rose to her feet and left the theatre. "Do you think she's going to the Carnival?" Betty asked Ned, who got no time to respond. "We should go too. Yes, we should. Come on." She stood up and pulled Ned with her, who didn't have it in him to stop her. 

Arya watched her friends leave and debated on whether or not to follow them. Skye watched Arya in return as the brunette girl chewed on her thumbnail. She kinda wanted to follow them, but she was mad at Peter for not telling her about whatever it was that he was so obviously struggling with.

"Okay, Arya, you're killing me. Either go after him or stop being so nerve-racking," Skye said. 

Arya sighed. "I'm going after him." She jumped up and ran out of the theatre where she was just in time to see a black version of Spider-Man tumbling through the air and almost being struck by the giant fire monster that stood in the middle of the square. 

Arya gasped and quickly slammed the arc reactor on her chest, allowing her body to be engulfed by nanoparticles. "FRIDAY, turn my suit black!" she shouted before sprinting toward Peter and summoning an electricity shield over the two of them as the fire monster's fist approached too quickly for her liking. 

"Ry..." Peter started, only to be cut off. 

"Shut up. What's this guy's deal?" she grumbled bitterly, struggling to keep up the shield as the fire monster repeatedly bashed his fists on her small dome. 

Peter looked at her for a second, completely speechless. 

"Peter!" Arya shouted angrily. 

"We gotta- We gotta keep him away from metal and hit him with things he can't absorb, like rock or bricks," he told her. 

"And electricity?" she asked. 

"I don't know. Beck?" he called into his comms. 

"Beck?" Arya questioned. 

"What's wrong?" Beck asked in return.

"How will the monster react to electricity?" Peter asked.

"Don't do it! He can absorb it!" Beck called. "Why? Is Arya there?" 

"Yeah, she's here. She'll keep her distance while we go to Plan B." 

"Peter!" Arya shouted, feeling her electricity starting to fade. "We gotta get out of here. You go right, I'll go left." 

"Okay, yeah." 

"Now!" Arya called and she leapt to the side, somersaulting over the ground and successfully dodging the monster's attacks. She walked backwards as she stared at the scene in front of her. Spider-Man and Mysterio side by side, fighting the giant fire monster. And she couldn't help. Her powers could even make the situation a lot worse. She felt tears prick her eyes as she refused to believe what Peter had done. He had willfully hidden this from her. He didn't want her involved in this. He shut her out. He lied to her. 

The sound of a car engine behind her made her whip around. A black Audi came to a halt and Nick Fury and Maria Hill stepped out. "Fury?" Arya exclaimed. 

"Stark! What are you doing here?" Fury asked before he was cut off by the fire monster's loud roar. Arya looked over her shoulder and her eyes widened. The monster had walked right into the scaffolding of the building behind it and it absorbed the metal, growing even taller and burning even brighter.

While Peter struggled to keep the Ferris Wheel from tipping over, Mysterio fought the monster on his own.

"It's too late," Arya heard Maria say behind her and she stumbled back, feeling her knees go weak. 

Suddenly, Mysterio collected a large amount of green energy and flew right into the monster's chest. The monster stumbled before it turned completely green. It dropped to its knees and fell apart. A bright explosion erupted and the monster disappeared, leaving the sky covered in glowing green flecks.

Arya spotted a body on the floor and realised it was Mysterio. Instead of running toward him to help, like she would've done with anyone else who could possibly still be alive, she was frozen in place. Her feet were glued to the floor as she watched Peter jump down and sprint toward Mysterio, calling out his name.

Seconds later, Peter pulled Mysterio off the floor. Nick Fury and Maria Hill walked closer, brushing past Arya, who still couldn't seem to move. So she stayed at a distance.