A New Hero - Peter Parker (BOOK 1) | Spider-Man: Far From Home

Chapter Seven - Man of Mystery

Clara finally made it back to the hotel, trudging in grumpily. Her hair and clothes were dry now, but the remaining salt made the material crisp and she craved a hot shower – a luxury she didn't expect she'd be getting in a place like that. "BuzzFeed says there's a sailor named Morris Bench who was exposed to an experimental underwater generator and got hydro powers" Champagne boy said, walking across the hotel lobby as the other students sat around the room.

"Yeah, you should definitely believe everything you read on the internet." MJ said from the stairs, giving a faint smile towards Clara as the door fell closed, drawing her attention. Clara made her way over, dropping down with a thump next to the taller girl.

"Spider-Man can take him." He said, nodding towards a surprisingly expensive television, the news playing across the screen.

"What do you think it is?" Clara heard Mr Harrington ask the science teacher, MJ turning to listen too.

"You know, being a man of science? Witches." Clara and MJ exchanged questioning glances as Mr Dell spoke.

"Who is that guy?" Betty wondered aloud.

Brad took the very brief silence as a sign he should give his input. "He's like Iron Man and Thor rolled into one."

"He's all right." Champagne boy stated. I should really find out his name, Clara thought. "He's no Spider-Man."

"What is it with you and Spider-Man?" MJ asked from beside her.

"What? He's just awesome, okay? He protects the neighbourhood, and, you know, he's inspiring. He inspires me to be a better man." He told her, turning to face Peter who approached the two on the stairs, standing beside them and looking over to the screen. "'Sup, dickwad? Thought you drowned."

"Hey, you okay?" Peter asked Clara, ignoring the other boy's comment. "I came back here after everything happened and you hadn't gotten back yet."

"Yeah, just got caught in the crowds." She said, her voice shaky, Clara in dire need of sleep. "Are you okay? You ran off with a face that was all, like, 'I'm gonna save the world, just watch'." She said, doing her best impression of Peter.

"Oh, er, yeah, I just..." He paused, his mind scrambling for a reason he could give her. "There was an old lady, I was just helping her get somewhere safe."

"Right." Clara nodded. "I didn't see any old ladies – actually, the way you ran, I didn't see anyone."

"You must of just missed it then." Peter said, looking away from her.

"Sounds like his name's Mysterio." Brad said, his chin high – proud he figured it out. Peter and Clara pulled themselves back to the conversation in front of them.

"L'uomo del misterio is Italian for man of mystery. They don't actually know who he is." MJ shot him down, Peter glancing to Clara quickly who nodded an affirmation.

"Mysterio..." Ned said aloud, testing the word on his tongue.

"Cool name." He and Betty said simultaneously. "Babe!"

"So, how much did you actually see?" Peter asked the two girls, one of which was scooting around uncomfortably, a bruise on her backside aching from the fight he was referencing. 

"Not much..." MJ told him. "I was running."

"Right. Me too." Peter nodded. "I was also running. Away."

"Uh huh." Clara said, leaning her back uncomfortably on another wooden step. "Same."

"So, Paris tomorrow. Go to the Eiffel tower. Should be great." Peter told them, looking specifically at MJ. Clara thought she should get up and move so the two of them could be alone, but she had finally found a position she didn't ache in.

"I read it was secretly built as a mind control antenna to create an army of the insane." Peter stared at MJ with wide eyes, worried even that part of his plan was now going to fail. "Which is why it's my favourite destination on the whole trip."

Peter let out an audible sigh of relief, Clara looking up at him with an amused smile tugging on her lips at his expression. "I'm going to go have a shower." She said before turning to disappear up the stairs. She dipped into her room to grab her pyjamas and a towel, before hunting down the small room.

After poking her head into numerous doorways, the majority belonging to the residents downstairs, she found the tile-lined room. She looked over the walls and floor. Once white tiles had faded and become coloured with a yellow tinge, appearing to have been a hideout for cigarette smokers for decades. Many of the tiles had become displaced or chipped over the years, leaving gaps in the tiles for square areas of plaster to sit and absorb water.

Twisting the tap on the shower, Clara waited a few moments, pleasantly surprised when the water came out at room temperature. Her shower wasn't enjoyable by any means, but the feeling of the water running through her tangled, salt-clogged hair was at least a relief.

"What are you gonna do about the water monster?" She heard Ned's voice through the thin wooden door and she finished up in the shower, rinsing the soap off of her now clean body and patting herself dry with the towel.

"Nothing. It's dead. And besides, that Mysterio guy's all over it." Peter told his friend, Clara realising that Ned knew who Peter was. "Look... I just wanna spend some time with MJ. We were talking about Paris and... I think she really likes me."

Clara tugged the pyjama bottoms over her still damp legs, the thick cotton material sticking in places. Tugging a bra and vest top on, the room too muggy and unventilated for anything else, she began scrunching the majority of the water out of her hair before brushing through the thick locks, scrunching them once again after. She then left the shower room, heading a few doors down to finally get to her bed for the night.

"That's nice. It reminds me of when Betty and I first fell in love." She heard Ned continue, his voice muffled through the walls. "I had just finished my fruit cobbler, and-"

Clara moved into the room just as a thump sounded out, Ned falling heavily to the bed. "Hey, Peter, Ned." She said, announcing her presence to make sure they knew she was there. At first, she didn't think anything of Ned dropping to his bed, assuming he had just stopped talking to drop down and was about to continue, but as she got closer, she saw the dart stuck into his neck.

"Pete-" Her warning came too late, the boy spinning round just in time to see a tranquiliser dart jab the skin of her own neck. She reached up, tugging the needle from her neck and looking down at it in her hand. "Shit." She mumbled, her voice slightly slurred, and she felt her legs weaken beneath her.

She dropped to the floor, no soft landing for her. Clara barely managed to stop her head from striking the wooden planks lining the floor, her eyes becoming heavier with each passing moment. "You're a very difficult person to contact, Spider-Man." The words faded away, sounding like a strange lullaby as she was pulled into a dream.

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