Spider Parker

*You're My Normal pt. 4

I sat on Peter's hotel bed, looking over the webbed device with a bowl of ice cream sitting in my lap. EDITH's blue holograms were already scanning the device, giving me a 3D model of the piece.

I pulled the last piece of webbing from it. It sparked and flashed. The room filled with clouds and lightning. I gasped and scrambled back against the headboard as the illusion was absorbed into the device again.

"Binarily Augmented Retro-Framing, or BARF"

Dad's voice echoed in my head with the memory. The illusion seemed to work exactly as BARF had- or at least, the bits I had seen from backstage.

"Sorry, sir," I whispered an apology at the man I had bumped into. He didn't bother to look down at me, instead muttering something along the lines of 'yeah, whatever, kid'. 

Beck.

It couldn't have been anyone else. Beck used to work for my dad. I stared at the device at the end of the bed. If Beck worked for my Dad all those years ago, he couldn't have been from another dimension.

If he had lied about his past, he had to have lied about the Elementals. But why would Beck fake all of this? Why would he take the time to save and befriend us if he put the danger there to begin with?

I didn't have time to figure it out as I remembered that Peter was with Beck alone. 

"No, no, no," I grabbed the projector and shoved it into my pocket again before rushing out of the hotel.

Peter had been crossing a nearby bridge when I found him.

"Peter," I pulled him into a rushed hug. He hesitantly hugged me back.

"What's wrong?" he asked as I stepped back.

"Where's Beck?" I hurried out.

Peter shrugged, "He was at the bar still when I left- why?"

I tried to think of any reason Beck would have wanted to be alone with Peter. 

"Peter, where are the glasses?"

"The what?" Peter seemed taken aback by my questions. I gave him a look and tapped my EDITH earpiece, "Oh, well I was thinking and you said it yourself, I'll never be Iron Man. I didn't deserve those glasses but Beck," Peter shrugged, "Beck could totally be the next Iron Man. The world get's their hero and I get to keep protecting the little guy."

"You gave them to Beck?" I panicked, "We have to go get them-"

"Okay, slow down, slow down," Peter grabbed my arm to keep me in place, "What's going on?"

"Beck is a liar," I fumbled to grab the projector, "I found this during the fight. It's a projector, and when I was messing with it in the hotel room-"

I yelped and dropped it as it lit to life again. Clouds and lightning swirled above us as an Elemental erupted from the device. Within the minute, it was gone again.

"What was that?" Peter looked at me with wide and fearful eyes.

"An Elemental," I hesitantly picked up the piece again, "Beck is a fake- listen, it's a long story that we don't have time for. We need to get those glasses back."

"Come on," Peter looked around us as if we were being watched and tugged on my sweater sleeve to get me to follow.

. . .

Peter quickly pulled the curtains closed, pacing back and fourth across his room. I sat on the bed with my legs crossed and picked up one of the four plates set on the bedside table. I took a bite from it, watching Peter continue to mumble to himself, "Oh, man. Oh, man- I messed up. I messed up so bad."