Chapter Text
This is simultaneously the best and worst possible outcome from the one bed situation.
Coy woke up refreshed, blissfully unaware of the hang over that was about to hit him. He was also unaware of the man pressed up against him, sound asleep.
That was until said man shifted slightly amidst his slumber. Somehow, Coy had found himself stuck in Anthony’s embrace. One of his arms slung around Coy, trapping him. This is fine. This is totally ok. Friends cuddle all the time, right? Will and Anthony have probably done this before- they’re really weird. Anthony probably just assumed Coy would be fine with this because Will is. That’s not to say Coy isnt ok with this! He’s super ok with this in a bro way. Not a I-just-found-out-I-have-massive-crush-on-you-and-I’m-scared-it’ll-ruin-things-but-you’re-not-even-awake-so-it’s-fine way. That’d be crazy.
His breath was hot against his neck, his arm too. Like the connection was burning Coys body, and maybe it was.
The night sky peaked through the sheer hotel curtains, just barely visible. The room was still and quiet. Only the pairs breathing and the distant hum of a machine. He’d stay like this forever if he could. Before the city wakes, before the sun rises and before Anthony realises what he’s doing, he’s free. There’s no guilt or responsibility. Coy is simply laying down in a hotel staring at the small slit of sky he has.
No one can judge him for liking this, for making the choices he’s making and for being the way he is. No camera or injured citizens to watch over him. Just himself and an unconscious boy.
BUZZ
His phone lights up the room, vibrating on the bedside table. Quickly, so the light doesn’t disrupt Anthony’s sleep, he snatches the phone- sinking the brightness all the way down before looking at the messages. The light pounds against his head, the immanent hangover making its grand arrival.
Council
Sent 1:29am
Genius: did any of u know Katie b is Scarlett witch and bOY knows her personally
Girl: WHATAGA
WHAT
WAIT WAIT
WHAT
Brit: oh yeaahhh
I forgot abt that
Genius: YOU KNEW??
Brit: I’m on the QSMP with her??? Coy told me the second they spoke
Girl: it’s BOY actually
Brit: you can’t seriously be doing the code names
Genius: we have too
I don’t wanna get compromised
Girl: Brit.
Please code name
Brit: please no code name
Genius: code name
Code name
Code name
Code name
Brit: >:(
Taking away my freedom of speech in June
Genius: Junes almost up
Tick tock
Tick tock
Brit: u freak me out
I’m going to sleep
Girl: NIGHT BRITTTTTTTT
Sent 1:35am
Genius: TICK TOCK
Sent 5:39am
Boy: Will ur 4 hours late
Genius: shh
Boy: also y Tf are you awake rn
Genius: I never slept
All nighter
FIRST AMERICAN TO PULL AN ALL MIGHTET IN BRIGHTON (EMOTIONAL) (GONE WRONG) (3AM CHALLENGE)
Boy: right…….
Well anyway
Stop texting the gc
You’ll wake ant
Genius: ohohohohohohoh I wouldn’t wanna wake ur bf
He ain’t even in this group chat
Boy: ???
Holy shit did he know? Did Will figure out he likes Anthony? He’s such a terrible liar- Coys shocked at how long him and Hanbon have managed to keep his superhero identity a secret- he’s going to expose Coy. Anthony will learn that coy likes him and the world will end and worst of all; it will ruin their friendship.
Suddenly, the room isn’t so comforting. Anthony’s arm isn’t so nice. It’s like a time bomb. Coy needs to get out of this right now before the bomb explodes.
Tiredly but hastily, he wriggles his way out of Anthony’s grasp, untangling himself from him. Ensuring he doesn’t wake up, pausing and waiting ever time he shifts. Head swimming in nausea.
The phone is still buzzing in his hand- probably Will being stupid or telling a bad joke again. That can wait because Coy is 70% he’s going to throw up again. Oh god he’s never drinking again. Shouldn’t his metabolism already have dissolved the alcohol or something? He should really find out what exactly his powers were capable of instead of just guessing. If Anthony knew, he’d made Coy figure out every possible thing to do with his enhanced abilities. How much faster his metabolism was. How much stronger he was. What his spidey-sense picked up on and what it didn’t. How fast and well his super healing worked.
But no. Anthony cannot know. Coys got to drill this into his head- he cannot let this slip to Anthony.
As he thinks, he realises, the nausea is gone. Well, it’s there, along with the treacherous headache. Buts it’s subsided, it’s not as violent. He can deal with this.
Coy slowly makes his way to the desk. Taking a moment to steady himself and his head when he sits down. It’s only 6am and this hangover is killing him. Today is going to be a long day.
He sets his phone down face up on the desk as he flips open his laptop. Turning down the brightness, not only to keep Anthony asleep but also to save his exploding head. Might as well get some editing done. Plus, if they are late with this weeks video again the twitter stans just might kill them.
As he opens the file to edit, his phone buzzes again. Lighting up the ceiling above.
Private message
KTB: not sure if you saw on the news but I saved ur little city
Scarlett witch for the win
Eazzy peazzy
Get scarier villains bro
Coy mutters them aloud into himself to process each word. The hangover is really starting to take hold now. Whatever, it’ll be fine. He scoffs a little at the messages, of course she’d say that. She literally has reality manipulating powers. No one really stands a chance.
SPDY: i watched u do it live
Very impressive
KTB: why thank you
If you need any tips I’m happy to help
SPDY: I think I can do fine on my own
KTB: really???? Hadn’t thought of that
SPDY: IM LITERALLY JUST ON HOLIDAY KATIE I COULDVE BEAT HIM EASY
KTB: keep telling urself that coy
one day it’ll be true
and the I’ll be so proud!
I’m your mentor
your my mentee
SPDY: TAHTS NOT WHAT THSI IS😭
KTB: shhh spider boy
SPDY: one day ima beat u
KTB: I thought we were friends :(
SPDY: not anymore
you made an enemy of spider-man
KTB: taht was so tuff
SPDY: thanks!
KTB: gotta go spidey
Monsters to kill
Ppl to save
Kids to kidnap
You know the deal
Talk to ya soon spidey boy
SPDY: SPIDER-MAN
WITH A HYPHEN
KTB: idk wtf taht is
Shutting off the phone, he sighs and whips a hand over his face. Will was right, what is his life? He’s Spider-Man. He’s Coy Piso. He’s Piso4. He’s friends with Katie B. He knows Katie b is Scarlett Witch. He’s friends with almost every major UK YouTuber.
How the fuck did he get here? 10 year old coy would’ve maybe exploded or just flat out not believed that this is what he’d turn into. A semi-famous YouTuber vigilante. He struggles to think how Hanbon even believed him that night. It sounded so fake, and reflecting on what they’d been talking about before, sounded like he was making a wild excuse and a last ditch effort to avoid accountability. Any sane person would not have let him off so easily. Not unless they already suspected something- maybe Will shared his theory before bringing it to coy directly. Giving Hanbon a much more plausible reason to have believed him so easily.
But would that mean he also told Anthony? Oh god what if he did? No. Nope. Too big of a headache to delve deeper into this. Just focus on editing the video. This can be saved for later.
For that entire day, Coy stayed like that. Huntched he’s over his laptop editing- even if it was sloppy and poorly done from the insomnia and hangover mixing.
Anthony, Hanbon and Will left him to his own devices, taking the day to explore and continue working on the same surprise they left him for yesterday. He figures he’ll find out what it is soon enough.
——————————————————————————
After a day out sight seeing and exploring a few days later, they’d stopped at a restaurant for food.
It was quaint and quiet. Hidden off to the side elf the street from where it began to rain, it’s always raining in this country. Seriously. Coy can count the days without rain as one- and he’s only been here 4 days. It’s getting a bit ridiculous.
The pattering if rain continued relentlessly against the window pane. Currently, Coy had stuffed himself in the bathroom of the quaint restaurant. Having already ordered his food and downing whatever drink he ordered and scampering off as soon as possible.
Water gushed out the tap at a speed he was not prepared for. It sprayed out, water flying all around the room. Coy flailed, trying to find the tap handle again to turn it off.
When he finally did, it was too late. His shirt and jeans were soaked, hair damp, arms drenched.
“Jesus Christ.” He muttered. Breathing deeply in and out. Coy looked up and into the mirror at himself, taking in his flooded state. Groaning, he grabbed some paper towels from one of the cubicles and began drying himself off.
How did he manage to mess everything up? A secret identity. A fight. A bathroom trip. And soon, his friendship with Anthony. How could he be so reckless? Let himself get caught up in this ‘thing’ before he could even realise what it was. It’s unfair- to everyone.
If it got out that Coy liked Anthony then the channel would be destroyed. He’d break up the friend group. It’d make everything uncomfortable and weird and awkward. Hanbon and Will would have to chose sides. They’d probably both pick Anthony over Coy- then they’d expose his secret to entire world. Then villains would attack his personal friends and make them suffer for whatever revenge they seek. And then maybe they’d kill-
Breath.
You’re spiralling coy. It’s fine. Bon and Will wouldn’t do that. None of this will happen. You know why? Because you’re not going to let it get out. You’re fine. Just go back out there and pretend like everything’s fine, it’ll be easy.
Coy sucks in a deep breath, only now realising he’d been holding his breath. Letting go of the counter he used to steady himself, a small indent appeared.
Shit.
He must’ve gripped it too hard. Coy nervously looks around, no ones in here. It’s just him. He shrugs, no ones gonna notice anyway.
Before he can get to deep into the logistics of just leaving it there- the building shakes followed by a large
SMASH
What the fuck could that be?
Running out before he could think twice, coy rounds the bathroom to see the quaint little restaurant the bathroom had belonged to, now, crumpled. A glaringly big hole in the roof covered the ground in sunlight, blinding coy from seeing who was lowering themselves through it.
Holy. Shit.
Why- why does all the crazy stuff happen whenever he’s in town? And why does it only ever happen to him.
Dust and debris cover the floor and tables. The table him and his friends were at was now occupied by a slab of rubble. Speaking of- where are his friends?
Did they get away? Coy quickly scans his eyes across the chaos, people are coughing and screaming as they clamber to get out through smashed windows. Amongst all of it though, he can’t see his friends.
‘Great! maybe they got out. One less thing to worry about’. Is what he would be thinking if he couldn’t hear Hanbon sitting against the other side of the wall he was leaning on.
“Ohmygodohmygodohmygodohmygod.” Whispering relentlessly under her breath. Coy could hear Anthony and Wills heartbeats- although fast- next to her. She was clearly shaken, probably panicking heavily. He needs to comfort her and get them out.
But before he can round the wall and help Hanbon, a black haired man in a dark green suit and a top hat approached them. He sauntered over with a kind of confidence which can only mean he has an ego entirely too big for himself.
Coy crouched behind the wall, crawling over to a cabinet across from him to get a better view of the scene. Now, from this angle, Coy can see as the man flicks his red cape like a 13 year old girl does her hair after saying a ‘good’ comeback.
Wow. Who the fuck styled him? And what is with villains and capes recently?
First, Dan with a yellow cape.
Then, that guy with a purple cape who Coy didn’t both to catch the name of.
And now, this Onceler copycat with a red cape.
It is a new villain trend he’s unaware of? He doubts because he is in every villain Reddit forum, discord, TikTok group, Snapchat group chat and Facebook community out there. He likes to be informed. Plus, that’s where he gets all the gossip on different hero’s- they love spilling to villains. Coys done it a few times, but never anything major.
Once he saw someone leak so much that a villain Reddit group was able to discover their otherwise incredibly hidden secret identity.
The Onceler speaks up, holding eye contact with Hanbon who squirms under his intense gaze. “Would you happen to know where your friend, Coy, is?”
Coys heart drops a few centimetres, thankfully though, Hanbon schools her face from fear and into something akin to confidence. Will and Anthony are watching in curiosity- also maybe some sort of terror but they wouldn’t let it show. Not in-front of this guy.
“I don’t know who that is.” She replies, it earns her an eye roll and a scoff as he stands up.
“Don’t lie to me. I’ve seen your videos.” Mild annoyance lining his tone.
“What videos?” Putting on her best dumb act the world have ever seen.
Wills eyes dart between Hanbon and the man, whilst Anthony’s stay locked onto the man. He seems ready to fight him if he tries anything.
After a moment of silence, the man and Hanbon staring at each other. Seemingly trying to make the other break first- but Hanbon is persistent and this guy appears to be too.
So, the only way they’re stopped is by Will, “what do you want with coy?” Coy sighs internally- later, after this is over- he’ll beat the shit out of Will for not knowing basic interrogation rules. Never give them anything.
But honestly, Coy was a little curious what this green guy wanted with him- so he’s sort of thankful for Wills question. Anthony’s eyes have still not left the man.
Red Cape laughs, stepping back from the group and into the light of the gaping hole in the roof. “That’s for me to know.” He bends down, getting up close in Wills face “and for you to never find out.” Smiling as he stands upright again, pulling a chair up to the group.
“Now we’re gonna wait for either 2 things to happen. 1) that spider thing shows up. Or 2) Coy shows up.” Smiling wide like a five year old with a treasure map.
Ok- coy needs to put an end to this man’s blossoming ego. Before someone really gets hurt, or something else blows up.
He reaches in his pocket, scouring for his phone. Only- he can’t find it. Both pockets are empty. Even the back pockets. Nothing.
That’s when it dawns on him. He left his phone at the table, the table that was now decked out in the latest edition of rubble. His poor phone is crushed beneath a slab of concrete. Shit. Now he can’t message Toby or anyone for help or for his suit. He’s screwed. How does everything that can go wrong, always go wrong?
His breathing picks up. Oh god. He’s going to panic. Panic is very immanent right now, his breathing gets shallower by the second.
Nope. Nope. Nope. Nope. Not right now.
Slapping a hand, maybe a tad too aggressively onto his chest, squeezing his eyes shut. Focus on your breath Coy. It’s ok. You got this.
He sucks in a deep breath. Then another. And another. And again until he’s certain he can do it with his eyes open. Now calm- well, more calm than earlier- he mentally coaches himself through everything that happens next.
Ok Coy. Let’s list this out:
1)he’s got your friends
Fuck.
2)you don’t have your suit
Double fuck.
3)you can’t find your phone
Triple fuck.
4)he’s looking for you
Quadruple fuck.
Coy piso, you are quadruple fucked right now. How can someone even get that fucked?
Taking a shaken breath he scoffed, “oh my god.” He whipped a hand over his face, he’s got this. He’s 100% got this. No reason to panic. It’s just- how does he ‘got this’ if he can’t even help? He can’t he Spider-Man. He can’t be spider-mate. He can’t be anything but Coy Piso, and doing anything heroic as Coy Piso would be insanely suspicious.
But then again- this Oncelers doppelgänger has his friends.
“This is not gonna end well.” He says into his chest before rising slowly and quietly. No one seems to have noticed him yet- not Will, who’s currently trying to communicate to Hanbon, nor Hanbon, whose trying to get Will to stop, nor Anthony, whose eyes are still locked on the man.
Quietly, coy takes a table cloth one of the less dishevelled tables. It’s white with a small floral print cascading down it. Using a fork he finds sprawled on the floor, he rips two small holes in it. Then, he covers himself in the table cloth- concealing his identity.
Now, before he can stop himself or try to rethink this plan- because he is certain this won’t end well- he jumps out from the booth he snagged the cloth from, landing to the side of the man and his friends.
“Let them go!” Yelling as he stared the man down. He looks down and to the side from ceiling, top hat exaggerating every small movement. The man takes one look at Coys costume- then, he burt out with laughter.
Curling into himself, hunched over the chair. Coy gulped, that’s not how he thought this would go. It’s a little humbling to be honest. He passes an awkward glance at his friends. Will looks like he’s trying not to laugh at Coy, Hanbon looks at him pleadingly to hurry up and get them out, and Anthony stays locked on the man. It’s unnerving how he hasn’t taken his eye of off him. He looks full of determination and angry and an alertness Coy wishes every citizen has, like he’s ready to jump this guy the second he makes a move too close to Hanbon or will.
“Y-you are- going to stop me?” Stuttering out between laughs, pointing at Coy.
“Yeah” he replies, a little uncertain now. All he has to take this guy down is his super strength and spidey senses. He doesn’t have his webs- which is 70% of his fighting style. Fantastic.
The man stands up, kicking the chair over as he does. His red cape follows along as he steps toward Coy.
Flicking a part of Coy’s cloth as he saying in a mocking tone, “You? Coy in a table cloth- think you’re going to defeat me?” The name drop really grabs their attention- and for the first time since the man cornered them, Anthony looked away. He looked at Coy. In betrayal, in shock, in fear, and in worry. It was the most awful sight Coy’s every been subjected too.
Fix this Coy!
“I’m not ‘coy’.” The man raised his eye brow incredulously.
“Really? You expect me to believe that?”
“yup.” Trying to keep his voice as void of emotion and bland as possible. The man pauses- looking at Coy for a considerable amount of time.
“So who are you?” Still clearly not believing him
“Who are you?” He retorted.
“Owen.”
Now it was Coy’s turn to laugh in this guys- Owen’s- face. Who becomes a villain with the name Own and doesn’t change it?
“How are you even matching initials with The Onceler?” Taking breaths to think out loud, to this he heard a few giggles from Hanbon and Will. Still, nothing but silence from Anthony.
The only thing that changed about Anthony from 20 minutes ago was who he was focusing his attention on. 20 minutes ago, it was Owen, in caution and rage. Now, it’s Coy, in concern and dread.
What had also changed, was Owen’s mood. A once cocky, calm, confident man now stood infront of Coy, fists balled in an unprecedented rage. Owen must really have not liked that joke.
DUCK
A fist flies past his head. He swipes a foot under Owen who seamlessly dodges it.
Coy stumbles forward, tripping over the cloth- throwing a lazy punch that Owen easily dodges. How do people fight in long skirts and capes? Oh! Owen’s Cape!
He grabs a handful of the godawful red cape, winging it toward the back wall, sending Owen flying along side it.
CRASH
Owen’s body makes a print in the wall, caving out an outline. With Owen distracted, Coy sprints the his friends, helping Hanbon stand and guiding them out. They stumble up, Hanbon definitely needing a once over from a paramedic.
Coy passes Hanbon to Will, leaving him to help her out and to a paramedic. Now, on to Anthony.
Helping him up is easily done, it’s like moving a stuffed animal- making him listen to a word Coy is saying is a much harder task.
“Hey!” Waving a hand in-front of him, “An- sir, can you hear me?” Now shaking him. No matter what coy does, Anthony remains motionless, staring at Coy like he’s terrified of him- no. For him.
Oh god. He knows that cloth man is Coy.
He can see the cogs turning, Anthony’s brain piecing things together that Coy cannot let click. He’s got to distract him, quick. Anthony’s eyes flick around his face, like every detail in it hold the answers and keys to unlock whatever Anthony’s thinking. This is going to end so badly.
Lucky, or- unluckily, Coy’s keen spidey senses scream and naw at his skin to duck right. In doing so, he drags Anthony with him to the ground again, dodging a chair that flies past them.
Now, Coy lays on top of Anthony- who’s gasping for air from the impact. He’s got to get better at pulling people out of the way, this is the seventh time he’s toppled someone to the ground. A hand reach’s up to the back of Anthony’s head, checking for bleeding. Fortunately, he manages to have missed smacking Anthony’s head off the floor- unlike that one time.
Just as he does so, Anthony’s heavy breath stops- holding his breath as Coy checks. Taking a moment to scan his face for any other injuries, Coy realises something. They’re close. Like really close. Like inches between their faces- well, Coy’s cloth and Anthony’s face.
And they’re just staring at each other.
For a moment, nothing else matters. Nothing else happens. The world stops. There is no more Owen or men in capes. This is no Will or Hanbon. There is no Spider-Man drawing a line between them.
It’s just Anthony and Coy- and still, they could be more.
Coy could rip off the cloth and kiss Anthony right here and now- h could tell Anthony everything. And in the perfect world, that works. Anthony reciprocates and forgives Coy for all his lying and deceit. In this perfect world, Spider-Man doesn’t consume every waking hour, it doesn’t eat him alive and drag him away from his life. In this perfect world, him and Anthony can be together and he doesn’t have to worry about Spider-Man messing it up.
But, this is, unfortunately and depressingly, not a perfect world. So Spider-Man does take up his life, encroaching upon his every endeavour. So he doesn’t kiss Anthony, because Anthony doesn’t like him back. Doing so would ruining everything, truly leave him with nothing but Spider-Man.
MOVE
Coy doesn’t have to time to move both himself and Anthony, so he looks up at the threat approaching. It’s Owen.
A fist lands it’s way in Coy’s jaw, throwing him off of Anthony, rolling to the side.
Quickly, he scrambles to his feet, gabbing a table and lobbing it toward Owen. It knocks Owen to his feet, the top hat that lay perched atop his head now floated to the ground.
“Sir please get out of here!” He yelled at Anthony before throwing another chair at Owen. He’s got to wrap this up quick.
But Anthony doesn’t listen, only stands in place like he wants to help but doesn’t know how- Coy thinks leaving would be a great way to help. And the chair doesn’t hold Owen back either.
Owen lunges for Anthony, seeing a weakness and an opening in the moment. Wrapping an arm around Anthony’s neck, pulling to be eye level with himself. Coy can see that now- with Anthony dragged down to Owens level- Owen’s quite short. Like 5’1 short. That’s one difference between him and the Onceler- because the Onceler is 6’4. Don’t ask why Coy knows that.
“Don’t move!” Owen manically yells- a vein bulging out of his forehead. Coy freezes, hands hovering above a table he was about to pick up and throw at Owen’s face.
“Not moving.” Coy mutters to himself, holding his hands up in the air. He feels a bit dumb. Owen doesn’t have any superpowers or weapons- to Coy’s knowledge, he’s just a regular dude in a green suit and a top hat with a red cape.
But he’s got Anthony, so everything feels a lot more serious. If he’s wrong and Owen has some ray gun and shoots Anthony with it the second Coy steps close- he’ll be the reason Anthony is dead or injured.
How can he save Anthony if he’s stuck with his arms in the air like a red panda? Maybe he can try talking- didn’t work the first time but it’s worth a shot right?
“Owen, how about we ta-“ taking half a step closer.
“Nope.” Owen cuts him off, pulling out a laser gun. He cocks it, then, lazily leans it against the side of Anthony’s head.
Anthony looks shaken, almost like there’s a gun to his head. Oh wait. He throws Coy pleading glances- whether it’s for Coy to get out or to help him is still unclear.
Ok. No this is great. This is going the best possible way it could go! Is what Coy would say if he was insane.
“How do you even have guns in the uk?” whispering to himself in disbelief. How is he supposed to do anything now? Owen seems on the brink of a mental collapse and he’s pressing a laser gun to the side of Anthony’s head.
“I imported it.” Owen’s stupid smug smirk returns, eyes wide and wild. Maybe one of the tables Coy threw knocked a screw loose in his brain- he swears he was not this strange 10 minutes ago.
“Lemme guess- from America?” A bunch of strange, out of the ordinary tech had been cropping up recently. The portal gun Katie dealt with, a shrink ray a few weeks back, a magnet ray a couple weeks ago- plus a few miscellaneous strange tech Coy can’t remember to name.
Owen huffed a laugh, one of those smug, pompous rich people laughs they did when you assumed they got something the normal way- like getting clothes in a store and not flying to Finland. “Actually yes. Surprised you knew that.” Oh shit- coy actually guessed right, “bet you can’t guess what state.”
Which- yeah no he can’t but he should try to get as much information out of this guy as possible, “mmmmm…” pretending to think, “Washington?”
Owen laughed and god did he sound rich. “No- from North Carolina.”
… what. North Carolina. The same North Carolina where he lived for 2 years before moving to New Jersey? The same North Carolina Mr beast lived in? Who the fuck would make illegal weapons in North Carolina? And then sell them to a global audience?
Before he could think anymore, Owen tapped the gun against Anthony head, flinching with every tap. “So.” Pausing for what Coy can only imagine is dramatic effect- this guy seems the type to love to dramatise. “Will you admit you’re Coy? Or just keep pretending you aren’t?”
“I’m not coy, I’m actually quite confident and outgoing.” Laughing to himself at the end.
Owen’s smile dropped, “you think you’re so funny don’t you-“ Coy shrugged, “but I’m the one with a gun to your friends head.” This brought Coy down to earth and little- he can’t just keep ignoring the gun plastered against Anthony’s head. He needs to figure out a way to get it away and ignoring it because it’s terrifying him is not going to help.
“Don’t know the guy.” Doubling down on this lie. He’s got to get Owen- and Anthony- to fully believe Coy and Cloth Man and not the same in any capacity.
Reasoning an eyebrow, looking between Coy and Anthony, “If I shot him you wouldn’t care?”
“Not personally but it would be sad to see someone die in front of me.” Complete lie. He’d be totally and completely crushed. It’d destroy him and kill him for the rest of his days if he had to watch Anthony die in front of him.
“Hm.” he hums. Coy doesn’t like that hum, it’s disconnected and dangerous. That hum could mean a billion different things- and the one he’s not liking the best is ‘the hostage doesn’t matter anymore and now I can kill him’. God he hopes it’s not that.
“Owe-“
A pair come sprinting inside- a pair he knows, a pair he ushered out not even 10 minutes ago. Hanbon and Will. Hanbon leading the charge- he suspects wills only here to ensure she doesn’t do anything stupid. More stupid than running into a fight mid battle.
“Hey! Get away from him-“ coy can’t hear whatever she says next, and it’s a lot- because suddenly his body is shrieking, screeching at him.
Whipping his head in the direction of the danger his body is urgently seeking to put out- he finds Owen. Standing with an arm reached out, no longer hugging his chest. Huh. The gun isn’t rested next to Anthony’s skull anymore. It’s pointing forward, but not to Coy, no- it’s pointing past him.
It’s pointing at Hanbon.
Time slows as Coy realises what’s happening. Owen’s finger grazes the trigger, lining up a shot.
Holy shit. He’s about to shoot Hanbon.
Hanbon, so full of life it’s undeniable. So bright and bubbly and fun and loud and so ‘her’. And he’s about to kill her. He’s about to stop her from being ‘her’. From being bright and bubbly and fun and loud. He’s going to stop her altogether. Stop her from breathing, from smiling, from laughing. From complaining about the constant rain in the UK. From excitedly explaining a video idea. From talking and socialising with any and everyone. From crying when someone dies in her favourite show.
The worst part- they all will have to watch. Coy. Anthony. Will. They will have to watch their dear friend so energetic that it was impressive- because how can someone be so lively at 5am- be killed by a Onceler lookalike.
Coy can’t do anything. He’s too far from either and he has no webs. That might actually be the worst part- to know what’s coming but have no way to stop it. It’s almost like he’s letting Hanbon die.
No. He’s got to try. Flipping a mental coin, he lunges for Owen.
Come on Coy. Anything that radioactive spider has up its sleeve? Now would be the best possible time.
Now, everything that happens, happens exponentially fast. So fast, Coy might’ve missed it if he was blinking.
On instinct, he reached his hand out whilst lunging for Owen- hoping it would be close enough to dislodge his finger from the trigger and wobble the shot.
Instead, a yellow spark- like a bolt of electricity- shot from Coy’s outstretched hand. It bolts out, hitting Owen, missing Anthony who managed to spin out of Owen’s grasp amongst the chaos.
Owen jolts and drops the ground, the gun falling beside him.
Woah.
… yeah that’s kind of all Coy’s thinking right now.
Woah.
He did not know he could do that.
The room is still and silent. Nobody moves.
“Uh.” Coy awkwardly says, looking from his hand to Owen- whose body twitched, shrugging he adds, “he’ll be fine.”
——————————————————————————
Minutes later, Coy reconvenes around the back exit of the restaurant.
The police and an ambulance took Owen away- he was actually fine. Well- he will be. Then, he made sure Hanbon, Anthony and William were ok. They were- just Hanbon and Anthony a little more than just shaken after almost being shot. Will was completely fine though, lucky bastard.
Now, it was just Coy alone. He needed to get out quick, avoid any and all questions. There was no way Anthony or any one else associated cloth man with Coy now right? Coy couldn’t shot fucking electricity. Except he could. Oh god. He can shot electricity. How can he do that? Why couldn’t he do that before? Why has that laid dormant until now? He might be sick.
Peeling off the cloth which is now drenched in dirt and sweat- the florals that used to be so noticeable and beautiful were lost to the soot and dust. He needs to breathe.
In
Out
This is fine. He can handle this. Maybe ask some of his other super hero friends how to deal with their powers. It’ll be ok.
In
Out
Oh god. What if he’s at a coffee shop, tries to take a coffee and shoots the barista.
In
Out
How is he supposed to hide this from Anthony and everyone- well Hanbon, Will and Toby can know: but the world absolutely cannot.
In
Out
What if the government tries to kidnap him? No. Nope. He cannot go down that road. Don’t even think about it.
In
Out
In
Out
In
Out
Ok. He can breath on autopilot again, good. No more silly breathing exercises- they get repetitive.
Coy needs to lay down soon, or he might pass out from exhaustion right here on the street. Patting down his pockets, lifting out his phone which eh managed to snag on the way out. Tiredly clicking the screen so it would turn on, he remembered, the screen is smashed to pieces. Shattering in ways Coy didn’t think was possible. How convenient.
Now he’s got to brave the world and Anthony. Life is so unfair.
Slowly standing as a sudden lightheadedness plagued him once he found his lungs, he made his wall to the front. The sun hitting his eyes, instinctively shutting them and squinting.
A flurry of noise filled his eyes- most of it was police, paramedics and firefighters talking amongst themselves. More of it was civilians and on lookers gossiping about what might’ve happened. But the other part of it- the most important part of it- was his friends.
They rushed over to him, holding him steady as exhaustion finally won over- adrenaline escaping his veins.
“Coy- where were you!?” Anthony asked in a worried panic.
Coy’d been so overwhelmed and exhausted from the fight that he forgot to make an excuse, “uhhhh” struggling to even think of a sentence in his own mind was difficult- how could Anthony expect him to say one out loud too?
“Bathroom?” He said it like a question, which seemed the wrong move as Anthony gave him a look- the one where he did not believe what you were saying at all. Thankfully, he let it go.
The trio hailed a taxi, pushing Coy inside and between Will and Anthony, Hanbon up front with the driver.
His eyes began drooping the second he sat down- head following and dipping forward. Theo drive was quiet, save for the sound of the engine and the driver occasionally cursing people.
it was so soothing, and calm. Something he forgot was a thing for a second- today had been so mentally and physically draining it could’ve killed him and been a better day than today was. Genuinely, he might sleep for 4 days after this.
He might get into his hotel, rip his shoes and coat off, lay down on the bed, turn whatever channel would pop up first ok the hotel tv and let it run, set an alarm for- oh fuck!
“My phone.” Jolting awake from his half sleep, starling Anthony and Will who’d supposedly gotten used to his tired state. His voice was hoarse and raspy, he looked around like one of the two could help- knowing they couldn’t.
“What’s up with your phone?” Hanbon asked , turning around in her seat the face them. The daring question, what happened with his beautiful phone?
Sighing as he pulled it out, small shards of glass fell onto his jeans.
“Oh!” Hanbon involuntarily gasped at the sight.
“Need a new one.” Gesturing to the phone with his head. Glass shards continued to fall of the screen, onto his fingertips. Anthony gently took the phone from his hand, making sure to not anger or imbed any of the already broken off shards.
Coy looked at him like he just stole his child right from his arms- “we can worry about it later.” This answer seemed to satisfy him, letting himself return to his sleep.
Instead of his head dropping forward though, something- or someone- tilted him toward someone else. In his exhausted mind, he didn’t think twice. He just laid his head on whoever’s shoulder was gifted to him and fell asleep on it.
If he did think twice he’d probably realise it was not just anybody shoulder, but Anthony’s shoulder. And if he thought twice he’d probably wonder who pushed him toward Anthony shoulder.
But he didn’t, because that would require him to be awake, which he wasn’t.