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Part Two: The Action and The Reaction
It had been three months .
Three months since Spider-man was unmasked to be a sixteen-year-old kid from Queens.
Three months since the boy known as Peter Parker fell off the face of the Earth, leaving the government scrambling for answers.
Three months since the entire world got caught up in the debate of whether the man behind the mask should be trusted or not.
One half thought Mysterio was some up and coming rookie who couldn’t be trusted, and the other half felt they had even more justification for calling Peter a homicidal maniac.
Midtown was no exception.
Another year had begun, and the seat between MJ and Ned was as vacant as ever . They were hounded constantly for answers they were almost unable to provide . It gotten to the point that even Flash was telling them to back off, but to be fair, ever yone thought he was still recovering from the shock of the unmasking.
About 3 weeks into the new school year, MJ would never forget it, she got a text from a number Peter had given her way back when telling her to bring Ned to the Sweetwater Café about 3 blocks away.
‘We have a lot to talk about ,’ the text read.
So , the second school let out, she was practically dragging Ned by his blue button-up to the café .
They walked around , Ned babbling about the peculiar design choices when MJ told him to shut up and p ointed to a man observing them out the corner of his eye.
He wore a black suit, white shi r t, red tie, sunglasses (even indoors), and owned a walking stick that was placed off to the side of the booth.
“I think that’s our guy , let’s go,” MJ said, walking briskly to the booth , “Who are you?”
The man grinned, “Michelle Jones, Ned Leeds, it’s a pleasure,” he said, holding out his hands for one of them to shake , “My name is Matthew Murdock, attorney of law.”
He slid two business cards across the table, “I was hoping to have a chat with you about-.”
MJ immediately turned her nose up at the offer, “If this is about building a case against Peter then we aren’t interested!”
Matthew quirked up a brow at her , “Then what is this about then?”
MJ let out an almost feral-like noise before she saw the mischievous grin on Matt’s face.
“Sorry, Sorry, I just had to gauge your reaction ,” Murdock said , pulling out his briefcase from the seat next to him . He dug through it for a little while until he found the sheet of paper he needed, “Before Mr. Parker left New York , he penned this to me in braille and left it at the firm. I had an asso ciate translate it for you to read,” he slid over the sheet, and the pair began to skim over it.
They saw phrases such as ‘Set the record straight’ and ‘My life is in your hands’ along with their names …
“According to Miss. Potts, he was very insistent on having me defend him.”
“So , you don’t believe he did it?”
“I know he didn’t do it. That kid helped me out when one of my fights got too close to Queens. He also broke into my apartment at two in the morning for a bullet wound to the thigh and a few stab wounds to the torso. He brought me a new pair of glasses-,” he tapped the ones resting on his nose, “-in return for letting him use my medical supplies.”
Ned beamed at that, “Well if Peter trusts you , so do I!”
MJ gave the lawyer a funny look , “I won ’ t be convinced until I’m 100% sure you got this handled.”
Matt smiled, “Peter said you’d say something like that. Let’s bring this conversation to my office after I get you kiddos something to eat.”
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MJ was one board the second she read through all the statements from peers and strangers alike. There were audio recordings, video footage from witnesses in London , and pieces of drones from the tower bri dge.
“Holy shit…”
Matthew held up the glasses that started it all, “Miss. Potts sent them to me from Peter ' s apartment in Queens. I don’t know what they do just yet , but I feel like I will soon.”
MJ willingly gave her statement after Ned did, and even offered to testify if need be.
“You’re a vital witness , Miss. Jones . F or you spent a lot of time quietly observing in the back ground. You, those other kids, that bodyguard are all vital.”
“You better get him a not guilty verdict, Murdock, or else I and my legion of spidey -lovers are coming after you AND your firm.”
Murdock g ave her a knowing smirk, “I wouldn’t dream of getting anything less.”
Two weeks later, it was revealed Peter would be taken to court and was official ly coming out of hiding to set the record straight.
MJ smiled hard as hell when she heard the news, but another text from Murdock only served to set an eerie tone.
‘Prepare for the calm before the storm.’
The trial date was set for December 16 th , 2024.
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Flash was confused and had been confused for a very long time.
All this time, Spider-man had been only been at arm’s length, right under his nose, and he never even knew it.
He had been in denial for weeks after the reveal, but the more the facts were shoved in his face, the easier all the pieces of the puzzle fell into place.
It explained why Spider-man had been in both D.C. and Europe at the same time they were, how he knew Flash would be live-streaming, how he led that “Happy” man to them, and how he was able to catch the elevator at the perfect time.
It also perfectly explained his flakiness on all his extra-curriculars , and why he ditched Liz at the dance (a VERY bold move if he had any say in it). While the details were muddled, Liz’s dad was doing some shady things behind the scenes, but Spider-man stopped him… At a cost or two. Liz’s dad must have known his identity as well, same as Mysterio , but they were both bad dudes and had to go down!
It explained his sudden change in physique, lack of asthma, and his sudden 20/20 vision.
Flash had been confused at first, but slowl y it all came together.
Despite the fact Flash had initially believed Peter Parker to be someone he’d never respect , when he saw New York rallying for his innocence, he had to join in no matter what.
He talked to Peter’s lawyer and gave a statement , h e handed over the video footage from his live to hopefully be used in court , and he was as cooperative as he could with the law. He attended every rally he could, protesting for Peter to be able to come home where he belonged.
Whatever it takes, Peter Parker would be found innocent .
|-|-|
Liz Allan’s whole world was rocked when the news broke. S he had been so shocked, she called everyone she knew, from old friends, teachers, and Decathlon teammates, and they were all just as confused as she was,
Through all the calls, texts, and emails, she came to one conclusion.
Peter Parker has had to make many hard decisions, maybe even some less favorable ones at that, but there was one thing she knew he was not: a murderer.
She hadn’t spoken to that boy in about over 7 years considering she hadn’t blipped when everyone else had , but she was set in her opinion.
She took the keys to her car and made the drive to New York, the concrete jungle of the city ever so familiar to her.
She saw people fighting in the streets , holding up posters and banners calling for Peter either to be brought home or for him to be brought to justice for his crimes. There were billboards, graffiti on the walls , and even on passing subway cars, and posters with Peter ' s yearbook photo on it.
She assembled the rest of the Midtown Decathlon team, putting Flash and Betty on social media duty because with Flash’s thousand or so follower reach and Betty’s reporter skills, they could help spark the beginnings of what Ned called “The Midtown Movement.” Ned and MJ were on investigating anything and everything related to sightings of Peter . Cindy , herself, and that new girl Sally were making posters and banners just in case they decided to go to a rally of sorts. Abe and Charles were for the most part on moral support and being the hype - squad of the group. That Brad Davis kid was weird about it and was immediately out the movement before the got it started.
They were going to help bring Peter home, even if it were from a distance.
|-|-|
Peter Parker had never been more exhausted in his life .
Not when he stayed out past curfew to help the NYPD in a big drug bust on the west side of queens. Not when he had a project and essay due the next morning and he had been putting them both off until the last minute. Not even when he spent his entire school year trying to readjust to the world he left behind whilst continuing to mourn Tony’s “death” at the same time.
He felt at home at the lake house and that much was true, but it wasn’t the same.
He wasn’t ungrateful, of course , he was grateful for all the trouble they had gone through for him. At this point , he was even beginning to see Tony and Pepper especially as parental figures, just like how he saw May and Ben.
But still, this feeling of security didn’t stop the negative feelings from seeping in.
He cried often, waking up in the middle of the night filled with both panic and unease that never seemed to end. He could see MJ with a .22 to her head, Ned getting blown to bits by a drone, the feeling of the speeding train almost crushing him to death , and the possibilities were endless.
It was these nightmares that had him begging at May’s bedroom door at god-knows-when in the morning for comfort, tears staining his cheeks , and his whole body overcome by tremors.
‘They-They all think I’m a killer!’
‘You didn’t kill those people, Peter.’
‘But I couldn’t SAVE them, May! I-I gave Mysterio EDITH , I helped him pull the trigger, I basically killed them with someone else’s gun!’
The room went silent before he let out a small, pathetic whimper.
‘I’m no better than he was.’
All May could do was do her best until he fell asleep , only to be roused by one of many nightmares.
But she would put up with it, she would do anything she could for her nephew to feel safe in her embrace.
Peter’s first contact with the outside world came in the form of an email from Pepper ' s phone in late November .
It was… It wasn’t what he expected to say the least.
‘I have accumulated what I believe to be a sufficient amount of evidence on my end. My associate is in London conducting an investigation of her own.’
‘The trial date is set for December 16 th . If all goes well, we’ll have you home by Christmas.’
‘Stay safe until then – DD’
The fact that this email existed was enough to quell his fears for the time being.
Peter continued to lose sleep, but he was fine… He was still Spider-man, so he could handle it, right?
|-|-|
When Athena saw the crime scene, she did not expect it to look the way it did.
According to the police officer at the entrance, this was the cleanest the bridge had looked since before the attack.
So , then w hat did it look like after ?
She talked to the head detective, who filled in some of the blanks for her, such as why the actual hell pieces of technology, various bullet holes, and a Heckler & Koch P30 found at the scene when the bullets that came out of that gun didn’t match the ones in the glass!
T here was not only a shoot out of sorts but a drone fight! If she weren’t on a murder investigation, she would have half the mind to be impressed!
The security cameras were useless, so all Athena could do was walk around the scene, take down some notes, hopefull y, find something the police missed, and then take to the streets to find anyone that was in the direct vicinity of the attack.
She pulled on a pair of gloves given to her by the head detective, making sure not to meddle too hard with the scene.
She let out a whistle as she took in the scene. Th e kid and that other guy did do a number on this place. There were miscellaneous stones covered in splatters of blood , bullets of similar size and shape, and there was a closed - off section and Athena could only assume that’s where most of the damage was.
In the middle of her mini - investigation of the bridge, she noticed a woman crossing the police tape, one of the officers giving her the clear go - ahead. Athena kept her eyes tr a ined on that woman regardless because it felt like something was off about her.
“That’s Prosecutor Scarlet , she kind of runs the show around here ,” an officer said from her left.
“Sounds like another prosecutor I know…” Athena thought to herself.
Her view was blocked by the police tape, so she eventually gave up and went back to her investigation.
She didn’t find much, so she took to the streets , picking people from the crowd who could have possibly been involved. As time went on though, fewer and fewer people wanted their statements taken for the sake of getting an innocent boy out of either jail time or the death penalty.
“Spider-man attacked Mysterio ! I saw it with my own two eyes!”
“Spider-man was beating up Mysterio right in front of everyone!”
“Oh , shut it, John! You were running away just like everyone else!”
Athena felt a vein bulging at her forehead . S ince when were civilians THIS uncooperative during an ongoing investigation?
She pulled out her phone and texted the only person she knew to be making any sort of headway .
‘You better be having more luck than I am in New York or else I WILL come after you.’
She had a long few days ahead of her.