Gwen, MJ, and Harry were walking down the busy street en route for Harry's convertible parked in a parking garage several blocks away from the Arena. The route getting there, while strenuous with the busy crowds, traffic, and all, wasn't nearly as upsetting as what transpired at the concert. All three of them were used to supervillains such as giant mutant lizards, shape shifting sand people, and scientifically engineered octopi scientists terrorizing the streets and events that they had the unfortunate privilege of bearing witness to. Even though, as expected, Peter left and Spider-Man arrived to take on the freakish magician, they were rather saddened that their favorite band had become a target and that they could do nothing to defend them. Their only option was to follow the guard directing them out of the place to prevent any potential injuries. None were reported from what they heard, but, still, they were very much off put by the same old routine.
"I still can't believe Peter feels the need to run away, unannounced even, the moment a new supervillains rears its ugly face to attack our favorite band!" Gwen complained having witnessed him do this for the umpteenth time. "We could've been hurt in his absence for all we knew!"
"No telling why Pete does that," an annoyed Harry chimed in. "Somebody ought to tell Pete never to abandon his friends in time of need! When he shows up begging for forgiveness-"
"Settle down, Harry," MJ put her hand on his elbow. "Lashing at him like a little boy won't solve anything between you two. Best you talk it out like men."
"While you do what? Tell me everything's okay?" Harry responded, still somewhat cold. "He must've ran off backstage with that Mystery Inc. crew for all I knew! I don't wanna lose my best friend to some band of mystery solvers I've never even heard of, but met once!"
"Harry, Mystery Inc. is cool, especially Velma!" Gwen noted, remembering her initial conversation with the brainiac herself. "What's got you riled up about them?"
Harry withheld himself, not wanting to let himself look bad. "Nothing. Nothing's wrong."
"Harry, clearly something is very wrong," MJ noted. "Every time we mention them, you get jealous and act up. We don't want you this way. Telling us will be a burden off your shoulders."
Harry displayed a look of defeat. He really didn't want to say it the other day, but, since Peter wasn't around and MJ and Gwen were the only backup he had, he thought maybe coming clean wouldn't be so bad. "Fine," he sighed. "My dad's very much a busy man, you both know that. And, well, Pete's always been there for me when he hasn't and, well… I feel like him turning to befriend other people over me could be his way of maybe sliding away from me. I don't know, I just can't handle the thought of him not being my friend and all."
MJ could see he was desperate; overreacting even. Her only option was to be sensitive to his needs. "Harry, you know he doesn't mean that. He was just excited was all. Your best friend talking to others never means they're not your friend anymore. They're just… expanding their horizons is all."
"Maybe you're right," Harry admitted. "But how do you explain him running off, like, everywhere we go as a group?"
"He's a Parker, that's why," Gwen butted in. "Even Aunt May does that from time to time."
"Don't stereotype the Parker family, sister," MJ turned to her best friend. "They're a special kin that deserves the respect they provide."
"Sure, tell that to Peter when he comes crawling back to us," Gwen stated in her signature sarcasm.
MJ displayed a look of concern. She always bore a sarcastic attitude toward Peter, but even for her, that comment carried a chill as strong as the cool night air they were experiencing. She almost didn't even know what to say without making it worse. "What seems to be the problem?" she ultimately spoke up. "That was a little cold even for you, Gwen. I know Peter has a habit of running off, but to say he doesn't deserve respect, I wouldn't go that far."
Gwen sighed. She often treated Peter sarcastically, but for what purpose? She did like him as a friend, letting him and MJ have their space to grow close to one another, but, with MJ's comment, she slumped in slight regret. "Sorry. It's just I feel like if he's not careful when he chooses to run off, he might turn a blind eye to one of us getting hurt. My dad has the same problem being a cop and all and, well… it makes me mad thinking Pete might have the same fault in him."
MJ almost felt overwhelmed hearing them both discuss their daddy issues and, given how she had her own growing up before moving in with her aunt, she knew what it was like to hold resentment for a father figure against somebody else. Since her early days, though, she learned to work through it and help others with the same stuff. "Well, there's certainly no use taking your feelings for your dad out on him. If you need to, sister, just tell him how you feel. Maybe then you won't have to keep up the sarcasm so much."
In the few seconds it took for Gwen to register a response, she tilted her head slightly in contemplation. Maybe she's right, she thought silently. If Peter hears the truth then maybe I won't have to keep up this facade of sarcasm.
Suddenly, the three of them heard footsteps running up behind them. Hoping it wasn't a criminal of sorts given the time of night, they each stopped and turned in unison. There was a dark silhouette approaching them from beyond the streetlamp, scaring them out of their minds for a brief moment. It wasn't until the figure came into the light that they saw a familiar face appear in the light casting down on the sidewalk: Peter Parker. "Guys, hey! Sorry, I had to leave so soon. The Bugle called and… asked for some photos and-"
"Can it, Pete. We've heard that excuse one too many times," Gwen rudely interrupted much to his dismay. Ashamed, he thought to maybe share with them the truth, feeling that maybe all his lies of being Spider-Man had piled up high enough to where the walls were impenetrable. But then it struck him that maybe it wasn't such a good idea after all; that it was too soon.
Maybe he would never bring it into the limelight ever in his life.
Thinking smart, he reconsidered his words carefully. "Fine, I'll admit I'm actually… really terrified of wizards like that. Remember that magic show Aunt May took me to see as a kid? I lied about all the tricks he pulled because, in reality, the idea of a person getting sawed in half really terrified me."
Together Gwen and Harry gave him the "folded arms look" whilst MJ remained neutral, apparently believing him somewhat. "Why didn't you just say so?" Gwen asked him surprisingly coolly.
"Yeah, I mean, if we had known, we wouldn't have dragged you to this concert in the first place. I mean, they're called Hex Girls for a reason," Harry explained, seeming cool with his explanation too.
"What was I supposed to do? Say I won't go and get called a weakling by my best friends?" Peter asked them somewhat jokingly. "Thing is, I've already turned down enough time with you guys that I knew I had to make it up to you somehow… and yet I failed again. Can you ever forgive me?"
"We forgive you, Pete," MJ said putting a hand on his shoulder. "There's absolutely nothing that would make us see you differently."
Peter smiled at this compliment of her's; in that moment, his concern for her showing interest in Fred was practically non-existent. "You… you really mean that?"
"Of course! Nothing in the world would make a difference in the way I look at you," MJ assured him. If there was one person he could count on for reassurance, it was her.
"Thanks, MJ. That really helps. Still, if there's any way I can make it up to you guys…"
"Gwen and I are hosting our own makeup concert in my garage tomorrow afternoon. Seeing as we know all the chords of the Hex Girls songs and they didn't finish their performance tonight, I reckon we'd do it for them." What an opportunity. If Peter had a dime for everything MJ did to make up for him missing something, he'd have a full jar by now.
"Call me impressed! If I'm not busy with homework, I'll definitely stop by!" Peter promised.
"Am I invited too?" Harry asked since he had only heard them pitch the idea earlier in their walk.
"Can't forget you either, Harry!" MJ told him enthusiastically to which he punched the air in excitement shouting "YES!"
A surprisingly sweet reunion with the friends he had come to know and love for years since middle school brought them all together - of course, Peter and MJ had known each other since they were kids living next door, yet they had only met Harry and Gwen in middle school. MJ still retained her affection for him and, despite their collective disbelief of his initial excuse, Gwen and Harry seemed to give him another chance to be a better friend. As long as he kept up his front of teaming with Mystery Inc. as Spider-Man whilst maintaining his friendships as Peter Parker, there shouldn't have been much trouble contaminating his social life.
However, he just remembered that he had given the mystery gang his number and address thereby granting them access to call or show up any time, unannounced even. Seeing as the offer for him to be on the team still stood for him as both Peter Parker and Spider-Man, he could only choose to go as one or the other. For the moment, the safest option seemed to be to keep up the act as Spider-Man, perhaps even pretending to turn them down as Peter. He simply couldn't bear to risk his identity with his new friends or compromise his relationships with his old ones.
Back at the hotel the Mystery Gang had been staying at, each of them had gathered in the same room to discuss matters at hand. The guys had their own room separate from the girls with all of them gathering in the girl's room for easy access to Velma's laptop. Fred and Daphne sat seats apart around Velma who sat between them on the sofa typing away. Since, of course, the two of them were hungry and the girls had the bigger kitchen with more food options, Shaggy and Scooby decided to make some six foot subs that they would eat together. Thankfully, the two of them weren't really that talkative - since they let their stomachs do it for them - which allowed for Fred and Daphne to have easy conversation at a reasonable level.
"So this Mysterio fellow's got some serious issues with the Hex Girls, but then what more does he want?" Fred asked concerningly. "More importantly, who is he? What is he even? If this mystery turns out to be unsolvable-"
"Fred, don't you ever talk like that!" Daphne caught him before he could finish. "Every mystery we've ever run into has been solvable so I can't foresee it changing now!"
"Well, yeah, you're right," Fred admitted. "But still, this guy's unlike anything we've ever seen before. He claims to hail from the 'Arcane Dimension' wherever that is. No telling whether it's real or not, but still, what does that even mean?"
Velma had already been typing away into her search engine as they spoke. "It most definitely has to do with the Arcane arts," she spoke up, turning their eyes to the screen, which displayed images of magician-like wizards conjuring up hexes. "Illusions, per se. Illusion can be used for disguise or manipulation so no doubt a guy like Mysterio is using it to his own advantage to give himself power over lesser beings."
"That would explain the magician getup," Fred noted. "Even so, where does he get all that power to do the… glowing hands thingies?"
"Where else, genius?" Velma snarked, turning him to the computer where she had pulled up database images of Spider-Man's villains. Displayed were pictures of various figures in largely animal-themed costumes. Beneath each picture displayed a caption of which each figured was dubbed by the general public. If there was one person who could do this kind of research fast and efficiently, it was Velma. "He's a supervillain of Spider-Man's known rogues gallery. A lot of them carry power beyond that of natural human reckoning. He's fought a robotic octopus, a suited scorpion, an armored rhinoceros, you name it. And all of them pack some kind of power source that isn't invincible."
"If he's been able to figure out their weaknesses, then there's no doubt we can all pitch in to help him figure out Mysterio's weakness," Daphne added trying to contribute to their brainy exchange.
"It certainly won't be easy, Daph, but with us five, Spider-Man, and possibly Peter Parker, it should be a sinch!" Fred stated optimistically.
"Right. Us five," Daphne said as if leading somewhere condescending. "Fred, can I talk to you in private for a second?"
Fred's eyes widened. Her sudden request startled him as his mind started racing about the possibility of what she had in store for him. Was it about the idea of too many team members? Would they scold each other for presumably liking somebody else? Whatever it was, it maybe wouldn't be the former since, of course, in both instances Daphne was the one to suggest extra members. If it had to do with neither, however, maybe it wouldn't be so bad after all.
"Sure thing, Daph. We'll leave Velma to it," he stated out of consideration for Velma's research space bubble.
The two of them then strode together outside of the room to make way for their private conversation. As they walked through the door, Scooby and Shaggy were chewing loudly on their sandwiches, tasting every bit of their irresistible goodness of a variety of meat, bread, veggies, and sauces together in one package. Their smacking had increased in volume over time, reaching a point where Velma could barely concentrate on her nerd girl business, wincing at her computer in an effort to shut them out. Ultimately, she couldn't take it anymore and turned around to face them.
"Could you two keep it down over there?" Velma finally spoke up after clearing her throat.
The duo gave her a look of feigning innocence and gulped big swallows simultaneously. "Sorry, Velm. Like, these New York subs are really hitting the spot in our empty stomachs!" Shaggy stated positively.
"Reah!" Scooby exclaimed. "Wanna try some?"
Velma couldn't have been more annoyed. "No thank you. Now I would appreciate if you two would chew a little more quietly if that's even possible."
"Like, we'll be as quiet as church mice! Right, Scoob?" Shaggy proclaimed.
"Yes, sir!" Scooby said saluting. Even though they said this, they had begun to chew more slowly, even with hardly a difference in volume. Velma rolled her eyes in response as she scrolled and typed away. Whatever would she do with them? Then again, what would their team be without them?
As Fred and Daphne stepped out into the red-wallpapered hallway, the place was rather quiet. Not unusual for a standard hotel late at night, but a New York hotel definitely. The place was a bit cheap what with the wallpaper fading and the floors relatively unkempt, but it was the best place they could afford given their current funding status. In spite of the place failing to live up to quality standards, this was nothing that would detract from the overall experience of the trip. Daphne thought of it as a more intimate setting for her and Fred after all.
And so, their conversation commenced with an issue that had gone unaddressed since the start of the trip.
"I was just wondering about Shaggy and Scooby," Daphne opened much to Fred's relief. "Remember when I said our team needs to develop a little more 'backbone'?"
"Truly, it's hard to forget anything you say, Daph. Of course I do!" Fred responded truthfully to Daphne's flatteredness to a point where she almost forgot about his supposed eye for Mary Jane.
"Oh, Fred. That's so sweet of you!" she sighed before snapping back to it. "I mean, that's good. And, just so you know, I don't mean we should kick them out if they keep messing up your traps and what not. I was just wondering… you think Peter and Spider-Man could help them develop a little more awareness and responsibility?"
"Well, if they have the skillset we're looking for then, undoubtedly, yes!" Fred immediately jumped on board.
"I'm sure that would be the case what with Spider-Man's knack for saving others and all," Daphne said, reminiscing her dreamy moment of him rescuing her from her danger proneness. "Not sure about, Peter, though."
"You seemed rather fond of his sophisticated wit and brains he demonstrated in our initial chat," Fred pointed out from earlier. "Having him around would almost be like having an extra Velma around."
"See what I mean, Fred? Scooby and Shaggy are way too incompetent compared to those two and… well, if they keep messing with the operations, we may need our newest members come along and teach them their cues a little better," Daphne circled back around to the point of their discussion.
"Wait, hold on. Scooby and Shaggy may disappoint us with setting off the traps incorrectly, but they always succeed somehow. How would our newest members fix what essentially isn't broken?" Fred questioned.
"Well, Shaggy and Scooby love Spider-Man and would do just about anything he says it seems. Just saying, maybe he could help them work your traps a little more smoothly," she explained further. It seemed she was suddenly playing into his love for traps all of the sudden.
"Have him around to coach Scooby and Shaggy? You sure you don't have a thing for Spider-Man?" Fred finally asked.
"You sure you don't have a thing for other redheads?" Daphne finally let on, pointing to his chest, much to his dismay. He must have thought he wasn't talking to both of them when he made his initial compliment about redheads and the fact that they were both in the same room when he said it. It was always this way with Daphne. Every time he showed even a peak of interest in another girl, she'd get jealous and start accusing him of not liking her enough. Of course, he liked her, but clearly he had a hard time conveying it very well.
He had to choose his words carefully. "Hey, come on, Mary Jane's cool, but never as cool as you!"
For once, she seemed to accept that he said the right thing. Whether he truly meant it or not, however, was a different story so she let it be for now. "Hm… very well then. You think we're so cool then, how about you be cool with demonstrating whether our newcomers should be Scooby and Shaggy's helpers? Should there be any more fumbles with your traps, we may need to consider letting them do the talking and sorting them out. Sound good?"
"If it makes you feel any better, Daph, I do care what you have to say. And, as leader of Mystery Inc., I say that should be an okay approach. But let's not tell Scooby and Shaggy directly. Deal?"
"Deal!" she said, holding out her arms, as if bracing for a hug.
Fred, however, didn't seem to reciprocate the maneuver. "Sure thing, Daph!" he said before walking straight by her and opening the door for her. "After you!" He lead her into the room with an elegant wave of his hand. Supposing this was enough of a polite maneuver on his end, she complied and walked back into her's and Velma's room before Fred shut the door behind them.
As Velma assembled her vlog stuff, rolling out the end of her current shot's closing statement, Scooby and Shaggy finished stuffing their sandwiches whole, smacking their lips until not one single crumb or drop of sauce remained on their faces. Ever so formally, Fred and Daphne then re-entered the room with body language that indicated big news. "Good news, gang! As second-in-command and leader, Daphne and I made an official executive decision to have both Peter Parker and Spider-Man on our team so that we can test the waters with them both."
Shaggy and Scooby, their stomachs full from eating heavy sandwiches, turned simultaneously in excitement toward them. "Like, did you say Spider-Man gets to be on our team?!"
"Well, we could definitely use him to save my life and the band's a couple more times so we figured, yeah, let's give him the VIP test run to see how he likes it," Daphne contributed. "He seems like a bright strategist and all so I'm certain he'll teach us a thing or two."
"Awww, Daphne," Scooby appreciated. "Always looking out for other's needs and our own!"
"Like, you said it, Scoob!" Shaggy said high fiving his bare paws, which were covered in sauce residue.
"That Peter Parker's brains should definitely come in handy too!" Velma reiterated their point from earlier. "Where did you say he lived again?"
"I held onto his address. He had it written as somewhere in Forest Hills, Queens," Fred informed her. "I say we visit him tomorrow to see if he'll come along on our official investigation."
"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed. "He could make an appearance for the vlog! Since it's been a while since our last one, I figured doing something fresh should help us get more views and followers."
"Velma, you're a genius!" Daphne approved, doing her best to quip like her hero, Spider-Man. "Your ideas get the official Blake Industries seal of approval!"
"What an honor it is!" Velma said, going along with her joke. If it was possible Daphne's dad's company approved of her ideas, she would be a millionaire by now.
Little did Fred and Daphne realize they had left the door open just a crack enough for any unsuspecting patrons to catch wind of their exchange inside the hotel room. Since the Hex Girls had been staying down the hall in a special VIP selected room, naturally, Quentin Beck had also been accompanying them by patrolling the halls for any potential danger. This was the first time he had been around all day and yet no one knew he was there, stalking the gang as he listened in on their conversation. Their chat was supposed to be private, but, if anybody had been there to notice, it almost looked as if he was listening in for info on how to make his next maneuver. Whether he did more than security guarding was way beyond who crossed him and, as he smirked while backing away from the door, he seemed to be clicking with ideas that had come to him in that moment.