Author's Note: Hello, regular readers! I am back from a temporary hiatus and excited to show you this chapter as it may have been the most exciting one I've written so far. This took a little thinking and reworking to get down, though I do have my friends, mcknight93 and 2 good 2 kill, to credit for helping me fix it from how it was written originally. Thank you once more for your support and I am hopeful to get the rest out very soon!
For the first time since meeting up at the signing, the girls, Daphne, Gwen, and MJ, had gotten together at the Mystery Gang's hotel room for their makeovers. Transforming themselves into the Hex Girls was going to be a sinch as long as the band's makeup department knew what to do. It also helped that Quentin Beck had knowledge of the plan, giving them clearance for being fans as well as their connections to the rest of Mystery Inc. The guy must have been a little too nice for all they knew.
While they were getting their makeup and hair done, MJ couldn't help, but feel quite nervous about the headlines circulating about the Hex Girls that she had previously read on her phone. There were a number of conspiracy theorists saying that Mysterio was all apart of the band's "disappearing act" in order to get away from the public eye. It was an interesting theory, no doubt, but the Internet was already full of people who didn't know the truth. Given the elusive, illusory nature of Mysterio, the truth was difficult to make out. MJ almost couldn't bare to think that her favorite band would be posing a coverup with a menace like Mysterio even if it were for their own sanity. Still, uncovering the secrets behind a story so big would be something she would likely save for her future days as a photojournalist.
Once she was finished getting her Dusk-styled pigtails done, Gwen couldn't help, but notice MJ, all decked out in her Luna wig and leather suit, bearing a long face.
"Hey, sister, why the long face?" Gwen asked assuming a guitar rock pose. "We're about ready to rock!"
MJ sighed. "It's just, the real Hex Girls… what if everyone thinks we're not actually them?"
Gwen's eyes widened. She had never heard her best friend talk like that before. Of all the times they ever had boy trouble, MJ never once had a shadow of a doubt because she knew that together they could conquer it. Yet now here she was talking out of character. "Hey, remember that one line in their song, 'Earth, Wind, Fire, and Air'? 'We may look bad, but we don't care'?" she said playing into her inner fangirl in an effort to cheer her up.
"I know," MJ paused. "It's just I've seen the headlines about the Hex Girls and it looks like some people are trying to give them a bad reputation. And if we're going to pose as them-"
"Nonsense!" Gwen interrupted, optimism lacing her tone. "The people at the concert won't be able to tell the difference! Will they Daphne?"
Daphne had been applying her black wig with red highlights and pale powder so that she would unmistakably resemble Thorn. Soon as she finished placing a hairpin in her pocket for safekeeping, she stood up to mainly face Gwen as she was still feeling somewhat uneasy about MJ having harbored unwarranted jealousy toward her. Even so, she was surprised somebody besides her gang had remembered her name. "Forget Daphne, girls. Here comes Thorn 2.0!"
The girls wowed at Daphne as she approached them rather fashionably.
"Awesome!" Gwen complimented.
"You look stunning!" MJ followed.
"Can't even tell myself apart from the real thing!" Daphne teased spinning around. Something about being in a costume made her feelings less obvious, even to her. "We look exactly like them, now do we?"
"You bet, we do!" Gwen agreed, swinging her arms in agreement. She couldn't have been more pumped than ever about taking on the role of Dusk on drums. Despite this, she still noticed a flat expression on her best friend's face and leaned in trying to sound genuine. "Cheer up, Mary Jane. We'll do just fine. And know that if you need anything we're right here for you."
At her kind words, MJ lifted her head and smiled slightly. "I suppose you're right," she stood up, unwilling to let her insecurities get the best of her. "Thanks, girls. I needed that."
For a change, Daphne smiled at MJ's kind words. Cheesy as she may have looked, she seemed to be thinking that this Mary Jane girl wasn't bad at all for her to be around.
Later on, Daphne, Gwen, and MJ posing as Thorn, Dusk, and Luna respectively all stood on stage in the darkness of the Rockwood Music Hall as the audience began to cheer for the Hex Girls to somehow magically come back. Their wish was granted when the girls in their witch-like appearances appeared in the light of the spotlights and pyrotechnics lighting up the arena. The girls began to sing and play their hearts out even though Daphne wasn't holding Thorn's guitar - or playing one for that matter. On the plus side, they proved themselves to know all their music - even the more obscure titles such as "Who Do Voodoo". The crowd couldn't have been more pleased with their performance as they cheered out their names and bounced around like Mexican jumping beans, not being able to tell the difference between them and the real deals.
All this and the plan to lure Spider-Man into a trap was set in motion.
Elsewhere, Mystery Inc. had sent multiple text messages to Spider-Man stating that they were meeting in a warehouse a few clicks away from the concert. A rundown sector of downtown Manhattan set under a highway bridge appeared to be the safest place to lure a heroic buff like Spider-Man into a trap - if ever Spider-Man was actually dangerous like some at the Daily Bugle said he was.
The only problem was that their bait almost wasn't willing to go along with the ploy they had in mind.
"All we need is our bait and the suspect of the week and this trap will be complete!" Fred stated as he approached Velma and knelt to her level as she sat behind some crates.
"Shaggy, Scooby! Come on out!" Velma called out from her kneeling position.
It took a few seconds, but Shaggy and Scooby finally turned the corner around some crates, revealing themselves to be dressed in popular supervillains getups. Shaggy wore a green jumpsuit with goggles and tentacles protruding from a harness around his torso reminiscent of Spider-Man's arch nemesis, Doctor Octopus (aka "Doc Ock"). Scooby on the other hand, was covered in green and white feathers and had on flight goggles much like that of the lesser Spider-Man threat, the Vulture. Thrilled as they were to dress as their favorite Spidey villains from the comics they owned, their uncertainty about capturing and unmasking their idol remained.
"Fred, meet our Vulture and Doc Ock!" Velma gestured to Scooby and Shaggy respectively.
"Awesome!" Fred exclaimed, enthusiasm pumping through his veins as he raised a fist. "Where'd you get those costumes?"
"We got 'em at the costume store last night after we decided how to bait the trap," Velma explained with a smile on her face as she was rather proud of her executive decision. "Is the flypaper in place?"
Fred glanced over at the precise spot on the wall where a grey sheet of flypaper, disguised as part of the grey brick wall, had been pasted in the precise spot where they were planning to corner the wall crawler. He gave her a thumbs up to let her know all the pieces were in place. "Ready as it'll ever be!"
"Like, I don't know, guys. Trapping Spider-Man seems like tricky business even for us," Shaggy objected,. "And, like, I don't want to terrorize him like this."
"Me neither," Scooby joined him. "I really don't want to see what his face looks like."
"Guys, it's only necessary that we do this to figure out who we're really working with," Velma assured them.
In unison, Scooby crossed his arms with Shaggy as they closed their eyes and turned away. "Sorry, Relma, but you can't make me do it!" Scooby protested.
Thinking smart, Velma reached behind her to pull out a green and orange box labeled "Scooby Snacks", which she had been saving in case something like this happened. "Would you both do it for a Scooby Snack?"
"Not even a Scooby Snack can stir us, Velma!" Shaggy proclaimed, stubborn as ever.
"Two Scooby Snacks?""
"Nope!" Scooby shook his head.
One last shot and Velma hoped for the best that her next and most ultimate bribe would work in their favor. "Then… how about a dozen?"
Both of their faces immediately perked up. Shaggy swirled his wet tongue around his dry lips and Scooby began to salivate and pant fastly with joy.
"A dozen? Like, that's the jackpot!" Shaggy exclaimed.
"Oh, boy! Oh, boy! Reah!" Scooby began to crave the deliciousness that was his own signature food.
"Then here ya go!" Velma said tossing the box to Shaggy who immediately snatched it out of midair.
"Like, thanks!" Shaggy thanked her before piling an estimate of twelve Scooby Snacks into his mouth and crunching down on them. Their deliciousness filled his stomach like water to a fish bowl as Scooby took some for himself and chowed down on the same amount. "Of course, I don't know about playing the bad guy, but if Scooby Snacks are involved…"
"It'll be fun, Shaggy! Trust me!" Fred said, feeling somewhat queasy in his stomach as he stared at the fly paper on the wall. He never caught a superhero before much less try and capture an ally for personal reasons. "You ready, Velma?"
"Ready as I'll ever be!" Velma assured him, preparing the rope for Scooby to dangle from as Shaggy got into position. When it came to Fred's traps, Velma always had a thing for pulling ropes even in the various plays she and her friends participated in. Of course, that was for plays where it involved capturing the audience's attention as opposed to a physical person - much less a superhero.
This might as well have been a new accomplishment for Fred however uneasy he felt about doing it.
Pushing all doubts aside, Fred suddenly felt his phone vibrate and took it out of his pocket to find Spider-Man's number calling him. From where he knelt, he answered cautiously in hopes his voice wouldn't carry through the warehouse and reveal his location to Spider-Man.
"Hey, guys, I'm at the warehouse you talked about. Um, where are you?" the web slinger asked curiously.
Peering from around the corner, Fred noticed that Spidey was looking for them. Casually on the phone with his mask halfway up that revealed a small smile, Spider-Man truly had no idea what was waiting for him, and that worked perfectly to Fred's advantage.
"We're behind some crates. Come on, we could use your help."
"Crates… where?" Spidey questioned, befuddled as could be. "Is this some kind of practical joke? They all look the same!"
From around the nearest crate emerged somebody that, while looking like Doc Ock, didn't quite resemble the real thing - his Spider Sense didn't even register an oncoming attack.
"There you are, Spider-Man!" Shaggy shouted cheesily, causing Spidey to drop his phone in shock. "By the power of… science… you shall suffer!"
Spidey couldn't help, but laugh at what looked to be Shaggy lumbering around pretending to look as menacing as the real deal. "Wow, seriously? A Doc Ock rip off? Nice try-"
Next thing he knew, his Spider Sense did ring, signaling him to jump out of the way of something swooping in above him from the shadows.
"Whoa!" Spidey exclaimed as he flipped over Shaggy, landing in front of the wall where the flypaper was set to capture him. He turned around to witness Scooby flying through the air as the dog turned to face him menacingly letting out his best bird impression with a screechy "squawk" sound.
"Wow, Vulture and Doc Ock! My two worst enemies!" Spidey remarked sarcastically as he backflipped onto the nearest wall. "Don't worry, this'll only take a sec-"
He tried to move, but his muscles wouldn't budge for some reason. Was he glued to the wall by means of magic or was his costume somehow inexplicably stapled to the wall?
"What?! I can't move!" Spidey exclaimed.
From where he perched stuck in place, Peter witnessed Fred and Velma along with the knockoff supervillains approach his position. To think he would end up missing the concert his best friends were apart of just for this to happen. He really didn't want to let Gwen and MJ down, but it wasn't like he wanted to blow off a potential mystery - especially if it involved Mysterio. This may as well have been a Mysterio illusion for all he knew.
He tried to move, but he hardly could. The wall must have been coated with some sticky substance. He could almost feel himself gain back his mobility, but then no movement came to him. He could do nothing to help as he perched there, struggling to move a muscle.
They were likely about to unmask him.
"Nice disappearing act," Velma snarked reaching up for his mask and yanking it off. "Peter Parker!"
Shaggy and Scooby gasped and gulped almost out of resentment for what they had just witnessed.
"Like, our guess was almost correct!" Shaggy exclaimed in surprise.
"So much for a tall-standing figure," Scooby followed almost insultingly.
"It all makes sense now!" Fred exclaimed, baffled that his guess was just as good as Velma's for a change.
"...You knew?!" Peter asked them, feeling the need to talk mere seconds after his revelation.
"It was the best hypothesis I could come up with after narrowing down my options," Velma said recalling Peter's actions. "Every time we came close to Peter, Spider-Man would show up. And vice versa with Spider-Man and Peter. There was virtually no mistake about it; both parties were just as willing to team up with us and for similar reasons. And plus, the other day Fred saw your suit hanging out of your bag. I didn't want to jump to conclusions quite yet, but it seemed obvious you two had a strong connection with that single piece of evidence."
"I knew that had to be the reason. Plus listen to your voices," Fred noted. "They sound so similar and you both quip in any given situation!"
Peter spread a look of defeat across his face. He knew there was no way of escaping this situation. The mere fact that he was stuck to a wall was enough of a dead giveaway. "Okay, you got me. There's no hiding that this is my life now."
"Your story better be pretty good. What did you do? Find a source of ultimate power that would hide you away from the world?" Velma remarked sarcastically, tired of the same old excuses from her past foes.
"Well, you see, it's kind of depressing so bare with me," Peter said back prepared to finally share his story with somebody else beside himself. "See, when I was fifteen, my class went on a field trip featuring a spider exhibit full of radioactive spiders. While we were there, an accident occurred where one of the spiders got loose and found its way into my bag. Later, while I was talking with MJ on the bus, it bit me, crawling away never to be seen again."
Mystery Inc. exchanged many intrigued looks at one another listening to Peter's story. If only Daphne and the others were here to hear this, Fred thought to himself.
"And so, with that, I discovered I was experiencing all kinds of crazy changes in my body and abilities. I was climbing the walls, crushing cans without trying, and able to leap to high places without a trampoline. It was exhilarating! I knew, without a doubt, I had to use it for something cool and courageous! So I entered a wrestling competition and, before the audience could blink, I won. But then I had my reward conned out of me like a poor man seeking money. The guys who paid me subsequently got robbed and then… I got a call from Aunt May stating that our dear Uncle Ben, the man who tried to tell me that night 'with great power comes great responsibility', had been killed."
Mystery Inc. gasped in unison at this shocking revelation. Scooby especially was in tears having to wipe his eyes with his long tail.
"I'm so sorry," Fred said, filling in the void that Daphne had left for him.
"It still haunts me to this day, but the story gets better," Peter continued. "I searched many days for the man responsible, wanting nothing, but revenge for what he had taken from me. I eventually confronted him in an alleyway, finding out that he was the same man who robbed the wrestling match. And so then I realized it was my fault. I let the criminal get away with murdering my uncle all because I failed to stop him. But since then I vowed never to let any criminal get away with such heinous crimes because, if no one's around to stop them, someone will get hurt. With great power comes great responsibility."
The mystery gang stood in awe of Peter's story, wondering now what further comment could top that.
"Like, this whole time I never thought superheroes had such heart-wrenching origin stories," Shaggy acknowledged the fact that he hadn't read Spider-Man's original issue yet. "Thanks for sharing your's, Pete!"
"It's a weight off my shoulders alright," Peter felt relieved. "Now could I ask you all one little favor?"
"What's that?" Velma inclined.
"I think it would be best if none of you press charges for me or my actions. Getting arrested would spell doom for my family and friends since they would know of my secret identity. I simply can't live knowing the villains I encounter on a regular basis would be attacking my beloved," Peter suggested. "So, uh, pretty please?"
Fred faced Peter, reaching a hand out for him. "Here, let me help you down first," he offered to Peter, which he accepted. Fred then cut the giant flypaper with his own specialized scissors allowing Peter once more the chance to stand on solid ground. "We think it could be possible for you to not live such a secret life anymore now that we know who you are and that you mean well."
Peter looked bewildered beyond belief. "Wait a minute. Wh-what do you mean?"
"All we're saying is that it would be worth revealing yourself at least to those closest to you. We unmask phonies all the time and those people tend to feel sorry for turning to crime just to get their way. But you, you're a hero. And we can see that talking about yourself did well for us understanding who you are. So maybe you ought to do the same for someone else you care about?"
Peter sat on the idea for a moment. Of course, he had always felt burdened by the idea of having to hide his secret identity from his friends, but he couldn't just tell them all at once. Just telling eighty percent of Mystery Inc. was hard enough for him that he thought maybe he should start off small in case he needed to. Finally, after thinking things over, he nodded. "Maybe I'll consider telling the ones that matter most. That should be a good place to start."
"Whatever you say is right, go ahead and try!" Fred encouraged as he took back Peter's mask from Velma and handed it to him.
Peter smiled. Never had he heard more inspiring words from someone else he admired… well, except Uncle Ben after the fact. In the back of his mind, he realized this was why the gang came over to his place asking Aunt May questions. Even so, he realized he couldn't change what happened and hoped that Aunt May wouldn't find out anyhow.
His secret was safe with them.
Suddenly, Spider Sense registered yet another nearby threat signaling Peter to dart his eyes in the direction of a nearby smoke bomb.
"Look out!" Peter exclaimed the instant before the smoke bomb went off. By instinct, he jumped onto a nearby pole, mask in hand, quickly pulling it back on before looking around the room in a panic. From where he perched, Fred, Velma, Shaggy, and Scooby stood below, shrouded in purple smoke, coughing and swatting it away, but thankfully not falling unconscious. He didn't need Spider Sense to know what villain was inbound on their position.
His guesses were correct when he witnessed Mysterio step in from the middle of the room, prepared to deliver a taunt of epic proportions. "Here they stand, Mystery Inc. and Spider-Man, not guarding the Hex Girls' replacements, scheming to stop the greatest wizard of all time from sabotaging the show and capturing the imposters!"
"In your wildest dreams, Mysterio!" Spidey quipped. "How'd you find us anyway?"
"Like I said, an Arcane wizard never reveals his secrets!"
"Oh, yeah? Well, I have plenty of secrets that you, yourself, would regret to know!" Spidey fired back. Having enough of his tricks, Spidey then placed a Spider Tracer on his webshooter and webbed his line toward the menace's helmet. Hopping from his perch and swirling into a kick, he was then met with Mysterio vanishing like always not to Spider-Man's surprise.
"Dormi!" Mysterio shouted from the shadows as the smoke on the ground turned from purple to green. In an instant, Spidey fell to his knees half-paralyzed and somewhat sleepy along with the rest of Mystery Inc.. Mysterio then reappeared seemingly from thin air, standing menacingly above Scooby, frightening the dog to his core as he and Spidey sat nearly helpless watching. From his commanding position, Mysterio summoned a samurai sword, the blade gleaming in the light of the warehouse while everyone just sat there, wondering what to do. If nobody acted, the dog would be seriously injured, or worse, die.
And so, where Mystery Inc. could do nothing, Spidey, with what little strength he had webbed Mysterio's sword, latching the substance onto it and catching the wizard off guard. "What?!" he exclaimed. Mysterio had his sword yanked away by Spider-Man as the weapon tumbled across the floor toward Spidey, still too weak to pick it up.
"You know… you really need… a better taste in… weaponry," Spidey struggled to get out as the smoke began to clear.
"How insulting!" Mysterio snarled. "Perhaps this would be a good time to perform a tactical retreat!"
Mysterio levitated away from the area, nothing to carry him as he, once again, warped away. Believing him to be a coward and a trickster all at once, Spidey regained enough strength to use his knees once more and trudged over to his friends to encourage them to do the same. "Come on, we gotta go after him and fast!"
After a few seconds of regaining mobility, each of them got up and made their way toward the abandoned warehouse entrance. Soon as they reached the double doors, they threw them both open, light pouring in onto their retinas as they searched the vicinity for any sign of Mysterio. From down the street, they witnessed Mysterio floating on a cloud of green smoke sending out lightning bolts that struck the street and cars below. "Catch me if you can, Spider-Man!" the wizard taunted teasingly.
"Quick after him!" Spidey pointed, signaling the rest of the gang to hurriedly pile into the Mystery Machine parked nearby. Revving up the engines, Fred drove the van in hot pursuit as Spidey swung en route for Mysterio who was now firing lightning bolts from his single cloud. With precise agility, Spidey dodged each bolt in pursuit, Fred doing the same as he swerved around the oncoming cars during rush hour.
"He's heading for the concert! We can't lose him!" Fred shouted, kicking the Mystery Machine into high gear.
"Like, that would be a great idea!" yelled Shaggy over the screeching tires.
Mysterio charged up another series of flaming fists that he sent hurtling toward Spidey to which he counterattacked by means of a series of his own circular objects: web balls. Using a pair of flaming fists he summoned seemingly from thin air, Mysterio managed to swipe them all away, effectively knocking them clear out of sight.
"That totally worked last time!" scoffed Spidey, disappointed in Mysterio's ability to get stronger somehow.
Having thrown out all his best efforts, Mysterio finally summoned his strongest yet: a beam of light that attached to nearby sewer lids. The menace hurtled them at Spidey and the van, both of which dodged them all. Knowing they were distracted enough, Mysterio apparently summoned water from the sewers, leaving them with an additional obstacle to dodge. Water poured onto the streets, causing the surrounding pieces of road to become soaked in a mid-Spring mist. Of course, Spider-Man and his allies were able to swerve around them whilst Spidey himself landed on top the lids in an effort to push them all back toward the ground. Soon as they turned a corner that lead them closer to the concert hall, Mysterio had unfortunately vanished like he always did. Clever tricks as always, Spidey thought.
"What?! Where did that scoundrel get to now?!" Spidey questioned as he landed in the middle of the street, the Mystery Machine screeching into view behind him.
Looking to their right, the gang witnessed Mysterio rising from the nearby Rockwood Music Hall, carrying three different girls who were rendered unconscious. The sight of everything occurring before their eyes signaled the mystery gang to pile out of their vehicle and watch in horror.
"Daphne!" exclaimed a panicked Fred.
"Gwen!" Velma added.
"MJ!" Spidey finished.
And just like that, the three of them and Mysterio vanished in a blinding flash of light.
As everyone else just stood there wondering what just happened, Fred panicked and ran for the music hall. "Daphne!" he shouted for her at the top of his lungs.
As he made his way through the staggering crowd piling out of the hall in a blazing panic, Fred began to hyperventilate knowing that his Daphne wasn't safe and that he may not be able to find her. "Daphne?! Daphne, where are you?!" he repeated, making a run for the stage to see if Mysterio had taken them there. Searching high and low, he checked backstage and on stage, but found nothing, no trace of Daphne or the girls. Out of breath, he clutched his knees as his remaining team and Spider-Man approached him for comfort. The crowd had already ventured out of the arena leaving them to console each other alone.
"No… no! This can't be happening!" Fred told himself in denial of the situation. "She can't be gone! No-no! … I was … so focused … on trapping Spider-Man … I forgot about Mysterio!"
"Easy, Prince Charming," Velma told him, trying to lighten the mood. "There's a lot to do before we split up and look for clues again."
"No need to look for clues this time because I happened to come prepared!" Spidey boasted about his nifty gadgets.
Shaggy gave him a look of bewilderment. "Like, what do ya mean?"
"While I was webbing at Mysterio in the warehouse, I placed one of my specially marked Spider Tracers onto his helmet. If he hasn't noticed it by now, I can use my radar to track his whereabouts and save my… our friends," Spidey explained, keeping calm despite the fact that his old and new friends were now being held captive presumably with the Hex Girls.
"Great idea. I like your thinking, Peter!" Velma complimented. "If it were up to me, I could use your tech for something I've been working on."
"...You'd have to get the Spider-Man seal of approval for that sort of thing," Spidey joked. "And another thing, don't say my real name out in public, it could draw some unnecessary attention for all we know."
"Right. Sorry," Velma apologized.
"Yes, sir, loyal Spider-Man!" Scooby saluted.
Peter could not believe himself. He told the first people ever in his life that he was Spider-Man and they didn't seem to care that it was him the whole time - well, except maybe Scooby and Shaggy, but they came to terms with it eventually. On top of that, though, his old friends and his new friends' fellow comrades were in danger and, despite keeping calm under pressure, he knew he had to do something to get them back. Should the time come for him to get serious it was the moment they decided to prepare for battle against an unstoppable Arcane wizard genius with a Latin accent.
One false move during his next confrontation with the villain of the week could as well possibly been his last.