Chapter Text
Coming up to the apartment door, Peter gave a few knocks. It didn’t take long for the door to open, with Claire swinging it all the way out for him to enter. He nodded towards her as Peter entered, observing that everyone was there as the door was shut behind them.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said, “and thanks for letting us use your home one more time, Claire. I just figured this was the easiest place everyone would know where to go.”
“It’s not a problem, but let’s just not make a habit of it too much from here on,” the woman replied, a smile on her face but her arms crossed as she leaned against the wall near Matt, who was in his Daredevil attire. Speaking of his horn-headed ally, Peter noticed he was definitely favoring his non-injured leg.
“How’s your leg?” he inquired.
“It’ll get better,” Matt assured him, which Peter knew to be his ally’s way of saying, “it still really hurts, but I’ll deal with it.”
“Good,” he replied before turning back to face the room properly once more. “Listen, guys, I called you all here for a couple of reasons, the first of which is simply to say thank you. Frankly, words seem too small, but right now, they’re all I have. Every one of you contributed to the antidote dispersement effort, and each of you helped in other ways as well. Without your help, the city would have been lost, and I even owe my life to some of you, including one who... who we lost. All that to say, from the bottom of my heart, thank you for helping me take back our city.”
No one responded verbally, though they all acknowledged his gratitude with head nods, smiles, etc. He took this as his cue to continue, and he let out a hard sigh as he began.
“The other reason is that, well, my identity is out there now, and I figured you all should be the first to know how I plan to proceed. After talking with Mary Jane and my aunt, I’ve decided not to try and fight it.”
He then glanced to his former Bugle boss specifically.
“Jonah, I figured after all those years of lying to you at the Bugle, it’s only fair that you should be the one to host the press conference as I officially confirm to the world that Peter Parker is Spider-Man.”
His boss’s eyes widened, with many of the others having similarly surprised reactions.
“Are you sure about this?” Jonah questioned.
“No, not really,” Peter replied after a brief hesitation. “But I’ve thought it through, and I don’t see any other options.”
“I mean, is there any way you can try and convince everyone that it wasn’t you?” Hobie said. “I mean, it’s not like deep fakes and A.I. isn’t a thing.”
“This wasn’t just something circling around on social media, Hobie,” Peter countered. “The Goblin pulled off my mask on live TV. As much as I’d love to figure something out, I just don’t believe there’s any way that people can be convinced it wasn’t actually me.”
“I mean, couldn’t you just say it was something like Mysterio’s illusion tech or something?” Deb asked.
“That’s never been the Goblin’s M.O,” Peter replied. “People won’t buy that.”
“You know that if you do this, every enemy you’ve ever made will come after you, her, your aunt... everyone you care about?” Matt questioned.
“I know,” Peter said; frankly, he hadn’t needed reminding of that fact, though he understood his friend’s intentions. “But again, I just don’t see a way that will convince people that what they saw wasn’t real, not with the way it was done.”
“But... what’s going to happen to Spider-Man after this?” Randy Robertson spoke up.
Peter shrugged.
“Honestly, I don’t know. I have no idea what anything in my life is going to look like going forward.”
“I mean, this can’t be the end,” Randy said. “My dad believed in you with everything in him, and so did a lot of other people. If I’m being honest, I wasn’t always the surest, but after everything we’ve just been through, I’m more convinced than ever that Spider-Man is what this city needs. People need the kind of person who will fight through anything just to make them feel a little safer, a little better about their home, about themselves.”
Peter let out a light huff.
“Thank you,” he said. “You have no idea how much I appreciate hearing that, and I want you to know that I do intend to continue helping this city in any way I can. I just don’t know exactly what that will look like until things settle down... or I at least adjust to how things will be going forward.”
He then met Jonah’s gaze again.
“Let me know when you’ve got that press conference set up, the sooner the better, if possible,” he said. “Right now, I’m just planning to read a prepared statement; I haven’t decided if I’ll answer any questions yet or not. I’ll figure that part out and let you know.”
Jonah hesitated, glancing down for a moment as he appeared to contemplate something before finally looking Peter in the eye again.
“I’ll take care of it.”
Peter then nodded, thanked everyone for their help one more time, then turned and left with Mary Jane.
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Silence fell as the door shut, but Hobie soon broke the silence.
“Okay, we’re not going to let him do this, right?” Hobie challenged. “We have to find a way to help him.”
“You got any ideas?” Claire inquired.
“I mean... no, but as many smart people are in this room, we have to be able to come up with something!” Hobie said.
“Yeah, come on guys!” Randy said. “We have to do this; he doesn’t deserve to have to deal with this because some creep in a Halloween costume held a grudge!”
“I might have an idea,” Jonah said, turning to face Hobie. “But I’ll need your help.”
“Whatever you need, I’ll do it,” Hobie assured him.
“Alright,” Jonah said. “I need to know something first: can your suit change colors?”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Peter continued pacing anxiously as he waited in the next room, his eyes glued to the paper in his hands as he poured over the words. He’d spent hours on this, writing twenty-five drafts of his statement, running several versions of it over with Mary Jane before finally settling on this one, yet he was still finding himself questioning almost every word.
He was so caught up in this state that he didn’t even stop when he heard the door open, his girlfriend entering the room.
“Hey,” she said, getting in front of him and forcing him to stop. “Are you okay?”
“I’m just not sure this is what I should say,” he said.
“Everything on this page is the honest, straightforward truth,” he said. “Take it from someone with experience on a stage: it’s impossible to make everyone happy, but what you have on here will really help.”
Peter sighed.
“I don’t know, I can’t really imagine anyone watching you and not just falling in love with you after every performance.”
“You don’t read enough critic reviews then,” Mary Jane teased. “Besides, everyone’s a critic these days, but you can’t worry about that.”
“Yeah, I guess that’s easier said than done, isn’t it?” Peter asked.
“Oh yeah, absolutely,” Mary Jane assured him, taking his hands in her own. “But you know what, it could be nice for you to at least get some extremely overdue credit after all these years.”
“You almost sound like you prefer it this way?” Peter inquired.
“Absolutely not,” M.J. said. “Lying was hard, especially to my aunt, but there was never a time where I doubted it was what was necessary.”
“I guess all I can do now is do my best with the hand I’ve been dealt,” Peter said.
“And I know you’ll do great with it,” M.J. assured him. “And I know May will be so proud of you as she watches this too, just like I will be.”
She then leaned forward, planting a kiss on his lips. Jonah then entered the room.
“Are you ready?” he asked.
“Yeah,” he said, glancing to M.J. “I guess so.”
“Then it’s time,” Jonah said. Peter nodded, giving M.J. one more quick peck on the lips before turning and following Jonah back out through the door, up the stairs and onto the stage. He stood back and to the side as his former boss went up to the podium first, addressing the many reporters who’d answered his call.
“Thank you all for coming,” he said. “As many of you know, a villain, a man who directed what amounted to nothing less than an act of terror and then a hostile takeover of our city, recently invaded our screens and our homes as well, claiming that this man beside me, Peter Parker, was in fact the masked superhero known as Spider-Man. A psychopath, a man who would and did kill anyone who stood in the way of what he wanted, appeared to unveil what he claimed as the truth to us...”
Peter had to admit he was a little surprised at the way Jonah was approaching his opening, partially due to the extensive nature of it, but also because he seemed as if he was trying to cast doubt on the Goblin’s claim. He thought he’d been pretty clear that he’d intended to concede his identity reveal as being the truth, so why was the man playing this angle up so heavily? Was this just some last-minute desperation attempt?
“... Well,” Jonah continued, “today, we are here to show you the truth behind the events of the night, but first, I believe that we are missing one more party.”
Peter’s eyes narrowed hard in Jonah’s direction, and his next words shocked him even more.
“Spider-Man, why don’t you come down here and join us?”
Now Peter was really confused, and he was even more so when he saw what appeared to be a red and blue figure swinging on a web in the distance. The mysterious individual caught the attention of the crowd as well, audible gasps coming from several of them. Finally, the individual performed a reverse backflip and landed in a pose not unlike one he would usually do, glancing towards Peter as he came up to the microphone.
“Hello, Manhattan!” the figure called out; whoever it was, their voice sounded similar to his own, but just a little deeper, though not so much that it would be obvious they were using a voice modulator. “First of all, I want to start by saying how proud I am of all of you. This city could have descended into chaos over the last couple of days, but you all held the line, and now, we get the opportunity to rebuild our city. That can only be done by good citizens like yourselves, and today, I want to recognize one who truly went above and beyond in our quest to fight our common enemy.”
The “Spider-Man” then turned towards Peter, gesturing for him to step forward.
“Come on up here, Peter.”
Still unsure of what was happening, Peter nevertheless came alongside his impersonator, the individual turning back to the audience.
“Now, some of you may already know this, but this young man is the one credited with many years' worth of pictures of me for the Daily Bugle. Truth be told, at first, he just got lucky, but after meeting with him and learning he wasn’t just out to make a name for himself, but was just trying to use his skills to make a little extra money for his family, I decided that I would give him the inside scoop whenever I knew I would be fighting bad guys, because I trusted him. We never really became best friends or anything, but I always respected him.”
The man then glanced toward Peter for a moment, appearing almost contemplative before turning back to the audience.
“But one thing I underestimated about Peter was his courage,” the individual continued. “Apparently, he found out that the Green Goblin had come to believe that he and I were one and the same, so, without even asking permission from me, since he knew I’d never agree, he decided to run with it. He dressed up in a Spider-Man costume and allowed himself to be captured by my enemy, knowing that I would figure it out and come for him. That’s why the camera cut out in your homes during his broadcast, as that was when my allies and I arrived to rescue him and hopefully capture the Goblin. Unfortunately, the latter part took much longer to happen then I’d hoped, but you can all rest assured now that the Goblin is gone; he is no longer a threat to our city.”
He then turned to Peter again.
“Listen, I know some of you will probably still be skeptical, but what you’re seeing right now is the absolute truth. If anything, I think Peter deserves nothing less than your most sincere admiration, because without him, things would not have played out the way they did, and this city might still be in the clutches of a madman. So, how about we put our hands together for this real hero!”
The “Spider-Man” then began clapping, but to his surprise, Peter found that the entire crowd had begun doing the same, the place soon growing loud in their praise. He was soon overwhelmed by a strange mix of confusion and gratitude; he hadn’t expected to receive any such appreciation from the city, even if it was under the framing of different circumstances than he’d been preparing for. Eventually, Jonah came back up and addressed the crowd some more, saying any questions could be directed at him at a later time before eventually dismissing the crowd. Peter then left, heading backstage with Jonah, who came up to him.
“Go to the roof of the Chrysler building in thirty minutes,” he instructed. “This will all be explained then.”
_____________________________________________________________________________________
Having heeded Jonah’s instructions, Peter showed up there in his Spider-Man outfit, awaiting the arrival of his mysterious imposter. Sure enough, the individual swung in once again just a couple of minutes after his own appearance, landing in front of him. The individual then tapped something on his wrist, the coloration of his suit morphing from his red and blue into the Prowler’s purple, black and green.
“No way!” Peter exclaimed. “That was you?”
“Yep!” Hobie confirmed. “I have to say, coming up with how to change my suit’s design, how to perfect the voice and make a convincing Spidey entrance in a matter of hours was more stressful than anything we encountered out there, but I think it worked like a charm.”
“Yeah, how did you do the webbing?” Peter inquired. “That looked pretty convincing.”
“Apparently, Debra Whitman found some of your web fluid back at Fireheart Industries that you left behind when the Goblin ambushed you guys,” Hobie explained. “I managed to fashion some crude attempt at a web shooter via my usual cable firing area.”
“Wow, I... thank you,” was all Peter could seem to say. “You figured something out even when I didn’t believe there was any way.”
“Least I could do after everything you’ve done, both for me and the city,” Hobie replied. “Obviously we’ll see how well it really takes in the long run, but everything sure looked good based on the crowd’s reaction.”
“I’ll say,” he said. “You two really did a convincing job. Did M.J. know about this?”
“No,” Hobie replied. “We wanted it to be a surprise, though in hindsight, bringing her and you into the plan might have actually helped.”
“Well, color me surprised then,” Peter said, extending his hand for Hobie to shake. “Thank you again. I owe you so much for this.”
“Nah,” Hobie replied, waving his hands dismissively. “If anything, I say let’s just call it even. Now go, get out of here. Go enjoy that anonymity again.”
“I’ll do my best,” Peter replied. Hobie then turned and leapt off the building, his cape unfolding behind him and enabling him to glide away. Peter could only just stare at him and shake his head.
At least something good came out of all this, and he knew that he would never forget the efforts of those who made sure of it.