Canterlot Theater was quite empty for a Friday night. People were scattered among the seats, not enough to be considered crowded. Then again, Quentin Beck wasn’t known to be a hit with the public in recent memory, something the man hoped to change tonight.
Sitting in two of those seats though was Trixie and her mother, the former being the self-proclaimed biggest fan of Beck and his tricks. Ever since she was a child she was awestruck by Quentin’s showmanship and mastery of magic. And tonight she’d get to experience yet another demonstration on why she considered herself a fan. She even had a foam finger made in Beck’s honor, which the rest of the audence had no idea how it was made.
They arrived a half-hour before showtime and Trixie’s patience was wearing thin. She lost track of time in her wait. However, the lights shut off and Trixie’s excitement finally came back. Everyone’s attention was gained
“Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure that we finally introduce the man of the hour!” shouted a bombastic voice.
“The Amazing Master of Illusion himself, Quentin Beck!” introduced the voice. Trixie mouthed the words to herself, having memorized the introduction numerous times. It was time to sit back and enjoy the show.
The curtains finally opened... and no one appeared on the other side. The audience was perplexed, wondering where Beck was. The most appalled was Trixie, who’s jaw fell to the floor. “Where is he?” she wondered.
A pellet and appeared and left green smoke to cover the stage. A man wearing an extravagent costume appeared on stage, a giant dome covering his head. “Greetings. I believe I have yet to introduce myself. I am Mysterio! Now you all must be wondering why you have been graced with my presence!”
Silence was his response. Nevertheless, Mysterio continued, “Why Mysterio has come to you for one single reason: To draw out the so-called Amazing Spider-Man and perhaps his partner, the Solar Eclipse! The time has come for the city to know the name of Mysterio, and it will start with the destruction of the heroes!”
Mysterio then chuckled, “And if he doesn’t appear? Well...” he snapped his fingers. Dozens of robots appeared around him, filling the stage. “Perhaps my partners will cause enough mayhem to make me infamous!”
The robots jumped down from the stage and opened their palms. Lasers were shot and were nearly aimed at the audience. Everyone ran for their lives. Trixie’s mom grabbed her wrist, Trixie using her free hand to reach for her phone. “Hurry, Trixie! This is no time to use your phone!”
“Trixie’s gotta make sure the news knows about this, Mom!” Trixie insisted, pacing behind her mom.
“Is now really the time for wanting a minute of fame?”
Trixie rolled her eyes, “No. Trust me, I know exactly what I’m doing.”
The doors were jammed, meaning that there was no way to escape for the audience. Trixie gulped as she continued to type her message, her mom budging her to stop and get to safety somehow.
What Trixie’s mom was unaware of was the fact that she managed to type a message to Peter and hit ‘send’ before putting her phone back in her pocket. Now all she needed to do was wait.
Spider-Man the Solar Eclipse sat on the ledge of a rooftop. Peter had a paper bag in his hand and placed it between the two of them. “May’s awesome for doing this.” Peter said, opening the bag and pulling out a sandwich, “Nothing’s better than crime-fighting food.” he reached into the bag again and grabbed another sandwich for Sunset.
“She made one for me?” Sunset asked.
Peter shrugged, “Yeah. We’re superhero partners, I’d imagine she wouldn’t want you to starve either.” he lifted his mask slightly and took a bite of his snack.
Sunset accepted the sandwich and took her own bite, a smile forming on her face, “Wow! This is great! Tell your aunt I said thanks, this was kind of her to do.”
“May’s cool like that. She just likes helping people. Heh, I guess I get it from her and Uncle Ben.” Peter chuckled.
“I can see that.” Sunset agreed.
Peter rubbed the back of his neck. There was something he was wanting to talk about, but pushed aside for his own reasons. He cleared his throat, “Hey, Sunset... How’s Twilight doing? I know I haven’t brought it up since that night, but I just wanted to know if she’s still mad at me or something. I won’t blame her if she is.”
“I think she’s willing to talk to you.” Sunset revealed, “Twilight’s new to making friends and is very punctual.” she decided to leave out a certain detail for the sake of her friend’s secrecy, which would better explain her reaction, but decided not to say anything, “If you explain what happened, I’m sure you two can start off on a better foot.”
“Good to hear at least. I’ll talk to her after-school Monday to make amends.” Peter said.
“Alright then. Don’t worry, if the city need a hero, I’ll cover for you. Would be fine with me going on a solo patrol?” Sunset wondered.
Peter nodded, “I don’t see why not? It was only a matter of time anyway. If you’re up for it and if Twilight agrees to hang out—“
“You mean go on a date right?” Sunset corrected.
The boy’s eyes widened and felt his cheeks get warm, “Say what?”
“Come on, Peter. It’s pretty obvious. I reallt don’t see the harm in asking her on a date. Like I said, you don’t have to worry about being Spider-Man so you won’t be late.” Sunset explained.
Peter scratched his head, “You know... Harry said I should, but I’m a tad nervous.”
“What’s there to be nervous about?”
“Her saying no or me making a fool of myself... again.” Peter replied.
Sunset sighed, “You’re Spider-Man. You outright joke in the face of danger and risk your being everyday without a second thought, and yet this is what makes you hesitate? I’m confident you won’t mess anything up, and I seriously doubt she’ll say no if you ask.” she assured her friend.
“Well... you are Twilight’s friend so I guess there’s some confidence when you say it,” Peter admitted. He sighed, “Alright, on Monday I’ll ask her. Pray the Parker Luck doesn’t kick in.”
Sunset said, “I will. Whatever that means.”
Peter was about to explain when he heard his phone go off. Curious, he used his lenses to read the text. It was from Trixie, he noticed. “Crab baskets.”
“What is it?” asked the Solar Eclipse.
“Mysterio attacked the theater Trixie’s at. Gotta get there quick.” Spider-Man said.
“You need me to come?” Sunset wondered.
Spidey waved a hand, “Not this time. You can patrol the city by yourself, consider this the next part of your training. Mysterio’s just a guy with smokes and mirrors, he should be down in no time.” he assured. “But I’ll let you know if things get overwhelming somehow.”
Lowering his mask, Peter aimed a web-line at the nearest building and started to swing. He saluted his partner before leaving to help his friend. He reached a finger for his ear to call Ned, who answered immediately, “Hey, Pete! What’s up?”
“Mysterio is attacking Canterlot Theater! Trixie is in danger!” Spider-Man exclaimed.
“She is? ! Hold on, I’ll get you directions ASAP.” Ned said, “Sorry, it’s been a little busy here at the lab.”
“No worries, bro. Sorry if I’m interrupting anything.”
“Nah, it’s cool. I got some time to wind down.” Ned assured, “Huh. You’re not too far away. Just make a right and it’ll be a few blocks down.”
“Thanks, dude. By the way, think you can be on standby for Sunset? Give her a few pointers?” Peter asked his friend.
Ned responded, “Sure thing. Your Guy in the Chair shall not disappoint!”
“Never thought you could. Alright, gotta go. See ya soon, bro.” Peter ended the call.
Spider-Man arrived to police cars surrounding the theater. “Man, the police work quick.” he pointed out. The webslinger jumped down to the street and flipped on his feet. He was greeted by Captain Wantanabe. “What’s the sitrep?” he asked Yuri.
“Mysterio’s inside. All the doors have been jammed and we’re unable to get in. If you can, find a way in and give us an entrance so we can apprehend whoever he is.” Yuri explained.
Peter said, “You got it, Captain. Odd how we keep meeting up and working together, huh?”
Yuri shook her head, “Well you get the job done and are willing to listen. I’m fine with this alliance so long as you’re willing to comply.”
“I am, despite what Jameson tries to say.” Spider-Man agreed, “I’ll finish this as quick as possible.”
Spider-Man widened his lenses and scanned the building for any potential entryways. ‘Hm... alright, there looks to be a ventilation shaft that leads close to the stage. I can use that to get in and let everyone escape to safety while I introduce myself to fishbowl-face himself.’ he thought. Spidey clung to the wall and shot a thin web-strand, yanking the vent out. He crawled inside it and held his breath, “Aw man, it reeks in here.” he muttered in disgust.
Punching his “exit” vent off the wall, Peter noticed that there were inactive robots blocking the doors on the other end. “...Huh. Well that’s one way to keep an audience.” he quipped. The wall-crawler leaped out of the shaft and webbed the heads off the robots and throwing them back to their bodies as hard as he could, damaging them. He noticed someone hiding under the ticket counter and waved to them, “Don’t worry. Those tin cans won’t hurt you.”
The lady sighed in relief, “Thank you, Spider-Man. Jameson was wrong about you. Any idea what’s happening?”
“Another bad guy. I’ll take care of it, don’t worry. I’ll give you and everyone else an exit.”
Spider-Man then pushed the bots aside, allowing the employee to leave and kicked the doors opened, nearly breaking the hinges off in the process. He saw more robots, active ones this time, moving around the room. He looked around hoping to find his friend safe. There Trixie was kicking back one of the oddly-designed robots, her attention found on Peter a minute later. “About time you showed up!” she shouted.
“I can’t be punctual for every crime Tr-“ he cut himself off, “Miss. Just go to safety. I’ll take care of the person in behind this.”
With a Web-Strike, Spider-Man kicked down a robot through its torso, disabling it. Peter turned around and webbed up another robot’s arms, preventing it from hitting a few people. He followed that up by slamming it on the floor before stepping on its head. Another had a cannon and Spider-Man webbed it up before punching its head off. “Wow. These things go down easy! Everyone in here okay?!” he asked as loud as he could so he could be heard. Everyone nodded.
Peter pointed to the doors, “The police are right outside. Tell them what happened and go anywhere that isn’t here!”
The audience ran out the doors while Spider-Man handled the remaining robot. He pinned it down to the floor and kicked it to a wall, webbing it up. The hero crouched down and glared at the culprit. “So, we finally meet. I gotta say, I expected you to be taller.” he admitted.
”Likewise, wall-crawler. I noticed that your girlfriend isn’t here to help you.” Mysterio boasted,
Raising a hand, Spider-Man said, “Uh okay, first of all, she’s not my girfriend. Secondly, you’re not even worth the effort of needing a tag-team. You’re just a fraud of a villain! I bet Toomes could put up more of a fight than you!”
Mysterio scoffed, “You dare call Mysterio a fraud? Mysterio is no faker, Mysterio is the master of the arcane arts!”
“Well it seems to me Mysterio is the master of talking about himself in the third person. God, you sound like a friend of mine.” Spider-Man quipped. His Spider-Sense tingled and Mysterio shot a laser at him. Peter flipped over a chair and perched on top of it, pointing at the villain, “So, Mysterio. Let me guess your motive. You’re a huge fan of Quentin Beck and wanted his poor excuse of an act to have an audience, even if it meant forcing them. Am I on the nose?” he questioned.
“You shall not mock Mysterio, Spider-Man. My only motive is to prove your superior!” Mysterio taunted.
Spider-Man webbed up one of the chairs and pulled it, “You should meet Doctor Octopus. You guys have the same exact motive!” He threw the chair over to Mysterio, who disintergrated it with a wave of his hand. “Whoa, okay. That’s some sick tech! What did you add to your gauntlets to do that? Toomes’ stuff?”
Mysterio wagged a finger, “Mysterio has told you, he is no fraud. My skills are quite real.”
With a flick of his wrist, Spider-Man tried to web up Mysterio’s dome but the substance vanished, “Wow. I’m impressed. Solar Eclipse said your plan fell apart quickly, but I’m impressed. Maybe she didn’t need training after all.”
The web-slinger leaped onto the stage to confront Mysterio who said, “How long must you doubt Mysterio’s true might?”
“Eh, as long as I need to.” Peter quipped.
“That doubt will be your downfall, Spider-Man.” Mysterio proclaimed. He opened his palms and green smoke emitted from them, making Spider-Man to cough.
Peter tried to smack the gas away. He suddenly felt his limbs get weak, “What gas is this?”
Mysterio folded his arms, “Fumes that’ll weakened you considerably. Just know that this is a necessity.”
“Yeah...” gagged Spider-Man, “Sure...”
Rearing his arm back, Spider-Man tried to punch Mysterio. But Peter’s reflexes slowed down so much that Mysterio was free to warp away. “What the—?” Peter blurted out. He tried again, and missed again. “How are you...” he coughed, “Doing that?” he tried to speak, but it was proving difficult.
Mysterio was silent. He was intent on destroying Spider-Man. He tossed spheres of electricty towards Spider-Man. Peter tried to dodge them, but was unable to move as swiftly as he normally could. As a result, he was shocked and pushed back to the other side of the stage. He rolled and fell off. Gaining as much energy as he could, Spidey zipped back and crawled on the wooden surface to fix himself.
There was a blade in Mysterio’s hand. Peter noticed this and stood up. Mysterio slashed at the hero, who dodged it, but got his costume torn as a result. Mysterio moved his sword again, tearing more of Peter’s costume apart with each movement. “Heh. Still to slow... Mysterio.” Spider-Man struggled to say. He managed to hit a web-line onto Mysterio’s sword and forced him to drop it. “Ha... Looks like I win.”
“Not quite, Spider-Man.” Mysterio boasted.
Stepping out of the smoke was a one more robot. Peter’s Spider-Sense tried to warn him, but he was too slow to react. He gulped and struggled in the robot’s grip but was unable to move. “How the hell...?”
The showman placed his palm in front of Spider-Man and released more gas to confuse him. With the webslinger dazed and unfocused, Mysterio closed his fist and allowed it to flow with electricity. He then punched Spider-Man in the jaw and successfully knocked him unconscious. The hero’s body was unmoving, his breathing slow. He was alive, but down for the count now.
Mysterio looked at Spider-Man’s unconscious form, which fell with a thud once the robot dropped him. “Finally. The Spider-Man has been bested!” he boasted, “But there is no use in ending you yet. After all, I wish to gain revenge on your parter. And you will make quite the live bait to do so.”
“...And that’s how you can stop the Vulture.” Ned finished explaining for Sunset.
The Solar Eclipse blinked, “Huh. That was actually useful information. I’ll keep that in mind, Ned.”
Ned bragged, “Being Spider-Man’s best friends has its perks when it comes to knowledge.” he paused, “Speaking of, has Peter called you yet? His silence is weird.”
“Not yet. I agree that it’s weird. Normally something would’ve happened by now or it’d be over. I’m gonna go check it out for myself. Don’t hang up yet.” Sunset said.
The Solar Eclipse arrived at Canterlot Theater and walked in after persuading an officer. Which meant she used her magic to keep him still. She found herself at the scene of the crime, a destroyed theater. Captain Wantanabe took notice of the hero and aimed her pistol. Sunset raised her hands as she asked, “Who are you?”
“The Solar Eclipse, Spider-Man’s partner. You’re Captain Wantanabe, right?” Solar Eclipse asked.
Yuri lowered her weapon and huffed, “So you’re the newest crime-fighter in the city. We already have enough of those... I assume your here to find your friend.”
“Yeah. Have you seen him?”
“Not since he showed up to stop Mysterio. It seems he got away. Your partner might’ve gone after him.” Yuri said.
“Mind if I take a look around?” Sunset asked.
Yuri sighed, “Fine. But don’t ruin any evidence.”
“Got it.” Sunset said.
The Solar Eclipse leaped onto the stage and knelt down. She saw bits of Peter’s costume all over the place. She even managed to find a piece with his usual spider-emblem. ‘So much for Ned tracking him.’ she thought in disappointment. She grabbed the costume piece and put it in her pocket so Peter could repair it.
“New kid.” Sunset heard Yuri say. Raising her head, Sunset looked at Yuri. “You might want to see this.”
The Eclipse walked over to Yuri, who had her phone out. It was a face call. On the screen was Mysterio, who was sitting in a chair with his hands folded. “Greetings, Captain Wantanabe. It seems my partner reached your line. Good. Now I have one demand that you must follow.” he paused and saw Sunset, “Hm... this turned out better than I thought.”
“As if we’ll listen to you. What’s your game, Mysterio?” Yuri hissed at the villain.
Mysterio didn’t say a word and moved the camera. On the screen was Spider-Man, who was beaten and unable to move. “I’ve detained Spider-Man. He will live, but his time is running out. I will let him live on one condition...”
Sunset and Yuri were shocked at the state the web-slinger was in. He looked like he was unable to fight back for once. Sunset have the captain a concerned glance. “You sick son of a bitch. Fine. What do you want?”
“The Solar Eclipse. She has made a mockery of me and I wish to for payback. Do you hear me, Eclipse? If you wish for your partner to live, face me. Just know that I’m more prepared this time.” Mysterio said before cutting the call.
Sunset hung her head in sadness, wondering if Peter would even be in that state if she were there. “Don’t worry, we’ll track the call and find your friend’s location. Once we do, we’ll find a way to let you know. Someone’s life is at risk now.”
“I understand. Thank you, Captain Wantanabe. In the meantime, I’ll look around myself.” Sunset said.
The Solar Eclipse left the building and jumped onto the rooftops. She needed to call Ned, Trixie, and reach to Mrs Parker. Sunset sighed, knowing she won’t handle the news that her nephew won’t be back tonight well. That was another reason why she needed to hurry. Peter needed her help, and his partner and a hero in her own right, she promised to not let him down.
It was going to be a long night.