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｡･:*:･ﾟCHAPTER TEN ｡･:*:･ﾟ
"man of mystery"
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GRAY FUCKING HATED water monsters.

Fine, in all honesty: he didn't have much experience with them. The main fucked up species he saw were always aliens of some sort, and this thing? Yeah, it didn't exactly look alien. 

What did it look like? Well... he wasn't entirely sure. 

He immediately sprinted off to duck into the first building he saw, proceeding to mess a bunch of stuff up as he hurried towards a back room, tearing off his shirt and tapping his wrist bands together to trigger his suit. He heard a crash from outside and winced deeply, feeling the familiar fluttering of his chest that happened whenever danger was near. He liked to think that he had some sort of special 'sixth sense' like Peter did... no, it was just anxiety. 

 But adrenaline was a great way to cancel that out. 

The chaos ensuing around the boy was so much of a natural element that he didn't think twice about it. His eyes zeroed in on the swirling mass of water - one that was rapidly forming to condense into a humanoid shape - and cursed. How the fuck was he supposed to kill water?

His eyes scanned the terrain for Peter, but his job was made easy when he spotted a familiar string of webs fly towards the creature. They were engulfed by the water within seconds, and Gray rolled his eyes. He turned, outstretching his hand and immediately wincing as he felt the strong pull that the water had. It was like it was multiple different forces acting against him, not just one. 

 The creature sent a burst of water towards a large group of tourists, and Gray jumped over the ledge of the stairs he was standing on. He held out his hands, managing to catch the water before it could cause anymore damage, sending it flying back into the creature. It staggered, obviously not expecting that; and Gray supressed a smile. He then turned and broke out in a run in the direction he saw the web coming from. 

 He rounded a corner, and ran directly into someone. He jumped, yelling out in surprise as his hands darted out to steady the person. It was - of course - Peter, who not only had nothing covering his face, but also had his web shooters visible on his wrists. Gray rolled his eyes at that, "dude, what the hell?"

 "Gray?" 

 "No, it's actually the Hulk." He punched his shoulder, "what are you doing?"

 "What does it look like I'm doing?" I'm trying to stop the-" 

There was a loud crash, and Gray jumped; grabbing onto Peter's arm and pushing him a few steps back. He turned to face the boy, holding up his hands. "Okay, you have to go."

"What? Why!" 

 "Because you don't have a suit, dipshit! Also, I haven't thought of an Italian name for you yet. Mine is Ragazzo Fantasma..." he paused, smiling for a moment at how proud he was of himself for knowing that much Italian, before shaking his head. "You, on the other hand, are just a nerd with some bracelets. So-"

Peter responded by running past him, firing a web at a nearby bridge and swinging upwards. Gray groaned, finally understanding how Tony must have felt ninety percent of the time. He broke out in a sprint, occasionally stopping to prevent a bunch of civilians from being taken out by a killer blast of water. 

 He thundered up the stairs, breathing heavily and mentally cursing himself out for not working out more. He dodged around civilians going in the opposite direction, before stumbling to the top just in time to hold up his hands and catching a punch from the water-asshole. Peter - who had paused mid-flinch, looked up in confusion, and Gray glanced over his shoulder at the boy. He gritted his teeth, his cheeks turning red from the effort of holding the water back. "You're welcome."  

 Peter grinned, before his attention was diverted. Gray followed his gaze, swallowing from the sensation that was beginning to spread throughout his arms. He forced himself to focus on pushing the water back, a flash of bright green in the corner of his vision as he waved his hand and sent some of the water falling back into the river. 

He then grunted in surprise as he was hit in the face by a blast of water, he fell back, smacking into the guard rail and feeling the air get knocked out of his lungs. He put a hand to his chest, spitting out a mouthful of water with a groan. His hair was soaking wet now, plastering itself to his forehead and probably making him look like the most un-heroic hero Italy has ever seen. 

 He heard Peter shout his name, although his voice was partially obscured by the ensuing chaos, and Gray lifted up a middle finger in response. He jumped to his feet, running to the opposite end of the walkway to peer over at the monster.

 A flash of green light penetrated his vision, and he blinked to make sure he wasn't seeing things.

A green light streaked through the sky, barrelling down towards the creature at full force. Gray could make out a human figure, with a spherical ball encasing the head... which was a slightly odd fashion decision if you asked him.

The newcomer fired blasts of green light at the monster, the aura surrounding him reminding Gray of Wanda Maximoff. The creature aimed a punch that they easily blocked, holding up a green force-field that made Gray flash-back to Stephan Strange.

His eyebrows furrowed as he leaned against the railing, who the hell was this? And why did they seem like some scientist took a bunch of the Avengers and stitched them together?

Unfortunately, he wasn't given much time to dwell on it. The creature blasted the Wanda/Strange hybrid to the side, and roared as spirals of water built up from the river. Gray cursed, watching as the creature seemed to grow in volume. Waving his hand, Gray managed to catch the mysterious figure before they were sent flying into a nearby building. He closed his fist, pulling them to the side so that they could regain their surroundings.

 "Excuse me, sir!" Peter shouted over the deafening commotion. "I can help, let me help! I'm strong and uh - sticky!"

Gray rolled his eyes, "what the hell is this thing?"

 "I need you to lead it away from the canals," a male voice instructed, before promptly flying away. Gray felt like he was seconds away from busting a nerve in his forehead, wondering how the hell he was supposed to help in this scenario when he can't even fly. 

 "Parker!"

Peter hopped down next to him, his hair wet and his clothes plastered tight to his skin. "Hey, man, what's up?"

 Gray grinned at him sarcastically, "keep me from drowning, please."

 Peter nodded, practically tackling him in order to keep them from being pummelled by a blast of water. Gray closed his eyes, feeling his stomach tighten at the weightless sensation that came with traveling via Peter. He hated it -- that was for sure, and was thankful when Peter set him down on top of a building.

 He got a good look at his face, "are you wearing a Halloween mask?"

"Shut up, it's better than nothing. Give me a second-" he turned and leaped off of the building across the canal, firing webs at a building that was on the brink of collapse. Gray turned, watching as the water coursed after the wizard-dude at full speed. Outsretching his hands, the boy winced as he managed to compress the creatures width, keeping it from destroying any more of Italy. 

 His arms were beginning to burn, and his gaze was torn away from the water-monster as he was struck with a sudden thought. Pulling his power away from the water, he directed it onto a dock that was moments away from being crushed. He tugged it toward him, the wood ripping with a loud snapping sound; before it was sent barrelling towards him. 

 Gray steeled his nerves, before running forward and jumping off of the roof of the building. He landed onto the dock with a pained grunt as his knees hit the hard surface, and cursed as he immediately began to fall. He drew over another piece of wood, hopping onto it, before jumping to the ground and rolling to his feet.

He took off in a run. Thankfully, he wasn't too far, and nearly slipped when his feet slid on the wet stone. The creature seemed keen on grabbing the Doctor Strange Wannabe, although the man didn't seem to take into account the civilians that were beginning to be knocked off their feet from the force of the water. Gray ran forward, holding out his arms and gesturing in a wide circle to catch the onslaught of water that was raining down on them. He then grunted as he gestured to the side, sending it flying back into the canal.

The Doctor Strange Wannabe sent a broad cloud of green mist spiraling towards the creatures head, pulling it backward as if he had it in a chokehold. Gray felt as if his bones were seconds away from breaking -- but it was nothing compared to the pain of when he faced Thanos, so he figured it couldn't be that bad. He could see the monster straining against the grip of the mist, so Gray pulled it back further, his face turning red from the effort.

Gray heard someone yell, and turned around in time to see a building slowly collapsing across a row of houses. It seemed as if it was falling in slow-motion, and Gray recognized the familiar strands of stringy webs that seemed to be the only thing holding it up. 

 "God damn - it, Parker," he muttered under his breath, before deciding that the Doctor Strange Wannabe had this one covered. He ran over to where the building was, raising his voice. "Hey, dipshit! You there?"

Peter's reply was strained, and vague; as it was shouted from several stories up. "Yep."

"Okay, just let go and I'll catch it!"

 Gray wasn't sure how he was going to do that, but he wasn't given the chance to figure it out. A blast of water hit his side; possibly giving him whiplash as it sent him flying into the brick wall of a nearby building. There was a loud crash, presumably as the large bell tower Peter was holding hit the ground.

 Gray coughed, feeling his lungs and arms alike burning like fire as he accidentally swallowed a mouthful of monster water. He coughed, tilting his head to the side as debris rained down on him, getting dust in his eyes and making them water. 

 He opened his eyes, seeing that the monster had somehow been reduced to nothing. That only confused Gray further -- how the sweet hell does someone defeat water?

But that wasn't his biggest question. His biggest question was regarding the man surrounded by green smoke, who flew upwards and disappeared in mere seconds. Gray narrowed his eyes, the skeptiscm in his gut making it feel as if he was being choked; although he was certain that trait had been given to him by spending so much time around Tony Stark.

He sighed, running a hand through his hair.

What had he gotten himself into?

***

"IT'S ALIENS, IT HAS to be."

"BuzzFeed says there's a sailor, Morris Bench, who was exposed to an experimental underwater generator, and got hydro-powers."

Michelle snorted from her spot sitting on the stairs, "yeah, you should definitely believe everything you read on the internet."

 Gray stared down at his hands. After spending forty-five minutes in the shower, he had gained enough strength to look normal. He knew what he really needed was a nap; but he wasn't i interested in straying away from the drama. Especially when he himself wanted answers. The back of his head hurt, but if there was any sort of laceration it was surely covered by his messy hair. He cursed his powers for their strenuous aftermath for the third time that hour, as Flash scoffed and glanced back at his phone. 

 "Spider-Man could take him."

"Hey," Peter whisper-shouted from his place in the hallway, Gray gestured to himself, as if he could be addressing anyone else, before rising to his feet and lazily walking over to the boy. Crossing his arms, he leaned against the cool stone wall. "What's up?"

 Peter handed him the phone, "Happy wants to talk to you." 

 "Shit, there's not way in hell-" Gray took a half step away, "he's gonna get mad at me." 

 "Oh, Mister Specter is afraid of Happy Hogan?" Peter smiled as he waved the phone in front of his face. "Come on, just talk to him! You're an ocean away, what's he gonna do?"

 "You underestimate him," Gray muttered, before reluctantly accepting the phone and holding it to his ear. His tone held an edge of strained positivity that made Peter chuckle. "Hey, Happy." 

 "I'm sorry, what happened to 'keeping it low-key?'"

"That was me being low-key," he defended, crossing his arms. "It's not like I died. Besides, nobody knows Specter anyway -- the public has only seen me like, twice. They probably thought I was some random alien who died with Thanos. And Grayson Moreno has been dead since he was a baby, remember?" 

There was a long pause as Happy tried to figure out how to respond to that. Gray smiled to himself, shooting Peter a look as the man's voice came back into focus. "Pepper wants you to call her ASAP to check in. And hey -- maybe most people think you're dead, but you have to keep in mind the people who don't." 

 Gray furrowed his eyebrows, "what the hell does that mean?" He turned around, catching sight of a boy whose name he had yet to know staring at him. Raising his voice, he spoke in a rushed tone, "Adiós, trata de no enloquecer mientras no estoy, tengo que rebotar."

There was a brief "what?" from the other end, before Gray slammed the phone back into the reciever. He turned around leaning against the wall and standing next to Peter as they watched the group speculate the actions of their first day in Italy. 

 "Who is that guy?" Betty questioned, her hand on Ned's shoulder as the boy who was staring at Gray earlier spoke up.

 "He's like Iron Man and Thor rolled into one."

 Gray snorted at that, ducking his head down as Peter shot him an amused glance. Flash huffed, "he's alright. He's no Spider-Man." 

 "How cute," Gray drawled, rolling his head to the side to look at Peter. "You have a fan." 

 The boy chuckled, rolling his eyes in amusement. "Barely."

 "Hey, what is it with you and Spider-Man?" MJ asked, successfully tuning in Gray's attention as the shorter boy turned to shoot her an incredulous look. 

 "What? He's just awesome, okay? He protects the neighbourhood, and you know... he's inspiring. He inspires me to be a better man." He caught sight of where Peter and Gray were standing, and gave the boy a small nod. "Sup, dickwad? I thought you drowned." 

 Gray couldn't help but laugh at that, trying to cover it up as a cough as Peter slapped his stomach. Taking a step away, he stretched his sore arms above his head and spoke up, deciding that he might as well have some fun as long as he was there. "So, what's the deal with this Spider-Man anyway?" He asked, rubbing his hands together. "So he's... a man, and a spider? That sounds kind of dumb." 

"It's not dumb!" Flash shot back in an aghast tone. "It's badass! You should see this guy, he swings around on webs and can climb on buildings, he helped save the world!"

Gray had to hold in another laugh, glancing over his shoulder as MJ said his name. She leaned forward, raising an eyebrow at the boy as she leaned her elbows onto her knees. "You have never heard of Spider-Man before? What about the Avengers?"

 He shrugged, practically making things up at this point, and praying that Spain wasn't a stop in this trip's schedule. "In Spain, we usually just fight crime ourselves. You know, in the 'someone tries to steal your wallet and you backhand them' kind of way." 

 "Huh," Flash shrugged, "that's pretty badass too, actually."

 "It looks like his name is 'Mysterio'," Ned mused, squinting at the screen. MJ rose an eyebrow. 

 "L'uomo del misterio," she recited, "it's Italian for 'man of mystery'."

 "Hm, impressive," Gray ruffled his hair, wincing as his fingers came in contact with the sore bit at the back of his head. "¿Hablas español tambien?"

 She shrugged, "just what they teach us in class."

Gray grinned at that, leaning back to face the television. 

"Mysterio," Ned nodded his head slightly, before speaking in unison with Betty. "Cool name."

They turned to face each other, "babe!"

Mysterio, Gray stared at the screen, watching the green smoke paint its way across the blue of the sky. The man surely was mysterious, and Gray couldn't help but be in disbelief that he had never heard of him before. Growing up where he did, it was rare of him to be in the dark about potential heroes -- especially ones with this level of skill.

 Huh, he thought, his lips pursing in bemusement. The name fits.

A/N:

EVERYONE I WATCHED NO WAY HOME AUGHYEUJWUHEY

*spoilers ahead if you haven't seen it*

andrew's peter owns my entire heart oml HE WAS SO CUTE AHHHH, and they had No Fucking Right making it so sad??? but i am full of ideas, and i can't wait for all of the gray's being hot together!! tell me any ideas you have that i could incorporate when i write that part, i wanna hear them!

anyway, thank you for reading! i am very obsessed with peter parker rn, so i am hoping to update more often!! don't forget to vote and comment so i keep my motivation <3

lots of love!!