GLISTENING DIAMONDS.
074. ❛ back in berlin. ❜

PETER GRABBED MJ'S ARM and pulled her into Diana's hotel room. Without missing a beat, he began closing the blinds and curtains. "I can't believe I gave Beck those glasses," Peter muttered, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "How could I be that stupid? He's probably spying on us right now—or worse, sending a drone to kill us."

"You had access to killer drones?" MJ asked, incredulous, watching Peter dart around the room like a man on a mission.

"Yeah," Peter replied distractedly, shutting the last blind. "I didn't really want them, especially after I almost killed Brad."

"You almost killed Brad?"

"Look," Peter sighed, pulling his phone out and pacing, "I have to call Mr. Fury and tell him Beck's a fraud, but I think he tapped my phone."

Diana snorted as she knelt to unzip a duffel bag hidden under the bed. "Yeah, no shit."

MJ turned to her. "Wait, what are you doing?"

Diana rolled her eyes as she pulled out their suits. "What does it look like? Getting ready for Beck to try and kill us."

"I need my suit," Peter added, grabbing his black stealth suit and tossing it onto the bed. "Diana and I have to get to Berlin and tell Fury in person."

Without hesitation, Diana started stripping out of her clothes. MJ's eyes widened, her face turning pink. "Okay, um—" She quickly spun around, only to realize Peter was also taking off his shirt.

"Do you guys have to do that right now?" MJ muttered, keeping her back to them.

Diana's voice came sharp and sarcastic. "This guy comes out of nowhere, claims to be from a different Earth with zero evidence, treats me like I'm invisible, and you trusted him because he was nice to you?"

Peter fumbled with his suit, glancing over. "I—"

Before he could respond, the door opened, and Ned poked his head in. "Uh..." His eyes darted between Peter and Diana. "Nice costumes. For... the costume party at the princess castle."

"Oh, Ned, perfect." Peter flipped up his eyepiece, relief washing over his face. "She knows, we told her."

MJ raised a brow. "They didn't tell me. I figured it out. Like, a long time ago."

Peter waved a hand dismissively. "Look, Mysterio is a fraud."

"But... he saved me and Betty's lives," Ned said, blinking in confusion.

"No," MJ corrected. "He's been faking the whole thing with illusion tech."

"Yeah, he's using these, like, hologram projectors."

"Mhm," Diana added, slipping a blade into her suit's thigh holster. "And he's probably going to kill us."

Ned blinked. "Whoa. That's... crazy." His expression shifted, narrowing in curiosity. "Wait, so... have you guys been working this case together, or...?"

MJ smirked, crossing her arms. "It's been mostly me."

Diana snorted.

"Look," Peter interrupted, turning to Ned, "I need you to call May and Mr. Barnes. Tell them May wants me to stay with Diana's family in Berlin until this all blows over. Make sure Mr. Barnes is okay with it, too."

"Let Bucky know about Mysterio, or he's going to think you're trying to get me killed," Diana added, securing her weapons belt. "He's really paranoid."

Ned nodded, giving them a thumbs-up. "Done. Easy."

MJ eyed them skeptically. "Wow. You guys lie with such ease."

"Practice," Diana deadpanned.

Peter grabbed Diana's hand, already moving toward the window. "We've gotta go."

"Wait, wait, wait! The projector!" MJ called, picking up the projector and tossing it to Diana. She caught it effortlessly. "You're gonna need this."

Diana smiled softly and her voice softened. "You two stick together, okay? If anything happens, I don't want to hear about one of you dying. Got it?"

Ned and Mj nodded immediately before Peter turned to them, his tone turned firm. "Don't tell anyone about this, okay? Anyone who knows is in danger."

MJ and Ned nodded, their worry evident.

With that, Peter flipped on his eyepiece, grabbed Diana's hand, and jumped out the window. Diana followed without hesitation, leaving MJ and Ned staring after them.

AFTER HITCHING A TRAIN to Diana's home country, the pair arrived around noon the following day. After hours of boredom, they'd resorted to playing "I Spy," which ended in an argument over whether clouds counted as objects.

They swung off the train together, landing neatly near the entrance of the bustling train station. Diana adjusted her mask and approached a nearby citizen. "Entschuldigung? Wissen Sie, wo— (Excuse me? Do you know where—)"

"Nacht Monkey!" the woman cried after catching sight of Peter, her face filled with terror as she turned and ran away.

Peter sighed, shoulders slumping. "No, wait! We didn't mean—"

Diana stifled a laugh, patting his shoulder. "Nice one, Pete. Real smooth." She turned, taking a step forward, only to stumble back when a sleek black car screeched to a halt inches from her.

The passenger window rolled down, revealing Fury's signature glare. "Get in."

Diana shot Peter a look but wasted no time ducking into the passenger seat. Peter scrambled to climb into the back, ripping off his mask. He leaned forward, his head between the seats. "Mr. Fury—"

"You've got a lot of explaining to do," Fury didn't even spare the teenagers a look.

"No, no, no, listen—"

Fury interrupted, holding up a finger. "Wait until we're secure."

The seatbelt warning chimed insistently. Fury's gaze shifted to Diana, silently motioning to the seatbelt across his chest.

Diana sighed, reaching back for her belt. When it refused to budge after a couple of pulls, she huffed in frustration and yanked harder, accidentally ripping it clean off the side of the car. She froze, glancing sheepishly at Fury.

He inhaled deeply, rolling his eyes before muttering, "Just sit tight and don't wreck anything else."

The drive was tense and silent as Fury navigated through Berlin's streets, Diana stared out the window nostalgically, her body tensing as her eyes raked over the city she once called home. For a moment, she let her mind wander to her father, her throat closing up just at the mere thought of him, but she shook out of it as they pulled into an inconspicuous building. Inside, the decor was clean and modern—white walls, glass railings, and a large glass ceiling that let in the bright midday sun.

On the top floor, Fury led them into a conference room. Peter rushed in first, his nerves on full display, while Diana followed cautiously, her gaze darting around the room. Something about the place felt... wrong.

"So, is there anything you want to tell us about your girlfriend?" Fury asked flatly, nodding toward Peter.

Maria Hill, standing at the other end of the table, clarified, "He's talking about EDITH."

Peter's eyes widened in panic. "Look, I know I made a mistake, and I'm sorry, but he's not who you think he is." He hurriedly flipped up his eyepiece. "Beck is a liar. Mysterio, the Elementals, it's all fake!"

Fury and Maria turned their attention to Diana, who sighed and crossed her arms. "I had a bad feeling from the start. His story didn't add up, and let's face it, the guy's an asshole."

Peter nodded, pulling the broken projector from his bag. "He has some sort of illusion tech and that's how he tricked you and tricked me into giving him EDITH." He slid the device halfway across the glass table. "It's a projector, I pulled it off the fire monster in Prague.

Fury leaned forward. "So all that death and destruction we witnessed was created by this?"

Peter shook his head. "No, not just this. I think he's using drones."

Fury exchanged a look with Maria, who moved to stand by the floor-to-ceiling windows. "Well, if this is true," Fury said, his tone grim, "then Beck is very dangerous and we need to be smart."

Diana frowned, something about Fury and Maria's demeanor nagging at her. The unease only grew when Fury turned his attention back to Peter.

"Who else did you tell about this?"

Peter hesitated, his eyes narrowing.

"Parker?" Fury's voice sharpened. "Parker!"

"Peter?" Diana asked softly, concern edging her voice. She placed a hand on his forearm, her brows knitting together. "Love, what's wrong?"

Peter met her gaze, his jaw tightening. "It's Beck. He's here."

Before they could react, the room around them warped and twisted, revealing its true nature. The pristine conference room dissolved into a barren, industrial parking structure. Maria disappeared like smoke.

A deafening bang echoed as Fury was hurled against a wall. Diana and Peter spun around just as a drone emerged, its weapon firing at full force.

The blast sent them flying, slamming hard onto the concrete floor.