[Video]

[mysterioisthetruth]

Hello, imPorts. Today, I'm here to talk to you about the importance of being a hero.

It's right there, isn't it?

ImPort. Im-port-ance!

[He claps his hands together to punctuate the word and grins.]

You are important, here, to this world as one of its heroes. Like The Avengers or The Justice League, every one of you has or was given some special skills to make you unique and to make you a hero.

It doesn't matter if you don't believe it now. You will. You were brought here for a purpose and you must all act accordingly. It doesn't matter what you did in your past. What counts is the here and the now and moving forward!

Maybe you're already making great strides to help. Maybe you're new and lost. Either way, you are important and a hero and always keep that in mind. With evey action. With every interview. You are the public face of imPorts; all of you!

Be the best hero that you can be and together we can prevail. We will overcome any threat. Break through any boundary. Foil any nefarious scheme. Believe in yourself, and believe in the people around you.

We will win this fight; whatever fight comes our way. Maybe through negotiations. Maybe through physical force. No matter what your power or skillset, you can use it to your best advantage. Your best power is right up here.

[He taps the side of his head.]

Your mind. Your will. Your belief in yourself and in others.

Keep hold of that and you will succeed.

[He looks pleased, pausing a moment before adding.]

Now I am open to any questions you may have. The floor is yours.

Comments

[mysterioisthetruth]

[Beck lets out an exasperated sigh.]

Fine. You got me. Just for a moment, mind you.

I didn't think you were one for practical jokes, but if you have to play around again I would appreciate it if you don't make a public showing of it and question my enthusiasm for my job in front of my audience.

[made_up_names]

I'd say it was a pretty successful test if it rattled you.

[ Okay it was nothing of the sort, but Peter's going to at least pretend like he had a plan here. As for the second objection, well. He shrugs. ]

How long are you actually gonna do this?

[mysterioisthetruth]

[He doesn't like the sound of that being a 'test' but for now he doesn't comment on it.]

This kind of work?

Ideally, I would want to get more people interested in my tech. Once that's better established then I can work on that full time and not bother with this. It's not terrible to do. It's good practice for public speaking in various situations.

But not something I want to dedicate my life to.

You picked up on that, did you?

[made_up_names]

[ Huh. No surprises there, maybe, but it's still interesting to hear Beck just lay everything out like that.

Also, if Marco has decided to tag along and listen in, he really hopes Marco doesn't judge him too much for continuing to talk to this guy. ]

'course I did. I mean, you were excited? But you didn't light up like you did when you showed off your tech.

[mysterioisthetruth]

I suppose feigning enthusiasm is never quite like the real thing, no matter how much you throw into the act.

But the people do seem to enjoy it.

[made_up_names]

[ Okay, he can't quite hide the face he makes at that. The people. ]

You do realize how you sound, right?

[mysterioisthetruth]

[He tilts his head.]

What do you mean?

[made_up_names]

Like - you're coming down from on high to save the little people who don't know any better.

[mysterioisthetruth]

Well, in a way that's true, isn't it? The people that were at my talk today. They're not imPorts.

[His tone indicates that that means they weren't special. Yes, Peter's right but Beck doesn't get what the problem with that attitude is. His ego does include thinking himself to be superior to most people, at least when it comes to intelligence. And now that he also has powers to match those he's faked before, it just gave him even more of a feeling of superiority.]

[made_up_names]

[ From bad to worse, in Peter's opinion. ]

Right, they're normal people. Trying to figure out how to live in a world with superheroes. Which is, y'know, almost the entire population here? And also back home?

[mysterioisthetruth]

That's why we have to set the best example. We have to put our best faces on display.

[made_up_names]

...

You realize that would've been me a couple years ago, right? I was a normal person for most of my life.

[mysterioisthetruth]

Not many are born into it.

You. Me. We became heroes, and now, moving forward, that is why we must stand tall above everyone. To protect them.

[made_up_names]

[ He just shakes his head slowly. Not expecting to get through, but... ]

You know, I turned Mr. Stark down. The first time he asked me to join the Avengers.

[mysterioisthetruth]

Why?

No, wait. Modesty, right?

You have a lot of traits considered very good, Peter... But I fear it's often to your own detriment.

[made_up_names]

[ Another headshake. ]

Don't get me wrong. I idolized the Avengers as much as anybody. But they can't see the scope of what they're doing, or how it affects people actually living their lives in their shadows.

[mysterioisthetruth]

So it's the opposite? You thought you knew better?

Or just from a different perspective.

I'd be the first to admit knowing that heroes like Tony Stark don't know a thing about people out of his immediate vision.

[made_up_names]

I thought I knew differently. Yeah. Like - I coulda joined up, but my neighborhood needed Spider-Man way more than the Avengers ever did.

[ And then Thanos happened and his choice was taken away from him, which. He has such complicated feelings about. But like hell he's going to dissect those with freakin Mysterio. ]

That's - yeah. That's Mr. Stark. The first asshole who tried to kill me got screwed over by him too.

[mysterioisthetruth]

That's the repercussions of his actions and I'm so sorry that it's being taken out on you. You don't deserve to pay for his mistakes.

You were right to turn him down. His advantage was money and, without it, he would have been struggling along with the rest of us.

[made_up_names]

[ Hmm. Well. Beck's not wrong. Peter makes a bit of a face, trying to find the words to articulate what he's feeling. But it's hard trying to boil down his complicated feelings about Tony Stark into a few words. ]

Probably. Yeah. He never had any superpowers. But he didn't have to save the world the way he did either.

[mysterioisthetruth]

When we're put in a difficult position, we can either rise to the challenge - or fall apart.

[made_up_names]

Yeah, well. He rose to it. At the end, even if you don't think he did the rest of the time.

[mysterioisthetruth]

I don't doubt that he made a sacrifice to be a hero. I would questions his motives though.

[Even Dead I'm The Hero? That's an arrogance that Beck can relate to - and actually also accomplished, through that stinger against Peter. Being proclaimed the 'greatest superhero of all time' was a win, even if he had to die in the process. With that mindset, he also doubts Tony's own sincerity. But that's where they differ. Beck's morality is skewed way further off than Tony's and he hasn't yet learned his lesson in compassion or truly caring about others besides himself.]

[hatestrashcans]

[ Marco is 100% still around: As a bird. He's not leaving you there, Peter. He's too paranoid for that. He is also 100% judging you. ]

[made_up_names]

[ Marco pls. Well, at least you get a sense for the kinds of conversations Peter has with Beck. Their dynamic is weird, and honestly kind of screwed up? Peter's not at all comfortable here, but he doesn't know what else to do. And some part of him really wants the relationship he thought he had with Beck: a superhero mentor who will have his back. Not, well. The person Mysterio actually turned out to be.

Also, as it turns out? Peter isn't quite as bad as lying as he makes himself out to be. ]