Bug Bites

Chapter | Twenty-Two

Peter Parker tried to go to school as normally as he could while maintaining his double life as Spider-Man and helping with the other teenagers Tony had taken in. Aunt May was worried about him, and so was Ned but the reality was that he was tired. He was tired of not knowing how Marinette was or where she was. He wished he had just gone with her that night, that he'd seen right through that small smile she had given. 

Tony had given him an update last night that she had in fact been seen last in Venice, Italy with Lucas. Peter wasn't sure how to take that, since it means she wasn't herself. Especially if she was deemed to now be enhanced, Peter just hoped that they didn't experiment on her the same ways some other people gained powers. There had been some security footage captured, and somehow Tony was able to link Marinette and Lucas back to other incidents that the news just couldn't get answers for. 

"This isn't Marinette." Chloe had muttered, looking at the screen in disbelief. "Marinette wouldn't take another life."

Steve looked down, "Unfortunately there are some people, organizations, in this world that have figured out how to make people do things they never would."

"You kids never dealt with it in Paris." Tony tells them, looking at the screen with hard eyes, "You were somewhat protected there because of your kwamis and because of the jam signal. It kept you safe. Had the world known sooner, it could have been a completely different story."

"In the world there are people who are selfish and will go to the extremes to get what they want. It's why the Avengers was created, to protect from those people." Tony tells them, and it feels like for the first time he understood that the teenagers from Paris didn't really understand the world outside their city. "There are planets full of other life, Thor proved that as well did Loki. There are things out there more dangerous than people on earth."

"He isn't wrong." Plagg says, floating out above Adrien's head. "There are a lot more threats out there that you aren't prepared to face."

Adrien frowned, "Why didn't you say anything before hand?"

Plagg sighed and glanced at the other kwamis, but it was Wayzz who came forward to face the kwami holders, "Master Fu was the last choice to have as a Guardian, it was because he was the last one the Guardian before him trusted who was still alive. The Black Cat and Lady Bug miraculous was only active because the Butterfly miraculous was missing and being misused. It needed to be retrieved again."

"Adrien was a perfect fit for Plagg, Master Fu had sensed it." Wayzz continued, "Marinette was another story. The moment they had made contact, Tikki's miraculous flared and woke up herself. As if she could sense Marinette. It just showed how strong their bond was, and I knew myself Marinette was going to be the next Guardian."

"What does this have to do with what's happening?" Luka asked, because he wasn't sure where this conversation was going. 

"Never in history has their been this many holders, much less perfectly matched holders." Wayzz admits, "It's never been heard of, and so when Marinette started picking you and the kwami's and holders were a perfect match it was no consequences, you all were going to go through something much bigger than we could anticipate, even the destruction of the temples wasn't this big of a matter."

Behind them there was an orange glow, causing Wayzz to stop speaking and turn to look at the familiar portal. He could feel the familiar power through the glow, and it brought a comfort he hadn't felt for a while the moment the Sorcerer Supreme stepped through. 

"Stephen, what brings you here?" Tony asks, not really expecting the man to step through.

Stephen looked at the kwamis, the teenagers who were friends with the one student he took in and then at Tony. This was something he thought of long and hard about, and the conclusion he kept coming to was always the same- no matter how many times he rethought things through and how they could end.