The Youngest Avenger

Chapter 9 - I Throw Myself Off a Building

After about twenty minutes of sitting curled up on the floor, I decided it was time to move. I mean, basically everyone who's ever lived says wallowing in self pity is a bad thing, so I walked out into the kitchen.

There was a note on the counter - 'Had to go out - Help yourself to anything you need. Pepper' Her cursive handwriting flipped and dipped like waves. In fact, was she using blue ink? I squinted at the letters. Each one was tinged a different colour. Weird. I focused on making the effect stronger and the colours began to stand out more, making the individual letters seem more unique and interesting. This made me wonder what else I could do. I looked around the kitchen, trying to get ideas. I saw a rack of knives then looked down at my hands. I morphed each finger into a blade, making them metallic and sharp.
"Clara Scissorhands." I giggled quietly. I shook my head. "God I'm lame."

I shook off the blade effect and returned to my normal hands. This ability was becoming easier by the minute! I felt like my brain was adapting to my changed body and knew what I wanted to do.

Then it hit me. If I could make myself into metal, could I change into an animal? Change into another person? Could I fly? I walked out into the corridor down to the lift doors. I pressed the button and went down to the 'H'. I was going to have to ask what it stood for at some point. The lift doors opened and I stepped out.
"Identification needed."

"Shit." I hadn't even considered that. I paused, trying to think of a way to bypass the system, when it suddenly hit me that I was a shape-shifter. I could turn into anyone I wanted. I made myself taller, broader and allowed the warm feeling of my power to spread over my body. I glanced at myself in the glass. Tony Stark's hazel eyes stared back. Perfect!

"I'm Tony Stark," I said confidently. "Do I need any more identification?"

"Access granted." The doors slid open, letting me walk through into the next room.
The walls were lined with various suits of armour, all with slightly different features. It looked like Iron Man had had quite a few different looks before the final design had been put into action. I carried on walking through, eager to get outside onto the landing platform. The doors opened and I stepped out into the cool air.
New York was huge. I could see the hustle and bustle of the streets, and hundreds of tiny cars crawling along like toys on a carpet. I shook off Tony Stark's appearance and felt my hair spring back into its usual curls. I felt so alive; all my senses were working together to drink in my surroundings. Slowly, I lengthened my shoulder blades into extra bones, pushing them out of my back and decorating them with feathers. I stretched them out behind me, enjoying the sensation of them being a part of me, a natural extension to my human body. I whisked my wings up behind me, using the powerful new muscles I had created to push myself up into the air, then, suddenly, my feet lifted off the ground. I gasped and spun around mid-air, trying to see my wings working behind me. I caught a glimpse of dark brown feathers flecked with black, then turned back and faced the edge of the platform and without a second thought, dived over the edge.