C I N D E R ― An MCU Spinoff.

O N E

Peter stirred his fork through the fried rice in his bowl, hearing Aunt May chuckle.

"Well, he isn't much a nice guy from what you have told me, so in a way, he deserved that?"

Peter knew Aunt May liked hearing about his day, no matter how boring or happy it was; but she always would ask about his wellbeing, if he needed a mental health day just to recuperate. And he really appreciated that; but he didn't want to burden Aunt May and cause her any trouble because she had been through enough.

Peter knew he meant the entire world to his aunt, and it would be very troubling for her if she knew his secret pastime of fighting criminals and his secret alter ego Spider-Man.

She probably wouldn't take to him keeping secrets from her very lightly.

  ——— 

Joshua stuffed his hands in his pockets, a sigh leaving him.

He had made Alessa wait for him at the Galactic Grill because he was concerned that she would get hungry just by waiting for him for whatever Christina had to wanted to talk to him about.

But the panic within the depths of his stomach grew at the sound of footsteps echoing through the school parking lot. His breathing was more quicker than usual, the calm and stoic expression that was usually on his face was replaced by panic when Christina walked over to him.

"I saw you."

Just by hearing those words sent Joshua into full-on panic mode, giving Christina a glare.

He wanted to play dumb and pretend he didn't know what she was talking about. But he took note that she was very observant and able to pick up on... strange occurrences.

"Saw me... trip over that dickhead? How were you able to pick that up?!"

Joshua was freaking out now, not looking too pleased with Christina at the moment because he thought he was in the all clear.

Christina gave Joshua a smile, her head slanting to the side and she explained to him how she was able to pick on him using his powers.

"Just by looking at your shadow."

She would say and Joshua sighed, kicking at the ground beneath his feet. He wondered why he is overreacting just because somebody found out about his powers.

Maybe because she could use this against him and blackmail him into silence?

Either way he was overreacting and knew she  wanted to have a little info about how he gained his powers.

"My powers just recently... came out of the blue. I think it was sometime last year; my grandparents kidnapped and drugged me in order to sacrifice me to a demon or whatever because they're rich and greedy and want money."

Joshua didn't look too pleasant with describing the memory, but he wanted Christina to understand how his powers were gifted to him in the first place, even if it meant for him to re-live one of the traumatic memories of his life.

"They force fed me the demon's blood and slit my throat. I remember the demon hovering over me and bringing me back to life after giving me a vial of some sorts before killing my grandparents. I guess the demon didn't take too lightly of killing your own grandson just to get money."

Joshua found himself tugging at the sleeves of his sweater, very uncomfortable as Christina was watching him, a brow raised.

"You're... You're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Obviously not. I wouldn't want to endanger you or your family,"

Christina gave Joshua a reassuring nod and pays his shoulder before her face is clouded with an unreadable expression, "does anyone else know about your powers?"

"Only my sister. The one I live with, Alessa."

Joshua mumbled, glancing around for a brief moment, as if he was paranoid that somebody was watching them and possibly overhearing their conversation.

He then raised a brow at Christina.

"She's been waiting for me for nearly an hour, and I want to get back to her. But before I go, why ask me about my powers? Do you have some motive to use me or something like that?"

"I was just curious. And I also wanted to keep an eye on you in case you lose control of your powers."

She then walked off, leaving Joshua at the parking lot, watching her leave with curiosity behind his eyes.

It's been a strange few days for Joshua, a strange few indeed.