Gryphon Comics was packed fuller than Walmart on Black Friday.
I hovered by the front door wishing I could leave but knowing that wasn't going to happen any time soon. I'd lost sight of Miguel already. He was wearing a reasonably authentic Captain America suit, but that didn't exactly narrow it down. The room was filled to the brim with Captain Americas and Iron Mans. I could walk two feet without bumping into either. Some people were dressed like Thor, complete with bad wigs and awful English accents. Only a few brave souls dressed up as Hawkeye or the Hulk. More power to the guys who painted themselves green instead of wearing one of those costumes with fake muscles. And as for the ones dressed as Hawkeye... well, if I hadn't already been familiar with the Avengers I would have thought they'd gotten lost on their way to an archery tournament or something.
"Hey, we're going to go sit over there," My friend Kaya said, nudging me. She pointed toward an empty sitting area near the front window.
"I think I'm going to go find the snacks," I said.
"Bring me a cupcake if they have any," My other friend Ty said.
Kaya hadn't even tried to dress up for the occasion, choosing to wear her usual t-shirt and jeans. Ty had at least tried by wearing a Falcon t-shirt.
"I have two choices for Black Marvel heroes," He said. "And I'm not wearing a Warmachine shirt, okay?"
Like he could find one. Warmachine wasn't exactly winning any popularity contests.
I, on the other hand, was wearing an Iron Man sweater that was designed to look like the Iron Man suit, arc reactor and all. I didn't even like Iron Man that much, but Miguel had gotten it for me and it was the only Marvel themed piece of clothing I owned. Miguel was the Marvel fan. I was more of a casual fan. I watched the movies, I googled the things I didn't understand, and that was about as far as it went.
I watched as my friends settled into the sitting area while I went in search of snacks, but moving through the crowd was easier said than done. At one point I tripped over a Thor's hammer that was just sitting on the floor. I almost took out a Funko Pop display on my way down.
The Thor in question helped me back up and fixed the Funko Pops I'd accidentally messed up.
"Sorry about that, m'lady," He said in an awful, fake British accent.
"It's fine," I said before hurrying off. I thought I heard him call after me, but I didn't hang around to find out. I just wanted snacks.
By the time I got to the refreshments table, I was at my limit. There were people everywhere and it was so loud. Everything suddenly felt impossible and all I wanted to do was leave.
There were Captain America cupcakes and Iron Man cookies mixed in with green rice Krispie treats and licorice shaped to look like bows. I grabbed a plate and a couple of cupcakes and cookies, my stress and frustration increasing with every minute I stood next to the table. I kept getting in people's way my accident, or they kept getting in mine. Finally, I made it to the end of the table where the drinks were. The man serving drinks was the owner of Gryphon Comics, Carl.
He smiled when he saw me. "Mavis! How are you?" He asked.
"I'm fine," I said. "Can I have some punch."
"Of course," Carl said cheerfully. "Anything for my favorite customer's sister." He hand me my drink which was blue with some dry ice smoke lingering on the top.
"How are you liking my little shindig?" Carl asked.
"It's great," I lied.
"Take as many treats as you want," Carl said. "My wife made them herself. She's been baking all week."
It seemed like a lot of effort for something like this, but I didn't say anything.
"They look great," I said instead. "Well, thanks."
"If you see your brother, tell him to come see me," Carl said. "I have something for him."
I nodded before leaving the table, doubtful I was going to find Miguel at any point. He was going to have to find me, instead.
The trip back to the front was easier than the trip to the snack table. People actually moved out of my way so I would spill anything on them. Kaya took one of the cupcakes and Ty took one of the cookies.
"I need to go outside," I said, setting the plate and drink down on the table.
"Are you okay?" Kaya asked.
"Yeah," I said. "Just overwhelmed. There are a lot of people here."
"Do you want me to find Miguel?" Kaya asked. "Maybe we can leave a little early."
I shook my head. "No, I don't want to ruin his fun. I just need some air." I looked at Ty. "Don't eat that cupcake. It's mine."
Ty put up his hands in surrender. "I promise I won't eat it in the next five minutes." He said. "After that it's fair game."
"Don't put a time limit on her," Kaya chided. "She's going outside to decompress, that could take more than five minutes."
"It's not going to take five minutes," I said.
It was going to be both longer and shorter than five minutes, but I didn't know that yet.
I made my way to the front door and pushed it open, grateful for the wash of cool air over me. I hadn't realized how hot I was getting in there until I was outside. I took my sweater off and tied it around my waist. I waved at my friends through the front window before continuing down the street. I wasn't going to go far, I just need to walk some of the stress and frustration off.
I kep trying to tell Mami and Papi that I needed to see a doctor for anxiety, but they insisted that everyone got anxious, which was made true, but I didn't believe it was normal for everyone to get as anxious as I did on a regular basis.
The door to Gryphon opened and closed with the familiar tinkle of a little bell attached to the door frame. I turned around and was surprised to see Miguel walking toward me.
"Are you okay?" He asked in Spanish. Miguel and I usually only spoke Spanish when we were being serious or when were talking to our Tios or Tias who barely spoke English.
"I'm fine," I replied in Spanish. "I just needed some air."
"Yeah, Kaya told me," Miguel said, switching back to English. "I just wanted to check on you. Do you need me to drive you home?" The concern was written all over his face.
I shook my head. "No, I'm fine. I don't want to ruin your night. Go have fun with your friends."
Miguel studied me for a minute. "I'll take you home. Or maybe I can drive you, Ty, and Kaya to the bowling alley? And then I can come get you later."
Kaya, Ty, and I usually ended up in the bowling alley at some point during this events anyway. Usually we walked because it wasn't far from Gryphon, but I wasn't about to turn away a free ride.
"If you're sure," I said. "I'll be fine in a few minutes."
Miguel put one hand on my shoulder. "Mavis, as Captain America, it would be my honor to take you to the bowling alley."
"You are literally the worst," I laughed, shoving his hand away.
Miguel laughed. "I'll tell Kaya and Ty to get ready."
I rolled my eyes as he walked back into Gryphon. Through the window, I saw him make his way toward Kaya and Ty. Kaya had all of her braids piled into a neat bun on top of her head and when she nodded at Miguel, I thought it was going to tip over. She always took things a little too seriously, as evidenced by the look on her face, her lips pressed into a thin line. Ty, on the other hand, was as calm as ever. Miguel could have told him the store was boring down and he wouldn't have moved any faster.
I was about to go back inside to grab my cupcake because I didn't trust Ty not to eat it when I heard a crash come from the alley next to Gryphon.
It was probably a cat, I told myself, but I took a few steps toward the alley anyway and peered around the corner. At first, I couldn't see anything. Then, as my eyes adjusted to the dark, I could just make out a faint blue glow against the back wall.
There was another crash, but I couldn't see what had made it.
"Hello?" I called. I took a couple steps into the alley and stopped. "Hello?" I called again. "Is someone there?"
The blue light started to move.
At first it was slow, coming out from behind the dumpster and moving along the alley's back wall. That was when I saw it was more like a ball, with the light emanating out from a central point. It started to move faster, bouncing off the walls so fast I couldn't keep my eyes on it. And then the ball of light came right toward me.
I stumbled back to get away from it, but was too slow.
It slammed into my chest and the light was gone.
All that was left was pain.
Author's Note: Hello there! It's been a minute! I've decided to go back and revise/edit Accidental Avenger before moving forward. I think it's worth a re-read to see what I've changed, because I plan to change a lot. I don't have a set upload schedule, I'm just going to be posting these revised chapters as I get them done, and then I think I'm going to go back to my weekly update schedule.
Sorry I've been sort of... not here lol. I just lost all desire to write this fic, but I didn't want to end it, but I also didn't want to force myself to write and completely lose all joy in this project. I genuinely love Accidental Avenger and I really love all of you for wanting to read and engage with this story I'm creating. I felt like it was best for me to step away for as long as I needed before I could come back and put out quality work again. One step toward that is going back and editing my old work. I know I can do better, and you deserve better.
If you want to keep up with me, I have a Tumblr. My blog name is dinodude52. I used to have a Twitter, but I deleted that when I lost my motivation for for this project.
Thank you for sticking with me!