Today, Jocelyn learned a valuable lesson: Life was truly a bitch when it wanted to be.
After rejecting Spiderman, Jocelyn didn't know what to do or where to do. She shut off her phone to ignore all of her friends texts. She didn't want to go home to put up a fake act or confide in her friends. She was alone.
But she didn't hate it. It brought her to a lonesome bench in the park allowing her to think of everything that happened that day and how screwed up her life is. Mainly the fact Peter rejected her and probably won't speak to her again, or her rejecting Spiderman and he probably won't speak to her again.
Other than her mom's death and the day One Direction broke up, this was the worst day ever.
Screaming and shouting in the distance brought Jocelyn back to reality and shot up from the bench feeling her emotions get shoved down and her adrenaline begin to kick in. She could pity about her life later but someone else is in trouble. She glanced around trying to locate the direction of the shouting discovering it coming from the shoreline.
Jocelyn broke out into a sprint towards the screams, stumbling out of the park and into a crowd. All of the citizens were staring out towards the water and a few were filming it with their phones. Jocelyn ran through the crowd to get to the front and found what caught everyones attention.
A ferry was being attacked by a flying mechanical bird man, shooting lasers at someone aboard the ship. Seeing spiderwebs shoot back implied that Spiderman was the target aboard the ship. Jocelyn swore under her breath and without hesitation, flew off towards the boat wondering what trouble Spiderman was in now.
Jocelyn kept her eyes on the fight watching as Spiderman and the flying bird-man playing tug-a-war with the laser gun. The bird man lost his grip on the gun and it flew towards the boat. Bursts of lasers shot in the sky, making Jocelyn fly faster in fear.
The bird man didn't look worried that he lost his weapon, but he looked rather amused of Spiderman's actions and flew off towards to escape, unknowingly towards Jocelyn. Jocelyn threw a gust of wind in his direction catching him off guard and flew him back. He groaned annoyed and glared at the teenage hero, hovering in the air. Jocelyn flew towards him with anger in her eyes her hands clenched at her side ready to punch the villain and fight him in the air.
"I wouldn't do that if I were you!" The man shouted a warning to Jocelyn. Jocelyn narrowed her eyes confused getting closer to the masked man. "I think you have bigger problems to deal with."
And she did.
A bright light shot from the ferry boat and temporarily blinded Jocelyn, making her hover in the air and shielded her eyes. The bird man took that to his advantage and flew off while she was distracted. When Jocelyn opened her eyes, she saw the bird man was flying off and was ready to chase after him
But then she heard screaming. Jocelyn glanced back at the ferry seeing it beginning to sink, literally being cut down the middle. Her mouth opened partially in fear at the sight, hearing the guests aboard screaming for help. And without hesitation, Jocelyn began flying towards it.
Jocelyn was still far out that she wasn't sure she was going to make it. To her luck, she saw a red and blue figure jumping back and forth between the two sides of the boat to connect a web to each side. Finally arriving to the ferry, Jocelyn landed on the port of the boat to witness one of the webs snapping. She gasped when Spiderman lunged at it, grabbing it and held onto it tightly holding the boat together by a single web and his muscles.
Jocelyn watched in awe of the heroism. And she couldn't help but notice Spiderman's muscles, beginning to wonder if he always had those.
She shook herself from her thought knowing he couldn't stay that way. It would quite literally tear him apart. Closing her eyes and taking a deep breath, Jocelyn held out her two hands to form magic in each. White orbs of magic brewed in her hand and she turned her palms towards another, moving them closer together. The wind around the boat picked up and the boat began moving together once again.
"Aura!" She heard Spiderman shout in fear but she didn't stop.
She continued moving her palms together, the wind picking up faster. Her throat got dry and sweat tricked on her cheek. Her arms and hands began shaking from her palms getting closer but the boat was creaking along with it. It was working but she had never used this much power at once and was draining her.
"Kid!" A new male voice announced. "Stop! I can take it from here."
Jocelyn didn't know who spoke up but his voice was familiar. Jocelyn knew she couldn't continue and obeyed the strangers command, her hands dropped to her side, feeling physically exhausted to argue. She fell to her knees exhausted and began panting, staring down at her hands. A light purple glow came from them which was something Jocelyn never seen before.
The boat creaked from something pushing the two sides together and eventually slammed back together back with a thud. Jocelyn was staring at her palms watching the purple glow fade away, making her wonder why her magic was purple. Usually it was white or white with hints of purple. But never had she seen it that colour or felt that powerful yet weak at the same time.
"Yeah, Iron Man!" A passenger from the ferry began to cheer.
Jocelyn looked up hearing familiar voices. Iron Man was flying and approaching her while shooting lasers on the cracks of the ferry sealing them up. Spiderman was chaotically following him, suppressed with guilt for what just happened.
"Uh, Mr. Stark?" Spiderman shouted running after Iron Man. "Hey Mr. Stark! Could I do anything? What do you want me to do?" He asked.
Iron Man suit stopped flying and began walking towards Aura, scanning her for injuries. He glanced back at the teenage boy in spandex and Jocelyn could see the glare he was giving, although he was wearing a metal mask.
"I think you've done enough." Iron Man snapped back.
Spiderman shoulders slumped sadly and glanced past Iron Man seeing Aura. Iron Man walked over to the girl and offered a hand up. Jocelyn took it and tried to stand but failed, her legs collapsing underneath her. Iron Man caught her before she could hit the ground and picked the girl up bridal style.
Aura glanced past Iron man and caught Spiderman's stare.
Spiderman was filled with even more guilt realizing the danger he unknowingly put Aura in, failing to protect her. The whole point of this was to prove that he could protect her and woo her over by saving the day. But he had failed horribly. Aura gave him a weak nod that she would be okay, flying off in the arms of Iron Man towards the shoreline leaving Spiderman alone with nothing but guilt and sadness.
After a short fly over, Iron Man landed on the shoreline that was filled with cop cars and ambulances with Aura still in his arms.
"I need a medic over here!" Iron Man shouted worriedly. Nurses rushed over with a gurney and stopped in front of the heroes. Iron Man placed the girl on it carefully and the nurses began checking her breathing and circulation, about to wheel her off towards an ambulance when Iron Man's hand shot out and held onto the gurney to stop them. "Wait, give me a minute with the kid." He asked.
The nurses glanced at another wanting to protest but knew better than to argue with Tony Stark. They all nodded and dispersed leaving the two heroes alone, surrounded by the chaos of sirens, shouting, and reporters. Iron Man stared down at the girl who was fighting to stay conscious, feeling guilty for her state.
"D-don't be too hard on him..." Jocelyn muttered referring to Spiderman.
Iron Man breathed a laugh. "Always defending the little guy. You Evan's are a lot alike." He stated amused. Jocelyn's eyes widened and felt more conscious now than ever, hearing Tony Stark speak of her mom. "Look Avatar, I need you to promise to stay out of trouble. Whatever you did on that ferry, it cannot happen again." He warned.
Jocelyn frowned and remained quiet not making promises she can't keep.
Iron Man sighed and his helmet opened to reveal the famous Tony Stark, with a worried look on his face. "Kid, look, this superhero world is a dangerous life. And I may have failed to prevent you being brought into it, but I won't fail keeping you out of it." Tony sighed.
And that was the truth. Ever since the explosion that occurred in Tony Stark's lab that took the life of thousands of lives and granted little Jocelyn Evan superpowers, Tony was determined to protect the little girl at all costs. He had already taken the girls mom away from her and she didn't deserve being put through something so traumatic. When Tony realized she was the only survivor and was the closest to the deadly weapon, he was intrigued with her. He had hired a few undercover S.H.I.E.L.D. agents to watch Jocelyn and when Tony Stark discovered she had powers, he fell concerned.
A girl that young should not have to have that burden on her shoulders. And truthfully, he saw a bit of himself in Jocelyn Evans like he did in Peter Parker. But Jocelyn Evans reminded him more of his mother, hence why he is more worried around Jocelyn compared to the other Queen's hero.
Tony Stark had done everything in his power to make sure no one found out about Jocelyn. Hence why no one recruited her for the fight at Saxony airport against Captain America. He wanted the girl to stay out of the dangerous life because he was the one who brought her into it.
"Y-you can't stop me..." Jocelyn muttered feeling herself slip.
Tony smiled faintly and nodded. "You're a stubborn kid. Just try not to make my life too difficult, hm? I don't need any grey hair any time soon."
Jocelyn hummed softly trying to laugh but failed, slipping unconscious from exhaustion. Tony smiled at the kid and looked up at the nursed, implying they can come to take the girl now. The nurses rushed over and Tony stopped them once again.
"Take her to the hospital in the North end of New York. Give her specifically to Dr. Cho, no one else. And I swear if I find out that anyone took off her mask or see's her without it, other than Dr. Cho, you all will be living on the streets." Tony warned them, shooting them all a glare.
The nurses mumbled agreements and Tony finally let go of the gurney to watch them wheel off the teenage hero. He sighed tiredly but knew she was going to be okay. She was in the hands of the best doctor he knew.
But he couldn't worry about her now. He had to go lecture another teenager about being stupid.
***
(Peter's Pov:)
Peter sighed worriedly staring down at the mask in his hands sitting on the ledge of a building near the shoreline. He watched coast guard boats empty out the ferry, policemen asking bystanders for statements, and ambulances taking away injured victims.
This was all his fault.
How could he have been so stupid to not realize Aura was there? How could he not notice the FBI on board? How could he miss that last support beam that caused the entire boat to sink? How could he have let this happen?
Peter had a lot of regrets that day but his biggest one was putting Aura at risk. Sure he might have destroyed her heart but he still cared deeply for her. When he saw her using her powers to bring the boat back together, her body shake and her magic flicker from white to purple. But the magic seemed to be absorbing her into the light. And it terrified Peter to watch it happen and not being able to do anything about it, regardless of him screaming at her to stop.
"Previously on Peter Screws the Pooch." Tony Stark announces from behind him.
Peter glanced over his shoulder seeing Iron Man hovering on the rooftop behind him. He frowned to himself and looked back down at the mess below him.
"I tell you to stay away from this and instead you hacked a multimillion dollar suit so you can mess around behind my back doing the one thing I told you not to do." Tony Stark retorted.
Peter frowned staring down at his gloved hands. "I-is everyone okay?" He asked his voice cracking in fear. Peter glanced over at Iron Man tears in the corner of his eye, threatening to spill. "Is she okay?" He feared for the answer.
Iron Man gave a subtle nod. "No thanks to you." Iron Man replied.
Peter felt all the emotions of guilt, sadness, hatred build up inside of him . "No thanks to me!?" Peter swung around the ledge and stood up on the building. "Those weapons were out there and I tried to tell you about it, but you didn't listen." Peter snapped annoyed walking towards Iron Man. "None of this would have happened if you had just listened to me! If you even cared, you'd actually be here."
Iron Man's suit suddenly dropped on the rooftop and opened up revealing Tony Stark inside. Tony stepped out of the suit and towards Peter, whose eyes widened in shock taking a few steps back feeling intimidated and worried.
"I did listen, kid." Tony sighed. "Who do you think called the FBI, huh? Do you know that I was the only one who believed in you? Everyone else said I was crazy to recruit a 15 year old kid."
"I'm 16." Peter corrected.
"No, this is where you zip it! All right? The adult is talking." Tony snapped annoyed. "What if somebody had died tonight? Different story, right? Because that is on you. And if you died," Tony sighed. "Then I feel like that is on me. And if the girl died-" Tony's voice trailed off and Peter dropped his head in guilt. "I don't need any of that on my conscious."
"Yes, sir." Peter mumbled guilty. "I'm sorry. I understand-"
"Sorry doesn't cut it." Tony interrupted with a disappointed look.
"I-I just wanted to be like you. Fight criminals, woo the girl." Peter exclaimed sadly.
"And I wanted you to be better." Tony frowned seeing himself more in Peter than he would like to admit. "Okay, it's not working out. I'm gonna need the suit back." Tony announced.
Peter's eyes widened. "What!? For how long?" Peter asked worriedly.
"Forever."
"No, no, please, please, please. Mr. Stark, please this is all I have. I am nothing without this suit." Peter begged desperately knowing his entire plan of wooing Aura would vanish without the suit. Without the suit, he had nothing. He can't lose it!
Tony took a few steps towards Peter. "If you're nothing without this suit then you shouldn't have it. Okay?" Tony snapped. "Gosh, I sound like my dad." He muttered.
"I, uh, I don't have any other clothes." Peter embarrassedly admitted trying to find a way to convince Tony Stark to let him keep the suit. But his attempt failed.
Tony shrugged crossing his arms. "We can take care of that."
And just like that, Peter Parker lost the only thing that connected him to Aura. Now he was back to the sweatpants outfit he made when he was first becoming Spiderman. But he didn't have enough confidence to put that on and confront her, wanting to know if she was okay.