I blearily make my way through the throngs of students on my way to the cafeteria. Ever since those villains attacked the school a few weeks ago, the school has amped up the security, and that severely cut down on my sleep time since that meant they closed the school gates earlier too. Not only that, but people have been super paranoid about a student going to our school being Spider-Man.
Four hours of sleep, training for the new Aigile performance, weird dreams after that day in the park, and now this . . . I let out a tired sigh, rubbing my eyes. Stupid early morning assembly . . . when I enter, I looked around for MJ and Harry knowing Peter was going to be late, and head for them. I spot Ava and the boys before I do, stopping by their table with a smile.
"Morning gals and pals, how goes the day?" I greet them with a two-fingered salute.
"'Gals and pals?'" Luke muses with a quirk of his brow.
"Blame my lack of witty greetings on my lack of sleep." I yawn.
"Got that right, you look horrible Ari." Sam not-so-tactfully points out, I send him a dark glare and whack him across the head with my textbook. "Ow!"
"Lack of sleep also makes me a bit more prone to violence, Sammy." I voice darkly as he gulps and scoots away from me.
"Maybe you should try taking it easy; can't Madam Paola give you a few days off?" Danny inquires. I shake my head.
"I would if I could, but this month's performance is really important to Aigile, I can't let her down like that."
"What if you pass out during your performance, or maybe here at school?" Ava chastises, giving me one of her stern looks.
"That's . . . a good point." I sigh as MJ waves me over. "I'll think about it, okay?" with that, I make my way over to the redhead, and as soon as I sit down, I fold my arms and let my head rest against them on the table.
"Ari . . ?" MJ trails off worriedly, I lazily open one eye to look at her.
"Sorry, just really tired," I mumble. "Wake me when the principal starts yammering, yeah?" without waiting for her to respond, I doze off.
A shadow silently whisks themselves on the rooftops, shouts of protest against his presence buzzing in the background. The city below him is quiet, and dimly lit by the fires of the street lamps that illuminate the roads. Seeing a large gap coming up ahead of him, a smirk tilts his lips as he accelerates and leaps. The blood-red shoulder cape billows behind him before he lands on the tips of his toes and crouches, rolling to the other lower side and looking back at the archers that were chasing him.
"Uccidilio!" [1] One of the men orders but he's too fast. As soon as one of the arrows was sent, he's off again as the arrows embed themselves into the tiles. The fleeing man continued to skit in the shadows until he felt it was safe enough to stop and get his bearings.
He spots a tower and decides that was to be the perfect spot. Latching onto a cavity in the brickwork, he scales the walls, grabbing onto jutting bricks and thin metal poles that were latched on to the tower. In minutes he hoists himself up onto the roost-like structure and gazes down at the city below, making a mental map of the area.
Standing with an unnatural grace he leaps, arms spread wide, and landing on his back on a pile of hay. He emerges from the cart, blending into the crowd as he makes his way to a three-story brick building, flourished with red banners and flowers. He knocks three times before entering and inside it is lavishly decorated with hues of red and purple, giving the room a kind of sensual feel. A woman in a beautiful maroon dress greets him as he pulls back his hood, revealing sharp hazel eyes. Eyes like my own.
"The deed is done." he murmurs lowly.
I'm pulled out of my dream by a nudging at my side. I blink my eyes open, meeting the sky blue eyes of Peter.
"Took the liberty of waking you, have a nice nap?" he smiles. I rub my eyes, feeling a tad bit more refreshed and I stretch my arms above my head.
"Had a weird dream . . ." I utter, my voice thick with sleep. "But yeah, what did I miss?"
"We were just talking about who Spider-Man could be," MJ says.
"You guys should totally help me spread the rumor it's me," Harry says leaning in. "Girls love heroes." He grins with a mischievous twinkle in his eyes.
"It probably is you Harry; those webs he squirts must be pretty expensive." MJ notes; wiggling her pink nail polished fingers for effect.
The body build isn't quite the same . . . judging from what I've seen on television, at least. But I would lie if I said I wasn't at least a little curious too. I glance over at Peter. It's a long shot, but maybe . . .
"MJ, Spider-Man doesn't squirt, he shoots, and I don't think it's a good idea for anyone to pose as him—" he's cut off as the big blonde gorilla known as Flash somehow manages to knock him off of his seat without knocking MJ or me off. I frown at his presence.
"Speaking of squirts," he sneers down at Peter who immediately stands to face him, but before he can utter a word, the newly minted Principle Coulson intervenes.
"Parker, Thompson, pay attention." He says pointedly before continuing. "Your gym teacher, Mr. Moleskin will be out due to an accident after the game last night." A tall muscular man wearing a grey shirt with the sleeves ripped off and a pair of black (way too short) shorts stands beside him, grinning widely. "Mr. Yeager will be your substitute until further notice."
"I'm looking forward to unlocking your . . . hidden abilities." He says, taking a few steps forward and scanning the crowd. I quirk a brow, for some reason that sounded a bit . . . odd, like it was double-sided. Shrugging it off, the principle dismisses us to go on to our next class. We all split ways going to our assigned classrooms as Danny falls into step with me.
"Feeling better?" he asks, his hands in his front pockets.
"A little, I'm not cranky anymore at least so Sam should be safe." I snicker.
"I'm sure he'll be relieved at the news." he laughs. "But seriously, you have to rest up Ari. We're all worried; we don't want anything happening to you." I look away with a small blush.
"Thank you for worrying, but really I'm okay."
"You'll talk to Madam Paola?"
"Cross my heart." I smile.
The day seems to blur together and I manage to catch a few naps in between classes for a change with no more strange dreams of which I'm glad for. Before I know it gym, has arrived and I'm changing into my uniform in the girl's locker room.
"Ari, you are so lucky . . ." MJ pouts as I turn to her with a questioning gaze. "You have a killer bod!"
"Well considering I am a performer it's kind of normal." I laugh, tugging my thick hair into a ponytail. "Besides I have to follow a really strict diet plan too, I only snack a few times a week." She pokes my stomach with a blank look on her face.
"Hard as a rock . . ." she mumbles.
"Quit it, you're not so bad yourself Miss Watson or should I say Mary Jane 'long legs' Watson?" her cheeks burn a little pink as she slaps my arm.
"Don't start with that, I thought I left that name behind last semester!" she gripes as we step outside. We were a bit early so a few of the students were warming up or just sitting around until Mr. Yeager arrives. Off to the side, I spot what looked to be an obstacle course that looks like it just came fresh out of a military training camp.
Figures he was in the army . . . "I call the hula-hoop!" I call out, snatching it from the bin.
"I'm pretty sure you're the only one who—" MJ begins just as a rather burly boy passes by, hula-hooping away with a fierce look of concentration on his face. "Never mind . . ."
You do you, hula-hoop boy.
I slip the hoop over my head, resting it on my side as I begin to rotate my hips. "MJ can you throw me another one?" she blinks a bit before tilting her head.
"Uh, are you sure?" I give her a thumbs up and with a shrug, she lifts another one and tosses it. Her aim is a bit off, but stepping to the side I manage to catch it so that it was swinging around me with the first one. A few of the other students looked on some impressed and others smiling at my antics.
Bringing smiles to the people I perform in front of is what I like doing the best!
"Liking the way you move Kateri!" Flash calls out, wolf-whistling along with his goons and it takes all I had not to flash him my favorite finger.
With my mood officially ruined, I get an idea. I hop a bit so the first one falls off and I bump it harmlessly off to the side. Grinning wickedly to myself, I mimicked the action with the second one, rotating it with my leg but this time I make sure the hoop hopped up a bit and launch it with my foot to hit him square in the forehead, knocking him back onto his butt.
"Oops! I'm sorry, did that hit your face Flash?" I apologize sweetly. "I guess I kicked it a little too hard," I say flatly turning on my heel to pick up the one that I dropped.
"I'm not usually one to resort to violence, but that was a pretty good shot." MJ nods as his goons help him up.
"I tried to hold back." I shrug. "I'm pretty sure I didn't hit him that hard . . . I think." A whistle, this time one that sounded impressed, catches our attention. We turn to see Luke and the others, walking over to us.
"Hate to say it, but he had it coming."
"I hold no objections to any statements, Luke." I grin.
"I just wish I got it on camera!" Sam sighs, wiping a tear from his eye since he was too busy laughing.
"Two shots in one day, eh?" Danny remarks.
"I'm on a roll!" I look up at his forehead and narrow my eyes. "What's wrapped around your head?"
"It's a sweatband!"
I blink, pulling at it a bit before shrugging. "No offense, but for a minute I thought you were injured . . ."
"None taken, does it look bad?"
"Nah, you somehow manage to pull it off."
"Thanks." he smiles, his eyes locking onto my ponytail. "I like what you did with your hair." Fortunately, the others are still chatting about the hula-hoop incident to hear our little exchange.
"U-um, thank you. It's only a ponytail though . . ." I say, playing with it and averting my eyes from his. My brain decides now would be a good time to think of the day at the amusement park, when he had said I had nice eyes.
"True, but you're usually hiding behind your hair, it's a nice change." The blowing of a whistle (this time it was an actual one) quiets everyone down as Coach Yeager tossed a bright red ball up and down into the air.
"As you can see, today's game is Dodge ball. I want you to split up into teams of two. Thompson, Osborn, you're the captains. Pick your teams and face off." he instructs as the two stand in front of the group. They choose their teams and luckily (and by that I mean a bit of silent arguing with Harry) we end up playing with Danny and the others on our team.
As soon as the game starts, I can tell Flash is trying to get back at me for completely owning his butt by trying to hit me especially hard with the ball. I inwardly scoff, as if! I dodge to the side to let it bounce off the wall and catch it to launch it back to his teammate. He glares at me and I waved back with a smirk. He returns one of his own and readies another ball.
"It's on now!" he shouts, throwing the ball way off to my right. I turn and winced as Peter got a face full of rubber. I would word it differently but either way, it would sound perverse. "You lose!" he laughs as Ava walks over to the whiz kid. I roll my eyes as coach blows the whistle again, signaling us all to group up.
"For this part of the class, I'm looking for a finalist to compete in the city-wide Athletic Achievement Contest." he begins as he paces in front of us. "I want to see all of you give it your all, don't give me anything less than one-hundred and ten percent!" he pauses before pointing at our resident bully. "Thompson, go!" the gorilla puffs up his chest, stepping away from the line.
"I'll show you how it's done!"
After he went, Ava was up next followed by Danny then Harry and Sam then Luke. They all passed rather well, up until Luke got stuck in the swinging tires because of his size. Peter was up next and after a . . . interesting display of his physical abilities coach decided not to even bother with his assessment and calls me up.
"Go get 'em, Ari!" MJ cheers. I give her a thumbs up, followed by a grin as I stretch to limber up.
"Go!" coach shouts. Climbing the wall is a cinch and as I reach the top, I prepare to jump off when my vision suddenly doubles and I can feel myself falling off the side. A flash of yellow and a white is the last thing I can remember seeing before I blackout.
Running. The man from my dreams was running again, hood down and behind him is an unconscious or dead man leaning on the corner of a wagon. The man running is a bit older now, dark hair still tied back in a low ponytail and dark stubble on his chin. His eyes, ever sharp are narrowed in concentration.
His black robes billow behind him as he sprints through a town, pushing through the crowds of civilians, stumbling here and there as he approaches a group of men chasing a beautiful woman dark-haired woman.
"Ezio!" She shouts out to him.
"Christina, run!" he cries out desperate. He aims his bracer to one of her attackers and shoots him down with a bullet. She continues running as Ezio takes down another with a blade that pops out of the gauntlet he wears. He follows after her, shooting down another guard that was tailing him. He chases down the last of her attackers, unsheathing his sword as the two begin to clash but Ezio has the upper hand in experience and ends the man's life with a hole in his gut. He puts away his sword to go to the kneeling woman, who is holding her side, her skin ashen.
"Christina . . ." he picks her up carefully, supporting her body with his strong arms, mindful of her wounds.
She looks up at him through glazed brown eyes. "Ezio . . ?" she lets out a soft cry of pain as he shushes her.
"Hold on, I'll get you to a doctor . . . you're going to be alright." He assures her calmly, but his eyes are panicked, showing his distress.
"No, Ezio . . . I don't think I am . . ." he tries to take a step forward, but he can see the blood staining his clothes. He sets her down, holding her close.
"No!" tears begin to prick at the corners of his eyes. "Don't . . . don't go, stay with me, please! Christina . . ." she smiles up at him, placing a gentle hand on his cheek.
"Oh, Ezio . . . I've always been with you." She gestures to her necklace and gingerly takes the memento in his hands, a look of recollection sparking in his eyes.
"You still have it . . . ?" he utters and she gasps then, her eyes beggining to dim.
"I wish . . . I wish we could have had . . . a second . . . chance . . ." she whimpers as he smooths her hair back. She leans into his touch as her eyes slide shut and her body goes limp, a final breath escaping her lips. Setting his lips into a thin line, he slides a hand over her face, his voice thick with tears and a heart drowning in sadness.
"Requiescat en pace . . . my love . . ." he clutches her tighter, kissing her forehead and rocking her as he silently weeps.
A bright light wakes me up from another memory and I turn to see the sunlight streaming from the windows of the infirmary. I sit up, brushing my fingers against my eyes for them to come back wet. My eyes widen at the discovery and the curtain that separated me from the other beds slides back slowly to reveal Danny, his eyes shining with worry at my crying state.
I quickly wipe my eyes in vain as the tears wouldn't stop as he makes his way over to me, taking my hand I didn't realize I was outstretching and quietly letting the tears run their course. I hiccup, holding my free hand to my forehead. Was this how Ezio felt? His love . . . I remember seeing her in some of my other dreams .
God . . . this was too much . . . this pain was too much.
"It's okay Ari . . . just let it out . . ." he murmurs softly, rubbing soothing circles on my palm. I nod to show I'm listening.
"T-thank y-you . . ." I manage to stutter, as he gives me a tender smile. When I finally calm down, I breathe in a big gulp of air, thankful that I didn't feel my face puff up.
"Better?"
"Better." I sniffle. "But embarrassed. You always manage to catch me whenever I'm an emotional wreck."
"I don't mind it one bit, to be honest. Not that I like to see you cry but . . ." I blink, tilting my head to the side but he just shakes off whatever he was just about to say. "Never mind. So, what happened? Everyone freaked when you passed out." I remember the flash of blond I saw when I was falling and I feel my face pale.
"Please don't tell me Flash caught me . . ." he laughs at my expression, shaking his head.
"No, I did."
"Thank God . . ." I sigh in relief, leaning back against the metal headboard. "Thank you, again then. I'm really starting to owe you a lot . . ."
"Don't mention it, and don't think of it that way, if it bothers you." He says tucking a lock of my hair behind my ear, leaving a tingling sensation on my cheek where his fingers brushed my skin. "So what happened? The only time I've seen you like this was when you saw that vision in the park."
"It was similar this time. The man in my vision, Ezio . . . he lost the love of his life." I furrow my brows, staring at the wall straight ahead.
" . . . You saw it all?"
I nod, absentmindedly placing a hand over my heart. "The loss of a loved one . . . it's hard to explain but his sadness was lingering, almost as if something withered inside him when he lost her. . ."
He was quiet for a moment before speaking. "That kind of pain is hard to deal with, but time heals all wounds and we can't let ourselves linger on the past or else we'll lose ourselves to it."
"My mom used to say something along the lines of that," I say, suddenly aware that his hand is still holding mine. He must have noticed too and slowly releases his hold, looking away and running a hand through his hair, his cheeks a very slight pink. "So, how did everyone do on the course? Obviously I didn't make the cut, right?" I ask, changing the subject.
"Harry, Flash and I have to come in tomorrow . . ." he utters lowly, obviously not happy with coming in on a Saturday.
"That sucks man . . . how about afterward I stop by and bring over some snacks? If you like milk pudding I know this really good place and—"
"Ari," he interrupts. "You passed out today because of exhaustion. What you need to do is rest."
"Madam Paola will probably give me a good lecture on my health too . . ." I say lowly, already dreading the phone call.
"MJ already called and explained the situation. You have the next five days free, so use it to relax."
I pout a little, going over the loss in my head. "That's a week's pay . . . I guess I can use my vacation days."
"That a girl, don't strain yourself."
"I still want to bring snacks; you and Harry will probably be starving by the time you get out," I say, crossing my arms over my chest.
"Okay, okay, but afterward you have to go straight home. It's going to be hot tomorrow and the last thing we need is you passing out from heatstroke."
"You're starting to sound like MJ," I laugh. "So did I sleep through the rest of school?" he nods, leaning back in his seat.
"You did, I just got back from my last class." Just then the curtain pulls away again to reveal three familiar figures, worry coloring their faces.
"Ari!" MJ gasps, running over to wrap me in a tight hug. "Do you have any idea how worried we were?!" she demands, sending me a stern look.
"Yeah and I'm sorry. I really did feel fine in the morning."
"I'm just glad Rand here managed to catch you," Harry says sincerely, patting the blond on the shoulder.
"The blue padding didn't exactly seem soft enough to fall face-first into," Peter remarks, sending him a thankful nod.
"Thanks again, Danny." I smile, turning my head to face him.
"I brought your clothes from your locker," MJ says handing me my bag and my neatly folded clothes. She must have done it since I just shove my stuff in.
"Thanks, Red. The last thing I need is walking home in my gym uniform . . ." I cringe.
"We'll leave you alone to change, c'mon boys." She voices as they begin to file out. Swinging my feet over the bed, I slip off my shorts, pulling on my pants, and changing my shirt. There's a mirror beside the bed and I groan at my reflection.
"Severe bed head . . ." digging into my bag, I pull out my brush and run it through my hair to make it look at least somewhat presentable. Stepping out from behind the curtain, I hook my bag around my shoulder and bid the nurse goodbye, thanking her for letting my friends visit. It was going to be a long week, but I kind of looked forward to relaxing a bit. Maybe now I could hang out with the others instead of just goofing around for a few hours and then heading off to work.
++++++++++++++
The following morning, I wake up especially early to keep my promise to Danny (and Harry too!) and walk the few blocks from the bakery to the school. It was a little before noon so they most likely would be getting out soon, but I hadn't heard a word from him so I decide to get there to a bit early to see what was up. Along with the milk puddings, I bought a few other pastries and freshly baked meat-filled patties for Harry and spinach and feta ones for Danny.
Walking up to the gates of the school I'm about to reach out to grab onto them to hoist myself up over it until I hear a slight humming sound. I pause looking around the ground for something to throw when I spot a small rock. I toss it into the gate and step back with a gasp as it comes back charred.
"What the . . . why the heck is it electrified?" Now that my curiosity is piqued, I adjust my bag to hang closer to my back and make sure the zipper and flap are securely locked. I run a few paces back and run at the gate jumping and flipping over the bars, my hand almost brushing the metal poles. I landed in a roll, taking care to not crush the snacks.
I throw another nearby pebble at the doors to see if anything was wired but fortunately, it was good to go. I slowly open the front doors, peaking into the dark hallways and sneaking in. Never thought I would be doing this . . . I keep my eyes peeled for anything suspicious and move forward.
Everything is extremely creepy, what with the darkness and all. Deciding it was best to use my special vision, I'm surprised to find different points of the floors and walls highlighted in red. I look down to see my foot a mere centimeters away from one of them. I step away slowly, going for the clear path that leads around the corner.
It's a bit challenging, seeing as I have to use a bit of what I learned from the Cirque to get through, but up ahead I spot a door that's shining with an eerie green light. Part of me knows that in most movies I've seen, it never leads to anything good, but I ignore that nagging little voice in my head and take a peek inside.
"Principle Coulson?" I twitch, at the sight. He's hanging upside down over a glowing green tub of noxious looking goop.
In nothing but his underwear.
That was an image I will never get out of my mind . . .
"What—Kateri?! What are you doing here, do you have any idea how much danger you're in?!"
"No offense, but I'm not the one hanging over a tub of . . . whatever that is. What's going on? The fence is electrified and the school is completely rigged!" I say as his eyes widen.
"Did you get hurt?"
"No, I . . . avoided them. What about the students who are with Coach Yeager? Are they okay?" I ask eagerly.
"I don't know, I was knocked out but that's not the problem here. You are in serious danger here and you need to get out!"
"Not without Harry, Danny and— reluctantly— Flash." Without another word I leave, heading straight for the gym. In my rush, I step on a loose tile and get a sinking feeling in my stomach as a pike launches itself at me from a locker. I yelp and do a handspring to avoid getting skewered, two more shooting at me and I dive to the floor, rolling into a safe spot.
I can feel my heart racing in my chest as I catch my breath, I look back to access the damage and feel a chill go down my spine at the ruined walls.
"Holy . . ." I gulp, standing and getting my bearings to move forward despite the creeping sense of fear that began to worm its way into my mind. If the school was rigged . . . that means that the others could be caught up in a trap.
Up ahead there's a full block of red with no path through it, except . . .
I jog back a little, giving myself a running start before I launch myself off the wall to leap to the clear point. At times like these, I'm glad I decided to take those gymnastic classes Madam Paola insisted on.
Running past a corridor, I instantly backtrack to see a flash of blue and let out a gasp as I spot Danny on the ground, unmoving.
"Oh God . . ." I rush over to him, the front part of the hallway he was facing blocked by a metal wall with an eagle on it. "D-Danny?" I stutter, flipping him over on to his back carefully. He's breathing which is a relief as I let out a breath. I smack his face lightly, trying to get him to wake up and I'm rewarded with a pained groan.
"Ari . . ?" he grunts as I help him up into a sitting position.
"What happened?" I ask, my mind running a million miles an hour.
"I was knocked out by a guy in a mask . . ." There's been a lot of that going around. "What are you doing here?" he asks rubbing his head with a wince.
"I was worried and the whole school has gone wonky! Principle Coulson was hanging upside down from his feet over green goop in his underwear, and I almost got skewered and I think I crushed the chocolate conch I was saving for later!" I let out all at once. He quirks a brow at my rambling. "Sorry for yammering. I'm nervous . . ."
"It's okay. Wait . . . are you hurt?"
"No, I'm fine." He gently takes my chin and tilts my head to the side.
"You're bleeding." I brush my fingers against my temple and wince. Looking down at them, they're stained a dark red
"I didn't notice . . . but it seemed to have stopped. Are the others okay?"
"I don't know. While I was fighting that guy I had to push them underneath that wall to let them escape." I nod, standing and helping him up to his feet. "It's too dangerous to go after them now, what we have to do is escape."
"We can't just leave them to fend for themselves, Danny, they could get hurt— or worse!"
"He was looking for Spider-Man, and I have a feeling he'll be showing up soon." he counters.
I sigh, running a hand through my hair. "How do you know that?" there was the sound of an explosion above us and I pale.
"Spider-Man, watch out!" I can hear a voice shout before there's another blast.
"Alright, good call. Can you move okay?"
"I think so, aside from a killer headache, I'll live." I give him a crooked smile gesturing for him to follow my lead.
"Have to say that unique vision you have really comes in handy in situations like these. You know, if it happened often."
"Luckily it doesn't, eh?" I grin, suddenly feeling a bit woozy. I shake it away, focusing on avoiding the various red splotches. "Watch out for that spot there and on the wall to your right," I say, hiding the fatigue in my voice and hopefully sounding convincing.
"Ari . . . are you sure you're okay? You look pale."
"Y-yeah totally fine! Just a little hungry I guess. But I have to help you through the school, I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you guys."
"You—" before he can finish his sentence, the lights click back on and all of the red marks disappear. "Looks like Spider-Man did it." Danny smiles looking up at the ceiling. There's the sound of rushing footsteps and Principle Coulson round the corner this, time in a suit, along with officers dressed in blue with a symbol of an eagle on their chest.
"Thank goodness you're alright! Come with me, there's an ambulance outside if you're injured." He said as Danny and him exchange glances.
"Thanks for finding me, Ari. Though I wish you wouldn't put yourself in danger . . ." the blond says with a thankful smile
"I'm prone to doing stupid things without thinking. Oh!" I reach into my bag, handing him a croissant. "I believed I promised snacks, right?"
"After today, I'm starved."
Outside, we are both immediately ushered to the paramedics, and thanks to the extra strain from today my blood sugar is low once again. Luckily enough I have food with me, or they would have sent me to the hospital right then and there. They also treated my forehead and checked Danny out for any injuries and aside from a bump on the head he was fine.
"I guess that headband could come in handy now huh?" he jokes as I smile, chewing on a ham and cheese croissant. "I'm going to go talk to the Principal, will you be okay?"
"Yup!" I reply, swinging my feet from my seat at the back of the ambulance van. With an amused smile, he hops off, heading towards him. I stare down at my feet, sipping on some tea a nice paramedic named Donna gave to me.
I still don't understand what went on here today . . . and there wasn't any sign of Mr. Yeager here either. Something's off, why was the school so wired up, anyway? Why does our school need that kind of high tech gear? My thoughts wander to the eagle that was engraved onto the wall.
Wait, that symbol . . . I've seen it somewhere before, but where?
"Miss Kateri, do you mind if I have a word with you?" a pair of black boots appear in mu vision and I blink looking up at a trench coat clad man. His head is clean-shaven and he sports a goatee. His left eye is covered by an eye patch as he stares down at me with a serious expression. I gulp, immediately feeling nervous in front of this man.
"Y-yes?"
"My name is Nick Fury; during the time your school was closed we caught your little stunt on our monitoring systems when we regained control." I jump a bit at the glare he sends me,
"Uh, well you see sir, I—"
"I'm not interested in your excuses." I shut my mouth, sitting up straight for some reason.
"Am . . . am I in some kind of trouble?" I whimper, gripping my cup. He's silent, just staring down at me before his lips tilted in a slight smirk. I think.
"Those are definitely the eyes."
I blink, confused. "H-Huh?"
"You are far from trouble, Miss Kateri. Although breaking into a school is considered a crime . . . I'd like to know if I can interest you in a . . . proposition. Have you heard of SHIELD?" it's then when the image of the eagle on the wall flashes in my mind.
"That's it! It's that organization that people are talking about! Everybody knows about it, but not what they do!" I exclaim, standing up at my revelation. He raises a brow at me and I blush and sit back down. "Sorry . . . but what's this proposition you'ret talking about?"
"I'd like to invite you to a special program I'm running, in training heroes with potential."
"H-Heroes?!" I squeak. "Sir, I don't think I'm—"
"Oh but you are, I've seen what you can do. I've also seen what you can do at your Cirque and I promise you if you agree, you'll be training with the best. The Ultimate."
"But . . ." there is a blur of red and blue and when I blink Spider-Man is standing beside us.
"Director Fury, what seems to be the issue here?" he asks in a deep voice, obviously trying too hard to disguise it.
"He wants me . . . to join the hero program . . ." I say, looking down at the ground in uncertainty. But why?
"What?!" his voice cracks but he quickly composes himself. "Fury I don't know what you're thinking but she's just a high-schooler! She can't just jump into this, it's too dangerous!"
"She has what it takes, Spider-Man. So what do you say?" I finally look up, setting my mouth into a thin line.
"No." my response didn't seem to catch him by surprise, but my hunch was that he always kept that poker face on. "Spider-Man is right, it's too dangerous . . ."
"That was a halfhearted response." he scoffs as Spider-Man glared at him.
"Don't listen to him, you made the right choice." Director Fury turns on his heel, his coat flapping behind him.
"What if I gave you the information you've been looking for these past few years?" he says looking over his shoulder at me.
"Information? About what?" Spider-Man asks taking the words out of my mouth. He couldn't mean. . .
" . . . Kele." he says.
I feel my body go rigid at the name as the paper cup I'm holding is crushed in my grip. "Hey . . ." I stand, glaring at the director. "How do you know about him?" I practically growl, scowling at the man who seems satisfied with my reaction.
"There are those eyes." he murmurs. "Are you interested now, Miss Kateri?" I sink my nails into my palms, drawing blood.
"You didn't answer my question, Director," I state eerily calm despite the anger that's swirling within me.
"We've done some investigating on Kele's whereabouts, but I only reveal information to agents—"
"I'll do it." I quickly reply, much to Spider-Man's dismay.
"You don't know what you're getting into, A— young lady!" he bellows. "Fury, this isn't playing fair!"
"Last time I checked it wasn't your decision, Spider-Man." He shoots back, and then he turns to me. "I'll contact you soon."
"Right." I nod as he walks away, I turn my stare to the ground, feeling my fists shake at my sides.
"Hey, are you sure that was—" I slide my eyes to him, cutting him off and I can sense his discomfort. I slowly unclench my fingers, ugly, bright red, crescent indents marring my palm as I place the back of my hand over my eyes.
"Sorry, I made you uncomfortable . . . but it's my decision and I'm doing it." I say lowly, sitting back down. His little outburst back there drew the attention of the others and I can just see Danny and Harry making their way over to us.
"No, no, it's alright . . . but do you mind if I ask who this person is that could make you join something so dangerous?" I grit my teeth, taking in a deep breath to calm myself down.
"That man abandoned us when we needed him . . ." I mutter resting my forearms on my thighs and staring down at my hands. Blood was slowly trickling from my wounds, but I can't feel the sting as I feel it boil in my veins.
"Abandoned . . ?"
"That man . . . that bastard my mother never lost faith in even up until she died. That man who didn't even show up to his own wife's funeral . . . is my father."
[1] "Kill him!"
Authors Note:
Chapter four done! Finally, we have a little bit more info on Ari, too! Sorry if anyone gets a little impatient with me on revealing more about her but . . . learning too much all at once tends to be a little overwhelming, right? I'm looking forward to showing you guys what makes her tick. =D
This chapter wasn't as bad to edit as my previous ones, but the next one . . . is going to take some work. There are a few scenes I might have to completely cut or re-write and just thinking about it is giving me a headache. These first few chapters I think spanning on to chapter five, I think are just stepping stones into the main plot I have in my mind.
Thank you lovelies for the views! Just seeing that number jump up just a little bit makes me so happy~ <3 if you guys have any questions please feel free to ask and I will answer to the best of my ability without spoiling it too much!
Have a wonderful day, love you all!
P.S
Apologies for the delay in this chapter, life has been pretty crazy since the last update but I assure you I have not abandoned this story! Thank you so much to NachtNight for messaging me! Messages from you all help this unworthy authoress' soul.
--MissHattress