"Spyder," Fury's jarring voice boomed.
I jumped so high I ended up on the ceiling. Again. Mental note: break annoying and revealing habit sometime.
"You are to report to the meeting room, right now. Be prepared."
Sighing, I jumped down from the ceiling, about a twenty-foot fall, and landed without a problem. I slipped my towel off and pulled my costume back on. This should be a doozy of a time, I thought.
I pressed the elevator button and, like before, the doors opened almost immediately. I stepped in silently, thanking the heavens it was empty, and watched the doors slide shut.
A few tension-filled seconds later, I found myself in the "meeting room."
All of the Avengers were there, but suited up this time. This was actually the very first time I had seen them all here, all prepared for... something. Not battle, I hope. Please let it not be battle.
Avengers, assemble. I snickered quietly.
"Hey, you," said a new voice. "I heard that."
I had to really concentrate to keep from, once again, flying up to the ceiling.
But then I realized something. "Hey," I said. "How did you hear that?"
A boy landed (from the ceiling?) a few feet in front of me. He had on a grey sweatshirt and faded blue jeans, but I could sense a aura of power about him. He seemed ready to fight, should the need arise. I wondered why he was here.
He smirked. "Take a guess."
I frowned and brushed by him into the room. "I'll figure it out," I whispered softly so only he could hear.
"So," I said normally, addressing Fury. "What's with the fancy costumes? A party?"
Tony nudged Bruce and smiled at me.
Now, back to Mr. Mysterious... Who could he be... Wait. He dropped from the ceiling. But why? No... It couldn't be... Could it?
I saw a face just like the newcomer's in my school yearbook a few years back, under "Most Likely to Become the Next Tony Stark" and "First-Ever Early Scholarship Winner". He was the one other highschooler who got a scholarship from that test. The same test I took to go to college early.
I reeled. This Spider-Man guy... His secret identity, the one he was flaunting so shamelessly in front of S.H.I.E.L.D.'s most elite, was Pet-
At that moment, Fury turned from the window. "Not exactly, girl. Not for you, anyways. Peter will show you what to do."
"P-pah... Peter?!" I spluttered. "But I was supposed to... say that..."
Agent Fury McSeriousness raised an eyebrow. "Really?"
"Well, yeah. You thought I'd never guess? Too bad, bucko, because I'm not going to college this fall because I'm ignorant, right?" I huffed, fuming.
Everybody stopped murmuring and stared at me.
"What did you say?" Tony asked, stepping out of his Iron Man suit.
Oh, craps. Too late to go back now. "I, um... I'm going to college this fall," I said, drained of all that haughtiness I had just seconds before.
Tony scrunched his eyebrows together, stroking his chin.
"I knew you were kind of an older teen, but man... You look good for your age. What's your secret?"
Fury sighed exasperatedly. "Listen, everyone. Ms... whatever here is not only superpowered, but she is also very intelligent. Brains and brawn: the whole package," he paused. "That's why I chose her to come here. We need all of her kind we can get."
The way he said "her kind", though. Like I was some kind of disease...
Hmph.
I was about to go over to Fury and give him a piece of my mind, but Peter (Spider-Dude... confirmed?) took me by my shoulder and steered me out of the room.
"Hey! What was that for?" I demanded. "I was about to tell Fury... well, you don't want to know."
"I know what you were going to do," the teen said quietly, still leading me away from the meeting room. "That's why I needed to get you out of there before you could do... real damage. Spidey's number one rule: never use your powers against defenseless people. You're a spider now, too, right?"
Aha! Spider-Dude confirmed!
Peter Benjamin Parker = Spider-Man!
I pursed my lips. "Whatever. Where are we going now?"
"Well," he said. "I can't say anything other than to be prepared. You're being tested..."
"Tested for what, exactly?" I asked, getting tired of all his mysteriousness.
"For the Avengers Initiative. Duh."
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<·<Pepper_B_Parker*Alias:_Spyder*Position:_S.H.I.E.L.D._agent>·>
And was I prepared for that dooooozy of a test?
Heck no.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
<·<Peter_B_Parker*Alias:_Spider-Man*Position:_S.H.I.E.L.D._Avenger>·>
She was better prepared than I could have ever been, though.
Well done, other me. Well done.
"Other me"? You'll find out later.
Amazing Spidey, away!