Life of a Magical Girl
Penny groaned when she saw her appearance in the full-body mirror. It had been an interesting hour fighting, which resulted in her being covered in an unknown mucus substance afterward. Why did the slimy, green glob abomination only cover her in slime? Why not the rest of them? There were several people at the scene!
“Tell me again why I decided to have two secret identities,” Penny complains as she hears some friends laughing.”
“Because you became Spider-Man before you became a magical girl,” Ned points out before he resumes laughing. “Man, I can’t believe that thing only targeted you!”
Penny shot Johnny a glare when he began to laugh harder. A part of her was tempted to web Johnny’s phone because it kept looping the video of the glob abomination eating her whole and spitting her. As tempting as that was, Penny knew how everyone needs their phone to check on messages their friends and family may send. No one but their group knows about how they moonlight as magical girls and boys to stop that day monster.
It’s an overly complicated situation. Penny still has trouble wrapping her head around.
“I can’t believe we keep outrunning the Avengers,” Harley laughed as Abby cheered in agreement. “They have been after us for what, a year?”
“I still can’t believe he never figured out how his adopted son is Scout Yellow,” Gwen comments as she calms down from laughing. “Or how your sister is Scout Silver.”
Finally, Harry decided to grace everyone with his appearance, and he brought stuff to help her clean off the slime. In one hand, Harry carried a bucket of water. In his other hand, Harry held a basket that contained a trash bag, towels, and a bottle of dish soap. The moment he made eye contact with her, he spoke.
“I got some stuff,” Harry mentions, handing the items to Penny. “Miles said his folks were calling him and wanting him to go home. He told me they got worried when they saw the news of the monster we fought.”
Oh, that’s too bad. It’s a shame Miles had to bail, but he has more restrictions than the rest. He’s two years younger, making him the second youngest member of their magical group after Abby.
“He does need to keep his cover,” MJ states, putting down her sketchpad and pencil. She had finished drawing Penny. " Unlike some people without brain cells.”
“Hey, it’s not my fault Penny’s stuffed cat with wings chose me to be a Scout,” Johnny defends, knowing how MJ was referring to him. “Or how Shuri’s stuffed cat with demon wings told us how we must fight evil magical forces!”
“I wonder how the rest of the Fantastic Four never realize you were Sailor Orange,” Gwen verbalized, earning an unamused look from Johnny. “Seriously, you burst into orange flames, and your secret magical boy persona is Scout Orange.”
Sometimes, it’s easier to hide in plain sight. It’s why Penny named herself Scout Red. No one would ever think Scout Red and Spider-Man were the same person. To be fair, she’s pretending to be a male when she goes out as Spider-Man because it throws anyone off the track of figuring out her civilian identity.
“I’m that amazing,” Johnny responds.
“At least he’s not like Penny,” Abby states as she points to Penny. “She has two secret identities.”
“Yeah, at least I’m not you,” Harley agreed as he faced Penny. “ The Avengers are after Sailor Moon and Spider-Man.”
“Which is totally uncalled for,” Penny complains as she cleans the mucus off her skin. “They think I’m a threat because I’m an unknown variable.”
“No, they think Scout Red is a threat,” Harry politely corrects.
“As for Spider-Man, they only want to ask him questions about how he saved Morgan from her kidnappers,” Harley adds.
Well, they still don’t have to be so adamant about chasing after her when they see her patrolling or when they are having a slow day. Okay, so they don’t chase her when they have teamed up for the day, but they chase her on the most random days. If she had known that saving Iron Man’s daughter would result in a whole team of superheroes chasing her, she would have rescued Morgan slightly differently.
She should have made a temporary third identity when she saved Morgan, but hindsight is twenty-twenty. Ah well. Changing the past is impossible, and she must face the consequences of her choices.
“Let’s hope they don’t figure out our search for princess Penelope,” Ned sighs. “Nebula and Astroid said we need to be looking for the lost princess.”
“I can’t believe we are reincarnated soldiers from a destroyed kingdom in space,” Johnny mentions. He still can’t believe how he reached this point in his life. “Or a powerful magical artifact is stored within the lost princess, and only those with royal blood can use it.
To this day, Penny still can’t believe how she was roped in by a white rabbit with pink angel wings or how a black rabbit with red demon wings lives in Wakanda without raising suspicion. Seriously, they are told to dedicate their lives to finding a princess and protecting her. Supposedly, the princess dislikes conflict and has never fought a day. She always has the protection of a few Scouts, which could explain why there are so many of them.
Oh, don’t get her started on finding the lost prince. Thousands of years ago, Earth had a kingdom, and a prince loved the princess. Unfortunately, they have no info on the prince and that part of Earth’s history.
“So we tell Shuri the same thing,” Abby asks. “That we found nothing on the princess and prince?”
“Already done,” MJ said, finishing up sending Shiri a text.
Penny senses her phone vibrate and pulls it out to check who sent a message. When she checks the group chat, she sees a clip of a video Shuri had found. Already from the thumbnail, which shows her covered in slime, she knows the internet will be talking about the incident.
“Shuri, why,” Penny groans, putting her phone away. “I don’t want to be reminded of it!”
“As much as I love talking to you all, Abby and I need to head back,” Harley told everyone, shifting topics. He motioned his sister to follow him. “Come on, Abby, we must leave before everyone at the tower questions our absence.”
As Abby waved and departed with her brother, Penny noticed MJ and Ned looked at her weirdly. She didn’t know why they looked at her like they expected her to do something. After a few seconds of awkward silence, MJ broke.
“Go walk with Harley home,” MJ nearly demanded. “I’m sure he can use the company.”
“Yeah, you deserve a break after everything,” Ned added as he pushed Penny toward the door. “We’ll take care of everything.”
Penny first protested before realizing she should give up and walk Harley to the tower. She exited from Harry’s residence and ran to catch up with Harley.
Penny has to tell Harley not to worry about her for the hundredth time. It will always start with Harley asking her if she has anything to eat for the night, and she reassures him that she has the cover. (She doesn’t.) Like clockwork, Harley would shove some cash into her hands before Abby shouted, “No takebacks.” Penny would find herself protesting that he doesn’t have to give her money whenever they see each other.
“I will spend the ridiculous amount of money Tony gives me on what I want,” Harley justifies, refusing to take the money back when Penny tries to hand it back. “Or, you know, you could always stay at the tower once a week.”
“You know I can’t do that,” Penny said, shoving the money into her pockets. She knows trying to give the money back to Harley is pointless. “I’m not going to take advantage of people like that.”
“You are living in the streets and sleeping in an abandoned warehouse,” Harley pointed out. “You are laying low after you convinced Hydra with your fake death, and I know that’s a fraction of the truth you are hiding. Why are you so adamant about refusing help? Especially help from me.”
“You’re different,” Penny admitted. “Receiving help from you is different compared to everyone else.”
She doesn’t know she feels more embarrassed when Harley is trying to help her out than her friends. For him only, she needs to prove herself. She’s not weak or helpless. With her own two hands, she will somehow find a way to survive as a homeless orphan on the streets of New York. If she relies too much on the generosity of others, how else is she going to learn how to survive when she finds herself alone?
“I don’t know why it is, but it's fine,” Harley sighs. “I’ll drop the conservation.”
For the rest of their walk, they discussed the mundane topics. It was the simple things that meant so much for them.
Notes? Info? Background?
Penny
- The Parkers were killed like usual.
- Aunt May and Uncle Ben did take Penny in, but they died two years later.
- Penny was initially a genetic experiment, which was why the spider bite didn’t harm her but enhanced her.
- The Parkers are not his biological family. It is still up in the air to decide who’s the unlucky soul of being Penny’s biological parent and having them experience their child being stolen. Tony? Pepper? Bruce? Perhaps Bucky had a child because he was told to and couldn’t do much to protect the child. No idea.
- From birth to six months, she was with Hydra and was being experimented on. At six months, she was saved by the Parkers. She lived with May and Ben at age three until they were killed three years later. From six to twelve, she was with Hydra and suffering. She didn’t have a fun time.
- She accidentally befriends MJ, Harry, and Ned. Ned is determined to befriend her when he learns that Penny loves Legos and Star Wars. MJ befriends her because she feels like it. Harry became her friend when Penny got his dad arrested.
- The white stuffed rabbit is named Nebula, and she stays with Penny. Nebula decides to stay with her because there is no way she’s leaving an orphan alone, and goddammit, she will try to help the child.
- She became Spider-Man a few months after escaping Hydra. She became Scout Red when she was almost fourteen.
Extra
- Johnny is totally having fun with his double life. He’s not going to question why no one figures out his secret identity.
- Shuri is Scout Indigo, and she’s fine with it. She’s also fine with Astroid living with her. Often, she will discuss with Astroid how no one notices how Scout Indigo's appearance correlates with her visits to New York.
- Gwen will live.
- Miles will probably get bitten by a spider two years later, only for more chaos. His persona as Scout Crimson suddenly makes a lot more sense.
- Harley and Abby enjoy hiding in plain sight in the tower. They think a powerful magic guard is protecting everyone.
- The girls wore skirts, and the boys wore fancy suits. Why? Imagine fighting while dressed up. I would not recommend it.
- Morgan is a fan of the group. Tony finds it unfair Morgan is more interested in the Scouts than anything else.
- Clint has the same problem as Tony.