Triumphant Return
It is a nice sunny day in New York, the birds are singing, the breeze is cool and the giant octopus is trying to eat people.
“AAAAHHHH!!” A woman screamed as she was picked up by a tentacle.
“It’s got another one!” Bucky yelled, shooting the tentacle trying to make it let go of the woman.
“Damn! That makes four!” Sam said, trying to cut a man out of the giant’s grip.
“My friends, I will strike down this beast!” Thor roared as he raised his hammer.
“NOOO!!” Everyone screamed.
“If you do that, you could hit the civilians!” Nat informed the thunder god.
Tony was flying above blasting the tentacles. “What’s the plan, Cap?!”
“We need to get the people away from it for Thor to take it out!” Steve said before jumping out of the way of a tentacle.
“Any idea how we do that?” Rhodey asked, taking a man away from the fight.
“I can help!” Spider-man jumped into the fight, webbing an arm to a building.
“No!” Steve said. “Just help people getaway.”
Peter stopped on a wall and scan the area. “But everyone is already gone. There is no one left to get out of here.”
“Kid, leave this to us,” Cap ordered.
“But I can help.” The teen protested.
“Listen to Cap, kid,” Tony said, firing missiles at the giant.
Peter crossed his arms and watch the battle continue. The team didn’t look like they were gaining any ground. The octopus brought one of the civilians to its mouth. A little girl no older than five was screaming for her mommy and daddy when the tentacle let her go. Spider-man jumped to catch the girl, he held her in his arm as his other held the mouth of the giant open.
“Spider-man!” Tony yelled.
“I-I’m okay!” Peter said, struggling to keep the mouth open. “Could use a little help! This thing's breath stinks!”
“Hold on, kid! We get you out as fast as we can!” Rhodey told the teen.
The little girl screamed as the mouth began to close, Peter was losing his footing inside the slippery mouth. “MOVE FASTER!”
“Wanda, can you pry open the mouth?!” Steve asked.
The witch looked at the mouth. “I can try!” She said, sending her magic into the mouth.
Peter watched as the red magic entered the mouth and began to force it open. He took a step forward, only to slide to his knees as the monster screeched and thrashed around. “I SLIPPING!” The mouth began to close again as Wanda was forced to move or be crushed by a tentacle. The light inside the mouth was almost when a pair of arms and legs grabbed the sides of the mouth. They slowly forced it open, till it was wide enough to see who was holding it.
“Why do I always have to save you?!” Someone asked.
“MYSTIC!” Spider-man screamed in joy.
The mage laughed. “Hey, Spidey. Need a hand?”
“Yeah!” Peter said, holding the little girl in his arms tighter.
One of Mystics' hands let go of the mouth and reached for his sword. “Sorry about this, Fang!” He said as he stuck the blade at the roof of the mouth and the handle at the bottom. “That should hold it!” He reached for the two inside. “Come on, Spidey! Reach!”
The two were about to grab the hand of each other when the beast began to thrash again. The spider began to slip, again. Making the little girl scream louder. “I CAN’T! I’M SLIPPING!” Peter screamed.
“WEB!” Mystic yelled. “Web my hand!”
Spider-man looked at the mage’s hand. He could web it easily if his hand wasn’t being used to stop him from slipping into the monster’s throat.
“Trust me,” Mystic said.
Peter looked into the white glowing eyes. “I TRUST YOU!” He screamed, letting go of the side of his mouth and fired a web at the hand.
Once the hand was hit, Mystic made a fist. “HOLD ON!” He screamed, jumping away from the mouth and took to the sky, pulling the web and the two free.
“WOOOHOOO,” Peter cheered as he was back in the sunlight and flying in the fresh air.
The mage set the two down away from the battle and landed next to them. “Are you okay?” He asked.
“I’m okay. But she might need a moment.” Spidey said, hugging the little girl as she cried
For her mommy and daddy.
“Hey, it’s okay,” Mystic said, rubbing the girl’s back. “What’s your name, little one?”
The girl looked at the mage, with tears streaming down her face and a snot bubble on her nose. “M-M-Mallori.”
“Hello, Mallori. I’m Mystic and you know my friend Spider-man.” He patted the red and blue hero on the shoulder.
Mallori nodded. “Y-Y-You’re s-s-superheroes.”
“That’s right,” Peter said, holding the girl up a little higher on his arm.
“Tell me, Mallori, did that octopus scare you?” The mage asked, pointing at the giant creature. The little girl only nodded and pulled closer to Spider-man. “It’s okay to be scared, little one.” He pulled the girl away from the spider and raised in the air. The little girl giggled. “Tell me, do you like snow?”
“Yes! It’s fun!” Mallori squirmed as she was brought down onto Spider-man’s shoulders. “Me, Mommy and Daddy made a snowman.” She said wrapping her hand around the spider’s head.
“Good.” Mystic giggled. “Why don’t you wait here with Spidey and I’ll make a snowman.”
“A snowman? Mystic, it’s summer.” Peter said, giggling as Mallori cheered for a snowman.
“You’ll see.” Mystic turned around and began to walk to the battle.
“Is Mystic going to make it snow, Spider-man?” The girl asked.
“I don’t know.”
Mystic stood at the edge of the battle and raised a hand. “Fang! To me!” The sword flew out of the mouth and into the mage’s hand. The creature screeched and thrashed. “If you didn’t like that! Then you are going to hate this!”
“Mystic! Stand down!” Steve ordered.
“Sorry, Captain. I can’t do that.” Said the mage as he made his sword glow white with his magic. “You and your team, stay back!”
“Stand down! That’s an order!”
“To quote my Father,” Mystic began to run to the giant creature. Sword raised and glowing bright. He dodged the monster's attacks and jumped into the air, straight to the head of the beast. “I DO WHAT I WANT!” He yelled stabbing the head.
A burst of cold wind blew everywhere, surrounding the octopus, like a tornado. Ice began to form on windows and the street around the storm. When it stopped, everyone could only look in shook as they saw the giant octopus was frozen solid. The people in its grasp were cold and shivering, but all in all unharmed by the icy wind.
On the head was the Black Mage, kneeling as his sword was deep inside the head of the frozen monster. He stood and pulled the sword with him, when it was out he spun it around in his hand a few times, before placing it back into its sheath on his back. With a click of the sword back in the sheath, the tentacles cracked and the people trapped fell into piles of snow.
Mystic flew back to Spider-man and Mallori. “What do you think, not bad snowman?”
Time Skip
“Okay,” Steve started, “Thor, tell us again, why we need to find him.”
Thor stood up and looked at the picture of his brother, on the large screen. “When Loki fell from Asgard when I destroyed the Bifrost. He was captured and tortured for a year, before coming to Midgard.”
“Should we care?” Clint asked.
“Clint, let him finish,” Steve said as Nat patted the archer’s arm.
“It was this person that made my brother try and take the Tesseract.” Thor continued. “The Tesseract holds one of the Infinity Stones. The Aether that was used to attack London, the Mind Stone that is in Vision,” The god pointed to the man. “Someone is trying to gather the stones. For what reason, we do not know. That is why we need to find Loki. He is the only one that knows ‘who and ‘why.”
Steve nodded his head and turned to Agent Hill. “What do we have?”
“Nothing, yet,” Hill said. “But we’ve heard, that someone matching his description was seen talking to some powerful underground figures.”
“Sounds like someone is up to no good, again,” Tony stated.
“We asked around, apparently he is looking for his scepter.” Hill continued, pulling up a picture of the weapon.
“Why would he want that? It doesn’t have the Mind stone anymore.” Sam asked.
“We don’t know,” Hill stated. “We do know, the scepter has been in the hands of Hydra. We don’t know where, but they are trying to break it down so they can copy its metal makeup. If they do that-”
“They are trying to make stronger weapons?” Wanda asked.
“Yes.” The agent nodded.
“Great, like we didn’t have enough problems.” Said Bucky.
“Something has been bothering me.” Said Rhodey.
“What’s that?” Asked Tony.
“Rose,” Rhodey stated. This made everyone give a questioning look at the man. “Just hear me out.” He said, raising his hands to stop everyone. “We don’t know anything about this girl, she was smart enough to beat us, she can shape-shift and, let’s not forget, her magic.”
“What are you trying to say?” Bruce asked.
Rhodey sighed. “What if she is Loki?”
This made everyone stop and think. “I’ll kill him!” Clint stated, standing up.
“Clint, my friend,” Thor walked over to the archer and patted his shoulder. “I can tell you, with no doubt, the lady Rose is not my brother.”
“How can you be so sure?” Rhodey asked.
The god turned to face the colonel. “Because of her magic.”
“Her magic?” Wanda wondered. “What does that-” She stopped and thought for a moment. “Rose’s magic is white.”
Thor smiled at the girl. “Indeed.” He turned to Rhodey. “The young witch’s magic is white. My brother’s magic is green. Though he can change his face and make illusions, he can’t change the color of his magic.” Everyone let out a breath they didn’t know they were holding. “If the lady Rose was born on Asgard, she would have been treated with the upmost respect.”
“Why’s that?” Wanda asked.
“Those who are born with white magic are some of the most powerful magic users. Some old legends say, they can even bring back the dead.” The god stated. “That being said, the young witch has great potential.”
“Thanks, point break,” Tony said. “Good to know my son isn’t bringing a crazy bag of cats to my wedding.”
“Speaking of the two love birds,” Nat smirked. “We should tell them about Loki. If he does come here, it would be good for them not to fight him and tell us.”
“Right.” Steve nodded. “Rose is also going to need training,”
“Training? You’re kidding, right?” Bucky laughed.
Steve just shook his head. “Yes, Bucky. If she is going to be helping us, she needs training.”
The sergeant smiled. “Steve, this girl, while injured, took us all on. Well except these two,” He pointed to Bruce and Thor. “She outsmarted all of us and took down the Accords.” Bucky shocks his head. “This girl doesn’t need training. If anything, she should train us.”
“What we do is dangerous, she needs to learn to leave the big guys to us,” Steve stated.
Once again Bucky shocks his head. “Okay, but she isn’t going to go for it.”
“She’ll see it is the smart thing to do,” Steve said, looking around the room. “I mean, who wouldn’t want to be trained by the Avengers?”
Five minutes later, the Commons room.
“No, thank you,” Rose said as she sat next to Peter. Both were waiting for their friends to come over to talk. When Steve, Bucky, and Tony walked in to ask the girl to join them for training.
After she gave her answer, Bucky smirked and whispered to Steve. “Told you so.”
The captain rolled his eyes. “Rose you need training, just like Peter needs training.”
“I have training.” The girl smiled. “I know many fighting styles and have my magic back.” She said, making a white fireball in her hand, then put it out.
“I’m not saying you’re not skilled. I’m saying you could use more training, just to help you out.” Steve tried to reason with the girl.
Rose nodded and thought for a moment. “No, thank you. I have been training since I was three.”
“Peter, your friends are here.” Friday interrupted.
The boy looked around the room, not sure what to do. “Um, do you still want to tell them?” He asked Rose. The girl nodded to him with a small smile. “Send them up, please, Friday.”
“They are on their way, now.”
“Thank you.”
“This is going to be fun,” Rose said, with a smile.
Peter smiled back. “Just F Y I, Ned is going to ask you a lot of questions.”
Rose laughed. “Oh, I have no doubt.”
“And who knows what M.J’s going to do.”
“Indeed.” The girl said with a nod.
The adults went to the bar when the elevator ringed. Ned and M.J walked into the room and looked around.
“M.J! Ned!” Rose ran to her friends and throw her arms around the two. “I missed you!”
“Whoa! Rose!” Ned screamed almost falling over by the girl's hug.
“Rose! What are you doing here?!” M.J asked pulling away from the girl. “I thought you had to go home for the summer.”
“My aunt let me come.” The girl smiled at her friends and gave them another big hug. Once they separated they sat down and Rose turned to her friends. “Listen, I need to tell you something.”
M.J’s gasped and her hand shot to her mouth. “Oh, my god! You're pregnant!”
“What?!” Rose yelled as Tony choked on his drink, Steve spat his out and Bucky just sat back and laughed.
“Peter, you got her pregnant?!” Ned screamed.
“What?! No!” Peter yelled back.
“I’m not pregnant!” Rose screamed for everyone to stop and listen.
“Oh, thank god.” M.J sighed. “I don’t know if I could handle another loser like Peter.”
“I wouldn’t say that, seeing if I was pregnant, you would be aunt Michelle.” Rose smiled at her friend.
M.J smiled. “Good thing you’re not.”
“Anyways,” Rose began again. “the thing I need to tell you is,” She looked at her boyfriend, who just gave a nod. “I’m Mystic.” Both Ned and M.J just stared at the girl like she just grows a second head.
“I’m sorry, what?” M.J asked.
“I am Mystic,” Rose said again.
It became quiet as the two continued to stare. Peter and Rose just sat and stared back. The three men at the bar just looked at the teens, waiting for someone to do something.
Ned was the first to break the ice by starting to laugh. “Oh, man! That was a good one!” He said, holding his sides.
M.J just continued to look at her friend. “I don’t think their kidding, Ned.”
“Of course, their kidding.” The boy said grinning at the two on the other side of the couch. “I mean, Mystic is a boy.”
“I can shape-shift,” Rose stated.
“Prove it,” Ned said, looking at the girl.
“Very well.” Rose answer as she began to change into a boy and change her clothes into Mystic’s black suit. Once she was done, both M.J and Ned were speechless. “I can also do magic. If you want to see.” Mystic waved his hand making white butterflies appear and flew around the room. This made both her friend's mouths drop. Ned’s eyes rolled back and soon he was on the floor unconscious. “Is he okay?” Mystic asked.
Peter stood up and walked over to his friend. “Friday, can you scan him?”
“Of course, Peter,” Friday answered. “He is fine. He just fainted.”
Mystic turned his attention back to the now only girl in the room. “M.J are you okay?”
“Y-Yeah.” The girl stuttered. “I...I’m, good.”
Mystic nodded his head at the girl. “I know it’s a lot to take in, but,” The mage changed back to Rose. “I had to tell you guys. I wanted you guy to know, how much I trust you.” M.J nodded a little before she too fell over and fainted.
Peter and Rose stared at the two for a moment. “I think that went, good.” The boy said. Rose looked at him for a moment. “What? It could have been worse.” Rose rolled her eyes at her boyfriend. The boy grinned and walked back to her. “Hey, it’s going to be okay.”
The girl sighed. “I-I just don’t want them to call me a freak.”
“They won't.” The boy said, walking over to her.
“I’m sorry.” She said, looking at the two past out. “I’m just scared.”
Peter smiled. “I have emotional jumper cables, I’ll give you a boost.” He wrapped his arms around Rose. “Just attach like so...”
“This is just a hug.”
“Is it working?”
Rose couldn’t help the smile on her face. “Squeeze tighter.” Peter did as he was asked and tighten his hug.
Tony cleared his throat, to get the two teens' attention. “Seeing as your friends are out, we have something to tell you.” He came from behind the bar counter. “Friday, bring it up.” A picture of a man came on the screen. “This is Loki.”
Both teenager’s eyes widen. “This is Loki? The Loki?” Peter asked, looking at the picture.
“Yes,” Tony answered.
“Thor’s brother? God of Mischief?”
“Yes,” Tony said, starting to get annoyed.
“Attacker of New-”
“Peter,” Steve stopped the teen. “Yes, this is Loki.”
“Whoa!”
“We thought it would be best if you knew what he looks like,” Tony stated.
“If you see him, don’t try to fight him,” Steve said, looking into both teen's eyes. “Get away from him and call us.”
Peter nodded and turned to his girlfriend. “Are you okay?” He asked. Rose was a new shade of white and looked as if she saw a ghost.
“I’m okay.” She said, looking at the picture. “May I ask, why you want us to call you?”
“We need information from him,” Steve informed. “But don’t try to take him on. He may not look it, but he packs a punch.”
“What we are trying to say is he dangerous, so stay away and call us, okay?” Tony asked.
“Okay, I’ll call if I see him,” Peter said, with a nod.
Steve nodded at the boy then turned to the girl. “Rose?” The teen continued to stare at the picture. “Rose?” The captain said, louder.
Rose shook her head and came back from where she was. “I-I’ll keep an eye out.”
“Good.”
“What’s going on?” Someone asked. “What happened?”
The group of heroes turned to face the two teens that pasted out, starting to wake up. “I don’t know, but I had this weird dream,” Ned said, sitting up. “I dreamed Rose turned into Mystic.” When he and M.J turned to face the group, both of their eyes widen. “It wasn’t a dream, was it?”
Rose sighed and smiled. “No. No, it was not.”
Five minutes later
“So, you took on the Avengers?!” Ned asked, shaking with excitement.
“Yes. Yes, I did.” Rose said, nodding.
“But how?! Did you get bit by something, like Peter?!”
“I doubt there is a spider that can give people magic.” Rose laughed.
“Were you an experiment, like the Scarlet Witch?!”
“No, I was born with my powers.”
“You’re a mutant?” M.J asked.
“No, I don’t have the mutant X gene,” Rose answered. “My father was... is a mage. I gained that power and when I was three, he trained me to control it.”
“Awesome!” Ned nodded, still shaking. “What all can you do?! Can you read minds?! Can you turn into anything else?! Do you have a magic wand?! How high can you fly?!”
Peter laughed and whispered into Rose's ear. “Told you he would ask a lot of questions.”
Rose smiled. “Scientists always do.” She whispered back. “I can control the elements around me. Yes, I can read minds, but I only do that if I have to. I can turn into any animal or person I either seen or touched. I don’t have a magic wand. And as for how high I can fly, I have no limits on how high, only how long.”
“If you have no limits on how high,” M.J began. “How high have you gone?”
“I once repaired one of my aunt’s satellites,” Rose stated as if all she did was help a cat out of a tree. When she saw all the eyes in the room on her, she couldn’t help but feel strange. “Can you stop staring at me like that? It makes me feel like a freak.” She said, hiding pulling her legs up to her chest and wrapped her arms around them, so she can hide her face.
“Sorry.” Said Peter, pulling her close. “You’re not a freak.” He kissed her temple and rubbed her back. “You just shocked us.”
“Yeah, sorry. We were just shocked.” M.J said, then stomped on Ned’s foot.
“Ow!” Ned yelled. “Why did you do that?” M.J used her head to gesture to the other girl. “Oh! Y-Yeah, sorry Rose.”
“Can I ask,” Tony said, walking to the couch. “How did you make it to space?”
Rose lifted her head at the question. “I-I found protection spells and charms in my father’s spellbooks, then flew up into space. It wasn’t that hard if you know what you are doing. After that, I just used my magic to fix the broken parts.”
The man sat down and smiled. “So if I ever have a satellite that are broken, can I ask you for help?”
“Dad!” Peter yelled.
Rose just smiled and nodded. “I’ll have to charge you.”
“I can afford it.” Tony smiled.
“Wait, if you are Mystic. Then how do explain, you and him in the same place?” M.J asked.
“Oh, that was easy,” Rose stated. “I just made a copy of myself.” She stretched out her hand. A small light began to glow from her hand, then soon it grew into a copy of the Black Mage. “See.”
“Awesome!” Ned yelled. “Can you make one of me?”
Rose laughed and changed the copy into a copy of Ned. “How’s that?”
“Dude! That’s insane!” Ned ran to the copy of himself. “It looks just like me!”
“Dude! No way!” The copy spoke, looking at the original. “It looks just like me!”
Ned jumped back. “It talks!”
“What is with all the yelling?” May asked walking in.
“Ms. Parker!” Ned and M.J screamed.
The woman smiled and walked over to the teens. “Hey Ned and... Other Ned.” May looked at the two Ned's.
“Rose made a copy.” One Ned said.
“Hey! You’re the copy.” The other Ned countered.
Everyone laughed at the two. “It’s good to see you again, Ned.” May smiled at the teen then turned to M.J. “And you too, M.J.”
“Good, to see you awake, Ms. Parker,” M.J said, standing up and giving the woman a hug.
“Are you guys going to stay for dinner?” The woman asked looking at the teens. “I was going to get Chinese if you guys want to join.”
“Yes, food.” Ned smiled.
M.J thought for a moment. “Sure, why not. I just found out my friend is a witch, I could use something normal in my day.”
May just laughed. “I know what you mean. Rose, what about you?”
“I’ll love too.” The girl answered snapping her fingers and making the Ned copy disappear. “But first, I have to go to France and stop a drug trade.”
“Are you sure?” May asked, a little concerned.
“It will not take long,” Rose said, pulling her gate card out. “I’ll be back in about, twenty to thirty minutes.”
“I will try and save you an eggroll,” M.J said, looking at her friend change into Mystic.
Steve walked over to the mage. “We are going to talk about training later.”
The mage rolled his eyes. “If you want, but it is not your choice to make.” He pulled his gate card out and threw it at the wall.
“Dude! What is that?” Ned asked looking at the door form on the wall.
“I’ll tell you later,” Mystic said, walking to the door. “I’ll see you guys.” He opened the door and walked through. When he was on the other side and the gate was closed. Mystic looked at his phone. He didn’t want to do this, but he knew he had to. With a long sigh, the mage said. “Memory, call father.”