Chapter 11
At 3 in the afternoon, I meet with my team on the roof of my school. We had a lot to discuss – starting with our no longer fully secret identities. Like the last time I had meet with Spider Man and Fe on rooftop, they had brought cupcakes and ice cream. I had brought a caramel slice from the store on the way to Midtown. Red Bolt was fourth to show up. She had brought a bottle of coke and some plastic cups. Ligero turned up not long after Red Bolt. In her hands she carried a covered bowl of cherries. The five of us waited for Gecko to turn up. When Gecko finally did, ten minutes after Ligero, Red Bolt tore into her.
“What the hell Megan! Is this why you disappeared for a month literally a month after you managed to convince your parents to let you come to school?”
“I’m sorry Darcey,” Gecko said, “Maybe we should start eating? Let everyone have their turn to speak?”
“That’s a good idea Gecko,” I said, sitting down on the roof “Let’s all just sit down in a circle eat some food, drink some coke and talk. I don’t want my team to fall apart just because we all actually knew each other behind the mask without knowing,” Fe sat next to me on my left while Spider Man sat on my right. Ligero took a seat next to Fe while Gecko sat next to Spider Man. Red Bolt huffed as she reluctantly sat down. Red Bolt opened the bottle of coke and poured everyone as glass. Ligero uncovered her bowl of cherries while Spider Man opened his ice cream. I opened the caramel slice packet while Fe took her cupcakes out of their container. Gecko had forgotten to bring anything, but she helped divide everything into equal portions.
“Who wants to go first?” I asked, “I think we should formally introduce ourselves, talk a bit about why or how we became heroes and maybe include one random fact about ourselves,” No one said anything. They avoided my eye contact and found a renewed interest in their food.
“How about you Red Bolt?” I said, “Tell us your story,”. Red Bolt sighed…
“My name is Darcey Stephens. I live mostly with my older brother, Hayden, and my dad when he’s home from deployment. I never knew my mother. I’ve only just moved to New York but I’m liking it so far. We move around a lot due to Dad’s job. He’s a marine. So, Hayden is my primary caregiver. I got my powers because of my genetics. My mum wasn’t entirely human. She’s what some people call an inhuman. When Inhumans are exposed to a thing called the terigen mist, they unlock some cool abilities. Mum left two canisters of the stuff for Hayden and me with instructions for our dad to give us the choice when we turned 17 and to explain our ancestry as well. Hayden told me that when he turned 17, he chose not to. He was 21 when he opened a canister. He has lightning-based powers – anything from creating a small electrical charge for a phone to thunderstorm that goes on for days. I didn’t get a choice. I can be rather clumsy. I was holding the unopened canister when I accidently dropped it. It shattered, releasing the mist. It took me three days to recover. When I woke up, Hayden told me everything. It was… hard learning about Mum. She was someone I never really knew. With Hayden’s help I discovered what I could do – I essentially run super-fast. I also seem to create a small bit of electricity but not as much as Hayden can. Megan was the one who helped me get into the hero business. We meet online – they’re the easiest friendships to maintain for me and when we finally meet in person, she caught me in the act of uncontrollable super speed. She told me that she knew someone who could help. Two days later I’m meeting Wanda Maximoff at a café talking about how she could help me control my powers. I wanted to become a hero and there’s no better way to learn control when there’s someone else on the line,”
“So… you two already knew who each other were?” Spider Man said, pointing at Red Bolt and Gecko.
“Well I think Megan knew about me, but I didn’t know about her, that’s for sure,”
“I had a good reason for you to not know,” Gecko said, “Or at least it is to me,”
“Well I’d like to hear it,” Red Bolt said. Gecko took a deep breath in…
“For those who don’t know who I am, I’m Megan Greenwood and my parents were a part of SHIELD – just regular ones, not the ones under HYDRA. I grew up hearing stories about how Mum saved the world while Dad found the information she needed to do it. I also grew up learning the same skills. Gymnastics, some ballet lessons, all those activities that are stereotypically attended by children being trained as the perfect spy by their secret agent parents. I too joined SHIELD. Natasha Romanoff is a friend of my mother’s, so she sponsored me during the training I received. I had level 2 clearance by the time SHIELD fell. Natasha decided that my potential shouldn’t be wasted so she asked me if I’d like to become her protegee. I agreed since I wasn’t ready to give up being a spy. Whatever Natasha taught me, she made sure that I was 100% sure of what I was doing. I suppose it had something to do with me not being forced, or feeling like I was, into something that would change my life forever. One of the greatest things I learnt was to let no one know who I was. It helped that I was home-schooled for most of my life – I didn’t really have anyone to lie to and any online friends I had, like Darcey, were never truly going to see me action so I didn’t really bother telling them the truth. When I started school, I found it hard to keep my secret a secret – but I had to. Not just for me, but for Darcey and everyone else who might get caught in the crosshairs. Maybe I shouldn’t have from Darcey, but I did it anyway. Forgive me Darcey, I should have told you as soon as you meet Wanda,”
“You don’t have to be sorry for that,” Red Bolt said, “I overreacted about this whole thing. I mean I never outright told you I was Red Bolt, but I figured you knew anyway,”
“Thanks, Darce,” Gecko smiled, “Your turn Spider Man,”
“I’m going to – just let me eat this slice,” Spider Man quickly scoffed the piece of slice he was holding before starting his story.
“Simply put, I got bitten by a radioactive spider. I used to wear glasses in case you didn’t know. There’s so much power that I was given – I’m super strong, my reflexes are just as super due to this thing I like to call my Spidey Sense which gives me ample warning that something’s about to happen. My other senses were ramped up too. There was an… accident and that’s why I decided to be a hero. Mr Stark recruited me and gave me this suit. It’s pretty sweet. I already knew who Fe is since we often work together, and I knew Slingshot’s identity after we got Galvon. I don’t know who was more surprised that Peter Parker was Spider Man, my Aunt May or Slingshot. Probably Aunt May. She worries about me a lot and she’s been through a lot. Sometimes I think about stopping if only to stop her from worrying too much but then I remember that with great power comes great responsibility. I won’t give up Spider Man for much,”
Spider Man reach for another slice. Gecko noticed this and quickly slapped his hand.
“You’ve had your share,”
“It’s okay Gecko – I’m not going to have any more. He can have my pieces,” I say, “I guess I’m up,”
“Hurry up,” Fe said, “I want to be able to have my say before I have to go home. We have homework due tomorrow,”
“My story is simple – a 12-year-old named Abigail Jackson killed three aliens, put herself on SHIELD’s radar and then got recruited by SHIELD. Gecko would never admit it, but I was actually in the class of trainees above her. My class all had level 3 clearance when SHIELD fell. I trained with Clint after I technically lost my job. I now live with him since my family were killed in the apartment building collapse. Yes, you’re thinking of the one that Blake and Joseph set and you’re absolutely right, this case is extremely personal to me. I need to bring some justice to not just my family but my neighbours and everyone else who died in the collapse. I know I can do it – just as much as I know that I can shoot and not miss almost every target I make. Whether it be a crossbow bolt or one of my slingshot shots I’ve trained countless hours with my weapons of choice to make the perfect shot. Stopping Hayes, Joseph and Blake will require a perfect shot. I will make that perfect shot and meet my bullseye,”
“Wonderful archery analogies there Abigail,” Red Bolt said, rolling her eyes “It’s almost as if we didn’t know you were an archer,”
“Actually, the correct term for what Abs does is marksman. She doesn’t actually use a bow and arrow like Hawkeye does,” Fe corrected Red Bolt.
“Thanks, Stassia for the correction. But I can use a bow and arrow when I need to. Crossbows and Slingshots are just smaller and easier for me to use,”
“Oh, I know you can, but marksman just sounds better,”
“Don’t you have homework to get to?” I asked, “Some of us want to hear who you are before you go,”
“My family has always been close to the Starks. My grandfather worked for Howard. My dad is Tony’s unofficial godfather and for some time Tony was being considered as my own godfather. I guess it was because of his old playboy ways that he didn’t become my godfather. Either way Tony became an important part of my life. I was inspired by him to become who I am today. When Tony became Iron Man, I started designing my own suit. By the time I was 15, the first full suit was completed, and I was ready to fight crime. Originally the media called me Iron Maiden, but Tony helped me rebrand myself as Fe. It’s like one of our inside jokes that Tony and I had. I’ll admit that when Tony first took Peter under his wing, I got a little bit jealous. Everyone saw Spider Man as Tony’s protegee. And he really was. But Spider Man saved my life a few times and I realised that Peter wasn’t that bad. We spent some time talking to each other and found we have a lot in common. We started working together as Fe and Spider Man and the rest is history. Pete and I are essentially siblings now no matter how much the media believes that Fe and Spider Man are going out just because we’re always hanging out,”
“Know what that’s like,” Red Bolt said, “It’s why I asked Dad if we could stop living on the bases he would work on. Most of the girls would tease me about all the boys I would hang around. They always thought I was dating one or more of my friends,”
“Glad to see somethings never change in the world,” I say. I turn to look at Ligero. Noticing my glance, Ligero quickly moved her body to hide the majority of herself behind Fe.
“Want to tell us anything about yourself Ligero?” I asked.
“You don’t have to tell us much. Some of us know your name, but not the person. It would be nice if we knew the real you,” Fe said almost inaudibly. Ligero nodded a little bit.
“My name is Alyssa Anderson. I don’t have much to say because I don’t have much experience in life. It nice to hear your stories. Vision was helping me control my powers when he ran into some trouble on one of his solo missions. I was the only who could help him. I enjoyed helping him and he offered me a chance to become more than what I had been made into. I guess I wanted a chance to do that. I might have made a bad choice considering the fact I don’t like being the centre of attention. But maybe being Ligero can help me more than I can help myself,” Ligero’s voice was soft and quiet.
“Maybe we can all help each other to become something more,” Fe said, “I’d gladly help you become more Alyssa,”
“Thanks Stassia,” Ligero said, showing a little smile.
“You know what I’ve just realised?” I said, “We’re like the original six avengers. I’m Hawkeye while Gecko and Fe are Black Widow and Iron Man for obvious reasons. Spider Man is like Captain America – a nobody turned somebody,”
“Hey!” Spider Man said.
“Come on Peter, I’ve known you since elementary. You were a nobody before you got bitten and we both know it,” I say, laughing a little, “Then we have Red Bolt as Thor. Two alien like races in a world that they don’t really understand. And finally, we have Ligero as the Hulk. Misunderstood but deep down the greatest hero of them all despite all their problems,”
“We should come up with a team name,” Fe suggested.
“Can we do this later?” Red Bolt asked, “I need to get home to make dinner since my brother is on the late shift,”
“Yeah, sure,” I said, “I’ll see you all at school tomorrow,”
“I should get going too. Homework,” Fe said, “See ya tomorrow,” One by one, my team left Midtown’s rooftop. All expect Gecko.
“I’m coming back tomorrow to school,” Gecko said, “I can’t wait to see the look on Blake’s face when he sees me,”
“I knew I could count on you Gecko. Now get home. I’ll clean up our mess,”
“Are you sure Abigail? I could stay and help,”
“Go Gecko. I need some alone time anyway,”