It had been four months since Dallas had died, an ice shard sticking through her chest. Lilli had been attempting to keep her mind off of it, mostly changing her school, and making all new friends. She blamed herself, of course, but it was no use stressing over it. Right after the incident, she'd called Tony Stark, or Iron Man. She'd also gotten a hold of a sorcerer, Dr. Strange, and the older heroes had begun training her. Tony had made her a suit, which could be activated by tightening a pair of bracelets he'd given her, helping tame her powers. She was currently wandering around town with Peter and Ned. They'd just gone to the mall, where they'd gotten a bunch of Lego sets, and were heading back to Peter's.

"Lilli, there's a large commotion on 43rd street." Lilli's AI, OMEGA, reported. She gazed at Peter, and he obviously knew it too.

"Ned, take the Lego's, go to your place. We have... something we have to do." Ned knew what they meant, he knew who they were, and he knew if he didn't obey that he could be in danger. He nodded, running off as fast as he could. Running into a nearby alley, Lilli and Peter got into their suits. Lilli's was a lot simpler than Peter's. His had to be pulled on manually, while hers, you just had to twist the bracelets and tighten them. Her suit was black, with silver and turquoise patterning on it. Her helmet was full-head, meaning it covered her entire face. Down the forehead, a swirl pattern ending right below the eye-holes. Then, there was another swirling patter on the cheeks. Running out of the alley, Peter shot a web at the side of a nearby building, and Lilli, using her ability to control elements, shot herself of the ground, flying over to where the commotion was.

"Empty out the register, now or we'll shoot!" A deep male voice sounded from inside.
"Peter, ya hear? Just some robbers. Usual plan?" Lilli asked curiously. She heard a scuffling from inside the store, and that's when Peter came back on the comms.

"Sounds good." At that, Lilli leapt down from the building, bursting through the store window and holding her hands up at both of the robbers, who turned their guns to her.

"Stop where you are, or we'll shoot ya, pipsqueak. " The robber who'd spoken earlier, threatened. Lilli just smirked, strong waves of wind energy came from her hands in a sonic-like frequency, knocking both guns out of the hands. That's when Peter arrived, swinging in on his web, grabbed only by one hand, as he attempted to web the guys. They dodged, and Lilli sighed. But hey, anything to make the fight more fun. She right hooked the left guy, who tried to act like it didn't phase him, but then she spin kicked him in the gut, sending him flying. Peter webbed the robber he'd been fighting to the wall, as well as the one Lilli had hit. Almost simultaneously, the two teens pulled both of the robbers' masks off, so the cops could easily identify them. Something about this made Lilli uneasy, as the two got back into their normal street clothes, and headed to Ned's place. Most of the time, there'd be a group of six or eight she and Peter would have to fight, or they'd be fighting completely separate groups. It wasn't necessarily the fact it was two measly robbers, but crime had been dropping an abnormal amount recently, and Lilli got the feeling something big was going to happen.

That night, Lilli lay in bed, staring at the ceiling. She couldn't sleep. Something just didn't feel right. Sighing, she puts a hand in the air, conjuring snow, and letting it flurry around, turning it into different shapes. She hears a small gasp from the door, and glances over, seeing Hunter's small face in the doorway. Before he can say or do anything, Lilli quickly stands up, dragging him inside of her room, and closed the door.

"Hunter, what did you see? And why are you even up?" The brunette fifteen-year-old hissed. Hunter began to cry, and she had to hug him, in order to quiet him down.

"I wanted you to read me a story. I mean, mommy does, but not as good as you. You always bring more enthusiasm, while mommy just sounds sad. And yeah, I did see what you did. Are you a superhero Lilli? Are you an Avenger?" The little boy whispered, excitement clear in his voice. If he'd been talking any louder, he probably would've been squealing. She sticks out a hand, ruffling his curly blonde hair. All of her siblings, besides herself, were spitting images of their parents. Strawberry blonde hair, pale, freckled skin. It often made people assume they were of Irish decent. Lilli, on the other hand, got her grandparent's genetics. Brown hair, a slightly darker complexion, no freckles. She looked more German, than Irish, such as their heritage was.

"No, Hunter, I'm not an Avenger. And I guess I'm a hero? I mean, you've heard of Paradox right?" Lilli whispered, referring to herself using the name the public had come up with for her. Hunter nodded excitedly, and she continued. "Well, I'm her... er... she's me. Anyway, I do fight crime. But Hunter, can you not tell mom or dad please? They would freak out if they saw that I was a superhero." Being the innocent little boy that he was, he nodded, and she carried him back to bed, tucking him in.

"Lilly wake up, it's time to get ready for school!" Lilli's mom, Ericka, yelled up the stairs. Lilli groaned, basically falling out of bed. She was definitely not a morning person. She was only attending Midtown because it's what Tony had ordered her to do. Standing up and putting the blankets back on her bed, she walks over to her dresser. Her hair looked horrendous, luckily, her mom had woken her up an hour and a half before school started, so she would have plenty of time to get ready. Taking her blue hairbrush, Lilli slowly worked the tangles out of her hair, which was naturally curly. She then rummaged through her closet, until she found an outfit she liked. It was a white blouse, frilly at the top and sleeves, with a pair of jean shorts, knee high black socks, and red converse. She'd never been a girly girl, and other than the bridesmaid dress she had worn a few months prior, the blouse was the fanciest thing she owned. Throwing her purse on her shoulders, she grabs her pack lunch, says goodbye to her parents, and walks out the door. She was happy. Today, she didn't have to do physics, one of the only classes she was barely passing.. They were going to the Museum of Modern Arts today, and that means she would miss physics. Her bus stop wasn't very far from her house, so she just leaned against the sign pole, waiting. When the bus finally did arrive, the only empty seat was near the back. That was another 'stupid' rule of Tony's and Strange's. She could only be friends with people she trusted, and since three quarters of the kids in her school were super anti-social, or hated Peter Parker, she was kinda stuck. Plugging her earbuds in, and putting them in her ears, she listened to music on her phone. It was a short bus ride, not more than fifteen minutes, and before Lilli knew it, she was at school. Meeting up with Peter before the trip was easy, as his locker was literally right next to hers.

"Lilli, can you sense something?" Peter asked incredulously, looking at her with worry in his eyes. Indeed she could. Something big was coming, and coming soon. They didn't know who or what, though, and figured they'd focus on the field trip. But just to be safe, Peter grabbed his web shooters and Lilli grabbed her bracelets.

"Yeah, I can. We have fifteen minutes to chat. We may have no idea what's coming, but we may want to plan escape routes. Any ideas for the bus?" Peter thought for a moment, thinking about the bus' layout, any possible exits or easy escapes.

"It'll be a bit harder on the bus, because of the teachers and the kids. Ned should be our safest bet. We need to make sure we're sitting close to him, probably right in front or right behind. Our escape will be the windows. Slip out, you'll fly, I'll use my webs." Lilli nodded at Peter's thinking, taking mental notes.

"I was thinking for MOMA, maybe we could say that we both need to use the bathrooms. Since we'll be carrying around water bottles, it'll be less suspicious than normal, hopefully. After that, we head to the direction of the bathrooms, but change course and go out the front instead. We'll only want to put our suits on after we get off museum grounds. They have cameras literally everywhere." The pair do a special high five they'd been practicing, and go line up in front of the bus, filing onto it, and making sure to sit right in front of Ned.

As they were driving over a bridge, Lilli could feel something was there, and she and Peter simultaneously turned their heads to look out the window. A spaceship was hovering over New York, awfully close to the ground. The pair looked at each other, sharing a concerned glance.

"We have a problem."

―――—

Authors Note: Yes, Peter and Lilli will become a thing in this story, eventually. I want to build their relationship up. I know the perfect time to make Lilli realize she feels something for him, which will make that scene twelve times more heartbreaking. Next chapter there will be more custom scenes between Lilli, Peter, Stark and Strange, and maybe even some jokes. Let me know what you think of the story so far, and please, leave critiques, I love hearing how I can improve my work.