((What will Maia choose? Duh duh!))
It was oddly quiet that night, with me only having to stop 2 burglars from robbing a jewelry store. Now I perched atop a skyscraper, about the 150th floor, maybe, staring out at the city, like I did when I wanted to think.
"Hey," I turned, expecting to see Spiderman. I got a shock though when I saw Shatter sitting there, looking like a shadow.
"How'd you get up here?" I asked. He smiled.
"Trade secret. So, have you thought about our offer?"
"You never gave me an offer," I told him.
"I did indeed, Maia. You can join us, be with people like you, who understand you. We have a scientist working with us. We can find a way to get rid of the Lizard for good. To cure you."
His offer seemed so good, so legitimate. "What's the catch?"
"Hmm? Oh, no catch. Trust me, Maia. I only want to help you." I thought of Peter, Aunt May, Jessie, all my friends and family. Any minute, they could be in danger from the Lizard. Any minute, I could hurt or even kill them, like with John. I took a deep breath.
"I'm in," Shatter smiled even wider.
"Let's go, then." I grabbed his strong, slightly sweaty hand, and we dropped off.
~.~.~.~.~.
Shatter's "trade secret": teleporting. As we fell, even before I could activate my anti-gravity generator, there was flash of light, and we were standing before a building. It was one story, with a low roof and an eerie look. A sign stood near it, some letters faded, but I'm pretty sure it said Walker High. It seemed lonely in the dark night.
"This is where you live?" I asked.
"This is where we live," he corrected. "And it's bigger on the inside." Just then, a dark, lithe form dropped before us, hanging back in the shadows.
"You brought her," it said, awed.
"Yes, I did. You can show yourself, Nyte. There's no need to hide from her." The figure hesitated, then stepped forward. It was a boy, at least 16 or maybe 17, I couldn't tell. He had scruffy, brown-red hair, beady green eyes, and sharp fangs. Skin grew out from under his arms, like bat wings.
"This is that Lizzy girl?" Nyte asked. "The one from the news reports?" Shatter nodded.
"Yup. Her," I realized I hadn't had time to take off my costume.
"Tempera's been meaning to meet her," Nyte said thoughtfully. "Come on. I'll show you to her." I suddenly had a really bad feeling as I followed Nyte toward the building. Shatter was right when he said it was bigger on the inside. The halls were long and spacey, with old rusted desks and broken trophy cases shoved against them. Everything had a thick layer of dust on it.
"Who," a voice whispered on the breeze. "Who is there?"
"Relax, Spirit," Shatter called. "It's me. I brought her." A small, flame-like blue light flickered before, growing until a girl floated there, silky blonde hair flowing as if in water.
"Well, you could warn a girl," she rasped, in a dry, hiss-like voice.
"Is Tempera here?"
"Does she ever leave? Of course she's here, idiot," Spirit retorted sarcastically. "She's downstairs."
"Got it. Come on," I followed Nyte and Shatter down a side hallway, Spirit floating behind us. As we passed rooms, I could see kids inside, sleeping on dirty mattresses or on cots or even on the floor. One kid just sat on his cot, and fixed piercing blue eyes on me. I shivered, and kept walking. We passed a room that had sparks coming from it. There was a loud Boom! that shook the building, and a tall, lean man emerged, covered in ash. He coughed, dusting himself off. "Hey Doc," Shatter greeted him. The Doctor smiled, rubbing his leaf-green eyes.
"Hey kids. This the new recruit?"
"Yup. Taking her to Tempera." The Doctor seemed to sober up at this.
"Good luck," he told me, before wiping his hands on a towel and going back in. I had a feeling he meant what he said.
((Who exactly is Tempera? Find out next chapter!))