Author's Note:
This fanfic is based off of Marvel's Avengers Assemble, Guardians of the Galaxy, & Marvel's Spider-Man TV shows & NOT the MCU movies/TV shows/etc. Just fyi (though there may be the odd reference or two...).
I do reference similar events to what happened in the Marvel Rising animated movie, but since that takes place in a different universe and is not connected to Avengers Assemble/Spider-Man/Guardians of the Galaxy, they are different events altogether, with a different conclusion, such as the Secret Warriors not forming, etc.
I am also ignoring that Ultimate Spider-Man and Hulk and Hulk and the Agents of SMASH even happened... Please enjoy!
[Edit: I have severely edited Chapters 1 and 2, so I suggest re-reading them before reading Chapter 3, otherwise you will get lost… Sorry for any inconveniences.]
Ch.1 - Origin
My old Starkphone beeped me awake. I glanced at the time; six-thirty sharp.
Today is the day isn't it? Well, better get it over with... I thought to myself as I got up from the comfort of my bed. I heard meowing at my bedroom door. "Hold on, hold on..." I yawned as I opened the door. Leah, a nigh-black cat that I adopted, leaped into the room, quickly rubbed against my leg and purred while looking at me with her one eye, pleading to be fed. "I know you're hungry, but you're gonna have to wait a sec, aren't ya?" Taking that as her answer, Leah dashed to the kitchen. "Dumb cat," I say with a smirk on my face as I went to feed her.
I quickly jumped into the shower, dried myself off, and got to brushing my teeth. I paused as I looked in the mirror. I looked at my relatively pale complexion, blue eyes, still kinda wet-black hair - shaved on the sides and in the back with medium-length hair on top, and a small scar on the bridge of my nose, before I sighed, "Another year of high school, another year of misery, aye Tessa Black?"
Back in my room, I put on my usual getup; baggy jeans and a belt to hold it up, long socks, long sleeve and graphic t-shirt (FL4K is my spirit animal...), my jacket, and a new schoolbag packed with supplies. Getting ready had become child's play, which I've become quite good at since I was six, considering I'm the only responsible one in this house anymore...
I cringed as I remembered that I should probably wake mom up.
I trudged through the ever-increasing pile of liquor cans and glasses to get to her room, then stopped before the door. I knocked on the door loudly and yelled, "HEY! WAKE UP OR YOU'LL BE LATE FOR THAT CLEANING JOB... again." I heard grumbling coming from the other side of the door. I waited a couple of minutes before I repeatedly slammed that poor door until I heard her grumble angrily, but she was getting out of bed all the same. I decided it was that moment that I should leave. Speeding through to the door, I let Leah outside before I started my walk toward Clarkson High School.
As I walked, listening to some My Chemical Romance, my phone buzzed. I looked at who was texting me, lo and behold, it was Amadeus Cho.
kotn: Morning! Ready for another year of learning!?
queen black: 1) WOOOOOW that was incomprehensably corny 2) says the one that's going to horizon high of all high schools...
kotn: Can't you be happy for me? (sarcasm) Wait, kotn?
queen black: king of the nerds
kotn: -_- Really?
queen black: wat? it suits u. bsides u'll probably b running the place b4 the year is out.
-kotn changed name to A. Cho-
A. Cho: Well, you're not wrong about that... ;)
queen black: :'0 gg dear kotn, u will live on in our 3s...
queen black: ur going 2 b going 2 a new skool, w/ none of the idiots from ur old skool coming back to pester u 4 another year... (x_x) a brand new start!
A. Cho: Oh come on, it can't be THAT bad... right?
queen black: (0_0) sweet innocent cho, how little u know about the public educational system...
A. Cho: Crap! School assembly is about to start. Later?
queen black: l8r
-queen black changed A. Cho to tonystark+-
tonystark+: (0'_'0) Seriously?
queen black: L8R
As I walked up the steps to Clarkson High School main building, I shut off my phone before either Cho could retaliate or one of the teacher's aids could swipe the phone from me.
The day went on as I normally thought it would: we had our school-wide assembly, a new transfer student was especially called out for some reason, though. Homeroom was boring, math was blah, economics was dull, etc. This went on for the past five days, at least until a few weeks later…
...
It was after school and mostly everyone else had gone home by now. I was outside and looked up from my phone when I heard a squeak. Looking around, I found what caused the noise behind the school: a girl, the same age as me, was on the ground. She seemed normal, except for the fact that she looked like a bird-person, without a beak or bird-feet. An Inhuman. Betting she was the one the principle was yammering on about a few months ago. Her name was...Fiona, I think? Anyway, blue colored feathers started from the bridge of her nose, went up over her head, down her back, on her shoulders, and finally over her forearms. The longest feathers sprouted from her head and forearms.
That's when I saw who shoved her to the ground. Brent. The lowlife was standing over the girl, sneering at her while his two hench-goons laughed & searched through her purse.
"What are you even doing here, freak?" Brent spat, "Shouldn't you be in… Attalia or something?" The two behind him just snickered.
"B-b-b-but-" she stammered out before being interrupted.
"What? Now you are trying to sound as much like a chicken as you look. B-b-b-bucock!" They all laughed as she flinched at the sound.
I stormed out there, and I must've had murder written on my face, 'cause they seemed to pale when they took notice of me.
I shoved Brent hard and wretched the purse from the other bully's hands before I yelled, "HEY! Back off, now." I seethed the last part through my teeth. The three slowly back up. I turned to the Inhuman girl, gave her purse back, and asked if she was alright. She just nodded, still shaking and on the verge of tears.
"What are you even doing? Don't help that freak out. She'll probably end up blowing something up or...something."
I slowly turned around, glaring daggers, and replied, "You know where you can stick that asinine, derogatory bullshit that only the most self-deprecating, completely and hopelessly moronic loser would think up, let alone actually act upon? Where it belongs; UP YOUR OWN ASS!"
Brent's two sidekicks looked at him with worry in their eyes, but all he did was look down.
Satisfied, I turned back to the Inhuman who is now looking up at me with large, amber eyes. As I helped her up and dust her off, Brent shoved me into the car that was nearby.
"Hold her, we're gonna teach Tessa here what happens to freak sympathizers," Brent ordered.
I was about to retort something clever before Brent punches me square in the gut. With the wind knocked right out of me, I look to the Inhuman girl. She stared in horror before bolting as fast as she could. I can't really blame her, she was scared enough before.
Again and again, he kept punching me, but something began to rise up from within me. Something began to make my head spin, my stomach to tighten, and my limbs to shake. This something writhed in my mind, filling it with so much hate that seemed more like a force than anything else. A force that wanted freedom. The punching stopped, but I didn't notice, nor did I notice the bright lime green and deep navy blue energy that crackled across me. My body became numb as the force went through my body.
A lime green aura began to emanate from my body, first like a silhouette, then a bubble. I clenched my teeth from the intensity; I felt like I wanted to vomit myself inside-out. I screamed, but nothing came out or I just didn't hear anything.
Then, in a flash, nothing.
…
[Avengers Tower - Around the same time…]
"Hahaaa! You will not best me this time, fiend!"
"Nice try Goldilocks, but you're still going down."
Hulk and Thor were, once again, fighting the only way they know how (without destroying everything around them), a good old game of Mario Kart. What could go wrong?
"Haaaaa! Eat kraken's ink, devilish green brother!"
"Gah, that's a dirty trick and you know it!"
"'All tricks are fair in Mario Kart,' you told me that Hulk," paraphrased Thor with a sly smirk that would've looked far better on his late brother's face than his.
Hulk only grumbled in reply.
While they fought for first place, Vision, interested in this new way to study 'organic rituals of growing bonds via friendly competition' merely watched from the sidelines (and away from Hulk's reach, in case he needed to throw something or someone...). Thor and Hulk tried to include Vision in their game, but the android politely refused, satisfied in watching the other two play.
Clint Barton, a.k.a. Hawkeye, sat at the dining room table nearby, reading the locale newspaper and taking sips from his coffee.
After a bit more hooting and hollering, Sam Wilson, a.k.a. Falcon, came from the lab & engineering room and exasperatedly said, "Guys, can you keep it down? I just added some upgrades to my wingsuit and I need to recalibrate the systems-"
All of a sudden, Thor jumped up, exclaiming, "HA, in your face, Hulk!" after his driver crossed the finished line before Hulk. Then the thunder god went into an embarrassingly bad dance that made Hawkeye wonder who let Thor watch Fortnite dance videos.
Everyone in the room went wide eyed. Even Vision phased through the floor to appear alongside Falcon and Hawkeye, if only to avoid the carnage that was coming.
Clint chuckled, "Bet you ten bucks that Hulk breaks his controller." Sam just rolled his eyes.
Before the not-so-friendly giant Charlie horsed Thor across the room and through the window, a large shimmering…thing appeared in front of the two.
"Heimdall? What is the occasion for your message? Do you wish to congratulate me on my victory, friend?" gushed the prince. Hulk grumbled dangerously.
Heimdall, looking unusually uneasy, peered around to make sure he wasn't being overheard before he spoke, "No, Thor…"
Thor interrupted, "What is wrong, Heimdall? Is there trouble in Asgard…" He motioned his arm, summoning Stormbreaker. The other three had already gotten closer to hear what was going on.
"I…I do not know for certain…" Thor raised his brows in surprise; rarely does anything make Heimdall, the stoic watchman of the Bifrost, uncertain.
"For a moment…I thought I felt Loki's presence."
The room became deadly silent.
"Are you sure of this, Heimdall?" questioned Sam, "Could it have been a mistake?"
"To be honest, I know not. It was brief, but I definitely felt Loki's magic being released, and it was not an insignificant spell, either… I tried to peer into the area in which the magic source came from, but my vision became unfocused."
"I thought Loki was done for after he released that Alldark junk and destroyed himself…" commented Clint.
"Does my father know of this?" Thor interjected. He spoke with such calmness that it kinda made everyone else worried.
"No. I thought it was best to tell you first since you are nearest to the source, and thus could...investigate sooner."
"And where did you feel this magic power?"
"The place mortals call 'Upstate New York.' I tried to peer further, but-"
"Thank you, Heimdall. You should inform Allfather Odin immediately."
"I will, and good luck, old friend."
A couple of seconds ticked by, before Sam said, "I'm just gonna go tell Cap and Tony what happened."
"That is probably the wisest action to take at this time," Vision agreed.
...
I ran. I just...ran.
When I 'woke up,' it looked like I was in a warzone. I was a bit singed, but mostly ok. Everything else was another matter; most of the cars were either crushed or blown up, I think literally half the school got demolished, and I was currently standing in an indentation in the actual ground, with cracks in the parking lot emanating from where I stood.
My only thought was, Shiiiiiiiiiit.
I heard groaning in some rubble. Thinking the worst case scenario, I dug through it to find the three bullies. I checked their pulses; the last thing I wanted was for their blood to be on my hands...no matter how much they needed some sense smacked into them.
I breathed a sigh of relief, before it got caught in my throat. A crackle of lime green energy ran down my right arm. Panicking, I flailed my arm, trying to get rid of any weird energy.
I then looked at my hand before thinking, Did… Did I do that?! Wha-who-how!? I'm not an Inhuman, otherwise I would've remembered coming out of a cocoon…
Barely hearing the sirens of emergency vehicles, I grabbed my pack and ran for all I was worth.
On the road, I stopped and looked at my phone. It didn't work. Maybe I overloaded it? I grabbed my throbbing skull. Do I have a concussion? Probably… I blinked a couple times before I continued running.
A little while later, I quickly ran into the house, panting and sweating, and slammed the door really hard, as if I thought that would prevent the events of earlier from reaching to me.
I wrapped my arms around my abdomen as the feeling from before tried to snake it's way back up. I heard a gasp and looked up; it was Mom. Either she got back from work early or she didn't go at all. I managed to squash the feeling, but more energy bolted across my arms.
I stared at her with frightened eyes, something I haven't done since I was a young girl, and asked, "What's happening to me?"
She made me hot cocoa (the only thing that helps me calm down), sat me down, and told me everything she knew.
...
Scott looked around. He knew that missions were serious business, but this was creepy. Without Iron Man or Hawkeye making their usual banter amongst the other passengers, the Aven-Jet Prime was unnaturally quiet.
He had to break the silence. "So, um, we're just going in without a plan?"
Captain America sighed, "Ant-Man's right, we need to plan for what we find."
"We do whatever it takes to take him down." answered Black Widow, piloting the Aven-Jet with Iron Man as copilot.
"That's assuming that whatever we find is Loki…" countered Ant-Man, "I mean, didn't Thor AND Dr. Strange both agree that the...space-ink stuff-" Ant-Man made some hand gestures simulating an implosion. "Even Loki can't fake that, right?"
"In any case," said Iron Man, "Whatever blew up that school up was no joke. This person or thing is dangerous and we need to deal with it."
The high school. To say it was 'blown up' would be an understatement. Half of it was gone, the pavement was shattered, and the trees that happened to be somewhat nearby were singed. And when the Avengers arrived, the local emergency personnel, police, and firefighters covered the area. Thankfully, no one was seriously injured…
The media were having a field day with this; they kept harassing anyone for information, theorizing an AIM terrorist attack to an Inhuman gone out of control. They nearly swarmed the half-conscious kid that was being loaded into an ambulance. Captain America had to distract them with an interview!
Must've been a slow news day… thought Ant-Man during the ordeal.
Luckily, Vision heard just enough of his mumbling to get a name: Tessa Black.
"Then why didn't we bring Hulk?"
"He said..." Cap started, "He said that Thor should lead this one."
Everything got quiet again.
"Speaking of which… Is he going to be alright?"
Everyone who wasn't piloting looked at Lang.
"I-I mean, if this is Loki, and that is a BIG if, will he be able to...deal?"
"As in…?" questioned Black Widow.
"I mean, maybe he might want to sit this one out…?" Ant-Man squeaked the last part out.
Hawkeye snarked, "Are you going to tell the big guy to 'sit this one out?'" He thumbed toward the windshield, indicating to the Asgardian that was outside, just ahead of the supersonic jet.
"Touche."
"Alright ladies and gents," Iron Man announced, "we're at the address. Let's see what's going on."
Black Widow landed the jet on an open field, just across a very lonely-looking road that led from a driveway to a just-as-lonely-looking two story home. The shutters were pine needle-green and the tan-brown paint needed a serious appliance. Patches of dead grass littered the front lawn, covering everything. A very fat looking squirrel sat in a bird feeder, shewing on seeds as it looked at the new visitors.
Thor began to walk toward the front porch, but Iron Man stopped him. "Maybe let me ring the doorbell. You might... intimidate whoever's inside."
Nodding in acknowledgement, Thor said, "Lead the way, friend-Tony."
Everyone mentally sighed in relief, Thor seemed to have gotten over his shock a bit.
Iron Man walked up the stairs to the front door and knocked. Nothing. He looked back to the rest of the Avengers.
"My sensors detect life-signs…"
Captain America asked, "Vision, can you go recon the area? I don't want to leave anything to chance…"
"Affirmative, Captain." Vision turned invisible and phased into the house.
Iron Man knocked again, but this time, his armor detected movement. The door opened, but was stopped by a small chain. "Hey, uh, we were-"
The person shut the door abruptly before several locks clicked, unlocking the door. It swung open, revealing a middle aged woman with dark brown hair, fair complexion, and deep green eyes, who appeared to have been crying and held a bottle of alcohol. "Well, she's back there, if you're here to get her…" she pointed with her free hand to the back of the house.
Everyone just looked at each other before Captain America said, "We would like to ask a few questions, if that is alright with you, ma'am."
The woman scrunched her face in confusion and asked, "Why, I just told you-"
"Please, m'lady…" Thor interrupted.
She stared at the Asgardian for a while before finally relenting. "Fine, but don't start crying if you don't like what I have to say."
The five came into the home, while the woman leaned against the couch that was sitting in the middle of the living room and facing the muted TV.
Iron Man then said, "Hawkeye, Ant-Man, could you go ask Tessa some questions?"
The woman looked like she wanted to protest, but decided not to.
"Maybe you should start at the beginning Ms…" suggested Black Widow.
"Allison Black," the woman sighed, then continued, "Anyway, seventeen years ago I moved to New York from Vermont with grand ideas that I was going to be a bigshot. THAT didn't exactly work out too well…" Allison took a swig from the bottle before continuing. "I was drowning my sorrows at a small bar when a drunk asshole decided he wanted to get in my face. I told him to jump into a pit of vipers, but he just kept going. Until another man stepped in and took out said trash…"
"Loki…" breathed Thor.
"That fact I wouldn't know until SEVERAL years later, so you know." Allison clarified. "He just swept me off my feet. Made me feel like I was the queen of the world," she giggled at the notion, then sighed, "like I was the only person that mattered… A week later, I found out I was pregnant with Tess. After she was born, I went from odd job to odd job, until I just couldn't afford the apartment and moved up here, to this dump…
"A few years after that, when Tess was five, she kept pulling at my shirt, wanting me to watch the TV. She kept saying, 'Supah-heroes! Supah-heroes!' but that is when I saw him, on the news, after all those years… Fighting you people for shit's sake!" Allison pinched the bridge of her nose in frustration.
"That must've been…" Captain America started.
"Infuriating? Yes, also confusing and depressing… I tried to keep her here, to protect her and/or protect others from her, but she wouldn't have any of it. Too stubborn, like me."
"Well," Iron Man began, "we would like to take Tessa in, run some tests-"
"Take her, whatever. She doesn't want anything to do with me. She's sixteen, she can live wherever she wants to now."
Captain America was about to speak up, but Thor was already heading out the back yard.
-Meanwhile-
Hawkeye and Ant-Man went outside, then went through the woods until a small clearing opened up, revealing a pond where a lone figure sat on a stump, backed faced toward them.
Vision reappeared alongside Hawkeye, who mouthed, "Is she alone?"
The android nodded affirmatively. Hawkeye nodded towards Ant-Man and grabbed his bow and a trick arrow. "Alright there, Tessa, was it? I'm going to ask this once: put your hands up, stand up, and face this way- slowly."
...
"Or what? You gonna shoot me in the back? What a brave and heroic Avenger you are…" I said, sarcasm dripping in every word. I did not care, I just didn't care. That's what happens when you find out your long, lost father turns out to be a supervillain that tried to destroy the universe itself and your mother kept it a secret for all of your life until that moment.
"You know who we are?" A different voice. I looked over my shoulder; it must've been the one in the helmet.
"First: duh. I've seen my fair share of Avengers videos and second: that jet isn't as quiet as you think it is." I picked up another pebble and skipped it across the pond.
"That doesn't matter because we're still-" began Hawkeye.
"'Taking me in?' Are you arresting me? Can you even arrest people?! You're not law enforcement nor do you have the training in the actual field. What are my so-called 'charges?'"
"You blew up a...high school."
THAT triggered me. I stood up sharply, turned around, then stomped toward the Avenger (who happened to be pointing his dumb bow at me) and said, "OH YES. It's not like JUST figured out I could do that, LET ALONE the fact I'm LOKI's KID for the love of shit! Hell, I bet being Robbie the Robot's kid, over here," I motioned to the green and maroon colored android that just floated there, looking at me, "would only be half as strenuous as being the spawn of Loki is going to be! But WHY NOT vilify me by proxy, it's NOT like I was a toddler when he was pulling his crap! How am I supposed to prevent my OWN conception?
"..."
"Yeah, I must've been a regular evil genius baby, with all the evil schemes and doomsday devices I was cooking up. OH POOR, DUMB BRENT! Let's not forget that turd sandwich! I bet he's putting on one hell of a sob story describing all the damage that I wrought like some kind of friggin' Voldemort. It's NOT like he and his crownies were beating me for defending an Inhuman schoolmate that they were harassing and spewing derogatory bullshit at, NOOOOOOOOO NOT AT ALL!"
I glared at the archer, out of breath, daring him to say something.
"Uh…" the other one uttered.
"That's OK. Completely fiiiiiiiiine." I walk past him and began walking backwards, "Take me to Avengers Tower, couldn't be any worse than he-"
I had bumped into something hard. I smelled the distinct odor of ozone… I slowly turned around to see none other than Thor himself. Looking down at me. With a very intense blue eye. We just stared at each other.
I looked away, then back again and said, "Hi?"
He kept looking down at me, eyepatch, short, blonde hair, beard, and all. Then a small grin formed until he had a smile that stretched from ear to ear. He picked me up by the shoulders and gave me a bear hug to end all bear hugs.
"That is an excellent idea, dear niece!" he shouted.
While I was being suffocated, Hawkeye said, "Um, Thor, I…" But a quick glare shut him up quickly.
Thor continued, "Besides, Loki had made plenty of enemies across Midgard, let alone the Nine Realms. You will need a safe haven to keep them from seeking revenge on you."
My face was blank. That didn't even cross my mind…
"Thor's right, Hawkeye," Captain America, coming up from behind the Asgardian, said.
"Hold on-" tried Hawkeye.
"Plus," interrupted Iron Man, "it'll be that much easier to monitor her if she is closer to us than over here."
"I'M...right here...ya know…" I managed to croak out. Thor managed to get the hint and released his death-grip. "Man, my spine…"
"So, what'll it be?" Captain America asked, looking at me. He wasn't the only one though; all of the Avengers were looking at me, expectedly.
I looked around, before sighing, "Do I have an actual choice in the matter?" Cap and I stared at each other until I finally relented, "Fiiiiine, as long as nobody else tries amateur chiropractic on me…"
"Good, you should get packed up before we head out."
"Alright, you, Bug-Boy," I point to Ant-Man, "you're helping me."
"Uh, why?"
"You can shrink stuff right?"
"Right…"
"So, I have a ton of crap and shrinking it down would be much easier to carry than not."
He nodded in agreement, "Yeah, that makes sense."
There was some rustling coming from a nearby bush. All of the Avengers took battle stances before Vision said, "One Felis catus, female, seven years, six months, and six days old, moderate health-"
"Thank you Dr. Doolittle…" I picked Leah up and looked at the superheroes. "You guys are paranoid."
Ant-Man followed me inside of the house, but before I went up the stairs to go to my room I looked back at my mom as she sat on the couch and watched her murder-mystery shows. Ant-Man followed my line of sight and looked back at me. I stared back before turning around and continuing my ascent.
Once inside, I dug out some backpacks and cardboard boxes and I said, Well, get to shrinking."
"You want me to shrink everything in here?!"
"No, just my dresser, bedding, shelves, whatever I can fit into these boxes…"
"And this?" He pointed to my computer setup in question.
"Yup, that too."
He stared at it for a second before asking, "That is a lot of computer stuff, what's it for?"
"It's my stream setup." After I noticed him looking at me, I explained, "What? How else did you think I fed myself and bought the things I needed? Especially when she just bought booze…" I went back to packing up.
"Well, maybe you could-" I quickly gave him a glare that said that I didn't want to hear it. He kept quiet and shrunk my dresser.
After everything had been shrunk and we were back outside, I asked, "Done, now what?"
"Now we must avoid the news media that is gathering outside the property," said Vision, nonchalantly.
"What?! Already?" exclaimed Iron Man, "That seems a little fast, even for the paparazzi…"
"Yeah," added Hawkeye, "this neck of the woods seemed pretty abandoned to me."
I groaned, "People love to go down this road, particularly because there are no cops around to give them tickets for going eighty… Bet you a hundo that Shelldon or his old lady called your jet into the local news station for a bit of cash." I peered around the house to check. "Yep, definitely his truck, what a douche…"
"Language…" Cap warned. I scrunched my face and looked at him like I wanted to say, really?
"Distraction?" asked Black Widow.
"It's my turn, anyway," lamented Iron Man. "While I do that, the rest can go the long way around to the Aven-Jet."
"There is a trail over here," I mention the rest of the Avengers to follow.
After a bit of a hike and Iron Man escaping the mob, the group got into the Aven-Jet Prime and safely took off. I sat in-between Captain America and Ant-Man, holding onto the cat carrier Leah was in and contemplated my situation. It's funny, you never really grasp the trouble you get yourself in until you get some time to think about it…
It was quiet in the jet…
"So, um,..." I began, "So, what is going to happen to my mother?"
With all eyes on me, Black Widow answered, "We'll contact SHIELD and they'll put her in protective custody."
"Like witness protection?"
"Basically."
I leaned my head back, with a finger poking out to pet Leah and thought, I wonder what Cho is doing right now?
...
Amadeus Cho was speechless. Actually speechless. Tessa Black, his best friend, was taken into custody by the Avengers after she supposedly destroyed half of a high school. He still couldn't believe it. It was on a news channel, where J. Jonah Jameson and three other people were trying to figure out the motive behind the 'attack.'
His little sister, Maddy Cho, in the meantime was trying to bribe him from telling their mother that his friend is a supposed terrorist. Cerberus, the family corgi, was whining to go outside, like Cho was supposed to five minutes ago. Ignoring her, he took Cerb outside so he could take his leak and quickly dug out his phone. He texted and he called, but her phone was apparently not available.
Taking Cerb back inside, he told his sister, "I'm going out for a bit, getting a smoothie, whatever. Don't tell mom-"
"But-"
"Do not tell mom. I'm being serious. Like 'I'm gonna build a rocket and stuff it with all of your toys in it and send it straight into the sun' serious."
Satisfied with her glaring at the TV and pouting in frustration, Amadeus started to speed-walk down the long driveway and muttered under his breath, "What have you gotten into…?"
…
"Home sweet home," called out Iron Man as we landed in the Avengers Tower hanger.
"Have you been to New York before?" Captain America asked me.
"Yup," I replied, "I always came here on summer vacations. Helped out at the soup kitchen, did a little hustlin'..."
"Hustling?"
"Oh, nothing to worry about." I promptly left the jet as soon as the back of it completely opened and went straight to the door leading into the building proper.
As I reached the door, it opened and a young looking African-American guy with short hair and five o'clock shadow came out and said to Cap, "Glad you guys are-" He stopped when he noticed me. "Um, who is this…?"
I patted him on the shoulder, saying, "Bullet points: I'm Loki's daughter, blew up a school, gonna stay here until I stop blowing up schools." I then walked away, satisfied by how I summed up the situation.
"Is she...is she serious?"
"Yeah Sam, she's serious," grumbled Hawkeye.
"What were you going to say, Sam?" asked Cap.
"Oh right, um, we have a visitor."
Cap looked at Hawkeye before asking, "A...visitor?"
"Yeah, she says her name is 'Lady Frigg-'"
"MOTHER IS HERE?!" Thor called out and quickly rushed inside.
I turned my head back at that last part. Mother? I'd hate to meet-
And for the second time today, I bumped into an Asgardian. The woman in question wore an incredibly elaborate, emerald colored dress; it was accented with gold colored threads woven into patterns and frilly white layers shown underneath to make the emerald and gold stand out even more. She wore a thin gold tiara on her head, along with her auburn hair that was tied into a bun. Her green eyes crinkled when she looked down at me.
She suddenly bent down to give me a squeeze. It wasn't as forceful as Thor's deathtrap, but she didn't let go easily…
"Alright," I said, "if there is anyone else who needs a hug, do it now 'cause I ain't doing it all day."
The woman chuckled, "I apologize, dear, it's just...you look so much like your father…" She then looked down at me with a look of longing, like she was remembering a long lost memory.
I scratched the back of my neck. Well, this is kinda awkward…
Thor appeared alongside me, but he seemed...nervous?
"Lady Frigga, for what brings you here? Where is the Allfather?" breathed Thor.
"Oh, hush Thor dear," Frigga scolded, "I can dottle on my darling granddaughter whenever I want. Besides, Odin is visiting the chief of Vanaheim when Heimdall told me the good news."
Looking down at me, she asked, "Tell me dear, what is your name?"
"Tessa Black…"
"Tessa, I have a gift for you."
Please be gold, Please-
Frigga pulled a large book from behind her.
Wait, where was she hiding that?
"Is that…?" breathed Thor.
"Yes, the same beginner's spellbook that I gave Loki when he was just a boy. He carried this around no matter what… I'm giving it to you, to help you refine your raw talent in the arcane arts."
Accepting the book, I said, "I...don't know exactly how I feel about being given a nigh-omnicidal sociopath's magic book for dummies…"
Frigga only chuckled, "You have his wit and cynicism…" She nealt to meet me at eye level and gently held my shoulders. "Yes, Loki had made plenty of mistakes, possibly more than anyone else in the Ten Realms," I had to raise my brow after that, "but having you is not one of them. I only wish you know and understand this, child; family, true family, is bound not by blood, but by love. I am always available if you need to talk to me."
I looked to the right to see that the other Avengers had kinda gathered around us, but at a respectable distance. Ant-Man, helmet off, looked like he was gonna start balling. Sam muttered about calling his mom, and Hawkeye whispered, "Is it really a good idea to just give her a spellbook?"
Black Widow countered with, "Are you gonna argue with Thor's mother?"
"Good point."
I looked back toward Frigga and nodded, not trusting myself to speak.
Satisfied, she took a couple of steps back and said, "I'm ready, Heimdall." Just like that, Frigga, Queen of Asgard, disappeared in a blinding pillar of light, leaving a slightly charred spot behind.
"Well that's going to be a pain to buff out…" muttered Iron Man.
Captain America thought it would be a good idea to let me settle in after today's events. Tony (out of his armor) led me to where my room will be for my stay here and Scott came along because I didn't know how to unshrink my stuff.
When we got to the mostly white room, I could only remark, "Funny, I figured there'd be more metal bars." The actual room itself was nigh bare; the only things in there were a bed, a desk, a couple of shelves, and an adjacent and surprisingly well stocked bathroom.
"You're a guest, not a prisoner. You better get used to it kid," Tony jokingly said. Walking away, he added, "Oh, we'll probably be having shawarma for dinner, if you feel like eating."
I scrunched my face in confusion, turned my head back, and asked, "The hell is shawarma?"
Stark nearly stopped in his tracks. "Ok, now we have to have shawarma. Trust me, you'll love it!" He then disappeared behind the slowly sliding doors. I put the cat carrier down and let Leah out. She had always been good with traveling, but even I was worried about her going onto a super-jet and freaking out or spraying everywhere. Thankfully, she didn't.
I shook my head. Scott then un-shrunk my stuff and asked if I wanted any help moving stuff, but I declined. After everything was done, I was about to plug in my computer and gaming stuff when I asked myself aloud, "I wonder what the wi-fi password is…"
"It is 'tonystarkisthebest1,' no capital letters or spaces."
I froze, trying to think where that feminine robotic voice came from. "Whooooooo said that?"
"I did. I am Friday, an AI designed by Tony Stark. I help run most of the systems of Avengers Tower. I hope I didn't startle you."
"Next time, you should lead with that."
"Noted."
I just sighed. Man, this is just weird…
"Would you like me to de-bug your computer systems when you have finished installing?"
"Oh, sure, thanks."
"My pleasure. Please call for me if you have any more questions."
"Sure will."
I waited to see if Friday would continue, but she didn't.
I looked around, at my singed jacket that I had laid down on the bed, my computer junk, Leah, who was lying in her cat bed, then to the spellbook that I had laid down on a shelf. I stared at the book for a few minutes. The cover of the spellbook was deep navy blue with silver scribbled across it in a very norse-like fashion.
...
"Well, I think she's broken." said Clint, through a chunk of shawarma. Clint, Natasha, Tony, and Scott sat around the table, eating the take-out Indian food Tony so graciously ordered. Steve was making a call to someone, but he didn't say to whom. The subject was, unsurprisingly, Tessa Black, but for a different reason; she came back down from her room, but she just sat down on the couch on the other side of the room, where Hulk was still trying to sharpen his Mario Kart skills. He even offered the other controller, but she shook her head.
"She's been staring at that book for nearly an hour now."
"Can you really blame her?" countered Natasha, "Her entire world has turned upside down. Anyone would be shell shocked after that."
"I'm not complaining or anything, in fact, I prefer this if this is all she is going to do…"
"And why are you so against her staying here with us?" asked Tony.
"Yeah," agreed Natasha, "I figured that after 'Molecule Kid' that you'd be more open to the idea." It is incredibly rare for the infamously serious Black Widow to tease (or joke in general), but when she did, it stung.
"That was completely different," Clint said defensively. "I knew that Aaron was a good kid. He gave up the wand and even became a SHIELD cadet. She," thumbing towards Tessa. "is straight out of left field. She's Loki's kid for cryin' out loud! Who knows what she can do? I mean, what's to say that she won't just magically turn into Loki? I mean, like literally."
"I...don't think that's how magic works…" Scott chipped in.
"Maybe we should get Doctor Strange to check her out, just in case…"
"You're being paranoid, and that's coming from me... " said Natasha. Tony muttered something about hating magic for the billionth time.
At the same time, Steve came into the room and joined the table. "Any changes?" he asked.
"Nope," said Tony, "By the way, who did you call that was so important?"
"Someone who may be able to help. I told her it was-" Steve looked at what was on the table and immediately groaned, "Shawarma again? You know how much it gives me indigestion…"
"You sound like an old man."
""I am more than seventy, Tony."
"Chronologically, not biologically; you are still thirty. Besides, you're a supersoldier, shawarma, of all things, shouldn't be giving you any trouble."
"Multiple nights of tossing and turning say otherwise…"
"Self-fulfilling prophecy," Scott suddenly said.
"...What?" asked Tony.
"A self-fulfilling prophecy is some psychological junk about how given enough time, a person will begin believing what other people say about them."
"And what does that have anything to do with this conversation?"
"Before I became an Avenger, before I met Dr. Pym, I was just another thief. A loser getting by by taking stuff that other people owned. Of course I tried to get my act together, but nothing really stuck; no matter how hard I worked, people only cared that I was a thief and they never gave me a chance, so I'd just end up stealing again. Again and again, the whole process would repeat itself." He looked Clint dead in the eye and nodded toward Tess, "Do you really want to put her through that?"
"Well...I mean… What I mean is that we should keep our eyes peeled, just in case," countered the archer.
"What I do know, which I'm not too proud to admit isn't much, is that if we don't at least give her some benefit of the doubt, we will drive her towards criminal activity, maybe even turning into a villain."
Everyone at the table was silent. Scott got up from his seat and continued, "Besides, I'm great with kids. In fact-"
…
"NOPE."
Everyone had turned towards me as I looked over the couch at them.
"Wha-" began the one that wasn't being a total tool.
"Hard nope. Thanks, but I kinda-really don't wanna be mentored by the guy that talks to ants." I rolled my eyes from everyone's surprised looks.
"Do you really think I couldn't hear you? Spoiler alert: I have really good hearing. Might be because I'm magical, but whatever. Besides, it's kinda rude to talk about someone while they're in the same friggin' room." I got up from the spot on the couch, came over to the table, and grabbed some shawarma. "Maybe a better approach would've been to, ya know, go up, nudge my shoulder. and ask if I was OK? Instead of comparing me to a sociopathic megalomaniac who I just found out today that he's my biological father and of whom I want nothing to do with." I glared at Arrow-Boy, "I'll be in my room, if anyone cares." I walked out of the room.
I hear Hawkeye say, "What?" I presume from all of the glares he probably received.
Hulk said, "Smooth."
...
Ms. Marvel walked into the room to see a circle of frustrated Avengers. She walked to the group and said, "Um, hi guys. What's up?"
Rubbing his eyes, Cap said, "Ms. Marvel, good, you're here. I have a small favor to ask you…"
"Sure Cap, what is it?"
Tony replied. "You wouldn't have seen the news about an upstate-"
"You mean the high school that got blown up?" the young Avenger interrupted. "Crazy right? I mean, I know school's a drag, but…" Ms. Marvel tried to lighten the room a bit. It didn't work. She coughed into her hand and asked, "So, is there an Inhuman I need to talk to or…"
"Well, not exactly…" The small group of Avengers retolded the events of the day to Ms. Marvel, who to say the least, was astonished.
"So let me get this straight," Ms. Marvel began, "Loki, THE Loki, had a daughter who didn't know that they're related, gained magic powers, lost control of said powers, then blew up her school. Am I getting that right?"
"Yup," answered Scott, "that basically sums it up."
"So, why is she here, exactly?"
"To prevent her from harming anyone else and vise versa." answered Natasha.
"You want me to talk to her because…?"
"We were thinking," explained Steve, "that since both of you are around the same age, maybe you could get to her, convince her that we're only trying to help."
Scott held his hands up defensively, "Hey, I tried."
"One last question, where the heck is Thor?"
Hulk replied this time. "He said something about calling in a few favors back home." Everyone looked at the big guy, who said, "What? I wanted to know if he could play more Mario Kart…"
"Can you do this, Ms. Marvel?" Steve asked.
"I mean," she scratched the back of her head, "I don't know if I'll be able to help, but I'll try."
"Thank you, I knew we could count on you."
"Friday can show you where she's staying. In the meantime…" Tony said while mentioning for Steve and Natasha to follow him.
Scott yawned. "Well, I'm gonna hit the hay, see you guys tomorrow." He got up to leave while Clint joined Hulk for a couple of rounds of Mario Kart.
Alright, thought Kamala, no problem, you can do this. How hard could this be?
...
Suffice it to say, I wasn't very impressed. In fact, I was kinda ticked off. Though this shawarma wasn't half bad…
I mean, talking about me as if I wasn't there? What is this, high school? Just more people that just see me as a delinquite, a burden, no good…
It's not like I want to be related to the magic idiot that tried to destroy the entire universe. But did anyone ask me? Noooooooooooooo.
I always wondered who my father was, but whenever I asked, Mom would shut her mouth as if I hadn't even asked and moved into another subject, so I stopped trying. No wonder she didn't answer me, I'd keep that secret to myself, too. But I should've been told anyway! He's my dad, yeah, a megalomaniacal one at that, but I still should've been told anyway, so I wouldn't have been so blind-sided.
Then lo and behold, people are already judging me because he's my dad. Like I wanna control the world. Controlling a country seemed like a particular kind of hell (I'm not envious of Doom at all, if you couldn't tell), let alone an entire planet.
I lied on my bed, contemplating my situation while looking at the spellbook's cover in my hand. Leah laid on my lap, purring.
Friday spoke up, "Ms. Black-"
"Tess is fine."
"Tess, would you like to watch some TV?"
I was going to decline, but instead asked, "Can you put it on SiriusXM Octane? Thanks." She complied, and some Avenged Sevenfold played, putting me at ease.
Looking at the spellbook again, I thought, to hell with it, and decided to look inside. Nothing but scribbles. No, runes. Or maybe Asgardian runes? Whichever the case, I turned a couple of pages until I discovered one that had a figure holding fire in it's (I'm pretty sure that the figure wasn't supposed to depict as either female or male...) palm. Looked easy enough.
I squinted at the text and said aloud, "Eldr?" I didn't set myself on fire.. Wait, how did I read Asgardian runes? Did I get that from my Dad's side?
But that's not how genetics are supposed to work… I thought. Better not look a gift horse in the mouth.
I looked at the figure again, and thought, Maybe if I did this…
I held my right hand out, as if I was going to snap my fingers to summon the fire and repeated, "Eldr" while I snapped my fingers at the same time, but nothing happened.
This time, I concentrated on my thumb, imagining it was going to shoot a small flame out and repeated what I did before, "Eldr!"
This time, I felt my hand tingle like before, but greatly diluted, and a green fire flicked to like, as if my hand was a lighter.
I yelped and shook my hand, extinguishing the fire. "Holy shit... " I whispered. I looked down at Leah, who was still sleeping on the bed as if nothing happened. I repeated the process several times until I at least thought I had it down.
That's when I heard a knock at my door and a voice, "Can I...uh...come in?"
I answered, "That depends on who's at the door."
"It is Ms. Marvel." Friday answered for her. Before I could say anything further, the AI opened the door.
"Seriously?" I said
"She is a trusted member of the Avengers and a good friend. You can trust her."
I scrunched up my face at wherever Friday's voice was coming from, before finally rolling my eyes and laying back down on the bed.
Ms. Marvel came in and, after nervously looking around, said, "Nice place."
"Yup. Pretty cushy for a jail cell."
She slightly cringed at my half-joke before asking, "So, uh, whatcha doin' there?" mentioning to my book.
"Learning how to set my thumb on fire." I demonstrated by snapping my fingers to reignite my green flame.
Ms. Marvel gasped. "That's so cool! I always wanted to do magic, ever since I was a little kid…"
"At least I can make s'mores whenever I want…"
The room stayed quiet for several minutes before I had to say something. "You can leave now, if you want."
"What?"
I sighed. "I know that the rest of the Avengers put you up to giving me one of those stereotypical pep talks that's supposed to make me have a heel-face turn, to make me all 'go team' or some other crap… Honestly, I don't see the point if I have to keep proving myself to the people who are supposed to be training me, and if this is indicative to how the public is going to react… Is it even worth it?"
Ms. Marvel pondered my rhetorical question for a bit before answering, "I… Well, I don't know about you, since we just met and all, but it's been worth it to me."
She proceeded to sit on the bed at my feet before continuing, "I may not be the daughter of a major villain, but I kinda get what you're getting at, being an Inhuman and Muslim."
The last part surprised me quite a bit. It must've shown on my face, because Ms. Marvel started to laugh when she looked at me. "Yeah, I've gotten similar looks before. It's alright."
I looked away in slight embarrassment. "Muslim, huh? You don't exactly wear it on your super-sleeves though," I countered.
"No, but people could still tell that I'm Pakistani despite my costume and naturally made assumptions. The usual trolls and whoever taking potshots. Once I started saving people though, they shut their mouths fast."
"But your Dad never tried to destroy all of existence."
Ms. Marvel looked down with her brows knit. For some reason we heard loud thumps going down the hallway.
"The hell is that?" I asked.
"Oh!" exclaimed Ms. Marvel, "It's Hulk. Maybe he can help."
With what, I thought, creating miniature earthquakes?
Ms. Marvel got up and went to the door, which opened with a swish.
"Hey Hulk! Can I ask you something?"
The thumping stopped before it got close again, then Hulk's head ducked into the door since he was way too big to fit through the dinky door. "S'up kid, what do you need?"
Ms. Marvel replied, "Well, Tessa-"
"Tess is fine."
"Tess wants to know if you thought it was worth being an Avenger despite your...um... history."
The Hulk raised a single eyebrow, which sent Ms. Marvel in a slight panic.
She's kinda cute when she's nervous… Surprised, I shook the thought out of my head.
"Uh, what I mean is-"
Hulk sighed before saying, "I know what you mean." He looked at me, right in the eye, before continuing. "It was the hardest thing I have ever done. No matter how hard I tried, to show people that I wasn't the green rage-monster that I used to be, but everyone was still too afraid. It got to the point where I wondered why I was still trying. There were several times that I wanted to quit."
I raised an eyebrow questioningly, before he continued, "But I didn't. I had friends who had my back at every step. Who defended me when nobody else would. Then eventually, everyone started to think of me as an Avenger instead of a monster."
I huffed, "They didn't give me that benefit of the doubt earlier."
"They're...probably still trying to adjust. Loki was a serious threat-" began Ms. Marvel.
"But I'm not Loki."
"I never said you were," she said defensively, "but Loki never did anything without a purpose. Who knows what plans he had when...you know..."
"A thanatos gambit? Like what? His ghost comes back and possesses me or something?"
Ms. Marvel could only shrug.
I turned my face back to the spellbook, uncertain…
Hulk, satisfied that he got to voice his opinion, started his way back to his room.
Ms. Marvel called to him, "Thanks, Big H!" He merely grunted in response.
She turned to me and waited. I sat there, thinking.
After a few minutes, I said, "Tell Cap that the mission was a success."
Ms. Marvel looked excitedly at me, "Does that mean-"
"I'll think about it. I'm not going to make any promises..."
"Right, right. No pressure or anything. Just...think about it, OK?"
"That's what I said."
"Right," Ms. Marvel slowly moved backwards towards the door, "I'm just going to leave you to it, then."
"See you later."
"Totally!" The young Avenger dashed out the door and sped down the hallway.
I shook my head as I watched the door close behind her. I yawned. I should probably hit the hay… I had gotten up, took a quick shower, and put on my pajamas.
Settling into bed with Leah, I asked, "Friday, can you turn off the lights?"
"Sure."
"Thanks," I must've been exhausted from all the excitement today… Soon, I was drifting off to sleep.
...
Ms. Marvel rushed out of the elevator and bumped into someone holding leftover shawarma.
"Oh, sorry-" Ms. Marvel began.
"No problem," said Tony. "So, how did it go?"
"Great, actually! But Hulk did most of the work." Tony gave her a confused look, so she elaborated, "He's actually pretty good at giving motivational speeches."
"I'll keep that in mind the next time we have one of those team building seminars," Tony quipped. "What, did she say, specifically?"
"She said she'll think about it."
"I guess that'll do, for now. Going on patrol tonight?"
"Yup. Not coming with?"
"Maybe next time. Good luck." Tony said as he entered the elevator,
"Thanks!" Ms. Marvel ran to the door and thought, I should hurry, she thought, Doreen is probably waiting on me…
...
[Late at night...]
Amadeus felt like he was going to have a panic attack.
I can't believe I'm going through with this…!
Breaking into Avengers Tower?! What the hell was he thinking?! Was this a federal crime or some sort of secret global security council-level crime?
He had somehow gotten this close without getting arrested with the help of some devices he had whipped up: security jammers, cyber-neural interface gloves that were connected to a tactical visor, stealth-fiber moccasins, and a miniature shock-baton.
He had reached a maintenance door and began to hack. Sorry 'Friday,' but I need to keep you quiet for a little while… After a few minutes, he was pretty much done when he heard a voice behind him.
"Umm, excuse me?"
Poor Cho jumped at least five feet into the air and stifling a scream, he let out a weird, "Eeeeeeeeeeeeep!"
The girl was, in turn, startled by Cho. She's blue? No, she's covered in blue feathers. An Inhuman?
"I-I'm sorry,,, Are you a friend of Tessa?"
Cho looked at her skeptically, "What made you come to that conclusion?"
"Why else would you be here?" Cho inclined his head in acknowledgement. "It's," she started, but hesitated. She moved past it and continued, "It's all my fault!"
Cho raised his brows. "What do-"
"It's because I'm such a freak! If it wasn't for these dumb feathers, then Tessa wouldn't have gotten beaten up and in trouble. If I wasn't such a coward, if I didn't run-"
Cho covered the girl's mouth, quieting her, "Alright. Maybe you should explain everything from the beginning, nice and calmly..."
He slowly removed his hand and the girl told him exactly what happened before Tess blew up a high school. "I wanted to make it up to her, for running away before, so I came to Avengers Tower. The thing is...I had no idea what I was supposed to do next. That's when I saw you..."
"If you feel so strongly about it, Fiona, was it? Why don't you follow me inside?"
"R-really?"
"Really. Also, I'm more than certain that Tess, of all people, doesn't hate you. If you don't believe me, then you can ask her yourself."
Fiona nodded. Cho gave her an extra security jammer and told her to stick to him closely as they went inside. Everything was going smoothly so far… They crept through the dark hallways and rooms, avoiding elevators and going up stairs. I
In the kitchen/dining room area, both of them froze. They heard really heavy footsteps coming from down the hall. They quickly dove to either side of the large entrance. The person that lumbered passed them...was the Hulk?! Fiona covered her mouth with both hands, desperately trying not to be heard.
He walked past them, blissfully unaware.
Is he sleepwalking?, thought Cho. Hulk immediately went for the refrigerator, chugged an entire gallon of milk, burped in satisfaction, and then lumbered back down the hallway. After several minutes, they followed the big guy down the hallway.
Soon enough, the duo finally made it to the floors where people lived. After passing a couple of rooms, Cho found the one where Tess was staying in. He went to the keypad and swiftly hacked it. He turned back, facing Fiona and mentioned her to follow him…
…
I was staring up at the ceiling, thinking over what had transpired today, when I heard someone fiddling with the door. Quietly, I went to the right side of the entrance and waited.
A figure came out and whispered, "Tess? Tess? Are you here?"
"Cho?" I asked.
Amadeus spun around in surprise and whispered, "WHY is everyone trying to give me a heart attack today..."
"What the hell are you doing here?!"
"We snuck in to see you! Blowing up a school?! The hell happened?!"
We? I turned and saw that the blue feathered girl was shyly hanging around the doorway. My face scrunched in concentration, "You are..."
"Fiona. You don't...remember me?"
"Sorry, I kinda suck at placing names to faces…" I answered. "I didn't get a chance to really check, but are you okay?"
Fiona looked at me, clearly bewildered, "If I'm okay? I-If it wasn't for me...you wouldn't have-"
I put my hand on her shoulder and squeezed assuringly, "Hey. I don't blame you for anything. You were scared and hurt and anyone in that situation would've done the same thing. I chose to get involved, but you didn't choose to become Inhuman and I thought it wasn't fair that you got punished for being who you are-"
With teary eyes, Fiona lunged forward and hugged me tightly.
""Woah!" I chuckled, "We got a hugger, here."
We stayed like that for a moment, until Cho cleared his throat, "Anyway, aren't you, like, under arrest or something?"
"What? No, why?"
"Oh, I don't know, maybe for destroying an entire school!"
"That is a long story..."
I thought I summarized what happened earlier quite well. The other two, however, did not look like they believed me.
Cho was the first one to pick his jaw off of the floor, "Wait, wait, wait, wait… You're telling us that Loki, out of everyone in the known universe, is your dad?!"
"Was, and yes," I affirmed.
"What? How?"
I clasped my hands together and pointed my two index fingers at him. "Well, when an intoxicated man and woman go behind a dumpster-"
"I'm being serious, Tess!"
I shrugged, "I don't know! They dated for a week, 'dad' disappeared, and nine months later, boom," I pointed to myself for emphasis. I looked to Fiona, who was thinking things over. "Well?" I asked her.
My question shook her from her thoughts, "Mmm, what?" I raised an eyebrow. "Oh! Well, it's not like you choose to be Loki's daughter, so..." She looked up at me with a small smile.
Surprised, I smiled back. She really must've taken my words to heart… Then I remembered something. "Wait, why are you guys here, again?"
"Well," Fiona answered, "we were worried about you."
Cho continued, "We snuck in to see if you were okay."
"Aw, you guys..." I wrapped my arms around the both of them, genuinely touched. I paused, "Wait. You hacked Avengers Tower?!"
"Yeah..." Cho sheepishly said.
"Dude! I knew you were a tech genius, but this is ridiculous!"
"I had to rig up some stuff on the fly," Cho tapped the weird visor that was on his head, then showed off his teched-out gloves, "Not exactly clean, but it got the job done."
"So, Friday is down for the count?" I actually felt bad, she was growing on me…
"Friday?" Fiona asked.
"The AI that runs Avengers Tower. The hack won't stay for much longer and some other tech genius is going to notice…" I went to my drawer, picked out some clothes, and proceeded to change into them.
Cho swiftly turned around while Fiona looked away. "W-what are you doing?!" Fiona asked.
"Getting ready to go out."
"I thought you weren't allowed-" Cho began.
"They just want to run some tests, to make sure I won't blow something else up. Besides," I put on my singed jacket. The spellbook magically shrunk down, fitting into my pocket easily, "nobody explicitly told me that I couldn't go outside."
"Uh-"
"And how else would I show my appreciation to my friends, who risked their well being to help me out?"
"So, you're not going to...explode?" Fiona asked.
"Pfffft!" I wrapped my arms around them again, "I'm pretty sure that was a one-time thing. Well, ninety percent sure. It'll be fine, I can feel it in my gut. Now, where should we go first?"
~ To be continued…
...
The reason why I decided to make a fanfic about Tess Black is because she's Loki's daughter, but she only shows up once in the comics? And is never mentioned again? EVER?! What an absolute waste! She doesn't even have any powers; she gets possessed by some ghost-sorceress-thing for some reason (which might happen later down the road, *wink-wink*) and then that's it. WHAT?! Like I said, a waste.
Constructive criticism is always welcome.
Do NOT repost or steal. That is rude!