Happy Summer guys! In the words of Tony Stark, "Drop your socks and grab your crocs! It's about to get wet on this ride!" Time to hit the pools! 😂😂 So, for a nice Summer Friday, here's a good long, two-for-one chapter! Enjoy!
***Jersey City, New Jersey***
Peter walked down the suburban streets of New Jersey with Ava, and Sam close behind. Meanwhile, Harley had stayed behind to keep an eye on the Quinjet, while the others were currently headed to the address of the final recruit on their list. And it was a good time in Jersey to visit too, springtime. The weather was a nice 53.4° F with the sun occasionally poking out from the partly cloudy skies.
There was a slight breeze that came through and gave a nice chill for the four. Good kite flying weather, but that wasn't the kind of activity on the minds of these young ones.
As they continued to their destination, Sam had been in deep thought since they had left the Quinjet and an idea was forming. And with that idea, came a question. "Hey Pete?" he called up to his friend.
"Yeah?" The Spider-Man replied, looking back to the Hispanic.
"I've been thinking," A light scoff came from Ava when he said that and his face went deadpan, but he continued anyway, "Well, do you think maybe I could have a shot at doing the recruiting this time around?"
That made Peter and Ava stop and look at Sam surprised.
"What do you mean?" Peter asked.
"I was just wondering, 'cause you've had a go at the recruiting twice now and Ava's had...somewhat of one back with that Iron chick."
"Dude, that wasn't recruiting," Ava interjected, on the verge of laughing, "that was me standing between you and a whooping. Now THAT was twice! Except the second time, it actually happened and you got your a** handed to you by a ten year-old, with a NERF gun."
Ava couldn't help but laugh a little as she remembered how badly Harley's little sister beat Sam. Peter wanted to, but he held it back best he could, noticing Sam was beginning to seethe a bit. "Whatever! Point is, I think I should at least get a shot at this."
"Well Sam, you may just get your chance."
"What?" "What?!" Sam and Ava both exclaimed, confusion on their faces.
But Peter just shrugged, smiled and turned to walk up a small walkway and set of steps that led to this quaint little house they had stopped walking in front of. Apparently, this was the address for their final recruit, and they had coincidentally and unknowingly stopped in front of it. Quite fitting really.
The two followed suit and made it up onto the porch just as Peter had knocked on the door. A few seconds passed and no reply, but still waited. And their patience was reward when they heard the door locks become undone and saw the knob turn.
With their eyes on the door, they watched as a girl, most likely a teenager, opened the door and poked her head out.
"Whoa, hi!" She greeted nicely with a smile, looking amongst the four. "Can I help you?"
The group took in this girl's appearance almost immediately. She had on an olive green shirt with a light brown vest, and a pair of light blue jeans that seemed to hug her legs just right. And then there was the smile she had, it must've been contagious since Peter himself smiled kindly at her. "Kamala Khan?" He asked.
However, the girl laughed at that. "Oh, haha! No, she's my best friend. But she does live here though, we're roommates! Name's Doreen."
"Doreen, nice to meet you. This is Ava, and that's Sam." The two of them waved to the householder.
"Nice to meet you guys too," the redhead replied waving back, that smile still there. "Uh, Kamala's not here right now, but she'll be back in a few. You guys wanna wait in here for her?"
She stepped back and opened the door wider, gesturing for them to enter.
"Thanks, that'd be nice." Ava swiftly replied for all of them and walked in. As did Peter and Sam.
As they walked in, they found their way to the living room and upon entering, they saw a squirrel on the coffee table.
"Whoa!" Ava exclaimed, immediately surprised at the sight of the rodent. "Uh, Doreen? I think you left a window open."
"Hm?" Doreen was confused by that, but when she saw the squirrel Ava was pointing at, she laughed and shook her head. "Oh no, that's Tippy-Toe."
"You have a pet squirrel?" Sam asked, equally surprised as Ava.
"Eh, she's more of a partner/family member than a pet. Tippy, meet Sam, Ava and Peter." The ginger girl held out a hand towards the table for the squir-...Tippy-Toe, and Tippy-Toe jumped onto and crawled up Doreen's arm until she found a nice seat on her shoulder. As she did, they noticed a thin yellow bow with a mini acorn ornament tied around Tippy's neck, adding to the cute factor.
Tippy-Toe then looked from her human friend to the three guests and waved at them. And though they were quite surprised, they hesitantly waved back to her.
So after that introduction, they all sat down and chatted amongst each other while they waited. During that wait, the three became quite fond of Tippy-Toe, even petting her and feeding her cashews from her little bowl on the table. It was a very interesting experience.
Nearly fifteen minutes later, the front door opened and in walked a young girl. "Hey Doreen, I'm back!" She heard her roommate call out.
"Hey Double K!" Doreen replied back. "We've got company."
"Oh yeah?" Footsteps could be heard approaching the room until the girl entered the room, putting a face to the voice. But as soon as she did, Sam's eyes went wide at the sight of her. Right off the bat, he noticed this girl was beautiful. Her thin physique, luscious hair, and a captivating smile.
"Hi!" She kindly greeted the three, smiling as she did.
"Hi." Peter steppes forward and shook hands with the girl, "Peter Parker, nice to meet you."
"Likewise!"
"This is Ava," The latina stood and also shook Kamala's hand, to which the girl nodded and shook back. "And that's Sam."
Kamala turned to the stunned boy and her smile made him feel like he was melting. But he took her hand she held out and shook it. Not wanting to be awkwardly silent, he took note of her shirt and noticed that it was the exact logo of a hero he knew and had worked with once. Also noticing the red, blue and gold pattern among the shirt and the words 'CAPTAIN MARVEL' along the sleeves, he saw an in. "Huh. You a fan of Captain Danvers?"
At that moment, the girl's eyes went wide with surprise at the mention of the female hero. "You know about Captain Marvel?!" She asked, excitement clearly rising in her voice.
Sam nodded, recognizing the heroine's title. "Oh yeah, I do. I've worked with her before actually. She's pretty cool."
Kamala, who had not yet let go of Sam's hand from their shaking earlier, tightened her grip and pulled him in closer until they were but a lips distance away. Her eyes were fixed on him as if they were waiting for something, and he soon found out what it was too. "You've MET Captain Marvel?"
The sudden change in distance between them made Sam's breath hitch in his throat and he did his best to fight back a fierce blush. "Uh...yeah?"
"AHHHH!" The Muslim girl screamed with joy and jumped like a child. This shocked Sam since he was right there, as it did the others. Except for Doreen, she seemed to just smile and shake her head at her best friend's behavior. She knew this would come if someone mentioned her hero.
"OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH, OMIGOSH!" Kamala exclaimed, finally having stopped her jumping. Facing Sam again, she fired off a round of questions like some sort of fangirl. And with each question, the closer she got to Sam. "What's Captain Marvel like? How strong is she? Is she strict or is she more laidback? Can she really breathe in space or is it some kind of air supply in her suit to where she doesn't need a helmet? Does she-"
"Whoa! Pump the brakes there, Kamala!" Doreen interjected, pulling her bestie back from a now leaning backwards Sam. "I'm sure Sam can answer all your questions, but I believe these guys did come here with something to ask you."
Coming back to earth, Kamala giggles as she realized she had been fan-girling...again. "You're right. Sorry about that. I just, ugh, I get so excited about Captain Marvel at times."
"Ya don't say," Ava said slyly with a grin.
Kamala shrugged before sitting down herself and calming down. "Okay, so what was it you guys wanted to ask me?"
Taking this as his que, Peter went ahead, but not before having an idea. "Well, we have some big stuff to talk to you about," he began, "But I'm gonna let my friend, Sam here, explain it to you."
That was just enough to pull Sam from his thoughts. He shot his eyes to Peter with a look that screamed "What the-!"
But he stopped when he saw Peter motion with his head to Kamala, and also the wink that Ava gave him. He was so thrown off, he forgot that he'd asked Peter if he could recruit this girl. But now, he had motivation...along with a nervousness. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he took a breath and began.
"Well...so basically we have an idea to reverse the effects of the Snap and bring back everyone that was wiped out. Including the Avengers. It uh, it's pretty much includes going back in time to get these Infinity Stones, so we're trying to put together this team and-"
"I'm in!" Kamala cut him off, her face loaded with excitement and cheer.
That drew silence from the three guests. Did they hear her right...well, obviously they did, but she seems so eager about it. Why though?
"Wait. So, just like that, you're in?" Ava inquired, completely surprised at the swiftness of the girl's answer.
"Yeah!" Kamala exclaimed, more eager than he last time, "Getting to save the world, time travel, and getting to save the Avengers?! What, are you kidding me?! OF COURSE I'm in!"
Ava whistled silently at that before looking to Peter and shrugging, which he too did before turning to their "apparent" new recruit. "Wow...definitely didn't expect that reaction or that quick of a response, but uh...yeah. Welcome aboard, Miss Khan."
"Kamala." She kindly corrected, "Omigosh this is unbelievable! Wait, does this mean I'll get to be an Avenger?!"
The amount of joy this girl seemed to be holding back was so big, you'd need the Hoover Dam to hold it.
"Uh...lets put a pin in that," Peter tactfully replied with a nervous smile.
But that just made Kamala even more excited. "Ahhhhhh! I'm gonna be an Avenger!"
"Well, I can tell who's gonna be the cheerleader of the group." Ava whispered to Peter.
He snorted at that before turning back to Kamala. "Well, since you're in, we're gonna have you to come with us to the Avengers Compound, so you may wanna pack a few things."
"Seriously?!"
"Uh...yeah."
With that, "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHH!" Kamala let out a hearty/excited scream like that of a fangirl which filled the room and made the three guests jump in alarm. But the look of excitement in her face temporarily calmed them as they breathed to calm their now racing hearts.
Finally done with her scream, she ran out of the living room and up the stairs to her room so she could pack, too excited to excuse herself and leaving the four remaining people there.
"I'm uh, I'm gonna go help her," Doreen said, before heading up the stairs, doing her best to contain her excitement. And she was doing WAY better than Kamala had. But when she had gone and the door to Kamala's room closer, another scream of excitement came and it was now both her AND Doreen together.
This was amusing to hear for the three still in the living room.
"Well, well! Way to go, Alexander," Ava said, her voice full of tease, "your first time and you got not one but two girls screaming in excitement. Well done!" The latina gave a slow, sarcastic applause, again making Sam roll his eyes. "How does it feel?"
With no comeback for her clever innuendo, Sam blushed at that and lowered his head, letting out a groan as he pinched the bridge of his nose at that.
***Kamala's Room***
Up in her room, Kamala was packing with haste and adrenaline. "Can you believe this, Doreen?! I'm gonna get to work with superheroes!"
"I know!" Her best friend replied, handing her a shirt for her suitcase. "I'm happy for ya, Kamala!"
The fangirl squealed in excitement as she continued packing more eagerly.
Before long, she found herself packed and ready to go. "Well...I guess this is it." She said, nervous to the bone.
Doreen nodded in reply. "I guess it is, you ready?"
"Hey, why don't you come too?" Kamala offered. It was mainly her nerves talking, but the thought of her best friend coming along did calm them slightly. "Who knows, they might need your help too."
"Heheh, not this time Kamala. My day'll come soon, but this one's yours. These guys came here for you! So they obviously need your awesome powers and...well, powers. Hehe!" Doreen laughed at her own words, as did Kamala.
"Yeah, probably. But still, I could really use you there. "
"Ah don't worry about it, Double K. We're still a team, right?"
Kamala snorted at that and nodded. "Right." And with that, she hugged her bestie, who reciprocated the hug immediately.
"Plus, someone's gotta look out for the neighborhood. And I'm SG's on the job." She gave a wink after that and Tippy chittered on the lamp stand, giving a salute to further Doreen's words.
"Haha! Well, I guess it's all set then."
A little while later, the two girls came down with two bags for Kamala, one backpack and a suitcase.
"All ready?" Ava asked her.
Kamala merely smiled nervously as Doreen gave her her backpack and she put it over her shoulder, "As ready as I'll ever be, I guess." A light shrug with it.
Peter nodded and gave a happy closed-lip smile. "Alright, well I guess uh...I guess it's time to go then.
Again, Kamala shrugged but nodded too with a smile. "Alrighty then!"
And with that, they all walked out. But as they stepped out the door, Sam nervously turned to the Muslim girl and cleared his throat. "Would you uh, (cough), would you like some help with your stuff?"
The gesture surprised Kamala at first, but smiled at Sam's gentlemen manners. "Sure, thank you...Sam." she replied with a giggle.
Taking her suitcase, Sam carried it and puffed his chest out a little. This did not go unnoticed by Peter and Ava who were suppressing laughter up ahead of them.
***Quinjet***
Once they got back to the Quinjet, Kamala looked like a girl at Comic-Con. She was extremely excited about seeing the Avengers Quinjet, let alone riding in it. "OH. MY GOSH! This is the Avengers Quinjet! We're gonna be riding in the Avengers Quinjet!" She exclaimed, jumping up and down.
Ava nodded, a nonchalant expression on her face. "Yeah, yeah we are."
"Harley, we're here," Peter called into his com-link.
"Copy that." A reply came through.
Soon, the ramp door opened and came down, allowing them to board.
"So cool!" Kamala whispered out loud as she walked up the ramp into the craft.
As they boarded, an occupant already there, apparently Harley met them and Peter introduced him. "Kamala Khan, Harley Keener. Harley Keener, Kamala Khan."
"Nice to meet you," the mechanic nodded to the new recruit, shaking her hand.
She nodded back with a smile. "Nice to meet you too." She then looked around and smiled and laughed excitedly. This is gonna be AWESOME!"
Hearing that, Harley leaned over to Peter and Ava. "She's lively."
"No sh**," Ava chuckled while Peter merely shrugged.
When Sam sat in the pilot seat, Kamala clung to him like static as he worked the controls and started the jet up. But as they began the flight home, both Peter and Ava knew there would be plenty more of Kamala's excitement to come. BOAT LOADS more.
Change Of Heart
***Massachusetts, Williams Residence***
The sun was setting over Boston and dinner had just ended at the Williams home.
Walking into her room, Riri sat at her desk and let out a sigh. It had been one heckuva day. School, testing a new tech suit, beating a superpowered guy with a helmet and offered a chance to work with people for a time travel mission with superheroes. Yeah, classic Thursday.
But now, it was over and time to wind down. She relaxed and leaned back in her chair, laying her head back.
"So who were your friends?" Riri opened her eyes and saw her mother, Ronnie Williams, leaning against the doorframe with a smile and arms folded.
"Who?" The curly-haired genius asked confusingly as she sat up in her chair.
"Well there was a boy and a girl here earlier today asking about you before you got home. Said they wanted to talk to you."
Almost instantly, Riri knew who she meant. "Boy with brown hair, plaid shirt, light blue hoodie and a Latina with an olive green shirt and blue jeans?"
Her mother thought for a moment and nodded to all of those. "Down to the exact detail, yes. So you do know who I'm talking about."
"Yeah, that was Peter and Ava. They came and asked if I could..." Riri caught herself just before she let slip the reason why the two in question were here. She couldn't tell her mom that she was being asked to help superheroes, let alone the fact that she had a suit now that practically made her one! So thinking swiftly, she thought up a good excuse. "Uh, they invited me to go to this summer camp with them. It's uh, in Upstate New York."
Ronnie seemed to buy it. "Oh really. Hmm. So why didn't you go?"
Now, Riri felt her walls begin to come up again. "Mom, you know why. I'm not a people person."
"But this could be an opportunity to change that, broaden your horizons," she encouraged, "who knows, you might even make some new friends."
"I don't have or need friends, Mom." Riri stated coldly.
"Well what about Natalie?"
That bit Riri right in the butt and it stung. How could she forget about Natalie? Her best friend, her ONLY friend. A bit of shame came over her as she pull her hood over her head before turning in her seat and facing the other way.
Ronnie's softened her face and walked over to her daughter, putting comforting hand on her shoulder. She could hear faint sounds of sniffling from her daughter as she did. "Sweetie, I know it's still hard for you after...after your daddy died." She felt Riri tense up a bit under her touch when she said that, she knew it was true though...and so did Riri. "Trust me, I know...it's been hard on me too. Sometimes, life can be hard hard and ruthless as hell. But that doesn't mean you have to let it make you that way. You've put these walls around your heart so that you don't get hurt again, which I can understand...but maybe it's time for something new, a change. And this camp, these people, they really seemed interested in you and who you are. Plus, they seemed like good people."
Riri wiped away a few tears and bobbed her head. She couldn't deny that they did seem good...even Sam. Thinking back to her shake of him to day made her snort a laugh out. "Yeah, yeah I guess they're all right."
"There ya go!" A smile lit up her mother's face at the sound of her daughter considering her words. "You see? They're having a good effect on you already, they made you laugh. Something I haven't seen in a long time."
That made Riri shrink a little, she realized that she really hadn't laughed much lately save for today. Was that really because of Peter, Ava and Sam?...Did it even matter now?
"Well, doesn't matter now...they're gone, so." She sniffed and wiped her eyes.
A knowing smile came to Ronnie as she held up an envelope she'd been holding the entire time. "Well, before he left, Peter left this behind. He said it was in case you change your mind."
She handed it to her daughter and began to leave the room. "Oh and by the way," she paused, turning back to see Riri listening to her, "if you still wanna go, you have my permission."
With a final wink, she smiled again and exited the room, leaving Riri alone. Alone with the envelope.
Curious about it and why Peter left it, she opened it and saw an address and a picture of the Avengers Compound and a Stark Industries note as well. The note read,
'Hey Riri! Just in case you change your mind, here's where you can find us. Remember, the world will always need heroes. And hopefully, you'll be one of them too.
- Peter.'
Setting the note down, Riri leaned back in her chair and thought hard. This was certainly something big, as she had previously established when Peter, Ava and Sam we're here earlier. Only difference now was that she was actually considering it and not focusing fully on the worries.
The more she thought about it, the more it made sense. She always did want to help people, and now these people needed her help...so this was, in a sense, her calling.
With that in mind, her eyes drifted upwards to the newspaper clippings of Tony Stark and her Iron Man Poster she she had on the wall above her desk.
Looking straight to it, she saw a man who didn't stop when the odds were against him and rose to the occasion. And that's what she needed to do now.
So, letting out a long sigh and huffing a laugh whilst shaking her head, she finally nodded and decided. "Alright..."
***Kitchen***
About and hour or so later, a sticky note was latched onto the fridge with a magnet.
It read,
'I changed my mind. Thx Mom ❤️ Love you!
Tell Auntie Gigi I said bye and I love her too pls!
- Riri.'
With a backpack strapped on outside of her suit, the iron-clad girl genius flew up from the roof garage and blasted off into the bright orange evening sky.
"Avengers HQ, here I come," she said, blasting faster through the air.
Boom, bop BOW! And with a two for one, that is THAT! Haha!😂😂😂😂 What'd you guys think?
I know this one's been a long time coming with Kamala Khan being recruited, and I even brought in Doreen Green AND Tippy-Toe too! So for those of you who are Marvel comics fans or who've seen Marvel Rising, you know who that is. And I'll just say that this means something better later on. ;))
AND we see Riri Williams back as well! For those of you who have been following along for a while now, you'll know how her first appearance went down and that she'd be back eventually. Well, she's back and headed Upstate. I can't wait to show you guys the big meet up in the next chapter.
I hope y'all enjoyed this one, and if you did, lmk what you think! PLSSS REVIEW!
Til next chapter, y'all stay safe and stay cool in the Summer heat! Laters, Ninja-Boy out!
