From a Witch's Perspective
Chapter three: Out of the frying pan.
"Houston, we have a problem." I said mostly to myself out of habit when the smoke cleared and revealed the source of the mystery behind the explosion.
There were four figures posing in the gaping hole on the right side of the cafeteria as if they were runway models gone bad. These four figures were none other than the frightful four.
Now allow me to explain to you that New York City is one of the hottest spots for super-villainy action. Every other day on the news you hear about how the Leaper is robbing banks, Juggernaut got in a brawl with a superhero in the middle of an Italian restaurant or like now, a band of super villains blew up a school.
So in a sense we really shouldn't be too surprised to see them, but as soon as their faces were visible high pitched screaming commenced with dozens of students scrambling about the ruins of the cafeteria like cockroaches under a lamp.
I couldn't even hear what the floating so call 'wizard' was saying over the chick that ran past me, she must have been a soprano. I did however hear MJ screaming at me "Daph, get down!" right before she leapt over to me and dragged me down with her under our table.
I hissed and rubbed my forehead because I smacked it off the edge of the table on the way down. I turned to her and snarled. "What the heck?!"
Then squeaked when there were several loud thumps above us, it sounded like rocks hitting the table and I realized it bits of the ceiling.
I sudden reached over and clutched MJ to my side protectively as I thought about the charm under my shirt. "Well uncle Casper you were right about the danger but you gave me the wrong freaking charm to defend myself against it!"
"MJ, Daphne! Are you two ok?!" I heard Harry say and looked over to see that he had crawled under the table too.
"Harry! Do you see Peter?!" MJ asked as she tried turning her head to look around but I still had a death grip on her.
"No he was gone right after the explosion." Harry said and I gasped, suddenly remembering that there were other people sitting at this table before. I snapped my head around trying to find the others and more importantly, Danny who was sitting next to me.
"Where did Danny go?" I loosened my grip on MJ's shoulders enough for me to turn around and try and peer out at the chaos around us.
"I don't see Luke, Sam or Ava either!"
"They always disappear right before stuff like this happens!" Harry yelled back at me.
I couldn't help but feel abandoned, like those kids in the first Jurassic park movie. "They left us! They left us!" I yelled but was drowned out by MJ screaming into my ear again. I didn't yell at her this time because I started screaming with her when I saw the table being lifted up from us.
It was Klaw who was by far the ugliest being I've ever seen, and he just got uglier as I got a personal close up of him. For what felt like the first time in my whole life, I was frozen in fear. It disgusted me.
How long have I been honing my craft for moments like this? How many times in my life did I have to act violently to defend myself? So why is it that in the moment it counts the most I can't even form a single sentence in my head?
All I did squeeze MJ and stare at Klaw as he was getting ready to bring the cafeteria table down us when a flash of gold and green passed before my eyes. I didn't even blink as Klaw suddenly flew back onto the counters of pizza and our savior turned to face us.
I stared into the white eye holes of the golden mask of a boy in a green skin tight suit that went from his neck to his toe with the image of a black dragon across his chest. He knelt down and offered his hand to us saying "Need a hand?"
That voice, I know that voice, it was the voice of velvet. My eyes widened as I took note of the blonde hair escaping his mask and his body structure. No way… It can't be…
"Yes, thank you!" MJ said and took his hand even though it was extended more in my direction. He pulled her up and then me.
I couldn't stop staring at him; I wanted to see if I could spot more evidence to my wild theory but he pointed to the cafeteria doors and said "It would be wise if you were to leave soon."
"Yeah like now would be a good idea!" A voice shouted overhead of us and I yelped before ducking as blue blur whizzed by. I turned to watch it go because it to sounded suspiciously familiar, it was another boy but in blue and golden armor and wore a gold colored helmet with a red star on top of it.
I turned back around but the Danny sound-alike had run off to battle with Klaw again who just pulled off the last slice of pepperoni from his face.
"Come on!" Harry yelled from nowhere and grabbed MJ and I, snapping me back to attention. Clearly it was time to put the pipe and checkered hat down because it's hard to play Sherlock Holmes when you're running for your life.
Harry was sprinting ahead of us and just when we got to the cafeteria doors they burst open revealing another spandex clad hero.
"Spider-Man!" MJ yelled.
"MJ-" He started to say but stopped and deepened his voice "Um Miss Watson, you should leave!"
I deadpanned "Why thank you Captain Obvious, get out of the way."
He shot out a web from his wrist and swung over us without another word. Come to think of it… Before he went and changed his voice he kind of…
"Daphne, move it!" MJ screamed at me from the doors she was holding open with Harry.
"Alright, alright, alright!" I yelled back at her and took a step forward only to jump back when Thundra was thrown right above the door way and basically took down the whole entrance with her.
"OH BEDKNOBS AND BROOMSTICKS!" I yelled in frustration then started running in the other direction because I wasn't about to go mano a mano with the warrior princess.
As I run I can see a girl wearing a white tiger themed costume with a cute little green amulet attached to her waist and the longest pony tail I've seen in my life, totally dominate a guy who I believe is addressed Trapster. By ripping open his tank attached to his back, unleashing this glue like a fountain and then kicking him against the wall sticking him there for the rest of eternity for all I know.
It was pretty badass, but I digress.
"There has to be another exit!" I hiss to myself then once again notice the gaping hole in the wall.
And sold to girl wearing pink and white tights!
I reach up to tap my earring ready to break every nonexistent broom stick flying speed limit to get out of here but suddenly I'm being lifted in the air. It took me four whole seconds to work out what was happening because I didn't get out my broom yet but I was flying backwards into the cafeteria and away from freedom.
"Ack!"
"Spider-man and company surrender yourselves or witness the untimely and excruciatingly painful death of this young woman." A voice shouted over the fighting. It was wizard; I could see him with his hand out stretched in my direction as I floated about six feet off the ground.
Everyone stopped and I could see every masked hero including the boy with the dragon and golden mask turn their head in my direction. I never felt so utterly embarrassed.
I could feel the heat rushing to my face all over again with the horrible squeezy feeling in my stomach as I thought about how stupid I was. I should have run when he told me to! What a waste he should have just let me get crushed and save himself the trouble!
I close my eyes and start picturing the cafeteria and more importantly the chair that I was sitting at. I wasn't going to play damsel in distress without a fight. I tried to clear my head and make a connection to my powers by plucking at the threads.
With it in mind I gave the threads a harsh tug towards Wizard's head. There was a CLANK as the chair hit his helmet in reality and I got the satisfaction of watching my captor drop like a sack of potatoes in a giant puddle of abandoned drinks.
"Take that you wizard wannabe!" I snapped from my place still floating in the air.
The kid who could fly burst into laughter before zooming over to me "She can do magic!" I heard him chuckle under his breath while messing with something attached to my back and before I knew it I was plummeting downwards with an undignified squeak.
"I gotcha shorty." Said the guy with the shades after he caught me and set me back down on the floor.
"Shorty?" I echoed then that's when it hit me. This guy was Luke; it was Luke wearing a skin tight suit and glasses.
"Luke?!" I hissed.
His grin was whipped clean off and I could practically see the ABORT sign flashing above his head as he made a speedy get away by throwing himself into the fight which started up not long after the incident with the chair.
I just stood there watching battle take place as I thought to myself "If I'm right about Luke… I'm probably right about the others too!"
"Okay this is too much even for me." I said putting a hand to my forehead as the band of teen superheroes squared off with Thundra and Klaw. You'd think those two would at least be a little bit intimidated since they were now short of two members, but no they were still going strong.
I had to admire their determination since they were being faced with five opponents. Six if you included yours truly but you can't because I've already thrown in my two cents with the chair, I'm done, thank you very much.
Suddenly Moon's country cottage idea wasn't looking so bad as I turned to run for my life.
And that's when it happened, I heard a whirl and a scream then chunks of ceiling started falling from the sky at a rate that would have made Chicken Little have a heart attack.
I couldn't stop myself from turning around to see what happened, apparently Klaw had activated his claw like weapon then somebody either punched or kicked him in a way that made him fall backwards thus bringing the strange vibrations upwards to the already unstable roof.
"WAY TO GO, WEB-HEAD." Said the girl in the tiger suit to Spider-man.
"HEY DON'T BLAME ME! NOVA THREW ME OFF!" He shouted right back at her.
"WE HAVE BIGGER PROBLEMS!" Luke yelled over them and he was right, the roof was gonna cave at any moment.
I looked towards the hole in the wall and back at the group, I could make it out but they probably wouldn't and the villains wouldn't make it either. I didn't think I could live it down if I just left them or froze up again when I could've probably saved them.
So I donned the Witch hat.
With my fingers out stretched I turned upwards at the ceiling and used every ounce of magic that was around me and within my power to hold up that roof. I could feel the strain my limbs as I concentrated on the loose tiles.
I only knew a few repair spells and none of them were very strong since I had no one to teach me spell casting (Neither of my uncles could cast) but I tried to fix everything from the tiles to the support beams by shouting the words to the spells at the top of my lungs.
I couldn't believe it when it started working. Cracks were mending, pieces were rearranging and fitting themselves back together, you could have knocked me over with a slice of pizza
No really you could have because I was exhausted and when it was finished I collapsed to the floor feeling like an over done noodle.
Okay, so the ceiling wasn't perfect I mean it still looked pretty shabby because half of it was still on the floor but at least we weren't about to die anymore. I glanced at the teen super-heroes in front of me and swelled up with pride from the looks of surprise written clearly through their masks.
Even Thundra and Klaw were a bit dazed and that gave the team plenty of time to finish them off and pile them in webbed strait jackets next to Trapster. I took off my hat with a sigh before shrinking it back into travel size again.
"Not bad for a beginner."
I looked up to see Spider-man himself walking over with his friends. I blinked before mumbling that it wasn't a big deal and how I just wanted to help yada yada and busied myself with putting my earring back.
Danny sound-alike was smiling warmly down at me and said "You did well." Before helping up to my feet.
Ah, the blushing, goofy smiling Daphne returns!
"We would have been fine without her." Grumbled the boy with the strange helmet who I will now dub 'Tinker bell' until further notice.
The tiger girl elbowed Tinks in the ribs and said while he doubled over "But we appreciate your assistance."
"Don't mention it." I replied and looked towards Luke who was unusually quiet with his shades.
"I wouldn't celebrate just yet." Someone said menacingly and we all looked to see Wizard had gotten to his feet and held out his hands. He opened his mouth to undoubtedly give a villainous speech but was cut short when he started yelling and jerking around in all directions before collapsing back down into the puddle.
Behind him was (You'll never believe it) PRINCIBLE COULSON. Only he wasn't in his usual suit anymore in fact he was in a black uniform and armed to the tooth. It looked like he tossed a Taser into the puddle where Wizard was. It looked so darned simple.
I stood there slack jawed as he carefully stepped around the puddle of death and said
"Miss Dwyer, my office, now."
Wow, this chapter was a real pain let me tell ya...
First I didn't like the original villain, then I didn't like the dialogue, I discovered I can't write fight scenes to save my life and there is the bit about Daphne's power (Which we will go more into so if you're confused, just bare with me.)
But here we are :) Thank you so much for reading I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter!
You're all so sweet with your reviews! Especially to Guest who actually made me cry tears of pure happiness. I hope I didn't disappoint you this time around! And to the lovely ILoveLukeC who inspired me to write this story with her own writing, check her out when you get the chance :)
Well... Until next time!