Maya Stark

Chapter 110: I hope to see you at the hotel

I stand in the very top of the cathedral tower. Peter is perched on the outside of it in the new suit. It was basically a Spidey suit but black. He flips down and perches himself in a lower part outside of the cathedral tower.

'Alright,' Peter said through comms. 'We're in position. Uh... As soon as we see something, Beck, we'll, uh... We'll let you know.'

'Roger that,' Beck said.

'How's the suit, Parker?' Fury asks.

'Uh, the suit's great,' Peter said. 'It's awesome. It's a little tight around the old web-shooter.' I choke on a laugh as Fury, annoyed, says, 'Parker!'

'Okay, I'll shut up,' Peter said.

I move my eyes quickly through the crowd trying to find anything. I don't really know how Peter and I can fight fire, even if it is technically fake. I couldn't get over how easy Fury is being fooled. None of this was sitting right with me. My eyes land on a fountain that had started steaming. I take in a shaky breath and ready myself.

'Energy spiking,' Fury said.

'We have seismic activity,' Hill said.

The ground around the fountain cracks revealing magma flowing underneath. The lava moves up a statue and wraps around it. The next second the statue explodes revealing the fire Elemental and it roars. This was so stupid.

'Okay, he's here!' Peter said. 'Beck, are you ready? You know what to do.'

The fire Elemental jumps from the statue's original position to the ground and smashes a car. I had to forget it was fake in order to survive. Just because the fire wasn't technically real doesn't mean I couldn't die. It grows as it absorbs the metal of the car, and it roars again. A cloud of greed smoke drops to the ground in front of the fire revealing Beck. He steps forward and magic green triangles rotate in front of his hands. It reminds me of Strange.

'You're up, kids,' Beck said.

Peter swings over to the Elemental picking up a wooden structure and throwing it at the fire with his webs. I stay where I am and wrap energy around a fire hydrant. I pulled it up with my energy releasing a high-pressure jet of water. The fire gets enveloped by steam and looks angry. It's not real. The fire swung its fist towards the building where Peter was perched. Peter quickly flipped away landing on the carousel nearly missing getting punched. The Elemental walks into the carousel, throwing Peter back to the ground. I quickly fly over and land next to him, helping him to his feet.

'No, Beck! He's got the carousel! He's getting bigger!' Peter said.

I turn to see that he was correct. The fire was very much bigger. My attention got divided to someone calling my name. Peter and I look up at the ferries wheel to see Betty and Ned. I curse and look back at the Elemental. He was walking towards us and Peter shoots two webs at him. The webs don't do much, quickly catching on fire. I quickly put a force field around us as the Elemental goes to smash us with his fist. The second the fist his I was pushed down slightly. Beck flew in next to us creating a green energy dome over my force field. I let my force field fade away. The Elemental keeps trying to damage Beck's force field hitting it repeatedly.

'Are you okay?' Peter asked.

'On to Plan B?' Beck said.

'We have to hit him with something he can't absorb!' Peter said.

'I'll go left, Maya go up, Peter go right,' Beck said. 'Now!'

I fly up quickly avoiding any fire. I look to the ground and see the Elemental Going after Peter. Peter swings to the top of a building and runs up a wall. He back flips off of it to avoid getting hit by the fake but hurtful fire. In Mid-air Peter shoots a web at a rock and launches it at the Elemental. Beck and I act fast and start shooting energy at the Elemental. The colors mix into an ugly brown. I missed the color I got when Wanda's powers mixed with mine. I miss Wanda. I shaky my head. Not the time.

'That hurt him,' Beck said, breaking me out of my thoughts. 'Keep it coming!'

Peter throws another big rock of concrete at the Elemental and Beck, and I start hitting him again. The Elemental knocks Beck out of the sky and I almost roll my eyes. This was so dramatic, and I still had to worry about Ned and Betty. Peter falls to the ground slamming into a car. The Elemental roars and smashes the ground. The ground cracks and the flaming crack travel towards the Ferris Wheel, which starts to tip. Betty screams drawing attention to them.

The Elemental starts heading in their direction. I go to stop him, but Beck gets there first. He blasts green laser beams at the fire. The Elemental pushes back and struggles against Beck's hold. I focus on wrapping energy around the Ferris wheel and push it away from me, so it stays up. I turn my back to the fight, knowing Peter and Beck have got the fire covered. I put all my attention away from the fake fire and focus on keep Betty and Ned safe. Peter joins next to me and shoots webs to the Ferris wheel and the wall to keep it from falling back. I barley realize.

I risk a glance behind me and see the Elemental back up into scaffolding. It absorbs it and grows way to big. I grit my teeth as I turned back to the front. This is his big play, and I was not in the mood.

'Whatever happens,' Beck says, to Peter, 'I'm glad we met.'

'Beck, what are you doing?' Peter asks.

'What I should have done the last time,' Beck mumbles.

I keep my eyes straight. I knew Beck would be fine and I had to make sure the Ferris Wheel doesn't fall and kill Betty and Ned. I feel the explosion though. It whips my hair into my face, and it feels like a big gush of wind just came out of nowhere. When I turn the Elemental is gone and Beck is laying on the ground. So dramatic. Peter attaches more webs to the Ferris wheel, and I slowly let my energy die as he runs over to Beck. The Ferris Wheel stays up, so I turn to Beck and follow Peter. Peter kneels next to Beck, and I hang back.

'Mr. Beck?' Peter said turning him over. Beck was obviously breathing. 'Oh, thank god.'

I turn and walk towards Fury and Hill, Peter and Beck trailing behind me, slowly.

'So, it's over?' Hill asks.

'That was the last of them,' Beck said.

'But not the last threat we'll ever face,' Fury said. 'We need to stay vigilant. There's a void in this world for someone like you. Hill and I are going to Europol headquarters in Berlin tomorrow. You should join us.'

Beck shakes Fury's hand. 'Thank you. I just might take you up on that.' He sits down on a piece of rubble giving me a glance. It was all coming together for him. I hated it and he knew it. I moved back a little, so I was standing next to Peter.

Fury turns to us and walks over. He studies us for a second. 'You two got gifts. But neither wanted to be here. I'd love to have you guys in Berlin, too. But you've got to decide whether you're going to step up or not. Stark believed in you two. Made you Avengers. I need that. The world needs that. Maybe Stark was wrong. Was he?'

I look at Peter and see the conflict in his eyes. I scoff. 'I know my dad wasn't wrong about me. I thought that a couple months ago and Sam and Bucky squashed that. So, I'm going back to the hotel. And I'm going to take a much-needed break from all of this.' I turn to Peter. 'My dad really liked you. He knew you would do anything for anyone else. But I think he'd agree we both need a break. Because he knew he needed a break when he lost us. So, I hope to see you at the hotel. But if not, I understand. I hear Berlin is pretty cool.' I turn to Hill and Fury. 'Always nice to see you two. I guess.' I turn to Beck. 'Nice to meet you, Beck. You seem like a... pretty good guy.' I spoke through grit teeth. I turn around and look at Peter before walking away. 'If I don't see you at the hotel then, uh, send me a text from Berlin. Maybe some pictures.' I squeeze his arm before walking away, through the ruble, and towards the hotel, clicking off my suit.

I walk down an alleyway in order to get away from the group. I wasn't watching where I was going until I tripped over something. I stumble and catch myself looking down. There was a web shooter and I quickly grabbed it. We didn't need something like this lying around. I continued to the hotel.