Hiding Behind a Mask | Peter Parker

Chapter 3 : Artificial

No one left that night.

Everyone was trying to figure out what was going on. Alli had come down from her room quite a few times, attempting to help but quickly being sent away by Tony every time. He was not happy that she was in on this mission, and he would have much preferred for her to sit this one out again. Sadly for him, that was not going happen now that everyone on the team was in support of her helping on this one. 

Eventually she just stayed in her room, not bothering to try anymore. She changed out of her dress, putting on some workout clothes, and decided to practice her combat skills. She walked out of her room, going down the stairs and to the elevator.

"Where do you think you're going?" Tony asked.

"Down to train," Alli answered, pressing the button on the elevator.

"Train," Tony repeated, scoffing a little, "Well we got a tick, so we are heading out in about five minutes..."

"I'll be ready," She gazing down at her workout clothes, and looked up making eye contact with Tony, "What should I wear?"

"Oh I wasn't telling so you could get ready," Tony said, and she deflated immediately.

"What? I thought you said I was joining you on this one?" 

"Not this one kid, you don't even have a suit yet, but I'm making you one now, so if this goes south, you'll be at the next one," Tony said, turning and walking away from the conversation. 

Alli was dumbfounded. She was so close, and yet Tony just kept moving the finish line, making it harder and harder for her to go on missions with them. Angrily, she pushed the button on the elevator, and the doors slid open. She walked inside, pressing the fifteenth floor, and the doors slid closed again.

On the way down, she heard the Quinjet fire up, the sound getting increasingly quicker, and softer. They had really left without her. Upsetting was putting it lightly. After all the arguing and fighting, no one had put up a fight to get her in on this particular mission.  Why would they get her hopes up just to crush her down like that? 

But if she was one thing, that was stubborn. She was determined to prove that she ready to go out with them. Getting down to the fifteenth level, the elevator doors slid open.

Exiting the elevator, she moved farther into the training floor. On one side of the floor, Tony had built her a room where her powers would stay contained. While they didn't know the full extent of her abilities yet, it was better to be safe than sorry. The main goal was to prevent her from knocking the whole building down with one wrong move. 

She walked inside the cold room, as the glass doors slide shut automatically behind her, securing her in the room. Closing her eyes and concentrating, her feet slowly started melting, along with the rest of her body until she was a puddle on the ground. 

The puddle started moving around the room, working into the wall, and seeping up until it was in the ceiling. She let a drop drip onto the floor, then out of nowhere, fell from the ceiling, landing the fighting stance Natasha had taught her.

When she stood up, her hands came together, and a small burst of purple formed between. She shot it at the wall, landing with a strong impact but causing no damage. Her arm extended, going to one of the dummies that was against the other wall, her wrist wrapping around the neck, pulling it down. Alli's anger started bubbling, as her body began to tremble.

With her hair sticking out on all ends, static popped around the room, her irises turning gold. She clenched her teeth, scrunching up her nose as the energy fully consumed her. Sparks burst from her fingertips, small spurts of electricity was popping all around her. The air in the room got thin, and a strong breeze was blowing all around. She couldn't contain it anymore, and her energy blasted through the entire room. The walls were scorched, every dummy in the room quickly turning to ashes, the floor mats coming to a slow burn from the remnants of energy.