Kree Annihilators

Chapter 20 (a possession and a secret)

"So this is our superbase," Ivy flourished grandly to the dark warehouse--the jumble of quilts by the ocean window, the dots of yellow flashlights pinpricking the darkness.

"Nice flashlight addition, I guess?" Ms. Marvel said, eyebrows furrowed. "You do know we were here just last night, right?"

Ivy hid a grin. "But now it's our superbase. Pepper said it's ours!"

Dante threw his hands in the air. "Yay! It's officially owned by us!"

Ivy applauded, "yeah, go us!"

"Wow," Squirrel Girl propped her scooter against the glass. "I didn't think it'd actually work out."

"That's," Ms. Marvel shook her head, "that's amazing."

"Well," Ette stood from the quilts, yawning, "technically we have to help move all Howard Stark's inventions to a new, secure location. Then it'll be ours."

Ms. Marvel sighed. "Of course."

"That's not a problem," Squirrel Girl clapped her hands together. "Let's get started. Where are we moving them to?"

Victor glanced at Dante. Who glanced at Ette. Who shrugged. "We don't know that part yet."

"Of course," Ms. Marvel sighed again.

"We can always move the boxes away from the wall," Squirrel Girl said. "They won't fit in the sea tube, so we'll have to move them out Rescue's elevator."

"Sure," Victor nodded, but continued before Squirrel Girl could step away from her scooter. "But we have some other stuff to talk about first."

"Right," Ivy nodded. "We need phones."

"Desperately," Ette said.

"And today I figured out how to fly," Dante added, practically beaming.

"And Ette smashed our AI friend's microphone or whatever," Victor said, "so now he might be mad at us."

"Whoa whoa, slow down," Squirrel Girl shook her head. "One at a time, please."

"How about we start with you two?" Ette said. "How was your day at school?"

"Dreadful," Ms. Marvel rolled her eyes.

"Unbelievably dull."

"Wow," Ette said. "That sounds..."

"Is there any food down here?" Ms. Marvel asked. "I'm starving."

"Of course," Ivy flourished to the patchwork quilt vaguely in the center of their sleeping area. "Leftover donuts and sandwiches, at your pleasure."

"Your turn next," Squirrel Girl pointed at Ivy, "about the phones. Then we'll go around in a circle," she wrinkled her nose. "I never thought superhero work would require asking how everyone's day went. Ugh, this is exactly what my dad does."

"And that's why we need phones," Ette muttered. "To skip the catching up whenever we all get together."

***

"I don't think we can afford any phones," Ms. Marvel said, cross-legged on a brown square of the quilt. "I have money left over from that lady, but if we use it all on phones and data, how are you guys going to continue buying food?"

"But Ms. Marvel," Ette pled. "I haven't had a phone in months. Months. Do you understand what I've missed?"

"Probably not much," Squirrel Girl shrugged.

"I suggested to Dante that we learn to communicate with the squirrels in the city," Victor said, "and they can be our communication network."

A loud squeaking erupted from behind Squirrel Girl's scooter. Squirrel Girl burst out laughing.