Flower Child (Peter Parker, MCU)

Eight Years in the Making

Sinister Kid — The Black Keys
Worth It — RAYE

In almost no time, the clouds began to encircle the Tower Bridge. Not that the rest of the class noticed, but Lila, Ned and MJ did. For a moment, it felt like they were being closed in, corralled onto the bridge. But until something else happened, they couldn't be sure.

Something else came in the form of lightning. It struck one of the towers behind their bus, loudly crashing against the stone. Before they could even react, another bolt struck the tower in front of them. The hairs on Lila's arms began to rise, and her skin prickled. She turned around and shouldered her backpack, watching her classmates grow nervous.

Mr. Harrington descended the top deck's stairs when people started getting out of their cars. Around them, people were shoving and hustling any way they could to get off the bridge and out of the storm. The wind grew in speed, and soon Lila's classmates were having to yell to be heard.

When Mr. Harrington returned, he looked sheepish, and like the last semblance of calm was leaving him with the wind. "What did the bus driver say?" Mr. Dell asked.

"Oh, the bus driver's gone," replied Mr. Harrington. Lila barely heard it, but when she did, her stare immediately found her friends. This was it, this was happening. And they looked like they knew it, too. "It's okay," her teacher continued, "Mr. Dell and I have it under control!"

"No, no, no!" Mr. Dell yelled. "Don't drag me into this!"

"I'M DOING MY BEST, JULIUS!"

Just as Mr. Harrington lost control, so did the river Thames. An enormous wall of water climbed higher than the road they were on, and the only thing Mr. Dell thought to say was, "The witches are back!"

Once Mr. Harrington saw what was behind him, he screamed in panic, telling everyone to get off the bus. Kids scrambled over seats, yelling and throwing themselves down the stairs after their teachers. Lila, MJ and Ned were some of the last people down. Mr. Harrington was waiting for them, and he guided the three of them along with Betty, who was waiting for Ned, around to the front of the bus.

They were nearly centralized on the Tower Bridge, and later Lila understood that was entirely purposeful. Almost as soon as they got off the bus, it was lifted up by powerful winds and lightning. The water seemed to grab it, and a quick glance behind her let Lila see the bus explode mid-air.

Watching that bus explode seemed to awaken something in her. Lila felt great fear, but she also felt great clarity. Her mind sharpened, and she made sure she was last amongst her friends. Looking around, she saw that some people were still in their cars. Tightening her backpack straps, she followed in pursuit of her friends, but not without pounding on car windows, urging everyone she passed by to exit their vehicles and run.

A colossal roar sounded from above, and Lila dared to look up as she ran. A face stared down at them, carved from the clouds and appearing angry. With a sinking feeling in her gut, Lila knew this was Mysterio. It looked like the projection she'd seen in Prague, only infinitely larger. The rattling of her eardrums solidified that while what she was seeing wasn't the truth, its actions and destruction were very much real. People would die if they remained on the bridge.

Lila would admit that while she was pounding on people's cars, she thought of Peter. It was what he would do in this situation, and so Lila decided to channel her fear and adrenaline into helping others, too. And glancing up ahead, she saw that her friends were following her example. The final stragglers got off the bridge, and Lila followed her friends and school group away from the river.

Forceful blasts were smashing the riverside, and stone walls crumbled into the turbulent water. MJ ran into Flash, who for some reason was still trying to livestream the entire attack, and she shoved him forward. Mr. Harrington had his right hand raised high, urging the others to follow him to safety.