1 | ISSUES ( Peter Parker )

04

           

CHAPTER FOUR | FEMME FATALE

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look mother, look at me now, kingdoms blooming beneath my feet and a throne of shadows for me.

excerpt from queen of bones, a persephone reimagining | published in unmythologize by a.c.

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Bella stood in her mirror, frowning slightly. Her mask covered her face, molding to her skin so that it wouldn't come off accidently. However, her hair was an issue. Long and red, her hair tended to stand out in a crowd. Sure, she was one of thousands of people in New York with red hair but it still made her feel exposed. Which Bella hated.

When she was Poltergeist, she had no worries. She didn't have the stress of school. She didn't have to carry around the weight her father had shoved upon her shoulders. When Bella Parsons turned into Poltergeist, her only worry was how many people she could protect in one night. Because, as Poltergeist, she was powerful.

"Alex," Bella called, "I'm going out."

She heard him call back a reply and instantly teleported out of her room with a crack and a black, silver and red blur. Bella landed in an alleyway in Queens, a lantern flickering overhead. She glanced up and teleported to the rooftop. Once on the roof, she could try to scout the cityscape for criminal activity. Crouched on a ledge two hundred feet in the air with no fear of falling to her death made Bella feel incredibly, impossibly powerful.

The radar in her watch picked up on a fight three miles east. Bella read the coordinates and teleported to the fight. A group of three guys were pummeling a scrawny looking boy, and one of the guys had a knife. There was one guy passed out on the ground.

"Now, now," Bella spoke up, leaning nonchalantly against the wall. Her vocal chords reorganized their vibrations to change her voice. "What do we have here? Oh, I know. Four cowards picking on a teenager."

"You," one of the men growled, lunging for her.

Bella teleported behind him and swiped his legs out from under him. She hit him over the head with her armored elbow and sent him to the ground, unconscious. The man with the knife took her by surprise. The blade sliced through her cheek. Snarling, Bella punched him in the face. While he was stunned, she grabbed him by his jacket and threw him into the other guy. They collapsed in a heap.

The teenager was on the ground, groaning slightly and clutching his head. Frowning, Bella grabbed him by his arms and teleported up to the roof.

"Whoa," he mumbled, stunned.

He looked up and Bella cringed inwardly. She was looking right into Peter Parker's green eyes.

"Are you okay, young citizen?" Bella asked, making her voice go deep.

"Aren't we, like, the same age, probably?" Peter responded blankly. "And, yeah, I'm fine. Are you okay? You're bleeding?"

"I've had worse," Bella assured him, touching the cut on her cheek lightly.

Quickly, she surveyed Peter. His glasses were broken, lip split and bleeding slightly, and he was cradling his wrist.

"I'm impressed you're not freaking out," Bella admitted, moving away from him slightly. "I mean, most people do when I save them."

"Trust me, I am freaking out. But inwardly," Peter said. "What does a man have if not his dignity?"

Bella snorted and crossed her arms.

"You got a home you want me to take you to?"

Peter quickly told her the name of his apartment complex and without a word, she teleported them there. Just as she was teleporting away from him, she heard his voice yell a loud 'thank you.' Despite the slight pain it caused her cheek, Bella couldn't help but smile.

After helping out Peter, Bella went back home. She hadn't expected to get injured so early in the night, and her cheek was bleeding pretty profusely so she wanted to get Alex to take a look at it.

"What happened?" Alex asked immediately, though not frantically.

"Thug with a knife," Bella sighed, sitting down and taking off her mask. "Fix me?"

Rolling his eyes fondly, Alex reached forward and pressed his fingertips to Bella's cheek. A warm, tingling sensation pulsed through her face as she felt her skin heal itself up.

Both siblings had some sort of genetic mutation that gave them the ability to do the impossible. While both were incredibly strong and fast, Alex was able to heal people at a rapid speed. Bella, on the other hand, could manipulate her cells and molecules into doing things like voice alterations or teleportation. Alex's abilities were what helped him to be such a good EMT.

"Do I need to lecture you on being more careful?" Alex said once Bella was all fixed.

"No," Bella said. "I'm just careful enough."

"If you say so," Alex sighed, wiping off some of the smeared blood on her cheek. "You know I hate seeing you hurt."

"And you know I have to use these powers, Alex. I have to put them to good."

Alex frowned, but nodded. He pressed a kiss to the top of her head and urged her to go clean up. Doing as he asked, Bella stood up and walked to her bathroom. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep.

Saturday and Sunday passed by slowly, with Bella procrastinating her homework until Sunday night. She half-assed most of it and saved the rest for homeroom and her study period the next day. Alex was gone working, and Bella almost felt bad about watching The Walking Dead without him, but the guilt quickly went away when she saw Glenn climb out from under that stupid dumpster.

After an episode as action packed as that one, Bella couldn't resist going on Tumblr to see what some of her online friends thought about it. The Tumblr dwelling was soon regretted, though, when Bella's alarm went off at 5:30 in the morning.

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aaah the end of this chapter is so shitty but i like the beginning so...

also, bella is gonna develop a crush on peter pretty quick so im excited to write that out

-bleuseys