1nn0c3nt

---Monday 26th August 2019---

And there I am, at the entrance. My bracelet buzzes relentlessly, but I take it off and throw it to the ground in pure anger and frustration. It splashes in the puddle next to me, formed by torrential rain. They are not talking me out of this. I transform into a Hydra grunt, the one I attacked first in the medbay. I pass the retinal scans and enter, surprised my fake biometrics grafted from his blood actually got me anywhere. I pass an official and give him a casual nod- I can't draw attention to myself. I continue on down the hallway until I find a door marked 'do not enter'. I place my hand against the verification glass and the door slides open. The kids inside are mortified. They huddle into one another. "Please don't-" one begins. "Please don't hurt us, sir," says one huddled up in a corner, sobbing in the arms of an equally terrified kid. I stop and let the scene sink in, all the kids, my age and one two years younger, holding back sobs, trying to be strong through the panic. I remember this. "I- I'm not here to hurt you. Gods, what have they done to you?" my breath shakes quietly. "H-how do we know we- we can trust you?" one stutters in reply. I transform back into my regular form. "Because I was one of you once." I start to look around the room, seeing all the lockers belonging to all these kids, possibly housing their hopes and dreams, or memories from their families. Mine wasn't there. They took away my ability to socialise. They took away my ability to protect these kids. "My name is Jakaranda. A lot of you don't know me, since they never let me out very often. For those of you who do know me, I promised I'd come back. Now, we have to leave this place." I say. The kids are silent- I wonder why until I strain my ears and hear the footsteps of an official coming towards the room. I turn back into the Hydra grunt. He enters the room. "What are you doing here?" he asks me sternly. "Giving these kids the freedom they deserve," I whisper to myself. "What was that, grunt?" he persists. "I don't have to tell you anything." I say simply before a wave of energy knocks him over, like the one in the medbay.

The kids look at me, shocked. More Hydra men enter the room, and soon I'm completely engaged in combat. "Go to the left corner!" I scream as I try to hold them off. I realise one of them set up an elemental shield. We're gonna be real good friends if we both make it out of this alive. Blood rages in my ears. I can't fight like this. I have to- I transform almost instinctively into my human form. "Strengthen that shield, and stay well away from me. Run when I say." I yell to the kids. I turn into my direwolf, the fear of losing myself in the form slipping away at the thought of these kids being able to lead normal lives. Why can't I have just denied Peter's request? If I did, these kids would continue to suffer. If I die, I died for them. I died for their right to be kids. I'm blocking punches and dodging kicks left right and centre. The youngest of the kids looks at me, half in awe and half in terror. Blood splatters against the elemental shield. The little one's consciousness seeps into my head, warm with hope, getting colder and colder every passing minute. She believes I can do it. So I can. I channel all my power into that thought and generate an energy blow with a five-metre radius. The men drop to the ground, and I turn around to look at the others. "Run." I say. "No," says the one that made the shield. "You'll die-" but she seemed unfazed. "I'm going to stay with you." I smile and nod. "Well then, let's go." she makes another shield and we sneak through the corridors of the Hydra base. "What are you doing-" a security patrol begins before he's cut off by a strike of light to his head. I look back at the girl. She smiles and shrugs, and the little one's consciousness grows warmer.

I break through the door, rhinoceros- formed, and the others follow me. "Liking the idea of running now?" I ask. She nods, holding the little one in her arms. "But where do we go?" she asks. "Home. We go home." I croak. "What's your favourite animal?" I ask the youngest one. "Dragon!" she replies. "Dragon it is then." I shapeshift into a massive European dragon. It's the only one big enough to carry all of them. Another thought seeps into my mind. How am I a dragon? The direwolf made sense, but- a DRAGON?! You're a Mythic. This girl believes in you, and that's all you need. The kids climb onto my back. "Welcome aboard Dragon air. Before we get started, please refer to the safety card in your seat pocket." I joke. It gets a laugh. One more than I thought it would. "Hold on," I say before we take off. Being a dragon doesn't interfere with my navigational skills, so I'm a touch surprised when I know exactly where to go. We reach the altitude at which the kids can still breathe and I can fly at my fastest. The kids are silent in awe as the clouds pass by. "You know, they say the clouds taste like cotton candy," I suggest idly. The youngest one tries to grab some cloud. "Hm, yum," she says, clearly joking. "Hey, I'm trying." I reply. Ah, why didn't I foresee this- I suddenly swoop down, letting all the kids off on a nearby island. "I will be right back," I sigh, annoyed. Goddamn it, they have AIR PATROLS. Of course they do- I fly back up to face the pilot in his dark, sleek Recon edition Fighter. I see a glint of fear in his eyes at the sight of me. I swoop him when he's off-guard, and take his plane in my talons. More begin to appear out of the clouds, and I throw the plane into them. Strike. They fall to the ground one by one, but one begins to lose altitude on purpose. It's heading towards where I dropped them off. I scan the sky one more time before I race the craft down to get to the ground before it does.

The Recon Fighter lands, and the pilot disembarks. But I'm already there, battered and torn wings covering the terrified kids. I'm out of breath. "You can't hurt them anymore," I say, turning into my human form. My wounds gape and bleed. The pain's getting to my head. Not today. The pilot draws his gun. I run over and knock it out of his hands. He regains it and shoots me through the hand. I clutch it, blood threatening to leave me all in one stream. I mutate from the anger. "Look away, kids-" I slash the guy's throat, wolf-formed. His eyes go cloudy. Cardiac arrest. I turn back into my dragon, bullet holes decorating my wings, and for a second I'm worried I won't be able to fly properly. Not like I have a choice. They climb aboard again. "Just a few more minutes-" The compound comes into view beneath me. I dive down and land on the helipad. "Welcome home," I splutter, blood running rampid on the ground. The kids slide off my wings. I cover them with my wings, giving them a second to reconnect and to heal. Shuri walks out and sees me, half dazed from pain, half high on adrenaline. I open my wings and she sees the kids inside. I turn into my human form.

Bucky runs out. "You did it, tree," he gasps, breathlessly. The kids huddle into me at the sight of him. "It's ok, he won't hurt you anymore. His name is Bucky now. Go, go say hi." I say, still recovering from the blows. I stumble to the ground, trying to walk forwards. I'm bleeding out. Fast. I feel the anger of Peter running through my veins. Blue energy crackles up and down my arms and suddenly Peter's anger and pain clots my blood. I stop bleeding. "You ok?" Shuri asks. "Yeah. I- I think so," I say, a little shaken. She helps me limp inside. I sit down on the couch, breath shaking. "It's ok, it's ok, there you go," Pepper holds an ice pack to my punctured hand. "Thank you," I manage. She nods with sympathy. "Have a rest," she says gingerly. But really, she doesn't need to ask me twice. I fall onto the bed and black out almost instantly.

"Wolfcry?" I hear Peter's voice cut through the stillness. He's scared. He thinks I'm gone too. "Spider-man," I smile, opening my eyes. I look up at his face and see it's decorated with scratches and battle scars. What did that man in my dream do to you- A girl is sitting in the corner of the room. "Who- who's your girlfriend?" I splutter. "Oh, this is MJ." the girl gets up and touches my head. She's not hurt by my energy. "Hey, Wolfcry." she says. I sense Peter's consciousness. It's filled with love and joy. He's in love. I smile- I'm proud of him. "I'm proud of you, Peter." I say. "And you too." he says back, reciprocating my pride. "Go be normal, Peter." I say. "And you, too." he adds. He leaves the room, holding hands with MJ.