Burned

1.03: The Reveal

WITH THE FLAMES IN HER EYES, SHE BURNED.

I didn't hesitate and climbed up a table with in my right hand still my Book of Spells. With fury in my eyes I stared at the Witches. I was scared, hell, I was terrified to death, but I knew that that emotion would do me no good in this situation. So, instead I hoped, no, I prayed that I wouldn't suddenly forget my plan B and C. I still had no idea what plan A would be. Probably improvisation, as always.

'I'm not afraid to hurt any of you,' I told the seven Witches with a shaking voice that implied that I actually was afraid to hurt any of them, which I definitely was.

'I want an explanation,' Morgan yelled, having the same emotions as I had in her voice. 'And I want it now.'

Nobody responded, though, apart from a small look I gave Morgan. 'You're going to get yourself killed, Artemis. You haven't had the proper training.'

'I might,' I yelled back, my hands trembling. 'But I also might accidentally kill you in the process.'

'And a lot of other innocents,' another Witch with a high voice said.

What was plan B again?

You know what, let's go to plan C.

'Doru!' I screamed.

A spear appeared and floated on the right side of my head. People began to scream as soon as they saw it. I moved my hand in the direction of the Witch in the middle, aiming for her shoulder. Right before it would impale her flesh, she held up her hand to create a shield in front of her body. My spear got stuck in the shield. Another Witch made her hand into a fist only to open it again. My weapon disappeared in little pieces of dust. I knew this fight wouldn't be one I could win. I had to run, but how?

'Friday!' Morgan exclaimed through the chaos.

'Edith!' the blond screamed from the corner of the room.

'Why does everyone get AIs?!' Harley yelled while he pulled Morgan with him behind a pillar.

Morgan however stood up again. She threw her denim jacket from her shoulders. On her underarms were two blue pieces of some kind of metal. She hit them as if she was applauding with her arms. Slowly a whole blue and silver suit covered her body. She activated the thrusters only to fly and land between the Witches and me. I immediately worried for her safety. She had no idea what these Witches could do. And she definitely didn't know that they would stop at nothing.

'Friday, get everyone here in safety. Tell mum she has to evacuate the building,' Morgan said to herself. Then she looked up. 'All right, party's over. Listen here, Order of the Phoenix. You better leave now and S.H.I.E.L.D. will find you later on, or this'll be very unpleasant for you.'

'I appreciate you being on my team, Stark, but I hate to say that you're no match for them,' I told Morgan after which I noticed the room was empty except for Harley, Morgan, the Witches and me.

'And I hate to say that I'm not on your team, Yzma. Same rules apply to you,' Morgan told me off.

'Come back, Artemis,' the middle Witch told me again. 'You're drawing unnessecary attention to both you and the Community.'

'You stole my parents from me,' I spat, while I moved my hand to perform a spell I had been practicing for a few years and jumped from the table. The words teichos puros echoed in my mind.

A wall of fire, or more like a curtain of fire, appeared in front of the Witches. One stood in it. Her robe and hair caught fire, after which also her body burned. She cried out in pain, but eventually fell down with skin like coal. The middle Witch held her hand in front of her and slowly made a hole in my wall. I fought, but it didn't help. Then Morgan shot the Witch. The wall recovered again. I moved it closer and closer to the Witches. They couldn't do a thing.

So, as the cowards they always were, the Witches teleported themselves back to the Community.

I removed the fire curtain and tried to regain my breath. I had to lean against one of the tables to get my energy back. Morgan, however, didn't seem to care for my physical, as well as my mental state.

She turned to me, pointing one of her hands with repulsor to my head. 'Who are you?!'

'Artemis,' I responded, smiling lightly, yet grimacing when I felt a cramp in my side because of the effort. I knew she wouldn't hurt me if she didn't have a good reason to.

Why wasn't I scared of her? She had a weapon pointed at my head, why was I so calm?

'Your full name,' Morgan commanded. She still had her helmet on.

'Artemis Diana Metanoia,' I answered her, hoping it would make the girl relax more. 'I'm a Witch, just like the women from just now.'

'Nobody in the system has the name Artemis Diana Metanoia, Morgan,' an Irish voice suddenly said.

It startled me, causing me to look up and hold my hands in fighting position. 'Who the hell said that?!'

'You're not in the position to ask questions,' Morgan simply told me, lifting her helmet and revealing a flawless face. 'Are you an enemy, Morgan? Why aren't you in the system?'

'First of all, no, I actually came here to look for help. Secondly, I'm off the system because, as I already told you before, I'm a Witches don't work inside the system,' I explained.

Then, behind Morgan, I saw someone swinging into the room through one of the already jumped windows. They wore a red, black and golden suit, with on their chest an emblem of a spider. Their eyes were big and white with a black line around them. Out of their wrist came white strings which he had just used to swing into the building by making it stick to the ceiling. They landed gracefully next to Morgan who didn't even look up.

''Sup, guys?' the unfamiliar person asked Morgan and me. It was most probably a man, judging by his voice. Or, better said, a boy.

'For the neighbourhood superhero you're pretty slow, Spider-Man,' Morgan simply told the guy without taking her glance from me.

I grabbed my backpack from the table and put my Book of Spells in it. 'Look, it was nice how you helped me out there with the Witches, but I have to get to Scarlet Witch now, so I better get going.'

'Sweetheart, you're not going anywhere,' Harley told me from the door of the room on which he leaned.

Crap, I totally forgot he was here, too.

'He's right,' Spider-Man told me. 'We're with three, you're on your own.'

Morgan held her hand up. 'Hold on, you said you came here for help. Why are you leaving now already?'

'It's not like that little trick of mine is going to hold off the Witches for long,' I told everyone as if it was really obvious. 'I have to get to Scarlet Witch as soon as I can.'

'Well, that's not happening.'

In the door opening stood Pepper Potts, CEO of Stark Industries. She was a real businesswoman and definitely someone for a good example. She was the one who kept Tony Stark on the right path. She was the one who supported him in his good decisions and told him no in his bad ones. She was the one who took over his company because he didn't want to anymore. She cleaned up everyone's messes. But she made sure she would do it right and would get the proper credits. She was strong.

'Morgan, honey, are you okay?' Ms. Potts asked concerned while she walked over to Morgan and cupped her cheeks.

Morgan turned her head away and the Iron Man suit slowly disappeared. 'I'm fine, mum.'

'Good,' Ms. Potts responded. 'Then I would like to know why whatever happened happened.'