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“Remember when we went river rafting when you were twelve and you fell in the water? But you don’t remember falling in the water?” Michelle Jones asked her older sister Alicia one Saturday evening.
“Yeah. One minute I was on the boat thing, the next I was underwater. I don’t remember how it happened.” Alicia replied.
“That’s what almost dying feels like. Your whole life flashing before your eyes and you having no clue how you got there?” Michelle prompted.
“Are you ok?” Alicia asked, warranting a worried glance at her little sister.
“I barely remember anything about the Crown Jewels vault. I have no idea how I ended up with a fucking mace in my hand.” Michelle responded.
Michelle had insisted Peter tell her family that he was Spider-man after Michelle had almost been kidnapped twice in the span of a month.
“You don’t remember any of it?” Alicia asked.
“Not really. I’ll tell you what I do remember though.”
“I don’t like this, something is definitely up.” Michelle told Ned.
Lightning struck. Michelle and Ned exchanged worried glances.
Mr. Harrington announced the bus driver was no longer there.
“EVERYONE OFF THE BUS!” Mr. Harrington yelled as the waves in the water got higher and more aggressive.
As the water monster rose and attacked the bus they’d been on seconds prior, Michelle ran after Ned, reaching for his hand.
Behind them, the bus blew up.
What if they’d still been on there?
They reached the street, still running. Flash, as per usual had his phone out, presumably live streaming. Michelle bumped into him, pushing him forward. “FLASH!”
She didn’t want Flash to die, she wasn’t heartless.
“It’s not real, it’s not real!” Ned yelled. Michelle was unsure whether he was reassuring her or himself.
“Yeah well it looks pretty real to me!” Michelle yelled back. She knew Ned was just as terrified as she was, but she couldn’t help herself.
“It’s Mysterio!” Brad yelled, pointing towards the sky. “Mysterio’s going to save us!”
Michelle processed that for a second, before turning to Ned, a panicked expression on her face.
“Wait, Mysterio knows we know!” She said.
“Then we’re in danger.” Ned mumbled. Michelle nodded “Yeah.” No shit we’re in danger, she thought to herself.
Michelle and Ned ran, Betty and Flash right on their tails.
“Wait, Flash? He’s that dick on your decathlon team, right?” Alicia asked.
“He was curious where we were going.” Michelle said.
“Who are you?” Michelle asked Happy (though she didn’t know who he was yet).
“I work with Spider-Man okay? You gotta get on that jet.” He said, referencing a jet behind him.
“You work for Spider-Man?” Flash gaped.
“I work with Spider-Man not for Spider-Man.” Happy corrected.
The jet Happy had been talking about seconds earlier had blown up in the span of that conversation.
The drones had found them and began to chase them.
Happy led them running towards the Crown Jewels vault.
“Go into the vault!” Happy yelled.
“What?”
“Into the vault!” Happy directed.
They ran in, everyone making a move to hide.
“That’s pretty much all I remember. The rest is all a bit of a blur.” Michelle said.
“But that’s not even the interesting part!” Alicia pleaded.
“Fine. I’ll try my best to remember, but it probably won’t be that accurate.”
Michelle hid.
There was a suit of armor directly in front of her, holding a mace.
She eyed it.
Happy’s eyes met hers. He shook his head. “Shhh.” He signaled.
Michelle nodded back, mouthing “Yeah!”
She reached for it. She wasn’t sure what exactly she was planning to do with a mace, but in the moment, it made sense.
It was heavier than she expected, and the force of it pulled her directly towards the ground.
Betty pushed over another suit of armor, which the drone began to shoot at.
Michelle pulled the mace up and plummeted it towards the drone.
As soon as it made contact, she bolted further into the vault, but not before letting a “Whoa” escape from her lips. She’d just done that. She’d saved them. Kind of. With a mace.
She’d used a mace to destroy a drone. Nobody was ever going to believe that.
Inside the vault, Ned said “We’re going to die.”
“Nobody dies on my watch.” Happy assured them.
Michelle wasn’t so sure. It seemed like they WERE going to die, considering there were killer drones attempting to KILL them and they were trapped inside a room with a way in but not a way out.
Michelle still had the mace in her hands, already more comfortable with it. It felt like hers now.
“I wasted my life playing video games. We’re going to die.” Ned said.
“I have a fake ID. And I’ve never even used it.” Betty admitted.
The door of the vault shook, making it evident that the drones were still very much there.
“I post stupid videos daily for people to like-” Flash began.
“Hey. Wasn’t for those stupid videos, Spider-Man would have never found you.” Happy told Flash.
He’s finally useful for something, Michelle thought to herself.
“Spider-Man, Spider-Man follows me?” Flash fangirled.
“I saved us guys!” Flash announced proudly.
“If you saved us, then why are we about to die?” Michelle retorted. She couldn’t help herself.
“MJ!” They all chorused.
Another bang happened at the vault door.
“I’m sorry, okay! I’m obsessed with telling the truth, even if it hurts other people’s feelings!”
“As if.” Alicia laughed.
“Hey, in a high pressure situation, you don’t think before you speak, you just do.” Michelle defended herself.
“I’m in love with Spider-Man’s aunt.” Happy admitted.
Ned, Betty, Michelle, and Flash all turned to look at him.
“We’re sharing, right?” Happy defended himself.
On the outside, Michelle rolled her eyes at Happy, but on the inside, she was relieved. He’d made her laugh, which she needed, considering she was more scared than she’d ever been in her life.
Eventually, the drones stopped shooting, and Michelle bolted out of there, despite the calls Happy yelled after her.
“You took down a drone. That’s badass Shelley.” Alicia commented.
“Thanks. I just remember seeing the mace, and next thing I know, the drone was on the ground.” Michelle sighed.
“You’re a badass Shelle. You used a mace . You’re giving yourself nowhere near enough credit.” Alicia told her.
Michelle smiled to herself.
Though it was one of the scariest days of her life, she’d saved them momentarily, hadn’t she?
Maybe she could put “girl with a mace” on her resume.