highlander_ii

intoabar

"Oh wow! That's cool!" Peter watched the iron-haired woman dispatch a pair of the goblin-like things they'd been fighting. She used a sword and what appeared to be a bright flash of light.

He didn't have much time to admire her work as something was thrown at his head. Webbing snatched the thing - a broken crate, apparently - and Peter flung it back toward one of the goblin-things.

One more down. Looked like three to go. The sword-lady took out one more with a swfit pass and Peter got another. Then he webbed the last one and hurled it right into the sword-lady's blade. Done. All the goblin-things taken care of.

Peter swung himself down from the wall and landed nearby. "Hey!" he said. "Pretty awesome work. I'm Spider-Man."

The lady smiled at him. "I've heard of you. I'm Anastasia. Molto grazie for the assistance, young man."

Peter nodded. "Sure thing. Doing my job. Didn't know I had help, but it's nice. How'd you find these things?" He'd run into them during a routine patrol around the city.

"Tracking the sorcerer who called them up as muscle."

"Sorcerer? Like Dr. Strange?"

Anastasia tilted her head. "Not exactly. This one isn't doing good things with their magic."

"Need help tracking them down?"

"Thank you, but no. They've left the city and, I believe, it's a school night."

"Hey!" he half-protested. But she wasn't wrong.

She laughed lightly. "I've been alive a long time, Spider-Man. Your youth is an assest. Embrace it."

That was a lot better than hearing he was too young for everything. He knew how old he was. Definitely didn't need people reminding him all the time.

"Okay, it is, but it's still early..." he added.

"Yes, but where they've gone, time moves differently by comparison. I could not guarantee you would return in time for classes tomorrow. Or even for graduation."

Peter blinked behind his mask and was suddenly very intrigued by this concept. "Wait... wait! Places where time moves differently? Like, time dilation or just places that aren't sync'd up with out time, but minutes and hours are still minutes and hours relatively speaking?"

"Very possibly both. But definitely that second one. I have not journeyed to any cosmic singularities."

"Wow!" he said, trying to contain at least some of his enthusiasm. "Like, wow. That - I'd love to see - experience. The out-of-sync thing. Not sure I want to hang out on the event horizon of like a black hole. That'd be weird. But - wow. Cool!"

She smiled again. "See, youth is an asset. You have time to explore many things. Enjoy it."

"I do. I research stuff all the time. But, um, do we have to worry about those things coming back?"

"Probably not. They're following their pied piper. They'll stay there until something better comes along. They're not all that loyal. But, you know you can handle them if they do show up here. They're touch, so you're obvious quite strong."

"I mean - superhero," he said, holding his arms out. "But, yeah. Really strong. And fast."

"And clearly compassionate. Continue with that. It will serve you well."

"Or get me into trouble."

Anastasia gave him a sly look. "I sense a story there, young hero."

He grinned behind his mask. "Probably several. But, like you said, it's a school night. I - I should probably get home. You know - homework."

She nodded. "Yes, you should. Thank you again for your help."

"You bet!" He said, then waved as he jumped into the air, webbing the wall near a window, and disappeared.