Toss Up (Danny Rand)

Fury

I blearily make my way through the throngs of students on my way to the cafeteria. Ever since those villains attacked the school a few weeks ago, the school has amped up the security, and that severely cut down on my sleep time since that meant they closed the school gates earlier too. Not only that, but people have been super paranoid about a student going to our school being Spider-Man.

Four hours of sleep, training for the new Aigile performance, weird dreams after that day in the park, and now this . . . I let out a tired sigh, rubbing my eyes. Stupid early morning assembly . . . when I enter, I looked around for MJ and Harry knowing Peter was going to be late, and head for them. I spot Ava and the boys before I do, stopping by their table with a smile.

"Morning gals and pals, how goes the day?" I greet them with a two-fingered salute.

"'Gals and pals?'" Luke muses with a quirk of his brow.

"Blame my lack of witty greetings on my lack of sleep." I yawn.

"Got that right, you look horrible Ari." Sam not-so-tactfully points out, I send him a dark glare and whack him across the head with my textbook. "Ow!"

"Lack of sleep also makes me a bit more prone to violence, Sammy." I voice darkly as he gulps and scoots away from me.

"Maybe you should try taking it easy; can't Madam Paola give you a few days off?" Danny inquires. I shake my head.

"I would if I could, but this month's performance is really important to Aigile, I can't let her down like that."

"What if you pass out during your performance, or maybe here at school?" Ava chastises, giving me one of her stern looks.

"That's . . . a good point." I sigh as MJ waves me over. "I'll think about it, okay?" with that, I make my way over to the redhead, and as soon as I sit down, I fold my arms and let my head rest against them on the table.

"Ari . . ?" MJ trails off worriedly, I lazily open one eye to look at her.

"Sorry, just really tired," I mumble. "Wake me when the principal starts yammering, yeah?" without waiting for her to respond, I doze off.

A shadow silently whisks themselves on the rooftops, shouts of protest against his presence buzzing in the background. The city below him is quiet, and dimly lit by the fires of the street lamps that illuminate the roads. Seeing a large gap coming up ahead of him, a smirk tilts his lips as he accelerates and leaps. The blood-red shoulder cape billows behind him before he lands on the tips of his toes and crouches, rolling to the other lower side and looking back at the archers that were chasing him.

"Uccidilio!" [1] One of the men orders but he's too fast. As soon as one of the arrows was sent, he's off again as the arrows embed themselves into the tiles. The fleeing man continued to skit in the shadows until he felt it was safe enough to stop and get his bearings.

He spots a tower and decides that was to be the perfect spot. Latching onto a cavity in the brickwork, he scales the walls, grabbing onto jutting bricks and thin metal poles that were latched on to the tower. In minutes he hoists himself up onto the roost-like structure and gazes down at the city below, making a mental map of the area.

Standing with an unnatural grace he leaps, arms spread wide, and landing on his back on a pile of hay. He emerges from the cart, blending into the crowd as he makes his way to a three-story brick building, flourished with red banners and flowers. He knocks three times before entering and inside it is lavishly decorated with hues of red and purple, giving the room a kind of sensual feel. A woman in a beautiful maroon dress greets him as he pulls back his hood, revealing sharp hazel eyes. Eyes like my own.