The Great and Powerful Roxy Lox

Chapter 2: Opportunities

The next morning, I woke up extra early to catch a subway to my University. As a yawn escaped my mouth, I walked into the living room. My dad was sleeping on the couch. There were beer bottles strung about the room, some on the floor, some on the coffee table. The odor of alcohol was pungent and burning my nostrils.

    This wasn't anything new to me. Things have been like this for years.

I stared at him for a few long moments, thinking about what a wreck he's become. 'I need to move out of this hell-hole.' I thought. Things are more peaceful when he's sleeping though, so I decided to hurry out.

I was tired, and still stuck on what had happened yesterday. 'If Spider-Man now knows who I am, than I must be on the Avengers' radar. The strange thought crossed my mind.

It was a rather cold and grey morning, so with a hot coffee in hand, I headed inside of the building. It seemed more bare than usual, hardly anyone was roaming the halls. Mainly because I was there so early. There was complete silence around me. All I could hear were my own footsteps clicking on the wooden floor.

I began to walk up a staircase when all of the sudden, I felt something loop around my waist and pull me. "What the-" I began to fight it, pulling on the sticky.... Webs. That meant one thing. "Damn it, Bug Boy!" I already knew what I was in for. Suddenly, I was pulled into a closet underneath the staircase.

As soon as I was inside, he shut the door and sealed the knob with webs. "What the hell is this about? Are you just following me now?" I yelled. I was ticked off at this point. I tried charging at him but he sent more webs flying at my hands, causing me to stick to the wall with my back against it.

"Calm down, Roxy! Please! I'm not trying to hurt you or anything, hear me out-"

"Oh so we're on first name basis now? How did you even find me?" I spat. He took off his mask and sighed.

"My name is Peter Parker and I actually go to this University too.. We've just never seen each other. But that's besides the point. Tony Stark has had his eyes on you for a while— that sounds really creepy but... Look what I'm really here to say is.. On behalf of the Avengers, we'd like you to join us."

I stared at him with a blank expression. Did I just hear that correctly? That Circus of Destruction wants me to join? Laughter suddenly erupted out of me. I could hardly contain it.

"Sorry but- HAHA! No can do, Bug Boy." Eventually my laughter subsided.

"W-What do you mean by "no"?" He looked hurt.

"I meant exactly what I said. No. I'm not going to join that posse. You guys destroy everything in your path and everyone knows it. In the end, you weirdos always hurt more people than you save. I have no idea why you guys wants me, of all people." I tried to be as straightforward as possible.

Peter was clearly at a loss for words. An awkward silence fell over us, so I used my powers to break from the webs. My telekinesis was able to apply enough pressure to dissolve them. I landed back on my feet and walked towards the door, which was also covered in webs. "Wait! Before you bust down that door, just listen to me. Please?" His voice was almost a whimper.

"Fine. I'll give you 10 seconds." I began to count down in a hostile tone.

"This is my first solo mission that Mr. Stark has ever sent me on, and I don't want to fail him! This is so important and I'll look stupid if I don't you bring back with me. I'll do anything for you to just come with me. Anything!"

I paused. "Anything?" I spoke. He nodded his head vigorously. "Anything... Well it depends on what Mr. Stark will allow but yeah, just about anything."

An idea popped into my head. I certainly was not interested in even considering joining the Avengers. But I figured if I was going to visit the Stark Tower to just look, than I should at least get something out of it.

"Money. That's all I want." I said firmly, crossing my arms. This could be the only way for me to leave my dad's apartment and finally go out on my own. Again, Peter nodded so hard I was positive his head could fall off. "Uh sure! I don't think Mr. Stark would mind."

With that, I held out my hand to shake on it. "Done deal." Peter started. "Now can you please step out for a second so I can change out of my suit?"

________________________


There it was. The Stark Tower stood high above me as I stepped out of the cab. Peter got out of the cab and led me inside. I didn't know what to think. This was all happening so fast. Never would I have thought that I'd even step foot into this place. I was never a super fan of these guys, so I could hardly process that they want me.

Peter and I stood in an elevator in complete silence. Out of the corner of my eye I could see him staring at me. Before I could call him out for it though, the elevator opened and revealed all of the Avengers standing in one room. Nervousness settled in more than I thought it would. It was almost hard for me to even exit the elevator.

They were all in their every-day clothes just sitting on a few couches, laughing and whatnot. The first one to notice me was the one and only Tony Stark. "Everyone stop talking. Please and thank you. Can we just appreciate the fact that Peter just accomplished his first mission?" Tony said as he stood.

They all looked up at me. My eyes immediately met the icy blue ones of Steve Rogers. He studied me for a few moments before looking back down at his bottle of beer.

"So.... His mission was to get a girlfriend?" One man snickered. It was Hawkeye, I recognized him from battle footage I'd seen on the news.

I looked over at Peter who was blushing at his words. Why the hell was this boy so giddy around me? "Nope. His mission was to bring me here for... An Avengers interview I guess?" I answered.

All of the heroes exchanged glances. Stark smiles. "Right!... Let's see what you've got."