[This story swaps perspectives in first person view]

Morgan

I raise my arm, gleaming red and yellow metal covering my hand. I bite my lip as I wait for a reaction. Nothing. After a second, I bring my hand back down and look at my palm. Why isn't the blaster working? I ask myself.

"Jarvis," I say, putting my arm out again.

"Yes, sir," the computer replies.

"Daily log, blaster cannons still ineffective. Need to work on that soon. And..." I pause, making a pushing movement with my hand. "Update," I say with a shake of my head.

"Right away, sir," Jarvis replies as there's a knock on the lab door.

"Mom, what do you need?" I ask as I'm about to pull the metal glove off. As soon as I touch it, the pistons release and the glove easily slips off. I lightly toss it onto my work table without looking up. The metal thumps onto the glass.

"I knew you would be down here again," Mom says. I can feel her shake her head in disapproval. "You have to go to school today and you are not being late because you're messing with your father's suit again." I hear her footsteps echo against the floor as I cross my arms and look to the glove on my work table.

"I know, I know," I groan. "I just need... another week, please." I've been avoiding the first day of high school for three weeks now. All so I can work on my dad's suit, Mark-58. After he died, the suit was passed to me, and now I have a goal to fix it.

"Morgan, sweetie, you've been in the lab since six in the morning. Don't you think it's time to start the day?" I felt a hand on my shoulder. It made me freeze for a moment, reminding me of Dad.

"Stop," I scold, rolling my shoulder forwards to get it out of her grip. Mom's fingers lightly brush my shoulder blade. "And I was up at four AM, thank you very much," I add quietly.

"Excuse me?" Mom grabs me by the shoulders and spins me around so I face her. "Up at four in the morning?!" Her golden hair was long and straight as usual. "Is there anything else you've been hiding from me?" I can hear a desperate and worried tone hidden in her voice.

"Yes...there is," I answer with a sigh. I get a look of disapproval from Mom. "I love you very much and I don't tell you that enough," I tell her quickly with the most sincere face I can manage.

This time, her expression becomes neutral. "Whatever. You better get dressed and be ready in fifteen minutes or I'll make Daniel drag you to school himself."

I groan. Daniel is Mom's new boyfriend. I personally don't like him, but Mom definitely does.

I look up to see Mom opening the glass door that leads out of the lab. "Also!" she almost yells. "Tell Jarvis to stop calling you 'sir.' You're not a man!" And with that, she slams the glass door with a loud thump.

I let out another sigh, watching Mom disappear into the hallway. "Jarvis."

"Yes, sir."

"Never stop calling me 'sir.'"

"Of course, sir."

Damian

"Hey, Damian!" my friends call out as I jog up to the school. Eagle River High School was definitely my worst nightmare.

"Hey, guys, what's up?" I ask, my dark bangs waving in my eyes.

"Nothing much," Grey replies with a shrug. He has blonde hair and teal eyes, with light skin.

"I just downloaded this new game on my phone called Space Invaders," my other friend, John, chipped in. His green eyes light up as he takes out his phone.

"Space Invaders?" the third teen in our group, Francis, repeats. He has black hair, dark eyes, and olive skin.

"Sounds like you downloaded a pretty old game," I chuckle lightly.

"Pretty old? Are you sure you don't mean super-duper-mega old?" Grey asks sarcastically. Francis rolls his eyes at Grey's comment.

"Hey, come on guys. It's really fun!" John loads up the game.

"Yeah, whatever," I say, putting my hands in my hoodie pocket.

Then John gasped. "Damian! There's a spider on your shoulder!!" he yells, pointing to my shoulder and bringing his phone close with his other hand.

I yelp and jump backwards, shaking back and forth. A shiver runs down my spine as the three of them start laughing. I instantly realize what's going on.

"Ha-ha. Very funny." I groan and roll my eyes. I cross my arms as Francis pats me on the back.

"Come on, Parker. This is the third time this week, and it's only Monday!" He laughs.

That's when Grey snorts. We all start bursting with laughter when he snorts some more.

Then I felt something tingle in my back of my head. I lean to the side and put my arm out just in time to catch a girl walking backwards. Directly behind me was a really fancy car that was driving away.

"Oh my God, I'm so sorry!" the girl apologizes. I look up and meet her deep brown eyes. Strands of light brown hair were loose in her face. She steps to the side and continues around our small group. That's when I realize everyone is quiet.

"What?" I asked, tilting my head.

"First, how do you keep doing that Damian?" Grey put his hands on his hips.

"I think I have a more important question." Francis raised and lowered his eyebrows. I immediately understood what he thought.

"God, no! She's new here. Can't you tell? Plus, I already have a girlfriend. Why would you even think that?!" I got a shrug out of the three. I sigh and press my fingers to my forehead. "I'm going to class. See you guys at lunch."

"Okay, Lover Boy!" John shouts. The three start laughing again. I roll my eyes with a smirk and jog up the steps that lead to the school entrance.

Gabriel

I jog into class just as the first bell rings.

"You are late, Mr. Rogers. Again," my teacher, Ms. Johnson, tells me right when I step foot into the classroom. Her voice was sharp and unwelcoming.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Johnson. It won't happen again, I swear," I apologize quickly, rushing to my seat. I sit on the far side of the room, near the windows. Outside, you could see the school's courtyard.

"Rogers, you said that the last three times. If you need to be reminded again, I'm sure Principal Williams will be happy to tell you." Ms. Johnson smiled slightly. Her gray eyes stared right into my soul. A laugh spread around the class like butter on toast.

"Oh, no! I'm positive Principal Williams doesn't need to see me again," I chuckle lightly, getting the message. My mom would be royally pissed if I got detention again.

"Very well." The teacher narrows her eyes at me. Then, she pivots on her heel and turns around to the chalkboard. She picks up a piece of chalk and starts writing down words. "Alright, class, today we will be talking about..."

As Ms. Johnson continues, I let out a sigh and stuff my bag under my desk.

Then, something lands on my desk. A piece of paper. It's rolled into a ball. I turn my head to the side and see one of my friends, Joshua, snicker. He sits next to me in class. He has blonde hair that he gels into a cowlick, bright brown eyes, and pale skin. Most people at school call him a jock in a nerd's outfit. He loves wearing suits, ties, and fake glasses. He's strong and loves football.

I give him a look as I start unwrapping the paper. I flatten it out on the desk with the palms of my hands and see a scribbled stick figure. Little tears come out of its head, like it's crying. Next to it are the words "Aw, someone's in trouble again!"

I'm about to give Joshua another look when a shadow appears over the paper. I look up from the paper to see Ms. Johnson looking down at me.

I subconsciously gulp and fake a smile, quietly flipping over the piece of paper.

"Hey, Ms. Johnson! I can explain–" I start.

"Detention after school!" she cuts me off. I'm about to reject, but she turns around and walks to her desk. "First, you're late to my class, then I catch you passing notes?!" Ms. Johnson shakes her head. "I am very disappointed in you, Gabriel."

I open my mouth again, but she shuts me up by putting up a finger. "I don't want to hear another word out your mouth until class ends. Understood?" She takes a deep breath.

I'm about to say yes, but instead, I snap my jaw closed and nod.

"Good. Now..." Ms. Johnson continues the lesson. I look to the floor. I hear some snickering from beside me. I risk a glance at Joshua.

"You are so dead." I mouth, giving him a hard glare. I get a smug smirk in reply.

Angel

"Dad! It's lunch now! I have to meet up with Damian!" I yell to my dad.

"Hold on, missy!" Dad yells from another room. Yellow sparkles appear in front of me, forming into an oval. Dad steps out of the portal, right in front of me. "I have your Sling Ring," he scolds, holding up his hand. On his index finger and middle finger, was a small knuckle ring that connected the two fingers. It was golden with writing on the top.

I start feeling around my leather belt. The case for my Sling Ring was empty. "Come on, Dad," I groan.

"Besides," he slips it off his fingers and holds it out. "You still need to practice using it." I snatch the Sling Ring, holding it close to my chest.

"Be reasonable, Dad, I've done it a million times!" I pause. "I've even snuck out to see Mom a few times," I blurt, scratching the back of my neck.

Dad shakes his head with a sigh. "Of course she went out to see her foster mom," he mumbles.

I slowly nod with a blank expression on my face. "Sooo, can I go now?" I rock back and forth on my heels.

"Fine. I have work to do, anyways. Stay safe, hun." He kisses the top of my head–I'm pretty much a head and a half shorter than him–then he floats into the air with the help of his levitation cape.

Ever since I moved in with my dad, I've always wanted to try out the Cloak of Levitation.

I sigh, slipping my Sling Ring onto my fingers. Then I bring my other hand back and start making circular motions with my hands. I close my eyes and think about the Eagle River High School courtyard.

I picture the single half dead tree in the center, the large stones surrounding a small pond in the corner of the courtyard, the small pebble pathway that led straight through the yard and around the tree, the benches where students would have lunch and chat with friends.

Friends, something I didn't have much of anymore.

I sigh and open my eyes to see yellow sparks forming an oval portal for me to go through. I poke my head through and see Damian in front of it, back towards me. He does this every time, just in case another student looks our way. I hop through the portal, closing it almost immediately.

"Hey, Damian, I'm here!" I call out with a chuckle. Damian turns around and throws his arms around me.

"Oh my God, Angel! It's been a whole week!" He squeezes me tight as I laugh, the air knocked out of me.

"Too... tight!" I manage to let out. Damian instantly releases me.

"Sorry." He scratches the back of his neck with a smile. "So, how's no school and learning magic with your father?" he asks as he leads me to a bench close to the tree in the center of the courtyard.

"Perfectly fine." I shrug, looking around. The courtyard is quiet today with few students chatting out in the bright sunlight. "Just learned the shield spell. It was pretty hard at first." I giggle, rubbing my nose.

"Wow. Sounds cool!" Damian nods in delight. "Next time I come over, you need to show me. I want to know how strong those shields could be."

"Definitely!" I nod with a smile. "Then next time you come over, bring your suit and webs so we can practice with combat." I made chopping motions with my hand. "Wa-cha!" I yelled as if I was fighting. I earned a laugh from Damian in return. I laugh with him.

"Hey again!" I heard a new voice. I turned my head to see a girl with dark brown eyes and light brown hair. She had on a cheery smile to go with her bright yellow T-shirt.

"Oh, hi!" Damian returned the smile.

"Sorry about this morning," she shrugs and sits next to me on the bench. "I'm Morgan, and I'm once again sorry for what happened earlier."

"Nah, you're perfectly fine! I'm Damian and this is one of my best friends, Angel." I wave to the new girl.

"Hi, Angel, Damian. Nice to meet you both. I was wondering if we could be friends."

I was about to question her, but Damian beats me to it. "Yeah! Of course! We only have a few more minutes of lunch so why don't you hang out with us?"

"Sure!" Morgan rests her hands on the table.

"You're okay with that right, Angel?" Damian glanced over to me with a smile.

"Oh. Yeah, um, sure!" I stammer.

"Alright, great!" Damian chuckles. The two continue to chat as I observe Morgan. She looks familiar–not that every girl a head higher than me does. Just from her eyes, I could tell she had some secrets of her own.

I had always been super observant, making it fairly easy for me to tell when someone was hiding something.

I stare at Morgan, watching as she spoke, seeing her head nod, watching her fingers twitch and lightly tap on the bench table. Then, Morgan said something that pulled me out of my transe.

"So, are you and Angel in the same grade or...?" She asks, tilting her head at me. I jump at the question.

Damian pauses and shrugs, telling me he didn't know what to say.

"No. I'm only fifteen, so I'm a sophomore." I jump in.

"Really? Then how old is Damian?" She eyes him weirdly.

"I'm only sixteen. This is my junior year." Damain shrugs.

"Oh! I'm a junior, too. Except, this is my first day." Morgan laughs lightly.

"Yeah, I could tell when you ran into me this morning." Damian agrees with a smile.

"Really? I mean, I was a little stressed and bothered by my mom."

"Understandable. I have arguments with my mom and dad, too." He nods in understanding.

"Well, at least you have both of them," Morgan says almost silently. I almost gasp at her statement.

"What?" Damian asks, tilting his head.

"Oh, nothing," she says right as the school bell rings. I look down, realizing I've been fidgeting with my Sling Ring. "Well, I have to go to math. It's across the school, so I better get going. See you later?"

Damian stands and nods. "Yeah, I have math too, but I'll meet you there." He shrugs.

"Really? Well, okay. But I do recommend going now..."

"Nah! I'll be fine, go on without me," he pushes.

"Alright, see you there, then!" She runs off into the building with the other students.

"Ready?" I ask, standing up.

"Always! Can't wait to go through the portal again!" he cheered.

We wait until everyone is gone, then we go back to the corner I came from.

"To the bathroom!" Damian cheers as I smirk and create another portal. It leads to the bathroom closest to his math class.

"Alright." I sigh, trying not to look through the portal. It leads to the closed stall. "Go ahead before you're late-" I cough out as I get pulled into another hug. I laugh and hug him back.

"Be safe," he whispers in my ear.

"Psh. You know I always am," I whisper back. "And make sure you keep an eye on Morgan for me. Please."

Damian nods. "Sure, but why?"

"Eh, she seems off to me."

"Everything seems off to you." He chuckles, releasing me.

"Well...," I huff.

Damian laughs again and goes through the portal. "Don't worry, I'm on it." Once it shuts, I create a new portal to go home and look around before jumping through. I close it immediately.

Cooper

I close my eyes, then I hear a ping right above my head. Following it was apple juice from the fresh apple I had on my head a moment earlier. I feel it drip down my face and shutter as it reaches my jaw line.

"That, is how it's done!" I hear my brother shout with a laugh. I open my eyes and look up right as some of the apple juice drips in between my eyes.

"AGH!" I yell and immediately close my eyes again. I take my shirt and rub my eyes as I hear a laugh in the distance.

"You alright, Cooper?" my older brother, Nate, asks. I pull my shirt down as he starts laughing again. I feel my hair stick to my face. He runs up to me, trying to hold in his laugh.

"Shut up," I mumble, playfully punching him in the shoulder.

"Aw, come on little bro. You needed a shower after school anyways." He chuckles.

"And who's fault is that?" I ask, crossing my arms. I stick out my tongue slightly when I feel the sticky substance from my shirt stick to my arms. I get another laugh from Nate.

"Cheer up, little bro. I heard Gabe was going to be here soon. I would suggest taking a shower quickly."

I roll my eyes, obviously flustered over my brother. "Fine," I mumble and jog into my house.

After a quick shower, I change and start heading downstairs. The floorboards creak under my weight. I hear laughing in the living room and automatically know who's here.

I peek inside the living room to see Nate and Gabriel on the couch.

"Hey Gabe! What took you so long?" I ask, stepping into the living room. Next to the couch was a long chair. I went over to it and sat down, resting my forearms on my legs.

"Sorry, Coop. I got detention again." He sighs, shaking his head.

I chuckle. "What'd you do this time?" I ask with a smirk.

Gabriel narrows his eyes at me. "First, I was a second late for class. Like, who cares if you're this much after the bell?" He makes a pinching motion with his fingers. "Then, Joshua had the nerve to pass a note to me. And BAM!" He made some explosion motions with his hands. "I got the one way ticket to Principal Williams." Gabe shakes his head.

"Must be tough still being in school." Nate says with a shrug. He ended highschool four years ago. He and Dad both thought it was good to keep me in, but I still hate that school.

Gabriel ran his fingers through his pale orange hair. "Yeah. Lucky for me, my mom thinks I've been here for an hour and a half already." He pinches the bridge of his nose.

"Really? Well when did you get here?" I asked, tilting my head.

"Not too long ago. Like, five or ten minutes, I bet." Gabriel shrugs. He sighs and folds his fingers behind his neck, leaning back into the couch.

"Hey gang, I'm home!" I hear Dad shout as the front door swings open.

"Hey, Dad! What's up?" I hear my older sister, Lila, call from the kitchen.

"Nothing much." Dad comes inside and ventures into the kitchen. "Did Gabe come again today?" he asks a moment later.

"Yep! I'm right here." Gabriel sighs. "I'm a bit late though, had another detention. Principal Williams got me on the back of his neck." He chuckles.

Dad laughs and pokes his head into the living room. His dark blond hair is wet with sweat. "Well good luck with your mom." he smiled. "Bet she'll be super happy if she hears about that."

"Key word: if." Gabriel nods slightly. "And I'm not planning on telling her anything."

"I wouldn't either." Nate says quietly, snickering.

"Huh? Did I just hear my son planning to do something behind my back?" Dad asks, narrowing his eyes at Nate.

"What? That's not what I said at all!" Nate protests. The four of us laugh.

"Can you guys be quiet? I'm working on homework!" Lila yells.

"Yeah, yeah," I reply to Lila with an eye roll. "Dad! Can we go target practice?" I almost jump with hope.

"Sure, why not?" Dad shrugs with a smile. "Follow me to the shed. Nate, go set up the targets, would you?"

"Yeah." Nate runs his fingers through his dirty blonde hair.

"How about me?" Lila asks, skipping into the living room. Her blonde hair bounces on her shoulders.

"Don't you have homework, missy?" Dad gives her a look.

"Fine." Lila groans with disappointment and jogs back into the kitchen. "But once I'm done, I'm joining you guys!" she calls out.

"Will do. Come on, Cooper. Let's go get the extra bows and arrows."

We all follow dad out of the house and into the yard.

Lyra

"Dad!" I call out. "Hey, Dad!" I shout, louder. "Hulk?" I mutter. I look around. I'm in a black room with no light source.

Then, lights turn on above me. One by one in a row. I blink as more turn on. The light is dim, but growing more powerful as more lights flicker on.

I cover my eyes, almost blinded when the last of the lights turn on.

"Greetings, Earthling," says a deep, calming voice. The voice I've been hearing every night for almost two and a half weeks now.

"My name is Lyra," I introduce myself, trying to show confidence to the person speaking.

He just laughs. I growl, feeling my anger slowly rise. Nope. You gotta control it, I tell myself. I take deep breaths.

"Come on, you weak Earthling. I'm sure there's someone in there waiting to crawl out of her shell," the man says calmly, slowly.

"Well–" I yelp and fall to the ground as everything around me starts to turn green. No, not now. Please don't..., I think desperately, feeling a jolt of pain in my chest. There it was. She-Hulk. Trying to rip out of her cage: me. I look to the ground.

"W-Why are you doing this?" I ask.

"Because I want to know what you're really capable of, Earthling." the man says with a small laugh.

"AH!" I cry out as a wave of energy surges over me. I start to grow a bit, turning greener as I get bigger. I knew this would happen again. I knew I would turn into She-Hulk again. But it was all happening too quickly for me to stop it.

"Dad!" I yell, waking up with a start. I look down at my hands. Not green. Good. I look around. I'm back in my room, in my bed, under my covers. The best place I could ever be. I let out a relieved sigh.

My door opens suddenly. Dad pokes his head into the doorway, light flooding in from the hallway.

"You alright, Lyra?" he asks, concerned.

"Yeah. Just... just another nightmare." I sigh.

"Same one again?"

"Y-Yeah." I shiver, glancing down at my hands again. Still normal.

"Do you need some Restoril?"

"That'd be great, thanks," I mutter under my breath.

"Alright, be right back." Dad sighs and steps out into the hallway. I can hear the stairs creak as he walks down.

I start fidgeting with my slicked-black hair, thinking about the nightmare. It had happened before, but this time, turning into She-Hulk caused pain. That was something that hadn't happened in the nightmare.

I snuggle up closer under my sheets as I wait for my dad to come back with the sleeping pills.

Origin

I breathe in the fresh air of Asgard. Tomorrow is my seventeenth birthday, and the day I get to travel to Earth for the first time. I can't wait to see a human for the first time. Father says they look just like us, act like us, but they live on Earth. I've always wondered if that was true.

I'm in the palace kitchen. The maids made me breakfast and I had to retrieve it while father went to do his Earth duties. I'm home alone again for the second time this week.

I let out a sigh. "Bertha. Where's my lunch?" I call out to the main cook. I look around for a moment, not hearing a thing. Then, I hear a rustle in the nearby pantry. "Bertha?" I ask again.

"Oh! Yes, Origin, I'm right here." Bertha opens the door of the pantry, her black hair tied up in a bun. "Your lunch is in the dining room. I'm sorry to make you wait."

"No problem at all." I shake my head with a smile. I skip out of the kitchen, through a long hallway, and into the dining room. The dining room was a beautiful sun-lit room with a whole wall frame of stained glass windows. A large table with multiple seats around it sat in the center of the dining room. It was mostly used for small gatherings, or big family meals, which we have twice a month.

On the table is a silver plate with some food and a cup of orange juice beside it. I came closer to see it's a strawberry jam sandwich, a bustle of grapes, and beside it, a little cup of honey to go on my sandwich.

"Good morning, Origin." I turn around and spot another servant, Tom, come into the dining room. He had another silver plate with eggs, toast, some more grapes, and a cup of water.

"Is this for mother?" I ask, but immediately answer myself. "Wait, no. That's for Bertha, isn't it?" I feel quite stupid. Mother wasn't going to be home til late afternoon.

Tom let out a laugh. "Yes, it is for Bertha. She asked me to bring it here so she can have breakfast with you this morning."

"That's nice of her." I smile. It's been a while since I had breakfast with anyone but my family.

"Indeed. She said she would be here in a moment. You may start eating, if you wish, Origin." Tom nods and jogs out of the dining room.

"Thank you!" I call out to him.

A few minutes later I pop the last grape into my mouth and take my last bite of my sandwich. That was so good, I think with a grin on my face.

I take a sip of my orange juice as I hear a crash from a nearby room. I pause, gulping down the juice in my mouth.

I look around as I hear another crash. "Bertha?" I place down my cup and carefully walk to the dining room doorway. It leads into the hallway.

"Bertha?" I call out again. This time, I hear voices. Three men. I almost gasp as I press my back against the wall.

I know all of the guards and servants. I've memorized their voices, their footsteps. But these men, I didn't recognize these men at all.

"What are we gonna do with the palace, general?" I hear one of the strangers ask.

There was a pause. "We need to burn it so there are no survivors," answers another voice–almost certainly the general.

"Hold on," a third voice says. I hold my breath as I hear their footsteps come closer.

"What's wrong?" the general asks.

"Nothing. I thought I heard someone breathing."

The voices muffle as they stomp away. It sounds like they're wearing heavy armor. Their footsteps would've been light against the tile floor if they weren't.

I slowly release my breath. I run as silently as I can to the kitchen.

"Bertha?" I whisper-yell. "I think someone's invading the–" I cut myself off when I see Bertha's body lying lifelessly on the ground, blood splattered all around the floor. It was pooling around her head.

I automatically hold out my arm, and a few moments later, Mjölir crashes through the kitchen wall, causing kitchen tile to burst everywhere. It lands right in my firm grip. "I will avenge you Bertha," I swear to her. I sigh quietly, shaking away tears.

There we have it! First chapter completed! I normally don't ask this, but if you like the story, please vote and share this book! Andy [my editor] and I have been working hard on it and I would love to have more and more people read it. If you like the story so far, add it to your library so you get a notification when I post the next chapter! Tune it tomorrow for chapter two! Stay safe and I'll see you all then!

Word count: 4708