***STILES***

I didn't think I'd get to see Age of Ultron today. Now, I'm about to see it with everyone else - and I feel a pretty strong sense of foreboding. Those Alpha twins are still out there, and when we're all in a dark, crowded movie theater, it's all too likely that they'll be taking advantage of that to ambush us. Maybe even with reinforcements - didn't Derek say something about an entire pack of Alphas? And how does that work? Where's the hierarchy in such a system?And, more importantly, in the event of an ambush, how would I defend myself? It's not like I can smuggle a gun or an aluminum baseball bat into the theater. Or any other kind of weapon, really.

At the theater, I look through the glass front door and gaze around the lobby. Danny is nowhere to be seen, so he must not be here yet. While we all get our tickets, Hunter says he'll stay outside and wait for his date.

"Are you sure?" Skylar asks, sliding ten dollars into the ticket booth. Derek had initially wondered about how she'd be able to get into the building - vampires are, literally, unable to enter new buildings uninvited. However, she pointed out the sign on the front door that reads, "Come in, we're OPEN." I'm not sure why a movie theater has that sign - I've never seen that happen before. Either way, this awfully convenient stroke of luck is good for us. Or, more accurately, her.

"Don't worry," Hunter says glibly, leaning against the wall next to a Tomorrowland poster. "I can defend myself quite ably if need be."

"Which is more than I can say for myself," I mutter under my breath.

"And besides," Hunter adds as I pay for my own ticket, "it'll look less suspicious, don't you think? I mean, if Danny were to come up here and see me surrounded by all his friends, he might think something's up."

"Most of us aren't really his friends," I say. "Except Jackson. Scott, Isaac, and I are just his teammates."

"Your Facebook profiles suggest otherwise," Hunter chuckles.

"And something is up," I add, ignoring his little joke. "There's a bunch of...you know what, never mind. I'm sure you can read it all in my mind anyway."

"I can, actually," Hunter says. "Tell Allison I wish her the best of luck in reversing her turning, okay?"

"You're getting really creepy there, dude."

"I know," Hunter says, waving jauntily as I walk into the theater. I'm the last one in line for snacks, which everyone is getting except Allison and Isaac (because they're too nervous about this whole thing to eat too much - but Scott agrees to share some of his large tub of popcorn with the both of them.) By the time we've all got our popcorn and sodas, however, I can turn around and see Hunter greeting Danny outside the door with a nice big hug, as if they're old friends.

I watch the two of them talk for a minute or so outside, before I end up having to take my turn at the snack counter. Just as well, because as I place my order, I hear the door open behind me, and it would kind of wreck Hunter's little plan if I were caught staring at him and Danny. But then, I don't think Hunter expected Danny to see all of us at the movies today either.

To his credit, though, Hunter manages to do a very convincing job of pretending he's never met any of us before. Apparently, even without the aid of mind-reading powers, he already knew who some of us were, because Danny had talked about some of us when he'd chatted with him online. But until today, he'd never had any faces to put with the names of Jackson, Scott, Isaac, and myself. Basically, Danny's teammates were the only ones he'd talked about.

"The pleasure is mine, boys," Hunter says after shaking hands all around. Behind Danny's back, however, he winks at me. Such an actor. Not to mention a jokester. Hey...being the jokester is my job! Now I'm starting to wonder if that means Danny really would consider me his type. But, of course, I'm still holding out for Lydia. Foolishly, I know. Don't remind me.

"Hey, I didn't know Allison found a new boyfriend already," Danny says to Scott.

"What?" Scott looks over at Allison, who's hanging around a little closer to Isaac. "Oh, him? Huh. I didn't know that either."

"I'm sure you'll find another girl eventually," Danny says. He then turns to Hunter and says, "I dunno about you, Hunt, but I'm dying for popcorn."

"I love a boy with a great appetite," Hunter says, grinning.

In more ways than one, I think to myself, almost making myself laugh as a result. See, I still got it! I can still make dumbass jokes!

While we pile into our seats, I start to wonder if Danny's assumption about Allison holds any grain of truth. Me, I'm inclined to not think so. After all, that would be silly, I'd think, for her to trade one werewolf for another. I'm sure her dear werewolf-hunting daddy would not approve. But at least he couldn't possibly be less supportive than her mom. I still can't believe that crazy old bitch actually tried to kill Scott for sleeping with Allison. Let me tell you, if there was ever any proof of the existence of karma, it lies in the fact that Mrs. Argent got bitten by Derek and died soon afterwards. Most likely by suicide, maybe even of the assisted variety.

Two and a half hours go by, and I'm sure we all enjoyed the movie. But if the others were anything like me, we were mostly feeling edgy (as in, "edge of our seats") not because of the on-screen action (amazing as it was, thanks to Joss Friggin' Whedon), but because of - yep, our fear that the Alpha twins or someone else just as bad would try and walk in on us, ruining this mind-boggling cinematic experience. Which would, quite frankly, suck donkey balls.

But the movie runs all the way through almost without interruption - the only exception being the fact that the projectionist has to stop and restart it from the beginning after about five minutes. I'd been wondering why the image was so blurry, juddery, and double-vision-y. Turns out they were accidentally playing the 3D version. Wait, since when does Beacon Hills' tiny small-town theater play 3D movies? Well, it's a Marvel movie, after all. It deserves to be shown in all its glory.

My only problem - a character I really came to like after loving to hate at first ended up getting killed off. And no, it wasn't Ultron. But (serious spoiler alert) thankfully, he died too. Or did he? You never know what those silly Marvel writers and producers are going to pull out of their collective ass next. I mean, they're rebooting Spider-Man again, for crying out loud. Do we need another reboot? Do we want another reboot? Hell to the no on both counts. (Of course, that could just be me, because I'm pretty sure I'm the only one among us who likes the reboots. Scott, for instance, prefers the originals with Tobey Maguire. But then again, he was introduced to Spider-Man through those movies, so I don't blame him.)

When we leave the theater, we do so in a staggered fashion, to make it look like we don't all have the same place to go next. The less Danny knows about what goes on with us, the better. He already came a little too close for comfort the night Jackson, in kanima form, ravaged the Jungle while he was in the place, clubbing with seemingly every other young, party-hearty gay dude in Beacon County. Not to mention me and Scott, who were forced to blend in as best we could while searching for Jackson, despite being underage and not really into that scene. We did fool at least one other dude - who actually bought Scott a drink - but not my dad, who completely ignored my bullshit excuse-slash-coming-out about just, you know, clubbing. At the club.

Eventually, though, we all slowly make our way to Derek's loft once again. Scott and I are first to arrive after Derek himself, followed by Allison and Skylar. Next up, Isaac and Jackson. The former cracks a joke about how he's going to be having nightmares about James Spader for the rest of his life, and that helps diffuse the tension somewhat.

"I dunno about you," I respond, not wanting to be outdone, "but I'd be more terrified of Paul Bettany. Vision is not someone you wanna see go bad, not if he can handle Mjölnir so effortlessly."

Someone knocks on the door. "Is that Hunter?" Skylar asks, looking up and gazing intently at the door as if expecting to see through it.

Derek sniffs the air. "It doesn't smell like him. Or like any other boy, for that matter."

"You can tell a person's gender by smell?" Skylar asks, looking amazed.

"Can't you?" Derek asks, completely deadpan, before walking over to the door. I watch Skylar's expression change from a frown to a smile as his joke slowly dawns on her, and then she covers her mouth with both hands so we can't hear her laughing.

"It's okay," Derek says finally before opening the door. "She's a friend."

I gape at the person who's just walked in. "Lydia?"

She looks around the mostly-bare loft, tucking her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear. "So where's the party?" she asks. I'm sure she's just kidding - right?

"How'd you get here?" Scott asks.

"Duh," Lydia says, sidling over to Jackson and taking his hand. "I followed this guy. I figured something really crazy was happening - I got a vibe in my head, for some reason."

"Uh...that's not good," I say. "That's really not good. If you got a vibe - like, a banshee vibe-"

"No, no, no," Lydia says, waving her free hand. "No banshee vibes. No deaths."

"You're a banshee?" Skylar asks, stepping into a more shaded part of the room so she can take her hood off.

"I didn't pick it," Lydia says. "And you're a...uh...okay, I give up. What are you? A were-fox or something?"

"You mean a kitsune? No, that's not what I am. I'm not a were-anything. I'm a vampire."

Now it's Lydia's turn to gape. "Shut up!"

"I didn't know you liked vampires," Jackson says, looking at her in disbelief.

"If I'd have known, I would have found one and gotten turned into one a long time ago," I say.

"No you wouldn't," Skylar says, flashing her fangs for a moment as she delivers me a dangerous grin. "Cheeky little bastard. I'm Skylar, by the way. Skylar Renard." Lydia introduces herself as well, and then our final guest shows up at last. "And that, shockingly enough, is my brother, Hunter," Skylar says. "He's a werelynx."

"Which is a right sight better than being a shut-in during the day so you don't get blistered by the bloody sun," Hunter says. He moves over to Lydia, pulls her away from Jackson, and kisses her on both cheeks, French-style.

"Oh come on," Lydia says after Hunter finishes with his fancy greeting. I look over at Jackson, who's not too disturbed by this - then again, I think he's gotten used to me talking about my crush on Lydia, so he's learned to take it in stride. And as for Hunter, the fact that he's currently not man seeking woman probably helps. "Seriously," Lydia adds, "am I the only one here who thinks vampires are cool?"

"Maybe you are," Hunter says.

"So..." Lydia drawls. "What brings a vampire and a werelynx to Beacon Hills? Please tell me there's not gonna be another insane and dangerous supernatural enemy for us to take on."

"They're already here," Allison says. She blinks a couple of times, and her eyes flash gold for a second.

Lydia gasps, taken aback. "Oh my God. Allison, how...?"

Before her question can be answered, however, the one and only light still on overhead cuts out. With nobody touching the switch.

"Are they here?" I ask, automatically looking around for some weapon I can use. That gun. A baseball bat. Anything. Finally, I spot something promising - huge brass knuckles sitting on a metal cabinet on the far side of the room. I run over to them and try them on - but of course they're Derek-sized, so my hands are way too small for them.

However, when I open the cabinet to put the brass knuckles away, I see something even better - a handheld Taser. I press the button, and to my satisfaction, the device sparks with electricity. I then stand near the door, expecting a crazed, mad-as-hell super-wolf to come charging in. The Taser is armed and ready in my hand, and as soon as the door is violently forced open, I jump out, ready to strike...

...except there's no super-wolf. Instead, it's the two Alpha Twins, still in separate bodies. I at least manage to shock one, sending him to the ground after three full seconds of contact with what has to be at least five digits' worth of voltage.

Unfortunately, the other one sees me coming when I try and turn the Taser on him next. He grabs my arm and holds it out in front of me, then starts to slowly twist it like he's about to break it.

And being a defenseless, 147-pound weakling compared with the other werewolves in the room, I think it's safe to say my skinny white ass is hereby grass.