Just keep your eyes down.

      Charlie tells herself as she makes her way down the busy New York street. It's times like these she wishes she could drive, then she wouldn't have to deal with the staring. Sure, New York is a strange city full of strange sights and people, but sometimes the best thing people can find to look at is the teenager dragging an oxygen tank behind her. Pity, confusion, even disgust.

"Why is she out in public? Gross."

      With a heavy sigh Charlie picks up her pace. She has cancer. She isn't spreading a disease, and the bags under her eyes are only from lack of sleep.

"Mommy, why does she have tubes up her nose?"

      Charlotte glances at the little girl whose mother apologises. Charlie waves the mother off and continues on her way, turning down a long alleyway to both get out of sight and hope for a shorter trek back home.

      Unfortunately, Charlotte is no stranger to pity. It's like a heavy weight weighing down the environment in her home. She had been in and out of hospitals since she was six months old for breathing issues. It was only on her 7th birthday party after a fun day at the park that Charlie was diagnosed with Lung cancer. She stopped breathing, and one biopsy later her medical problems were identified.

      Her parents, Maria and Charles, were heartbroken, and Charlie just confused. How was a 7 year old supposed to grasp the concept of their own inevitable death? She was put on chemo, but the drug only seemed to slow the cancer down. To this very day, it continues to spread like an untamable fire. Treatments were getting expensive and insurance could only cover so much.

      Maria and Charles knew that only a miracle could save their daughter, but still they carried on with life as if nothing was wrong. They kept their son, Andrew, in the dark about Charlotte's diagnosis, leaving the breathing tube to be explained for severe asthma. About a year ago they stopped attending Charlie's many doctor appointments. It was always traffic, Andrew forgetting his lunch, or a late day at work that deterred them from coming.

      Charlie could see through the lies, but kept her mouth shut.

      "Argh!" Charlie cries out as her foot lands in a deep muddy puddle. She lifts her boot out of the murk and shakes it, cringing as her socks fill with water. She puts her foot down and growls as it squelches. Suddenly, Charlie hears a rustling behind her. Immediately she pegs it as a rat and turns around, searching the wet pavement for the dingy creature.

      Instead, she sees something big from behind a pile of trash bags. Creasing her brows, Charlie carefully stalks forward. That's when she sees a foot. It's strange because there appears to be red socks pulled over a pair of tennis shoes. Her eyes dark up to the top of the trashbags and tilts her head when she sees the head.

      Their hood is pulled over their head, face hidden behind a red mask and strange black goggles over the eyes. The whole outfit is rather scrappy; clearly made from craft store fabric with a used red hoodie over the top, and in the center of the hoodie is a painted spider. Charlie almost snorts seeing it. It's drawn with puff paint.

      That's when it hits her.

      New York is home to the strange. It was only four years ago that aliens descended upon the city led into battle by the god, Loki. That's when the Avengers assembled. They defeated Loki and closed the portal that gave passage for the aliens to enter Earth. A lot was lost that day, but Earth did gain a brave set of heroes to keep it safe.

      Charlie just wishes they could start fixing climate change. Earth can't fix itself.

      After that event, all the freaks started crawling out from the shadows. Sightings of all sorts began sprouting not only in New York, but the whole world. San Francisco apparently has a man eating beast and Hells Kitchen, the neighborhood where Charlie lives, has its own demon to keep it safe.

      This person must be one of them. An elusive hero that hides in the night.

      Charlie kicks his foot and her jerks. "Ah! Five more minutes!" He turns and clutches a garbage bag like a pillow. Elusive may have been a bit generous.

      She kicks him again, a little harder this time. "Uh, dude," She starts with uncertainty. "If you want to be a trash panda, you should have gone with a different color scheme." Suddenly, the eyes on the goggles snap open, recycled ping pong balls to cover the eyes. They sit up instantly and stare at Charlie; or she assumes they are looking at her. It's hard to judge where someone is looking with white balls covering their eyes.

      "Where am I?" Charlie looks out of the alley. "In the trash just off 52nd and 6th Ave." Like they had used a springboard, the red and blue trash dweller jumps to his feet. They suddenly clutch their head and groan. "Woah, head rush." Charlie watches in amusement as the eyes on the goggles blink. How had they managed that?

      "Are you okay?" The figure nods, then looks back at her. "Who are you?"

      "Charlie."

      "P- Ah, I mean, Spider-Man." Charlie glances at the logo on his chest. "I can see that." Spider-Man's hand drops his hand from his head and Charlie sees a bit of blood on the tips of his fingers. "What happened?" She asks. Spider-Man glances at the blood and shrugs. "I think some guy hit me with a pipe after I stopped him from stealing someone's purse."

      Spider-Man's fake eyes widen as he whips around and deflates. "Ah, he got the purse." He says with dismay. He studies two devices on his wrists. "I really gotta make these last longer." Charlie purses her lips as she glances at the small devices as he fiddles with them. She can see the head of a watch, a small helium canister which she guesses has been repurposed, and what looks like the head of a small squirtgun. This guy is pretty resourceful.

      "You should probably get that looked at. You might have a concussion." Spider-Man faces her again, seeingly having forgotten her presence. "I- oh no- I'm- No I'm all good." Charlie slowly nods then glances up to the sky as it starts to rain. She unhooks an umbrella from the side of her oxygen tank, a little feature she put together, and opens it. Spider-Man lets a few drops of rain hit his hand.

      "S'pose I should get going." Charlie's eyes widen as he leaps onto the side of the building. "See'ya 'round, Charlie!" He shouts. "Doubt it." Charlie mumbles and what looks like a wep shoots out of his wrist devices which he uses to swing away. "Spider-Man." She states. "Makes more sense now." Charlie turns on her heel, continuing on her way home.

Squelch

Step

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Step

Squelch

~author's notes~

Here I am again, writing a new book before I finish my other ones...

I have 3 other new ideas too...