five an american betty in berlin!

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       THIS IS A HERO'S STORY, but, if you told Izzy that part of being a superhero included calling Captain America fifteen times because she's in Berlin to help him, she would call you crazy. But, considering the fact that, ever since Izzy settled down in her family's suite at the Berlin Grimaldi, she's been pacing up and down the rooms of the suite, her brows furrowed as she tries to will Captain America into picking up the phone. Like, it's not that hard, is it? It takes a second to press answer, and honestly? Isabelle is unimpressed. She cannot believe a senior fucking citizen isn't answering her calls...

       ... But, then, maybe that is why. Old people are shit with phones, aren't they? Izzy's grandpa — her mom's dad, the guy that owns the hotels (her dad's dad was assassinated, but anyway) — can't answer his phone. She always has to phone the hotel, wherever he is that week, to get him to pick up. Maybe that's why. Maybe Captain America is just as terrible with technology as her grandpa.

       It makes sense. Captain America is technically, like... well, she doesn't know specifics, but by the age he should be, he should look like a battered leather couch.

       So Isabelle decides she'll give it a rest... For twenty minutes, then she'll call again. (Maybe he's asleep... In a retirement home because who goes to sleep at 9PM? Old people... Marie goes to bed early. Case solved.)

       Isabelle brought her laptop with her, so she opens it up, deciding she'll do some of her homework whilst she's waiting. She volunteered to do the research for her project with Nate and Riley, and they'll sort out the script and PowerPoint and all of that, so she decides to continue with it. To be honest, Izzy's glad she gets to do this, and it counts towards a school grade — Izzy's never known much about her powers. Like, she knows about the bat thing because when she was a toddler, she did it without realising. Or, like, the thing with her abilities was told to Marie, before she was sent to take care of Izzy. But other things have been cases of, oh, guess that's something I can do.

       Izzy's started a list, actually, in the back of her diary:

       - Can't say the G-word or anything about Up There (can say church though? Obviously it's not specific enough... You can have Satanic churches, so.)

       - Superhuman? (Edward Cullen could Never)

       - Eyes go funny when there's no energy

       - Need to be invited/welcomed into any home 

       She reads something on a random website (she thinks it's for a cult?) about how the devil could be harmed by silver, because of something in the Big Book about the coins, or something, that the J-man used during the E-story. Izzy's unsure, but she stands up, calls room service, and asks for a silver spoon. "Like, fancy silver," she asks the man that answers the phone call, hoping that fancy silver will equate to pure silver, and five minutes later, a spoon is brought into her room. Izzy eyes it carefully.

       Izzy picks it up, and nothing happens.

       "Oh," she says aloud, to herself. "Well... That makes sense."

       She isn't sure why she had to test that out, considering she's held silver countless times, surely she'd know that by now?

       It's a good thing, though. How would she lived if she couldn't touch silver?

       Izzy keeps on doing her homework. She keeps can't touch silver jotted down in her notes, because school doesn't know it's untrue, she can't say, "Hi, yes, I can confirm that that is incorrect," because she shouldn't know. But, she draws a pink bubble around the note, so that if Riley and Nate see it, she'll be reminded to point out that it isn't actually true.

         She sighs. She wishes she could've talked someone into coming to Berlin with her, because she feels lonely. The Oswald suite is pretty big, big enough to fit the whole family, and Izzy can feel all of the empty space around her. Part of her wants to text Peter, but she doesn't want to be too clingy. She cancelled Tony Stark's arranged private jet earlier, because she wanted to talk to Peter... Izzy doesn't want to look too desperate, you know?

       Isabelle remembers what her dad (the devil one, not the senator... arguably these are different people) (he's a Democrat, he isn't that bad) said about Cerberus. She can summon him.

       So, Isabelle whistles, and goes, "Cerberus!"

       And, like that, Cerberus appears in front of her, wagging his three tails and jumping up at her. He's still in his puppy form, only with three heads, so he's able to jump onto her lap, and Isabelle grins, hugging him... It's weird, she's decided, hugging a three-headed dog. It's difficult to rest her head anywhere, because there are three heads. It's also difficult trying to fuss him, because she's got to keep in mind how much time she's spending stroking each head, in case the other ones get jealous.

       Satan, it's so hard being the devil's daughter sometimes.

       The hotel phone starts to ring. Isabelle wonders if it's Marie, or if it's the staff asking for the spoon back, but she picks it up.

       "Miss Oswald... There is a boy downstairs that says he knows you."

       Oh?

       "Um," says Isabelle. "What's their name?"

       There's a pause.

       "He says Peter Parker."

       "Oh, yeah, he's cool," says Isabelle.

       She puts the phone back down. She bets that's weird for Peter. Normal people don't have the front staff at a hotel double-check visitors. Normal people don't use private jets in case their presence on a commercial one gets the plane hijacked... Isabelle isn't normal. She forgets it sometimes, but it's these moments where she remembers, and it slaps her right in the face.

       There's a knock at the door.

       "Cerberus, only show him one head and one tail!" she says quickly, and she makes her way to the door. She pauses before she answers, looking at herself in the mirror. She thinks she looks OK? Her hair's still curled from yesterday, and she's gotten changed since the flight, into her comfy Dior skirt with the pink-and-white repeated logo, and a white t-shirt tied at her waist. She reminds herself that this boy freaked out earlier when she talked about the price of the clothes she has, so she reassures herself, You look fine to him!

       She opens the door, and Peter smiles awkwardly at her.

       "I, uh, wondered if you were free, and if you wanted to, uh, hang out, or something...?" he says.

       Isabelle smiles at him, and steps to the side, inviting him in. She forgets that no one else can't physically step into a home until they're invited in (the haunted house had no living residents, so that's a different story) but her dad (the senator) says that's polite of her to do it anyway, so she does it. May as well, right?

       "Your eyes, uh, look better now..."

       Oh, Yeezus.

       Isabelle managed to forget about that, AKA the most embarrassing moment from this entire century.

       So: earlier, when they landed, they went through security. For private planes they do it again after you land, mostly because of the possibility of drugs being present and they want to double check, so that's what they had to do. Isabelle had been asked to take off her necklace, and she agreed because she'd only part from it for a couple of minutes, just while she walks through the scanner, but she forgot — her eyes went bright blue, as if they were glowing, and Peter had asked if she was OK, because her eyes looked weird.

       And get this.

       Isabelle Oswald, in 2016, told him:

       "Oh, uh, it's the fluorescents."

       Immediately she wanted to die.

       Luckily Peter didn't catch onto what she was referencing. But Isabelle told him, with such confidence, that her eyes looked weird because of the fluorescents. Like, what Edward Cullen tells Bella in the first Twilight. Isabelle cannot believe herself. She is so disappointed... She and Riley have made fun of his excuse in that scene. They say it jokingly. And she used it as an excuse?

       Isabelle nods at Peter, trying to ignore how embarrassed she feels. "Oh, yeah, um..." she trails off, and she sees Cerberus. "You haven't met my dog before! This is Cerberus!"

       "Like the myth?" says Peter, raising an eyebrow. He gets down on one knee, to be at Cerberus' level.

       Isabelle grins. "Oh, absolutely."

       "I didn't think you'd be into that sort of thing," says Peter. He had been smiling at Cerberus, but his eyes widen as he looks up. "Not in a bad way! I just... didn't expect you to like something like that."

       Isabelle raises an eyebrow. "What did you expect, then?"

       "I don't really know," says Peter. "But I think you're really cool, um, so­—"

       Isabelle feels her cheeks warming up. "I think you're pretty cool, too."

       Peter smiles at her. Isabelle wants to write in her diary — oh, shit. Her diary's open. On the page about her powers. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

       "Oh, um, one sec," says Isabelle, and she crosses the room to close her diary. Even if there wasn't the stuff in there about her powers, there's at least five paragraphs about Peter, and he does not need to see that. But, she figures there's no point in hiding what the book is, so Isabelle looks across at him. "I think you're cool, Peter, but you're not reading my diary anytime soon."

       "You have a diary?"

       "Any self-respecting person does."

       Peter laughs at her. She wasn't joking, but cool.

       "I was doing, um, homework before you got here," she explains to him, as she sits down. She was working at the desk in the living area, meaning she's next to the set of couches and the fireplace. "In Religious Studies me and my friends are doing a project on Moroi, the superhero."

       "Oh, yeah, I know her," says Peter, and quickly he continues, "I mean, I don't know her, but I've heard of her."

       "She was at the opening for the research centre, when you were there," says Isabelle, shrugging. Bit weird he doesn't remember that. Maybe Queens is livelier than the Upper East Side. "There's some weird stuff out there, though..."

       "She can't touch silver?" says Peter, frowning, as he looks at her notes. Not the ones in her diary, the one with can't touch silver written inside a pink bubble.

       Isabelle sits up. "Well, I don't think that's true..."

       "It's really cool that you learn about her, at school," says Peter, as he sits down next to her.

       Isabelle waves her hand dismissively. "Oh, well, the only reason we're doing this project is because we got to choose... But, um, I am super atheist so I don't like talking about religion... Like, I don't even like saying the words." You go to a Catholic school, Izzy? "So me and my friends figured that if we did it on Moroi, it's not completely religious, you know?"

       "Not really, but OK," says Peter, and she can't help but laugh a little.

       "I think it would be cool to learn about Spiderman," says Isabelle, as she fidgets around on the couch, getting comfier.

       Peter looks taken off-guard. "Really?"

       Isabelle nods, as she rests her head on the back of the couch. "Oh, totally!" she tells him. "Like, isn't he meant to be, like, sticky?"

       "Apparently," says Peter, nodding.

       "I mean, that's weird. I wonder why," says Isabelle. She glances across at him, and he's sitting super straight, like he's uncomfortable. She frowns, and she thinks he notices, because he sits back, as if trying to mirror how she's sitting. "Um... Anyway... I think it would be cool to know how Spiderman has his powers, you know? Like, was he born with them?"

       "I... don't know," says Peter.

       "Maybe he makes the, uh, liquid stuff in the shooty-thingies," says Isabelle, and as she glances across at Peter, she sees a goofy little smile appear across his face. Weird. "Which, like, is super smart, isn't it? Normal people can't do that sort of stuff..." Isabelle sighs. "I don't think I'm the best person to judge normal, though..."

       Peter smirks. "Why's that?"

       Isabelle laughs. "I know, you'd think I'm totally normal, what with being kidnapped, and all of that..." she says. "You're a normal person."

       "I'm not sure about that," says Peter.

       She looks at him quizzically. "You are normal."

       "I don't think so..."

       "You live in a normal apartment, right?"

       "Yeah?"

       "You go to a normal school?"

       "... Yeah?"

       "And you have normal friends?"

       "That's questionable."

       Isabelle smiles, but she continues. "But, can't you see? You're totally normal," she tells him. "My dad was almost president."

       "Really?"

       Isabelle nods. "But he wanted to spend more time at home," she says, and she scoffs. "Which is ironic, because I haven't seen him since the opening."

       "Oh..."

       "So what about you?" says Isabelle. "You live with your aunt, don't you? What's she like?"

       Peter begins to tell Isabelle about his aunt, a woman called May, when her phone starts to ring. He almost offers to get it for her, because he's closer to the desk, but Isabelle shakes her head and jumps over the back of the couch to get it first. She turns to him, when she sees the caller I.D. Mr America.

       "I'll be a couple minutes? You can use the TV, or something, if you want?"

       She then leaves the room, pressing her phone to her ear.

       "You take so long to answer your phone, you know that?" she says to Captain America, beginning to walk up and down the suite's hallway as she talks.

       "Why were you calling me?"

       "I'm in Berlin," she tells him. "And I'm here to help you — and before you say no, I'm already here, I can kick butt pretty damn well, and also, if it was my best friend in trouble I'd want people to help, too. So... What's the plan?"

       "I thought you were annoyed with me?"

       "Still am. But, as I said, it's your best friend in trouble."

       There's a pause, before she hears Steve sigh.

       "I'll send you the information later, OK? We've got to get Bucky out of Germany by this time tomorrow — I'll let you know the logistics later."

       "Sweet!"

       There's a pause.

       "Isabelle?"

       "Yeah?"

       "... Thank you."

       And after that he hangs up.

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       ISABELLE FEELS INCREDIBLY pleased with herself, as she lands in the airport parking lot, squeezing through the railings and switching back to herself. Her feet hit the ground and she brushes herself off, still in her normal clothes. She was told she could "suit up" later, when if anything, was cool to hear, even if she's a little annoyed still.

       Captain America gets out of an old Beetle — which, like, makes him look like Wreck-It Ralph in a car, or some shit — and he walks towards her.

       "If you help us, you could get into a lot of trouble," he tells her.

       Isabelle puts her hands on her hips. "I can assure you, Mr America, one of my dads will get me out of it," she says, and then she laughs. She finds this super funny. One of her dads is the devil, and has the ultimate get-out-of-jail free card, but her other dad said the right words a couple Octobers ago and now he has the same power? And now, Izzy, the most spontaneous person alive, can literally get away with anything. Amaaaaaaazing!

       A van rolls up, just as Sam (Mr Falcon — he told her to stop calling him that, though) and Bucky (he sort of is the Winter Soldier, but Izzy doesn't want to tread on any insecurities so he's just Bucky) get out of the Beetle. Izzy's spoken to both of them, like, a collective once, but she likes to think they're on a first-name basis. She was still being forced to stay in Avengers Tower, and she bought them pizza. That means they're cool, right?

       Izzy quirks an eyebrow at the van, though. But, then, Wanda and Hawkeye walk out, and Izzy waves at them. "Hi," she says, but she feels a little awkward. Last time she saw Hawkeye, Wanda's brother had just died... And last time she saw Wanda, that apartment block blew up...

       Hawkeye opens up the van, and a man's... asleep... in it.

       Izzy raises an eyebrow. "Uh...?"

       "This is Scott Lang," says Sam, to her. Isabelle nods, squinting her eyes a little, pretending that she totally recognises the name. "He's known as Ant-Man—"

       Isabelle's expression doesn't change. "I bet he is...?"

       "He's from the west coast," says Sam, and Izzy gets it.

       "Bet he's vegan," says Izzy. Sam snorts.

       The man jolts awake, and he gets out of the van. Isabelle leans against a pillar keeping the ceiling up, glancing down at her nails. Her favourite thing to do is get them all nicely decorated. The more blasphemous the better — or as blasphemous she can get, so, gold details and gems. Totally Roman-C. She can't stand too close to a cross, though, by the way, because it starts to turn upside down... Totally freaks out the nuns at school.

       But, anyway. She makes a mental note to get her nails done again, when she gets home. The black with gems around the bottom isn't cutting it anymore. Peter called them nice, though, which was... nice.

       "What time zone is this?" says the man. Mr Ant-Man.

       He shakes hands with Captain America. Izzy looks down at her nails again.

       "It's an honour... Wow, this is awesome!"

       "Totally," says Izzy, from the side, smirking.

       "Oh, wow!" says Mr Ant-Man. "Are you Moroi?"

       Isabelle looks at him oddly. Mattel's trying to make a fashion doll line out of her — they can't, because they can't get her to sign the contract, obviously the owner of Barbie didn't sell her soul to that high of a demon — and a middle-aged man recognises—?

       "My daughter is a huge fan!" he says.

       Oh. Cute.

       "Really?" says Isabelle, beginning to beam.

       "Are you actually—?"

       "Hell yeah I am," says Isabelle, and she grins, making the rock 'n' roll hand sign with her fingers.

       "Wow!" he says, and then he looks at Wanda, and says that he knows her, too. Isabelle appreciates the recognition, truly.

       Captain America frowns at Ant-Man. "Do you know what we're up against?"

       "Something about... psycho assassins?"

       Isabelle tilts her head. Well, that's wrong?

       "We're outside the law in this one," Captain America tells him, and he begins to explain briefly, but sirens are blasted from everywhere, telling people to evacuate the airport.

       "Stark," says Sam, looking at Captain America.

       Ant-Man's eyes widen. "Stark?"

       Isabelle turns into a bat, then back into her herself, now dressed in her Moroi outfit. She feels like those dolls with the hair that spins around and turns into a new colour... Anyway.

       "I'll go ahead, if you want," says Isabelle, looking at Captain America. Ant-Man does a double-take, from how quickly she changed. Yeezus.

       Captain America nods. "Keep an eye on terminal two."

       "Got it," says Isabelle, mindlessly saluting, before walking away.

       She turns into a bat, and gets out of the airport. From the sky she can see that the parking lot's completely dead — the cars that are left belong to people on vacation. She can see the windows looking into the Duty-Free and the seats around the boarding gates, and there's no one in sight. There aren't even guards hanging out... Obviously Tony Stark convinced them this issue was Avengers-level.

       Wait. Does that mean she is...?

       She'll think about that later.

       She sees Captain America run towards the helicopter, the one that's supposed to get Bucky out of the country. But, something hits it, and, Tony Stark and War Machine land next to it.

       "Wow, it's so weird how you run into people at the airport," says Tony Stark. Isabelle lands on the roof of the parking lot, covered by the half-wall in front of her, and she fiddles with her necklace. Maybe she should wait a minute? Give the whole element of surprise? She doesn't know.

       But then she spots Natasha... And then a man dressed like a cat?

       So Isabelle gets up, turns into a bat, and lands next to Captain America.

       "Mr Tony Stark, sir," she says with a nod.

       Tony Stark raises an eyebrow at Captain America. "You invited the kid?" he says. Isabelle opens her mouth to defend herself, but Tony Stark already waves his hand dismissively. I'm richer than you, bitch? She's got as much as the Cullens. "All right, I've run out of patience — Underoos!"

       Captain America's shield is snatching out of his hands by something, and a clear liquid wraps around his wrists, restraining him. Isabelle frowns. Wait a sec...?

       "Nice job, kid—"

       "Spidey?" says Isabelle, her eyes widening.

       He's wearing a new suit now, one that actually looks like a super-suit. The eyes on the mask seem to be designed, to move to show his expressions, because they double in size when he sees her. "Holy shit — oh, wait, no, is that offensive—?"

       Captain America frowns. "So you invited her boyfriend, instead?"

       Isabelle begins to protest, "Um—?"

       Spidey goes, "We're not—!"

       "He's a good kid," says Tony Stark, confidently.

       "I could've stuck the landing a little better," says Spidey, to Tony Stark. Isabelle's still in a state of shock. She cannot believe Captain America said that. Riley's gonna be hearing about this the second Izzy gets back. "Just it's a new suit and all — it's perfect, though! Thank you so much!" He looks at Captain America. "Cap — Captain. Big fan. I'm Spider-Man."

        "Are you seriously helping them, though?" says Izzy, frowning. "That's not very Marxist of you."

       "Actually, I—"

       "You know, we don't really need to start a conversation," says Tony Stark.

       "That's a little harsh," says Isabelle, crossing her arms.

       Captain America nods. "Well, if you'd excuse us, we've got places to be."

       "Totally," says Isabelle, as he raises his arms, and one of Hawkeye's arrows cuts through the spider-webbing. Tony Stark spins around, the Iron Man suit now covering his face again, as he realises it isn't just Captain America and, like, the antichrist.

       Ant-Man — who's ability suddenly hits Izzy — goes from a tiny little speck standing on the shield (at least she thinks) into a full-sized adult, kicking Spidey in the face. Izzy, for a second, reacts to help Spidey, but then remembers. Whoopsies!

       "I believe this is yours, Captain America," says Ant-Man.

       Izzy snorts.

       "Oh, great," says Tony Stark.

       "Hey, Mr Stark, what should I do?" she hears Spidey say.

       "Like we discussed! Keep your distance, web 'em up!"

       Thank you, super-hearing!

       Captain America turns to Izzy. "Watch your friend."

       "On it!" says Isabelle, and she turns into a bat, flying towards where Spidey fell. She lands next to him, raising an eyebrow. "What are you doing here, then?"

       Spidey stands up. "Oh, Mr Stark found me. You?"

       "Oh, same," says Isabelle. "Captain America went to my house."

       "Me too," says Spidey.

       "My nanny's like, his best friend," says Isabelle. 

       Watch your friend, she was told... She is trying to one up him. Trust that this is their way of fighting. Satan.

       "You have a nanny?" he says.

       "I'm rich," she says with a shrug.

       Behind her, she thinks Tony Stark blasts something, and there's an explosion of aircraft equipment. Isabelle thinks she can smell the faint scent of airplane food, but then, maybe hse's just hungry. She would kill for McDonalds right now.

       Back to this.

       "Well, uh, it was nice to see you!" says Spidey.

       Izzy narrows her eyes. "What?"

       She moves her hand, without thinking, and his web-shooters fly straight past her. Thank you, Unholy Father, for the weird powers!

       "Oh," he says.

       She laughs. "You can't trick me!" 

       "I—"

       "I've gotta go," says Izzy, smirking behind her mask as she steps backwards. "But it was totally amazing seeing you! We've gotta catch up when we get back to New York! Bye!" And she waves at him, before kicking off the floor, and turning into a bat. She can see War Machine advancing on Captain America, raising a baton. From here she can see it's being charged with electricity.

       In seconds she lands in front of Captain America, who's fallen over, in between him and the baton, and before War Machine can react to the teenager in front of him, she stops the baton, holding onto it.

       The electricity charging the baton warms her palm, and she feels the energy bleed into her. Her hands light up, light blue wires coiling around them, and she punches War Machine in the chest. He's sent backwards. Isabelle blows the hair out of her face, still feeling the electricity inside her.

       "I'd help you up, but, uh," says Isabelle to Captain America, and she holds up her hands, just as a spark comes from her wrist. "I'm like Frankie Stein, right now."

       "Get out of my way," says the cat-man.

       "No way, Torelei!" says Isabelle, and she turns into a bat, to get him away from Captain America. He turns around to follow her, and she figures he hasn't realised her age, but she kicks him in the shin anyway — and here's the thing. She doesn't know what the suit's made out of, but her foot feels it. There's some witchcraft going on there, or something. The metal's special.

       "Who are you wearing—?"

       He raises his hand, silver-looking claws glimmering in the sunlight. Thank Satan she's cool with silver, right—?

       Before she can switch into a bat, a blur of red grabs onto her, holding her tightly. Her eyes widen as she sees Spidey holding onto her, landing on the ground. She didn't realise he was this strong... Has she ever been this close to a boy before...? Aside from, like Nate, who's pretty much her brother? Uhhhhhhhh....!

       "Um," says Isabelle. "I, uh, thank you? You know I can turn into a bat, though, right?" 

       "Oh, right, yeah..." he says, and he awkwardly laughs. She recognises the voice. Maybe from last time they spoke...? "I think I panicked."

       Oh?

       "I was, uh, told you couldn't touch silver," says Spidey. "Can you?"

       "I can," says Izzy. Behind him, she sees Bucky and Sam making a break for it, running inside the actual airport. Izzy's hands are still on Spidey. He's the only one close enough to catch them. She thinks this takes away friendship points but, she lets her hands take his energy... Not all of it, but enough to stop him. "Where'd you find that out, anyway?"

       "Oh, um, a friend of mine," he says.

       Isabelle nods. "Cool."

       Spidey starts to sway. Sweet.

       But then he seems to realise, and he steps backwards.

       Fuck's sakes!

       He turns around, and he spots Sam and Bucky.

       And, he jumps into the air, swinging onto the glass roof overlooking the interior. Isabelle grumbles, but before she can follow, the luggage container next to her explodes — or at least it starts to, before a red bubble covers it, saving her.

       Isabelle spins around, finding Wanda right behind her.

       "Thanks!" says Isabelle. She sees the man with the cat ears — she has got to learn his name, she feels terrible — running towards Wanda, and Isabelle turns into a bat, covering Wanda's back as she switches back into herself, stopping the cat-man's punch.

       The cat-man claws at her, but she misses it, darting to the side. The way Izzy sees fighting is so influenced from cheerleading, back when she had the time to do it. Fighting's like cheerleading, like dancing. She knows when she moves she does it like she's cheerleading, having an extra pep in her step, bouncing on her feet as she moves around, dodging actual claws like she's moving to the side, pom-poms in her hand.

       But it works, so.

       She glances back at Wanda. "I was meant to watch Spid—"

       "I'm fine — go!" she says, and as she does, she moves her arms, throwing the luggage container towards everyone else. Izzy takes it as a distraction for her, so she turns into a bat, flying up and towards the airport's insides.

       There's a massive piece of the glass roof missing, as if someone smashed it in, so she figures this is the way her friend went. She keeps close to the metal railingss hanging from the roof, holding the air vents and lights, and she sees someone head to toe in red spandex. Now, don't get Izzy wrong, maybe that is someone's flying suit — but Izzy's gonna throw this out there, and assume that's Spidey.

       She gets closer, and she realises it is. She remembers what Peter mentioned, when they first met: how Spidey's apparently got that sixth sense. Spidey senses. So he knows when there's danger... But, even though he's perched on a metal pillar, he's talking to Sam and Bucky, who have been webbed onto the floor... So he's distracted...?

       She'll take her chances?

       And by take her chances, Izzy means — she turns back from a bat, whilst mid-air, but in a way that, as she begins to fall, she tackles Spidey to the ground. And, get this, Izzy does this so... strategically, that she doesn't manage to fall onto the floor — oh, no. Next to them, are two sets of escalators, and at the bottom of these, Sam and Bucky are also lying on the floor. Izzy luckily doesn't hit either of them (that was be super awkward) but she does fall two storeys... It doesn't hurt, but Marie would be so annoyed if she found this out.

       Izzy rolls onto the floor. She winces, but her superhuman strength, and healing, and all of that business makes it easy for her to stand back up. She brushes dirt off of her legs — and then she hears Spidey.

       "Holy shit."

       And this is when she realises her mask fell off.

       Her eyes widen.

       "You're Moroi?"

       Sam and Bucky have managed to break free of the spider-webbing, and they leave, whilst he's distracted — and this time, he's properly distracted. No one has stared at Izzy this much since, like... OK, well, since she spoke to Peter yesterday, but, before that? No one has stared at her this much. Like, ever. And at one point there was a scary Nazi stationed outside her cell-thingy in that HYDRA place, and their only task was to, like, watch her.

       "Yeah, OK, hi, it's me," says Isabelle, giving him a look. "I've got things to do, so? I'll see you later, whoever you are."

       "No, wait, it's—!"

       Isabelle turns back into a bat, but because she's no longer in possession of the mask, the witch's spell doesn't connect to it. Which is annoying. She wonders if the super angelic Cloe doll at home has lost her mask, now... She must've done... Maybe she can get Nate to sneak in and check, she's curious...

       Her feet hit the ground and she's standing next to Wanda, their little team all standing side-by-side. Opposite, the others are falling in line. She sees Spidey appear, and she feels awkward now, because he knows who she is. It would be fine if they both know, but right now? It makes her feel funny.

       Wait a sec.

       If her mask is off... She'll be recognised...

       Shit.

       Here's the thing — her dad (the senator, come on) will cover this for sure, but she doesn't want him to know this! He'll freak! He already gets antsy when Isabelle mentions the fact that her dad's the devil. For ages he's been convinced that someone picked up her other name from a Satanic Bible and called it a day... But now, he'll know...

       Captain America runs, straight to Tony Stark, and Isabelle frowns. It's gonna get covered up, right? So... She could give her all now, right? No one's gonna see, she may as well...

       So she does.

      Isabelle runs forwards with the rest of them, and she turns into a bat, switching back into herself just in time to kick War-Machine in the chest. And, with her strength, the kick forces him to the concrete, and she quickly jumps off, dodging the cat-man, avoiding Natasha because, if anything, Izzy totally respects her and doesn't want to fight her — but she goes for Spidey, that's for sure.

       He's meant to be her thing to deal with, that's what Mr America said, right?

       "I didn't think it would be you, by the way," says Spidey, sounding apologetic?

       Isabelle frowns. He tries to punch her, because they are supposed to be fighting, but she catches it. "Well, now you know," she says. "So who are you?"

       "I'm—"

       But then a van's almost thrown onto them, and both of them disappear; Izzy turns into a bat, and Spidey darts out of the way, swinging from a nearby building onto the airplane near them.

       Izzy appears next to Ant-Man and Hawkeye, just as Ant-Man goes small. He's put onto the arrow aimed at Tony Stark, who's tailing Sam, now flying, and Hawkeye shoots it at Tony Stark.

      She sees Ant-Man fall out of the suit, now he turns back to his normal size.

       She glances down at her necklace. "I think I can stop Stark?"

       "Yeah?" says Hawkeye. "How?"

       "With this," says Isabelle, motioning to her necklace. "But I'll need it back, like, straight after."

       "Well, you can fly, can't you?" says Hawkeye.

       Isabelle grins at him. "I can!"

       It all happens at once; Ant-Man goes super big, like, the size of a giant, and just as he does, Izzy takes her chance to pull her necklace off, fly upwards, and just as she gets to Tony Stark, turn into herself, smashing the jewel against his suit.

       The next few seconds feel like hours; everything slows down, Isabelle can feel her body already longing for energy of some kind. Her mind focuses on her necklace, sure, but she also thinks of the gemstone stuck to Vision's face like he's Gwen Stefani and he's just raided Claire's, or something. Satan, she wants her necklace back...

       Things speed up again. She turns back into a bat to land on the ground better. As she does, Tony Stark's suit begins to melt down in the air, and he crashes to the ground. She puts her necklace back on. Everything feels better.

       Vision — she doesn't know when he turned up — looks surprised.

       "Is that — a stone?" he says. "An Infinity Stone, like mine?"

       He motions his gem. The Gwen Stefani one.

       Isabelle raises an eyebrow. "What's an Infinity Stone?"

       And then Vision gives her a very... confused look. But, OK, look. Why would Izzy know about an... Infinity Stone? Like, unless a stone is a very expensive cut of diamond, or maybe one of the ones used in, like, witchcraft, how would she know about it? Izzy is smart, yeah, sure, but, are we forgetting that the majority of Izzy's knowledge consists of things I cannot do because I am the devil, and also, fashion. She remembers school stuff, sure, but those are the two things she knows the most about. Infinity Stones? No fucking clue. Karl Lagerfeld and his influence on the fashion industry, despite being a racist piece of shit? She'll write the essay right now.

       Spidey starts to use his webbing to tie up Big Ant-Man, and Izzy looks up. Mr America said watch your friend, and Isabelle certainly is no friend of a walking toaster... Like, for someone's who's dad is, like, burning in hell, she really can't work her way around a toaster. She burns everything. So she can't be friends with Vision, he reminds her of her weaknesses.

       Izzy turns to Vision.

       "I'm super sorry, but I'm busy right now?"

       Vision looks worried still. Like, super worried.

       "You don't understand," he says. "If that is an Infinity Stone, you don't realise how much danger that puts you in."

       "Sir, I'm the antichrist," says Isabelle, unimpressed. "I don't go a day without being threatened, either by some demonic force or a normal red-neck. I can handle this. Have a nice day."

       And then she turns into a bat, just as Big Ant-Man falls over, tangled up in the webbing. As he falls, his hand hits Spidey, making him fall to the floor. Izzy winces... For a second, she thinks, I probably shouldn't? but then she decides she wants to check on her friend.

       She lands next to Spidey. "Hey, uh, are you all right?"

       Spidey starts to throw his arms around wildly, not realising it's her (at least she thinks...?) Isabelle kneels next to him, holding onto his fists, noticing that his mask's showing part of his face. She'd focus on what he looks like, but it takes her a minute to properly steady his hands. "Hey, hey, hey! It's me!" she says, half-shouting at him. "It's me! You're fine!"

       "Oh!" he says, breathless. "Oh — hey!"

       He moves his mask up a little further, to get air or some shit.

       Izzy's jaw drops.

       "Wait — Peter?"

       Peter smiles awkwardly, worn-out enough to not properly realise. "I mean, I was gonna tell you when I realised it was you..." he says.

       Izzy smiles at him. His arms aren't being thrown around anymore, but for some reason she holds onto his hands still. "So that's why you were in Berlin," she says. "And why, at the institute opening, you—" She motions to the suit. "—were there? This makes so much sense...!"

       "Yeah," says Tony Stark. Izzy jumps, and she lets go of Peter's hands. "You're done, all right?"

       "What?" says Peter. "I'm good, I'm fine!"

       Izzy raises an eyebrow. "Um?"

       "You did a good job," says Tony Stark. He looks at Isabelle. "Different team, but, I guess you did, too." Isabelle smiles awkwardly, and Tony Stark turns back to Peter. "Stay down." Peter begins to protest, but Tony Stark cuts him off. "You're going home or I'll call Aunt May!"

       And then he, like, flies away.

       Izzy turns back to Peter, who sits up. "I'm fine!"

       "Oh, absolutely..." she says, unconvinced.

       And then she hears a dreadful voice.

       "Isabelle Adelaide!"

       "Oh, no," she says under her breath, and she gets to her feet. "Hi, Dad!"

       Here's the thing. Isabelle doesn't see her dad that often. Maybe once a month, for a weekend — and by a weekend she means Friday night, then Saturday, but he'll have to leave Sunday morning. He's around for the holidays, sure, but the general thing is that Izzy barely sees him, meaning, she basically never sees him angry. He's always happy to see her, happy to take her to dinner, happy to spend a thousand dollars on a pair of shoes that are totally worth it. ("Dad, they go with my new Birkin! You get it, don't you?")

       She doesn't see him angry. And, right now, he is pissed.

       "You've got a lot of explaining to do," her dad says.

       Peter awkwardly gets to his feet. "Um, hi, Senator Oswald..."

       Alexander looks at Isabelle. "Who's this?"

       "My—"

       "Well, regardless, we need to go," says Alexander. He looks Peter up and down, and Isabelle sheepishly smiles at Peter, before her dad takes her away. As they walk away, her dad goes, "You know, if you were going to do this, at least give me a heads up next time!"

       "I thought you'd be mad!" she says.

       "Listen, Isabelle, I've known for a while that you must've been Moroi, because of the name," he says, and he sounds uncomfortable talking about it. He doesn't like talking about Izzy's other name. Izzy worries it makes him feel less like her father, which she doesn't like... But, she can't ignore the fact that her other father is the devil... "But what us as a family do right now — we need to be incredibly careful."

       "Why?" says Isabelle. "I thought the re-election is in, like, ages."

       "I'm not running for senator," says Alexander.

       Oh, no.

       "I'm running for president," he says.

       The president... Who sold his soul to the devil...

       The president's daughter... Who is the antichrist.

       Isabelle doesn't know what to say.

       It hits her that she could end up like the girl on Corey in the House. Would she becomes America's sweetheart? She thinks she'd rather die?

       Would she have to move to Washington? Um?

       "The campaign's beginning next week, and until the election, we need to be on our best behaviour," he explains to her. "I'll get you out of this, you'll have to sign your name in the Accords but if it's under your other name, no one will know it's you, no one will figure it out..." Isabelle frowns. She didn't really want to sign them. Like, the whole freedom and independence thing she gets from, you know, being the devil's child kinda applies to her feelings about the Accords. "We'll be able to figure it all out..."

       "I'll be able to stay in New York, though, if you win?"

       "Please, I'm gonna win," says Alexander. Her dad never says gonna. He must mean it. "I'm against an idiot."

       "There are a lot of idiots in America, though...?"

       "He won't win," says Alexander. "Trust me on this."

       Isabelle sees three things: a deed for her dad's soul, a very happy Lucifer, and soon, a very happy Alexander. 

       But, she's forgetting the happier thing about this, isn't she? She knows who Spidey is! And, not only that, but he's Peter! Her friend! Izzy's excited by that. Nate and Riley don't get it, sometimes, but Peter does! This is amazing!

       By the time she gets into her dad's car, she's already texted Nate and Riley.

       ISABELLE: GUYS

       ISABELLE: i have NEWS!!!

if my 11 year old self knew loving monster high would later contribute to me being able to make random references to it,,,,, she would be So Happy (also this is like 7000 words like,,,, lucy. seven THOUSAND words. how. i don't know. i too am shocked.)

soo!! i hope you enjoyed, thank you for reading, and let me know what you thought!!!!! :-))))