Wildfire

by Tanya Lynn

 

Well, I decided to bring the Avengers in the mix as well. Again, my knowledge of them is limited to having not read them in years. Please bear with me if you are more familiar with them than me.

 

I admit I was very aware of all of the stares I got as Wanda and I went shopping. I was way too aware of how tight the dress I had on was. And, I hadn't spent much time in this body yet, so I didn't know what to expect. At least in Tanya's body, I had her memories. I think Wanda sensed my discomfort, because she put her arm around me and said, "it'll be okay- just try to relax. You'll enjoy it more than you think". I just tried to smile, and nodded. Wanda had measured me, so we knew my sizes, but she insisted I had to try things on so she could see how they looked on me. Frankly, I wanted to stay at the mansion and let her buy the stuff, but she wasn't going for it. The first thing I insisted on was getting a bra that fit and putting it on. At least I didn't feel so bad now. Turned out I was a 36C. I never thought I would say that in my wildest dreams.

We then hit several stores and were looking for a cab back to the mansion when I heard shouts and a lot of crashing. I saw a man in a costume that looked like a rhinoceros. I knew him from X-Men files as Rhino. Wanda looked ready to go into action when I said, "this guy has traded shots against the Hulk. What a test for my powers. He's mine"! She said, "Lynn, no! He's too powerful and you're too inexperienced. Besides, here comes Spiderman". She was right. He landed right next to us after swinging over us and spotting Wanda. He said, "thought I recognized you, Wanda. You just going to stand around, or lend a hand? There's enough fun for everyone". I said, "thanks, Spidey, but I already called him". I took off down the street after him. The electricity had definitely amped my speed. Quicksilver I wasn't, but I was still fast as hell. I caught up to him at a police roadblock, and hit him from behind. That wasn't too smart. I staggered him, but he swiped back at me and sent me crashing into a car. I shook it off, and saw him coming at me. I used my speed and martial arts skills to dodge and weave until he missed me and crashed into a wall. Part of a building collapsed on him, but he was still shaking it off. I stepped up behind him as he tried to get up and focused all of my strength into one punch and hit him in the back of the neck. I had to do it twice, but he finally stayed down.

I heard Spidey and Wanda come up behind me. With his mask, you'd think I couldn't tell, but it looked like his jaw dropped. I caught a glimpse of myself in the side window of a car and saw why. I had lost my brand new blouse and skirt in the fight, and was standing there in my bra and a thong. Damn Wanda for making me buy the thong! She pulled a T-shirt and shorts out of one of the bags, and I looked for somewhere to put them on, and then figured, what the hell, and slipped them on right there. I was really starting to hate being a woman. I looked at Spiderman and said, "hell of a photo op, huh Spidey"? I think his jaw dropped again. I really wanted to remind him that he was married. I had just let him know that I knew he was Peter Parker. I knew he would be at the mansion later to find out how, so I said, "why don't you get your buddy Parker to take some pics- if I have to give someone a shot, might as well be a friend of yours. Tell him he can come by the mansion later and meet me". He just shook his head, Said goodbye to Wanda, and took off. We returned to the mansion and I showed off my clothes to Jan. She said, "you make a beautiful young woman. You just have to get used to the clothes. And you especially need to learn to listen to people with more experience than you". I went upstairs to lay down for a little while until Parker showed up. I had slept for an hour when the Avenger's butler knocked and told me that I had a visitor. I went down to the parlor and saw Peter. He said, "did you tell the other's what you know? Or is my secret safe". I told him, "I didn't, but I think it's past time that you shared your secret with someone else. What if you died? Do you want Mary Jane to find out on the news"? He said, "you have a point, but who are you? How do you know who I am"? I said, "do you remember a few years back when you battled a creature who traveled back and forth through time and somehow connected with a hero from the past called Doc Savage and his men? Before the accident, I was his son. When I found some of his old files, and he had recorded that adventure. His observations of you were highly complimentary of you. He said if you lived in that time, he would have recruited you to be one of his men for your powers and scientific skills. That is the highest compliment he could pay anyone". Peter stood there in shock, and then said, "if you are half the detective he was, you checked Spidey out and found out I'm him". I said, "exactly. I have wanted to wait for the right moment to approach you. I actually thought that with your friendship with the X-Men, that I would meet you through that, but the opportunity never came up. But, it happened anyway. Now, I am about to find about my Father's last mission, and I need your help, if you are willing". Just then, Wanda came in and asked, "is Peter staying for lunch"? He said, "I think there's something you should know, Wanda", and unbuttoned his shirt to reveal the Spiderman costume underneath. She said, "somehow I'm not surprised- I always thought there was something special about you".

We all ate lunch and then Cap came in and said, "Thor and Iron Man are back. If you will come into the meeting room, we will have the briefing". We went into the meeting room where I was introduced to the two legendary heroes. I admit to a sense of awe, but once they realized Peter was Spiderman, they fell into an easy camaraderie and welcomed me in as well. Cap handed us each a folder and stepped up to a viewscreen. He turned it on and a picture of my father appeared. Cap said, "we all know who this is. After The Shadow, he was the second of our kind. We owe most of our legend and success to Doc. You have all been briefed previously as to his career, but now we have all of the Shield files as to his final mission and disappearance. We have condensed it into the files in front of you. I will summarize and you can read later. A few months before I disappeared into the north Atlantic, back in 1945 to later be rescued by the Avengers, I battled the Red Skull to a standstill in his bunker. It collapsed around him and I thought he was sealed in forever. He wasn't. I thought he didn't escape until a few years ago when we renewed our battles, but I have learned from these files that he wasn't sealed in the first time. After I disappeared, he operated undercover for a while as a spymaster, among other things, killing your parents Peter. Through a clever ruse, we have learned that it was a double, acting in his place after he disappeared again, that was killed in your battle with him. One thing you never uncovered was the fact that part of your parent's investigation was to try to find what happened to Doc and his men. They had gone after the Skull first. As near as we can piece together, they went with your mom, Doc's cousin Pat. She was already pregnant with you and refused to be separated from them. They vanished into thin air, until she suddenly appeared 22 years ago in the desert having just given birth to you. She walked into Area 51, almost dead, as were you. They identified her and attempted to save her, but she died without ever regaining consciousness. A complete search of the desert was made, but no trace of where she came from has ever been found. How she managed to not age for all those years was explained by traces of suspended animation drugs and gas found in her system during the autopsy. We don't know if the others are still alive or not.

I sat back shocked. I also don't know if it was me, or the female body I now had, but I cried for the mother I never knew, who apparently had somehow escaped, and died trying to save me. Wanda held me and Pete patted my shoulder. I got a handle on it and said, "where do we go from here? Don't even think you're keeping me out of this. Right now, I'm probably powerful enough to trade shots with you, Thor, and I am a martial arts expert with super reflexes to boot. I think I can handle learning as I go". They all looked at me and then at Cap. He said, "she knows the risks, and deserves a shot. But, we have time to train anyway, while we do some research. The Red Skull hasn't been heard from in years. We think he has gone underground and possibly legit to some degree. We think that we have found a link to the ex-Nazi group Odessa, which he ran, and Roxxon oil. We have all tangled with them at one time or another. We will be investigating them and their main subsidiary, the Rand Corporation, as never before. We also will be training you, Lynn, and doing some tests on you as well. I said, "what about the X-Men? We can't just leave them to their fate". He said, "there is something you didn't know- the Sentinels were built for the government by Rand, and the attack on the X-Men wasn't sanctioned by the government. We believe that it was aimed by them at you". Now I was really pissed. I wanted to go after someone, and I didn't care who. I said, "what do we do first"?

Cap said, to my disappointment, "you go through some tests. First, we need to find out what happens if you hit the button on that belt again. Do you revert to Tanya, or David? Unless you want to stay in that body full-time". I realized I had the potential for the perfect secret identity. I didn't even need a mask as Lynn- when I changed, I just changed bodies. I wanted to know if I could become a man again as well. Being a girl wasn't as terrible as I had imagined, but it would be nice to be myself part of the time as well. We went down to the lab and I entered an isolation chamber. I depressed the button and there were a lot of flashes and the pain. I knew the change had happened, and I opened my eyes and looked at the mirror that had been set up in there and saw-

 

To be continued

  

  

  

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