Unexpected Encounter

<Alice's POV>

Three months had passed since I settled into my new life in New York. Thanks to Hope's meticulous planning, I had everything I needed to juggle my identities and responsibilities. Hope would visit once a month, checking on my progress and ensuring I was adhering to the regimen. Felicia, on the other hand, had a more frequent presence, her playful intrusions becoming a regular part of my life. Between school, my business, and my superhero duties, I managed to find a balance that worked. 

Today was just another day of this carefully constructed routine. After attending classes at Midtown High and spending a few hours in my workshop fine-tuning the Ghost Spider suit, I decided to take a quick swing around the city. The wind rushing past and the adrenaline of leaping from building to building were the perfect ways to unwind.

As I soared above the rooftops, something caught my eye—a silver-grey object moving at an unusually high altitude. Squinting, I recognised it as Tony Stark's Mark 2 suit. A mix of excitement and concern washed over me. I knew he was probably test driving it, but something seemed off.

Suddenly, the suit began to malfunction, freezing in place as it reached a critical altitude. I could see it shutting down and plummeting towards the ground. Despite knowing Tony would likely be fine, my instincts kicked in. 

I shot a web at a nearby building, using the momentum to propel myself towards the falling suit. As I got closer, I fashioned a makeshift parachute out of my webbing and attached it to the Mark 2. It slowed the descent but wasn't enough to stop the fall completely. Thinking quickly, I swung down below and created a massive spider web-net between two buildings.

Tony Stark, encased in his metallic suit, landed safely on the web net, the impact absorbed by the elastic strands. I landed gracefully next to him, feeling a mix of relief and amusement. His helmet remained closed, hiding his expression.

"Are you alright in there, Tin Man?" I called out, my tone light and teasing. "You know, it's a good idea to follow proper safety protocols when you're playing with high-tech toys."

There was a pause, and then the helmet's faceplate slid open, revealing Tony's somewhat sheepish expression. "I had it under control," he replied, though the gratitude in his voice was unmistakable.

I chuckled. "Sure, you did. Just try to be more careful next time."

Saying that I left that place. That's not my problem now.

The next day,

After class, I decided to take a bus trip to purchase some devices and components for my workshop. The bus ride was uneventful, giving me a chance to think about my latest tech upgrades and the incident with Tony Stark. After a while, I got off the bus in a bustling part of the city, ready to get my errands done.

As I walked down the busy streets, I couldn't shake the feeling that someone was following me. I tried to dismiss it as paranoia, but my spider sense kept tingling. Taking a deep breath, I dove into an alleyway, hoping to lose whoever was on my tail. 

Just as I rounded a corner, I collided with someone, nearly knocking us both over. I turned to see a young woman with red auburn hair and striking green eyes. For a moment, I didn't recognise her, but then my spider sense rang out severely. At the same time, the woman clutched her head, clearly in pain.

"Jean!" someone shouted from behind, and I spun around to see a man with thick sunglasses approaching. He quickly removed his glasses, and a red beam shot out towards me. I leaped into the air, narrowly avoiding the blast. 

"Crap," I muttered under my breath. It was Scott Summers, also known as Cyclops. Jean Grey and Cyclops? This day just got a lot more complicated.

I decided to limit my strength to that of a normal human, not wanting to reveal my full abilities. Confident in my spider sense, I grabbed a steel pipe lying nearby and held it like a sword. Jean, still recovering from her headache, shouted for Scott to stop, but he didn't listen. Instead, he called out, reporting that they might have found the omega-level mutant they were searching for. I realised Jean must have tried to read my mind and got more than she bargained for.

My spider sense tingled again, and I felt someone behind me. I turned just in time to catch a tail-like appendage and yanked, pulling Nightcrawler in front of me. I swung my iron pipe at him, but he teleported us both into the air. Thinking quickly, I twisted my body and climbed onto Kurt, forcing him to teleport us back to the ground for a safe landing. As soon as we hit the ground, I pulled out a taser from my pocket and shocked him, knocking him out.

Jean's frustration was evident as she used her telekinesis to attack. I dodged her strikes with ease; my movements were fluid and precise. Scott tried another optic blast, but I sidestepped it and closed the distance between us. I landed a punch to his stomach, causing him to double over, and then kneed him in the face.

Only Jean remained, and she looked furious. "Are you people really this stupid?" I said, my voice cold. "It was your mistake to access my mind. It's the same as violating someone's privacy and using your abilities in the wrong way. That's why mutants are feared among normal citizens."

Jean looked shocked by my words, a cruel truth that seemed to hit her hard. Just as I was about to move towards her, I sensed a new threat and jumped back. A bolt of lightning struck the ground where I had been standing. 

I looked up to see a woman with white hair and piercing blue eyes descending from the sky, electricity crackling around her. Ororo Munroe, also known as Storm, just went from bad to worse.

Facing a storm in my current situation would be a problem. Her control over the weather was formidable, and I couldn't afford to reveal my full capabilities. As lightning danced around her, I braced myself, knowing I had to find a way out of this confrontation without giving away too much.

Just as Storm was about to land, her foot slipped on a wet patch on the pavement, sending her sprawling to the ground. Seizing the perfect opportunity, I lunged forward and electrocuted her with a tranquillizer, the shock knocking her out before she could respond.

Jean was dumbfounded by whatever she witnessed, and even I was dumbfounded, like, how can Storm make such a dumb mistake?

I turned around to find Scott starting to regain consciousness. Before he could fully rise, a loud crack echoed through the alley as someone hit him on the head from behind with a bat. He crumpled to the ground, unconscious once more. I looked up to see Felicia Hardy standing there, a smug grin on her face.

"Yo, Alice! What kind of trouble have you gotten yourself into this time?" She asked, her tone light and playful despite the chaos around us.

Now, I know what happened. Poor Storm was hit by Felicia's bad luck. I suppose Felicia herself doesn't know she has that ability. According to what I know, she got the ability of tychokinesis working under Kingpin. But in this universe, she might have awakened it as mutant ability or something similar.

But she is still less skilled in fighting; I suppose she has a long way to go before becoming Black Cat. Wait, why didn't I think of getting a sidekick? Anyway, that's left for future me to decide.

I sighed, both relieved and exasperated by her carefree nature. "Felicia, what are you doing here?"

"Just passing by and saw you in a bit of a pickle," she replied nonchalantly, twirling the bat. "Figured I'd lend a hand."

"Thank you very much. If it weren't for you, I would have been taken by mutant associa..." Wait, it was a slip of my mouth.

"Oh, you are a mutant. I didn't know you would be this sneaky, you tiger."

"Well, it's kind of complicated, but it's better if you just keep it secret."

"No problem; you just owe me once more. Anyway, what's your ability?"

What should I say, or should I just deny it? I have a nice idea, which is to fabricate a fake ability.

"Well, I have an ability called Analyze. If anyone uses any ability in my range, I can detect its ability and even its limitation."

Well, I made up a mutant ability just on whim, but it all depends on my knowledge about Marvel. I can see Jean listening to me.

"Like this example, this girl here with red hair has telekinesis and telepathy. Because she used telepathic ability, I recognised that she tried to read my mind, and because of my passive ability to have mind immunity, I was immune to her.

Now, that sunglasses guy you beat has the ability to throw a heat vision or optic blast, but he can't control it.

That's your African self; she has weather manipulation, but it may cause disturbances in the weather all around the world.

And that Avatar guy has the ability to jump through space."

And finally, I closed my distance to Felicia and whispered in her ear. "And as you witnessed how that white-haired woman fell, Because it was your ability to control the probability field, but only bad luck. You subconsciously used your ability on her."

Felicia was shocked by her ability being revealed, and I am now worried about what my future self will do with this problem.