Chapter 58 - Ava Starr

A few days flew by quickly and without much happening aside from training for Lily.

As for the mission, it was deemed a success by Fury, and she was praised for her part in it. Fury said that he was pleased with her capabilities and judgment and that he looked forward to working with her.

She never heard the exact details about how it turned out in the end, but she heard Fury called a meeting with the higher-ups to discuss the matter and knew that the meeting would end with the decision to not attempt to capture Bruce.

Instead, they would just monitor him.

But that wasn't relevant for Lily right now; instead, she was ordered to come in for an official test to see if she could begin further field missions.

On the 5th of March, Lily made her way down to the training grounds of the S.H.I.E.L.D. building in her training suit, greeted by one of the Agents who had thought her so far.

"Today, you will be put to the test to see if you can be allowed to enter the field officially. This test will be monitored by multiple of the Higher Ups, so do your best."

Spoke the Agent as he led her over to the combat area within the training grounds; there, she saw another figure standing at the ready.

The figure was dressed in a full-body suit of what could be called armor.

It was completely white and looked like a mixture of fabric and metallic parts, making a semi-robotic suit. It had a small white hoodie that covered the head of the figure, under which the figure wore a mask with multiple glowing red dots.

These dots were cameras that allowed the figure inside to see the outside.

The figure was clearly female, as Lily could see the curves on the figure even through the suit.

It took Lily a second to remember who the figure was, but after getting closer and getting a good view of the suit, she quickly realized who it was before her.

Ava Starr, also known as Ghost.

'So it's around that time?'

Lily commented in her head as she reviewed the information she knew about the lady.

Ava Starr was a very unfortunate girl who gained the ability to change her body because of a quantum accident that killed her parents.

While that may sound like a good thing at first, it wasn't. The powers were highly unstable, and she couldn't control them independently, making her molecular structure and equilibrium imbalanced.

This caused her to phase in and out of normality outside of her control, and it even increased the rate at which her body was breaking down and thus dying.

Lily remembered that at a young age, the girl was taken in by S.H.I.E.L.D. and lied to, used for her powers, and made to do their dirty work until she no longer had use to them.

Eventually, she was discarded and made into the villain.

But that hadn't happened yet; before her, the girl stood in the new suit that S.H.I.E.L.D. had given her, under the belief that if she worked for them, she would eventually get a cure.

Lily pitied the girl; how could she not.

The girl was so foolish and naive, she wanted a single thing, a cure so that she could have a normal life, yet she couldn't have that even after all she had done.

She was truly pitiful.

"This is Ghost; she will be your sparring partner for the test."

Spoke the Agent as they approached the figure, introducing the two of them to each other.

Ghost had on her full body suit, so Lily couldn't see her face, but Ghost could see just how young Lily was.

"A child? You want me to fight a child?"

Spoke Ghost with reluctance in her voice.

She wasn't some cold-blooded killer; she was just someone that wanted to have a normal life. How could she possibly go along with something like fighting a young girl?

"Do not underestimate her due to her age; she can kill you if she hits you."

Replied the Agent, which wasn't very believable to Ghost, who had never seen Lily before.

"Lily, you will be fighting unarmed, Ghost; you are permitted to use a weapon of choice. Guns, however, are not permitted."

The Agent explained as he stood between them like a referee about to begin a match.

"I don't need a weapon to fight a child."

Replied Ghost, as she was still reluctant to do something against the girl, but she had to since it was her task. She decided that finishing the match quickly would be for the best.

"Please use a weapon; I do not want to hurt you."

Lily finally spoke to the girl directly, looking up at her since she was shorter.

She wasn't being arrogant when she said that; she was being honest.

The current Ghost didn't have the strength or durability to withstand her attacks because she hadn't yet learned to use her abilities properly.

Meaning if Lily was to hit her directly, she would most likely suffer an injury. She would probably break her if she didn't greatly limit her strength.

Not to mention, without a weapon, the girl had no way of hurting Lily because of Lily's very high durability.

Of course, it probably sounded a bit like childish arrogance to the girl when Lily spoke.

"Don't worry."

Ghost replied without saying much and still didn't take a weapon, so Lily didn't force it.

Instead, they both got into positions to begin the match, and the Agents went over the basic rules.

Surrendering or being unable to keep fighting were the two ways to win.

Fatal or permanent injuries also weren't allowed; he specifically told Lily to not break any of the girl's bones.

Once everything was explained, the match began.