[One Month Later]

  dy sat on the side of her bed, staring at the clock that buzzed on her nightstand. She'd sile fifteen minutes ago but for some reason, she just sat there looking at it. Her room in the Parker household was cozy and bright, with the posters she picked and pnts May insisted upon adding, to make her feel at home. It was a far cry from the dark, cold bunker she had lived in for so long. Well, she still feels the cold shivers of the bunker's cold floor every now and then.

  A kno the doht her bato reality.

  "dy?" It was Michelle's voice. "We're leaving soon. You ing?"

  "Yeah," dy yelled back, shaking herself awake. "I'll be right down."

  She yanked on a pair of jeans and a hoodie, grabbed her backpack, and ran downstairs. The smell of pancakes greeted her as she ehe kit, where May was busy flipping a fresh batch.

  "M, sweetie," May said, smiling warmly. "You have time for breakfast or should I pack it up?"

  dy looking at the clock. "Uh… maybe just one pancake."

  Peter was already sitting at the table, casually dressed. Today, he decided to take things slow and take a break from his regur hero duty. MJ and Michelle were sitting on his left and right and were giggling as they teased him over something. Maddie was busy in the living room with a new schedule and an iory list. It was a se so normal, so full of life, that made dy fet her lonely past.

  She slid into a chair, accepting the pte May handed her. “Thanks, May.”

  “So, big day, huh?” MJ asked.

  dy rying to sound more fident than she felt. “First full week of csses and… uh, I’m thinking about finding a part-time job.”

  With dy's intellect, it wasn't that hard for her to get into college, well, Peter might have pulled some strings. She wao live the life of a normal teenager and he helped her. At first, Peter wao add her to his team but ter decided not to a her have a peaceful life, away from danger. But he seo one of his time chambers at Kamar-Taj to help her learn about the new worlds and to catch up with her studies since she was entering in the middle of the semester.

  'Well, money buy anything...' That's eter thought when he donated a hefty sum at the college.

  Peter raised an eyebrow. “You don’t o, dy. We have already talked about this.”

  "I know," she said with a sigh. "But… I want to. You know. You did so mue and I just... Want to feel like I'm tributing something."

  May reached out and put a gentle hand on dy's shoulder. "That's sweet, honey, but don't push yourself too hard."

  dy smiled faintly. "I'll be okay. Promise."

  ...

  [Later that day]

  The campus was a beehive of activity as dy walked toward her first css. Students milled about in groups, chatting, ughing, and rushiween buildings. A frisbee hurtled through the air, just missing her shoulder, and she ducked instinctively, letting her sharp reflexes take over. She reminded herself not to overreact, that this was a normal life and not a battle.

  dy stood uhe arc of the main quad for a minute, looking up at the brilliant blue sky. It was surreal to find herself here, with so much life and noise around her. A month ago, she had been uo tell day from night, ting her days in the darkness of that bunker. And now, here she was, a student, just like everyone else. She didn't know if she belonged, but she was going to try.

  Her first lecture was in a gigantic hall filled with students, whose murmur was barely audible as they settled in. dy slid into a spot he back, hoping to fade into the crowd. The professor arrived, and soon the css began in was a flurry of introdus, highlights from the sylbus, and reminders about assigs.

  dy tried to focus. Her mind drifted, though. She gnced around at the rest of the students in the room. Most of them were furiously typing up their notes or speaking softly to their cssmates. A few sat with arms crossed, disied. dy sighed and tucked her hair behind her ear.

  "Hey, new around here?"

  The voice startled her. dy turo see a girl with auburn hair tied in a messy ponytail and a friendly smile. She looked about dy’s age but carried herself with an air of fidehat immediately set her apart.

  “Uh, yeah,” dy said hesitantly.

  “Thought so,” the girl said, sliding into the seat o her. “You’ve got that where-am-I-what’s-going-on look. I’m Man, by the way. Man Stark.”

  dy blinked. “Stark? Like Stark. Stark?”

  Man grinned. “The one and only. Anyway, don't let that bother you, and don't run away from me, like everyone, please. I’m just a college kid trying to survive Psych 101 like the rest of us.”

  dy rexed slightly, her curiosity piqued. “dy. dy Moon.”

  “o meet you, dy Moon,” Man said, extending her hand. dy shook it, finding Man’s energy iious.

  As the instructor droned on about course expectations, Man inched closer. She whispered in a low voice, "So, what's your story? You don't look like a freshman straight out of high school."

  dy hesitated, unsure how much to share. "I, uh… took some time off before starting college. Personal reasons."

  Man nodded, her faderstanding. "Got it. Everyone's got their thing. Anyway, if you need help with studies oing around this paybe if you want to grab lunch or hang out, let me know."

  dy chuckled softly. "Thanks. I might take you up on that."

  "Was that too forward?" Man asked.

  dy shook her head. "No. It's nice, actually. To have someone be o me without having to think twice about it."

  Man tilted her head, studying dy for a sed. "You're iing. I like you."

  dy smiled, grateful for the friendliness and not quite knowing what to say. Man didn't seem to mind.

  "You might be thinking why the heck is this girl babbling on and on? Well, o ask. You see, with my dad being the Iron Man and an Avenger, everyone around me always tries to get close to me for personal gain or stay away from me. And I don't have any friends. Sigh!" She sighed. "But you, you don't look like the type. And you are pretty cool, so that's a plus."

  dy blinked in surprise. "Oh, well... thank you, I guess."

  "Don't sweat it. We should exge numbers or something. That is, if you don't mind?"

  "I'd love to," dy said with a smile.

  Man handed over her phone. "Here, just put your number in."

  dy took the phone and typed in her tafo. She noticed that Man had already set her name as 'oon Girl' in her tacts. She snorted with ughter. "Moon Girl?"

  Man smirked. "It's a thing. You'll get used to it. And hey, you do have superpowers, right?"

  dy shrugged. "Uh… how did you know?"

  "Well, I saw you dodge that frisbee earlier," Man said with a grin. "You weren't even looking at it and still mao dodge it with an inhumaion time. And your jacket's sleeves...Tiny strings of web... So, if I were to guess, you got simir power to Spiderman, right? Don't worry, it's cool. I'm not gonna tell anyone."

  "You're… surprisingly okay with this," dy was surprised to see that Man found out about her ability just from that.

  "Like I said, I'm a Stark, my family has es to superpowered beings since forever. My dad knows Spiderman. We are cool with it," She shrugged.

  dy's eyes widened. "Your dad knows Spiderman? Like personally?"

  "Yeah. He saved my dad and they sometimes work together. So, you know, if you want to meet him, I arra."

  dy chuckled. "Wow. I'm really gd I met you today."

  Man grinned. "The feeling is mutual, Moon Girl."

  ...

  After the lecture ended, dy stood up and stretched her arms. Man hopped up o her, looking energized despite sitting through three hours of lecture. It was lunchtime.

  "So, wanna grab some food? There's a nice burger pce right outside the campus," Man asked. "The rules say to stick to the teen and not to wander around off campus, we have to sneak out." She took out a wristband from her bag. "Invisible wristband, courtesy of my dad."

  dy was about to dee but then ged her mind. It would be fun. "Sure. Let's go."

  ....

  [Meanwhile] [Kamar-Taj]

  Today's the day. May, Gwen, MJ, Michelle, and Maddie came to Kamar-Taj to train in magic. With the stant danger popping up oh, Peter thought it would be better for them to know how to defend themselves in case something goes wrong. And they agreed. So, he took them to one of his time chambers to train.

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