𝟏𝟕 - ❝𝑪𝒂𝒏𝒐𝒏 𝑬𝒗𝒆𝒏𝒕❞

Parvati walked back to Mumbhattan Visions Academy, strolling through the glass walkway suspended above the traffic and connected the two main buildings of the school. She was more than a little saddened by Pavitr's sudden leave. She had been enjoying their date and had really hoped to be able to take their relationship forward.

Maybe even kiss him.

But obviously, as the good, er, friend-but-not-yet-exactly-girlfriend she was, she let him go to do his urgent business. She didn't want to seem to be a clingy person. But there was something about him that just made her never want to let him go. Maybe hug him until the end of time. She smiled as she remembered the man-bun she'd put him in, and how his hair smelt of coconut oil. A comforting scent.

Parvati came across Manish in the hallway already with his small suitcase of clothes, ready to go home for the weekend as it was a Friday. He spotted her and ran across the hall, dragging his suitcase behind him as the thing stumbled from four wheels to two wheels and back. She laughed as her brother wrapped his arms around her and she hugged him back. The suitcase fell on the floor, forgotten.

Manish hugged her tight, 'I love you didi.'

'Love you too, Mishi. Had a good day?' Parvati planted a small kiss on his head.

'Yeah, it was fun. Giri blew up a science lab, but that's another story. Heard you went on a date with Pavitr bhaiya?'

'I-' Parvati looked shocked, 'How d'you know that?!'

'I saw you both at the gate after taking Giri to the Headmaster's office... about the science lab. You were both looking at each other with lovey-dovey eyes and all that romance stuff. Then you both went out of the school grounds... so I figured.'

'Huh. Clever boy,' she smiled.

'So... your date is over or what...?'

'Oh Pavitr had to leave early to do some errand,' Parvati explained, picking up her brother's suitcase and leading him down the hallway.

'Ouch. You sad?'

'Yes, obviously. But if it was that urgent that he had to leave that abruptly, I'd let him honestly. I don't want to seem too clingy.'

'Nice.'

'Yeah. We'll see what happens later... by the way, what happened with Giri?' Parvati opened the door to her dorm room, pulling out her suitcase which she'd already packed.

'Oh him,' Manish grinned. Giri was his best friend and always ended up in some sort of situation that sent him to the principal's office. For some reason, he'd always gotten away with a simple detention or two, 'He chucked pure potassium in water and the thing blew up in purple flames. Dunno where he got the metal from.'

'That seems like a very Giri thing to do,' Saarika, her dormmate, said lazily from where she was lying on the bed, scrolling on her phone, 'Honestly I'm surprised that boy's not yet expelled.'

'Somehow yeah,' Parvati was about the shut the door before she hesitated, looking at the girl, 'Nice progress on that Physics essay, I see.'

Saarika paused before replying, 'Doing it on the weekend. I'm planning right now.'

'Instagram helps you with planning?'

'Of course. Now get out of here! Leave me alone to do some essay planning.'

Parvati laughed and shut the door.

***

The sibling duo walked back from the Vision's Academy to their home for the weekend. Parvati had bought Manish a pistachio kulfi, and he happily strolled alongside her, licking it. The sun was still high in the sky even though it was evening due to the long summer days of Mumbhattan. Manish was slurping the kulfi from the bottom, training not the get the stick melted liquid all over his hands. 

He looked up, 'Didi look. Alchemax.'

The large building protruded out of the city, a stark modern difference to the normal Indian style of Mumbhattan's architecture. It was said to be the "pinnacle of western technology" or some other monologue said by a presenter on a news channel when Parvati had tuned in for two seconds. It cast a large bit of shade over the walkway where people were resting underneath from the harsh sun. 

'Yeah! Wanna work there?' Parvati dragged the suitcases behind her.

'I do. I want to help make that Super-Collider thing and go to other dimensions.'

Parvati smiled. She and her brother shared the same interest of interdimensional travel in physics. She hadn't yet figured out her future, but apparently Manish had it all under his belt. He even knew the exact girl he wanted to marry.

Suddenly something hit them violently. No, someone. Manish's kulfi went flying out of his hands and hit the floor. He looked at it with a disgruntled expression before turning to the person who hit them. Parvati pulled up the suitcases which had fallen from the impact.

The man, the thing, stood up. His skin was as white as snow, plagued with dots varying in size of the darkest ebony. His stance was lopsided and looked at the fallen kulfi on the ground, shuffling the stick slightly with his foot.

'Oh I'm terribly sorry about that. If I had money, I would've bought you more,' the man apologised, 'But I'm in a bit of a pickle- woah!'

He jumped out of the way as two other people came crashing on the ground towards him. The man pulled a hole off his body and leaped into it, disappearing out of sight. The two people stood up shakily, dusting off their suits. Their Spiderman, and another Spiderwoman. Now Parvati realised why Pavitr was in such a hurry to leave.

'Hi, er-' Pavitr, under the mask, stared at them, 'Ya seen where that holey-man went?'

'The Spot,' clarified the Spiderwoman, fixing her web slingers.

'The... Spot,' Manish repeated, 'Lame name, but okay.'

'He disappeared into a spot. One of his dot things that seems to act like a portal of some sort,' Parvati picked up the suitcases that had fallen again. 

'Argh,' Pavitr groaned, 'That's annoying. Bloody madar-'

Parvati hurriedly blocked off Manish's ears as Pavitr swore.

'-Keeps disappearing! I'm tired of it and have already crashed into several buildings and now my body aches. He even says chai tea! How many times do I have to explain?! It's so simple, yet foreigners always get it wrong. "Chai tea" is the same thing as saying "tea tea", so one has absolutely no reason to say-'

The Spiderwoman had swung off, and one of her webs hit Pavitr's chest pulling him along and out of sight. 

'Right...' Manish nodded slowly, 'So they're after some dude called "The Spot", and this person keeps disappearing into his own spots. Honestly, I don't know how these people morph themselves into superhuman beings, but for god's sake- do it for good.'

They walked for a few more minutes as Parvati bought Manish another kulfi from a vendor nearby. He happily licked it as they walked along under the Alchemax building, viewing the sights that were happening through its glass windows. 

A second later, the ground violently shook with a vibration, sending some people tumbling to the ground, along with Manish's new kulfi. He stomped his foot in annoyance. Suddenly, screams were heard as people pointed upwards, running out from the vast expanse of shade. Parvati and Manish followed their view.

The Alchemax building had torn from its support and was now falling on them.

***

A/N

Y'all know what's gonna happen now.