Not an Angel

On the Santa Monica Pier, in Los Angeles, Miguel Legar waits and determines that the newest initiate is not here, meaning that Webcorps will have to focus on the next possible location, Brooklyn. As he leaves a lone gunman comes out and tries to shoot him. However, Miguel detected his attacker and with the wave of a hand, the bullet falls harmlessly to the ground. Leaping behind his attacker with super-human agility, Miguel makes the gunman fall asleep with a mere gesture and command.

The following morning at Milton Summer High School in Fort Green Brooklyn, Lynn waits for her friend Anya Corazon to meet up with her before classes. Lynn notes that Anya is running late. That’s when one of Lynn’s classmates tells her that he saw Anya at her locker. Lynn rushes through the hallway she pushes another student into a poster put up by one of the school jocks. He blames Lynn and starts hassling her over the damage done. That’s when Anya comes upon the scene and orders the jock to let go of her friend. She then scolds him for hurting Lynn and challenges the jock to a fight if he doesn’t apologize to her. The jock, having had enough shoves Anya into a locker and walks away. However, Anya is still spoiling for a punch and tries to throw a punch at the jock who easily catches her fist in his hand. That’s when the teacher comes out and breaks up the fight. Anya, still wanting to defend her friend’s honor, challenges the jock to meet her at the bridge at Fort Green Park that evening to finish things. That’s when Lynn gives Anya back her locket which came loose when she was shoved into a locker. That’s when the teacher orders Anya to get into his office. Lynn points out that Anya lost her cool again and got herself in trouble, and on the first day of school no less.

Disappointed in herself, Anya thinks back to when she was a child. Her mother was leaving and Anya was crying. Her mother told Anya to always be brave

Later, walking home from school, Anya arrives at the apartment building where she lives and notices that there is water spraying out of her window. Racing upstairs, she finds her father, Gil Corazon, trying to fix the plumbing in vein. As he is getting sprayed in the face with water he tells Anya to shut off the water main. She manages to find it and shut off the water. As she tosses her father a towel, she tells her father to stop calling her Arañita and Araña, as she doesn’t like either nickname because it is embarrassing. That’s when Gil points out that he got a phone call from her principal about the fight she had at school. Gil says that Anya got herself in a dangerous situation because she wouldn’t back down and would have been hurt had a teacher hadn’t been there to break up the fight. As she fixes the clasp of her locket, Anya tells her father that she is not giving in to any bullies at school. His father tries to tell her that giving in and backing down are not the same thing, something that he has learned as an investigative reporter. Anya says that the difference is that she’s in high school and things are different there. Gil tells her daughter that she needs to stop letting these guys rile her up, saying that she shouldn’t let them have power over her.

That’s when the phone rings. It’s Dan Stevens, a reporter that works with Gil at the newspaper. Dan wants to go to a meeting solo, but Gil insists that it is too dangerous and wants to come along, warning him that the man they are confronting is a dangerous criminal. After her father gets off the phone, Anya tosses a towel at him, teasing him over having enough work without helping out Dan Stevens. GIl soon leaves, promising to tell his daughter how he met Dan when he gets home. Ten minutes after her father is gone, Anya leaves the apartment so she can meet up with the jock she threatened in school. She is about to change her mind when he pulls up in a car and asks if she’s running away, saying that it runs in the family since he’s heard that Anya’s mother ran out on her father years ago. This angers Anya enough to renew her desire to get back at this goon.

At Fort Green Park, Miguel Legar sits in a mystical circle to create a protective barrier he hopes will slow down his opponents and protect the initiate. He strikes the final match in his matchbook and the flame suddenly increases in size and shoots a flare into the sky, confirming that the initiate is nearby. Not far away, Anya spots the flare in the sky and hopes it is a good omen. At that same moment, Miguel has run into members of the Sisterhood of the Wasp, who intend to avenge their agent that Miguel put to sleep in Los Angeles. The leader of the group of Wasps reminds everyone that since this has been marked as sacred ground no weapons or heavy spells can be used, a condition that Miguel is also forced to comply with. As Miguel leaps into battle, he thinks about how he is a member of the ancient Spider Society and that his organization pledged their allegiance to the spider 999 years ago to protect the world with their black hands — one hand being the hunter, and the other being the mage. Unfortunately, Miguel is overpowered and knocked over the edge of the bridge, causing him to fall on Anya as she passes by. The leader of the Wasps thinks that Anya is the chosen initiate and is too late to stop one of her minions from attacking her with a knife. Although Anya tries to evade the attacks, she is ultimately stabbed in the stomach with her attacker’s knife. The leader of the Wasps reminds the others that they can’t use weapons on sacred ground and moments later they are all incinerated from breaking this cardinal rule. As Anya lays on the ground, Miguel thinks she is the new initiate and asks what she was thinking since it is his job as a mage to protect the hunter. All Anya can say is that she needs to get home before her father finds out and asks why it’s suddenly so cold. Miguel then tells her that she is bleeding to death.

Recurring Characters

Araña, Spider-Society (Miguel Legar), Gil Corazon, Sisterhood of the Wasp, Lynn, Sofia Corazon (flashback)