Stature

Cassie sat at her mom’s kitchen table, a pencil tapping rhythmically against the notebook in front of her as she stared down at the page of homework that seemed to grow more impossible by the second. It was late afternoon, the soft light from the window casting a warm glow across the room, making everything feel... normal. Like nothing out of the ordinary could happen today. But as she stared at the equations in front of her, she couldn’t help but feel an unsettling tension in the air. It had been a quiet week—a rare thing in her line of work—and she had almost let herself relax. Almost.

Her phone buzzed on the counter, but she ignored it. Probably just another text from one of the other Young Avengers. They were always checking in, always asking if she was okay. She appreciated it, but she had bigger things to worry about right now—like trying to get through her college work without her brain turning to mush.

Then the window shattered.

The sound of glass exploding into the room made Cassie’s heart skip a beat. She barely had time to react before black-clad figures in tactical gear stormed through the door, weapons raised and blazing. Roxxon Strike Team. They’d been a thorn in her side ever since the Young Avengers had crossed paths with them months ago. Their mission was clear: eliminate any threat, and she was squarely on that list.

"Get down!" one of them shouted, and without hesitation, gunfire filled the room, bullets tearing through the walls and furniture.

Cassie dove under the table as the rounds ripped through the air above her, the sheer chaos of it all forcing her to think on her feet. The sound of automatic fire was deafening, the air thick with the acrid stench of gunpowder. Her heart pounded in her chest, and for a moment, she was back in that moment on the battlefield, the feeling of fighting for her life so visceral it almost felt real.

But this time, she wasn’t in the field. She was home. And they’d come to her.

She didn’t wait. She couldn’t.

Her eyes flicked toward the door of the hallway, where her suit was kept hidden. Her Stature suit, a custom-made piece of tech that allowed her to grow to the size of a skyscraper, or shrink down to the size of a bug. In an instant, she was moving, her feet barely making a sound on the floor as she sprinted toward the closet.

Behind her, the men were closing in, but she didn’t have time to worry about them. Cassie reached for the suit, pulling it on in one fluid motion. The fabric adhered to her body, and within seconds, the energy surging through it was almost tangible. She felt herself growing—filling the room—her body expanding rapidly as the suit’s power coursed through her. Bigger. Bigger.

Her hands shot out, and the floor cracked beneath her as she grew beyond the walls of the house. The world became a blur as she reached for the nearest mercenary, grabbing him by the torso with ease. The air around her trembled with the force of her growth, and she could feel the building groaning in protest.

“What the hell?!” one of the men shouted, and she could hear his heart thudding like a drum inside his chest as she held him effortlessly in her massive palm.

With a grinding of wood and metal, the house started to give way. The ceiling above her cracked, then buckled as she grew taller, larger than the very structure she’d called home. The walls split apart as if they were paper, the house ripping in half under the sheer force of her growing form.

“No! No, you don’t get to do this!” Cassie’s voice was low, rumbling, as she crushed the man in her hand just enough to remind him she was in control. His gun fell uselessly to the floor. The others hesitated, momentarily paralyzed by her sudden shift in size, but not for long.

With a flick of her wrist, she sent another mercenary flying, his body crashing through a nearby wall and into the yard. The force was enough to send the ground shaking beneath her, and she could see how the rest of the Roxxon team scrambled to get their bearings.

Cassie didn’t give them a chance to recover. With a growl, she used her free hand to sweep up the nearest group, trapping two of them in a palm the size of a small building. The rest of the team started firing again, but their bullets were nothing more than annoying pinpricks against her oversized skin. She was massive now, towering over the wreckage of her house, and she barely felt the hits.

The once cozy living room was now a crater in the middle of a collapsed foundation, the furniture shredded, and the air thick with dust and destruction. She felt a pang of guilt but quickly suppressed it. These men had come to hurt her, her family. They didn’t deserve mercy.

Her voice thundered as she spoke, her eyes locking on the few remaining mercenaries who were still standing. “I’m giving you one chance to leave.”

There was silence for a heartbeat—long enough for the men to exchange wary glances, calculating their next move.

Then, one of them lunged, firing a rocket launcher point-blank at her.

Cassie’s eyes narrowed.

She took a step forward.

The explosion came, but Cassie didn’t flinch. Her hand shot up, grabbing the rocket in midair, its fire flickering harmlessly off her skin. With a snap of her wrist, she crushed it, tossing the remains aside.

“I warned you,” she said, voice booming across the destroyed landscape of her home.

The remaining mercenaries dropped their weapons, hands raised in surrender, their eyes wide with fear. Cassie’s massive frame loomed over them like a storm cloud.

The house was in ruins—her mom’s house, the place she’d grown up. But she had taken control, and the threat was gone. For now.

Cassie knelt down to her knees, carefully placing the men on the ground in a controlled way, making sure they didn’t get any ideas. Her suit began to retract as she started to shrink down, returning to her normal size, the immense weight of the moment setting in.

The silence was deafening.

She took a deep breath, wiping her brow. "Great. Now I’m definitely not getting any homework done…”