𝐄𝐌𝐏𝐀𝐓𝐇𝐘 | 𝒕.𝒐𝒅𝒊𝒏𝒔𝒐𝒏

[ 22 ]

There was a groan, "I'm okay! I think." Josh replied.

She breathed out a small sigh of relief. There were sudden and loud footsteps and the facetime suddenly stopped. Josh groaned, grabbing his now dead phone as Ash dropped beside him.

"What did you do?" He said, lifting him up.

"Your mom." Josh replied, not realising it was his father.

"Oh my God." Ash deadpanned as Nicotine laughed.

"Am I supposed to see so blurrily? Also, why does my head feel so wet and warm?" The teenager asked, very delirious.

Ash sighed and took him to the medical bay, leaving the rest of the mess to Tony, who ran over with him. Natasha and Thor were rushing over.

"What happened?" Thor asked.

"I don't know, but we'll figure that out soon." Ash replied.

"It was while he was doing something stupid I bet." Natasha sighed.

They got to the medical bay and Josh got the necessary assistance needed. It was concerning that he got blasted into a wall though. The next day, he woke up to an aching feeling in his back, which he expected but it was more itchy than anything. He sat up to find Ash and Thor walking into the room.

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Ash asked.

"Fine... Just my back feels weird and itchy." Josh replied, curling an arm around his back to check it.

Then he felt blood. His eyes widened slightly and he took his shirt off.

"Uh– Josh, what are you doing?" Thor questioned.

"There's blood on my back." He replied, walking into the bathroom connected to the room and turning to look in the mirror.

"I'm sorry what?" Nicotine deadpanned.

Ash and Thor, who watched him walk through, stood dumbfounded. Josh craned his neck to see and his jaw dropped at the sight of bloody split skin, opening to make way for small stubs of muscle.

"Holy shit!" Josh exclaimed.

He walked back through with wide eyes. Ash crossed his arms and sighed, Thor put a hand on his shoulder.

"I'll get Banner." He said.

Ash nodded and smiled, Thor returned it and walked out. Josh was ushered to sit back on the bed.

"We'll figure this out, okay?"

***

Bruce walked into the room along with the others, whom Josh didn't really mind being there. The doctor looked at the teenager's back and it had changed since that morning. The muscle that was pushing through was seemingly growing at an abnormal rate.

"It's strange, I've not seen anything like this before. It looks like he's growing wings if I'm honest." Bruce explained.

"What? There's no way that's actually happening. I mean that's impossible." Josh said.

"It's not, Josh." Ash sighed.

"What? What do you mean?" Tony asked.

"When I was in space, before I came back to Earth, Nova Prime told me that my line– Or well– Our line is one of a lot of mutations going back to ancient times." He explained.

"Uh we, Ash. What the hell?" Nicotine sassed.

"Which resulted in enhanced abilities, meaning because of that, your powers manifested." Bruce concluded.

"I always thought I was the only one in our family that had any because Josh never showed any symptoms of it and well- Tony is Tony." Ash said.

Tony rolled his eyes, Bruce ignored the comment and a realisation appeared in his mind.

"The Sceptre. Josh held it." He said.

"Yeah, before it blasted him into a wall." Clint deadpanned.

Ash looked down, he hadn't quite told the team about the Infinity Stones just yet. How would he? He was possessed by one and nearly destroyed by another, it would really raise some concern. He wouldn't exactly trust Tony with that information either.

"It must have activated a gene that awakened his abilities." Natasha shrugged.

Josh could feel the muscles growing and growing, it made him extremely uncomfortable.

"Why is it growing abnormally though?" Thor asked.

"Making up for years worth of development I suppose." Bruce replied.

"I have school tomorrow... It's gonna be so awkward." Josh grumbled, putting his head in his hands.

"You'll be fine." Ash smiled.

***

Ash had woken up that morning to a phone call from Midtown High. Just how he wanted to start the day of the party. He was currently driving to the school, Nicotine singing along to the lyrics from a song playing on the radio.

"I don't understand how you're so calm about this." Ash sighed.

"It's not the end of the world, how exactly is Josh meant to hide his new abilities?" Nicotine asked.

"They appeared while he was in school." He deadpanned.

"I guess you could say he had a growth spurt." The symbiote snickered.

"Oh my God."

Ash pulled up in the school's parking lot and got out of the car. He headed inside and to the reception where the lady at the desk smiled and pointed him to the principal's office. He stepped inside where Josh was sitting in front of the principal with large blue wings that glowed, constellations and stars dotted the feathers making them into the universe all contained in one set of wings. Josh looked over at Ash awkwardly, eyes glowing a bright shade of blue. He sat down and looked over at the Principal.

"What happened?" Ash asked.

Everything went on to be explained for him and Josh sat awkwardly in his chair, the wings curling around him. Ash nodded and decided to take his son home. The two walked to the car and started heading to the Tower.

"Do you wanna go to MJ's tonight? I can call her parents." Ash asked.

Josh nodded, curling his wings around him and looking out the window quietly. Ash said no more and when they arrived, the teenager immediately went to his room.

"He doesn't look okay." Nicotine said.

Ash hummed in agreement, heading into the kitchen