"Tiger, do you have him in your sights?"
"Crystal clear, Shadow. We're bringing him over to your position. Is the area all clear?"
"Yeah, I'm good to go." I can already hear the fight between them and Doc Oc from where I'm perched on a lamppost.
"We're turning the corner! You ready?"
"You bet." I hold my arms out, feeling the shadows from the building shift as my tails leave me and sink into them. Doc Oc bounds down the now-empty street, his metal claws causing the ground to shake, and as he passes me, I raise my arms up.
He lets out a cry of surprise as tendrils of shadows wrap around his artificial limbs, suspending him in the air as he swivels his head to turn to me.
"You pest!" he snarls, fighting against my hold, and I have to focus on holding him until the others catch up.
"Any day now, guys!" I grunt as one of his claws break free. He nearly grabs me, but Power Man jumps in just in time to punch it away.
"Sorry to keep you waiting!"
"Octopuses are slippery, ya know?" Nova says, darting around in the air and shooting a well-placed energy beam straight onto Doc Oc's back.
"GAH!"
"Huh, you actually used that word right, Bucket Head." White Tiger jabs, using her claws to slice through another limb, causing Doc Oc to stagger.
Iron Fist follows up behind her, destroying another arm that broke free, and I can finally get a better grip on him to wrangle him up. I summon two large tails of darkness, slicing through the last two metal tentacles and immobilizing him. The shock of it knocks him out as his head drops and I slowly let him down.
"Finally getting a hand on that Shadow Bind, huh?" Power Man asks as I jump down to join him and the others, slightly out of breath. I lean against the pole a little, letting the dizziness pass. I summon my tails back, wiping my forehead with the back of my hand.
"More or less. I still can't move much while I do it. That, and it takes up a lot of energy for me to use." I say. After I told Kele about it, he amped up training and started having me use it more and more on missions.
Needless to say, the past two weeks have been a whole lot of 'fun'.
"Still, it's awesome seeing you use your powers!" Nova grins, floating over beside me. "It's super creepy—your eyes go all dark and you get this weird—"
"Thanks, Nova." I cut him off, earning a snicker from him. "Should I make a portal back to the Tri-Carrier?"
"There's already a transport ship on its way to bring him in. We don't want to risk anything with Doc Oc, so Fury wants to double down on his... security..." White Tiger trails off and I follow her gaze up to see everyone's favorite neighborhood, Spider-Man.
"Spidey!" I say, meeting him half-way for a hug as he drops from a lamppost. "How's everything with The Avengers?" He had taken them up on a few weeks ago and though it was hard to see him go, it was good to see him living his dream.
"It's awesome! I have my own room and it has a freaking ceiling gym! The only downside is Hulks noogies..." he grumbles, rubbing his head from the sheer memory of it. "How's everything with you guys?"
"We're managing." Power Man shrugs as a sudden chill rolls off Nova and White Tiger. They didn't want to admit it, but they took his leaving the hardest.
"Glad to see you're doing so well with your new team." Nova huffs. "As you can see, we got this handled without you." I roll my eyes at his childishness, noting Spidey's shoulders falling.
"Don't mind him," I say. "We all miss you."
"We're glad to see you doing well, friend." Iron Fist says with a slight smile, but it seems strained to me. We don't really have enough time to catch up with him as the transport ship lands, SHIELD agents already filing out to collect Doc Oc as White Tiger leaves without a word.
"She's still mad, huh?" Spidey utters with a sigh as he watches her go.
"On a scale of one to ten? I'd say a solid eight." I say. When he told the team, she was happy for him sure, but after she told me and the girls about finding the right time to tell him her feelings for him it became... complicated.
I can relate.
"She'll cool down soon enough, just give her time." Power Man says as my communicator beeps.
"Director Fury? What's wrong?"
"We've decoded a chunk of Michael Hoy's journal. We think it's best you're here for this."
"Okay, I'll be there as soon as I can," I say before the screen blinks out.
"Well, that was ominous," Spidey says. "Is the investigation going well?"
"Good... I think. Michael's journal is a jumbled mess even he can't decode. His visions are helpful, but they're bits and pieces of a bigger picture."
"And the puzzle is one of those thousand-piece ones, right?"
"A thousand-piece milk puzzle." I sigh, patting him on the shoulder. "I'll see if Kele wants to stop by your place for dinner, okay? I'm gonna head up with a portal, guys. I'll see you in the skies!" I summon a portal, walking through it with a wave, and I'm instantly in front of the briefing room.
Still not a single word.
I let out another sigh; the doors sliding open in front of me, and Michael's eyes light up when he sees me.
"Ari! You're back!" he smiles, putting his notebook down as I sit beside him.
"How are you holding up? Any more visions?" I ask as he nods his head over to the pile of notebooks on the chair next to him. "Whoa..."
He grips his pencil tight, looking down at the open page of his notebook. "There's something coming... I don't know what they're planing Ari, but it's big," he mumbles.
"Don't worry, we'll stop them before anything like that happens," I say, ruffling his hair. At least I hope we do.
He nods with a smile, turning to a fresh page as his eyes glow a little. "Things are still pretty rough with Iron Fist, huh?"
"It's unnerving when you do that, you know this right?" he fights down a grin, his eyes still not moving from his paper as he doodles in the top corner. Since finding out about his visions, it was a little less weird when he would say stuff like this. It freaked me out when he told me how Sam was planning on pranking me before I left with the last of my things in my room.
Sam was even more surprised when I ported behind him and made him fall into his own prank— the old marbled floors and cellophane prank.
I guess having future vision could come in handy, even if they're sporadic as hell.
The doors slide open and Michael and I look up to see Fury step in, his boots thumping against the floors. Michael sits up straighter at the sight of him, eyebrows furrowing a bit. Poor kid was still nervous around him.
"Good, you're here." Fury says, and I'm surprised to see Professor Lee and Professor Statlender walk in behind him. They both look a little worn, and I can see the exhaustion on their faces.
"Decoding is that bad, huh?" I ask as Professor Statlender gives me a tired smile, hair pulled back into a messy bun.
"Not that bad, but even with Michael's help..."
"Some chunks of it we still can't make heads or tails of." Professor Lee says, dropping a pile of papers beside Fury. "You realize this isn't my area of expertise, right?"
"I'm aware, but we need every pair of eyes that were involved in the IVY Institute incident. I figured it made sense to have you both on this." he shrugs as she sends him a hard glare. She mutters something under her breath before taking a seat away from him, and I can swear I see a hint of a smirk on Fury's face.
Professor Lee sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose. "Statlender."
"Yes, ma'am!" from the pile of papers, she hands me a folder and I open it up to a photocopy of a page from Michael's journal. It's somewhat legible despite his handwriting being so erratic. "From what we could decipher, multiple images seem to pop up in a recurring pattern."
"The spirals that White Tiger pointed out, right?" I say as she nods.
"That's right, there's another symbol that shows up repeatedly as well—a pomegranate tree."
"In some iterations of the bible, that was the fruit the devil tempted Adam and Eve with," Michael uttered, his eyes glowing once more as his pencil moves quickly over the paper.
"So that's a lead then, yeah?" I ask.
"Well, yes, and no. You see, the pomegranate tree is a rather popular symbol all across the world. We've narrowed it down to these companies... but we still have a lot of cross-checking to do." she gestured to the piles of papers Professor Lee put down.
"Since there aren't any clear names, we're hoping by looking through some of these, it would help trigger something in your memory. Perhaps something you may have seen in the simulation." Lee says with a frown.
"We've asked CAST, but we have had no luck. We know it's a long shot, but we thought you could give it a look through. The ones in the folder I gave you should be the best shot." she said as I flip through the pages of scribbles.
I try to remember something, anything but the crushing loneliness I felt from my time there. Even in my nightmares where I'm trapped in those tubes, I can see nothing but darkness. "I-I don't know. Nothing is really jumping out at me here." I stop at a page with the ten-point spiral shape, and this time I don't have the sudden pain from before, but something about it screams at me to remember something. "This image looks familiar, but I don't know why." I utter, my fingers tracing the shapes of them.
"That's exactly what the others said." she sighs, rubbing her forehead.
"I'm sorry I couldn't be any more help."
"It's alright. We'll just have to keep looking."
"For now, we can focus on the Neo Gala Fundraiser next month." Fury begins, pressing a button on the table to show a logo of the letters NGF surrounded by a golden circle.
A silent video plays next to it, showing all kinds of people dressed to the nines.
"It's one of the biggest fundraising events of the year. The biggest names will be there from every field; Influencers, business, political leaders, you name it, they're on the list," he explains. "If there's any place to narrow down who's behind this, it would be a good bet."
"And you're planning on getting into this... how?" I ask.
"Luckily for us, we have someone who's already on the invite list," he says as an image of Danny appears on the screen and I have a feeling I know where this is going. "I believe you already know something about this."
"That's why it sounds so familiar..." before everything with Goblin, I remember him getting a call about it.
"Since you two are already known to be together—"
"Wait, what?"
Without missing a beat, there are pictures of Danny and me taken by what looks like the paparazzi. Articles of us floating around us and I feel my face grow hot. "You'll be attending. Together."
Something in his tone both told me he knew what we were going through and that he expected us to put it aside before this had to happen.
Why does he have to be such a super spy? I inwardly groan.
"We'll let you know about the details later, but for now—" he's cut off by Michael letting out a gasp, nearly dropping his notebook as he stares wide-eyed at it.
"Michael? What's wrong?" I ask, looking over his shoulder and my eyes widen at that's drawn on it. "S-Smoker?" he whips his head around so fast to look at me, he nearly clocks me on the head.
"H-How do you know him?"
"He was the one that attacked me and my friends during the IVY raid!"
Michael shakes his head, gripping the notebook so tightly his knuckles turn white. "No... no, no, no... he can't be here! It's impossible!" he says, and I can see him trembling. His eyes glow brighter as he shakes his head, squeezing them shut before he slams the notebook down on the table. "He's here, isn't he?" he says, quickly standing up and marching over to Fury.
Fury stares at him cooly, unfazed by his outburst. "Why would that matter to you?"
"You know why!"
The two have a stare-down, the air thick with tension before I tentatively speak up.
"Uh, anyone mind filling me us in on what's going on?" I haven't known him for long, but I haven't seen him raise his voice like that. The kid is as timid as a mouse.
"Why not just tell them, Nick." Professor Lee says calmly, arms crossed. "The boy has visions of the future, he was bound to find out eventually."
Fury stares at her, his eye glancing over to me for a second before focusing back on Michael. "He is." all the tension in Michael's body loosens at those words, shoulders slumping.
"Why? Why is Gabriel here?!"
"He originally worked for IVY. According to him, he was a 'hired hand'"
"What?! But... he..."
I connect the dots and look over to Michael. "How do you know that psycho, Michael?"
"He isn't like that!" I flinch back at his tone as he turns to face me, tears streaming down his cheeks. "At least he wasn't..."
I look to Fury before training my eyes back onto Michael. "You're gonna have to tell me what you mean... how do you know Smoker?"
He wipes his eyes with his sleeves, but the tears don't stop. "You may know him as Smoker, but I know him as Gabriel... he's my brother."
"What?!"
"How long were you going to keep that from us, Director?" Statlender asks as I take a moment to process this.
"Please, take me to him!" Michael pleads as Fury finally stands.
"That, I can't do. He's still a dangerous criminal that nearly killed Ari and—"
"I'll do whatever I have to! I-I'll work even harder on trying to make my visions clearer! I haven't seen him in so long... please!" he cries as Fury looks down at him with what almost looks like pity.
Despite that curveball, I step up to stand beside Michael. "If you're worried about his safety, I can go with him." I offer, much to his surprise. Despite my history with him, I can't just ignore the desperation in Michael's voice. "If it has nothing to do with the investigation, what harm could it do?"
"It won't be today or even tomorrow," Fury says.
"T-That's fine!" Michael says. "I'll wait... I just want to see him again," he says softly, and I have to wonder what Smoker was like before.
"Then that settles it." Professor Lee says, standing from her chair and gathering her files. "In the meantime, you can help us sort through this mess, Mr. Hoy," she says as the boy nods.
"Sure." he turns to me with a thankful smile. "I owe you one, Ari. I know you may not believe me, but he isn't what you think... at least I hope so."
"We'll just have to wait and see, right?"
"Come along then, Mr. Hoy." Professor Lee says, leading him along to the doors as Professor Statlender follows. She gives me a small wave over her shoulder before the three of them disappear behind the doors.
"Are you sure this is what you want to do?" Fury asks me.
"I'm sure. You heard it in his voice, right?"
"... You and Kele are a lot more alike than you'd like to think," he says, turning back to the NGF screens. "Still, this could be useful for us."
"You mean using Michael as a bargaining chip?"
"Not exactly. Having him here could help us get to information Smoker could be withholding."
"You think he's hiding something?"
"We'll have to wait to find that out, wouldn't we? You're free to go too, by the way. Good job today."
"Yeah, thanks..." I sigh, taking off my mask and rubbing my eyes. "Let me know if you need me," I say, turning to head out the doors.
Well, that was something.
Who would've known those two knew each other—and brothers, no less! The coincidence almost makes me laugh if the situation wasn't so messed up. Smoker is still a wildcard, but if we can convince him to help us take IVY down directly...
I pass by the Ball Room, hearing a rather loud crash, and I backpedal. The doors open and I see a training bot fly past me.
"Heads up!" I hear Power Man say as I jump to the side to avoid another one nearly crashing into me.
"Damn man, you wanna talk about it?"
He laughs as the room powers down, dusting his hands off and lifting his shades. "Sorry about that. Wasn't expecting company... what's up?"
"Just heading back from a meeting with Fury... found out some crazy stuff."
"Any leads?"
"No, unless you count finding out that Smoker and Micheal are related."
His eyes widen. "Seriously?!"
"I wish I were lying Luke. Michael wants to see him, and I volunteered to go with him."
"Ari that guy almost—"
"I know, I know. I have it under control, I promise. Besides, it won't be today, so I have plenty of time to rethink my life choices."
Luke presses his lips into a fine line before speaking. "Just be careful, okay?"
"Luke, when aren't I?" he gives me a knowing look before it melts into one of worry.
"You holding up okay?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?"
"Look, I know it's between you two, but don't think I don't notice the silent treatment you and Danny have going on. Is everything... okay?"
I sigh, playing with the material of my mask. "Honestly? I don't know anymore. Ever since that night Goblin attacked, he hasn't spoken a word to me. I've tried talking to him, but he just keeps avoiding me."
"That doesn't sound like him... he's usually the first one to want to talk it out."
"I know! He hasn't said anything to you, has he?"
He frowns, shaking his head. "No. he's been pretty distant from my end too. It hasn't really been the same since Spidey joined The Avengers, though, so I figured it was best to give everyone some space."
"Yeah... it's been so quiet without him."
"Maybe he just needs some time? That gas really messed with our heads... it tapped into something in us, Ari. It was... scary."
"I know the feeling, I do, but it's driving me crazy." without Pete here, I've been bottling up these feelings. "I know it's selfish of me to just want him to talk to me, and I can't imagine what that gas did, but he can talk to us—talk to me."
"Sometimes even if we want to help people we care about, we can't do anything until they're ready to be helped," he says, placing a hand on my shoulder. "I could go a little harder on him when we train next time if you want?"
That got a laugh out of me, at least. "Nah, I'll handle that if the time comes. I'll just have to be patient."
"Don't let him make you wait for too long though." he grins, nudging my side.
"Yeah, yeah..." I laugh and right on cue our coms go off. We both look to our screens only for our mouths to drop in shock.
Live from JJJ himself, footage of Spider-Man leading a horde of that looks like Venomized monsters into New York!
"What the hell happened in the past hour and a half, man?!" Power Man says as the video shrinks away, still playing in the top right corner and revealing White Tiger's masked face. "As you can see, Web Head's gotten himself into some trouble. Again. Meet us in the detention room at school and we'll catch you guys up."
"Got it."
"We're on our way." the screen goes dark and Luke slides on his shades and I put my mask back on. "Duty calls, right?"
"It never ends." he grins.
I open a portal, the image of the detention room in my mind, and adjust my hood. "You know the drill, right?"
"Hold my breath and don't let go," he says, placing a hand on my shoulder. We step through easily, and soon we're greeted by the whiteboard plastered with holographic news feeds on the current situation. Power Man shivers behind me, rubbing his arms with his hands.
"Sheesh, I'll never get used to that chill..."
I send him a sheepish smile. "Sorry..." the others look to us as we enter and I take in the situation. From hordes of monsters wrecking the streets to Spider-Man laughing maniacally from the rooftops. "New York can't go a week without being taken over by weirdo's, huh?"
"Except this time, this weirdo is Web-Head. Any idea why he would go rouge?" Nova asks.
"According to our information, Loki's up to his old tricks again and switched bodies with Spider-Man, hence... that." White Tiger said, pointing to the screens as he lets out a very un-Spider-Man taunt.
"Yeesh, I know Web-Head says some lame one-liners, but that's just a whole other level of suck." Nova laughs as the smell of sewer suddenly hits my nose.
"Hey! I take offense to that!" a voice behind us says and we all turn to see 'Spider-Man'.
"Loki!" I growl, my tails forming behind me and poised to attack. The others fall into formation beside me as he holds up his hands.
"W-Wait! I can explain—I'm Spider-Man, honest!"
"That sounds like something Loki would say! Get him!" Nova says as we rush in to capture him. Iron Fist is first, jumping high to land a solid punch on his chin as he avoids a blast from Nova.
"Ow! Hey, that really hurt!"
"Good, because there's more where that came from!" Power Man says, bounding towards him and knocking him through the wall with a well-placed shoulder tackle.
"Let's back Power Man up!" White Tiger says, following the others through the hole in the wall, but I lag behind.
Something's... off about all of this.
I shake my head, Loki's the god of tricksters and he's basically known for inventing lies. I have to focus.
I join the others as they try to pin the god down, but he only dodges our attacks as the team keeps piling on the damage to Mrs. Donilo's room.
"Can't let them have all the fun..." I mutter, focusing my tails as they sink into the floors and they slither towards Loki. The others distract him long enough for me to trap him, my tails springing up to hold him down.
"GAH! COLD!" he yells.
"Nice one, Shadow!" Nova says, landing beside us. "Whatcha gonna do now, Prince of Losers? Ha!"
"Glad to see your jokes are as bad as your breath, Bucket Head..." Loki scoffs, not even bothering to fight against my hold.
What the hell is going on with him?
"Guys, wait," I say, taking slow steps to him. "Something's weird..."
"He's Loki, there's always something weird about him." White Tiger says, and even though she has a point, I can't shake this feeling that Loki acting like this has something to do with Spidey acting like...
Oh shit.
I activate my eagle vision, gasping when he shines a light blue and I instantly let him go.
"What—Shadow what's the deal? We have him!" Nova shouts and Spider-Man shoves an arm out to me.
"Body Swappers!" he shouts, making me drop my guard. We all gape at him, the others looking from him to me, and I get a mini flashback to Pete and I watching that terrible horror movie.
"Spidey...?" I slowly reach for his hand, and much to my shock, he does the handshake perfectly.
"It's me, guys..." he says tiredly as I move to help him up, but recoil at the smell of him.
"Ugh, that's definitely Spider-Man," Nova says, waving a hand by his nose. "Loki would never travel by sewer."
"They were the only way to travel without The Avengers finding me!" he counters, making his way to his feet. The ground rumbles then, and the windows are blown in by a blast of light, and when the dust clears, The Avengers stand in formation except for Hulk and Thor who are nowhere to be seen. "Speaking of which..."
"Loki, enough running!" Iron Man says as Hawkeye and Black Widow take aim at him. "Kids, get away from him. Mind control or not, we will use force. We can't let him get away!"
"Wait! You have the wrong—" I don't have a chance to finish my warning before Iron Man blasts him. I feel someone push me away as Spider-Man gets blasted through a set of doors and The Avengers waste no time going after him.
If the threat wasn't Loki, I would have been a little offended at how quick they were to shoot...
I hear White Tiger call the others to move to help try to stop them as I cough out the dust in my lungs from the rubble Iron Man's blast caused.
"Are you okay..?"
I whip my head up to stare at Iron Fist. "Y-Yeah. Thanks for the save."
He opens his mouth to say something but closes it before helping me up. "We should go help Spider-Man," he says before rushing off and leaving me on my own.
"... Yeah." I follow behind him, looking at the damage this fight has put the school through. Luckily classes were over for the day, so it was empty—
"H-Help!" I hear a voice call out and I curse under my breath.
Almost empty, that is.
Spider-Man is currently keeping Iron Man busy while the others try to explain the situation, going toe-to-toe in their own battles, but neither of them notice the crumbling ceiling beginning to collapse onto a certain thirteen-year-old genius.
"Spidey!" I call out, gunning it towards Amadeus before he becomes a pancake. Spider-Man looks over instantly, rushing over and webbing the cracks to prevent them from spreading. I make it to Amadeus just in time, teleporting him out of harm's way before the webbing gives out.
"Did Loki just..." Hawkeye starts as the others click the pieces together.
"That isn't Loki, it's Spider-Man. We know—we're surprised too." White Tiger says.
"Loki uses his magic to swap places with me again. He wants to ruin my name and New York along with it!" Spider-Man says, brushing off the dust from his suit. "Stupid Asgardian magic..."
"O-Ow..." Amadeus hisses, holding his ankle and shivering slightly from the teleporting.
"You're hurt? Can you stand?" I ask him, brushing his hangs out of his eyes to get a look at the cut there.
"I-I don't know," he winces. "What's happening? Why're The Avengers here?"
"Just Loki up to his old schemes again," I say as he eyes Spider-Man warily. "I'll take you somewhere to get that ankle looked at, okay? Do you know if anyone else is in the building?"
"It's just me, I was working on my entry for the science fair."
I bite back a smile. Of course he was.
Sliding my arm under his legs and being careful of his injury, I use my other arm to support his back and lift him up with ease. I can see his face flush pink and I bite my cheek to keep from giggling. "I'll take him to a hospital and join up with you guys as soon as I'm done."
"Amadeus Cho, right?" Iron Man asks him as he nods.
"Yes, sir! Man of all times to meet you, it had to be like this..." he groans, slapping a hand over his eyes and I stifle down a laugh.
"Shadow Fox, I'll handle any medical fees. The nearest hospital is LIJ, do you know where it is?" I nod. "Good, they'll be expecting you soon." man having a high-tech assistant seems so helpful.
"Got it." I adjust Amadeus in my arms before turning to the others. "See you guys in a bit!"
"Be careful, okay? Those Venom monsters are no joke." Power Man says as I nod. It's a little awkward, but I manage to wave a hand to summon a portal.
"Hold your breath and close your eyes if you have to. Using my portals for other people is a bit much for them." I warn him as he nods and takes in a deep breath. I walk through the portal carefully, picturing LIJ in my mind, and in a couple of seconds, we arrive. Amadeus blinks, adjusting his eyes to the light again.
"That was so cool!" he says after taking a breath, eyes bright. "How does that work?! Do you bend reality like Doctor Strange? Is it some kinda tech?"
"Shadows, no, and it's a mutant ability." I laugh, having a feeling he would be curious. "Let's get you to the front desk and get that ankle looked at."
"I can make it from here. I know you have to help the other hero's so—"
"I'll make sure you're set before I do. What kind of hero in training would I be if I just left you?"
A nurse meets me outside, wheelchair in hand. A flurry of other patients are being wheeled in because of the attack. "Shadow Fox, we can take it from here, thank you so much for looking after him!" he says as I set Amadeus down on the chair.
"Thanks, Shadow Fox, I don't know how I can repay you..." Amadeus says, and I can't help but ruffle his hair a little.
"No need for that, it's all in a day's work. Just be more careful, okay?" I say as my communicator goes off. The blips of the others and The Avengers are scattered and moving quickly around downtown and I take that as a cue to leave. "Be careful during all of this, okay? I gotta head out!" I say summoning a portal and jumping through. It opens up to utter chaos as swarms of other venomized creatures swarm the streets.
"Shadow heads up!" I hear Black Widow shout as I see a ten-foot venom monster coming right for me. I summon my tails, springing out of the way and hopping onto an overturned car. It lets out an earth-shaking roar and charges at me again. I time it out, jumping up and out of the way as it crashes into the car behind me.
"Let's see if these still work!" I say, aiming my arm as I press the button on my gauntlets that shoot out the electric darts Maggie had given me. It goes into convulsions as I land behind it, the inky venom slime burning off the monster's body as it falls over to the ground, unconscious.
Black Widow makes her way to me and I have to push down the awe when she gives me an impressed smirk. "Nice work."
My face heats up in a blush. "T-Thanks!" an explosion grabs our attention as Iron Man flies above us, blasting two more flying monsters but three more just take its place.
"These things are never-ending!" he says as three dragon monsters soar above us. They shoot beams of ice towards us as we scatter to avoid becoming popsicles.
It focuses on me, swooping down and snapping its fangs as I flip away from its jaws. I use my tails to slash at its eyes when I finally have a moment to breathe; it crying out in pain as it slams into a building. I shoot it with another electric dart; the venom melting off of it as I see the others engage in their own fights.
"Shadow Fox!" I turn at my name, happy to see Spider-Man. He lands beside me just as Hawkeye blasts a Frost Giant in the face with an electric arrow, and Falcon takes it down with a sharp wave of his wings.
"Glad to see you guys are okay!"
"Same to you, we've been trying to take down these guys but there are just too many of them! We need to take them all out at once, but—" his attention is grabbed by Hulk, who's blocks away and jumps high into the air. "What the hell is he doing?!" Hulk lands on the streets with a deafening boom, the force of his stomp so powerful it shatters all the windows in the downtown area.
We have to brace ourselves against the shock wave, and our ears are ringing after it, but at least all the monsters had the venom goop ripped off of them.
A few ways away, Thor tosses some rubble he was buried under, standing up with a groan as Spider-Man taps me on the shoulder.
"I've got an idea!" he says, motioning for me to follow as the Asgardian stands up, looking a little worse for wear. "Thor! We need you to open us the Bifrost—even if we take these guys down they'll just end us getting venomized again! We need to send them back before that can happen!"
"Your plans have proven to work well in the past, Man of Spiders. I trust you."
"Shadow, we're gonna need your portals. Do you think you can help with the round-up?"
"Of course!"
"Let's get to it then!" he says as we split ways. I come up to Iron Man and Nova first, the two tag-teaming on taking down a group of them by air. I quickly make a portal beneath the monsters and dropping them into the Bifrost that Thor summoned.
"You think you can give me a ride to higher ground?" I ask Nova as he smirks.
"Psh, can I?" he reaches out a hand for me to take as he lifts us high into the air and on top of a building that can give me a proper view. I thank him before he flies off and from here, I can see everyone broken off into their own fights and Spider-Man hopping to and from each one.
"Time to put all that training to the test..." I mutter, holding out my hands as I do my best to tune out the sounds of battle and focus on making my portals. I gather up as many as I can, making sure not to get any of my friends caught up in them as Thor uses Mjolnir to whack them into the Bifrost.
"You holding up okay, Shadow?" I hear Spider-Man ask me through my earpiece.
"Well enough. Just be sure to steer clear of my portals unless anyone wants a trip to wherever Thor is sending these guys to."
"Heh, copy that. Let's keep this up and we'll be clear in no time!"
I spot something rise from the buildings off in the distance. Squinting, I realize its Doc Oc, decked out in some fancy new armor, and judging by how easily he just took down Iron Man and Hulk, I'd say it's a lot stronger than his old one.
"Spider-Man, Doc Oc is closing in fast from the West!"
"I'll take care of him, just focus on sending these freaks back!"
"Got it!" as I'm about to portal away another group of them, I feel a chill run up my spine and I jump away in time to avoid a blast from Loki as he hovers arrogantly above me. "Oh great, you're back..."
He chuckles at my reaction, his scepter gleaming in the light. "How lovely it is to see you again, Daughter of The Order. It's been far too long..."
"Not long enough in my opinion." I scowl, using my tails to snatch him out of the air and introduce his face to the rooftop. He avoids each jab with ease, mocking me without saying a word.
"I have to say, your power is most fascinating. Tell me, how does it feel to command the shadows so?" I don't bother answering as I lunge at him, but he teleports away as I land in a crouch. "You can do so much more with your powers, yet you help these fools."
"I'll gladly keep being a fool if it means protecting people from you!" I say, turning to have him be right in front of me and I stumble back, nearly falling off the edge of the roof.
"It must be hard getting a grasp of your powers, no? The fear of losing control... that one wrong move can hurt the ones you care for..."
"You don't know a damn thing about me," I growl.
"Oh, don't I? A distant father, powers you don't understand..." something in his eyes changed, and for a split second, I can see some sincerity in them. "I know more than you know, girl." darkness fills them and I'm blasted from the rooftop and I barely have enough time to put my tails up to guard against it.
"Damn it!" I catch myself, burying a tail into the side of the building and send Loki a glare as he stares down at me before disappearing in a swirl of green smoke. I let my guard down for a second and I fell for his sob story just like he planned.
He appears just above Iron Man and Hulk, blasting them from behind with his scepter. They get into formation before him, Thor sending a bolt of electricity towards him to knock him out of the sky and right beside Doc Oc.
"It saddens me that we must battle again, bother!" Thor booms, landing with Mjnolir in hand. "But you plan to do harm to this world and those I care for, and that will not stand!"
"You and your fools won't best me today! Octavius, attack them now!"
"Gonna be at his beck and call forever, Doc?" Spider-Man says as Doc Oc growls and swings a robotic arm towards him.
"Obey me, mortal!" Loki shouts, sending another blast of green energy towards Doc Oc.
"I am not your servant!" he says, grabbing Loki and slamming him into the wall of a building.
"Impudent wench!" Loki scowls, holding up his hands as they glow and the armor Doc Oc is surrounded in disappears and he's sent plummeting to the ground below. He's caught by Spider-Man as Loki reappears on the ground, clutching his chest where the armor grabbed him.
"Shadow, mind putting our friend into a bind?" Spider-Man asks me as I smirk.
"Gladly." I launch myself from the building, jumping off a lamppost and grabbing Loki by the waist with my tails. I do a half turn as I land and slam him into the ground. He lets out a shout of surprise and I can't help but feel the slightest bit satisfied as he lets out a groan of pain.
It gets even better when Hulk picks him up, intending to get his fist acquainted with his face until Spider-Man convinces him to noogie Loki into submission.
"Oof! You're lookin' a little worn out there, Loki." Spider-Man says crossing his arms. "You think you can really take us on now?" he says, nodding to the rest of us and I crack my knuckles, ready to take him on again.
Loki wastes no time heading to the open Bifrost portal opened a few ways away, running like a coward as Spider-Man webs his arms to bind them to his sides as he disappears through it. His helmet falls off before he does, clanking on the ground.
"You think that was the right call?" I ask him.
"Trust me, where he's going, he'd wish he'd stayed behind," he said as the sound of sirens echo off in the distance, ready to help anyone who was caught up in all the chaos.
*********
Night falls soon, the pinks and oranges of the sky bleeding into dark indigo as SHIELD finally moves in to handle any loose threads and take Doc Oc in again. The team is gathered around Agent Ana, her partner not far behind, probably ready to get back to the ship.
"You're not going back with 'em?" Hawkeye asks as he leans against one of the upturn cars I'm at.
"Nah, I have my own place now," I say, watching the ship take off, and I can't help but feel a little sad. I kind of missed the Tri-carrier. "Do you guys always stay in the tower?"
"Not always, it's just easier is all," he says as I see Spider-Man head towards us.
"Hm, five bucks Spider-Man comes back to our team."
"Let's make it ten."
"Heh, he'll probably get to keep his ID too..."
We both wait in silence as he comes up to Iron Man, taking a deep breath. "... I think I want to go back to my team. I know it's stupid to leave. Being an Avenger had always been my dream but... do you ever just want something and then realize it isn't what you wanted?" he rambles as the others exchange knowing glances.
"Avenger's Tower will always be here when you need it, Spider-Man. You have a great team, and you're a great leader. Be proud of that." Iron Man says before sliding his faceplate back on.
"Aw, what!" Hawkeye exclaims.
"Wait for it..." I say, holding up a finger.
"Oh, and feel free to hold on to your Avengers ID. It gets you discounts at StarkBucks!"
Hawkeye's shoulders slump as he digs into his pocket, but I wave it off. "It's fine, I don't need the money, but there is something I'd like to ask for..."
He cocks a brow. "What is it?" he asks cautiously as I did into my pouch and take out a small print an artist I follow on Tweeter was selling. It showed The Avengers all jumping into action, weapons at the ready. The print is made to be paired up with the villain side they were still making.
"Can you guys sign this?!" he looks at me as if I grew two heads before laughing and taking it.
"You could have just asked, you know that right?"
"With everything going on, I was afraid it was kinda bad timing..." I say, rubbing the back of my neck. He shakes his head, still laughing as he walks away to flag the others down.
"Guess you got the autograph you wanted, huh?" Spidey asks me and I can barely contain my excitement.
"I'm gonna get it framed!" I squeal, knowing the perfect place to hang it.
"... Do you think I made the right choice?" he asks, and I calm myself down.
Right, a big decision was made.
"Spidey, we all know how much it meant for you to be a part of The Avengers. It's a dream every hero worth their salt wants at some point."
"Gee, thanks..."
"Let me finish you, dork," I laugh, nudging his side. "You worked well with them and they still consider you an Avenger despite you coming back to stick with us. That makes you more amazing than you'd like to think."
He stares at the ground for a few seconds, mulling my words over before he nods. "Yeah... you're right. I was pretty awesome, huh?"
"Don't let it get to your head now..."
"Yeah, yeah. You still wanna come up for a visit after you get your autographs?"
"I think I'm just gonna head home. Still have some stuff I wanna set up and I'm pretty tired."
He nods. "Okay. See you at school?"
"Like I have a choice?" he laughs at that before shooting a web, tugging on it before swinging away.
"Hey, Shadow Fox, where'd you get this? I look awesome!" Hawkeye says handing the print back to me, signatures and all.
"She's a really popular artist on Tweeter! You're her favorite Avenger, too!"
"You don't say..." I give him her handle and thank them all before we part ways, holding the print carefully as I summon a portal to my room. I hop a little when I arrive, excited to have something my hero's signed. Then again, working with them was even more amazing...
I place the print on my dresser as I take off my costume. Luckily, if anyone ever found it, I could just say I'm an avid fan of Shadow Fox and that the gauntlets were just really realistic and totally not functional.
Nothing suspicious here. Nope.
After a quick shower, I spy Danny's sweater on my bed as I slip on my PJ's, nearly forgetting what had happened between us. I don't even know what's wrong to even try to fix it...
Shrugging it on, I head downstairs to be greeted by an empty house. I'm not sure what Kele does when he's away, and I'm not sure I want to know. Especially if it has to do with The Order.
The doorbell rings as I reach the bottom of the stairs, and I head over to the doors, wondering who it could be. Aunt May had mentioned wanting to bring more of that smoothie over from the other day...
Just as the bell rings again, I open the door, my greeting fading from my lips. "... Danny?"
He stares at me, searching my eyes for something before his own drop to his sweater I'm wearing. He rubs the back of his neck before he speaks. "Can I come in...?"
I snap out of it, nodding my head as I step aside to let him in. I close the door, still surprised by his sudden appearance, and I have a mixture of wanting to hug him and slapping him upside the head. "Um, sit wherever, I guess..."
He takes a seat on the couch, his left hand playing with something on his necklace—his version of the promise ring he got us. I sake a seat across from him, the coffee table between us feeling a lot bigger than it was.
It feels like hours before he says something, his voice cutting through the silence. "I'm sorry..." he finally says, and I don't even know how to act. I'm glad that he's finally here, but... "You're angry, and you have every right to be with how I acted."
"... I don't know if it helps your case or not when you admit it, you know." I say, my voice small. "Why are you here, Danny? I thought you wanted space."
"I know that's what I said. I know, but... I wanted to explain to you why I've been—"
"Avoiding me?" I finish, crossing my arms as he flinches. "I'm listening."
"I'm sorry... I really am, I just..." he leans forward, his arms resting on his knees.
"Do you even know why you're even apologizing?" I say, gripping the fabric of his hoodie. "You said that I'm angry, but I'm not. I'm hurt." he winces again as I continue. "After everything we've been through, how scared I was for you when I found out that the Goblin took you... you just shut me out without a damned word!"
"I didn't mean to... I didn't want to shut you out, I-I just didn't know what to do!"
"You could have talked to me, Danny!" I find myself on my feet, and he's still staring at the floor. "I didn't know if you were okay—I didn't know if we were okay! How am I supposed to know what's going on through your head if you won't tell me? If this is about what happened back in the Hellcarrier, I already forgive you, so why can't you just—"
"How am I supposed to forgive myself after what I did to you?!" he shouts, and I take an involuntary step back from it. He brings his hands up to his face, still refusing to look at me, his shoulders shaking.
"Danny—"
"How am I supposed to face you when every time I close my eyes I see myself squeezing the life out of you?" he says, his voice shaking and I feel my throat tighten. "I swore to myself when I took up the mantle of the Iron Fist that I would never let anyone I love get hurt ever again... and I failed. I failed you. I'm supposed to be a hero... and I let you down, Ari..." he says, his voice cracking and I can see his tears slip through his fingers.
"Danny..." I walk over the coffee table, kneeling beside him as I take his hands in mine. "Danny, please look at me," I say softly, gently prying his hands away as they fall to his sides. I cup my hands around his face, tilting it to look up into teary emerald green eyes.
"How can I..?"
"You didn't fail me or anyone else. What happened to you wasn't your fault, and I will never blame you for something that was out of your control." I blink back my own tears, swallowing the lump in my throat. "What did hurt was you shutting me out. I know you feel guilty, I know you feel horrible for hurting me, but nothing hurt more than you not telling me this and shutting me out..."
"Ari..."
"When you saved me back at the IVY institute, you saw me acting like a monster, you saw me hurt Simone... the guilt I felt after I hurt her shook me and snapped me out of my rage, but it took for that to pull me back. So, I-I get it, okay? I know what it is you're going through. I don't know If I'll ever be able to forgive myself for hurting her, but she did and now I'm making sure I never lose control again."
I brush his tears away with my thumbs, blinking back my own.
"I know how you feel, Danny, and I forgive you! So please... don't shut me out. That hurt me more than anything I've ever felt..." I say as a fresh wave of tears rolls over us both and he wraps his arms around me. I hold on to him like a lifeline.
"I'm sorry... I'm so, so sorry...!" he sobs, holding me tighter.
"I didn't know if we were still okay..." I cry into his shoulder, soaking the fabric of his shirt. "I was so scared you wanted to break up and—"
He pulls away just enough to look down at me. "I won't ever stop loving you, Ari. I was just... afraid you'd see me as a monster."
"You're my knight in shining armor, Danny, good days and bad," I say, and he finally cracks a smile and leans his forehead against mine. "You didn't see me as a monster when I lost it, you accepted me and didn't push me away. I'm sure as hell not gonna do that to you."
"... I don't deserve someone as wonderful as you..." he says, bringing a hand up to my cheek.
"I should be saying that to you, but... I'll take the compliment." that drags a laugh out of him and I smile at the sound of it. I lean up to close the distance between us, bringing him into a slow kiss. "I love you."
"I love you too." he smiles, pressing his lips against mine again. He lifts me up to sit beside him and I wince a little as a dull pain shoots up my side.
"I'm fine," I blurt at his worried look. "Loki got a hit in when I was distracted..." his hands move to lift my shirt up slightly, taking in the faint bruises that were fading today's earlier fights.
"I'm sorry..."
I take his face in my hand, looking him right in the eye. "No more apologizing. I already forgive you, okay?" I sigh, adjusting myself to sit a little more comfortably against him.
"I still feel responsible... let me at least help you with the pain?"
"... You won't stop unless I let you, huh?" he smiled sheepishly and I lean my head against his shoulder. "Okay, then. But don't push yourself like last time!"
"I won't." he smiles as his hands went back to my sides. I close my eyes and sigh at the coolness of his hands against my skin before the familiar tingly sensation of his chi flows into me. It feels much nicer than when my healing factor repairs my body, his energy warm and soothing. "There, do you still feel any pain?"
I stretch a little, looking down to see the bruises gone. "Not a bit, actually. You didn't have to do this..."
"I wanted to, Ari. You know how stubborn I can get."
"I do love that about you though." I grin as he leans in and rests his head on my shoulder.
"Ari, I—" His words are cut short when I hear a set of footsteps heading up our porch.
Without thinking, I make a portal behind Danny, falling through with him, and my back hits my bed as the door downstairs shut.
I stare up at Danny; the room lit up faintly by my lamp as his eyes widen when he realizes he's nestled between my legs, chest pressed against mine. My face flushes, and my heart rate shoots up at all the thoughts running through my head.
"Ari? You home?" I hear Kele call out and it takes me a moment to find my voice.
"Yeah! J-Just changing!" I shout as Danny quickly sits up, rolling off of me.
"Picked up some Thai food if you wanna eat!"
"Okay, I'll be down in a sec!" I call back as I hear his boots thump around downstairs before the sound of the television goes off and I let out a relieved breath. "I'll make a portal back to your room, okay?" I whisper as he nods, cheeks a bright pink. I picture his room in my mind and take his hand to lead him through it. For once, I'm glad for the chill my portals cause. "S-Sorry about that... I kinda panicked."
"It's okay. I honestly don't know how we could have explained it to your father if he caught us like that..."
I put a hand over my lips in mock surprise. "You would overreact if you saw your daughter's boyfriend with his hands up her shirt?" I laugh as he joins in on it and pulls me close, kissing my forehead. "I'll see you tomorrow?"
"Of course," he says, bringing my hands up to his lips and brushing them against my knuckles. "Good night, Ari."
I bite my lip to keep from giggling and give him a quick kiss. "Night, Dan," I say before stepping through my portal and back into my room. I zip up his hoodie, making my way downstairs to see Kele already eating from his takeout box.
"I ordered those noodles you like. I didn't know if you wanted them spicy, so I had them leave the sauce on the side." He said, and I can't help but notice the bandage on his cheek.
"Thanks. Are you OK?" I ask and gesture to my cheek.
"Yeah, this whole IVY situation is getting a lot more complicated than we thought... I hear you're going back to talk to Smoker?"
"He's Michael's brother, we're hoping we can get somewhere with this Gala thing," I say, taking the bag and making my way to sit beside him.
"You're going with that Rand kid, right?"
"His name is Danny..."
"Uh-huh. Does Fury have a plan for that?"
"As far as I know it's still in the works... Do you think we're finally close to getting the benefactor?"
He pauses, letting out a sigh as he runs a hand through his hair. "I don't know, Ari. What I do know is that this whole mess is unfortunately connected with The Order."
"... You mean Abstergo?"
"Yeah, which means this just got much more dangerous. We have to be twice as careful now. Abstergo being involved usually means a lot of people can get hurt, and they don't show mercy to those who don't follow them."
"... I understand. I'll be ready. We aren't alone in this."
He looks at me for a second before he reaches over to ruffle my hair. "You definitely get that from your mom." He says with a slight laugh.
"Then I guess I get my pessimistic side from you. I'll be sure to tell MJ and Harry that next time I see them." I say as I dig into my noodles.
Author's Note:
I'd like to think that Kele knew that they were having a serious talk and interrupted juuuuust in time. Lolol.
Merry Christmas, you guys! I hope you're all having a fantastic time! Thank you so much for reading and your messages from yesterday!
This chapter was really fun to do and I realize that Loki makes an appearance a lot in Ari's story... whoops. >.>
I just think he's neat.
As I said before, this will be the last canon episode I use since I have the rest of the story outlined. Now I just have to write it, whoo!
I hope I wrote Dany and Ari's talk felt natural... I re-wrote it over and over until I felt satisfied with this version. So many emotions to be hashed out, but I didn't want the story to continue with this since I felt it would be kinda out of character for them to still be in this weird place with what's going on later.
Anyway, I can't ever thank you guys enough for sticking with me this far!
Let's go, 2020! Let's go into the next year ready to go! σ～ (｀'メ
Have an amazing day/night/afternoon!
Sincerely,
— Hattress.