35Chapter 5
Woo another chapter for you! I won't bore you with a note so let's get started.
Osborn was not having a nice day. His day actually went from nice to extremely horrible in the span of a few hours. He'd finally caught Spiderman! Peter's identity was not his priority but his blood samples were. Norman looked at the DNA strands he was so enthralled by the DNA that he forgot to keep a closer watch on Peter. It was surprising to find out his son's friend had turned out to be a result of one of his very own experiments. It was even more so surprising that it was Peter of all people. The fumbling nerdy boy who helped his son pass classes was Spiderman. Of course in the back of his mind the Spider was not going to go anywhere for a long time so the Spider could wait. What he didn't expect was for the hero to be busted out so quickly and by…
Deadpool
That name sent shivers of rage down his spine. He hated Deadpool. Norman had tried fruitlessly a while back to hire the expensive mercenary. He had even put up with negotiations with the infuriating mercenary and had to suffer through the unusual torture of holding a conversation with the immortal man. After his troubles he finally got a clear… that was until Deadpool found out he conducted human experiments. After that the annoyingly talkative merc had become a constant thorn on his side. The only positive aspect of this encounter was he was able to find out Spiderman's identity and at manage to keep one remaining blood sample.
Of course it wasn't just the rumoured Merc with the Mouth that came. Daredevil had accompanied the rescue mission too along with a mysterious figure. Norman was not pleased. Had he known that Peter had allies he would have put up far more safety measures. So far he had been updated that the swinging menace was simply a loner hero. Sure he knew of the occasional team up with the devil of hell's kitchen but he was at least certain that Deadpool was not his ally… well as far as he was concerned that lunatic just did whatever he wanted so it was unsurprising when he found his involvement in rescuing Parker.
Daredevil aside what really frightened the CEO of OsCorp was that one of his own men (woman actually) had decided to suddenly go rouge on him. Lisa Stillbourne had been an exemplary scientist who had worked on countless of his chimera projects, his attempts at replicating the serum and she was one of the few doctors who knew of his condition. He would not have expected a woman of her calibre and standing to have turned on him. The most disturbing piece of evidence was that she claimed to have been possessed, as if she was watching herself in third person, controlled by a person who called himself Danny and was called Phantom by Daredevil.
"Search up Phantom," Norman ordered one of his trusted employees.
The search result came up with a teen wearing a jumpsuit, his hair as pure as snow, and his mask a plain one with two laughing holes. He shivered as he looked into the toxic green glow that escaped the two eye-holes. The name Phantom suited this unknown finely.
"Sir if I may, Phantom is a recently sighted hero who is mostly sighted around Hell's Kitchen," his employee informed. "He's been known to fly, be able to shoot lasers and ice from his hands. It's also fabled that he can phase through objects and turn invisible. He's like a real life boogie-man."
"Clarence, set up a team. I want you to trail Phantom. If possible do not alert him of your presence. Record anything about him, where he patrols, when he patrols, how he behaves. If he leaves any traces of DNA or blood behind I want it."
The authoritative tone behind Norman's voice was absolute. Doctor Nicholas Clarence quickly got to work. OsCorp had a few known hired guns for work but right now the task wasn't to kill Phantom. He needed someone stealthy enough to duck and follow. Clarence knew of only one group of people for that job: HYDRA.
1 month later:
It all felt so unreal. Here I was sitting with two heroes eating shawarmas? We sat on the edge of the roof, our legs dangling of the side of the building munching on the heavenly middle-eastern wraps. I thought I deserved it considering I had starved myself for two days as I worked nonstop on perfecting my hover board. It was such a pity that I couldn't put the name Fenton or Phantom on it. It still had that awesome black, white and neon green colour scheme though.
"Shouldn't we be fighting crime, busting some baddies, hanging up laundry or something?" I ask.
Daredevil snorted, lips curled in amusement. "Sometimes it's good to just take a breather and relax. You look like you haven't eaten in days."
"No wonder you're not growing," Peter laughed to which I hit his arm indignantly. "Oww~ I don't condone violence."
"Says the guy running around in a leotard beating up people," I retorted. Spidey's suit was so skin tight it made me cringe. Well at least he had a pretty ripped body underneath. Still it showed way too much definition… even for me. At least my HAZMAT suit didn't define every curve and crevice of my body. The only reason I hadn't bought it up was because it seemed to be the in thing with a lot of male and female supers around here.
"Teenagers," Daredevil grunted.
"You never told me how you figured that out," Peter whined. Yeah Spider-boy had a real tight lip about his secret identity. He didn't even want people guessing his age. He told me it was about protecting his aunt and girlfriend or something like that. I could relate considering back home I'd stopped about 3 super-villain plots that involved using my family or friends against me. People just realised after a while that messing with my family meant they'd be missing a few essential body parts.
"Let's stop drilling him," I told Peter, "Devil-man loves keeping us hanging. Plus I have way more important news. My beautiful little ankle biters are going to school today! Can you believe it? I can't believe it! You should see Tod in his little kindergarten outfit. I couldn't stop taking pictures. Do you think they're alright? I mean Cal's a little shy so do you think he's going to get picked on-"
"-Let's stop you right there Casper," Spiderman moaned in irritation. "You won't stop talking about them once you start. You're like a doting mother!"
I huffed. I couldn't help it. I never understood why mom and dad did that to me until I started taking care of those kids myself. I mean they're my responsibility. When their practically yours the only thing you really want for them is to flourish. When they do something new like take their first steps in school and cook their first dish it just made me so darn happy.
… Ok I was a doting mother.
"Didn't take you for a family man," Daredevil commented with a smile tugging his mouth.
"Well not many would take a dead teenage ghost as a family person," I agreed laughing a little.
"How did you manage to convince child services?" he asked, "you know what with being dead and all."
"That's simple. I have a human identity as well. Don't ask how. Anyway I finished up my fake id so I'm like their older brother by law and since I'm 'above 18', I'm legally allowed to take care of them. So I signed them up for school the moment I could."
There was a moments second that was peaceful. For a while I could just forget that I was stuck in a different universe, that I had insane financial burdens I really shouldn't have to worry about at my age, and that I had no idea if my home was safe. Ok stuff that- my thoughts were still on the kids.
"Do you want to see pictures?" I asked excitedly, breaking the silence.
Peter groaned in irritation and Daredevil just laughed at his reaction (possibly because he couldn't see them even if he wanted to- which he didn't). Peter would have to deal with it because I was not about to quit my excitement for about another week. I was the most proud big brother in the world after all.
My attention was sparked when Peter nearly dropped of the building. I quickly grabbed him by his collar and pulled him up. I worriedly bent over him unsure of what had just happened.
"Spidey, Spidey, are you ok?!"
"Kid, talk to us?" Daredevil said, his gruff voice conveying his worry as well.
"Ugh- I-I'm fine," Spiderman groaned as he sat back up. "Recently my senses have been dialled up like a hundred fold. Sometimes it's too much to process."
I looked at him in worry. Was this a side effect of the virus he was injected with or was he just going through spider puberty or something? Did spiders even go through puberty?
"Well give me a call if you ever need help with it," I offered to which I received a reluctant nod.
Norman paced his room before getting a phone call. Finally he would be updated on what Phantom was doing!
*Sir*
"What's Phantom up to?"
*Sir… he's um… eating Shawarma with Daredevil and Spiderman sir.*
"Call me when you get something fucking useful!" Norman growled in anger.
*Sir you said you needed updates on his every-*
"Are you a fucking retard? Use some fucking common sense! Call me when he's doing something interesting! Don't waste my time!"
*Yes sir-*
Norman cut the phone and chucked it on the floor. It broke instantly and he grumbled.
"Why do IPhones have to be so fucking weak?"
I felt more than happy today. The kids were of on the first day of school, I caught up with my super-bros and I was going to take the hover board for a sales pitch today… or at least Mr O'Neil was and I was just going to tag along with the pretence of an apprentice. We were going to Stark Tech! That place had a million different things I wanted to explore, not to mention a hero that literally wore a metal suit with missiles and laser blasters in it. Skulker much? I was just happy this guy wasn't about to take my pelt. Poor Peter had to deal with Kraven the Hunter. The universe must've had a running gig about hunting down teenage superheroes in spandex.
"You're jittery," Greg said with a smile.
"You kidding? This company has insane tech! Touch-screen holograms, a fully functional Ai program that hasn't gone rouge and tried to take over the world (although there was Ultron), and Iron freaking Man! If our hover board actually sells we'd become business partners with one of the most leading companies in technology I've ever seen! After I make them an interdimensional portal sometime in the future they'd be like the epitome of a sci-fi company!"
"Interdimensional portals?" Greg asked with a chuckle, "Let's not get ahead of ourselves."
I didn't comment on how I actually had the knowledge to build one myself… but then again that was Ghost Zone stuff and the money needed to pay for the materials was crazy unaffordable. Mom and dad were only able to accomplish it with all their last bits of pennies going towards it. But once I became a millionaire with the patents I would have on the hover board, a thing like money really wouldn't be a problem. I could buy so many things for the kids as well and we wouldn't be living in borderline poverty anymore.
"Are you sure you don't want to take credit for the design?" Greg asked, his voice guiltily expressing his concern.
"And have people question me left and right- no thanks. The last thing I want is attention on me," I said quickly. "Ok maybe just tell them I helped tweak it and stuff."
"Can do son," he replied with a giant grin. "Let's blow their roof of!"
I fist bumped the old man as we got out of the car. He really was just a kid stuck in an old man's body. I pulled up the tie and hoped I looked presentable… well as presentable as I could in an old second hand suit I barely was able to afford.
Stark Tower was huge. Well it was the Avengers tower right now but it still seemed a lot more Stark like than Avenger-y. Of course this world was crazy enough to have a billionaire superhero that looked like he came straight out of the comics. This world's history was insane. They had random humans popping up with powers calling themselves mutants. They even had an off-branch NAZI group with a clichéd evil super-villain and everything, named the Red Skull of course because that didn't totally scream evil. If that didn't scream cheesy evil lines and classic villain tropes than I didn't know what did. It was also pretty cool how their WW2 War hero somehow came back from the dead. It seemed there was a lot more interesting events in this world then there had been in mine. That didn't mean I didn't want to leave. My family was still there and that was enough to make me want to back-peddle across the sea just to visit them. It had been 3 months since I came here and it really was taking a toll on my confidence.
"Come on Danny, lighten up. We might not be meeting Mr Stark himself but a senior executive branch director is still pretty high up."
That wasn't why I was suddenly gloomy but I decided to plaster a smile to ease his worries. I needed to make a good impression today. I needed this.
Tony Stark fiddled with his new suit and was becoming increasingly bored. Yes it was a technological marvel, yes it was pretty awesome, yes it saved his life a million times… but it was also sort of boring creating the same thing again and again. Sure he changed a little design flaws, tweaked it a little to withstand more pressure or work better in different terrain but it was still so darn easy and familiar. The only familiar thing he wanted in his life was Pepper Potts and maybe some of his Avenger friends.
"JARVIS, is there anything interesting going on?" Tony asked swivelling in his chair.
"There is currently a board meeting proceeding on the continual decline of Stark profit due to clean up work-"
"No, no, no I mean like something interesting. Is there some sort of new exciting invention or somebody doing something ridiculous you want to show me from the cameras?"
"I'm afraid showing you footage of that kind is considered a violation of the privacy contract from page 134… however there is a meeting scheduled currently on the selling rights of new hover technology."
"Why didn't you just say so earlier? JARVIS take me to their current location."
"As you wish Tony"
I nearly fell of the hover board during the demonstration when the door swung wide open to reveal Tony Stark. I had to admit during my time in this world I had grown a secret crush on the man. He was rich, wealthy, and confident, revealed his secret identity on his own terms, and didn't give a rats ass about what others thought about him. He was everything I had wished I had done in the past… well except for sleeping around with girls and being a playboy. To add to that he was a genius and his tech was amazing!
"We're taking it!"
Now even Mr O'Neil's face was slack jawed. Did the Tony Stark, head of the Avengers, CEO of Stark Industries, just agree to my invention himself? Wow… just wow. I slapped my face. Pull yourself together Fenton, you're worshipped back home. Millions of teenage girls have shrines of you in their lockers! Since when were you such a fan-boy anyway?
My internal scolding did not go unnoticed by the people around me and I blushed before regaining balance on the board. I turned it off using the switch on the back end of the board, clipping it down. The hover board gently lowered itself down and I practically had to hold myself back from stuttering like a fool.
"M-Mr Stark, i-it's a meet to pleasure you. I mean it's a pleasure to meet you sir, Mr Stark," I fumbled.
"Please call me Tony," he said easily as he picked up the board to inspect it. "This is real impressive work-"
"Gregory O'Neil," Greg replied shaking his head in wonderment.
"We'll buy it but first I need to see the legalities."
"Of course," Greg said as he fumbled through the documents.
I watched biting my lip in anticipation. We paid a lot of money to get this patented. The invention was done in time but the legalities were important. Any technology could be used for harmful purposes. A hover board was in no way different. The nature of this invention meant that there were overseas risks to consider as well. In the end we paid about $3000 dollars to get the legalities through. Everything hinged on Stark placing his faith on the nature of the machine.
"You've gone through everything," he said with a smile. "I'm glad you don't think this should be used for military purposes but you don't have to worry. Stark Industries has stopped providing for the military years ago."
I let out a breath of relief although Greg probably didn't really care about that bit. I'd seen what the military did with my parents inventions and when I had released the Phantom range I'd made sure that they couldn't touch my tech. I hated killing and I hated the power we held in our hands. I could trust myself with that power, and that was only because I kept a reign check on my morals every day, but I couldn't say the same about others.
Stark must've noticed the relieved expression on my face because I instantly pulled my features back in a tight line. He smiled at me! Ugh it was that smile. Oh by Clockwork, the last time I got that smile from someone it had been Vlad and he had thrown me into another freaking universe!
"How would you like a place in my company Greg? Can I call you Greg?"
"Yes- I mean sir, I'd be honoured but I'd only agree if you accepted my apprentice as well. He played a major role in creating the hover technology."
"Yes of course he did," Stark said with an all knowing look.
Ok there it goes again! What was it with billionaires and that smile? Just what was it that he knew about me that he wasn't saying? I followed after them regardless, trying to put on my best poker face. Thankfully Greg was answering Stark's questions on how it worked perfectly. I'd made sure he understood it so that it looked like it was him who made it. It physically hurt me to do so but this wasn't my world. I couldn't be as open here as I was in other places.
"Well it was nice meeting you Mr O'Neil, Danny," he said giving me one long glance before smirking and leaving with the board.
"We're rich!" Greg practically screamed as he went outside. A few people threw us curious glances before walking by with their lives. "You my boy are winning my all-time favourite employee award."
"That's funny because I thought I already was," I replied cockily.
"Come here kid," he said as he pushed me into a choke hold and ruffled my hair.
I groaned in irritation as I pulled away and tried to fix up my messy hair. "I'll be good as long as we keep our deal. You know the one about halving the money."
"Personally Danny, I think you deserve more than half but I'll keep it. How about we take the kids out for a treat today as well?"
"You mean like to a real restaurant?" I asked.
"Yeah a real posh one," he grunted in agreement.
"Will do. Did I tell you it's their first day at school today?"
"Only for like the whole morning," he replied with an irritated smile but a lot of understanding. "I did the same thing when my boy went to school for the first time. So do you want me to drive you to their school?"
"That would be awesome."
We got into the car. I was practically bouncing up and down in my seat. Tod was adorable so he should be fine. Lilly had enough sass to verbally beat down Doctor Doom if she wanted. It was Cal I was a little worried about. He didn't like talking to other boys. I couldn't blame him. After what he had gone through I didn't want him near any men I didn't personally trust myself. Of course I pulled some strings and got him a female teacher instead. I was about to stalk him but he said if he caught me watching him in class he would not hold Lilly back from doing the usually stupid things she tries for a whole week. I couldn't deal with that so I reluctantly agreed.
"You look so out of place as a parent," Greg laughed.
"I'm not old enough to be a dad! I'm more like their awesome big brother!" I protested.
"Did I say you look like a dad? You're more like a mother hen," he teased.
I groaned. Why did everyone compare me to a mom? Was I even that motherly? Didn't they know they were shattering my highly inflated male ego that I had nurtured for most of my adolescent life? Thankfully that train of thought was interrupted when we stopped in front of the school. I practically jumped out of the car in excitement. I wanted to tell them everything that happened and I wanted them to tell me what it was like.
Lilly was waiting by the gate holding Tod's hand while Caleb was brooding next to her. Yup, that's exactly what kids should look like. I liked this. This was way better than them living out in the streets holding guns fending for themselves, and diving through trash for food. A smile etched across my face.
"How was your first day? Did you make friends? Did anyone give you crap? If they did just call me up and I'll teach them a lesson-"
"We're fine, Danny," Cal huffed although he gave me that look that said 'please go on I want you to coddle us more'.
"I made three new friends!" Tod said holding up his fingers.
"And you learnt how to count. You're a quick learner," I said proudly as I picked him up.
I noticed Lilly was a little quiet. Her usually perky attitude was dimmed down and she seemed to have shrunk into herself. Wait was this the real Lilly or had she been abducted by aliens. That wasn't such a far off claim was it? I mean aliens did attack this world before.
"How did it go Lil's?"
"It was fine," she huffed, although by the way she acted it was obviously not fine. I really didn't know how to comfort her. I had never really been one to comfort others. Usually I was the loner that needed comforting. Would changing the subject help? Where was Jazz when you needed her?
"Hey how about we go out for some dinner today? I'll take you guys out shopping and everything! We can buy a new Tv and a Playstation and everything."
Cal and Lilly perked up at hearing the word Playstation before a guilty expression crossed their faces. I realised I hadn't broken the good news to them yet. I was about to tell them when Greg decided to break it to them.
"You're mommy and I sold an invention to Stark Industries. We're practically rich now. Of course the money's only going to roll in a couple of days from now but we can spare the change."
"I'm not their mommy," I growled before huffing. "But we're not holding back today. We're going shopping and then we're going to go to a real restaurant and have some awesome Chinese food! We'll definitely get the expensive sea-food platter and everything!"
I slumped onto the new bed I had just bought. It was queen sized and practically fit everyone on it. The whole day played over and over in my head and I couldn't help but smile. This may have been a different universe but I couldn't say that I didn't make the most of it. It had been a great day. We got my invention patented. The kids finally started going to school. We went out and bought clothes that weren't second hand, then proceeded to buy a flat screen tv and a Playstation with a few games. We even went to a really good Chinese restaurant and ordered as much food as we wanted. For the first time in three months I was going to go to sleep without an empty stomach.
Tod lay next to me followed by Lilly and Caleb. It was still a bit tight sleeping on one bed together but they liked it. Tod especially had wanted me to sleep with them the moment we started our journey together. I had declined considering I was tinkering on my ecto-purifier and that was top priority- even to sleep. Well now- now I was in a world where I was an alien but it seemed a little better. If I weren't here the kids sitting next to me would have gone down a seriously horrible path. At best they would have been stuck in the streets most of their childhood before joining a gang and at worst they would have been victims of human trafficking like Caleb almost was. They were the only reasons I didn't regret coming here, they were the reason for my sanity.
"Danny," Tod said yawning a little as he turned to me.
"What's up little man?" I asked.
He smiled lazily at me as he buried his face into my chest. "You're the bestest thing that ever happened."
I was speechless.
Some part of me melted to those words. I pulled my arms around him protectively and smiled, tears brimming, threatening to spill. There was something so different about what he said. So many people, girls, boys, parents, all of them said the same thing. Phantom you're awesome! You go Phantom! I love you Phantom! You're my favourite superhero! None of that made me feel this way. They said it because they thought of me as a far of celebrity. It was a passing moment of praise and approval. I had for so many years longed to hear them cry out those words of admiration. When it happened I was elated, over the world, but I was afraid. One wrong move and they would turn on me.
This- this was different. I didn't need the world's approval. I already had theirs.
The sound of light snoring emptied across the mostly bare room. The kids were asleep. Safe. They were where they were meant to be. I gently pushed Tod aside, reluctant to let go of the sleeping child. Cal would murmur. I heard it every night. He didn't wake up screaming anymore but he was still haunted by his memories. I sang to him most nights and he would instantly curl up a softer expression on his usually taunt face. I couldn't be there for him all the time. The idea annoyed me but I had work to do. They weren't the only ones needing my help. People outside were being murdered, robbed, raped every night and I couldn't let it happen.
I transformed into my ghost half before flying through the wall. Daredevil didn't appreciate me invading his nightly crime extermination project but Spiderman welcomed my help. It must be because with my help we could take turns sleeping and patrolling. He wasn't as clumsy as he was before due to fatigue and neither was I.
I flew down behind a mugger. Wow these people never quit did they? I mean if you know a bunch of super powered people in tight spandex was running around all night you'd think they would back of. It was kind of cute how they thought we couldn't stop them.
I yawned loudly catching the attention of the mugger. "You know Phantom's need sleep too. Why don't you guy lay off for one night. You know tone down the 'I want to commit crime' attitude and go watch a movie or something?"
"What is it with you?" he asked me back in frustration. "Don't but in kid! I need to provide for my family!"
I stepped back a little and crossed my arms defensively. He had a family. He needed to provide for them… just like me. I didn't hurt innocent people just to do it though. Before I could do or say anything webs flung out from the distance pinning the man to the wall as the victim ran towards me with a shriek.
"Phantom, are you getting soft?" Peter asked teasingly.
"What- no. I was just- making conversation?"
"Sure, sure. Hey lady, are you ok? What are you even doing walking around in the middle of the night in an alley way for? Are you asking someone to mug you cause you might as well be wearing a sign saying 'mug me please'," Peter asked in irritation.
"Don't mind him. Underoos has his jumpsuit panties in knots," I grumbled.
"Thank you," she said in relief as she shook my hands. Something stung my hand and I pulled it away just as quickly. "Sorry about that. Long nails tend to scratch," she apologised.
"No harm done. Can you get home by yourself?" I asked.
"Y-yes," she said before waving an awkward goodbye and leaving.
I flew up to the rooftops. Peter always had calling the police covered so I never worried about it. Somehow some part of me felt like I had missed something important. Like that lady was… dangerous? I don't know how I came to that conclusion but she seemed kind of… well off.
"My spider senses were tingling," Peter said catching me off guard.
"Well my ghost sense didn't go off so she's definitely human, and female, and harmless… I think?"
"Human females are anything but harmless," he said with a shuddering voice.
"Experience?" I asked smirking, although he probably wouldn't see it through my mask. "Is Mary Jane that scary?"
"You wouldn't be making fun of me if you had a girlfriend," he replied unfazed. "Once this is over do you want to go catch a bite tomorrow? I mean not as heroes but y'know as normal people."
"You want me to be a pleb?" I asked him smiling underneath my mask. "What did your Aunt May tell you, you need to socialise?"
"Urgh, how do you always guess?" he groaned in frustration. "Yeah she wants me to 'socialise' but I think she's just making an excuse to invite you over again. She said you can bring the kids."
"Wait you told her about the kids? She doesn't think they're mine does she?"
"Nah I told her they were your siblings… was that- um- not fine with you?" he asked awkwardly.
"It's fine. It's fine. Just making sure," I replied assuringly. He seemed to calm down and sigh in relief. When it came to secret identities Pete was always fretting.
"We should get back to work"
"Yup"
We went our different ways. Somehow the incident with the lady made me worry. Why was she on my mind all of a sudden? It wasn't that odd… we shook hands and she had incredibly sharp nails. Other than that she looked pretty much like every other generic mugging victim; stupid, ditsy and with zero self-preservation instincts… well at least the ones running around in the middle of the night wearing brightly coloured clothes.
Oh well the rest of the day was amazing. Why couldn't the night be as well?
Oh Danny you just jinxed yourself!
That took forever to write but it was fun. The plot really does start in these few chapters starting with Osborn finding out Peter's identity and things spiralling down from there. I tried to be humorous but I'm not exactly sure if I am. I'm more of a sarcastic kind of person who lives to point out the absurdities of life so other kinds of humour just go way over my head.
Who else loves the whole Spiderman, Daredevil and Phantom friendship? I thought of adding Deadpool into the mix but Danny kind of hates the guy (XvX). The Avengers, mutants, fantastic four and other heroes will be mentioned later. Not sure if I want to add the defenders in there or even the inhumans. I just don't have enough knowledge on those aspects of the Marvel universe. I'll have to do some reading up and because of that I unfortunately have to take some time off, to scan through the plot overview to make sure the story is enjoyable. So I'm terribly sorry if my next update takes a while (T_T)
I love all of you guys who reviewed, followed and favourited my story and I hope you enjoyed reading my story so far!
