69: Meeting
Elsewhere in New York.
"I think the key lies in the way Susan and Johnny can activate and deactivate their powers—specifically, in how Susan becomes invisible and Johnny turns into fire," his words made the small rocky giant sitting across from him lift his head, his brown eyes now watching him with much more focus.
They were both sitting in the spacious backyard of the property Tony had lent Daniel so Ben could stay there. Between them, a campfire cast its light on the surroundings, now swallowed by the darkness of night, and in the distance, the faint buzzing of insects could be heard.
"If I can thoroughly analyze what allows them to do that, figure out why you don't have it, and then replicate it somehow, then maybe I'll be able to give you that 'control' factor that will let you return to your human form," Daniel said, wrapping up the brief and simplified explanation of his plan.
The idea had already been on his mind ever since he set out to help Ben. At first, it had been vague, but his night of meditation in the ice had helped him reflect more deeply and sketch out a basic outline of the steps necessary to make it a reality.
Of course, it sounded much easier than it would actually be. Even with all his scientific knowledge and the advanced technology he had access to, Daniel was well aware that this would be a difficult challenge to overcome—hence the "maybe" in his words.
"How long do you think it'll take?" Ben asked after a few seconds of silence, his thick fingers playing with the blue fabric of the oversized long-sleeve shirt he now wore—a garment tailor-made for him by Daniel, along with the shorts and Crocs that completed his new outfit.
Putting the ensemble together had been fairly easy. After finishing his patrol and paying a visit to the Storm siblings to check on them, Daniel had returned briefly to his farm. Using his ever-reliable super speed, he worked on the clothes as a small gift he hoped would lift the boy's spirits.
It didn't make him jump for joy, but at least it got a small smile and a "thanks" out of him—which, in his book, meant it had been worth it.
"Well… to be honest, I don't know. I don't like making false promises. I can't tell you I'll have the solution ready in a few days, not even in a few weeks. I'll do everything I can, that I can promise you—but you have to understand that you might have to live like this for a few months… or even years."
Ben flinched. His fists clenched, his teeth ground together, the hard features of his face tensed, and his eyes quivered. For several seconds, he said nothing—until, with a long sigh, he let the air escape from his lungs and his shoulders slumped.
"I get it…" he replied with resignation, his voice slightly cracked.
"I know it'll be hard, but I trust that you'll adapt—you just need to be patient." Daniel wished he had better words to offer him, but he didn't, and lying was something he wouldn't do. In a case like this, being honest and straightforward was the best path forward.
Ben nodded when he heard him. Over time, his once chaotic mind had settled into a strange kind of calm. He wasn't happy; he still struggled to accept everything that had happened, but at least he no longer felt the urge to lash out at everything in sight.
His anger had long since burned out, drowned by the sorrow of losing his best friend and the melancholy of having turned into a 'thing' made of rocks.
His only comfort—and the reason he hadn't yet fallen into despair—was Daniel's promise: knowing that someone was willing to help him, to do everything possible to give him back his life—or at least a part of it—gave him a sense of hope.
They talked a little while longer before Daniel decided it was time to leave—though not without first promising he'd be back soon with more supplies. Ben would need extra sets of clothes, as well as basic daily-use tools adapted to his new rocky physique.
They might have seemed like simple things, but in his situation, sometimes even the smallest comforts were exactly what was needed to endure the wait that lay ahead.
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"You know, for some reason I expected you to show up out of nowhere, it's not like you to stay on the sidelines when something exciting is happening near you," Daniel said after stepping in through one of the recently repaired windows of Stark Tower.
"I was tempted," Tony replied, setting aside what he was working on and turning to greet him.
Then, with a casual flick of his hand, he brought up a holographic screen, projecting an image of Ben and Daniel sitting together, watching the flickering dance of a campfire.
"You build a fire and don't even bring marshmallows? Seriously?" he asked, raising an eyebrow. "I almost flew over there just to correct that nonsense."
"I didn't think it was appropriate," Daniel shrugged, offering a small smile, then waved his hand to make the projection disappear.
Letting out a low snort, Tony shook his head, leaning back against his worktable and crossing his arms.
"Sometimes I think you're way too uptight. That kid doesn't need compassion—he needs fun. If you'd just let me—"
"I don't even want to know what you'd do if I left you alone with him for a minute," Daniel cut him off quickly, making him frown.
"I'm not that bad…" Tony tried to argue, but Daniel just gave him a flat look that made him grumble.
"Just give it a few days. The last thing I need is having to peel your body off the floor if you piss him off."
Tony had wanted to meet Ben ever since he learned of his existence—when Daniel called and asked to borrow a place for the kid to stay. However, knowing the billionaire's personality, Daniel wasn't entirely sure he'd allow that to happen any time soon.
It was already a miracle the man hadn't decided to ignore his request to stay out of it and just gone to meet Ben on his own.
"Normally, when someone tells me not to do something, it only makes me want to do it more…" Tony narrowed his eyes, a mischievous glint flashing in them—but that glint faded quickly with the arrival of a tired sigh.
"You're lucky I've been busy."
His words caught Daniel's attention, and with a quick glance around the room, his eyes finally landed on a half-finished suit of armor at the center of the workshop. Its design reminded him quite a bit of the Mark 3 Tony was currently using—but it clearly wasn't the same, since that armor was resting not far from where the man had been working.
"You've already started building the Mark 4?" he asked, intrigued. He remembered Tony had told him it would take at least several more months before he could even begin fabricating it.
"No, this is more like... Mark 3.5? Anyway, it's just a prototype I'm using to test some ideas for the Mark 4. And speaking of those ideas…" Tony paused before grabbing something from his workbench and tossing it to Daniel, who reached out and caught it.
The object was a small metallic square, about the size of a matchbox. Daniel examined it carefully, but even with his superhuman vision, it just looked like a piece of ordinary metal—maybe a little shinier than usual, but that was all.
"Squeeze it," Tony instructed, and Daniel didn't hesitate. His fingers began applying some pressure to the metal, but to his complete surprise, he felt resistance.
"This isn't vibranium. Where did you get it?" he asked, now closing his whole hand around the square and pressing harder. His muscles tensed slightly, and a sharp pang of pain shot through him from head to toe, reminding him of his fragile condition. Still, he pushed forward, and soon the sound of metal groaning filled the air.
With a loud crunch, the metallic piece finally gave in, breaking apart into several pieces.
Tony clicked his tongue at the sight of the broken sample. He had known it wouldn't withstand Daniel's strength, but it was still a bit disappointing to see it last less than a minute before giving out. Letting out another sigh, he began to explain its origin.
"As you know, I've been working on creating my own alloy. Originally, I thought it would take longer, but working with the samples of Element V you gave me sparked a few ideas. So far, this is the best result I've gotten. It's still below vibranium in terms of durability and versatility, but compared to other metals, you could say it's the best thing out there."
"You really like exceeding expectations, huh?" he said, genuine admiration in his voice. In fact, the version of himself from just a few months ago probably would've needed quite a bit more effort to break this new metal,—so he was genuinely impressed that Tony had made such progress in so little time.
"What are you going to call it?" he asked, and Tony rubbed his chin for a few seconds before shrugging and answering:
"It's not ready yet… but when it is, I'm calling it Proto-Adamantium."
Tony didn't choose that name just because he thought it sounded cool, but also because it hadn't been just his ideas and his incredible genius that had led to the creation of this new metal.
He had largely built upon the research conducted on the original adamantium during World War II to lay the groundwork and achieve its initial conception.
And even though the two metals weren't exactly the same, Tony wasn't shameless enough to take advantage of other people's discoveries without at least giving them some form of credit.
The man who had accidentally created adamantium so many years ago had already passed away, so the only way to honor him was to preserve the name he had chosen for the metal—or at least part of it. Of course, Tony also had to put something of himself in it, hence the "Proto."
When he heard the name, Daniel froze for a moment as certain memories began to resurface, making him contemplate the broken metal in his hand with a particular glint in his eyes.
Although he had never been particularly interested in the extraordinary materials that existed in this universe, he'd be lying if he said that having a weapon forged from some of them hadn't been one of his childhood dreams. Like Thor with his hammer or King Arthur with his sword—in his humble opinion, if the day ever came when he needed to carry a weapon, it had to be at least as incredible as those two, even if only to show off.
'Maybe I could start collecting a bunch of special materials and make something.' He wouldn't make it a priority, but he was willing to work on it if the opportunity ever came.
Before Daniel could keep losing himself in such thoughts, the sound of an incoming call snapped him out of his trance.
Quickly searching one of the pouches on his utility belt, he pulled out the phone he carried with him and answered immediately upon seeing the contact name.
"What's up?"
Tony was about to get back to working on his things while waiting for the call to end, but he stopped when he saw Daniel suddenly frown. Even though he couldn't hear what was being said on the other end of the line, Daniel's expression made it clear that it was something serious.
"I understand, I'll come right over" After a few minutes, Daniel ended the call, staring at the phone screen with unreadable thoughts.
"Problems?" Tony asked curiously, and Daniel nodded.
"Put on your armor," he said, turning to head toward the balcony where the window he had entered through was located.
"You want me to go with you?" Tony was slightly surprised. He had assumed it was a personal matter for Daniel, since the alert system he had developed to detect 'anti-natural' disasters around the world hadn't issued any warnings. In his opinion, unless another Graviton showed up, there was no need for both of them to team up against anything.
Noticing the misunderstanding, Daniel stopped to clarify.
"A friend of mine got into trouble. I suspect he just accidentally ran into agents of the Ten Rings." He didn't need to say anything else. At the mention of "Ten Rings," Tony went straight to his armor and suited up without hesitation.
With the hum of energy from his arc reactors powering up the machinery, Iron Man was ready.
"Let's go!"
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At the top of a building near the docks in Hell's Kitchen.
"Then the spider jumped at me!" Peter exclaimed, his body jerking backward as if reliving the event all over again, his palms slapping together in front of his face with a sharp clap that made Matt flinch slightly.
"And I accidentally ended up squashing it… which wasn't great because it exploded in my face and covered me in guts," the boy added with a hint of disgust, recalling how some of the remains had landed in his mouth.
Beside him, Matt, who had been listening silently to his story, couldn't help but wonder since when being bitten by a glowing spider the size of a rat gave you powers instead of killing you…
Somehow, he felt like he should be far more shocked and alarmed, but at the same time, another part of him told him this probably wouldn't be the strangest thing he'd hear in the future.
The world was becoming more and more... weird.
Peter was about to continue the story when a strange sound caught his attention. Almost simultaneously, both of them looked up toward a specific point above their heads.
An ordinary person would have taken much longer to notice it, but neither of them was exactly ordinary, and soon the source of that singular sound became clear as two figures soaring through the sky began approaching in their direction.
"Holy crap! That's Defiant and Iron Man!?" Peter squealed with excitement, grabbing Matt by the shoulders and shaking him carelessly, to the man's discomfort.
"Why didn't you tell me they were your contact?!"
"Stop it!" he growled through clenched teeth, though Peter barely heard him, too excited to notice his annoyance.
With the sound of the thrusters fading and metal meeting concrete, the two figures finally landed not far from them.
"Hey!" Defiant greeted them with a friendly smile, while Iron Man seemed to look them up and down for a moment before turning toward the caped hero at his side.
"Why is one of them in rags?" he asked, the amusement in his voice barely concealed by the mechanical undertone that accompanied it.
Rags? Peter blinked in confusion before noticing the armored hero was pointing a finger directly at him.
Looking down at himself, he felt his cheeks flush slightly.
"I'm not in rags!" he muttered under his breath. Sure, his costume was made from clothes he didn't wear anymore and was a little beat-up from his recent fight, but that didn't mean it was bad enough to be mistaken for that… right?
"Don't mind him. The metal covering him sometimes keeps the blood from circulating properly to his brain," said Defiant apologetically, while shooting Tony a subtle look of disapproval.
The man just shrugged, showing no hint of remorse.
"I'm just being honest, kid. Don't be offended"
Peter was definitely a little offended—suddenly, the billionaire hero seemed a lot less impressive... Well, his armor was still just as cool, but that was about it!
Internally, Peter promised himself he would start working on a new suit that no one could ever insult again. He still remembered some of the things Aunt May had taught him about sewing when he was younger; he just needed to get the right fabric and sketch out an impressive design.
While Peter was thinking about it, Defiant stepped forward and began the introductions.
"So, you're the Devil of Hell's Kitchen. I have to admit, I'm a little disappointed. From the rumors, I was expecting a hellspawn nearly ten feet tall, with horns and wings," Tony said as he extended a hand toward the vigilante.
"And you're exactly what I expected," Matt replied with slight sarcasm, taking his metal hand and shaking it.
"I'll take that as a compliment," Tony grinned before turning to Peter.
Noticing that the attention had shifted back to him, Peter cleared his throat and extended his hand.
"You can call me Spider," he introduced himself, puffing his chest out a little and straightening his back. Even so, and despite his recent growth spurt, he still seemed to be the shortest one present. Although, if Tony took off the armor, maybe that would change.
"Nice to meet you, Spider-Man," Defiant suddenly stepped forward, shaking his hand with a big friendly smile. His grip was unexpectedly firm, which made Peter jolt for a second.
"S-Same here! I mean, it's also nice to meet you, sir!" He tried to avoid it, but still ended up stammering, though his nervousness was cut short when his brain processed the way Defiant had addressed him.
Spider-Man? Peter blinked in surprise. It seemed the hero had misheard him, but for some reason, the more he thought about that name, the more right it seemed.
"Looks like someone's got a little fan," Tony joked, earning another unimpressed look from Defiant and once again embarrassing Peter.
Sighing, Defiant ignored the billionaire and looked at Daredevil. "I'd like to hear what happened." Although the vigilante had already given him a summary over the phone, he still wanted to hear the full story in more detail.
Matt nodded, about to speak, but before he could, their little meeting was interrupted by a nearby shout.
"Holy shit!! I told you it was Iron Man! Fuck, and that's Defiant?!"
The four of them turned to see two boys, around fifteen or sixteen years old, pointing at them, mouths agape, from the window of another nearby building.
"Maybe we should go somewhere more private?" Peter suggested tentatively, and the other three nodded in agreement.
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"…and that's what happened."
Telling the story hadn't taken them very long. Matt began by recounting how he had fallen into the trap, thinking he was interrupting a large-scale drug deal, and how he had fought the group of ninjas in the warehouse before discovering that one of them was superhuman.
At some point, Peter joined in, explaining how he had stepped in, earning a few curious looks when he talked about his powers. He didn't give too many details about them, but even so, it made them pay more attention to him than he had expected.
"What about the group of minions?" Tony asked, and Matt pointed toward the warehouse with the broken doors they were approaching.
"Spider tied them up with his… web?" Matt had almost said 'white stuff' but managed to correct himself in time.
"Don't worry, I'm sure they're still there. Not to brag, but my webs are really strong." A lie—he did want to brag. Creating them hadn't been easy, after all.
"Speaking of which, they… don't come out of your body, right?" The armored hero hesitated a moment before asking, and Peter could almost swear he looked toward his backside while doing it.
"Eh? N-No! Of course not! They're artificial!" he tried to clarify, but it didn't seem like the hero fully believed him, since he ended up taking a step away.
"Pffft! Hahaha!" To Peter's horror, the one who burst out laughing almost uncontrollably was Defiant.
"S-Sorry, it just reminded me of something." The hero apologized, of course. Peter didn't need super senses to tell he was being completely honest, and unlike Stark, he didn't seem malicious in the slightest.
That didn't stop his face from turning red—he was really glad he had his mask on right now.
'Ned can never find out about this,' he thought in mortification.
He almost expected an awkward silence; Peter certainly didn't feel like saying much more. Fortunately, they were already at the warehouse, stepping through the broken doors and looking at the group of ninjas tied up together with his webs.
Those who had been knocked out during the fight were already awake, and most of them were struggling, trying to escape. Some were even attempting to cut through the webs with small blades that Peter had no idea where they'd gotten from. He thought he and Daredevil had disarmed them, but it was clear they had missed something.
Well, not that it would help them much. His webs might degrade over time, but until that happened, they were tougher than steel.
"Well, well, well… If it isn't my favorite group of terrorists!" At the sight of them, any doubt in Tony's mind about their identities vanished instantly—he recognized them easily, seeing that they were dressed almost exactly like the group that had attacked his building.
Hearing his voice, the men stopped their escape attempts, their sharp eyes locking onto the heroes with a murderous intensity that would've made any normal person's skin crawl.
"Stark," one of them finally growled after several seconds of tense silence, causing Iron Man to focus on him.
"All right, I'll be blunt. For your sake, I hope you start talking—or you'll end up just like those of you who thought attacking me in my own home was a good idea."
The threat sounded all the more sinister thanks to the cold mechanical tone added by the armor's speakers.
But none of the Ten Rings members seemed worried. No—instead, their eyes, once sharp as steel, suddenly became… empty? Peter felt his spider-sense begin to buzz. Low, very faint, warning him about something he couldn't see.
"Something… something's happening," he warned, uncertain.
"What?" Iron Man turned toward him, but before he could say anything else, one of the captives' heads exploded abruptly, spraying blood and brain matter like a water balloon bursting.
"Shit!" Peter shouted, stumbling backward as he watched in horror while, one by one, the heads of the captured terrorists began to explode.
The three heroes beside him rushed forward, trying in vain to stop the gruesome spectacle. A small part of Peter wanted to help them, to try to do something, but another, much larger part kept him completely frozen in place.
The last to die was the only one who had spoken. His eyes locked with Peter's for a second that felt almost eternal. The light that had once been in them vanished the moment his head shattered into thousands of pieces, turning into a bloody rain.
No one spoke.
The four of them stood in silence, staring at the more than a dozen lifeless bodies, each lost in their own indecipherable thoughts.
The part of Peter still aware of his surroundings heard Daredevil clenching his teeth, Iron Man muttering curses under his breath, and Defiant holding back a growl that trembled in his throat.
Absentmindedly, he wondered if he was also making some kind of sound, and that very thought was what made him realize that something inside him was twisting, and before he could stop it, bile began to rise.
In a blur, Defiant appeared at his side, lifted his mask, and carefully helped him lean over—just in time for the entire contents of his stomach to start spilling uncontrollably onto the ground.
Peter vomited like he never had before.
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Note:
What a dark ending for a chapter that seemed so relaxed, right? But I think it's fitting—it shows our heroes what kind of people they're really dealing with.
As always, Spider-Man gets the worst of it.
First of all, I'd like to explain why this chapter took so long to come out, and that's because my damn brain just didn't know how to create a proper interaction between our four heroes! I knew exactly what I wanted to do—damn it, I have notes and a plan for the entire arc!—but knowing it and actually doing it are two very different things once you start writing.
First, I tried to do it from Tony's perspective. Then, when that didn't work, I gave Matt a shot, and when that still didn't work, I decided to try what I thought would be the easiest: Daniel.
Suffice it to say, none of them really convinced me. So I ended up going mostly with Peter's perspective and… well, I won't say it's perfect, but it's definitely the best I could do at this moment.
I look forward to your comments, advice, and critiques. The next chapters will probably be told entirely from Daniel's 'perspective.' I know many of you aren't too fond of focusing on other characters, but I can't help it—I think it's something I'm good at, and I really enjoy doing it from time to time, as you've probably already noticed.
Remember that you can already find the next chapter of this story on Patreon ( patreon.com/EmmaCruzader ) All the support received is appreciated ;D