One
Khonshu's ceremonial armor forms around Moon Knight as he runs at the goons doing a poor job protecting the weapon that he and the Avengers are after.
"I don't think I'll ever get used to that," Sam mumbles, flying over Moon Knight's head and shooting two men.
"Yeah, whatever happened to classic uniforms?" Bucky asks, standing back where they were standing originally, acting more as a sentry than a front line solider (something he decided he'd had enough of anyway).
"Bucky, if I didn't know any better, I'd say your age is starting to show," Cap jokes, knocking down seven guys with one throw of his shield.
"At least you had time to acclimate to being in the future," Bucky quips back. "I was too busy being Winter Solider to get any real exposure."
"Would you two stop flirting and start shooting?" Tony quips, lasering down a group of guys over by the entrance to the bunker they were trying to get into.
"Now you know how I feel," Nat grumbles, swinging her leg out in front of her and taking out two guys, whom Bucky finishes off.
Meanwhile, as Moon Knight charges through the small Middle Eastern village, he cuts through guys with ease. He checks each hut, making sure every goon is taken care of so that once he and the Avengers make it inside the bunker, all they have to worry about is getting that weapon away safely.
That's when he sees her. A woman, tucked away in the corner of the hut, covered in debris and rubble. Moon Knight lets his mask fall away as he slowly and cautiously approaches her. Her breathing is shallow, but she's alive, and he notices the glaze fall away from her eyes as she follows him.
All of the civilians were supposed to be evacuated before they had even arrived. What was she doing here?
He sits on the floor in front of her, suddenly not feeling very well. She sees how his eyes are full of pain, of sadness, of hesitation. The woman doesn't move or say anything, just watches as his eyes roll up into the back of his head and the suit around him becomes darker, with only the hood and the cape remaining white. His eyes shift from pain and confusion to sheer determination.
"Vamos, te sacaré de aquí," he tells her, and he begins trying to dig her out.
"Yo, Moon Dude. You coming or are we gonna have to leave you here?" Tony calls out to him, and the man in the Moon Knight suit groans as he picks up the dying woman. He runs out of the hut and back towards Bucky, Nat, and Steve.
"Ella se está muriendo, necesita asistencia médica," he says, and Nat blinks.
"You speak Spanish?" she asks, and he just stares at her. She sighs. "Lo tengo, ve a ayudar a Sam y Tony en el búnker," she says after a brief staring contest between the two.
Moon Knight nods and runs back towards the bunker, cutting down anyone who dares stand in his way. One man manages to graze Moon Knight's shoulder. Big mistake.
Moon Knight turns toward him and punches his face repeatedly, before knocking him to the ground and stepping on him. He takes one of his crescent-shaped blades and slices the man's neck open, before returning to the task at hand and attempting to clear out the bunker entrance.
"Is it just me, or does Marc seem a little more violent than usual?" Sam asks, circling the bunker like a vulture.
"Yeah, and what's up with the costume change?" Tony adds.
"Who cares? Our priority right now is that bunker," Cap says, shifting focus back to the task at hand. "Stark, how much longer til we can get in there?"
"I could throw the charges now if Moon Dude would get the hell out of the way."
Moon Knight scoffs. "Tirarlos, estaré bien."
"Uhhhhhhh.. anyone catch that?" Sam asks.
"He says throw the charges," FRIDAY responds.
"Alright, whatever you say, Moon Dude."
Tony throws down more charges than what is probably necessary, and with only a few seconds before detonation, Moon Knight rolls out of the way, throwing one last goon into range of the explosion.
"Nice moves," Bucky compliments, but Moon Knight doesn't respond.
Tony and Sam both land, and Nat, Bucky, and Steve rush to catch up. "Good work there, Spector," Cap says, patting Moon Knight on the shoulder. At this, Moon Knight tenses up and says nothing. Steve recoils in response. With Moon Knight still being a new addition to the team, he still forgets how the man responds to touch.
"Hey, by the way, what's with the costume change?" Tony asks. "You figure you didn't want to get your fancy suit all dirty? Or you just come dressed for every occasion?"
Moon Knight sighs. "Considéralo una peculiaridad," he says, not really answering the question.
Bucky raises an eyebrow and turns to look at Nat, the only one on the team other than FRIDAY who has any sort of fluency in spanish. She shakes her head. "He just said 'consider it a quirk.'"
The team just shrug their shoulders and allow Moon Knight to carry on.
Two
While it is usually Marc that fronts at the Avengers HQ, he was getting tired of Steven's constant nagging to explore.
"Come on, Marc! It's the bloody Avengers! Let me look around just once pretty please!"
Eventually, Marc caved, which is why Steven was now in the Archives Hall looking through every book he could get his hands on. Marc figured it would be fine. After all, Stark has everything that could be found in the Archives Hall already uploaded to FRIDAY's system anyway. There hasn't been a need for the physical copies since Ultron, something that Marc was glad to have avoided (although between Steven's nerd knowledge and Jake's technological prowess, they might not have been as useless as Marc thought).
Steven is curled up in a desk chair, sorting through dozens of books linked to mythology, something Marc assumes came about after they met Thor. On the table in front of them, Marc counts three books on Norse mythology, one on Greek mythology, two on Roman mythology, and four on Egyptian mythology. Plus, one on the history of Asgard.
"Steven, don't you have enough books on mythology back at home?"
"You can never know too much, Marc."
"You practically have a PhD at this point."
"I'll take that as a compliment, then."
Marc sits back and lets Steven do his thing. As mundane as Steven's life is, Marc can't help but envy him. Oh, how much he wishes he could get enjoyment from the mundane like curling up and reading a book, or working a shitty 9-5 job at a museum. Admittedly, since they had joined the Avengers, Marc had given Steven much less time to front and enjoy the mundanity of his life (mostly because there were very few times where life would be boring enough to become mundane), and so, he figured he could at least give Steven this. A little room of his own to just sit and enjoy reading his nerdy books.
"Oh, Marc! Check this out!" Steven says, bringing Marc back from zoning out. "Says here that Thor is actually the youngest of three, his two elder siblings, Hela and Loki, were passed over for the throne by their father, Odin, because he believed Thor was more suitable for rule over Asgard."
"That's nice, Steven."
"Apparently Hela, his elder sister, is the goddess of death and she was banished from Asgard on account of her 'ambitions to rule Asgard as an empire.'"
"I see."
"Oh! And Loki is not even the true blood son of Odin. He's a Frost Giant that was abandoned by his father, Laufey, and was eventually adopted by Odin during Asgard's raid on Jontunheim."
"I don't understand."
"It's fascinating! I didn't realize that Norse mythology had such a-"
Someone clears their throat over by the door.
Steven looks up and sees Clint Barton standing there. "Oh, bollocks." Steven clears his throat and quickly stands up, knocking two books over in his panic. "Oh, gods." He hurriedly picks them back up, wary of Clint's eyes fixated on him. "Erm... how long were you standing there?"
"Not that long," Clint answers. "Uh... what's with the accent?"
"Steven, you'd best let me take over. I'm not ready to explain our situation yet."
"Erm... oh nothing, I just..."
Suddenly, Steven's eyes roll into the back of his head and Clint worriedly approaches him. "Marc? Are you ok?"
Marc clears his throat. "Yeah, sorry." He says. "I just... yeah. I get into uh... characters... when I'm reading."
"And that includes reading about the family history of my friend?"
Marc clears his throat again. "Just a habit," he mutters. He looks at Clint. "No one else will be hearing about this, by the way."
Clint throws his hands up in innocence. "I didn't see anything," he says.
"Uh huh," Marc says before walking out of the room.
"Hey! I didn't even finish my book!"
Three
If Stephen was being honest, he didn't really like anyone in the Avengers. Being around them made him feel like he was back at the hospital in New York - surrounded by incompetent weirdos and overconfident newcomers that had no business in the fight for humanity. For the universe's sake, however, he kept his composure and remained civil with all of them. Even Stark.
This new guy, however, managed to grind Stephen's gears in a way no one had since he was in med school.
Now, to give credit where credit is due, Moon Knight is damn good at his job. The man is a good fighter, and his name strikes fear into the hearts of anyone who dare cross his (disgustingly violent) path.
But god, was he an annoying prick.
The first time the two of them had met, Stephen noticed that there was something wrong with him (something other than his love for violence and destruction, anyway). He had brought it up to Steve, but Moon Knight had not taken to that very kindly.
"¿Qué carajo me pasa, Strange? ¿Eh?" Some time later, he found himself being pinned down by Moon Knight, venom dripping from his words. "¡Adelante! ¿Quieres decirles a los Avengers lo jodido que estoy? ¿Es asi? ¡Adelante, Doc! ¡A por ello!"
Stephen, having no time for this, simply had Cloak distract the man for long enough that Stephen could free his hands and create a portal to escape through. He had hoped giving Moon Knight time away from him might help, but since then, every time the two have been forced to work together, it ended in some sort of altercation between the two. Just the thought of his thick New York accent was enough to make Stephen groan.
He had once asked Steve if he could avoid putting him and Moon Knight on missions together, but the Cap hadn't budged. "Strange, I understand you don't like him, but he's one of our best fighters, and you know exactly what you bring to the team. Sometimes I'm left no choice but to send you on missions together." Stephen groaned at this. "Besides, we're all on the same team, here. You two need to sort out whatever this is about."
"No offense, Captain, but the Avengers are not exactly well-known for their positive team dynamics," Stephen mumbled.
Cap crossed his arms. "That was years ago, and we've since sorted things out."
"I can only do so much, Captain."
Since then, Stephen had been actively avoiding Moon Knight as much as he could, but he knew that ultimately, seeing him and working with him were both inevitable.
So, as much as he was disappointed to see Moon Knight on the same mission as him, he was not surprised.
"Oh great. Who invited Tremors?" Moon Knight greets. Stephen clenches his fists and grits his teeth. He tries not to let it show, but Moon Knight, damn him, is smarter than Stephen wanted to give him credit for. The man's lips turn up into a crooked smirk. "Aw, did I offend you, Doc?"
Stephen has had enough.
With an angry shout, Stephen summons a weapon with his hands and charges towards Moon Knight, who summons his black spandex suit with the white hood. Stephen stabs the man in the chest, who takes the weapon and forces it further through the suit, yanking Stephen closer to him. He kicks Stephen, taking him by surprise, and the doctor flips over with a yelp.
Moon Knight chuckles and kicks him again, the sword still stuck in his chest.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa!" Sam cries, running over to attempt to stop the fight.
"Ahora no, hombre pájaro."
Moon Knight grabs Stephen by his neck and pins him against the wall. Stephen's eyes widen as he looks at Moon Knight's glowing white eyes. "You're insane," he chokes out, and suddenly, something shifts in the man.
His grip loosens on Stephen, and he watches as the suits changes from the spandex to the white mummy wraps that he had only seen one other time. His breathing is hitched, and his arm falls back to his side. Stephen grabs at his throat and falls to the ground. "What... the hell?" He asks before letting out a sputtering cough.
"I uh..." His accent has seemingly changed. It's not a large difference, but it's still enough to be noticeable. Though, he has heard rumors about Moon Knight doing a poor British accent on occasion, so maybe that was just his thing. Maybe so was bipolar disorder.
"I'm uh... sorry about that. I blacked out for a bit," Moon Knight says.
Hearing an apology come from Moon Knight? Now that did take Stephen by surprise.
"Um... yes. Well. It's over now," he responds, standing up and brushing himself off.
"Right. What were we arguing about?"
"It's not important anymore, it seems."
Moon Knight just nods, seemingly embarrassed by his outburst.
Sam, who just watched the entire exchange from a distance, puts his hands up in disbelief. "No apology for calling me 'Bird Man'?"
Four
Jake doesn't really understand the whole "Avengers" thing. It was Marc and Steven's idea, really. Jake just went along with it to make his hermanos happy.
Not that he hadn't made friends since they had been there, because he definitely had. He clicked with Rocket and Sam right away, and got along surprisingly well with Peter Quill and Thor as well. Though, even though it's been a couple months now, Jake still finds himself occasionally wishing he could go back to being nothing more than Khonshu's Fist of Vengeance. The whole "saving the world" thing was a pretty big deal, and a little above his paygrade (not that Khonshu was paying them).
To make matters worse, Marc still hadn't told any of them about their DID, and it was becoming harder to hide it. People were starting to talk. Of course, as the protector of the system, Jake found himself fronting a lot more than he did before they joined the Avengers Initiative, and despite "blending in" and hiding himself from Marc and Steven for years, even he would admit that pretending to be Marc got pretty draining after awhile. Plus, Steven rarely got time in the front anymore, and he was starting to become antsy. Almost unbearably so.
"Can I come out, now? The body must be starving and I haven't had tea in ages."
"We just ate, hermano."
"Can I at least make some tea? My legs are getting cramped in this head. I need to stretch them out."
"That's not how it works and you know it."
"Come on, Jake. Please? Just for a little bit! I promise I'll give it back if anyone decides to talk to us."
Jake eventually sighed and gave in, allowing Steven to go on a brief journey for tea.
Jake would never admit it, but he definitely had a soft spot for Steven. Protecting Steven was akin to protecting a child, sometimes. Of course, Steven was a grown man and had his own wants and desires, but he had a childlike wonder and innocence to him that Jake had vowed to protect with everything he had. Jake protected the system from danger and Steven protected them from emotional meltdowns. Now that he knew his role in the system, Steven wore it like a badge of honor and did his job well.
Still, Steven deserved to front even when the system wasn't in imminent danger of breaking down.
Thus, Jake had silently been allowing Steven to slip into the front without anyone knowing but them. This only happened when Marc was asleep, so as not to stress the man out further, but Jake wasn't exactly upset to share his time in the front with Steven. Jake wasn't used to fronting as much as he had been (other than after Cairo after Steven and Marc and decided to ditch Khonshu for a little bit), and he was happy to sit back and let his hermanos steer for a little bit.
Still, Jake knows how Marc feels about their DID, and even if Jake didn't agree with him, he wasn't going to argue about it. So, in the event where Marc was asleep and they had to speak to any of the other Avengers, Jake would take over.
Today in particular, however, had not gone according to plan.
Steven was in a good mood. Jake was not.
Thus, Jake wanted Steven to take control and just go to sleep. Of course, he knew that he couldn't do that, which put him in an even worse mood.
They're sitting in the cafeteria, Jake fronting and playing with their food instead of actually eating it.
"Do you want me to take over?" Stevens asks gently.
Jake scoffs. "I didn't even grab the vegan option," he whispers, sitting away from Clint, Natasha, Bruce, and Thor, who are also in the cafeteria with them.
"That's alright! I can just go ask to see if they have anything vegan."
"No."
"Fine. But you do still have to eat."
Jake rolls his eyes, but obliges and takes a bite. "¿Feliz?"
"Yes, I am. Thank you."
Suddenly, Thor walks away from Clint, Bruce and Natasha and decides to come sit next to Jake. As much as Jake likes the guy, he has no interest in speaking with him at the moment. "You choose to sit away from us. Why?"
Jake sighs. "Not in a mood to talk today."
"Ah yes, I can see the scorn on your face now." He puts his hand on Jake's shoulder, and Jake ducks away from his touch. "What's the matter, my friend?"
"I don't wanna talk about it," Jake says, not bothering to disguise his New York accent in favor of Marc's Chicago one.
Thor hums in quiet understanding. "I have had many days like yours, Friend." Oh great, here we go. "One time, my hammer was stolen by the frost giant, Thrym, and he demanded Freyja's hand in marriage as a ransom. Heimdall's solution was to get me to pose as Freyja, and Loki, ever the trickster, loved the idea and wanted nothing more than to go along with it." Jake begins to feel himself zone out, and disassociate soon after. He tries to push back, but he doesn't care enough about whatever the hell Thor is going on about to actually make an effort. "When we arrive in Jontunheim, Loki had to keep coming up with excuses as to 'Freyja's' weird behavior. I ate an entire ox and Loki explained it away as 'Freyja' being so excited for her wedding that she hadn't eaten in a week. My eyes, filled with fire, is because 'Freyja' also has not slept in a week. And, right before Thrym can give have his men give their blessing to the wedding using my hammer, I steal it, kill everyone else in the room, still wearing a dress."
At this, Steven can't help but break down into a fit of laughter. "I am definitely adding that to my list of favorite stories of all time."
Thor suddenly furrows his eyebrows. "Are you mocking me, Mr. Moon?"
"Mocking? No! No! Oh gods, I'm so sorry! No, I just thought it was a funny story, I didn't mean to insult you! Please don't hurt me, Mr. Thor!"
Thor scoffs, and smiles a bit. "Mr. Thor. I quite like that."
Steven chuckles nervously. "Right, yeah."
Thor then slaps Steven hard on the shoulder and laughs heartily when Steven jumps. "Well, did my story at least help you to feel not so down?"
Steven nods. "Yes! Thank you, Mr. Thor."
Clint, Bruce, and Natasha are snickering, and Steven hopes they're snickering at Thor and not at him. Either way, he doesn't care. He's just glad to be out and talking to the Avengers (the Avengers!).
Even Jake from the headspace can't help but crack a little smile.
Five
Peter Parker had only been out of the country a couple times, and coming to Cairo has always been a dream of his. In fact, the only two people that had been to Cairo before were Mr. Stark and Marc Spector.
It was a small group that had come to Cairo, which was fine with Peter. In fact, he liked the smaller missions more than the big ones. The big missions always seemed to go awry, and truthfully, he still felt like that friendly neighborhood Spiderman he had been not that long ago. All they had to do was get into this tomb and destroy the little statue thingy for some sort of evil god. At least, that was what Marc Spector had said. The group consisted of himself (small and a great distraction just in case), Mr. Stark (has access to FRIDAY, which is helpful for any sort of need-to-know thing that might pop up), Bruce (who apparently just wanted to come), and Marc Spector (knowledge of Egypt, and it was his god that sent them out on the mission anyway).
Peter had only met Marc one other time, and it was quite literally Marc's first day on the team. Though he still appeared pretty timid, it seemed like he was starting to get used to the way the Avengers ran things. Peter liked to think he personally had fit in right away, but he could understand how working alone for ten years before being thrust into the world of the Avengers might make it a little hard to adjust.
As of now, the group is standing around a hologram map of the tomb they're meant to raid. Marc has taken the lead, apparently for the first time, and Peter can only hope it goes smoothly for both his sake and Marc's. "So, the last time I had to raid a tomb like this, the ushabti was found in the mouth of the pharaoh, since the avatars act as the 'voice' of the god they serve. Keep in mind that tombs are highly complicated with multiple different paths you can take, and even if you take the right one, there could still be booby traps that you can't see."
"Great. Death traps in a maze. Anything else we need to know?" Mr. Stark asks.
"Yes," Marc continues. "Last time, we- I had to deal with these things called Heka Priests." He pauses to allow his face to contort into a disgusted grimace. "They're essentially undead sorcerers meant to protect the pharaoh. In other words, they're dangerous and will stop at nothing to kill you. I can't guarantee that we'll find any here, but if you do, be careful."
"Great. Death traps, zombies, and mazes. Sounds like the start to a bad horror movie," Bruce jokes.
"It's like if The Mummy met Zombieland!" Peter exclaims.
"Aren't you a little young for those movies, kid?"
"Mr. Stark, I'm 17, not 11."
Marc sighs. "We're all gonna die, aren't we?"
~~~
Peter didn't know what he expected from an Egyptian tomb, but it was exactly like he expected it to be. Everything from the extreme darkness, to the constant dread that the ceiling is going to cave in, to the rancid smell of decay and sewage. It was awesome.
Mr. Stark's Iron Man suit illuminates the path in front of them as they slowly walk through the tomb, and Peter has never felt so careful not to touch anything. Marc takes the lead, followed by Bruce, Peter, and then Mr. Stark in the back. "Banner, how much do you know about Egyptian lore, history, and mythology?" Mr. Stark asks.
"Truthfully, not a whole lot. I have more knowledge on Norse mythology thanks to Thor."
"What about you, Spector?"
"Uh.." Marc glances down at a puddle and takes a deep breath. "I'm pretty much an expert on it," he says, and Peter can't tell if he's lying to make himself seem more useful, or if he's actually an expert on it.
"Great. Maybe you can help guide us through this maze, then," Mr. Stark says, and they stop at a clearing, several possible paths for them to take.
Marc looks down at the puddle again, and gives a nod so subtle that Peter almost misses it. He looks up again and takes a look at the hologram of the map that Mr. Stark has pulled up. He points at a spot in the middle, not so far underground that it would be impossible to reach, but enough that it will definitely be a task harder than originally anticipated. "There," he says, not moving his finger. "That's our Sarcophagus Chamber." He pauses before adding, "Or the House of Gold, as some of the Ancient Egyptians would call it."
"Whoa, cool!" Peter exclaims.
"So how do we get there?" Bruce asks.
Marc looks up from the map and glances at the four paths before them, not including the direction they just came from. "Apparently, this tomb is shaped like a scarab, the ancient symbol for resurrection. Our best bet is to head towards the face of the scarab."
"Why the face in particular?" Bruce asks.
Marc pauses, as if he were receiving an answer from someone in an earpiece, then continues. "Khepri is the god of the morning sun in Ancient Egypt, and he was often depicted with the head of a scarab. Going towards the head of the scarab would make the most sense." He nods to himself, then points in a direction. He walks through the passage, and Peter shrugs, following close behind him.
Up to this point, Marc was wearing his civilian clothing, but as they enter into a clearing, his Moon Knight suit forms around him, and he holds his hand out to Peter, signaling for him to stop. Peter does as instructed, and watches as Marc runs through the clearing to the other side, where there's a door. As he runs through, multiple arrows shoot at him, one hitting him in the calf. Marc doesn't look like he feels the pain at all, and he simply snaps the arrow in half once he reaches the other side.
"Do you think there are more?" Bruce asks.
"Oh definitely," Marc responds reassuringly. He runs back towards the group, every arrow shooting again, though this time, all of them miss Marc. "We need to find another way around."
"Oh, I can just crawl on the ceiling. That should avoid it, right?" Peter asks.
"Sure, and Stark can fly. But I guess that means we're just gonna leave Banner to die."
Banner holds his hands out in disagreement. "OR, Tony and I can try to find another way around, and you take the kid and try to get to that chamber."
At the same time, Marc and Mr. Stark go to protest.
"Oh, I don't think-"
"The kid is absolutely not going with-"
"Oh, I'll be fine!" Peter chimes in. "I haven't gotten to work with Marc one-on-one yet. This will give us a good chance to bond, right Mr. Spector?"
"Uh... yeah. Right."
Mr. Stark shakes his head, but ultimately agrees, before he and Bruce turn and go back the other way. Marc once again triggers the arrows by running across the clearing, and Peter climbs up to the ceiling and crawls over the entire trap. He hangs down and drops right next to Marc on the other side. "Pretty cool, huh?" He shows off.
Marc chuckles a bit. "Yeah, sure, kid."
They walk a bit, and Peter can't help but hound Marc with questions.
"Do you actually work for a god?"
"Yes."
"What's he like?"
"An asshole."
"Did you like the Egyptian stuff before you became an avatar?"
"Uh... kind of. A part of me always had a fascination with it. I spent a lot of time here when I... before I was an avatar."
"Is that why you know so much about the Egyptian stuff?"
Marc pauses. "I... well... it's complicated."
"Why?"
The man sighs. "It's a long story."
They climb down a ladder into another tunnel and walk some more. "Well, I think we have time."
At this, Marc stops and turns to face Peter. He drops his mask, and Peter does the same. "I... don't know how to explain it. It's just... it's not always... me... that does this stuff."
"What do you mean?"
Marc takes another breath, nervous this time. "I'm not the one who knows all of the Egyptian stuff. In fact, I'm kinda lousy with it."
"What do you mean? Who knows about it?"
"A friend of mine."
"And he tells you all of this stuff?"
"Yeah."
"Like, in your ear? Do you have an earpiece?"
"Not quite."
Peter pauses, expecting Marc to say more, and after a brief moment, he does. "I don't usually... I never... but I think... yeah. He wants to meet you, if that's ok."
Peter nods, and Marc takes a deep breath. Peter watches with curiosity and a bit of fear as Marc's eyes roll back into his head and the Moon Knight suit transforms from the mummy wraps into a white, three-piece suit. He blinks, then smiles at Peter. "Oi! You're Spiderman!" He says in a British accent. "I'm a big fan of yours. Oh, and of the other Avengers, too. I just never thought... wow." He chuckles a bit. "Oh, silly me! I didn't even introduce myself! I'm Steven."
"Steven?"
"Yup! That's me! Steven Grant. Steven with a V. Not like Mr. Strange."
"I don't understand," Peter says, feeling overwhelmed by "Marc's" sudden change in demeanor.
"Oh, right, yeah, sorry 'bout that. I guess it is a little hard to understand, innit?" He chuckles a bit. "Marc is in my head. Or well, I'm in Marc's head, really. Oh! And there's Jake, too."
"Jake?"
"Yeah, yeah! See, we have Dissociative Identity Disorder, or DID, and the three of us all function together as a system. I come out when Marc or Jake are in emotional distress, Jake comes out when the body is in physical danger, and Marc comes out when either Jake or myself are in trouble for one reason or another."
"So you're like... three people living in one body?"
"Yeah, that's right!"
"Whoa..." Peter imagines what it would be like if Karen were in his head instead of his suit and how it would feel if Karen were controlling his limbs instead of him. "What's that like?"
"Well, I guess I can't really say. This is all I've ever known, really. Well, I mean, I used to not know about Marc or Jake, but that wasn't fun, not having any memory of what I had done the day before and losing days at a time and- oh, Marc is telling me we really need to be moving."
"And you know where to go?"
"Who do you think was telling Marc where to go?"
"Cool," Peter whispers, following Ma-Steven through the tunnels, the man weaving his way through the paths as if he had done this a million times.
Finally, they reach a large chamber, and Peter can make out a large coffin in the middle of it. "Is that the sarcog...sarcargo...the pharaoh coffin thing?"
"The sarcophagus, yes," Steven corrects, slowly approaching it. "Oh wow..." he whispers. "I don't know if it'll beat Alexander the Great, but ooh! I have chills just thinking about it!"
"You found Alexander the Great?"
"Yeah! In Egypt last year when Marc and I took on Ammit."
"Took on Omen-who?"
Steven, overcome with excitement, ignores his question, and approaches the sarcophagus. He walks up the large stairs that lead to the sarcophagus and gasps. "Now wait a minute, wait just a minute now."
Peter cautiously follows him and sees Steven walk into a room just behind the sarcophagus in front of them. "Peter... this is..." Steven stops to ogle at the connected rooms. "I think... this has to be it. I believe this is the tomb of Cleopatra and Mark Antony."
"Whoa..." Peter joins him in his ogling, and both are startled out of it when Mr. Stark and Bruce Banner walk into the connected room in front of them.
"Whoa... what is this place?" Bruce asks.
"It's Cleopatra and Antony!" Peter answers.
"Like the two ancient lovers that got their asses kicked by Octavian Caesar?" Mr. Stark asks.
"I always thought their tomb would be near Alexandria, but no... I mean yes, now it makes sense, of course they'd be carried back to the Egyptian capitol for their burial, after all they were acting pharaoh, right?" Steven says, and Bruce and Mr. Stark both turn to face him.
"Uh... hey, Spector. Your British is showing," Mr. Stark says.
Peter shakes his head. "Oh, no, Mr. Stark. That's Steven. Steven Grant."
"Steven Grant?"
Steven briefly acknowledges both Mr. Stark and Bruce, but is too interested in the tomb to really answer the lingering question, so Peter answers for him. "Marc Spector and Steven Grant share a body along with a third person named..."
"Jake. Jake Lockley."
"Share a body? Is that some sort of avatar thing?" Bruce asks.
"No, they have a disorder. Associate's Disorder or something."
"Dissociative Identity Disorder," Steven corrects.
"Is it dangerous?" Mr. Stark asks, probably coming off as more offensive than he had intended.
Bruce shakes his head. "Not unless one of the alters is dangerous. But the disorder itself isn't dangerous. Actually, I'm surprised Marc managed to keep it hidden for so long."
Steven, now standing over the first sarcophagus he and Peter had found, chuckled a bit. "We didn't really. You lot are just not very good at asking questions," he teases, then begins to open the lid to the sarcophagus.
"Whoa, whoa, whoa! Shouldn't we check that thing for threats or something?" Mr. Stark panics.
"Mr. Iron Man, sir, unless you're worried about a mummy coming to life, there's nothing to be afraid of," Steven jokes.
"Just like in The Mummy!"
Steven grins. "Just like in The Mummy!"
"Alright, idiots, just open the lid so we can get the hell out of here. This place gives me the creeps."
Steven pushes open the sarcophagus lid and gasps. "It's Cleopatra! Oh, I have so many questions. Shame she's not alive to answer them, hm?"
He chuckles, and no one answers Steven's question. "Alright, Marc. No way am I reaching down another mummy gullet. I think you can take this one."
The three watch as Steven's eyes roll back, and suddenly Steven's demeanor shifts again. "Marc?" Bruce questions.
"Hm?" Marc looks back at Bruce. "Oh. Yeah. Hey. Anyway." He turns back to the mummy and sighs. "Alright, let's do this."
The others watch as Marc starts ripping the linen of off Cleopatra's face. "Definitely not as hot as they made her out to be in the stories," Mr. Stark quips.
Peter makes a disgusted face and Marc winces as he sticks his hand into the mouth of the mummy, probably cursing himself to some sort of eternal doom. Although, could avatars even be afflicted with ancient mummy curses? Peter didn't want to know.
After what feels like forever, Marc pulls his hand out, holding a little statue in his hand. "Great. So what do we do with it?" Peter asks.
He throws it at Mr. Stark, who catches it. "We put it in a place where no one will ever find it."
~~~
"So you really have DID, huh?" Bruce asks Marc once they're back on the surface. Mr. Stark has thrown the ushabti into the bottom of the ocean, ensuring no one will ever find it. Peter has his earbuds in, but he turns the music down to eavesdrop on the conversation.
Marc sighs. "Yeah. Sorry I didn't tell you guys sooner. Just... not used to it, I guess."
"Hey, it's okay. I get it's a hard thing." Bruce pats his shoulder, and this time, Marc doesn't pull away. "Sometimes, that's how I feel with the big guy, you know? Having to learn each other's strengths and weaknesses. Knowing when one of us should be out and when to be away. It was really tough until recently."
"I know," Marc says. "It was like that for us, too."
It's the first time that Peter has heard Marc describe himself as an "us." "I think it's pretty cool," he cuts in, not bothering to look up. "Being able to have multiple people help you navigate through life. It's like having built-in friends, or a built-in family. I kinda feel like that about the Avengers, sometimes."
Marc chuckles. "Yeah, I guess it is kinda cool," he says. He pauses, then continues. "Steven says it was nice to finally formally meet everyone."
Bruce smiles. "It was nice to meet him, too."
Peter smiles, too. "I think Steven and I are going to be great friends."